partially cleared. By a great tunnel in the island of Samos, cut through a mountain nine hundred feet high, and extending seven stadia in length, somewhat more than four thousand two hundred English feet, water was conveyed from a natural source to the capital. The Romans, following in the wake of the more ancient Etrurians, their teachers in the industrial arts, provided for the partial drainage of the Alban Lake by a tunnel, mostly cut through solid rock, more than a mile in length, through which the surplus waters were conducted into the Tiber. This remarkable work was completed in less than a year, in the early days of the republic, and remains unimpaired at pre

sent. To attain a similar object with reference to the lake Celano, the ancient Fucinus, the emperor Claudius employed thirty thousand men to cut a tunnel through one of its mountain barriers. This was about three miles long, and appears to have been executed by the excavators working in gangs simultaneously at several points, by means of vertical shafts, the plan usually adopted at present in such constructions. The completion of the work was celebrated by a barbarous fête. For the amusement of the emperor, and a multitude of specta

tors on the neighbouring heights, two fleets were launched on the lake, manned with criminals, who were obliged to wage war against each other, and not a sham fight, but a battle, in which many were butchered. After the engagement, the dam was removed, and the waters of the Celano were admitted into their subterranean outlet, which led them off into the river Liris. Subsequently the channel was obstructed, but re-opened. It became again blocked up, remained so for centuries, but has been partially cleared by the present Neapolitan government, so as to prevent an undue rise of the lake. Another similar undertaking is the Grotta di Posilipo, near Naples, supposed to be as old as the reign of the emperor Tiberius. This is a tunnel, which pierces, for half a mile, the heart of a large rock, forming a passage for the old road from Naples to Pozzuoli. It is mentioned by Strabo, as wide enough to allow two carriages to pass, and was lighted by holes cut through the mountain from the top. It was largely improved by the Spanish viceroys, but is now comparatively deserted, owing to the formation of a new road.

3. The third and last group of caverns comprises those which consist of a succession of

lofty and spacious halls or chambers, usually connected by narrow and winding passages.

After

By far the finest home example of this class is the Peak cavern at Castleton, which extends two thousand two hundred and fifty feet into the mountain it penetrates, accessible to the visitor, and lies at the depth of about six hundred and twenty feet below its summit. leaving the village, the pathway leads along a chasm, between two ranges of perpendicular cliffs, by the side of a rivulet which issues from the cavern, and runs brawling over the broken pieces of limestone in its course. At a turn of the road, a vast mass of rock is suddenly presented in front, with the mouth of the dark labyrinth, in the form of a depressed arch, a hundred and twenty feet in width, and fortytwo in height. Entering beneath it, and proceeding about thirty yards, the first compartment through which a dubious twilight prevails is crossed, the roof gradually becoming lower, and the excavation narrower, till a confined passage is reached, at which all trace of the blaze of day is lost. After traversing this aperture about twenty yards, the first great interior cavity is reached, and five other capacious openings follow. At different points,

candles are lighted by the guides, at consider able heights, which display the dimensions of the successive chambers, with the ribs and layers of massy rock which form the roofs and sides. At one spot, a small lake has to be crossed in a boat or skiff, the passenger lying down at the bottom, owing to the overhanging rock descending to within twenty inches of the surface of the water. A singularly striking effect is produced by the explosion of a small quantity of gunpowder, wedged into a crevice of the rock, at the far extremity of the cavern, the sound of which rolls along it like a loud and longcontinued peal of thunder, but with a deep, muffled intonation. Upon retracing his steps, the visitor is usually stayed at a point of rock which commands a view of the entrance, in order to observe the effect of the first return to the light of day. The exterior rocks, as seen from thence through the mouth of the chasm, appear as if highly illuminated; the plants and mosses, faded with the heat, and soiled with the dust of autumn, exhibit a vernal freshness; and the impression produced is that of a brilliant day reigning without, though the atmosphere may be hazy, and the sun veiled with clouds.

Man, in tropical countries, has largely em

ployed these natural excavations, and produced many imitations of them, to serve for the purpose of habitation, interment, religion, or concealment. It was from them that the hint was taken by the ancients, to construct labyrinths, excavations upon an involved plan—an artifice of royalty, adopted with a view to personal security, or the secreting of treasures.

The original labyrinth was near Crocodilopolis, the city of crocodiles, afterwards Arsinoë, not far from the lake Maris, in Egypt, the work of its ancient kings. Herodotus describes it, from personal observation, as one *of the greatest efforts of human industry and art, consisting of fifteen hundred chambers excavated under ground, and as many above the surface, the whole inclosed by a wall. The Egyptians, he relates, would not allow him to enter the subterranean apartments, but he freely inspected the rest, and expresses his admiration at the great number of winding passages, and endless mazes, among the superior chambers.—A modern town, Medinet el Faïoum, occupies the site of Arsinoë, built out of its materials, and many remains of antiquity exist in the neighbourhood, but no traces of the labyrinth have been discovered.