Every few
minutes deep and rumbling sounds would break in the distance, roll along
the cavern, and echo and reecho through the great arches overhead. And
these would be succeeded by soft, flute-like voices, mingling in chorus.
The effect of this, in so dark and dungeon-like a place, where the
mighty hand of Nature had performed one of her wildest freaks, was
bewildering in the extreme, and gave wing to the strangest fancies.
Hardly a word was spoken; not a brace manned, nor a sheet touched. The
ship moved along as if directed by some unseen hand, for there was no
wind in that deep, dark cavern. Then the water became broken, and the
surface checkered with phosphoric lights, flitting and dancing, like so
many sprites on a revel. The arch overhead became covered with a pale
light, which seemed to struggle against the darkness; then stars, or
what appeared to be stars, were seen, as through a mist. Then they would
suddenly change into every variety of color, and reveal the existence of
massive columns of basaltic rock supporting the arch.
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