XI.
CAVES.
These peculiar freaks in the Earth are nothing to excite much curiosity or wonder. It is rare to find caves only in limestone formations which by long contact with water gradually wash away and leave monstrous chambers that have formerly been a solid mass.
Sometimes a cave may be formed by a sinking of the floor, leaving the arched top supporting itself, but whatever the cause and wherever caves are found, I never read of any but lead to subterranean rivers of great purity and coolness of water, nearly all the waters of which are credited with blind fish. Where did the fish originate? The stalagmites and stalactites tell of the copious influence of water.
What is the source of these cave rivers? Are they from soakage of rainfalls and do they have any dry season?