fuch effects as thefe aftonishing marble pillars; which lie in vaft compound perpendicular columns at great depths in the earth, (none in beds of ftrata, like the other marbles), and rife in fuch beautiful joints and angles, well fitted together, more than fix and thirty feet above ground in fome places. No other way could those wonderful productions have come into being, but by that intelligent, active power, who Speaks intelligibly to every nation by his works. To talk as fome people do, that neceffity which deftroys the very idea of intelligent and defigning activity-or chance, which is an utter abfurdity-or the fea, according to Telliamed, generated and formed this genus of marble, and fo wonderfully diftinguished it from all the other marmora ; by making it into pentagon, hexagon, and feptagon columns, and rendering the points of the columns convex and concave, and fo amazingly joining them together, that the prominent angles of one pillar fall exactly into the hollow left between two others, and the plain fides exactly answer to one another, as before obferved, while all of them ftand up perpendicular, contrary to the quality of all other marbles, and fome lie in beds of ftrata --To talk, I fay, of the fea, a chence, a neceffity, doing this, or any thing of fo wonderful a kind, is to produce fchemes founded in ignorance, and everfive of true know

ledge,

An account

of a burn

ledge, inftead of giving a rational, intelligible account of the formation of the world, its order and appearances. In this wonderful production, a due attention perceives infinite art and power. Did we want that variety of things which employ the confideration of rational men, and force the tongues of thinking men to acknowledge creating power, this marble alone would be fufficient to demonftrate equal power directed by infinite wisdom.

38. Another extraordinary thing I saw in ing fpring, a valley not far from that where the Bafaltes ftands. It is a boisterous burning fpring. It rises with great noife and vibration, and gushes out with a force fufficient to turn many mills. The water is clear and cold, but to the taste unpleasant, being fomething like a bad egg. I judged from the nature

of its motion, that the water would take fire, and having lit my torch, foon put it in a flame. The fire was fierce, and the water ran down the vale in a blaze. It was a river of fire for a confiderable way, till it funk under ground among fome rocks, and thereby difappeared. After it had burnt fome time, I took fome boughs from a tree, and tying them together, beat the furface of the well for a few minutes, and the burning ceased. The water was not hot, as one might expect, but cold as the coldeft fpring could be. There are a great number of fuch springs in

the

1

the world, but this is the largest I have read of, or feen. It differs from that of Broseley in Shropshire, within fix miles of Bridgenorth, in this respect, that Broseley well will not continue to burn for any time, unless the air be kept from it; to which purpose they have enclosed it in an iron ciftern with a cover to it; and to experiment the boiling a piece of meat by the fire of this fpring, they clap the

pot

clofe down when the cover is taken up, and then it burns as long as they will; making the largest joint of meat fit to eat, in half the time the strongest culinary fire could do the work. As to the medicinal virtues of the fpring, in the mountains, I can only fay, that as it has a copious fulphur, and from thence flames like fpirit of wine, it is probable it might be as effectual in communicating fanity in various cafes, as the famous burning fpring is in the palatinate of Cracow of the leffer Poland, mention'd in the Leipfic acts, An. 1684. p. 326. And as to the extinguishing this fire by beating it with twigs, it must to be fure be for the reafon given by Mr. Dennis, that as the inflammability of fuch fprings is to be afcribed to fulphur, and to its exhalations bursting out of the water; fo this floating flame, which is too fubtle to heat the water, is ftifled, by involving these fpirits in the aqueous particles, by brushing the furface with brooms.

Conradus tells us, concerning the Polif fpring,

204

fpring, that at one time, when it was kindled
by lightning, the people neglected to put it
out, and the stream proceeded on fire for al-
moft three years, and reduced all the neigh-
bouring wood to afhes. It is really a won--
derful fight to fee fuch a river of fire, and
adorable must be that power, who has caused
fuch things. To fay, that matter and motion
circumfcribe and regulate fuch powers, is
idle to the last degree. It is an inverfion of
reason. The very existence of the water and
fulphur of this spring, must be by the power
of the Creator conftantly put forth upon
it,
which causes the parts to be what we call fuch
things, and the motion of both must be an im-
preflion; for motion is not effential to matter.
Nothing elfe could produce them, and a
cause there must be equal to the various and
wonderful effects of both, a cause that is in-
finite, wife, and powerful. The Deity is
every where prefent, and every where active.
His power is indefinently working, gives ex-
iftence to the various creatures, and produces
the most noble phænomena in nature. All
we fee, all we feel, fire and water, the uni-
verfal variety of inanimate and animate crea-
tures, are only the effects of his creating
power conftantly repeated. The existence
of the whole world is a continual new crea-
tion; and therefore it becomes the bounden
duty of all rational creatures, to worship this
Almighty Power, as well for his works of
creation,

creation, as for the ways of his providence. Great and wonderful are they works, O Lord God Almighty and just and righteous are thy ways, O King of faints; who would not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, because thou only art holy.

loch on the

top of a

fwallow in

39. From the burning fountain we pro- Another ceeded for half an hour in the fame valley right onwards, and then turned to the left in high mouna course to the weft, for about a mile, which ain, and a brought us to the bottom of a steep moun- the bottom. tain, we muft afcend, or go no farther. It was hard to get the horses over this, and no lefs difficult to defcend with them to a deep bottom on the other fide of the hill: but with great hazard to ourselves and the beafts, we came down in fafety. On the top of this mountain I faw another large loch that was black as ink in appearance, tho' bright when taken up in a glats; which, (as before obferved) must be owing, I fuppofe, to its top communicating with the abyss below; and in the bottom we defcended to, there was a fallow larger than the one I faw before. I could make no difcovery as to its depth, either by line or found; nor did my lead touch any water. On the floping way from the first chafm in day to the gulph, were feveral lateral chambers, that defcended one yard in fix: but tho' the bottom was hard, the horrors of the places hindred me from going far. I went to the

end