Modern cavemen
現(xiàn)代洞穴人
Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport. Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth. It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives. For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber. They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler. Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave. Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer. The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble. It extends to a depth of 3,723 feet. This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunneled a course through a flaw in the rocks. The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphine Alps. As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable. The cave might never have been discovered has not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger. Since its discovery, it has become a sort of potholers' Everest. Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger. After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to narrow corridor. They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools. Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave. They plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side. To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits. At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water. In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave. Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall. After switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites -- some of them over forty feet high -- rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof. Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow. In the eerie silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.
洞穴勘查——或洞穴勘探——是一項(xiàng)比較新的體育活動。尋求獨(dú)處的愿望或?qū)で笠馔獍l(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)會的欲望吸引人們來到地下深處。要想對洞穴探險者的動機(jī)作出滿意的解釋是不可能的。對洞穴探險者來說，洞穴有一種特殊的魅力，就像高山對登山者有特殊魅力一樣。為什么洞空能引發(fā)人的那種探險本能，人們對此只能有一種模模糊糊的理解。
探測非常深的洞穴不是那些在星期日下午漫步的人所能勝任的。這種活動需要有軍事行動般的周密布署和預(yù)見能力。有時需要花費(fèi)整整8天時間來搭起繩梯，建立供應(yīng)基地，然后才能到一個很深的洞穴里。作出這樣的準(zhǔn)備是必要的，因?yàn)闊o法預(yù)見到洞穴探險者究竟會遇到什么性質(zhì)的困難。世界上最深的洞穴是格里諾布爾附近的高弗.伯杰洞，深達(dá)3,723英尺。這個深邃的洞穴是由一條地下暗泉沖刷巖石中的縫隙并使之慢慢變大而形成的。此洞的洞口在丹芬阿爾卑斯山的高原上，僅6英尺寬，很難被發(fā)現(xiàn)。若不是法國著名洞穴探險家伯杰由于偶然的機(jī)會發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個洞口的話，這個洞也許不會為人所知。自從被發(fā)現(xiàn)以后，這個洞成了洞穴探險者的珠穆朗瑪峰，人們多次進(jìn)入洞內(nèi)探險，但至今尚有不少東西有待勘探。
最近，一隊(duì)洞穴探險者下到了高弗.伯杰洞里。他們從高原上的窄縫進(jìn)去，順著筆直陡峭的洞壁往下爬。來到一條狹窄的走廊上。他們不得不側(cè)著身子往前走，有時過淺溪，有時游過深潭。突然，他們來到一道瀑布前，那瀑布奔瀉而下，注入洞底一處地下湖里。他們跳入湖中，把各種器具裝上一只充氣的橡皮艇，聽任水流將他們帶往對岸。湖水冰冷刺骨，他們必須穿上一種特制的橡皮服以保護(hù)自己。在湖的盡頭，他們見到一大堆一大堆由湖水沖刷上岸的碎石。在這兒，他們可以聽見一種連續(xù)不斷的轟鳴聲。后來他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這是由山洞頂部的一個小孔里噴出的水柱跌落到水潭中發(fā)出的聲音。洞穴探險者從巖石縫里擠身過去，來到一個巨大的洞里，其大小相當(dāng)于一個音樂廳。他們打開強(qiáng)力弧光燈，看見一株株巨大的石筍，有的高達(dá)40英尺，像樹干似地向上長著，與洞頂懸掛下來的鐘乳石相接。周圍是一堆堆石灰石，像彩虹一樣閃閃發(fā)光。洞里有一種可怕的寂靜，唯一的可以聽見的聲響是高高的圓頂上不間斷地滴水的嘀嗒聲。
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