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34 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 6 2o20 (Travel) Sandra Vlasta | Enlightening report versus enlightened traveller height of the steep rock before me, covered on each side with ivy and other shrubs. At its summit are the decayed wall and towers of an ancient castle which formerly stood on this rock, and at its foot the monstrous aperture or mouth to the entrance of the cavern, where it is pitch dark when one looks down even at mid-day. (Moritz 1795: Chapter XI, no page number)] The rock described by the narrator recalls Milton’s ‘rural Mound’, quoted by Moritz only a few pages earlier and described with the same adjective, i.e. ‘steep’. At the same time, readers will probably revisit the book’s cover image in order to see the impressive crag and the ruins of the castle for themselves. There, they will not only see the eerie entrance to the cave but also the traveller standing before it, an invitation to identify the figure with the narrator. The ‘ivy and other shrubs’ likewise appear both in Milton — there as ‘thicket’ — and, perhaps not so easily discernible, in the image. Even the denied access is repeated in the traveller’s experience as the monstrous aperture is so dark that it is impossible to see inside. It thus seems inaccessible and could be described, in Milton’s words, as ‘grottesque and wild’. Positioned at the beginning of the final third of the text, the excursion to the cave is the climax of the travelogue. It is an episode that constitutes an experience of the sublime, described by Moritz in his own words (‘Erstaunen’, ‘entsetzliche Höhe’, ‘ungeheure Öffnung’) and recalling those used by Milton (‘steep wilderness’, ‘grottesque and wild’). At the same time, the incident can be described as belonging to the picturesque (see Košenina 2006: 88) or even the uncanny; i.e., with reference to Sigmund Freud (1919), it reveals strangeness in the ordinary. This is especially true when the traveller encounters ‘einen Mann von wildem und rauhem Ansehen’ (Moritz 2000: 140) [a man of a rude and rough appearance (Moritz 1795: Chapter XI, no page number)], who offers to guide him through the cave. The man asks Moritz if he would like to be carried to the other side of the stream and informs him of the price of this service. Thus, Moritz himself mentions the already palpable parallel to Charon: ‘Dieser Mann hatte […] ein so wildes Charonsmäßi- ges Ansehen, daß die sonderbare Täuschung, worein man beim Anblick dieser Höhle versetzt wird, schon hier ihren Anfang nahm’ (Moritz 2000: 140) [This man had […] such a wild, Charon-like appearance that the strange deception that one is led to when looking at this cave already started here].18 In this manner, by referring to its deceptive effect, Moritz stresses the ambiguous quality of the cave and its uncanny characteristics. This ambivalent impression con- tinues throughout the guided tour through the cave, which is described in great detail (Moritz 2000: 140–147). Moritz leaves the daylight behind him upon entering the cave, only to discover an entire village, complete with inhabitants, within (Moritz 2000: 141). In fact, until the 1910s, Peak Cavern (or the Devil’s Arse, as it is more colourfully referred to) was home to some of the UK’s last troglodytes. Moritz’s experience in the cave shifts from wandering through endless corridors to gliding on the water in boats, encountering fossilized plants and animals (and other sights) and hearing mysterious sounds that are ultimately explained by water flowing through the rocks (Moritz 2000: 144). The cave is therefore the climax of the travelogue for many reasons: it is the most unusual sight that Moritz visits and describes, and thus the most novel element, even for readers who are familiar with travelogues on England. The author gives rea- sonable attention and space to it and frames it as an experience that has both religious/Christian and mythological/preternatural qualities. The former is expressed by its similarity to paradise, as evoked by the references to Milton’s text shown above. It is in this relatively unknown part of 18 Here, the English version is my own translation insofar as the sentence in question is left out of the 1795 trans- lation.