The Northern galaxy, and Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1843-1844, 1844-01-17

ltwas my hint to speak,
Concluded.
AT ore side of the River Hall is a steep
precipice, over which you can look down, by
aud OF blazing missiles, upon a broad black
sheet of water, Ofeet below, called>thc Dead
Sea. This is awiully impressive place, the
sights and sounds ofwhich do not easily pass
from memory. lie who has seen it will have
1t wildly brought before him by Alferi's de-
scription Of Filippo: " Only transient word
or act gives us short and dubious glimmer
that reveals to us the abysses of his being :;
dark, lurid and terrific as the throat of the III
fernal pool"
As you pass along, you hear the roar of
invisible waterfalls, and at the foot of the
slope the river Styx lies before you, deep and
black, overarched with rock. The first
glimpse of it brings to mind the decent of
Ulysses into hell,
! Where The dark rock ohangs The internal lake.
And minslng streams eternal murmurs make"
! Across these unearthly waters, the guide
can convey but two passengers at once; and
I these SIT motionless in the canoe, with feet
turned apart, so as not to disturb the balance
Three lamps are fastened to the PROV, the
images of which are reflected in the dismal
pool.
| If you are impatient Of delay, or eager for
new adventures, you can leave your comuan-
ions lingering about the shore, and cross the
! Styx by dangerous bridge of precipices
overhead. In order to DO this, you must as
cend steep cliff and enter a cave above,
( from an egress of which you find yourself on
/ the bank of the river, eighty feet above its
surface, commanding view Of those passing
in the boat, and those waiting on the shore
Seen from this height, the lamps in the ca
noe glare like fiery eye-balIs; and the pas
sengers sitting there, so hushed and notion
less, look like shadows. The scene is so
strangely funeral and spectral, that it seems
rs if the Greeks must have Witnessed it, be-
/ fore they imagined Charon conveying ghosts
to the dim regions of Pluto. Your compan-
ions, thus seen, do indeed,
skim along the dusky sad,s
! Thin, airy shoals and Visionary shades -
J Iryou turn your eye from the canoe, to the
/ parties of men and women whom you left
waiting on the shore, You will see them, by
the CLEAN of their lamps, scattered in pictu-
rescue groups, looming out in bold relief from
the dense darkness around them.
| When you have passed the Styx, you soon
meet another stream, appropriately called
Leathe. The echoes here are absolutely
stunning. \ single voice sounds ike pow
erful choir; and could an organ be played, it
would deprive the nearer of his Senses
When you have crossed, yOn enter a high
level hall, named the Great Walk, half
mile of " hich brings you TO another river, cal
led the Jordon. In crossing this, the rocks in
one place descend so low, as to leave only
/ eighteen inches for the boat to pass through.
| Passengers are obliged to double up, and lie
on each others shoulders, till this gap is pas
sed. The uncomfortable position is, however
of short duration. and you suddenly emerge
! to where the vault of the cave is more than a
hundred feet high. In the fall of the year,
this river often rises almost instantaneOusly
over fifty feet above low water mark phe
nomenon supposed 10 be caused by heavy
rains from the upper earth. On this account
autumn is an unfayorable season for those
who wish to explore the cave throughout
If parties happen to be caught Oh the other
side of Jordan, when Il sudden rise takes place
a boat conveys them Oh the swollen waters,
TO the level of an upper cave, so low that
they are Obliged to enter on hands and knees
and crawl through. This place is called Pur-
gatory. People on the other side, aware of
! their danger, have boat i'll readiness to re-
ceive them.
The guide usually sings while crossing the
Jordan, and his voice is reverberated by a
choir of sweet echoes. The only animals ev-
err found in the cave are fish, with which this
stream abounds. They are perfectly white
and without eyes; at least they have been
subjected to a careful examination, and no
organ similar to an eye can be discovered
1t would indeed be useless appendage to
creatures that dwell forever in Cimmerian
darkness. But, SIS usual, the acuteness of
one sense is increased by the absence of an
other. These fish are undisturbed by the most
powerful glare of light, but they are alarmed
/ by the slightest agitation Of the water and it
is therefore exceedingly difficult TO catch
them.
The rivers of Mammoth Cave were never
crossed till 1910. Great efforts have been
made to discover whence they come and
whittier they 90. But the courageous Stephen
has iloated for hours up to his chin, and fore
ed his way thro' the narrowest apertures I'M
der the dark waves, so as to leave his head
merely a breathing place, yet they still remain
as much a mystery as ever-without begin
ming or end, like eternity. They disappear
under arches, which, at the lowest stage Of
tIe water, Ore uluSE Vi IL.
; From some unknown cause, it sometimes
happens in the neighborhood of these streams
that the figure of distant companion will
apparently loom up, to the height of ten or
twelve feet as he approaches you. This &C.
casional phenomenon is somewhat frightful,
even to the most rational observer, occurring
as it does in a region so naturally associated
with giants and genii.
From the Jordan through Stillman's Ave-
nue., you enter high, narrow defle, or pass
in a portion of which, called the Hanging
Rocks, huge masses of stone hang suspended
over your head. At the side of the deille is
a recess, called the Devils Blacksmith shop.
1t contains a rock shaped like an anvil. with
a small inky current running near It, and
quantities Of coarse stalagmite scattered
about precisely like blacksmith's cinders, cal
led Stag. In another place, you pass square
rock, covered with beautiful dogs tooth spar,
called the Mile Stone.
This pass brings you into Wellington's
Gallery, which tapers off TO narrow point,
I ,f +Ia inf 1Is direc-