Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1852-08-07
MAMMOTH CAVE.

nal, gives, in The last number Of his journal,
a grapic description Of his visit 10 the Mann
moth Gave. A, this season, when so many
travellers, wearied with dull repetition of
the salne Northern jaunt every year, are
asking, "Where shall we go?' we would re-
commend an expedition to that wonder Of
the world.
For in truth, there is no natural curiosity
in the United States so well worth visiting,
if we excep, Niagara. And, in many re-
specls, the Cave is more engrossing spec.
iacle than even the great cataract. The lat
Ter is the most sublime the former most
extraordinary. Yet it is fair 10 contrast
them. Nothing, in the whole world, surpas-
ses the effect produced by the green, CLASSY
ocean that pours over in the centre OF the
Horse Shoe Fall. Nothing in its way rivals
the effect of The interminabe length, the
savage gloom, the lofty halls, the profound
abysses of the Mammoth Cave. They are,
without question, the two great natural Curl
osties of the United States. That the one
is visited by tens of thousands annually, and
the other by comparatively few persons, is
by no means cIeditable 10 the taste, or 10
the knowledge of the American people.
The Mammoth Cave is sublerranean la
byrin,h, honey-combng the mountain region
of southwestern Kentucky. lis full extent
has never been explored, for in addition 10
several main avenues, one Of which extends
ii nearly straight line, for nine miles, il
nas scores, perhaps hundreds of lateral ave-
nues, perforaing The solid rock in every di-
rection, and many of them of apparently
endless length. AT a rude computation, a
man might traverse three hundred miles,
yet, scarcely explore all the passages. The
character Of the Cave is as various as its en-
tent is vast. In some places in expands into
immense halls, hundreds Of feet in diameter
and arched over with single blocks of lime
stone al dizzy elevations above The pave
ment. In other places it narrows into ave-
nues, scarcely thirty feet wide, and varying
! from ten 10 seventy feet in height and
these often extend for half mile. Occa-
sionaly the passage pnnges, weIl-like, per-
/ pendlcularly into The bowels Of the earth,
down when The traveller descends By lad
! der, 10 find, al the bottom, a new and spa
rious avenue opening before him. In ore
ioc''Hy !. Is necessary to 60, IN stopping
posture, for several feet. No less than
ihiee underground rivers are navigl,cd, or
crossed by the explorer and one of these
/ runs IhIOuuh luuutl of solid rock for three
quarters Ut m'Ie' Nine mics from Inc
entrance, from Inc summit OF what is called
The Rocky Mountain, there is view down
ln'o vast abyss one hundred aud llly feet,
ueeP' "hlch Is alone worm The cost and
fatigue ot the entire journey from PhIlade!
phia'
The contrast between the profound pits
near when the traveller irnquen'ly has Il
pass, and the soaring domeS, or vanI'e'
naves, beneath which he often walks, strike
. he visitor with lndeScrbaoIe awe In one
place the 'e>rmhance 10 doom Is aston
ish'"9' 'he o'a'N limestone narrowing over
hs'', r"4 w''hln ''os, III II eliminates II
i"e c'"'ie' i"' ABOVE III a"o'heF pace IN
: @fo'ned ce"l"S eAe"u' l"' nan Inlle al
time, gloomy H"' grand as II some 2'@an'
m"'>''T' frequently l"'''n@ galleries o
Iork' running along e''heF SIDE nearly NEE
on h-h. : ant oi'en' through the narFo'
opening mos 'e''' other galleries "'e see
ABOVE So"le'''nF' ''''e' OF ''u' ',s"E '""'
= ''f' ABOVE LIr'' "r''"e '"e '""''e" CEN
,e"on'' "' '''''' u '"' ''''''''' '',",
, Nsn''"s up '"'So '"S' ,eeeS>'S o'e''I'"',
ohe''h'P't""g oeyo"u oeS''' p'''''' aNo'''''
. contrasts o' ''s". "u' S'''"e SUI" DIS i
f painter ever '''s''e''' "o' e'e'' ''e''o'"''
q Tor IN Inc upper air 'here never eAls's sue
darkness as oroooS e'erha'Iy IN 'hoSe s'iei
and mysterious depths. The PITS which In
the way remind the traveller OF the abysst
which, in that grand prose poem, the Pi
gTlm's Progress, continually aPPaI Christian
In vain torch is hung over the edge, /
bottom is ever seen. bit OF oiled pape
cast burning into the deep gulf, fails equal
:, 10 reveal the secrets of the yawnng well =
- A stone, dropped downwards, falls and fall
seemingly forever, endIessy reverberali,