New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-06-01
shy. Your reason vainly tells you that it is but
nrnrA &C Ii. eli ord Of manganese. knrlnkled with

Ehy. Your reason yalnly tells you thht ~ 10 put
crust of black oxyd Of manganese. sprinkled with
CRYSTALS of gypsum, seventy-fiye feet above your
head You see that it is fatbomless heaven, with
its consultations twinkliDg in the illimtabe space.
You are no longer upon this Earth You are in
thunder rveD gorge Of the mountains OF Jupiter,
looking up at the strange armament OF that darker
pIaret You see other considerations rising far up
in the abyss Of midnight, and witness the occuita-
ton Of r6moter stars. -
The fascination Of that scene would have held
us there for the remainder of the day if the guide
had permitted it, After indulging Us for what ne
considered q sufficient length OF time, he took our
lamps, and descending into branch cavern that
opened from the floor, treated us to some fine ef-
fects Of light ard shade BY skillful manage
ment OF bis lights lie produced the appearance OF
a thunder cloud rising aud gradually aprsading
over the sky. The stars are lost; the comet,
cleaning portentous on the horizon, disappears;
and tie gorge is wrapped in shadow. Then the
clouds break and clear away, and the stars seem
to tw in kle with moro bright and frosty luster
after their observation. "Take care of your
"selvesw cries the guide, and we hear his foot
steps passing under the floor. He has all our
lamps, and we can now see but faint glimmer
through the opening he entered. Now il is but the
ghost Of glulmer; and now, az his footsteps are
more iDdstinct, it ceases altogether Yes, this IS
darkness-solid, palpable darkness. Stretch out
your hand and you can grasp it; open your mouth
and it will choke you Such must have been the
primal chaos before Space was, or Form was, or
!" ct there be light" had been spoken. In the in
tense stiffness / could hear the beating of my
heart and the humming sound made by the blood
in its circulation
After while golden nebulous glow stole upon
the darkness, seemingly brighter than the sunrise
radiance of the East and increased until our guide
and lamps rose above the horizon We now re-
turned to tie Second Hoppers and mounted to the
Gothic Avenue. For more than quarter OF
mile this avenue has ceiling perfectly fiat, with
every appearance Of having received coat OF
plaster 1t is smoked over in all parts with the
names of vulgar visitors, from which circumstance
ii is called the Register Room. Persons formerly
carried candles in their trips through The cave,
and by tying them to poles, succeeded in not only
smoking their names upon the ceiling, but In many
instances their portraitsfor there were frequently
rude attempts at drawing the figures of sheep and
pigs. The lamps used at present prevent all such
desecraton, but there are still land probably al
ways will be) touching applications for candles
The roof gradually became broken and rugged,
studded here and there with unfinished staactites
and we now entered the Gothic Chapel, where
those stony icices become large enough to form
ribbed pillars and fair Gothic arches. The ceiling
is not more than thirty feet high, so that this hall
has nothing of the grandeur of Goran's Dome, but
it is very curious and beautiful. Beyond this the
specimens of stalacttic formation are very numer-
Gus, and have not time TO describe them mi
nutely We passed Napoleons Breastworks, Nul-
cans shop, the Elephants Head and the Pillars OF
Hercules, hard by which is the Lovers Leap
where the journey ceased. Here the floor of the
avenue suddenly falls away leaving gulf about
fifty feet deep, over which projects long, pointed
rock. BY descending into the gulf you can enter
lower gallery leading to other wonders, among
which the guide mentioned 1.-THE Devils Cooling
Cub" but we had scarcely sufficient time to ex
plorei it.
We retraced our steps to the Second Hoppers,
and then returned to the mouth of the cave, hay-
ing been four hours underground, and Travelled
about five miles. When we reached the entrance
ard looked out from behind the falling sken of
water the trees seemed 10 be Illuminated with an
unnatural fire. The daylight had warm yellow
hue intensely bright and the sky was paler but
more luminous than usual The air by contrast
with the celebrating nitrous atmosphere below
felt close, unpleassnty warm and oppressive like
that of an ill-ventated greenhouse in Winter
There was too much perfume in it-too many va
rieties of vegetable smells--for | found that the
short absence had made my scent unusually keen
and intelligent. This first sensation soon wore OIL
and left us with no other unpleasant effect from
our trip than that of great hunger, of which Mr.
Miller speedily relieved us.
Enough Of the Mammoth Cave for one day. |
shall soon write to you again, describing our sec
ord trip underground Il. H.