New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-05-31

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ing less than an Offering tc the Kentucky gnomes
and kobolds-the underground faires who have
followed for themselves this marvellous palace
under ler green hills.
Continuing our walk with eyes that now saw
clearly not only the grand dimensions oil the ave-
nue. but its rude suggestions OF pilasters, inezes
and corDices end the dark cloud.Patterns that
notified its gray ceiling, we passed IN succession
the Kentucky Cliffs $50 called from their reseui-
blapce TO the rocks on Kentucky River, Wiilie's
Spring. tiny thread of water which has channel.
cd itself fantastic huted niche from he top Of
the base Of the wall. and the Second Hoppers,
where the operations of the old miners seem 70
| have been prosecuied on very extensive scale
Above these hoppers, on the right hand, rs the
mouth Ofthe Gothic Avenue, branching on AZ Ight
angles to the main cave. Ii is reached by @ Hight
of steps TIE scenery Of the cave became more
and more striking as we advanced. The ROOF IL
coated with thin incrustation of gypsum, which
| is colored in patches with black oxide OF mangs-
| rese giving il rude resemblance TO gray SKY
| hecked with dark clouds. In the waving and un-
certain light Of the lamps, these clouds seem 20
move as you walk, and 10 assume caprieious and
fantastic forms. Now lou see en- oval lake sur
rounded with shrubbery, now couchant beast, or
sitting figure like the colossal deity of Theban
tomb In one place there is a huge ant-eatcr,
very perfect in another an Indian chief wrapped
| in bis blanket: then giant, with his wife aud
child: and finally charcoal sketch, in which the
imaginative can see Napoleon crossing the Alps.
Under the last of these pictures Alfred stopped,
and after stating that we were just one mile from
the entrance, threw the light OF his lamp upon
large white rock which lay upon our right hand,
and asked us what it resembled. why" said
one of us, at is yery much like coffin" " You
ere right" said be; sit is the Giants Coffin 81
feet in length lie then informed us that he
should leave the main cave and take the road to
the River Styx, in order TO show US some OF the
most remarkable objects on this side OF that
stream. We followed him. one by one, into
a creyice behind the coffin, at the bottom whereof
yawned a narrow hole. HalfstoOping, halfcrawl-
ing we descended through an irregular, contracted
passage to series Of basement halls, called the
Deserted Chambers The first of these is the
Wooden Bowl room about 100 feet in diameter,
with n low, slightly concave ceiling. The name
may have been suggested by this lance, al
though there il story Of an ancient wooden bowl
having been found in it by the first persons who
entered. A staircase called the Steps of Time-for
what reason il is impossible to say-leads to still
lower chambers, two of which are connected by
passage called the Arched Way, from the smooth
and regular curve of its white ceiling In the fur
thest one is Richardson's Spring" little bowl
of CRY stall water which we found very cool and re-
freshiDg, despite the flavor OF the Limestone rock
The roof presently shot up into pointed lrreg-
ular vault and we heard the sound of dropping
water Alfred, who was in advance, cautioned us
TO remain still while he leaned forward and held
ont lis lamp, which disclosed the mouth of pit.
The sides were as smooth as if hewn by stone
cutter, and worn into deep grooves and burrows
by the waters of ages. log is placed along one
side to protect visitors and we leaned upon 1t
while he kindled sheet of oiled paper and suf
fered it to whrl slowly down into the gulf, glim-
mering on the wet walls and the dark pools OF wa
ter in its mysterious womb
Leaving the deserted chambers, we descended
steep staircase into the Labyrnth-a winding way
thirty or forty feet high and barely wide enough
for two persons to pass. This brought us to ano-
Their pit, along the brink of which we walked, clam
bered up ledge and at last reached window
like opening where Alfred babe us pause. Lean
ing over the thin partition wall the light Of our
united lamps disclosed a vast glimmering hall, the
top of which vanished in darkness and the bottom
of which we could only conjecture by the loud,
hollow splash of waterdrops that came up ont of
the terrible gloom. Directly in front of us hung
gigantic of rock, which in its folds and masses
presented wonderful resemblance to curtain.
1t had regular fringe ofstalactites. and there
a short outer curtain overlapping it at the top.
The length Of this piece of limestone drapery could
not have been less than one hundred feet. In
few moments Alfred, who had left us, reappeared
at another window on the right hand where ne
first dropped some burning papers into the gulf and
then kindled a Bengal light 1t needed this illu
mination to enable us to take in the grand dimen-
sions of the dome We could see the oval arch Of
the roof hundred feet above our heads the floor
studded with stalagmitc pedestals as far below
while directly in front the huge curtain that
hung from the center of the dome-the veil Of
some subterranean mystery-shone rosy-whlte, and
seemed to wave and swing, pendulous in the awful
space We were thoroughly thrilled and pene-
tIated with the exceeding sublimlty of the picture
and turned away reluctantly as the fires burned
cut, feeling that if the cave had nothing else to
show its wonders had not been exaggerated.
Leaving Goran's Dome-the name which has
been given to this hall--we retraced our way
through the Labyrinth, aud following the main
passage short distance further, came to the Bot
tomless Pit, formerly the limit of excursions in
this direction 1t was finally crossed by means of
ladder, and is now securely bridged aud the pain
along its brink protected by an iron railing. The
bridge is renewed every four years, even though
the timbers remain sound, in order to guard against
all possibility of an accident The Pit is I75 feet
deep, and is covered by pointed dome forty or
fifty feet high. Ii is horrid gulf-dark, yawning
and awful as the mouth of Tartarus. Pieces OF
burning paper dropped from the bridge slowly fell
into the depth, eddying backward and forward and
showing the black, furrcwed walls on either side.
The vault above our heads, in Its grooves and
inches and projecting points, reminded me very
wildly Of the Moorish domes In the Alhambra.
There is staiactitc element in Saracenic architec-
ture which must have had its suggestion in Nature.
The avenue beyond the pit leads to the River
Styx, but as we had reserved that portion OF the
cave for the next days trip, returned through
the Deserted Chambers to the Main Cave A
short distance beyond the Giants Coffin We reached
the Great Bend where the avenue changes It's
direction at very acute angle 1t is still upwards
of 100 feet wide and go or 40 in hight, with the