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

sly. Your reason vainly tells you that Il Ia but
crust Of black oxyd Of manganese, sprnkIed with
crystals OF gypsum, seyenfy-iye feet above your
head; You see that II Is fathomless heaven, with
its considerations twinklIng in the llimitable space
You are no longer upon this Earth You are in a
iluDder-riven gorge of the mountains of .Jupiter.
looking up at tie strange armament of that darker
planet. You see other consultations rising far up
in tie abyss Of midnight, and witness the occulta
fion Of remOter staIs.
Tie fascination OF that scene would have held
us there for tie remainder Of the day if the guide
Lad permitted il. After indulging us for what he
considered sufficient length OF time, be took our
lamps, aud descending into branch cavern that
opened from the floor treated us to some fine eff
fects Of light and shade. BY skillful manage
nent of his lights be produced the appearance Of
a thunder cloud rising aud gradually apreading
over the sky The stars are lost the comet
cletnirg pCrtentous on the horizon, disappears;
and the gorge is wrapped in shadow. Then the
clouds break and clear away, and the stars seem
TO twinkle with a more bright aud frosty luster
after tleir obscuraton. I" Take care of your
:" ,elyesrr cries the guide, and we hear his foot
stems passipc under the floor He has all our
lamps and we can now see but faint gllmmer
through the opening he entered. Now il is but the
Ghost of a plimmer; and now, as his footsteps are
n ne ndistinct il ceases altogether Yes, this is
dai kness-solid, pslpable darkness. Stretch out
youi hand and you can grasp 1t; open your mouth
and il will choke you. Such must have been the
rriusl tIsos 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 a golden nebulous glow stole upon
the darkness, seemingly brighter than the sunrise
radiance of the East, and increased until our guide
nrd lamps rose above the horizon. We now re-
Al. nd IN n
Gothic Avenue. For more than quarter OF
nile this avenue has a ceiling perfectly Hat, 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
il is called tie 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 portrats-for there were frequently
rude attempts at drawing the figures of sheep aud
uics Tie lamps used at present prevent all suca
decoration, but there still land probably al
wa,s will be) touching applications for candles
lie roof gradually became broken and rugged,
studded here and there with unfinished staactltes,
and we now entered the Gothic Chapel, where
those stony iccles 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, bus
III is very anu '''y"h" 'i'' INV
specimens of stalactitic formation are very numcr-
GUS and have not time to describe them mi
rutely. We passed Nspoleon's Breastworks, Nul-
cans Shop, the Elephants Head and the Pillars OF
Hercules hard by which is the Lovers Lesp
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
a lower gallery leading to other wonders, among
which the guide mentioned The Devils Cooling
Tub" but we had scarcely sufficient time to ex-
plore 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
and looked out from behind the falling skein OF
water the trees seemed to 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 exhilarating nitrous atmosphere below
felt close uDpleasantly warm and oppressive Ike
that Of an ill-yentated greenhouse In Winter.
There was too much perfume in it-tOo many va
rieties OF vegetable smells-ior | found that the
short absence had made my scert 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 Eoon write to you again, describing our seq
Ond trip underground. b. T.