New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-06-13

Won FORGET that there is an outer world somewhere
above YOU. The hours have no meaning: Time
ceases TO be- no thought Of labor, no sense Of re-
spousibity, no twinge Of conscience, intrudes to
suggest the existence you have left You walk in
some limbo beyond the confines Of actual life, yet
no nearer the world of spirits. For my part
could not shake off the impression that | was
wandering on the outside Of Uranus or Neptune, or
some planet still mere deeply buried in the from
tier darkness of our solar system.
Washington Hall marks the commencement of
Elindo-avenue straight hall aboutsixty feet wide,
twenty in hight and tuo miles long. 1t is COM
pletely ncrusted from end to end with crystaliza-
tions Of gypsum white as snow Ihlsis the crown
ing marvel of the cave the pride and the boast of
the guides Their satisfaction is no less than
yours, as they lead you through the diamond grot-
toes the gardens of spsrry eiiorescence, and the
cleaning vaults of this magical avenue. We first
entered the Snow. ball Room" where the gnOme-
children in their sports have peppered the gray
walls and ceiling with Thousands of white
projecting dies, perfect in their fragile beauty,
that they seeI ready TO melt away under the blaze
of YOUR lamp. Then commences Cleyeland's Cab
met, gallery of crystals the richness and variety
of which bewilder you. Ii is subterranean
conservatory, filed with the flowers of all the
zones; for there are few blossoms which expand
On the upper earth but are mimicked in these gar
deDs of Darkness. | cannot lead you from niche
to niche, and from room 70 room, examining in de-
tail the enchanted growths; they are all rich
and so wonderful that the memory does not at
tempt 10 retain them Sometimes the hard lime
stone rock is changed into parterre of white
roses sometimes il is starred with opening daises;
the sunfowers spread their flat discs and rayed
leaves; the fcathery chaices Of the cactus hang
from the clefts; the night blooming cereus opens
securely her snowy cup, for the morning never
comes TO close it. the tulip is here virgin, and
knows not that her sisters above are clothed in the
scarlet Of shame.
In many places the ceiling is covered with
nammary crystaIzatiOn as If myriad bubbles
were rising beneath it's glttering surface Even
on this ieweled soil which sparkles all aroun you,
grow the lilies and roses, singly overhead, but
clustering together toward the base of the vault,
where they give place to long, snowy pendul0us
cactusfowers, which droop like fringe around
Gamonded inches. Here you see the passOn-1Ow
err with its curiously curved pstils; there an iris
with IFS lanceolate leaves and again, punches of
celery with stalks white and tender enough for a
fary's dinner. There are occasional patches of
gypsum tinged of a deep amber color by the pres-
ence Of iron. Through the whole length of the
avenue there is no cessation of the wOndrous work.
The pale rock-blo0ms burst forth everywhere,
cTOwdiDg on each other until the brittle sprays
cannot bear their weight, and they fall to the floor.
The slow silent eflorescence still goes on, as it
has done Tor ages In that buried tr0plc.
What mostly struck Inc in my underground
travels was the evidence of design which found
everywhere. Why should the forms of the Earth's
outer crust, her flowers and fruits, the very
heaven itself which spans her, be so wonderfully
reproduced What laws shape the blossoms and
the foliage OF that vast crystalline garden There
seemed to be something more than the accidental
combinations of blind Chance in what saw
some evidence of an informing and directing VIII.
Al a
duced their wonders have been at work for thou
sands of years, perhaps thousands of ages, fash
ioning the sparry splendors in the womb of dark
ness with exquisite a grace, true an instinct
of beauty as in the palm or the lily, which are
nodded by the hands of the sun. What power ia
it which lies behind the mere chemistry of Nature,
impTegDating her atoms with such subtle laws OF
symmetry What but that Divine Will which
first gave her being and which is never weary of
multiplying for Man the lessons of His infinite
wtdOm7
AT the end Of ElindOavenue the floor sinks,
then ascends, and is at last blocked up by huge
pile of large, loose rocks When we had reached
the foot the roof of the suddenly lifted and
expanded, and the summit of the Rocky Noun
talns, as they are called, leaned against void
waste OF darkness. We climbed to the summit,
about hundred feet above, whence we looked
down into an awful gulf, spanned far above our
heads by hollow dome of rock The form of
this gigantic hall was nearly eptical. IL was
probably $50 feet in hight by 500 in length, the
ends terminating near the roof in the cavernous
mouths of other avenues The guides partly de-
scended the hill and there kndled brilliant Ben
gal light which disclosed more clearly the form Of
the hall, but thought it more impressive as its
stupendOus proportions were first dimly revealed
by the light OF our lamps Stephen, who dsc0v-
cred misplace gave it the name of the DISMAL
Hollow"
Scrambling along the ridge of the Rocky Mount
aims, gained the entrance to the cavern opening
on the left, which We followed for about two hun
drcd yards when it terminated in q lofty circular
DONE called Croshan Hall. The floor on one
side dropped suddenly into a deep pit, around
which were several cushions OF staagmite, answer
ing to short stalactites, hanging from the ceiling
far above At the extremity of the hall was sort
Of recess, formed by staactitic pillars. The wall
behind it was mass of vened aabaster Here"
said stephen, sis your Ultima Thule. This is the
/" end of the Mammoth Cave, nine miles from day
light But doubt whether there is really an
end Of the cave any more than end of the earth.
Notwithstanding the ground We had trayersed, we
had left many vast avenues unexplored, aud a care
full search would doubt lead TO further discoye-
Ties.
Weretraced our steps slowly along Elindo avenue
stopping every few minutes to take last look at
the bowers OF fairy blossoms. After reaching
Washingtons Hall we noticed that the air was no
longer till, but was blowing fresh and cool in our
faces. Stephen observed it also and said There
"has been heavy rain outside" Entering the
pass of FL Ghor again at Martha's Vineyard We
walked rapidly forward without making a halt TO
it's termination at Silliman' avenue. The distance
is reckoned by the guides at little more than mile
ard bali, and We were just forty minutes in
walking it, We several times felt fatigue, espe-
cialy when passing the rougher parts of the cave
but the sensation always passed away in some I'M
accountable manner Leaving US fresh and hnnYant