Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-04-08

with beautiful snow white stalactite.,
which glitter like FURNISHED silver ia the
CLEAN Of your torches, and you have but
a faint conception of its grandeur and
beauty. 1t is extremely delightful, and
all the while we imagiaed ourself trans
ported to the bIissful realm Of i" fairy
land" After crossing the lake we soon
arrived at the Rocky Mountains" The
passage ever these is every thing bu,
pleasant. First %clamberiug up a huge
pile of rocks, then down a perpendicular
ledge. now climbing the ladder, then de-
seendiag a rude fight of stairs at times
with lofty ceilings at Others literally
creeping on our hands and knees, was the
way IN which we passed the Rocky
Mountains. Being naturally Of a dreamy
Imaginative turn of mind, we began
comparing it to the path Of Life" and
to wonder whether our fair companion
would journey beside US there, and wheth.
err it would be ours to remove its Difficult
ties and smooth down its rough asper-
tiles. Passing on, the next object of
interest we met with was the Winding
| Way" This is as its name denotes, a
narrow winding passage, walled up on
either side with uubroken, perpendicular
rocks, extending upward as far as the eye
can reach, and worn as smooth as glass
by the trickling water. Nothing can be
more beautiful, and the whole party went
into rapturss over this magnificent fea-
ture.
This terminated in an extensive cham
Der, where we halted for the rest of our
party to come up. After they arrived.
we extinguished our lights to try the
effects of darkness. The sensation felt
cannot be described. The idea of our
situation, being miles from the entrance,
and hundreds of feet below the surface,
surrounded by darkness so intense that it
eould almost be felt, while the silence was
SO awful that you could almost hear the
beating ofyour neighbors pulse, produced
emotions never to be forgotten.
After re lighting our terehss, we held 9
consultation, not of war,")and con
cludsd to retraee our steps, as we had
reached the distance Of Eve miles. But
some Of the party wished to visit the
"Rotundao about a quarter Of q mile dis
tant, and as cur lady was ameng the
number, Of course we joined the company
The entrance Of the passage leading e
this.room vas nearly perpendicular ane
only large enough to admit an ordinary
seized person at a time and he who
would visit the I" Retunda" must prepare
to use all fours." This was the mos
ludierous method Of locomotion we havt
ever tried. We had literally to craw
for IN distance ; and as the party on,
by one entered the passage, they resem
bled SO many ground-hogs retreating t.
their burrows. eve hope the ladies of GU
party will excuse this smile, but the re
ssmblance was SO. strong we could ne
help it,
The Rotunda is a magnificent chamber
circular in form and of spacious dimen
sions, composed Of smooth, unbrokei
walls extending upward like the dome o
a building to an Incredible height.
We felt amply repaid for all our troub
els and returned to the party in ezcellea
spirits. The passage back agein wa,
soon accomplished, and, strange to say
"ioA NOAJ lt0SAS AosAS0Vs II AS bHO GA
p~erienee of all visiting the cave-i
phenomena | am not able to account for
When we again beheld the stars from
the entrance, it was a joyous sight. w,
had been in the ave nearly eight hour,
and had travelled in all about ten miles
On coming out we were a sorry looking
company, with disarranged toilets, anc
wardrobes the worse for the wear" t.
say nothing of the accumulations OF muC
&c, on the ladies boomers" and the
gentlemen's "unmentionables." There
are q great many objects Of interest which
We have not noticed in our hasty sketch
Indeed, language would fail us to describe
all the wonders of this beautiful cavern
We would advise all to pay it a visit, as
surfing them that they will be amply re
paid for their trouble. Go, and behold
the mighty wonders of a woodworking
God, deep in the bowels Of the earth an0
If you have the least spark oflove for the
beautiful in your souls, our word for it
you will return better and happier beings