Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-08-10
South, above and below, about $50 feet. An

| right angles. The rooms are well furnished
| and everything has the air of neatness and
comfort. The servants are the most polite
| and prompt l have ever met They antici-
pate every want, and the scjourner may have
no thought but of enjoyment. A few min
utes after our arrival and hasty toilet. our
first rendezvous was the breakfast room,
which, to use compendious phrase of one of
the party We found "all right" We spent
| the first day, which the Sabbath, in
promenading the grounds, and serious con-
versations on the happy progress of our trip.
| The next morning early preparations were
made to enter the Cave. The ladies came
| out ..in costume looking if possible, more
| charming than ever before. As nearly as
your bachelor friend can remember, it was
| closely allied TO the "bloomer.n If his i'm
| preston is correct, he now declares himself
| a firm friend TO Mrs. Swisshelm,-as long
he shall remain single. They, the girls, be-
trayed some signs of trepidation, and pro-
badly had sharp contest who should go
| first" The guide, FRANK De MoNBREUN pre-
sented himself. and the gleeful Free and Easy
| Clnh took up the line of march for the great
| under ground wonder. We reached the
mouth of the Cave some 200 yards from the
| Hotel, and while the guide lighting his
lamps we sat down on the lips of the cavern
| and felt the rush of its cool breath.
The entrance is aruggtd hole in the ground,
say rs feet in diameter and 80 in depth, quite
steep but passable 10y steps. Each taking
| lamp. we descended, and in less than 100
yards, were beyond day light We then en-
! tered the .'Narrows," a small archway just
high enough for man to walk Underneath,
and met a stiff current of chilling air rushing
out. In passing, half our lamps were extin-
guished, and there were some signs of alarm;
but the guide assured us that the worst was
over, relighted our lamps and called our at
tentiOn to the remains of the saltpetre mines
which were once worked here, and abandoned
| 40 years ago The watts are broken and half
filled. but the timbers used are in perfect
state of preservation The footprints Of oxen,
and the impressions of cartwheels are still
plainly visible in the roadway. though they
have been trod over by, perhaps, hundred
thousand visitors. We pressed on TO the
great Rotunda, the ceiling of which is 100 feet
high and its greatest diameter us feet. This,
the guide stated was Immediately under the
dining room Of the Hotel, asccrtaincd by
hearing the sounds in eXcavating cellar for
the latter. 1t is magnificent and stately
apartment, and is the most spacious Of all
the halls in the Cave. We next approached
thu Church. which is half mile from the en-
a,I ri, Cd
as place of worship by the Methodists. The
seats remain in their first position, and the
ledge of rock which projects twenty feet
above. and was used as pulpit, stands as
firmly as the truths which were cXpounded
from it. Here the atmosphere seemed mo-
tioaless, and instead of chilling, as in the
Narrows, became supremacy pleasant and eX-
hilarating We Invested ourselves of all eX-
ira clothing, and was fully prepared for our
task.
And now we behold with an interest and
awe which nothing else could inspire, and in
rapid succession, the rugged cliffs, the stupen-
dous domes. the high arched halls, the smooth
ceiling, the grotesque galleries. the fantastic
figures, the hills, valleys, precipices. rivers,
lakes, chasms. pits labyrinths, chambers, grot-
toes, arcades. avenues, and all the grand and
diversified scenery of the most extensive and
rcma. kable cavern known to man. But who
shall describe them seriatim Who shall con-
vey in words the imp essions of wonder and
animation of him who stands bewildered un-
der the miniature heaven of the star chamber,
and looks up to the armament. now jewelcd
with stars, now overcast with storm cloud?-
who shall paint the feeling of loneliness
and desolatiOn that pervades the soul as
he stands in the silent gloom of the Deserted
Chambers who shall speak the inehabe
splendors of Gorau's Dome the blue light
illumines upward and downward, an abyss
inlaid and relieved with diamonds and pearls,
and all manner Of precious stOnes?-who the
fearful darkness of the Bottomess Pit. over
looked from the Bridge of Signs, the heavenly
illusion of the Floating Clouds and Drifting
Shows, the delightful vision of Proctor's Ar
cadc, and Wright's Rotunda, the wonderful
perfection of the Gothic Galleries and the
Gothic Church, the rough thunderbolts and
the crisped cinders of Vulcan's Smithy, the
aspect of the Sleeps of Time. the ruins of the
Chief City, the humble descent into the Val
ley of Humility and celebrating Plain of
Great Relief! These may not be described
with pen, nor painted with pencil, nor felt uu-
seen-any more than the setting of the sun
or the outSpread heavens above Us. There is
nothing in the Mammoth Cave worth a silver,
but to be seen. The visitor has nothing to do
with the dull theories of chemistry, the car
Donate and bcarbOnate of lime, carbonic acid,
the oxides and sulphatcs, gypsum, stalactites,
staagmites, &c. He sees them and their eff
fects and is content They are well in the
laboratory, in the study, when one searches
for the philosophy of the Caves formation
and even here, they may lead astray.
But here we are at Lake Purity. We bring
out the sparkling Catawba and toast the Cave.
the guide, FRANK. and each other. We dabble
in the chrystal fountain, and dash our fore
heads over with the cool bright water, and
take our way forth. We have ended the short
route, having walked six or eight miles. We
string out in heightened procession, aud wake
the echoes of the main Cave again with the
voice of life. We are all exhilaratcd and in
eXtacies We swing our lamps carelessly and
watch the gipsey cavalcade, and its grotesque
shadows on the walls. We press through the
narrows, and anon rise to the surface. The
air inside registers SO Farh.-outside S0S
OF course the change of 81 in an instant
would prove oppressive. We reached the
unt..I NJ hnlrnnsi l = NJ and SOON sat down