Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1860-11-21


do, Alaehua count. Florida fur
nlshes tho Now York Josrhal OF
Commerce with the following de-
scription OF sublermnean cavern
recently discovered In that region,
which Is said To surpass IN eNtenl
the celebrated Mammoth Cave oi
kentucky, Mr.. Hartford says-
Tho slructurc of the under stra-
tum oi'.focks and earth IN Florida
is Conversions TO n great eNtcnt. In
deed, ~ Car Ms explorations have
beeh nAn.le, tho ground presents the
appearHiIce of n honeycomb, ON ne
count ofiAo numerous Cavities Which
aro iona.fio exist These indenta-
tions hfrihc surface of the earth,
called ysStske, abound horc- Of
lbrr. sraQllegsparsly yhliqf with
~ &. H. anrrr'pdnr
the q dnnd are seen no niorc.--
Floriiais not only the i,rnd of
flowers, but also the land of Won.
dcrs. a few days Ago Mr., Henry
Wooten, of New York city, aud my
self started ON a hunting expedition,
with the intcntion OF camping out
sovcrdl days. On Saturday, the
29th day of September, we pursued
n deer into n hammock, and at
tempting to ride Though ii Mr..
Wootcn's horse stumbled into small
sink. While Mr.. Wootcn was en-
deavoring to extricate his horse, |
dismountcd, and was engaged in eX-
amining n curious pile of stones
which had attracted my attention.
On one of them i found an inscrip-
ton, as if engraved with some steel
instrument, but nearly obliterated
by the ravagcs of time. Mr.. Woot-
en-, by this time, had led his horse
safely out of the sink, and, on re-
joining me, said he had discovered
Il cave.
After vainly ondeavoring.to to de-
cipher the strange inscription which
| had found, we each collected an
armful of pine wood to serve for
torches. On arriving at the en-
trance, we saw by the light of our
torches that the bottom of the cav
ern was several feet below US
Handing my torch to my friend, |
prepared to descend, which | accom-
plished with ease, the rocks serving
as steps.
"Wooton then handed me down
an armful of light wood and torch,
and prepared to descend further
We now found ourselves in a subter-
raneous passage, about ten feet high
and fifteen wide.
1--WE pursued this passage for
nearly half II mile, it growing lar
gcr at every stop, and appearing to
dcscead into tho earth by an easy
inclination, when we unexpectedly
found ourselves in cave of i'm
mense extent.
1--WE explored it in every direc-
ton, sometimes entering small cav
ern, which led off from the main
cave. We finally entered a sort OF
square doorway, and found our
selves in cavern of most beautiful
appearance, the reflection of our
lights against the SIDES producing a
magnificent effect.
'For the frst time in my life |
felt the full force of that beautiful
description which Goldsmith has
given of the Grotto of Antiparos.-
But the most wonderful thing that
met our view was a Latin inscrip-
tion, craven in the solid rock. The
inscription stated that a party OF
Danes had visited this cave in the
year 1860, and that priest who ac-
companied them had left this me-
mortal of their visit. The name Of
this priest was Marcus Poleus..
1T is also stated that these bold
nayigators had embarked on voy-
age Of exploration, and had been
driven far south !; also, that they
had visited many large islands, and
finally had landed in Il thiclly pop
ulated country, where the people
had received them kindly, thinking
them superior beings; that several
Of their number, together with some
Greek artisans and two priests, had
been left there as a colony.
"This is the substance OF the in
scription, as far as it could be deci
phored. Now, does not this suggest
an important inquiry to the anti
quarian? i
ais 1t not probable that the islands
mentioned were The West indies?
ana may not tlte country whore they
.landeSh be Mexico2 We all know
that ass ancicnt McXicans had a tra-
tlition tilatabou four iluudre'l years
before the landing Of Cortez in that
country, Children Of thei5uns with
white faces, came to them, and
taught them the arts of civilization
"1s it not probable that this colo
nv of Danes and Greeks, with their
two Latin priests, were the persons
referred to by the tradition
Perhaps many buried secrets
concerning the early history ol
America may be revealed by that
strange device.
This wonderful cave is easy OF
access, and situated a few miles from
the Florida railroad, and about ten
miles from Waldo
FoRr Thisjs a lovely 1T
tic spot, situated about three miles