The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-02-02

"Were you ever inthu Nam Gs4p
II is, with all its wonders fhar
forsaken, dreaFy, gloomy apot Hg
entered. Yet, there is Goue sIiN ~
tic power in the place e tsan la
weakest. most wFetched muu,1
mony fit for the celestial sphsrt8 sa
"Alter pOking shout IN The l q
the Garth for three or four h0ugu' "
to the Cave arrive at Echo Rive. =
they embark on q di<gustinglY M Mey
scow, or, If the party is large
two or three wrctched b0ata aru 81
into requisitiOn. The wotnon -
dressed in fancifully colored hlonn 81
tire, and, with the uplifted lantegn1 pre-.
sent strange and weird appears ies
the boat is pushed from the shoT 81
floats down into the black RI311 ~
lights rejecting Themselves on Tho
Of the deadly still watss, and ilekl u
with strange effect tho arch OF TNgl -
head. When they are fairly out az
VIC enter the other boat, and oosseIttu
pUsh out into the dark stream. USFE,
awfulIy dark 1t Is. The dark river of
death finds on earth no more vivid ,paEalel
Nhnn this. You know, in the Ilksi rlctsIEn
of Coles Voyage Of Life tho gl66t1v
river Of the past from which floats 6k1t
into life and light the little bost Of tlIa
baby voyager. The stream issues ffUu1a
dark, rocky cavern, mysterious and m
known. Such stream IL this on Whisk
We are embarked. Silent and gloomy.
dark and mysterious, it serves aS typ6
of the past and the future-of the past
,uvofnrXg ,sho0o,, alI Iscn o.al... - A.
inscrutablc future whittier oil Diie tends.
"Thc feeling Of security Is not very
great. The boats sink down almo11gte
the waters edge, and the perpenaleels
slippery rock on either side offers no I1eo
on which n shipwrecked voyager might
find temporary footing. Above, some.
times 80 low that you must crouch 10
avoid it, and again 10 high a. TO be hardly
visible, rises tho rock roof, whilo the va
ter In which you glide Is thirty sss =
depth, and as cold as the brow Of Z oossbs.
There Is no sound but the rippllnf sas
by the boat; not cricket ulOne alhS
shorelcss stream, not fish to plunge mp
md flash moment in Ihe air before r..
turning to its " atery home-nO symptoms
Of life-no sound, no motion, save that
made by ourselves. .a.3si
lIark there Is o sound! Far o0e =
delicate shade Of music, so faint as 70
seem the ghost Of some wandering echo,
But by degrees It increases. Il becosaRs
clear and defined. Rich harmony, tssm.
bling with strange sensuous wildnegs.
fiuttering around the wateEy projections.
swelling In waves ofharsAony to the arched>
voof nl,0vn Nner, q Gr,aalAs.n A.. n.,...~ fssi
ono direction, now from another. AmOn
q higher note or strain is heard, like sosns
clear voice rising above q mighty chorpas
Never did syren sing more magic soaes
to listening trnveler-nevcr did the mys-
terious maiden Of Lurleiburg chaunt more
enhancing melody to the unwary baaE<
man who fonts along the moonIit RhimeT'
"Suddenly turn of the boat brings
yon opposite break in tho perpcndIcn.
lar rocky shore, and perched upon mass
OF broken rock. yousee party ofslpur
negroSs piaytNe UF6i5 viss,i15 q
net. Those arc the syrcns, these the,
Lurlines of Echo river. Out on the safth's
surface their music would be merely quaint
and odd, but here, In the Mammoth Cave,
it is weird and unearthly. @i,
Floating away, out Of sight Of the
above minstrels-wh0 are, in fact, the
bootblacks,or walters from the hotel at tho.
mouth of the cave-their music resumss
its supernatural tones and effect, and %.
until VIC land at the opposite shore of the
dark river, 1t haunts the ear with its pecu.
liar harmony, while ever after Il forms the
most vivid "reminiscences Of o visit b The
Mammoth Cave" @ - - =, = Z