The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-04-14

which TO cross the mysterious stream
chat laa, IN the former occasion, stop.
ped their further progress. The party
set forth in the highest spirits. DR..
| HaWn, whose sad fate has cast q gloom
over the entire community, was espe-
cially buOyant The doctor was great
ly exhilarated by the prospect of an
exciting and adventurous day, and his
/ good humored wit and ready repartee =.
were the life and soul Of the party.
The expedition proceeded without
delay 10 the terminus Of the former eX,
ploration on the banks CT the subter-
rsnean river Those who had accom-
panied the former ex pedition noticed
percepitable change in the appearance
of the stream, which seemed 10 be
much fuller and more turbulent, plung-
ing and roaring in some unknown
abyss below. A consultation was held
on the bank, TO determine whether an
attempt should be made to cross in its
present swollen condition. Mr. Knapp,
myself and Sheriff SWayne suggested
an abandonment Of the expedition,
but we're oVerruled by DR.. Hawn, Major
ThrockmOrton, Captain Holcrsft and
| Mr.. Brandon, who, while admitting the
! dangerous character of the attempt,
declared they would rather perish than
abandon the expedition now, and stand
| the rldicule which such a movement
would entail upon their heads. The
boat was accordingly launched, and
! Captain Holcraft, DR.. Hawn and my
self entered, the doctor playfully re-
mar king that some men who were des-
] fsroI a. 4 10 i
be drowned. We found the passage
much easier than we expected Cap
tain Holcrsft took the oars, while
grasped the tiller and the doctor held
6loft the hambeau. A few vigorous
strokes, and, with a sensation of relief,
we felt the keel crate upon the pebbles
Of sloping bank on the other shore,
| in still and quiet water A lusty cheer
! from the doctor made the cavern ring,
and informed the rest Of the party that
the passage had been safely accom-
plished. Captain Holcraft then return
ed, and soon brought over the remain
der of the party The boat was firmly
| secured to q stout iron stake, brought
along for the purpose, and the party
proceeded on the expedition Di
rectly ahead was a wide gallery,
whose roof was so high that we could
scarcely distinguish it by the feeble
| light Of the lamps, while the TO right
and left the stream ran through an..
other gallery or chamber, the two in
tersecIing each other like the arms of
q Greek cross We followed the gal
lery before us for about a quarter Of
mile, when it suddenly narrowed, and
| apparently came TO an abrupt teTmina-
ton. After searching for an outlet,
aud finding none, we were on the point
of reluctantly turning back, when a
shout of exultation from DR.. HaWn
proclaimed that he had found an open
ing To the right, and some distance
/ from the termination of the cal de sac,
the Doctor had discovered narrow
opening Crawling through this on our
| hands and knees for a distance of sew
eral hundred yards, We came upon a
high Vaulted chamber, partially lighted
| from above, which was the most mag
/ nihcent underground hall | have ever
seen. Thousands of slalactytes and !
stslagmites hung pendant from above
rejecting the glare of the torches in
millions of pure rays of dazzling light
/ IL the ceiling and sides had been liter
ally hung with enormous clusters Of |
diamonds, the effect could not have !
been more bewildering For a moment |
the entire party was awe stricken and |
/ speechless. Then the more excitable |
/ ones broke forth in rapturous applause. |
Captain Holcraft declared it was the |
proudest moment of his life not ex-
cepting the memorable occasion when, |
as Captain of the gunboat Opossum, he !
| stampeded the rebel light artillery be-
/ low Nicksburg. Ut HRwn made a
| speech, taking possession of the cham.
Der in the name Of the ereat American
| people, the academy CT medicine and
the code" Mr. Knapp and myself
busted ourselves in gathering speci.
mems Major Throokmorton drew a
willow covered sextant from his breast
pocket and proceeded TO take an 'Ob- |
servRtion, while Sheriff Swsyne, who |
had been entrusted with the commissa- |
riat of the expedition, proceeded TO
spread a lunch
After exhsusting the solids and |
fluids, and feasting our eyes to safety |
on the Undesirable splendor of the |
surroundings, we proceeded 10 further |
discoveries. Numerous small galleries |
we're found, rsdiating in every direction |
/ from the central chamber. and these
we're explored in turn, some of them
coming 20 an abrupt close, against a
dead, blank wall Of rock, and othefs
gradually narrowing, until they could |
be followed no further Others fOrked
branching off into two and three other
galleries L. was found that the thor
ough exploration of the cavern from
this point would be q work Of weeks, if
not months. In one place was found a
deep circular hole, apparently almost
bottomless Stones dropped into its
graping mouth would be heard sullen-
IL plunging from side 20 side, until the
noise Of their descent was lost in the
abyss far below. Mr.. Knapp being the /
hghtest Of the party, was let down by |
| strong cord a distance of some thirty |
yards, when he vigorously signifed /
that he had seen enough by Jerking |
the rope He was dawn up, looking /
q trife paler than usual, and declaring |
that his curiosity had been amply sat |
is6ed Mr. ksspp said that, after de-
soending q distance Of fifteen or twenty 4
feet, numerous winged things, appa. 4
/ renty bats, fitted constantly about his 1
ears, yiciously swapping their mandi- /
bles together with devilish sort Of 4
twitter. One Of these cold, elammy 4
aud ineKpressibly nasty, slighted on his 4
/ face, and inflicted a severe bite. Mr.
| Knapp nearly tainted with disgust, and 4
declared that il the rope had not been
| tied under his arms he would have
I fallen.
Now comes the most painful part Of
/ the story. Tired, and weary OF sight
seeing, the party was on the point Of
I starting on the return, when, st the
earnest solicitation Of Dr. Hswn. we
consented 10 81 least partially explore
another cavern 10 was followed bat
short distance when il suddenly mar
roWed Mr.. Knapp, going first passed
through the opening on his hands and
knees, and entered smother large cham.
Der Dr., Hawn, who is 3 very heavy
man, attempted 10 follow, and became
inextFicsbly fixed in the passage lie
could neither get forward nor back. For
three hours the party worked inces-
sanity, but al 70 no purpose We sent
back 10 the river and got the iron
staAe, with which the boat had been
fastened, 20 use As a croWbar With
this the Doctor might have been extri-
Gated, but here new calamity mani
Tested itself One by Que the lamps
had burned out until barely enough
OIL was EFT 10 light Us on our way back
20 the river The thought Of being ina.
prisoned n that living tomb was too
terrible 10 be endured, for we knew
that without light we could never find
our way back A panic seized upon
the patty, and haEiiiN leaving The ne.