Litchfield enquirer., 1869-08-19

tdrivinga short distance through the mead. ows, which: skirt the base ofethe mountain, the horses weresleft securely fastened, and the party proceeded to ascend themountain sides con foot. alaaaf9 Hiw tiiide1aD 'eH ItaOne gentleman, who had acquired some
 knowledge of 'thal locality from visit made sixteen 1years previously, volunteered to
 conduct the party directly to the spot. but after toilng up the accliyity for upwards of anphour through 2 dense growth of un.
 derbrush and small saplings whose branch.
 es were so intertwined as to form in some places an almost impenetrable barrier, and
 after climbing over several perpendicular
 lodges of rocks we found ourselves appa-
 rently no nearer the ~'spot" than at the
 start. It was then decided to cut loose
 from such leadership. and to thoroughly
 search the ground over in small squads, in
 order to ascertain whether there was or
 was not an opening in the surface large
 enough to admit the body of man, q question concerning which some doubts
 had now been expressed. One gentleman
 succeeded in finding an aperture sufficient Fly large to admit of his head, but after
 vainly attempting to insert the rest of his
 body gave it up in despair and concluded
 to look further. ! ~j H5E5Ia9 =---s. l They search however was not to be of
 long duration, for but . short time had
 elapsed when the stentorian voice of Mir. B, was heard shouting at the top of his lungs. [" Tbe cave, the cave, Eureka at
 last" ,Alsimultaneous. rush was made to the spot from whence thevoie proceeded,
 and there, sure enough deep down in g |travine. at the base of an immense ledge of
 roekss over grown with shrubs and trees, towering upwards to ahl immense height the mouth of the, cave was plainly to be
 seen! leThaio of the party at the prospect
 before them was unbounded,- costumes were immsdiately Sdonnead, candles lighted,
 and cautiously the foremost spirit. follow
 ed by. the others disappeared from view into the darkness below.a59a ai eH -af ? ii The descent at the entrance is spmewhat steep for about twenty feet and progress is necessarily slow at this point. At the foot oi
 the deolivisy lies F ;. platform of shelving
 rocks whose farther extremity terminates in Q chasn apparently reaching downward
 to great depth. The top of rickety lad.
 der,1howevsr. which had probably been placed there years before by some adven- tturous explorers, was discovered protruding
 from the ohasm. showing that there must tbea solid foundation at thebottom. Avail ing themselves of this means of descent, the
 party slowly proceeded downward into the tobscurity below. No light save the flick
 ering of the candles illumined their path way, and the only sound to obe@ heard was
 the nppling of the water as it rolled along r in it's stanya channel beneath their feet.
 Once at the foot of the ladder, they found
 themselves in an immense gallery whose
 sides reaching upward to 2 great height meet at the top to form . complete arch,
 the walls of which were covered with the Ecarbonaceous deposit always, found in
 these ysubterrhnean regions. Proceeding Ealong this corridor 2, short distance; the l passage becomes wider and still higherun.
 til the Dome Chamber ia reached. 9 This
 chamber is paear1paps forty feet in length, 'oi ! an obfong shape, its sides being of<solid
 rock adorned with thousands. of glittering
 stalaltitic formations, which extend so ia,
 upward into the, darkness above that the .teommono lights carried failed to reveal the Itop. Leaving the Dome Chamber and l passing on through ani irregular vaulted 4passage fora distance of ea, few rodsothe fCathedral Chamber is entered, This cham. f Der is. of about the same dimensions as the previous one, perhaps not quite as large
 onecorner stands an enormous column
 of stone supported Cat tits base by several Large rocks. so thrown together as to have
 the appearance of perfectly formed pull. tpit. A huge boulder suspended fromtthe top of the chamber directly over the pulpit
 was evidently designed by the great maker
 of this wonderful piece ofarchitectnre as a . sounding board for the preacher a1n sid Il4sA short distance farther on appears the 'f~cascade, formed by the ragged edgeso ol lshelving rocks arranged one upon another 90 artisticafly as to resemble, when alani |nated by the light of 2 candle, sparkling waterfall, although nothing but the natur'
 al damp moisture from tAe earth was drip. {; ping from it's surface at the time. Several galleries branch off in different directions, lat this point, from the main one, which Heads onward for h distance of 2 few rod. and terminates in an aperture sufficiently .I large to admit ths body of man; but as some Of the party had Intentionally explod. ed few of the Roman candles, the dense
 smoke soon filed the immense cavern in
 such volumes that no satisfactory examina. : t>.. IL ho~,orl ord xlo u l.