Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-12-25
lrfans o. Subscription.
rive Dsltsns 4 YKax, IN ADVANCE
es.ss n PaiA wisIia six Hosshs.
- - sAe RAS Of tAs Tear.


WaSA tSW W ttfC WaitcIcC. ~ muy DO
that It was formed blythe various ele-
nsepts In the Natnral world ebcying
implicitly She hehestsc f organic law,
or, - ! stated n nssy have been
formed by tho Almighty Fiat. Of the
Great I Am, for purposes Of His Own
appointment. The revelations Of
eternity will unva1 the hidden
things Of life. After giving vent TO
the above truths, Claiborne took from
his pocket a tape line and compass,
and remarked while, 30 doing, that
there were other revelations Of
stupendous character yet on tho
"tapfs.n I felt very like I had seen
enough, but I did not believe TINT
Claiborne would willingly consent
to my departure ut this state Of Tire
enterprise, and / thought, thet II I
were compelled to have difficulty Of
any kind with him, It were better, Mt
least, for lilo world, n not for me,
chat I remain and CLEAN all the infor-
nation I'could. He then stopped
down and placed one end II the line
on the center Of the skuli, and gave
me the other end, and indicated to
me the direction to be taken, after ad-
Justing the compass ; be took care,
noticed, 70 replace the loose sand on
the stone crucinx, before leaving his
post AFTER various settings ofthe COM
pass, and alternate measurexnents, We
|flnaly came to the point Indicated In
the sryptograph, Wis.,: That Of six
hundred and fifty feet. He then took
the designated angle, measured of
sixteen feet to the base Of the wall,
and said, "This ID the spot.n II may
be proper to state, that all these dis.
tances and courses 10 taken, by Ciai-
borne, were merely taken fOr my IN
struction; for, nom the hints already
given by him, ! believe that he could
have gone to the same place without
line or compass. Ho stooped down
and moved few loose stones, rand
ETC., and revealed asmooth, fiat rock,
unpublished, however, which appeared
TO be setting up against the wall Of
rock. This he removed, and disclosed,
by so doing, hole or aperture In the
wall, near Its base, about three feet by
two. Into this hole Claiborne crcpt,
and directed me to follow him. The
hole In depth was not moro than
eighteen inches, merely passing nom
enc compartment Of the cave 70 an
other. When we got through the
aperture, ! noticed Claiborne turned
round, stopped down, THRUST his hand
through the opening. and rs-adjustsd
the fat rock to its original POSI-
tion. I now behald the:most magnif-
cent sesus that I ever saw. Wsstood
on dat, smooth rock, at the head
Of another compartment Of Dunbar's
Cave, while In mont lay steps decsnd-
ing At least sixty feet down 10 the
main floor, there were thirty eight Of
these steps, and they Appeared to BIO
Of equal thickness, and think, fully
fifteen or eighteen inches In width,
and nearly Of the same corresponding
depth. These steps appeared highly
polished by nature, just - though
they were from tho hand Of the skill
full architect; the ceiling from the
upper steps must have been flfty feet,
add to this slxty additional feet being
the distance from the upper steps to
tile main floor, we have the almost
Incredible attitude, of one hundred
andten feet. The steps We descended,
and stood upon tho main floor or
basement, which was NJ smooth as
the finest dressed Parisian MARBLE
The width Of this part Of the cave bo-
ing about ninety feet, with no OBJ
lstructIons whateverto mar It's beauty
or to deform Its stately magnificencc.
We advance, I suppose, about six
hundred yards, then we came TO an
actual field Of pendant stalactltes,
giitterlng Ia all their respiendcnt
beauty, a great many Of which hung
from the ceiling a. low down as to DO
within reach of our hands, reflect Ing
our lamp lights as though from. q
thousand prisms. Oh what beauty
and matchless excellence! To walk
amid this beauty ono would fancy
himself In submarine depths, lost In
alteration, gazing In wonder and AZ
tonishment upon the rainbow tints Of
Its coral reifs /; passing which we came
Ito q grove Of magnificent stalagmitcs
reaching even from the base TO the
ceiling. Some Of these would meas
ure nine feet In circumference, as re-
fiected 10 beautifully, they appeared
rs II they wero transparent. These
grew In close proximity 10 each other,
frequently allowing bare room to
pass between them. Finally we
passed this grove. which was, I think,
about two hundred and fifty yards In
length, and came TO another free and
open space, like that near the en-
trance. We continued our walk now
In silence for about one handred
yards when Claiborne whispered,
walk light, for we are now In the
presence Of our betters." I asked
him what he meant 2 He replied
Thou fool, not to know thattis PIu-
tonian Lortiship rcigns here, snpreme,
and none dare gainsay bis suthori-
Ity or oontrovert his WILL" What
ever conceptions might have hither-
TO formed concerning Challenges
sanity, Inow knew, and that, too
certainty. that he was what . jury's
Inoueat would term. tau0u t,0arDxs