The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-08-19

tan = ext ana natufe. FOn SatuIa ~ last,
ASest l3. Dr.. Cochran, p old "a we'll
We spend the day in the cave, and that We en-
ter Il with the determination to give il . tho
rough exploration. We started early in the
morning In company with his two spirited sons,
Douglass and Wallsce, aged respectively IA and
II years, and with Mr.. Steinbeci, . native of
Sweden, bat now an enterprising citizen Of
Culleoka. Theentrance to the cave Is in the
side Of precipice Of limestone rock, strati6ed
with remarkable regularity.
has sufficient volume to turn mil, and in fact,
. few years since valuable min was located
on this stream, 20 nearfhe entrance 10 the cave
that you could enter Il several hundred yarfs
in canoe, the baek-water from the dam far
uishing sufficient depth. Not having . canoe
at hand, We dofEed the clothing from our low
or extrenit:es, tied them around our necks,
aud with our other garments Il mode SalliS
billiard, in Indian f.e, bid adieu to the light Of
day.. The temperature of the water was just
above the freezing point, aud we had proceeded
but short distance when our limbs ached with
cold to such an extent, that We were upon the
point of abandoning our enterprise. The doc
tor, however, with that spirited energy, and un-
yielding determination. which is so charae-
teristic of him, shouted "Onward!" "Never
give up the ship" and led the way with the han
tclUs 0OOu III W2sef OfCI our iOluB, Ors .Os
made . laundering step and immersed himself
clothes and I'll, beneath The iced bath, but for
tunstely Kept the light above wster. FoFtu-
pstely did ny? WeIthought Il after while
exceedindy unfortupate that the light had not
besn extinguished near the entrance. The rest
of % however, enjoyed good laugh at his ex-
pense.
Aiser advancing thus for two hundred yards
in the water, the doctor went aside to explore
a nd kIxo~>. NJ n~A
some conception Of Egyptian darkness-sso
dark it could be felt"-yes, It could have been
sliced with . knife. A short distance from
where the doctor met with his mishap, the
cave was supposed to divide into two passages,
one directly above the other, thus making .
two-storied cave J, but upon close investigation,
discovered that il had been originally one
ENORMOUS passage, and that the strata which
had formed the root, or rather ceiling, had fall
cave. which converge towards the bottom. We
entered the upper passage, which is known in
the vicinity rs the Dry Cave. The rocks which
form the door of this passage, and which said
before had fallen from the original roof, are Inn
rnense blocks and ore rs smooth q If prepared
by sculptor, and this naturally formed floor
Iould excite the envy of an exquisite in archi-
tecturM taste. In this dry cave We found some
old barrels and se,erai noppcrs, which had been
ssitpetre. These reminiscences ofcur contest for
independence caused rs to reflect with regret
uron the scarcity Of powder-that indispensa-
IL 10 The successful establishment of q new
ccvernmept--wheu our beloved Confederacy
sss struggling within the folds Of an Amazon
ds. which finally crushed her and then destroy.
e the ..best government the world ever saw"
The boards Of which these hoppers were con-
structed, though they had not fallan to pieces,
a. h~A .r4 he h~~I s,.
oueuce of decay. and were perfectly cnyelOted
with mold 60 white, that at first sight our
Svede cried out "Snow! snow!' Doubtless his
chilly sensations as wellas the mold sngges-
ted snow, This white mold enveloping the
houpcrs was if possible whittier than snow, and
the whole presented the appearance of an UNI
dulating snowdrift. II was perfectly beautiful.
Al the end of the upper passage, we climbed
down to the stream again, which flowed through
the lower, Mr.. Steinbeck preceding US and ex-
hibiting his generous magnsnimity by allowing
MS TO use him as ladder, by means Of which
10 accomplish the descent. Now the depth OF
the stream prevented our remaining in the
main current, and we were compelled to clam
Der along the sides, cneing to projectir CROOKS,
now in tie water, NOW climbing over b0ulders.
At this point the passages very narrow, but
pretty soon it began to widen and increase in
height, until we found ourselves in q large
chamber with roof archcd with wonderful beau
", and hanging with dripping stalactites. The
stream here conforms to the shape of the
chamber, widening into basin; aud We made
several unsuccessful attempts to possess our
selves of the longer and more beautiful stalac-
tites, which from the vaulted roof pointed
threateningly towards the pool But 80 rap.
ildy did the water increase in depth Is we ap
preached the centre Of the basin, each Of US in
turn, after making desperate effort, despaired
ofbringiny of such rich trophies. !.
Beyond the stalactite pool We came upon ons
| of the most curious and beautiful scenes it has
| ever been my good fortune to behold. Cold, Al
| We were, when our light first cleaned upon i
before us, it Immediately suggested frozer
cascade, but upon investigation, it proved to b
composed of the same material and formed il
the same way, as the stalacttes, being de
post Of carbonate of lime, from water trickiipf
over succession of shelving rocks. The watel
had ceased to now, aud ia delight elimbet
from shelf ito shelf to q considerable height
| when made slip and came near being precip
/ tinted to the stream below. All shouted a
once, "Mind the light" knowing that the live.
of ali of US depended upon its preservation
| The Doctor seeing the light in imminent danger
| felt for his matches in order to have them a
| hand in case of need, and judge of our. surpris
and dl.m.y, when he remarked that they to,
| had been under the water with him and wer
thoroughly saturated. Wewith pale faces look
ed at each other moment, each anxiOns fac
| inauiring of the other what is to be done. w
then consulted a to the best plan approaching
was a considerable distance up the apparently
petrified cascade with the light, and the descen
was precipitous and uncertain; but to descend
must, andthe others gathered below me in or
der to rescue the lamp before it reached the Wa
ter, should be unsuccessful in my descent
After a moments deliberation, placed th
| handle of the lamp in my mouth, and raisin
| NV feet and both hands. fortunately reache
the bottom in safety. But still our anxiety
though lesseued, was not entirely relieved, TO
several times in deep water our light narrowl
escaped being extinguished, as We were under th
| impress sion that our matches were in good con
dition, and felt no anxiety ir regard toit. NOV
| we fully appreciated our danger, as one fa.s
step at any moment might submerge the ligh
and We knew that to follow the serpentin
wiudipes of this passage without light wa
| an impossibility. Indeed, We we're com
PEELED to use every precau.ion to prevent los
ing our way on our return, as the branch cave
and cha mbcrs were so numerous as to make
perfect labyrinth.
give one 10 each of the party, 50 that If on
lost his light, It could be restored. After tn
adoption of this scheme, each of US was afra
to trust himself or the Others to remove tn
candle from the lamp with fingers tremblin
with cold. During the process OF removal, al
hearts ceased to beat, as each one remembers
that the slightest accident might enclose then
beneath those hills forever, but rcbOunded joy
fully with the successful accomplishment o
our wishes. Under these disadvantages VI
pressed on, animated with an intense desire =
TO be the first who had ever seen the end Of thl
wonderful natural curiosity, until our furthe
progress was arrested BY the depth of the cur
rent, and our only chance of successfully reach
| ing the end was over shelving rock of grea
| height, The weight of this shelf had causet
along its whole length crack where the uppe
! side Joins the walls of the cave, and our gal
| liant Swede by inserting his fingers in the crack
with his feet unsupported, disappeared in tn
darkness of the cave. He called for the ligh
| to be placed In such a position that the re
done he recoiled with horror from the verl
verge OF a frightful precipice, the heigh
IF which he had no means of asccrtaining
| Thus arrested ON enc side by the depth Of th,
current, and on the other by the height of thu
| precipice, we had, with however much regret t
| give over that thorough exploration for which
We had labored SO energetically.
| To secure q safe return, at points where VI
thought we would be in doubt Is te the RICH
road, we tied strings directly across our patti
| with small rock fastened to that end Of thu
string which pointed the way. EOtwithstaud
| ing this precaution, we were frequently pux
| zled on our return to know which way we hat
come, and on several occasions the party separ-
ated, took different directions, until sigma
| from those who had recognized some land
mark, called the others back. We would havt
been subjected to much greater difficulty, hat
not the sharp eye of Douglass marked the din
erent localities with great accuracy. We bat
deposited our clothing, when we found that VI
| would he in water SO much. aud thought W,
could easily find them. In this belief we vert