Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-01-18
KIDD,S CAVE.

Fenianism. 81 am sick of fightlng," he was
heard to say months before his death, "but we
must see it to the end"
KIDD'S CAVE.
During the dog days last Summer, amused
myself by hunting up some OF the localities
linked by tradition withe name of the famous
hard pressed by Lord Belloment, who finally
caused him to he hanged, the pirate concealed
in some safe place vast amount of treasure
We have nothing now to do with the whlmsl-
Cal stories told about exciting adventures in
digging for these coveted chests gittering
with costly jewels, ancient coins and solid
wedges of gold. The matter of fact is that,
within the memory of persons now living,
excavations for Kidd's treasures have actually
been made in the bank of the stream that used
to run near Silver street, in New Haven,
Conn. and the probability is that Kidd on
occasions used to sail into the bay for repairs
at Greenough's ship yard.
Pits are also visible on Money Island, one
of the group known as the Thimble Islands, Oft
Branford, where treasure hunters have been at
work within the past century. Nearly every
thing, indeed, about these picturesque islands
is favored with "reminiscences of practical ad-
venture. Kidd's IIarbor lies between two of
LllC IlSHCoU lOChy pOillGo, uAu lAiuu y e'iSi'
Bowl is exhibited as Il great curiosity. The
latter is natural hollow in the granite ledge
ON Pot Island, and sabout three feet long and
a foot in width, and the same in depth. There
is no proof that it was ever used for convivial
or even culinary purposes.
Kidd'S Cave, however, deserves more partic-
ular description. 1t is one OF several small
grottoes in the granite lodges near Short
Beach, about six miles from New Haven.
Leaving the cluster of cottages by the shore,
we made our way through thickets of laurel
and bay to what was once the natural sea
wall. Following this for three hundred yards,
we came to rift in the rocks, around which a
mass of fragments lay scattered for twenty
feet. Measuring the height of this wall |
found it to be about thirty feet above the sea
level, and twenty-four feet above the adjacent
meadow.
Some former explorer has taken the pains
to paint the name Of ''Kidd's Cave" on the
wall near the entrance, which is an opening
eighteen inches wide and five feet high. The
adit slopes for ten feet at an angle of forty
five degrees to small chamber, the floor OF
which is encountered with fragments. The
main passage rdnS from east to west for twelve
feet, and then turns abruptly north for sixteen
feet. This measurement does not include riffs
and seams that reach much farther in several
directions. The height of the chamber varies
from three to eight feet, and there is an open
ing at one place up to the surface, through
which smoke might ascend as by chimney.
Remnants of fire show that the spot had been
used at some time as hiding place though
it would not be easy to tell if the refugees
were pirates, Indians. or modern trampS At
one point the floor was examined for relics,
and search was rewarded by the discovery Of a
few arrowheads and two stone axes.
The fauna of Kidd's Cave includes spiders,
flies, frogs, slugs, snails and mice. Three OF
the latter were caught, and were found to be
specimens of the common field mouse.
The temperature in the shade. near the
mouth of the cave, at p. NJ, on the day of
our visit, was 74O Fahr. But, within the
grotto, the mercury fell, after an interval of
ten minutes, to $50 Fahr., which is only one
degree above the mean temperature of Mann
moth Cave, as determined by the same instru-
ment. 1 regarded this fact as remarkable,
considering the limited dimensions of the ex-
cavation and it confirms the opinion to which
other temperature observations have led me,
that the mean temperature of the earth's crust
in this latitude is about $40 Fahr., both Win
ter and Summer.
The origin Of Kidd's Cave was undoubtedly
marine and the probability is that it was
considerably higher than it now is, and that
the upper portion of the cave is all that is now
visible. judge thus from the fact that large
masses of rock have evidently fallen from the
roof into some lower cavity, where they have
disappeared.-H. G. Horey IN Scientific Ameri-
can.
CURIOUS THINGS ABOUT ANIMALs.--Nat-
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