Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-04-11

torches and at last found passage
which ran steadily downward.
This, the Indian told me, was the
path by which his ancestors, who
once lived in the middle of the
earth, had found their way to the
light of day.
| think we were about three
thousand feet below the entrance
of the cave, when we began to hear
the sound Of roaring waters. The
sound increased until we stood by
an underground river, of whose
width and depth we could form no
idea. The light OF our torches did
not even reveal the height OF the
roof overhead, My guide told me
that this was the mother of all the
rivers of the world. No other per
son except himself knew of its ex.
lstance. 1t flowed from the end OF
the North to the extreme South.
1t grew ever warmer. There was
time when the people lived along
it's channel, and there houses and
cities of the dead there and many
strange things. 1t was full OF fish
without eyes, and they were good
to eat. If l could help him build a
raft he would float with me down
this river. The old, old stories
said that one could 60 upon it for
many miles. 1t ran down hollow
under the mountains.
We built and equipped our raft
ard launched it on the most fool
hardy adventure, l do believe, that
ever occupied the attention of men.
We lit torches and set them in
sockets on the raft, and we were
we'll armed. For two weeks we
moved down the high archway at
steady rate of only about three
miles an hour. The average width
of the stream was about FIVE hun
dred feet, but at times it widened
out to almost twice that. 1t
swarmed with many kinds of fish,
and they we're very easy to secure.
The rock walls and roof seemed to
be of solid granite. We were be
low the latter formation.
AS nearly as l can calculate We
we're thousand miles from where
our voy age began, and nothing had
yet happened to disturb its monOt-
ony, when we began to find traces
of ancient work and workers. An
angle IN the wall was hewn into a
Tltantic figure; another point there
seemed to be regular windows, and
a dwelling was purcbed for uu in
the gigantic dome.
The Indian told me more OF the
traditions of his race as we drlfted
past these things. "They were
very great men who lived here
They had many things they knew
more than the white men. They
all are dead now" And l gathered
from his chance remarks that they
had left secrets IN their cave dwell
iings which would make him the
biggest Indian on the continent il
he could discover them.
Suddenly We found that the river
was flowing much faster and We
failed to check our raft. We wenI
over a waterfall, perhaps seventy
feet high, and were thrown on
shelf of rock at the side of tue rlvel
below. I was unhurt, but my com
panlon was so badly injured tha
be died IN a few hours. repaired
the raft after a fashion and contln
ued the voyage, finding it impossl
BILE to contrlve any way to Fcal'
the insides of the waterfall and at
tempt to return. All our tOrche
we're lost and the attempt to pro
ceed further seemed but the last ac
OF despair. a few hours later
saw a light CLEAN over the river Il
a very remarkable way, shlnnln
clear across, as if from the head
, light up on the wall. This arouse
me somewhat from my stupor an
misery. sat up on the raft al
steered 1t close to the edge of tn
river to see what wonderful thin
bad happened.
AS ( came nearer | saw that a
irregular hole was in the wall
q thousands teet above the wate
f and the light shOne out through /
= 1t was a cheerful thing to look a
and I hung to the granite an
q shouted, but no effect. Then l sa
10 broken place in the wall a lit
II further down, and let the raft drl
Al along to the base of a broad thong
O much worn and broken flight
!. steps winding up the cliff th'
N brought me at last to the place
II light, a dOmed ball overlooked Il
Il river, hewn out of the rock au
n having in It's center a metal basI