The Opelousas courier., 1894-01-20
IN A PALACE OF ONYX,
WONDERFUL UNDERGROUND
TRIP IN MISSOURI.

tecturaI Work is on View.
~ OUTHERN MISSOURI is full
~ of natures caprices. Sports
IL men who frequent this part of
the State at certain seasons Of
the year return telling marvellous
stories of dogs lost in caverns and of
wounded game escaping in rocky grot-
tos. Hunters following wounded deer
into these recesses in the mountains
have found themselves lost in the may
windings of underground galleries.
Recently a party of St. Louisans, in
visited a recently discovered cav in
Camden County. The entrance, says
the writer, is about fifty feet from the
river, and the little stream which flows
from it reaches the water of the river
by a beautiful cataract some twenty
feet from the mouth of cave. The en-
trance to the cave is about six feet high
and five feet wide and is overarched by
an immense ledge Of limestone. The
sides of the entrance are c%uriously
carved by the falling water from the
bluff above, and here and there in the
crevices maidenhair ferns wave their
fronts in the cool breeze. For at least
fifty feet the passage continues with
the same dimensions at the entrance.
At the end of the passage We seemed
to enter into a world, sunless, moon
less and starless.o The light from our
torches was unable to penetrate the
darkness in any direction. Soon. how
ever, to the south the darkness broke
and & rocky shelf pushed itself out in
to the light. Then another and an
other until the south wall stood out in
outline on our right. Then the cell
ing came into view, and finally the
north wall became visible. 0 o
We were in the grand auditorium, a
room seventy feet high, 125 wide and
$40 feet long. The walls and ceilings
consist of rough limestone, and the
effect Of the light from the torches is
marvellous. Shadowy galleries oc-
cupy the sides. and straight above the
vaulted roof seems wrought and builded
rather han natural. The floor is of
fine polishing clay, rather sticky, and
in many places can be seen "wallows,"
made by bears, which used to infest
these underground castles. At the
end of this room the cave becomes
much narrower, yet retaining the same
height as the auditorium, and the
grandeur Of a look upward, revealing
precipice on precipice overhanging the
narrow passage, led one of the party
to name it t'The Covered Canon" This
passage, appearing to have been caused
by the action of water, winds its way
into the heart of the bluff in an east
erly direction. We travel on, peering
into the billowy darkness ahead or
glancing with enthusiasm at the weird
shadows on the lofty ceiling, when i'm
mediately in front of us, and appar-
emily fifty feet from the floor, a ghostly
figure seems to be balancing itself in
midair. We find ourselves in another
large room, circular in shape and
arched with an immense dome, from
the center of which, like rich drapery,
thousands of white stalactites hang.
One of these, at least twelve feet long
and Enthusiastically wrought, is the ghost,
which we had seen. From the floor
arise to the height of fifteen feet rich
stalagmites in various shapes and
figures. The outer rim of the dome
is upheld by massive columns Of crystal,
the surfaces of which shine like marble.
The walls also reflect the dim light,
and each crevice seems a jeweled re-
cess into which one would need only
to reach a hand to become immensely
rich.
Leaving the beauties of this won
derful room behind, the party push
on with eyes ready for new specters.
A walk of perhaps two minutes, then
the roof begins to rise and the walls
diverge. To the left a mighty column
Of onyx twenty feet in diameter seems
to bar the way. Its m-assiveness is ex-
celled only by the beautiful tints of
its surface. This marvel is called the
Onyx Temple, resembling in it's state
illness and grandeur some Of the an
cient cathedrals. The onyx from this
room is said by experts who have ex-
amined specimens of it to be the finest
in the State. This seemed to be the
end of the cave and half of the party,
after securing some fine specimens,
started for the entrance. They had
scarcely passed from view around a
turn in the cavern when one of the
remaining number found a small open
ing at the right side of the column.
Before us was the grandest sight we
had yet beheld. "The Grand Dome"
exclaimed the leader, and indeed it
was. Seventy feet above hangs an i'm
mense s~talactite resembling in the
weird light Of the torches a group of
carved candelabra. Elegant tapestry
of stalactitic rock hangs in such grace
full ease that it almost seemed to move
as the smoke from the lamps slowly
rose toward it. Below rises an onyx
altar eight feet high, and surrounding
it nature has SO arranged the stalag-
mites that with little fancy one can see
the robed priests. To the left Of the
altar and surrounded by q narrow rim
of onyx and crystal is the baptistry, a
pool Of the clearest water, two feet in
depth and six feet in diameter. Add
ing to oil this and perfecting the har-
mony a faint sound of music caused by
dropping water pervades the vast
chamber and causes one to realize as
lever before the awful grandeur of
nature. Scattered owe the floor in
varied contours are little pools of
water, separated from each other by
thin rims OF crystal. The roof is lit
orally covered with s~taIactitee. and