Year: 1866

Cave.


The return Of peace, and year of tran
guilty make it again possible for summer
travellers to penetrate the recesses of the
wondrCus Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky. An
English traveller thus describes the Dead Sea
and the Styx:


"After a fair share Of ups and downs, we
came under the Mammoth Dome, which is
one hundred and twenty yards high, and
covers an immense space with its cupola.
Notwithstanding the many oiled-paper lights
which we made use of it was impossible to
discern the peculiar structure of the dome.
It was lost in profound darkness. A man is
but a small affair in presence of these grand
works of nature.


"A stone fragment, detaching itself from
the vault and falling upon the cOntemplative
traveller, would finally extinguish his ecstatic
curiosity This reflection made me take to
the slippery path which leads almost to the
summit Of the dome.


4" At a short distance remarked an arched
vault of black stone, glittering with brilliant
substances.


Awe are now,' said my guide, in the
Star Chamber Wait moment, and l will
show you something, the like of which you
never witnessed in ali your travels.


Saying which, he slipped behind a rocky
column, and l Immediately saw millions of
diamonds, upon black background While
l looked, [ could have sworn | was contem-
plating the armament, and ali the stars which
spangle it. Suddenly the light disappeared


" Mat then proposed that we should see
daybreak and nightfall; and instantaneously
a gentle light stole feebly along the cavern
it Increased and faded and as it gradually
declined, a million stellated fires covered the
celestial vault For truth and effect, this
natural diorama exceeded anything that art
has yet been able to effect in the same way
From this enchanting spot we directed our
steps toward the shores of the Dead Sea. Its
dimensions-some eight or ten yards-illus-
trated the tendency of the Americans to be-
stow grand names upon small objects. Soon,
however. we found, our passage interrupted
by a rivulet, to which has been given the
name of the Styx l entered the great
barge Of Charon my black navigator shouted
in loud voice, and the vast concaVe returned
a volley of echoes, which conveyed the idea
that they were the groans of condemned
souls in eternal darknessl


"Our fambeau cast red hue on the rocks,
throwing them into a variety of curious
forms, and exhibiting the reflection of the
negro s stalwart figure in the waters, which
glittered like the oYerhanging dome. These
strange combinations threw me into a re-





a sudden loud noise resembling peal of
thunder. ] fancied a portion of the cavern
must have fallen in. But it was merely an
innocent trick of Mats, who, wishing to
surprise me, had quietly disembarked, and,
striking his oar upon a piece of rock, had
produced the awful reVerberatiOn which had
disturbed me. When | recovered from my
astonishment, I found Mat grinning and
showing his white teeth, in delight at the
success of his little scheme.


"After half an hours navigation, we
grounded close to the shore, on a fine bed of
sand, which constitutes the bottom of the
river at high water. The traces of different
levels are perfectly discernable.


A little further on, we came upon a small
sulphurous spring, and then upon Cleveland
Avenue, the walls of which appear to be
covered with charming flowers of extraOr-
binary deIicacy This observation is made
by everybody, not even excepting the most
prosaic travellers.


The avenue is terminated by the Snow
ball Room, so called because of the snowy
whiteness Of its walls. Passages, by turns
broad and narrow, rugged or scraped, led US
to the Rocky Mountains where we were OBJ
liged to Chamber over huge fragments of rock
detached from the root


"Over these asperities, and through large
assures which appeared to presage other
considerable breakages, we came at last to
the Fairy Grotto, where on either hand
stalactites, ranged in colonnades, formed ele-
CANT arches of truly fairy character On
all sides water leaked in; drippings might
be heard in every direction, which resounded
sonorously in the dark retreats. At the bot
tom of the grotto there is actually group
of stalactites resembling the top of an i'm
mense palm-tree. The branches, gracefully
inclined, appear to have been carved out Of a
block of Oriental alabaster.


From the summit Of this beautiful en-
| Senable gushed fountain, the secular crea
tor of all the calcareous deposits, which
sparkled with the reflection cast by our
| torches. The whole grotto resembled a mar
BILE tunnel, by which name it is designated
by different tourists The Fairy Grotto is
situated at one of the extremities of the
cavern, at a distance of nine miles from the
opening. / reached the latter after having
passed ten hours in the subterranean abodes
1 had need of a sight Of the sky, and l salu
ted it gratefully "When l set foot upon
the upper earth, the light and the landscape
appeared to me particularly charming
doubtless owing, in a measure, to their con
trast with the darkness in which | had
passed an entire day. But, in truth, the
evening was beautiful"