SALMON-HATCHING ESTABLISHMENT, M'CLOUD RIVER, CAL. 463 



in length. It was lowered down the abyss, but did not reach the bottom. 

 A strong line was fastened to it and it was again lowered. After pay- 

 ing out 30 feet of the rope the lower end of the ladder rested on some- 

 thing solid. A lantern attached to a 60-foot rope was then lowered 

 down, and though its very feeble light was wholly inadequate to the 

 requirements of the situation, we could see that there was a landing- 

 place of some sort at the foot of the ladder, though whether it was at 

 the edge of another abyss or not, or whether there was any substantial 

 foothold there, could not be discovered. The place might be full of 

 rattlesnakes or tarantulas, or it might be a bear-cave with other open- 

 ings on its own level, for all we knew. I confess I had no disposition to 

 swing off and slide down the dangling rope into the impenetrable dark- 

 ness, without any assurance of foothold at the end of it. But not so 

 with the brave fellows who were with me. They even coutended among 

 themselves as to who should be first to make the descent, and as soon 

 as the word was given they sprang eagerly to the rope and swung them- 

 selves off without a faltering motion. Imagine a rope dangling loosely 

 from a church-tower fifty feet in height, in the middle of a dark night, 

 and a man without any special experience in that sort of thing swinging 

 himself out on it for a descent, without knowing what was at the lower 

 end of it. The case in question was worse if anything, for here there 

 were all the grim surroundings and mysterious associations of a dark, 

 forbidding, and unexplored cavern. 



Dick (Richard Hubbard) begged earnestly to be the first to descend, 

 but the lot had fallen to Green, (Myron Green,) and in a moment more 

 he was seen on the rope dangling in mid-air, and in the next he became 

 lost entirely to the sight of those above. 



It seemed an age before he called out that he had reached the ladder. 

 This hung so loosely that it was hardly better than the single rope, ex- 

 cept that it gave a chance to rest. Another long silence, at the end of 

 which he shouted that he had reached the bottom, when Dick sprang 

 to the rope and swung off. Just at this moment the lantern which had 

 been lowered to Green fell over and went out, and he was left in the 

 impenetrable darkness. With perfect presence of mind, however, he 

 felt for it, found it, and lighted it again, and reported a foothold at the 

 bottom sufficiently large at least for a landing-place. Waldo Hubbard 

 immediately followed Dick, and soon all three were at the bottom ready 

 to proceed with further explorations. The opportunity was now afforded 

 to the rest to make the descent, but no one came forward, and it soon 

 became evident that Dick, Waldo, and Green would be the onty ones 

 that day to explore the abyss. This having been announced to those 

 below, the exploration began, the result of which was as follows : 



A chamber was found, 150 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a floor 

 sloping slightly downward from the point of entrance, The chamber 

 was, of course^ the depth of the descent, or from 50 to GO feet. Stalac- 

 tites and stalagmites of beautiful crystalline structures, as is common in 



