GENERAL FEATURES OF THE CAVERN 5 



into the first great room of the cave, from which the 

 bat guano has been removed, and from this stairway- 

 graded trails lead down over masses of broken rock 

 debris, over clean rock floors, down steep inclines and 

 through vast rooms and halls among the silent, fantastic 

 growths and quaint forms of crystal structure in this 

 great laboratory of Nature, where no breath of air has 

 ever stirred the delicate tracery of growing rocks. 

 Here in these solemn depths, wrapped in the soft, moist 

 air that feels fresh and inviting in the nostrils, sur- 

 rounded by the velvety darkness that yields grudgingly 

 to the little circle of the gasoline lantern or the narrow 

 blade of a flashlight, and swallowed up in a vast sooth- 

 ing silence, one realizes the spell that for ages has held 

 the hearts of man and beast. With a prattling crowd 

 this may not be felt, but alone, and especially at night, 

 the spell is all about and always the same restful, 

 soothing charm. 



On a hot day in summer the peace and quiet of the 

 cave are best realized on returning to the glare, heat, 

 and noise of the surface, but scarcely more so than on 

 a cold day in winter, on coming from the mild soft air 

 below into the piercing blasts that shriek and howl 

 outside. 



The study of the cave life has been by no means 

 exhaustive, either inside or around the entrance, but 

 enough material has been gathered to give a better 

 understanding of what is seen for the first time and to 

 form a starting point, a foundation, for more detailed 

 and extensive work in the future. The conditions in 

 the cave itself can not be fully understood without some 



