THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. III. 



ALBION, N. Y., FEBRUARY 15, 189; 



No. 4 



Reminiscences of a Trip to 

 fl=^;Schoharie. - 



•PART III.^ 



□ Through all that part of the cave 

 we visited, the absence of stalactites 

 and other formations of carbonate of 

 lime was noticed. Scarcely a trace of 

 ■any formations did we see; of those 

 ■very few we did, were few and inac- 

 •cessable. The walls and ceiling seem- 

 ed bare of any encrustation. How- 

 ever we believed that had we been 

 able to have crossed the lake to the 

 right, we might have obtained more 

 specimens, as in this part of the cave 

 there appeared to be more water ooz- 

 ing and perculating through the walls, 

 and running water could be heard in 

 the distance. 



On our return to the house all were 

 anxious to hear the results of our trip. 

 There was also present a neighbor, 

 who had spent many day in the cave, 

 ■digging in the clay for stalactites, stal- 

 agmites and alabaster formations, and 

 therefore knew the gallerys and rooms 

 perfectly. 



From him we learned that had we 

 only continued on and climbed up 

 through the crevasse at the extreme 

 end of what we supposed the end of 

 the left passage, we would have en- 

 tared the largest and most interesting 

 rooms of the cavern. 



One of them, called the "Rotunda" 

 was where so many beautiful white 

 stalactites, stalagmites and vast slabs 

 of alabaster had been found. Some 

 of them were so pure white and trans- 

 pareut that objects could be clearly 

 and distinctly seen through specimens 



nearly a foot in thickness. He said 

 nearly all of the best specimens had 

 been dug from the clay and were found 

 two or three feet below the surface. 



Upon learning that we found no 

 water in the left lake he was greatly 

 surprised and apparently did not be- 

 lieve it. He thought we had not gone 

 far enough along the passage to reach 

 it. But when we told him of the 

 many old boats we passed, imbedded 

 in the mud, this evidence, recounted 

 by all the party, was sufficient to re- 

 lieve all doubt. He had never known 

 the lake to be dry before in the forty 

 or more years he had been familiar 

 with it. 



->;- * -X- -x- * * 



Since our visit to Ball's Cavern I 

 have learned from other sources that 

 the Rotuada is the noblest room in 

 the cavern. A long narrow passage 

 extends from it some four hundred 

 and fifty feet, but it is said to contain 

 nothing of mterest; further on this 

 gallery is filled up with a vast deposit 

 of cave mud, so no idea can be form- 

 ed of its real extent. 



I might say right here that while in 

 Schoh'arie and talking with that veter- 

 an geologist — Prof. Sias — he made 

 mention of a cave a few miles away, 

 (pointing in the direction of Ball's) 

 that was larger and more interesting 

 than Howe's, and that he had explor- 

 ed it two and a half miles. So per- 

 haps some of the later explorers have 

 penetrated this mud deposit or en- 

 larged some of the crevasses and 

 thereby gained access to many more 

 spacious passage ways and rooms. I 

 only infer, that — as he simply pointed 



