512 



covrred willi \\i\\vv s.'vcral f(i>t di'i-p. To cxitl.iic it 

 OHO must go in a boat and take a u:uid(', botli of wliicli 

 are always obtainable. The boat's bow is furnished 

 wiUi a large light, otherwise it would be iui]n).ssible !(;■ 

 see anything- in the Stygian darkness that invades 

 every nook and corner of this weird opening that 

 peneti-ates the bowels of mother earth. This i)la(e. 

 called Pei;n's Cave, is the soui-ce of Penn's creek. The 

 stream, with its several feeders, is noted for the 

 abundance and excellence of speckled beauties (trout) 

 they contain. Few sections of the State atTord better 

 RulTed Grouse shooting than is to be found in the 

 mountains around these cool, healtliful and rapidly- 

 flowing streams. Penn's Cavc^ — a modest, old-fashion- 

 ed summer resort — can be reached by a bramh of the 

 Northern Centi-al Railroad, which extends from Jlon- 

 tandon to Hellefonte. In the winter season the cave is 

 the harboring place of thousands of I'.ats which con- 

 gregate in great masses on the limestone rocks where 

 they escape the piercing winter's cold, and remain in 

 quiet, harn ony and contentment, unless their hiding 

 place is ii vaded by human beings, when they crawl 

 over one another or fly aimlessly about the boat and 

 its occupants, uttering all the while, in their squeaking 

 way, the mf^st violent protests at being aroused from 

 their winter's nap. 



Bals are beneficial. They destroy great numbers of 

 insects — particularly flying species. They do not dis- 

 turb the young of birds nor do they desti'oy young- 

 chickens as some persons 8iipp<)se they do. 



THE OrOSSTTM. 



We ha\r a single S]>ecies of the Opossum — the only 

 niarsui>ial in llie State — and of this animal's biciMling 



