'.m 



GLEANINGS IN JJEE CULTUiiE. 



^.lAY 



About 150 yards beyond the Methodist 

 Church, the guide pointed to us ruts cut in 

 the soft mud made by the cart-wheels from 

 the saltpeter works o"f 1812. This mud has 

 uuw become a sort of hard stone, probably 

 on account of the minerals lield in solution 

 by the water that helped to make the mud. 

 And now we come to the eight huge vats 

 where those old saltpeter works were man- 

 aged, as 1 told you about last month. It 

 has been suggested, that, if other sources 

 failed, the Mammoth Cave would at any 

 time furnish enough saltpeter to supply the 

 world. Below we give a cut of these vats. 



Before us are some huge rocks that at 

 some time or other have fallen from the ceil- 

 ing ; in fact, when Matt burns one of the 

 Bengal lights so as to light up the ceiling, 

 you can see just where a great rock broke 

 off. What is to hinder more of them from 

 dropping off and burying up our little party? 



Our guide tells us of a Scotchman who got i 

 so far, and, fearing that some rocks would 

 tumble down, stopped and refused to go any 

 furtlier. Shall I tell you why there is no j 

 danger of their falling now, "friends? It is ' 

 because the rock is hard and firm, comi)ared ' 

 with what it was at the time these convul- 

 sions hai)peued. The greater part of the 

 Mammoth Cave is now dry and hard and 

 firm. 



By this tinu\ one of oiu- lunnber whom 

 lOnu'st informed me was a fellow-student in 

 the college (lint one with whom he was but 

 little ac(|uainted), uttered an oath. It fair- 

 ly startled me. How could any one, in .s»c/i 

 " piece, take the name of the gieat (iod in 

 vain? A little further on, this same young 

 man uttcrt'd an iiulecent remark. The elev- 

 en who composed our little band were men 

 from different parts of the world, and from 

 different avocations in life ; but I was pleas- 



ed to note that not one of them took any no- 

 tice of his remark, even so much as to smile. 

 Is it true, that blasphemy and impurity are 

 always linked togetlier? 



Somebody sang out pretty soon, that he 

 was thirsty. •■All right,-' said the guide; 

 •' I was expecting somebody would be mak- 

 ing that remark just about this time. We 

 will go over to AVandering Willie's Spring, 

 and get a drink." 



Did I tell you that blind people are great- 

 ly pleased with Mammoth Cave? Singular, 

 is it not? Well, Wandering Willie was a 

 blind boy. lie visited Mammoth Cave, and 

 enjoyed himself hugely. Finally he was 

 missing. After a little search they found 

 him near a beautiful trickling spring. His 

 sharp ear had caught the sound of dropping 

 water, and the spring has been named 

 after him. The water falls from the ceiling 

 of a little cavern into a beautiful little round 

 stone basin, and then trickles 

 away through a little channel 

 worn in the stone. A tin dip- 

 per hung from a nail in the 

 ceiling; and while we stood 

 around the spring, the guide 

 passed the water, much as they 

 used to do when we were chil- 

 dren in the old schoolhouse, 

 back among the woods. The 

 water has a pleasant mineral 

 taste to it. Here we are at the 

 (iiant's Coffin. We give a pic- 

 ture of it, but I do not think it 

 very good one, on next page. 

 This coffin is 40 feet long, 20 

 feet wide, and s feet or more 

 deep. Said I, after contemplat- 

 ing it a wliile, "Friend Matt, is 

 there a little hole in the wall at 

 the back side of that coffin ? "' 

 "Yes,"' said ]\Iatt. " there is."" 

 ■•Well, that is the hole we 

 want to crawl into."' 



But Matt replied that we 

 (ould not crawl into tliat hole 

 until he got ready, and we were 

 going somewhere else first. The 

 ly at the hotel had told us 

 that we must be siu'e to ask to 

 go back through that narrow 

 passage ; but as we had the 

 promise of taking it in afterward, I was 

 contented. A little further on we came to a 

 ceiling almost as white and beautiful as a 

 whitewashed wall ; and, strange to tell, 

 standing out in relief on this wall were 

 strange figures of black oxide of manganese. 

 The artist has attempted to show you one 

 called the Ant-Eater. The Ant-Eater is, 

 liowever, a great deal longer than is shown 

 in the cut, and it needs a guide to explain 

 what it is. or you might not midefstand it. 

 A little further on you come to Barnum"s 

 Fat (iirl, pictured on the ceiling by this 

 same wonderful process from nature's lab- 

 oratory. Still further, the Giant and Giant- 

 ess. The giantess sits on the lloor. looking 

 up at her liege lord who stands over her, 

 and for pastime tliey are tossing the baby 

 back and forth. 



Tlie guide now announced that we would 

 go back and take in that hole in the wall 



