156 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



We reached the entrance about two o'clock in the 

 afternoon, and prepared a good dinner to strengthen us 

 for the exertions in prospect. While the meat was roast- 

 ing, I took a survey of the outside, which presented a 

 wall of limestone roek, about thirty feet high, and about 

 three hundred feet long, with four openings. After hav- 

 ing well fortified the inner man, we prepared to enter the 

 cave. We took only one rifle with us, but each had his 

 large hunting-knife, and I buckled my powder-horn close 

 to my side ; then with my rifle in my right hand, and a 

 torch of at least twenty inches in my left, we entered a 

 dark passage about four feet high and two feet wide ; 

 young Conwell came next to me with another torch, fol- 

 lowed by his father with a bundle of splinters to replace 

 the torches as they burnt out. For about eighty yards 

 it was all hard rock, and we advanced easily enough. 

 But now came a sudden turn to the right, and the cave 

 was so low that we were obliged to crawl on our hands 

 and knees; the bottom was stiff clay, with numerous 

 marks of bears, some quite fresh. As we advanced the 

 passage beeame still smaller, and we were obliged to 

 crawl on our stomachs. Thus far the Indians had pene- 

 trated, as we found by splinters of fir, and marks of their 

 elbows and knees in the clay. The passage was now so 

 small that I was obliged to lie quite flat, and push myself 

 along by my feet assisted by my left elbow, holding the 

 torch in my left hand, and the rifle in front with the 

 right. The aperture was quite round, and rubbed 

 smooth by the passing in and out of wild animals, who 

 may. perhaps have made this their winter-quarters for 

 hundreds of years. Here and there we found stalactites, 



