140 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
hol. It was not yet quite late enough in the 
season when we were at the Cave, Oct. 16th— 
22d, for all the bats to be in winter quarters, as 
the season was very open and warm. Still, in 
the galleries where they most abound, we found 
countless groups of them on the ceilings, chip- 
pering and scolding for a foothold among each 
other. On one little patch of not over four or 
five inches, we counted forty bats, and were sat- 
isfied that one hundred and twenty at least were 
able to stand on the surface of a foot square; 
for miles they are found in patches of various 
sizes, and a cursory glance satisfied us that it 
was quite safe to estimate them by millions. In 
these gloomy and silent regions, where there is 
neither change of temperature nor difference of 
light to warn them of the revolving seasons, how 
do they know when to seek again the outer air 
when the winter is over, and their long sleep is 
ended? Surely, We who made them has not left 
them without a law for the government of their 
lives.” 
It is supposed that the rats obtain their sub- 
sistence chiefly from the remnants of food left in 
various parts of the Cave by the visitors. 
