THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 155 
rock and blow the horn to call them to dinner. 
There were fifteen of them, and they looked 
more like a company of skeletons than anything 
else. One of the number died here. His case 
was hopeless when he entered, and even when 
conscious that his end was near he refused to 
leave. I can conceive of one man being bene- 
fited by a residence in the Cave, but the idea 
of a company of lank, cadaverous invalids wan- 
dering about in the awful gloom and silence, 
broken only by their hollow coughs—doubly 
hollow and sepulchral there—is terrible. On a 
mound of earth near the Dining-Room I saw 
some cedar-trees, which had been planted there 
as an experiment. They were entirely dead, 
but the experiment can hardly be considered 
final, as the cedar is, of all trees, the most easily 
injured by being transplanted.” 
It is surprising that such an observing traveler 
as Mr. Taylor should have fallen into so pal- 
pable an error as to imagine that trees, or any 
other species of vegetation, could possibly main- 
tain vitality under circumstances where light, 
moisture, and heat are absent. This part of the 
Cave is perfectly dry; but the want of light 
would alone be sufficient to prevent, or destroy 
vegetation. 
