214 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
the farewell words of Bayard Taylor. He ex- 
presses the same idea that we gave to the public 
in a brief newspaper notice (“ Mobile Register,” 
June, 1867) immediately after our visit, and 
before his sketch had come under our notice, 
and almost in the same language. His corrobo- 
ration, together with that of Professor Silliman, 
gives additional weight to the remarks we made 
at that time regarding the character and magni- 
tude of the curiosity. Mr. Taylor says: 
‘Before taking a final leave of the Mammoth 
Cave, let me assure those who have followed me 
through it, that no description can do justice to 
its sublimity, or present a fair picture of its 
manifold wonders. It is the greatest natural 
curiosity,” adds this great traveler, “that I have 
ever visited,—Niagara not excepted; and he 
whose expectations are not satisfied by its mar- 
velous avenues, domes, and sparry grottoes, must 
either be a fool or a demi-god.” 
Whoever has seen a cascade, however diminu- 
tive in volume, can readily imagine a larger one, 
and by a greater effort of imagination, may con- 
ceive of the magnitude of Niagara; but he who 
has not entered the Mammoth Cave can form 
but faint conception of its character, or of the 
varied and lasting impressions produced upon | 
