14 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



it was soon discovered that a surprisiqg number 

 of pages were required to give even a brief in- 

 telligible outline of the great cavern. 



It was then suggested that the sketch which 

 had been commenced sliould be extended, and 

 published in book-form, that the information it 

 contained might be accessible to the general 

 public, instead of being restricted to one or two 

 friends, as at first designed. This suggestion, 

 though not consonant with our feelings when 

 first proposed, has, upon reflection, been adopted. 



Desiring to obtain some profitable information 

 in advance of our visit to the Cave, we applied 

 successively to the principal booksellers in Bos- 

 ton, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 

 Cincinnati for the purchase of a descriptive 

 work, and were greatly surprised and disap- 

 pointed by the answer in each case, — that not 

 one of them had any publication on the sub- 

 ject, neither had they any knowledge of the 

 existence of such a work. This deficiency in 

 the book-market appeared to us extraordinary, 

 for it is presumable that all persons of any 

 education in this country, and many abroad, 

 have heard of the existence of the Cave, and 

 are aware that it is a curiosity of more than 

 ordinary importance; it is therefore a matter 



