THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 63 



From the Giant's Coffin to the mouth of the 

 Cave, wheel-tracks, and the impressions of the 

 feet of the oxen used to cart tiie saltpetre, 

 made over fifty years ago, may be distinctly 

 seen. The earth, at the time that these im- 

 pressions were made, was in a moist condition, 

 having ^recently undergone the process of lixi- 

 viation in the manufacture of saltpetre, and, 

 upon drying, attained an almost stony soli- 

 dity. These tracks are on the immediate route 

 of travel, and have been walked over by 

 thousands of visitors during a' period of sixty 

 years. Yet the cleft foot of the ox, and the 

 regular indentations of the cart-wheel, can be 

 plainly distinguished in the petrified earth. 

 At one point we were shown where the oxen 

 were fed ; and, by the aid of a stick, we suc- 

 ceeded in digging out of the dry earth two or 

 three impacted corn-cobs, in a good, state of 

 preservation ; and we are perfectly satisfied that 

 they had not been placed there for purposes 

 of deception, as has been suggested by some 

 parties. 



We were puzzled, at first, to understand 

 how the oxen and carts could be got into the 

 Cave, — the descent to the entrance being so 

 precipitous and the mouth so contracted. The 



