82 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



fainter, whilst we unconsciously strained our 

 ears and stayed our breathing to catch the last 

 dying tone. Here, one, without effort of imag- 

 ination, might easily conceive that he was really 

 passing over the "dark river," and within the 

 sound of the choristers that stand upon the 

 celestial shores to welcome him onward ! 



Lord Byron has beautifully described the echo 

 of thunder among the mountains : 



" Far along, 

 From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, 

 Leaps the live thunder ! Not from one lone cloud, 

 But every mountain novF hath found a tongue, 

 And Jura answers, through her misty shroud. 

 Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud 1" 



This picture lifts us to the sublime and in- 

 spires us with awe; but on Echo River all is 

 calmness and peace, harmony and love, — we for- 

 get the world behind us, we. forget our pre-exist- 

 ence, we realize our ideal of an approach to 

 spiritual life. 



Two or three of the gentlemen of our party, 

 in a spirit of adventure, made their passage 

 through the rugged avenue called Purgatory. 

 They described the trip as one of exceeding dif- 

 ficulty. After terminating their purgatorial ex- 

 perience and arriving at the end of the avenue 



