THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 155 



rock and blow the horn to call them to dmner. 

 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. 



