212 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



phere, — for, as already stated, it contains less 

 carbonic acid than the outer air,-r-but is refer- 

 able solely to the complete silence and total 

 absence of light. 



Owing to the purity of the atmosphere and the 

 even temperature, even delicate persons are ena- 

 bled to take a much greater amount of physical 

 exercise in the Cave than without. It is not an 

 uncommon occurrence for an individual in deli- 

 cate health to accomplish a journey of eighteen 

 or twenty miles in the Cave, without suffering 

 unusually from fatigue, who could not be pre- 

 vailed upon to walk a distance of three miles on 

 the surface of the earth. 



After having accomplished our first day's jour- 

 ney in the Cave, we remarked to one of the 

 gentlemen connected with the hotel, that we 

 supposed ladies must suffer extremely from 

 fatigue in going through the Long Route. He 

 replied that such was not the case; and stated 

 that, as a general rule, ladies endure the journey 

 much better than men; and added that it was 

 not an uncommon occurrence for ladies, after 

 coming out in the evening, from a walk of 

 eighteen miles, to enter the ball-room and dance 

 until two o'clock in the morning! 



