ALLIGATORS OF LOUISIANA AND TEXAS. 267 



ness, dazzled us all, and althougli none of us re- 

 gretted the time which we had passed in the bowels 

 of the earth, no one (the guides excepted) wished 

 to recommence the journey. We found excellent 

 accommodation at the Mammoth Caves' Hotel, and 

 were soon enjoying a good dinner, and congratu- 

 lating each other upon having come safe and sound 

 out of the mighty caverns. 



These vast caves are indeed unequalled in the 

 world. They form a construction unspoiled by the 

 hand of man. They contain two hundred and twenty- 

 six passages, forty-seven large caves or halls, eight 

 waterfalls, three lakes, and twenty-two streams and 

 rivers. They do not, however, harbour any noxious 

 creatures, and the air is so pure that decomposition 

 never takes place in them. The temperature of 

 Grant's Grotto (winter and summer) is fifty degrees 

 of Fahrenheit. 



XVII.— THE ALLIGATORS OF LOUISIANA 

 AND TEXAS. 



North America, with its impenetrable forests, 

 its fertile prairies, its profound lakes, its lofty moun- 

 tains, its cataracts and rivers, is certainly one of the 

 richest and most picturesque countries on the face 



