THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



21 



that in another apartment they had discovered a 

 stream ol' water of considerable extent ; and 

 added, that the whole extent of the cave, so far 

 explored, was from 50 lo 100 miles. The reader 

 may wonder why such a subterranean territory 

 has not long ago been cniii|ilrtfl y ox|ilnrcd. The 

 reason is, that visters \i:r -. i1m ir nu io>ity satislicd 

 without accomplishin,ii ,-o ■. iv;,; .;i 1.;Im,i-. It ^vonld 

 require a greatlengtli nriimo to cx-iinnie ortravel 

 its whole extent. The cave has been once inhab- 

 ited. The workmen, in digging up the earth for 

 saltpetre, found the remains of cane torches in 

 great abundance, and frequently old moccasins. 

 In a room called the deserted chamber which is 

 an apartment elevated some feet above the niaia 

 cave, are the imprints of human footsteps in the 

 sand, not more than tour inches in length. And 

 near seven miles in the main cave irom its mouth 

 are the evidences of that part of the cave having 

 been inhabited by great numbers of persons. 

 About a mile and a half from the mouth of the 

 cave a branch makes off to tlie right from the 

 main cave ; — this is wliat is called the haunted 

 room, named from the echo which answers sound 

 made in that apartment. In this room are a great 

 abundance of stalactites, hanging from the roof 

 like icicles from the caves of a house. They are 

 of every variety of shape which the imagination 

 can picture. One of these stalactites is of very 

 large size, and hollow ; and when struck, sounds 

 so Toud that it can be heaid a considerable dis- 

 tance. This is called the Bell. Another is in the 

 shape of an armed chair. 



This chair was called " Wilkins's Chair," 

 named after the worthy Chas. Wilkins, of Lex- 

 ington, brother of our former minister to Russia, 

 who was at that lime one of the proprietors ofthe 

 cave. This arm chair is nearly as large as one of 

 the columns of the Exchange, and about ten 

 feet in height. It is solid and ponderous, and of 

 that species of rock called fluor spar. It has been 

 formed by the action of water fioni above the sur- 

 face, penetrating tlie rock and carrying with it its 

 minute particles, which, as the waters separated 

 left the particles to adhere together, and by the 

 action of the air to harden and become solid rock. 

 Thus it is that many of the strata of onr earth 

 are formed. The decomjiosiug of one body affords 

 materials for the composing of another. Had this 

 water holding this mineral or earthy niatlei- in 

 solution, penetrated wood, it woidd have filled its 

 pores, and changed it into stone, retaining its ori- 

 ginal form, and I'oi'niiiin" \vhat is usually callcda 

 petrifaction. '! i iit:iiniug such abun- 



dance of stal;';/i' . : : ■ u lialf of a mile in 

 length and al:oi;i i\Mii:; ; ids in width — and my 

 opinion is that tlic liind on the earth's snrface 

 above this apartment is level, which allows the 

 surface water to settle down through the rock. 

 Where the land above is rolling, the rain water 

 runs immediately off; hence the dryness of the 

 rooms underneath the sideling knobs. The walls 

 of this room, which are of solid limestone, are 

 covered with a white incrustation, similar in ap- 

 pearance to the coating of the inside of a te.'i- 

 kettle in which hard water has been boiled for a 

 length of time ;— aiiil on some places the hicrusta- 

 tion is chequered with black lines, adding to its 

 beauty and appearance. At the sideofthis room 

 the traveller descends a sandhill about sixty-feet, 

 at the bottom of which is a passage on the leli, 

 (about four feet in width, fifteen in height, and 

 about fifty in length,) to another room or apart- 

 ment running parallel with the last. This pass- 

 age is a great curiosity — exhibiting columns of 

 beautiful shape, on one side, and caves or inden- 

 tations on the opposite side, of a corresponding 

 shape and size. To the first view the rock ap- 

 pears to have been separated by some convulsion 

 of nature. But such was not the case : the top 

 of the passage is arched with the same solid rock, 

 which would render it impossible that such a 

 cause should have produced this effect. It is na- 

 ture that has arranged these corresponding col- 

 mnns and curves according to the laws of affinity, 

 attraction, crystalizajion, &c. &c. The room 

 we are now in is called the •' pond room," from 

 the circumstance of there being on its snrface a 

 small pond or basin of water," of a few feet in 

 circumference, and about three feet in depth. This 

 water is of crystal clearness, the smallest object 

 thrown into it may he distinctly seen on its bottom, 

 Although this basin is three ffeet deep, it has the 

 appearance of being not more than two incli( 

 depth, and a gentleman who had the curiosity to 



attempt to jump aerois it, did not quite reach tlie 

 opposite side, and found himself half his depth in 

 water. Thus it seems that a man cannot always 

 trust his own eyes, and although persons may 

 sometimes be very jjositive in regard to matters 

 and things, still, like this gentleman, who under- 

 k to jump across the pond, may unfortunately 

 find the'niselves positively mistaken. The water 

 in this ])ond «as « hat 1 term pure wakr — holding 

 nothing at all in solution. Every earthy particle 

 had been precipitated by time and temperature, 

 and the stillness of the atmosphere favors such an 

 operation. What may be the properties of the 

 surface which surround this body of water to 

 refract the rays of light from our lamps, so as to 

 make the water appear of less depth than its true 

 depth, I cannot determine. 



Near to the basin of water in the pond room, 



a pile of round stone, about the size of paving 

 s\fine, quite black, and covered with an incrusta- 

 tion of a semi-vitrified substance, which renders 

 the appearance much like a pile of cinders. 

 Visiters have named this place " Vulcan's work- 

 shop." In one part of this room, a body of water 

 falls in a solid column, from a circular hole in the 

 roof about the size of the head of a barrel, and 

 perfectly round, into a well in the bottom of the 

 cave of about the same shape, but of larger size 

 and of great depth. 



The main cave, in those places where it is inter- 

 cepted by other rooms or branches, is generally of 

 great height and increased width. The traveller, 

 in passing up tlie main cave, frequently meets 

 with rooms and branches which are inaccessible, 

 from the fact that entrance to them is several feet 

 above his head, and can only be leached by means 

 of a ladder. There are also vast numbers of 

 apartments running in various directions under- 

 neath, and the sound ofthe footsteps denote where 

 these apartments are. Great numbers of these 

 branches and apartments have never been visited. 

 The cave may truly be said to be a perfect wilder- 

 ness to explore. About 11 miles from the mouth, 

 the walls and roof of the main cave are very 

 high, and covered with incrustations of the purest 

 white and deepest blaek,checkered in eveiy variety 

 and interspersed with beautiful crystallizations of 

 every size. Some of the incrustations have a 

 shining frosted appearance, while others are with- 

 out any such ornament, presenting a pleasing, 

 beautiful, and harmonious contrast. When the 

 rays of light from the lamps strike these surfaces 

 the walls and roof present the most brilliant, beau- 

 tiful, grand and sublime appearance imaginable. 

 The shining sides of millions of the beautiful 

 crystals, reflecting, and re-reflecting the light, 

 and their little points like distant stars in the fir- 

 mament, twinkling and shining as if trying to 

 outdo each other present to the view of the as- 

 tonished and enraptured beholder the rich beauties 

 of the harmonies of nature in all their grandeur 

 and magnificence. Here, in a vast hall, in one of 

 nature's mighty subterranean mansions, eleven 

 miles from the light of day, in soft and solemn 

 silence, stands the astonished beholder wrapt in 

 admiration,— in wonder, in astonishment. On 

 every side, he beholds nature in all her magnifi- 

 cence, beauty, harmony and order ; every move- 

 ment of the lamps presents to his view new 

 reflecting surfaces, that seem as if alive, welcom- 

 ing and enjoying as with enraptured ecstaoiosthe 

 rare visit of the rays of terrestrial light. Where 

 is the human being who could stand unmoved in 

 such a place .' Impossible I Admiration, con- 

 templation, meditation, and adoration will fill his 

 soul, and he will, as it were, involuntarily and 

 spontaneously offer up to the adorable and al- 

 mighty Creator of the heavens, the homage of 

 adoration and the tribute of praise. 



Here, every crystal has its own peculiar shape ; 

 nature knows no variation in the laws of crys- 

 talization ; everv variety preserves its own pecu- 

 liar order and form. To the learned geologist, 

 my description will not be deemed fanciful; he can 

 easily picture to himself the effect of the rays of 

 ten-estrial, moving light, thrown upon the surface 

 of crystallized walls, in a dark ai-'artment of great 

 height and extent. What a place this for contem- 

 plation and meditation;— the stillness.the silence of 

 midnight, yes, and ten times more— the stillness of 

 silence- yet surrounded by ten thousand times ten 

 thousand living lights, changing with every breath 

 that moves the hand wliich holds the lamp, the 

 rays ofthe light of which are thus newly reflected. 

 Here respiration is easy— the lamps burn bright— 



here man may enjoy life, even in a subterranean 

 dwelling. Doctor Smith, of New Jersey, who 

 visited this portion of the cave in 1811, thus 

 speaks of its appearance. " Imagine to yourself 

 a superb hall brilliantly illuminated with ten thou- 

 sand times ten thousand lamps, with its superb 

 walls irradiated with millions of the richest dia- 

 monds, and you will have but a faint idea of its 

 lustre." 



The walls of the cave are generally of an even 

 surface. A description of the numerous rooms, 

 apaitments, and branches, would swell this article 

 to a great length. 1 have traversed various por- 

 tions of the cave a gi-eat number of times, and at 

 every time found something new and interesting. 

 Some apartments of the cave contain Glauber and 

 Epsom salts in great abundance. These salts are 

 in a crude state, and have been collected and used 

 in that section of the country. 



The examination of the cave has developed 

 this fact, viz : that the temperature is the same at 

 five hundred feet, as it is at two thousand feet be- 

 low the surface. The members of the Royal 

 Academy of Sciences at Paris have been some 

 years experimenting upon the heat ofthe interior 

 of the earth, by boring into it to a great distance 

 below its surface, and liave expressed the o])inioii 

 that the heat increases as they progress down- 

 wards. In this cave such is not the case, but on 

 the contrary, the temperature is equal and uni- 

 form. 



With respect to water, although the cave is in 

 many places deep, still it is in nearly all its apart- 

 ments perfectly dry, that is, in all apartments 

 which are protected from surface water produced 

 by rain. The temperature of the cave is so low 

 that no moisture is jiroduced by evaporation. As 

 there are numerous apartments beneath the main 

 cave, these of course would preserve the upper 

 apartments dry, unless the heat of the earth in- 

 creased in further progressing downwards, in 

 which case evaporation %vould produce damp- 

 ness in the upper apartments, as a necessary con- 

 sequence. The quantity of water which falls up- 

 on the surface ofthe earth in that Irtitude avera- 

 ges about forty inches per annum. 



The atmosphere of tlie cave is another subject 

 of great importance, being uniform throughout 

 the year, and perfectly dry, or rather comparative- 

 ly so, — and whatever moisture there may be, is 

 attracted by the dry earth which covers its floor, 

 by which it is absorbed and crystallized. Many 

 of the readers of this article may not he aware 

 that where two crops of sand are placed side and 

 side, the one wet and the other perfectly dry, the 

 dry sand will attract moisture from the wet, until 

 both become equal. 



Meat left in the cave twelve hours will become 

 so completely impregnated with nitre that it can- 

 not be eaten — and meat that is slightly tainted, if 

 placed in the cave will be divested of its putrefying 

 properties, and gradually dry and become hard 

 I have no doubt that in process of time, this cave 

 will be resorted to for the restoration of health. 

 A person could, without any inconvenience, travel 

 in the cave five or six lioui-s every day for a suffi- 

 cient length of time to allow the atmosphere to 

 have a powerful ettect upon the animal lianie. 



The circumstance that there has never at any 

 time been a single case of sickness among the 

 great number of persons who, for several years, 

 wrought at this cave, is most conclusive on this 

 point. 



The Mammoth Cave has been, at some very 

 remote period, inhabited. Mr. Miller, the former 

 superintendent ofthe workmen at the cave, found, 

 in the excavated earth in the cave, a human jaw 

 bone of very large size, which would go entirely 

 outside of the jaw bone of most living persons. 

 This jaw bone was kept at the cave several years 

 to show visiters, and is still, probably, somewhere 

 in existence, as it was in a good state of preser- 

 vation. 



The cave is visited by several hundred persons 

 annually and the showing of its rooms has now 

 become a source of revenue, the superintendent 

 requiring $1 fioni each visiter as compensation 

 for furnishing a guide to show the cave. Former- 

 ly, in traversing the cave a great distance, it was 

 requisite for the traveller to mark eacli corner 

 which he passed, with the figure of an arrow, 

 pointing ovtward. A full account of this cave 

 would fill a volume. M. 



