TEN INDIANA CAVES. 121 



feet from the mouth, enlarges to a height of 40 feet 

 and a width of eight to ten. This portion was, for 

 the most part, dry, the stream having disappeared in 

 one of the low channels already mentioned. In some 

 places two floors are found ; in others the greater part 

 of the upper floor has fallen in, leaving a portion in 

 the form of a natural hridge spanning the passage 

 from side to side. At a point 950 feet from the mouth 

 the upper passage ends against a perpendicular wall 

 of rock, from near the top of which is a passage on- 

 ward, but too high from where we stood to admit of 



o 



entrance. The lower passage was followed to about 

 the same point, where it became two feet high and 

 three feet wide and almost filled with water, thus bar- 

 ring further progress. But few stalactites were found 

 in the cave, and they were mostly of small size and 

 unattractive appearance. 



SIIAWNEE CAVE. 



Among Indiana caverns the mouth of Shawnee Cave 

 ranks next to that of Porter's in picturesque beauty. 

 Indeed, by some it is classed as more attractive. The 

 mouth of the cave is found at the head of a deep 

 gorge worn through the limestone by a good sized 

 stream which flows from the cave and down the gorge 

 to the broader valley beyond. Many centuries ago 

 the cave extended the full length of the gorge, and 

 the waters of the stream flowed directly from its 

 mouth into the valley. The roof of the under-ground 

 channel finally became so thin that it collapsed, the 

 gorge was then started and, as the centuries went by, 



