132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 76 



accumulation results from throwing in earth to prevent foxes from 

 having a den in the cave. A small hole might thus be closed, but it 

 is too much to believe that the people now living around here would 

 carry in many hundred cubic yards of earth for any such purpose. 



Human bones are reported unearthed near the surface; at least 

 bones of some sort were found which the discoverers supposed were 

 human. 



The entrance to the cave is more than 25 feet in width, and about 

 25 feet above the flood plain of the Sequatchie, or only 15 feet above 

 extreme high water. It is in the only exposure of rock for nearly 

 half a mile along the bluff. On either side of the opening the walls 

 are solid, down to the alluvial earth, but in front of the cavity only 

 detritus can be seen from top to bottom. For this reason it is im- 

 probable that any solid bottom could be found above the level of 

 the river. Much of the stone weathers out in small fragments, and 

 the process of disintegration is going on continually, as shown by the 

 fresh appearance of the sheltered fragments. How rapid or how 

 regular it may have been in former time is impossible to guess, so 

 that excavation, to be of any value, would have to begin at the bot- 

 tom of the slope, with the knowledge that the original floor of the 

 cave may be still lower. 



NicKAjACK Cave. — ^This is the largest and most widely known 

 cave in Tennessee. It is half a mile from and within plain sight 

 of the railway station of Shellmound, 20 miles west of Chattanooga. 

 The entrance is fully 100 feet wide and 40 feet high ; a short distance 

 within the cave enlarges, a little farther it contracts somewhat. 

 Daylight penetrates, in spite of curves and immense piles of debris, 

 for more than 500 feet. It has been a resort from time out of mind ; 

 first, for Indians and pioneers, then for refugees, now for various 

 social gatherings. 



All the earth in sight has been worked for saltpeter, leached, and 

 thrown aside. A vastly greater quantity than now remains has 

 been washed out of the cave by Nickajack Creek, which always has 

 some flowing water and in wet weather rises 5 or 6 feet. Long 

 bridges are required where the highway and railroad cross it. 



It takes its name from the Nickajack Indians, who once dwelt 

 here. The field in front is strewn with flint chips and other indica- 

 tions of aboriginal settlement. 



There is nothing in the cave to dig for. The saltpeter miners 

 moved all the earth they could reach, while the immense rocks and 

 the creek make any further excavations impossible. 



HAMILTON (X)UNTT 



There are many caves in the vicinity of Chattanooga, but all that 

 were visited possess some feature which makes examination appear 



