E. L. Furlong — Exploration of Samwel Cave. 239 



exhibits considerable beauty in the curious forms of its cham- 

 bers and in the numerous stalagmite and stalactite growths 

 contained in them. The entrance chamber is 73 ft. long and 

 50 ft. wide with an average height of 6 ft. At the extreme 

 northeast end a small opening leads to a long series of lower 

 chambers. Of the latter, the two most important will be 

 designated as chambers one and two. 



The lowest portion of the floor of chamber one is 24 ft. 

 below its entrance. From a bench 4 ft. from the floor of the 

 northwest corner a narrow, almost vertical shaft drops a dis- 

 tance of 16 ft. to a winding series of chambers below. The 

 first of these contains the first pool of water referred to in the 

 Indian legend. 



About on a level with, the entrance to chamber one and its 

 extreme northeastern part, a narrow opening leads to a series 

 of rooms running to chamber two. These have a general 

 trend from south to north. The north chamber contains the 

 chimney -like opening to the chamber below. From the floor 

 of chamber two many small grottoes lead out in several direc- 

 tions. At tlie southeasterly side a low-arched grotto leads to 

 a passage way which will be discussed later. 



Character of the Deposits. 



The principal deposits are in chambers one and two. The 

 deposit in chamoer one partly fills a small fissure-like grotto 

 which leads off from this room. It extends into the chamber 

 and fans out, covering a portion of the floor. This deposit is 

 29 ft. long, an average of 4 ft. wide and is 8 ft. deep in its 

 thickest portion. The section is as follows : 



Reddish clay -1 to -3 ft. 



Stalagmite capping *1 to ? ft. 



Earth mixed with angular gravel *3 to 1*6 ft. 



Breccia 2- to ? 



A floor of stalagmite '1 to '3 ft. 



Earth grading into breccia 1*2 to 4 # 4 ft. 



The deposit was evidently formed by earth and limestone 

 fragments falling from the outside, through an aperture at 

 the top of the grotto. There is now no sign of such an open- 

 ing. However, earth can be seen on the fissure walls and pro- 

 jections till the walls meet at the top. 



That there was an intermission of sufficient time for stalag- 

 mite to form before the completion of the deposit is shown 

 by the presence of the false floor. Probably the aperture was 

 choked for a time and later reopened. All of the material of 

 the deposit evidently came in at one place, as it is as much in 

 the form of a low cone as the fissure will allow. The apex 



