LIFE OF WILSON. 
CXXIX 
objects around me began to make their appearance more dis- 
tinctly. The bottom, for fifteen or twenty yards at first, was 
so irregular, that we had constantly to climb over large masses 
of wet and slippery rocks; the roof rose in many places to the 
height of twenty or thirty feet, presenting all the most irregu- 
lar projections of surface, and hanging in gloomy and silent 
horror. We passed numerous chambers, or ofisetts, which we 
did not explore ; and after three hours wandering in these pro- 
found regions of glooms and silence, the particulars of which 
would detain me too long, I emerged with a handkerchief fill- 
ed with hats, including one which I have never seen described; 
and a number of extraordinary insects of the Gryllus tribe, 
with antennae upwards of six inches long, and which I am per- 
suaded had never before seen the light of day, as they fled from 
it with seeming terror, and I believe were as blind in it as 
their companions the bats. Great quantities of native glauber 
salts are found in these caves, and are used by the country 
people in the same manner, and with equal effect, as those of 
the shops. But the principal production is saltpetre, which is 
procured from the earth in great abundance. The cave in 
Warren county abovementioned, has lately been sold for three 
thousand dollars, to a saltpetre company, an individual of 
which informed me that, from every appearance, this cave had 
been known to the Indians many ages ago; and had evidently 
been used for the same purposes. At the distance of more 
than a mile from the entrance, the exploring party, on their 
first visit, found the roof blackened by smoke, and bundles of 
half burnt canes scattered about. A bark mockasin, of cu- 
rious construction, besides several other Indian articles, were 
found among the rubbish. The earth, also, lay piled in heaps, 
with great regularity, as if in preparation for extracting the 
saltpetre. 
“ Notwithstanding the miserable appearance of the timber 
on these barrens, the soil, to my astonishment, produced the 
most luxuriant fields of corn and wheat I had ever before met 
with. But one great disadvantage is the want of water, for 
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