/ 
The JVatiiraUsts’ Companion. 
reaches us from the outer world; a 
stillness as of the grave holds every¬ 
thing is silence, so profound that it 
seems to be crystallized. 
“Now,” quoth our guide, “let us blow 
out our lights.” “But your matches 
—have you matches? We are three 
miles from da 3 dight, and— Here are 
matches, and see, they are good;” and 
out went our lights. “Now listen and 
watch for five minutes.” We listen in 
the silence that is really dead, and in 
the darkness is almost felt, watching 
two mysterious, luminous balls of light, 
which our guide tells us are always 
seen by persons who tiy this experi¬ 
ment, until the silence seems to creep 
up and around us like some medium 
dense as water. But here are our 
lights again, and on we go, passing 
first a stalagmite clear as ciystal, nam¬ 
ed the Broken Column, then through 
Fat Man’s Misery, a narrow passage 
about thirt}’^ feet in length, through 
w'hich we are obliged to crawl, Ijdng 
fiat on our faces. A very fat person 
would have some misery to get through 
here. The last object of interest is 
soon reached, it is called the Rotunda, 
and is the greatest wonder of all, a cir¬ 
cular room twenty-five feet in diameter, 
and which rises, our guide tells us, to 
a height of three hundred feet. “How 
do 3 mu know this hall to be three hun¬ 
dred feet high ?” we inquired. ‘T’ll 
tell you,” he replied, “we have repeat- 
edl 3 " fired rockets up into this space, 
and a rocket warranted to burst at 
three hundred feet just shows the up¬ 
per end.” We are told that we are 
four miles from the entrance. The 
sides of the cave show eveiywhere 
marks of the swift stream that once 
flowed through this passage, forming 
this wonderful cavern. 
We would like to speak of many oth¬ 
er objects of beauty encountered, but 
this article is already too lengthy. 
Bats are the only living thing found 
in the cave. The round trip occupies 
about three hour’s time. The air is 
pure and invigorating. The whole is 
a wonderful creation and an interest¬ 
ing stud 3 " as well for those who admire 
the beauties and curiosities of nature 
as for those who adore the great Auth¬ 
or of the Universe and delight in con¬ 
templating his wonderous works. 
THE END. 
Audubon and the Snake. 
A very amusing anecdote is told of 
Audubon, which occured while on a 
collecting tour through the South some 
years ago. He and his friend were 
watching a woodpecker fly to and from 
a series of holes excavated in the trunk 
of an old tree. The bird at last stay¬ 
ed in the holes longer than usual, so 
Audubon concluded to climb the tree, 
and it possible, capture the bird by 
closing the openings of the holes. 
When he had reached the supposed 
hole, he was in the act of putting in 
his hand, when a large black snake 
poked his head out. At the moment 
he was so frightened that he let go all 
holds and fell headlong to the ground. 
His friend, seeing liim fall, rushed to 
his assistance, and on inquiring if he 
was hurt (which accidentally he was 
not), received this answer: ‘‘No, l am 
not hurt, but it 3^011 want to see a 
frightened snake, just climb that tree 
and look into that hole.” 
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