A CAVERN DISCOVERED.--BISWELL'S HILL.
We stopped that night at a tavern in Smithland. Leaving this place after
dinner the next day, on foot, we struck through the country, into the
bottom lands of the Cumberland River, traveling leisurely, lingering for
hours in the course of a circuitous tramp of only a few miles. Although
it was the month of December, the climate was mild and balmy. In my
former home, a similar time of year would have been marked with snow,
sleet, and ice, and I could not but draw a contrast between the two
localities. How different also the scenery from that of my native State.
Great timber trees, oak, poplar, hickory, were in majestic possession of
large tracts of territory, in the solitude of which man, so far as
evidences of his presence were concerned, had never before trodden. From
time to time we passed little clearings that probably were to be
enlarged to thrifty plantations in the future, and finally we crossed
the Cumberland River. That night we rested with Mr. Joseph Watts, a
wealthy and cultured land owner, who resided on the river's bank. After
leaving his home the next morning, we journeyed slowly, very slowly, my
guide seemingly passing with reluctance into the country. He had become
a very pleasant companion, and his conversation was very entertaining.
We struck the sharp point of a ridge the morning we left Mr. Watts'
hospitable house. It was four or five miles distant, but on the opposite
side of the Cumberland, from Smithland. Here a steep bluff broke through
the bottom land to the river's edge, the base of the bisected point
being washed by the Cumberland River, which had probably cut its way
through the stony mineral of this ridge in ages long passed. We climbed
to its top and sat upon the pinnacle, and from that point of commanding
observation I drank in the beauties of the scene around me. The river at
our feet wound gracefully before us, and disappeared in both
directions, its extremes dissolving in a bed of forest. A great black
bluff, far up the stream, rose like a mountain, upon the left side of
the river; bottom lands were about us, and hills appeared across the
river in the far distance--towards the Tennessee River. With regret I
finally drew my eyes from the vision, and we resumed the journey. We
followed the left bank of the river to the base of the black
bluff,--"Biswell's Hill," a squatter called it,--and then skirted the
side of that hill, passing along precipitous stone bluffs and among
stunted cedars. Above us towered cliff over cliff, almost
perpendicularly; below us rolled the river.
[Illustration: SECTION OF KENTUCKY, NEAR SMITHLAND, IN WHICH THE
ENTRANCE TO THE KENTUCKY CAVERN IS SAID TO BE LOCATED.]
I was deeply impressed by the changing beauties of this strange Kentucky
scenery, but marveled at the fact that while I became light-hearted and
enthusiastic, my guide grew correspondingly despondent and gloomy. From
time to time he lapsed into thoughtful silence, and once I caught his
eye directed toward me in a manner that I inferred to imply either pity
or envy. We passed Biswell's Bluff, and left the Cumberland River at its
upper extremity, where another small creek empties into the river.
Thence, after ascending the creek some distance, we struck across the
country, finding it undulating and fertile, with here and there a small
clearing. During this journey we either camped out at night, or stopped
with a resident, when one was to be found in that sparsely settled
country. Sometimes there were exasperating intervals between our meals;
but we did not suffer, for we carried with us supplies of food, such as
cheese and crackers, purchased in Smithland, for emergencies. We thus
proceeded a considerable distance into Livingston County, Kentucky.
I observed remarkable sinks in the earth, sometimes cone-shaped, again
precipitous. These cavities were occasionally of considerable size and
depth, and they were more numerous in the uplands than in the bottoms.
They were somewhat like the familiar "sink-holes" of New York State, but
monstrous in comparison. The first that attracted my attention was near
the Cumberland River, just before we reached Biswell's Hill. It was
about forty feet deep and thirty in diameter, with precipitous stone
sides, shrubbery growing therein in exceptional spots where loose earth
had collected on shelves of stone that cropped out along its rugged
sides. The bottom of the depression was flat and fertile, covered with a
luxuriant mass of vegetation. On one side of the base of the gigantic
bowl, a cavern struck down into the earth. I stood upon the edge of this
funnel-like sink, and marveled at its peculiar appearance. A spirit of
curiosity, such as often influences men when an unusual natural scene
presents itself, possessed me. I clambered down, swinging from brush to
brush, and stepping from shelving-rock to shelving-rock, until I reached
the bottom of the hollow, and placing my hand above the black hole in
its center, I perceived that a current of cold air was rushing
therefrom, upward. I probed with a long stick, but the direction of the
opening was tortuous, and would not admit of examination in that manner.
I dropped a large pebble-stone into the orifice; the pebble rolled and
clanked down, down, and at last, the sound died away in the distance.
"I wish that I could go into the cavity as that stone has done, and find
the secrets of this cave," I reflected, the natural love of exploration
possessing me as it probably does most men.
My companion above, seated on the brink of the stone wall, replied to my
thoughts: "Your wish shall be granted. You have requested that which has
already been laid out for you. You will explore where few men have
passed before, and will have the privilege of following your destiny
into a realm of natural wonders. A fertile field of investigation awaits
you, such as will surpass your most vivid imaginings. Come and seat
yourself beside me, for it is my duty now to tell you something about
the land we are approaching, the cavern fields of Kentucky."