THE PUNCH-BOWLS AND CAVERNS OF KENTUCKY.--"INTO THE UNKNOWN
COUNTRY."
"This part of Kentucky borders a field of caverns that reaches from near
the State of Tennessee to the Ohio River, and from the mouth of the
Cumberland, eastward to and beyond the center of the State. This great
area is of irregular outline, and as yet has been little explored.
Underneath the surface are layers of limestone and sandstone rock, the
deposits ranging from ten to one hundred and fifty feet in thickness,
and often great masses of conglomerate appear. This conglomerate
sometimes caps the ridges, and varies in thickness from a few feet only,
to sixty, or even a hundred, feet. It is of a diversified character,
sometimes largely composed of pebbles cemented together by iron ore into
compact beds, while again it passes abruptly into gritty sandstone, or a
fine-grained compact rock destitute of pebbles. Sometimes the
conglomerate rests directly on the limestone, but in the section about
us, more often argillaceous shales or veins of coal intervene, and
occasionally inferior and superior layers of conglomerate are separated
by a bed of coal. In addition, lead-bearing veins now and then crop up,
the crystals of galena being disseminated through masses of fluor-spar,
calc-spar, limestone and clay, which fill fissures between tilted walls
of limestone and hard quartzose sandstone. Valleys, hills, and
mountains, grow out of this remarkable crust. Rivers and creeks flow
through and under it in crevices, either directly upon the bedstone or
over deposits of clay which underlie it. In some places, beds of coal or
slate alternate with layers of the lime rock; in others, the interspace
is clay and sand. Sometimes the depth of the several limestone and
conglomerate deposits is great, and they are often honeycombed by
innumerable transverse and diagonal spaces. Water drips have here and
there washed out the more friable earth and stone, forming grottoes
which are as yet unknown to men, but which will be discovered to be
wonderful and fantastic beyond anything of a like nature now familiar.
In other places cavities exist between shelves of rock that lie one
above the other--monstrous openings caused by the erosive action of
rivers now lost, but that have flowed during unnumbered ages past; great
parallel valleys and gigantic chambers, one over the other, remaining to
tell the story of these former torrents. Occasionally the weight of a
portion of the disintegrating rock above becomes too great for its
tensile strength and the material crumbles and falls, producing caverns
sometimes reaching so near to the earth's surface, as to cause sinks in
its crust. These sinks, when first formed, as a rule, present clear rock
fractures, and immediately after their formation there is usually a
water-way beneath. In the course of time soil collects on their sides,
they become cone-shaped hollows from the down-slidings of earth, and
then vegetation appears on the living soil; trees grow within them, and
in many places the sloping sides of great earth bowls of this nature
are, after untold years, covered with the virgin forest; magnificent
timber trees growing on soil that has been stratified over and upon
decayed monarchs of the forest whose remains, imbedded in the earth,
speak of the ages that have passed since the convulsions that made the
depressions which, notwithstanding the accumulated debris, are still a
hundred feet or more in depth. If the drain or exit at the vortex of one
of these sinks becomes clogged, which often occurs, the entire cavity
fills with water, and a pond results. Again, a slight orifice reaching
far beneath the earth's surface may permit the soil to be gradually
washed into a subterranean creek, and thus are formed great bowls, like
funnels sunk in the earth--Kentucky punch-bowls.
"Take the country about us, especially towards the Mammoth Cave, and for
miles beyond, the landscape in certain localities is pitted with this
description of sinks, some recent, others very old. Many are small, but
deep; others are large and shallow. Ponds often of great depth,
curiously enough overflowing and giving rise to a creek, are to be found
on a ridge, telling of underground supply springs, not outlets, beneath.
Chains of such sinks, like a row of huge funnels, often appear; the soil
between them is slowly washed through their exit into the river,
flowing in the depths below, and as the earth that separates them is
carried away by the subterranean streams, the bowls coalesce and a
ravine, closed at both ends, results. Along the bottom of such a ravine,
a creek may flow, rushing from its natural tunnel at one end of the
line, and disappearing in a gulf at the other. The stream begins in
mystery, and ends in unfathomed darkness. Near Marion, Hurricane Creek
thus disappears, and, so far as men know, is lost to sight forever. Near
Cridersville, in this neighborhood, a valley such as I have described,
takes in the surface floods of a large tract of country. The waters that
run down its sides, during a storm form a torrent, and fence-rails,
timbers, and other objects are gulped into the chasm where the creek
plunges into the earth, and they never appear again. This part of
Kentucky is the most remarkable portion of the known world, and although
now neglected, in a time to come is surely destined to an extended
distinction. I have referred only to the surface, the skin formation of
this honeycombed labyrinth, the entrance to the future wonderland of the
world. Portions of such a superficial cavern maze have been traversed by
man in the ramifications known as the Mammoth Cave, but deeper than man
has yet explored, the subcutaneous structure of that series of caverns
is yet to be investigated. The Mammoth Cave as now traversed is simply a
superficial series of grottoes and passages overlying the deeper cavern
field that I have described. The explored chain of passages is of great
interest to men, it is true, but of minor importance compared to others
yet unknown, being in fact, the result of mere surface erosion. The
river that bisects the cave, just beneath the surface of the earth, and
known as Echo River, is a miniature stream: there are others more
magnificent that flow majestically far, far beneath it. As we descend
into the earth in that locality, caverns multiply in number and increase
in size, retaining the general configuration of those I have described.
The layers of rock are thicker, the intervening spaces broader; and the
spaces stretch in increasingly expanded chambers for miles, while high
above each series of caverns the solid ceilings of stone arch and
interarch. Sheltered under these subterrene alcoves are streams, lakes,
rivers and water-falls. Near the surface of the earth such waters often
teem with aquatic life, and some of the caves are inhabited by species
of birds, reptiles and mammals as yet unknown to men, creatures
possessed of senses and organs that are different from any we find with
surface animals, and also apparently defective in particulars that would
startle persons acquainted only with creatures that live in the
sunshine. It is a world beneath a world, a world within a world--" My
guide abruptly stopped.
I sat entranced, marveling at the young-old adept's knowledge, admiring
his accomplishments. I gazed into the cavity that yawned beneath me, and
imagined its possible but to me invisible secrets, enraptured with the
thought of searching into them. Who would not feel elated at the
prospect of an exploration, such as I foresaw might be pursued in my
immediate future? I had often been charmed with narrative descriptions
of discoveries, and book accounts of scientific investigations, but I
had never pictured myself as a participant in such fascinating
enterprises.
"Indeed, indeed," I cried exultingly; "lead me to this Wonderland, show
me the entrance to this Subterranean World, and I promise willingly to
do as you bid."
"Bravo!" he replied, "your heart is right, your courage sufficient; I
have not disclosed a thousandth part of the wonders which I have
knowledge of, and which await your research, and probably I have not
gained even an insight into the mysteries that, if your courage permits,
you will be privileged to comprehend. Your destiny lies beyond, far
beyond that which I have pictured or experienced; and I, notwithstanding
my opportunities, have no conception of its end, for at the critical
moment my heart faltered--I can therefore only describe the beginning."
Thus at the lower extremity of Biswell's Hill, I was made aware of the
fact that, within a short time, I should be separated from my
sympathetic guide, and that it was to be my duty to explore alone, or in
other company, some portion of these Kentucky cavern deeps, and I longed
for the beginning of my underground journey. Heavens! how different
would have been my future life could I then have realized my position!
Would that I could have seen the end. After a few days of uneventful
travel, we rested, one afternoon, in a hilly country that before us
appeared to be more rugged, even mountainous. We had wandered leisurely,
and were now at a considerable distance from the Cumberland River, the
aim of my guide being, as I surmised, to evade a direct approach to some
object of interest which I must not locate exactly, and yet which I
shall try to describe accurately enough for identification by a person
familiar with the topography of that section. We stood on the side of a
stony, sloping hill, back of which spread a wooded, undulating valley.
"I remember to have passed along a creek in that valley," I remarked,
looking back over our pathway. "It appeared to rise from this direction,
but the source ends abruptly in this chain of hills."
"The stream is beneath us," he answered. Advancing a few paces, he
brought to my attention, on the hillside, an opening in the earth. This
aperture was irregular in form, about the diameter of a well, and
descended perpendicularly into the stony crust. I leaned far over the
orifice, and heard the gurgle of rushing water beneath. The guide
dropped a heavy stone into the gloomy shaft, and in some seconds a dull
splash announced its plunge into underground water. Then he leaned over
the stony edge, and--could I be mistaken?--seemed to signal to some one
beneath; but it must be imagination on my part, I argued to myself, even
against my very sense of sight. Rising, and taking me by the hand, my
guardian spoke:
"Brother, we approach the spot where you and I must separate. I serve my
masters and am destined to go where I shall next be commanded; you will
descend into the earth, as you have recently desired to do. Here we
part, most likely forever. This rocky fissure will admit the last ray of
sunlight on your path."
My heart failed. How often are we courageous in daylight and timid by
night? Men unflinchingly face in sunshine dangers at which they shudder
in the darkness.
"How am I to descend into that abyss?" I gasped. "The sides are
perpendicular, the depth is unknown!" Then I cried in alarm, the sense
of distrust deepening: "Do you mean to drown me; is it for this you have
led me away from my native State, from friends, home and kindred? You
have enticed me into this wilderness. I have been decoyed, and, like a
foolish child, have willingly accompanied my destroyer. You feared to
murder me in my distant home; the earth could not have hidden me;
Niagara even might have given up my body to dismay the murderers! In
this underground river in the wilds of Kentucky, all trace of my
existence will disappear forever."
I was growing furious. My frenzied eyes searched the ground for some
missile of defense. By strange chance some one had left, on that
solitary spot, a rude weapon, providentially dropped for my use, I
thought. It was a small iron bolt or bar, somewhat rusted. I threw
myself upon the earth, and, as I did so, picked this up quickly, and
secreted it within my bosom. Then I arose and resumed my stormy
denunciation:
"You have played your part well, you have led your unresisting victim to
the sacrifice, but if I am compelled to plunge into this black grave,
you shall go with me!" I shrieked in desperation, and suddenly threw my
arms around the gentle adept, intending to hurl him into the chasm. At
this point I felt my hands seized from behind in a cold, clammy,
irresistible embrace, my fingers were loosed by a strong grasp, and I
turned, to find myself confronted by a singular looking being, who
quietly said:
"You are not to be destroyed; we wish only to do your bidding."
The speaker stood in a stooping position, with his face towards the
earth as if to shelter it from the sunshine. He was less than five feet
in height. His arms and legs were bare, and his skin, the color of light
blue putty, glistened in the sunlight like the slimy hide of a water
dog. He raised his head, and I shuddered in affright as I beheld that
his face was not that of a human. His forehead extended in an unbroken
plane from crown to cheek bone, and the chubby tip of an abortive nose
without nostrils formed a short projection near the center of the level
ridge which represented a countenance. There was no semblance of an eye,
for there were no sockets. Yet his voice was singularly perfect. His
face, if face it could be called, was wet, and water dripped from all
parts of his slippery person. Yet, repulsive as he looked, I shuddered
more at the remembrance of the touch of that cold, clammy hand than at
the sight of his figure, for a dead man could not have chilled me as he
had done, with his sappy skin, from which the moisture seemed to ooze as
from the hide of a water lizard.
[Illustration: "CONFRONTED BY A SINGULAR LOOKING BEING."]
Turning to my guide, this freak of nature said, softly:
"I have come in obedience to the signal."
I realized at once that alone with these two I was powerless, and that
to resist would be suicidal. Instantly my effervescing passion subsided,
and I expressed no further surprise at this sudden and remarkable
apparition, but mentally acquiesced. I was alone and helpless; rage gave
place to inertia in the despondency that followed the realization of my
hopeless condition. The grotesque newcomer who, though sightless,
possessed a strange instinct, led us to the base of the hill a few
hundred feet away, and there, gushing into the light from the rocky
bluff, I saw a magnificent stream issuing many feet in width. This was
the head-waters of the mysterious brook that I had previously noticed.
It flowed from an archway in the solid stone, springing directly out of
the rock-bound cliff; beautiful and picturesque in its surroundings. The
limpid water, clear and sparkling, issued from the unknown source that
was typical of darkness, but the brook of crystal leaped into a world of
sunshine, light and freedom.
"Brother," said my companion, "this spring emerging from this prison of
earth images to us what humanity will be when the prisoning walls of
ignorance that now enthrall him are removed. Man has heretofore relied
chiefly for his advancement, both mental and physical, on knowledge
gained from so-called scientific explorations and researches with
matter, from material studies rather than spiritual, all his
investigations having been confined to the crude, coarse substance of
the surface of the globe. Spiritualistic investigations, unfortunately,
are considered by scientific men too often as reaching backward only.
The religions of the world clasp hands with, and lean upon, the dead
past, it is true, but point to a living future. Man must yet search by
the agency of senses and spirit, the unfathomed mysteries that lie
beneath his feet and over his head, and he who refuses to bow to the
Creator and honor his handiwork discredits himself. When this work is
accomplished, as it yet will be, the future man, able then to comprehend
the problem of life in its broader significance, drawing from all
directions the facts necessary to his mental advancement, will have
reached a state in which he can enjoy bodily comfort and supreme
spiritual perfection, while he is yet an earth-bound mortal. In
hastening this consummation, it is necessary that an occasional human
life should be lost to the world, but such sacrifices are noble--yes,
sublime, because contributing to the future exaltation of our race. The
secret workers in the sacred order of which you are still a member, have
ever taken an important part in furthering such a system of evolution.
This feature of our work is unknown to brethren of the ordinary
fraternity, and the individual research of each secret messenger is
unguessed, by the craft at large. Hence it is that the open workers of
our order, those initiated by degrees only, who in lodge rooms carry on
their beneficent labors among men, have had no hand other than as agents
in your removal, and no knowledge of your present or future movements.
Their function is to keep together our organization on earth, and from
them only an occasional member is selected, as you have been, to perform
special duties in certain adventurous studies. Are you willing to go on
this journey of exploration? and are you brave enough to meet the trials
you have invited?"
Again my enthusiasm arose, and I felt the thrill experienced by an
investigator who stands on the brink of an important discovery, and
needs but courage to advance, and I answered, "Yes."
"Then, farewell; this archway is the entrance that will admit you into
your arcanum of usefulness. This mystic Brother, though a stranger to
you, has long been apprised of our coming, and it was he who sped me on
my journey to seek you, and who has since been waiting for us, and is to
be your guide during the first stages of your subterrene progress. He is
a Friend, and, if you trust him, will protect you from harm. You will
find the necessaries of life supplied, for I have traversed part of your
coming road; that part I therefore know, but, as I have said, you are to
go deeper into the unexplored,--yes, into and beyond the Beyond, until
finally you will come to the gateway that leads into the 'Unknown
Country.'"