CHAPTER XII.
A CAVERN DISCOVERED.--BISWELL'S HILL.
We stopped that night at a tavern in Smithland. Leaving this place afterdinner the next day, on foot, we struck through the country, into thebottom lands of the Cumberland River, traveling leisurely, lingering forhours in the course of a circuitous tramp of only a few miles. Althoughit was the month of December, the climate was mild and balmy. In myformer 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 twolocalities. How different also the scenery from that of my native State.Great timber trees, oak, poplar, hickory, were in majestic possession oflarge tracts of territory, in the solitude of which man, so far asevidences of his presence were concerned, had never before trodden. Fromtime to time we passed little clearings that probably were to beenlarged to thrifty plantations in the future, and finally we crossedthe Cumberland River. That night we rested with Mr. Joseph Watts, awealthy and cultured land owner, who resided on the river's bank. Afterleaving his home the next morning, we journeyed slowly, very slowly, myguide seemingly passing with reluctance into the country. He had becomea 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 oppositeside of the Cumberland, from Smithland. Here a steep bluff broke throughthe bottom land to the river's edge, the base of the bisected pointbeing washed by the Cumberland River, which had probably cut its waythrough the stony mineral of this ridge in ages long passed. We climbedto its top and sat upon the pinnacle, and from that point of commandingobservation I drank in the beauties of the scene around me. The river atour feet wound gracefully before us, and disappeared in bothdirections, its extremes dissolving in a bed of forest. A great blackbluff, far up the stream, rose like a mountain, upon the left side ofthe river; bottom lands were about us, and hills appeared across theriver in the far distance--towards the Tennessee River. With regret Ifinally drew my eyes from the vision, and we resumed the journey. Wefollowed the left bank of the river to the base of the blackbluff,--"Biswell's Hill," a squatter called it,--and then skirted theside of that hill, passing along precipitous stone bluffs and amongstunted cedars. Above us towered cliff over cliff, almostperpendicularly; below us rolled the river.
SECTION OF KENTUCKY, NEAR SMITHLAND, IN WHICH THEENTRANCE TO THE KENTUCKY CAVERN IS SAID TO BE LOCATED.]
I was deeply impressed by the changing beauties of this strange Kentuckyscenery, but marveled at the fact that while I became light-hearted andenthusiastic, my guide grew correspondingly despondent and gloomy. Fromtime to time he lapsed into thoughtful silence, and once I caught hiseye directed toward me in a manner that I inferred to imply either pityor envy. We passed Biswell's Bluff, and left the Cumberland River at itsupper extremity, where another small creek empties into the river.Thence, after ascending the creek some distance, we struck across thecountry, finding it undulating and fertile, with here and there a smallclearing. During this journey we either camped out at night, or stoppedwith a resident, when one was to be found in that sparsely settledcountry. Sometimes there were exasperating intervals between our meals;but we did not suffer, for we carried with us supplies of food, such ascheese and crackers, purchased in Smithland, for emergencies. We thusproceeded a considerable distance into Livingston County, Kentucky.
I observed remarkable sinks in the earth, sometimes cone-shaped, againprecipitous. These cavities were occasionally of considerable size anddepth, and they were more numerous in the uplands than in the bottoms.They were somewhat like the familiar "sink-holes" of New York State, butmonstrous in comparison. The first that attracted my attention was nearthe Cumberland River, just before we reached Biswell's Hill. It wasabout forty feet deep and thirty in diameter, with precipitous stonesides, shrubbery growing therein in exceptional spots where loose earthhad collected on shelves of stone that cropped out along its ruggedsides. The bottom of the depression was flat and fertile, covered with aluxuriant mass of vegetation. On one side of the base of the giganticbowl, a cavern struck down into the earth. I stood upon the edge of thisfunnel-like sink, and marveled at its peculiar appearance. A spirit ofcuriosity, such as often influences men when an unusual natural scenepresents itself, possessed me. I clambered down, swinging from brush tobrush, and stepping from shelving-rock to shelving-rock, until I reachedthe bottom of the hollow, and placing my hand above the black hole inits center, I perceived that a current of cold air was rushingtherefrom, upward. I probed with a long stick, but the direction of theopening was tortuous, and would not admit of examination in that manner.I dropped a large pebble-stone into the orifice; the pebble rolled andclanked 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 findthe secrets of this cave," I reflected, the natural love of explorationpossessing me as it probably does most men.
My companion above, seated on the brink of the stone wall, replied to mythoughts: "Your wish shall be granted. You have requested that which hasalready been laid out for you. You will explore where few men havepassed before, and will have the privilege of following your destinyinto a realm of natural wonders. A fertile field of investigation awaitsyou, such as will surpass your most vivid imaginings. Come and seatyourself beside me, for it is my duty now to tell you something aboutthe land we are approaching, the cavern fields of Kentucky."