CHAPTER
XIII.
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 front 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
fluorspar, talc-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.
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 condi-tion. 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."