Only three grooved axes and three pestles were found. They are shown in plate 29, along with a cobblestone used as a pestle.

















The cave was especially rich in objects wrought from bone and antler. A few of these are shown in plates 30-36 and figure 15.



Plate 36 illustrates four stages in the manufacture of skivers. It shows that instead of being always rubbed down from its natural form the bone was sometimes split by blows of a stone hammer until complete, subsequent smoothing probably resulting from use, as shown by the implement at c. When skivers were broken, the ends were dressed down for other uses; as observed in the upper row of plate 32.

Shell spoons, knives, and scrapers were abundant. Some are shown in plate 37, along with perforated pottery disks and the bowl of a spoon made from the frontal bone of a deer.

Figure 16 represents the only adz or gouge form implement found. It is made of gray chert, the edge highly polished. In figure 17 is shown a broken clay pipe, identical in form and material with that in figure 14.



The red clay which had formed the floor of the excavated area from the mouth of the cavern to well past the central portion suddenly dipped to the north and to the east shortly before reaching the corner of the west wall. Attempts to follow it downward were frustrated by black earth, which when dug with pick or shovel assumed the consistency of "hog-wallow mud."

For a space of 4 or 5 feet inside the doorway, whose floor was about 3 feet higher than the average surface level in the cave, the ashes were not more than a foot thick, the clay rising to this extent. It spread out fan shape, with a continuous slope for several yards in every direction, thus making an easy grade for entrance and exit.

There are three ways in which this condition could have been brought about.

First, the aborigines may have constructed a graded way; though it is not at all likely they would have piled the clay so far to each side.

Secondly, it may have washed through the doorway from the outer cave when the main outlet of the latter in the face of the bluff toward D (fig. 13) was obstructed in some way. This is improbable.

Thirdly, it may be due to material deposited in the eddy or swirl created by the corner of the west wall whenever a large volume of drainage water flowed from the westward in the main cave and was sharply deflected toward the south when it struck the east wall. This is no doubt the correct explanation.

Whether or not these floods had any part in piling up the clay at the doorway, beyond doubt it was to them that the clay, gravel, and sand resting upon the floor of the main cave owe their origin. To them is likewise due the dark earth overlying the clay at the rear and covering the floor of the recess in the east wall. Clearly, there was at one time in the cave's history a current at intervals, which carried mud and small rocks from the interior of the cave, or from the outside surface through sink holes, and left at least a part of it where the velocity of the stream was checked. Later, much of this water found other drainage channels, and the coarser matter could no longer be carried into the cave; but at times of unusually heavy precipitation enough of the torrent followed the old course to bring in the dark earth. The last is due to top soil containing a large amount of humus from decaying vegetation. Finally, no more water came this way except as seepage, which is the condition at present.



The pool at the rear may be entirely empty in dry seasons; and after heavy rains may contain a depth of 2 feet. This water now has a greasy looking scum and a sour, unpleasant odor.

The cave was inhabited before the water had entirely ceased to flow through it; this is proven by the alternation of refuse and silt in the recess under the east wall. Kitchen waste would be thrown here, and when the water rose sediment would cover it. There was then dry ground near the doorway; and the water in the pool, having an outlet toward the east, through the crevice, was fit for use, except, perhaps, when turbid.

On the rear slope, 18 feet from the water, the excavation was carried to the level of the bottom of the pool. The lower 2 feet was mud, and at the bottom water oozed in. Scattered through this muddy earth was much charcoal in small fragments; and for a short distance it also occurred for a few inches below the surface of the red clay. This charcoal was carried in by the water at the same time as the earth with which it was associated, and must be due to fires on the hill outside. At any rate, it did not come from any fires made within the cavern. No refuse or worked objects of any kind were found in this black earth, except in the recess in the east wall, as described, and in the upper portion immediately under the ashes. Such as existed outside the recess may have become mixed in the same way; that is, by being thrown on the top as it existed at the moment and being later covered by the water; or it may have worked in from the ashes above. Nor was there much refuse in the ashes on the rear slope, although these were quite regularly stratified.

To entirely remove the rocks and clay and expose in a satisfactory manner the bedrock floor would require months of labor, the use of mechanical appliances, and complete drainage to the rear wall through the mouth of the cave.

Without attempting to make a detailed list, there may be given a summary of the objects shipped to the National Museum:

12 skulls, most of them more or less broken. 10 partial skeletons, including those of children. 8 fragments of skulls from different individuals not included in the above. 74 objects of shell. 711 worked flint objects; knives, scrapers, cores, etc. 10 grooved axes, tomahawks, and flint hammers. 10 mortars. 40 pestles, stone hammers, rubbing stones, etc. 413 wrought objects of bone and stag horn. 2 clay pipes. 1 box of pottery fragments. A number of small objects, not classified.

There were left in the cavern several hundred broken flints; more than 60 mortars; probably 200 stones used as pestles, hammers, etc., and several large wagonloads of shell, bone, and broken pottery.

There is no way in which the age of the deposits in either the Miller or the Sells Cave can be determined. The accumulation of ashes in the one and of talus at the front of the other would certainly imply the lapse of several centuries, perhaps a thousand years of continuous occupation. Intermittent habitation would lengthen this period.

RAMSEY'S CAVE

Ramsey's Cave, better known as Freeman's Cave, is in a bluff on the right bank of Big Piney River, 3 miles below Miller's Cave. It is about 150 feet above the level of the stream and the same below the summit of the hill behind it. Within a hundred yards to east and west are shallow ravines by which access is fairly easy to a ledge nearly on the same level as the cave; this is wide enough for one person to traverse, but in most places too narrow for two abreast. The talus in front is rough and steep but a crooked path with no difficult grades can be made to the water.

Chambers on each side near the entrance, which are accessible only by means of a ladder, provide excellent living quarters and command approach from any direction, even along the foot of the cliff on either side.

The entrance, which faces southwest, is a symmetrical arch 75 feet wide and 20 feet high.

Bedrock shows just in front, covered with loose material washed over the cliff. The floor ascends and the roof descends toward the rear, until at 70 feet they approach within 6 feet of each other; beyond this the cave is choked with fallen rocks and with earth and gravel probably from a sink hole some distance back on top of the hill.

Refuse shows about the entrance and for 40 feet toward the rear, where earth from the interior has worked down over it. The surface is strewn with rocks, large and small, so that excavations are possible only in small areas. Several holes were dug at intervals between the front and the rear; a considerable amount of ashes was found over the middle portion, thrown from still farther back. Very little was found in them. The rock bottom slopes upward slightly and was covered in some places with clay and gravel, on which lay the ashes and other refuse; these were nowhere more than 3 feet deep, and usually much thinner.

The place was so difficult to work in and the returns were so scanty that systematic investigation did not seem warranted, and the work was not extended. The only objects secured were a bone perforator, part of another one, a snail shell, apparently a bead, a very small piece of sandstone used as a grinder or polisher for bones, a fragment of worked mussel shell, and nine rough flints. There were also a few small fragments of pottery.

A man living near the cave reported that a few years ago he was digging in a narrow space between the east wall and a large fallen rock. He came upon the feet of two skeletons and took out the lower leg bones. Being assured by a friend that these were not bones of Indians because they were not "red," and so must be remains of white people, he replaced them and threw the earth back on them. He was certain the spot had never since been disturbed; but in this he was mistaken, for investigation revealed a pile of human bones lying in confusion, in which the frames of two individuals, as he had said, were mingled; but no trace of the skull or jaw of either. Evidently some one had come afterwards in search of the skulls. The femur of the larger individual was just 19 inches long; the other frame was much smaller; but all other bones were in such fragmentary condition they could not be measured.

There is a rock shelter a short distance down the river from the Ramsey Cave and in the same ledge. It is 45 feet long, 15 feet deep, and 8 feet high in front, the roof coming down to the floor at the rear. There is nothing to show that it was ever used, even as a camping place.

* * * * *

A fourth of a mile above this cave is another from which flows a never-failing spring. There is a pile of ashes near the front, containing some refuse, but these mark only the site of an occasional camp, as the place could not be occupied in wet weather.

GRAHAM CAVE

On Graham's land, high up in a bluff facing Big Piney, opposite the mouth of Spring Creek, is a small cave difficult to reach and not suitable for occupancy.

PILLMAN'S OR SPRING CREEK, CAVE (25)

At the mouth of Spring Creek, on land of John Pillman, near the top of the bluff, is a cave with an entrance 30 feet wide and 30 feet high. A steep rock ledge at the front offers an impassable obstacle to any stock except goats. The front chamber is well lighted for a distance of 80 feet, where it makes a turn. Bedrock is exposed near the entrance and rises toward the rear, showing here and there through the covering of earth, which is not more than 2 feet deep anywhere. Water cracks appear even in the highest spots, proving the floor to be saturated at times. There is considerable refuse inside the cave, but none in front, and it is reported that human skeletons have been found in it. If so they must have been on a ledge or in a crevice. Plate 2, a, shows the hill, from the west; plate 2, b, the entrance to the cave.

Two large cairns stood on top of the bluff above the cave. So far as can be determined in their dilapidated condition, there seems to have been a row of stones inclosing a definite area, but it is impossible to ascertain with certainty whether this was the case.

On a lower ridge, to the north, are three similar but smaller cairns. These are constructed entirely of sandstone slabs, and there was plainly some sort of system used in placing them; but, as in the case of the first, it can not now be determined whether there was a continuous wall, and, if so, whether it was more than one stone high.

* * * * *

A village site is reported in the river bottom on David Thomas's farm on the Big Piney, near Moab.

There were cairns, now totally destroyed, at two places on the ridge over which passes the road from Devil's Elbow to Spring Creek.

WOODLAND HOLLOW CAVE

A minor ravine, known as Woodland Hollow, opens into a small unnamed creek a mile above its junction with Big Piney River at the Devil's Elbow. In the west slope of this ravine is a large cave, named from its location. Through the middle part the floor is muddy; along the wall on the left, dry cave earth, with a width of 20 to 30 feet, extends for 70 feet from the entrance, its surface 4 feet above the level of the wet floor. A smaller amount of dry earth lies along the opposite wall. The sides of the cavern recede at the bottom, the dry earth passing under them. No estimate can be made as to the total depth of the deposits. At the mouth of a ground-hog burrow were two bone perforators, potsherds, fragments of bones, and pieces of worked flint, including two knives, which had been thrown out by the animal. Two mortar stones were found on the margin of the dry earth.

The cave belongs to Philip Becker, of St. Louis, who peremptorily refused to allow any examination whatever to be made; the only case in the whole region where cheerful permission was not given for any amount of excavation desired.

Three cairns, all demolished, stood on the Stuart property, half a mile from Woodland Cave.

* * * * *

There is a cairn on top of Lost Hill, half a mile south of Blue, or Shanghai, Spring on Big Piney.

WALLED GRAVES AT DEVIL'S ELBOW (26)

Three miles above the point at which it passes out of the hills into the bottom lands on its way to the Gasconade, the Big Piney River doubles on itself with an abrupt curve, which raftsmen have named "The Devil's Elbow." For more than a mile above and below this bend the stream flows in opposite directions in nearly parallel east and west channels around the foot of a spur from the high land to the west.

Into the Elbow, on its outer curve, three ravines from the east and southeast open within a fourth of a mile. They form the boundaries of two very narrow ridges or "hog-backs," which terminate in precipitous slopes near the river. For some distance back from the points the limestone bedrock crops out, a slight accumulation of earth in the crevices supporting a scanty covering of weeds but being insufficient to permit the growth of trees or bushes; hence the term "balds" by which they are locally known. The ridges have a gradual and nearly uniform slope toward the summit of the hill, which lies half a mile to the eastward. The sandstone capping the hill appears within a few hundred feet and is covered with an abundant growth. On the upland are many large trees.

The ridge farthest south, on the farm of Joseph Ross, has five stone graves along the crest, numbered here in their order from the bluff. Number (1) is a few rods below the sandstone outcrop, and is constructed partly of weathered limestone blocks such as are now lying around it and partly of sandstone slabs carried from farther up the hill. All the other cairns, although (2) and (3) stand on the limestone bedrock, are built entirely of sandstone fragments ranging from the size of a brick or smaller to pieces weighing over 200 pounds.

At first sight the cairns appeared to be only piles of stones thrown together; but more careful inspection showed that each burial place was outlined by a wall, laid up with as much regularity as was practicable with the material at hand, and inclosing a space approximately square. Measuring from face to face of their walls, the spaces between these cairns were as follows: (1) to (2), 21 feet; (2) to (3), 19 feet; (3) to (4), 36 feet; (4) to (5), 34 feet.

Not one of these walls was intact at the time of examination; hunters had torn away portions of all of them in pursuit of small animals which had sought refuge among the stones; and such parts as were not thus injured were more or less displaced by roots of trees penetrating in every direction the soil which had accumulated in the open spaces.

So far as could be judged in their chaotic condition, the first step in their construction was to lay a row of slabs around the area required; then another row upon this; and the work was continued in this manner until the desired height was reached. As a rule, the stones were so laid as to break joints and to interlock at the corners, for greater stability; but in a few places this was not done. If a stone, once laid up, did not fit as it should, the builders apparently did not take the trouble to replace it with another better suited to the requirements. Seemingly, care was taken to build in such a manner that each outer face should be vertical, and in a straight line from corner to corner; but the inner side was left rough and irregular according to the shape and size of the blocks, no attempt being made to even it up. If timbers of any kind had been laid across the top, resting on the walls, there remained no indication of the fact. However, the bodies may have been protected at the time of interment by small vaults or pens constructed of poles, whose decay would allow the stones to settle, and of which no traces would now be left.

The space inclosed by the walls was filled with loose stones lying in such disorder as to suggest that they had been carelessly or hastily thrown in to fill the interior and round up the top; but some of this confusion may have resulted from the same causes by which the walls were defaced.

It does not appear that any stones had been piled against the outside of the walls to assist in retaining them in place; such as were found in this position were either thrown there by the present inhabitants or had fallen from the top.

Two of the cairns, the second and the third in order, were so torn up and overgrown that no investigation of them was attempted; the three others were fully examined.

CAIRN (1)

In the first, that nearest the terminus of the ridge, all stones lying against the outside of the structure were thrown aside, bringing the outer face into plain view. The inclosure thus revealed resembled the rude foundation of a small building. Measuring from corner to corner the north wall was 14 feet long, the south wall 16 feet, the east wall 14 feet, the west wall 13 feet. The walls were as straight and the corners as square as they could well be made with surface rocks not trimmed or dressed from their natural rough condition.

The space within was next freed of stones; the topmost were 3 feet above the outside level, though no doubt higher when first piled. The inside measurements were: North wall 10 feet, south wall 10 feet, east wall 9 feet, west wall 9 feet; all measurements being approximate, as no definite boundaries could be determined.

The south wall was practically destroyed; the others were not much injured, but no longer plumb, as they undoubtedly were when constructed. The east wall was in best condition; the outer face was nearly vertical; the top of the highest stone remaining in it was 28 inches above the bottom of the lowest. The general appearance of the wall indicates that it was somewhat higher.

After the stones were thrown out there remained a deposit of loose material, composed to some extent of very scanty soil and of humus from decayed weeds and leaves, but principally of disintegrated sandstone which had settled or washed in. Its thickness above bedrock was about 16 inches. All this was carefully examined.

Near the center, a few inches above the natural bedrock, were some fragments of human bones which seemed to belong to two adults. Another adult body, or skeleton, bundled or closely folded, had been placed against the south wall, which had partially fallen in on it. Pieces of long bones, including heads of two femurs, the ends of the bones at an elbow, phalanges, and a fragment of rib were found in a space less than a foot across. Nothing more of them remained and nothing else was found.

CAIRN (4)

The fourth grave in order was worked out in the same manner as the first. On the outer face the north wall measured 14 feet, the south wall 151/2 feet, the east wall 16 feet, the west wall 14 feet. The interior lengths were: North wall 12 feet, south wall 111/2 feet, east wall 12 feet, west wall 11 feet.

Near the center were a few fragments of bone, with a columella bead 4 inches long, perforated lengthwise. It is shown in figure 18. To the east of these, also to the south, were other fragments, indicating, in all, at least three interments.



CAIRN (5)

In grave No. 5 the walls on the north and the south were entirely torn out except some stones in the bottom row of each; the upper portions of the east and the west walls were also gone. For this reason the rocks lying outside the structure were not removed.

The north wall, outside, was 15 feet long; the south wall, 14 feet; the east wall, 16 feet; the west wall, 141/2 feet. The corresponding inner measurements were, north wall, 10 feet; south wall, 10 feet; east wall, 12 feet; west wall, 12 feet. But as the position of the corners was uncertain these figures are no doubt somewhat in error in either direction.

The central portion had never been disturbed, the stones lying as they were put originally, except for a possible settling due to their weight; the top of the rounded heap was about 4 feet high. This justified the hope that something might be discovered beneath them. But although the entire space within, up to the fairly defined inner faces of the walls, was thoroughly cleaned out down into the untouched gravelly subsoil, no trace of a bone or other indication of a burial was found. The only artificial object was a section 31/4 inches long of a columella perforated lengthwise, apparently lost by the wearer, as it lay on the natural surface. This is shown in figure 19.



CAIRNS ON HELM'S FARM

To the north of the Ross farm, on the ridge which is owned by Daniel Helm, are three stone graves made of shapeless limestone blocks such as cover the surface around them. One of these is about 300 yards from the bluff, on a knoll capped with the sandstone; the others are at the break of the ridge. All have been opened, two of them practically demolished. Those on the end of the ridge are only 14 feet apart, measuring from their adjacent margins, and were about 16 and 20 feet in diameter as built, both being somewhat widened now owing to the stones having been thrown outward from the central parts by hunters. Each was probably 3 feet high.

The smaller, being least defaced and nearly free from timber, was entirely removed, except a small portion along one margin, and the earth beneath it examined down to the bedrock. There was no sign of a wall; but one that would stand could not be made with stones rounded by weathering.

Remains of at least three bodies were found. One was laid in a crevice; only a few fragments of the long bones were left. With scraps of bone from another body were four teeth worn almost to the roots. They were not close together, but this was due to small burrowing animals which had scattered them. Of the third body, a few pieces of arm and leg bones remained. By itself, loose in the earth, was a single molar, not in the least worn, and with a very small root.

So far as appearances go, it seems the bodies were laid on outcropping rock, or in crevices, and stones piled on them without any attempt at order or arrangement.

The graves on the Helm farm are merely piles of stone, such as are found in various States. Those on the Ross place are of the same type as the cairns on Lost Hill at the mouth of Gourd Creek in Phelps County, but of a more advanced form. In both places flat stones were laid to inclose the burials. At Lost Hill, however, there was seldom more than a single layer, while at the Devil's Elbow a regular wall was built, seven superposed slabs being observed at one point with a certainty that others had been placed above these. They are not of the same class as the walled graves found in earth mounds along the Missouri River. In the latter, the inner face of the wall was as smooth and regular as it could be made, the outside being rough and upheld by stones and earth piled against them; while in those on Big Piney care was taken with the outer face which, it seems, was intended to be left exposed to view, while the inside was rough and hidden by stones thrown in. But no inference must be drawn from the different methods of filling or covering the vaults after they were completed. Along the Missouri, earth was abundant right at hand, but stones had, as a rule, to be carried some distance; while on the bluffs of the Gasconade and its tributaries the reverse was the case.

Petroglyphs, 75 feet above the level of the river bottom, are reported to be cut in a bluff facing the Gasconade River on the east side, 2 miles below the mouth of Big Piney.

* * * * *

A rock shelter not more than 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep is near the top of the bluff overlooking the Gasconade, almost opposite the mouth of Big Piney. It contains a quantity of ashes, but as it was frequently resorted to by bushwhackers during the Civil War, and is still much used by trappers and hunters who camp in it, these are probably not due to Indians.

ASH CAVE

So near to the county line that there is some uncertainty as to whether it lies in Pulaski or Phelps County is Ash Cave in a bluff over Baker's Lake, an artificial pond, 4 miles west of Arlington. The cave is small, and notwithstanding its name it contains no ashes or other remains of occupancy. The great number of large rocks on the floor makes examination impossible.

CLEMMENS CREEK CAVE (27)

At the head of a ravine opening into Clemmens Creek, about 4 miles south of Dixon, near the Piquet orchards, is a cavern with an entrance 55 feet wide and 40 feet high. The depth is 110 feet to loose rocks and clay, partly from the sides and roof, partly washed in through side caves and crevices. There is a small amount of cave earth along one wall, but it is damp, moldy, and covered with a growth of minute green fungus. Most of the floor, however, is of clay strewn with loose rocks and swept over by water at times.

There is no refuse, and the cave was never fit for habitation.

CAMDEN COUNTY

ALONG THE NIANGUA RIVER (28)

It is widely known that many caverns exist along the Niangua River and its tributaries, in Camden County, especially in the vicinity of Hahatonka, or, as it is locally termed, "Tonky." This is one of the show places of Missouri. The name includes a post office; a store; a school; an immense spring coming out at the foot of a cliff; the creek formed by this spring; a lake of several hundred acres, made by damming the creek; a picturesque ruined mill with the usual accessories of such a building; numerous caves; and a magnificent, but unfinished, residence crowning one of the hills. This has already called for an expenditure of half a million dollars; and at least double that sum, additional, will be required to complete it in accordance with the original plans. Whether it be due to the national appreciation of architectural beauty or the national appreciation of ability to do things in a large way, the palace seems to impress most visitors more than the remarkable combination of natural features.

The principal caves in the vicinity have distinctive names, as "Onyx" (there being two thus called), "Robbers'," "River" (this because there is a stream in it which can be crossed only in a boat), "Bridal," etc. Others are named for the owners of the land, or from some peculiarity, as "Dry," "Bunch," "Morgan," "Arnholdt." Many are not deemed of sufficient importance to have specific titles.

All those named were visited, as well as a number of the others.

A detailed description is not necessary. Not one of these caverns has ever been occupied unless as a temporary shelter. Some are flooded at intervals, either from the outside or by interior drainage; some have very restricted entrances and are dark at the front; some have rock floors or muddy bottoms; some can be entered only by clambering over talus to an opening at the bottom, or near the bottom, of a sink hole. Some shallow cavities, which under different conditions would be available as rock shelters, are in places difficult of access, remote from water, or otherwise unsuitable.

Some of these caverns have wonderful deposits on ceilings, walls, and floors, rivaling in beauty and ornate patterns those of the most famous caves of the country; and if they were easily accessible or could be conveniently explored, would attract hosts of visitors. One in particular, the "Bridal Cave," so called from a mass of stalactite material fully 10 feet from side to side at the top, which hangs in delicate translucent loops and folds and convolutions, equals Luray or Wyandotte for beauty, though not for extent.

* * * * *

It was reported that two walled graves stand on a "bald" on the farm of Will Robert Eidson, on the divide between the Niangua and the Little Niangua Rivers, about 4 miles north of Roach post office. They were described as "rocks laid up in a regular wall about 4 feet high, and about 30 steps square, and filled up inside with rocks." A visit to the site disclosed two ordinary cairns, made by throwing weathered limestone boulders into a rounded heap. Both piles have been scattered, and as they now exist one is about 25 feet, the other about 30 feet across. Such exaggerated, misleading descriptions are common, and result in much fruitless investigation.

Several caves are reported in the vicinity of Toronto, in Camden and Miller Counties; especially the Cokely Cave, 4 miles from Brumley on the Linn Creek road. From the descriptions given by informants, none of them appear to be suitable for habitation.

Many cairns exist on the ridges in this region, especially on high points overlooking valleys. All of them were built up with chert or limestone blocks, and all are more or less torn up. So far as could be learned there is no sign of a wall in any of them.

In the present state of knowledge, Camden County offers no inducement for archeological research.

A FOSSIL CAVE (29)

The geological deposits in this region comprise three principal formations which are named in the State report as the Jefferson City limestone, the Roubidoux sandstone, and the Gasconade limestone. It is in the last (which is the lowest) that caverns are found.

In various places erosion, either internal or superficial, or both, has formed crevices or sink holes through which the disintegrated sandstone finds its way into caverns below, where it accumulates and hardens until more resistant than when in its original condition.

Further erosion has in several places carried away the limestone from around these intrusive masses, allowing them to project above the present surface. Sometimes, where the sand piled up, they resemble haystacks; but usually they are of indefinite form, having spread out on the floor of the cavern, as such material will do in a shallow stream.

An interesting example of this action is the "Standing Rock," 4 miles west of Linn Creek, the county seat. Here was formerly a large cave with an eastward trend until near the mouth, when it turned sharply southward, the opening being in the direction of a little stream. The lower end of this cave became solidly filled with sand, and the water found an outlet farther back. All the limestone which formed the roof and walls of the middle portion of the cave is gone, a narrow ravine marking its course. The sandstone obstruction held its place, and now extends directly across the ridge between the two ravines. Its surface is an exact cast of the interior of the cave which it filled, and nodules of chert, remaining when the limestone dissolved, are still imbedded in its surface. The line of demarkation between the limestone matrix, where this still exists in part, and the siliceous filling is as distinct as that between the stone and brick in a building. The loose cave earth shows plainly under the sandstone near the former mouth of the cavern. Plan and section are shown in figures 20 and 21.

* * *

MILLER COUNTY

WRIGHT CAVE (30)

A mile and a half west of Brumley, near Glaize Creek, is Wright, or Brumley, Cave. The entrance is 15 feet high and 40 feet wide. At 20 feet from the mouth the width contracts to 20 feet. The depth is 120 feet in daylight to a stalagmite floor. Dry cave earth extends for 35 feet from the entrance, at which distance it reaches tough, sticky clay; this continues to the stalagmite. Above the clay are growing stalactites.



In front of the entrance were a few flint chips, but no indications of pottery or shell. A small implement, shown in figure 22, was found which is of interest because it was worked to a sharp point at one end of a narrow drill, while the other end widened into a squared form with a straight base which was dulled and polished from use as a cutting tool; the entire surface was polished from long service. An object of this kind would be highly suitable for mending moccasins and leggins. Finding this and nothing else strengthens the probability that this cave was used as a temporary camping place, but was never permanently occupied.



WILSON CAVE (31)

Facing Barren Fork of Tavern Creek, on the farm of John R. Bond, 8 miles northwest of Iberia and 12 miles southeast of Tuscumbia, is a cave celebrated by reason of a provision in the will of a former eccentric owner.

There is a small cave which has an opening in the bluff, a few feet to one side of the larger cave. This can be reached only by means of ladders 60 feet long.

Jack Wilson came from Ireland and settled on Tavern (or Cavern) Creek in 1822. For a number of years he lived in this cave, with his family. He died in 1855, leaving instructions that his body was to be packed in salt and placed in the small cave, "with a ten-gallon cask of good whisky," the entrance then to be sealed up. In order to carry out his last wishes, and at the same time to give him a "Christian burial," his wife had all his internal organs removed and interred in a cemetery; his body was filled with salt, and placed in a coffin, which, according to his wishes, was deposited in the cave, with the whisky. On the seventh anniversary of his death the whole community was to assemble to "eat, drink, and be merry." For many years residents in the vicinity had used the cave as a place for festive gatherings; but this occasion was to be on a scale beyond anything previously attempted. If necessary, Scriptural methods were to be employed; that is, messengers were to be sent out in all directions, urging every one to come. The floor was to be enlarged, and a platform erected on it. When all were assembled, the whisky and the coffin were to be brought from their resting place and set on the platform. Then certain famous fiddlers were to ascend the platform and play, while the guests danced. When the whisky was exhausted, and the fiddlers in the same condition, the picnic was over and the assembly would disperse. The coffin was then to be replaced in the little cave, which was to be again sealed up, not to be reopened until the Day of Judgment.



The preliminaries were carried out according to program, but when the time for the celebration came round the people were more concerned with the Civil War, and especially in the activities of the bushwhackers who infested that part of the country, than they were in picnics; and Wilson's resurrection was brought about by persons whose identity was never discovered. They got into his tomb in some manner, drank all the whisky, broke open the coffin, and threw Wilson's bones to the outside, where they were scattered down the slope. Horrified relatives gathered them up, replaced them in the cave, sealed it again, and Wilson is still there awaiting his final summons.

The entrance is 20 feet high and 45 feet wide. Dry cave earth extends for 135 feet; from this point it continues, partially filled with fallen rock and stalagmite, 40 feet farther, or 175 feet in all, in plain daylight, at which distance the cave makes a turn; and the cave earth was followed in this to complete darkness without coming to its termination.

Beginning 100 feet from the entrance and extending for 35 feet, a narrow row of loose rocks fallen from the outcrop of stratum along the center of the roof lies on the surface. The cavern here measures 35 feet in width.

There is a wet weather stream along one wall, but the amount of water passing out is never large.

Solid bedrock, with patches of cave earth on it, is exposed, in slightly rising strata, for 10 feet from the little bluff at the mouth; within this it is hidden by the earth which gradually rises to a height of 6 feet; but some of this rise may be due to increased elevation of the rock floor. The entire cave can be easily cleared out to the stalagmite; and it would be advisable to remove at least portions of this in order to ascertain what may lie beneath it.

Refuse appears in considerable quantity in the bottom of the little stream bed and under the receding walls; and likewise a small amount outside the entrance. But the bedrock crops out frequently in narrow ledges between the mouth of the cavern and the foot of the hill, so very little debris of any kind lies on the slope outside.

Some alteration of the surface of the earth floor has taken place in consequence of the construction of platforms; but aside from this it has remained practically undisturbed.

BAGNELL CAVE (32)

A large cavern is near the top of the "Bagnell Hill" on the Bagnell and Linn Creek road, on the right (south) side of the Osage River, and about 3 miles from the town of Bagnell. On account of the "millions" of bats which shelter in it, the name of Bat Cave is applied to this as it is to many other caves in the region.

The entrance is so small that the cavern can be entered only by crawling in; and as no traces of Indian remains have ever been observed in it, or around the front, no examination was deemed necessary.

BODE CAVE (33)

Half a mile south of St. Elizabeth is the Ben Bode Cave. The roof has fallen in near the front, leaving the original exterior standing as a natural bridge a few feet wide. The present entrance to the cavern is 40 feet behind the bridge. It has a wet, rocky floor, and much water flows through it after a rain.

LUCKENHOFF CAVE

On John Luckenhoff's farm, three-fourths of a mile south of St. Elizabeth, facing Tavern Creek, is a small cave with a rocky floor. The entrance is nearly blocked with a mass of stalagmite, behind which the cave is dark.

JURGGENMEYER CAVE

It was reported that in a "cave" on the farm of Conrad Jurggenmeyer, 21/2 miles east of St. Elizabeth, a human skull was discovered. The statement may be true; but instead of a cave there is only a tunnel a few rods in length. Beyond the upper arch is an open ravine.

DAERHOFF CAVE

On Ben Daerhoff's farm, 4 miles north of St. Elizabeth, is a cavern facing a narrow valley through which a small stream flows to Tavern Creek a mile and a half away. The entrance is 8 feet high and 55 feet wide. It is well lighted to a depth of 120 feet, where it makes a turn. Dry earth extends back for 55 feet; from there on it is muddy. A small stream flows along one wall, from the wet portion of the floor to the entrance; with a little ditching this could be made to drain off all the water, forming a dry bottom to the rear wall. No refuse of any kind could be found, and the owner says he has never observed any either in the cave or in front of it.

CAVE NEAR MOUTH OF TAVERN CREEK

In the bluff facing Tavern Creek, half a mile above its junction with the Osage, is a cave with an entrance 10 feet high and the same in width. It has a depth of 45 feet in daylight. The floor is of clay and angular gravel, and so wet that puddles are found near the entrance.

BAT CAVE (34)

This is in a bluff facing the Osage, a mile south of the Rock Island Railway bridge. It is not accessible except by means of a ladder or stairway fully 60 feet long. The roof overhangs the entrance, and the floor projects over a shallow rock shelter which reaches for a few rods along the foot of the bluff. A small amount of water seeps from the entrance. Persons who explored the cavern years ago—there is no way to reach it at present—say it divides into three large chambers, mostly dry, and with floors of solid rock or of earth containing much rock.

GRAVE AT MOUTH OF SALINE CREEK (35)

Four miles below Tuscumbia, on the left bank of the Osage, is the mouth of Saline Creek which comes in from the north. On the lower (east) side of their junction, on the farm of Charles Tillman, is a low spur projecting toward the creek. On this is a pile of stones, all that remains of a vault or box grave which formerly existed there. Mr. Tillman says it was originally 35 or 40 feet across, a mound or rounded heap of stones, those about the top being larger than those nearer the base. Needing rock for various purposes, he procured them from this pile, beginning at the top to remove them and proceeding outward. In the course of this work he found that a wall had been built up to a height of about 4 feet, forming a practically square inclosure. The space within was filled and the structure entirely covered with rocks of various sizes. He removed the stones as he reached them, and consequently did not notice whether the outer face of the wall was straighter or smoother than the inner face, or whether there was any particular difference. In all, he took away not less than 40 wagon loads of stones.

On the level top of the hill from which the spur extends is a village site, where mortars, pestles, quantities of flints, and much broken pottery have been found; but no shell.

STARK'S CAVE (36)

Six miles south of Eldon, on a farm now owned by George Irvin, is a cave which is continuous with a small ravine leading up to it. The entrance is 45 feet wide and 16 feet high; a small stream flows from it, along the foot of the left (northern) wall. This skirts a thin deposit of damp earth, which lies along the southern wall, gradually narrowing as it extends inward, until at 50 feet it runs out at the edge of a shallow pool reaching nearly across the cave. The bottom, except for the earth mentioned, is rocky.

The cave was never fit for occupancy.

HOUSE MOUNDS

In an old "History of Miller County" mention is made of a large group of small mounds on a certain man's farm, without giving the locality. It is believed by old residents that this man "lived at one time 2 or 3 miles west of Ullman." If they existed, they were no doubt house mounds.

CAIRNS

Several graves, in a group, were formerly on John Tillman's land, 6 miles south of Eugene. The stones have been entirely removed. When the ground was plowed bullets were found under the sites of the cairns.

* * *

MARIES COUNTY

INDIAN FORD CAVE (37)

This is a fourth of a mile up the river from the bridge crossing the Gasconade, 21/2 miles east of Vienna. It is near the top of the hill at the head of a shallow ravine. The entrance, 35 feet wide, can be reached conveniently only near one wall, as a pile of talus immediately in front completely closes the opening; behind it the roof is 7 feet above the floor. If this accumulated material, which has increased somewhat in height within the memory of men now living, were removed to the level of the floor, the main chamber would be amply lighted to its end, a distance of 150 feet. There is a gradual downward incline from front to rear, the floor sloping more rapidly than the roof. After hard rains some water runs into the cavern from the inner slope of the talus; otherwise the floor is perfectly dry for 65 feet, then becomes wet, and near the rear wall there is standing water. It is apparent that a former drainage outlet in this direction is now choked with sediment, brought down perhaps through a branch opening. At 25 feet within the entrance the cavern is 25 feet wide; at 65 feet the distance across is 35 feet, with both walls sloping away like a low-pitched roof and loose earth filling the space under them. At the rear wall the width between the two branches into which the cave divides is 40 to 50 feet. The floor here is clay, with numerous little puddles.

Some pottery, bone, and much shell, but no flint chips, are scattered on the floor and for 50 or 60 feet down the slope outside.

The cavern would make an excellent habitation and is well worth excavating.

LACKAYE'S BLUFF CAVE (38)

This is on the farm of Harrison Hutchinson, who lives 10 miles southeast of Freeburg, on the road to Paydown. It is near the top of a bluff facing the Gasconade. Talus has accumulated in the front part of the cavern until it rises within 2 feet of the roof; farther back the cavity is of sufficient height for a man to stand erect, although nowhere more than 10 feet wide. Owing to the talus the interior is in almost total darkness. Were this accumulation removed the roof at the entrance would be 8 or 9 feet above the floor. The cavern may have been occupied, but there are no indications of such fact, although the recent natural deposits may conceal some remains.

HURRICANE BLUFF CAVE

Half a mile below Lackaye Bluff, opposite the lower end of an island in the Gasconade, is a rock shelter 85 feet in length, 15 feet high in front, 6 feet high at the rear, and 15 feet deep along the middle portion, wedging out at either end. A large pile of talus in front forms a natural windbreak, and the depression is a favorite camping place with present-day hunters and fishermen. A small quantity of flint chips and many shells can be seen around the wall and for some distance down the slope in front. The site may repay investigation, though there is no great depth of earth.

* * * * *

It is reported that paintings of a deer or elk and other objects are to be seen on the face of a bluff near Paydown.

STRATMAN CAVE (39)

On the farm of Henry L. Stratman, 21/2 miles above the Rock Island Railway bridge across the Gasconade River, is a cave near the top of a bluff facing the Gasconade. The entrance is 33 feet wide and 35 feet high. Forty feet back the walls approach each other, forming a doorway or short passage 5 feet wide. Beyond this is a room 18 feet deep and 9 feet across, with a rock ledge or shelf on each side several feet wide and elevated from a foot to 2 feet above the earth floor. This room is well lighted. The earth at the rear is 10 feet higher than at the main entrance. Behind this, in turn, nearly shut off by a large column of stalagmite, is a third room, 8 feet wide, whose earth floor rises rapidly. Were the stalagmite removed, there would be ample light for 20 or 30 feet farther, or about 90 feet in all.

Refuse, mostly shell, shows for 100 feet down the hill. There is some shell in the cave, along the walls; but most of the floor is a comparatively recent accumulation of roof dust and small fragments of rock, and is quite dry as far as light penetrates.

The entrance is much more easily reached from the top of the hill than from the foot of the bluff.

The trend and appearance of the reentrant side walls connecting the present entrance with the straight face of the cliff indicates that the earth in the cavern has a depth of 30 feet or more. Should this prove to be the case, here would be a most excellent place to search for evidence of occupation which, whether continuous or not, might bridge the time from the modern Indian to the earliest inhabitant.

Certainly no other cave in Missouri offers such facilities or inducements for careful and thorough investigation with a view to determining the existence of an early "cave man" in this country.

* * *

OSAGE COUNTY

RIVER CAVE (40)

This is at the foot of a bluff facing the Gasconade, 21/2 miles below Gascondy. It has a solid rock bottom, rising steeply for a few feet within the entrance, and a constantly flowing stream covers half the space between the walls.

ROCK SHELTER

There is an excellent rock shelter, 50 feet long, over which the cliff projects for 15 feet, in front and to one side of the entrance of River Cave. On this is a slight depth of earth in which were found some broken bones and shells. The site is an excellent one for camping parties, but has no evidence of other than temporary use.

STEUFFER CAVE

Four miles east of Freeburg, in a ravine, is a cavern popularly known as Beer Cave, being formerly used as a storage room for beer made in a brewery built just in front of it. The entrance is 8 feet wide and 12 feet high. The front chamber, having practically the same dimensions, extends directly back for 50 feet, then makes a turn. The floor is a mixture of clay and angular gravel, with a continuous downward slope from front to rear. Water cracks show that it is sometimes flooded.

The place was never fit for living in.

CAIRNS

At the Gasconade River bridge, on the Rich Fountain road, two creeks on the west side, Brush and Swan, separated only by a narrow ridge which terminates abruptly at either end, come in a fourth of a mile apart. Both rise in the same lake, 6 miles from the river, and flow through parallel valleys, thus draining an abandoned ox-bow curve of the stream.

On the extreme eastern point of this ridge are two cairns. A fourth of a mile from these are two others; and farther back still more of them. All are now destroyed. They were the usual conical heaps of stone, 18 to 20 feet across.

HOUSE MOUNDS (41)

A group of house mounds extends for half a mile eastward from Rich Fountain, along the valley of Brush Creek. They are fully 100 in number, and it is said there were formerly many more which are now leveled by cultivation. The ground is low, in some places swampy, so that water or mud surrounds many of them after a heavy rain.

"INDIAN FORT" (42)

This structure, also called the "Indian Lookout," is located on a bluff facing the Osage, half a mile below the "Painted Rock," and near the buildings of the Painted Rock Country Club, of Jefferson City.

Except for a slight projection or offset at one side, which contains an opening or doorway, it was practically identical in appearance with the vault graves along the Missouri River bluffs, described in Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 37; or else with those on Big Piney River in Pulaski County. It is formed of sandstone slabs, once laid up in a wall but now scattered in confusion as if fallen or thrown down. Apparently it measured about 32 to 35 feet outside and 12 or 13 feet inside.

* * *

COLE COUNTY

NATURAL BRIDGE CAVE

This is at the top of a bluff facing the Osage, one-half mile below the Rock Island bridge. It is only 10 feet wide and the same in height, and extends back 20 feet to a narrow passage which is almost closed by stalagmite. The site is difficult to reach, but disclosed a few fragments of pottery and some shell. The earth of the floor ascends rather steeply to the rear and contains many large rocks. It was only a camping place.

* * *

MORGAN COUNTY

SPEERS CAVE

On the Brown property, 7 miles southeast of Stover, is a reported cave, which proved to be a natural tunnel 400 feet long. The drainage from several farms passes through it from ravines above. The lower entrance is 40 feet wide and 50 feet high, the upper entrance 20 feet wide and 10 feet high.

Natural bridges and tunnels of varying lengths and widths are rather common in this part of the Osage Valley.

HOUSE MOUNDS (43)

Southeast of Stover, beginning at the edge of the town, is a group of house mounds extending over an area having a very irregular outline, but fully half a mile across in any direction. They vary from 20 to 35 feet in diameter and are scattered promiscuously at intervals of 25 to 150 feet. The surface on which they are built reaches over a succession of small knolls and ridges with slopes of 4 or 5 degrees. Most of them are along the sides of a wide, shallow valley draining northward, and of two or three small tributary depressions coming into it from either side, though a number are also to be found beyond the slight watershed which separates this drainage area from that to the southward. They exist in woods, meadows, and cultivated ground, so that some of them retain their original form, others are flattened and widened, while still others are barely traceable. Probably some have been entirely effaced by plow and harrow.



II. CAVE EXPLORATIONS IN OTHER STATES

INTRODUCTION

Certain conditions are to be taken into account in deciding whether a cave afforded a desirable permanent shelter to primitive man. It should be accessible; the floor should be dry, at least fairly level, and sufficiently free from large rocks to allow the inmates to move about freely; the entrance should be large enough to permit free passage and to light the interior to a distance that would insure protection from the elements. Temporary shelters or camping places might be deficient in some of these particulars and still be resorted to frequently; but if there were opportunity for choice, a man with intelligence to select a cave in which to live continually would, it is fair to assume, look for one possessing such features.

If such conditions, once established, were free from the mutations of time, the explorer would have but little difficulty in deciding upon a suitable site for his labors. But limestone, more than any other solid rock, is subject to constant erosion, crumbling, and falling; while the soil and loose fragments resulting from such action move downward year by year over the slopes and into any cavities where they can find their way. In the course of centuries the entire aspect of a cave may be so altered as to bear no resemblance whatever to its original appearance. Consequently a careful study must be made of the immediate surroundings, in order to determine what topographical changes may have occurred since the earliest time within which it is probable that man may have existed in that locality. Should the floor, at present, be of solid rock; or covered with only a slight layer of earth; or have a stream flowing over it; or show by marks upon the walls that it is subject to inundation either from adjacent streams or by surface water which finds its way in through sink holes; or be in such situation as to make it apparent that the original bottom was thus flooded in comparatively modern times, even though such may not now be the case—in any such event excavation would be labor wasted. On the other hand, all the necessary requirements for a convenient residence may now be present, and yet result from causes which have begun to operate within the historic period. In other words, there are very few cases in which the present appearance of a cave is to be deemed a certain or even an approximate indication of its actual state a few thousand years ago. There is only one way to determine whether extended excavations may possibly result in satisfactory returns, and that is to sink shafts or run trenches in the superficial deposits.

* * *

INDIANA

The cave region of this State extends from Owen and Morgan Counties to the Ohio River. The caverns and sink holes gradually increase in number and size toward the south, until they culminate in Wyandotte Cave, second only to Mammoth Cave of Kentucky in extent, and in the so-called "valleys" of Harrison County which are in reality nothing but sink holes several square miles in extent. Some of the caverns are described in detail by W.S. Blatchley, the State geologist, in the Twenty-first Annual Report of the Survey (1896). Very few of those mentioned by him are at all suitable for permanent occupancy, though several would afford excellent shelter except in the rainy season, at which time most of them have the floors muddy or perhaps covered with water for weeks in succession. Such as were visited in these explorations will now be taken up in their order.

LAWRENCE COUNTY

ROCK LEDGE QUARRY.—Early in 1903 periodicals mentioned an interesting discovery made at this place. According to the report, workmen in excavating a cut for a railway found an old cave entirely filled with stalagmite matter. In this, 10 feet below the former top of the cave—the cut did not extend to the bottom of the stalagmite—were discovered some bones which were pronounced by "several physicians" to be those of a human being. Among them was a "jaw tooth" (molar) and part of a skull. Correspondence failing to elicit any satisfactory information, a visit was made to the site. The cave could not be traced in either direction from the railway cut; but it had plainly served as an outlet for several large sink holes on the hill above it. Nothing could be learned here regarding the matter except that the objects had been found and were then in the museum of the State University at Bloomington. This place was next visited and the specimens inspected. There were many fragments still imbedded in the matrix, which was travertine rather than stalagmite. No exact determination of them had been made, but only casual inspection was needed to see that none of them could be human. The "jaw tooth" was from a peccary, the "human skull" was the carapace of a tortoise.

SHILOAH CAVE.—It was reported that, although the entrance to this cavern, 7 miles northwest of Bedford, was in a sink hole, the floor was level and accessible. The opening is almost at the bottom of the sink, whose slope is quite steep. After every rain the water runs in; and while the floor is level, as stated, it has a constant stream of water flowing over it and is in absolute darkness.

DONNEHUE'S CAVE.—Although water flows continuously from the entrance, the amount of discharge was said to be small and the cave floor level and covered with earth, while the cave itself was large and well lighted. The approach, however, is quite difficult; the earth is nowhere more than 2 or 3 feet thick, and after a heavy rain the stream extends from wall to wall.

Between Bedford and Donnehue's cave is one, unnamed, at the head of a ravine which was once an extension of the cavern. The opening is of fair size but the floor is of rock and the outflow of water is steady.

Just outside the corporate limits of Bedford, to the south, is an opening in the cliff at the head of a deep ravine, more in the nature of a rock house than of a cave. It would make an excellent shelter for a few persons, being accessible, protected from winds, and close to water. While it may have been so used formerly, the deposit of earth and stone on the floor is very scanty and anything beneath could well be quite modern.

Two caves were reported 2 miles south of Bedford. One is a small opening from which a stream issues, flows across a meadow, and enters the other cave, which is much larger. They are parts of one passage, the roof between these openings having broken down, and the stream is the same which finds its outlet at Donnehue's cave.

Several other caves in the vicinity of Bedford were visited. They are all small and of no importance from an archeological standpoint.

DONNELSON'S CAVE.—"The mouth of the cave is found at the head of a deep gorge worn through the limestone by a good-sized stream which flows from the cave and down the gorge to the broader valley beyond. Many centuries ago the cave extended the full length of the gorge, and the waters of the stream flowed directly from its mouth into the valley. The roof of the underground channel finally became so thin that it collapsed, the gorge was then started, and as the centuries went by grew in length, the cave becoming ever shorter by the continued falling of the roof.

"Three passages open directly into the mouth of the cave. The right hand passage has the level of its floor about 5 feet above that of the entrance, while the opening on the left is 12 feet above the level of the stream and very difficult to enter without a ladder. The middle passage extends straight back from the common vestibule or main entry. The latter is 25 feet long, 21 feet high, and 18 feet wide, but at its farther end is reduced to the narrow middle passage between great masses of limestone. The water in this passage is waist deep and explorations must be made by wading or in a light canoe. One hundred feet within is a magnificent cascade, where the stream rushes and leaps down a narrow passage with such violence that the noise is plainly heard at the entrance.

"The right-hand passage for the first 100 feet is about 10 feet high by 15 wide, with a clay bottom and a roof on a level with that of the vestibule. It then expands into a large room, 230 feet long and 40 feet wide, which lies east and west at right angles to the entering passage. This narrows at the west end to 20 feet, and at one point the outer air flows in through a small opening in the roof. From near the small end of the room a narrow passage starts off to the southward and can be traveled for 200 feet, when it becomes too small for further advance. Along this passage a small stream flows, disappearing through a hole in the floor near the entrance to the larger room. Other than this, both right and left passages leaving the main entry are dry.

"The passage at the left of the main entrance to the cave is about 150 feet long by 20 broad, and contains no points of especial interest." [W.S. Blatchley.]

It may be added to the above description that a heavy rain causes a rapid rise of several feet in the stream through the middle passage.

The cavern is situated 31/2 miles east of Mitchell. It has been fitted up by the State University as an experiment station for the study of underground fauna and flora.

The branch to the right is never entirely dry. Throughout the year water trickles or seeps over the stones and keeps the mud soft and sloppy, while after extremely heavy rains the water may be 2 or 3 inches deep for a short time—enough to keep all the earth washed from the floor for 50 or 60 feet from the entrance.

The northern or left branch presented a smooth, solid floor of rock at the beginning. The roof is about 13 feet above the floor, being a flat stratum broken by a joint-seam along which there is a slight fault. A ledge of friable sandstone 31/2 feet thick lies next below the roof. The disintegration of this gave a dry covering to the clayey earth which covered the floor almost to the extreme edge of the rock overhanging the stream and gradually rose toward the rear, where it entirely filled the space from floor to roof. The distance between the side walls is 8 feet at the mouth. They diverge slightly, and at 65 feet are about 12 feet apart. Here they separate more sharply, forming a chamber 30 feet in diameter, measuring on every side to the contact of the earth and the roof. At the extreme rear a slight wash or depression in the earth revealed the top of a vertical solid wall, thus marking the limit of the cave in that direction. It seems, however, to extend farther to the east and the west than it can now be followed; in fact, the indications are that at one time a considerable cross-cavern extended along this line.

The work of clearing out this branch began at the entrance. The superincumbent earth was removed by a trench whose boundary was the solid rock on each side until the cave widened to more than 8 feet between the walls; then a width of 7 to 9 feet was excavated midway between the sides, the entire trench having a length of 92 feet, or reaching nearly to the vertical wall at the rear. For about 60 feet the earth was removed to the rock floor. At this distance the floor dipped. The bottom of the trench continued to follow the same level it had held to this point, in the belief that the dip in the floor was due to a crevice or slight erosion channel and would soon disappear, bringing the rock to its normal position. This was not the case; several holes were dug, the deepest one 3 feet, into the mingled clay and rock, without finding any evidence of a solid bottom. The conclusion seemed certain that the passage leading from the entrance of the cave to the large room at its farther end was only a tributary or branch of a cross-cave extending in an east and west direction, as intimated above. Prof. Eigenmann, of the State university, reached the same conclusion through surveys not connected with this work. Under the circumstances further digging seemed useless; for if this should be a cross-cave the bottom would probably, almost certainly, be on a level with the stream now flowing through the central passage, while if it should prove to be only a cellar-like deepening, it would not be utilized for a habitation.

At 30 feet from the entrance the accumulated earth had a thickness of 6 feet; from there it rose gradually to the roof at the end.

At 37 feet, in a pocket of coarse sand on the rock floor, such as settles in a gentle current, were four fragments of bone. There is not enough of them to identify with certainty, but they seem to belong to a deer, a turkey, and some bird about the size of a quail.

At 66 feet in, a foot lower than the surface of the bedrock (being 5 or 6 feet beyond the above-mentioned dip), were small fragments or particles of charcoal, or what had every appearance of such. They were in earth that showed the lamination or stratification due to successive water deposits, and had been introduced in the same manner. The entire earth deposit below the sand capping showed this lamination, sometimes horizontal, sometimes curved, proving a long period of deposition. Further evidence of age is found in the travertine, 7 inches thick, that occurs on top of the earth at the back of the cave.

In the absence of all other evidence the specks of charcoal can not be accepted as proof of human life in the vicinity at the time these deposits were forming.

While the work was in progress three students from the university came through the central cave in a small boat, having entered through a sink hole 3 miles away in an air line. At some point of their course they lost their lanterns and made the remainder of the journey in absolute darkness, feeling their way along the walls, dragging or carrying the craft over shallows, and at one place lying flat in the bottom and propelling the boat by applying hands and feet to the roof, which was less than a foot above the water.

MARTIN COUNTY

Various caves are reported in the vicinity of Shoals. Those whose location was clearly given are merely "rock houses" or recesses in the Carboniferous conglomerate bluffs bordering the east fork of White River. Some of them would make fairly good shelters, but all which can now be examined are at so low a level that the river gets into them or very close to them in flood periods. Consequently there is no probability that ancient remains are to be found in them. Some of the shelters higher up on the cliffs may have been utilized, but the bottom of these is now covered with huge blocks, some weighing a hundred tons. It is true that such rock houses, in all parts of the country, were regular resorts for modern Indians, and they probably furnished shelter to the earliest inhabitants of this region, no matter how remote the period of occupation. But owing to their open front and the exposed situation of most of them, it is quite possible that the wind may remove the fine material falling from roof and sides almost as fast as it is deposited. At any rate the debris on the floors is seldom more than 3 or 4 feet deep, and articles very plainly of no great age are frequently found at all levels in it.

In a few places along the river bluffs limestone crops out beneath the sandstone, and springs occasionally appear along the line of junction, eroding small cavities, but these are subject to overflow, and none of them has an opening large enough to enter without crawling.

ORANGE COUNTY

VICINITY OF PAOLI.—From this town six caves were visited, all that could be located by diligent inquiry. None of them has any particular designation except "Mill Cave," which is so named because the stream issuing from it furnishes power for a flour mill. The water covers the floor at all seasons.

One, though quite small, could have been occupied at a former period, but the roof and front fell in some years ago, entirely closing it.

A third has a small entrance on a hillside. A steep and rough descent was followed beyond reach of daylight without coming to a level bottom.

The other three are very small with rock bottoms.

FRENCH LICK SPRINGS.—Two or three miles from this place is "Star Cavern," which is advertised as being of great size and beauty. The immediate surroundings are quite romantic and deserve the praise accorded the spot by visitors. The cave itself, however, more resembles an artificial tunnel than a natural result of erosion. The floor is clean rock with a little brook flowing over it.

Two other caves not far from Star Cave are dry, but with solid rock floors, so they were not visited.

ORANGEVILLE.—Near this place are the so-called Gulfs of Lost River. The stream sinks a few miles east of Orleans, emerges at the "Gulfs" from one side of a very large sink hole with precipitous margin, and immediately goes out of sight again in a deep pool or chasm. It reappears a mile or so away at the foot of a cliff where, after heavy rains, it boils up like a gigantic fountain. Numerous small caves or sink holes exist in the neighborhood, three of which were reported as being dry, lighted, having good entrances, and well suited for habitancy. One of them is at the bottom of a sink hole on a hill. The descent is steep and rocky for 20 feet (it was not followed farther) and no doubt so continues to the level of the river which flows almost directly under it.

The two others are in the principal "Gulf." They are open and of good size, but mud high on the walls shows they are filled with water in wet seasons.

CRAWFORD COUNTY

MARENGO CAVE.—This is growing famous as it becomes better known. Blatchley says that in it "are probably crowded more beautiful formations of crystalline limestone than in any other known cave of similar size in the United States." Visitors who have been in both say it surpasses Luray Cavern in the magnificence of its sheets and columns of deposited material.

As it was not opened until 1883, and the bottom can be reached only by a stairway 60 feet high, it was of course unknown to the aborigines.

A small cave near Marengo has an opening on a hillside, and can be directly entered from the outside; but it is at times a passageway for a strong current of water 3 feet deep and extending the full width of the cavity.

MILLTOWN.—A mile north of the town is a large cave which would furnish an abode for scores of people. The entrance is in a slight depression on the level upland west of Blue River. The descent is down an easy slope of fallen rock and earth about 30 feet deep to a rock floor. Beyond the foot of the slope there is a slight thickness of earth, so that explorations could reveal nothing that had a certainty of antiquity.

There is presented here a fine example of the manner in which caves of this character become exposed to the upper world. At first, there was an underground channel draining the adjacent country over a territory of varying extent, sometimes many square miles. At some point the roof fell in more rapidly than in other parts, until at last it became so thin as to give way entirely. If the debris was not sufficient in amount to extend above that part of the roof which remained intact on either side, so that it would be gradually carried away, the cave would remain open in both directions, as is the case at the "Gulfs" just described and at other caves statements of which appear in subsequent pages. Usually the debris quite chokes up one side and all the superficial drainage is turned into the other, which is thus kept open. In time, the slope around the depression becomes tolerably uniform except close to the entrance, and there is no outward indication that the cave ever extended farther than the spot where the new entrance is located. So the cave, as it is now open to examination, is only a portion of the original passage, and as the explorer pursues his way, he may be going toward either the former mouth or the source. In the former case, he comes out of a large opening, or what was formerly such, on some slope in the neighborhood, or descends until his way is obstructed by water. In the latter, he may find his way shut off by diminishing passages, or he may descend to lower levels through newer drainage channels cut by the streams which have been reversed and forced to carve other outlets for themselves.

This change occurred in the Milltown Cave a very long time ago. Standing on the debris, several feet within the entrance and beneath a part of the roof now perfectly dry and showing no marks of percolating water, is a stalagmite 31 inches in diameter, which has weathered to a depth of 3 to 4 inches from atmospheric influences alone.

WYANDOTTE CAVE.—So much has been printed concerning this celebrated cavern that no mention need be made of its interior features. The place seems excellently adapted as a habitation for primitive people. It is situated on a hill at whose foot is the bank of Blue River. Five miles away, as the road runs, is the Ohio. The backwater sometimes reaches up the tributary for more than 10 miles. The flint-bearing stratum of the Harrison County aboriginal quarries outcrops a short distance away and appears at several points within the cave. The country is extremely rugged, and good springs occur frequently. Game was formerly abundant in the hills, and Blue River still rewards the angler with various species of fish, many of them of large size.

A former race, presumably the modern Indian, did much work within the cave. Tons of travertine or stalagmite, the so-called alabaster, have been quarried from some of the deposits, while a large number of flint nodules has been dug out of the cave-earth where they fell from the disintegrating limestone. Some of this labor was carried on more than a mile from daylight.

The mouth of the cave was formerly almost closed by a mass of talus. About 10 feet has been removed from the top of this, so that one may now walk in without difficulty. On the inner side of the portion remaining there is a slope for 96 feet, to a vertical depth of a little more than 27 feet. The next 100 feet gives a descent of about 3 feet; then another steep slope begins. The first point at which bedrock floor is found within the cave is 120 feet lower than the point of entry. It is supposed that the drainage to which the cave owes its origin was outward; if this was the case the floor must be more than 120 feet below the roof at the doorway. While this may be true, it is not indicated by the condition of the visible strata. For about 50 feet outward the side walls are nearly parallel and nowhere more than 30 feet apart. Then they terminate at an angle in the outcrop of the ledge along the hillside. The appearance and condition of the upper strata, together with this narrow separation of the side walls outside the cave, produce the impression that at a period not very remote the roof of the cavern reached to the outcropping ledge in which the walls end. Even though the rock floor should be at the great depth supposed there is a possibility that an earth floor could be found below the detritus which has accumulated since the roof fell in or has worn away.

To test the matter a shaft was begun at a point 16 feet in front of the doorway. This was as near as such work could be done without interfering with the advent of visitors, and allowed a margin of 30 feet toward the outer slope. The shaft, 6 feet in diameter, soon passed into a compact mass of red clay filled with rocks of various sizes. At 14 feet down this was broken by an irregular stratum averaging a foot in thickness, of coarse sand or fine gravel with a slight admixture of clay, such as would form in a running stream. Its slope was inward or toward the cave. As there are sandstone ledges on the hillside above, this sand may have come from them, but, if so, it is singular that none appeared elsewhere. At 18 feet down was a mass of travertine measuring nearly 3 feet across and from 6 to 12 inches thick. It had formed around the lower part of a stalagmite 18 inches long, and the bottom of the whole formation rested horizontally on clay. This gave the excavators hope that an earth floor had been reached, as the stalagmite was vertical and resembled in all respects stalagmites in the cave. But it was soon found to be a foreign inclusion, and the same confused mixture of clay and stone continued below as above. Various fragments of stalactites and stalagmites were found as part of the detritus. These, especially the vertical one, seem to confirm the supposition that the roof reached out this far at a period which is quite recent as compared with the age of the cave.

To a depth of 25 or 26 feet the task of excavating was as tedious and difficult as digging up a much-traveled, rocky road, the earth being dry enough to scour the shovels. Then the earth grew moist and within 2 feet was muddy. Cavities appeared, into some of which a switch could be thrust 3 or 4 feet. Where such a cavity extended under a large stone, stalactites were in process of formation. Soon the earth began to work into a soft mud under the feet of the workmen, and at 32 feet particles and small clods were noticed falling from the sides of the shaft. A foot lower this breaking away became more decided. It may have been due merely to the loose condition of the wet earth allowing unsupported portions to fall from the freshly exposed surface, but there was also the risk that the softer earth was sliding under the weight of that above. The workmen, two of whom were experienced well and cistern diggers, declared the risk too great and demanded to be brought to the surface.

The depth reached by this shaft was at least 5 feet lower than at any point inside, within 200 feet of the mouth of the cave. The material, with the exception of the sand layer, was almost identical from top to bottom, there being no apparent difference other than increase of moisture in the lower part. The only explanation suggesting itself at present is that the chasm is filled with large loose rocks up to a point near the bottom of the shaft; that debris from the hillside above has covered these more rapidly than it could settle in the crevices and cavities among them; and that water which makes its way downward finds some obstruction to its free passage out at the bottom of the chasm.

The only safe plan of excavation seems to require the removal of all the earth between the side walls to a depth below the mud. If the rock bottom, or any solid bottom, is at a depth of 120 feet, there is small chance that man lived in this region at a time when it was easily accessible.

SALTPETER CAVE.—This is about 600 yards northwest of Wyandotte Cave. "The entrance, in a side of a ravine, is 5 feet high and 19 feet wide. Once within, a gigantic room expands, 220 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 10 to 30 feet in height, with smooth flat ceiling and earthen floor, the latter descending and with its edges much encumbered with fallen rock." [W.S. Blatchley.]

From the description given, this would seem an ideal site for research. Unfortunately, the bottom of the ravine is not more than 5 feet lower than the top of the talus at the entrance. This slight elevation is the only barrier which keeps the surface water from flowing in, and while the ravine seldom has any water in it, there would be enough after a moderate rain to drown out the diggers who were working below its level if the bank were removed.

LITTLE WYANDOTTE.—This, like three caves on Blue River above Wyandotte, four in the vicinity of Leavenworth, and one on the opposite side of the river in Meade County, Ky., has a small entrance in solid rock, with a steep and narrow passage to the foot of a slope which does not expand into a room of any size until at some distance beyond daylight.

HARRISON COUNTY

The only cave of any note in Harrison County is at the King quarries, 5 miles east of Corydon. It has two outlets, one at the foot of a little cliff, through which a fine spring has an exit; the other in the face of the cliff, about 10 feet higher and a little to one side. The latter discharges more or less water after every rain. The drainage of several large sink holes is through the two openings. The owner says mud has accumulated to a depth of 3 feet on the floor within his remembrance, due to cultivation around the sink holes, which causes the soil to waste.

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ILLINOIS

MONROE COUNTY

MAMMOTH CAVE.—The so-called "Mammoth Cave of Illinois" is near Burksville, in Monroe County. An opportunity was afforded to visit it while engaged in the cave work. It is very extensive, according to the owner's description, being "7 or 8 miles long." The mouth is at the bottom of a sink hole, and the cave is now reached by a narrow stairway 40 feet high. Formerly it was necessary to clamber down the walls, stepping from ledge to ledge with a foot and a hand on either side. Then a ladder was made, said to have been 50 feet long; and, with more frequent visitors, the stairway followed. The crevice is very short, a mere crack, apparently made by water working its way down from the bottom of the sink. All the drainage within the rim goes into the cave, and it accumulates in the rainy season until the floor is covered. A farmer living near says he has seen the water from the cave rise until it covered the bottom of the sink hole. As similar depressions are numerous in the vicinity, probably the combined inflow is greater than the cave can carry away. The floor has been leveled and a close pavement of large slabs laid over the muddy portions. No one has ever heard of human remains being found anywhere in the cave.

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KENTUCKY

Crossing the Ohio River from the southern Indiana cave region, the counties of Kentucky lying in the belt of lower Carboniferous limestone were next visited. No cave that seemed worth examining could be heard of above the extreme southern portion of Hardin County. The sections examined will be taken in their geographical order from north to south.

HARDIN COUNTY

HUTCHINS OR BRADLEY CAVE.—This is in the bluff bordering on the left bank of Nolin River, 2 miles west of Upton. It was reported that human remains had been found in it. The present owners, who have known the cave for a long time, never heard of any such finds. The entrance is low and narrow, so that access to the cave is to be had only by creeping several yards. The cavern then expands into a very large chamber, separated into three by curtains or partitions of stalactites and stalagmites. Very little of floor, roof, or walls is to be seen, being almost entirely covered by secondary deposits. Some of these are remarkable for size and beauty. There is no probability that the cave was ever inhabited.

SALTPETER CAVE.—This is 3 miles southwest of Upton. It has a large entrance and an earth floor, but the dirt has all been worked over for making saltpeter, so there is nothing to search for.

HART COUNTY

LAIRD'S CAVE.—About 2 miles north of Northtown is a large, roomy cave, with a good entrance, but water drips from all parts of the ceiling, and the floor is muddy and rocky. The drainage from 3 or 4 acres of hillside flows over the arch of the entrance and logs 6 inches in diameter are carried into it by the surface floods.

LOCK'S CAVE.—This is a mile east of Rowlett's Station, near the top of a ridge, and lying nearly parallel with its crest. It affords another instance of a cave which has come to light only after a portion of its roof has fallen in. The detritus entirely conceals the opening at one end. The other end is entered by going down the fallen rocks over a slope of 15 or 20 feet, which leads to a bottom strewn with rocks. In such cases there can be nothing under the loose material, because the cave had no entrance until this had fallen in.

GARVIN CAVE.—This cavern, which is 3 miles southeast of Munfordville, has an opening at the bottom of a sink hole, requiring a rope or ladder for descent.

HARLOW CAVE.—This is 31/2 miles southeast of Munfordville. It is a very large cave, apparently, as the slope down the debris is more than 40 feet high, to a rocky shelf, beyond which the descent was followed some yards without finding any indications that a level bottom was near. It is another illustration of the fallen roof.

WYNNE'S CAVE.—Three miles south of Rowlett's Station is a large sink hole. Stones thrown into the vertical shaft at the bottom can be heard striking the sides for three or four seconds before coming to rest.

WASH. ROWLETT CAVE.—On "the old Lewis Martin place," 11/2 miles west of Rowlett's Station, a section of roof, 20 or 25 feet across, has dropped into a deep cavity. The sides are still insecure. The descent to a spring under what appears to be the original roof is somewhat more than 40 feet. The ceiling is not more than 6 feet high.

STEFFY'S CAVE.—Four miles southwest of Munfordville between 200 and 300 feet in length of the roof of a high and wide cave has fallen in. Ice remains in this cave until May or later every year.

JOEL BUCKNER'S CAVE.—About 10 miles northeast of Munfordville is a large cave with the entrance on a hillside. The roof has evidently extended several rods farther out than at present. The front part of the cavern is wide and high, but is now nearly filled with debris. The roof slopes at about the same angle as loose material within, there being not more than 3 feet of space between the two at any place nearer than 30 feet from the present mouth. Rocks thrown back showed the same uniformity of slope to continue at least several yards and the depth there to be about 20 feet below the top of the detritus at the mouth. This cave was suitable as a habitation before the material now choking the mouth had accumulated, provided water was obtainable. The nearest spring now is more than a mile away. An exploration would require, as a preliminary, the removal of several hundred cubic yards of compacted rocks and clay.

HARRY BUCKNER CAVE.—Half a mile north of the cavern last named is another with a very narrow entrance. The floor, which slopes downward, is solid rock in part, and the place is not adapted for occupancy.

CUB RUN CAVE.—Cub Run is a little settlement 12 miles west of Munfordville, near the Edmonson County line and about equidistant from Green River and Nolin River. Two miles in a direct line south of the village is a cave or rock shelter which has much local notoriety from the fact that three skeletons were found in it. They were imbedded in mixed ashes and earth and accompanied with several pestles, bone perforators, three flint knives, a small celt, and part of a clay pipe stem. One of the skeletons was that of a child not more than 8 or 10 years old. It has been pronounced the frame of a white child on account of the shape of the skull, but is more probably Indian, as the three were found together. Two of the bodies had been laid side by side; the other was near their feet at a right angle to them. In the back of the child's head is an incision somewhat over an inch long. The skull is slightly fractured downward from one end of this cut, and the corner or angle thus formed in the bone is pressed outward.

A flint implement found almost in contact with the skull fits closely into the aperture and may have produced it, as the form of the wound could have been thus caused.

The cavity or chamber of this cavern is about 100 feet across in each direction. There is a small opening near the back which has been examined to a distance of 75 or 80 feet, being there obstructed by large blocks of sandstone similar to those which fill the space from floor to ceiling along the back end of the shelter.

There is another very large block just at the entrance, in which are one shallow and two deep circular depressions which were probably mortars. Bones of deer, bear, and other animals have been found within a foot or two of the surface both outside and inside of the cave. Contrary to what is usual in sandstone cavities of this sort, the outside earth slopes upward from the entrance and after heavy rains considerable water flows into the cave. This makes the earth on the floor quite sticky at times, although it is mainly sand, containing very little clay.

The skeletons were found at a depth of about 16 inches, close to the side wall. A small trench dug where they were unearthed showed, in succession, a layer of ashes 4 or 5 inches thick and not more than 3 feet across, a foot below the surface of the floor; a few inches of earth; a layer of ashes an inch thick, at two feet; below this, yellowish undisturbed sand, apparently fallen from the sandstone roof, and continuing to the rock floor, which was about 32 inches below the top.

Another trench was dug about midway across the cave and the same distance from the front as the skeletons were found. This was on or close to the line of heaviest drainage into the cave and the earth was so wet as to be very sticky. A few little patches of what appeared to be ashes but which had not resulted from fires made on the spot, three or four broken mussel shells, and a chip of flint were found in the first 18 or 20 inches. More than this amount of earth could easily have washed in since they were left here by modern Indians. Below this level the earth contained not the slightest object of human origin, to the rock floor which was found at a depth of 6 feet. On the rock was nearly pure sand, probably the result of disintegration; some clay lay on this; then the mixed loam, sand, and clay composing the outside soil.

It would appear that this cave was utilized as a place of shelter at irregular intervals by Indians in tolerably recent times; that at least one of those found, perhaps all three, had died or been killed during a somewhat protracted sojourn; and that only a slight covering of earth, if any at all, had been placed over them.

Two similar caves are within 8 or 10 miles, but were not visited.

EDMONSON COUNTY

MAMMOTH CAVE.—For miles from the entrance saltpeter workers have dug down to a level where the amount of loose rock rendered further excavation too expensive. In many places walls of stone are piled against the sides of the cavern. They were among the earth that was removed and have been so piled to get them out of the way.

As far back as "Chief City," 3 miles from the mouth of the cave, the floor is littered with fragments of canes (reeds) and saplings, which, from the appearance of the ends, were broken, twisted, or bruised off with blunt tools like stone hatchets. Most of those remaining are lying on massive loose rocks now forming the floor, though the ends of some are seen projecting from beneath stones much larger than two men can lift. It is possible the latter have recently slid or slipped from higher up the slopes, but the indications are that they have dropped from the roof since the time of these early explorers. If this be the case, it points to a considerable antiquity for the remains, because no such downfalls are known to have occurred since the cave was first explored by white men.

So much work has been done about the entrance of late years for improving the approaches that excavation would be useless, even if allowed, unless carried to a depth of more than 20 feet. Such work would greatly interfere with the plans of the management.

WHITE'S CAVE.—This is about three-fourths of a mile from Mammoth Cave. The entrance, quite small, is near the crest of a ridge, and the floor descends abruptly. Only a narrow chamber exists within reach of daylight, and the cave is wet all the time a short distance back.

COLOSSAL CAVE.—It is said to be 4 miles from Mammoth Cave, but is really only a little more than 2 miles. The present entrance is entirely artificial, the descent to the floor being about 120 feet. The original entrance was in a crevice which explorers descended by means of ropes. It is said that another entrance is known to one man who, however, has to crawl a long distance.

SALT CAVE.—This is 4 miles from Mammoth Cave, though belonging to the same company. The entrance is at the bottom of a conical sink hole draining about an acre. Not much water runs into the cave from this cause, as the surface slopes outward from the margin except on one side, where a ridge leads to the hills. A spring which comes out near the top of the sink falls over a ledge at the bottom into the entrance to the cave. It is said that this water soaks into the ground within a few rods and that just beyond are large, dry rooms, well adapted for habitation, which formerly contained many evidences of aboriginal occupation. Exploration is impossible now, as the entrance was effectually closed some years ago by throwing in logs, brush, rocks, and earth, in order to protect the formations from relic hunters. The water from the spring falls directly on and flows into this, and can not now be turned aside. Even if it could, all excavated material would have to be carried up a steep slope and deposited in the field surrounding the sink hole.

DIXON'S CAVE.—It is supposed, with good reason, that this was at one time connected with Mammoth Cave. It can be easily entered, through a large crevice, where the surface rock has fallen in. Approach to the bottom is down a steep and rugged slope of about 60 feet vertically. Within, no earth is visible, it having been entirely removed by saltpeter miners, who left the rocks piled in great rows from side to side across the cavern.

MAMMAL CAVE.—This is so named because a tusk was formerly exhibited at the hotel which was reported to have come from here. It was afterwards learned that the specimen was imported from another State. The cave is small and damp, not suitable for living or even for stopping in.

PROCTOR'S CAVE.—This is 6 miles from Mammoth Cave. The present entrance is artificial and so far as could be learned the cave is a recent discovery.

HAUNTED CAVE.—The name is given to commemorate the fact that human bones were found in it. Physicians, it is said, pronounced them bones of a white person. The cave, which is on Green River, some miles below Mammoth Cave, was not visited, as the entrance is described as a crevice through which a man has difficulty in squeezing his way, while the interior is nowhere more than 8 feet wide. The cave soon connects with another narrow vertical crevice which reaches the surface at the top of a ridge.

BRIGGS'S CAVE.—About 6 miles west of Cave City, and 4 miles west of north from Glasgow Junction, is a cave on land of Ike Briggs, which was described as fit for habitation. Its entrance is in a small sink hole, on a hillside. The approach is easy, and entry not difficult; but the cave receives the drainage of several acres and the floor is always muddy.

POYNER'S CAVE.—This is a mile east of Briggs's. While a large cave, the entrance is at the foot of a sink hole an acre in area. It is necessary to stoop for some distance on entering, and the bottom here is rough and wet. Farther in it is dry and roomy—so much so, that people in the neighborhood use one chamber as a "ballroom." This part is some distance beyond daylight. As in all caves which are entered from a sink, it would be very difficult to dispose of any excavated earth, as it would have to be carried up the steep slope to the outside.

SHORT CAVE.—Chaumont is a station on the road to Mammoth Cave, 3 miles from the Glasgow Junction. The cavern, which is so named from its limited extent as compared with Mammoth, is a mile from the station. The entrance, reached by a winding way along the ridges, is on one side of an irregular depression comprising 3 or 4 acres. At present there is a heavy bank of earth, several feet high, across the entrance, nearly closing it to the top, except at the middle where a wagon road has been cut through to allow fertilizers for mushroom beds to be hauled in. This earth, so it is stated, was not there when the cave was discovered, but has been carried from the interior partly by saltpeter workers, and partly by the present owner in order to cover up some rocks and to make the floor smooth and level. In front of the cave and of the earth piled at the entrance is a level space of 25 or 30 feet to a deep sink hole. Some water and mud, in time of wet weather, runs into the front part of the cave but its effect is not noticeable for more than 30 or 40 feet. Beyond this is a reach of more than 200 feet of perfectly dry level floor. It was not so smooth before some grading was done for the mushroom beds, but was at no time rugged or difficult to travel over. At 300 feet from the entrance is a slope about 20 feet high, at the foot of which begins another floor so dry as to be dusty in places. Whether this apparent thickness of 20 feet is of earth, or earth and stone mixed, or is indicative of a dip in the rock floor, is not known, as no excavation has ever been made except for the plant beds. There is a slight descent, not more than 3 or 4 feet, from the entrance to the point where the flood water seems to reach. This is seemingly due altogether to the wash. The width of the cave is about 50 feet, and notwithstanding the partial closure of the entrance there is sufficient light as far back as 200 feet to enable one to read ordinary print. So there is ample room within reach of daylight for several hundred people to gather without inconvenience.

The owner, Capt. J.B. Briggs, who lives in Russellville, has granted permission to make any excavations desired, provided the floor be left in good shape when done. It is evident that any satisfactory examination will demand a large expenditure. If only a preliminary trench were made, the necessary slope would require a considerable width at top, while if anything should be disclosed that called for extensive research, the earth must be wheeled or otherwise removed to the sink hole in front, and the whole floor brought to a nearly uniform level.

So far as appearances go, this cavern is better adapted for occupancy than any other which has been examined. The depth of earth shows it to have been open for a long period. If nothing can be found here, denoting extreme antiquity of man, it would seem useless to make further search in central or western Kentucky.