l; bear-hunts are frequent, and game of
all kinds abounds.

Walking along the verge of this hollow, you come to a ravine, leading to
Green River, whence you command a view of what is supposed to be the
main entrance to the cave. It is a huge cavernous arch, filled in with
immense stones, as if giants had piled them there, to imprison a
conquered demon. No opening has ever been effected here, nor is it easy
to imagine that it could be done by the strength of man. In rear of the
hotel is a deep ravine densely wooded, and covered with a luxuriant
vegetable growth. It leads to Green River, and was probably once a water
course. A narrow ravine, diverging from this, leads, by a winding path,
to the entrance of the cave. It is a high arch of rocks, rudely piled,
and richly covered with ivy and tangled vines. At the top, is a
perennial fountain of sweet and cool water, which trickles down
continually from the centre of the arch, through the pendent foliage,
and is caught in a vessel below. The entrance of this wide arch is
somewhat obstructed by a large mound of saltpetre, thrown up by workmen
engaged in its manufacture, during the last war. In the course of their
excavations, they dug up the bones of a gigantic man; but,
unfortunately, they buried them again, without any memorial to mark the
spot. They have been sought for by the curious and scientific, but are
not yet found.

As you come opposite the entrance of the cave, in summer, the
temperature changes instantaneously, from about 85 deg. to below 60 deg., and
you feel chilled as if by the presence of an iceberg. In winter, the
effect is reversed. The scientific have indulged in various speculations
concerning the air of this cave. It is supposed to get completely filled
with cold winds during the long blasts of winter, and as there is no
outlet, they remain pent up till the atmosphere without becomes warmer
than that within; when there is, of course, a continual effort toward
equilibrium. Why the air within the cave should be so fresh, pure, and
equable, all the year round, even in its deepest recesses, is not so
easily explained. Some have suggested that it is continually modified by
the presence of chemical agents. Whatever may be the cause, its
agreeable salubrity is observed by every visitor, and it is said to have
great healing power in diseases of the lungs. The amount of exertion
which can be performed here without fatigue, is astonishing. The
superabundance of o