and
hillsides in search of game. The historian Kercheval tells the story of
the day when Weyer went to find an elusive ground-hog, having previously
set a trap for it. The animal not only had not been captured but for
some time had made a successful getaway with each trap set for it. Weyer
decided to dig for the ground-hog hide-out. "A few moments' labor
brought him to the antechamber of this stupendous cavern, where he found
his traps safely deposited." Not content with eleven pages of flattering
and minute descriptions of every passageway known then, Kercheval used
another page with "Note A" and "Note B" which described later
explorations. This makes interesting reading for those who have either
visited the Caverns or have not had that privilege and plan to see them.
In these accounts he included Congress Hall, The Infernal Regions,
Washington's Hall, The Church, Jefferson's Hall and numerous others.

_The Historical Collections of Virginia_ by Henry Howe gives a vivid
picture of Weyer's Cave and the author further states:

"A foreign traveller who visited the cave at an annual
illumination, has, in a finely written description, the
following notice:

" ... Weyer's Cave is in my judgment one of the great natural
wonders of this new world; and for its eminence in its own
class, deserves to be ranked with the Natural Bridge and
Niagara, while it is far less known than either.... For myself,
I acknowledge the spectacle to have been most interesting; but,
to be so, it must be illuminated, as on this occasion. I had
thought that this circumstance might give to the whole a toyish
effect; but the influence of 2,000 or 3,000 lights on these
immense caverns is only such as to reveal the objects, without
disturbing the solemn and sublime obscurity which sleeps on
everything. Scarcely any scenes can awaken so many passions at
once, and so deeply. Curiosity, apprehension, terror, surprise,
admiration, and delight, by turns and together, arrest and
possess you. I have had before, from other objects, one simple
impression made with greater power; but I never had so many
impressions made, and with so much power, before. If the
interesting and the awful are the elements of the sublime, here
sublimity reigns, as in her own domain, in darkness, silence,
and deeps profound."

Bear in mind that this account was given long b