Extract of a Letter from John H. Farnham, Esq, 
 a Member of the American Antiquarian Society , 
 describing the Mammoth Cave, m Kentucky, 
 IN passing from Barren to Warren county, I 
 visited an immense Cave, which, by way of distin- 
 guishing it from numerous others in this part of 
 the country, which is wholly limestone, and very 
 hollow, is called the Mammoth Cave, one of the 
 greatest curiosities the country affords. It is owned 
 by some gentlemen of Lexington with whom I am 
 acquainted, who manufacture from the earth found 
 in it, a vast quantity of saltpetre. By a steep preci- 
 pice you descend to its mouth, which seems like 
 some frightful chasm in nature, whose hideous 
 yawn allures the adventurer to its interiour, only to 
 bury him in eternal darkness. The entrance to the 
 pjfernal abodes of ancient mythology is most forcb 
 
356 
 
 bly recalled to your mind. Here, you say, Virgii 
 might have found a hell formed to his mind. In 
 advancing two or three hundred yards, the incum- 
 bent rocks, which, at first, formed a lofty and tre- 
 mendous arch over your head, gradually converge 
 till you come to a low and narrow entrance, where 
 for several yards it is necessary to stoop. The en- 
 trance, however, is not so low but that oxen are ad- 
 mitted with facility. Here a black and dreary per- 
 spective of nearly a quarter of a mile is presented 
 to the eye. At the end of which, you see by dim 
 torches, twenty or thirty blacks engaged in the la- 
 bours of the Cave, which has no small effect in 
 strengthening any illusion that may have occupied 
 your mind. A strong current of cold air at the en- 
 trance imparts a chili to the feelings, that seems to 
 prepare you to enter this tomb of nature. Here 
 our guide, who was the head workman of the Cave, 
 stopped to furnish us with torches, which, with the 
 Utmost difficulty, we preserved from being extin- 
 guished by the violent current that is perpetually 
 rushing to the warm atmosphere without. The 
 experience of our guide, however, soon removed 
 all difficulties, and introduced us, gazing with ad- 
 miration and astonishment at the gloomy sublimi- 
 ties of this subterraneous abode. 
 
 After passing the entrance, the Cave gradually 
 opens till you have a wall of sixty or seventy feet 
 high, with a width of from one to three or four feet. 
 There is a pretty good turnpike road formed for 
 three fourths of a mile in the Cave, on which the 
 oxen cart the earth used in the manufactory of salt- 
 petre, to convenient places. 
 
The process of making saltpetre is very simple... 
 The earth is dug up and deposited in square pits* 
 called hods. When one of these pits is filled, wa- 
 ter is poured in till the strength of the earth is ex- 
 hausted. The water drained off is called beer. — . 
 This is conveyed, by ducts or pipes, from the hods 
 as near as possible to the entrance of the Cave, 
 whence it is taken by buckets to some convenient 
 place above ground, and put into boilers, where, by 
 an infusion of potash, the limestone, which the 
 beer contains, is separated from the salt, and the 
 sediment, after boiling, is saltpetre. From three to 
 five hundred pounds a day are made, worth from 
 sixteen to twenty five cents a pound. The cost of 
 making is four cents. 
 
 You will naturally expect me to carry you to the 
 end of this subterraneous region, after introducing 
 you with so much formality. That has not yet 
 been explored ; and, were it possible, one or two 
 miles which I traversed was enough to satisfy my 
 curiosity. The Cave has been penetrated to the 
 distance of between nine and ten miles, without 
 coming to a boundary, although it requires much 
 labour and expense to clear away the rocks to con- 
 tinue the passage after going nine miles. This 
 Cave is more remarkable for its immense extent 
 than for the beauty or variety of its productions, or 
 the curiosities found in it. There are numerous 
 pillars, some of immense size and fantastick form 
 and shape, formed by the petrifaction of water ; 
 but none of the beautiful stalactites and crystalli- 
 zations, which are found in many other caves. — • 
 There are several forks, from one to two miles long 8 
 
358 
 
 diverging in different directions from the main Gave? 
 which is the longest direct course. After proceed- 
 ing about half a mile in the main Cave, by the rec- 
 ommendation of our guide, we ascended a plank 
 bridge to the right of the main passage, which took 
 us into a large fork, about a mile in length, that led 
 to what is called the haunted chamber. We fol- 
 lowed this fork, or passage, nearly three fourths of 
 a mile, over very rough stones, having a w'all of 
 from ten to twenty feet of pure white limestone 
 over our heads, when our attention was arrested by 
 the sound of a water fall, striking deep into a basin 
 apparently under our feet, and reverberating with a 
 solemn and impressive echo through the whole of 
 this dismal region. Our guide told us, that it was 
 one fourth of a mile off, though the rapid com- 
 munication of sound made it seem so near. The 
 effect was sublime. We followed our leader with 
 eagerness to explore its source. We descended 
 another precipice, more steep and dangerous than 
 that at our entrance, which brought us to a narrow 
 fissure of stupendous rock, that, by a circuitous 
 passage down a steep hill, through immense shelv- 
 ing rocks, hanging forty or fifty feet over our 
 heads, and so close, that their embrace seemed to 
 threaten us with annihilation, took us to a distant 
 chamber of the Cave, where, from the top of the 
 wall, a beautiful and clear stream of water issued 
 through a hole not much bigger than a gun barrel, 
 and fell into a large basin ; thence, with a murmur- 
 ing noise, ran through several subterraneous wind- 
 ings it was impossible for us to explore. I tasted 
 die water, and found it excellent. We were once 
 
3S9 
 
 or twice alarmed, oy ruminating on the possibility 
 of losing our light in this region of darkness. Our 
 guide told us it had happened to several persons in 
 the Cave, who had been obliged to sit down, and 
 pass many hours in darkness, waiting patiently till 
 they were sent for. It would be impossible for the 
 most experienced workman to find his way out in 
 the dark. Shelving rocks, precipices and pits assail 
 him on all sides, and endanger his life. A man in 
 a neighbouring Cave, the last summer, lost his 
 light, and in attempting to get out, perished. 
 
 The greatest curiosity, however, remains to be 
 described. It was, in the language of the people, an 
 “Indian Mummy.” Mummies, however, or embalm- 
 ed bodies, have never been found in America ; and 
 the art, in its ancient perfection, was, I believe, con- 
 fined to the Egyptians, with perhaps the exception 
 of their Asiatick neighbours. This was an Indian 
 woman, whose flesh and muscles had been dried to 
 the bones, and kept in so great a state of preserva- 
 tion, by the influence probably of saltpetre, that 
 many of the features were distinctly discernible.— 
 The shape and conformation of the ears Were per- 
 fectly preserved, and the hands, fingers and toe nails. 
 The teeth all in their proper place ; the lips, though 
 dried, were yet coral in their appearance ; much 
 of the hair was perfect ; and, the whole carcass, 
 and its mode of burial, have furnished to all 
 who have seen it, a copious topick of admiration 
 and conjecture. Her posture, as she was found, 
 precisely resembles most of the Indian skeletons 
 that have, at different times, been found in the west- 
 ern country. She was buried in a squatting form, 
 
360 
 
 the knees drawn up close to the breast, the arms! 
 bent, with the hands raised, and crossing each other 
 about the chin, in a close position, as if she would 
 guard her vital parts from injury. She was found 
 in this posture* enclosed in a couple of deer skins, 
 which were bound together by a ligament of braid- 
 ed bark, a species of manufacture exclusively In- 
 dian. There were found, likewise, buried with her, 
 many ornamental articles, such as birds’ feathers, 
 coloured and stained in various ways; beads form- 
 ed of dry berries ; the skin and rattles of a snake ; 
 a fawn’s foot in a state of perfect preservation ; and 
 many other articles, mostly appropriate to feminine 
 uses, and which denote her to have been a woman 
 of distinction. No article was found that denoted 
 the slightest commerce with the Europeans ; and 
 the general opinion of those who have examined 
 this carcass, and seen other Indian skeletons, is, 
 that she must have laid there several hundred years- 
 The carcass was very light, though the dried flesh 
 and entrails were preserved, not weighing more 
 than twelve or fourteen pounds. The woman was 
 nearly six feet high. The colour of the carcass 
 was that of dried tobacco, of a yellowish hue. It 
 was found three months since, under some rocks in 
 a neighbouring Cave, by the workmen. The lim- 
 its of a single letter will not admit of a particular 
 account of the Cave, or Mummy. On coming out 
 of it, after nearly two hours confinement, the heat 
 of the atmosphere was so oppressive as almost to 
 produce fainting. 
 
 I forgot to mention to you, that the superstition 
 of some people in the vicinity of the Cave, though 
 
361 
 
 perfectly independent of classical or fabulous his= 
 tory, induces them to believe this Cave to be the 
 passage to hell itself. It lies on Green River, near 
 the banks. 
 
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