Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black HillsOwen, Luella Agnes
Science
Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills
Owen, Luella Agnes
Caves -- Black Hills (S.D. and Wyo.); Caves -- Ozark Mountains
The guide being anxious that we should not fail to see the Niagara Room,
we now turned toward a low, broad opening in the wall, a short distance
to the right of the entrance, where the rising floor and descending
ceiling, failing to meet, had overlapped; so we made our way up a steep,
smooth bank, and then down on the other side over a broken, rocky
surface for a distance of about twenty feet, when the roof at last
joined the floor and two small water-worn holes at the point of junction
revealed an untempting passage within. The broader of these holes was
three feet, but too low to be considered an entrance; the other was
round but certainly not so large as our guide, who was preparing to
enter it with doubts of his ability to make the trip, on account of
having increased in size since his one entrance there, on which occasion
two smaller guides pulled him through the tightest places. Carefully
comparing his size with that of the hole he sat beside, there was no
possibility of doubt that if the attempt were made he would stick fast,
and that would place our little party in dire straits. Consequently I
insisted that it should not be, but he was unwilling that Niagara should
be missed when so near. Finally I positively refused to go unless he
would consent to give us instructions and remain where he was while we
went without him, to which he at last yielded with extreme
unwillingness. He had frequently shown us the guide's marks, and now
earnestly cautioned me to advance only as they point, and turn back if
they should fail.
The small nephew went on a reconnoitering expedition to the end of the
passage, and reported that the jump-off there was higher than himself
but he could get down. I now crawled through the hole and found the
passage to be a "crawl" or rather a "sprawl," from fifteen to eighteen
inches high, but having an ample width varying from three to six feet.
The smooth, straight floor has a steep downward inclination and is
thickly covered with dust.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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