-67-
first
range of the
“I traveled down as long as I could find
comparatively easy travel -- about a 450-degree descent all the way -- and
finally came to what I thought must be the end of the cave, for I could see no
more openings in the rooms, but on closer examination found instead a bore,
about six feet across, straight down into solid rock. I turned my flash
downward and could see that it must have gone straight down for at least a
hundred feet, the sides were perfectly smooth, and the shaft, or bore, in a
perfect round -- no apparent irregularities anywhere -- I had no way of
descending any further, so I retraced my steps back up through the different
rooms to the top of the mountain where the cave opens to this world. I made
discreet inquiries of several old timers in that region, and found that in
1915, or about that year, six survivors took gear and equipment, and spent a
month in exploration of the cave, going 18 miles from the entrance, and down
almost five miles below sea level.
I have never gone back, but hope to some day
in the future, with escort, equipment, and supplies. I'd certainly love to see
the machine that made