Great efforts have been made to discover whence they come and whither
they go, yet they still remain as much a mystery as ever--without
beginning or end; like eternity."

"Darkly thou glidest onward,
Thou deep and hidden wave!
The laughing sunshine hath not look'd
Into thy secret cave.

Thy current makes no music--
A hollow sound we hear;
A muffled voice of mystery,
And know that thou art near.

No brighter line of verdure
Follows thy lonely way
No fairy moss, or lily's cup,
Is freshened by thy play."

According to the barometrical measurement of Professor Locke, the
rivers of the Cave are nearly on a level with Green River; but the
report of Mr. Lee, civil engineer, is widely different. He says, "The
bottom of the Little Bat Room Pit is one hundred and twenty feet
_below_ the bed of Green River. The Bottomless Pit is also deeper than
the bed of Green River, and so far as a surveyor's level can be relied
on, the same may be said of the Cavern Pit and some others." The
rivers of the Cave were unknown at the time of Mr. Lee's visit in
1835, but they are unquestionably _lower_ than the bottom of the pits,
and receive the water which flows from them. According to the
statement of Lee, the bed of these rivers is lower than the bed of