chambers and passages there is little change in the quality of the air,
and thorough tests with a standard thermometer showed the variations on
the different levels, from the highest to the lowest, to be about 2°;
but on different days the range was from 45° to 52°. This curious state
of affairs some one else will have to explain.

The only forms of life ever found in Wind Cave are a small fly and the
mountain rat.

While visiting the cave, every one connected with it was most kind and
obliging, especially in showing those beautiful and difficult portions
that few visitors are so fortunate as to see. While this is very far
from being a complete description even of the parts visited, it will
serve to show what a truly grand cavern is located at the south end of
the Black Hills.

The elevation at Hot Springs is three thousand, four hundred feet, and
that of the entrance to the cave is four thousand and forty feet. A
source of disappointment in connection with Wind Cave is that its fine
scenery cannot be effectively pictured.




CHAPTER XIII.

THE ONYX CAVES.


Northwest of Hot Springs there is a group of three onyx caves, the