r and keep it swept free of earth and small gravel.

In the front portion of the main cavern the dry earth is 5 feet deep
in its thickest part; but as it has all been leached for obtaining the
saltpeter or niter diffused through it, none of it is in the original
position. Some earth has also been brought from farther back, leached,
and added to the pile in front; and much of this has been hauled out
for fertilizer.

Near the main entrance is a large mass of breccia made up of small
angular limestone fragments cemented throughout with stalagmite
material; it projects several feet above the present level of the
earth floor, so the character of the cavern must have changed greatly
since this deposit was formed.

The only artificial object found was a fragment, about an inch across,
of dark, sand-tempered pottery.

Owing to the extensive changes resulting from collecting the
saltpeter, the cavern would not repay investigation.

* * *

DENT COUNTY

MAMMOTH CAVE

The statement has been made that a large dry cavern, known as the
"Mammoth Cave," is in a bluff facing Current River, opposite the mouth
of Ashley Creek. It could not be located; and residents in the
vicinity assert that not only is there no cave near this site, but
there is none known as "Mammoth" anywhere in the region. Some of them,
however, had a vague idea that a cavern bearing the same name exists
"away down toward Eminence; it may be on Jack's Fork."

GUTHOERL CAVE

There is a cave on the farm of Peter Guthoerl, 6 miles east of Salem.
It is small, with very little level space in front of it, and water
from the interior runs or seeps out of it, keeping the floor muddy
throughout the year.

SHORT BEND CAVE (4)

Short Bend post office is 12 miles northeast of Salem. Half a mile
east of it, in a bluff on the opposite side of the Meramec River, is a
cave with an entrance 25 feet wide and about the same in height; the
roof forming a fairly symmetrical Gothic arch. Were it not for the
pile of talus in front, water from the river would pour into the
cavern in extreme floods; these subside very rapidly, however, and
have never percolated through the barrier.

It is said that persons digging in a desultory way have unearthed
bones which were assumed to be those of Indians because they were
"red." No description of them could be obtained, and they may not have
been human bones at all.

The floor is level and dry for abo