INDIAN MOUND CAVE.--A report was received to the effect that the mouth of a cave on the Stewart County line, about 18 miles west of Clarksville, had been closed by a rock wall, and earth piled against the outside of the wall; also, that tool marks are quite distinct in a chamber which is plainly of artificial origin.
The rock wall is the stratified rock, in place; the earth in front has washed down from the hillside; the tool marks are water channelings; and other remarkable things mentioned in the report are equally natural. The entrance is a narrow crevice.
LINVILLE CAVE.--This is 4 miles almost directly west of Bluff City. Apparently it is of great extent, for large sink holes connected with it are scattered over an area of several hundred acres. There are three principal openings. The largest is near the top of a knoll or low hill, and is due to the falling in of the roof. The sunken part has an area of about 30 by 60 feet. Usually, in such cases, the débris entirely fills one end of the cavity thus made, obscuring that part of the cavern, the other end being kept open by surface drainage. In this case, owing to the dip of the strata--some 8 or 10 degrees--and to a change in direction of the cavern at this point, both ends may be entered from the fallen rocks and earth. At one side the descent is precipitous and winding, over and among large fallen rocks. No level place is reached in daylight. At the other side the descent follows the natural dip of the strata and no level space can be found from which the entrance is visible. This part, also, is filled with rocks, large and small, from the roof and sides, and was never habitable.
Fifty yards from the main entrance is another much smaller cave, on the slope of the knoll. It is at the bottom of a crevice 10 feet deep. The floor is level, but only a few square yards in extent, the sloping roof reaching it within 10 feet. As there is considerable drainage into the cavity from the hillside, it is probable that this floor, at least the upper portion, is of recent origin, and that the earth extends downward indefinitely toward the subterranean stream.
West of the knoll on which these openings are found is a valley 2 or 3 miles long. Timber shuts off the view toward its head. This is drained by a constant stream which after winding from side to side of the little vale flows under the knoll. The hole where it disappears is small, but as no rock floor is visible it may lead into a large cavern, and there is no doubt that all the sink holes in the vicinity as well as the two openings above described eventually have the same outlet. Excavations would be difficult and useless.
