Class / y-t> ' Book, ./}"/Z ft tt Gopyright^?- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: INDEX 3. Hutcom. Narrows «. Scotchman'. Tr.p 3. Kentucky Cliff,; and the 44. Fat Man's Misery Corkscrew ., _ , „ ,, "» 4. The Church £ B"d, HaM 5. Booth'. Amphitheatre ^ c'fl!' n""" «. c. j- n 1 , '* t-naiiet s Dome 6. Standing Rock. < 8 . Wyatf.Dome. 7. Grand Arch «, BaUnced Rock ^^^"d Dante's SO. The Dead Sea .. Acute Ang'e and Cottage. »£ ^'^ 10. Proctor'. Arcade It. Wright'. Rotund* 13. The Cataract. U. Fairy Crotto M. St. Catherine City 15. Symmes' Pit 16. Mummy's Niche 17. Regi.terHall 18. The Bridal Altar 19. The Arm Chair 30. Lover*. Leap 21. Elbe CrtJice 32. Napoleon'. Dome 23. Wilson's Way 34. Lake Purity 25. Annette Dome 36. Lee's Cisterns 27. Wooden Bowl Room 28. The Lost Way Found 29. Way to Pits and Domes JO. Side-Saddle Pit 31. Bottomless Pit 32. Covered Pit 33. Scylla 34. CharybdU 35. Putnam's Cabinet 36. Damall's Way 37. Ariadne's Crotto Cascade w*' i 53. Serpent Hall 54. Valley-way Side-cut 55. The Creat Western 56. Vale o( Flowers 57. The Jessup Domes 58. Ole Bull's Concert Hall 59. Fly Chamber «0. Sheep Shelter 61. Corinae's Done 62. Black Hole of Calcutta 63. Parrish's Path 64. Crypt of Jewels 65. Washington Hall 66. Snow Ball Room 67. Floral Cross 68. Orpha's Garden 69. Wisdom's Path 70. Paradise 71. Zoe's Grotto 72. Flora's Gardtia 73. Vale of Diamonds 74. Helen's Hall 75. Char-lotto's Grotto 76. Serena's Arbor 77. Dismal Hollow 78. Clark's Avenue Harlan's Avenue 38. Short cut from Bottomlea. go £???'.*?" Pit to Gorir.'. r>™. 80 - Nicholson's Ave. Pit to Gorln's Dome 39. Reveller's Hall 40. Grand Crossing 41. Pineapple Bush M ammo thC ave OF KENTUCKY (Hovey and Call) WITH AN ACCOUNT OF COLOSSAL CAVERN REVISED EDITION (By HORACE CARTER HOVEY, D. D., F. G. S. A. 1912 With Historical [Njotes. Scenic Accounts. descriptive and Scientific ^Catters of Interest to "Visitors, based upon new and original explorations. s$ v^ v < THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 31 little farther along, will be noted the grooves made by immense hubs as they were slowly pulled through the old-time mud. Then come the great heaps of lixivi- ated dirt, telling us we are near the second of the series of leaching vats. But just before this we will have passed the Church, the name given to the great hall formed by the union of the main cave and Archibald Avenue, a broad avenue on the left, occluded at a short distance by gigantic rocks and cubic yards of fine yellow sand. Tradition has it that originally the name was given because here were held religious services for the miners, in the olden time. However this may be, occa- sionally the over-Sabbath visitors number among them a clergyman, and these gentlemen sometimes hold serv- ices in this locality. The writer was present on one such occasion, when the senior author of this Manual conducted such an office. The sounds of sacred song, swelled to great volume by the ten thousand echoes and reverberations from the cliffs and grottoes surrounding, were indescribably sweet, and all tonic errors were corrected by the greater symphony of the large reso- nator hall. And now we pass along the great piles of dirt, and when we remember that much of this material was brought to this locality in sacks, on the shoulders of slaves, from points often two or more miles away, obtained after great labor in removing tons of loose rocks and gathering the fine silt, a little here and a little yonder, we are impressed with the toil which was needed to procure materials for leaching. The hillocks of leached earth stand, many in number, on our right and on our left; we wind among them, we climb over 32 MAMMOTH CAVE. them ; we think, perhaps, of their makers. But our mood must suddenly change, for our guides hurry us away to the vats themselves. In the midst of these piles of dirt are the second series of vats, "hoppers" the older writers call them, which well deserve careful examination. They are from eight to ten feet in width, and perhaps four or five feet longer, and four or five feet in depth when empty. The rude bottoms are of particular interest, since they show the resourceful methods of the early miner. Logs, split into halves and from small trees, were used ; these were afterward rudely grooved and placed in two layers, one resting on wooden supports with curved surface down, the second with convex surface uppermost and fitting into the grooves of those below. The waters after passing through the content of fine dirt were gathered by this primitive device and made to flow into small pits near the corners of the vats, whence they were conducted to a larger reservoir to be pumped to the entrance. The leaching accom- plished, the exhausted dirt was thrown into the heaps you will see around you and another charge placed in the "hoppers." At this point Ave leave the Main Cave for a short time and climb the broad flight of stairs, just beyond the vats, into Gothic Avenue.* At the topmost part of the cliff which we have scaled is Booth's Amphithe- atre ; here, once Edwin Booth, that celebrated actor, gave a rendition of one of the dramatic characters which have made his name famous, to test the acoustic properties of this hall. He stood on the large rocks *No\v included in Route II (from page 32 to page 39). THE MUMMY. The Mammoth Cave Mummy, or what was exhibited as such and described on page 33 of this Manual. This unique specimen of a naturally dessicated "mummy" reposes now in the United States National Museum at Washington, with a perfect history, and it was photographed by the late G. Browne Goode for the writer. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 33 above us, on the right, facing in. From this circum- stance the place gained its name. The avenue into which we will now advance is not high, nor is it very broad, except in occasional places. The floor is somewhat irregular, while on every hand are to be seen the evidences of water acting as the agent of solution. The propensity of former tourists to make a record of their visitation may be seen in the names smoked on every wall, in some few cases scratched deeply into the hard limestone. The only thing that most of them ever did to hand their names down to other times consists in this single act of vandalism. Hundreds of such names will greet the visitor as he journeys through portions of this avenue. Frecpiently cards are left instead. Among the numerous grottoes and alcoves worn out of the side walls by the ancient waters will be noted two or three of particular interest. One of these is the Mummy's Niche. This name has some historic significance. Away back in the earlier years of the cavern's history a mummy was found in Salts Cave, on the Mammoth Cave estate. This was made the subject of many interesting speculations, most of which have little value and less basis of fact, but came to assume literary importance. The mummy was brought to Mammoth Cave and placed on exhibition in this avenue, and in this spot kept for some months. Later it found its way to Cincinnati, by way of Lexington; thence it was taken to New York and exhibited, and finally removed to "Worcester, Massachusetts, where for many years it remained. During the World's Fair it was on exhibition in the White City, and at its close .became the property of the National Museum, and 34 M AM MOTH CAVE. may now be seen in Washington. The mummy never properly belonged to Mammoth Cave ; the only human remains ever found within its limits were the woman and child who lie buried beneath the rocks in Ilutchins' Narrows, near the entrance. The chief objects of interest in Gothic Avenue are the numerous stalactites, which are found, however, near its far end. As we advance the character of the walls and the ceiling changes, the smooth, white areas give way to rougher ones, caused by the innumerable smaller stalactitic masses which hang from the roof. We will pass many State monuments, and to these we will add our quota, mindful only of the fair name of our State What boots it if we take from that of a rival State and add to our own? Do w T e not know that this has been done by others, perhaps from our own ? And so we take two, one to repair the damage done, the other to add our mite to the growing column! Ken- tucky's Monument is the largest of them all, reaching to the very roof; yet be it said, Kentucky's people know less of their great wonder than many from far beyond its limits. But now the monuments are all passed, and we reach the first stalactitic-stalagmite of the avenue. It is the Post Oak Pillar from some fancied resem- blance to an old oak stump deprived of its bark. Springing from the roof about its base are hundreds of smaller forms, many imitating bunches of grapes, while it lias grown downward and long ago joined the mass on the floor. Neither it nor many of its fellows are now growing ; the avenue is one of the driest in the great cave, belongs to the upper levels, and the waters which form stalactites, except in a single instance, long THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 35 since left its locality. The Pillared Castle, the Gothic Chapel, the Pillar of Hercules, the largest group of stalactites in the cave, Pompey and Cresar, the Wasps' Nests, the Elephants' Heads, Wilkin's Arm-Chair, all come in rapid succession, and are suggestive of caprice unrivaled in naming the several objects. Fancy, mythologic lore, caprice, sentiment, history, all have contributed to the nomenclature employed, and not always with best results. The eternal fitness of things has not always been kept steadily in view. The Pillar of Hercules is a great matted series of stalactites which have grown entirely to the masses of stalagmite on the bottom, though the group is by no means solid. Aside from its size one could hardly imagine what suggested the name. Similar in its formation, but yet quite widely distinct in its integral members, appears next the Bridal Altar, in which thus far twelve weddings have occurred. The writer for- bears to tell you the story which the guide will surely repeat at this place, for something must be left to the faithful pilot who has taken you thus far on your jour- ney. Suffice it to say that the altar is made up of three separate stalactites, very large above and rather small below, which are so placed as to form a triangular chamber between them. One of these is the officiating clergyman, the others the chief actors in an important part of life's drama. Having passed the Bridal Altar w r e come to the end of the usually traveled route and find ourselves on the brow of a steep hill, but looking out into the impene- trable darkness beyond. When we become accustomed to the gloom the faint illumination of our lamps dis- closes a deep pit before us, backed by a great hill of 36 MAMMOTH CAVE. sandstone to which the name of Limitation Hill is given. This name was suggested by the fact that the great avenue into which we have entered is occluded by the mass of sandstone debris which forms the hill, a fact to be seen at one or another place in every great avenue of the cave. Projecting over the edge of the cliff on which we are standing is a long and slender rock, the Lover's Leap, though the name is not sug- gested by the occasional use of the Bridal Altar, near at hand. From the point of this rock the illumination, by means of Bengal lights, shows a wild and tumultu- ously grouped mass of rocks, and down them leads a narrow pathway which parties sometimes take to other wonders below. This Hill of Difficulty leads to a narrow opening in the face of the cliff, fifty feet below us and on the left. The opening, which can not be seen from the brow of the hill, is high but narrow, and suddenly appears before us in the face of the solid rock. This is Elbow Crevice, much like the Fat Man's Misery, but lofty and the walls wrinkled and folded in many fan- tastic ways by the waters which have long since ceased to fall here. The narrow pathway in the crevice skirts a shallow but ragged pit, the first we have seen upon this journey, called Joseph's Pit. Its ragged edge so hides the bottom that the passer-by fails to note the jagged sides of the pit unless he go close to the margin, which is, however, not without some danger. He then learns that he is passing over a thin slab of limestone which separates him from the space of the pit; but one is reassured when lie discovers the bottom at some ten feet below. Taking for a short distance the low avenue on the right we come to a limpid pool, in the bottom of IN GOTHIC AVENUE. An Alcove. The Elephants' Heads. w > O 3 44 THE ROUTE OP PITS AND DOMES. 37 a shallow basin, and this is the Cooling Tab. The yellow sands which make the floor here are suitable homes for the larval forms of the blind beetles which here abound, and which may be seen scurrying away, disturbed by the heat of our lamps. In the waters of the Cooling Tub careful search may reveal a few snow- white crustaceans crawling over the bottom, but without eyes. Back again into the end of the crevice we come to the beginning of a larger hall, three quarters of a mile in length, where is the first dome we have seen, Napoleon's Dome. The huge rock under it and around which we pass is Gate wood's Dining Table, and is a great block of limestone detached from the very mid- dle of the apex above. We are here immediately under the Elephants' Heads of Gothic Avenue, and have passed under the Bridal Altar. The avenue along which we are to go is Gratz Avenue, entirely distinct as a geological feature from Gothic Avenue, of which it has usually been regarded a continuation. But it is at a much lower level and far later geologically than the one above us. A short distance beyond we come to Lake Purity, a small pool of water which has long been known to visitors to the cave by another inappropriate name bestowed by Doctor "Ward, one of the first explorers of the cavern. So well deserved is the modern name that the visitor will certainly walk into it unless the guides check him. No breeze ever ruffles its mirrored surface, and no drop of water ever falls into it from above. It is supplied slowly by an almost imper- ceptible stream on one side, and this rarely ever raises its level. Twice has the writer walked into it, though perfectly familiar with its surroundings. Past the little lake is the Cinder Bed, well named indeed, and some- 38 MAMMOTH CAVE. times, like the Arm-Chair of the gallery above, connected with the name of his Satanic Majesty and then known as the Devil's Ash-Pile. It is a mass of small rough limestone concretions or stalagmitic masses, cemented together by carbonate of lime. For a long distance the avenue winds now to the right, now to the left, keeping almost uniform height and width, with floor of rough rocks and broken stones, until the sound of falling waters reaches our ears. The visitor will pause to listen and to look. Whence they come he knows not, and this fact makes the sounds appear more uncanny still. But after he clambers down a small cliff he will wind suddenly to the right, and the low entrance to Annette's Dome is before him. Entering this dome he will have his first view of the work of falling waters. Merrily dashing from a hole in the face of the dome twenty or more feet above him and falling in a hundred sprays comes Shaler's Brook, running swiftly across the floor of the dome. Take up some of the pebbles in the bottom of this brook. Those soft and snow-white objects that yield to the slightest touch are the blind leeches which only have been found in this place and in Richardson's Spring. Per- chance a half dozen larger and darker objects with legs will move hastily after the drop of water which circles the stone as you turn it. These are the same kind of crustaceans as you saw in the Cooling Tub. But look up and around you. The walls are fluted and scored as by some gigantic graving tool. Here and there the harder layers of limestone jut out as sharp and serrated bosses partially obscuring the view toward the top. The dome will be seen to widen at the bottom and to shade off into a conical top, after CECIDOTEA STYGIA (Packard). From Annette's Dome. Found only on the under side of pebbles. A perfectly transparent crustacean, as white as snow. BLIND MOLLUSK. Related to the Melampus. a mollusk found in salt-water marshes. Found only in Mammoth Cave. Found and described by R. E. Call in 1893, and believed to be the only true cave mol- lusk known in America. Annette Dome. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 39 the manner of all others in Mammoth Cave. The incessant song of the little brook makes a music here which is to be heard nowhere else in the cavern. But what becomes of it? Wait a little. As the visitor turns to go from this dome, at the left and low down near the floor, the side wall will be seen to have disappeared. On bended knee it is possible to pass into a smaller dome, adjoining Annette's, and then we hear the silvery splash of the waters in regions yet lower down. It is sad to think w r e can not follow the little brook and see more of the mysteries of this lower world. Out now we go, and as we are about to climb again the little cliff down which we descended we catch again the sound of falling waters, but this time with increased volume. Squeezing into a small opening under the little cliff on the right we may throw a light down a small crevice and find ourselves hanging on two thin sheets of limestone above a large dome, the bottom of which is filled with water and the sides of which are too remote to be seen. This is Lee's Cistern, and receives the waters of Shaler's Brook after a wild plunge of nearly seventy feet. The cistern is one of a large group of domes and pits whose more intimate acquaintance the visitor will make after a little, but at another place. Leaving the dome and cistern behind us we retrace our steps to the Main Cave, by way of Gothic Avenue, but will first note the great hill of sandstone debris which occludes Gratz Avenue as we look on our right. Above it is a dome filled with huge blocks and sand- stone debris; it is inaccessible. That hill is a famous place on which to collect "cave crickets," and an occasional specimen of blind myriapod may be taken. 40 MAMMOTH CAVE. We have now retraced our way, and are again in the Main Cave. As we pass along this portion of the great avenue we will note the lofty walls and the grotesque figures of animals which the deposits of manganese oxide on the walls and roof rudely simulate. Some of these are fairly imitative of the objects after which they are named ; others require rather a vivid imagina- tion to see the objects supposed to be indicated. From this point on to the place called Ultima Thule there is little variety in the walls that bound the avenue, but there is a constant succession of instructive local- ities and marvelous views which serve well as means of learning the real history of the cavern. After walking a short distance beyond the entrance to the Gothic Avenue we come across the first large blocks of limestone which appear in the Main Cave. These are the Standing Rocks, so named from the fact that in falling they struck on their edge, and remain fixed in that position. The older name of the earliest explorers is suggestive of their aspect, for to them they appeared as a leg-of-mutton sail, and hence arose the original name of the Sail-Boat. Later guides and all recent visitors know them simply as Standing Eocks, and by that name must they now be called. That they were detached from the ceiling is certain, though they are vastly greater in size than most rocks which are found in the avenues and derived from the ceiling. An accident discovered the remaining feature of interest before we reach the great sarcophagus-like rock which is near us on our right. This discovery came when two parties, one going out, the other enter- ing the cavern, passed in this locality. An illumination was in progress near the Saltpeter Vats, when, looking THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 41 back, a statue was discovered as white and distinct as any Lot saw when his wife disobeyed the injunction and turned her gaze toward her old home. It is not salt which we notice but an illumined face of the cave cut off from full view by two interfering walls. The old-time style of the colonial dame appears before our very eyes, and "Martha Washington's Statue" com- mands our admiration from its exceeding fidelity to the profile of that distinguished "first lady of the land.'' While this object is but an illusion, it nevertheless interests us greatly and adds to our enjoyment from its very human aspect. On the right hand, lying close to the right wall of the cave, the visitor will note an immense rock, one of the largest single rocks known in the cavern, to which the name of Steamboat was formerly given. But this old name did not long survive; it was hardly suggestive enough of the underground world to suit the fancy of the visitor, and then, too, its resemblance to a boat was little indeed. But it does closely imitate, on near view from the path, an immense sarcophagus, or rather perhaps we should say casket, for the burial of the dead. But did not the giants of old, that peopled our boy's world and all fairyland, dwell in the earth, and in caverns bristling with bones of victims and other suggestions of horrid underground feasts? What more natural than that here should be buried one at least of that ancient race of giants, and so tourists have ever since told us, and what all the world says is so must be so! We will accept the new name, manifestly so great an improvement on the older one, and the Giant's Coffin this rock shall forever be. But go up close to it and carefully note it. You will discover that it is an 42 MAMMOTH CAVE. immense block of limestone, torn from the adjacent wall, and falling but a short distance has become lodged in its present position. If you measure it a length of forty-five feet will result, its width will vary from twelve to fifteen, its height will be eighteen feet. Its weight is over two thousand tons. We will pass behind it later on, as we go to the pits and domes that are yet ahead of us, and be able to see this monster rock from three sides at least. Had it never fallen, the "Way to the Pits and Domes would probably have remained unknown, but on breaking away from the wall it dis- closed a low arch and narrow crevice through which the tourist winds into the devious Labyrinth. Over the coffin may be seen the emblem of the ant-eater, one of the most perfect of the color imitations in the cave. Shortly after we pass the Giant's Coffin we find the great avenue along which we are journeying turn suddenly to the left at a place called the Acute Angle. Here one of the very remarkable things of the cave appears, and that is the sharp angle made by the underground waters in dissolving out this passage-Way. The angle made is less than seventy degrees, about sixty we should judge, and does not often find an imitator even in surface streams. The immense hall, seen by illumination in both directions from this place, appears to fine advantage, and our impressions of the greatness of the cavern grow apace. Beyond the angle a short distance there suddenly comes into view the first of the two stone cottages which were built here a half century or more ago. A number of poor souls, suffering under that dread malady, consumption, and under the advice of phy- The Acute Angle. The Standing Rocks. The Statue. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 43 sicians who appear to have had little knowledge of the real nature of tuberculosis, thought to find relief and possibly complete health in the cave. It was noticed that the water-pipes which the old miners had used and the timbers of their leaching vats were still in absolute preservation; it was reasoned from this circumstance, coupled with the fable that organic substances left in the cave do not decay, that the locality offered especially suitable homes for these people. So a number of them came, two dwelling in the rude stone houses which we see, the rest in tents located a little farther on toward the Star Chamber. What hopeful conversations these hard and cold stone walls may have listened to we may never know. But hope springs eternal in the human breast, and one doubts not that it found place here too. What with light work and much exercise, with song, conversation, hopeful questioning, and eager anticipation, the dark days, which knew no sunshine, wore slowly away. This dread disease, which may find momentary respite in sunshine and genial warmth, had fastened itself on these poor innocents, and they daily became weaker. For one the end soon came, but at the mouth of the cave, whither he had gone when he was certain that the end was near. A brief space of time, several weeks only intervening, and the last one was laid away in the final sleep. The curious visitor may learn who they were and when they died from the rude stone cairns which are in the old and abandoned grove back of the hotel garden. Their bones were removed in later years, but the memorial tablets are still there, gruesome reminders of the end of the brief life spent in the old cabins on which we are looking. Perhaps the ±4 MAMMOTH CAVE. visitor sighs when he hears the sad story, perhaps he gives it no further thought. In what mood should we take it .' And now we come to the crowning glory of this route, one made famous by many writers both in prose and in song. As we wend our way along the smooth and well -traveled path we find ourselves at length at a small declivity, while on beyond stretches without end the great avenue, sweeping to the right and lost in one magnificent archway of absolute blackness. The roof, too, seems to have left us, and we gaze upward into unfathomed night. The guides announce the "Star Chamber," and proceed directly to make more real the illusion of the place. All our lamps are either removed or extinguished, and for the first time in our lives, mayhap, we may really know what blackness is. If the party will remain absolutely still, the darkness of the place will become oppressive. A little shrinking nearer the guide or a trusted friend when once we realize how dark the place and how helpless we are! But our guides told us to look up when they left us alone, and we look. Slowly, as we become accustomed to the place, the roof seems to lighten a little, stars come out one by one, twinkling merrily here and blink- ing at us in evident delight yonder, then a comet shoots across the mimic sky, and the glory of the milky way brings from our astonished lips expressions of surprise and pleasure. The illusion is perfect. The near ceil- ing, heavily coated with manganese dioxide, has been pierced here and there with fairy snow crystals of gypsum, and these have reflected the dim light of the lamps of the guides who left us to enter a small passage-way on our left, The snow-clouds were made THE ROUTE OP PITS AND DOMES 45 to appear, and night has come to us again. The spell is broken ; we are, after all, in a world of illusions. But now the footfalls of the guides coining in the distance reach our ears, and, with some of them, a bucolic concert of familiar sounds, the blending of the barking of the house-dog, the crowing of the cock, a feline battle, the lowing of cattle, for a little time conspire to make us think we are still above ground. But now our ventriloquist guide has rejoined us, and we are told that the end of the route in this direction is reached. We retrace our way to the Giant's Coffin with more than our usual thought, perhaps. We are prepared to understand Emerson's thoughtful essay on "Illusions," written after a personal visit to this cavern, of all the glories of which the Star Chamber seems to have im- pressed him the most deeply. By rearrangement, the region from the Star Chamber to the Chief City and beyond it to the newly discovered Violet City is grouped as Route III, and contains many of the most interesting objects in the cavern. One in search of geological information relating to processes of eave-making will here find much to gratify and reward him which can not be seen elsewhere. *The low arch behind the Giant's Coffin, to which we give the name of Dante's Gateway, is but slightly higher than the bottom of the sarcophagus itself, and the visitor will not fail to catch a view of the rear surface. From this he will learn the true thickness of the rock, which is eighteen feet. The passage-way be- tween it and the wall from which it became detached is quite narrow; a series of rude steps lead us down and into a circular room, the bottom of which is cov- *Ncw included in Route I (from page 45 to page 58).— H. C. H. 46 MAMMOTH CAVE. ered with fine yellow sand mixed at places with a quantity of small pebbles derived from a thin stratum of conglomerate which appears between the sandstone capping of the region and the Subcarboniferous lime- stone in which the cave is situated. This is the Wooden Bowl Room, resembling somewhat an inverted wooden bowl of old-time pattern. Tradition lias it that a wooden aboriginal bowl was once found in this place, whence the origin of the name. The writer is, how- ever, disposed not to accept this origin of the name but to suggest that it came from the resemblance referred to. Although this room is small it opens on great possibilities in several directions, and should be observed with the greatest care. To the left you will note a low archway with well- trodden pathway; this is the beginning of Ganter Avenue, an account of which is given elsewhere in this Manual. To your right is a small opening, par- tially in the floor of the room and partially in the base wall. This is the old "Dog Hole," now called the Steeps of Time. Down this we will go with con- siderable care by a rude stone stairway, aiding our un- certain feet by a firm hand-grasp on the wooden railing placed on the right. At all seasons of the year the snow-white festoons of Mitcor, a low order of fungus, hanging at times in shreds a foot or more in length, at others covering the railing and the rocks surrounding with dense white patches of cottony fibers, give to the place its appearance of age or antiquity. The steps are veritably hoary with years! Safely down we are in the low and irregular Way to Pits and Domes. The entomologist of the party should The Star Chamber. , s..i». ? | | ^ 5cdJ go /f e6 b |0 , Section of Harrison Hail. By H. C. Hovey. Plan of the Labyrinth. By H. C. Hovey. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 47 here keep wide-open eyes, for this ground is famous for collecting. On the old timbers which he will find near the Way, under the damp, flat rocks, running along the white walls or leaping away from the warmth of his lamp will go innumerable crickets and white eyeless spiders and thousand-legged worms and brown blind beetles. Down a short hill the first water on the Route of Pits and Domes is seen in Richardson's Spring, a locality of the greatest interest. The work of running water will be noticed on every hand. The minute stream which slowly fills the little pool called a spring has quietly dug for itself a narrow channel, and illus- trates the process which on gigantic scale has produced the cave itself. The spring contains many small crustaceans, and the flat rocks around shelter many interesting forms of blind insects. These will be more completely listed in another place in this Manual. Soon after passing this spring, on the right, will be discovered Side-Saddle Pit, so named from its supposed resemblance to a saddle. Above it rises Minerva's Dome, while into it falls, drop by drop, the waters which are enlarging it and making it to rival its near-at- hand fellow. This is one of the smallest pits which the visitor will see on this route. But its walls should be closely examined, and he will discover how beautifully fluted and scored they are. At the bottom, fifty feet down, are masses of rocks detached from the overhanging dome, thirty-five feet above the observer. Just beyond the jut will be noticed a low avenue, Calypso's Avenue, which leads off to the left. This is never visited except by those who are veritable cave explorers, for it is dangerous in the extreme. The avenue leads to Covered Pit, a short distance away, 48 MAMMOTH CAVE. and beyond to Scylla and Charybdis, o£ which, however, more will be said in another place. At one locality, about five hundred feet within this avenue, the floor suddenly divides into two halves, and the visitor crawls along — the ceiling is so low he can not walk — with this narrow cleft slowly widening as he advances. Its edges get thinner ; passing a lamp between the margins we find that we are above a great pit seventy-five feet deep, the boundary walls of which we can not see. "We discover that our floor, the roof of the pit, is but a thin shell of limestone, and, impressed with the discovery, we hasten back. But still again the desire to know what is on the other side takes possession of us, and again we venture. This time slowly w r e move, certain of our way, and pass the Covered Pit to find ourselves gazing into blackness at the end of a beautifully arched avenue in which one may stand upright. "We have reached the limit in this direction. The sounds of fall- ing waters make music here, and we know that cave- making is in actual progress around, above, beneath us. By and by we shall reach the bottom of this locality, when its true meaning will be disclosed. To the group of pits and domes which constitute this portion of the cavern the senior author gave, in 1889, the name of Harrison Hall, after the then President of the United States. The relations of these intimately connected domes may be gathered from the accompanying illustrations showing their ground plan and vertical section, correct in the main details. This portion of the cavern abounds in these great chambers, and, judging from the surface configuration over this section of the cave, many more similar domes are in juxtaposition and may be connected below. Since the THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 49 bottom of each is partially filled with debris from the walls and roof, it is impossible to make one's way from Harrison Hall into the chambers which are connected with it; but the waters, which sometimes gather in great volume in the bottom of Scylla and Charybdis, testify to intimate connection with the rivers and the lowest drainage levels of the cave. It is but a short distance to the Bottomless Pit from the beginning of Calypso's Avenue. But before it is reached, the entrance to the Labyrinth, in the very floor of the way, will be discerned, and over it a broad and low archway, through the sands of which a road was cut in 1896. This is Darnall's Way, and leads directly to dorm's Dome, from the end of which a most magnificent view may be had. When the writer re-discovered this passage-way, in 1895, it had remained unvisited for many years, and its existence had been forgotten by nearly all connected with the cavern. The sublime view from the edge of the mighty precipice, both to the right and left, should be seen by every visitor. Opposite the entrance at the dome end hangs an alabaster curtain in many sweeping folds, perpendicular to the very bottom, one hundred and nineteen feet below. Small streams of water are still engaged in cutting their way into the side walls, and the process of enlargement is slowly progressing. Since this dome-pit is typical of all in Mammoth Cave, and of dome structure in general in limestone caverns, it is worthy of more complete description. And this we now attempt. The walls of this great pit change direction several times in their course of sixty feet, sweeping around into sigmoid curves in such manner that from no 50 MAMMOTH CAVE. accessible place ran the whole be seen at once. Tlu point of vantage is the bottom, reached from the farthest side of the pit by a dangerous and irregular well-like opening, with almost vertical walls, from which springs an occasional boss. Taking advantage of these the careful climber, by pressing knees and elbows against the sides, may descend a distance of some fifty-five feet and find himself on a mud-covered shelf, with greater danger still ahead. Carefully work- ing one's way down this hill, which can not be seen from above, a bed of sand, when there is low water in the river which sweeps along its margain, is reached. On this was found an old boat, much decayed, indicat- ing that this stream, which flows with a current of about four miles an hour by measurement with floating papers carefully timed, has some connection with the Echo River, or may be the real underground river of which the Echo is but a sluggishly flowing branch. At all events the bottom of Garvin's Pit, on the extreme left of the visitor, has a large underground river skirting its margins.* But the view upward from this point is grand indeed. Vertical walls rising one hundred and fifty-nine feet to the very top of the dome, with here and there bosses which on careful closer examination prove to be masses of coral, and these throw long shadows toward the top that move and wave in long black lines as the lamps flicker and swing; the drops of pure water, that like diamonds hang from the small pendent stalactites which in places cover the sides, the *The earliest published account of this river was by Dr. Davidson, who describes it as "stretching away in midnight blackness a horrid pool of water." The boat mentioned above was built for Mr. F. J. Stevenson, of London, in 1863, and lowered through the window. On it he floated for seven houi s, a perilous voyage never repeated. — II. C. H. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 51 merry patter of several small cascades which come hack to us from the river hall in a thousand small echoes, and the stillness otherwise, make the bottom of Gorin's Dome of real interest. Then, too, this is prob- ably the only dome in the cave that reaches from the uppermost level to the level of the rivers. It is, there- fore, the only place where the complete vertical range of the cave can be determined, an important factor in its careful study. The rock is here all oolite, and this seems to aid the waters in their work of solution. The dome is named from one of the original owners of the <-ave, Mr. Frank Gorin; the pit after William Gar- vin, the guide, who alone knew of the passage-way to the bottom, and who claimed to be its discoverer. The width of this place varies from fourteen to twenty feet; its extreme length is about fifty-five feet; its outline irregularly dumb-bell shaped.* It broadens toward the bottom, after the manner of all the pits in the cave, and besides the mud and sand brought in at flood by the river, the bottom is composed of great limestone blocks. The bottom, or shelf part first reached, has a great quantity of old timbers, relics of former structures that were thrown in here to get rid of them. These constitute a famous place for blind beetles and myriapods, and we secured large numbers of them. Returning to the Way of Pits and Domes, we pass along the margin of a narrow and deep crevasse worn into the solid rock and connecting, formerly, Gorin's Dome with the Bottomless Pit. We will visit this after our return from the regions beyond the pit, which is *As measured by the aid of a cluster of small balloons, its height was found to be 160 feet.— H. C. H. 52 MAMMOTH CAVE. now at hand. A bridge, the Bridge of Sighs, enables the visitor to stand over the very middle of this abyss, from the bottom of which comes up to him the sound of falling water. At most seasons of the year the bot- tom of the pit contains only old bridge timbers and large masses of rock, with some very smooth banks of mud. At others, when the subterranean rivers are at flood, the left bottom portion is filled with water. This shows some connection with the Eeho or other under- ground rivers, and also indicates that the commonly seen bottom of the pit is not as low down as Garvin's Pit. From the bottom of this pit, for notwithstanding its name it has one, the view is rivaled only by that of Gorki's Dome. Rising sheer above us to a height of one hundred and forty-five feet is Shelby's Dome, the top of the Bottomless Pit, named after the first Gov- ernor of Kentucky. The bridge overhead is garlanded and festooned with pendent masses of snow-white Mucoi', while the light of the lamps we leave burning on the bridge show us the character of the fluted and folded walls, in most places absolutely vertical. We think of Stephen Bishop, the colored guide, who first crossed this place in 1840, his support being a slender cedar sapling, and we wonder not a little at his temerity. But that adventurous act not only made pos- sible a visit to its bottom but was quickly followed by the discovery of the great River Hall, the Echo River, and all the other glories which have been so well described elsewhere by my fellow-worker. And not only this, but the exploitation of the two large pits which are connected with the Bottomless Pit, and which altogether constitute Harrison Hall, first described, and their relations made out by Doctor Hovey, and needing The Bottomless Pit. THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 53 change in but few particulars from his original account. Do you ask how we reached the bottom? On your right hand, immediately after entering River Hall, you will note a small opening leading into an avenue which is nearly closed by a huge rock. Follow this a few hundred yards and you will find it branching. Do not take the right-hand branch, for that will lead you along a narrow avenue, here widening a little, and there with bottom close to top, and end at last in a small stream of flowing water that connects directly with the River Styx, and this bars further progress. Take the left- hand route, climb a low precipice, work your way care- fully along, for it is somewhat unsafe, and you will enter the pit two thirds of the way down. The shelf on which you stand is narrow, muddy, and dangerous. To your right will be Charybdis, and beyond it the edge of Scylla appears in view. On the left is a difficult and muddy hill, down which it is possible to go with care, and you will eventually reach, the bottom, if, like a fly, you can almost cling to the side. But the rough concretions will help, and the old timbers which are found here in numbers will assist. The bottom is reached at last, and the paradise of the insect hunter is attained. The lamps far above appear but as bright specks in the eternal gloom. Around you and about you are the evidences of fearful ruin, places whence the immense blocks of limestone on which you are now standing have been detached, while over your head, swinging from two small points on the surround- ing walls of the pit, is an immense block which seems in momentary danger of falling and crushing you. Tt will fall some time, will continue its headlong flight toward the bottom, but it will only be after years of 54 MAMMOTH CAVE. patient solution yet, when the points will be dissolved away and the rock left free to fall. After crossing the Bridge of Sighs the visitor will note an enlargement of the avenue and numerous large blocks of limestone. This is Reveller's Hall, suggestive of the dinner parties which were formerly held in this place. Since the River Route was discovered this hall has been abandoned for lunching purposes. To the left, just beyond, is a narrow passage-way leading into Fat Man's Misery and to River Hall, discovered by Bishop in 1840. But just before the narrow and devious Fat Man's Misery is reached, and before the Scotchman's Trap is passed, a narrow passage-way on the left will lead to the middle of the wall of the Bottomless Pit. From this point of view one may look down into the pit on the left, and into Charybdis on the right, In front, but twenty or more feet above him, is a well-rounded arch, which is the termination of Calypso's Avenue, along which we pass and over the Covered Pit to get our best view of Seylla. There are two objects of interest beyond Reveller's Hall; these are all in the continuation of the avenue that now is called Pensico Avenue, along which we came to the pit. The first of these is Resonator Hall, where the avenue either crosses another avenue lower down or else passes above a dome in the strata below. Whatever the real explanation, the production of certain tones at this place comes back to us from below in volume increased a thousand fold, and rolls and reverberates along the secret galleries be- neath. Then comes Wild Hall, where the large rocks are strewn about in abandoned profusion, and among THE ROUTE OF PITS AND DOMES. 55 them we carefully wend our way. Next we come to the Grand Crossing, where once two great subterranean streams, at slightly different levels, flowed one above the other. They dissolved away the partition floor of the one which was the roof of the other, and now give us unique illustration of the ways underground waters will flow. At the end of this avenue is Angelica's Bower, and just before we reach it the large dry stalactite, the only large one on this route, fancifully known as the Pineapple Bush. From the walls and sides of the grotto hang numerous small stalactites, to which the name of Hanging Grove has been applied. As we now return beyond the Bottomless Pit we note a narrow passage-way in the floor of the avenue and on our left. This leads down a steep hill of sand, obtained from the way over its top to Gorin's Dome. The walls are smooth in some places and furrowed and roughened in others. On them may be found, at all seasons of the year, innumerable crickets, and, farther along, an occasional myriapod. We are now in the Labyrinth. As we wind along, the wall on our left recedes, and crossing a rudely constructed bridge we stand under a small dome, above a pit now filled with fallen debris, but a few feet, five or six only, from the great Gorin's Dome. Up a short flight of stairs we proceed, dowm another on our right, turn to the left under the way we just came, and find ourselves at the Window. For many years this was the only way in which the tourist might sec the great dome here dis- closed to view, and the exhibition is wonderful indeed. Directly in front, hanging in fold after fold from the roof above as in tiers, is a great curtain of limestone 56 MAMMOTH CAVE. covered with incrustations of alabaster. It is limned against the intense blackness beyond, bending suddenly on our left and appearing to shade off into deepest gloom. The splash of falling waters alone comes to us from below, where is the swiftly but silently flowing river on whose bosom no man has yet sailed.*" Its inky waters can not be seen from this place, but we know that it is there. From the farther side drops a little waterfall, and this splashes its way down the muddy hill at the bottom to join the river below it. The Dome appears from this point to be a large horse- shoe curve, but it is, in fact, sigmoid in outline and rudely dumb-bell shaped. The guides will illumine this view from another window still higher up, through which, if the visitor has a strong hand and nerve, and is a good climber, may be had a glorious view some- what higher than any other the cave affords. But water everywhere drips in this dome and pit, and the attempt to make the climb is not without danger. Returning to the narrow passage-way from which we diverge to go to the Window, we pass over a bridge across a rugged pit, descend a short hill, and wind along a devious and intricate series of channels which we will call from this on Ilovey's Ramble. This name is bestowed in honor of the senior author of this .Manual, whose work in American caverns is so well and so favorably known. It is a fitting tribute to his tireless interest in this great cavern and in testimony of the pioneer scientific work which he did that his name be affixed to these Daedalian passages. Several -Except F. J. Stevenson, in 1863. The dams along Green River havt caused the water to back up into these cave streams so as to make it impos- sible for any daring adventurer now to revisit "Stevenson's Lost River."— H. C. H. THE ROUTE OP PITS AND DOMES. 57 localities interesting to the student of geology are here. They are instructive in the highest degree, and must he seen if the real work of cave-making is to he under- stood. To this point we have seen little of the actual work of water; only its results have been noted. Now we are to see it at work as a graving tool in one of the newest portions of the cave, newest in the geological sense. Down a rude stairway we pursue our way, up a cliff, alongside a deep pit, over several sinuous lower channels, hanging to the sides here and leaping from side to side yonder, over narrow chasms, until we hear the rush of falling waters and find our pathway occluded by a huge mass of stalagmite, while pendent from the ceiling are beautiful, sonorous stalactites of purest onyx. A narrow pass leads us around and behind this bower, and on our left stand revealed the rough and jagged walls of Putnam's Cabinet. Here in the pool of water, always full, we gather a pocketful of "cave pearls," gaze with interest at the waters falling from an opening in the roof, above us some thirty feet, and note that the dome is made up of a succession of layers of flat rocks which have differently resisted the action of the solvent waters. Every dome we have studied, if we could see its top, would present exactly this aspect, and from it we learn that solution alone has been the active agent that made the cavern. Several smaller domes at this locality present substantially the same appearance. They are connected by a series of small channels in which running waters may always be seen; from the roofs of some and open- ings in the sides of others small rills pour forth to add their mite, and might, to the work in hand. Passing along the rough walk the cave here and 58 MAMMOTH CAVE. there broadens, then narrows, the roof rises away from the Moor at times, while at others it approaches quite close to it. At every point the fitful light of the visitor's lamp brings into relief projections of infinite form and makes deeper the dark hollows between the rock bosses. The incessant play and change of light and shadow afford unwearied interest even where the walls, for some distance, otherwise offer little that is attract- ive. A half mile or less of this sort of thing and on our left, close up to the ceiling, in a widened area, we come to the end of the Ramble. This portion of the cave is continually wet, and the path sometimes lies through small pools. Last comes a great bed of yellow sand, in a large round chamber at the end. Did we say sand! Take up some of the minute grains in the hand and examine them carefully. They are round as shot, infinitely smaller, and uniform in size. Break oft' a fragment from that overhanging rock. Ah ! We have it. This is not sand but oolite. The walls around us are oolitic limestone, and the solvent action of the waters has separated the. tiny grains, and w r e thought them sand. But so thought others before us. The peculiar character of this limestone and the facility with which water dissolves its cementing material makes very treacherous this portion of the cavern. Do not trust the bosses on the walls for foot-rests; they are as likely to give way beneath your weight as to remain. Be attentive to your guide here and you will learn much of the processes now employed in making this portion of the cave. Here the route must, per- force, end, and from this point we retrace our steps to the Labyrinth, and through it, the guide, our Daedalus, takes us io s,-i Per grounds. THE MAIN CAVE ROUTE FROM STAR CHAMBER TO VIOLET CITY THE term "Grand Gallery," or "Main Cave," was applied by early explorers to the gigantic Broad- way of this subterranean metropolis, extending from the Rotunda to Ultima Thule. It is impossible to reach any avenue, dome, or chamber in the cavern witb- out first traversing a portion of this central thoroughfare. The Main Cave, with its side-cuts, is three miles long, and is worthy of ranking as a route by itself. But it suits the convenience of the management to exhibit the first half of it in connection with the Pit and Dome Route; and accordingly that part of it is described by Doctor Call as far as the Star Chamber. What is now undertaken is to describe the remainder of the Main Cave, from the Star Chamber to the Chief City, and beyond it to the terminus, where the massive wall forbids further progress.* After leaving the hall of constellations and marvelous transformation scenes, the gray cavern gallery makes a majestic sweep to the right. The black ceiling studded with stars changes to a mottled canopy, like a mackerel sky. Soon these clouds float away, and the remnants of black oxide of manganese coat only the fringes of the roof. The floor is encumbered with a myriad flat lime- stone slabs, every one of which tests one's equilibrium by tilting in a different direction, except where they have been adjusted so as to make a safe and conven- *This is now made one of the four regular routes, and is known as Route III. It includes the new discovery, "Violet City" and its environs, described at the end of this chapter. 60 MAMMOTH CAVE. ient footpath. No stooping or crawling has to be done, and the main floor is everywhere absolutely dry. There is no danger, even of missing one's footing, unless one chooses to forsake the beaten way and ventures to see- saw over the rocking Makes that cover the floor in such endless confusion. The guides point out many curious objects as we walk along. One of these is an enormous rock seventy feet long, formerly called the Keel Boat, but more recently christened the Whale. It is "very like a whale," and rivals in its dimensions the Giant's Coffin. A huge plate of standing limestone is labeled the Devil's Looking-glass. There are several "side-cuts," passages lower than the Main Cave, and that return into it after devious windings. These arc never visited now, though they were ransacked by the miners for " peter-dirt. " Proctor's Arcade and Kinney's Arena are merely enlargements of the Main Cave, highly symmetrical arched passages, with lofty ceilings, and deserving the encomium that they make "'the most magnificent nat- ural tunnel in the world." The guides direct our attention to stout poles projecting from rifts in the roof, and we wonder how they ever got there. They also lift slabs along the margin of the cave and exhibit ancient fireplaces, with ashes and embers. These were described in Lee's "Notes of the Mammoth Cave," and also exhibited by old Matt to the writer in 1881. By whom were those fires kindled, and for what purpose ? This gallery used to be called the "Salts Boom." or the "Snow Boom," for the reason that the heated air from the lamps, or even a lusty shout From a guide, THE MAIN CAVE ROUTE. 61 brings about our heads a myriad floating, whirling, saline Hakes, like a mimic snow-storm. On examina- tion we And the seeming snow-flakes to be tiny crystals of sodium sulphate, detached from the ceiling by the agitation of the air. Even when all the cave is still and deserted they silently fall, pushed from the roof by the growth of new crystals, and whitening the rugged rocks by a perennial precipitation of saline snow. This is one of the most curious illusions of the cavern. The resemblance of the Main Cave to a vast river bed, along whose channel, now so dry and dusty, once flowed a subterranean Nile, led the excited fancy of the early explorers to imagine the tremendous heaps of enormous rocks to be the ruins of demolished cities. Hence they named them "the First City," "the Second City," then came the Cataracts, and beyond them, as we shall pres- ently discover, the "Chief City," and other cities, five in all. But we do well to observe the indications, in passing along, that this really was once a stream-swept channel. We find where the channel parted, was reunited, and then parted again, thus forming quasi islands that now remain as huge pillars from fifty to a hundred feet in diameter. The spaces between them are usually shallow, but when the arcade is illuminated the jutting bosses cast deep shadows, and the effect is as if we stood at the intersection of immense cross- caverns. The Sigma Bend winds along with serpentine course to the large Cross Rooms, where the narrow, tortuous bend suddenly expands to a width of one hundred and seventy-five feet, which it keeps for tivi hundred and fifty feet. Midway is a transept that expands the total width to three hundred and fifty feet. G2 MAMMOTH CAVE. (Lee's measurement, as quoted by Doctor Bird.) Thus the S-shaped bend opens into a T-shaped hall. Recent authorities call this magnificent room Wright's Rotunda, in honor of Doctor C. A. Wright, of Louisville.* Fox Avenue opens on the right and leads backward to a point where it re-enters the Sigma Bend, thus enclosing a large cave-island. On the left the transept branches around another island, and opens into what are termed the Chimneys, irregular crannies, through which one who is not averse to rugged climbing may reach the Black Chambers above. The black oxide of manga- nese, which we saw in the Star Chamber and Proctor's Arcade, instead of simulating the starry sky or the floating clouds, here swathes the walls and roof in absolute funereal black, while the enormous rocks tum- bled about in the wildest disorder make a scene gloomy beyond description. We now approach the Cataracts, and find ourselves on the brink of a steep hollow crossing the cave from right to left, partly filled with debris, but with sides rugged enough to make a descent into it dangerous. On the farther side of this pit stands a solid wall, while in the roof, on our right, are ugly holes from which streams perpetually fall into the chasm and vanish amid the rocks. There is quite a cascade, even in a dry season, and after a heavy rainfall the tumul- tuous torrent that descends amply justifies the term Cataract, and makes itself heard to a great distance. By picking our way with care along a narrow path *In Mellen's "Book of the T'nited States" (1S37), page ico, what is now known as Wright's Rotunda is called the Chief City, and the five great avenues leading out from it are minutely described, in the fifth of which was found the Fifth City, the same that was named the Temple by Lee. and to which Doctor Bird transferred the name of Chief City that it has had ever since. THE MAIN CAVE ROUTE. 63 on the left of the Cataract chasm, Doctor Call and myself reached what Doctor Bird regards as, properly speaking, the "termination of the Grand Gallery," that is to say, of the Main Cave; although the term con- tinues to be popularly applied to a wide and lofty passage on another level, and of which more will be said presently. The spot we reached was very interest- ing for another reason, namely, because the immense weight of rocks and earth overhead had crushed the strata into a remarkable syncline exactly the reverse of the general arch of the cavern. Returning to the Cataract, partly descending into the pit, and then climbing over a wall, we find a second avenue, near which is the way to the Solitary Cham- bers and the Fairy Grotto. The grotto was once one of the most beautiful places in the cave, with grotesque stalactites and other attractions that have since been marred by vandals. This fact and also the difficulty of access prevent this locality from now being usually exhibited to visitors. Accordingly we will resume our journey by leaving Cataract Hall through an arch that admits us to a grand avenue commonly regarded as a continuation of the Main Cave, although really not identical with it. The path runs over limestone slabs that tilt and clatter under our feet, and between walls of monotonous gray, until, just as we begin to grow weary of the din and the sameness, the walls sud- denly recede and we find ourselves at the portal of the largest subterranean temple in the world. This immense dome was called the Temple by Mr. Lee; but Doctor Bird first gave the name of the Chief City, 64 MAMMOTH CAVE. which had previously been given to what is now known as Wright's Rotunda. The magnificence of the Chief City is not instantly appreciated, the first sensation being simply that of surprise at the recession of the walls and the boundless darkness before us. But when we climb the ruins of the mountain that rises from the floor, and the guide burns magnesium or red fire, we stand awe-stricken beneath the stupendous dome and vainly search with our eyes for the dim and distant boundaries of this majestic temple of silence and of night. The exact truth is here sufficiently impressive, and exaggeration seems an impertinence. The measurement made by the writer and Mr. Hains, in 1893, gave as the extreme length of the room four hundred and fifty feet, and as its average width one hundred and seventy-five feet. A simple arithmetical calculation will show the areal dimensions to be about one acre and three quarters. E. F. Lee, C. E., made it two acres. Doctor Call remeasured the room, in 1896, with a steel tape, exer- cising great care, and obtained the following results : Greatest length, five hundred and forty-one feet; maxi- mum diameter, two hundred and eighty-seven feet; average diameter, one hundred and ninety feet. This would give the areal dimensions as about two and one- third acres. A good deal depends on where one begins to measure, for it is not quite certain where the spring of the arch actually arises. The line also has to be run over the irregular rocks, for which a varying allowance may be made. Estimates as to the height of the dome likewise vary from ninety to one hundred and twenty- five feet. But why concern ourselves with cold figures in a place that so fires the imagination? The reader THE MAIN CAVE ROUTE. 65 who has never been under this overshadowing canopy can not realize the vastness of that solid, seamless arch of limestone that has stood the wear and shock of thousands of years, and that may maintain its symmet- rical span until the Day of Doom demolishes it, along with "The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, and the great globe itself." The impressiveness of the Chief City is enhanced by utter solitude, as the writer can testify, having been, on a certain occasion, accidentally forsaken by comrades and guides, and left alone on the subterranean mountain at the solemn midnight hour. Sitting solitary, with no better light than that given by a single lamp, and even extinguishing that faint luminary in order to enjoy the luxury of absolute silence and Cimmerian darkness, it was strange what a rush of imaginary sounds filled the place, and how the fancy peopled the dome with uncouth and mysterious shapes. What a relief it was to break the spell by the simple method of striking a match, and what company was found in the cheerful flame of my freshly trimmed lamp ! How welcome, at last, the approach of Doctor Call and his party ! The dust of untold ages lies on the huge rocks, amid which are found half-burnt bits of cane, which the guides assure us that the red men used to fill with bear's fat and burn in lieu of torches. Fragments of woven moccasins, and other remains, prove aboriginal visitation. Doctor Bird found these things, in 1837, filling the room "in astonishing, unaccountable quan- tities." The statement made by the early managers is that great bonfires of these combustibles were kindled to illuminate the mountain and the dome. But it is an 66 MAMMOTH CAVE. open question as to the motives that led the dusky aborigines to frequent this mysterious chamber. Did they here hold prehistoric councils? Did they find amid this rocky fortress a safe refuge from pursuing foes .' Or were these earliest visitors, like the latest, led hither by simple curiosity? The first white explorers are said to have found aboriginal implements, pottery, blankets of woven bark, and other relics not unlike those found amid the cliff dwellings of Arizona. But who brought them to this subterranean hall, and whence came they, and when, and what was their fate, are problems for the archaeologist. Pondering these mysteries we reluctantly leave the Chief City, with its assemblage of nooks and rocks, alcoves and monu- mental ruins, all aglow in the light of chemical fires, and overarched by that marvelous dome, which, as every observant visitor has remarked, seems to follow us in retiring, as the sky bends its canopy of blue over the moving traveler. It is possibly a mile from the Chief City to the terminus of the cave in this direction. What meets the eye is a repetition of what we have already seen, only the rocks are if possible more teetering, and the task more wearisome of clambering over the piles of loose and irregular slabs of limestone. At intervals we are rewarded by spacious domes only less grand than that we have just been admiring. St. Catherine City is made by the intersection of two avenues. That on our right is the Symmes' Pit Branch, and ends in a fuunel-shaped pit, called a "well," but dry now. The left-hand branch leads to the Blue Spring, and has a good path made by the removal of the rocky frag- ments. This painstaking work has been ascribed to the THE MAIN CAVE ROUTE. 67 Indians, but it was probably done by the old saltpeter miners in their search for " peter-dirt. " Neither of these branches will repay the ordinary visitor for exploration. Resuming our way from St. Catherine City, we presently come to two very beautiful domes, whose floors are covered with fine sand, and whose smooth walls arise symmetrically to an oval ceiling. As their former names were meaningless and inappropriate, we obtained permission to rename them. The first we christened Waldach 's Dome, in honor of the late Charles Waldach, of Cincinnati, the pioneer in the work of subterranean photography, and who, as he told the writer, consumed five hundred dollars' worth of mag- nesium in taking some fifty views by the old-fashioned "wet process." The other dome we named Hains' Dome, in honor of our friend, Mr. Ben Hains, of New Albany, Indiana, who carried to perfection the task Mr. Waldach began under certain disadvantages, and whose explorations have also added materially to our knowledge of the mazes of Mammoth Cave. Beyond these lovely domes we tread an ascending path over more tilting slabs, bending our heads low to avoid concussion against the roof. We are in the Garret, where salts abound like those we found in the Snow Room. Crystals hang from the roof and also spring from the earth in graceful forms. We pass a pile of sandstone rocks and approach a wall of dry, thin flakes of limestone from floor to ceiling. By an effort we thrust our way a few feet farther and touch what seemed to us a solid, impenetrable wall, beyond which no man could possibly go. After many futile efforts we gave up all hope of further progress, and named the 68 MAMMOTH CAVE. locality "Ultima Thule. " But subsequent exploration lnis proved our name for it a misnomer. A young German came from Berlin to America, in 1908, in order to learn our language and to acquaint himself with our country. His name was Max Kaemper. He visited Mammoth Cave, only intending to stay a few days ; but prolonged his sojourn for eight months, dur- ing which period he made as complete an exploration of the cave as possible, with the expert assistance of Edward Bishop, as guide. Certain indications led them to suspect that a "tumble-down" in Sandstone Avenue might be identical with the pile of sandstone we had observed at Ultima Thule. Accordingly they attacked a limestone crawl-way near the latter and patiently re- moved the blocks of stone, not without some personal risk, till they had wormed their way through to an oval hall, one hundred and sixty feet long by one hundred and twenty feet wide and sixty feet in height. This place was afterward named, for its discoverer, Kaemper Hall. They had been led onward by the music of an unseen waterfall, which was found to precipitate itself into what they named, for the guide, Bishop's Pit. They named another abyss for Mr. Norman A. Parrish, the Parrish Pit. There are in all eleven pits. A short passage, fifty steps to the right, where is now fixed an iron gate, opens into Elizabeth's Dome, a symmetrical room seventy-five feet wide and as many high, ascending by vaulted arches to a circle at the apex, the name being given in honor of a sister of Mr. Kaemper. The Grand Portal leading out from it is an arch sixty feet wide and fifty feet high, commanding a general view of the wonderful region christened "Violet The Marble Temple. TIJE MAIN CAVE ROUTE. 69 City," in recognition of Mrs. Violet Blair Janin, the wife of Judge Albert Covington Janin, and one of the principal owners of the Mammoth Cave estate. Kaemper said the place reminded him of what the old German mythology called the "Walhalla," the abode of the demigods. Bengal lights were ignited here and there, and an automobile searchlight came to the aid of my smaller acetylene hand-lamp, thus well illuminating this wonder- ful region, which we found to be, by measurement, two hundred and fifty feet long by one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, a worthy rival of the Chief City and Wright's Rotunda as to size, while far ex- celling them in beauty. Following a rude pathway on our left we reached a sandstone tumble-down that gave color to the theory that some locality like "Sandstone Avenue" was near. A rich overflow of onyx binds the fallen blocks together. By permission explosives were used at this point, until the indications made the manager feel that the process was quite as likely to burst to the surface as into Sandstone Avenue, and accordingly he called a halt. The result of continued effort would have been desirable in either event. In the one case an exit to the surface would have made it possible to return to the hotel by coach, and in the other a return by the Long Route would have been made practicable, without a wearisome tramp over paths already traversed. Sound-tests by Kaemper and Bishop were agreed upon, to ascertain whether Violet City and Sand- stone Avenue were neighbors. At a fixed moment, by the watch, revolvers were fired; but their reports were inaudible. Blows on the walls, however, were faintly 70 MAMMOTH CAVE. heard. Sound might travel far through crevices in the rocks ; as was proved by the fact that, while in the Chief City, we heard plainly the steam cars of the Mammoth Cave Railway. Violet City is rich in dripstone. Stalactites and stalagmites are seen by the thousand, and of every imaginable shape and color. The Chimes are stalactites that emit musical sounds, enabling one to play simple melodies by percussion. There are masses of fluted white onyx decked with brilliant crystals. Grotesque objects amuse us; for instance a bit of red onyx called the Ripe Tomato, and another formation named the Beer Mug because resembling a tankard of foaming ale. Thus far these, and other still more rare treasures, have been guarded from such vandal hands as have defaced or robbed too many curious and beautiful formations else- where. This new discovery is a cause for congratulation. Hitherto Mammoth Cave has been noted for its paucity of stalactitic decoration; but the formations in Violet City are marvelous, and remind the visitor of the splendors of Luray and the Grottoes of Shendun. After surfeiting ourselves with this palace of beauty we have no short cut provided for us, but are obliged to go back as we came in, treading wearily the entire length of the Main Cave, yet richly rewarded by our recollections of the miracles in stone we have seen. THE RIVER ROUTE TO THE MAELSTROM AND HOVEY'S CATHEDRAL THE River Route has no equal of its kind in the known subterranean world. Its features are so unlike those of the Main Cave and the region of pits and domes as to make it seem an altogether different cavern — which indeed it really is. For the Mammoth Cave, instead of being one vast excavation, is a congeries of caverns, whose walls and floors were thinned by the action of water till they were broken through into one immense and intricate labyrinth. Just as the visitor to Niagara wants to see the Canadian as well as the American Falls, to gaze on the impetuous rapids above as well as the tremendous whirlpool below the cataract, and to crown it all by a ride on the Maid of the Mist amid the seething caldron and sheets of spray, so the visitor to Niagara's rival, the wonderful Mammoth Cave, should take time to explore every route that is open for the public, and he will be amply repaid by an experience that will enrich a lifetime. The River Route, now known as Route IV, often styled "the Long Route," extends to Hovey's Cathedral and the Maelstrom. It is certainly "long" as compared with the other routes ; but no one in ordinary vigor should forego its remarkable scenes, utterly unlike any- thing found elsewhere. There are frequent stops at points of special interest, an ample recess for a mid-day lunch, and an interval of repose during the boat- ride on Echo River. Professor H. A. Newton, of Yale University, Doctor A. E. Foote, of Phila- delphia, together with the senior author of this Manual, made an approximate measurement of the dis- 72 MAMMOTH CAVE. tance from the mouth of the cave to the end of the route at Croghan's Hall, and agreed in making it four miles and a half, not including the length of Echo River, which we had at the time no means of deter- mining. In other words, the trip in and out would require about nine miles of walking, and the time usually allowed for it, including the boat-ride and the various stops, is eight or nine hours.* The fact should also be remembered that the spirits are sustained by the exhilarating cave atmosphere, which is as pure as can be found on any ordinary mountain top, as well as by the great variety and novelty of the perpetually changing subterranean scenery. The River Route might be taken by itself apart from the other trips below ground; but it is more commonly reserved for the second day's excursion, and as a delightful sequel to the shorter routes that have already been described. We will imagine, therefore, that the visitor has explored the Main Cave and Gothic Avenue and the region of pits and domes, and has had a good night's rest at the hotel, before accompanying us on this new quest of adventure. Down the valley again we go, led by the guides into the mouth of the cavern, under the thick horizontal plates of limestone, from whose green, mossy ledge the wild pattering rill falls forever with music on the rocks below. What becomes of it? No pool or stream is visible, but the cascade instantly disappears. An ice- house was formerly here, in the days of Doctor Crog- han, and the excavation made for that purpose reveals the walls of a chasm that extends far below the accu- *This does not include a visit to Hovey's Cathedral, for which a longer time must be allowed. THE RIVER ROUTE. 73 mulation of rocky fragments and indurated clay along which our pathway runs. We are really walking near the roof of a huge hall, like Dixon's Cave, but that is now filled by debris. The true cavern floor is hidden from sight by the broken rocks through whose confused spaces the cascade finds its mysterious way to the gen- eral drainage level and gathering-bed of subterranean waters, to which the deepest pits likewise cut their way, and which we are now about to approach by a more convenient route. There are three ways of reaching the region of the lakes and rivers. Each has its advantages and its dis- comforts. Tourists who go in one way usually come out another, for the sake of variety. The first way, and the shortest, is through the opening known as the Corkscrew, near what are termed the Kentucky Cliffs, on our left and beyond the Rotunda. The other two ways are reached by going through Dante's Gateway, near the Giant's Coffin, and entering the Wooden Bowl Room. A passage to the left, from this room, is the beginning of Ganter Avenue, which leads beyond the rivers. By turning to the right, instead, and crossing the Bottomless Pit, we come to the Scotchman's Trap and the Fat Man's Misery, by going through which we enter River Hall. Each of these three ways will receive a more full description, in the order in which they have just been named: the Corkscrew, Ganter Avenue, and the Fat Man's Misery. The Corkscrew is an intricate web of fissures, known as long ago as 1837, but not as a passage to River Hall, which had not yet been discovered. In one of the oldest published descriptions of the Mammoth Cave it is stated that "among the Kentucky Cliffs, just under 74 MAMMOTH CAVE. the ceiling, is a gap in the wall into which yon can scramble and make your way down a chaotic gulf, creeping like a rat, under and among loose rocks, to the depth of eighty or ninety feet — provided you do not break your neck before you get half-way." That is a very graphic description of the Corkscrew as it is to-day, allowing for the improvements since made by removing obstructions and building stairways here and there, so that the passage is much more safe and prac- ticable than formerly. William Garvin, the guide, was the first man to make his way completely through, in 1871, to Bandit's Hall, and thence to the River Hall. Those availing themselves of the Corkscrew have the satisfaction of reducing materially the length of the River Route, as compared with other approaches. It is in itself interesting, as already explained, as giving an example of an enormous pit that has somehow been filled up with gigantic blocks of limestone. Ganter Avenue is the name now given to a com- bination of smaller avenues, effected by sixteen months of hard labor under the direction of Manager H. C. Ganter. It was platted in March, 1891, by H. C. Hovey and Ben Ilains. Its total length, as measured by them, is eighty-five hundred feet from the AVooden Bowl Room to Serpent Hall; while the direct distance between those points is only about thirty-two hundred feet. Some of the guides first wormed their way through in September, 1870, and as they proved it to be possible for those caught beyond the rivers in a time of flood thus to escape to the surface, I named the new r discovery "Welcome Avenue." But by authority of the owners I changed the name to its present form, in 1891, as a recognition of the tireless energy and skillful THE RIVER ROUTE. 75 engineering of Manager Ganter, who thus overcame obstacles that seemed almost insurmountable.. The avenue as it now exists really cuts through three of the five tiers of Mammoth Cave. The passage, for a long distance, though forty feet high, was extremely crooked and also very narrow at the bottom. The latter difficulty was removed by laying a solid stone floor midway between the bottom and the top, thus making a wider path, though even now it is narrow enough to try one's patience. Many roughnesses were removed from the walls by judicious pounding and blasting; though enough knobs remain to serve as specimens of those that were formerly so numerous and exasperating. A remarkable stone stairway of one hundred steps, called "Rider Haggard's Flight," con- nects the three levels of the cavern, as mentioned above. There are branches leading from Ganter Ave- nue to various domes and pits and lovely crystal cham- bers, all inaccessible, however, to the general visitor. The main advantage of this avenue is that it enables the guides to take parties safely through to the end of the cave, at any time of the year, and regardless of the stage of water in the lakes and rivers. Otherwise we would hardly advise visitors to attempt this passage, unless they are resolute pedestrians and are willing to endure some degree of fatigue in search of adventure. The third way of reaching River Hall, and the one usually followed either going in or coming out, is by crossing the Bottomless Pit and going through Fat Man's Misery. We leave behind us Pensico Avenue with its noble archways, Resonator Hall, and other attractions generally included in another route. "We may, if we have time and inclination, turn aside for a 76 MAMMOTH CAVE. few steps and follow the narrow and winding passage to the left that leads back to a ledge near the middle of the Bottomless Pit, whence we also catch a glimpse of openings into Scylla and Charybdis. This is one of the most awe-inspiring spots in the entire cave. But our direct path leads us through the tortuous channel to which the too appropriate cognomen of the Fat Man's Misery has long been given, in spite of every protest from those whose preference would be for some more poetical appellation. The walls of this serpentine channel are about eighteen inches apart, while the average space between the sandy floor and the stub- born rock overhead is only five feet. The channel changes its direction eight times in the two hundred and thirty-six feet of its length ; and in the latter part of its course the floor comes up and the roof comes down to bother tall men as well as fat ones. Yet, after all, the difficulties of the passage are usually exagger- ated, and it is doubtful if many visitors have ever proved too fat or too tall to get safely through by the kindly aid of the guides. Allowance must be made for the funny stories by which the trip is enlivened. Do not fail, amid your jokes and laughter, to notice how beau- tifully the rocky sides of the Fat Man's Misery are marked with waves and ripples, as if running water had suddenly been caught and petrified. At last we will- ingly emerge from the too close embrace of the rocky walls into a room fitly called "Great Relief," where we may straighten our spines and enjoy the luxury of a full breath. Bacon Chamber, near by, offers a striking example of natural mimicry. Masses of limestone hang down like rows of hams and shoulders and sides of bacon in ON THE RIVER ROUTE. Fat Man's Misery. In Cleaveland's Cabinet. ON THE RIYER'ROrTK. The Bacon Chamber. Victoria's Crown. End of River Route. I„ \\hite Cave. THE RIVER ROUTE. 77 a packing-house. The Odd Fellows' Links, the Atlantic Cable, and other concretions found along the crevices in the ceiling of the main avenue are all stalactitic. These grotesque shapes lead us to ask if the reader has ever noticed the true meaning of that word ' ' grotesque, ' ' like what is found in grottoes; just as "picturesque" is like what we see in pictures. We are now fairly within River Hall,* which really extends for miles, if understood to include all the ram- ifications of the passage-ways of the subterranean waters. Indeed, these come no one knows whence, flow no one knows whither, and emerge no one knows where. Conjectures have been made, some of them plausible, but positive knowledge of the mysterious subject is yet to be gained. It is known, in a general way, that these are the gathering-beds of thousands of sink-holes opening down from the surface ; and that they come to the open air again in localities like the Upper and Lower Big Springs. But precisely what sink-holes and what springs are thus concerned, who really knows ? The subterranean currents are capricious and contrary, now flowing one way and then another, obedient to local changes in hydrostatic level. No one who has ever seen them in their glory and their terrible flood-force can accept the theory that they find an adequate outlet in the springs just named. Those deep, bubbling pools, lying along the bank of Green River, under cliffs bristling with cedar and pine, are always submerged when that river is flooded. At such times, likewise, the cave rivers are flooded, forming a vast, continuous body fully two miles long, varying from *River Hall is now exhibited on Route I, and passed over more rapidly in connection with Route IV. 78 MAMMOTH CAVE. thirty to sixty feet in depth, and sometimes even more than that. Torrents empty into them through the numberless sink-holes. Every cascade in the cavern adds its quota to the result. The flood may suddenly rise, but it more slowly retires, the subsidence of the waters being with a powerful suction causing eddies and whirlpools. There must be somewhere a suitable exit for this vast and tumultuous body of water. Such an outlet is visible five miles below Mammoth Cave, only it is on the wrong side of Green River, where a torrent bursts from the rocks with force enough to turn the wheels of a mill. The problem will probably be solved by a more careful exploration of the right side of Green River. We may say, in passing, that the theory held by Edmund F. Lee, C. E., that the accu- mulated waters of Mammoth Cave occupy a lied lower than Green River, and ultimately empty into the Ohio River, or even into the Atlantic Ocean, is proved to be entirely erroneous by means of barometric observations that have been made. Our pathway skirts the edge of a cliff sixty feet high, under which reposes an isolated pool to whose sullen water the name of the Dead Sea is given. An iron railing guards the way for about a hundred feet, when we descend a flight of steps to a lower terrace. If we venture down to the margin and taste the water of the pool we shall find it sweet, instead of bitter like that of its Oriental namesake. Turning a few steps to the right we find a cascade which has been regarded as a reappearance of the waterfall at the mouth of the cave, although of this there is hardly sufficient proof. The cascade precipitates itself into a funnel-shaped hollow THE RIVER ROUTE. 79 of silt, and vanishes under a massive mud-covered lime- stone ledge. In this vicinity the writer found, in 1881, a natural mushroom bed, that suggested the idea of a mushroom farm here, similar to those in France, whence thou- sands of bushels are annually marketed. My suggestion met with favor, and extensive beds were laid out in Audubon Avenue, on which many thousands of dollars were spent ; but with meagre results for lack of suitable irrigation. There is no reason why the plan should not work well by proper methods. The topic of eyeless fish and other aquatic inhabi- tants of the cave streams would naturally be treated here; but the reader is referred to the special chapters on cavern fauna for the desired information. "While speculating as to cascades, mushrooms, and blind fish we were startled on the occasion of our first visit by hilarious sounds that heralded the approach of another party. There never was a prettier sight than this merry company when they finally emerged from the darkness, sixty in all, with flashing lamps and spangled costumes. They wound past us along the sombre terrace, astonishing the gnomes by their jolly shouts and jovial songs. On they went, single file, behind a wall of stone, to come into view again on a natural bridge over the River Styx. The details of the wild scene were brought to light as they swung their lamps in order to catch sight of the mysterious banks on which we stood below them. The estimated length of the River Styx, whose black waters wind their way between the steep walls and underneath the bridge, is about four hundred feet, and its breadth is not far from forty feet. Formerly it had to be crossed by boats, but 80 MAMMOTH CAVE. now it is done by the natural bridge just mentioned. The spot was dangerous before a guard-rail was erected. Among the thrilling stories told of cave adventures is that told by "William, the guide, of Professor Silliman's slipping from the bridge. The savant would have fallen into the Styx had not the brave guide sprung to the rescue. On descending from the bridge we enter a lofty and spacious hall, where we find the placid waters of Lake Lethe, a body about as large as the Styx, and which was also formerly crossed by a boat. It is now partly filled with debris, allowing the construction of a narrow path along its margin to the pontoon that bridges its neck. From this we step upon a beach of the finest yellow sand. This is the Great Walk to the Echo River, a distance of some four hundred yards. The ceiling here is not far from ninety feet high, and is most beautifully mottled with black and white limestones, like snow- clouds in a wintry sky. By igniting magnesium we get the wonderful effect in its splendor. Thus we also descry the marvelous masque of Shakespeare overhead. The actual likeness to the renowned Bard of Avon is striking. The Great Walk is only five feet above low water mark, and is submerged during the rainy season. Usually it is in good order during the months when tourists are most apt to visit the cave. As we walk along it let us keep a sharp watch for the Cambarus pellucidus, the blind and white crawfish for which the cave is noted. The earliest mention of it is the following : "The river is a stream of water twenty feet wide and they say as many deep. It was discovered only Pi Pi THE RIVER ROUTE. 81 about a year ago. Its current is very sluggish, as has been proved by launching a piece of wood bearing a lighted candle on its bosom. We were informed that a species of white fish were found here without eyes, and the keeper of the hotel assured us that he himself had seen them, but that their other senses were so acute the slightest touch of water overhead was 1 suf- ficient to alarm them and make them dart off like lightning." Davidson describes the canoe in which visitors would row a short distance till stopped by a rocky barrier. Two of his acquaintances resolved fco pass this barrier. "Accordingly, lifting the skiff over the rock, they launched it on the other side, and rowed, as they thought, for two miles. They beheld a great many new scenes and chambers never explored before. They also saw some of the white fish. As for us, on our visit, we were not favored with a sight of these natural curiosities." (Extract from a Report read before the Society of Adelphi of Transylvania Univer- sity, January 16, 1840, by Reverend R. Davidson.) This was two years previous to Dekay's description, in 1812, and which is credited by Agassiz with being the first scientific mention of these interesting fish. The first persons who ever crossed these waters were Stephen Bishop, the guide, accompanied by Pro- fessor Brice Patton, a teacher in the Louisville Asylum for the Blind, and Mr. John Craig, of Philadelphia. Those who now cross so gayly and with such manifest delight can hardly realize the degree of courage demanded for that first voyage of discovery across these subterranean waters. Mention of the Asylum for the Blind reminds us that at various times a number of blind people have visited Mammoth Cave. 82 MAMMOTH CAVE. Matt piloted a party of them through in 1880 ; and it was remarkable to hear them speak without any sense of incongruity of what they had seen, and about which they were as enthusiastic as any others. A fleet of flat-boats awaits us on Echo River, or on Lake Lethe in case of high water backing in from Green River. These boats are built of planks and timbers brought in by way of the Crevice Pit and Mammoth Dome; though formerly every piece had to come in by the Fat Man's Misery. "When not in use the fleet is moored by chains, though grapevines were used at the time of our first visit. Ropes are not strong enough to hold the boats in time of flood. Each boat has seats on the gunwales for twenty passengers, who set their lamps down in a row in the middle of the craft. The guide stands in the bow and propels the boat by a long paddle, or by grasping rocks projecting from the ceiling. Usually but a slight cur- rent is to be noticed. Hence the singular inaccuracy of an imaginative picture by a French artist that has been extensively copied, representing the river as bois- terous, and frantic oarsmen striving with might and main to keep the boat from shipwreck on the rocks. And as the only gale here is that which blows out from the mouth of the cave, there is equal absurdity in a striking picture that shows sail-boats on this calm and unruffled tide. There are four arches, through either of which we may launch on Echo River. The first arch is only about three feet above low water, and if the river has risen a little, it is necessary to go on to the second, third, or fourth arch. In doing this we cross the Sandy Desert and flounder through a muddy place THE RIVER ROUTE. 83 named Purgatory. As has already been stated, there is a current of varying strength when the river rises above low water mark. The last time we were there the guide made no use of his paddle, relying on the cur- rent and his pointed staff to take us through. Once a party of journalists swamped their boat, but were rescued by the courage and presence of mind of both themselves and Nelson, their guide. Such mishaps are rare. The voyage is usually replete with pleasure and with none but agreeable adventures. The archway over- head varies from five to thirty feet, while the plummet shows about an equal variation in the depth of the water over whose bosom we float. According to the barometer the surface is about twenty feet above the level of Green River, though observations differ, some making it more and others less than we have stated. The width of Echo River varies from twenty to two hundred feet, and its length is probably about half a mile. The stream can not properly be said to have any shore, as, except at the landing places, the rocks come abruptly down to the water. Along the margin are a myriad cavities, from a few inches to many feet in diameter, that have been washed out by the stream. These cavelets gave a wag who was in our party the first time we crossed the stream his coveted opportunity for a joke. "Oh, see these little bits of caves — three for five cents," were his silly words. The solemn echoes caught them up and bore them, as if in derision, hither and thither and far away, till he was ashamed of himself. When the peals of laughter that followed had also died away, a quiet lady in black velvet cave costume, with tiny sleigh-bells along the edge to 84 MAMMOTH CAVE. help people to find her in case she got lost, sang the "Sweet Bye and Bye," and the echoes were singularly sweet and pleasing. Then some one fired off a revolver, and the report rebounded tremendously from rock to rock. A native Kentuckian favored us with the famous "Rebel Yell," which was re-echoed as if a regiment was rallied from the recesses of the cavern. Flute music awoke delicious reverberations, and the cornet brought out corresponding effects. The tones of a fail chore! struck in quick succession brought back a sweep- ing arpeggio. It shoulel be explained that this symmetrical pas- sage-way does not give back a distinct echo, as the term is commonly used; but gives a melodious pro- longation of sound for from ten to thirty minutes after the original impulse. The tunnel has a certain key- note of its own, which, when firmly struck, excites harmonics with tones of incredible depth and sweet- ness, the lowest of them reminding one of the profound undertone heard in the tremendous music of Niagara. The most extraordinary effects are produced when Echo River is allowed to speak for itself, and can only be hael when the party is willing to maintain utter silence. The method is simply by the guide's agitating the water by rocking the boat and striking the water vigorously with his paddle. The first sound to break the intense stillness is like the tinkling of myriads of tiny silver bells. Then larger and heavier bells take up the harmony as the waves seek out the cavities in the rocky wall. Then it is as if all chimes of all cathedrals hael conspired to raise a tempest of sweet sounds. These die away to a whisper, followed by mutterings and a noise as if of an angry multitude, THE RIVER ROUTE. 85 mingled with unearthly shrieks. Alarmed, we are ready to go to the rescue; but the guide motions to us to keep quiet and await what is to follow. We sit in expectation. Lo, as if from some deep recess that had hitherto been forgotten, comes a tone tender and profound; after which, like gentle memories, are reawakened all the mellow sounds, the silver bells, the alarm bells, the chiming cathedral bells, till River Hall rings again with the wondrous, matchless harmony. As we land at Rocky Inlet the melody of a cascade greets us, whose falling water breaks into liquid pearls on the ledges. This is Cascade Hall. An opening on our right leads to Roaring River, a succession of shallow ripples and deep basins, navigable only by a canoe that can be carried over the portages. It has a remarkable echo, and offers points of interest to the scientist, but is never visited by ordinary tourists.* Silliman's Avenue contains numerous places worthy of note. We first come to singular shelf-like projec- tions called Wellington's Galleries. Then, at the Drip- ping Spring, we find the only stalactites seen since entering River Hall. The paucity of these natural ornamentations is explained elsewhere in this Manual. The guides, with slight regard for reverence, have named the next localities, in succession, the Infernal Regions, Pluto's Dome, and Old Scratch Hall. We leave them to justify their choice of names as best they may, and the tourist who disputes them will find that they are equal to the occasion. For instance, the ceil- ing in Old Scratch Hall is marked all over in a most extraordinary manner, which the guides assure us was done as a deed of darkness by the Evil One, although it *Here now ends Route I, the rest of this chapter belonging to Route IV. 86 MAMMOTH CAVE. looks very much as if they had done it themselves with the tips of their spiked staffs. But the trails of the serpents in Serpent Hall are plainly freaks of nature, and are very singular. There are many of these wind- ing grooves in the ceiling. Here is the high water mark of Echo River in time of flood. And here, also, is the inner termination of Ganter Avenue, which runs from this place to the Wooden Bowl Room, near the Giant's Coffin, and affords an exit for any unlucky tourist who may be caught beyond the rivers during a sudden rise of their waters — a thing, by the way, that seldom happens. The Valley Way Side-cut is mainly interesting for its profusion of gypsum crystals that grow in the niches along the walls, and are dug from the ground like potatoes. After descending the Hill of Fatigue we come to the facsimile of an enormous ocean steamer with her rud- der hard aport; and as the unique resemblance was first noticed at the time of the launching of the pon- derous Great Eastern, this was fitly christened the Great Western. Beyond it is the Valley of Flowers; and then Silliman's Avenue, which we have been trav- ersing, ends in Ole Bull's Concert Hall, where the renowned Norwegian violinist once gave a musical entertainment. Just before reaching this hall, how- ever, we notice on our left the entrance to Rhoda's Arcade, not included in the regular route. It leads by a winding and picturesque path, about five hundred yards in length, easily followed, to one of the most symmetrical domes in Mammoth Cave. The arcade is about ten feet high, and in many places the walls are incrusted with fine crystals of gypsum. Lucy's Dome, THE RIVER ROUTE. 87 thus reached, is about sixty feet in diameter and per- haps a hundred feet high, although enthusiastic admirers have credited it with thrice that altitude. The sides are composed of immense curtains reaching from the floor to the dim vault above. A twin-dome near by is connected with it by a tall archway. During our visit in 1896 we had the guides burn red fire in this window, thus illuminating both domes. The entire group is known as the Jessup Domes. El Ghor is a wild, rugged pass, on a lower level than Silliman's Avenue. It meanders through the lime- stone like the dry bed of an ancient river. Overhead are the Hanging Rocks that never fall, though forever threatening to do so. In Fly Chamber, on the walls and rocks, are myriads of tiny crystals of black gypsum, each about the size of a house-fly. The Sheep-shelter is a rock jutting from the left wall for ten feet, and expanding for twenty feet in length. Victoria's Crown, sixteen feet in diameter, is on our right. Boone Avenue leads off to the left. Corinna's Dome is directly over El Ghor. The Black Hole of Calcutta is an ugly pit twenty feet deep. Stella's Dome, which resembles Lucy's Dome, is reached by an avenue to the left. The guides also point out the Mule-stall, the Anvil, the Chimes, and other grotesque objects. Hebe's Spring, four feet wide and a foot or more deep, is said to be supplied with pure water at the top and sulphur water below. Boone Avenue, on our left, was for years blocked by a stone stairway now removed. We shall presently describe discoveries made in 1907 in this direction. But now, through an uninviting hole, we climb to Mary's Vineyard. A stalactite winds from ceiling to floor, and is called the Grapevine. Around it are countless nodules 03 MAMMOTH CAVE. of calcium carbonate coated with black oxide of iron, which simulate clusters on clusters of luscious grapes, gleaming with varied tints through the dripping dew. No covetous hand is permitted to pluck this subterranean vintage. By a detour through Elindo Avenue one may reach a natural chapel named by a priest the Holy Sepulchre. The walls are dark and bare, but in the vicinity are some fine stalactites. We are in an upper tier of caverns. Washington Hall is a locality toward which we have for some time cast our longing eyes, not on account of its beauty, but because it is the usual dining-place for parties taking the Long Route. It is somewhat circu- lar in shape and one hundred feet in longest diameter. Its walls are smoke-stained, and the floor is strewn with the relics of hundreds of dining-parties, while along its margin is a rampart of broken bottles left there by prohibitionists and others, once filled with milk, cold coffee, or other beverages. With appetites whetted by vigorous exercise and the bracing cave-air we fall to in primitive style and partake of the repast provided for us, forgetful of the fact that we are far below the brave sunshine and the verdant forests, and only mindful that we are hungry mortals. While we dine the guides trim our lamps and replenish them from cans of oil that are kept near by for the purpose. Snowball Room comes next beyond Washington Hall. Its ceiling is thickly dotted with hemispherical masses of snowy gypsum, each being from two to ten inches in diameter. The effect is as if a crowd of merry school-boys had flung a thousand snowballs against the wall, which stuck there as mementos of their sport. p— — ^»n— f . t ipn im 2 to M a) w w o a »- o THE RIVER ROUTE. 89 A charming side-trip occasionally taken is down Marion Avenue for a mile or more, over a clean, sandy floor, and under a cloudy ceiling. It has two branches : one to the left, leading to Zoe's Grotto, and the other to the right, through Paradise, with its fair and crystal- line flowers, to Portia's Parterre. Digby's Dome has no special attractions, but is geologically interesting because it cuts through to the upper sandstone. Cleaveland's Cabinet, which we next enter, is a long and singularly magnificent avenue, named for the late Professor Cleaveland, of Bowdoin College, the famous mineralogist. This treasure-house of alabaster brilliants was discovered by Stephen Bishop, accompanied by Messrs. Patten and Craig. It was first described by Professor John Locke, M. D., of Cincinnati, in a com- munication to the American Journal of Science and Art, in 1841, from data furnished him by Mrs. Anderson, a daughter of Mr. Nicholas Longworth. Doctor Locke was delighted with the gypsum rosettes exhibited for his inspection, some of which, he says, were a foot in diameter, whose acanthus-like leaves roll elegantly out- ward from a central disk ; and he gave them the name of "oulopholites," or curled-leaf -stones. We wander bewildered under symmetrical arches of fifty feet span, where the fancy is charmed by the natural mimicry of every flower that grows in garden, forest, or prairie, from the nodding pansy to the flaunt- ing helianthus. Various names are given to the differ- ent portions of the general avenue, such as Flora's Garden, Mary's Bower, Floral Cross, Last Rose of Summer, Vale of Diamonds, Marble Hall, Diamond Grotto, Gem Hall, and Charlotte's Grotto. From any one of these take a single cave flower and examine its 90 MAMMOTH CAVE. queenly petals, and it will give a good idea of all the rest. Each rosette is made up of countless fibrous crystals; each tiny crystal is in itself a study; each fascicle of curved prisms is wonderful, and the who!" glorious blossom is a miracle of beauty. Now multiply this mimic blossom from one to a myriad as you move down the dazzling vista as if in a dream of Elysium, not for a few yards but for two magnificent miles, including all the crystalline region of which Cleaveland's Cabinet is only a portion. Indeed, these necessary names come to seem intrusive and trivial. All is virgin white, except here and there a patch of gray limestone, or a spot bronzed by metallic stain, or as we purposely vary the lovely monotony by burn- ing chemical lights. We admire the effective grouping done by nature's skillful fingers. Here is a great cross made by a mass of stone rosettes; while lioral coro- nets, clusters, wreaths, and garlands embellish nearly every foot of the ceiling and walls. The overgrown ornaments actually crowd each other till they fall on the floor and make the pathway sparkle with crushed and trodden jewels. It has been impossible to guard all these exquisite formations from covetous fingers, and too many have been smoked by lamps in careless hands. Yet, happily, the subtle forces of nature are at work to mend what man has marred, and to replace by fresh creations what has gone to the mineralogist's cabinet or the amateur's Hagtrc. In secluded chambers, seldom exhibited to the ordinary troops that throng these avenues, may still be seen the trailing vines, branching antlers, stalks of celery, and pendulous fringes like the night-blooming cereus, that were so vividly described by Bayard THE RIVER ROUTE. 91 Taylor and other early visitors. These are especially conspicuous in Charlotte's Grotto (named for the wife of Stephen, the guide), and which is near the terminus of Cleaveland's Cabinet. Here are snowy plumes float- ing from rifts and crevices. And here and everywhere in this matchless fairyland are visible clumps of lilies, daisies, blanched tulips, drooping fuchsias, spikes of tuberoses, glorious chrysanthemums, wax-leaved mag- nolias — but why exhaust the botanical catalogue? The excited fancy readily finds every gem of the green- house and parterre in this crystalline conservatory. Suddenly, by a startling change, our path climbs up from these lovely regions, ascending a miniature edi- tion of the Rocky Mountains. From the summit of this vast pile of rocks the visitor beholds a lofty hall, which it gives the senior author of this Manual pleasure to name Call's Rotunda, in recognition of the enthusi- astic and intelligent researches made by the junior author, R. Ellsworth Call, Ph. D., who is so rapidly making a reputation for himself among speleologists. It is only rivaled in size by the Chief City, described on the Main Cave Route. The transverse diameter of Call's Rotunda is nearly double its largest component, which is the great avenue leading to the visitor's right hand. This avenue leads us for about three hundred yards to a great mass of sandstone debris, where it ends. The explorer is here not far from the surface, as is proven by these sandstone blocks. It is said that at times in this vicinity the rumblings of railroad trains overhead are audible. Returning to the Rotunda we look down a deep gorge called the Dismal Hollow, more uncanny far than any scene amid the Kaatskills, made famous by 92 MAMMOTH CAVE. the facile pen of Irving. A black opening in the mas- sive walls admits us to Franklin Avenue, about a quar- ter of a mile long, and leading to Serena's Arbor, one of the unfrequented but most romantic grottoes of the cavern. Here the walls are studded with inconceiv- ably beautiful botryoidal concretions of lime carbonate. Massive onyx columns reach sheer to the sandstone roof. Water trickles down with perpetual music and finds its way out by crevices in the floor, through which a lamp can be lowered and a glimpse thus be had of other scenes that are rarely explored. Returning again to Call's Rotunda and taking the left-hand branch, as we are going, we are led directly to Croghan's Hall, a room some sixty feet wide and about thirty feet high. It contains several large stalac- tites, some of them marred by vandals. The material is translucent and extremely hard; being quite equal to what is commercially known as Mexican onyx. It is a hard carbonate of lime, such as was described by Pliny as alabaster, and the name of "oriental alabas- ter" is given to it by Dana, to distinguish it from the common alabaster, which is a variety of gypsum, or the sulphate of lime. On our right is a black and deep pit, called the Maelstrom. It has generally been described as one hundred and seventy-five feet deep ; but as measured by Mr. Ben Hains and the writer it is only eighty-eight feet in depth. If it were an open-air well of that depth the descent into it would not be regarded as such a very remarkable feat. But it is quite another thing to go down into a mysterious chasm, yawning amid the rocks, miles from the entrance of this tremendous cavern. Hence it really took a degree of courage, ou THE RIVER ROUTE. 93 the part of Mr. W. C. Prentice, son of the poet-editor, George D. Prentice, of Louisville, to go down thither in quest of adventures. The story was told at the time in the Louisville papers, and was done into spirited verse by George Lansing Taylor, D. D. According to these accounts the young hero was lowered by a stout rope, amid fearful and enchanting scenes, that had never been beheld since creation's morning until brought to view by the faint rays of his solitary lamp. Midway he encountered a waterfall, spouting from the wall, into whose shower he unavoidably swung. At last he stood on the solid rock at the bottom of the pit. On returning to the spot where he had hitched his rope to a stalactite, he found it disengaged and dangling beyond his reach. Ingeniously twisting the wires of his lamp into a long hook, he caught hold again, and then signaled to the guides to draw him up. This they did with such zeal (believe it who may) as to set the cable on fire by friction, so that one of them had to crawl out on the timber across which it ran and pour water on it to extinguish the flame ! These embellish- ments really brought the whole story into discredit. But our investigations recently made prove that Pren- tice bought the rope in Louisville for the purpose, and that he often narrated his adventures afterward as true. The main fact of his actually descending into the Mael- strom is also verified by guides now living. According to the guides Matt and William, a certain telegraph operator, Richard Babbit by name, was lowered by them to the bottom of the Maelstrom during Mr. Proctor's management of the cave. Mr. F. J. Stevenson, of London, in 1863, in his letters to his mother, now in our possession, tells the story at great 94 MAMMOTH CAVE. length of his own descent into this terrible pit, with the help of two guides, Nicholas Bransford and Frank Mon- brun, and in the presence of thirty witnesses. On the 15th of May, 1905, Mr. Benjamin F. Einbigler, of New York City, and Mr. John M. Nelson, guide, were lowered by ropes held by Levi Woodson and Edward Hawkins, the rope-length being exactly ninety-seven feet eight inches. Their account, given to me personally, varies ma- terially from the earlier descriptions, and is worthy of unquestioned acceptance. The only way to adjust the differences appears to be by supposing many changes to have taken pace in the Maelstrom during the forty or more years that elapsed between the earlier and later descents. The most that the ordinary visitor will be apt to do, or indeed would be allowed to do, is to peer over the crumbling brink and wonder that any sane mortal should venture down such an awful abyss. Croghan's Hall is estimated by pacing to be ninety- six hundred yards from the entrance to the Mammoth Cave, and is usually spoken of as its "end." But who can tell where the real termination of so vast a laby- rinth may lie? At any rate we have more to see before we emerge to daylight. Accordingly, retracing our steps through the crystal- line avenues whereby we approached, we reach Mary's Vineyard, descend again to the level of El Ghor, enter Boone Avenue, and visit what is practically a new por- tion of the great cavern, although there are signs of its having been explored long ago by unknown visitors. A well-worn path conducts us to a chasm down whose slope we pick our way to a still lower level and find ourselves in what was described on Stephen Bishop's map, in 1845, as Miriam Avenue, so named for a Jewess, a member of the Gratz family. THE RIVER ROUTE 95 Diverging to the right, by a narrow and winding way that returns under Miriam Avenue, and which we named for one of our photographers Pinson's Pass, we pres- ently emerge into a noble avenue named the Martel Avenue, in honor of the famous cave-hunter of France, Edward A. Martel, editor of La Nature, and for many years general secretary of La Societe de Speleogie, the only society of its kind. The point where we enter it is called, from its singular shape, Bottle Hall. Were we to go toward the left in Martel Avenue we should find the way rugged and difficult ; but would be rewarded by a glimpse of Helietite Hall, where are found those curi- ous, twisted, distorted stalactites known as "helictites." Several small passages branch off from this long avenue, beyond which it finally terminates in Galloway's Dome. The right-hand portion of Martel Avenue soon brings us to the bed of a brook, nearly dry at the time of our visit, but that must at times be deeply covered by swiftly fiowing water. Ripple marks of sand alternate with fiat masses of jet-black flint. Stranded here and there are visible knots of wood, roots of cornstalks, and other things seeming to have been recently swept in from the surface. Two domes in the vicinity are named Nelson's Domes, for that intrepid explorer, John M. Nelson, formerly a guide, but now residing at Glasgow. Some more early pioneer inscribed the date "1848" on a rock beyond them. Mr. Norman A. Parrish, a professional "steeple-climber," came as far as this in 1904 and wrote me a description of his adventures. It was reserved for Mr. B. F. Einbigler, already mentioned in these pages, to avail himself of certain footholds over a risky ledge of limestone by means of which he crossed where others had turned back. In his 96 MAMMOTH CAVE honor the great overhanging dome is named "Einbigler Dome," and a larger one a hundred yards beyond was named by himself, for his sister, who visited it, the "Edna Dome." This dome differs from most others by growing broader above than it is below, seeming really to open upon some cross-cavern. On the 15th of May, 1907, Edward Hawkins scaled the wall of the pit underneath the Einbigler Dome; being followed by Einbigler and Bransford. At a later time Mr. H. M. Pinson took in the headlight of an automobile, which was still there on the 18th of June, when I visited the locality with William Bransford and Prank Barry, guides. Scaling a wall at the end of Hawkins Way, we found ourselves on the level floor of a dome sixty feet in diameter and perhaps two hundred feet high. A lofty gateway opens from it into another dome of equal dimensions, and through similar arches we visit in suc- cession five vast domes arranged as a sigmoidal group. A high window from the fifth dome looks into an ir- regular room, where a downfall of rocks blocks further progress. In this fifth dome also a waterfall leaps from the apex to the floor, where it vanishes down a chasm. The majestic walls of all the domes rise in horizontal tiers, each tier being about ten feet in thickness and fringed by beautiful stalactites. This mighty masonry ascends in narrowing circles till the searchlight barely enables us to descry the oval white tablet forming the apex, girt by onyx pendants. Vertically the walls are richly corrugated from top to bottom. The entire series of five united domes exceeds four times the magnitude of Gorin's Dome. Ages untold were required for the chemical and mechanical action whereby this surprising THE RIVER ROUTE. 97 subterranean cathedral was carved in silence broken only by the wild, pattering waterfall or the heavier cataract. Let me anew express my personal obligation to the Mammoth Cave management for having marked their appreciation of my long-continued and enthusiastic interest in their wonderful cavern by naming, with the approval of the discoverer and the guides, this remark- able group of domes, "Hovey's Cathedral." A glance at the map will show that Kaemper and Bishop advanced beyond what has just been described, and found two more domes, to one of which Kaemper gave the name of a German lady, calling it "Gerta's Grotto," while the other we have named "Creighton's Dome," for an early and otherwise unknown explorer, whose footprints were found here, and who carved his name on the rocks near by. There is no way out other than that by which we have come in. Hence we retrace our steps through Martel and Boone Avenues, pause to refresh ourselves at Hebe's Spring, traverse El Ghor, Silliman's Avenue, cross Echo River again by boat, and the River Styx by the natural bridge. But before ascending to the surface let us make a special trip to the Mammoth Dome, which is as won- derful a place as any other in all this marvelous region of silence and eternal night.* In order to do this we enter Sparks' Avenue, named for Mr. C. A. Sparks, of New York City. This avenue begins with Bandit Hall, located at the foot of the Corkscrew. Around us the immense rocks are tossed in the wildest confusion. But the avenue itself is made easy going by the *The Mammoth Dome is now included in Route I. 98 MAMMOTH CAVE. removal of obstructions and by the excavation of trenches, where otherwise we should have to stoop. Branches from it are known as Briggs' Avenue and Sylvan Avenue, the latter leading to Clarissa's Dome, where are exhibited the so-called "petrified saw-logs," which are merely prostrated stalactites. "When we first visited the Mammoth Dome, in 1878, we were assured that nobody else had been there for seven years. Tom Lee was our guide, and the account of our adventures appeared in Scribner 's Monthly Maga- zine for October, 1880. It is now reproduced for the reader, with modifications made by consulting notes taken at the time, as well as on subsequent visits. Barton, my artist, was fascinated with drawing the "Corkscrew"- — meaning by this ambiguous term the exit from River Hall bearing that suggestive name. Hence Tom and I went alone through Sparks' Avenue till we emerged on a ledge thirty feet long and ten feet wide, where we were suddenly confronted by a realm of empty darkness. Our four lard-oil lamps were swung in vain aloft and over the edge of the terrace. They revealed neither floor, wall, or roof of that sol- emn domain. Astonished, I acted on a momentary impulse and told Tom to go back for Barton, more lamps, and fireworks. It was not until Tom's glim- mering light had vanished that I realized what a reckless thing had been done. The solitude was dreadful. I sat for a time on the edge of the ter- race, amusing myself by tbrowing ignited oil papers, by means of which I discovered the floor far below me, and also brought to view a rude ladder, with several missing rungs, and blackened by age and decay. My sensations were overpowering, and I pru- MAMMOTH DOME. Ruins of Karnak. THE KIVER ROUTE 99 dently withdrew to the closer embrace of the narrow avenue and whiled the time away by catching cave crickets, of which there were hundreds. Barton refused to leave until his sketch was done, and accordingly an hour or more passed by before he and Tom joined me, bringing twenty lamps, with plenty of red fire and magnesium. Carefully descending the treacherous ladder that no foot had pressed for at least seven years, we reached the floor safely. We found that it sloped down to a dismal pool, into which tumbled a cataract higher than Niagara, though of slender size. By burning chemical fires at several points at once we lighted up the huge dome, and estimated its dimensions to be about four hundred feet in length, one hundred and fifty feet in greatest width, and varying from eighty to one hundred and fifty feet or more in height. The walls were seen to be curtained by alabaster drapery, hanging in ver- tical folds that varied in size from a pipestem to a saw- log; and these folds were decorated by heavy fringes at intervals of about twenty feet. A huge gateway at the farther end of the hall opens into a room so like the ruins of Luxor and Karnak that we named it the Egyptian Temple. The floor here is paved with stalagmitic blocks, stained by red and black oxides into a natural mosaic. Six colossal col- umns, eighty feet high by twenty-five in diameter, stand in a semi-circle, flanked by pyramidal towers. The material of these shafts is gray oolite, fluted by deep furrows, with sharp ridges between, the whole column being veneered with yellow stalagmite, rich as jasper, and covered by tracery as elaborate as Chinese carv- ing. The capitals are jutting slabs of limestone, and 100 MAMMOTH CAVE. the bases are garnished by mushroom-shaped stalagmites. The largest of these we named Caliban's Cushion. While examining these formations I noticed au opening behind the third column in the row, and clambering down a steep descent reached gloomy cata- combs underneath the temple which have since then been more fully explored, but without finding much of interest. On our way back to the terrace we noticed overhead a black opening which Tom assured me was identical with the Crevice Pit in Little Bat Avenue. He also showed me the spot where a rusty lamp was found on the floor of the Egyptian Temple, and that I afterward obtained as a treasure for my cave cabinet. The story of the Crevice Pit is well worth telling, as originally told by R. M. Bird, M. D., in 1839, and confirmed by later authorities. It seems that Mr. Gatewood convinced the owners of the cave, whose agent he was, that the richest deposit of nitrous earth would doubtless be found under the Crevice Pit. To test this Mr. Wilkins took a rope forty-five feet long and fastened a lamp to it, which he then lowered into the pit. The rope accidentally caught fire, and the result was the loss of the lamp. That was a serious loss in those days, for it could not be replaced short of a trip to Lexington. Accordingly a miner climbed down to a shelf in the ugly black hole and tried to regain his lamp by feeling around for it with his staff. But suddenly the stick slipped from his hand and went rattling down the abyss. Wilkins then offered a reward of two dollars for the recovery of the lamp. A sprightly young negro, named Little Dave, volunteered to be let down, as a sort of animated plummet, to sound the depth of the pit. The story he told on being drawn up THE RIVER ROUTE. 101 again was so wonderful that nobody believed him. He told of a spacious, splendid dome, bigger than the Rotunda, with tall columns and other magnificent features, now seen by every visitor to the Mammoth Dome. But Little Dave's reward, besides the promised two dollars, was the reputation of being either crazy or the champion liar of Kentucky. Several futile attempts have been made to ascer- tain the true depth of the Crevice Pit. Edmund C. Lee, in 1835, tied a stone to a string and "struck bot- tom at two hundred and eighty feet"; and as Lee was a civil engineer his statement was for years quoted without dispute. In the summer of 1896, Hovey and Call ascertained its true depth. It was not an easy task, owing to the dangerous nature of the opening. First we lowered a light plummet, which lodged after going down about thirty feet. But the weight of the cord kept pulling itself out of hand till one hundred and forty feet had gone down, when the trick was sus- pected. Probably Mr. Lee was deceived in this way, as many another cave explorer has been. Thus Eldon Hole, in Derbyshire Peak, in England, was measured as being seven hundred and fifty feet deep, when its real depth was only one hundred and eighty-six feet. Then attaching a lighted lamp to a cord, Doctor all lowered it, while I stood on the opposite edge and watched it go down, calling out whenever it lodged, so that it might be pulled off and started down again. Leaving the lamp there, to be located afterward by going around through Sparks' Avenue to the Mam- moth Dome, we next lowered a heavy stone by a cord, making allowance for stretching. The cord was then measured by a steel tape. The average result of our L02 MAMMOTH CAVE. several measurements fixed the distance from the brink of the Crevice Pit to the foot of the ladder in the Mam- moth Dome as being eighty-eight feet. That point, however, is not the bottom of the dome. Doctor Call afterward measured the remaining distance, and found it to be thirty-one feet, which must be added to the previ- ous figure, making the distance one hundred and nine- teen feet. But we must not forget to add the space excavated by the top of the dome above the mouth of the Crevice Pit, and which is certainly as much as thirty feet. Putting all this together, we are safe in asserting that the distance from the highest to the low- est point in the Mammoth Dome exceeds one hundred and fifty feet. This was afterward confirmed by my method of balloon measurement. Now our steps are turned toward the mouth of the cave. Back we go, through Sparks' Avenue to Bandit Hall. Thence we climb up and up through the Cork- screw till fairly bewildered with its windings. It is a place to test our latent powers of orientation — that marvelous gift that guides the homing pigeons in their vast aerial flights. Professor Brewer and the writer agreed while amid these mazes, and also in other parts of the great cavern, that whenever either said to the other, "Point east," the command should be instantly obeyed. A moment's pause for reflection would spoil it all. But instantaneous obedience was, in frequent instances, rewarded by the pointing of the finger toward flic sunrise. Sometimes we would vary the command by bidding each other to point toward the north, and with equally satisfactory results, provided we could trust instinct instead of reason. THE RIVER ROUTE. 103 Cave animals, hundreds of them, find their way about without guide, map, lamplight, and even without eyes. Dogs lost in the cave invariably find their way out. The writer gave a story of canine adventure in St. Nicholas Magazine for April, 1882, the main facts of which were as follows : Jack, the veteran house-dog, was a cautious brute, who went with us to the Iron Gate, peered between the bars, and then trotted reso- lutely back to the hotel. Brigham, his frisky comrade, pushed ahead and explored on his own account. One day he ran off after a cave rat, and we had to leave him to his fate. After two days he and Jack w r ere found on opposite sides of the Iron Gate, exchanging experiences. We tracked the path taken by the run- away and found that he had crossed streams, floundered through mud-holes, climbed cliffs, and apparently gone up through the Corkscrew to the Iron Gate, where we were glad to greet him as a hero. He may have been aided by scenting our trail, but we gave him credit for a remarkable gift of "orientation." Has the earth lungs? And does it breathe? It cer- tainly seems so to us as we finally emerge from the mouth of the cavern. "Antros, " the Greek name for cave, simply means "a breathing place," as if through caves, as nostrils, the earth inhaled and exhaled the vital air. Down in the dark recesses where we have been it was almost possible to hear the beating of Nature's heart. The long avenues are the superb arteries through which flows her life. How easy our own respiration has been amid the pure, exhilarating air that comes oxygenated from the central reservoirs of the globe. As we climb upward to the garish light of day we feel the loss of those strong and invigor- 104 MAMMOTH CAVE. ating atmospheric influences. We almost dread the humidity, the heavy odors, the suffocating exhalations of the weeds, trees, grasses, and flowers. Every visitor is surprised at what he experiences, particularly ou emerging from the River Route, where for nine hours he has been stimulated by the oxygenated air. Linger- ing awhile near the entrance to get used to the yellow sunlight, or the silvery light of the moon, w r e also grow accustomed to the oppressive atmosphere that sweeps through the Kentucky woods, and which would ordi- narily be described as the purest country air. Finally, breaking away from the fascination of the wide and forever open mouth of the great cavern, that seems to be tacitly inviting us to renew our interior explorations, we cross the rocky platform, the rural road, the vineclad valley, and climb the forest path- way to the crest of the bluff. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CAVERN. ITS FAUNA AND FLORA QUITE thirty years passed away after the discovery of Mammoth Cave before the adventurous spirit of Stephen Bishop devised a rude way to cross the Bottomless Pit. Soon after the rivers were discovered, which followed immediately after this daring adventure, the earliest specimens of crayfish and blind-fish were also found. Previous to this time occasional mention was made of the ''cave crickets" and the "cave rats," which the miners and early visitors imagined to be the common Norway or domestic rat. That was all. It is an interesting fact that, with the exception of the blind-fish, the earliest descriptions of animals from the Mammoth Cave were by Europeans. All the American visitors appear to have had little regard for anything except the scenic features of the cavern. But in 1844 there were described two blind beetles, one blind spider, and the blind crayfish, all in a German scientific publication, and by Doctor T. Tellkampf. Two years previously, 1842, Doctor DeKay had described in the Natural History of New York the blind-fish under the name of Amblyopsis spelceus, making the Mammoth Cave form, which was then alone known, the type of the genus. Doctor Jeffries Wyman published a minute description of the Amblyopsis spekeus, with interesting anatomical details, in 1843. (See Vol. xlv, American Journal of Science and Art, page 94.) But it yet remained for Doctor Tellkampf to still further describe and illustrate this species, his work appearing in the New York Journal of Medicine, July, 1845, with plates (1055 106 MAMMOTH CAVE. showing the entire fish and its anatomy, constituting the first known illustrations of this form. It was, however, not until 1871 that very much became known about the various forms of life found in this cave. In the previous year Doctor A. S. Packard and Professor F. W. Putnam had made extensive col- lections and described them, their work appearing in the American Naturalist in 1871, with excellent descrip- tions and fine illustrations. Later, two days' active collecting was done in the cavern by Mr. IT. G. Hubbard, who published his results in the American Entomologist, Vol. m, in 1880. Numerous shorter papers have appeared, in all about one hundred, in various languages, in scientific journals and the pro- ceedings of learned societies, and these all add a little to our knowledge of the life forms in the cavern. The most extensive treatise on the animals of this cave is to be found in the Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, and is a memoir on Cave Animals of North America, by Doctor A. S. Packard, junior, pub- lished in 1889. In this work will be found all accessible information relating to the cavern fauna up to the time of its publication; since then, however, extensive col- lections made by the writer have revealed a number of new forms which have been elsewhere described and figured.* The facts connected with these interesting animals are so scattered that it has been deemed of considera- ble interest to many students to indicate the nature of the forms and the localities where they are likely to be *See the American Naturalist, Vol. xxxi, pp. 357-392, pis. x, xi, May, 1897; "Some Notes on the Fauna and Flora of Mammoth Cave," by R. Ellsworth Call; also "Notes on the Flora of Mammoth Cave," by R. Ellsworth Call Journal Cincinnati Society Natural History, 1897, Vol. xix, pp. 79, 80. ^^mm^ SCOTERPES COPEI (Packard). Named by Packard for Dr. E. D. Cope, the eminent naturalist. A. Half the natural size. B. Enlarged view of head. Eyeless. Showing the tactile, hairs on the two anterior segments. PHALANGES ARMATA (Tellkampf). A typical, blind, and very ancient cave spider, of the group belonging to the Harvestman, or " granddaddy longlegs." The single eye is abortal. Pigment only remains. The microscope shows that the nerve extending from it to the central ganglia has disappeared. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CAVERN. 107 seen by the visitor. In doing so there has been no attempt at systematic classification beyond indicating the greater zoological groups to which the forms belong. If the visitor desires to collect, permission being secured from the management beforehand, it will be well to remember that the drier portions of the cave will afford him little or nothing save lost time ; but in the damper portions of his several trips he may hope to have abundant success. Thus, to instance a few local- ities, he will probably find specimens of three kinds of flies in and around the decaying specimens of Coprinus, which he will find at various places along the River Route. With them, also, will be found occasional specimens of the small brown beetle, Adelops. In the Way to Pits and Domes, near Richardson's Spring, he will find historic collecting ground, for this is one of Packard's richest localities. Under the damp flat stones he will here take Tellkampf 's small white spider, and that interesting little thysanurid, Campodea cookei, described from this place by Packard. Scurrying over the muddy w r alk or hiding under the flat stones go a number of brown beetles, to which has been given the name of Anophthalmias. A little farther on and under the old timbers which are here to be seen will be secured white myriapods, belonging to Scotcrpes. If the characteristics of the locality be carefully noted, the visitor may be sure that any similar locality will afford him other specimens of the same or other kinds. At the end of Gratz Avenue and in Flint Dome, should the visitor go to that portion of the cavern, in the waters of Shaler's Brook and in the pools in the midst of the dome, he will find myriads of the small 108 MAMMOTH CAVE. white crustacean, Ccecidotea stygia; occasional speci- mens may also be taken in Richardson's Spring. The larger crustacean, Cambarus pellucidus, can be had only in the Echo and connected rivers, though the writer collected two specimens in Flint Dome, until then not known to have any connection with the rivers themselves. Of course Echo River will be, with its pools, the only place where may be found the blind- fish. And neither of these last named forms will prove to be abundant. They are to be collected with great difficulty, even though they may commonly be seen by the visitor as he wends his way along the rivers, on both "ides thereof. Occasional specimens are stranded and left in pools which become quite dry on the reces- sion of the waters after a rise. Roaring River, never visited by the tourist, which is a succession of muddy pools for a long distance, is a famous place to collect them, but for these the visitor must arrange with the management. It is not proposed in this place to review the entire known fauna of the cave nor to list, with descriptions, all of its plants. The casual visitor will have little use for either, because, unless he is a naturalist, and some- what acquainted with the habits of the animals and plants, he will search long in vain ; when he does find their favorite haunts, with few exceptions he will dis- cover that they are rare. The following list is complete up to the present time, and contains all the species which are certainly known in the cave: THE "BLIND BEETLE." Anophthalmias menetresii (Motsch). A. Magnified six times, showing tactile hairs on thorax, legs and antennae. Found in the Labyrinth, Washington Hall, etc. B. The antenna of Anophthalmus magnified to show more plainly the peculiar development of compensatory sensitive tactile hairs. BLIND BEETLE. Anophthalmus. Their life history unknown, except that their eggs are laid in the sand in the avenue from Lovers' Leap to Lee's Cisterns, near the pool just beyond Gatewood's Dining Table. A SCAVENGER BEETLE. Called "Blind," but it has eyes, and bright ones. Found abundantly on and around chicken bones, etc., in Wash- ington Hall and elsewhere. Drawn fourteen times the size of the original. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CAVERN. 109 INFUSORIA. Chilomonas emarginata Ehrenberg. River Styx. Chilodon cucullulus Ehrenberg. River Styx. Monas kolpoda (?). Serena's Bower. Monas socialis (?). Serena's Bower. VERMES. Dendroeadum percsecum Packard. Shaler's Brook; Rich- ardson 's Spring. Lumbrieus sp. Banks of Echo River. CRUSTACEA. Canthocamptus cavernarum Packard. Wandering Willie's Spring. Ca?cidotea stygia Packard. Flint Dome; Shaler's Brook. Crangonyx vitreus Cope. Flint Dome; Richardson's Spring. Crangonyx sp. Shaler's Brook. Cambarus pellucidus Tellkampf. Echo River; Flint Dome. ARACHNIDA. Ladaps cavernicola Packard. Labyrinth. Gamasus troglodytes Packard. Locality unknown. Belba bulbipedatus Packard. Labyrinth. Chthonius packardii Hagen. Mammoth Dome; Labyrinth. Phalangodes armata Tellkampf. Bottomless Pit; Gorin's Dome; Labyrinth; Mary's Vineyard; Hovey's Ramble. Anthrobia mammouthia Tellkampf. Labyrinth; Bottom- less Pit. Cadotes juvenilis Keyserling. Locality unknown. Liocranoides unicolor Keyserling. Labyrinth. Linopodes mammouthia Banks. Labyrinth. Rhagidia cavicola Banks. Labyrinth. Willibaldia incerta Emerton. Labyrinth. Phanetta subterranea Emerton. Labyrinth. INSECTA. Dorypteryx ( ?) hageni Banks. Darnall 's Way. Smynthurus mammouthia Banks. Darnall 's Way, Entomobrya cavicola Banks. Darnall 's Way. Campodea cookei Packard. All moist stations under stones, especially in Richardson's Spring region; Hovey's Ramble. 110 MAMMOTH CAVE. Machilis cavernicola Tellkampf. Labyrinth. Hadensecus subterraneus Scudder. Everywhere, nearly. Elipsocus sp. Adelops hirtus Tellkampf. Numerous stations; especially abundant in Washington Hall. Anophthalmia tellkampfii Eriehson. All moist stations. Anophthalmia menetresii Motsch. Labyrinth; Washing- ton Hall. Anophthalmus interstitialis Hubbard. Washington Hall. Anophthalmia striatus Motsch. Labyrinth. Anophthalmus audax Horn. Washington Hall. Sciara inconstans Fitch. Mammoth Dome. Limosina stygia Coquillett. Mammoth Dome. Phora rufipes Meig. Labyrinth; Gorin's Dome; Hovey's Eamble. Seoterpes copei Packard. Labyrinth; Bottomless Pit; Mary's Vineyard; Eiver Hall. VERTEBRATA. Neotoma magister Baird. Everywhere; especially abun- dant in Washington Hall near lunching station. Peromyseus leucopus Eafinesque. Eotunda. Vespertilio lucifugus LeConte. Eotnnda; Little Bat Ave- nue; Olive's Bower. Vesperugo carolinensis Geoff. St. Hil. Audubon's Avenue. Spelerpes longicaudus Green. Mouth of Cave; Flint Dome. Amblyopsis spelams DeKay. Echo Eiver; Eoaring Eiver. Typhlichthys subterraneus Girard. Echo Eiver. Chologaster agassizii Putnam. Echo Eiver. MOLLUSCA. Carychium stygium Call. Mammoth Dome. This is not an extensive list of animals for so large a cavern, but it is to be remembered that collection is very difficult under the conditions which prevail in the cave. The list, such as it is, results from the occasional work of numerous collectors; an exhaustive and complete study of the fauna has yet to be instituted. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CAVERN. Ill PLANTiE. Very much less is known of the plants of the cave than of its animals. Only the most cursory collections have yet heen made, though the writer has sought to make complete the collections of microscopic forms. Many of those collected were indeterminate, and others are yet undescribed. This will, in a measure, account for the meagre list. It should be remarked in passing that with but two or three exceptions the forms found are all such as occur on the surface of the ground, and all are fungi or related groups. The list now following contains all certainly known at this time : Coprinus micaceus Bull. Eiver Hall only. Groups of this toad-stool are sometimes found along Eiver Hall, near the boat landing, and at the Cascades, near the Kiver Styx. Fomes applanatus Pers. Labyrinth. Khizomorpha molinaris. Abundant on old timbers in Mammoth Dome. Probably, like its foreign relatives, this form will be found to be phosphorescent. Microascus longirostis Zukal. Washington Hall. Zasmidium cellare Fr. Corkscrew, at top, on old barrel head. Mucor mucedo Linn. Labyrinth; Mary's A r ineyard; Eiver Hall. Gymnoascus setosus Eidam. Washington Hall. Sporotrichum densum Link. On dead crickets. Sporotrichum flavissimum Link. Washington Hall. Laboulbenia subterranea. On Anophthalmus. Ccemansia sp. Washington Hall. Papulospora sp. Washington Hall. Bouderia sp. Washington Hall. The great number of forms from "Washington Hall is to be explained by the fact that in that locality may be found a great mass of refuse from dining parties; 112 MAMMOTH CAVE. on the rejectamenta of lunches many varieties of minute fungi occur, though the spores are quite likely intro- duced by visitors and in or with the food. A single very small but beautiful Peziza occurs on the timbers in Mammoth Dome, but is certainly introduced from without. The same fact is true of amorphous forms of Fomcs applanatus taken from bridge timbers in the Labyrinth. BLIND ANIMALS: THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVOLUTION. SINCE Doctor Call prepared his admirable chapter on Cavern Fauna and Flora a few early accounts have come to light, and some recent additions have been made to the literature on the subject, especially con- cerning its bearing on the theory of evolution. The very first account ever published about the eyeless fish was by Rev. Robert Davidson, D. D., Presi- dent of Transylvania University, in a small volume from the press of A. T. Skillman, Lexington, Kentucky, 1840, entitled, "An Excursion to the Mammoth Cave, and the Barrens of Kentucky." Stephen Bishop had just crossed the Bottomless Pit and discovered what was then styled simply "The River," in whose sullen waters were found very remarkable "white fish without eyes, but with their other senses so acute that the slightest touch of the water overhead was sufficient to alarm them, and make them dart off like lightning." In 1842 W. T. Craige gave a single specimen of the blind fish to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences ; and in that same year DeKay described it in his volume on Reptiles and Fishes (p. 187) in the Natural History of New York. He named it the Amblyopsis spelceus, meaning weak- eyed cave dweller. This was soon followed by articles by Wyman, Thompson, and Tellkampf. Typhlichthys subterraneans was first described by Girard in 1859 ; the Chologaster agassizii was described and named by Put- nam; and the Troglichthys rosece was thus named by Eigenmann. These four genera: Amblyopsis, Typhlich- thys, Chologaster, and Troglichthys, are grouped as a family, under the name of Amblyopsido?, and belong to (113) 114 MAMMOTH CAVE. the order of Haplomi. (E. D. Cope, Proceedings of A. A. A. S., Indianapolis, 1872, pp. 328, 333.) These, and certain other true subterranean fauna, may be regarded as mainly of Pleistocene origin ; Avhile a few are supposed to be remnants of Tertiary, or pos- sibly of Cretaceous life. Their strongly marked divergence from similar creatures found in open waters convinced the elder Agassiz that they were "specially created for the limits within which they dwell." This question will receive further attention later on. Insignificant as cave animals may seem to the care- less eye, these lowly minnows, crawfish, worms, flies, fleas, spiders, crickets, and beetles have been microscopically examined, dissected to their minutest anatomy, and laborious treatises written about them, bristling with words big enough to describe whales, mastodons, and mammoths. Indeed they have a voluminous bibliogra- phy, including contributions by Agassiz, Banta, Blatch- ley, Chilton, Cole, Cope, ( ( ollet, Cox, Dubois, Eigenmann, Forbes, Garman, Girard, Gunther, llama nn, Hay, Holmes, Hubbard, Jordan, Lankester, Nagel, Packard, Parker, Payne, Putnam, Richardson, Semper, Vire, Yerkes, and others, besides the authors of this Manual. The average size of a full-grown Amblyopsis spt In us^ the most famous of the blind-fish, is only about three and a half inches. Rarely it is found longer, and the Mammoth Cave guides tell us of specimens measuring eight inches. The writer never saw one that exceeded five inches in length. He is inclined to think that stray visitors from the surface waters have been sometimes mistaken for the true Amblyopsis. The blind-fish are found in pools, or the rills between the pools, and often BLIND ANIMALS. 115 in deep wells in the vicinity of caves. They are dignified denizens of the darkness, often lying quietly on the muddy bottom of the waters, floating lazily on the surface, or slowly swimming along by the aid of their pectoral fins, though bringing the tail into action when disturbed, and darting rapidly away. What do cave creatures live upon? The question of food supply is always of prime importance. An animal with plenty to eat is apt to grow and unfold its organic life, whereas one half-starved will be likely to have its growth retarded, and certain features and functions changed or discontinued. Clearly strict vegetarians must be scarce in caverns because of the general paucity of vegetable life. Still, where there is some such matter, it is utilized. Cave crickets, centipedes, and myriapods, like the Pseudo- tremia and hairy Scoterpes, are known to live on the debris of leaves and wood, swept in annually by the overflowing streams. The cave carnivora are scavengers, subsisting on dead bats, rats, and refuse dragged in by beasts or left by human visitors. The cave crawfish (the Cambarus pellucidus) feeds on aquatic Crustacea which it deftly extracts with its pincerlike claws from under flat stones. The blind-fish catches the young crawfish when it can, and eats its eggs, preying also on the Crongonyx and other Crustacea, and, we regret to say, on minnows of its own kind. We have known one instance where a blind-fish caught and swallowed a fish that had eyes and ought to have known enough to escape. And, such is the conformity to conditions where plenty is the exception and scarcity the rule, that I have kept blind-fish for a whole year in an aquarium where there was no other food than the animalculoe and con- 116 MAMMOTH CAVE. fervae growing in the water. Experiments of naturalists lead to the conjecture that the blind-fish are aided in search for prey by certain terminal buds on the snout, the head, and on the body. All observers agree that, when in captivity, the blind- fish thrive best in the dark. They are certainly sensitive to the light, though sightless. When placed in a trough partly covered and partly exposed to the light, they instinctively prefer the darkened portion of the trough. Eigenmann made a series of interesting experiments, not only in aquaria with blackened tunnels and parti- tions, but also in those that were illumined by the various colors of the spectrum, in order to see what reac- tion might follow. His conclusion was that the blind- fish strongly prefer red and shun blue. Sloan, Packard, Blatehley, and others agree with our own observations as to the torpidity of the organs of hearing in blind-fish, although it is said that ''the auditory spots" exist in them just as in fish in open streams. Eigenmann says that "blind-fishes detect vibrations with a frequency of one hundred per second, by means of sense organs in the skin." He adds very curious remarks as to the amatory contests in which the rival males vigorously punch and thrust each other while they quarrel for their mates. A general but erroneous notion prevails that the Aviblyopsis is viviparous. An instance is often quoted in which an adult fish was left alone in an aquarium and the next day was found with eight little ones. The ex- planation is that the young remain for about a month in the maternal gill pouch after being hatched from the egg, where they had previously been for about twenty- eight days. 2- c/j 5. w si W a o o w t/5 f0 c r- w c r rt > p GO a >-j p. w < P fD ct > l-t ~_ > 2, CO -/. ^ N >• HEAD Oj TYPHLICHTHYS SUBTERRANElJ. 2 . (Mammoth Cave.) 'S HEAD OP TYPHLICHTHYvS OSBORNI. (From Horse Cave, near Mammoth Cave.) I'.ioto liy Eigenmann. HADENCECUS SUBTERRANEUS (Scudder). A cave cricket — not grasshopper, but of the katydid family of Orthoptera. The pigmental eyes are sightless. The thorax is still somewhat brown, showing that the bleached condition ob- servable in most cave animals has not yet been hereditarily established. Observe the extraordinary antenme, as an instance of compensation. BLIND ANIMALS. 117 As early as 1856 the writer visited certain romantic caves along the valley of the White River, near Mitchell, Indiana, where he saw blind-fish and blind crawfish, which he also observed in other Indiana caves. More recently the Mitchell caves have come into notice through the researches of Professor Carl H. Eigenmann, of the Indiana State University. Doctor Eigenmann began to give attention to subterranean fauna in 1886, and ten years later visited the Twin Caves and Dalton's Spring, at Mitchell, where he found abundant material for his biological laboratory. In 1893 the State Legislature put about one hundred and eighty-two acres of the land around these caves in the keeping of the trustees of the University, at his suggestion and to further his researches and experiments. Thus encouraged, and also aided by grants from scientific societies, most valuable materials have been obtained, as well as from various other caves in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and elsewhere. The re- sults were made public by a number of papers read before scientific societies, and in bulletins from the University. In 1909 these were collated, with much new matter, and published, as a quarto monograph, by the Carnegie Insti- tution of Washington, under the title, ' ' Cave Vertebrates of America — a Study of Degenerative Evolution ; by Carl H. Eigenmann, Professor of Zoology, Indiana Uni- versity." This exhaustive work comprises two hundred and forty-one pages, with thirty-one full plates and seventy-two text-figures. It deals with cavern fauna as found all over the continent, from California to Cuba; but the main part of the work concerns blind vertebrates and their eyes, describing twelve varie- ties, eight of them belonging to the AnibJyopsidcE. Only seven hundred copies were printed, and hence the volume is not generally accessible. 118 MAMMOTH CAVE. It is no new idea that subterranean life is highly instructive concerning the theory of evolution, the writer himself having repeatedly spoken on the subject before scientific societies. Evidently, if degeneration or devolu- tion follows as the result of the seclusion of certaia kinds of plants and animals in dark caverns, it must be by the withdrawal of forces and causes that, under favor- able environment, would work for evolution. For ex- ample, if we discover the partial or total absence of certain muscles, nerves, or organs, as the result of degeneration carried on for many generations, the in- ference is fair that these atrophied parts would be duly evolved again were the process reversed and the cave animals to live for a sufficiently long period under the same conditions as their open-air congeners, in the sun- light and with abundant food. Every one has noticed how potatoes and turnips put forth colorless shoots when growing down cellar. It is even possible to raise a crop under such conditions; but the tubers are small and waxy, showing depaupera- tion. Imagine the process to go on for years or centuries, and the result might be a plant hardly to be recognized by comparison with the vegetables growing in the garden. Just as aquatic plants in cave waters are bleached, so with the true cavern fauna. The crawfish and crusta- ceans are white, or at best a pale brown. So with the blind-fish, the myriapods, the spiders, etc. Exceptions excite suspicion. Cave flies, for instance, which are a dull black, are able to fly in and out with occasional access to the open air. Plainly natural selection, or self-protection by choice of coloration, can not explain the cave-bleaching for ani- mals dwelling in perpetual and utter darkness. The bleaching seems simply due to the atrophy of those cells &* "NEW *%■ RIVER #K ** ROSCTTE CHAMBER -Ct\M«* of <*« poov£ fro te / Chinese Wall. 2 Entrance to New Discovery. 3 Entrance to Wild Goose Chase River Region. 4 Uncle Torn^ Pool. 5 Lizard Spring 6 Twin Pits. 7 Rums of Carthage. & 'LT' 12 J 5 16* DINING ROOM 8 Rock Island. ~fc^UT£. 9 Sandstone Tumbledown 10 Ruins of Martinique. 11 Register Avenue 12 Starry Heavens and Milky Way. 13 Bearskin Rohe. 14 Phosphate Mountain. 15 Hull of the Great Western. 1 6 Catacombs. 17 Pulpit Rock- 18 Cascade Pit. 19 Pearly Pool. 20 Kangaroo Bend COLOSSAL CAVERN 18 '9 20' HORACE C. HOVEY PROM SURVEY BY EDGAR VAUGH SCALE OF FEET 50 100 150 200 250 300 BLIND ANIMALS. 119 in which, under the stimulus of light, pigmental matter is secreted. The blind-fish furnish a typical example of panmixia (a term literally meaning "all mixed up"). We can imagine the first colony, captured by some catastrophe in underground waters, to have had their eyes simply weakened by disuse. In following generations the eyes would be shrunken and useless. This might begin by individual degeneration (ontogenetic panmixia) ; and then racial degeneration (or phylogenetic panmixia) would follow. Fish with atrophied eyes would transmit blindness to broods of young fish till a blind fauna was established. Let us note with almost pathetic interest the com- pensations given to the cave animals by Him who marks the sparrow's fall. This feature of evolutionary work has hardly had the attention it deserves. In cave insects, spiders, and Crustacea the form is elongated till in some cases it is truly grotesque. Many a time I have held a burning candle so near a cave cricket as to stop for fear of setting it afire ; and the experiment was regarded by it with indifference. But the least finger- touch of one of its extremely elongated and sensitive feelers, delicate as a spiderweb, woidd give the alarm, causing it to run away with ludicrous celerity. Cave beetles find their compensation in long stiff bristle-like hairs, so that they move about with remarkable facility. "We have kept in the same tank the common crawfish (Cambarus Bartonii) and the blind crawfish (Cambarus pellucidus) and observed their habits of feeding. A morsel thrown to the first would be seized and disposed of at once. But if dropped near the blind creature it would dart back and wave its long feelers, only approach- 120 MAMMOTH CAVE. ing the morsel by a series of cautious strategic move- ments. Do not forget this beneficent law of compensa- tion. Let us not lay too heavy a load on favorite theories, which certainly do account for many, but not for all things. Evolution is limited by environment and its process may even be reversed and become devolution. Let us not hurry. We are not like a sworn jury that must find a verdict and be discharged. There is plenty of time. "Wait and investigate. Pigeon-hole every fact, and wait. The best definition of evolution describes it as a con- tinual differentiation of the complex from the simple. First, simple forms; then the complex. But in cave fauna we find the process reversed; the complex forms are reverting to those that are more simple. Our limits forbid our either following further such fascinating problems, or taxing the reader's patience by moralizing. Yet we may affirm anew our cherished faith that all forms of life exist and go on under a Divine plan, whether by progression or retardation, by deprivation or compensation, by evolution or devolution, environed by darkness or light, amid profound caverns or amid the brave sunshine. Many things beyond our immediate comprehension are worthy of patient and prolonged in- vestigation. We may close this chapter by quoting the oft-quoted words of the former poet-laureate of Eng- land : "Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, Hold you here, root and all in my hand, Little flower: but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is." Vaughan's Dome. Grand Crossing. THE COLOSSAL CAVERN By HORACE CARTER HOVEY IN the vicinity of Mammoth Cave are numerous smaller caves and grottoes, each with its peculiarities and attractions. One of these has the odd name of the Bed-quilt Cave, due it is said to the fact that an Indian quilt was once found there. No particular in- terest was taken in it until recently. No one knew that it led to one of the most magnificent caverns in America till after the latter had been otherwise discovered. The late Mr. William Garvin, a veteran soldier and guide through the mazes of the Mammoth Cave, told the writer that, on the 15th of July, 1895, he observed a hole in a hillside adjoining his own farm. Entering it he made his way into a large dome, of which the hole was the apex. Bringing ladders, he and his neighbors climbed down for sixty-six feet to the floor of the dome, whence they pursued a winding way amid the rugged rocks in a northerly direction for some twelve hundred feet, passing numerous objects of interest. Finally they were brought abruptly against a vertical Avail, whose floor was visible thirty-six feet below where they stood. By means of their ladders they climbed down to the bot- tom, and noted the five projecting points that suggested to the writer the name of the Quinque Dome. An article over my signature appeared in the Scien- tific American August 29, 1896, ascribing the first ex- ploration to a young man named Pike Chapman. The discovery has also been claimed for Robert "Woodson, who is said to have found it while searching for a spring. Possibly there were several simultaneous discoveries ; but we give full credit to the statement made to us per- 122 THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. sonally by Mr. "William Garvin. All the original en- trances have been wisely closed up by the present owners, partly to prevent spoliation and partly because the natural openings were hard to reach and for other reasons inconvenient. In January, 1896, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company purchased what is well named "The Colossal Cavern" from the late Dr. L. "W. Hazen, on whose farm the first known entrance was located, and for a time they employed him as their agent. As further explorations were pushed in various directions, the Company bought all the land under which its course was found to run, and expended large sums in widening narrow passages, smoothing rough places, building stairways where these were desirable, and did many other things for the com- fort of visitors. On their special invitation the writer visited the Colossal Cavern in 1903, and made a map of it from the notes of a survey by Edgar Vaughan and W. L. Marshall, which has been extensively used in the rail- road advertising brochures, and appears also along with a descriptive article by me in the Scientific American Supplement, November 21, 1903, parts of which have been published by others without giving the author due credit. (See also my article in Volume VI of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.) On the occasion of my visit the first use was made here of individual acetylene lamps, by whose aid the writer did some fairly good work in subterranean pho- tography, the results being published at the time. I was accompanied by the noted archaeologist, Mr. Gerard Fowke, and our guides were Messrs. J. M. and Morris Hunt, to whose kind attentions we were much indebted. So accurate was the instrumental survey already re- Samson's Pillar. •"BRIGHAft --THE QyeDog i SBa THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. 123 ferred to above, that by its means the Company found themselves able to force a new entrance at a locality where it was most desired by themselves ; and this is now the only mode of access to the cavern. It is at the foot of a steep hill, facing the west, and located a mile and a half from the entrance to the Mammoth Cave. The road thither winds along the margin of Eden Valley, into which it presently descends. Both this and the nearby Doyle Valley are true "sink holes" of great magnitude, with groves, farms, and habitations, but without running water, though gathering volumes of water during rainfalls, to empty them through pits into caverns underneath. Where these orifices have been closed up there are now ponds, with reeds and rushes. The entrance to Colossal Cavern, being wholly arti- ficial, has no special beauty, but is simply a convenient door and stairway, in passing through which we notice the outward draft of air that extinguishes our lamps, to be relighted when fairly underground. The rock from which the cave is excavated is limestone of homogenous texture. Midway down the stairs we step aside to inspect what is termed the Chinese Wall, which forms the rim of a pool in a room about one hundred feet in diameter. Small stalactites cover the ceiling, and there are numerous stalagmites, one of the largest of them being named the Pagoda, from its fancied re- semblance to an Eastern temple of that description. Some two hundred feet within, a path diverges to the so-called "New Discovery" and to the closed entrance from the Coates farm. Still beyond it is a rambling way that is known as the Wild Goose Chase, because it seems to get nowhere. 124 THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. On our right, as we proceed in the main cave, is Uncle Tom's Pool, where we found the only specimen that we saw in the cave of the blind crawfish (Cambarus pellueidus). We were assured, however, that blind fish and other cave fauna abounded in the river region; and we saw in various parts of the cave blind beetles, flies, spiders, and crickets. On our left, one hundred and fifty feet beyond Uncle Tom's Pool, we were startled by seeing on the brink of a spring what looked like a great lizard, but which proved to be only a grotesque mass of metal- stained flint, three feet long, like a lizard in bronze. We named the canopy over it the Saurian Dome. Near Armstrong Pit and the Horseshoe Dome we observed many geodes in the wall, enclosing crystals of quartz and calcite. We also found fossil corals, known as " Zaphrentis," having value in determining the geologi- cal horizon of the limestone. In 1898 Mr. Edgar Vaughan crawled through a small hole on the right, distant some five hundred feet from the entrance, and found that it opened into an enormous dome, now bearing his name. This narrow opening has been artificially enlarged for easy access to Vaughan 's Dome, which by careful measurement is twenty-six feet wide (at one point forty feet), three hundred feet long, and by balloon tests seventy-eight feet high. The balloons used by Mr. Maypother in making this measurement were inflated by hot air, which is a better method than by hydrogen gas, besides being less expensive. The first balloon released shot to the roof like a rocket, striking with such force as to careen and catch fire, burning the retaining cord. Later experi- ments, more carefully made, were perfectly successful. THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. 125 At Grand Crossing the main cave is crossed by Florence Avenue, on a lower level, after running parallel with it for several hundred feet. This avenue has highly decorated walls. Midway in it are the Twin Pits, into one of which falls the Musical Shower, a cascade with remarkable reverberations. Florence Avenue enters the main cave at the Grand Galleries. Along the walls are many gypsum formations, resembling various kinds of flowers. Beyond the Lovers' Gallery, four hundred feet long by thirty feet wide, is a still grander enlargement, styled the Ruins of Carthage, resembling th2 demolished walls and battlements of a great metropo- lis. Taking into consideration the dimensions of this vast hall, four hundred feet long by one hundred feet wide and thirty feet high, then noting the fact that its nearly flat ceiling is one immense block of limestone, and reflecting on the additional fact that above it is an im- mense mass of rocky strata, upholding forest trees, we wonder how such a flat roof can support such au enormous superincumbent weight. The only object that looks at all like a support, though it can not properly be so regarded, is what is called Samson's Pillar, thirty feet in diameter, ne&r which the roof curves into an arch. In this vicinity we saw many fine saccharine incrusta- tions, as if some candy-maker had flung cartloads of gum-drops and other confectionery against the walls. Faces and figures, some lovely and others grotesque, stand out from nooks and corners in startling relief. One that is especially lifelike is known as Alice Ring- gold 's Face. A huge rock on our right, just beyond Samson's Pillar, has a remarkable resemblance to the stern of an 126 THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. ocean steam* r with her rudder hard aport, though un- shipped, and is an almost exact reproduction of a for- mation in tin 1 Mammoth Cave known as the Great Eastern. Tremendous forces have been at work, as is proved by the Ruins of Martinique and the Catacombs. We measured an enormous block, sixty feet long by twenty feet wide and ten feet thick, like the sarcophagus of an ancient Goliath of Gath. At a point two thousand feet from the entrance is a tumble-down called the Sandstone Mountain, where the cave cuts through the St. Louis limestone to the overlying Chester sandstone. It is said that the top of this mountain is only twenty feet below the surface of the earth. On the wall near by we saw an exquisite branching variety of the coral known as Tubipora, sixteen inches long by six wide. A number of interesting objects have been passed in reaching this point ; among which may be mentioned the Everett Rock, fallen from above and leaning against the wall; Table Rock, at the foot of Sandstone Mountain, and several other detached blocks here and there, indicating the pos- sibility of some shock as of an earthquake, or other tre- mendous force, that hurled them down. Thus far we have gone in a southerly direction; but now we turn almost due east for somefifteen hundred feet and note what we can find. Beyond the spacious Audi- torium is Register Avenue, where visitors are allowed to inscribe their names, as in a rocky album. At the Phosphate Mountain — where the original owner made experiments, only to find that it was a false phosphate — the cavern divides around a so-called "island" six hundred feet long, near whose farther end begins the "Old Bed-quilt Cave" already mentioned, and that stretches away to the northeast for one thousand five Entrance to Colossal Cavern. Henry Clay Monument. THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. 127 hundred feet and then turns westward for the same dis- tance, thus making the surveyed portion three thousand feet in all, though often given as having a much greater length. In it are pits, domes, tumble-downs, and various more or less interesting formations ; but it is not included in the route over which visitors are usually taken. At the termination of the Long Island is the Pulpit on one side and the Dining Room on the other. The ceiling of the Dining Room is the native rock, as smooth as if finished by trowel and float; a board floor is laid over the sand, and there are tables and benches for the accommodation of those who wish to lunch. Beyond is the Bicycle Avenue, trending to the right for three hundred feet and then rejoining the main cave. The crystalline formations are wonderful. The roof under which we are now passing is spangled with efflorescences that mimic the starry heavens, with here and there a comet or a meteoric shower. Gypsum crusts sometimes hang from above in sections several yards square, seemingly ready to drop if jarred. Both straight and curved crystals of selenite abound, the latter known as " oulopholites. " So many and splendid are they in one hall as to cause it to be named "The Grand Avenue of Flowers." On the walls single spikes six or eight inches long are frequent, and here and there we find a branching mass one or two feet long, like crystal stag-horns. Delicate lacelike webs are spread between clusters of flowers. The Bear-Robe looks like a mass of fur spread on the wall to dry; but we find it made up of hundreds of crystals of selenite whose tips are stained by some black mineral, and the body of the mass is a soft grey. There are also fine botryoidal, or grapelike, clusters. 128 THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. Strange enlargements and ramifications of the cav- ern now come to view, with here and there a window- like opening into ghostly chambers whence weird ap- paritions seem to beckon to ns. Wonders crowd upon us. Climbing a steep acclivity, the highest elevation in the cave, whence a ladder connects with a short passage leading to a bridge across the apex of an enor- mous dome whose floor lies one hundred and thirty- seven feet below, we drop fireballs, by which the walls are illuminated as the masses of flame gyrate to and fro. Formerly daring adventurers were lowered by a windlass to the bottom of this mighty dome; but now there is a less dangerous way. We descend a flight of steps and pass through a gigantic gateway, twenty feet wide and sixty feet high, whose right-hand support is the largest stalag- mite in the cavern, its height being fully eighty feet. The writer suggested for this noble shaft the name of the Henry Clay Monument, and the name was approved by the management. On the left of the gateway is the finest example of the synclinal it has ever been my lot to see below ground. The thick strata above had to yield to the enormous pressure brought upon them, and were thus crushed into the reversed arches that we be- hold. Passing reverently through what reminded me of the famous Redeemer Gate of the Kremlin at Moscow, we descend still farther by stone steps that wind around the base of the huge alabaster monument named for Kentucky's matchless orator and statesman, and sud- denly find ourselves in what seems like an open space, while aloft and around us is utter darkness. The guides tell us that we are at the lowest level of the cavern, two hundred and forty feet vertically lower than the original Entrance to Colossal Dome. Above Pearly Pool. THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. 129 entrance. Our torches do little more than to make the darkness visible. Our acetylene lamps cast rays of light across to the wall, fifty-six feet distant, but flash upward in vain. Burning magnesium ribbon, with which every cave-hunter should be supplied, and that can be ignited by a simple match, we catch a glimpse of the apex of what has fitly been named the Colossal Dome, the grandest room in all this region of silence and of night. An ingenious method of illumination has been devised by Mr. Hunt, making use of the old windlass whereby men used to be lowered, as already related. The rope has been removed, but a cord takes its place, both ends of it being lowered to the floor. To one end was fastened a wire holding a fire-basket, in which were put oiled rags, chemicals, and a quantity of magnesium ribbon. Then, igniting this mass of combustibles, we pulled on the other end of the long cord, thus hoisting the huge fireball to the apex. This made visible the snow-white fungus, many feet long, waving from the timbers of the decaying bridge. The drops of water falling like shot from the summit to the floor sparkle as gems, and add their music to the occasion. We tried to fancy how it would seem to have a winter cascade thunder down on the rocks where we stood. We raised and lowered at will the glowing flre-basket, bringing into view the series of immense rings, each eight or ten feet thick, that make up the wall, finding them differently tinted and some of them finely fringed with stalactitic drapery. Half the floor is covered by a pool, whose waters escape under a low ledge to regions as yet un- explored. Mention should be made of the remarkable echoes that add to the charm of this extraordinary dome. The Pearly Pool route is entered by a tunnel sixty feet long. We pause a moment on the verge of a pit 130 THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. eighty-six feet deep, around which are some curiously formed stalagmites resembling various birds and beasts. Ages ago a big stalactite fell with its tip under the drip- pings of a cascade, which left on it a rich nacrous in- crustation. The basin, three or four feet wide, that catches these waters, is the Pearly Pool, and glistens with hundreds of cave pearls. Some nameless, graceless scamp has struck his hammer into the middle of it, thus making an outlet for the water and terminating the pearl-making business, at least for a time. The Kangaroo Bend opens into the Snowy Valley, some six hundred feet long, where fine gypsum forma- tions abound, This valley ends in a tumble-down where copious chalybeate springs flow over iron-stained stalag- mites. The water is palatable, and it is claimed that it possesses valuable medicinal properties. It only remains to add a few words about what will perhaps be styled the "New Discovery" until some more appropriate title shall have been found. It begins near the entrance to the cave, and has been surveyed for two thousand linear feet. So much of it has to be traversed in a stooping position, or on one's hands and knees, that its length seems at least twice that distance. Patience finds its reward as we are introduced to a region utterly unlike anything else in the vicinity, though similar places are to be seen in certain caves in Indiana. The bed-rock is a fine-grained magnesian limestone, resembling that used for lithographic purposes. Indeed the material has been satisfactorily tested for this use since our visit. For many hundred feet the path has been artificially cut through this beautiful rock. On every hand we behold on walls and roof the most charm- ing rosettes and intricately convoluted helictites. The Everett Rock. Florence Avenue. THE COLOSSAL CAVERN. 131 fact that no names have as yet been given to places and formations in the "New Discovery" makes description difficult. Helictite Grotto and Rosette Chamber are so called on account of the abundance of the formations thus indicated. This part of the Colossal Cavern is a perfect flower-garden, where the excited fancy may find in unsullied loveliness a crystal reproduction of almost every floral gem. The management wisely guard these matchless decorations from spoliation ; but it is also to be hoped that such a wilderness of subterranean charms may soon be made accessible (if this has not already been done), so that it may be enjoyed by the general public. Meanwhile w T e understand the "New Discovery" can be visited only by special arrangement with the custodians of the cave, and even then only by small parties. The general similarity and the close proximity of the Colossal and the Mammoth caves make it not at all improbable that they are connected by avenues as yet undiscovered. On the other hand, it may be that they are permanently and completely disconnected by means of such immense downfalls as the Eden Valley and the Doyle Valley, through which now runs the carriage-road between the entrances to the two caverns. Anyhow, it is well worth while for the tourist who visits one of these vast caverns to take time to see the other also. While in many ways similar to each other, there are enough points of difference to keep the interest alive. In all ages caverns have excited the awe and admiration of mankind, and in no part of the known world are so many and such magnificent caverns clustered together as exist in Edmondson County, Ken- tucky. Such a marvelous region is worthy, not merely of a hurried visit, but of a leisurely sojourn. MAY 24 1912 . •*