On account of its great size, it was named Mammoth Cave. It has an area of several hundred square miles, and two hundred and twenty-three known and numbered avenues, with a united length of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles.
The interior of this cave is divided by huge columns and walls of stone into chambers of various shapes and sizes. Some of these are large enough to afford standing room for thousands of people.
One of the largest of these chambers is called Mammoth Dome. This room is four hundred feet long, one hundred and fifty feet wide, and two hundred and fifty feet in height.
The walls of this grand room are curtained by alabaster drapery in vertical folds and present to the eye a scene of unexampled beauty and grandeur.
A large gateway at one end of this room opens into another room, in which the position of the huge stone pillars, reminds one of the ruins of some ancient temple.
Six colossal columns, or pillars, eighty feet high and twenty-five feet in diameter, standing in a half circle, are among the imposing attractions of this wonderful room.
Another striking feature of Mammoth Cave is what is called the Dead Sea. This body of water is four hundred feet long, forty feet wide, and very deep.
A curious fish is found in this dark lake. It is without eyes, and, in form and color, is different from any fish found outside the cave.
There are found also a blind grasshopper, without wings, and a blind crayfish of a whitish color, both of which are very curious and interesting.
The fact that these living creatures are blind would seem to indicate that nature had produced them for the distinct purpose of inhabiting this dark cave.