As to the mechanical agencies in the excavation of the cave, they are instanced in the transportation of gravel, clay, and sand from one part to another. By observing the points at which they are deposited, and the order in which they come, it is possible to tell the direction in which the water formerly ran in many of the avenues, and the rapidity of its motion. But enough of technicalities—the entrance to the “Long Route” is before us in the crevice before mentioned, situated behind Giant’s Coffin.
The first new name which strikes upon the ear is that of Wooden Bowl—an apartment deriving its name from the fact of a bowl being found here, such a one as was used by the Indians. Various traditions of this race meet the explorer in other parts of the cave; among others, that of a mummified female and child found in Gothic Avenue, in 1815, said to have been sent to the Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Massachusetts, and to be still there in a dilapidated condition; another still more remarkable mummy is said to
have been exhumed in one of the neighboring small caves, and sent to Cincinnati, where it was burnt in the museum many years ago.
If such discoveries were really made, it is a matter of profound regret that these relics of an unknown past should have been removed from their resting-places, where they were secure from the ravages of time, and would, at the present day, greatly enhance the interest of Mammoth Cave.
We descend the Steps of Time, which is an unpleasant reminder to those of us who already feel stiff in the joints, and enter Martha’s Palace, not so palatial as its name implies, but near by is a spring of clear water, which all hail with pleasure. Side-Saddle Pit and Minerva’s Dome are soon passed, and we reach Bottomless Pit. Do not shudder! there is no necessity of descending, and there is bottom at the distance of one hundred and seventy-five feet. It was not until the year 1838 that it was supposed possible to bridge this fearful chasm; it was then crossed by Stephen, the celebrated black guide, who is identified with most of the discoveries. We now cross on a substantial wooden structure, known as the Bridge of Sighs. This leads to the Revellers’ Hall, and, judging from the number of empty and broken bottles on the floor of this wild-looking room, all visitors have done their part to perpetuate the name. A low archway, the Valley of Humility, leads to Scotchman’s Trap, a circular opening, through which you descend a flight of stone steps. Directly over the opening hangs a huge flat rock, which would, should it fall, completely close the avenue to the river. The number of slight, slippery ladders we have descended gives a very realizing sense that we are getting down, down, deep into the bowels of the earth.
We now enter a narrow avenue serpentining through the solid rock for fifty yards, varying in width from eighteen inches to three feet, in height from four to eight feet. This passage has evidently been cut through by the mechanical agency of water. Any lady or gentleman weighing three hundred pounds had better not attempt Fat Man’s Misery, for he may sigh in vain for “this too solid flesh to melt,” and this remarkably solid rock will not yield a hair’s-breadth to anything less than water charged with carbonic acid. Such squeezing and groaning, broken backs, etc.! but these are forgotten when we emerge in Great Relief. The avenue which leads thence to River Styx is River Hall, but we leave this for the present, and on our right enter Bacon Chamber, where may be seen a fine collection of limestone hams depending from the ceiling. After walking three-fourths of a mile in Sparks’ Avenue, we reach Mammoth Dome, the largest in the cave; it is two hundred and fifty feet in height. Climbing over immense shelving rocks, whose jagged sides and yawning crevices offer slight foothold and a very unpleasant prospect in case of a fall, we reach the top of a terrace forty feet from the base, where the view is taken. A grand, solemn spectacle it is! At the left extremity are five large pillars, called Corinthian Columns. A vast, solitary waste stretches out before the eye on every side; gloomy recesses and yawning abysses, illuminated by the weird blue-lights, form a sublime picture. One can only fancy it to be the primal state of chaos. The descent from the terrace of rocks is even more perilous than the ascent, but, once in the avenue, we return quickly to River Hall. Our attention is now drawn to a body of water forty feet below, called
Dead Sea, a gloomy spot, deserving its name. Passing on, the distant roar of invisible waterfalls strikes the ear, and at the foot of the slope we are descending lies the River Styx:
“Where the dark rock o’erhangs the infernal lake,
And mingling streams eternal murmurs make.”
This river is one hundred and fifty yards long, from fifteen to forty in width, and in depth varies from thirty to forty feet. It has a subterranean communication with other rivers of the cave, and, when they rise to a great height, an open communication with all of them. The Natural Bridge spans River Styx about thirty feet above it.
The next body of water we approach is quite peaceful, and, the ceiling being ninety feet above the surface, one loses the cavernous sensation of the gloomy overhanging rocks. Lake Lethe is one hundred and fifty yards long, and, being crossed in boats not large enough to convey all of the party at once, some of our number embark, with Charon himself at the helm. All are hushed by the solemnity of the scene, the lamps shed a dim light upon the rippling water and phantom boat, which silently glides outward and on around a projecting angle of rock, when it is lost to vision. For those who wait upon the shore the return of the boat, this is a solemn moment; we felt ourself a ghost, doomed to wander a hundred years ere Charon would ferry us over Avernus! After a brief interval of this musing, a faint light appears from behind the rock which before intercepted our view. Charon with his solitary lamp in the prow of the boat is returning; soon we also embark, but not before we had drunk of the waters of Lethe, that all experience of the upper world might be forgotten, for now we enter into dream life. Our friends