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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



cial appeal, partly by virtue of intrinsic 

 merit and partly by contrast with their 

 varied general settings. Thus, for ex- 

 ample, the open blue grass country 

 about Lexington, with "ITs "splendid 

 pikes, its mansions, its fine horses, and 

 great dairies, seems a bit of the ma- 

 tured Old World transferred. Bounding 

 it on the south, however, is the wild-look- 

 ing gorge of the Kentucky Eiver, pre- 

 senting cliffs that are worthy of compari- 

 son with the Palisades of the Hudson; 

 and beyond lies the wilderness, perhaps 

 tl)o primeval forest— I do not know. 



If we transport ourselves about one 

 hundred miles in a southwesterly direc- 

 tion over the semiforested tableland to 

 the approximate geographical center of 

 the state, we come to another equally 

 enticing stream known as the Green 

 Eiver. We are told that it was named 

 after General Nathanael Greene ; but it 

 is green in fact as well as in name, and 

 it flows on calmly and majestically 

 without giving a hint of its peculiar 

 origin. Its bordering cliffs may be less 

 abrupt, as a general thing, than those of 

 the Kentuekv, but tlic winding gorge is 



The entrance to the Mammoth Cave at present measures about forty feet from side to side and 

 twenty feet from floor to ceiling. The slope down which the steps lead is about thirty-five feet high and 

 has been artificially graded. The floor in the foreground has also been raised by recent filling. A small 

 stream of water falls over the mouth of the cave (see photograph, page 227), and as daylight reaches 

 back about one hundred feet, this entrance is a cool and comfortable place on a hot summer's day and 

 a convenient camping ground. Conditions were not so favorable, however, wlien the Indian lived here, 

 because at that time the entrance was nearly closed with debris and very little daylight entered 



