34 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
Another point of interest is Aline’s Dome, 
said to be named for Miss Aline Du Pont, who, 
we were told, was the first lady-visitor to this 
Cave. This dome is not of large proportions, 
but displays more than ordinary beauty, being 
surrounded by what is known as Elphies’s group 
of stalactites. 
There are several other parts of the Cave 
having fanciful names, possessing more or less 
interest, but they did not impress us sufficiently 
to be remembered. 
We inquired of our guide why the name 
“Indian” had been applied to the Cave. He 
stated that the name was suggested by the fact 
that, upon his first entrance within the Cave, 
he discovered several Indian skeletons. Upon 
manifesting our curiosity to see them, he in- 
formed us that, in consequence of the bones 
having, on different occasions, been sacrilegiously 
handled by some of the visitors,—even to carry- 
ing them out and leaving them exposed upon 
the ground,—he considered it his Christian duty 
to deposit them in a place where they would 
escape further desecration; he then pointed out 
to us a deep pit in the Cave, into the invisible 
depths of which he-had thrown them. Visitors 
may take this explanation as fact or fancy, 
