66 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
when it was first discovered. The chamber 
itself is shaped like an inverted bowl, which fact 
may have suggested the name. 
It is said that the Indians formerly explored 
the Cave with long reeds, filled with deer’s fat, 
to light them along. 
Black Snake Avenue, which enters the Main 
Cave near the stone cottages, communicates with 
Wooden Bowl Cave. It receives its name from 
its serpentine. course and black walls. It is 
rarely shown to visitors, as it possesses but few 
objects of interest. 
We next pass a steep declivity and a flight of 
steps, called the Steps of Time, and enter Mar- 
tha’s Palace. The Palace is about forty feet in 
height, and sixty in diameter. It is not partic- 
ularly attractive, and it appears singular that it 
should have been accorded so grand a name. 
A short distance beyond Martha’s Palace is a 
spring of clear, potable water, which visitors 
generally take advantage of to quench their 
thirst, as there is a considerable distance, in| 
some parts of the Cave, between the fountains 
of good drinking-water. 
The Side-Saddle Pit, over which rests a dome 
sixty feet in height, is reached by passing 
through what is called the Arched Way; the 
