146 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



farther side presents a striking resemblance to an 

 immense curtain, which extends from the ceiling 

 to within forty feet of the floor. The window 

 through which Gorin's Dome is viewed is circu- 

 lar in form, and not more than two or three feet 

 in diameter, allowing but one person at a time 

 to enjoy the view of the interior. By imagin- 

 ing an immense well or deep circular excavation 

 in the earth, without any opening at top or bot- 

 tom, and supposing one's self to approach it about 

 the center, or at a point midway between the 

 floor and ceiling, and finding a small aperture 

 through which a view of it can be obtained, 

 would we not feel almost as much astonished at 

 the novelty of the point of view as we would on 

 beholding the curiosity itself? 



Bayard Taylor speaks thus of this Dome : 

 " We now reached another pit, idong the 

 brink of which we walked, clambered up a ledge, 

 and at last found a window-like opening, where 

 Alfred (the guide) bade us pause. Leaning over 

 the thin partition wall, the light of our united 

 lamps disclosed a vast glimmering hall, the top 

 of which vanished into darkness, and the bottom 

 of which we could only conjecture by the loud, 

 hollow splash of water-drops that came up out 

 of the terrible gloom. Directly in front of us 



