THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 161 



into a crevice in the rock. How it was placed 

 in its present position is a difficult question to 

 settle, inasmuch as it could not have been in- 

 serted in the position it occupies by artificial 

 means. 



After passing the S Bend, which has no par- 

 ticular points of attraction, Wright's Rotunda is 

 entered. 



This Rotunda is four hundred feet in its 

 shortest diameter. The ceiling is from ten to 

 forty-five feet in height, and is perfectly level, 

 the apparent difference in height being produced 

 by the irregularity of the floor. It is astonish- 

 ing that the ceiling has strength to sustain itself, 

 for it is not more than fifty feet from the surface 

 of the earth. Fortunately the Cave at this 

 point is perfectly dry, and no change of any 

 kind is transpiring in it, otherwise there might 

 be some risk of it falling in, as evidences of such 

 occurrences are to be found in the surrounding 

 country. 



When this immense area is illuminated at 

 the two extremes simultaneously, it presents a 

 most magnificent appearance. 



At the eastern extremity of the Rotunda is a 

 column, four feet in diameter, extending from 



14* 



