164 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



Bayard Taylor says : •• Just one mile from the 

 Star Chamber a rough stone ckoss has been 

 erected to denote that the distance has been 

 carefully measured. The floor here rises con- 

 siderably, which contracts the dimensions of the 

 avenue, although they are still on a grand scale. 

 About half a mile farther we come to the Great 

 Crossings, where five avenues meet. In the dim 

 light it resembled the interior of a great cathe- 

 dral, whose arched roof is a hundred feet ab«ve 

 its pavement. Turning to the left, at right 

 angles to our former direction, we walked (still 

 following the Main Avenue) some ten minutes 

 farther, when the passage debouched into a spa- 

 cious hall, with a cascade pouring from the very 

 summit of its lofty dome. Beyond and adjoin- 

 ing it was a second hall, of nearly equal dimen- 

 sions, with another cascade falling from its roof. 

 We turned again to the right, finding the avenue 

 still more irregular and contracted than before, 

 but had not advanced far before its ceiling began 

 to rise, showing a long slope of loosely piled 

 rocks, lying in strong relief against a back- 

 ground of unfathomable darkness. 



"I climbed the rocks and sat down on the 

 highest pinnacle, while Stephen descended to the 

 opposite side of the slope, and kindled two or 



