Hovey's Handbook of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky: A Practical Guide to the Regulation RoutesHovey, Horace Carver
History
Hovey's Handbook of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky: A Practical Guide to the Regulation Routes
Hovey, Horace Carver
Mammoth Cave (Ky.)
Here ends the First Route. We retrace our steps as far as Bandit Hall,
where some one raises the question if there is no way out but by Fat
Man’s Misery. The guide answers, “Yes, by the Corkscrew,” adding the
warning, “Those who come in by the Fat Man’s Misery go out by the
Corkscrew, and those who come in by the Corkscrew go out by the Fat
Man’s Misery: and whichever way they take, they wish they had taken the
other.” So, up we scramble like so many rats, under or over great
ledges, leaping from rock to rock, or climbing ladders, through what
seems like an enormous pit that had been filled in with gigantic rocks,
till at last, breathless, we emerge upon the Kentucky Cliffs in the Main
Cave. A few steps carry us past the saltpeter vats, through the Rotunda,
and the iron gate is unlocked to let us into the vestibule, whence we
climb the stone stairs to daylight.
[Illustration: “Bridal Altar”]
[Illustration: COPYRIGHT 1908 BY H. C.
GANTER
ROUTE II
STAR CHAMBER, GOTHIC AVENUE etc.]
REMINDERS OF THE WAR 1812
1. WOODEN PIPES IN THE FLOOR
2. FIRST SALTPETER VATS
3. PIPE LINES
4. TRACKS OF OXEN AND CARTS
5. SECOND SALTPETER VATS
6. HEAPS OF LIXIVIATED EARTH
OTHER FEATURES
7. MUMMY’S NICHE
8. REGISTER WALL
9. PILLAR OF HERCULES
10. CAESAR AND POMPEY
11. BRIDAL ALTAR
12. HORNETS’ NESTS
13. NAPOLEON’S BREASTWORKS
14. LOADED CAMEL
15. ELEPHANTS’ HEADS
16. PICTURE FRAME
ROUTE II
Olive’s Bower, Star Chamber, and Gothic Avenue
After a suitable period of rest and refreshment at the Hotel we resume
our way along the same path taken for the first route, but presently
deviate to explore Audubon Avenue, of which we had only seen the
beginning. It is related that when the great ornithologist visited
Rafinesque, the former smashed a fine violin in his eagerness to capture
a unique specimen of the bat family. As a kind of amicable revenge the
latter affixed Audubon’s name to this avenue, where so many myriads of
bats annually hibernate. It is fitting that the great branch to the
left, sweeping for three hundred and fifty feet and suddenly ending in a
tumble-down, should be named Rafinesque Hall. Unless our visit is in
late fall or winter, we find but few clusters of bats; but in cold
weather they gather here from near and far and hang head-downward till
somehow, by a sense not explained, they know it is warm weather
out-of-doors, and then fly forth to the forests. Dr. Call boasts of a
single catch that gave him six hundred and seventy bats, of many
varieties, most of which were sent to the National Museum.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account