Dr. Lee's party didn't find a smooth paved road from the town of Carlsbad to the site of the Caverns. By contrast, the 28 miles of hilly, bumpy, dusty road were covered by automobile in about two hours. The road had been used primarily by the fertilizer companies in transporting the sacks of guano to Carlsbad for shipment to California. At this time there were several dwellings at the entrance to the cave, an engine house and two hoisting shafts. The exploring party engaged Jim White as a guide to accompany them below. At this time Jim White probably knew the Caverns better than anyone else, for he had lived in the vicinity of the caves for more than a dozen years and had served as a guide for many persons who had made trips below to behold the beauties to be found there. Jim had talked of the cave and its marvels to anyone who would listen, and for years had tried to stir up some enthusiasm for the wonders that lay beneath. He had explored much of the cave and could talk intelligently about it. Obviously, he was the best guide that Dr. Lee could have found. The descent at that time was not a very glamorous undertaking. Dr. Lee's party entered, two at a time, by standing in an old iron guano bucket and letting the "elevator" engine slowly lower them more than 150 feet below the surface. The wire rope fastened to the bucket ran over a pulley at the top of the derrick and was manipulated by the engine. Dr. Lee was apprehensive of the contraption, but it never failed his party. In that early and historical excursion into the great Caverns, Dr. Lee noted the weird, eerie effect the shadowy forms, high ceilings, and irregular floor and walls had on his group. They found it difficult to believe what they were seeing. Below, the opening above them became but a speck of light. They noted the great distance from wall to wall, the many alcoves, the roughness of some walls, the polished smoothness of others. Some distance from the foot of the shaft they came upon a large pit some 150 feet deep which they called Yeitso's Den. The name was later changed to the Devil's Den. This part of the cave was much as the surging waters of the past several million years had left it. Travel was slow and dangerous. Steep walls had to be climbed and it was necessary to cut steps in the stone. The forward progress was indeed tedious in those early days. Dr. Lee's report to the National Geographic Society was filled with descriptions of the colorful stalagmites and stalactites, the beautiful formations of flowstone and dripstone, and the subject matter to be seen in the formations all around them. He was equally impressed by the "chambers of unbelievable dimensions," some of which were "several hundred feet wide" and ceilings "so high our lights won't touch them."