from the Point and the
Pier to the public highway. But on the north where Kellogg Memorial Hall
now stands was the boundary indicated by the present Scott Avenue,
though at that time unmarked. The site of Normal Hall and all north of
it were outside the fence. And on the south its boundary was the winding
way of Palestine Avenue. The ravine now covered by the Amphitheater was
within the bounds, but the site of the Hotel Athenaeum was without the
limit.

He who rambles around Chautauqua in our day sees a number of large,
well-kept hotels, and many inns and "cottages" inviting the visitor to
comfortable rooms and bountiful tables. But in those early days there
was not one hotel or boarding-house at Fair Point. Tents could be
rented, and a cottager might open a room for a guest, but it was
forbidden to supply table board for pay. Everybody, except such as did
their own cooking, ate their meals at the dining-hall, which was a long
tabernacle of rough unpainted boards, with a leaky roof, and backless
benches where the feeders sat around tables covered with oilcloth. And
as for the meals--well, if there was high thinking at Chautauqua there
was certainly plain living. Sometimes it rained, and D.D.'s, LL.D.'s,
professors, and plain people held up umbrellas with one hand and tried
to cut tough steaks with the other. But nobody complained at the fare,
for the feast of reason and flow of soul made everybody forget burnt
potatoes and hard bread.

[Illustration: Lewis Miller, Cottage and Tent]

[Illustration: Bishop Vincent's Tent-Cottage]

What is now Miller Park, the level ground and lovely grove at the foot
of the hill, was then the Auditorium, where stood a platform and desk
sheltered from sun on some days and rain on others. Before it was an
array of seats, lacking backs, instead of which the audience used their
own backbones. Perhaps two thousand people could find sitting-room under
the open sky, shaded by the noble trees. A sudden shower would shoot up
a thousand umbrellas. One speaker said that happening to look up from
his manuscript he perceived that an acre of toadstools had sprouted in a
minute. At the lower end of this park stood the tent wherein Dr. Vincent
dwelt during many seasons; at the upper end was the new cottage of the
Miller family with a tent frame beside it for guests. At this Auditorium
all the great lectures were given for the first four years of
Chautauqua history, except when continued rain forbade.