hin the last few years, when Mr.
Stephenson of Georgetown, Ky. and the intrepid guide, Stephen,
conceived the idea of reaching the opposite side by throwing a ladder
across the frightful chasm. This they accomplished, and on this
ladder, extending across a chasm of twenty feet wide and near two
hundred deep, did these daring explorers cross to the opposite side,
and thus open the way to all those splendid discoveries, which have
added so much to the value and renown of the Mammoth Cave. The
Bottomless Pit is somewhat in the shape of a horse-shoe, having a
tongue of land twenty seven feet long, running out into the middle of
it. From the end of this point of land, a substantial bridge has been
thrown across to the cave on the opposite side.

[Illustration: BOTTOMLESS PIT.
On Stone by T. Campbell
Bauer & Teschemacher's Lith.]

While standing on the bridge, the guide lets down a lighted paper into
the deep abyss; it descends twisting and turning, lower and lower, and
is soon lost in total darkness, leaving us to conjecture, as to what
may be below. Crossing the bridge to the opposite cave, we find
ourselves in the midst of rocks of the most gigantic size lying along
the edge of the pit and on our left hand. Above the pit is a dome of
great size, but which, from its position, few have seen. Proceeding
along a narrow passage for some distance, we arrived at the point from
which diverge two noted routes--the Winding Way and Pensico Avenue.
Here we called a short halt; then wishing our newly formed
acquintances [Transcriber's note: sic] a safe voyage over the "deep
waters," we parted; they taking the left hand to the Winding Way and
the rivers, and we the right to Pensico Avenue.

CHAPTER VII.

Pensico Avenue--Great Crossings--Pine Apple Bush--Angelica's Grotto--
Winding Way--Fat Friend in Trouble--Relief Hall--Bacon Chamber--
Bandit's Hall.

Pensico Avenue averages about fifty feet in width, with a height of
about thirty feet; and is said to be two miles long. It unites in an
eminent degree the truly beautiful with the sublime, and is highly
interesting throughout its entire extent. For a quarter of a mile from
the entrance, the roof is beautifully arched, about twelve feet high
and sixty wide, and formerly was encrusted with rosettes and other
formations, nearly all of which have been taken away or demolished,
leaving this section of the Cave quite denuded. The walking here is
excellent; a dozen persons might