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Page 140
The interior of this cave is divided by huge columns and walls of stone
into chambers of various shapes and sizes. Some of these are large
enough to afford standing room for thousands of people.
One of the largest of these chambers is called Mammoth Dome. This room
is four hundred feet long, one hundred and fifty feet wide, and two
hundred and fifty feet in height.
The walls of this grand room are curtained by alabaster drapery in
vertical folds and present to the eye a scene of unexampled beauty and
grandeur.
A large gateway at one end of this room opens into another room, in
which the position of the huge stone pillars, reminds one of the ruins
of some ancient temple.
Six colossal columns, or pillars, eighty feet high and twenty-five feet
in diameter, standing in a half circle, are among the imposing
attractions of this wonderful room.
Another striking feature of Mammoth Cave is what is called the Dead Sea.
This body of water is four hundred feet long, forty feet wide, and very
deep.
A curious fish is found in this dark lake. It is without eyes, and, in
form and color, is different from any fish found outside the cave.
There are found also a blind grasshopper, without wings, and a blind
crayfish of a whitish color, both of which are very curious and
interesting.
The fact that these living creatures are blind would seem to indicate
that nature had produced them for the distinct purpose of inhabiting
this dark cave.
NIAGARA FALLS.
Of all the sights to be seen on this continent, there is none that
equals the great Falls of Niagara River, situated about twelve miles
north of Buffalo, in the State of New York.
On first beholding this most wonderful of all known cataracts, one is
overawed by its surpassing grandeur, "and stunned by the sound of the
falling waters as by a roar of thunder."
For quite a distance above the falls, the Niagara River is about one
mile wide, and flows with great swiftness.
Just at the edge of the cataract stands Goat Island, which divides the
waters of the river, and makes two distinct cataracts; one on the
Canadian side, and one on the American side of the river.
The one on the Canadian side, called from its shape the Horse-shoe Fall,
is eighteen hundred feet wide, and one hundred, and fifty-eight feet
high. The other, called the American Fall, is six hundred feet wide, and
one hundred and sixty-four feet high.
As the immense body of water leaps over this vast precipice, it breaks
into a soft spray, which waves like a plume in the wind. At times, when
the rays of the sun strike this spray, a rainbow is formed which
stretches itself across the deep chasm, and produces a beautiful effect.
During the winter, much of the water and spray freezes, and as each
moment adds to the frozen mass, some curious and wonderful ice
formations are produced.
Sometimes, during a very cold winter, the ice at the foot of the falls
forms a complete bridge from one shore to the other.
An interesting feature of a visit to these falls is a descent to the
level of the foot of the cataract behind the great sheet of water.
A long flight of steps leads down to a secure footing between the rocky
precipice and the falling torrent. By a narrow footpath, it is possible
for the visitor to pass between this column of water and the wall of
rock.
Once behind the sheet of water, the roar is deafening. One can only
cling to the narrow railing or his guide, as he picks his way for more
than a hundred feet behind the roaring torrent.
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