DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70301#0152
352 kirby’s wonderful museum.
space of ground with the matter it deposited. The jets were
from thirty to forty feet high. They were shivered into the
finest particles of spray, and surrounded by great clouds of
steam. The situation of this spring was eighty yards distant
from the Geyser, on the rise of the hill.”
From the last mentioned circumstance, notwithstanding
the noise produced by the other, we were inclined to think
that the first cavity described was the one whence these fu-
rious jets were thrown. The quantity that runs from it is
small; and its perfect stillness at the time we saw it, formed
a striking contrast with Sir John Stanley’s description. The
mass of incrustations which seems to have been formed by
this spring, was open in several places, and the cavities were
full of water. It is probable that an earthquake has deranged
the mechanism of this spring, or that the production of heat
at the particular spot where it is situate, has ceased to be
sufficient to produce the striking phenomena it formerly ex-
hibited.
Having examined several other cavities, I returned to the
Geyser, in order to collect specimens of the incrustations on
the mount. I selected a fine mass close to the water on the
brink of the basin, and had not struck many blows with my
hammer, when I heard a sound like the distant discharging of
a piece of ordnance, and the ground shook under me. The
sound was repeated irregularly and rapidly; and I had just
given the alarm to my companions, who were at a little dis-
tance, when the water, after heaving several times, suddenly
rose in a large column, accompanied by clouds of steam,
from the middle of the basin, to the height of ten or twelve
feet. The column seemed as if it burst, and sinking down it
produced a wave, which caused the water to overflow the ba-
sin in considerable quantity. The water having reached my
feet, I was under the necessity of retreating, but I kept my
eye fixed on what was going on. After the first propulsion,
the water was thrown up again to the height of about fifteen
space of ground with the matter it deposited. The jets were
from thirty to forty feet high. They were shivered into the
finest particles of spray, and surrounded by great clouds of
steam. The situation of this spring was eighty yards distant
from the Geyser, on the rise of the hill.”
From the last mentioned circumstance, notwithstanding
the noise produced by the other, we were inclined to think
that the first cavity described was the one whence these fu-
rious jets were thrown. The quantity that runs from it is
small; and its perfect stillness at the time we saw it, formed
a striking contrast with Sir John Stanley’s description. The
mass of incrustations which seems to have been formed by
this spring, was open in several places, and the cavities were
full of water. It is probable that an earthquake has deranged
the mechanism of this spring, or that the production of heat
at the particular spot where it is situate, has ceased to be
sufficient to produce the striking phenomena it formerly ex-
hibited.
Having examined several other cavities, I returned to the
Geyser, in order to collect specimens of the incrustations on
the mount. I selected a fine mass close to the water on the
brink of the basin, and had not struck many blows with my
hammer, when I heard a sound like the distant discharging of
a piece of ordnance, and the ground shook under me. The
sound was repeated irregularly and rapidly; and I had just
given the alarm to my companions, who were at a little dis-
tance, when the water, after heaving several times, suddenly
rose in a large column, accompanied by clouds of steam,
from the middle of the basin, to the height of ten or twelve
feet. The column seemed as if it burst, and sinking down it
produced a wave, which caused the water to overflow the ba-
sin in considerable quantity. The water having reached my
feet, I was under the necessity of retreating, but I kept my
eye fixed on what was going on. After the first propulsion,
the water was thrown up again to the height of about fifteen