The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1873-11-21
ScraMbleS in Wonderland.
By One of the Scramblers.
Number Three.
s

Il GEYSERS.
Among the many curious and wonder
exciting objects that have rendered til,
National Park a veritabl Die Wonderland,
none have arrested more attention thai
geysers. Curiosity is universal; a love o
the marvellous is inherent in the most or
binary mind, while ideas of the sublime
aud aesthetic, in Art or Nature. depend
upon liberal endowment and culture.
CURIOSITY, WONDER, AWE,
Fear and joy are awakened, while a sense
of beauty and grandeur combined, per.
vades the mind during the exhibition Of
a first-class geyser.
Here is an extract of first impressions
from my diary: Saturday, Aug. 30,
1872. Camp near Castle Geyser-sun-
rise-awakcncd by roaring and rumbling
sounds. Some of the boys shouted;
Grand Geyser is spouting!' Rose hall
bewildered by the strange situation. Ran,
after a moments preparation, toward the
noise. guided by a prodigious column OF
steam across the river, northwest from
camp. Granville Stuart, c. A. McCabe
and w. W. Dixon were ahead of me.
W. found dire commotion, but not the
real gcyser action anticipated. All sat
down on the adjacent rock, and for sew
eral minutes watched the frantic water
hiss, and heave and leap in foamy spray
from an elliptical basin some three feet
high and twenty feet long. We had
hardly noticed small orifce fifteen or
twenty feet distant. when, with terrific
force there burst from it a volume of
steam and hot water, rising rapidly high
er and higher, until it seemed with its
steamy envelope to reach the clouds. We
sprang to our fcet-we shouted and swung
our hats in wild enthusiasm. 1t was
majestic. The huge, sparkling pearls of
hot water came hirling back in radiant
cascades. The sun rose as We stood spell
bound with this fascinating scene. Its
rays cleaned in prismatic splcndOr
against the massive fountain.
THIS WAS THE GRAND GEYsER.
In less than ten minutes its action had
ceased. The fallen water lay spread out
in a circular, shallow pool around the
~Orifice, and now began to run back with
a gurgling rumble. In a moment the
yellOw-tinted cau'iflower masses 0 fsilicate
lay bare and glittering under our precip-
itatc feet"
A DAY OF WONDERS
Was thus inaugurated. Surprise and as
constituent fed our high wrought appe-
titles. We strobe recklessly through hot
water and peered with wondering eyes
into craters whose seething spray would
frequently send us scrambling off with
false alarm.
About 8 o'clock A. NJ. We went close
up to
THE FAMOUS jill FAITHFUL,
Situated on the upper edge of the Basin,
nearly a mile from camp. This geyser
stands on an easy incline about two hun
dred yards from the river. 1t erupts
regularly e%very.hour. Duration of erup-
ton. four to five minutes. Its crater is
twenty-five feet high, somewhat irregular
in outline, but covered with systematical
masses of bead like ~silicate hard as flint
4 succession oflittle pools of water in
delicate-rimmed porcelain vases are at
,ached like martins nests around the
ferret of a castle, forming an elegant Sc
ries of terraces which serve the tourist
to ascend as steps around a tower. Pass
ing up We look into an oricfc six feet
in diameter.
WE HEAR THE MUFFLED DASHING
OF sullen waves below. The angry surge
grows louder-nearer-splaSh! The
Iucid:spray leaps over the crater. thine
We rush off pell NELL. See the big sill
very drops ascend! Circling out in
graceful curves, then quickly fall at our
feet. The next impulse makes a higher
sweep-higher yet-loOk!
SPLENDID PYRAMIDAL FOUNTAIN
OF snowy Wilderness stands one hundred
and fifty vertical feet skyward; while
above cOlumnar masses of steam rise up
to kiss the tleecy clouds. The crater We
stood upon Il moment since is hid by a
tear-dropping mantle which the Eastern
Day-king paints with the many colored
dyes of his wardrobe. Listen to the
stern music of its roar! Power-resist-
less, overwhelming power is the solemn
establishment it drops to a lower altitude. |
In another moment all is quiet, save the
myriad purllng ~rivulets that rush through
the alabaster channels to the river.
The first day among the big geysers |
was spent in excited scrambling within a
radius of two or three miles from camp
sometimes wading the river--splashing
through hot water--fnding here and
there
UNIQUE SPECIMENS
Of siliciiied wood, some hard and some |
translucent, others newly coated with
calcareOus or siliciOus incrustat;ons, CIV
ing them the appearance of plaster paris
or pearl, agreeing with the substance of
the coating. Twigs and grasses thus
dressed in enamel lay in the scalloped
pools around the small geysers and small
springs like toys on the shelves in a Gu
riosity shop.
just here let me protest against the
vandalism that with axe and hammer
despoils the fantastic tracery which
adorns the cones and craters of geysers
already historical. This barbarism is
the more rep~rehensible on account of the
abundance of detached specimens and
the equally beautiful though less con-
%spicuOus variety found in the water chan
nels in the background.
CASTLE GEYSER,
Standing like a monument on 4 snow-clad
hill, frequently dashing out Jets Of spray,
fifteen to twenty feet above its crater.
Once during our stay it sent up a beauti-
full fountain, similar to those already de-
scribed, of about ten minutes duration.
Near it is a most beautiful. circular hot
spring, twenty-five feet across. Its deep,
cavernous chambers, decorated with
fungiform embroidery, is revealed as in IA
mirror. Looking down full sixty feet
into its depth the spectacle is enchant-
ing. The whole concave is radiant with
rainbow more pleasing aud ftful than
those of the kaleidoscope.