Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1874-09-03

1
/ only cooking. / slept soundly, but some
| members of our party were excited and
| restless Toward morning there were
i several mysterious underground thunps,
! which sent them posting to the Geysers
briin but only denser steam and a heaY-
| Ter overflow of water followed. The
i scene in the.morning was curious. We
/ took our toilette articles, and went, half
i dressed, to the hollow between the Gey-
ser and the spring, where the. surplus
/ overflow was shallow and lullewarm. 1t
was already occupied (; royal chamber
4 lin was scooping up. water in his. hands,
4 an Admiral was dipping his toothbrush
/ into the stream, a Copenhagen professor
was iaboriously shaving himself by the
aid of a lo0l2ing-glass stuck Ia the crack
i Of the crater, and the King, neat and
/ fresh as. if at home, stood on the bank
/ and amused himself with the sight. The
/ quality Of the. water is exquisite 1t is
I like down and. velvet to the skin, soap
/ becomes finer substance in it., and the
/ refresEmeut given to the hands and face
/ seem to pernleate the whole body. 1T
one could only. have a complete bath a
| days labor would make a pool sufficient
/ therefor yet. the idea has never occurred
| to single soul, native or foreign : j
/ did not dare to venture a quarter OF a
I mile away from the Geysers during the
whole day We all fell into condition
! of. nervous expectancy which could not
! be escaped, cOthical as were some Of its
! features. There was a pile of turf-per-
! haps cartioad-beside the Str0kr
| which lay Just below our tent, and we
i were told that the ealdr0n would spout
! for. the. king as soon as he had finished
/ his breakfast; so we sat down. c0ntented
to the second ployer stew which Mr.
T Gladstone and DIR. Hayes bad provided
| for us. The farmer from whom we had
| procured fuel sent us several bottles of
| delicious cream aud large salmon for
dinuer ...E......-. re-. ~
I The Strobr il. a pit about five feet. in
/ diameter, and eight feet deep, to the or
binary level of the water, winch is al
ways in a furious boiling state. Prof
Steenstrup. assured me that ii. was not
connected with the Great Geyser, as the
analysis of the water shows a difference,
but the people arc equally convinced
that it is, and that to provoke its actiy-
itY diminishes the chances of the former
sp0utinS. However this may be, the
royal command was given. The pile of
turf was pitched into the hole, and all
gathered around, at "a safe distance,
waiting to see what would follow. For
ten minutes we noticed nothing but a
dimingtion of steam then the water
glished up tQ the level Of the soil in a
state of violent agitatiot. subsidized, rose
again, spouted the fun breadth Of the
hole 10 a hight Of fifteen or twenty feet,
sank back, and finally, after another mo-
ment of quiet, shot 4 hundred feet into
Il L 81
coHsistency Of gravel filled the jet, and
F. darhened its central shaft, but | did not
find that it diminished the bsauty-Of the
phenomenon. Jot after Jet followed,
sending long, plume-like tufts from the
summit and sides of the main column,
around which the snowy drifts Of steam
IShirled and eddied with a grace so swift
that the eye could scarcely seize it. At
such moments the base was hidden, and
the form Of the fountain wasIikc bunch
of the Pampas grass in blossom-a clus-
ter Of feathery pauicEes of spray. The
performance lasted nearly ten minutes,
and was resumed again two or three
times after it seemed to have ceased.
Two or three of the last spOutings were
the highest, and some estimated them at
fully 100 feet. Finally, the Indignant
caldroE threw out the last of its an
clean emetic, aud sank to its normal
I-level. The kim. who had Turned aside
10 saint. o,3r con}ra,,Z va. Il, M. act az
evnrnssino Ia me bis sllnIirefio, Of tho
seanp when the Little Ge.sser. g9vr and.
den .siens' Of ac1iop. There was !, rnsb.
+ of whole nartv His Uiabness tnrn-
ed. and run like & boy. -iulnpina, over the
gulIias and stones with an 9piiity. which
must have Iyewilaered the heavy officials.
1t was a false alarm. The Little Geyser
let off a few sharp discharges of steam,
as if merely to test the pressure. and
then, asif satisfied. resumed It's indDlsnt.
smoky habit.
The cone of the Great Gcvser is not
more than 20 feet high. and appears to
have been gradually formed by the de
post OF the silici0uS particles which the
water holds ina solution. The ton is like
a shallow wayb-hoWl. 30 feet in dame
ter. full to the brim. and slowly over
flowing on the eastern side In fhecen-
ire cf This howl tbaraiy q veil indicqfa1
Inv the Intense bluo.rr,.on af Tho voter
ANA a1,nfrnrItly cirbf ar tan faat IN, a.
ap,etfr II has Gacn sounded ana bot
tops-o ar At least . chapqa If diraetion
reached At lie Ien+b If q, fea+ Al
tIrs ...I'ya1 c-Eers tbe ,.att.,- : .s6ar1ort,.
80 ON, Az, I1s fi,,,,ars j., ,,,;,l.11., itT
ant heinz scol5e3 Snail r,Ssrt;ciae
nl3cea in I'M overflow arc co5,rleteIv
i5nornste1 vim trsfsnarr5t s;loy iva :. day
or t9.o prof Staepsfy mn. inforrTs1 me
hot fb, t,st,r. Eos ';,i,,,.,rta,+ bao7j,,>.
" IT, my go go NS ''Ltil
PropertIes. ne steam has an ouof OF
sutpnHEG!Gd hydT@Seh, Dat Inc taste
thereof. iS 50 soon lost That where The
sVrean. .beGames coid, we use II Tor
drinking and nlakHg ceHee. snail
never forget that calm, sublime day at
the GeyseFs. After reading many DE-
seriptlons, | was never less prepared for
the reality of the scene. Instead OF
dreaF, narrow volcanic valley, here was
Il landscape bounded on tAe west by
mountains. but to the north, east and
south Only to be SPAWNED by a radius of
hIty mtles Near as, quiet, grass
rooted .farmstead towards the sea,
meadows and gtoams of rivers in 'front.'
Ine o[Qaq, green plain, lts inelesing hills,
ana He&ia rlSing lonely above them
illlI-l ware, church and nelghborlnS
byIes, Il SHloOIl grassy ridge beyond. the !