had I a fear of being scalded by any scattered
or falling drops. Stones of the largest size
that I could find, and great masses of the siliceous
rock, which we threw into the crater,
were instantly ejected by the force of the
water, and, though the rock was of so solid a
nature as to require very hard blows from a
large hammer, w7hen I wanted to procure
specimens, they were, nevertheless, by the
violence of the explosion, shivered into small
pieces, and carried up with amazing rapidity
to the full height of, and frequently higher
than, the summit of the spout. One piece
of a light porous stone was flung at least
twice as high as the water, and falling in the
direction of the column, was met by it, and
a second time forced up to a great height in
the air, The spring, after having continued
for an hour and half spouting its waters in so
lofty a column, and with such amazing force,
experienced an evident diminution in its
strength ; and, during the space of the succeeding
half hour, the elevation of the spout
varied, as we supposed, from twenty to fifty
feet; the fountain gradually becoming more
and more exhausted, and sometimes remaining
completely still for a few minutes, after
which it again feebly raised its waters to the
height of not more than from two to ten feet,
till, at the expiration of two hours and a
half from the commencement of the eruption,
it ceased to play, and the water sunk into
the pipe to the depth of about twenty feet,
and there continued to boil for some time.
I had no hesitation in pronouncing this to
be, what is called by Sir John Stanley, the
New Geyser'*; although the shape and dimensions
of the crater differ somewhat from
the descriptions given by that gentleman.
But, after a lapse of twenty years, it is not to be
expected that, with two such powerful agents
as fire and water, constantly operating, a spot
like this should be suffered to remain without
any alteration. The outline of the aperture
is an irregular oval, seventeen feet long and
nine feet in width; on only one side of which
there is a rim pr elevated margin, about five
* The term Geyser, it may be here remarked, is derived
from an Icelandic word which implies a vomiting
forth, or boiling out, in a furious manner, and at intervals.
“ Nomen habet (the learned rector of Skalholt
writes to Sir Joseph Banks) a verbo islándico ad giosa
evomere, ebullire; aquas enim per intervalla in altum
evomit. ”