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new information to communicate respecting these
extraordinary fountains; hut as a period of five-
and-forty years has passed away since Sir John
Stanley’s visit to this singular and interesting
country, I may perhaps be pardoned for going
over the same ground with him, were it only for
the sake of examining whether any and what
changes may have taken place in the course of
that period.
We were now arrived close upon the verge of
th a t plain out of which these boiling springs issue.
The moment we turned a projecting angle of the
range of hills called the Laugerfell, along which
we had been travelling all the way from Almannagaiaa,
and entered the plain, we were at once in
the midst of smoke and steam, rising ahov'e and
around us, and of boiling springs and bogs of
heated mud at every step we took. Our first object
was to look out for some firm and dry spot on
which we might pitch our tent, as close to the
principal Geysers as possible; and while that operation
was going on, we perambulated this extraordinary
piece of ground, that seemed to be shaking
and trembling under our feet, and below which
we could hear a sort of murmuring or rumbling
noise not unlike that of distant thunder.
In some places we found single detached fountains
or jets throwing up steam mixed with w ater;
in others several smaller ones grouped together
emitting steam only. In one place, where a mound.
or oblate and truncated cone, of considerable extent,
rose in a gradual slope out of the plain, the
rumbling noise was loudest; and a large basin in
the summit of the mound at once pointed out to
us that this was th a t which, par excellence, is
called the Great Geyser; but all above ground
was still and quiet. The number, size, and position
of the several springs on this small piece
of ground, which does not exceed twelve acres, may
best be collected from the sketch m the following
pacxe, laid down by the eye with the aid of a pocket
compass, from every part of which is thrown out
steam or water, or b oth; but in this sketch 1 he
principal boiling and mud springs only are laid
down, those numerous holes or fissures that were
emitting steam without water not being inserted.
It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when
we arrived on the ground; and none hut those who
have witnessed the scene can appreciate the impatience
we felt to be favoured with one of those grand
exhibitions, which some few of our countrymen have
seen with wonder and delight. But if we were
doomed to experience a painful state of suspense
the party who had passed us on the road, and
who had reached the spot a short time bUore us
were pretty much in the same state of anxiety with
ourselves, waiting for a burst from some of the
boiling cauldrons. Another party informed us
that, after about twenty-four hours’ expectation,
they had been gratified with a splendid eruption
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