GEOLOGY. 



635 



It is also to volcanic efforts that we must refer those gi- 

 gantic crystals of basalt which seem to have been pushed 

 out of the earth by a prodigious force, in order to form at 

 the surface, in one place, those remarkable " giants' cause- 

 ways," which are a favorite haunt with the inquiring ; in 

 another, those islands and grottoes which, rising from the 



237. Basaltic Cliffs and Causeway, Staffa. 



bosom of the waves, astonish us by their mass or the ar- 

 rangement of their prismatic columns, such as the rocks of 

 the Cyclops near the coast of Sicily, and especially Fingal's 

 Cave in the island of Staffa. 



lestial glory." After playing for about twenty minutes, the water gradually sub- 

 sides, till it sinks into the crater, out of sight. Anotber remarkable geyser here is 

 the Fan Geyser, wbieh sends out five radiating jets to a height of 60 feet, the fall- 

 ing drops and spray giving the appearance of a feather fan. For a description 

 of these and other natural wonders the reader is referred to The Wonders of the 

 Yellowstone Region (Blackie & Son, 1874). There are also geysers in the North 

 Island of New Zealand, one of which is said to more than equal the Great Geyser 

 of Iceland. 



