500 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



highly civilized nations, physical events that do not have an immediate 

 effect upon their worldly interests are received with indifference or 

 apathy. Pliny, we know, gives a circumstantial account of the erup- 

 tion of Vesuvius, a. d. 79, but does not mention the destruction of 

 Herculaneum and Pompeii. It is probable that the Iceland geysers 

 originated in prehistoric times. Geyser, geysar, geiser, or geisir, as it 

 is variously spelled, is an old Icelandic word, meaning gusher, or rager, 

 and is derived from the verb geysa, or gjosa, to gush, to rage, or to 

 burst forth, to be impelled. In Iceland, in native usage, it is a proper 

 name, being ai3plied not only to the Great Geyser, but also to another 

 fountain at Reykium. The word, however, has become an appellative 

 or common name for the whole class of boiling fountains that spout 

 hot water intermittently, just as the term volcano is derived from the 

 name of one of the vents in the Lipari Islands. 



The geysers of New Zealand are found on the North Island, scat- 

 tered through the area which extends from Tongariro (a semi-active 

 volcanic cone), in about the center of the island, to the Bay of Plenty. 

 They have long been known to the natives, who have no traditions as 

 to their age, but from time immemorial have used the quiet hot springs 

 to warm their huts and to cook their food. Every hut has its boiler 

 close to the door ; bread is baked on large slabs of stone, placed over 

 the hottest portions of the ground ; and on others, not quite so hot, 

 the lazy recline, wrapped in blankets, enjoying Vulcan's heat. In 

 these respects the Maoris have the advantage over our North Ameri- 

 can Indians, who have always avoided the Yellowstone region on ac- 

 count of their superstitious fears. 



The first white man who ever visited what is now the Yellowstone 

 Park was undoubtedly John Colter, who was a member of Lewis and 

 Clarke's celebrated expedition, and returned to the Upper Missoui-i 

 country in 1807, and passed around Yellowstone Lake, or, as it was 

 then called. Lake Eustis. His tales of the region were so wonderful 

 that it was derisively called " Colter's Hell." As far back as 1844, 

 James Bridger and Robert Meldrum, two noted Western trappers and 

 guides, were said to have described some of the springs and geysers of 

 the region, but their stories were so marvelous that they were not be- 

 lieved. The first printed description ever published was probably that 

 given in a Mormon paper, called " The Wasp," published at Nauvoo, 

 Illinois, in 1847. The unknown writer of this article undoubtedly vis- 

 ited the Lower Geyser Basin of Firehole River. Authentic information 

 of the region was also derived from a prospecting party who visited the 

 Lower Geyser Basin in 1863, under the leadership of Captain W. W. 

 De Lacey. In 1869 Messrs. Cook and David E. Folsom, with another 

 prospecting party, visited what is now the park, and the latter wrote 

 an account of its wonders which was published in the " Western, or 

 Lakeside Monthly," for July, 1870, where it was wrongly credited 

 to Mr. Cook. The Washburn expedition of 1 870 followed, the results 



