384 



THE MUSEUM. 



diameter, with little elevation, the 

 most being an elevation of geyserite 

 some 3 or 4 feet on the south side. 



Opposite this, on the north side, is 

 a large pool which receives the over- 

 flow from the crater preceding an 

 eruption. Eruptions occur when the 

 crater and pool fill with water, when 

 the entire mass is suddenly thrown to 

 a height of about 20 feet, while jets 

 may be thrown to a height of 60 feet. 

 After eruption the water in the crater 

 falls from 12 to 18 inches, (gradually 

 rising until the crater and lake are 

 again full. The temperature of the 

 water in the crater gradually rises, at- 

 taining a maximum at eruption. A 

 half hour before eruption I took the 

 temperature with a sensitive thermom- 

 eter graduated in half degrees. It reg- 

 istered 86. 5 ° C, and gradually rose 

 to 92. 5 ° C, a few seconds before 

 eruption, 188.7° and 198.5° F. 

 The eruptions last from 1 5 minutes to 

 an hour, generally about i 5 minutes. 



The crater of the Fountain Geyser is 

 much similar to what it was in 1878, 

 when visited by Dr. Hayden, as shown 

 by the figure of it in his report. 



From the Fountam to the Mam- 

 moth Paint Pot is but a few hundred 

 feet eastward, A few pines are be- 

 tween them, and the pot is several feet 

 higher than the geyser. This remark- 

 able mud caldron lies in a basin about 

 50 feet in diameter, with mud rim four 

 or five feet high all around save toward 

 the north. In this basin a fine pink- 

 white mass, in constant agitation, is 

 constantly bubbling. It resembles a 

 huge bed of mortar boiling, and the 

 sound of the bubbles as they explode 

 makes a continuous "plop, plop, 

 plop." The bubbles rise in hemis- 

 pheres, cones, rings and jets, and as 

 they collopse frequently throw the 

 finely powdered silicious clay out on 

 the bank. Needless to say it is scald- 

 ing hot, as one of our drivers can tes- 

 tify. 



Near the Paint Pots is the Great 

 Fountain, situated in a somewhat dan- 

 gerous locality, where are numerous 



springs. In one of these may be seen 

 the whitened skeleton of a buffalo. 

 Our guide book remarks that "No 

 king or saint was ever more magnifi- 

 cently entombed than this monarch of 

 the hills in his sepulchre in the wilder- 

 ness, " 



The traveler in the Park with his 

 own outfit must exercise some caution 

 if he wishes to escape without mishap. 

 In many places the crust is a thin 

 shell, and by thumping with tbe heel 

 there is given out a sound which leaves 

 no doubt as to the character of the 

 support. Many cases are recorded of 

 horses breaking through while turned 

 out to gra;^e, or even while driving, 

 oftentimes into such hot, sticky slush as 

 to scald the leg above the fetlocks, and 

 in some instances requiring the animal 

 to be shot. There is no danger, how- 

 ever, if one camps away fromj the gey- 

 sers and their basins, that the animals 

 may not wander off into tlangerous 

 places. There are thousands of horses 

 taken through the Park, and those who 

 exercise reasonable care experience no 

 difficult}' whatever. 



From the Fountain to Upper Basin 

 is about ten miles, with an up hill pull 

 of I 50 feet. About half way is a basin 

 termed Midway, containing the crater 

 of the famous Excelsior Geyser, Tur- 

 quoise and Prismatic Lakes and other 

 points of interest. Excelsior is mere- 

 ly a huge pit of irregular outline 400 

 feet by 200 feet, on the west bank of 

 Firehole river. The water is some i 5 

 or 20 feet below the top of the walls, 

 is of a deep blue color, is in a contin- 

 ual state of agitation and sends off 

 great volumes of steam. This region 

 was formerly called "Hell's Half 

 Acre," until CoL W. P. Morris dis- 

 covered it was a geyser and called it 

 Excelsior. It is the greatest of all the 

 geysers, the others as compared with 

 it being insignificant. When it erupts 

 most of the others cease. Its first ob- 

 served eruption was in 1S81, after the 

 close of the tourist season, when thir- 

 ty eruptions were observed, varying in 

 interval from one to four hours, and in 



