272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



mass of white nearly anhydrous sihca, or geysirite. 

 [Specimen shown.] 



After crossing the river, the only bridge being the 

 trunk of a young pine, not so large as a telegraph pole, 

 casually flung across, on which I had to display my 

 powers as an acrobat (with no one at hand, unfortunately, 

 to see and appreciate them), I found myself in close 

 proximity to three or four more or less active geysirs. 

 One of these was of a very peculiar type. It is called 

 the "Grotto" geysir, and is certainly a most fantastic 

 piece of architecture. [Lantern slide shown.] It has 

 two orifices very near together, and the two escaping jets 

 of water are thrown slantingly against one another in the 

 same way as the jets of gas in the "union" form of 

 burner. Thus the regularity of the discharge is interfered 

 with, the water being dashed about in several directions at 

 once ; and the deposit of geysirite had gradually assumed 

 the curious forms here shown. When I saw it, the 

 streams of boiling water seemed fighting with each other, 

 as if from tw^o rival fire-engines, splashing right and left 

 through the holes in the grotto, until all was enveloped in 

 a cloud of steam and spray. 



A little south of this I came to one of the largest of 

 the regularh^-formed geysir-craters in the district, — the 

 Giant Geysir. [Lantern slide show^n.] Its cone is about 

 14 or 15 feet high, with a bore of 7 feet in diameter, and 

 it sends up an unbroken watery column of this diameter 

 to a height of 200 feet, maintaining the discharge for at 

 least an hour. I was not fortunate enough to see an 

 eruption of it (they occur at very irregular intervals), but 

 as one side of the cone is broken down, I could look in 

 and see the water surging below, sometimes rising quickly 

 to the surface in a wav that excited hopes of an explosion, 

 but soon retreating again to a depth of 8 or 10 feet. Stones 

 thrown in had no effect in making its " angry passions 

 rise." I had no soap with me (I saw very little of that 



