GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY OF TPIE TERRITORIES. 



135 



reached this temperature, 194° F. beiojEf the nearest ap]>roach. The 

 rocks exposed near these springs are sedimentary and contain a great 

 deal of obsidian. 



About three-fourths of a mile farther up-stream we came to the head of 

 the creek and found that it originated in a most important group of 

 springs. Thej^ are situated in a. semicircular basin, bounded by a low- 

 hill wooded on the summit. The sides of this iiill are perfectly bare and 

 covered with glaring-white deposit, through which steam-jets force their 

 way. Looking down into the basin from the top of the hill is like look- 

 ing into a volcanic crater. The fumaroles^ solfataras and mud-springs 

 scattered through it give it a most peculiar appearance. The general 

 color throughout the basin is a glaring white, relieved here and there 

 by patches of brick-red iron deposits and the yellow of sulphur-masses 

 that are scattered throughout the basin. The crust extending over the 

 basin is lined with beautiful crystals of sulphur. On the left of this 

 basin there is a ravine, covered with deposits of the same character but 

 containing no springs. There are a few fumaroles remaining, the evi- 

 dence that once the ravine was the site of active springs. A few yards 

 on the opposite side of the basin there is a second ravine similar to the 

 first, and in which also the springs are all dead, nothing remaining but 

 the rust-colored deposits. I will give the different springs in this basin 

 below in tabular form. 



Sj)rings at ihe head of Violet Creek. 



Besides the springs enumerated in the table there were many smaller 

 ones and a few large pools through which the gases bubbled at various 

 points. The ground near the majority of them was too treacherous to 

 allow of our approach. There are also a great many steam-vents lined 

 with sulphur-crystals. The hardened deposit about some of the mud- 

 springs is an indurated clay, that has been deposited by the springs. 

 The first four springs given in the table have clear water, and the first 

 one was in violent ebullition, the water at times rising four feet 

 above the ordinary surfoce. In Xo. 10 I found butterflies that had 

 fallen into the water and been killed by' the heat. The odor of sul- 

 ])huretted hydrogen was not so strong at this locality as at the foot of 

 Mount Washburne. 



On the way back to camp we came across another group of springs, 

 about a mile southeast of the group given above, and have an elevation 

 about 200 feet lower. They are situated in a ravine bordering a small 

 branch of Violet Creek. The following table will show them all at a 

 glance: 



