152 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TEERITOEIES. 



obtained no data as to the interval. The crater is only a few feet from 

 the Grand Geyser, above which it rises about 3 feet. It is 23 feet long 

 and 11 feet wide and feet in depth. The sides and bottom of this large 

 basin are covered with globular masses that look lilie large squashes 

 or pumpkins. (Fig. 38.) This resemblance is increased by their yellow 



Fig. 38. 



GLOBULAR MASSES IN THE CRATER OF THE TURBAN GEYSER. 



color. We thought 

 of naming it the 

 Pumpkin Geyser, 

 but, as the name Tur- 

 ban is perhaps more 

 euphonious and some 

 of the masses are tur- 

 ban-shaped, we called 

 it the Turban Geyser. 

 The orifice through 

 which the water rises 

 '^- IS situated at one end 

 ''^■'^ of the basin and is 

 ^1 irregular in shape, 

 measuring 4 feet by 

 3 feet. After the 

 eruptions the water sinks into the tube very rapidly, leaving the 

 entire basin empty. Preceding the eruption the basin fills, and the 

 mass of water is so great that it cannot be projected to any great 

 height. It is violently agitated and the escaping steam splashes it 

 about in all directions. 



The following is the eruption "we witnessed : 



August 20. — 7.5.30 a. m. eruption began ; 7.5.45 a. m. eruption ended. 

 Maximum lieight, 25 feet; mean height, 19 feet. 



Saic-AJill Geyser. — This also is one of the smaller geysers as well as 

 one of the prettiest in the basin. The mass of water thrown up is not 

 very great in quantity and is so broken into spray that it presents a 

 most delicate fountain-like stream. I saw but one eruption closel.v, and 

 before I had time to ascertain the height of the column, the Grand 

 Geyser, which is quite near, began to sj^out, and I was obliged to leave 

 the Saw-Mill. During its eruption there are noticed four distinct 

 periods of action per minute, each one made up of fifteen impulses. 

 The main body of water is carried up about 5 feet and then at intervals 

 a stream is suddenly shot through this mass to the height of about 15 

 or 20 feet. I stood between the geyser and the sun, and on one side of 

 the column there was the half-arch of a rainbow. 



Giant Geyser. — This geyser was not seen in action by any member of 

 the expedition this year, although last year it was one of the most active 

 in the group. It is 500 yards northwest from the Grand Geyser, on the 

 opposite side of the river, near the water's edge. It has a rough cone- 

 like cratey, 10 feet in lieight, measuring 24 by 25 feet at the base. The 

 top is about 8 feet in diameter, the orifice from which the water is pro- 

 jected being about 5 feet in diameter. This cone is situated on a plat- 

 form of geyserite, which rises 4 feet above the surrounding level and 

 has a circumference of 342 yards. The sounding-line reached a depth 

 of 25 feet in this cone. On the same platform there is a second cone, 

 or rather a mound, 232 feet in diameter and feet high, which has two 

 orifices from wliich water spouts to the height of 12 to 15 feet at irregu- 

 lar intervals. The first orifice measures feet by 2^ feet, and at the 

 bottom there are two holes from which the water is projected simulta- 

 neously. The greatest depth which the line reaches liere is 17^ feet. 



