Geology 



to land with this party and to give instructions as to 

 the exact sites which we recommended for the trial 

 wells. This being accomplished, we were able to go 

 on to Three Forks without further delay, and eventually 

 reached our old camping-ground without any untoward 

 incident having occurred. 



We were to be followed in a week or so by a 

 surveying party, who had been instructed to make an 

 accurate survey of the gold-bearing region and to plan 

 out a town at Three Forks. They were to be followed 

 by a strong draft of military police, as it was expected 

 that in all probability there would soon be a large 

 population on the spot. 



Having started the ddpot, we had some days to 

 spare before we could take up our work in Centre 

 Valley, for, although the winter was over, there was 

 still much snow in this elevated region, and the upper 

 part of the valley would not be sufficiently clear for our 

 purpose for some few days, although rapid melting 

 was even then in progress. 



West Valley appeared to contain less snow than 

 either of the others, and we, therefore, took the oppor- 

 tunity of making a further inspection of the volcano. 

 The lava-stream which we had seen flow into the lake 

 on our former visit had now become solid throughout, 

 though its interior was still at a high temperature. 



Solid lava is not a good conductor of heat, and we 

 were able to traverse the stream without inconvenience 

 except from the fumes which issued from some of the 

 fissures. This saved us the long detour which we had 

 previously had to make. There was little, if any, vapour 

 visible above the crater from the foot of the cone, but 



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