NOTES ON TRAVEL 225 



the wonders of the district. The feeling of adventure 

 and absolute freedom were things none of them ever 

 forgot. Every day had its interests and the nights 

 were full of wonders. Once they camped near " Old 

 Faithful." It is the largeot of the geysers, and its 

 habits are more regular than any of the others, hence 

 its name. Every 70 minutes it sends up a great rush 

 of boiling water to a height of about 150 feet. Till 

 late that night they sat by their camp fire watching the 

 great column of water go up and burst in the moonlight 

 into glittering spray. And all the night was punctuated 

 by its friendly greetings. Life was simple but busy 

 too. In the morning they were up early, and after 

 hot baths of nature's providing, bieakfast was cooked, 

 and the bread for the day baked by half the party while 

 the others saw to the horses and struck the tents, so as 

 to make an early start and take it easy in the hot part 

 of the day. The days were very hot and the nights 

 bitterly cold. The first night, to save time in the 

 morning, the kettle was filled overnight ; in the morning 

 it was frozen hard, and much time had to be spent on 

 thawing it, without splitting that valuable possession. 

 The days passed in a sort of wonderland. The great 

 obsidian cliff, with at its base the remains of an Indian 

 arrowhead factory, kept them busy a whole morning, 

 and a day spent at what is known as the paint-pot basin 

 was never forgotten. The paint pots are on the slope 

 of a hill entirely formed of the deposit. It is honey- 

 combed with holes of varying depths and sizes filled 



