164 REPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



feet in width at the widest part. In the bottom are two basins or ori- 

 fices, one of which is yellow and the other black. The latter is the bub- 

 bling center of the spring, and is the point at which the temperature of 

 1970 F. was noted. Below the spring are oozing spots and cavities in 

 the deposit. 



No. 5. — This is a spouting spring, with a basin 10 feet by 12 feet, sur- 

 rounded by a bright-yellow rim. In the center of the basin are two ir- 

 regular fissure-like orifices. There are two outlets or water-ways to this 

 spring, one of which carries the water to the north and the other to the 

 south. 



No. 6. Terrace Spring. — This spring is easily recognized by its high 

 mound, which is south of the Great Fountain. On the summit of the 

 terrace-like mound is the spring, an oval basin measuring 8 feet by 12 

 feet. It is very deep, and the water has a dark, inky-green tint, almost 

 black in places, The rim around the spring is raised from 3 to 5 inches, 

 and formed of pointed masses of geyserite, which are yellow inside and 

 grayish- white outside. At one end of the basin the water is in ebulli- 

 tion, and has a temperature of 201° F. 



Beauty Spring. — This spring, which is one of the handsomest basins in 

 the Lower Geyser Basin, was described as follows by Mr. Holmes in my 

 report for 1872 : 



It is isolated from the neighboring springs and nestled in against an abrupt bank, 

 so obscured by tall pines that the visitor is liable to pass it by unnoticed. In ap- 

 proaching from the creek I passed up a gradually ascending slope down which the 

 water Hows, covering in its meanderings more than an acre of ground, and leaving, 

 wherever it touches, brilliant streams of color. About a hundred yards (?) from the 

 creek I came upon the spring, the waters of which stand nearly on a level with the 

 surrounding surface. Approaching the border, I looked down into the blue, mysteri- 

 ous depth and watched the large bubbles of steam slowly rising to the surface and 

 passing off into the air. The larger of these bubbles would lift up a considerable 

 quantity of water, sometimes to the height of 3 or 4 feet, producing a kind of spas- 

 modic boiling, and dashing a succession of waves against the rim. The spring is sur- 

 rounded by an irregular rim, which stands a few inches above the general level of the 

 water. The basin is 20 feet long and 10 feet wide, one end being narrower and par- 

 tially separated from the main ibasin by an irregular row of beaded islands and pro- 

 jections. 



Although the spring and basin are very chaste and delicate in form as well as color, 

 there are other springs more beautiful in those respects. But when I ascended the 

 bank and looked down upon the spring and its surroundings, I concluded, without the 

 least hesitation, that I had never seen anything so uniquely beautiful. On the upper 

 side of the spring, next to the bank, the water in overfiowiTig ran into large shallow 

 pools, painting whatever it touched with the colors of the rainbow. Beds of rich, 

 creamy white and rich yellows were interlaid with patches of siennas and purples, and 

 divided up and surrounded by the most fantastic patterns of delicate grays and rich 

 browns. On the side next the creek the running water has made a network of streams. 

 In those where the water is still hot the colors are bright, varying from a ci'eamy 

 white to the brightest yellows, but as the water becomes cooler, farther down, the 

 colors grow dnrker and richer, the siennas greatly predominating, while the basins 

 of the larger pools are stained with still darker colors, frequently of a purple tint, and 

 reflecting the picturesque groups of pines on their dark surfaces. Scattered irregularly 

 over the whole surface are numberless little areas of dry deposit, from which the 

 brighter tints have fadied, but which still retain such a great v^ariety of purple and 

 blue grays that the harmony of the whole field of color is complete. 



This spring, so well described by Mr. Holmes, is on the west side of 

 the creek, and has periodical bulgings at intervals of a few minutes. 

 The steam escapes with a throbbing pulsation. The temperature, 194° 

 F., was taken on the edge. 



White Spot Spring. — This is a small, unimportant spring on the side 

 of the hill west of the Beauty Spring. Its temperature was not taken, 

 and it is therefore not included in the table. 



