206 EEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



tremMed at his rage ; and finally, witli a mighty spasm, he hurled into the air a great 

 column of water. I should say that this column reached, at its highest point of eleva- 

 tion, an altitude of 250 feet. The spray and steam were driven through it up to a 

 much greater elevation, and then floated upward as a dense cloud to any distance. 

 The operation was not continuous, but consisted of strong, distinct pulsations, occur- 

 ring at a maximum rate of seventy per minitte ; having a general tendency to increase 

 gradually in vigor and rapidity of utterance until the greatest development of strength 

 was attained, and then sinking again by degrees. But the increase and subsidence 

 were not uniform or regular ; the jets arose, getting stronger and stronger at every 

 pulsation for ten or twelve strokes, until the effort would culminate in three impulses 

 of imusual power. The column of water appeared quite perpendicular, and was con- 

 stantly ascending, for long before one jet had attained its greatest elevation, another 

 had been forced through the aperture; but in the column the diff'erent efforts were 

 plainly visible. The volume of water ejected must have been prodigious; the spray 

 descended in heavy rain over a large area, and torrents of hot water, 6 or 8 inches 

 deep poured down the sloping platform. The noise of the eruption was indescribable. 

 I know of but one simile drawn from nature that conveys the smallest impression of 

 it, and even then the impression is quite inadequate to illustrate the subject. Have 

 yon ever sat upon the very verge of a steep sea-clilf in a gale ? I don't mean one of 

 your yachtman's breezes, but a real bona fide full winter's gale of wind, roaring from 

 the northwest over leagues and leagues of white Atlantic, and striking full against 

 the clilf-face. If you have, you will know that there is at the edge a little space of 

 complete calm, where the sea-pinks are scarcely stirred, and where you can sit and 

 listen to the awful riot around you, untouched by it. If you will sit there, and are 

 unaccustomed to such a scene, you will be half deafened and quite frightened by the 

 strife of wind, and rock, and sea. Hear with what tremendous blows the gale strikes 

 against the bold front of cliff" and flies hoarsely howling with rage just over your 

 head! Listen to its vicious scream as, baffled, it beats against the crags, and shrieks 

 shrilly round some jutting rock! The ground seems to shake under the shock and 

 thunder of the breakers against its base ; and under all you will note the continuous 

 hollow roar of the pebble bank crumbling to the sea with each receding wave. To all 

 these sounds of elemental war add the shrieking of the steam-pipes of many steamers 

 blowing off, and you will have some idea of an eruption of the Castle. Or, if you 

 don't know much about the sea, you may imagine a gigantic pot boiling madly with 

 a thunder storm in its stomach, and half full of great stones rolling and knocking 

 about its reverberating sides. Taken with the above-mentioned steam-pipe accompa- 

 niment, which is indispensable, this may convey a faint idea of the noise. The total 

 display lasted about an hour. Water was ejected for 20 minutes, and was then suc- 

 ceeded by steam, which was driven out with much violence and in great quantities. 

 Like the water, it was expelled in regular beats, increasing in rapidity as the jet de- 

 creased in strength until the pulsations merged into one continuous hoarse roar, which 

 gradually but fitfully subsided, and the exhausted geyser sank back into complete re- 

 pose. To enjoy such a sight as this, a man should have time to get a little accustomed 

 to it, for the display of such stupendous force exhibited in such an unusual manner 

 isj to say the least of it, startling.* 



This appears to be the only eruption witnessed, and must certainly 

 have been a grander display than we have ever seen. The height is esti- 

 mated, but it was certainly as high as any of the other geysers have 

 reached. The Earl of Dunraven considers it the greatest geyser in the 

 region, and his description certainly indicates this to be the fact. 



1875. — Captain Ludlow speaks of the Castle giving off vast quanti- 

 ties of steam on the morning of August 22, and says it spouted 10 or 

 15 feet; "several times during the morning it repeated its performance, 

 rarely exceeding, however, 20 or 25 feet."t 



Grinnell and Dana, in the same report, | say that it was active dur- 

 ing most of their stay, but that the amount of water discharged was 

 never very great, and the highest jets did not exceed 50 feet. 



1877. — The Castle was in constant agitation during Sherman's visit, 

 but no well-defined eruption was seen. 



1878. — The following are the notes of the eruptions I obtained in 1878 : 



August 28. — 1.50 p. m. The eruption began, and reached a height of 



* The Great Divide, pp. 26.5-268. 



t Report of Reconnaissance from Carroll, M. T., to Yellowstone Park, &c., p. 27. 



tibid., p. 132. 



