PEALE.] HEART LAKE GEYSER BASIN WITCH CREEK SPRINGS. 295 



DESCRIPTION. 



The springs from which the group takes its name are situated in a 

 fissure on top of the mound on the right bank of the creek opposite the 

 falls and cascades. The upper portion of this fissure is well shown in 

 Plate XJja. It is situated at the base of the hill, and below it the de- 

 posit has a steep slope to a ravine which contains several large springs. 

 It is over this slope that the overflow from the fissure passes. The 

 fissure as exposed on the surface is about 300 feet in length, with nu- 

 merous holes and springs, of which the principal ones are given in the 

 table under Kos. 1, 2, and 3. Steam escapes constantly from the fissure, 

 as shown in the plate already referred to. The springs of ^o. 5 are 

 doubtless on the line of the same fissure, which is probably continuous 

 beneath the hard crust. This would give it a length of over 600 feet. 

 Springs Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are also on the same mound, as shown by 

 the map. 



1^0. 4 is a very handsome spring basin on the summit of the mound, 

 and has a white basin with a yellowish edge. This is flat-bottomed, with 

 a deeper, long, irregular basin in the center. There are also a number of 

 extinct springs scattered over the mound. 



The gulch in which Nos. 10 and 11 are located has also a number of 

 springs located in the bed of the stream. They are all unimportant. 

 Following down the creek from these, on the left bank, we come to the 

 collection comprised under Nos. 12-17. Of these, No. 13 is the most inter- 

 esting. It is shown in the illustration, being marked by the first steam 

 column on the right side of the stream, as seen in looking at the picture. 

 It is situated at the base of a rock, and has a basin bordered with salmon- 

 color, i)ink, and greenish-yellow spongiform masses of deposit. This 

 rises 2 feet above the spring at the back. Whenever seen the spring 

 was in violent action, spouting to the height of a foot or two. Close to 

 it is a small quiet spring. 



No. 17 is a very handsome spring, with a yellow-beaded border, in 

 which the water has an indigo-blue tint. It is some distance above the 

 creek level and back from its edge. Back of the spring are numerous 

 red and green tinted steam vents. The water in No. 17 has a tempera- 

 ture of 185° to 190°, according to the point where it is taken, and is 

 constantly and violently agitated. 



Opposite No. 17 is the subgroup, of which No. 20 (Puflang Spring (!)) 

 is the center. It is on a mound on the right bank of the creek, above 

 which it rises about 20 feet. This mound is composed of hard rocky 

 deposit, and has on its summit a cone 2 feet high of gray-beaded silica. 

 In the top of this is a yellow, triangular orifice, measuring 2 feet on the 

 sides. In this the water has a temperature of 193° F. It spurts irreg- 

 ularly above the top of the cone, and, judging from the appearance of 

 the deposit surrounding it, must have periods of geyseric action. There 

 are several small openings in the mound outside of the cone, one of 

 which, near the river, has a temperature of 185° F. 



Professor Comstock has the following description of the Puffing 

 Spring: 



The first to he described is situated on a kind of platform upon the right bank of 

 the stream below the main fall, but near the side of a rambling cascade. The orifice 

 is not large and the vapor, which is constantly emitted, issues from the solid rock in 

 a manner closely resemljling the puffing effusions at the Steamboat Spring [on Yellow- 

 stone Lake]. The expanded chamber, which proliably exists at no great distance 

 beneath, is not visible from the surface. The resonance of the escaping vapor is in- 

 creased, with the production of a slight echoing sound, by the wall of tlie gorge, 

 which partially incloses the spot somewhat after the manner of an amphitheater. 

 The result is a noise not unlike that of a hydraulic ram in action. 



