PEALE.] THERMAL SPRINGS OF THE UNITED STATES. 323 



purposes, and we concluded to Tvander on a little further and wait for it to cool. • * * 

 While we were sitting with our feet in the tepid water discussing the formation of the 

 place, a low, droning, moaning sound came up from the deep bosom of the hill, followed 

 by a sharp clap ! clap ! clap ! as if a pair of giant hands'had been struck together three 

 times with force; then with a tremenrlous swash a torrent of sc.ilding water flew into 

 the air, scattering in all directions from the great spring in which we had just been 

 proposing to bathe, and poured in a stream 10 feet wide down the hilL 



MUD TOLOANOES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



In Appleton's American Encyclopedia, Mr. John D. Champlin, in his 

 article on geysers, describes a locality in the Colorado Desert between 

 latitude 33° and 34°, and longitude 115° and 11G°, which contains re- 

 markable mud volcanoes and boiling springs. This is probably the same 

 locality indicated on the United States Engineers' map, about 65 miles 

 northwest of Fort Yuma and 50 miles north of east from San Feli])e, 

 near the railroad station Volcano, and it is without doubt the same lo- 

 cality that is described in the proceedings of the California Academy of 

 Sciences for 1857, by J. A. Veatch, as being CO miles northeast of San 

 Felipe.* 



Mr. Champlin, in a letter to the "writer, says he has mislaid the notes 

 from which he wrote his article, and does not recall the source of his in- 

 formation, but is of the opinion that he obtained the facts from some 

 official report. His description is as follows : 



The desert at this point is helow the level of the sea. The springs cover a space 

 not more than a quarter of a mile square. This area is covered with soft mud, through 

 which water and steam are constantly escaping with a noise audible at a distance of 

 10 miles. In some places the vapor rises steadily with a sharp hissing sound, in others 

 it bur.sts forth with a loud explosion, throwing water and mud to the height of 100 

 feet. Some of the boiling springs throw up a columu of water 20 or 30 feet ; some have 

 cones formed around them, and some have basins 100 feet in dameter in which the 

 blue, paste-like mud is ever bubbling and hissing. Many are incrusted with carbon- 

 ate of lime, others with deposits of sulphur. The steam which rises from them is 

 stronglj^ impregnated with, sulphur.! 



Dr. J. Le Conte also describes these springs in Silliman's Journal, | 

 and was told of a similar locality southeast of Fort Yuma. The rail- 

 road now passes near these Springs.§ 



GRANITE CREEK BOILING OR MUD SPRINGS. 



In ISTorthwestern Nevada at the south end of Granite Eange, on the 

 border of Mud Lake, about 3 miles southwest of Granite Creek Station, 

 is an interesting group of hot springs, described as follows by Hague 

 and Emmons. 



Scattered over an area rouglily estimated at 75 acres are a large number of pools, 

 mostly circular, varying in size from 1 up to 25 feet in diameter, and .surrounded by a 

 luxuriant growth of brilliant green, alkaline grasses, in marked contrast to the dull 

 monotonous colors of the desert. The waters arc clear and quite palatable when cool. 

 The largest one visited had a temperature of 194° in the broad open pool ; others in- 

 dicated temperatures Irom 18S° up to the boiling point, and yielded large volumes of 



*(Proc. Cal. Acad. Nat. Sciences, 18.57, p. 104.) Veatch says there are from three 

 to fifteen mud cones in a space of 500 by 350 yards. Some are sharp cones, others 

 are dome-shaped. Steam rushes constantly from many, and is intermittent in some. 

 One tlijows a stream of water from 15 to 30 feet into the air. Tlio illustration accom- 

 panying his article shows them to be remarkable. Some of the blue-mud caldrons are 

 100 feet in diameter, and are 5 to 6 feet below the surfaoe. 



t Appleton's Encyclopedia, Vol. VII, p. 785. 



t January, second series, 18.55, No. .5.5, Vol. XIX, p. 1. 



^ W. H. Russell in his Notes from the West, published in London, in 1882, mentions 

 visiting these springs, which he says arc not far from the line of the railroaid. 



