178 GEOLOGY OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



description of the springs lying to the westward, written at the time of his 

 visit in the autumn of 1891: 



One spring, issuing from sandy mire, is 2 feet in diameter, and lias built up about 

 the orifice a deposit of white calcite. It will, however, be buried beneath more sand 

 with the first freshets of the river. The two main springs of the group lie to the west 

 of this one. Beyond these a dark ledge of limestone projects over the slopes termi- 

 nating the timber bench some 20 feet above the river. The first of these two springs 

 is a bowl with a wide terraced mound of great beauty, the deposits being dense 

 porcelain like travertine, like that of the first spring noted. The spring attracting 

 most attention throws up a splashing, steaming body of water between 2 and 3 feet 

 in height. The smooth, round surface of the bowl is a snowy white, very dense and 

 compact travertine. The outlet appears as a break in a marble bowl and is a foot 

 deep. 



Between this bowl and the springs to the east of it there is a hot-water out- 

 flow of the type common at the Mammoth Hot Springs. The spring waters have 

 formed mushroom nodules in the channel and a fungus-shaped border about the waters. 

 There are also a number of warm-water springs along the edge of the stream, but the 

 springs issue from the gravel and have no well-defined basin and no deposits. 



The old travertine deposits form a low bench about 5 or 6 feet above the river, 

 at a place where the higher bench and the limestones retreat to the south. The area 

 covered does not exceed one-fourth of an acre. The actual area occupied by the 

 springs is, however, more extensive, for following the grassy, willow-covered bench 

 there is an extension of the travertine level to the west, where the rocky bluff again 

 comes out to the river. 



At the foot of a higher bench back of these low hills there is a stream of hot 

 water which flows west from a recess in the meadow to the base of the cliff and along 

 it to the river. The stream is from 3 to 8 feet wide near its source. The water is 

 warm, but not hot, probably not over 120° F., judging from the algeous growths, but 

 the volume of water is very considerable. 



The photograph from which the illustration is made is a view down 

 the Snake River gorge and northwest across the river to the walls of rhyo- 

 lite on the opposite side. Forest Creek, which runs through a deep trench 

 in the rhyolite, is shown on the north side of the river, with a gently 

 inclined mass of lava abruptly terminated along the gorge. In the spring 

 the river is a rushing torrent, subsiding after the first melting of the snows, 

 leaving low, broad benches, made up of coarse gravels and bowlders. The 

 view was taken in late autumn, when the water stands at its lowest level. 



