24 RECONNAISSANCE FROM CARROLL, MONTANA, 
stantly obscured by a great volume of vapor. Hollow, bubbling noises continually issue from it, 
which simulate, by aid of the cavern, the metrical clang and clash of great pieces of machinery, 
turning and splashing, accompanied by a recurring hiss of escaping steam. About 4 p. m., pistol- 
shots from the Mud Geyser summoned us to witness an explosion. The water had risen gradually 
until the smaller springs were submerged and:the basin enlarged to its full dimensions. Near the 
center, the geyser was boiling and bubbling actively, and soon spurted to a height of 5 or 6 feet, 
falling and rising again, and after about three minutes of excitement subsided, the water lowered, 
being gradually swallowed down the several orifices, and the discharge was over. The geyser has 
a period of about 44 hours, and several of the subsequent eruptions were witnessed. None 
exceeded 10 or 15 feet in height. The force is evidently weakening, as indeed the large number of 
dead and dying thermal springs seen in other localities additionally testify. This geyser has been 
known in previous years to spout 50 and 75 feet. There is still, however, a wonderful amount of 
force at work, and in a marvelous variety of forms. 
The fish taken from the river near camp were in appearance large and fine, weighing two pounds 
and upward; but out of the Jarge number caught, all, with one exception, were 
affected by the worm mentioned by previous visiters and described by Professor 
Leidy. The appearance and health of the trout do not seem to be noticeably injured by them, but 
the presence of the worm in the flesh can almost invariably be detected from a slight protuberance 
or rounding-out on the sides. Laying this open, the worm is found, white, the size of a knitting- 
needle, and twisted in the flesh. We made no experiments to determine the flavor of these fish, 
although many of the men ate them heartily and pronounced them perfectly good. It is certainly 
most unfortunate that these fine fish should be so spoiled for the table. They abound in the lake 
and river, and, affording the finest sport, would be an immense attraction could they be used for 
food. 
August 19.—Without moving camp, we rode seven or eight miles to a “ ranch” in a grove on the 
west shore of the lake. From the Mud Geyser, the trail led through alternate for- 
est and river side, with an occasional marsh, the landscape generally quiet and 
pastoral. Ascending upon a high prairie point, the lake lay before us, a beautiful sheet of water, 
with deeply-indented shores, and the wooded mountains closing it in on all sides. We chartered a 
sinall center-board cat-rigged sail-boat, cleverly constructed by the owner of pine cut out of the for- 
est with a whip-saw, and crossed to the east shore. The water appeared filled with a round green- 
ish seed, probably of some aquatic plant, and little windrows of the same seed lay upon the beach, 
thrown up by the waves. Some trout were taken with a spoon on the way over, all wormy, and a 
squall or two gave variety to the sail and tested the weatherly qualities of the boat. 
We passed the mouth of Pelican Creek, in the valley of which large numbers of thermal 
springs have been found, and landed near Steamboat Point, seven miles from the 
starting-point. Two or three steam-vents were seen, and one of them on the far- 
ther side of the point has suggested thename. From a small aperture, colorless superheated steam 
escapes with a hiss and roar that indicate an excessive tension, and imitating precisely the blowing- 
off from a full boiler. Multitudes of grasshoppers, unwittingly encountering the steam, had met 
instant death. 
From the projecting point, some 12 feet above the water, the finest fly-fishing was found. An 
are of nearly 180° could be covered with the fly in from 6 to 10 feet of water, out into the lake as 
far as the skill of the fisherman would admit. The fish, though sometimes gorged with grasshop- 
pers, would rise eagerly to the fly, and weighed from 13 to 4 pounds and upward. The largest meas- 
ured 20 inches in length. None of them could be eaten. 
August 20.—The trail to the Great Geyser Basin breaks away from the vicinity of the Mud Gey- 
oe ser to the west and north over an open sage-brush prairie, gradually becoming 
Divide between : . . 
Yellowstone and more hilly, crosses Alum Creek near its head, and following up a small coulé with 
Sone flowing water at six miles from camp, climbs @ hill and enters a heavy forest richly 
grassed. The ascent through this forest to the summit of the divide between the Yellowstone and 
Madison Basins is very gentle from the east. Two or three groups of sulphur springs were passed 
on the way. The descent from the divide into Madison Valley is precipitous, winding down a drop 
of a thousand feet through fallen and burned timber, and over a rocky, bare, and stony soil destitute 
Wormy trout. 
Yellowstone Lake. 
Steamboat Point. 
