26 



in height, running up the mountain side 1,500 feet. Be- 

 tween the walls on one side is a band of bright vermilion- 

 tinted clay, which has been mistaken for cinnabar, and hence 

 the name Cinnabar Mountain. 



The Great Hot Springs on Gardiner's Kiver. 



Ten miles above Cinnabar Mountain, and thirty five from 

 Border's, we come to Gardiner's Kiver, a mountain torrent 

 cutting its way through Cretaceous and Tertiary strata, in 

 picturesque canons, and emptying itself into the Yellowstone 

 at the foot of the third canon. Four miles above the junc- 

 tion of the streams, and at an elevation of 500 or 000 feet 

 above Gardiner's River, we come suddenly in sight of the 

 springs. Before us lies a high white hill of calcareous sedi- 

 ment, deposited from numerous hot springs. The whole 

 mass looks like some grand cascade that had been suddenly 

 arrested in its descent ami frozen. On examination it was 

 found that the deposit extended for some two miles further 

 up the gorge, and below reached to the edge of the river, 

 occupying altogether about four square miles. The principal 

 mass, occupying an area of about one square mile, is ar- 

 ranged in a series of terraces, one above the other, each be- 

 ing composed of beautiful basins, semicircular in shape and 

 having regular edges with exquisitely scalloped margins. 

 Small streams How down from them in channels lined with 

 oxide of iron, with the most delicate tints of red. Others 

 show exquisite shades of yellow, from a deep, bright sulphur 

 to a delicate cream color. Still others are stained with shades 

 of green. All these colors are as brilliant as the brightest 

 aniline dyes. 



The water, after rising from the spring-basins, Hows down 

 the declivity step by step, from one reservoir to another, at 

 each one of them losing a portion of its heat until it becomes 

 as cool as spring-water. Holding in solution a great amount 

 of lime, with some soda, alumina, and magnesia, they are 

 slowly deposited as the water Hows down the mountain, 

 forming the succession of basins. The temperature varies 

 from 100° Fahr. to 101°, the boiling-point at this elevation. 



These natural basins vary somewhat in size, averaging five 

 by eightfeet,and from one to four feet in depth. Their margins 

 are beautifully scalloped and adorned with a natural bead- 

 work of exquisite beauty. 



Nos. 214, 215. Group of lower basins. 



Nos. 21 (i. 217. Group of upper basins. 



The above series comprise the principal portion of the ba- 

 sins termed fancifully by some Diana's Bathing Pools. 



No. 218. Large spring upon summit, near the outer margin of the 

 main terrace, supplying the above bathing-pools with their 

 water. Its dimensions are twenty-five by forty feet. % 



Nos. 219-223. Group of SPRINGS upon the same level with the above 

 great boiling spring, of less activity, but greater beauty 

 in form and tint. 



No. 224. An oblong fissured ridge, of about 150 yards in length, 

 six to ten feet high, and from ten to fifteen broad at the base. 

 The fissure runs from one end to the other, and is from six 



