338 THE GEYSERS OF CALIFORNIA. 
last, to be applied as much to the sulphurous depths be- 
low as to the oak-shaded lake above. Various points of 
interest in this occidental Avernus have received appel- 
lations suggested by the surroundings; and while some 
other localities on the Pacific coast have been named for 
public officials, it has not been considered complimentary 
to attach modern proper names to anything in the vicinity 
of the Geysers. For this reason the classics have been 
laid under contribution. The stream into which the main 
canon opens is called Pluton River, the gorge is known 
as the Devil’s Cañon, and a sulphurous grotto has been 
long named for Proserpine. 
In gaining a clear idea of the California Geysers, it 
will be necessary to forget the geysers of Iceland, with 
their columns of water and capitals of cloud. Upon ap- 
proaching those upon Pluton River, your first impression 
is that there has been a great conflagration, and that the 
fire engines are blowing off steam preparatory to going 
home. The gorge is lined with masses of smouldering 
ashes, from which hot steam is being drifted by the wind, 
and, in some places, you can imagine that the embers are 
ready to relight. In the bottom of the cañon, turbid and 
blackened water, from which vapor slowly lifts, is run- 
ning among the discolored rocks. Here and there, es- 
caping steam hisses, and, in some places, roars like the 
“exhaust” of an engine. 
In other smaller cañons and depressions on an irreg- 
ular table land, there are like appearances of chemical 
activity. The rocks in the vicinity are mainly sandstones 
_ and silicious slates, which are highly metamorphic. The 
_ intermediate varieties are innumerable, all belonging to 
the Cretaceous Series,* which is largely represented in 
* Geology of California, vol. 1, p. 94 et seq. 
