242 On the Geysers of California 





an immense chasm, apparently formed by the rending of the 

 mountains in a direction from west to east. The sun's rays 

 had already penetrated into the narrow valley, and so lighted 

 up the deep defile, that, from a distance of four or five miles, 

 we distinctly saw clouds and dense columns of steam rapidly 

 rising from the banks of the little river Pluton. It was now 

 the 8th of February, the mountain peaks in the distance were 

 covered with snow, while the valley at our feet wore the ver- 

 dant garb of summer. It was with difficulty we could per- 

 suade ourselves that we were not looking down upon some 

 manufacturing city, until, by a tortuous descent, we arrived 

 at the spot where at once the secrets of the inner world opened 

 upon our astonished senses. In the space of half a mile 

 square we discovered from one to two hundred openings, 

 through which the steam issued with violence, sending up 

 columns of dense vapour to the height of one hundred and fifty 

 to two hundred feet. The roar of the largest tubes would 

 be heard for a mile or more, and the sharp hissing of the 

 smaller ones is still ringing in my ears. Many of them would 

 work spasmodically, precisely like high-pressure engines, 

 throwing out occasional jets of steam, or volumes of hot 

 scalding water, some twenty or thirty feet, endangering the 

 lives of those who rashly ventured too near. In some places 

 the steam and water come in contact so as to produce a con- 

 stant 'jet d'eau* or spouting fountain, with a dense cloud 

 above the spray, affording vivid prismatic hues in the sun- 

 shine. Numerous cones are formed by the accumulation of 

 various mineral salts and a deposit of sulphur crystals with 

 earthy matter, which often harden into crusts of greater or 

 less strength and thickness. Frequently the streams of 

 boiling water would mount up to the top of the cones with 

 violent ebullition. Some of the cones appear to be immense 

 boiling caldrons, and you hear the lashing and foaming 

 gyrations beneath your feet as you approach them. It is 

 then a moment of intense interest — curiosity impels you 

 forward — fear holds you back ; and while you hesitate the 

 thin crust under your feet gives way, and* you find yourself 

 sinking into the fiery maelstrom below. The writer, on one 

 occasion, heard the rushing water under his feet. He struck 



