NORRIS BASIN 225 



and withered. Other acres are but losing their 

 foliage from the heat and expulsive material 

 lately cast over them. 



A mere catalogue of the boilers and hissers and 

 exploders would fill this book. The whole region 

 lies in a basin surrounded by gentle hills, crowned 

 with greenness; but the greater portion of the 

 valley is sere, baked and boiled, given over to the 

 activities of the internal fires. 



The hotel, a wooden structure, stands on a 

 gentle eminence, apart from the disturbances, so 

 that you have no apprehension that it will be 

 blown up, and is, in itself, one of the phenomena 

 of the Park. 



As I have said, all the hotels are good, surpris- 

 ingly good, when you consider that everything 

 must be hauled long distances from the railroad 

 and that not even an onion grows in the Park. 

 But this one was the least promising of all ex- 

 ternally—a rambling, one-story frame structure, 

 used mostly as a lunch station and conducted by 

 a lady. We were expected, and a special dinner 

 was awaiting us. 



