AMSTERDAM ISLAND. 143 
several thermal springs, some running freely, and others oozing 
out in a mere paste or mud. in some of these springs Fahren- 
heit's thermometer ascended from 62°, in the open air, to 196° ; 
in some to 204°; and in others to 212°, or tlic boiling point. 
The spots where tliej are to be found are easily disco\'erab]e, 
before sunrise or after sunset, by a thin vapour which may be 
seen distinctl}^ on applying the eye to the ground. In several 
places we observed patches of soft ^■erdu^e, composed of a 
fine delicate moss, blended with a species of Lycopodium 
and another of Marchantia. These green patches were 
found to be floating on a hot paste, whose temperature, at 
eight or ten inches below the surface, upon which the roots 
of the plants spread, was 186°. This was the more remark- 
able, as the same species of Lycopodium or club-moss, for 
such it was thought to be, grows with great luxuriance, even 
in the Vvinter season, on the bleak heaths of North Britain. 
On every part of the sloping surface of the island we met with 
swamps and stagnant pools of hot ^\'ater, varying in tempera- 
ture from 80° to 130°. The soil is of a spongy porous tex- 
ture, and the ground feels tremulous imder the. feet. Y\ here- 
ever the ear is applied to the surface, a bul^bling noise may 
be heard like the boiling of water. Most of the springs are 
rather brackish, but one in particular on the side of the great 
X crater is strongly chalybeate, and the temperature only 112°. 
From the perusal of a paper in the 20th volume of the Philo- 
sophical Transactions, we were prepared to meet with springs 
of boiling water ; and on the strength of the information con- 
tained in the said paper, " that the fish caught in the cold 
" water might instantly be boiled in the hot," Vv^e took care 
to provide ourselves with plenty of fishing-tackle. We caught 
