42 THE GEYSERS OF PLUTON RIVER, 
noise beneath the earth’s surface, quite equal to and 
resembling that made by several ocean steamers, letting 
off their steam through their large pipes, loud, deep, 
and harsh. There was no cessation to this awful roar, 
but one continued noise, as though a vast workshop 
beneath was in full operation. 
The banks of the gorge were now too steep to 
attempt to ascend, nor would it have been safe to do so 
among so many jets of steam, boiling caldrons, and fumes 
of sulphur; so we made our way down the gorge in the 
very bed of the stream, jumping from rock to rock, first 
on one side and then on the other, and occasionally, where 
the stream took a leap, letting ourselves down in the best 
way we could. Thus we worked our way along for 
about an hour, filled with admiration and wonder at 
the mysterious workings of nature around us. The 
water, as we advanced, grew warmer, in consequence 
of accessions from the boiling cavities along its mar- 
sin, until the stream became quite hot. We had here 
an opportunity to select a bath of any temperature, 
from one of icy coldness to that of one hundred and 
fifty degrees ; and we did not fail to improve it in some 
of the deeper basins of the stream, which seemed pre- 
pared by nature for such a purpose. 
Having thus refreshed ourselves, we clambered up 
the opposite bank; and as we had now passed through 
that portion of the gorge which had been affected by 
the heat, we lay down awhile under the shade of a tree 
on the bank of Pluton River. Looking up here, we 
saw before us, at the distance of a few hundred yards, 
another of these volcanic wonders. This was directly 
on the north-east bank of the stream, and was marked 
