114 
THE GEYSERS. 
and; according to Sir John Stanley, who had an 
opportunity of ascertaining by admeasurement, 
rises only three hundred and ten feet above the 
course of a river which runs at its foot. It is, 
however, remarkable for its insulated situation; 
being entirely surrounded by a morass, which 
extends for a very considerable way in every di¬ 
rection, except towards the north, where it is not 
separated by an interval of more than half a 
mile from higher mountains. The north side is 
perpendicular, barren, and craggy; the opposite 
one rises with a tolerably gradual ascent, and 
from this, near its base, we saw a number of co¬ 
lumns of steam mounting to various heights. 
We quickened our pace, and at eight o’clock 
arrived at the foot of the hill. Here I left my 
horses, &c., to the care of the guides, and hast¬ 
ened among the boiling springs, happy in the 
prospect of soon beholding what may justly be 
considered as one of the most extraordinary opera¬ 
tions of nature. The lower part of the hill was 
formed into a number of mounds, composed of 
what appeared to be clay or coarse bolus, of va¬ 
rious sizes: some of them were yellowish white, 
but the greater number of the color of dull red 
brick. Interspersed with them, here and there, 
lay pieces of rock, which had rolled, or been 
washed down by the rains, from the higher parts 
of the mountain. On these mounds, at irregular 
