136 
THE GEYSERS. 
and the crater. After the water had risen to the 
vast height above described, I ventured to stand 
in the midst of the thickest of the shower of 
spray; where I remained till my clothes were 
all wetted through, but still scarcely felt that the 
water was warmer than my own temperature. 
On the other side of the spout, the column was 
so undivided, that, though upon the very brink 
of the crater, within a few inches of the water, 
I was neither wetted nor had I a fear of being 
scalded by any falling drops. Stones of the 
largest size that I could find, and great masses of 
the siliceous rock, which we threw into the cra¬ 
ter, were instantly ejected by the force of the 
water, and though the latter were of so solid a 
nature as to require very hard blows from a large 
hammer, when I wanted to procure specimens, 
they were, nevertheless, by the violence of the 
explosion, shivered into small pieces, and carried 
up with amazing rapidity to the full height of, 
and frequently higher than, the summit of the 
spout. One piece of a light porous stone was 
cast at least twice as high as the water, and 
falling in the direction of the column, was met 
by it, and a second time forced up to a great 
height in the air. The spring, after having con¬ 
tinued for an hour and half spouting its waters 
in so lofty a column, and with such amazing 
force, experienced an evident diminution in its 
