LESSON LIV
WONDERLAND
Many of you have read of the remarkable geysers of Iceland and the more remarkable ones in New Zealand, of grand cañons in Arizona, of deep mountain gorges in Colorado, of stupendous falls in Africa, of lofty mountains covered with snow in Europe, of elevated lakes in South America, of natural bridges in Virginia; but who has ever conceived of having all these wonders in one spot of the earth, and forever free as a great National Park, visited each summer by thousands of native and foreign travelers?
Travelers report that this corner of the earth seems to be not quite finished by the great Creator. Through all this region volcanic action has been exceedingly vigorous. The effect of fire upon the rocks is plainly visible and widely spread. Whole mountains of volcanic rock exist. Floods of lava everywhere abound. The last feeble evidence of this gigantic force is to be seen in the hot springs on Gardiner River and on many other streams, and in the strange action of the geyser basins.
There are sixteen important geysers in this section, and innumerable inferior ones. One geyser is called the "Giantess." It throws a great mass of water to a small height, surging and splashing in all directions. One of the most noted geysers is called the "Castle Geyser," because of its size and general appearance. The opening of the geyser tube is circular, and about three feet in diameter.
When this geyser is about to spout, a rumbling is heard as of thousands of tons of stones rolling round and round. Louder and louder grows the noise and disturbance, till it has thrown out a few tons of water and obtained apparent relief.
These are warnings to the observers to retreat to a safe distance. In a few moments the geyser increases in noise, the earth even trembles, and then a great column of water is hurled into the air.
Another geyser is "Old Faithful," so called because he plays regularly every sixty-five minutes. The crater is quite low, and contains an opening which is only the widening of a crack extending across the whole mound. On the summit are a number of beautiful little pools, several feet deep, filled with water so clear that a name written in pencil on a piece of stone and placed at the bottom of the deepest pool is seen as clearly as if held in the hand. Another remarkable fact is, that the water does not efface the name, even after months of submersion.
Old Faithful begins with a few feeble jets. Soon every spasm becomes more powerful, till with a mighty roar, up comes the water in a great column. This rises to the height of one hundred and thirty feet for the space of about five minutes. After the column of water sinks down there is a discharge of steam.
The "Beehive Geyser" is named after the shape of its cone. The water and steam issue from the opening in a steady stream, instead of in successive impulses, as in the two mentioned above. No water falls back from this geyser, but the whole mass appears to be driven up into fine spray or steam, which is carried away as cloud, or diffused into the atmosphere.
The names of some of the other well-known geysers are the "Giant," "Grotto," "Soda," "Turban," and "Young Faithful." The tremendous force with which some of these hot springs even now act, and the peculiarities of the earth's formation in this section of our country, may give us some faint idea of the phenomena through which our little world has passed until it became the dwelling-place of man.