“On examining the basin, little ripple markings were found all over its surface, similar to what are left on the sands of the sea by the retiring tide.
“It was unbroken by sacrilegious chisel and hammer, then busily employed by all three in collecting specimens.
“On my visit three years after, in 1858, some of these rejected specimens were found so firmly cemented in the place they were left that my hammer could not disengage them without tearing up a portion of the rock to which they adhered.
“In the little pools on the sides of the mound films of pure silica were discovered; and on the edge of the little falls of the stream towards the river I got some good specimens of calcedony in process of formation, but they were too brittle to carry safely away.
“On my second visit to the Geysers I was congratulated by Captain Verron of the ‘Artemise’ of being sure to witness a grand eruption, seeing he had been two days there without one; but, storm-stayed for four days, and never out of sight of my tent, I was disappointed. The incessant rain had so subdued the motive powers of action that the Great Geyser seldom rose near half his former height. Strokkr growled, making some praiseworthy efforts, and the smaller Geysers did their best under such adverse circumstances.
“Among the preparations made I had for ascertaining the temperature of the well of the Geyser:
“1. A cord repeatedly shrunk in hot water, then stretched, and marked every ten feet.
“2. Another to span the basin with a ring in the centre, through which No. 1 was passed.
“The thermometer being attached to No. 1, was let down into the tube every 10 feet successively, and with the help of two assistants on opposite sides of the basin, bringing it home to note the temperature.
“Unfortunately, a Negretti by Stevenson, though in a case, and well protected, got injured during the operation; one of the screws which fastened the glass tube to its case was out, and a bit at the upper end broken off. The injury I found, after all, would not have amounted to more than a difference of 5° to 6° Fahrenheit in temperature, but I had lost confidence in it.