with
my friends, but still I was forced to contemplate the possibility of
missing them. I wondered that we had not yet met, as I certainly
thought they would have taken the same direction that I had followed.

I must, at all events, spend another night in the valley; and I was
looking about for some place which would afford me shelter, when I saw,
a short distance off, what appeared to be a beautiful grotto--consisting
of fantastic arches, pillars, and turrets, with hollows beneath them, in
one of which I might find a comfortable sleeping-place. I determined to
explore it, and, after collecting wood for a fire, to take my rod and
line and endeavour to catch some fish in the river. I should, at all
events, have no difficulty in cooking them in one of the numerous
boiling caldrons in the neighbourhood. Directly behind the grotto was a
forest of firs, from which I could collect an ample supply of wood for
my fire, as also small branches to form my couch, should the ground
prove damp.

I was making my way towards the grotto, when I heard a rumbling sound,
and directly afterwards two jets of water spouted from its midst--one of
them rising rapidly to the height of nearly a hundred feet, when,
spreading out, down it came, the scalding water falling in a dense
shower on every side, while wreaths of steam were ejected from the
various holes which had been within their influence, the which would
speedily have parboiled me, had I not at once run off to a safe
distance. I then turned back to look at the beautiful phenomenon.
Although the jet was not so lofty as many of the other geysers, its form
was not less beautiful, assuming, as it curled over, the appearance of a
gigantic ostrich feather.

I had received a lesson not to trust to appearances, and was now very
unwilling to take up my lodgings in any one of the curious grottoes
which lay scattered about in the valley. They might be perfectly quiet,
and afford me comfortable shelter; or, proving treacherous, a stream of
hot water might burst forth from some unperceived vent and blow me fifty
feet into the air, or scald me to death. I accordingly resolved to
build myself a bower in which, although it would not afford me so much
shelter as a cavern, I might pass the night in safety.

It was necessary, however, before the sun should disappear, to light my
fire; and having fixed upon a spot, I repaired to the woods nearest at
hand to collect the fuel I had not gone far wh