e
Excelsior, is the methodical, persevering action of Old Faithful. This
is another of the great and popular geysers of Yellowstone Park. It is
so uniform in its appearance that a man can keep his watch regulated by
it. Every sixty-five minutes the well-named geyser gives forth a
peculiar noise to warn the world that it is about to perform. Then for
about five minutes a vast stream of water and steam is hurled into the
air to the height of about 150 feet. The mass of boiling water measures
six feet in diameter, and the volume discharged exceeds a hundred
thousand gallons each hour. Day by day and hour, for nearly twenty
years, this industrious geyser has regularly done its duty, and afforded
entertainment for visitors. No one knows how long prior to that time it
commenced operations, or for how long it will continue.

Leaving for the moment the consideration of geysers and hot springs and
other wonders of this character, the sightseer gets a view of a very
different nature. At Keppler's Cascades the stage coach generally stops
to enable passengers to walk to the edge of the cliff and watch the
cascades and foaming river in the black canon below. Then the journey
proceeds through the Firehole Valley, and through leafy forests and open
glades, until the narrow and tortuous canon of Spring Creek is reached.
The scenery here is decidedly unconventional and wild.

We soon reach the summit of the Continental Divide. Now the outlook is
much expanded, and it becomes more majestic and dignified. The mountains
overhang the roadway on one side and drop far below on the other. Heavy,
shaggy forests cover the slopes and peaks, while tiny island parks, as
it were, and cheerful openings are occasionally seen. The road winds
about the mountain-flanks, now climbing up, now descending; the whole
aspect of nature grows more grand, more austere; the air grows more
rarified, and one becomes more and more exalted in spirit. Occasionally
the mountains break away and you obtain a view far out beyond the narrow
limits round about. Distant mountains are seen, and the feeling that
there are nothing but mountain-walls about you impresses itself strongly
upon one, and it is just about true. After several miles of such riding,
and when you have begun to imagine that nothing finer can come, the road
leads up to a point that, almost before you know it, simply drives from
your thoughts all else seen on this ride.

It is a wonderful picture, and produ