ht in the morning, I was destined to see an
eruption of the Geyser in its greatest perfection. The peasant, who came
daily in the morning and in the evening to inquire whether I had already
seen an eruption, was with me when the hollow sounds which precede it
were again heard. We hastened out, and I again despaired of seeing any
thing; the water only overflowed as usual, and the sound was already
ceasing. But all at once, when the last sounds had scarcely died away,
the explosion began. Words fail me when I try to describe it: such a
magnificent and overpowering sight can only be seen once in a lifetime.

All my expectations and suppositions were far surpassed. The water
spouted upwards with indescribable force and bulk; one pillar rose higher
than the other; each seemed to emulate the other. When I had in some
measure recovered from the surprise, and regained composure, I looked at
the tent. How little, how dwarfish it seemed as compared to the height
of these pillars of water! And yet it was about twenty feet high. It
did, indeed, lie ten feet lower than the basin of the Geyser; but if tent
had been raised above tent, these ten feet could only be deducted once,
and I calculated, though my calculation may not be correct, that one
would need to pile up five or six tents to have the height of one of the
pillars. Without exaggeration, I think the largest spout rose above one
hundred feet high, and was three to four feet in diameter.

Fortunately I had looked at my watch at the beginning of the hollow
sounds, the forerunners of the eruption, for during its continuance I
should probably have forgotten to do so. The whole lasted four minutes,
of which the greater half must have been taken up by the eruption itself.

When this wonderful scene was over, the peasant accompanied me to the
basin. We could now approach it and the boiler without danger, and
examine both at leisure. There was now nothing to fear; the water had
entirely disappeared from the outer basin. We entered it and approached
the inner basin, in which the water had sunk seven or eight feet, where
it boiled and bubbled fiercely.

With a hammer I broke some crust out of the outer as well as out of the
inner basin; the former was white, the latter brown. I also tasted the
water; it had not an unpleasant taste, and can only contain an
inconsiderable proportion of sulphur, as the steam does not even smell of
it.

I went to the basin of the Geyser