and small quantities of steam. At these places were beds of crystallized sulphur; and in others, sulphur was exposed on turning up with a stick the exterior crust. There was every appearance around us that the rocks had been subjected to an intense heat, which was now gradually abating. After collecting specimens of the sulphur and adjacent rocks, we continued further

up.

Another quarter of a mile, over steep hills and across deep ravines, brought us to the principal "geysers." Here was truly a grand prospect, and difficult to describe by one unacquainted with such scenes; for to speak with scientific precision of such a remarkable spot as this, the writer should be familiar with volcanic regions and know something of similar phenomena. The action here was confined within a narrow ravine, in the mountain side, running nearly at right angles with Pluton River, which we had crossed. The banks were from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet in height, breaking in from the mountain, which rose up from ten to fifteen hundred feet above, and were wholly composed of decomposed rocks. In the chasm beneath us, columns of steam were spouting out on every side; while deep at the bottom, ran a small rivulet. Vegetation of luxuriant growth crowded close upon the crumbling rocks, consisting of various kinds of shrubbery, pines, oaks, firs, &c.

We clambered down to the spot where the scoria or burnt rock first appeared, and seated ourselves under the shade of a pine tree. From this point I took a sketch looking down the gorge. On each side of where we sat, some twenty or thirty feet below, a