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at which we arrived about a quarter past four in the afternoon. At the distance of several miles, on turning round the foot of a high mountain on our left, we could descry, from the clouds of vapour that were rising and convolving in the atmosphere, the spot where one of the most magnificent and unparalleled scenes in nature is displayed. We rode on before the cavalcade; and, just as we got clear of the south-east corner of the low hill, at the side of which the springs are situated, we were saluted by an eruption which lasted several minutes, and during which the water appeared to be carried to a great height in the air. Riding on between the springs and the hill, we fell in with a small green spot, where we left our horses, and proceeded, as if by an irresistable impulse, to the gentle sloping ground, from the surface of which numerous columns of steam were making their escape.
Though surrounded by a great multiplicity of boiling springs, and streaming apertures, the magnitude and grandeur of which far exceeded any thing we had ever seen before, we felt at no loss in determining on which of them to feast our wondering eyes, and bestow the primary moments of astonished contemplation. Near the northern extremity of the tract rose a large circular mound, formed by the depositions of the fountain, justly distinguished by the appellation of the Great Geyser, from the middle of which a great degree of evaporation was visible. Ascending the rampart, we had the spacious bason
