. Annual report. 1st-12th, 1867-1878. Geology. FUNGIFORM SILICA. great beauty of the prismatic colors depends much on the sunlight, but about the middle of the day, when the bright rays descend nearly verti- cally, and a slight breeze just makes a ripple on the surface, the colors exceed comparison ; when the surface is calm there is one vast chaos of colors, dancing, as it were, like the colors of a kaleidoscope. As seen through this marvelous play of colors, the decorations on the sides of the basin are lighted up with a wild, weird beauty, which wafts one at once into the land of encbantmen
. Annual report. 1st-12th, 1867-1878. Geology. FUNGIFORM SILICA. great beauty of the prismatic colors depends much on the sunlight, but about the middle of the day, when the bright rays descend nearly verti- cally, and a slight breeze just makes a ripple on the surface, the colors exceed comparison ; when the surface is calm there is one vast chaos of colors, dancing, as it were, like the colors of a kaleidoscope. As seen through this marvelous play of colors, the decorations on the sides of the basin are lighted up with a wild, weird beauty, which wafts one at once into the land of encbantment; all the brilliant feats of fairies and genii in the Arabian ISTights' Entertainments are forgotten in the actual presence of such marvelous beauty; life becomes a privilege and a blessing after one has seen and thoroughly felt these incomparable types of nature's cunning skill. There is another geyser, which has a chimney 3 feet high and 5 feet in diameter at the base, with an orifice 2^ feet at the top, lined with the spongiform silica inside, and on the outside adorned with bead and shell work. There is a form of shell crystallization that reminds one of the artificial shell-work made with small thin oyster-shells; the form of the chimney is like an old-fashioned bee-hive. High up in the hills there is one lone spring 20 by 30 feet, with consider- able flow, forming with the sediment a high mound 250 yards in diam- eter ; it is constantly boiling up in the center about 2 feet; it has the prettily scalloped rim, and is 250 feet above the river. The group just described is a most remarkable one, and I call attention to it on the chart in which the Bee-Hive and Giantess are located. We will now pass to the op- ^ ^" ^ ^ ? posite side of the river for a moment, and examine the Cas- tle and its surroundings. Upon the mound on which the Castle is located, there is one of the most beautiful of the calm springs, of which Mr. Jackson secured an excellent photo- graph; it does n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpublishe, booksubjectgeology
