e to him was the information that the geyser had been named
after him, at all events he begged most pathetically that the projected
visit to this most interesting object might be allowed to take
precedence of that to the diamond mine.

Such being the case, it will readily be understood that no pen of mere
ordinary graphic power could hope to adequately portray the ecstasy of
enthusiasm with which the worthy man, two days later, actually viewed
the geyser itself from so advantageous a stand-point as the deck of the
_Flying Fish_; such a task is utterly beyond the powers of the present
narrator and must be left to the vivid imagination of the indulgent
reader. For over two hours did that amiable and learned scientist sit
immovably in his deck chair with a meerschaum of abnormal dimensions in
his mouth, and with his eyes beaming in a rapt admiration, which was
almost adoration, upon the magnificent spectacle; and it was not until
he had been solemnly assured by the others that he would be excused from
all participation in the task of diamond-hunting and have full liberty
to return to the geyser and spend there the whole of the time during
which the rest of the party might be so engaged, that he consented to
leave the spot at all.

Three days were spent at the diamond mine; and, with the aid of proper
tools obtained from the ship, this time proved sufficient for the
accumulation of such a hoard of priceless gems as would, if disposed of
at even half their market value, realise a magnificent fortune for each
of the lucky finders.

The next move was to the summit of the flat tableland, which was of
course easily reached by the _Flying Fish_. It proved to be, as had
already been surmised, merely an enormous mass of bare rock, without a
scrap of soil or vegetation of any kind about its surface, and useful
only as a citadel, into which, had it been planted in some more
accessible spot on the earth's surface, it would undoubtedly have been
converted, in which case it would have eclipsed even Gibraltar itself in
the matter of impregnability. Useless as it was, however, where it
stood, its summit afforded an admirable look-out; and from that point of
vantage the travellers made the discovery that "Elphinstone Land" was an
island, the horizon at that elevation being bounded by the sea on every
side. The rock was roughly circular in shape, with a circumference of
about three miles, and the travellers made the circuit of the sum