with
great interest--the famous Beer Springs, which, on account of the
effervescing gas and acid taste, had received their name from the
voyageurs and trappers of the country, who, in the midst of their rude
and hard lives, are fond of finding some fancied resemblance to the
luxuries they rarely have the good fortune to enjoy.

"'Although somewhat disappointed in the expectations which various
descriptions had led me to form of unusual beauty of situation and
scenery, I found it altogether a place of very great interest; and a
traveler for the first time in a volcanic region remains in a constant
excitement, and at every step is arrested by something remarkable and
new. There is a confusion of interesting objects gathered together in
a small space. Around the place of encampment the Beer Springs were
numerous; but, as far as we could ascertain, were entirely confined to
that locality in the bottom. In the bed of the river, in front, for
a space of several hundred yards, they were very abundant; the
effervescing gas rising up and agitating the water in countless
bubbling columns. In the vicinity round about were numerous springs
of an entirely different and equally marked mineral character. In a
rather picturesque spot, about 1,300 yards below our encampment, and
immediately on the river bank, is the most remarkable spring of the
place. In an opening on the rock, a white column of scattered water is
thrown up, in form like a _jet-d'eau_, to a variable height of about
three feet, and, though it is maintained in a constant supply, its
greatest height is attained only at regular intervals, according to
the action of the force below. It is accompanied by a subterranean
noise, which, together with the motion of the water, makes very much
the impression of a steamboat in motion; and, without knowing that it
had been already previously so called, we gave to it the name of the
Steamboat Spring. The rock through which it is forced is slightly
raised in a convex manner, and gathered at the opening into an
urn-mouthed form, and is evidently formed by continued deposition from
the water, and colored bright red by oxide of iron.

"'It is a hot spring, and the water has a pungent and disagreeable
metallic taste, leaving a burning effect on the tongue. Within perhaps
two yards of the _jet d'eau_, is a small hole of about an inch in
diameter, through which, at regular intervals, escapes a blast of hot
air with a light wreath of smoke,