e matter, we borrowed a spade from him,
and requested him to send some milk down to our camp as soon as the
cows were milked.

Although these worthy people lived not over half a mile from the
Geysers, they could not tell us when the last eruption had taken
place--a most important thing for us to know, as the success of the
trip depended almost entirely upon the length of time which had
elapsed since that event. The man said he never took notice of the
eruptions. He saw the water shooting up every few days, but paid no
particular attention to it. There might have been an eruption
yesterday, or this morning, for all he knew; it was impossible for him
to say positively. "In truth, good friend," said he to Zoega, "my head
is filled with sheep, and they give me trouble enough." It was
evidently filled with something, for he kept scratching it all the
time he was talking.

Many travelers have been compelled to wait a week for an eruption of
the Great Geyser, though the interval between the eruptions is not
usually more than three days. A good deal depends upon the previous
state of the weather, whether it has been wet or dry. Sometimes the
eruptions take place within twenty-four hours, but not often. The
Great Geyser is a very capricious old gentleman, take him as you will.
He goes up or keeps quiet just to suit himself, and will not put
himself the least out of the way to oblige anybody. Even the Prince
Napoleon, who visited this region a few years ago, spent two days
trying to coax the grumbling old fellow to favor him with a
performance, but all to no purpose. The prince was no more to a Great
Geyser than the commonest shepherd--not so much, in fact, for his
finest displays are said to be made when nobody but some poor shepherd
of the neighborhood is about. In former times the eruptions were much
more frequent than they are now, occurring at least every six hours,
and often at periods of only three or four. Gradually they have been
diminishing in force and frequency, and it is not improbable they will
cease altogether before the lapse of another century. According to the
measurements given by various travelers, among whom may be mentioned
Dr. Henderson, Sir George Mackenzie, Forbes, Metcalfe, and Lord
Dufferin, the height to which the water is ejected varies from eighty
to two hundred feet. It is stated that these Geysers did not exist
prior to the fifteenth century; and one eruption--that of 1772--is
estimated by Olsen