Twenty miles from Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is the Norris Geyser Basin, where we were entertained with our first view of the spouting volcanoes throwing up streams of hot water and great volumes of vapor. This is indeed the Devil’s Kitchen, for besides the hellish aspect of boiling caldrons, the air is charged with those sulphurous fumes that are said to certainly indicate his activity and immediate presence. There is no sign of soil thereabout, for the surface is incrusted with a deep deposit of lime, in which vents occur to allow the escape of gases and to give intimation of the fiery furnace which is raging beneath our feet. We counted eighteen geysers from the insecure position which we took; the most of them, however, were infantile and irregular in their action, sending up a shower of mud at occasional intervals, and then subsiding to gather fresh force; but steam poured out continually, and when we moved a little further south, the roar of Steamboat Geyser fell on our ears. It, too, acted spasmodically; but every few minutes there was a deep rumbling, followed quickly by a respiration, deep, powerful and awful as the rush of a hurricane, then a regurgitation, as if the earth were swallowing up again the gas and steam which she had poured out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: HYMEN TERRACES, MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS.—A description of one of these marvelous formations fits them all, for there is much similarity between them, while each alike is so beautiful that neither language nor the camera can do them justice. One can spend weeks in their presence, and find new beauties to admire every day, in the varying reflections and prismatic colors that dance and sparkle upon their crystalline sides and surfaces. It is a region of wonders unequaled by any other spot on the face of the earth. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: CLEOPATRA AND JUPITER TERRACES.—This photograph represents a portion of two of the most popular and beautiful of the Yellowstone terraces, and also presents a general view of the side of the hill on which they are located and the valley into which the waters flow. It is also one of the most recent and superb photographs of this scene, reproducing it as it would appear in its natural condition at the present time. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: SITKA BAY, ALASKA.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: