Both caldron and basin, on the
occasion of Madame Pfeiffer's visit, were full to the brim with crystal-
clear water in a state of slight ebullition. At irregular intervals a
column of water is shot perpendicularly upwards from the centre of the
caldron, the explosion being always preceded by a low rumbling; but she
was not so fortunate as to witness one of these eruptions. Lord
Dufferin, however, after three days' watch, was rewarded for his
patience. The usual underground thunder having been heard, he and his
friends rushed to the spot. A violent agitation was convulsing the
centre of the pool. Suddenly a crystal dome lifted itself up to the
height of eight or ten feet, and then fell; immediately after which, a
shining liquid column, or rather a sheaf of columns, wreathed in robes of
vapour, sprang into the air, and in a succession of jerking leaps, each
higher than its predecessor, flung their silver crests against the sky.
For a few minutes the fountain held its own, then all at once appeared to
lose its ascending power. The unstable waters faltered, drooped, fell,
"like a broken purpose," back upon themselves, and were immediately
absorbed in the depths of the subterranean shaft.
About one hundred and forty yards distant is the Strokkr, or "churn,"
with a basin about seven feet wide in its outer, and eighteen feet in its
inner diameter.
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