S BY FERDINAND WESTDAHL ASSISTANT, U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY HISHALDIN volcano is the highest mountain on the island,† and it vies with Mt St Helens, in Washington, in being in outline the most regular cone I know of on the Pacific coast of the United States. It is an active volcano, and the discharges from its crater come in puffs like steam at first and rising probably 100 feet or more above its summit, then turn darker in color and stream off horizontally with the direction of the wind. In calm weather the continuous discharges are seen to rise in a column more than 1,000 feet above it and gradually spread out in a dark cloud. When the wind blows hard over the summit the smoke is beaten down and follows the slope on the lee side of the peak. The snowy mantle of the mountain becomes dark after several days of calm weather, then clouds envelop it, snow falls and the mountain again emerges, clad in pure white. ‡ The snow line reached on September 21, 1901, down to an estimated height of 2,800 feet above the sea. At about 3,000 feet below the summit the regular cone begins to spread out, and at 4,000 feet there is a projecting spur to the westward. Glacier-carved canyons begin at about 4,000 feet or more below the summit, and from them *This article consists of extracts from a report made in February, 1902, by Assistant Westdahl, commanding the Coast Survey Steamer McArthur, while engaged in a survey of that region. The extracts refer to certain interesting geographical features of Unimak Island, Alaska, and are published here, together with the accompanying photographs, by permission of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. Unimak is one of the Aleutian Islands, about which very little is known, and therefore the description of the mountains as seen by the writer and recorded by the camera is especially interesting. Excerpts are also given from Mr Westdahl's description of the south shore of the island. "The island is uninhabited, and has been in that condition for the greater part of the present century, though it is richer than many other islands of the Aleutian chain in natural means of sustaining life. "Foxes are quite plentiful here and sea otters frequent the reefs and points, but ever since— nearly 100 years ago-almost all the inhabitants of four or five populous villages were massacred by the Russian promyshleneks, a superstitious dread seems to prevent the Aleutian from making a permanent home at Oonimak (Unimak).” Ivan Petroff, p. 77, in "Narratives of Military Explorations in Alaska," compiled under the direction of "The Committee on Military Affairs " of the Senate. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1900. Miners bound for Cape Nome and whalers or sealers on their way to Bering Sea as they sail through Unimak Pass can see Shishaldin in the distance. When the air is clear the mountain presents a majestic spectacle, which is described by John Burroughs in the following words: "Before nightfall we passed two more notable volcanic peaks, Isanotski and Shishaldin, both of which penetrate the clouds at an altitude of nearly 9,000 feet. These are on Unimak Island at the end of the peninsula. Our first glimpse was of a black cone ending in a point far above a heavy mass of cloud. It seemed buoyed up there by the clouds. There was nothing visible beneath it to indicate the presence of a mountain. Then the clouds blotted it out; but presently the veil was brushed aside again, and before long we saw both mountains from base to summit and noted the vast concave lines of Shishaldin that swept down to the sea, and that mark the typical volcanic form. "The long, graceful curves, so attractive to the eye, repeat on this far-off island the profile of Fuji-Yama, the sacred peak of Japan. Those of our party who had seen Shishaldin in previous years described it as snow white from base to summit. But when we saw it the upper part, for several thousand feet, was dark-doubtless the result of heat, for it is smoking this year" (1899). From 66 Alaska," vol. I, p. 90. Alaska," the report of the Harriman Alaska Expedition. Edited by Dr C. Hart Merriam. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1901. The long streamers of smoke from Shishaldin shown in the illustration can sometimes be seen on a clear day. The picture shows very distinctly the double peaks of Isanotski Cape Lazaref Bird Island height. Its sides are extremely rugged and apparently somewhat concave near the summit, as if the mountain had been hollow and the accumulation of ice and snow about it had crushed its sides inward. In broaching this theory to Mr Applegate, he informed me that an old native, recently dead, claimed to have seen this mountain crumble. I can scarcely believe that such a catastrophe, if it has taken place at all, happened at so recent a date without attracting the attention of some of the Russian traders living among the natives. The fact that the mountain is still so rugged, that the chasms created by the supposed caving in are not yet filled by the annual accumulations of snow, as on both of its neighbors, would seem to favor a comparatively recent date.* Five miles northeastward from Isonotski is probably also an extinct volcano. It is apparently the highest of a group of peaks on the northeast end of Unimak Island, and has a rounded broad summit of snow and ice, through which only here and there is seen a projecting dark mass of rock even in midsummer. POGROMNI VOLCANO Pogromni volcano is the highest peak in the mass of mountains forming the western end of Unimak Island. It does not seem to rise from the main ridge, however, but from the eastern slope of A short distance to the eastward of it is seen a much lower peak, almost its * Less than 200 miles from Shishaldin are two volcanoes, known as Old and New Bogoslof. The first was born a little more than a century ago, rising from the depths of the ocean; the second rose from the deep probably not more than 30 years ago. Old Bogoslof was reported in 1832 to have had a height of 1,500 feet, but is now only half that height. Both volcanoes are constantly disintegrating and wearing away. For the remarkable history of the two Bogoslofs, see the article on Bogoslof, Our Newest Volcano," by Dr C. Hart Merriam in "Alaska," the report of the Harriman Alaska Expedition, vol. 11, pp. 291-336; New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1901. exact counterpart in appearance, but much smaller in dimensions. Pogromni is a regular cone in outline, but its sides seem more angular and rugged than Shishaldin and its rocky ribs and projections more numerous and bare. We saw no smoke issuing from it at any time this season, but we have not seen much of the mountain, except while making this reconnaissance. I have a faint recollection of having seen smoke issuing from it in August, 1866. Faris and Westdahl* are two snowcovered peaks, apparently rising from the main ridge of this part of the island to the southward of Pogromni. THE SOUTH SHORE OF UNIMAK The region to the northward of Cape Lazaref consists of isolated mountainous elevations, knit together by low level land, composed largely of sand. The northern slopes, however, were not seen from the ship. That this low land extends back of the mountains forming Cape Lazaref is inferred from what was seen by the officer who occupied several triangulation stations on the coast. These low lands, like those of the Ikatan Peninsula, are probably covered with lakes, as many small streams issue through their sandy margins into the sea. Cape Lazaref, or the rocky mass so named on the chart, consists of three high points, which, for convenience, might be designated as east, middle, and west Cape Lazaref. The east cape is highest and broadest toward the sea, the middle next in height, but not projecting so prominently, and the west cape the lowest and sharpest. The east cape has a few rocks close under its extreme point, one of which is about 30 feet high and shows prominently from the anchorage in Otter Cove. There *Named by the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr O. H. Tittmann, after the officers who first determined their geographical position. |