EXPLORATION OF HERALD ISLAND. 45 



ches from the vicinity of Cape Yakan, on their way to 

 East Cape, and from them learned that no white men had 

 been seen on the coast. These people are constantly travel- 

 ing back and forth, and it would be almost impossible for 

 any one landing on the coast to escape their notice." 



From Cape Serdze Captain Hooper went to Cape Lisburne, 

 a bold, rocky promontory on the northwestern coast of 

 Alaska, to get a supply of coal from a mine in that vicinity. 

 He then headed northwesterly, and succeeded in getting 

 within half a mile of Herald Island. The ship was an- 

 chored to the shore ice July 30th, and a party immediately 

 landed. Professor John Muir, the scientist of the expedition, 

 describes the exploration of the island as follows : 



" After so many futile efforts had been made to reach this 

 little ice-bound island, everybody seemed wildly eager to run 

 ashore and climb to the summit of its sheer granite cliffs. 

 At first a party of eight jumped from the bowsprit chains 

 and ran across the narrow belt of margin ice, and madly 

 began to climb up an excessively steep gully, which came to 

 an end in an inaccessible slope a few hundred feet above the 

 water. Those ahead loosened and sent down a train of 

 granite bowlders, which shot over the heads of those below 

 in a far more dangerous manner than any of the party 

 seemed to appreciate. Fortunately nobody was hurt, and 

 all made out to get down in safety. 



" While this remarkable piece of mountaineering and 

 Arctic exploration was in progress, a light skin-covered boat 

 was dragged over the ice and launched on a strip of water 

 that stretched in front of an accessible ravine, the bed of an 

 ancient glacier, which I felt assured would conduct by an 

 easy grade to the summit of the island. The slope of this 

 ravine, for the first one hundred feet or so, was very steep; 

 but, inasmuch as it was full of firm, icy snow, it was easily 

 ascended by cutting steps in the face of it with an axe that 

 I had brought from the ship for the purpose. Beyond this 

 there was not the slightest difficulty in our way, the glacier 

 having graded a fine, broad road. 



