382 cook's voyage to june, 



could see the main land covered with snow ; but par- 

 ticularly some hills, whose elevated tops were seen 

 towering above the clouds to a most stupendous height. 

 The most South-westerly of these hills was discovered 

 to have a volcano, which continually threw up vast 

 columns of black smoke. It stands not far from the 

 coast; and in the latitude of 54 48', and the longi- 

 tude of 195 45'. It is also remarkable from its 

 figure, which is a complete cone ; and the volcano is 

 at the very summit. We seldom saw this (or indeed 

 any other of these mountains) wholly clear of clouds. 

 At times both base and summit would be clear ; when 

 a narrow cloud, sometimes two or three, one above 

 another, would embrace the middle, like a girdle ; 

 which, with the column of smoke, rising perpendi- 

 cular to a great height out of its top, and spreading 

 before the wind into a tail of vast length, made a 

 very picturesque appearance. It may be worth re- 

 marking that the wind, at the height to which the 

 smoke of this volcano reached, moved sometimes in 

 a direction contrary to what it did at sea, even when 

 it blew a fresh gale. 



In the afternoon, having three hours calm, our 

 people caught upward of a hundred halibuts, some 

 of which weighed a hundred pounds, and none less 

 than twenty pounds. This was a very seasonable 

 refreshment to us. In the height of our fishing, 

 which was in thirty -five fathoms water, and three or 

 four miles from the shore, a small canoe, conducted 

 by one man, came to us from the large island. On 

 approaching the ship, he took off his cap, and bowed, 

 as the other had done who visited the Discovery the 

 preceding day. It was evident that the Russians 

 must have a communication and traffic with these 

 people, not only from their acquired politeness, but 

 from the note above-mentioned. But we had now a 

 fresh proof of it, for our present visitor wore a pair of 

 green cloth breeches, and a jacket of black cloth, 

 or stuff, under the gut-shirt, or frock, of his own 



3 



