1897. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. . 233 



at north and went round the compass by the west- chap. 

 ward, blowing all the while with great violence, and ^^ ^^' 

 tearing up trees by the roots : it destroyed the j„ne, 

 schooner which the crew of the William had began to 

 build, and washed the cargo of the ship^ which since 

 her wreck had been floating about the bay, up into 

 the country. By the appearance of some of the casks, 

 the water must have risen twelve feet above the usual 

 level.* 



We were informed that during winter there is much 

 bad weather from the north and north-west ; but as 

 summer approaches these winds abate, and are suc- 

 ceeded by others from the southward and south-east- 

 ward, which prevail throughout that season, and are 

 generally attended with fine weather, with the excep- 

 tion of fogs, which are very prevalent. Shocks of 

 earthquakes are frequently felt during the winter ; and 

 Wittrein and his companion repeatedly observed 

 smoke issuinir from the summits of the hills on the 

 island to the northward. Peel island, in which we an- 

 chored, is entirely volcanic, and there is every appear- 

 ance of the others to the northward being of the same 

 formation. They have deep water all round them ; 

 and ships nmst not allow their safety to depend upon 

 the lead, for although bottom may be gained at great 

 depths between some of the islands, yet that is not the 

 case in other directions. 



We noticed basaltic columns in several parts of 

 Port Lloyd, and in one place Mr. Collie observed them 

 divided into short lengths as at the Giant's Causeway : 

 he also remarked at the head of the bay in the bed of 

 a small river, from which we filled our water-casks, a 



* The seamen affirmed that it rose twenty. 



