1826. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 353 



piece of ground, consisting of the materials that 

 have been washed down the ravine, where the only 

 good landing for boats is afforded. The soil of the *?;}& 

 cliffs is a bluish-coloured mud, for the most part 

 covered with moss and long grass, full of deep fur- 

 rows, generally filled with water or frozen snow. 

 Mud in a frozen state forms the surface of the cliff 

 in some parts ; in others the rock appears, with the 

 mud above it, or sometimes with a bank half way 

 up it, as if the superstratum had gradually slid 

 down and accumulated against the cliff. By the 

 large rents near the edges of the mud cliffs, they 

 appear to be breaking away, and contributing daily 

 to diminish the depth of water in the bay. 



Such is the general conformation of this line of 

 coast. That particular formation, which, when it 

 was first discovered by Captain Kotzebue, excited 

 so much curiosity, and bore so near a resemblance 

 to an iceberg, as to deceive himself and his officers, 

 when they approached the spot to examine it, re- 

 mains to be described. As we rowed along the 

 shore, the shining surface of small portions of the 

 cliffs attracted our attention and directed us where 

 to search for this curious phenomenon, which we 

 should otherwise have had difficulty in finding, not- 

 withstanding its locality had been particularly de- 

 scribed ; for so large a portion of the ice cliff has 

 thawed since it was visited by Captain Kotzebue 

 and his naturalist, that only a few insignificant 

 patches of the frozen surface now remain. The 

 largest of these, situated about a mile to the west- 

 ward of Elephant Point, was particularly examined 

 by Mr. Collie, who, on cutting through the ice in a 

 horizontal direction, found that it formed only a 



vol. i. 2 a 



