92 BULLETIN OF THE 



the tides from deep water, and being thrown on the shores soon becomes 

 dry and light, and is blown by the high winds into the valleys and over 

 the slopes of the hills, tilling up the cracks in the rocks. The climate 

 being moist, the soil thus thrown up is rapidly overspread with a luxu- 

 riant growth of grass, conspicuous among which is the redtop and other 

 common grasses of the New England States ; at a lower level on the 

 made land a grass grows which, when young, resembles oats, but later 

 it heads out like rye, and bears a small black seed which resembles the 

 latter grain when shrunken in ripening. These grass-heads in winter 

 furnish rich forage for the cattle and other stock living on the island. 

 Among the profusion of wild flowers are the dandelion, buttercup, wild 

 pea and bean, yarrow, wormwood, and other weeds ; also the cow-pars- 

 nip or wild celery. The latter the natives consider a great luxury, 

 they eating the seed stalks when green and tender with great relish. 



The northeast point of the island is formed by a cone two miles in 

 diameter and a hundred feet in height. It was once two and a half 

 miles distant from the main island, but is now connected with it. The 

 action of the tide ebbing and flowing has formed bars of sand on the 

 two outer sides ; they thus have extended until they have united the 

 two islands, enclosing between them a long narrow lake. This lake is 

 now rapidly filling with sand, and being only a mile loug it has become 

 quite fresh by the annual melting of snow in it. 



The southeast shore of the island has also a belt of sand, which is in 

 many places half a mile wide, and is constantly increasing. In many 

 places the sand is drifted to the height of fifty feet, which shows that 

 at some period of the year the island is subject to very high winds. 



On one of the largest cones near the centre of the island is the rim 

 of an extinct volcano, with a crater thirty rods in diameter. This 

 rises to a height of two hundred feet above the surrounding plain of 

 clinkstones. Its walls are of red tufa, much crumbled and broken, the 

 debris of which fills the opening in the centre. 



Around its base an; several fissures communicating with dark caves. 

 Three fourths of a mile west i> a still larger crater, but of less eleva- 

 tion. The surface of this portion of the island is covered with broken 

 clink-tones, and is either entirely bare of vegetation or only covered 

 with mov. 



Otter Island. — Four miles southwest, and in line with the peninsula, 

 is a small rocky island, half a mile in its longest diameter, one fourth of 



