146 S. SEKTYA AND Y. KIKUCHl 



position of the steam fissure running N. 20° \V. is marked with star- 

 like signs ; prominent hills, depressions, valleys, ponds, etc., are also 

 indicated. 



Roughly speaking the crater measures 2,463 metres or 8,080 feet 

 across its mouth, which is the widest part from east to west. From 

 the bottom of the horse-shoe to its mouth it is 2,274 metres or 7,460 

 ft. The total area of the crater-bed is 3*83 square kilometres or 946 

 acres, or nearly I/o square miles. 



In the estimation of the volume and the weight of the mass blown 

 away the chief difficulty encountered was our ignorance of the origi- 

 nal contour. The original height of Kobandai, or Little Bandai, was 

 assumed to be equal to that of Obandai, or Great Bandai, (1,840* 

 metres or 6,037 ft.). It was generally believed that Kobandai was 

 a little lower than Obandai, probably owing to the fact that the 

 former was situated further away from the more populous districts 

 in the vicinity and was partly screened by the latter. We were 

 told, however, by those who knew the district well that although 

 Kobandai looked smaller in bulk than its sister peak, there was no 

 appreciable difference in height, and that snow used to fall on the 

 former earlier. This perhaps might be due to its more northern 

 position. Lieut. Y. Nakashima of the Surveying Bureau of the 

 Army, who subsequently surveyed Bandai-san, confirmed this view ; 

 and after a thorough examination of the topography of the district 

 and the forms of the various peaks, he concluded that Kobandai had 

 been equal to, if not a little higher than, Obandai. On the sound 

 judgment of this specialist we can safely place our confidence. 

 We obtained permission to see the map he constructed. It was 

 made with characteristic painstaking care, and every detail was ad- 



* The barometric measurements by Messrs Y. Wada and X, Ötsvika, of the Imperial Me- 

 teorological Observatory. 



