BOGOSLOB^ VOLCANOES. 371 



On October 20, 1883, between the visits of Captsiins Anderson and 

 Htigue, a shower of tine volcanic ashes or dust fell at Unalaska, con- 

 cerning- which the signal ol)server there reported: "At 2.30 p. m. the 

 air l)ecame suddenly darkened like night, and soon after a shower of 

 mixed sand and water fell for a])Out ten minutes, covering the ground 

 with a thin layer. The windows were so covered that it was impos- 

 sible to see through them." Another eyewitness stated that a remark- 

 able black cloud appeared in the north and soon overspread the entire 

 heavens, settling down ver}- low and cutting off the light of the sun. 

 It finally broke and disappeared in a shower of ashes. 



The tirst landing on the new volcano, so far as known, was made 

 nine months after its discovery, by the officers of the revenue steamer 

 Coi'win, Capt. M. A. Healy, on ^lay 21, 1881. The report on this 

 visit, written mainh' by Lieut. J. 0. Cantwell, states that the height 

 of the new volcano was about 500 feet; that its upper third was cleft 

 b}' a great fissure or crater, the interior of which could not be reached 

 or seen, owing to the heat, steam, and fumes of sulphur; that steam 

 issued not only from the crater, but also and with great violence from 



'*^' '-^W 



,'i\> 



Fig. 7.— New Bogoslof from the northwest in 1884. From Lieutenant Cantwell's sketch "A." On 

 the right the northwest cliff of Old Bogoslof may be seen. 



rents or areas in the sides of the cone; that the numerous steam vents 

 were lined with thick deposits of sulphur, and the escaping steam w^as 

 suffocating; that the volcano was covered with a thin layer of ashes, 

 the surface of which, from the action of rain, had been converted into 

 a crust over which the party found great difficulty in climbing, l)reak- 

 ing through and sinking ankle-deep to knee-deep into an almost impal- 

 pable dust which rose in clouds and nearly suffocated them. 



At this time the old and new volcanoes w^ere connected by a broad 

 bar or spit (shown in Lieutenant Doty's photograph, PI. I, and in 

 Cantwell's chart, PI. Ill, fig. 1), from which, near the base of the new 

 volcano, rose a tower-like rock 87 feet in height. Barnacles and 

 water-marks on this rock, 20 feet or more above sea level, indicated 

 recent elevation. 



A week after the visit of the Cormin (May 21, 1881) Lieut. George 

 M. Stoney, of the Navy, arrived at Bogoslof and spent three days in 

 taking soundings. Many earthcjuake shocks were felt on the schooner 

 as it lay at anchor, and Lieutenant Stoney states that once, when 

 climbing the volcano, "a most sensible vibration of the whole mass 



