EARTHQUAKES ON THE PACIFIC COAST 



25 



columns of the press dispatches, and possibly were intended for 

 that purpose. December 25th was the most perfect day for ob- 

 servation, and, with my 6^-inch refractor, the crater-peak and its 

 surroundings were carefully examined, and no change could be 

 seen. No eruption was noted, other than the usual emission of 

 steam, which vaiies with the barometer. However, reports came 

 in later from a press party which claimed to have reached the 

 slope of the mountain and witnessed an eruption of smoke. The 

 party was about five miles from the summit, and my telescope, 

 with low power, brought the summit within half a mile. Although 

 this was the clearest and most definite report of eruption, yet it is 

 so flatly contradicted by the continuous telescopic observations and 

 the later examinations of climbers, that it is omitted from the 

 table." 



