INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ALBATROSS. 127 



my guest. The evening of the 8th closed with every indication of 

 approaching bad weather. On the 9th, 10th, and 11th it blew a stiff 

 gale from the S W., was overcast and rainy, moderating by noon of the 

 12th. St. George was made, running in by soundings, on the morning 

 of the 9th. A good anchorage was found off the village, north side, 

 in 9i fathoms, where the Albatross rode out the gale in company with 

 the U. !S. S. Alert until the 12th. A heavy snrf prevented any com- 

 munication with the shore. The appearance of the weather not indicat- 

 ing a settled condition, with the barometer fluctuating between 30.2G 

 and 29.70, and a heavy fog hanging over the island, and no immediate 

 prospect of landing IVIessrs. Townsend and Miller with their outfit in 

 order to photograph the rookeries on St. George, it was therefore 

 decided to try St. Paul, and to return to St. George at a later date. 



Accordingly, the Albatross got under way at 11 a. m. on the 12tli and 

 anchored at 8.30 -p. m. on the nortli side of St. Paul, where the U. S. S. 

 Ranger was still at anchor riding out the gale. Messrs. Brown, Town- 

 send, and Miller were safely landed with their outfit, when the Albatross 

 left at 11 p. m. for Isanotski Strait. • 



The next day wja were obliged to stop the engines for several hours 

 in order to replace two dowel pins which had suddenly broken off, but 

 were under way again at 4.40 p. m. In latitude 50° 35' N., longitude 

 108° 18' W., St. George bearing WSW. i W. (magnetic), distant 44 

 miles, we sounded in 59 fathoms, green mud and sand. During our wait 

 a fishing trial of thirty minutes with an average of 13 lines revealed a 

 fair fishing station, Hyd. No. 3502. The catch consisted of 70 cod 5 

 average weight, 10| pounds; average length, 30 inches. 



Off Unimak Pass, in Bering Sea, we overhauled and boarded the 

 Uranus, fisherman, ninety-three days out from San Francisco. She is a 

 three-masted schooner owned by 0. G. Jorgensen, carries a crew of 14 

 men, and is equipped with 9 dories and 1 ordinary boat. She had been 

 fishing along the south shore and islands of the Alaska Peninsula, 

 but with small success, and was on the way to Baird Bank, cod fishing. 



Sunday, July 15, we arrived at the mouth of Isanotski Strait, Ikatan 

 Bay, and an(;hored, having run a line of soundings from Cape Lazareff, 

 IS miles west of Cape Pankof, to Ikatan Bay, at an average distance 

 of 1 mile from shore. The shelf appears to sloj^e gradually from 25 

 fathoms off Cape Pankof to GO fathoms off Cape Lazareff, the bottom 

 being composed of dark and gray sand and gravel. 



A short reconnoissance was made of Ikatan Bay on the 10th, to locate 

 headlands. In the afternoon we entered the pass at high water and 

 steamed up to Morzhovoi village, a distance of 8 miles. Found an 

 anchorage in the middle of the cove off the village, in 4i fathoms, with 

 the Greek church beaiing S. ^^ E, (magnetic), nuuldy bottom, and good 

 holding-ground. A high bluff on the north side forms a good protec- 

 tion from northerly winds, which, however, are drawn through the cove 

 with much force at times from the eastward. The harbor is landlocked 

 and is a safe anchorage in all winds except from the southwest. 



