48 NOTES ON TEE KURIL ISLANDS. 



Those, however, who are familiar with the islands find com- 

 paratively little trouble. The deep water with which they are 

 mostly surrounded enalbles them to be closely approached without 

 risk. The large fields of kelp which grow about all the islands, 

 in depths up to 15 fathoms, is a warning that the land is not far 

 off". The roarings of the sea-lions on their rookeries ; the cry of 

 the kittiwake gulls on certain points and cliffs; the fiights of 

 thousands of guillemots off" others ; the presence of flocks of auks, 

 pufiins, fulmars, and other birds which are known to frequent 

 certain localities or to be peculiar to certain islands ; the smell of 

 the sea-lions' rookeries, and also of the sulphur fumes from the 

 volcanoes, which are wafted off" to the ship ; the presence of a tide- 

 rip, and many other little things, all serve to show the vessel's 

 position, and help to guide her to her destination. 



When close in shore under the volcanoes of these islands, a 

 vessel's compasses are liable to be affected. That mountain masses 

 are liable to influence a ship's compass a mile or two out at sea 

 has been questioned ; but there is no doubt of the fact of the 

 compass being affected when within, say, half a mile of the shore 

 in the vicinity of some of the volcanoes. This is particularly 

 marked at the north-east end of Yetorup, the Black Brothers, the 

 south-west end of Simushir, and other places. 



I may here mention a peculiar phenomenon which I saw one night 

 in the month of September, off" the coast of Yetorup — something 

 similar to which is described in Clarke Russell's novel " Marooned." 

 About half- past nine o'clock on the night of September 4, 1885, 

 when within a few miles of the south-west end of Yetorup, on 

 the Pacific side — the sky being clouded over, and the night very 

 dark, with a light south-west wind and somewhat rough sea — a 

 bright glare was seen to the southward, and appeared to be ap- 

 proaching the vessel. At first, in the distance, it looked like 

 bright moonlight shining through a rift in the clouds, but as it 

 was within four days of new moon, that could not be. As it 

 approached, which it did at a considerable rate, in a fitful darting 

 manner, it appeared to be in the form of a luminous cloud, about 

 100 yards or so in extent — a sort of gigantic ignis fatuus. 



This remarkable cloud of light was anxiously watched by 

 those on deck, who, with a certain amount of disquietude, specu- 

 lated as to what eff'ect such an uncanny-looking thing would have 



