DESCRIPTION OF EACH ISLAND AND TEE STEAITS. 57 



water throughout, even close in to its shores. The only danger 

 is Cape Moimoto and the reef which extends off it. In this 

 channel there are often very heavy tide-rips and overfalls, the 

 worst being off the point to the south of Stake Bay, on Yetorup, 

 extending in a westerly direction towards the opposite cape of 

 Moimoto. At times the rip is so bad that no open boat can 

 live in it, the tides and currents meeting and causing the most 

 stupendous swirls and breakers. On such occasions a sailing vessel 

 is helpless, unless she has a fresh breeze ; but there is little or 

 no danger of beiue: set on shore. With hicjh land on both sides, 

 the wind during- a gale blows through this channel with terrific 

 force. The coasts on both sides are steep and rocky, and lined 

 with kelp-beds. On the Yetorup side there is a sea-lion rookery, 

 about a couple of miles from Cape Tesico. During February, 

 March, April, and May, this strait is often blocked by ice-fields 

 from the Okhotsk Sea. 



Yetorup. — The island of Yetorup is the largest and most 

 valuable island in the whole chain. It is 110 miles in length, 

 varying in width from about 2i to 20 miles where the peninsulas 

 on which the mountains of Atosa and Chirituba project almost 

 at right angles to its general direction of length. The total area 

 of the island is about 930 square miles. 



Yetorup may be said to be made up of eight principal groujis 

 of mountains, connected in some places by comparatively narrow, 

 low, and fiattish land, and in others by higher plains and low 

 hills. 



(1) Beritaribi Mountains, at the south-west end, are about 4100 

 feet high. 



(2) Roko Mountains, the next group to the north-east, are 

 about 3000 feet above sea-level. 



(3) Atosa Mountain, the volcanic peak on the north side of 

 Naibo Bay, has a height of 4050 feet, and another peak to the 

 eastward of it is not so high. 



(4) Hitokapu Mountains, on the west side of Hitokapu Bay, 

 reach to a height of about 4800 feet. 



(5) Hotoko Mountains, on the east side of the above-named 

 bay, have peaks from 2600 to 5000 feet in elevation. 



(6) Ghirip Mountains, on the peninsula to the north of Shana 

 and Bettobu, rise to a height of 5040 feet. 



