DESCRIPTION OF EACH ISLAND AND TEE STB AITS. 73 



side, in from 10 to 15 fathoms, with a hard bottom. There are 

 no off-lying dangers, and the coast may be approached with safety 

 on all sides. 



On the north-east point there is a sea-lion rookery. Leopard 

 seals and a few sea-otters are to be found. There are no land- 

 animals. Sea-fowl are numerous. Ptarmigan have been seen here, 

 and a few wild geese (Bernida HiUcJdnsi) breed on the island. 



Chirinkotan, lying about 16 miles to the westward of Ekarma, 

 is 2400 feet high, and about 4 miles in circumference ; its area one 

 square mile. This island has a double volcanic cone, the outer 

 one being breached on the south-east side. Steam issues from 

 this crater, and at times lava flows through the breach and down 

 the side of the mountain into the sea. 



The south-east side of the island is almost bare of vegetation, 

 but the east, north, and north-west slopes have a growth of grasses 

 and mosses upon them. The shores are mostly bold, ending in 

 cliffs, but on the north-west side there is a bouldery beach. Sea- 

 fowl breed here in large numbers, as they do on all the other 

 islands where thei'e. are no land-animals. There are no sea-lion 

 rookeries. A stray sea-otter occasionally finds its way here, and 

 there are a few leopard seals. 



There are no dangers in the strait between Ekarma and 

 Chirinkotan. 



Shiashkotan Strait is 15 miles wide, and free from dangers. 



Kharimkotan, the next island to the north-east, has an area of 

 IG square miles. Its length north-west and south-east is about Gi 

 miles, its width being about 3^ miles. Near its centre rises a 

 double truncated cone to a height of 4050 feet. 



The walls of the outer cone are broken away, and a breach 

 formed on the eastern side, from which a mass of volcanic matter 

 has run down towards the sea, and formed the low eastern point of 

 the island. On the north side of this lava-stream, covering tlie 

 lower slopes of the mountain, is an expanse of yellow-looking 

 matter, which from a distance has the appearance of brimstone, or 

 pumice that had been melted. 



On the northern slope of the mountain are two small parasitic 

 peaks and a short ridge. The north-western portion of the island 

 is low, and made up of sand-dunes and hills, between which there 

 are small lakes and ponds. 



