SKETCH OF BERING SEA. 13 



liig-lier as tlie chain, which eventually forms the 

 backbone of the peninsula, extends south. The 

 shore has several indentations, the chief one of 

 which is the Gulf of Anadyr, into which flows the 

 Anadyr River. 



The peninsula of Alaska, forming a part of the Sontheru bonnd- 

 southern boundary of Bering Sea, is four hun- of Alaska, 

 dred and fifty-six miles long and about fifty 

 miles wide, and consists of a more or less level 

 tract interrupted by single mountain peaks or 

 clusters of peaks. Between these peaks, espe- 

 cially toward the western extremity, are low- 

 lying, marshy gaps, which form portages, used 

 by the natives for carrying their boats across 

 from the Pacific Ocean to Bristol Bay.^ 



The chain of the Aleutian Islands, completing soutiiem bonr.d- 



- , n -n ' o> • r^^y- Aleutian Is- 



tlie southern boundary oi Bering bea, consists oi lauds, 

 about forty principal islands and a considerable 

 number of islets and rocks. From the peninsula 

 of Alaska these islands sweep in a curve, convex 

 toward the south, to the southward and west- 

 ward for one thousand and seventy-three miles 

 to the island of Attn, and thence north and 

 west two hundred and five miles to the Com- 

 mander Islands, which are regarded by some 



' Recliis, Nouvelle G^ographie uuiverselle, 17 volumes, Paris, 

 1875-1891, vol. XV, p. 201. 



