KA.AITSCIIATKA. 297 



basaltic columns, which leaned, nearly perpen- 

 dicular, in one direction to the south. 



The American coast, to the north of the strait, 

 is formed of alluvial levels and downs, between 

 Cape Prince of Wales and Cape Krusenstern, 

 (Cape Mulgrave, Cook?) which are two rocky 

 ])illars. Kotzebue's Sound led us through them, 

 as far as the primitive land, to which they are 

 annexed. The land is raised but a little, and the 

 uninterriipted lines of the hill prevent us from see- 

 ing where the rocky ground begins. 



The rocky island which protects the anchoring- 

 place in the back-ground of the sound is of a mixed 

 kind of rock (flinty slate). It has a powerful in- 

 fluence on the magnetic needle, and changes its 

 direction. The rock shows itself again on the 

 profile of the opposite shore, which forms the 

 bottom of the sound. Eschscholtz Bay, into which 

 the sound is prolonged to the north-east, penetrates 

 again into alluvial land. We landed at a sandy 

 point on the east side of the bay, where the 

 magnetic needle was likewise found to vary in an 

 extraordinary manner. Shall we from this ano- 

 maly infer the vicinity of primitive mountains which 

 we do not immediately see ? 



Docter Eschscholtz intended to return along the 

 strand of this sand-bank to the rocky shore, which 

 is a continuation of it. He found between the 

 sand and the primitive mountains, for which he 

 was looking, an imperceptible continuation of 



