Alaskan Volcanoes 213 



horizon, from which the sun illuminated the under 

 side of the clouds, which gave us another exhibition 

 of the wonders of color in the sea. It was of an 

 indescribably lustrous purple, with more of red than 

 of blue in the color. At a certain angle of the 

 waves this purple changed instantly to a brilliant 

 green. Near the ship, covering from fifty to one 

 hundred feet wide, and many times as long, over 

 this billowy robe was thrown a lace-work more than 

 snowy in whiteness of foam, not in masses, but thin 

 and fleecy as lace; one might compare it to lace 

 over silk, if the finest colors and surfaces possible 

 to human skill could bear any comparison to this, 

 but to use such fine fabrics for illustration is only 

 to cheapen the scene described. 



On the morning of the 5th I was awakened at 

 five o'clock to see the Alaskan volcanoes. Shishal- 

 don rose nine thousand feet, apparently right out 

 of the sea, his snowy robe trailing in the waves — 

 really he is considerably inland. The mountain is 

 a sharp and perfectly symmetrical cone, with a 

 black cap and a white plume. East of it were twin 

 cones, close together, and sharp as snow crystals. 

 West were another pair, and these shining in the 

 sun seemed to be pyramids with flat sides. One of 

 them had a tall pillar at its top, like a white monu- 

 ment, both were sharp topped, and as symmetrical 

 as crystals. All the long forenoon, from five 

 o'clock till one, we were passing these objects, in 

 which beauty surpassed grandeur. The last spe- 



