At Orca 



WE now rounded the northern end of Kad- 

 iak, passing the United States fishery 

 residence, but stopping long enough to 

 send our letters in a boat. The wind was pretty- 

 strong, and an officer remarked that we would have 

 some sea outside. There was a remarkable ob- 

 ject ahead which became more and more odd as 

 we approached it, a solitary rock rising out of 

 the sea. It is just the shape of a tall haystack, 

 about five hundred feet high and four hundred 

 feet in diameter at the base. Its singularity, large- 

 ness, and graceful outlines made it quite an imposing 

 spectacle as it stood outlined high against the sky. 

 The birds drifted past it in swarms that obscured 

 the view like a cloud as they passed. Could I 

 climb it? Well, I thought I found a place that 

 would give a climbing chance, and traced the way 

 to the top. At two points of the climb I had to 

 arrange to get up by a stretch of the imagination. 

 I will anticipate to say that there is another such 

 rock standing a mile or two from the point of Cape 

 St. Elias. It is the more remarkable looking of the 

 two, for the reason that it appears to be square- 

 walled and perpendicular. The line of the top is a 

 248 



