BIRTH OF NEW BOGOSLOF 303 



NEW BOGOSLOF OR GREWINGK. 1 



The towering cliffs of old Bogoslof no longer battle 

 alone with the angry storms of Bering Sea, for close at 

 hand a new island has risen. Its birth was not witnessed 

 by human eye; no earthquake shock marked its advent, 

 and the date of its upheaval may never be known. It 

 was first seen by Captain Anderson of the schooner 

 ' Matthew Turner,' on September 27, 1883, and was then 

 in active eruption, throwing out large masses of heated 

 rock and great volumes of smoke, steam, and ashes, which 

 came from the apex and from numerous fissures on the 

 sides and base, some of which were below the surface of 

 the sea. Large rocks were shot high in the air, and falling 

 back into the water, sent forth steam and a hissing sound. 

 After nightfall, the vessel being then about 25 miles to 

 windward, fire was observed on the island. A month 

 later (October 27) Captain Hague of the schooner ' Dora' 

 approached within a mile, passing through a streak of 

 red water and then into a streak of green water. He is 

 quoted as saying that black smoke, like that from burn- 

 ing tar, was issuing from the volcano; that it threw out 

 flame, smoke, and red-hot rocks, and that among the sea- 

 lions observed near by were a number which had been 

 scalded so that the hair had come off. He thinks many 

 were killed. 



Both captains were in the service of the Alaska Com- 

 mercial Company, and on their return to San Francisco 

 were interviewed by Prof. George Davidson, who re- 

 corded in * Science ' an abstract of their statements. It 

 appears that both vessels passed close to the new islet, 



1 Captain Hague suggested for the new islet the name ' New Bogoslof,' and 

 Dall, in an article published in Science in January, 1884, proposed that it be 

 named 'Grewingk' in honor of the Russian Grewingk, who, in 1850, pub- 

 lished an important compilation of the various early accounts relating to Old 

 Bogoslof. 



