b^^d CRUISE OF steamer corwin in the arctic ocean. 



more and more barren, until from Icy Cape north it is a flat or sli{rl>tly rolling; monotonous stretch 

 of Arctic bogs. 



At Plover Bay, on the Siberian shore, are low iiills or mountains risint; to 1,50(1 feet or 

 more, almost sheer from the bay in many places, and made up of enormous masses of rock, down 

 the sides of which the crumbling talus of splinters and fragments, weathered off, make the slopes 

 diflieult to surmount. About hen; the attractions for the birds are very small, and but few si)ecies 

 except water fowl are found. On the iu)rth, towards Bering Strait, the coast is somewhat hilly; 

 but only at East ('ai)e, the easternmost point of Siberia, do we fliul it rising again to a rugged 

 mountainous peak. Thence, again, along the northern coast the shore gradually becomes lower 

 until it finally assumes the low undulating barren character of the Arctic tundra; nor tloes this 

 last appear ntuch more inviting to land birds than does the harsh faces of the broken and mount- 

 ainous districts. The islands of Bering Sea, as are most islands frecpiented by sea-birds in the 

 north, are enormous masses of rock apparently forced up out of the water, with almost preci))itons 

 sides, affording innnmerable chinks and crevices wliereiu the birds find shelter ami jilaces for 

 rearing their young; but witli oidy a slight amount of vegetation, and much un)re familiar with 

 cold fogs and icy storms at all seasons, than they are with clear skies or warm sunshiny days. 



In conclusion, I have only to express my thanks for the courtesies rendered, first to General 

 W. B. llazen, Chief Signal OHujer, and to the Secretary of the Treasury, through whose kind jx-r- 

 mission and co-operation I was enableil to accomi)any the Corwin ; and also to Professor S. V. 

 Baird and JVfr. R. Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Tnsfitution, for aid in the preparation of this report. 



E. W. NELSON, 

 iSignal Service, U. iS'. -1. 

 \VA8UiM.;rui\, May IS, 1883. 



