SOME FAMOUS EARTHQUAKES 



All three of these Bogoslof islands, which are about 

 120 miles south of the Pribyloff Islands, belonging to 

 Russia in the Behring Sea, have risen above the waters 

 hot and steaming in the last 150 years. The oldest 

 Bogoslof, now called Castle Island, rose from the sea in 

 1796 ; and Kotzebue describes the first glimpse of it, as 

 seen by a trader, named Krinkof, who had been forced to 

 seek refuge from a storm on a neighbouring island. The 

 birth of the volcanic islet was accompanied by an earth- 

 quake which shook the island where the trader had taken 

 refuge, and by an outburst of fire with thunderous explo- 

 sions. The island was said to emit fire for months after- 

 wards, and for eight years afterwards the water round it 

 was warm and its ashes unbearably hot. The eruption of 

 1883, in which the second Bogoslof, called Fire Island, 

 was born, had no witnesses ; but in September of that 

 year great volumes of steam and smoke, accompanied by 

 showers of ashes, were thrown out from the summit and 

 through fissures in the sides and base, the bright reflec- 

 tions from the heated interior being visible at night. At 

 the time of this eruption a severe earthquake was felt in 

 the sea off Cape Mendocino, apparently in the line of the 

 Californian furrow or rift. 



The islands were visited in 1884 by the officers of the 

 U.S. revenue cutter Corwin, and Lieutenant J. C. Cant- 

 well and Surgeon H. W. Yemans made the ascent of New 

 Bogoslof. Lieutenant Cantwell thus describes his experi- 

 ence in the Cruise of the Corwin : 



w The sides of New Bogoslof rise with a gentle slope to 

 the crater. The ascent at first appears easy, but a thin 



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