308 MERRIAM 



at most not exceeding an altitude of 500 feet. The interior 

 of the great fissure could not be reached or seen " owing 

 to the steam, fumes [of sulphur], and heat rendering en- 

 trance into it highly dangerous if not impossible." The 

 numerous steam vents were lined with thick deposits of 

 sulphur, and the escaping steam was suffocating and nau- 

 seating. It was also found impossible to ascend the main 

 peak. Steam and smoke " issued not only from the crater 

 but also poured forth with great violence from rents or 

 areas in the sides of the cone." On the northwest side 

 Cantwell counted 15 steam jets forming a group along a 

 horizontal line. This is shown in a reproduction of his 



unpublished sketch 



j^gJv-S^ "*( ( A > (C. Q\ 



The volcano was 

 covered with a thin 

 layer of ashes, the sur- 

 face of which, from 



FIG. 18. NEW BOGOSLOF FROM THE NW IN the action of rain, had 

 1884. FROM LT. CANTWELL'S SKETCH 'A.' been converted into a 



ON THE RIGHT, THE END OF OLD 



BOGOSLOF MAY BE SEEN. CTUSt. IhC party 



found it very difficult 



to climb the slope, sinking ankle deep to knee deep through 

 this crust and into an almost impalpable dust, which rose 

 in clouds and nearly suffocated them. As the first sum- 

 mit was reached, the heat of the ashes became almost un- 

 bearable, and Lieutenant Cantwell was forced to pick his 

 way over rocks whose exposed surfaces were cooler and 

 afforded a more secure foothold. The temperature of the 

 sand at the foot of the cone was 44 Fahr., of the material 

 halfway to the top 191, and in a crevice near the summit 

 was so high that the thermometer (which was made to 

 register 260) exploded, and the solder fastening the ring 

 to the instrument was fused. 



The old and new volcanoes were connected by a broad 



