THE GREAT ALEUTIAN CHAIN. 183 



overlooking the north end of the island, a sheer five thousand feet 

 above the sea-beach at its feet. A few miles to the south another 

 rises to almost as great an elevation, from the flanks of which 

 a number of hot springs pour out a steady boiling flood ; then, 

 at the northeast extremity, and handsomely visible from the village, 

 is a silent, snowy crater which they call Sarichev. Korovinsky is 

 the only disturber of the peace that rightfully belongs to Atkha. It 

 is constantly emitting smoke and ashes, while earthquakes and 

 subterranean noises are felt and heard all over the island at frequent 

 though irregular periods during the entire year. In the ravines 

 and canons of this volcano and its satellites are the only glaciers 

 which the geologist has ever been able to find on any of these 

 peaked, lofty islands west of Oonalashka, though a hundred eternal 

 snow-clad summits and a thousand snow-filled gorges are easily 

 discerned. The natives here also describe a series of mud-volcanoes, 

 or " mud-pots," that exist on the island, in which this stuff is con- 

 stantly boiling up with all the colors of the rainbow, about as they 

 seethe and puff in the Geyser Basin of the Yellowstone Park. 



There are a dozen or so small, mountainous, uninhabited islands 

 between Atkha and the larger island of Adakh in the west. Very 

 little is known of them, since they endanger life if a landing is 

 made. The most imposing one is Sitkhin, a round, mountainous, 

 lofty mass which culminates in a snow-covered peak over five thou- 

 sand feet in height. The crater is dead, however, and no sign of 

 ancient volcanic energy is now displayed, beyond the emission of 

 hot springs from fissures in its rocky flanks. Adakh itself is quite a 

 large island, rough and hilly to an excessive degree. A grand cone, 

 which rises up directly in the centre high above all the rest, is called 

 the "white crater." It is also a dead volcano like Sitkhin; but 

 steamy vapors from outpouring hot waters rise in many valleys 

 and from the uplands. A succession of volcanic peaks reared from 

 the sea, a few of them still smoking and muttering, constitute the 

 islands of Tanaga and Kanaga in the vicinity of Adakh. No place 

 is feasible for a boat to land on either of these wild islets, except on 

 the west shore of Tanaga in Slava Rossia Bay. 



A single immense peak, rising all by itself, solitary and alone, 

 from the girdle of surf that encircles it a band of foaming break- 

 ers eighteen miles in circumference, is the islet of Goreloi. It is a 

 formidable rival of the majestic volcano of Shishaldin, on Oonimak. 

 Though nearly as high, yet it is not so symmetrical a cone. Wreaths 



