Ice Cliffs at Icy Bay. 69 



has come to hand is by Sir Edward Belcher, who Ansited that 

 coast in Her Majesty's ship Sulphur in 1837. 



In the narrative of this voyage, a brief account is given of the 

 ice cliffs at Icy bay, which are stated to have a height of about 

 thirty feet and to present the appearance of veined marble. Where 

 the ice was exposed to the sea it was excavated into alcoves and 

 archways, recalling to the narrator's mind the C-halk cliffs of 

 England. " Point Riou," as named by Vancouver, was not rec- 

 ognized, and the inference seems to be that it was formed of ice 

 and was dissolved away between the visits of Vancouver and 

 Belcher. 



Accompanying the narrative of Belcher's voyage is an illustra- 

 tion showing Mount St. Elias as it appears from the sea near Icy 

 bay, which represents the mountain more accurately than some 

 similar pictures published more recently. 



The Sulphur anchored in Port Mulgrave ; but no account is 

 given of the character of the surrounding country. 



TliBENKOF, 1852.* 



Tebenkof 's notes, which are often referred to by writers on 

 Alaska, consist principally of compilations from reports of Rus- 

 sian traders, which were intended to accompany and explain an 

 atlas of the shores of northwestern America, published in 1852 

 in St. Petersburg and in Sitka. 



Map number 7 of the atlas represents the southern coast of 

 Alaska from Lituya bay westward to Icy bay. On the same 

 sheet there is a more detailed chart of the islands along the 

 eastern border of Yakutat bay. 



The height of St. Elias is given as 17,000 feet ; its position, 

 latitude 61° 2' 6" and longitude 140° 4', distant 30 miles from 

 the sea.f It is stated that in 1839 the mountain " began at times 

 to smoke through a crater on its southeastern slope." At the 

 time of an earthquake at Sitka (1847) it is said to have emitted 

 flames and ashes. 



* Atlas of the Northwest Coast of America from Bering strait to Cape 

 Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands [etc.] : 2°, St. Petersburg, 1852. With 

 index and hydrographic observations : 8°, St. Petersburg, 1852. 



t In a foot-note on page 33 it is stated that Captain Vasilef, in the ship 

 Olknjtie {DlscDvenj), ascertained the height of Mount Fairweather to be 

 13,946 feet. 



11— Nat. Geog. Mag., vol. Ill, 1891. , - . 



