DRY CHANNElv OR GULCH ERODIiD IN ACCUMULATION OF VOLCANIC ASHLS AT BASE 

 OF MOUNTAIN WEST OE AMALIK, AUGUST ID, I912 



included one piece the size of a brick, 

 which had traveled through the air for 

 15 miles. 



THREE DOGS ESCAPE DEATH 



Katmai lies desolate on the edge of the 

 great gray waste. It was fortunate that 

 the people went away before the erup- 

 tion, for a breath of hell swept down the 

 valley, bringing death even to the trees. 

 The only living things we saw were a 

 few spears of grass, which had pushed 

 up through the places where the wind 

 had swept part of the ash away, and 

 three dogs, who had escaped either by 

 seeking refuge in the inner and deeper 

 recesses of the barabaras or who possibly 

 had been away on a hunt. The scene 

 was the more deathly because it lay on 

 the edge and in full view of the bril- 

 liantly green and undevastated country 

 to the west (see page 146). 



The appearance of this newly altered 

 landscape is also shown in the views taken 

 in the vicinity of Kodiak. The dust fell as 

 a dry and impalpable powder, which was 

 incapable of supporting weight. Heavy 

 rains fell soon afterward, the greater part 

 of the water being absorbed by the dust, 



which acquired the consistency of soft 

 mush. It was in this condition at Doug- 

 las Village when we landed there. At 

 every step one would sink to the ground, 

 the feet sticking in the soft mud as in 

 molten tar. When this water-soaked ma- 

 terial dried, it cracked as mud does in 

 drying. The cracks are in places 2 inches 

 wide and extend through the two upper- 

 most and finer layers (see page 172). 



Hilltops and ridges are being swept 

 bare, and thick drifts similar in form 

 and surface to sand dunes are accumu- 

 lating. At times of high wind the air is 

 thick with the drifting dust. In the for- 

 ested areas a large part of this dust is 

 derived from the trees, the forests look- 

 ing as if brush fires were running 

 through them. 



As soon as the material fell to such a 

 thickness that it was not held down by 

 the grass it began sliding down the 

 steeper slopes. This action was accentu- 

 ated by the rains, and large volumes de- 

 scended the steep hillsides back of Kodiak 

 carrying houses off their foundations and 

 crushing in the walls. Such deposits are 

 shown in many of the Kodiak views (see 

 pages 134, 140, 173). 



174 



