346 Pro/1 John Milne — A Crime among the Kurile Islands. 



Conclusion. — In looking at the Kurile Islands, we see that they 

 form portions of the long chain of volcanic mountains which bound 

 the western shores of the Pacific. If we compare them with the 

 group of volcanic mountains which we find to the north of them in 

 Kamtschatka, or with the group we find in Japan to the south, we 

 shall see that they are probably of more recent date. In Japan 

 many of the volcanos have become extinct, and since the first 

 outbursts of volcanic rock I think that it can be very clearly shown 

 that many stratified rocks have been deposited on their flanks. 

 Besides these old volcanos, there are in Japan many which are 

 comparatively recent. Looking at the more recent stratified and 

 volcanic rocks of Kamtschatka, it is probable that there has been a 

 sequence in events not unlike that which seems to be indicated in 

 Japan. As to what this sequence has been, I hope to explain in 

 another paper. 



In the Kuriles, on the other hand, the volcanos are altogether 

 recent, and, from what I saw, sedimentary rocks are as yet without 

 existence. 



In Japan many of the volcanos have suffered so much by denudation 

 that their original forms have in many cases been destroyed. In the 

 Kuriles, on the contrary, the greater number of the more important 

 mountains show a well-defined form. Their sides are covered with 

 ashes, and they show those slopes which indicate that they have 

 suffered but little since they were first built up. 



Without going into a detailed description of the differences which 

 exist between the mountains of Japan and those of the Kuriles, it 

 seems evident that these latter must be regarded as being much the 

 younger. As a whole, they are probably contemporaneous with the 

 younger volcanos of Kamtschatka and Japan. They are so to speak 

 amongst the last of the links which together build up the volcanic 

 chain which bounds the shores of the West Pacific. 



Altogether in the Kuriles I counted about fifty-two well-defined 

 peaks, and of these nine are certainly active. No doubt there are 

 many more — those which I have enumerated being only the moun- 

 tains which I saw. All these mountains, from their shape alone, I 

 should say are volcanos ; and farther, from their shape we see that 

 they must be of quite recent origin. 



Besides these there were many mountains of irregular forms, 

 which might also be classed as volcanos ; and in addition to all these 

 there must have been many mountains, both regular and irregular, 

 which I had not the opportunity of observing. Altogether, in 

 the Kurile Islands, the area of which is reckoned at 14,865 square 

 kilometers, there is a collection of active and recently extinct volcanos, 

 as compared with the area on which they stand, equal to the groups 

 we find in any other volcanic district. When we look at these 

 mountains, we must remember that they represent so many orifices, 

 by which material has escaped from beneath the superficial crust of 

 the earth. 



The work which has here been done in building up new land is, 

 on the face of it, exceedingly great. If, however, we compare the 



