194 DESCRIPTION OF BERING ISLAND 



at least ten to twelve miles at sea, and it is consequently quite 

 possible that on a voyage from Kamchatka to this island that 

 land as well as this island can be seen simultaneously, although it 

 is not possible to see one from the other. The inhabitants of 

 Kamchatka have long supposed that a land must lie to the east 

 opposite the mouth of the Kamchatka River for the reason that 

 fog was constantly visible there, however clear the rest of the 

 horizon may have been. 



The highest mountains on Bering Island are vertically not 

 over 1000 fathoms high. 21 To the depth of half a foot they are 

 covered with common yellow clay, below which to a depth of 

 two to three feet -^ a layer of poor yellowish disintegrated rock is 

 met with, until one reaches, continuing uniformly into the depth, 

 the bed rock proi)er which can be observed in the steep rocks of 

 the coast.23 In general the mountains in those parts which face 

 the sea towards the north and the south are solid and undivided 

 in structure, whereas those [parts] which open up inland to the 

 east and west by valleys are cleft and decomposed as a result of 

 the heavy precipitation which in winter through freezing splits 

 the rocks. The mountains throughout maintain the same north- 

 east-southwest strike. The valleys as well as the mouths of the 

 streams and rivulets all open north and south to the sea, and the 

 latter from their source flow from the southeast toward the 

 southeastern end and from the northwest toward the northwest- 

 ern end, 2* as I invariably observed on my trip around the island 

 and noted day by day in my diary. Inland no level plains are 



21 As the Russian fathom of seven feet seems to be meant, this upper 

 limit of 7000 feet is, of course, much too high. The highest mountain 

 on Bering Island is Mt. Steller, so named by me, about 2200 feet {Deutsche 

 Geogr. Blatter, Vol. 8, 1885, pp. 226 and 240; Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 

 Vol. 16, 1896, pp. 36-37)- (S) 



22 The MS reads "23. Schuhen." Pallas' change is, however, probably 

 correct. 



23 From "below which" the end of the sentence seems in the MS 

 rather to read : "below which at a depth of 23 feet a layer of poor yellowish 

 disintegrated rock begins and continues homogeneously down to bed 

 rock [Grund], as [I] observ^ed at the steep rocks on the coast." 



2* The meaning of this is not clear. 



