COPPER ISLAND. 57 



the westward is one of the most perfect natural arches, which I have named Steller's 

 Arch (pi. 27 ft). 



-The rookery beach is hemmed in both at the west end and the east by projecting 

 spurs of the escarpment, and at the corresponding corners long rocky reefs run out 

 into the sea, inclosing and protecting a shallow bay, which, in spite of the openne s of 

 the coast, forms a safe harbor for the pui)s. The beach itself, hardly 100 feet wide, 

 consists of an outer pebbly and rocky portion, with a rather steep incline toward the 

 water, and an inner narrow and level belt covered with very tall vegetation, mostly 

 Elymus and Heracleum. 



The breeding seals occupy part of the pebbly beach, also hauling up on the out- 

 lying rocks of the reef. 



The driving is made along the beach toward the east, and although not long, the 

 entire distance being about 2,000 feet, is somewhat harder than on the North Eookery, 

 as the seals have to be driven mostly over sand and round loose stones. The ascent 

 to the killing grounds is steep and high, about 50 feet, leading from the boat landing up 

 past the house, where the few natives live, and the small salt house beyond (pi. 32a). 



The accompanying map of the south rookery (pi. 98), as the title indicates, is but 

 little more than a sketch map. The time I had at my disposal was very limited, and 

 did not suffice for a very accurate survey, or to measure off a reliable base line. 

 However, it is an improvement on the base map of plates 96 and 97, the latter having 

 been placed on the plane table in 1897 and corrected. The photographs I secured, 

 however, testify amply to the general correctness of the map, and it is confidently 

 asserted that the relative distances and angles are sufficiently accurate for all practical 

 purposes. It is the first map published of this rookery. 



b. COPPER ISLAND. 

 GENERAL DESCBIPTION. 



Copper Island (Ostrof Miedni), so called from the native copper, of which small 

 quantities have been found from time to time near its northwestern extremity, lies 

 between 54° 53' 30" and 54° 33' 30" north latitude and 167° 28' 30" and 168° 9' east 

 longitude (approximately). It is very mountainous, long and narrow, the length 

 being nearly exactly 30 miles, the average width about 2 miles. The general trend is 

 northwest to southeast, like that of Bering Island, from which it is distant only about 

 29 miles (pi. 92). 



The northwestern extremity is formed by a projecting cape, continued in two 

 characteristic and bold, detached rocks, the Sea Otter Eocks, Bobrovi Kameni. From 

 this point to the southeast end, which is marked by several smaller conical rocks, the_ 

 island consists of a backbone of peaked mountains from 1,000 to 2,000 feet high and 

 connected by ridges varying from 500 to 900 feet high. Only in two places is this 

 backbone broken, viz, near the northern end, where the Bobrovi Valley, between 

 Pestshanaya Bay on the east side and Bobrovaya Bay on the west shore, cuts deep 

 down to about 350 feet above the sea, so that Copper Island seen from a distance— for 

 instance, from the opposite shore of Bering Island — looks like two distinct islands. 

 The other place is near the south end. A very narrow and low neck only 900 feet 

 wide and 75 feet high, very properly named Peresheyek, or isthmus, separates the 

 mountains of the south end from the rest of the island. 



