FAR AND NEAR 



end of the peninsula. Our first glimpse was of a 

 black cone ending in a point far above a heavy mass 

 of cloud. It seemed buoyed up there by the clouds. 

 There was nothing visible beneath it to indicate the 

 presence of a mountain. Then the clouds blotted it 

 out; but presently the veil was brushed aside again, 

 and before long we saw both mountains from base 

 to summit and noted the vast concave lines of Shi- 

 shaldin that sweep down to the sea, and mark the 

 typical volcanic form. 



The long, graceful curves, so attractive to the eye, 

 repeat on this far-off island the profile of Fuji-Yama, 

 the sacred peak of Japan. Those of our party who 

 had seen Shishaldin in previous years described it as 

 snow white from base to summit. But when we saw 

 it, the upper part, for several thousand feet, was dark, 

 — doubtless the result of heat, for it is smoking this 

 year. 



On the morning of the 8th we were tied up at the 

 pier in Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, amid a world of 

 green hills and meadows like those at Kadiak. It 

 was warm and cloudy, with light rain. We tarried 

 here half a day, taking in coal and water, visiting the 

 old Russian town of Iliuliuk a couple of miles away 

 at the head of another indentation in the harbor, 

 strolUng through the wild meadows, or climbing the 

 emerald heights. 



One new bird, the Lapland longspur, which in 

 color, flight, and song suggested our bobolink, at- 

 98 



