

BIRCHES WITH THE BARK CUT OFF BY SAND BLAST 



But even such testimony can give one no idea of the terrible severity of the northwest 

 gales. For forty-eight hours one of them bombarded our camp. Every moment we expected 

 the tent to be torn to shreds. We could never have kept it in place had it not been for 

 the flour, which we weighted down when the pegs pulled out. For two nights sleep was 

 impossible, and during the day we could cook no food (see text, page 56). 



odors which they gave forth. Mixed 

 with the omnipresent sulphurous gases 

 were others which had a strangely or- 

 ganic smell, recalling at once burning- 

 wool, the musky smell of a fox den, and 

 the odors of decay. 



We could not tell to what extent, if 

 any, odorless asphyxiating gases, such as 

 carbon dioxide, might be present in the 

 complex. "We did not notice any ill- 

 effects from the fumes, but we took good 

 care to keep to windward most of the 

 time. 



BRANCH VALLEYS ALSO FULL OF STEAM 

 JETS 



Three or four miles down the valley, 

 beyond the mountains next to the pass, 

 we came to a place where lateral valleys 

 come in from both sides at once. Here 

 new wonders awaited us. The southern 

 branch, leading off in the direction of 

 Mount Martin, was full of fumaroles and 

 looked like the main valley. We did not 



go far enough to see what might lie fur- 

 ther up, because of the evident interest of 

 the opposite branch which bore off to the 

 northeast toward Mount Katmai, whose 

 jagged crater walls appeared in full view 

 in the distance. 



TWO MORE NEW VOLCANOES OF THE FIRST 

 MAGNITUDE 



Up this valley was a prodigious column 

 of steam. As we drew nearer we saw 

 that the main body of this steam was 

 rising from a central mass of rock, sur- 

 rounded by a comparatively low ring of 

 cinders, the whole extending across the 

 valley and blocking further progress. 

 This I interpret as a plug of lava being 

 slowly pushed up through a vent which 

 was formerly rather violently explosive; 

 so that instead of building a high cinder 

 cone, most of the ejecta were scattered 

 far and wide and only a small ring was 

 formed around the vent. 



The surface of the cooling lava plug 



66 



