240 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
At Whale Island Karluk Strait forms two passages. The one to the southward, 
described by this vessel in Coast Survey Bulletin No. 38, was called Whale Passage, 
and the one to the northward is Afognak Strait. The latter should not be attempted 
by a deep-draft vessel until a satisfactory survey has been made, as there are indica- 
tions at one point that there may not be sufficient depth at extreme low water for 
vessels of moderate draft, nor by any vessel without local knowledge, as the currents 
are strong and the passage very foul. Time did not permit the reconnaissance made 
by this vessel to extend through Afognak Strait. Sufficient only was done to appre- 
ciate the strong current and foul conditions of the shore. 
The northern shore of Afognak Strait is foul in patches for nearly one-third of 
the width. On the southern side, at a point about one-third the length of the island 
from the western end, a bank makes off from Whale Island a considerable distance, 
and a reef, uncovered at low water, lies off the bight near the eastern end of the 
island, but the latter is off the fairway. OH' Afognak village the reef extends a full 
mile to the eastward and from one-fourth to one-half mile to the southward. 
The largest island off the southeastern end of Raspberry Island is Dearborn 
Island, the point of which seems to project farther into the strait. Off the southern 
end of this island there is a bare rock, a I ways above water, which is a leading mark to 
the western end cf Afognak Strait. The Albatross passed this rock, leaving it to the 
northward, distant 250 yards, and then brought it astern, steering for the saddle in 
Hog Island, which from this point is seen about one-third the length of that island 
from the northern end. After running half the length of Whale Island and well 
clear of the bank previously referred to on the southern side of the channel, the 
course was changed to head for the southern end of Hog Island, which was kept until 
that island was about 1 mile distant, when the course was gradually changed to thg 
northward, rounding the reef off Afognak village into the bay. 
Afognak {Litnik) Bag . — Litnik is a corruption of the Russian word Elitnik, 
meaning a place where tisli are dried and prepared for future use, and is the name 
given locally and used throughout the Kadiak district to the body of water known 
to us as Afognak Bay, and to the river and lake at its head. Locally, the name 
Afognak Bay is applied to a small, shallow, foul cove, about Id miles to the westward 
of the village, on the northern side of the strait. Afognak is retained, however, in 
this report, for the large bay, as the President’s proclamation and the Fish Commission 
records refer to it by that name. 
Afognak (Litnik) Baj 7 is on the eastern side of the extreme southern point of the 
island of that name. The approach from the westward (Shelikof Strait) is through 
Karluk Strait and Afognak Strait or Whale Passage; from Kadiak (St. Paul), through 
Usinka Narrows; and from sea, to the eastward, through the broad open waters 
between Pillar Cape and Spruce Island. The bay proper may be said to include the 
waters inclosed by a line drawn from Afognak village and the outlying reefs to Hog 
Island, thence by Skipwith Reefs to Lamb Island and the main shore, and is, approx- 
imately, 5 miles long by 2 miles greatest and one-half mile least width. The shores 
are heavily wooded, with high mountains lying back, from which ridges and hills 
project toward the bay. The entrance is much obstructed by islets and reefs, and 
great care must be exercised in the approaches, but the bay proper, except for one 
reef, is apparently clear of danger, with excellent anchorage at the head. 
