282 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
less than half a mile between Point Divide and Doe Point. The tidal streams are very 
strong, and near high water they sweep across the narrow channel and over the flats, 
making it impossible to steer a compass course. They are more regular near low tide, 
which is the best time to make the passage, as the channel is indicated by the flats 
showing above water on either hand. 
Johnston Channel has from 7 to 15 fathoms of water, but is very narrow with 
steep sides. It is difficult to find but, once in, the navigation is comparatively simple, 
as the tides follow the general direction of deep water. The width of the northern 
entrance is a quarter of a mile, with little variation untd near the south extremity, 
where it contracts to 250 yards. Having cleared the channel and entered the upper 
bay, there is ainjile room and depth of water in every direction, Crow Eeef being the 
only outlying danger. 
Anchorages may be found anywhere between Walrus Island and Entrance Point 
in case of fog, and a vessel may anchor in Hague Channel, but the tides are strong. 
There are fairly good anchorages under tbe north side of Point Divide and Doe Point 
where, near the bank, a vessel will be out of the strength of the current. The Alba- 
tross anchored in mid-channel a mile inside of the above points at the time of spring 
tides, and the flood came in with a bore between 2 and 3 feet in height, the patent log 
registering a 9-knot current for some time, with a swell which occasionally splashed 
into the scuppers. There is fair anchorage off the northern entrance to Johnston 
Channel, and an excellent one at its southern extremity, off Marble Point, or, in fact, 
almost anywhere in the upper bay. The last quarter of the flood tide is the best 
time to pass through this channel. 
High land rises at the base of Harbor Point, and extends to the northward and 
eastward near the center of the peninsula. Point Divide is 50 feet in height, and 
mountain ranges rise a few miles back. The coal measures are found between Mine 
Harbor and the head of Port Moller. Doe Point is 40 feet in height, while the rest of 
Deer Island and the mainland south and west of it is generally lower. The southern 
shores of Herendeen Bay are mountainous with intervening valleys, the whole face of 
the country being covered with rank grass and wild flowers during the summer months j 
but there is no timber except occasional small poplars, alder bushes, and w'illows. 
Fresh winds with fog and mist blow across the low divides from the Pacific, obscuring 
the sun and greatly increasing the rainfall in Port Moller and vicinity. 
The region is uninhabited, excejjt by men employed at the coal mine, yet bears and 
reindeer were plentiful, and the waters teemed wdth salmon. There are no large fresh- 
water streams entering the bay, however, which probably accounts for the absence of 
Esquimaux. 
The coal mine in Herendeen Bay lies miles from the landing in Mine Harbor, the 
coal being transported to the water front by a steam motor over a light tramway. 
The opening of this mine is an event of no little importance to vessels visiting 
Bering Sea, and, the Albatross having used between 200 and 300 tons of its first out- 
put, the following report of Passed Assistant Engineer C. E. Eoelker, U. S. Navy, 
chief engineer of this vessel, on the results obtained by the consumption of 80 tons 
of this coal, will be read with more than usual interest : 
The following statement regarding the coal received from the mine recently opened at Herendeen 
Bay is based on the results obtained wtih some 80 tons of this coal consumed while this vessel was 
engaged in her regular work at sea, under average conditions. The quantities oi coal consumed and 
