The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-24
FOUR FIRE-SPITTERS.
Volcanic Mountains in Far-0ff
Aleutian Islands.
oRANDER THAN TALL ST. ELIAS.
A Group Of Four Nearly Unknown But
Interesting Volcanoes Described by
m Oficer of the Bear.

best informed geographers even, are fa-
| miiiar with the entire country, for the
! simple reason that no man has been all
over the district An idea Of the yastness
and unknown extent of Alaska can proba-
| bly, be bad when il is learned that no gov
| eminent survey has ever been made of the
| coast lines. not to mention the ice-bound
| interior. The Alaskan maps of today are
i taken from the drawings ana charts of
/ mariners who have cruised in Arctic
waters and have made careful observations
! for their own information. The charts,
though not absolutely correct, are true
| enough for seafaring men 10 go by, but no
| captain, no matter how many times he has
| cruised along the Alaskan shores, would
| attempt to keep his vessel under Roadway
should fog drop down on the sea and
cut Oft the vision. The coast is reef-bound
| and treacherous in the extreme and
many's the vessel that has gone to Alaska
| never 10 return.
| Several men have gone up the Yukon
river for thousand miles and more on
| daring expeditions, and, returning to
| civilization. the published accounts of
| their experiences have been read with deep
| interest. But those inen came away from
| Alaska and the-great valley with only a
smattering knowledge, comparatively, of
| that vast area of country.
The Alaska coast, with its myriads OF
islands, natural harbors and coves, from
where it leaves the influence of the Pacific
ocean 10 where the blue waters of the
Arctic lap its frozen shores, contains much
of nature that is new TO the world. and
without doubt the most fascinating
formations OF nature in that entire coun-
try are the volcanoes. The whole terri
tory is of volcanic origin, evidences of lava
being seen everywhere, especially in the
Aleutian islands. It is not known how
many volcanoes there are in Alaska. Many
can be seen from the deck OF cutter
cruising along the shores. 1t is not known
for certainty that volcanoes exist in the
interior, but the belief that they do exist is
given rise to from the fact that the entire
territory is frequently disturbed by jar
ings and earthquake rumbiings
More is heard OF the stately Mount St.
Elias, in Southern Alaska, which towers
$500 feet above the sea level, because of
its being the highest mountain in Amer
lea, but this mountain with its smoking
crater, through probably the grandest, is
not the most interesting one of the north
by any means. The volcanoes Umnak,
Bogosloff, Programme, Ak1tan, Shishald-
din and Pavloff, all located in the Aleutian
islands, 800 miles from Sitka. are proha-
bly, the most interesting mountains in the
world. All six VOLCANOES are in active opera
ton and are located within radius
of 100 miles of Cnalaska. From the Pa
cific ocean side all the mountains. with
the exception of Pavloff, which is hid
from view behind another mount. can be
seen at once, with the smoke and steam
rolling upward from their craters. More
is not told the world of these splendid
mountains because they are seldom Wis
tied. Tourists do not go within 800 miles
of them. for there is no regularly estab-
hshed line of steamers running further
north than Sitka. The far-off land favored
with the presence of these smoking
mounts, which should prove the life study
of geological student, is visited only by
an occasional whaler or a revenue cutter.
The revenue cutter Bear. which returned
from the Aleutian islands last week, and
which is now on her return north, brought
down great deal of information concern
ing the volcanoes. Lieutenant D. II. Jarvis,
OF the Bear, who has taken especial notice
of the six volcanoes in this group of islands
has made several cruises north, having
been in both the Bear and Rush, govern
| ment cutters, and upon each cruise he en-
braced every opportunity to learn more of
| them. Several of them he has visited: he
| has climbed to their summit and ac-
| quainted himself with their peculiarities.
| He spent much time examining Bogosloff.
| which he soon found to be the most inter-
| esting mountain of the group. Speaking
1 of Alaska and VOLCANOES, the lieutenant
| said: From the mainland TO Attu.
| distance of 1000 miles, are hun
| dreds of islands. The map will show
| that they are chained along, Attn being
| the westward island of the group that
! compose the Alaska peninsula The
| islands are all of volcanic origin. Un-
| alaska, on Unalaska island. is East to the
| center of the group by several hundred
| miles, and is in the center of the Aleutian
islands. Unslaska island. which is about
! eighty miles long. is the largest The
other islands. of which there are numbers,
vary in size from this down TO mere reef
or rock projecting out of the sea"
| The lieutenant found Bogoslof an es-
| pecially fascinating study. One hundred
| years ago Bogosloff did not exist. The
| island on which the volcano is located Law
| at the bottom of the sea. Just about 100
/ years ago there were continuous Earrings
| in the Aleutian group. and the several
volcanoes smoked and belched forth lava,
| showing that an internal war was in pro-
/ gress IN the bowels of the earth. One
morning, during a heavy disturbance, the
natives at Unalaska saw an immense OBJ
/ ject rise up ont OF the sea, about sixty
/ miles 10 the northward. Great volumes of
smoke and showers Of ashes and running
| lava came out of the object. After many
| days the disturbance subsidized, and the
natives could see that a new island
had come TO join the group
and they called the new arrival Bogosloff.
| The island was about half 2 mile long and
was $50 feet high. The island in reality
| was nothing but the volcano, for from the
water line il lowered from all sides up 10
| the summit peculiar feature Of the
mount was that il had no well defined
crater. From many assures which cut
/ across the sides of the mountain and
| around the top huge volumes Of smoke
! came, but AT the top there was no hole.
/ Still, Notwithstanding this deformi;y.
| Bogosloff Was very lively ana made more
/ fuss than all the rest Of the larger vol
canoes.
About eight years ago. during q violent
eruption, another island came up out of
the sea, and joining Bososlof. became one
| island. During the summer Of 1889. while
IN the government service. Lieutenant
| Jarvis visited Bogosloff for the first time.
/ He walked all over the mountain. whose
entire sides were rent with huge assures
/ oat Of which came hot. sliding smoke
1 Nfr,hs -