KoUlAK. ALASKA,
AriH'sr,
1K16
v..l, XVII No. .■)
A Vacation Extraordinary
Hv I, <i Foist «n.
Ii m certiiinlv not a ikiih! thing for
iih to Fp |*.-rini»•♦*»! the privilege *»f
visiting th»* crater of a celebrated
\ \ no d»i r i mr his mm in in»*r vacation.
I'ht* purp< ot *lii« tirfit'lc i* to relate
hrieflv »• i' e • f the experiences him!
features of such a vacation without
infringing upon or hiiticipating thw
article to wpuear in the National
iit'Ogrftphif magazine by Pohert r
t Iriggs. ass riat« professor of botany
in OhioHtate Iniversity, Columbus.
A similar trip wm enjoyed last
* ini'ner, 191'), with ProfftMor Griggs
,i,(l Bentley B FuI ton, entomologist,
f U«mhvr, N. V. The vicinity of
Katmai and other volcano#* was ox
piored then hut we did not reach the
rateT Professm Griggs was com
missioned to study the rovegetation
..f the district affectod l>y the erup
hi and hence aonHned his e fforts
Urgel\ to that task The great de
struction « f vegetable life was stud
nd very eiref' !ly with reference to
it* struggle to re-es' nhlinh itself un
i i very ad vers 1 oonditi ns
« )ur voyages ieroa» Ahdikoft Ktr ,
i„,ih last rear and this, were made in
• thirty foot gn*olim» launch owned
\>\ Albert Johnson of I'yak which is
about ninety miles by water from
Kodiak and on the other side of the
Island. Mr Johnson’s home is on
Harvester Island in I'vak Bay and
on this island he 1ms about twenty or
mom blue foxes which «re valuable
pri p*Tty on a< count of the high prices
of blue fox tors The little fellows
would come out of the gins* and
bushes, get upon the bottom of an old
skitf, and l ark at ns. This was our
half waypoint where ere lodged over
night, or longer according to tb»>
weather.
Shelikotf Strait is seldom calm,
even in suiumei , ani on all the trips
except the return trip of last year it
maintained its reputation for chop
piness. That was a delightful cruise
of seven and a half hours, the sea be
ing as calm as a mill pond
Oil the other occasions the little
craft would pitch and roll, and some
times race, hut we wen* at no time in
danger of shipwreck as Johnson was
a cautious sailor, having been for
many years at sea and on pilot boats
of t he Atlantic ooast. He entertained
us w ith numerous stories of experi
ences as sail* r and beach comber.
The most profitable part of the va
cation experience, by far, was that of
real scientific ex pi r »tion in company
with on«* traimd to really see things.
1 lu re are ma uy pheio mi lift in nature
aside from those which jump into
one’s path or fly up and hit one in
the face, and the Katnmi district n r
tainly furnishes phenomenal variety
(Continued on Pagf /)