Show alanskas al ackal an d ae X jk g geographic harbor on southern coast of alaska peninsula prepared by the th national geographic society wahington Wh lorton ington D C Q ANS of colonel and mrs lind P R bergh to fly to the orient and their first reported intention to fly westward focuses pt attention lention on the air route to asia along alanskas southeast panhandle the great alaska peninsula and the aleutian islands all under american jurisdiction a part of the soviet union and the aurile islands northern extension of japan the route Is an ideal one as far as landing places are concerned for planes title fitted with pontoons pon for while most of the ground Is rough there are innumerable coves and harbors among the islands and in their indented coastlines coast lines the route was first shown to be practicable by the group of united states army flyers who flew around the world in 1924 the first leg of the route after the united states proper Is left leads over the straits along the west coast of british columbia then over the island studded inland passage of southeast alaska beyond the northern end of the inland passage comes the open water of the gulf of alaska until kodiak island Is reached south of the alaska peninsula it Is from the tip of this peninsula that the knoo 1500 mile crescent of the valention AIe ution island chain sweeps oft off toward asia the aleutians Aleut lans ians are volcanic a fact made plain by the first and largest of the stepping stones although it has bits tin an area only a little larger than rhode island so many craters occur on island that there Is often a great deal of confusion as to the location of the various eruptions reported mount din often reported active Is the most striking and beautiful of the eleven major craters of the island it has one of the most nearly perfect cones in the world seeming to float suspended in the air above its cloud girt base what Is like despite Uni maks size and its separation from the mainland 0 of f alaska by only a narrow strip of water it Is of little importance there are no good harbors around its shores ond and only one settlement cape village age Is listed cod fishing on the great banks to the south of the island which are similar to those of newfoundland and the mining of small quantities of sulphur and pumice stone are the principal industries dus tries the inhabitants are mostly the remnants of the original native tribes found here by the russians in the eighteenth century like its sister islands Is in general desolate and scraggy along its rocky g grass rass covered lower slopes it Is treel treeless ess and except for its heavy rainfall and fogs has a delightful climate summers in are cooler than places farther north while in winter the weather Is milder than that of tennessee or kentucky twenty degrees of latitude farther south the warm japan current which creeps up the coast of asia and around the aleutians Alent Aleut lans ians gives it a january average of thirty degrees above yero grasses of all kinds grow in abundance on the lowlands all year round but the climate Is too damp t to mature grain although the soil Is 19 rich being composed of it a vegetable mom mold mixed with volcanic ash the land Is rugged and there are no places where farms of any size can be made mad e small though the island Is the interior has never been thoroughly explored and other islands of the aleutian chain believed to be the route by which man first migrated to the western hemisphere should be better known to the world at large for they are on the shortest route between our northwestern states and japan the great expanse of tile the pacific and the curvature of the earth places yokohama almost due northwest of seattle if one follows the most direct path the american world flyers remember as part of one of the mosi most difficult stages in their globe circling trip port moller the community to which major martin made his way on foot after hisk his plane crashed Is about miles farther east the district presented the same pitfalls for aviators as conical peaks and sharp ridges rising suddenly out of dreary fog hidden and marshes portage bay where a forced landing was made Is on the mainland opposite kodiak island but Is similar to the few indentations of uni maks mahs shoreline with rocky cliffs and treacherous sand shoals the Aleut aleutians ians however have an added handicap in the wlllie cyclonic winds peculiar to the region and probably attributable to the meeting of the colt cold winds from the north and the warm breezes from the japan current a hundred miles farther east la Is the second largest of the aleutians Aleut laos ians on it Is situated dutch harbor port of call for vessels plying between seattle and nome this harbor barbor has deep water at its wharves and a protected anchorage that could accommodate the largest battle fleet the shortest sea route between seattle and yokohama the great circle route lies practically through dutch harbor and it may some time become an im coaling and provisioning point because of the dangers from fogs and rocks however ships now DOW swing SWID well south of the aleutians Aleut ians only a few bev natives and whites live at dutch harbor or nearby Is the village of aln a native community the aleutians Aleut ians were born of volcanic action and the activity Is not yet ift spent bogosloff Bogo slot island miles from dutch harbor Is continually changing its form roaring rearing one smoking promontory after another aboe the waves and withdrawing others volcanoes are to be found in the aleutians Aleut ians in every stage of development young and aged volcanoes active and dormant not only cones whose symmetry rivals that of fujiyama but also the jagged stumps of mountains that have been blown to bits by recent volcanic explosions consider it one of the best known fields for the study of the problems of attu aatu Is the easternmost of the aleutian islands 2700 miles from the coast orf of washington state because the international ter date line lies just beyond attu aatu an airman rising from the island to continue his flight fal ailt plunges directly into another day without the lapse of any time thus it if he starts from this westernmost american station monday morning he will be flying a few moments later in the morning mornin of the day that to the eastern he hemisphere is Is tuesday traveling in the aleutian route strikes the main land of asia at the coast of miles east of attu aatu this peninsula and the country north of it to the berl bering n strait contains a large area of tundra or arctic plains soft spongy morasses during the few months of summer frozen snow covered wastes in winter in the higher land impenetrable underbrush springs up in summer what little travel ls is possible at this season Is done on the backs of sturdy ponies who v ho must wade up the shallow streams or plod through the sticky swamps in winter travel Is easy teams of dogs and reindeer whisk laden sledges over the frozen surface of the streams and across the snow of the tundra at a rate under favorable circumstances of 75 miles or more a day in the summer the curse of the moist regions of the north strikes the country swarms of mosquitoes and flies files thicken the air and make life miserable for all living things the flee with their herds of reindeer to the sea coast where the breezes give some relief the peninsula proper Is about miles in length and the distance from its roots to bering strait Is an equal distance lies in the same latitude as the british isles while the country north to the arctic ocean Is in the latitude of norway the region Is bathed by cold arctic currents instead of the warm gulf stream and its climate Is therefore much colder than that of britain or scandinavia from the southern tip of the aurile islands sweep southward to the major islands of japan this distant string of fog enshrouded storm lashed islands Is the most westerly group of the north pacifica bridge of islands like the aleutians Aleut ians the auriles are a string of volcanic peaks dead and alive whose smoking heads protrude above the cold and stormy waters of the north pacific and stake out the sea of thus they form a haven for the japanese fishermen who swarm over this island girt sea in summer stretching between and the japanese island of they have long been known to the russians who exploited their valuable furs not until recent years have the japanese become interested in these next door neighbors the desolate islands are a cradle of blizzards hazards to the mariner and aviator alike storms and squalls spring up tip from nowhere low lying fogs hug m the waters surface in spring aprin r find and summer hidden rocks lie ile in wait wa t for the unwary navigator and swift currents race through narrow straits however the lost sailor may tell when he Is close by the vast fields of brown seaweed or kelp which float on the water old salts who rho can smell the beach when near land are not alone in this useful ability when sailing these foggy waters |