INTRODUCTION
to call Wrangell Land by the same name, as even recent Hydrographic Office charts continue to do, besides misspelling the name. The retention of the term "land" for an island is supported by abundant precedent, especially in the Arctic regions.
The altitude of the mountain ascended by Commander Berry had already been determined with remarkable accuracy by Captain Long in 1867. He described it as having "the appearance of an extinct volcano," and it is shown on his sketch of Wrangell Land, reproduced on the map accompanying Nourse's American Explorations in the Ice Zones. Captain Hooper, hi his report of the cruise of the Corwin, declares that the peak had been appropriately named for Long, and adds, "Singular as it may appear, this name to which Captain Long was justly entitled has, notwithstanding our pretended custom of adhering to original names, been set aside on a recent issue of American charts." It is some compensation, however, that the wide stretch of water be tween the North Siberian coast and Wrangell Land is now known as Long Strait.
Captain Hooper and his party, being the first to set foot upon Wrangell Land, exercised the privilege of taking possession of it in the name of the United States. In order to avoid
