Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-07-07
CATS by MILLIONS.
An ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC ENTIRELY
OWEN OVER 10 THEN.
lFloa n, San Francl,.o framiacr.l

lFro- ne san Irancseo Eramiaerl
sauta Barbara Island, or the coast
Of Ventura County, Is n rocky peak
which rises many feet above the sea,
without vcrduro and watetod only by
such lukolets Us gather In rrcesscs OF
the cliiia duhng rainstorme. IL Il un-
Inhabited and undesirable in every
way, since II Gtiofds no shelter TO
vessels nor anything that might he Of
value TO the crews. Fishermen touch
In passing, but they are the only mon
who ever bring news nom tho bleak
sentinel rock. The island Is about
thrte.eights OF n square mile IN area
and stands frowning monaco TO nRvi-
gators who go down 10 that part Of the
sea iu ships. Its position, seventy
five miles from the coast Hue, would
mako Il suitable N a Hammering place
n any attractions were there. hut Its
only Inhabitants are cats. Where the
cats came FROM or why they have
tiirived upon the desolate rock are un.
answerable queries. They are there
In numbers aud increasing.
No one believes that evolution has
produced them from star hsh or that
they were generated spontaneously,
Even the budding scientists among
the fishermen OF Ventura admit that
tho present, stock Of cats ON the island
mus have hal ancrst0rs In hind. The
OnIy ienablo theory, aud that one
which finds general acceptance, H.
that the toms aud tabby eats from
SOME fishing smack which touched at
Santa Barbara leland must have gone
ashore, and been left when the smack
sailed away. Common sailors aud
fishermen the world over have In
fancy peopled unknown shores with all
sorts ofstfspgc monsters and distorted
men, and Sauta Barbara leland, In
common Win other rarely visited spotp,
has been wTeathsd about with gar.
lands Of seadog fancy until the super
stitious have come TO look upon Ii ~
an uncsnny place. Sailors tell OF hor-
rible nhantoma that sail through the
ait from pinnacle to Din ,cle Of the rocks,
einging NJ they lly, aud Of Others that
gather near the waters edge aud entice
. The mariner by lascivlOis genn6ec-
tone and sott murmutinga like those OF
the sirens who walt everywhere for
Jack ashore. But II IL all Cgts.
The eats do the singing, aui II there
IL ANY mufmuting the eats purr that
Into the eagerly receptive sailor cars.
Fish are in plenty about tho Island,
but some of the hsherinon have ian.
cied that certain whitiah objects 10 he
seen when near the beach on tie
southern side are human skulls, and
other objects are thought To be the
boueaof human castaways, who may
perohnuco have after death bsep
gnswed by the eats.
when all the foollshuess Of the
fishermen In put aside, there yet 10.
mains the curious fact that the island
IL thiokly iufusted by cats OF all colors.
They manage to live by eatiug such
Nah a. may be washed upon toe beach
or among the rocks, and Hind the young
eggs VI sea birds at certain SEASONS. An
occasional feast OF flesh In carried to
them In the caTcase OF u porpoise killed
from some passing vessel, or In tue
carton refuae nom some adjacent
whaling stations, drittod To the island
by passing currents, A precarious
existence 1t Is at boot, and the w0nief
isnmall that the cats arc gaunt and
eager. They troop about their island,
and sometimes Indulge Ia general en-,
Ragements, after which tho survivolf
devour the killed Rnd wounded.
SIX years ago two fishermen OF
Ventura were lost at sen. A year later
another fisherman, Faz2io by uame,
was carried by adverse wiuds near
Santa Barbara lSlaud, aud when he al
last escaped, being wreoke!, and re-.
turned TO his home, he told ghastly
tale OF snowy skulls on tho island
beach and wTeckage from u fishing