St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-23
The ABALONE HUNTER
The Strange Method by
Which the Chinaman
Was Trapped.
He Was Caught by the Giant
MolluSk as the Tide
Came In.
He had Tried to Detach the
Abalone With His Bare
Hands.
Thrilling and Fatal En-
counter With a Strange
Sea Monster.

across the channel of Santa Barbara, TO
where the island Of Anacapa breaks
purpling through purple sea, and float
in water so clear that, looking down.
you seem to be in another world, and
the bright fishes, darting in and out
through the darkening branches of the
kelp, are as birds that fly about from
tree to tree in silent forest, says the
San Francisco Call.
From above, far on the rocks, comes
the barking of seals, and through the
caves that pierce the island is echoed
the booming of the breakers striking
with steady pulSatiOnS the further side,
but these sounds, too, deepen the hush
that is upon the place, the hush that
comes from mans abSence-and all tell
tales of the sea. Aye, that is the place,
Anacapa, to hear those tales, though
they are never told by human lips.
The only men in Anacapa are the
Chinese, half-dOZen perhaps, living in
a tumble-down hut built upon jutting
ledge, the single level spot upon the
island, Just under the shadow of its
Hottest cliff. They make but a Scant
living catching dog sharks for their fins
and tails, which are dried in the sun
upon frames aud shipped to China as
great delicacy. In former years it was
much better.
The abalOne, a great univalve mollusk.
clung to every rock then, as large some
times as q haif-buShel measure, and one
had but to go about with a bag and a
bit of iron to loosen the fish from rock
to rock to pick up good days wages
when the tide was low. A perilous
calling? Oh, yes; but the coolies climb
and cling like cats, and little wetting
now and again made no difference. Be-
sides, what did it matter? If man fell
from the rocks into the deep pools you
could always fish up his sack of aba
lone again-and there were plenty of
men.
In the Spring the abalone harvest was
best, in those days, and in the spring
the tide was strong, for the earth is
awakened from Information, and her
pulses beat high and fierce, as mans
do. 1t 10 perilous calling. The peril
is in getting at the mollusk generally.
Just above low water mark, and when
the tide goes down the shell is raised
and the creatures seem to peek, in some
sort, to peer out upon the exposed
world from beneath its covering of
nacre-coated OH the outside with
plumes Of seaweed and with colonies Of
barnacleS.
Then the hunter comes along, peering
here aud there under Overhanging
lodges or reaching far above his head to
where the highest tide line touches and
inserts his steel bar. sharpened at the
point, under the edge of the raised shell
with a quick movement, loosenS the fish
from its hold on the rock and tumbleS it
down into his bag. But he must be
quick, very quick, and his eye must be
sure. Once let him fail, or let an awk-
ward movement discover the intrusion
of the steel into the mollusk, and the
shell is shut down upon the rock with
snap. and the prize is lost.
Even a strong man cannot pull an
ordinary sized abalone from its bed, so
great is its power OF suction. He can
break the shell, 1t is true, and so get
out the meat, but it is no part of the
hunters plan to do that, for the shell is
of pure mother f-pearl, and is itself a
rich prize. Then, too, if the shell be
broken the hunter runs the chance of
losing the beautiful pearl which the
mollusk sometimes carries in its Stom-
ach.
1t was on spring day that the
abalone hunters-f0ur of them-went
out from the little hut when the tide
was low, picking their way to the other
side of the island through cave that
carried a great stream when it was at
flood. Three of them turned to the
west. The fourth went east,
and wandered along the rocky
shore, finding rich stores of aba
lones. On and still on he went,
and the sun went down into curtain of
white mist. and his bag of fish grew
heavy. He had found luck all that day.
DroOnnfltr IL, mailing n
| leap than usual from one half sub
merged rock to another, his steel bar
| fell from his hand and, striking the
ledge upon which he had allgbted, ra t.
| tied down into the sea ana sank quickly
down. down.
1t did not matter. He had good
| catch and he would return to the
| hut. Then, just as he turned to leap
back across the gulf, his eye caught a
| glimpse of an abalone larger than any
he had seen in all his searching. 1t was
so large that its weight would have
doubled his load, and its shell
was mountain of mother
OF pearl. There 1t lay under
the rock on which he stood bare-footed
and in water that already reached to his
| knees, just within reach. The shell was
raised from the rock an inch, perhaps.
| anu lllC NdlCl lOhGu III anu Oub
| it. How the hunter wished now for the
steel bar that had ratified down into the
sea but few minutes before. He looked
long at the prize, kneeling and peering
into the water.
He reached down and could Just touch
the edge of the shell-lightly, so not to
alarm the monster. He knew that men
had sometimes lOOSened these fish from
| the rocks with bare hands. 1t was a
| great risk, but 1t was also a great
temptation. With a quick move
ment he reached under the shell to
tear it from its bed, and then, with
a force cold and cruel and re
lentless as death, the monster shut
down its armor. and the mans hanC
was caught. His steel bar was gone
His bag of abalones, just beyond his
reach, lay upon the rock on which he
kGelt at point where the water was {
little shallower. There was no loose
stone with which he might have crushed
the shell, liberating himself. He was
held down there kneeling, with the
waves ripping about his waist and the
tide was rising.
A man, even a Chinaman, dies hard
1t is the instinct to cling to life. The
hunter struggled agonizingly to ge
free. He strained and tugged anC
writhed, twisting his body, now in the
water and now out-and a yellow pal
lOr, CHASTITY, terrible, spread over hi
face, and on his brow there wer,
drops colder than the sea. HI
cried aloud, screaming as Asiat
les scream in terror. and from the hol
low caves his screams came back min
gled with the echoes of the breakers
and the seabirds caught up the cry
hooking him. The hunter struggled
again, seeking to get the fingers of hi
free hand under the shell that he nigh
break the grip. If it were only little.
The mollusk held firm. Then b,
ceased to struggle, lying back In silen
agony. The tide came on. 1t covered
his shoulders and neck. Once more h.
struggled, crying aloud In his agony