The herald., 1896-08-09
} PASTIMES At
CATALINA
Observation-Disclosures

When that bold buccaneer, Cabrillo,
cast anchor in one of the sheltered coves
of the island he named Santa Catalina,
landed and appropriated everything in
sight. he added to the possessions of the
Spanish crown. a beautiful gem; varie-
gated, uncut diamond. set in sea that
is sometimes green. sometimes blue,
and which always sparkles like crystal
under the ray of semi-tropic sun.
Santa Catalina may be likened to
q section Of the Sierra Madre noun
tain range. torn by some gigantic force
from its original position and pumped
down in the deep ocean, above the sur
face Of which it's higher peaks appear,
and down to which its narrow valleys
open, making at their opening the only
landing places.
1t is far enough from the mainland
to disavow any connection Herewith,
and not too far to be easily reached by
that product of our higher civilization,
the summer outing-er What Cabrillo
could have wanted with this lost sec
tion of rugged and barren mountain
range 1t is hard to imagine, but 1t may
be surmised that the habit of appropri. .
ating the possessions of others had
grown on him, until, like the kleptoma-
MAC, he took whether he had use for 1t
or not.
However that may be, q use has been
found for 1t under the administration of
Uncle Samuel, and it is now one of the
most charming places of resort to be
found in many days journey. 1t
stands unique in the variety of sports
and amusements within easy reach Of
the pleasure seeker; and in it's natural
hapIitV and pirfnrpgnnanpgS II =
tainly unequaled. He who climbs the
heights about Avalon on one of these
August days will be repaid by view
TIL will linger In the memory for many
y~ar Spread out below him in a beau
tful little canyon lie the regular
squares of a tented town looking for
all the world like an army encampment.
but for the we'll paved streets and
straight rows of eucalypti swaying in
the breeze. Closely surrounding the
canvas city are the brown rugged,
mountains, like faithful sentinels. un-
charge from the harder breezes. The
mountain ridges break off in two precip-
ttous points that form the horns of the
half-moon shaped harbor which fills the
mouth of the canyon, and beyond is
the open ocean. The water in the har-
DOT is SO clear that we.see the bottom a.
depth of forty or fifty feet, and hardly
a ripple disturbs the surface, save where
some playful fish leaps from the water.
In the open sea beyond it is so calm that
one cannot realize he is looking out upon
the open ocean, indeed a child may row
a skiff for miles here in perfect safety,
Tor there is an entire absence of the usual
ocean swell. A single scull race could be
rowed on the seas quiet surface.
hundreds OF pleasure craft fleck the
bosom of the inlet; some moored one
after the other in long strings, and 9TH
ers plying hither and thither in quest of
sport or amusement; and above all the
the sun. sending it's unthwarted bril-
lance over all the landscape. A finer
picture for an artist to place on his
canvass would be difficult to find.
But it is not only the eye that is de-
lighted at Catalina. The wandering
sportsman finds here his mecca, for
good sport may be had without the too
arduous labor so often necessary at
other places.
The variety of fish taken here is re-
markable. good catch sometimes in