The herald., 1897-02-21

Santa Barbara was a certain Father
Gonzales, whom the fate OF the unior-
tunate mother had auected very deep
ly. Though he spared no pains to obtain
certainty relative to it. nevertheless. 1t
was fifteen years before he was able
to find q person who would consent %
go to san Nicolas island and search for
proof on the spot. y skipper named
Thomas Jeffries, who had just had a
small schooner built for himself, was
assured 500 for the trip. Jeffries
searched the entire island and though
signs of human habitation were not
lacking, for he found a hut of whale
bone. q number Cf stone utensils, some
Of which, among them beautiful cup
Of serpentine, he took with him.
he discovered nothing which could lead
to the belief that any one was ct the
time living there.
on his return San Nicolas island was
again n favorite subject, and not long
after. a second expedition sailed for IT.
though With a different object JeHries
had related that he had seem outside
of numerous foxes and wild dogs. an al
most inconceivable amount of seals ami
sea offers. His description aroused the
intense interest of a number of hunters,
and the following spring a small party,
under the leadership Of Captain George
NidiVer, and accompanied by Jeffrics,
set sail for the island. Arriving, they
aNchCfNQ at tne SOutEern END. 0ilinOlJls
to the top cf the cliffs. they had a mag
niflcent view Of the endless stretches of
the ocean, horizon to horizon. But neith-
er the grandeur of the water nor the
wild beauty of the lonely island pro-
duced such an effect as the many rocks
literally covered with black seals ami
the numberless fissures alive with otter
Scarce taking time to erect suitable
tents for the camp. the men began the
slaughter For six weeks they remained
on the prolific shores. employing the en-
tire time with seal killing ard otter
trapping. To explore the interior Of the
island they had neither the time nor the
inclination, as a spring buhbling out If
on adjacent rock furnished sufficient
fresh water, everything else being
provided
At one time. in the last few days Of
their stay, during a storm. one of the
men claimed to have seen, on a distant
exposed rock in the interior, a human
figure, which appeared to run back and
forth and to hail him. When, in re-
sponse to the mans shouting, the cap
tain came, the figure had Disappeared
In Santa Barbara. when in the arrival
Of the party the story quickly spread.
the ghost of San Nicolas was for long
time favorite topic among the super
stitious.
In July. 1858, another party departed
III tliS iSAe.lld, Will AdHldllI -NlQlNtt
again at the helm. Among them was a
certain Charles Detman, fisherman,
known as Charley Brown, an Irish cook
and number OF Indians from the mis-
sions. This time the destination was
the northern end of the island. 1mme-
diately after anchoring Nidiver and
Brown determined to take a jaunt along
the shore, though only for pleasure. The
night being rather warm, and the full
moon very bright, they wandered
further than they had intended. Sud
denly Nidiver stood still, glanced about
in ali directions then knelt down to ex-
anime something that had attracted his
attention. Without doubt what he
saw was the clearly defined imprint of a
human foot. "Eureka" the woman of
San Nicolas was still living.
The excitement of the men in making
this discovery was intense. Without
conmunica ting with the rest of the
party they Immediately began search.
They called loudly that they were
friends. and had come to help her. but
although they walked and called for
hours they neither saw nor heard any
thing. The next day they found hanging
on limb of tree basket made of rush,
containing some bone needles, twine OF
twisted fish gut fish hooks of shell and
an unfinished dress of bird skins. Brown
advised throwing the things around un-
der the tree, to ascertain if they would
be picked up, and this was done. Fur
ther in the interior they discovered cir
cular enclosures, constructed of dove
tailed branches Nearly clean-heTed
posts had been driven in the earth, hav-
ing cross pieces high above ground on
which We're hung dried meats. Like
wise were found dried fish and seal fat
stored away in creVices near the springs.
but nowhere a sign of the owner her
calf HONr-e--ar ~ al bor ha
woman herself or the child, now grown
up, had lately been on the island was
proved beyond a doubt. Searching for
many days without further success, and
as the articles thrown out of the basket
had not been picked up, the footprints
also proving to be older than g first sup
posed, they came to the conclusion that
at least no living being existed there any
more, and they returned to the business
that had brought them. In few weeks
they had finished and prepared for the
return trip. But old Nidiver could not
forget the poor abandoned soul. He
proposed to the party that they should
once more search every part of the island
to find if possible, g least her remains.
Refusing at first to waste their time on
such frutless mission he finally, but
with difficulty, persuaded them, and
then the entire body secured the island,
seeking ghost" as they said.
After several days Charley Brown
found the whale bone hut, in which lay
several implements, but the grass
around it bore no traces of disturbance.
Climbing up towerin & promontory, fur
ther toward the interior, he discovered
fresh footprints, that, however, We're
soon lost in the soft moss. Going to the
edge he saw his companions far behind
him. Coming back to examine further,
he suddenly became aware of c strange
movement at some distance. but could
not make out what it was. Gliding
closer as silently as possible. he now
clearly perceived the head Of a woman,
Carefully approaching to within few
feet he saw what he had supposed to be
bushes was the wall Of a roofiess hut
built of strong branches intertWined. In
the hat was an apparent couch of grass,
several pots ard baskets, knife, rudely
fashioned out Of a barrel hoop, with
wooden handle. and steadily burning
fire, with some bones in the ashes.
The WOman'S skin was lighter in hue
than most Indians, her features were
very regular and pleasing, and her
brown hair hung in thick braids over her
shoulders. Talking incessantly to her
self. her eyes shaded with her harGf.
she was gazing at the foot of the rocks.
She had not yet seen the men below,
and Brown, fearing to frighten her, if
he called. endeaVOred to attract her at
tention by placing his nat on his ranroi
and raising it up and down. This sig
nal was seen. however, by the men, and
T,TIVru then lV further cipT9lc Ua--a