The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-03-31
SAN CLEMENTE.
California and Its Peculiar
Condition.

About 50 miles off the coast of Calf
fornia, nearly opposite San Diego. lies
the barren, lonely and half-known
island of San Clemente. The trip Is
usually a rough one. But in summer
time, at least Wilson's Cove offers Il
comparatively safe harbor, and if one
knows the locality well it is not hard
TO land on the steep, bouder-strewn
beach. From the shore the bare hills
rise abruptly on all sides, broken only
by little terracing. The first impress
sion given by the island and confirmed
by a study of its structure as whole is
that of a great block of the earth's
crust, tipped up on the side toward
Catalina. and very little altered by
erosion.
San Clcmcntc forms a pasture for
thousands of sheep and n smaller num-
Der of cattle, and Wilson's Cove is the
headquarters of the sheep herders when
they are on the island. That is chiefly
in the spring and summer, for during
the rainy season not only do the sheep
need less care but the island is often
unapproachable on account Of rough
weather. At such seasons one old man.
who had lived there for 30 years, used
to have the island to himself, and might
see no human face for three months at
n time. His cabin stands Just above
the shore at Wilson's Cove, and near it
are the few rough buildings used by the
sheep men. The place is usually known
as Gallagher's.
The only water supply here is rain
caught during the winter season in
tanks, The joys of living in this ia
vored spot are further enhanced in
summer time by strong winds which
flow through gap in the hills, bring.
ing from the naked slopes clouds of
dust.
The more level regions of the island
remind one constantly of the desert.
There are no trees except very few in
some of the larger canyons. In the
spring there are flowers but they soon
wither and the summer aspect of the
island seems its normal one. In some
places there is grass, in others only
cactus, or IA little low underbrush, and
two species of bryanthemum.
which are called salt grass" by the
herders.
Not only camp sites. but stone i'm
plements and human bones remain in
considerable numbers TO testify to the
former occupation of this island by
Indians.
The desert-liLe character of the is
land is intensified 10y the almost Il bso-
lutc stiffness. Birds of al sorts are
much fewer th"r on Catalina Except
for few cro', seldom A,"'G acre
seem to be none bur the sn....tr.r.tds.
such as linnets and sparrows, which
live principally in the canyons. There
are no squirrels on the island. Snakes
and frogs are also unknown here but in
their place are multituGes Of silent sun
loving lizards. In the canyons one may
catch an occasional glimpse of a wary
foN; but generally the only large ami
mails seen are the herds of wild goats.
and the sheep and cattle, scarcely less
wild, which are pastured here,
The most striking features of the
islands topography, nest to the ter
races themselves, are the canyons
which cut across them There are no
gradual descents from ridge to canyon.
but chasm yaWns without warning
| across the level plain of a terrace, its
walls dropping almost vertically into
depths which can only be guessed TO
scale these walls is in most cases an
utter mpossibility, Even at the most
favorable points the path which winds
down to the bed of the cannon and mp
again on the opposite side is so steep
and rough that only a mountain bred
animal could follow it. The hard-rid-
ing Mexican herders will not trust
themselves to their sure-footed horses
in crossing some of the canyons, and
anyone acquainted with the class
knows that trui which will make
Mexican dismount must be bad indeed
In the dry season not stream is
| flowing anywhere on San Clemente.
Only the great depth of the canyons
cut in the solid rock and the immense
powders which are scattered over their
beds can give any idea of the force of
the torrents which foam and roar
through the gorges in winter, Neither
words nor pictures can do justice to the
wildness and immensely of San Glenn
ente's topography in general, The
depth of the canyons, the broad ex-
panse of the terraces, the height of
their, cliffs and the roughness of the
coast are all belittled in any general
view, and figures are powerless to meas
ure grandeur,
We sailed out of the cove in the sun
set, and this was our last view of San
Clemente; the waters around us silver
blue, the rugged cliffs rising above
them, black against the saffron sky,
and nestled in the shadow of those beet