The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-18
STRANGE PACIFIC ISLES.
ANACIPI, THE EYER CHANGING, AND
ITS PELIC1NS.
Folly Of the Great-BiIled Birds-A Florida
Mans Lnbor-Saying Devicc-An AIneri-
can winc-Maktng NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
fnl Gnv.a nm the InInnh nf knntn Grml.

saw Anacapa from San Buena Ventura. beat
ing up the Santa Barbara Channel In the trim
flagship OF Com IN odoro Burnham Of the Santa
catalina Yacht Club. one II the crew called
attention 20 the island. which lay ten miles to
the westward. and bade us watch it, as the
word Anacapa means ever changing" and
the island was by mariners and the Spanish
Americans invested with a strange faculty OF
continually changing It's appearance. The
island rises in Jagged saw tooth peaks against
the blue sky and is one OF the most desolate OF
he Southern California islands AS we moved
on. under the frcsh.trade. 1t changed strange
ly. Now the'distant fog bank Topped Off its tip
and converted IL into low. long stretch OF
gray. indefinite and unnyting; now single
pinnacle appeared and a moment lator the sun
burst through and illumined the island. its
peaks its rocky crags. its barren mesa. all
OF which as suddenly faded away: and 30 1t
continued ever changing rs we beat W to 1t.
The north end OF tho island was reached
FIRST. Here the rocks with Jagged points rise
into the air. This was about four miles IRON
the south end Of Santa Cruz Island the chan
mel betSeen being rough and treacherous.
Anacnpa did not lose its mystery even on
near examination. "and we turned the north
end. and wing and wing. sailed down the west
coast. every few Yards seemingly produced
new changes III the contour.
Anacapa Is PERHAPS Ave miles long and from
fifty feet togo yards in width. divided In sew
sral places where the sea has beaten its way
through. more drcary aspect would ba
difficult to i'm igine. Swept 10y continual gales
il has the appearance of land making des-
perate hg ut against the sNterminatlng e!e-
ments. At the south end fine arch appears
and formerly was connected with the main
land. but now 1t stands some way from shore.
an impressive object and so high that q large
vessel could pass beneath it, a telling illustra-
ton. OF the lower and devastating influence
OF tho sea.
tip end OF the island aud its continuation on
the mainland is u mesa ms fiat as wind could
make II, reaching up to the summit at d grade
the end mesa the TOP which contained ap-
parentIy twenty acres, was seen to 10 covered
with birds OF unusual size. The yachts can
non was loaded and fred and as the sound re-
Verbarated among the rocks the entire mesa
lous mass that resolved itself into pecans.
The birds rose higher and, higher. all re-
their enormous bills an extraordinary spec-
ulcle II had always been a mystery to US
where the pelical- of southern California
bred. and here was the rookery on an almost
Inaccessible mesa facing the sea and projected
from the prevailing winds by u tip to the south
The flock Of pelicnns became SO dense that 1t
motion Tn@ birds nei the air Tor several
minutes. then gradually began to circle down
ward their numbers being so great that they
showed plainly in n photograph taken at quite
distance from the shore. The birds had
built their nests on the ground without the
raised In Florida. especially on the outer
reel. the brown nest OF the pelican is generally
wrapped together that it 10 mystery how the
eggs are held ON. They are Of large size and
rise to the story that peicans tear their breasts
10 provide feathers fer their young but IT, such Is
Is q pery shabby affair
This California bird makes not even this
preston In the ground. Tho place was almost
inscce ssible ana to ne reached only ly Il dan
nned II Was onI TO y psS Son" he5 and 1
not inviting. The, peltcsns rat huddled TO-
gether. flat upon the ground their long heaks
tucked away beGeaih their wings. In the la
often seen iesdirr. in Itself an n interesting
spectacle. The California pelican is the most
patient bird IN the world, Il model OF all the vr
tues submitting to the most outrneeous rob
Their method OF capturing prev is to fly swiftly
around the lagoon at an elevation OF ,perhaps
pointed bill downward. the small brown eyes
eagerly scanning tho watsr for evidence OF q
can hurls itself downward with incredible
velocity. its long bill outstretched. its man.
disles oGsn and the enormous rouch snr,,nd;
goes out Of sight for II few seconds. then rises
and invaTNbly'wags is diminutive tail whether
been taken 1t losses ITS catch with II peculiar
movement from the bo9Gh outwnra and pro
intervenes. The moment tho uelicnn dives q
laughing gull plupGes' down after il and ms It
IlstS HIlUHlt On tuc btll'at = Ifdl OF Dhtk.
As the patient pelican, ATTEMPTS to swallow
It's prey the gull Snatchos It from its mouth
wagging its tail and Eroceed lns to discover SI
Hsn THI school on small fry In this way the
The patience OF the PELICAN is nowhere more
strikinGly illustrated thaa when it is employed
by lazy fisherman to hunt for bait, The
the pelican for this PURPOSE. Desiring TO 70
fishing one nay. he went down to the beach
ing 10 Indians and wrrck"rs, A tall. thin
individual! APPEARED. who said. in reply TO an
NO, SON we amt got no hait; but if YOU uns
want some. why. KIN cir hit.'
Three or four necans that were rOOstlnE
on piece Of scantlinG nailed to one Of the
mt7ns . 50 5sata they hey sGog n three feet
OF the writer, The Bird? we're completely do.
mesticated. and oreued their mouths aud
wneeZed aTtnmati"ay as their ..a .i az
net and 20 nifty feet away ard east it over the
ssopSca 81 m mSt5S Of he a@r4 eh
leather b band ne iasened i ab2at the neck Of
pelican from the perch took 1t down to the wa
ter's edge and tossed it over. motioning out to
aea with hi, hand The bird nmed atey took
Night, and after soaring around plunged its
head down into u school of Sardlnes. ana a few
seconds later tossed 1t into the air to swallow
band several times it attempted the swaI.
owing, act, aud the observer fancied that a
Then it turned toward the shore, placdy
swimming in with its pouch full of bait. 1t
NduuaSu w " INC shunly where inc llsnoTNlan
pried open its bills and emitted the contents
on the ground. Then he untasteued the col
lar and threw the bird few sardineS
How muchI" asked the writer
"piSayune replied the labor economist, lit
Ing the bird to It's perch. and adding. that
Yere pore cuss Il n bird ain muth TO look on
but he . right smart woTksr.'
Pelicans were Il It the only inhabitants OF
Anacapa When the Yacht had made the com
plete circuit OF the island, she ran into little
cove whore was found Il small boat and
Chiraman living in a shack. which was about
three ieBt from the ground and or four
legs, lie was an abaone hunter going around
the island al low tide and pryng on these ami
mails; later drying the meat and saving tho
shells. which probably eventually went to Ger
many to he made into buttons. His employer
called Tor him once in two months. and Il lone
Her lie cannot well be imagined. on this uurt
OF Anacara was 4 small flock Of sheep. the de-
yeloDment OF two or three which had been
left or overlooked when the Island was sold
some years ago. As there was not drop of
water on the Isl and II was something OF n niyS-
tory how the sheep existed. hut the Chinaman
pointed out that they drank from one an
other wool. The island stands in u dense fog
belt. aud the fleece Of the sheep Is saturated
every night and the animals obtain their sup
nj in ia IEn