Evening star., 1899-01-28
SAN CLEMENTE.
One of Our Islands on the Const of
California.
rERLING HEILIG.

From the Land Of Sunshine.
About fifty miles off thu coast Of Califor-
MIA, nearly opposite San Diego. lies the bar
ren, lonely and half-known island of San
Clemente. The trip is usually rough one
But in summer time. at least Wilson's Cove
offers a comparatively safe harbor. and il
one knows the locality well IL is not hard
to land on the steep boulder-strcwn beach.
From the shore the bare hills rise abrupt-
ly on all sides. broken only by little ter
racing. The first impression given by the
island and confirmed by study of its
structure as a 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 Clemente forms a pasture for thou
sands of sheep and a smaller number of
cattle. and Wilson's Cove is the headqnar-
ters 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 ac-
count of rough weather. At such seasons
one old man, who had lived there for thir-
ty years. used to have the isard to him
self, and might see no human face for
three months at time. His cabin stands
Just above the shore at Wilson's Cove, and
near ii are the few rough buildings used
known as CALI. eher's.
The only water supply here is rain caught
during the winter season in tanks The
joys OF living ia this favored spot are fur
ther enhanced in summer time by strong
winds which flow through a gap in the
hills. bringing from the naked slopes clouds
of dust.
The more level regions of the island re-
mind one constantly of the desert There
are no trees except a very few in some
Of the larger canOns. In the spring there
are flowers, bat they soon withtr. and the
summer aspect Of the island seems its nor
NAL one In some places there is grass, in
others only cactus. or a little low under
brush, and TWO species of mesembryanthe-
mum, which ara called salt grass by the
herderS.
Not only camp sites but stone imrle-
ments and human bones remain IN consid-
cradle numbers 10 testify to the former oc-
cupation CT this island 10y Indians.
The desert-like character Of the island is
intensified by the almost absolute stiffness
Birds of all sorts are much fewer than on
Catalina. Except for a few crOwS-sel-
dom hcard-thera seem to be none but the
smaller birds. such as linuets and sparrows,
which live principally I'm the canons. There
are no squirrels on the island. Snakes and
frogs are also unknown here, but in their
place are multitudes of silent, sun-loving
lizards. In the canons one may catch an
occasional glimpse of a wary fox: but
generally the only large animals 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. next to the terraces them
selves, are the canOns which cut across
tn I'm. There are no gradual descents from
ridge TO canon, but a 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
impessibiEty. Even at the most favorable
points the path which winds down to the
bed of the canon and up again on the op-
poSite side is so steep and rough that only
Il ountain-bred animal could follow il.
The hard-riding Mexican herders win not
in crossing some Of the canons, and any
one acquainted with the class knows that
a trail which will make Mexican dis
mount must be bad indeed.
In the dry season not stream is flowing
anywhere on San Clemente. Only the
great depth of the canons cut in the solid
rock and the immense boulders 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
Clementes topography in general. The
depth of the canons, the broad eXpanse of
the terraces, the height of their cliffs and
the roughness of the coast are all belittled
in any general view, and figures are pow
eriess to measure grandeur
We sailed out of the cove in the sunset,
and this was our last view OF San Glenn
ente; the waters around us silver blue. the
rugged cliffs rising above them, black
shadow Of those beetling hills, the little
cabin, pathetic in its loneliness, with the
sturdy old man sitting the porch, his
dogs and fowls around him, watching the
vessel out of sight.