Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1900-01-06
SHE FORGOT HER LANGUAGE
INDIAN WOMAN WHO LIVED
ALONE ON AN ISLAND TWENTY
YEARS.

INDIAN WOMAN WHO LIVED
ALONE ON AN ISLAND TWENTY
YEARS.
About seventy miles off the coast OF
Southern California lies the Island of
San Nicholas veritable desert. wind
swept to such a degree that one might
we'll imagine that the furies are guard
ing the island. San Nicholas, which is
twelve miles long and four or five wide,
has no harbors, the anchorage being
merely a lee under the low hills, the
fact that the wind blows directly of
shore, making it possible for vessels
to anchor here at certain seasons.
On this island, which has been the
central point of a romance and trag-
edy of much interest, deserted and
alone, Maria ter-Than-Nothing, the
wild woman Of San Nicholas. lived
twenty years-long enough to forget
her people and even her language. The
story told by Professor G. F. Holder is
as follows:
For centuries the island was in
habited by race Of hardy mariners,
who have left their monuments in large
she'll heaps and mounds that cover
many acres. Less than 100 years ago
the Franciscan fathers determined to
take the natives away from the inhos-
Ditable island and provide them with
homes around the various missions,
, where they could also be comfortably
converted. With this object in view
a vessel was sent to the island. and
after much difficulty the Indians, now
reduced to about one hundred. were
b collected and taken aboard, deserving
thousands Of implements which their
ancestors had used for centuries. When
the vessel was about to sail one Of the
. women discovered that her child had
T. been left behind But 1t was blowing
q gale and the vessel could not hold
so the captain sailed away, whereupoI
the frantic mother dashed into the sea
< and swan back to shore, making hel
r way successfully through the surf. The
r captain Of the vessel promised to re
turn for the woman, but soon after hi,
vessel was wrecked and no attempt wal
made to rescue the poor woman unit
r twenty years after when a priest de
e termined to make an effort to learI
Q whether she was alive. He enlisted thu
4 services of an otter hunter and severa
n Indians who. in small schoOne
4 known as the Better-Than-NO Nothing
8 They landed on the island, and yer.
Z soon found evidence that someone wa
living there. but avoiding them. II
make thesearch perfect the men forme
a line across the island at certain dis
tances apart. which resulted in the dis
II covering of the wild woman She wa
II sitting bv a brush hut in canyon
Il about which was a windbreak of whale
/ bones and varions material. She smile
!. and spoke to the Indians in a languag
> they did not understand, but they fel
on their faces before her as though Z
worship her. She offered them food
and readily consented to 90 with them
n, and was taken aboard the schoone
- with a tame otter She was dressed Il
/, the skins of birds, over which was
Il garment OF sealslIin. She was name
y Better Than Nothing. after the vesse
and by signs succeeded in telling som
Indians on the mainland something g
her history. At first she had mourne
the loss of her friends. then the dog
killed her habv and she wished to di
u and was sick for long time.
n She was taken to Santa Barbara
u where Indians from all about wer
SC brought to her to see if they could IN
derstand her language. but withou
avail She lived with different familie
= at Santa Barbara but civilizatio
In proved disastrous to her. and in les
y than three months she died. Her re
s. narkable dress of feathers was sent
IS Rome as a curiosity, and the remain
IS of the unfortunate woman found
resting place in the sanctified groun
Of the mission.
San Nicholas has proved a Yeritabl
= treasure house for the archeologis
al and tons OF stone implements hay
IA been taken from various mounds on th
w island One Of the most remarkabl
shell mounds in the world is foun
there, being, it Is said, nearly mil
long and ten feet in average height
, Scientific American.