The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-01-04

| tive dwellings once stood. Not a yes
tige remains of the materials used il
the construction Of these rancheras
Hundreds of shell mounds are scattered
about and are found to consist of as
toniShing numbers of mollusks, tn
bones of every species of fish found IL
| the channel, skeletons of seals, sea ele
| plants, whales, sea otter, the island fol
and various aquatic birds. Withou
| question these animals were used TO
| food by the tribe that once thronget
these boundaries. There are also nu
merous canine skeletons, several Of
which indicated species of bull terrier
Judging from the immense quantities
of dead land mollusks everywhere
there must have been a time when the
island supported a luxuriant vegetation
OF all this verdure nothing is seen to-
day but a few stunted thorn bushes
and now and then a cactus forlornlJ
reaching its grotesque arms out of the
interminable sweeps of sand
An examination of some of the
mounds discloses all sorts of curious
utensils-stone cooking pots, ollas, NOR
tars, pestles drills, bone needles and
iIEIl HUNS, olitIl DcCQS, Clldtl III GtOllNS,
pipes, cups and a few arrowheads
spear points and swords made of bone.
The absence of many weapons proves
the peaceful attributes of the islanders.
Small limitations of boats and fish
carved from crystallized tale and ser
pentine also shows a rudimentary
knowledge of the art of sculpture. In
many places conical piles of small
black pebbles contrast oddly with the
white sand. In some instances these
pebbles are packed in abaone shells.
No trace is seen of the brush pans
in which a woman for years found her
only shelter from the cutting winds and
sand. Nature, ever unmindful of the
individual, long since merged the su-
perhuman efforts of this courageous
life into the universal fate of an entire
race. Indeed, every foot Of this strange
land is eloquet of the extinction of al
most unheard-of people.
A trip along the west coast of st.
Nicholas Island over vast extent Of
shell mounds sets one to wondering
how it was possible for a limited popu-
lation to consume such prodigious num-
bers of mollusks. In fact, the infinite
variety of mollusks ON st. Nicholas is
said by biologists not to be exceeded by
any other known region of equal area.
The shore line is of course sand stone,
burrowed by the pounding surf into
fantastic alcoves, bridges, columns and
caves Sometimes these savage cuts
form rude efflgies bearing surprising
likeness to living creatures One OF the
most conspicuous Is the exact counter
part of the neck, breast and body of
bird with an alert hooded head. This
piece of natures sculpturing must be
forty feet long, and beheld from dis
lance looks quite as perfect as If fash
Toned by man. There are hundreds of
photographs of this freak of nature cold
all over California.
Going westward from this gnawed,
surf-lashed wall the ground makes
gentle descent to a wide mesa, termi-
mating in a steep escarpment. The at
mosphere from this elevation is SO deli
cately clear that the eye can readily
distinguish the peaked tops of all the
Channel Islands, several Of them being
forty miles away. Immediately at our
feetthere stretches away dreary des-
era of stupendous barrnness A singu-
lar characteristic Of the place We're
heaps of the bones of whales, their ar
arrangement and packing so systemati-
cally correct as to have withstood
century's sweep Of winds over this ex-
posed point. But one human skeleton
has been found here, its bleached, dis
membered aspect In keeping with the
driven desolateness Of the spot-Chica-
go Record.