The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-14

I upon the ground already explored, an
 other wind storm came on, and th'
 spot containing the basket was not re visited; as on all previous voyages, tht
 | woman was left to her fate and the
 schooner crossed to San Miguel Island
 | without her.
 In July, 1853, Captain Nidever agair
 went to San Nicolas, determined to res
 cue the woman if she could be found Before, he had gone to find otter anC
 seal; now he had d nobler quest
 He anchored midway of the north western shore of the island, near Cor ral Harbor, where the natives had em- l parked in 1886. At this point and at
 the western extremity of the island is
 found an abundance of good water. seal
 and fish. Here Captain Nidever made
 camp, and with his men began sys- tematic search. On the second day a hut was discovered upon the ridge, and 1 on approaching it, piles of ashes and bones were seen at it's entrance. l Within the enclosure sat the object l of their search, talking aloud to her | seuf, and with a rude knife manufac- 1 tured from piece of rusty iron hoop, washed up by the waves, she was dili- ] gently scraping blubber from a piece 1 of sealskin.
 I She watched the approach of the men with interest, but made no attempt at | flight She was clothed in garment | of cormorant skins which reached near | ly to her ankles, and her throat and arms were bare. Her hair was vel lowed by the sun and tangled and her skin, where exposed, was brown, but where protected by her robe it was quite fair, showing her to be of Aztec or Toltec origin She received her ViS itors with the quiet and dignity of
 queen, greeting each with a bow and a
 smile. She talked necessarily, but no
 word of hers could be understood, al-
 though the Indians of the rescuing
 party spoke several dialects. In her
 huts was a fire, and when the captain
 and his men were seated, the woman
 roasted roots, termed "carcomite" by
 Californians, which she served to the
 company on absolute shells.
 One day sehe took her new comrades
 to a deep hidden grotto, where bubbled a cool spring from whence she drew her
 supply of water for cooking. Here they found several unique water jars
 woven by her of the island grasses, and lined with asphaltum which is plenti full on the western shore. The water jars resembled wide mouthed bottles, and would hold from two to six quarts. It was interesting to watch her make baskets water tight. She would drop into them bits of asphaltum and hot pebbles, whirling them deftly as the as- phaltum liquefied It required skill and patience, but when they were glazed with a thin coating the jars were both light and durable.
 second spring near the above-men- tioned grotto she used as a lavatory, and would frequently visit it, for she was very cleanly in her habits.
 At the expiration of a month, when ! the schooner was ready to depart, she | was made to understa and by signs that | she was to go on board. She evidenced | the pathetic struggle she had waged | with want in the years of solitude by | gathering together every fragment of | food In her possession. In the crevices of rocks and in other spots secure from | the depredations of the wild dogs which | Infested San Nicolas she had laid up | stores of bones and other refuse in an- ticipation of some future Starvation | time" These she insisted should be 1 carried with her. Once on board and he frebrand she had brought burned % ashes she clung closely to the stove, showing that she often suffered from ,old as well as hunger
 Ito t., tIn l Tn woman to his home in Santa Barba- "a, where she lived In his family until Ter death. She was supposed to be lbcut fifty years of age when rescued.
 She had a docile. loving nature and vas of a peculiarly happy disposition. low she had retained these qualities n her years of lonely life, Is mystery 'he became much attached to her new and they in turn gave her a most cordial affection. She was natu- ally intelligent and full of resources md soon learned to communicate with hose about her. She told of her sor- ow at the death of her oldest child 10 was devoured by wild dogs on the lay her people were taken from the sland by Captain Hubbard The Oung DdDe met similar rate later l vhen the mother, driven by hunger, vas forced to leave it unprotected and o forth In search of food.
 trange to say, this woman had for nulated an apparently fluent language f her own, which no one was able to understand. Three of the mission athers, versed in every Indian dialect n the California coast, were quite un- be to make themselves understood ome of the former inhabitants of San Iicolas were brought from San Ga riel and Los Angeles, but they were lso unable to converse wit her or in- erpret her language But few of her 'ords have ben remembered. Man she { alled "noche," the sky, "toygwah," 6 ide, "tocah." Possibly the Alaskan Indians, who verran San Nicolas in the early part the last century, left upon her mem- ry an impression of their nomencla- Ire, which superseded her native ,ngue in the years when human asso-