The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-09
By Lucille Vivian Pierce

~ the mariners chart you see
.ssr n ds'ss sss Ass'' sss's
tourists call them the Corona
dos, therefore; natives call them Corpus
Christi and tho Others. as the Span
iards did, and off the Mexican coast
they call them Las Islas Majicas (the
Magical Islands,, and look at you fur
lively. trying to keep back the fear in
their eyes; they wonder II you know.
Unless you are lover of things
Latin and are able to think with these
Mexicans and see things from the ma
tive viewpoint, you can live in the
southern part of this romantic State
all your life, forever looked upon as an
alien
It was with a party OF such aliens
that saw the Coronados. I saw them
first with their eyes, and then with
the eyes of a Mexican deckhand- Il
saw-him cross himself as the islands
began to loom, shining and purple, out.
of the silver fogs; he called them Las
Islas Majfcas, and I knew he knew a.
realsstory.
We came to the islands the easy way
from SAN Diego Bay. They lie. TWEEN
tys miles down the coast below the
American line and a scant eight miles
from the coast of Mexico. They are
Mexico's islands. If you are good
sailor it Is a fascinating. solitary jour
ney; solitary because the aliens are
generally too far gone in seasickncss
to count long before the islands rise
up shining like promises.
There is something wonderfully al
Turing to the Imagination in any
island. and with these Coronados tho
allurennent is so haunting 1t stays with
one from the moIneht the fogs begin
to slip and the lilac shapes loom large
tpathe final moment swhen their trag-
zeal precipicesS tower~over one. -.
& There are four sielands In a chain.
varying In size from nearly two miles
in length to scant quarter-mile; mar
row, rocky. mountain tops rising sheer
out Of the blue green. with sheets of
spray forever beating their bases and
the sclaniors OF: the surf shouting louder
than the. sea BIRDS. Sin intonings that
weirdly resemble an agonized human
voice. N4}~s
IT was when that voice rose to
piercing note. that noticed the Mex
lean boys: terror. Since he .knew" 1t
would have been quite idle to tell. him
that the caverns ana hollow bases at
the foot of the cliffs held and augments
ed the clamor of the waves to this hu-
man poignancy didn't try. be
gan to talk to him. asked him the
conventional auestiohs: Corpus-Chrfsti
3 Is three miles from north? Yes Seals?s
A few. Absolutely uninhabitedP Yes:
the Mexican Governme emit had sold stone
from the islands for the .Goveru7nert
Jettys at Coronado. Had he worked
here. then? Madre degDfos. NO.
Then, to encourage him. told him
/, the story OF. another Mexican Island.
200 miles. belowLhow three smuggfers.
had. hurled themselves into the sea
from Just such a precipice after being.
sbetrayed into the hands OF government
Detectives. by sscomrade. & e =
23HAsljstened. as sSoutherners listen to.
.grfsl Is pry--stoltdly, silent but wit tn
( intellectually alert eyes that tell of a
Latin imagination at work.
,Legsnd Tale and Fancy
g .zAAhoarse,a double cry from the. cliff
Bent5fhe blood from his face. Listen!
senorita 1t is the Two Black Broth
efsl.s Z .sSsf So
had. come to the story. We had run
into. a little cove with precipitous
shores. ION the lee side OF Big North
Island. and in the calmer waters the
a1iens Began to creep back to life.
Now andf again interrupted by the
crash of tho sbreakers and the cries of
th9 sea birds the boy told mo tho story
ofathe Black Brothers.
They wore called the Black Brothers
byathe Americans in San Diego. They.
were mot actually black 4 they swere.
sinister. They were mot brothers. 5 No
one know their names, beyond the
PEDRO and Carlos 3 of ) their famf1fara