The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-08-12

and woman, the mother who had been
deserted years before. She was living In
the hut. which was made OF whale ribs
and sea lion hair, her sole companions.
being several wild dogs that savagely
charged the strangers.
Thewoman could not make herself under
stood and, sngularly enough, no one In
all the Indian tribes In South California
could be found who understood her. She
told her discoveries by signs that the wild
dogs had killed her child long ago. that
she killed sea lions and sea birds with
stones and lived on them.
At first she appeared to be afraid Of tho
men, but. finding that they treated her
kindly. she consented to go with them.
She took all the rude articles she had
used during the years of solitude. her
skin dresses. made mostly from the skiing
of the lion, and so interesting were tho
costumes that they were sent to Rome
to the Pope by the priest who instigated
the rescue.
The woman was taken to Santa Bar
bara and named Maris, after the little YES
sci which accomplished her rescue. She
was placed in care of a family who did
everything possible for her. She wis
bright and vivacious in disposition.
learned some Spanish. danced and sana
for her friends and was visited by Ia
dams from various parts of California In
an effort to find someone who could under
stand her. But civilization proved too
much for her and she died in three
mouths, one of the most remarkable, Cru
soes known, as her story Is based on
actual fact and in its details Is much
stranger than fiction.
The interesting mound which the
writer examined on San Nicolas was
formed during past centuries by the M
nj this W and n I'm.
tense interest on this account. The island
near the landing was % or 30 feet higher
than the shore and reached through singu-
lar wind-worn passes. wind being the
sculptor here. Once on the heights o
broad mesa was seen as level as a floor
and marked with lines which resembled
ancient blowing or something OF the
kind. The mesa was covered with hne
finty stones about the size of peas which
the herder says picked up by the
wind and blown bodily through the air
at times They were arraigned like chaff
on a beach. The writer followed this
mesa for several miles. and that the
island had large and vigorous population
at some distant time evident. Every
short distance some object was found,
now a pipe made from the vertebrate of a
fsh, needle Of fshbone, a dish made
from a shell, the holes plugged with as
phaltum. Here would be stone club or
mortar of stealite, a spearhead or a sink
er and shell hooks that some fisherman
centuries ago. perhaps, had dropped and
forgotten.
Everywhere plies of big pearly shells
Of size unknown here was found, telling
of the lives and work of these peoplA
One mound was found covered by ths
ribs of whales and beneath them a dat
rock bearing marks Of various kinds and
then the owner a skeleton Ia perfect
preservation and all about 1t In the sad
vessels Of stone. flutes of bird bones nrS
the various objects which went to make
up the home of this unknown. In one
spot six layers Of skeletons were fourd,
the lowest apparently very old. The ques-
ton OF age Is always very interesting,
but one in contemplating these great
shell deposits can form an adequate idea
Of their age.
The island evidently has been inhabited
since the earliest times. II was doubtless
fertile then, but the elements have con-
spired against it and It is doomed to be
swept and covered with sand. The Island
is now frequented by professional collec-
tors, who go over from the mainland and
live here for weeks and months, camping
out the sand dunes, weighing their
tents down with rocks to prevent being
blown into the sea. Every morning they
go out with their hooks and poles, hunt.
ing for the spoils which have been IN,
covered by the wind in the night. In thi,
way tons OF material have been collected
here and sent all over the world Nearly
all the great museums have collection.
from San Nicolas. The most conspicu
Gus objects are the stone mortars. stone
vessels weighing from 100 to 200 pounds,
In walking over the large mounds num-
bers would be found broken In pieces by
some vandal or some enemy In the lons
ago. That these ancient people were fond
OF ornaments Is shown by the quantity OF
beads found