Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1915-06-19

all thought it q great lark and landed
safely at Catelina after three hours
ride Avalon, by. the sea-We all con.
slider this the finest trip that we
made. Avalon ,nestles atsthe foot OF
the mountains and overloeks, one of
the finest small deep harbors in the
world, and we were told by European
travellers that there is nothing more
picturesque in Europe We climbed a
mountain as high as the ascent
would permit and were rewarded by
one of the most beautiful views that
human eyes could rest upon The day
was perfect and on the crags below
we could hear the solemn boom of the
the sea gullS, those natural divers of
the deep, perched their white breasts
cleaning white against the dark
background of rock. Hundreds or
feet below lay the harbor glittering
in the sunshine. and some fifty or sixty
boats of different sizes and kinds lying
on it's quiet surface. We watched
the steamer, Cabrillo, leave the hor-
Dor with four hundred passengers on
board, and our little boat, Nellie, fol-
low closely in her wake until they
were lost in the vastness of the
mighty exPanse of water. To give
our readers little idea of ocean
depths Mrs. Givler asked the mate, on
uhe boat coming over, a few questions
regarding some sea birds which we
saw in f1ocks riding the great waves
with the ease of tiStle down, He
answered her, and after few mo-
ments conversation said, 1--WE are
now crossing at the deepest point be-
tween Catalina and the California
coast" chow deep is it, was asked
Fifteen hundred fathoms" he
answer ed and explained that fifteen
hundred fathomS was nine Thousand
feet or a little less than two miles
deep Soundings t-fther north give
the immense depth of over five miles.
1t seems almost Incredible but never
the-less is true.
After our mountain climb we had
sappers amt retired early. The next
merning we went out In glass bot.
toned boat. q very large and finely
eqnipped one, to view the submarine
gardens. At this point words, and
especially written opesr seepa yery in,
adeq uats Co express the 1weader and
beauty of this trip One cansea to a.
depth ranging from thirty to sixty
feet. The boat moves Sc slowly that
motion is scarcely percepeible. ZAll
kinds Of beautifui sea MOSES covers
the sandy bottoms and the great
boulders are covered with different
beautiful growths. Kelp grows to a
height of forty and fifty feet and is
remarkable for its beauty. Great
schools of fish of nearly every color
one can imagine can easily be seen,
and this markings and colorings are
very remarkable. A diver accom-
panied us on this trip and descended
to the ocean floor, thirty or forty
feet directly beneath the glass bot
toned boat, where all could see him
pick up two large -abolone shells. He
said before making the dive that he
would open his mouth while In the
water, feat that is said to be- very
difficult TO perform, but he did it
with the same ease that he came to
the surface after securing the shells.
After passing over these submarine
gardens, whose wonder and beauty We
viii never 'forget,.we proceeded TO-
Noon Stone beach, where we were
met by row-boaE that rowed us to-
an extremely pebbiy beach where
the breakers came In with a vengence,
but we landed safely and picked. up a
of stones, which many have
told us are really very good ones.
Wa then returned TO Avalon enjoying
our morning trip more than words
can express. In the afternoon I'VE
saw number of seals frisking about
in the harbor close to the pier and
learned that one, "Old Ben," as he
was affectionately called by the Is
land people, came each day to the
pier to be fed his portion of fish from
the fish market. He was so tame
that he could be coaxed up the steps
aud would lie on the pier and eat his
fish and allow people to stroke his
sleek sides. Their eyes are very soft !