54 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEEIES. 



" The localities of several of the stations are quite picturesque. Some of them are nearly 

 concealed from seaward view, being inside some rocky reef, or behind a jagged point, with its out- 

 lyiug rocks, upon which each successive wave dashes its foam, as if forbidding the approach of 

 ship or boat. The one which most interested us is half hidden in a little nook, on the southern 

 border of the Bay of Carmel, just south of Point Pinos. Scattered around the foothills, which 

 come to the water's edge, are the neatly whitewashed cabins of the whalers, nearly all of whom 

 are Portuguese, from the Azores or Western Islands of the Atlantic. They have their families with 

 iliem, and keep a pig, sheep, goat, or cow prowling around the premises; these, with a small 

 garden-patch, yielding principally corn and pumpkins, make up the general picture of the hamlet, 

 which is a paradise to the thrifty clan in comparison with the homes of their childhood. It is a 

 pleasant retreat from the rough voyages experienced on board the whale-ship. The surrounding 

 natural scenery is broken into majestic spurs and peaks, like their own native isles, with the 

 valley of the Rio Carmel a little beyond, expanded into landscape loveliness. 



" Under a precipitous bluff, close to the water's edge, is the station, where, upon a stone-laid 

 quay, is erected the whole establishment for cutting-iu and trying-out the blubber of the whales. 

 Instead of rolling them upon the beach, as is usually done, the cutting-tackles are suspended from 

 an elevated beam, whereby the carcass is rolled over in the water when undergoing the process 

 of flensing in a manner similar to that alongside a ship. Near by are the try- works, sending 

 forth volumes of thick black smoke from the scrap-fire under the steaming caldrons of boiling oil 

 A little to one side is the primitive storehouse, covered with cypress boughs. Boats are hang- 

 ing from davits, some resting on the quay, while others, fully equipped, swing at their moorings in 

 the bay. Seaward, on the crest of a cone-shaped hill, stands the signal-pole of the lookout station. 

 Add to this the cutting at the shapeless and half-putrid mass of a mutilated whale, together with 

 the men shouting and heaving on the capstans, the screaming of gulls and other sea fowl, mingled 

 with the noise of the surf about the shores, and we have a picture of the general life at a California 

 coast-whaling station."* 



In 1879 shore whale-fisheries were, or had lately been, in operation at the following points on 

 the coast of California : 



(a) Santo Tomas, in Lower California, about 35 miles south of San Diego. 



(I) Cojo Viejo, in Santa Barbara County, just south of Point Conception and 51 miles west of 

 Santa Barbara. 



(c) Port Starford, in San Luis Obispo County. 



(d) San Simeon, in San Luis Obispo County. 



(e) Carmelo Bay, in Monterey County. 

 (/) Monterey, in Monterey County. 



There have been whale-fisheries also at the following points : 



(a) Ballast Point, at San Diego. 



(b) Dead Man's Island, in San Pedro Bay, Los Angeles County. 



(c) Portuguese Bend, just north of San Pedro Bay, n Los Angeles County. 



(d) Goleta or Moore's Lauding, 8 miles west of Santa Barbara, in the same county. 



(e) Point Sur, in San Luis Obispo County. 

 (/) Pigeon Point, in San Mateo County. 

 (g) Half-Moon Bay, in San Mateo County. 



* SCA.MMON : Marine Mammalia, pp. 247-250. 



