THE ANCIENT ISLANDERS OF CALIFORNIA. 



661 



Fig, 



4. Pearl Or- 

 naments. 



knife in the soft sand soon resulted in the uncovering of three 

 musical instruments, or flutes, showing that evidently the musi- 

 cian of the tribe had been discovered. They were the leg bones 

 of the deer, found on the mainland forty miles away, and wei e 

 evidently highly treasured by the owner, as they were ornamented 

 with pearly iridescent plates cut from the haliotis. 

 The flutes, which are now in Mr. Plumb's collec- 

 tion at Islip, Long Island, were about eight inches 

 in length, perforated with four or five finger 

 holes, while the largest end was covered with 

 asphaltum, into which was set the square or ob- 

 long piece of pearl, evidently selected for its 

 beauty and luster. 



These quaint instruments had been placed at 

 the feet of the body evidently, as they were just 

 on a level with it. It is not impossible that some 

 stone vessels had been buried over the skeleton, 

 as numbers of broken fragments were found here. Near by a 

 large shell was discovered at the surface filled with shell beads, 

 and a short distance away a skeleton partly burned, the bones 

 mixed up among charred wood, fish bones, etc. Beneath it were 

 several discoidal stones, and a curious object resembling a bell- 

 clapper, probably a polishing implement of some kind. 



The entire region was undoubtedly either a vast burying 

 ground or had been a village site covered in the intervening 

 years by the drifting sand that was ever creeping up the 

 canons. 



As to the age of these remains, no estimate could be made, but 

 everything pointed to an early period in the history of the island, 



San Clemente is subjected to winds, has 

 a poor water supply, and does not pre- 

 sent the attractive features found at 

 Santa Catalina, now a famous watering 

 place. The latter island evidently had 

 a larger population. During the past 

 ten years the writer has located at least 

 twenty ancient town sites or camps on 

 Santa Catalina, and found stone imple- 

 ments on many of them, ranging from 

 mortars and pestles to discoidal stones, 

 and various objects of stone, wood, shell, 

 and bone. One location is of especial 

 interest, being an ancient olla manufac- 

 tory, where the natives from time immemorial made soapstone 

 vessels and objects of various kinds. Here are the old olla 

 marks, showing where the mortars had been broken off; and 



Fig. 5. 



-Stone Jar from the 

 Sand Beds. 



