42 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



and green. Turning the east end, a region of calms 

 sweeps away; the diffs are lofty and precipitous; deep 

 canons appear, but fail to break through. Now a 

 long pebble beach slides into view, with radiating 

 canons, then the Bay of Avalon is passed, and from 

 there, for ten or twelve miles, is the most attractive 

 part of the island. It is the north, but lee shore; and 

 winter and summer, for days, the waters, as far as the 

 eye can reach, will be a sheet of glass, while the Bay 

 of Avalon is always smooth — a miniature Naples, 

 unlike anything anywhere else. 



The beach is a perfect crescent about one-third of a 

 mile long, as the crab crawls. At its entrance the 

 water is one hundred and twenty feet deep, and there 

 is good anchorage for yachts and large vessels close 

 inshore, with fifty feet of water. Next to Avalon is 

 Descanso Cafion — the summer home of Mr. Hancock 

 Banning — a deep rift winding up into the Cabrillo 

 Mountains, with lawns and tropical verdure near the 

 beach. From here on, there are a succession of these 

 charming cafions — rivers of verdure, which wind down 

 to little silvery beaches; some with cottonwoods in 

 them, and the upper canons filled with small trees and 

 brush. One of the largest is White's, a canon backed 

 by mountains twenty-two hundred feet high, and 

 reached by steep trails. Beyond this is Long Point, 

 which aids in making this entire area smooth, and the 

 great leaping-tuna grounds, which have made this 

 region famous all over the world. Around this point, 

 there are other canons, and splendid views of hills, 

 mountains, and lofty pinnacled heights. Gradually 

 the island grows lower, until, eleven miles from Avalon, 

 we reach Cabrillo, or the isthmus, again. 



