CHAPTER XVII 



LOS CORONADOS AND THE LOST ISLANDS 



WHEN the early explorers came up the coast 

 they sighted a singular group of mountain 

 peaks rising from the water off what is 

 now Coronado Beach, one of the attractive places in 

 Southern Cahfornia. They were named in honor of 

 Coronado, who reached Arizona and New Mexico on 

 one of the famous marches up the coast in search of 

 the "seven cities of Cibola," which were, doubtless, 

 Zuni or some of the towns or cities whose ruins dot 

 the great mesas and buttes of these States. Cabrillo 

 refers to the fact that the natives of California re- 

 peatedly spoke to his sailors about "bearded men" 

 on horses, who were crossing the country far to the 

 east. This demonstrated that the early coast Indians 

 communicated by messengers with the tribes of the 

 interior. 



Juan de Fuca doubtless saw them, as did all the 

 adventurers who followed him. Vizcaino visited the 

 islands, and remained about the Coronados ten days, 

 sailing from there to Santa Catalina, or Victoria, as 

 Cabrillo named it. The Coronados are so barren that 

 the explorers doubtless did not remain about them 

 long, though the good fishing thereabouts may have 

 attracted them. The islands are in Mexico, just over 

 the line, though few know it. They rise out of the 

 smooth sea, like drowned mountains, and are really 



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