A PASSING ISLAND 247 



crushed, and bones broken; while mortars, too heavy 

 to carry off, were strewn about — a perfect golgotha. 



At low tide the flat rocks were bare, and I walked 

 up the beach on them away on the west coast and 

 watched the angry menacing sea. I could hear strange 

 sounds — the gurgling, groaning, bellowing of the sea 

 gods in their caves, and now and then a big wave 

 would roll into a deep cave, and a boom, boom, boom 

 would sound, — the guns of some ghostly ship shaking 

 the ledge and the island. On the northeast side the 

 kelp seems to have disappeared for two miles, but on 

 the west end it runs out for at least three miles. The 

 kelp is the only buoy or signal of danger here, as the 

 Government has done nothing for mariners in this 

 section. 



Yachts should always remain outside the kelp bed. 

 About one-half mile west-southwest from the western 

 point there are two dangerous reefs. Our anchorage 

 under the lee of the spit, which I took the liberty of 

 naming Ferrelo's Point, after Vizcaino's pilot, is the 

 best, save the mark! In a southeasterly gale anchorage 

 would be impossible, though at other times there is 

 good anchorage in forty or fifty feet. Up the coast 

 on the north side of the island is Coral Harbor, about 

 three and one-half miles from the west end. This is 

 a miniature harbor about six feet across on the inside, 

 with an entrance about twenty feet wide, — an excellent 

 landing for a small boat. Water seeps from cliffs at 

 various points, and there is a spring near Coral Harbor 

 covered at high tide. 



Just as at San Clemente, there is at San Nicolas a 

 volcanic cone off the west end, a most conspicuous 

 landmark in clear weather, but extremely dangerous 



