266 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



about four times the length of the yacht, a perfect 

 refuge in almost any wind, with the mountain rising 

 all about, and to the west, not a stone's throw, a 

 pebble beach up from which reached a deep, well- 

 wooded canon. There was something magical about 

 it all, as the anchor chain rang down to the hard sandy 

 bottom, and we swung to with just about the safe 

 amount of room. 



Coming up from the south on a cruise one is impressed 

 with the fact that Santa Cruz is the best wooded of all 

 the islands, as its slopes are often covered with brush 

 and its caiions filled with trees, though some parts of 

 it are barren and rocky. We had entered this little 

 harbor on the north coast at Point Diablo to visit the 

 Painted Cave, which has made Santa Cruz famous 

 and the Mecca of many parties from Santa Barbara 

 and Santa Catalina. The cave, more remarkable than 

 the grotto of Capri, is really beneath the mountain, 

 and the following day, while the yacht lay off and on, 

 we took the ladies in the rowboat and pulled in. It 

 was a peculiar illustration of the effect of uncanny 

 places. My friend, the owner of the yacht, could not 

 induce his crew to go into the cave. We first entered 

 a diminutive snug harbor in the kelp and at once faced 

 the great Gothic arch, its entrance. The water here 

 was as smooth as glass, the trade wind not having 

 started up, and the only disturbance was an occasional 

 ground swell that came silently along and found its 

 way into the cave. 



It is well called the Painted Cave, as the salts have 

 dyed or colored it in a fantastic manner, in brilliant 

 yellows, soft browns, reds, greens, and vivid white. 

 The first room opening from the sea may be sixty or 



