CHAPTER XXVI 



SAN MIGUEL 



SAN MIGUEL, the property of the Government, 

 lies to the west of the Santa Barbara group, 

 and is so near Point Concepcion — but twenty- 

 one miles distant — that it is more exposed to the 

 winds than the others, and is a most dangerous place 

 for shipping. Something must have happened to the 

 island since 1542, as, according to his log, Cabrillo 

 spent much of his time in Cuyler's Harbor, on the 

 northern shore, one and one-fourth miles southeast of 

 Harris Point, and here tradition says that he died 

 and was buried. Why Cabrillo should remain here 

 when the land-locked harbor at Santa Catalina af- 

 forded perfect anchorage all the time, and Avalon 

 Bay a good anchorage almost every day, is a mystery 

 which can be explained only on the supposition 

 that the island has changed much since then. San 

 Miguel is being swept and devastated by extraordinary 

 sand rivers and dunes which are flowing down into the 

 harbor, and have played some strange tricks. A 

 schooner which a few years ago lay in shallow water 

 is now high and dry in the embrace of a sand-dune, 

 and these strange whimsicalities of the wind seem to 

 be claiming the island for their own. 



The island is but three miles from Santa Rosa, 

 across a turbulent channel. It is about seven and one- 

 seventh miles long, east and west, and about two miles 



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