298 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



hens, and a dog. These he boarded out until he made 

 up his mind to return, which he did at night, rowing 

 the skiff the thirty miles. 



San Miguel is fascinating in its barrenness. It is 

 worth while to visit it to see the sand-dunes alone, and 

 the sand rivers down which one can slide and toboggan 

 as upon snow. 



One cannot look upon the human remains, the skulls 

 and skeletons, without wondering where the natives 

 went, or what accomplished their extinction, as within 

 a century and a half the inhabitants of all these 

 populous islands have disappeared. According to 

 some, they were killed off by the Russians, Americans, 

 or Alaskans who came down the coast yearly after 

 sea otters, with which this coast abounded in the 

 early part of the nineteenth century. These people, 

 according to tradition, paid no attention to the inhabi- 

 tants, shot them down, and robbed them on a free- 

 booter plan for mere amusement. The proof of this 

 lies in the statement of Captain Nidcver of Santa 

 Barbara, who stated that years ago he was followed 

 by two boat-loads of Aleutians from a large vessel. 

 Nidever landed and from a fortified camp put up so 

 good a fight that the northerners, after losing a number 

 of men, made their way to their vessel and sailed. 

 The Mission Fathers also stated, according to Mrs. 

 C. P. Austin of Santa Barbara, to whom I am indebted 

 for the fact, that the Russians came down the coast 

 every year for seals and otter, and that the natives 

 were plundered by them. 



To me a more plausible explanation of the disappear- 

 ance of the natives is that the Mission Fathers induced 

 them to give up their island life and settle about the 



