318 CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



to their way of living and played about like a child. 

 Brown says she was very tender-hearted and built a 

 screen for a young otter so that the sun would not 

 injure its eyes. She was alarmed at the rough weather 

 on the way across the channel and tried to tell the 

 sailors to appeal to the wind gods to reduce the sea, 

 or something of the kind. Captain Brown said she 

 recognized all the islands and had names for them. 



When they landed at Santa Barbara she displayed 

 much fear at men on horseback, and when she saw 

 cattle she fell upon her knees. They assumed that 

 she had been born on San Nicolas, and had never been 

 away from the island, or even heard of the Spaniards. 

 All her relatives had been taken to San Pedro, where 

 all had pined away and died years before; hence she 

 could not speak to any one, and while the padres of 

 the mission summoned Indians from all the adjacent 

 missions none could be found who could understand 

 anything she said, and the only native word uttered 

 by her that is remembered was ''manequauna'^; what 

 it meant no one could tell. An old woman who had 

 been raised on one of the islands was at last found who 

 could guess at th meaning of some of the strange 

 words used by the woman; but nearly all her requests 

 were made by signs. She was taken to the Mission 

 of Santa Barbara and christened Juana Maria; to this 

 the crew of the schooner added "Better Than Nothing," 

 and by that name she was known. 



Captain Nidever cared for her, and she appeared 

 perfectly happy. She had a childlike nature, and 

 spent much of her time going around in the evenings 

 with Mexicans from house to house, dancing. So 

 fond of this pastime was she that she danced, accord- 



