284 SPORTING ADVENTUEES 



At daylight next morning we were off the 

 island of Catalina, a most precipitous place, 

 with no good anchorage, so we merely dropped 

 a kedge for a few hours. This island also 

 possesses several veins of copper, which have 

 been partially explored. There are some wild 

 goats on the island, as on most of the others in 

 the Gulf; also some sheep, which are said to be 

 wonderfully fat and well-flavoured; the natives 

 occasionally come over from the mainland and 

 hunt them with dogs. From Catalina we 

 returned to San Joseph, and anchored in a 

 snug bay on the south-west side of the island. 



We found some pearl-fishers established here, 

 and several small craft engaged in the same 

 trade were anchored near. They seemed to be 

 doing a good business, one firm belonging to 

 La Paz having cleared 40,000 dollars in the 

 season. I was given some of these pearls, both 

 white, black, and pink ; they seem to be in no 

 way inferior to the oriental ones. 



From some specimens of pearl oyster- shells 

 which were given me, I noticed that wherever 



