360 Recreations of a Sportsmon 



horse he rode, that doubtless was amazed at 

 being led over the seeming bad places. 



This point of view is held because such con- 

 ditions of riding do not occur in the East, and 

 are never seen as a regular thing except in the 

 places indicated. 



My first experience in what I should term hard 

 or rough riding, in contrast to anything I have 

 seen or heard of in other regions, was on the 

 summit of Santa Catalina Island. There are 

 eight or nine of these Californian islands within 

 two hundred miles or so of Point Concepcion, 

 and nearly all are sheep ranges, and most of 

 them have been used as such since the days of 

 Old California. Santa Catalina, now worth mil- 

 lions, was once, it is said, sold for a white horse 

 by the grandfather of one of the herders now 

 living on the island of San Clemen te, a govern- 

 ment possession. 



My invitation to the round-up came from Cap- 

 tain Frank Whitley, and operations were begun 

 at Middle Ranch, a wide caiion on the summit 

 of the island. The entire island is made up of 

 ridges, deep canons, and sub-canons again, while 

 in the centre of the fifty thousand acres rise two 

 rocky mountains twenty-two hundred feet in 

 height. In all, the island is twenty-two miles 

 long and from one to six miles wide. Much of 

 it is covered with manzanita, here and there 

 barren places, or groves of live oak; but most 



