Shipping 



307 



presence of echoes, probably from schools 

 offish. The most frequent site of the echoes 

 is basin slopes, a reasonable one in view of 

 the known local upwelling in such areas. 

 However, the most common depth is 80 to 

 120 fathoms (146 to 220 meters), far below 

 the near-surface zone of commercial fishing 

 in deep water. Conceivably these echoes 

 represent a heretofore unexploited fishery 

 that warrants further investigation. 



Shipping 



In 1805 the small trading ship Leila Byrd 

 out of Boston anchored at San Pedro to 

 barter cloth, sugar, and household goods for 

 hides, tallow, and horns. A graphic account 

 of this trade was given by Dana (1945), who 

 described his experiences in loading cattle 

 hides during the years 1835 and 1836. At 

 that time half a dozen ships (Pilgrim, Alert, 

 California, Ladoga, Ayacucho, and Loriotte) 

 were engaged in the trade, although port fa- 

 cilities were very primitive: in the words of 

 Dana, "Two days brought us to San Pedro, 

 and two days more (to our no small joy) gave 

 us our last view of that place, which was 

 universally called the hell of California, and 

 seemed designed in every way for the wear 

 and tear of sailors. Not even the last view 



could bring out one feeling of regret. No 

 thanks, thought I, as we left the hated shores 

 in the distance, for the hours I have walked 

 over your stones barefooted, with hides on 

 my head; for the burdens I have carried up 

 your steep, muddy hill; for the duckings in 

 your surf; and for the long days and longer 

 nights passed on your desolate hill, watch- 

 ing piles of hides, hearing the sharp bark of 

 your eternal coyotes, and the dismal hooting 

 of your owls." Twenty years later the first 

 records of the Port of San Pedro after Cali- 

 fornia became a state showed that 61 ships 

 of an average 100 tons visited the port in 

 1855. By the years 1867-1870 about 90 per 

 cent of the cargo was carried by steamships 

 that had an average tonnage of 1200, as com- 

 pared to 160 for the remaining sailing ships. 

 Records of the port for each of these four 

 years show 100 to 200 entrances of coast- 

 wise ships mostly discharging coal, promi- 

 nent among which were Oriflamme and 

 Orizaba. 



The number of entrances of ocean-going 

 ships at San Pedro remained below about 

 500 per year until the year 1900, when it 

 rapidly rose to about 3000 by 1920 (Fig. 

 237). Subsequently, the number has fluctu- 

 ated between 2000 and 8600 with a peak 

 between the years 1925 and 1935 (Board of 



Figure 237. Annual number 

 of ocean-going ships entering 

 Los Angeles Harbor since 1910 

 with tonnage of different gen- 

 eral types of cargo handled 

 each year (from 49th annual 

 report of Board of Harbor 

 Commissioners, Los Angeles, 

 1957). Rise in number of pleas- 

 ure craft (undocumented ves- 

 sels) is also shown for Los 

 Angeles, Newport, and San 

 Diego (from files of U. S. Coast 

 Guard, 11th District). 



ENTRANCES OF SEA-GOING 



SHIPS IN LA. HARBOR 



D 5000 



CARGO HANDLED 

 MILLIONS OF TONS 



LARGER 



PLEASURE CRAFT 



10,000 



1 1 I I I 1 I r- 



