46 THE SFAU INDIANS (eth.ann.17 



concentrate the flow into a bore hurtling through Boca Infierno and 

 thence throughout the shoaling strait with greatly accelerated velocity; 

 meantime the body of the tidal stream is diverted around Tiburoii, 

 and then enfeebled in its nortliward flow by the expansion of the gulf 

 above the Tiburon-San Fraucisquito gateway, so tliat the entire strait 

 is flooded (to the limit fixed by the capacity of Boca Infierno^ before the 

 main tide flows into its head past Isla Patos and through Bahia 

 Tepopa; and with this unobstructed inflow the strait is reflooded with 

 a counterbore, whereby the waters are heaped and i>ounded into an 

 unstable, swirling, churning mass.' The flooding is little less than 

 catastrophic in magnitude and suddenness; iiuleed, the volume of 

 water in the body of the strait between Punta Perla and Boca Intierno 



' Unq uestionably the cleare.st view of El Infiemillo ever enjoyed by Caucasian eyes was that of Messrs 

 Johnson and Mitchell from the culminating point of Sierra Seri (Johnson peak), which they occupied 

 for about twenty-three hours on December 7 and 8, 1895. Mr Johnson's notes on the appearance of the 

 strait are as follows ; " On the oci-asiou of the ascent of Sierra Seri, which rises from the coast, shut- 

 ting off the view of Isla Tiburon from the desert on the east, I received a striking impression of the 

 elaborate and beautifully symmetrical plan of the long swirling currents of El Intiernillo. The climb 

 had been made from the east direct to the summit jieak, so that the first sight of both island and gulf 

 was not only from close at hand, but from an elevation of about a mile. The crest of the ridge was 

 reached at the instant of sunset, and the spectacle of the innumerable current-markings was brief. 

 Our position was nearly opposite the northern end of the strait ; and its elevation was so great that 

 the o)iposite mainland and i.sland shorelines were seen in map effect rather th.an in perspective. The 

 entire strait, to its northern end at Punta Perla, was in the shadow of the island; and the current 

 design was revealed only in the shadow. At the shadow-margin extending from the northern tip of 

 the island the lines were sharply cut off; and beyond, along the westward bend of wat«rs forming 

 Bahia Tepopa and opening into the gulf in full sunlight, there was no suggestion of tliem. Within 

 the shadow the efl'ect was that of a film of oil on a water-surface which had been stirred and allowed 

 to come to rest— though the regularity of the lines was a.s though the stirring hail been orderly. Not 

 the slightest motion was perceptilde from the jteak during the minute or two that the spectacle 

 lasted before the sun disappeared and twilight fell, though the suggestion from configuration alone 

 was that of violent swirling. The general nuivement was evidently southward toward Boca Infierno, 

 and the swirls were apparently the result of frictional resistance along both shores; the system of 

 curving lines as a whole was very much that which would be presented by a broad feather thrust into 

 a bottle. There were central lines in gieat number, somewhat sinuous though never crossing, diverg- 

 ing one by one toward the shores on either hand, where they curved backward with complex interfer- 

 ences in large reversing arcs and many minute circlings. The straightening mit of the curves in 

 perspective was quite perceptible toward Boca Intierno, and beyond it was pronounced. The air 

 appeared to be still, so that the current pattern was not at all obscured by waves; and the spectacle 

 of the broad strait, appearing almost beneath me, incised with a crowded design of sweejiing fine 

 lines, the delicate clearness of which recalled a steel engraving, was peculiarly impressive. That we 

 had been fortunate in the moment of reaching the summit was apparent next day. The spectacle was, 

 indeed, repeated at sunrise and for a short period thereafter, though the general design was markedly 

 different, and less intricacy of pattern was discernible, while the general effect was comparatively 

 vague; perhaps the shadow of Sierra Seri was too heavy, or, more probably (as was my impressiira at 

 the time), our position was not favorable for that direction of illumination. In full light during the 

 day \ip to the hour of our departure in late afternoon, no hint or vestige of the carrent design remained. 

 It was evident that the lines were brought out with espec;i:d clearness by the favorable illumination and 

 comparative stillness of air; and it was particularly evident that the lines marked movements in the 

 water, even if there were corresponding air-currents, since they harmonized perfectly with the con- 

 figuration of the shores and with the trend of spit« and bars and offshore markings seen through the 

 shallow waters, especially toward the northern end of the strait. The accord between shore oiirvea 

 and the current lines seen in the evening indicated a southward motion much more vigorous than the 

 reverse movement witnessed next morning ; for the marked variation in the design noted in the morn- 

 ing was of a character strongly suggesting a reversed movement of the water, while the faintness of 

 the markings then may perhaps have been due to comparative feebleness of current rather than to 

 unfavorable lighting. Certainly the close agreement between the elaborate system of markings, so 

 clearly revealed in the evening, and the prevailing curves of the shores would seem to indicate unmis- 

 takably that, whatever the direction and strength of flow, the markings were a product of current 

 motion." 



