SCHUMACHER ON K.IOKKENMODDINGS OF CALIFORNIA. 39 



the face, being sometimes found face downward, lying on one side, or 

 on the back, or face to face, or crosswise, and the bones in nine cases 

 out of ten disturbed and displaced. This confirms my former opinion 

 that the graves had been re-opened, and the bones disarranged while 

 fresh bodies were J3eiug added. The bodies lay so closely together that 

 at first, they seemed to have been the victims of a fierce battle, buried 

 promiscuously in a pit. Close observation, however, indicates that the 

 interments were made at different times, as implements of shell and 

 bone, skeletons, and remains of perishable partitions, often plainly show 

 by their more or less advanced decay, and by the position in which they 

 are found. It is likewise evident that the burial took -placQ before the 

 decay of the body, although such was not the custom of some interior 

 tribes, because we found the bones of some skeletons buried the deepest, 

 and especially such as were interred separately from the others, in per- 

 fect order. Some were even still enwrapped in matting. To find a skele- 

 ton at the bottom of a pit, at the depth of about five or six feet, especially 

 if there be none above it, is considered by the practical digger a lucky 

 hit, and causes him to work carefully in the removal of the slabs and 

 whale-bones, and to look for stone-knives, spear-x)oints, or strange stone 

 implements, as it is supposed to be either the grave of a warrior, a chief, 

 or a "medicine-man". 



While on this island, we were much exposed to the grinding sand, 

 driven in our faces like so much hail by a brisk northwest wind that 

 lasted day and night during our four days' stay. The preparation of 

 food at an open fire became impossible, and most of our provisions were 

 thickly coated with sand. Although we could have secured a boat be 

 longing to the schooner Matinee, then in port, attending to the wants of 

 a number of shearers and awaiting a cargo of wool, a visit to the north- 

 west and west ends of this island was prevented by a heavy sea, which 

 made a landing impossible. Our party left on May 9, on the before- 

 mentioned schooner, and landed in Prisoner Harbor on the island of 

 Santa Cruz. 



Santa Cruz (Map 3) [Plate 11] is probably the prettiest island of the 

 group; in picturesqueness it equals and in vegetation excels Santa 

 Catalina. It is mountainous, with large stretches of rolling land, 

 especially near the eastern and the western ends, where fine valleys, 

 picturesque bluifs, and ravines occur. It is, according to the works of 

 the United States Coast Survey, 22.J miles long, running almost due 

 east and west, and from la to GJ miles wide. Its greatest height is 1,700 

 feet. It has a fair shelter in Prisoner Harbor and in several places 

 along the east, south, and west sides, such as Smuggler's Cove, Coche 

 Prieto, Forney's Cove, and others. There is good water in the different 

 springs and creeks found all over the island the year round. Timber is 

 found in many places, and quite extensive groves of conifers occur west 

 of Prisoner Harbor, while stunted oak-trees grow on the high rocky 

 hills and sides of the steep gulches, and low willows in the caQons. It 



