An Account of the Indians of the Santa Barbara Islands in California. 3 



of Point Conception. The names of these islands were principally 

 given by Viscaino. They are from west to east: San Miguel, Santa 

 Rosa, "Santa Cruz and Anacápa, the latter being merely a rock, without 

 harbor and without water. The southern islands are also four, but they 

 are placed differently, being groupée! in a parallelogram. The names 

 of these islands are : San Clémente, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas and 

 Santa Catalina. At the first advent of white man all these islands 

 were inhabited by Indians. These háve now been extinct for some 

 time, the last one dying in 1853. Though the Indians once nutnbered 

 several thousand on these islands, they became quickly exterminated 

 after the advent of the missionaries. What caused their extermination 

 will be refered to further on. 



Physical Nature and Aspects of the Islands. 



Nearly all the islands of the group are peculiarly sheltered 

 from the northern winds by the projecting part of the mainland 

 „Point Conception". The two most favored Islands are Santa Cruz 

 and Santa Catalina, the islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa and San 

 Clemente being much less protected than the others. The most violent 

 winds on the coast of California are those from the north, north-west 

 and north-east, these prevaling during the months of April to November, 

 while during the balance of the year the heavy southern gales bring 

 with them rain or even, though seldom — as during Cabrillo's voyage — 

 snow. From the northern winds the islands are thus protected by the 

 mainland, while the eastern and northern shores are protected by the 

 mountainous backbone of each island. So perfect is this shelter that 

 during a large part of the year one may sail along the protected 

 shores of the islands of Catalina and Santa Cruz in the frailest and 

 smallest erafts. The surface of the oceán is here as smooth as that of 

 a mirror, while along the shore there is an absence of surf and 

 swell, eccept at rare occasions. This almost continued smoothness 

 of the waters offers unusual facilities for fishing, probably unsurpassed 

 in any part of the world. The number of foodfishes found here in 

 large abundance is such that a very large Indián population could 

 háve subsisted on them exclusively. Among shellfish there is an 

 abundance of abalones and clams of various kinds, while shrimps, 

 lobsters and erabs are nowhere more plentiful on the whole Pacific 

 coast. 



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