430 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
ill the channel during the afternoon, and at 7:50 p. m. we anchored oft' 
Santa Barbara. 
We left our anchorage at 7 a. m. on the 11th, and, piloted by Captain 
Larco, examined a fishing bank, the center of which lies E. £ N. (mag- 
netic) about 3 miles from Santa Barbara light house. It is about a mile 
in length NE. and SW., by half a mile in width, soundings regular, 
with depths from 12 to 20 fathoms, fine black sand, with frequent stony 
patches or spots, on which there is a live bottom. 
Another bank was examined and found to be between 2 and 3 miles 
in length, E. by S. and W. by N. (magnetic), and almost 1 mile in 
width, its center being 5 miles ESE. from the light-house. The sound- 
ings were regular with depths from 26 to 29 fathoms, which agreed 
closely with the Coast Survey chart, as did those on the bank previ- 
ously examined. The bottom was sandy, with frequent stony patches, 
as before described. 
The stones were composed of hardened clay, filled with holes, easily 
crumbled in the hand, and strongly resembling the* tosca ‘of South 
American coasts. It was covered with kelp, sponges, bryozoans, and 
other marine growths. The lead did not give the true character of the 
bottom, and it was ascertained by dragging the trawl or tangles be- 
tween stations, stony patches, some of them very small, being encoun- 
tered every two or three ship’s lengths. Kelp was found growing on 
all of them, much of it being brought up by the trawl, the roots still 
adhering to their stony ballast. It seemed to be a young growth, as 
none of it reached the surface. According to Captain Larco, these 
banks were at one time alive w r itk fish, but being so near the harbor, 
they were soon fished out, and are visited now only by rowboats or sail- 
ing craft too small to go to the islands. There are no indications of 
these rocky or stony patches on the Coast Survey charts. 
Later in the day, a^small rocky patch, marked on the chart 4 miles 
south (magnetic) from the light house, was partially examined, and 
' muddy bottom, with rocks and coral patches, was found in from 50 to 
60 fathoms. It was not known to the fishermen of Santa Barbara, but 
Captain Larco was confident that it was a spot on which, many years 
ago, an old Indian used to fill his canoe when others -failed to catch 
anything on the known banks. 
We anchored off Santa Barbara for the night, and at 5:30 the follow- 
ing morning got under way and steamed to the west end of Anacapa 
Island, for the purpose of extending our exploration of the fishing 
grounds between it and Santa Cruz, but a strong wind sprung up sud- 
denly, with furious squalls, which obliged us to abandon boat work and 
confine ourselves to the use of the trawl. A line of stations was occu- 
pied along the south side of Anacapa, where the bottom was found to 
be rough and rocky, tearing the nets and affording but few specimens. 
The wind moderated before noon, and standing in for the east end of 
the island we put the hand lines over but caught nothing. A Chinese 
