38 MSHEEMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



men saved the shells, and for three years or so the abalone-shell business has been very extensive. 

 By the excessive working of this industry the abalones have been nearly exterminated in all acces- 

 sible places, and American dealers now ship Ohiuamen to the neighboring islands difficult of 

 access, receiving in return the shells, the Chinese retaining the meat. 



Los Angeles and Vbntuea Counties, Calipoenia. — In Los Angeles County are about 

 30 Chinamen, all of whom are engaged in collecting abalones. They ship to San Francisco 

 annually about 150 tons of shells. 



In Ventura County, at Point Magie, 9 miles south of Hueneme, is a colony of 6 Chinamen. 

 They settled there in 1877. Two of this number were recently drowned by the upsetting of a 

 junk. 



At San Buenaventura there are a few Chinese engaged in fishing from the wharves. 



Santa Barbara County, California. — There are about 25 Chinamen in Santa Barbara 

 County engaged in fishing. At Goleta there is a party of 3 employed in fishing with the seine. 

 Many colonies of Chinamen are transported to the neighboring islands in the schooner Surprise, 

 belonging to Eogers Brothers, for the purpose of collecting abalones, the meat from which they 

 salt, dry, and ship to China, paying for their trans"portation to and from the islands with shells. 

 On the Santa Cruz Islands as great a quantity as 50,000 pounds of fish have been caught in a 

 season by Chinamen. 



San Luis Obispo County, California. — At Port Harford, San Luis Obispo County, there 

 is a colony of 8 Chinamen, 6 men and 2 women, and at San Simeon and other places there are 

 50 Chinamen engaged in collecting abalones, the shells of which they ship to San Francisco, 

 retaining the meat for shipment as food. 



Monterey County, California. — There are two extensive colonies in Monterey County, 

 one at Pescadero, the other at Punta Alones. The colony at the former place, which is in the 

 northwest corner of Carmelo Bay, was established in 1868, and is composed of 40 persons, living 

 in eight houses. A considerable proportion of these are fishermen. The others attend to house- 

 work and to drying and preparing the fish. They use boats built by themselves, obtaining at 

 Soquel anchovies for bait. 



Spaniards, who never fish, are hired to cart the fish from the boats to the drying shores and, 

 again, when dry and prepared, to the point of shipment. 



The colony at Punta Alones, which is a mile and a half west of Monterey, settled there in 

 1864 and consists of 25 fishermen. This is a somewhat larger colony than the one at Pescadero. 

 Some of the women here go fishing with the men. Others stay at home and dress the fish, which 

 u)peration is aided by a heavy hatchet-like knife. One of the Chinamen at Punta Alones is an 

 American citizen and speaks English well. Others have been hotel cooks. This colony compares 

 favorably with any other on the coast. They ship daily to San Francisco, in fine weather^ from 

 200 to 800 pounds of fish. The members of this colony, as well as those at Pescadero, dry and 

 ship to China an unknown quantity of abalone meat and sell the shells. At certain seasons they 

 also dry many tons of different devil-fish, squids, &c. 



Santa Cruz County, California. — Between Soquel and Aptos, Santa Cruz County, is a 

 large colony of Chinese. There are about 50 of them, all men and all engaged in fishing. They ship 

 to San Francisco and to San Jos6 direct, especially in summer. Those not so shipped are sent 

 to Soquel, whence they are taken to San Francisco by steamer. The Soquel fiishermen make great 

 complaint of the violation of the fish laws by the Chinese, as the latter use fine-meshed seines and 

 take large quantities of young flounders and shad, which are never returned to the water, the 



