AMERICAN NATURALIST 



ON SOME CAUSES WHICH INFLUENCE TOPOGRAPH- 

 ICAL CHANGES AND GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS 

 IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS OF CALIFORNIA 



During a recent visit to San Miguel, the most westerly of 

 the so-called "Channel Islands," off the const near Santa Bar- 

 bara, my attention was attracted to phases of the history of 

 the island, which proved intensely interesting. 



The general trend of the coast of California is north-west 

 and south-east, but at Point Conception, about 240 miles south- 

 easterly from San Francisco, the direction changes to east and 

 west, and this bend, with the chain of islands distant about 

 25 miles, forms the Santa Barbara Channel, running parallel 

 with the Santa Ynez Mountains. 



These islands are notable from their having furnished shel- 

 ter to the ships of their discoverers, the old Spanish naviga- 

 tors commanded by the Portuguese, Cabrillo, who died in about 

 the year 1543, and whose body is supposed to have been buried 

 on San Miguel. 



The islands east of San Miguel, are Santa Rosa ; Santa 

 Cruz ; and the Anacapas. 



They are separated from each other by channels of from 

 four to five miles in width ; they are of eruptive origin, 

 and their areas are principally occupied by a range of low 

 mountains running parallel with the Santa Ynez Mountains. 



