202 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
LBept. 11, 1897. 
THE ANGEL OF THE GUARD. 
The names selected for places throughout much of Span- 
ish America are taken from the calendar of saints or other 
religious authority without much reference, as a general 
thing, to any local appropriateness. Sometimes one can 
perceive a strained relation between the name and the 
place. On the east side of the Peninsula of Lower Cali- 
fornia, at or near the 29th parallel of north latitude, 
is a secure and extensive harbor, called the Port of the 
Angels. This harbor, which at the present day has few 
angels left, faces northeast, and its entrance is protected by 
a chain of islands about three leagues distant from the 
inner shore, while seven or eight leagues beyond lies a 
mountainous land-mass, stretching forty-five miles from 
northwest to southeast, somewhat west of the center of the 
Gulf. This large island was perhaps regarded as a sentinel 
outpost to ward oif storms from the quiet waters within, 
and was called for that reason "The Angel of the Guard." 
For many months I had been trying to visit this island 
at the invitation of an old friend of mine, who had found 
interesting antiquarian remains there. In March last 
past I finally succeeded in making time enough for a short 
voyage, and while certain circumstances conspired to 
render my examination imperfect and my expedition a 
partial or total failure (as the reader may choose to think 
it), yet I have decided to translate into ordinary English 
a few notes taken during the trip in the hope that some 
jfuture inquirer may find guidance. This, indeed, may be 
the first halting steps toward great discoveries of buried 
cities and records that rival the Chaldtean tablets. Is it 
not written in the chronicles of stream and forest how on 
the nettle of a rough experience may bloom the flower of 
the fairest luck? 
The theory formed by my friend Don Jose about the 
Angel of the Guard (or Guarda Island, as it is called for 
short), from personal observation and reading, was some- 
what as follows: A long time ago geologic conditions were 
changed by a catastrophe. (The "catastrophe" offers to 
some geologists the same resources that the universal sol- 
vent gave to the ancient chemists.) Previous to this 
"catastrophe" the Colorado Eiver had washed' the shores 
of the island, and its tresh waters had, somewhat excep- 
tionally, begotten a humid climate and varied flora. At 
this time the Aztecs, who had previously landed in New 
York, had halted in their wanderings on this spot and 
constructed fortified roads, stone houses and sepulchral 
'monuments. They had also left a coin, which he, Don 
Jos6, had found and given to the American Consul, a coin 
with an inscription variously pronounced to be Greek, 
Hebrew and hieroglyphic. This medal opens up vistas not 
only in the history of metallic money, but in the ethno- 
logical relations of the Aztecs that will be tempting to 
specialists, but perhaps misleading for amateurs. 
After the "catastrophe" the Aztecs, deserting the now 
arid island, moved south, while later certain cunning and 
secretive Jesuits probably found fertile spots and precious 
mines, which they hid in silence. The theory seemed to 
me improbable, but my friend had gathered some inter- 
esting facts and we decided to follow them up. 
Starting from Guaymason the sloop Ometepec of 23.91 
tons register on March 12, we landed at the Port of the 
-Angels on the morning of the i7th. The distance between 
the two points in a straight line is 160 miles, and the 
Ometepec is a good sailer, but the moods of the Gulf of 
California are wayward and sometimes provoking. From 
about the month of October to the early part of April the 
prevailing winds come from the northwest. These are 
varied by occasional "terrales" or land breezes, when you 
are near the coast, and also by light, variable breezes, with 
frequent dead calms. The northwesters at times take on 
a character of great violence, blowing from two to eight 
days continuously. These winds are called "collas," and 
raise short seas of considerable height. When the "colla" 
blows all small sailing ships run before it for the nearest 
slielter. For the rest of the year breezes from the opposite 
quarter prevail, but during a portion of this time, that is, 
from July to September, the storms known as "chubascos" 
may come at any moment. These are not cyclones such 
as lately devastated Altata and La Paz, but sudden and 
jformidable blasts, striking like a gunshot and ending in a 
few hours. 
The gulf, then, has possibilities of delay and disaster 
lurking around it at all seasons, and when you consider 
the extreme economy, in the way of ancient cordage and 
wounded spars with which the smaller boats are rigged, 
you are surprised that the percentage of wrecks is rot 
even more considerable. As a matter of fact the little 
brown crews count many good seamen, though a man of 
Northern birth is forced to look with suspicion on a race 
of sailors who call a gaflftopsail an "escandalosa." 
The run from Guaymas gave me a chance to learn several 
interesting things from my friendly companions. Three 
points of interest in the natural history of the rattlesnake 
were brought out. 
An intelligent fellow passenger told me of the method 
used by the "churea," or road runner, to capture the snake. 
The "churea" is a bird common in our southwest, with 
long legs and a sharp beak, as large, perhaps, in the body as 
a meadow lark, but standing much higher, and trusting al- 
most entirely to its speedy legs, rarely flying. 
The "churea" in its rambles, frequently finds the rattle- 
snake asleep. He then looks about for a "cholla" cactus, 
and plucking sections of this plant, which seem like vege- 
table sausages surrounded by needle-like thorns with 
email but efficient barbs, he builds a wall of these around 
his unconscious victim. When the wall is done, the chu- 
rea hops lightly over and deals the snake a vicious peck in 
the head. The snake, lashing about in confusion, impales 
himself on the cactus; first on this side and then on that, 
while the bird continues his attacks on the head, until the 
reptile is killed and dinner is ready. 
Reputable observers told me that they had seen this 
performance, though I confess I had never heard of it be- 
fore. 
The captain then said that it was a matter of common 
belief that when the rattlesnake went to drink he took out 
his poison bags and laid them on top of a clean stone, re- 
storing them to their natural place after his thirst was 
satisfied. If, however, while he was drinking, any in- 
truder should steal or remove the bags, the snake on big 
return would break himself to pieces in despair. No one 
professed to have seen this curious performance, and in- 
deed no one claimed to have seen the rattlesnake drink- 
ing. I rather think that when you find the snake slaking 
his thirst the poison will be found on a clean stone near 
by. 
An old and rather pointless tale that seems of Indian 
origin was told by an old sailor from Guayaquil. Two 
rattlesnakes near Esmeralda in Venezuela were together, 
when one of them was killed. The survivor at once 
searched for and found an herb which would restore his 
comrade to life. He was carrying this back when, for 
some reason, his attention was diverted, he dropped his 
burden and the herb was picked up by a countryman who 
found that the plant had the strange property of breaking 
open padlocks. Fernando, who told about this, said he 
had frequently seen the herb break open padlocks, but he 
had never been able to find another plant like it. 
Many other interesting things were told me on this 
voyage; for instance, about the musical fish who swims 
under the strip between San Bias and Mazatlan, giving 
free concerts as he goes; about wonderful wrecks and 
rescues; about the sharks of two kinds, tiburones and the 
still more terrible tintoreras, who infest these waters to 
such a degree that no native dares to go in swimming. 
But I must pass these over, and touch lightly on th'e 
"bufeo." Don Jose, who first urged this expedition, told 
me that among other terrors of the deep the bufeo took a 
high rank; that he was a local monster who grew to a 
length of 12ft. or more, had blow-holes, a horn and large 
teeth, and that he would attack canoes and eat men. I 
prepared my camera for this animal, but never saw one. 
I did, however, succeed in depriving him of some of his 
terrors. The bufeo has no horn, and his ferocity is not 
well proven. He is a large marine anirnal of the porpoise 
kind, with two blow-holes in his head, and probably iden- 
tical with the species that the sailors call blackfish. So 
much for careful inquiry and comparison. 
On March 1 7, then, the Ometepec cast anchor in the Port 
of the Angels, and we went ashore. There is a storehouse 
on the beach, and one or two other houses, while seven 
miles inland, up a broad, sandy valley, at Las Flores, 
curled the smoke of the hacienda, the mill and leaching 
works of the San Juan mine, while the mine itself lays 
ten or twelve miles further over the range. 
Don Jose urged me to rest five or six days at Las Flores 
before going further, but my time was too short for that. 
I found and engaged a flat-bottomed, sloop-rigged boat — 
the only conveyance I could get— about 30 or 35ft. long, 
capable of carrying four or five tons, and made arrange- 
ments for a captain and two men to get the boat— which 
had been hauled up and was not yet fully rigged — in trim 
so as to start for Guarda Island the next night. Then I 
rode on to Las Flores to get water casks and make other 
needful preparations. 
The people at Las Flores proved to be of the very elect 
—friendly, hospitable and helpful, past finding out. Mr. 
Richard Daggett, the manager of the mining enterprise, 
universally known as El Dick, not only entertained me, 
but he gave me a man from his leaching tanks who knew 
eomething of the island and proved to be my main reli- 
ance; fitted me out with tools and water kegs, and then, after 
supper, when the next day's plans were cut out and the 
work was over, I got out of him some stirring incidents in 
his earlier seafaring career, and one of these episodes I will 
give you now: 
The bark Eden, of 312 tons register, but carrying 500 
tons of cargo, was bound from Tien-Tsin, the port of 
Pekin, to Hong Kong, laden with beans. In leaving Tien- 
Tsin it was necessary to beat for a long distance down the 
Gulf of Pechili, and it was particularly desirable to reach 
the islands strung across the mouth of the gulf in dayliaht 
because the navigation is then much less perilous. Mr. 
Daggett, who was mate of the bark, noticed that she 
shipped a good deal of water plunging into head seas, but 
thought little of that at first. He was impressed, however, 
with the belief that the boat rolled and staggered in an 
unusual way, and finally decided to call the captain. The 
captain sent him forward to summon the Malay crew, and 
for some reason he took his way along the lee side of the 
ship, where there was already a good deal of water, rather 
than the comparatively* dry, weather side. About amid- 
ships he tumbled over the chain hatch. This is an iron 
cover, weighing several hundred pounds, which should 
close the chain-hold, a vertical wooden Lux reaching to 
the bottom of the ship between the mainmast and the 
main hatch, and meant for stowing the chain cables when 
the anchors are not in use. The hatch had worked off, 
however, and the water shipped over the bows had rushed 
in until there were 9fc. of water in the hold. 
Mr. Daggett at once reported to the captain so as not to 
frighten the Malays, and they too, working for the most 
part under water, managed to stow the cable over again 
and put on the hatch. 
Then the crew was called, but when they found that the 
ship was full of water they decided that the vessel was 
lost anyhow and that they would take no further trouble 
in the matter. The captain and the mate therefore pro- 
vided themselves with whips, as the occasion demanded, 
and placing themselves one on each side, watched over 
and inspired the eflbrts of the Malays xmtil the ship was 
comparatively dry. 
Then they squared away southward, but after a day or 
two of warm weather the wet beans began to swell to such 
an extent as to threaten to burst the decks. The hatches 
had to be taken ofl' and the spoiled cargo gradually 
shoveled out until, on their arrival at Hong Kong, there 
was only about enough of the load left to show the nature 
of their misfortune. 
Early in the mornine of March 18 I left Las Flores for 
the beach and put in the day in necessary preparations — 
buying provisions, filling my ten water kegs, ballasting bur 
crank vessel, getting a license from the proper official and 
other details of the kind. Toward midday Pancho Zufiiga. 
who had been lent to me by Mr. Daggett, came in and 
helped, and later on a drunken Indian arrived with a note 
from Don Jose, who could not join me, recommending 
him as a gbod tracker of ancient and abandoned trails. 
This Indian, Timoteo, had lost one hand in dynamiting 
fish. It was surprising to learn of the number of fatalities 
and maimings that had been caused by this custom. The 
people along the beach are such poor fishermen that they 
live in the midst of plenty without a fish to eat. There is 
not even a fish line for sale at the local store. Occasion- 
ally they harpoon a turtle and occasionally they throw a 
cartridge, but to catch fish in a legitimate way is quite 
beyond them, altogether too much work. 
At about 7 o'clock in the evening the pango (for that is 
the name for these flat-bottomed craft), after several at- 
tempts to start, had collected her full complement of 
freight and passengers, including the captain and two 
men, the drunken Indian, Pancho and myself, and we 
raised the anchor and tacked out of the harbor. At about 
midnight we passed the harbor islands and bore ofi' with 
a free sheet for the south point of Guarda, with a strong 
northwest wind. 
The boat leaked a good deal, enough in fact to wet most 
of our chattels, and was difficult to pump, because the 
pump was in the middle and the water was swashing from 
one side to the other, according to the tack we were on, 
but shortly after sunrise we rounded the point and slid 
into a calm on the east side of Guarda Island. The shal- 
low water near the land was beautifully clear, and fish and 
turtles could be seen now and then in the depths while 
whales were spouting placidly in the distance. The cap- 
tain went off in a dory with his harpoon, and after a great 
many attempts captured two fema'e turtles. These were 
the ordinary green turtles called "tortuga," or locally 
"cahuama," for the "caret" (pronounced by the Mexicans 
"carrc"), with the valuable shell, is found further south. 
We killed one turtle, or rather we cut it up, for the poor 
thing seemed to retain its vitality for an unreasonable 
time, and boiled the eggs. Ttiere were about 300 eggs (I 
counted sixty and estimated the rest), and after they were 
boiled in salt water they could be eaten by a hungry m.an, 
but they had a flat, oily taste of little interest, and we 
started in to cook some of the meat. 
A turtle has no meat on its upper shell, though it does 
have some dark green fat called callipash (from "Cara- 
pacho") by epicures, which some people profess to like. 
On its lower shell the turtle has some yellow fat called 
callipee and about an inch of nieat. This meat with the 
flippers, especially the front ' flippers (for the hind ones 
are small), and a rather inferior liver constitute the 
edible parts of the turtle. It is certainly not bad 
provided the animal be fat, but I fancy that it re- 
quires all sorts of fanciful condiments if it is to 
merit high praise. The most curimn part of the 
turtle's anatomy is the heart. This reptilian organ has 
but three valves in place of the four which mammals pos- 
sess, but on opening a turtle you find that each valve has 
the shape and apparent function of a separate heart. One 
is about 2iin. long and the other two say l^in. long each 
in a turtle whose upper shell measures 30in. in length. 
In the afternoon, as the calm continued and tiie tidal 
currents, engendered by a daily rise and fall of some r2ff., 
were drifting us backward, we cast anchor and I went 
ashore. 1 climbed a volcanic scrap-heap of a hill some 
200ft. high and saw upward of twenty piles of rough rocks 
dotted around like bunches of irregular haycocks. Most 
of these piles were on the ridge overlooking the sea, 
though some were on the landward slope near the tops, 
and none of them seemed to exceed 3fr. in height. 
These were the first traces of aboriginal work I had 
met, and wiU be further described later on. 
Toward night, as the tide turned, we raised our anchor 
and started north. A short distance ahead of us lay an 
islet called Corral de his Viboras, or Rattlesnakes' Enclos- 
ure, which at low tide is almost connected by a rocky bar 
with Guarda Island, about a mile away. 
This islet consists of a rough square of lofty hills with a 
harbor on the west side nearly inclosed by great curving 
dykes of boulders, absolutely secure, for boats small 
enough to get in, from seas raised by any wind. Late at 
night we succeeded in pulling slowly around the islet- 
arousing on our way a band of sea-lions who barked at us and 
rattled noisily on the stony beach — and cast anchor in the 
quiet lagoon. H. G. Dulog. 
[to be concluded.] 
THE CHESTNUT RIDGE 
And Along Its Foot.— V. 
Thomas Ashe, an English tourist, in the year 1806 visited 
what was tben our western country. In the month of 
October in that year he crossed the Allegheny mountain 
raige on his way westward. He traveled alone, on horse- 
back, and proceeded to Pittsburg by the road built by the 
army under General Forbes in 1758 This road was for half 
a century or more the great thoioughfare between the East 
and the West through Pennsylvania. When somewhere in 
fie Chestnut Ridge region he had some strange experiences. 
Upon his return to England, Mr. Ashe published a volume 
drscriplive of his tour, valuable in a way, though his sad 
addiction to drawing the long bow casts a shadow upon 
many of his statements. His book has become somewhat 
rare; my copy is the Newburyport reprint, 1808. 
Charmed by ttie delightsomeness of the way, this gentle- 
man dallied along and was overtaken by nightfall on the 
mountains, where he was obliged to remain until morning, 
although "wolves, panthers, and t'ger-cats were at hand" to 
devour bim. It was here in the solitude of the mountain 
top that he witnessed a remarkable exhibition of celestial 
fireworks. "The heavenly vault," he says, "appeartd to be 
all on fire; not exhibiting the stream or character of the 
aurora borealis, but an immensity vivid and clear, through 
which the stars, detached from the firmament, traveisetl m 
eccentric directions, followed by trains of light of diversifled 
magnitude and brightness. Many meteors rose majestically 
out of the horizon, and having gradually attained an eleva- 
tion of 80", suddenly burst, and descended to the earth in a 
shower of brflliant sparks or glittering: gems. This splendid 
phenomenon was succeeded by a multitude of shooting-stars 
and balls and columns of fire, which, after assuming a 
variety of forms, vertical, spiral, and circular, vanished in 
slight flashes of hgiitning, aLd left the sky in its usual ap- 
pearance and serenity." 1 venture to say that the like ef 
this has never been seen by any other mortal. I can only 
add as a corollary to this wonderful account, that our tra- 
veler elsewhere in his book informs us that whiskey on the 
]?ennsylvania border was then to be had for two shillings a 
gallon, and no doubt a pint flask was regarded as indis- 
pensable in a journey across the Allcghenies, 
The next morning Mr. Ashe descended the mountain, and 
having reached an' inn where he found "the landlady civil 
and the husband sober," he deteimiued to remain a day or 
two to recuperate after his wonderful night upon the moun- 
tain. While here he borrowed a gun and sauntered out into 
the forest. In the course of his woodland ramble he syd' 
