The Log From The Sea Of Cortez Part 6

As we ascended the Gulf it became more spa.r.s.ely inhabited; there were fewer of the little heat-struck rancherias, rancherias, fewer canoes of fis.h.i.+ng Indians. Above Santa Rosalia very few trading boats travel. One would be really cut off up here. And yet here and there on the beaches we found evidences of large parties of fishermen. On one beach there were fifteen or twenty large sea-turtle sh.e.l.ls and the charcoal of a bonfire where the meat had been cooked or smoked. In this same place we found also a small iron harpoon which had been lost, probably the most valued possession of the man who had lost it. These Indians do not seem to have firearms; probably the cost of them is beyond even crazy dreaming. We have heard that in some of the houses are the treasured weapons of other times, muskets, flintlocks, old long muzzle-loaders kept from generation to generation. And one man told us of finding a piece of Spanish armor, a breastplate, in an Indian house. fewer canoes of fis.h.i.+ng Indians. Above Santa Rosalia very few trading boats travel. One would be really cut off up here. And yet here and there on the beaches we found evidences of large parties of fishermen. On one beach there were fifteen or twenty large sea-turtle sh.e.l.ls and the charcoal of a bonfire where the meat had been cooked or smoked. In this same place we found also a small iron harpoon which had been lost, probably the most valued possession of the man who had lost it. These Indians do not seem to have firearms; probably the cost of them is beyond even crazy dreaming. We have heard that in some of the houses are the treasured weapons of other times, muskets, flintlocks, old long muzzle-loaders kept from generation to generation. And one man told us of finding a piece of Spanish armor, a breastplate, in an Indian house.

There is little change here in the Gulf. We think it would be very difficult to astonish these people. A tank or a horseman armed cap-a-pie would elicit the same response-a mild and dwindling interest. Food is hard to get, and a man lives inward, closely related to time; a cousin of the sun, at feud with storm and sickness. Our products, the mechanical toys which take up so much of our time, preoccupy and astonish us so, would be considered what they are, rather clever toys but not related to very real things. It would be interesting to try to explain to one of these Indians our tremendous projects, our great drives, the fantastic production of goods that can't be sold, the clutter of possessions which enslave whole populations with debt, the worry and neuroses that go into the rearing and educating of neurotic children who find no place for themselves in this complicated world; the defense of the country against a frantic nation of conquerors, and the necessity for becoming frantic to do it; the spoilage and wastage and death necessary for the retention of the crazy thing; the science which labors to acquire knowledge, and the movement of people and goods contrary to the knowledge obtained. How could one make an Indian understand the medicine which labors to save a syphilitic, and the gas and bomb to kill him when he is well, the armies which build health so that death will be more active and violent. It is quite possible that to an ignorant Indian these might not be evidences of a great civilization, but rather of inconceivable nonsense.

It is not implied that this fis.h.i.+ng Indian lives a perfect or even a very good life. A toothache may be to him a terrible thing, and a stomachache may kill him. Often he is hungry, but he does not kill himself over things which do not closely concern him.

A number of times we were asked, Why do you do this thing, this picking up and pickling of little animals? To our own people we could have said any one of a number of meaningless things, which by sanction have been accepted as meaningful. We could have said, "We wish to fill in certain gaps in the knowledge of the Gulf fauna." That would have satisfied our people, for knowledge is a sacred thing, not to be questioned or even inspected. But the Indian might say, "What good is this knowledge? Since you make a duty of it, what is its purpose?" We could have told our people the usual thing about the advancement of science, and again we would not have been questioned further. But the Indian might ask, "Is it advancing, and toward what? Or is it merely becoming complicated? You save the lives of children for a world that does not love them. It is our practice," the Indian might say, "to build a house before we move into it. We would not want a child to escape pneumonia, only to be hurt all its life." The lies we tell about our duty and our purposes, the meaningless words of science and philosophy, are walls that topple before a bewildered little "why." Finally, we learned to know why we did these things. The animals were very beautiful. Here was life from which we borrowed life and excitement. In other words, we did these things because it was pleasant to do them.

We do not wish to intimate in any way that this hypothetical Indian is a n.o.ble savage who lives in logic. His magics and his techniques and his teleologies are just as full of nonsense as ours. But when two people, coming from different social, racial, intellectual patterns, meet and wish to communicate, they must do so on a logical basis. Clavigero discusses what seems to our people a filthy practice of some of the Lower California Indians. They were always hungry, always partly starved. When they had meat, which was a rare thing, they tied pieces of string to each mouthful, then ate it, pulled it up and ate it again and again, often pa.s.sing it from hand to hand. Clavigero found this a disgusting practice. It is rather like the Chinese being ridiculed for eating twenty-year-old eggs who said, "Your cheese is rotten milk. You like rotten milk-we like rotten eggs. We are both silly."

Costume on the Western Flyer Western Flyer had degenerated completely. s.h.i.+rts were no longer worn, but the big straw hats were necessary. On board we went barefoot, clad only in hats and trunks. It was easy then to jump over the side to freshen up. Our clothes never got dry; the salt deposited in the fibers made them hygroscopic, always drawing the humidity. We washed the dishes in hot salt water, so that little crystals stuck to the plates. It seemed to us that the little salt adhering to the coffee pot made the coffee delicious. We ate fish nearly every day: bonito, dolphin, sierra, red snappers. We made thousands of big fat biscuits, hot and unhealthful. Twice a week Sparky created his magnificent spaghetti. Unbelievable amounts of coffee were consumed. One of our party made some lemon pies, but the quarreling grew bitter over them; the thievery, the suspicion of favoritism, the vulgar traits of selfishness and perfidy those pies brought out saddened all of us. And when one of us who, from being the most learned should have been the most self-controlled, took to hiding pie in his bed and munching it secretly when the lights were out, we decided there must be no more lemon pie. Character was crumbling, and the law of the fang was too close to us. had degenerated completely. s.h.i.+rts were no longer worn, but the big straw hats were necessary. On board we went barefoot, clad only in hats and trunks. It was easy then to jump over the side to freshen up. Our clothes never got dry; the salt deposited in the fibers made them hygroscopic, always drawing the humidity. We washed the dishes in hot salt water, so that little crystals stuck to the plates. It seemed to us that the little salt adhering to the coffee pot made the coffee delicious. We ate fish nearly every day: bonito, dolphin, sierra, red snappers. We made thousands of big fat biscuits, hot and unhealthful. Twice a week Sparky created his magnificent spaghetti. Unbelievable amounts of coffee were consumed. One of our party made some lemon pies, but the quarreling grew bitter over them; the thievery, the suspicion of favoritism, the vulgar traits of selfishness and perfidy those pies brought out saddened all of us. And when one of us who, from being the most learned should have been the most self-controlled, took to hiding pie in his bed and munching it secretly when the lights were out, we decided there must be no more lemon pie. Character was crumbling, and the law of the fang was too close to us.

One thing had impressed us deeply on this little voyage: the great world dropped away very quickly. We lost the fear and fierceness and contagion of war and economic uncertainty. The matters of great importance we had left were not important. There must be an infective quality in these things. We had lost the virus, or it had been eaten by the anti-bodies of quiet. Our pace had slowed greatly; the hundred thousand small reactions of our daily world were reduced to very few. When the boat was moving we sat by the hour watching the pale, burned mountains slip by. A playful swordfish, jumping and spinning, absorbed us completely. There was time to observe the tremendous minutiae of the sea. When a school of fish went by, the gulls followed closely. Then the water was littered with feathers and the sc.u.m of oil. These fish were much too large for the gulls to kill and eat, but there is much more to a school of fish than the fish themselves. There is constant vomiting; there are the hurt and weak and old to cut out; the smaller prey on which the school feeds sometimes escape and die; a moving school is like a moving camp, and it leaves a camp-like debris behind it on which the gulls feed. The sloughing skins coat the surface of the water with oil.

At six P.M. we made anchorage at San Francisquito Bay. This cove-like bay is about one mile wide and points to the north. In the southern part of the bay there is a pretty little cove with a narrow entrance between two rocky points. A beach of white sand edges this cove, and on the edge of the beach there was a poor Indian house, and in front of it a blue canoe. No one came out of the house. Perhaps the inhabitants were away or sick or dead. We did not go near; indeed, we had a strong feeling of intruding, a feeling sharp enough even to prevent us from collecting on that little inner bay. The country hereabouts was stony and barren, and even the brush had thinned out. We anch.o.r.ed in four fathoms of water on the westerly side of the bay, then went ash.o.r.e immediately and set up our tide stake at the water's edge, with a bandanna on it so we could see it from the boat. The wind was blowing and the water was painfully cold. The tide had dropped two feet below the highest line of barnacles. Three types of crabs71 were common here. There were many barnacles and great limpets and two species of snails, were common here. There were many barnacles and great limpets and two species of snails, Tegula Tegula and a small and a small Purpura. Purpura. There were many large smooth brown chitons, and a few bristle-chitons. Farther down under the rocks were great anastomosing ma.s.ses of a tube-worm with rusty red gills, There were many large smooth brown chitons, and a few bristle-chitons. Farther down under the rocks were great anastomosing ma.s.ses of a tube-worm with rusty red gills,72 some tunicates, Astrometis, and the usual holothurians. some tunicates, Astrometis, and the usual holothurians.

Tiny found the sh.e.l.l of a fine big lobster,73 newly cleaned by isopods. The isopods and amphipods in their millions do a beautiful job. It is common to let them clean skeletons designed for study. A dead fish is placed in a jar having a cap pierced with holes just large enough to permit the entrance of the isopods. This is lowered to the bottom of a tide pool, and in a very short time the skeleton is clean of every particle of flesh, and yet is articulated and perfect. newly cleaned by isopods. The isopods and amphipods in their millions do a beautiful job. It is common to let them clean skeletons designed for study. A dead fish is placed in a jar having a cap pierced with holes just large enough to permit the entrance of the isopods. This is lowered to the bottom of a tide pool, and in a very short time the skeleton is clean of every particle of flesh, and yet is articulated and perfect.

The wind blew so and the water was so cold and ruffled that we did not stay ash.o.r.e for very long. On board, we put down the baited bottom nets as usual to see what manner of creatures were crawling about there. When we pulled up one of the nets, it seemed to be very heavy. Hanging to the bottom of it on the outside was a large horned shark.74 He was not caught, but had gripped the bait through the net with a bulldog hold and he would not let go. We lifted him unstruggling out of the water and up onto the deck, and still he would not let go. This was at about eight o'clock in the evening. Wis.h.i.+ng to preserve him, we did not kill him, thinking he would die quickly. His eyes were barred, rather like goat's eyes. He did not struggle at all, but lay quietly on the deck, seeming to look at us with a baleful, hating eye. The horn, by the dorsal fin, was clean and white. At long intervals his gill-slits opened and closed but he did not move. He lay there all night, not moving, only opening his gill-slits at great intervals. The next morning he was still alive, but all over his body spots of blood had appeared. By this time Sparky and Tiny were horrified by him. Fish out of water should die, and he didn't die. His eyes were wide and for some reason had not dried out, and he seemed to regard us with hatred. And still at intervals his gill-slits opened and closed. His sluggish tenacity had begun to affect all of us by this time. He was a baleful personality on the boat, a sluggish, gray length of hatred, and the blood spots on him did not make him more pleasant. At noon we put him into the formaldehyde tank, and only then did he struggle for a moment before he died. He had been out of the water for sixteen or seventeen hours, had never fought or flopped a bit. The fast and delicate fishes like the tunas and mackerels waste their lives out in a complete and sudden flurry and die quickly. But about this shark there was a frightful quality of stolid, sluggish endurance. He had come aboard because he had grimly fastened on the bait and would not release it, and he lived because he would not release life. In some earlier time he might have been the basis for one of those horrible myths which abound in the spoken literature of the sea. He had a definite and terrible personality which bothered all of us, and, as with the sea-turtle, Tiny was shocked and sick that he did not die. This fish, and all the family of the Heterodontidae, ordinarily live in shallow, warm lagoons, and, although we do not know it, the thought occurred to us that sometimes, perhaps fairly often, these fish may be left stranded by a receding tide so that they may have developed the ability to live through until the flowing tide comes back. The very sluggishness in that case would be a conservation of vital energy, whereas the beautiful and fragile tuna make one frantic rush to escape, conserving nothing and dying immediately. He was not caught, but had gripped the bait through the net with a bulldog hold and he would not let go. We lifted him unstruggling out of the water and up onto the deck, and still he would not let go. This was at about eight o'clock in the evening. Wis.h.i.+ng to preserve him, we did not kill him, thinking he would die quickly. His eyes were barred, rather like goat's eyes. He did not struggle at all, but lay quietly on the deck, seeming to look at us with a baleful, hating eye. The horn, by the dorsal fin, was clean and white. At long intervals his gill-slits opened and closed but he did not move. He lay there all night, not moving, only opening his gill-slits at great intervals. The next morning he was still alive, but all over his body spots of blood had appeared. By this time Sparky and Tiny were horrified by him. Fish out of water should die, and he didn't die. His eyes were wide and for some reason had not dried out, and he seemed to regard us with hatred. And still at intervals his gill-slits opened and closed. His sluggish tenacity had begun to affect all of us by this time. He was a baleful personality on the boat, a sluggish, gray length of hatred, and the blood spots on him did not make him more pleasant. At noon we put him into the formaldehyde tank, and only then did he struggle for a moment before he died. He had been out of the water for sixteen or seventeen hours, had never fought or flopped a bit. The fast and delicate fishes like the tunas and mackerels waste their lives out in a complete and sudden flurry and die quickly. But about this shark there was a frightful quality of stolid, sluggish endurance. He had come aboard because he had grimly fastened on the bait and would not release it, and he lived because he would not release life. In some earlier time he might have been the basis for one of those horrible myths which abound in the spoken literature of the sea. He had a definite and terrible personality which bothered all of us, and, as with the sea-turtle, Tiny was shocked and sick that he did not die. This fish, and all the family of the Heterodontidae, ordinarily live in shallow, warm lagoons, and, although we do not know it, the thought occurred to us that sometimes, perhaps fairly often, these fish may be left stranded by a receding tide so that they may have developed the ability to live through until the flowing tide comes back. The very sluggishness in that case would be a conservation of vital energy, whereas the beautiful and fragile tuna make one frantic rush to escape, conserving nothing and dying immediately.

Within our own species we have great variation between these two reactions. One man may beat his life away in furious a.s.sault on the barrier, where another simply waits for the tide to pick him up. Such variation is also observable among the higher vertebrates, particularly among domestic animals. It would be strange if it were not also true of the lower vertebrates, among the individualistic ones anyway. A fish, like the tuna or the sardine, which lives in a school, would be less likely to vary than this lonely horned shark, for the school would impose a discipline of speed and uniformity, and those individuals which would not or could not meet the school's requirements would be killed or lost or left behind. The overfast would be eliminated by the school as readily as the over-slow, until a standard somewhere between the fast and slow had been attained. Not intending a pun, we might note that our schools have to some extent the same tendency. A Harvard man, a Yale man, a Stanford man-that is, the ideal-is as easily recognized as a tuna, and he has, by a process of elimination, survived the tests against idiocy and brilliance. Even in physical matters the standard is maintained until it is impossible, from speech, clothing, haircuts, posture, or state of mind, to tell one of these units of his school from another. In this connection it would be interesting to know whether the general collectivization of human society might not have the same effect. Factory ma.s.s production, for example, requires that every man conform to the tempo of the whole. The slow must be speeded up or eliminated, the fast slowed down. In a thoroughly collectivized state, mediocre efficiency might be very great, but only through the complete elimination of the swift, the clever, and the intelligent, as well as the incompetent. Truly collective man might in fact abandon his versatility. Among school animals there is little defense technique except headlong flight. Such species depend for survival chiefly on tremendous reproduction. The great loss of eggs and young to predators is the safety of the school, for it depends for its existence on the law of probability that out of a great many which start some will finish.

It is interesting and probably not at all important to note that when a human state is attempting collectivization, one of the first steps is a frantic call by the leaders for an increased birth rate-replacement parts in a shoddy and mediocre machine.

Our interest had been from the first in the common animals and their a.s.sociations, and we had not looked for rarities. But it was becoming apparent that we were taking a number of new and unknown species. Actually, more than fifty species undescribed at the time of capture will have been taken. These will later have been examined, cla.s.sified, described, and named by specialists. Some of them may not be determined for years, for it is one of the little by-products of the war that scientific men are cut off from one another. A Danish specialist in one field is unable to correspond with his colleague in California. Thus some of these new animals may not be named for a long time. We have listed in the Appendix those already specified and indicated in so far as possible those which have not been worked on by specialists.

Dr. Rolph Bolin, ichthyologist at the Hopkins Marine Station, found in our collection what we thought to be a new species of commensal fish which lives in the a.n.u.s of a cuc.u.mber, flipping in and out, possibly feeding on the feces of the host but more likely merely hiding in the a.n.u.s from possible enemies. This fish later turned out to be an already named species, but, carrying on the ancient and disreputable tradition of biologists, we had hoped to call it by the euphemistic name Proctophilus winch.e.l.lii. Proctophilus winch.e.l.lii.

There are some marine biologists whose chief interest is in the rarity, the seldom seen and unnamed animal. These are often wealthy amateurs, some of whom have been suspected of wis.h.i.+ng to tack their names on unsuspecting and unresponsive invertebrates. The pa.s.sion for immortality at the expense of a little beast must be very great. Such collectors should to a certain extent be regarded as in the same cla.s.s with those philatelists who achieve a great emotional stimulation from an unusual number of perforations or a misprinted stamp. The rare animal may be of individual interest, but he is unlikely to be of much consequence in any ecological picture. The common, known, mult.i.tudinous animals, the red pelagic lobsters which litter the sea, the hermit crabs in their billions, scavengers of the tide pools, would by their removal affect the entire region in widening circles. The disappearance of plankton, although the components are microscopic, would probably in a short time eliminate every living thing in the sea and change the whole of man's life, if it did not through a seismic disturbance of balance eliminate all life on the globe. For these little animals, in their incalculable numbers, are probably the base food supply of the world. But the extinction of one of the rare animals, so avidly sought and caught and named, would probably go unnoticed in the cellular world.

Our own interest lay in relations.h.i.+ps of animal to animal. If one observes in this relational sense, it seems apparent that species are only commas in a sentence, that each species is at once the point and the base of a pyramid, that all life is relational to the point where an Einsteinian relativity seems to emerge. And then not only the meaning but the feeling about species grows misty. One merges into another, groups melt into ecological groups until the time when what we know as life meets and enters what we think of as non-life: barnacle and rock, rock and earth, earth and tree, tree and rain and air. And the units nestle into the whole and are inseparable from it. Then one can come back to the microscope and the tide pool and the aquarium. But the little animals are found to be changed, no longer set apart and alone. And it is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious, most of the mystical outcrying which is one of the most prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable. This is a simple thing to say, but the profound feeling of it made a Jesus, a St. Augustine, a St. Francis, a Roger Bacon, a Charles Darwin, and an Einstein. Each of them in his own tempo and with his own voice discovered and reaffirmed with astonishment the knowledge that all things are one thing and that one thing is all things-plankton, a s.h.i.+mmering phosph.o.r.escence on the sea and the spinning planets and an expanding universe, all bound together by the elastic string of time. It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.

22.

APRIL 1.

Without the log we should have lost track of the days of the week, were it not for the fact that Sparky made spaghetti on Thursdays and Sundays. We think he did this by instinct, that he could come out of a profound amnesia, and if he felt an impulse to make spaghetti, it would be found to be either Thursday or Sunday. On Monday we sailed for Angeles Bay, which was to be our last station on the Peninsula. The tides were becoming tremendous, and while the tidal bore of the Colorado River mouth was still a long way off, Tony was already growing nervous about it. During the trip between San Francisquito and Angeles Bay, we worried again over the fact that we were not taking photographs. As has been said, no one was willing to keep his hands dry long enough to use the cameras. Besides, none of us knew much about cameras. But it was a constant source of bad conscience to us.

On this day it bothered us so much that we got out the big camera and began working out its operation. We figured everything except how to put the shutter curtain back to a larger aperture without making an exposure. Several ways were suggested and, as is often the case when more than one method is possible, an argument broke out which left shutters and cameras behind. This was a good one. Everyone except Sparky and Tiny, who had the wheel, gathered on the hatch around the camera, and the argument was too much for the steersmen. They sent down respectful word that either we should bring the camera up where they could hear the argument, or they would abandon their posts. We suggested that this would be mutiny. Then Sparky explained that on an Italian fis.h.i.+ng boat in Monterey mutiny, far from being uncommon, was the predominant state of affairs, and that he and Tiny would rather mutiny than not. We took the camera up on the deckhouse and promptly forgot it in another argument.

Except for a completely worthless lot of 8-mm. movie film, this was the closest we came to taking pictures. But some day we shall succeed.

Angeles Bay is very large-twenty-five square miles, the Coast Coast Pilot says. It is land-locked by fifteen islands, between several of which there is entrance depth. This is one of the few harbors in the whole Gulf about which the Pilot says. It is land-locked by fifteen islands, between several of which there is entrance depth. This is one of the few harbors in the whole Gulf about which the Coast Pilot Coast Pilot is willing to go out on a limb. The anchorage in the western part of the bay, it says, is safe from all winds. We entered through a deep channel between Red Point and two small islets, pulled into eight fathoms of water near the sh.o.r.e, and dropped our anchor. The is willing to go out on a limb. The anchorage in the western part of the bay, it says, is safe from all winds. We entered through a deep channel between Red Point and two small islets, pulled into eight fathoms of water near the sh.o.r.e, and dropped our anchor. The Coast Pilot Coast Pilot had not mentioned any settlement, but here there were new buildings, screened and modern, and on a tiny airfield a plane sat. It was an odd feeling, for we had been a long time without seeing anything modern. Our feeling was more of resentment than of pleasure. We went ash.o.r.e about three-thirty in the afternoon, and were immediately surrounded by Mexicans who seemed curious and excited about our being there. They were joined by three Americans who said they had flown in for the fis.h.i.+ng, and they too seemed very much interested in what we wanted until they were convinced it was marine animals. Then they and the Mexicans left us severely alone. Perhaps we had been hearing too many rumors: it was said that many guns were being run over the border for the trouble that was generally expected during the election. The fishermen did not look like fishermen, and Mexicans and Americans were too interested in us until they discovered what we were doing and too uninterested after they had found out. Perhaps we imagined it, but we had a strong feeling of secrecy about the place. Maybe there really were gold mines there and new buildings for recent development. A road went northward from there to San Felipe Bay, we were told. The country was completely parched and desolate, but half-way up a hill we could see a green spot where a spring emerged from a mountain. It takes no more than this to create a settlement in Lower California. had not mentioned any settlement, but here there were new buildings, screened and modern, and on a tiny airfield a plane sat. It was an odd feeling, for we had been a long time without seeing anything modern. Our feeling was more of resentment than of pleasure. We went ash.o.r.e about three-thirty in the afternoon, and were immediately surrounded by Mexicans who seemed curious and excited about our being there. They were joined by three Americans who said they had flown in for the fis.h.i.+ng, and they too seemed very much interested in what we wanted until they were convinced it was marine animals. Then they and the Mexicans left us severely alone. Perhaps we had been hearing too many rumors: it was said that many guns were being run over the border for the trouble that was generally expected during the election. The fishermen did not look like fishermen, and Mexicans and Americans were too interested in us until they discovered what we were doing and too uninterested after they had found out. Perhaps we imagined it, but we had a strong feeling of secrecy about the place. Maybe there really were gold mines there and new buildings for recent development. A road went northward from there to San Felipe Bay, we were told. The country was completely parched and desolate, but half-way up a hill we could see a green spot where a spring emerged from a mountain. It takes no more than this to create a settlement in Lower California.

We went first to collect on a bouldery beach on the western side of the bay, and found it fairly rich in fauna. The highest rocks were peopled by anemones, cuc.u.mbers, sea-c.o.c.kroaches and some small porcellanids. There were no Sally Lightfoots visible, in fact no large crabs at all, and only a very few small members of Heliaster. Heliaster. The dominant animal here was a soft marine pulmonate which occurred in millions on and under the rocks. We took several hundred of them. There were some chitons, both the smooth brown The dominant animal here was a soft marine pulmonate which occurred in millions on and under the rocks. We took several hundred of them. There were some chitons, both the smooth brown Chiton virgulatus Chiton virgulatus and the fuzzy and the fuzzy Acanthochitona exquisitus. Acanthochitona exquisitus. We saw fine big cl.u.s.ters of the minute tube-worm, We saw fine big cl.u.s.ters of the minute tube-worm, Salmacina, Salmacina, and there were a great many flatworms oozing along on the undersides of the rocks like drops of spilled brown sirup. Under the rocks we found two octopi, both and there were a great many flatworms oozing along on the undersides of the rocks like drops of spilled brown sirup. Under the rocks we found two octopi, both Octopus bimaculatus. Octopus bimaculatus. They are very clever and active in escaping, and when finally captured they grip the hand and arm with their little suckers, and, if left for any length of time, will cause small blood blisters or, rather, what in another field are called "monkey bites." Under the water and apparently below the ordinary tidal range were brilliant-yellow They are very clever and active in escaping, and when finally captured they grip the hand and arm with their little suckers, and, if left for any length of time, will cause small blood blisters or, rather, what in another field are called "monkey bites." Under the water and apparently below the ordinary tidal range were brilliant-yellow Geodia Geodia and many examples of another sponge of magnificent shape and size and color. This last (erect colonies of the cosmopolitan and many examples of another sponge of magnificent shape and size and color. This last (erect colonies of the cosmopolitan Cliona celata, Cliona celata, more familiar as a boring sponge) was a reddish pink and stood high and vase-like, some of them several feet in diameter. Most of them were perfectly regular in shape. We took a number of them, dried some out of formaldehyde, and preserved others. The algal zonation on this slope was sharp and apparent-a more familiar as a boring sponge) was a reddish pink and stood high and vase-like, some of them several feet in diameter. Most of them were perfectly regular in shape. We took a number of them, dried some out of formaldehyde, and preserved others. The algal zonation on this slope was sharp and apparent-a Sarga.s.sum Sarga.s.sum was submerged two or three feet at ebb. The rocks in the intertidal were perfectly smooth and bare but below this was submerged two or three feet at ebb. The rocks in the intertidal were perfectly smooth and bare but below this Sarga.s.sum johnstonii, Sarga.s.sum johnstonii, in deeper water, there was a great zone of flat, frond-like alga, in deeper water, there was a great zone of flat, frond-like alga, Padina durvillaei. Padina durvillaei. 75 75 The wind rippled the surface badly but when an occasional lull came we could look down into this deeper water. It did not seem rich in life except for the algae, but then we were unable to turn over the rocks on the bottom. The wind rippled the surface badly but when an occasional lull came we could look down into this deeper water. It did not seem rich in life except for the algae, but then we were unable to turn over the rocks on the bottom.

While we collected, our fishermen rowed aimlessly about, and in our suspicious state of mind they seemed to be more anxious to appear to be fis.h.i.+ng than actually to be fis.h.i.+ng. We have little doubt that we were entirely wrong about this, but the place breathed suspicion, and no other place had been like that.

We went back on board and deposited our catch, then took the skiff to the sand flats on the northern side of the bay. It was a hard, compact mud sand with a long shallow beach, and it was heavy and difficult to dig into. We took there a number of Chione Chione and and Tivela Tivela clams and one poor half-dead amphioxus. Again the tide was not low enough to reach the real habitat of amphioxus, but if there was one stray in the high area, there must be many to be taken on an extremely low tide. We found a number of long turretedsnails carrying commensal anemones on their sh.e.l.ls. On this flat there were a number of imbedded small rocks, and these were rich with animals. There were rock-oysters on them and large highly ornamented limpets and many small snails. Tube-worms cl.u.s.tered on these rocks with pea crabs commensal in the tubes. One fair-sized octopus (not clams and one poor half-dead amphioxus. Again the tide was not low enough to reach the real habitat of amphioxus, but if there was one stray in the high area, there must be many to be taken on an extremely low tide. We found a number of long turretedsnails carrying commensal anemones on their sh.e.l.ls. On this flat there were a number of imbedded small rocks, and these were rich with animals. There were rock-oysters on them and large highly ornamented limpets and many small snails. Tube-worms cl.u.s.tered on these rocks with pea crabs commensal in the tubes. One fair-sized octopus (not bimaculatus) bimaculatus) had his home under one of these rocks. These small stones must have been havens in the s.h.i.+fting sands for many animals. The fine mud-like sand would make locomotion difficult except for specially equipped animals, and the others cl.u.s.tered to the rocks where there was footing and security. had his home under one of these rocks. These small stones must have been havens in the s.h.i.+fting sands for many animals. The fine mud-like sand would make locomotion difficult except for specially equipped animals, and the others cl.u.s.tered to the rocks where there was footing and security.

The tide began to flow rapidly and the winds came up and we went back to the Western Flyer. When we were on board we saw a s.h.i.+p entering the harbor, a big green sailing schooner with her sails furled, coming in under power. She did not approach us, but came to anchorage about as far from us as she could. She was one of those incredible Mexican Gulf craft; it is impossible to say how they float at all and, once floating, how they navigate. The seams are sprung, the paint blistered away, ironwork rusted to lace, decks warped and sagging, and, it is said, so dirty and bebugged that if the c.o.c.kroaches were not fed, or were in any way frustrated or insulted, they would mutiny and take the s.h.i.+p-and, as one Mexican sailor said, "probably sail her better than the master."

Once the anchor of this schooner was down there was no further sign of life on her and there was no sign of life from the buildings ash.o.r.e either. The little plane sat in its runway and the houses seemed vacant. We had been asked how long we would remain and had said, until the next morning. Now we felt, curiously enough, that we were interfering with something, that some kind of activity would start only when we left. Again, we were probably all wrong, but it is strange that every one of us caught a sinister feeling from the place. Unless the wind was up, or the anchorage treacherous, we ordinarily kept no anchor watch, but this night the boys got up a number of times and were restless. As with the werewolf, we were probably believing our own imaginations. For a short time in the evening there were lights ash.o.r.e and then they went out. The schooner did not even put up a riding light, but lay completely dark on the water.

23.

APRIL 2.

We started early and moved out through the channel to the Gulf. It was not long before we could make out Sail Rock far ahead, with Guardian Angel Island to the east of it. Sail Rock looks exactly like a tall Marconi sail in the distance. It is a high, slender pyramid, so whitened with guano that it catches the light and can be seen for a great distance. Because of its extreme visibility it must have been a sailing point for many mariners. It is more than 160 feet high, rises to a sharp point, and there is deep water close in to it. With lots of time, we would have collected at its base, but we were aimed at Puerto Refugio, at the upper end of Guardian Angel Island. We did take some of our usual moving pictures of Sail Rock, and they were even a little worse than usual, for there was laundry drying on a string and the camera was set up behind it. When developed, the film showed only an occasional glimpse of Sail Rock, but a very lively set of scenes of a pair of Tiny's blue and white shorts snapping in the breeze. It is impossible to say how bad our moving pictures were-one film laboratory has been eager to have a copy of the film, for it embodies in a few thousand feet, so they say, every single thing one should not do with a camera. As an object lesson to beginners they think it would be valuable. If we took close-ups of animals, someone was in the light; the aperture was always too wide or too narrow; we made little jerky pan shots back and forth; we have one of the finest sequences of unadorned sky pictures in existence-but when there was something to take about which we didn't care, we got it perfectly. We dare say there is not in the world a more spirited and beautiful picture of a pair of blue and white shorts than that which we took pa.s.sing Sail Rock.

The long, snake-like coast of Guardian Angel lay to the east of us; a desolate and fascinating coast. It is forty-two miles long, ten miles wide in some places, waterless and uninhabited. It is said to be crawling with rattlesnakes and iguanas, and a persistent rumor of gold comes from it. Few people have explored it or even gone more than a few steps from the sh.o.r.e, but its fine harbor, Puerto Refugio, indicates by its name that many s.h.i.+ps have clung to it in storms and have found safety there. Clavigero calls the island both "Angel de la Guardia" and "Angel Custodio," and we like this latter name better.

The difficulties of exploration of the island might be very great, but there is a drawing power about its very forbidding aspect-a Golden Fleece, and the inevitable dragon, in this case rattlesnakes, to guard it. The mountains which are the backbone of the island rise to more than four thousand feet in some places, sullen and desolate at the tops but with heavy brush on the skirts. Approaching the northern tip we encountered a deep swell and a fresh breeze. The tides are very large here, fourteen feet during our stay, and that not an extreme tide at all. It is probable that a seventeen-foot tide would not be unusual here. Puerto Refugio is really two harbors connected by a narrow channel. It is a safe, deep anchorage, the only danger lying in the strength and speed of the tidal current, which puts a strain on the anchor tackle. It was so strong, indeed, that we were not able to get weighted nets to the bottom; they pulled out sideways in the water and sieved the current of weed and small animals, so that catch was fairly worthwhile anyway.

We took our time getting firm anchorage, and at about three-thirty P.M. rowed ash.o.r.e toward a sand and rubble beach on the southeastern part of the bay. Here the beach was piled with debris: the huge vertebrae of whales scattered about and piles of broken weed and skeletons of fishes and birds. On top of some low bushes which edged the beach there were great nests three to four feet in diameter, pelican nests perhaps, for there were pieces of fish bone in them, but all the nests were deserted-whether they were old or it was out of season we do not know. We are so used to finding on the beaches evidence of man that it is strange and lonely and frightening to find no single thing that man has touched or used. Tiny and Sparky made a small excursion inland, not over several hundred yards from the sh.o.r.e, and they came back subdued and quiet. They had not seen any rattlesnakes, nor did they want to. The beach was alive with hoppers feeding on the refuse, but the coa.r.s.e sand was not productive of other animal life. The tide was falling, and we walked around a rocky point to the westward and came into a bouldery flat where the collecting was very rich. The receding water had left many small tide pools. The smoothness of the rocks indicated a fairly strong surf; they were dangerously slippery, and Sally Lightfoots and Pachygrapsus Pachygrapsus both scuttled about. As we moved out toward the entrance of the harbor, the boulders became larger and smoother, and then there was a sudden change to unbroken reef, and the smooth rocks gave way to barnacle- and weed-covered stones. The tide was down about ten feet now, exposing the lower tide pools, rich and beautiful with sponges and corals and small pleasant algae. We tried to cover as much territory as possible, but again and again found ourselves fascinated by some small and perfect pool, like a set stage, peopled with broken-back shrimps and small masked crabs. both scuttled about. As we moved out toward the entrance of the harbor, the boulders became larger and smoother, and then there was a sudden change to unbroken reef, and the smooth rocks gave way to barnacle- and weed-covered stones. The tide was down about ten feet now, exposing the lower tide pools, rich and beautiful with sponges and corals and small pleasant algae. We tried to cover as much territory as possible, but again and again found ourselves fascinated by some small and perfect pool, like a set stage, peopled with broken-back shrimps and small masked crabs.

The point itself was jagged volcanic rock in which there were high mysterious caves. Entering one, we noticed a familiar smell, and a moment later recognized it. For the sound of our voices alarmed myriads of bats, and their millions of squeaks sounded like rus.h.i.+ng water. We threw stones in to try to dislodge some, but they would not brave the daylight, and only squeaked more fiercely.

As evening approached, it grew quite cold. Our hands were torn from the long collecting day and we were glad when it was too dark to work any more. We had taken great numbers of animals. There was an echiuroid worm with a spoon-shaped proboscis, found loose under the rocks; many shrimps; an encrusting coral (Porites in a new guise); many chitons, some new; and several octopi. The most obvious animals were the same marine pulmonates we had found at Angeles Bay, and these must have been strong and tough, for they were in the high rocks, fairly dry and exposed to the killing sun. The rocky ledge was covered with barnacles. The change in animal sizes on different levels was interesting. In the high-up pools there were small animals, mussels, snails, hermits, limpets, barnacles, sponges; while in the lower pools, the same species were larger. Among the small rocks and coa.r.s.e gravel we found a great many stinging worms and a type of ophiuran new to us-actually it turned out to be the familiar Ophionereis Ophionereis in its juvenile stage. These high tide pools can be regarded as nurseries for more submerged zones. There were urchins, both club- and sharp-spined, and, in the sand, a few heart-urchins. The caverns under the rocks, exposed by the receding tide, were beautiful with many species of sponge, some pure white, some blue, and some purple, encrusting the rock surface. These under-rock caverns were as beautiful as those near Point Lobos in Central California. It was a long job to lay out and list the animals taken; meanwhile the crab-nets meant for the bottom were straining the current. In them we caught a number of very short fat stinging worms ( in its juvenile stage. These high tide pools can be regarded as nurseries for more submerged zones. There were urchins, both club- and sharp-spined, and, in the sand, a few heart-urchins. The caverns under the rocks, exposed by the receding tide, were beautiful with many species of sponge, some pure white, some blue, and some purple, encrusting the rock surface. These under-rock caverns were as beautiful as those near Point Lobos in Central California. It was a long job to lay out and list the animals taken; meanwhile the crab-nets meant for the bottom were straining the current. In them we caught a number of very short fat stinging worms (Chloeia viridis), a species we had not seen before, probably a deep-water form torn loose by the strength of the current. With a hand-net we took a pelagic nudibranch, a species we had not seen before, probably a deep-water form torn loose by the strength of the current. With a hand-net we took a pelagic nudibranch, Chioraera leonina, Chioraera leonina, found also in Puget Sound. The water swirled past the boat at about four miles an hour and we kept the dip-nets out until late at night. This was a strange collecting place. The water was quite cold, and many of the members of both the northern and the southern fauna occurred here. In this harbor there were conditions of stress, current, waves, and cold which seemed to encourage animal life. And it is reasonable that this should be so, for active, churning water means not only a strong oxygen content, but the constant movement of food. And in addition, the very difficulties involved in such a position-necessity for secure footing, crowding, and compet.i.tion-seem to encourage a ferocity and a tenacity in the animals which go past survival and into successful reproduction. Where there is little danger, there seems to be little stimulation. Perhaps the pattern of struggle is so deeply imprinted in the genes of all life conceived in this benevolently hostile planet that the removal of obstacles automatically atrophies a survival drive. With warm water and abundant food, the animals may retire into a sterile sluggish happiness. This has certainly seemed true in man. Force and cleverness and versatility have surely been the children of obstacles. Tacitus, in the found also in Puget Sound. The water swirled past the boat at about four miles an hour and we kept the dip-nets out until late at night. This was a strange collecting place. The water was quite cold, and many of the members of both the northern and the southern fauna occurred here. In this harbor there were conditions of stress, current, waves, and cold which seemed to encourage animal life. And it is reasonable that this should be so, for active, churning water means not only a strong oxygen content, but the constant movement of food. And in addition, the very difficulties involved in such a position-necessity for secure footing, crowding, and compet.i.tion-seem to encourage a ferocity and a tenacity in the animals which go past survival and into successful reproduction. Where there is little danger, there seems to be little stimulation. Perhaps the pattern of struggle is so deeply imprinted in the genes of all life conceived in this benevolently hostile planet that the removal of obstacles automatically atrophies a survival drive. With warm water and abundant food, the animals may retire into a sterile sluggish happiness. This has certainly seemed true in man. Force and cleverness and versatility have surely been the children of obstacles. Tacitus, in the Histories, Histories, places as one of the tactical methods advanced to be used against the German armies their exposure to a warm climate and a soft rich food supply. These, he said, will ruin troops quicker than anything else. If these things are true in a biologic sense, what is to become of the fed, warm, protected citizenry of the ideal future state? places as one of the tactical methods advanced to be used against the German armies their exposure to a warm climate and a soft rich food supply. These, he said, will ruin troops quicker than anything else. If these things are true in a biologic sense, what is to become of the fed, warm, protected citizenry of the ideal future state?

The cla.s.sic example of the effect of such protection on troops is that they invariably lost discipline and wasted their energies in weak quarrelsomeness. They were never happy, never contented, but always ready to indulge in bitter and b.l.o.o.d.y personal quarrels. Perhaps this has no emphasis. So far there has been only one state that we know of which protected its people without without keeping them constantly alert and organized against a real or imaginary outside enemy. This was the pre-Pizarro Inca state, whose people were so weakened that a little band of fierce, hard-bitten men was able to overcome the whole nation. And of them the converse is also true. When the food supply was wasted and destroyed by the Spaniards, when the fine economy which had distributed clothing and grain was overturned, only then, in their hunger and cold and misery, did the Peruvian people become a dangerous striking force. We have little doubt that a victorious collectivist state would collapse only a little less quickly than a defeated one. In fact, a bitter defeat would probably keep a fierce conquest-ideal alive much longer than a victory, for men can fight an enemy much more successfully than themselves. keeping them constantly alert and organized against a real or imaginary outside enemy. This was the pre-Pizarro Inca state, whose people were so weakened that a little band of fierce, hard-bitten men was able to overcome the whole nation. And of them the converse is also true. When the food supply was wasted and destroyed by the Spaniards, when the fine economy which had distributed clothing and grain was overturned, only then, in their hunger and cold and misery, did the Peruvian people become a dangerous striking force. We have little doubt that a victorious collectivist state would collapse only a little less quickly than a defeated one. In fact, a bitter defeat would probably keep a fierce conquest-ideal alive much longer than a victory, for men can fight an enemy much more successfully than themselves.

Islands have always been fascinating places. The old story-tellers, wis.h.i.+ng to recount a prodigy, almost invariably fixed the scene on an island-Faery and Avalon, Atlantis and c.i.p.ango, all golden islands just over the horizon where anything at all might happen. And in old days at least it was rather difficult to check up on them. Perhaps this quality of potential prodigy still lives in our att.i.tude toward islands. We want very much to go back to Guardian Angel with time and supplies. We wish to go over the burned hills and snake-ridden valleys, exposed to heat and insects, venom and thirst, and we are willing to believe almost anything we hear about it. We believe that great gold nuggets are found there, that unearthly animals make their homes there, that the mountain sheep, which is said never to drink water, abounds there. And if we were told of a race of troglodytes in possession, we should think twice before disbelieving. It is one of the golden islands which will one day be toppled by a mining company or a prison camp.

Thus far, there had been no illness on board the Western Flyer. Tiny drooped a little at Puerto Refugio and confessed that he didn't feel very well, and we held a consultation on him in the galley, explaining to him that consultation was more pleasant to us, as well as to him, than autopsy. After a great many questions, some of which might have been considered personal but which Tiny used as a vehicle for outrageous boasting, we concocted a remedy which might have cured almost anything-which was apparently what he had. Tiny emerged on deck some hours later, shaken but smiling. He said that what he had been considering love had turned out to be simple flatulence. He said he wished all his romantic problems could be solved as easily.

It was now a long time since Sparky and Tiny had been able to carry out the good-will they felt toward Mexico, and they grew a little anxious about getting to Guaymas. There was no actual complaining, but they spoke tenderly of their intentions. Tex was inhibited in his good-will by his engagement to be married, which he wouldn't mention any more for fear we would diet him again. As for Tony, the master, he had no nerves, but the problems of finding new and unknown anchorages seemed to fascinate him. Tony would have made a great exploration captain. There would be few errors in judgment where he was concerned. The others of us were very busy all the time. We mention the health of the crew because we truly believe that the physical condition, and through it the mind, has reins on the actual collecting of animals. A man with a sore finger may not lift the rock under which an animal lives. We are likely to see more through our indigestion than through our eyes, and it seems to us that the ulcer-warped viewpoint is very often evident in animal descriptions. The man best fitted to observe animals, to understand them emotionally as well as intellectually, would be a hungry and libidinous man, for he and the animals would have the same preoccupations. Perhaps we fulfilled these requirements as well as most.

24.

APRIL 3.

We sailed around the northern tip of Guardian Angel and down its eastern coast. The water was clear and blue, and a large swell flowed past us. About noon we moved through a great group of Zeppelin-shaped jellyfish, ctenoph.o.r.es or possibly siphonoph.o.r.es. They were six to ten inches long, and the sea was littered with them. We slowed down and tried to scoop them up, but the tension of their bodies was not sufficient to hold them together out of water. They broke up and slithered in pieces through the dip-nets. Soon after, a school of whales went by, one of them so close that the spray from his blow-hole came over our deck. There is nothing so evil-smelling as a whale anyway, and a whale's breath is frightfully sickening. It smells of complete decay. Perhaps the droplets were left on the boat, for it seemed to us that we could smell him for a long time after he had gone by. The great schools of tuna, so evident in the Lower Gulf, were not seen here, but a few seals lazed through the water, and on one or two occasions we nearly ran over one asleep on the surface. We felt deeply the loneliness of this sea; no s.h.i.+ps, no boats, no canoes, no little ranches on the sh.o.r.e nor villages. Now we would have welcomed a fis.h.i.+ng Indian to come aboard and eat canned fruit salad, but this is a deserted sea.

The queer shoulder of Tiburon showed to the southeast of us, and we ran down on it with the wind behind us and probably the tidal current too, for we made great speed. We went down the western coast of Tiburon and watched its high cliffs through the gla.s.ses. The cliffs are fairly sheer, and the mountains are higher than those on Guardian Angel Island. This is the island where the Seri Indians come during parts of the year. It is said of them that they are or have been cannibals, a story which has been firmly denied again and again. It is certain that they have killed many strangers, but whether or not they have eaten them does not seem to be doc.u.mented. Cannibalism is a fascinating subject to most people, and in some way a sin. Possibly the deep feeling is that if people learn to eat one another the food supply would be so generous and so available that no one would be either safe or hungry. It is very curious the amount of hatred and fear that cannibalism inspires. These poor Seri Indians would not be so much feared for their murdering habits, but if in their hunger they should cut a steak from an American citizen a panic arises. Swift's quite reasonable suggestion concerning a possible use for Irish babies aroused a storm of emotionalism out of all proportion to its feasibility. There were not, it is thought, enough well-conditioned babies at that time to have provided anything like an adequate food supply. Swift without a doubt meant it only as an experiment. If it had been successful, there would have been time enough then to think of raising more babies. It has generally been found that starvation is the greatest single cause for cannibalism. In other words, people will not eat each other if they can get anything else. To some extent this reluctance must be caused by an unpleasant taste in human flesh, the result no doubt of our rather filthy eating habits. This need not be a future deterrent, for, if other barriers are removed, such as a natural distaste for eating relatives, or a man's gallant dislike for eating women, who in turn are inhibited by a romantic tendency-if all these difficulties should be solved it would be easy enough to improve the flavor of human flesh by special diets before slaughter and carefully prepared sauces and condiments afterwards. If this should occur, the Seri Indians, if indeed they do be cannibals, far from being loaded with our hatred, must be considered pioneers in a new field and honored as such.

Clavigero, in his History of History of [Lower] [Lower] California, California,76 has an account of these Seris. has an account of these Seris.

The vessel, San Javier San Javier [he says], which had left Loreto in September 1709 with three thousand [he says], which had left Loreto in September 1709 with three thousand scudi scudi to buy provisions in Yaqui, was carried 180 miles above the port of its destination by a furious storm and grounded on the sand. Some of the people were drowned; the rest saved themselves in the small boat; but after landing they were exposed to another not less serious danger because that coast was inhabited by the Series who were warlike gentiles and implacable enemies of the Spaniards. For this reason they hastened to bury the money and all the possessions which were on the boat; and after embarking again in the small boat they continued with a thousand dangers and hards.h.i.+ps to Yaqui, from where they sent the news to Loreto. In a little while the Series came to the place where the Spaniards had buried those possessions, and they dug them up and carried them away. They even removed the rudder from the vessel and they destroyed it in order to get the nails. to buy provisions in Yaqui, was carried 180 miles above the port of its destination by a furious storm and grounded on the sand. Some of the people were drowned; the rest saved themselves in the small boat; but after landing they were exposed to another not less serious danger because that coast was inhabited by the Series who were warlike gentiles and implacable enemies of the Spaniards. For this reason they hastened to bury the money and all the possessions which were on the boat; and after embarking again in the small boat they continued with a thousand dangers and hards.h.i.+ps to Yaqui, from where they sent the news to Loreto. In a little while the Series came to the place where the Spaniards had buried those possessions, and they dug them up and carried them away. They even removed the rudder from the vessel and they destroyed it in order to get the nails.As soon as Father Salvatierra learned of that misfortune, he left in the unseaworthy vessel, the Rosario, Rosario, and went to the port of Guaymas. From there he sent this vessel to the place where the and went to the port of Guaymas. From there he sent this vessel to the place where the San Javier San Javier was grounded, and he himself went with fourteen Yaqui Indians in that direction over a very bad road which absolutely lacked potable water, and for this reason they suffered great thirst for two days. During the two months which he lived there, exposed to hunger and hards.h.i.+ps and to the great danger of all their lives (while the vessel was being repaired), he won the good-will of the Series in such manner that he not only recovered all the cargo of the boat which they had stolen but induced them also to make peace with the Pimas, who were Christian neighbors of theirs and enemies whom they most hated. He baptized many of their children, he catechized the adults and inspired so much affection in them for Christianity that they immediately wanted a missionary to instruct them regularly and to baptize them and govern them in all respects. was grounded, and he himself went with fourteen Yaqui Indians in that direction over a very bad road which absolutely lacked potable water, and for this reason they suffered great thirst for two days. During the two months which he lived there, exposed to hunger and hards.h.i.+ps and to the great danger of all their lives (while the vessel was being repaired), he won the good-will of the Series in such manner that he not only recovered all the cargo of the boat which they had stolen but induced them also to make peace with the Pimas, who were Christian neighbors of theirs and enemies whom they most hated. He baptized many of their children, he catechized the adults and inspired so much affection in them for Christianity that they immediately wanted a missionary to instruct them regularly and to baptize them and govern them in all respects.So the dominating sweetness of the character of Father Salvatierra, aided by the grace of the Master, triumphed over the ferocity of those barbarians who were so feared, not only by the other Indians, but also by the Spaniards. He wept tenderly on seeing their unexpected docility and their good inclinations, thanking G.o.d for having had that much good come from the misfortune of the vessel.

The "dominating sweetness" of the character of Father Salvatierra did not, however, change them completely, for they have gone right on killing people until recently. In this account it is also interesting to notice Clavigero's statement that Father Salvatierra took the "unseaworthy" Rosario. Rosario. In the long record of wrecks blowing off course, of marine disaster of every kind, it was wonderful how they were able to judge whether or not a s.h.i.+p was unseaworthy. A little reading of contemporary records of voyaging by these priestly and soldierly navigators indicates that they put more faith in prayer than in the compa.s.s. We think the present-day navigators of the Gulf have learned their seamans.h.i.+p in the same school. Some of the s.h.i.+ps we saw at Guaymas and La Paz floated in violation of every law of physics. There must be in Heaven a small pilot-house where a worried and distraught St. Christopher spends a good deal of his time looking after the s.h.i.+pping of the Gulf of California with