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 CHARLES 
 FREDERICK HOLDER, 
 
I- 
 
The Adventures of Torqua 
 
The 
 
 Adventures ^Torqua 
 
 Being the Life and Remarkable Adventures 
 
 of Three Boys, Refugees on the Island 
 
 of Santa Catalina (Pimug-na) in 
 
 the Eighteenth Century 
 
 By 
 
 Charles Frederick Holder 
 
 -X 
 
 Author of " Along the Florida Reef/' "The Treasure 
 
 Divers/' " Charles Darwin, his Work," "The 
 
 Ivory King," "Life of Louis Agassiz," etc. 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 Boston 
 
 Little, Brown, & Company 
 1902 
 
Copyright, 1902, 
 By LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Published October, 1902 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS JOHN WILSON 
 AND SON CAMBRIDGE, V. S. A. 
 
iancroh Library 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 WHEN, in 1542, Rodriguez Cabrillo 
 sailed by the " Bay of Moons," now 
 Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island, Cali- 
 fornia, he named the island, known to the 
 natives as Pimug-na, La Vittoria, after his 
 flagship, and the other island (Kinkipar) 
 San Salvador, after his second caravel, and 
 these are the correct Spanish names. But 
 in 1602 Philip III ordered Gaspar de Zunega, 
 Conde de Monterey to equip an expadition. 
 Sabastian Viscaino led it and reached Santa 
 Catalina in December of that year. The 
 historian of the voyage was Father Torque- 
 mada, who has left a description of the 
 temple and the people. He describes the 
 latter as being light, ruddy, and a superior 
 race, having many rancherias, and canoes 
 holding twenty men. Viscaino disregarded 
 the name given by Cabrillo and re-christened 
 Pimug-na, Santa Catalina, and San Salva- 
 dor, San Clemente, naming them after the 
 
Vlll PREFACE 
 
 patron saints of the days of their arrival. 
 The islands were then well populated, but 
 later, about the last of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, the natives were forced to leave and 
 were gathered around the various missions, 
 as virtual slaves, the beginning of the end. 
 La Perouse states that the domesticated 
 Indians about the missions of Upper Cali- 
 fornia in 1786 were five thousand. Hum- 
 boldt gives the number in 1812 as sixteen 
 thousand. To-day but a pitiful handful of 
 natives can be found in all Southern Cali- 
 fornia, living on desert lands, robbed of 
 their heritage and doomed to extinction. 
 
 It may be of interest to the reader to 
 know that I have excavated in the stone 
 cavern where Torqua and his friends con- 
 cealed themselves, finding various curious 
 implements. I have rowed through the 
 ocean cave where the boys made their sen- 
 sational escape; have brought to gaff the 
 huge fishes caught by them ; followed in 
 the wake of Torqua's canoe fleet to Limun 
 (Santa Cruz Island); located the ancient 
 town sites ; floated in the darkness of the 
 marvellous cave where Torqua fought his 
 
PKEFACE IX 
 
 underground battle, and visited Cueva 
 Valdez where his men rested. I have traced 
 them to wind-swept San Nicolas ; seen the 
 despoiled remains of the islanders and the 
 great shell mounds which mark the place; 
 and on Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and 
 all the islands have excavated in the ancient 
 town sites, finding scores of implements, 
 and for years have been familiar with the 
 canons and mountains of these romantic 
 islands once savage empires on the Sea 
 of Balboa. 
 
 C. F. H. 
 
 PASADENA, CAL., 1902. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE EXILES 1 
 
 II. THE DRAGON THAT SWALLOWED THE MOON 9 
 
 III. TORQUA 16 
 
 IV. THE ESCAPE 28 
 
 V. THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE 36 
 
 VI. THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS . . 49 
 
 VII. THE CAVERN 62 
 
 VIII. THE SEA SPIDER 71 
 
 IX. THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH ... 85 
 
 X. DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH 100 
 
 XI. THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY .... 108 
 
 XII. A FIERY STEED 124 
 
 XIII. A MAN HUNT . 135 
 
 XIV. AN OTTER HUNT . . ... . . . 152 
 
 XV. Zizu ESCAPES 168 
 
 XVI. THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. . . . 178 
 
 XVII. THE WRECKERS . . 187 
 
 XVIII. THE ATTACK . 202 
 
 XIX. THE AVENGERS . . V . ..... 216 
 
 XX. THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND .... 233 
 
 XXI. THE RESCUE 251 
 
 XXII. WING AND WING 264 
 
 XXIII. THE PATRIOT . 272 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Torqua's Fleet Sailing for Kinkipar . . ' Frontispiece 
 
 Indian Cart or Carreta, used at San Juan Capis- 
 
 trano Facing page 8 
 
 Court of the Mission San Juan Capistrano " " 16 
 
 Indians Stampeding Stock Page 17 
 
 Torqua as a Herder . . . . " 19 
 
 Site of Old Indian Town ....... " 38 
 
 Blue Cavern Opening to Tunnel " 44 
 
 The Bay of Moons . ... . . - Facing page 94 
 
 Seal Rocks . , . . Page 109 
 
 Sea Lions . "120 
 
 The Sea Elephant Rookery .... Facing page 122 
 
 Flying Fish Page 128 
 
 Olla Partly Worked Out "147 
 
 Sea Otter "162 
 
 The Town of Toybipet Facing page 1 70 
 
 Torqua's Fleet in Pursuit of the Enemy " " 228 
 
XIV ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Natural Fortress Page 230 
 
 Torqua's Fleet Passing Through the Great 
 
 Arch Facing page 238 
 
 The Signal of Fire Page 247 
 
 The Tshuma Town at Limun, looking from the 
 
 South Opening of the Great Cave . Facing page 254 
 
 Coast Line of San Nicolas Island ..." " 264 
 
 Torqua Reading Signs on the Rocks at the Bay 
 
 of Moons Facing page 276 
 
 Mission of San Luis Rey Page 278 
 
 Map of Southern California and Adjacent Islands Page 1 
 
THE 
 
 ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE EXILES. 
 
 ( \\ THO are the two lads who serve us 
 W so well, Don Juan ? If I did not 
 know them as cabin-boys I should say that 
 they were the sons of gentlemen and nobly 
 born." . 
 
 The speaker was Don Benito Miranda, 
 a young grandee of Spain, but an adven- 
 turer for the mere love of it, second in 
 command of the packet " Hernando Cortes," 
 bound up the Pacific Coast in the interests 
 of the King of Spain. 
 
 Don Benito' s remarks were addressed to 
 an older man of distinguished appearance, 
 a famous captain and the commander of 
 the expedition, Don Juan Gaspar de 
 
 Mendoza. 
 
 i 
 
2 THE ADVENTURES OF TOKQUA. 
 
 "I am glad you have mentioned the 
 subject, Don Benito," he replied. " It has 
 been on my tongue to speak to you several 
 times. Can you keep a secret ? " 
 
 "Can I?" retorted the younger man; 
 then with a pretended show of indignation, 
 "Could I not, where would my friend 
 be with his political intrigues and his 
 adventures ? " 
 
 "Ah, I do you an injustice," said the 
 captain, smiling. " I forget that you have 
 always been my confidant, but this is a 
 matter of state. These boys were con- 
 signed to me by no other than the King." 
 
 " His Majesty ! " exclaimed Don Benito, 
 in astonishment. 
 
 "The King himself," replied Don Juan, 
 " and my instructions are to leave them at 
 a certain mission far to the north, which, 
 I know, is a mere brush heap at present, 
 without so much as a bell, while the major- 
 domo to whom they are consigned is a 
 scoundrel, there for his country's good. I 
 have taken a great fancy to the boys, and, 
 with a full understanding of the risk, I 
 will not be a party to their condemnation. 
 
THE EXILES. 3 
 
 We control the report can make it what 
 we wish. I propose to leave them in good 
 hands .at San Juan Capistrano. What say 
 you?" 
 
 " Good ! my hand on it," said the younger 
 man. " I will agree to anything in so just 
 a cause. But who are they ? " 
 
 " Ah ! " said Don Juan, " who knows ? 
 The boys themselves think they are the 
 nephews of the Cardinal Ranipozzi, as he 
 brought them up and educated them as 
 nobles, but I look higher than that. In 
 any event, some dastardly intrigue is on 
 foot to put them out of the way, which 
 you and I, Don Benito, will defeat. I 
 have a friend, a certain friar, at San Juan 
 who is greatly attached to me, and I pro- 
 pose consigning the boys to him on my 
 own account and to have an eye to their 
 future. But not a word here they come." 
 In the narrow companion-way appeared 
 two boys of manly and noble appearance. 
 Their names were Raphael and Arturo 
 Velazquez. The former was fifteen and 
 the latter seventeen years of age, but both 
 looked older and were well developed. 
 
4 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 "Senor Paez bids me report, sir, that 
 land is on the lee, three leagues distant," 
 said Arturo, saluting. 
 
 " Good, my lad," said the captain, rising 
 and resting his hand on the boy's shoulder. 
 " It is good luck to bring such news aboard 
 ship. We should be off the Mission of 
 San Juan." 
 
 The officers went on deck and found the 
 vessel speeding on, with a strong west wind 
 abeam. To the windward were two large 
 islands, one flat, the other a maze of 
 mountains, San Clemente and Santa Cata- 
 lina, discovered by the great commander 
 Cabrillo years before ; and ahead, a fair 
 land clothed in tender green, which, though 
 it was winter, reached far up to mountains 
 in the interior, whose summits rose to lofty 
 heights, white with snow, seeming to pierce 
 the very empyrean. Here and there along 
 the coast were darker lines, which, the 
 captain told the boys, were well-wooded 
 canons ; and far away, at the base of a 
 lofty, purple-hued range, they saw a lurid 
 blaze, as though the land were aglow with 
 red-hot coals, the light of a fire opal in 
 
THE EXILES. 
 
 a setting of green. This, Don Benito said, 
 was caused by a beautiful flower, the poppy, 
 Copa del orOy that in midwinter covered the 
 slopes of the Sierra Madre with such vivid 
 tints that miles away it could be seen, and 
 the place had been named by the sailors 
 Terra del Fuego, or the land of fire. 
 
 As the vessel approached the land, more 
 of its beauties were revealed, a strange con- 
 trast to the regions which they had passed, 
 and there was general rejoicing among the 
 crew. The land near the shore was rocky, 
 interspersed with sand dunes along shore 
 and white beaches. Foothills met the sea 
 and rose imperceptibly to meet the giant 
 ranges, which, to the boys, seemed to form 
 a maze in the interior. 
 
 In the afternoon the packet rounded to, 
 just beyond the bed of kelp that formed a 
 protection to the open bay at the mouth of 
 a canon, and soon the chain was rattling 
 down and the first ship to visit the Mission 
 of Saint John the Chanter in six months 
 was in port. She was soon boarded by the 
 Padres and the officer in charge of the 
 Presidio, who greeted the captain and Don 
 
6 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Benito warmly, and pressed them all to 
 land at once, as a festa was in progress 
 and a bull and bear fight had been an- 
 nounced for the evening. The officers did 
 not need urging, as for four months they 
 had been beating up what is now the Cali- 
 fornian coast. The packet was laden with 
 stores for the missions, and the unloading 
 began, the goods being hoisted out and 
 lowered into the commodious canoes of the 
 Indians, a number of which surrounded the 
 vessel. In one of these boats Don Benito 3 
 Don Juan, and the two boys went ashore. 
 The landing was made in the surf, but so 
 skilful were the Indians in watching the 
 waves that the passengers were landed 
 safely and were presently mounted on 
 sturdy horses, which had been brought 
 down for the purpose, and on their way 
 up the canon. The San Juan River was 
 of small proportions in winter, and in 
 summer it almost disappeared ; but to the 
 boys and officers who had been so long 
 confined to the little craft, it was a fine 
 stream, and the verdure was an agreeable 
 relief to the eye. They walked their horses 
 
THE EXILES. 7 
 
 through the shadows beneath the trees, 
 passed a large Indian rancheria, now and 
 then meeting soldiers and Indians ; and 
 finally, three miles from the sea, came to 
 a commanding mesa 1 upon which stood the 
 rich and beautiful Mission of San Juan 
 Capistrano, founded by Padre Junipero Serra 
 in 1776. There were a troop of soldiers, 
 several Franciscans, and a settlement of 
 nearly a thousand Indians in the vicinity, 
 all of whom had gathered at the mission 
 in anticipation of the bear and bull fight, 
 so that the scene was one of great anima- 
 tion, the crowds of half-naked Indians, the 
 gay trappings of the soldiers, who were 
 armed with cueras (leather jackets) and 
 adargas (shields), making a bright and 
 stirring picture to the boys, who were 
 having their first glance at the wild and 
 barbaric tribes of New Spain. 
 
 Don Juan soon found his friend, Father 
 Anselmo, and at once placed Arturo and 
 Raphael in his charge, commending them 
 to him. 
 
 " I know that you will do everything 
 you can for these youths, Father, and in 
 
 1 Elevated plain. 
 
8 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 confidence let not the Commandant of the 
 Presidio know that I have any interest in 
 them. We have had words in San Bias, and 
 if he knew that I hold the boys in high 
 favor it might not go so well with them." 
 He placed in the friar's hand a bag of coin 
 at parting, saying that he would see them 
 that night. 
 
 The Father conducted the boys to a long 
 wing of the mission, on the south side of 
 the great square, and gave them a room. 
 It was of adobe, 1 whitewashed, and con- 
 tained two beds, with a stretched cow-skin 
 for a mattress, and blankets. Upon the 
 wall hung a crucifix and some pictures of 
 the saints. It was the room of one of the 
 priests, Father Anselmo said, who had gone 
 to the Mission of San Diego on a visit, and 
 upon his return he would see that the boys 
 had permanent quarters. Into this room, 
 cell-like, but neat and clean, Indian boys 
 carried their boxes, which had been brought 
 up from the beach on a strange, big wheeled 
 cart, or carreta ; and, having unpacked their 
 belongings, they felt that their long jour- 
 ney was at an end and not unhappily. 
 
 1 Sun-dried bricks. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DRAGON THAT SWALLOWED THE MOON. 
 
 AS night came on, the great square of 
 the mission became filled with an 
 excited crowd. The tiled buildings covered 
 a large area, the church or chapel forming 
 the east side. To the south were rooms 
 for the attendants and Fathers ; to the west 
 were apartments for stores, beyond these 
 corrals for horses, and around all a fine 
 arched corridor. The belfry in the front 
 of the church was pierced for four bells, 
 whose chimes could be heard far down the 
 valley and for miles around, so clear and 
 vibrant was the air. All these buildings 
 formed a huge, open square, which was to 
 be the scene of the fight. 
 
 The boys were amazed at the size and 
 evident wealth l of the mission, which was 
 
 1 In 1834 San Luis Rey Mission had an Indian popu- 
 lation of 3,400, 24,000 cattle, 10,000 horses, 100,000 
 sheep, 14,000 bushels of grain. To-day these are but a 
 memory, the beautiful mission a picturesque ruin. 
 
10 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 really a principality, a world by itself. 
 There were thousands of cattle, vineyards, 
 gardens, acres of grazing land which reached 
 away as far as the eye could see, and living 
 about the mission were several thousand 
 natives, who were being educated by the 
 Fathers with a view to their conversion 
 and employment. In the mission. grounds 
 proper were the quarters for many natives, 
 who were learning professions of various 
 kinds. In one room they saw the saddle- 
 makers at work. In a shed native black- 
 smiths were plying their trade ; tailors were 
 making clothes ; bakers were cooking in 
 the kitchen, the smoke finding its way up 
 through an ornamental chimney, which still 
 stands. Here were silversmiths, candle- 
 makers, shoemakers, hatters, candy-makers, 
 masons, hunters repairing their guns and 
 arrows, weavers, tile-makers whose produc- 
 tions covered the great expanse of roof. 
 In the square several horse trainers were 
 plying their trade, to the amusement of a 
 crowd ; and sitting in the shadow of the 
 adobe wall were a number of very old 
 women. Father Anselmo told the boys 
 
THE DRAGON SWALLOWS THE MOON. 11 
 
 that one was one hundred and twenty years 
 of age and the others over ninety. They 
 were basket-makers, and beautiful examples 
 of their art were seen woven in rare and 
 attractive designs. Even the minor offices 
 of the church and chapel were filled by 
 natives. Some were sacristans, others 
 were bell-ringers ; some were musicians ; 
 while the very art work in the church, the 
 decorating, was done by fresco painters, 
 selected from among the native youths. 
 The women were embroiderers, milliners, 
 and singers ; indeed, it would be difficult to 
 find an art or trade which the Fathers had 
 not taught or were not trying to teach the 
 natives, who were virtual savages, prefer- 
 ring to go without clothes and worship- 
 ping the god Chinigchinich, whose figure 
 of wood could be found in many ran- 
 cherias not yet under the influence of the 
 missions. 
 
 The moon was high in the heavens, clear 
 and full, when the major-domo drove the 
 people out of the square, who took their 
 positions and covered the tile roofs of the 
 mission, until they were black. Many 
 
12 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 carried hides to sit on, so that they could 
 witness the performance with comfort ; 
 while others spread gaudy blankets over 
 the tiles. 
 
 Finally all was ready for the sport, and 
 at the word a gate was thrown open and 
 a black, fierce-eyed bull rushed into the 
 arena, snorting and looking with wonder 
 at the forms which, illumined by the light 
 of the moon and by brush fires without the 
 walls, stood out in bold relief. The In- 
 dians and soldiers greeted the animal with 
 jeers, shouts, and reflections upon its cour- 
 age, and as their cries increased in volume 
 another gate was opened and out walked a 
 grizzly bear, which seemed of colossal size 
 to Raphael and Arturo, who looked with 
 amazement upon the sight. The bear had 
 been lassoed by an Indian, named Torqua, 
 that morning high in the mountains ; and, 
 having been dragged down by a crowd of 
 herders, it was in a frenzy of rage. As the 
 bull came trotting around, the bear rose 
 upon its haunches, seemingly scenting the 
 danger. The bull apparently did not see 
 the bear at first, but when it did it dropped 
 
THE DRAGON SWALLOWS THE MOON. 13 
 
 its head and charged, catching the bear 
 upon the side, sending it rolling in the dust, 
 amid the terrific roars and yells of the ex- 
 cited Indians. The bull stood pawing the 
 earth, throwing dust over its back, while 
 the bear limped away, apparently injured. 
 But the grizzly was not retreating. It dis- 
 appeared into the shadow, turned in a 
 circle and came toward the bull, watching 
 it out of the corners of its small eyes. The 
 bull saw it coming and again lowered its 
 head and rushed on; but the bear had 
 learned by experience, and as the bull 
 charged, it suddenly stepped to one side, 
 and, as the bull passed, dealt it so terrible 
 a blow that it fell upon its head, rolling 
 over and over, to the delight of the friends 
 of the bear. The bull was merely stunned 
 and soon regained its feet, and with vary- 
 ing features the contest continued ; now 
 the bear being gored, or the bull being torn 
 by the sharp claws or beaten down by 
 fierce blows, until the boys became dis- 
 gusted with the heartless sport that was 
 without the ending of the bull fight with 
 which they were familiar. They were 
 
14 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 about to retire when a cry was heard, 
 " The moon ! the moon ! " and glancing up- 
 ward they witnessed a singular spectacle. 
 It was growing perceptibly darker, and a 
 large notch was visible in the face of the 
 moon. A weird murmuring sound now took 
 the place of the cries, and the bear and bull 
 were forgotten by the multitude. 
 
 Suddenly a voice cried in the Indian 
 tongue, " The dragon is swallowing the 
 moon ! The dragon is swallowing the 
 moon ! " 
 
 The Indian men and women ran wildly 
 about, dropping from the tiled roof ; others 
 took their hides, held them aloft, and beat 
 them with sticks. Some threw sand and 
 stones at the moon. Some hid among the 
 willows and tules 1 in the river bed, and 
 many crowded around the Fathers, begging 
 them to save them and the moon by an 
 appeal to the saints. 
 
 All the while a strange and mysterious 
 light was taking the place of the brilliant 
 moonlight of a few moments before. At 
 first it brought out all objects with strange 
 
 1 Tall bulrush. 
 
THE DRAGON SWALLOWS THE MOON. 15 
 
 distinctness, then began to fade and, amid 
 the wailing of the people, the beating of 
 hides and the rattling of stones upon the 
 tiles of the mission, the moon seemed to 
 fade away in a cloudless sky. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TOKQUA. 
 
 THE remarkable exhibition of fear and 
 superstition on the part of the San 
 Juan Capistrano Indians was due to an 
 eclipse of the moon. Father Anselmo told 
 the boys that they had a tradition very 
 similar to that of the Chinese, that a huge 
 dragon was continually scouring the heavens 
 trying to catch the moon ; that sometimes 
 it succeeded ; and as it was being swallowed 
 if they could frighten it by loud cries, it 
 would release its victim and the satellite 
 would be saved, hence the beating of hides 
 and the throwing of sand and stones at 
 the supposed dragon. 
 
 The boys rapidly learned the ways of 
 the Padres, and were assigned positions as 
 herders or cow-boys of the vast flocks of 
 the mission, having under them a number 
 of Indians, who were constantly on the 
 watch fearing that the warlike desert 
 
TORQUA. 17 
 
 Indians would successfully stampede the 
 cattle, which they often attempted. One 
 of the latter especially attracted them, a 
 youth named Torqua, who took them to 
 the summit of a high hill one day and 
 showed them a large island, Pimug-na he 
 
 Indians Stampeding Stock. 
 
 called it, though the Fathers said it was 
 Santa Catalina, named after the saint's 
 day on which it was discovered. The 
 island was Torqua's home, and he told the 
 boys that his father and mother and all 
 his friends were there, and that' he and 
 twenty or thirty others had been brought 
 over by the Fathers to learn the religion 
 of the Spaniards and to work. Torqua 
 evidently longed for his island home ; he 
 
18 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 talked about it continually, describing its 
 beauties, its wonderful fish, the game, the 
 herds of monster seals, the wealth of his 
 people and their canoes, and it was evident 
 that his novitiate was more or less com- 
 pulsory and that he resented the action of 
 the Padres. 
 
 The winter days at San Juan were per- 
 fect. It was midwinter, yet the hills and 
 mesas were covered with wild flowers, which 
 ran riot in canon and on mesa, and in the 
 mission gardens the orange and lemon were 
 ripening, while palms and other plants 
 gave a tropical and luxuriant aspect to 
 nature. Their work kept the boys out of 
 doors on horseback all day long, and Torqua 
 showed them all the nooks and corners of 
 the country ; taught them to kill quail 
 with the macdna 1 and to use the riata, 
 or lasso, which hung upon each orna- 
 mented saddle, a long, twisted rawhide 
 with a slip noose, which Torqua threw with 
 great skill. He was an excellent teacher 
 and the boys apt pupils. Sometimes when 
 on the range they played that Torqua was 
 
 1 Boomerang. 
 
TORQUA. 19 
 
 a mountain lion and followed him at full 
 speed, hurling the riata at him, which at 
 first fell short, but soon dropped over his 
 head or that of his horse, and the moun- 
 tain lion would be brought to a standstill. 
 Again the game would be that a grizzly 
 
 Torqua as a Herder. 
 
 bear was to be caught, and the three riatas 
 were used ; one at the head, and the more 
 difficult feat of throwing it about the feet. 
 This Torqua could easily do, catching a 
 steer by any leg the boys indicated. 
 
 One day he was leading them through 
 a little valley in the mountains where once 
 the Apaches killed a mission Indian herder, 
 when they came to a patch of high mustard, 
 
20 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 its tops a mass of golden sheen. As they 
 rode on, the blossoms rose above the boys' 
 heads and they were covered with the 
 bright yellow bloom. Suddenly Torqua 
 reined in his horse and held up a hand 
 of warning. " Over beyond," he said, " lies 
 a dead ox, and about it are four or five big 
 birds, 1 the largest in the world. They are 
 gorged with food and can hardly fly, so we 
 can take them with our riatas." 
 
 Lassoing a bird was a novel sport to the 
 boys, though common among the natives, 
 so they prepared their riatas with no little 
 excitement, and, at the word, dashed from 
 their ambush at full speed. They came 
 upon four enormous birds about the body, 
 which, upon seeing the horses, raised their 
 huge wings and ran off in a ludicrous 
 manner, trying in vain to fly, but unable 
 to rise on account of the amount they had 
 eaten. Torqua threw his riata about one 
 as it attempted to rise into the air, and 
 brought it, struggling, to the ground. 
 Raphael missed his bird, and, leaping from 
 the saddle, ran and tossed his rope over 
 
 1 California condor. 
 
TORQUA. 21 
 
 it and held it, the bird pecking at him 
 viciously. 
 
 " What shall we do with them ? " asked 
 Arturo. 
 
 " Kill them ! " cried Torqua, 
 
 " Are they of any use ?" asked Raphael. 
 
 " Only to kill," replied Torqua. 
 
 " Then let them go," said Raphael, tossing 
 his rope away from the bird. " My uncle 
 always told me never to kill any animal 
 unless I could use it." 
 
 " He must have been a curious man," 
 laughed Torqua; "not a hunter." 
 
 " Yes, a great hunter and a great gen- 
 eral," retorted Raphael. 
 
 This argument was too deep for Torqua 
 and he merely stared at Raphael, and 
 thought that he was a very strange sort 
 of boy not to wish to kill anything. 
 
 " Let yours go, Torqua," said Raphael. 
 " The poor thing is twisting its neck." 
 
 " Very good, if you say," replied the 
 Indian ; and, jerking away his riata, the big 
 condor ran off and with a cumbersome 
 movement rose into the air. 
 
 It was Torqua who promised the boys 
 
22 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 that some day, when they could obtain the 
 Father's permission, he would show them a 
 lake l that lay like a gem on the other side 
 of the range of mountains. But before this 
 opportunity came, an event occurred which 
 changed the entire tenor of their lives. 
 
 Two months after the packet had sailed, 
 the Father who had been on a trip to the 
 San Diego Mission arrived with a guard of 
 soldiers, and the same day the boys were 
 summoned by the Father Superior, who 
 questioned them very closely about their 
 trip from Mexico and endeavored to learn 
 everything regarding their past that he 
 could. His manner from now on changed 
 perceptibly. He was severe with them, 
 and the boys noticed that they never went 
 far without the company of one or more of 
 the Spanish soldiers. It became so evident 
 that they were under surveillance that 
 Raphael finally approached Father Anselmo 
 and asked him the cause of so marked a 
 change in their treatment. At first the 
 Padre evaded the question, but finally he 
 said : 
 
 1 Elsinore. 
 
TORQUA. 23 
 
 " I am sorry to tell you, my son, but you 
 were sent from Mexico with Captain Men- 
 doza, who had orders to leave you at a 
 distant mission, far up the coast. He dis- 
 obeyed his instructions out of pure regard 
 for you and landed you here, placing you 
 in my care, thinking that it would not be 
 discovered ; but the Governor-General, it 
 seems, to prevent anything of the kind, 
 wrote a letter to each Father Superior to 
 the effect that you were destined for a cer- 
 tain mission and to see that you reached it, 
 under direct orders from his Majesty the 
 King. Captain Mendoza was not aware 
 of these communications, and, singularly 
 enough, the letter of instructions destined 
 for our Superior was left at San Diego by 
 mistake and was brought overland by 
 Father Sanchez. So it becomes the duty 
 of this mission to forward you with the 
 detachment, which leaves next week." 
 
 " Is it far distant ? " asked Raphael. 
 
 " I fear it is," said Father Anselmo. " I 
 hear it is on the very border, a place once 
 selected for a mission, but in the midst of 
 savage tribes. I wish I could stay the in- 
 structions, but I am powerless." 
 
24 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Raphael was greatly dejected over the 
 news and quickly sought Arturo to tell him 
 what Father Anselmo had said. 
 
 " It is evident/' said Raphael, " that we 
 are the victims of some plot ; orders have 
 been given not to aid us and to place us on 
 the very borders of the land, where we 
 shall never be heard from again. We have 
 all along supposed that we were to be given 
 an opportunity to rise and enrich ourselves 
 in the King's service, but I see that we 
 have been entrapped." 
 
 " What can we do ? " asked Arturo. 
 "Shall you go?" 
 
 " Not if I can help it," replied Raphael 
 with spirit. " But say nothing and per- 
 haps we can escape in some way. I under- 
 stand that sometimes galleons from or to 
 the Philippines stop at the islands off the 
 coast; if we could reach them we would 
 be safe." 
 
 " Why not ask Torqua ? " said Arturo. 
 
 " The very thing," replied his brother. 
 "There he is on the mesa." 
 
 Torqua, upon seeing the boys waving 
 their sombreros, rode toward them, and 
 
TORQUA. 25 
 
 displayed the greatest concern when he 
 learned that they were going to be sent 
 away. 
 
 " Why should you go ? " he said, in the 
 quaint mixed Spanish and Indian he al- 
 ways used. 
 
 61 We cannot help it," replied Raphael. 
 "They will send us by force. We go 
 under guard." 
 
 " But you can run away," said Torqua. 
 
 " Where ? " asked Arturo. 
 
 "To Pimug-na, Santa Catalina," said 
 Torqua, his dark face brightening at the 
 thought. " There you could be a hunter and 
 trapper, catch the otter and sell the skins 
 to the Russian traders who come once a 
 year and with whom my people trade. 
 Perhaps," continued the Indian boy, his 
 eyes glistening, " perhaps you could catch 
 the white otter, for which a great price is 
 offered. All the young men have tried for 
 it, and would get a fortune fifty pieces 
 of gold for its skin." 
 
 " But how can we reach the island ? " 
 asked Raphael. 
 
 " How ? " said Torqua, looking around 
 
26 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 to make sure that he was not heard. 
 " Why, I am going home. I am going to run 
 away myself from these people, who have 
 no right to keep me and make me work. 
 My father is a great chief. You have a 
 king, Don Raphael. My father is king of 
 Pimug-na. You can go with me ; he will be 
 your friend. I will show you the land 
 where it is summer all the time, where the 
 eagle builds its nest, and where the olla 1 is 
 made." 
 
 " But how can we get across ? " asked 
 Raphael. 
 
 " In my canoe," said Torqua. " It is on 
 the sands. I have an olla of water and a 
 bag of tunas 2 hidden in the bush now. 
 We will steal down some night, launch her, 
 and the next day will be with my people." 
 
 " But they will miss your canoe and fol- 
 low us," said Raphael, who thought of 
 everything. 
 
 " They may follow," responded the In- 
 dian, " but once at Santa Catalina, as they 
 
 1 A clay or soapstone jar ; pronounced o-yer. 
 
 2 Tuna is the name of the fruit of the prickly-pear, 
 also the Italian name of the horse mackerel. 
 
TORQUA. 27 
 
 call it, they will never find us. I know 
 caves in the mountains in which we could 
 hide for years." 
 
 " What say you, Arturo ? " queried 
 Kaphael. 
 
 " I say go with Torqua," said the younger 
 boy. " We have no better friend." 
 
 "Then," said Raphael, "it is settled, we 
 go ; but it must be before Sunday, as then 
 the guard goes North and we are their pris- 
 oners. Even now they follow us as though 
 we had committed some crime." 
 
 " If it does not storm, say to-morrow 
 night," suggested Torqua. "Bring what 
 food you can and steal down to the beach 
 soon after the Angelus rings." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ESCAPE. 
 
 THE boys were so excited over their 
 proposed escape that they slept but 
 little that night, and the first rays of light 
 which broke over the Sierra Madre found 
 them still talking in subdued tones. They 
 longed to say good-bye to Father Anselmo, 
 who had been their friend, and to the 
 major-domo, who had become attached to 
 them ; but these conscientious men would 
 have considered it their duty to disclose the 
 plan, so the boys went about their duties as 
 usual. They rose early, brought in their 
 horses and watered them, ate their frugal 
 breakfast with the Mexican and Indian 
 herders, and rode out on to the mesa. 
 It seemed the longest day of their lives, 
 and they were in constant fear that some 
 plan of the soldiers might have been 
 changed and the march begun that day ; 
 but nothing of the kind occurred, and in the 
 
THE ESCAPE. 29 
 
 afternoon Torqua, who had been on a dis- 
 tant range hunting stray cattle, told them 
 again that he was ready and would expect 
 them that night, and that they must meet 
 him in the willows below the mission after 
 the ringing of the Angelus. 
 
 The boys went to their room early and 
 sat waiting for the signal. A group of 
 soldiers walked up and down in front of 
 their door, and they feared that their plan 
 had been suspected. But the men left just 
 before the sweet notes of the Angelus broke 
 the stillness of the evening and echoed down 
 the little valley. 
 
 Hardly had the sound died away than 
 the boys stole quietly out of the room, car- 
 rying their shoes and clothing in a bundle. 
 They crept along the grim corridor, through 
 which the bats were flitting, glancing at 
 the doors and windows, fearing that some 
 one would stop them. They passed the 
 stable and corral, crossed an empty room, 
 and stood for a moment looking out of the 
 broken window ; then seeing that the way 
 was clear, stepped out of the mission, and, 
 keeping in the shadow until they came to 
 
30 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 the corner, crept across the trail and made 
 their way silently through the brush to the 
 willows in the arroyo. 1 Here they stopped 
 and Raphael gave the signal, the whistling 
 note of the quail, co-ca-co, co-ca-co. Then 
 out of the darkness came the low, answering 
 notes, and a far better imitation, wook-wook- 
 ook, tvooJc-wooJc-ooJc. 
 
 "It is Torqua," whispered Raphael; 
 "push on." 
 
 The willows filled the little arroyo here, 
 and the boys pressed the branches aside 
 and made for the sounds, almost walking 
 over Torqua, who was lying in the brush 
 imitating all the notes of the jaunty little 
 quail. 
 
 Springing to his feet, he silently led the 
 way beneath the willows, now stopping- to 
 listen to the hooting of an owl, then moving 
 on, stooping beneath the branches, crossing 
 the little stream many times, the boys 
 following in single file. After half a mile 
 of this they came to the main river bed, 
 and, keeping to the north side, passed 
 swiftly down toward the sea, whose musi- 
 
 1 Dry river. 
 
THE ESCAPE. 31 
 
 cal booming could now be heard trembling 
 in the air. When halfway down Torqua 
 stopped, and, after searching about in the 
 brush, brought out a soapstone olla, which 
 he filled with water, then another, which 
 he handed to the boys, who found it was 
 filled with tunas, or the fruit of the large 
 prickly-pear. 
 
 " We can live on these until we reach 
 the island," said Torqua, " and then there 
 is plenty to eat." 
 
 The trail to the Mission of San Luis Rey 
 was in the arroyo to the south, over which 
 Indians and soldiers often passed, so they 
 kept well in the foothills on the opposite 
 ground, though occasionally the thick brush 
 forced them into the stream itself. The 
 booming of the waves grew louder and 
 louder, and suddenly they came out upon 
 the sand dunes that formed the upper 
 beach, beyond which stretched the sea. 
 The dunes were wind swept, heaped in 
 strange shapes, like billows, ever changing, 
 and as the boys stepped out upon them 
 Torqua stopped and put down his olla. 
 
 " I left my canoe in this hollow," he 
 
32 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 said, " but it is gone. Down ! " he quickly 
 whispered ; " some one comes." 
 
 The Indian dropped flat upon the sands, 
 as did his companions, the hollows of the 
 dunes affording complete protection, and 
 they slowly crawled along until they were 
 in a deep one. The sound of clanking bits 
 and spurs was now plainly heard, and then 
 voices, and in the moonlight a horseman 
 was seen coming up the long beach, followed 
 by several others. It was evident the boys 
 had not been seen, but they lay flat among 
 the dunes, hardly daring to breathe until 
 the riders had gone by. It was doubtless 
 a squad of soldiers from the garrison at 
 San Luis Rey or San Diego, journeying to 
 the Mission of San Juan. Indeed, it was 
 the company for Monterey that was to act 
 as the guard to the boys who were crouch- 
 ing in the sand dune not ten varas l distant. 
 
 "That was a narrow escape," said 
 Eaphael, peering over the edge. " What 
 shall we do, go back ? " 
 
 " No, no, I will never go back ! " cried 
 Torqua. " I will swim first. I will find 
 
 i A vara is thirty-two inches. 
 
THE ESCAPE. 33 
 
 my canoe, it is here somewhere ; some one 
 pull him up. You look that way and I 
 look this way." 
 
 The wind had raised the sand up in 
 many strange forms, and the boys began to 
 search the dunes, the hollows of which 
 were often used by the Indians for various 
 purposes. In one they found a heap of 
 abalones l ; in another, a smouldering fire. 
 Finally a low call of the gull from Torqua 
 recalled them, and running up the beach 
 they found him standing by a canoe that 
 had been hauled up under some low trees. 
 
 " It is she," said Torqua, patting the 
 rude boat with a caressing hand. " She is 
 light, see," and he lifted one end, "yet 
 can stand heavy seas." 
 
 The canoe was a small craft to pass the 
 rollers that were coming in upon the sands, 
 making a blaze of white phosphorescent 
 light far down the shore, but the boys did 
 not hesitate. They grasped the rail and 
 easily dragged the canoe down the sands 
 to the water. Raphael then brought an 
 armful of abalones, while Arturo placed the 
 
 1 The shell haliotis. 
 3 
 
34 THE ADVENTURES OP TORQUA. 
 
 ollas aboard, and they were ready for the 
 start. 
 
 "You, Don Raphael, sit in the bow," 
 said Torqua, " and have your paddle all 
 ready. You, Don Arturo, take the next 
 seat, and when I give the word, pull with 
 all your strength." 
 
 They ran the canoe out into the water, 
 and when it was very nearly afloat the 
 boys jumped in and took their places, while 
 Torqua pushed the canoe out, wading into 
 the water and holding it. He was a skilful 
 surf rider with balsa 1 or canoe and watched 
 the waves carefully. Some of the high 
 ones broke and almost filled the boat and 
 drove him back and forth, but he kept 
 edging the canoe out, and finally gave it 
 a violent push and dragged himself over 
 the rail, then seizing a paddle, the boys 
 used them with all their strength. A big 
 wave came curling in, but the canoe rose 
 upon it like a feather ; another threatened 
 them, but they bent to the paddles and the 
 canoe shot ahead, passing the rollers in 
 safety and floated in the kelp bed that 
 
 1 Balsa, a boat-like raft often made of tule. 
 
THE ESCAPE. 35 
 
 formed a protecting band or barrier two 
 or three hundred yards from shore. 
 
 " It 's easy if you know how/' said 
 Torqua gleefully. " Waves come three big, 
 three small, three very small, then three 
 very big. All you do is wait for small 
 
 waves." 
 
 The sea was now perfectly smooth, a 
 gentle wind blowing off shore, and the 
 moon well up. 
 
 " Which way do we go ? " asked Raphael. 
 
 "Follow the moon," said Torqua. And 
 out into the dark sea they paddled, leaving 
 the scintillating blaze of the moon behind 
 following in their trail like a pathway of 
 silver. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 
 
 TORQUA'S canoe was a seaworthy 
 craft, cut out of a big pine log which 
 had drifted down from the unknown North. 
 It was intended for two paddlers, but with 
 three made good headway. Long into the 
 night the boys paddled on, speaking only 
 occasionally. Now Torqua would stop, lay 
 down his paddle, and take a long draught 
 from the olla, whose mouth he stopped 
 with a cactus leaf from which he had cut 
 the spines, then he would pass it to Raphael 
 and Arturo, and, refreshed, they would 
 paddle on. As they worked off shore they 
 felt the long swell that came down from 
 the northwest, and the canoe began to 
 labor and to take in water, which was 
 baled out with abalone shells whose holes 
 or openings had been stopped with tar or 
 asphaltum found along shore. Finally, 
 after paddling several hours, Torqua cried : 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 37 
 
 "There is Pimug-na, Santa Catalina, 1 as 
 you call it, my home. See it, Don Arturo ! 
 See it, Don Raphael ! " 
 
 The boys, resting on their paddles, looked 
 in the direction indicated and could make 
 out, faintly outlined against the sky, a big 
 black mass rising from the sea, still a long 
 way off. But Torqua, who knew every 
 point and hill, and could tell the name of this 
 mountain and of that, pointed out the twin 
 peaks, the highest in the island, where his 
 people built big fires at times as a signal 
 to their friends on shore, or as a feast to 
 the god Chinigchinich. 
 
 " Think you they have missed us, Tor- 
 qua ? " asked Raphael. 
 
 " No, not unless some inspector has gone 
 the rounds. In that case they will soon 
 be after us." 
 
 1 Santa Catalina is a mountainous island about twenty 
 miles off shore in Los Angeles County, California. It is 
 very abrupt and precipitous, its highest peaks being 
 about 2,000 feet in height. It is twenty-two miles long, 
 one mile to seven miles wide, and contains 55,000 
 acres. The only harbors are the mouths of canons on 
 it and San Clemente. The author has located about 
 forty ancient towns or camp sites, and tons of stone 
 implements have been taken from them. 
 
38 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 "What will they do?" asked Arturo, 
 stopping a moment in his paddling and 
 looking astern into the broad beam of sil- 
 very light which they seemed to be leaving. 
 
 Site of Old Indian Town. 
 
 " Why," replied Torqua, " when my 
 brother ran away to the ranch eria at Kin- 
 kipar, what you call San Clemente, they 
 put Zizu on his track. Zizii has, the 
 shaman * says, a scent like a dog. You 
 blindfold him, turn him around three, four 
 times, and he is away, always in the right 
 direction ; and they say he scents his game, 
 but I doubt this," said Torqua wisely. 
 
 1 Medicine man. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 39 
 
 " He is an Apache from the desert, and 
 they are, so my father tells me, skilled in 
 following an enemy by the trail, and I am 
 sure that this is the way Zizu finds his prey. 
 Did you not notice when I came down I 
 kept on the slopes of the hills in the gravel 
 rather than in the soft bed of the arroyo ? 
 It was because I was afraid we might leave 
 our footprints too clearly for Zizu, and he 
 may find us yet. The major-domo will 
 offer him a bottle of Castilian wine and he 
 will sell himself for that ; for this he is 
 called Zizu, the devil." 
 
 The mountains were fast rising ; they 
 were nearing the island. The eastern sky 
 had taken on a vermilion tint, the clouds 
 were ablaze with the splendors of the com- 
 ing day, but long before the boys had be- 
 come weary and nodded at their work. 
 As daylight made itself evident they were 
 aroused by a cry from Torqua. 
 
 " We are followed ! Zizu is on our 
 track. See ! see ! " and, standing up, he 
 pointed away to the east. 
 
 Raphael and Arturo rose stinTy to their 
 feet and followed the direction of his 
 
40 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 finger. Just visible, a mere speck corning 
 out of the gloom, they could make out a 
 canoe. 
 
 " It is the boat of the major-domo/' said 
 Torqua, " and in it are twenty men ; they 
 would not trust Indians. Why did I for- 
 get to crush a hole through her ! That 
 would have kept them back." 
 
 The boat was a large one, and that she 
 was gaining on them rapidly there could 
 be no doubt. 
 
 " Can they catch us ? " asked Raphael, 
 gazing at the long stretch still between 
 them and the island. " We are still half a 
 league away." 
 
 " They must not," said Torqua, an ex- 
 pression of grim determination settling over 
 his dark features. " We must work for 
 our lives." 
 
 He thrust his hands into the sea, dip- 
 ping up water, with which he bathed his 
 head, the two boys following suit ; then 
 again taking up their paddles, they sent 
 the canoe flying over the waters. For a 
 while not a word was said, the swish, 
 swish of the paddles as they cut the blue 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAYE. 41 
 
 water and the hard, labored breathing of 
 the boys being the only sounds. But it 
 was evident that the boat was gaining on 
 them. Presently they could make her out ; 
 she was filled with men. 
 
 "What is that?" said Arturo, as a 
 sound like the churning of waters or the 
 rush of a mighty wind through leaves be- 
 came plainly audible. 
 
 "Alala! 1 it's the wind coming," replied 
 Torqua, " the west wind. The wind god has 
 favored us, and if I reach the shore I will 
 take many birds to Chinigchinich. It will 
 reach them in a few moments, a heavy sea, 
 driving them back; but we are too far in." 
 
 It was as Torqua predicted. The sound 
 increased, changing to a roar ; then a long 
 line of foam was seen stretched like a 
 low wall across the channel. Presently it 
 reached them, and the canoe was leaping 
 and tossing uneasily in the foaming waters ; 
 yet they were only on the edge and they 
 saw farther out a heavy sea sweeping on, 
 which soon encompassed the pursuing boat 
 a friendly ally to beat it back. 
 
 1 An exclamation equivalent to " Oho.'* 
 
42 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " The wind god is going to save us," 
 said Torqua, " but they are very near/' 
 
 The boys could now see the men plainly, 
 and the* soldier in the bow held up his gun 
 as though he would fire. 
 
 " We cannot reach the rancheria where 
 I wished to land at the bay," said Torqua ; 
 " it is half a mile farther, but we will de- 
 ceive them. I will show them that Torqua 
 knows something." 
 
 They were now very near the island, 
 whose green slopes rose from abrupt rocky 
 shores, culminating in high hills or moun- 
 tains, but nowhere could the boys see a 
 landing-place ; everywhere beetling cliffs 
 and rocks, against which, in places, the 
 sea broke, to be tossed back in white masses 
 of foam. The boys were so exhausted with 
 paddling that they were ready to give out ; 
 their arms and sides were stiff and had 
 lost feeling, and they began to feel drowsy. 
 But Torqua, older, hardier, encouraged them 
 with word and gesture. 
 
 " We are safe," he cried. " I will show 
 them a trick ; Torqua will win. One 
 more hard so keep it up again, 
 Don Arturo good ! Don Raphael." 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 43 
 
 The paddles flew. The boys, encouraged 
 by the words of their Indian guide and 
 friend, made a last effort, and threw all 
 their strength into the work. The rocks 
 were just ahead of them, an abrupt sea 
 wall one hundred feet high ; the big boat 
 of the major-domo not one hundred yards 
 away. 
 
 66 Stop ! " shouted an officer in the bow. 
 " Stop ! you will be drowned. Stop ! or I 
 will fire." 
 
 " Alala ! " shouted back Torqua in de- 
 rision. 
 
 Directly ahead was what appeared to be 
 a hole in the face of the rock, a great 
 shallow cave, into which the sea was tum- 
 bling with a loud roar, the foam leaping 
 upward to the very roof, running back 
 down the green and colored sides with 
 strange lights. Into this seeming mael- 
 strom Torqua urged the canoe with a shout 
 of defiance. 
 
 " Once more once more and we are 
 safe ! " he cried. 
 
 The boat of the Spaniards was not two 
 hundred feet behind when the soldiers, ap- 
 
44 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 palled at the threatened disaster, stopped 
 rowing and the officer in the stern shouted : 
 " Stop, you fools ! Do you wish to 
 drown ? Stop ! " 
 
 Blue Cavern Opening to Tunnel. 
 
 The cries of the men were lost in the 
 roar and reverberation at the eatrance of 
 the cave, and as the Spanish boat rounded 
 to and backed, the canoe, on the crest of a 
 wave, rushed into the seething waters to 
 seeming destruction. 
 
 To the Spanish officers she seemed to 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 45 
 
 strike the abrupt wall and be swallowed 
 up, as she disappeared as though the rock 
 had opened and closed over her. In truth, 
 this was what happened. The boys had 
 asked no questions. Their faith in Tor- 
 qua was sublime, and with the strength of 
 desperation they had paddled on, into the 
 very face of seeming death, sending the 
 canoe into the breaking seas, where for a 
 moment she was tossed about almost end 
 for end, then they found themselves in a 
 large but shallow cave.. A small beach of 
 stories was visible as the water drew hiss- 
 ing back, and on to this Torqua leaped, 
 now waist deep, as a sea came in, strug- 
 gling, wrestling with the waters, then 
 with a desperate effort he braced against 
 it and turned the canoe at right angles, 
 and to their amazement the boys saw a 
 narrow tunnel with light ahead. 
 
 " Push hard ! " shouted Torqua amid the 
 roar of the seas. 
 
 Again the paddles struck the water, and, 
 leaping into the canoe, the Indian forced 
 it ahead, and in a few seconds they were 
 gliding along in a dark tunnel beneath 
 
46 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 
 
 the island shore, so narrow that the boys 
 could not use their paddles and so pushed 
 it along by hand on the wet wall of stone. 
 The water was smooth excepting when every 
 few moments a wave would come coursing 
 through, which would lift the canoe to the 
 roof so that they had to lie down ; but 
 aside from this they were perfectly safe. 
 Torqua pushed the boat on for some dis- 
 tance, then turned it to the left and hauled 
 it close to the west wall, where there was 
 an indentation about the size of the boat, 
 concealing her from the view of any one 
 who might look through the tunnel. 
 
 " We are safe," said Torqua, a look of 
 satisfaction settling over his dark face, 
 " but we must not stay here at high water ; 
 it is not what you call dry. I will swim 
 out and look,, and if they are not in the 
 way we will push out this entrance." 
 
 So saying, the Indian lowered himself 
 into the water and carefully swam on, then 
 diving at the entrance, came up under 
 some kelp leaves that formed a floating 
 mat at the opening, and glanced around the 
 bend with all the skill of a sea lion, which 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVE. 47 
 
 he had often seen perform the same trick. 
 As he expected, the men were lying on 
 their oars, holding a consultation and drift- 
 ing down the coast before the heavy wind, 
 and were now an eighth of a mile away. 
 
 He swam- back to the canoe, which was 
 now shoved along the narrow cave or 
 tunnel, and with a powerful push sent out 
 into daylight again. The boys then fully 
 appreciated the trick Torqua had played 
 upon the Spaniards. The cave had two 
 openings, the small entrance leading into 
 a large bay around a point. The canoe 
 was urged along the rocky shores, while 
 the Spaniards were not three hundred 
 yards away watching for the wreck to 
 float out, thinking that the craft had been 
 ground to pieces in the hole in the wall. 
 On flew the canoe, the boys filled with new 
 vigor ; and enthusiasm, now entering a wide 
 bay, the " isthmus," where they could see, 
 half a mile away, the beehive-like huts of a 
 large Indian town. But Torqua was not 
 going there. He knew that the Spaniards 
 would run in there before they left, so he 
 turned suddenly and directed the canoe 
 
48 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 into another cave, which the sea had eaten 
 into the white chalk. As she stranded 
 they leaped over and hauled her up on a 
 little shelf out of sight. Then Torqua 
 waded out and, followed by the others, 
 swam along the rocks, avoiding the kelp, 
 and turned into a little bay about half a 
 mile from the rancheria. Here they landed, 
 and, Torqua leading the way, they quickly 
 ran up over the sandy beach and disap- 
 peared in the mouth of a deep and well- 
 wooded canon that, like a river, seemed to 
 wind its way up into the distant mountains. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ONCE in the seclusion of the brush, 
 the boys threw themselves upon the 
 ground, as Torqua said they could rest a 
 short time. They were in the bed of a moun- 
 tain stream filled with polished boulders, 
 about which grew luxuriantly ferns and 
 brakes. The air was warm and fragrant 
 with the odor of trees and shrubs in blos- 
 som. The songs of mocking-birds, wild 
 canaries, and other birds came sweetly on 
 the wind, and the boys could almost be- 
 lieve they were in a fairyland. They were 
 wet, weary, lame, and very hungry, yet 
 were so excited, so joyous over their nar- 
 row escape, that they seemed to forget it 
 all ; and when Torqua rose, they sprang to 
 their feet and, following his example, se- 
 lected stout clubs and prepared to climb up 
 the bed of the stream. 
 
50 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " Some of my people live over there," he 
 said, " but the soldiers will go to the ran- 
 cheria, Sonag-na, and if it were known that 
 we were here they might frighten some one 
 into giving us up ; so we will go to a safe 
 place I know over in the island where we 
 can live until they are gone, which I can 
 tell by creeping out on the cliff at night. 
 Can you walk and climb a league ? " he 
 asked, looking at his Spanish companions. 
 
 "Yes, ten leagues, Torqua," said Arturo. 
 " You have saved us, kind friend, and we 
 will follow anywhere." 
 
 " Good ! " Torqua said with a laugh. 
 "Good ! You are what I like. You make 
 good Indian never get tired walk, 
 hunt, fight, ride all the time ; " and picking 
 up the club that he had dropped, he turned 
 upward into the mountains. 
 
 The arroyo bed led up at a sharp angle 
 here and it was hard climbing for the boys 
 over the stones and gravel ; now creeping 
 beneath the low brush, lying for a moment 
 on their backs to take breath, watching 
 the bright-eyed lizards, worming their way 
 through a jungle of branches, rising higher 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 51 
 
 and higher, until they reached a spot through 
 which they could see the blue ocean, and far 
 below the boat of the Spaniards. The men 
 were pulling hard against the gale and, as 
 Torqua said, making for the isthmus harbor, 
 or the town of Soriag-na, where they would 
 find smooth water and where they would 
 remain for the night at least. 
 
 " We shall be far away," said Torqua, 
 " when they land." 
 
 They continued their climb, always keep- 
 ing to the bed of the stream and under the 
 brush, which was a hardship, as the boys 
 could see that on either side of them was 
 clear and smooth walking. At last they 
 came to the head of the canon, beyond 
 which was an exposed place of two hun- 
 dred feet to the ridge. Here, crouching 
 low, they waited until the boat, which now 
 seemed almost beneath them, was out of 
 sight behind a ledge ; then they crawled 
 along until they reached the divide and 
 safety, where, with the mountains between 
 them and their enemies, the boys rolled 
 over and over in the very joy of it, laid on 
 their backs, deep in the green carpet, look- 
 
52 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 ing up at the blue sky and the warm winter 
 sun, until Torqua again sprang to his feet, 
 saying they must move on. 
 
 The island presented a beautiful appear- 
 ance from the ledge on which they were 
 standing. They were, perhaps, eight hun- 
 dred feet above the water and almost over 
 the cave, and could even toss stones into the 
 bay, so precipitous were the shores. To the 
 south the coast line of precipices stretched 
 away as far as the eye could see, while to the 
 west canon after canon, hill and mountain, 
 appeared in a maze of lines and convolu- 
 tions, and in the centre of all a great moun- 
 tain with a level top. 
 
 " We must make that by night," said 
 Torqua, pointing to the latter. 
 
 Along the ridges the party moved, 
 picking their way through patches of 
 cactus covered with large yellow blossoms, 
 down the mountain side, using their clubs 
 to aid them, and finally into a canon which 
 seemed to lead into the very heart of the 
 island. Now they passed through groves 
 of stunted oak, again along mountain sides 
 covered with the cactus, ever walled in by 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 53 
 
 mountains. Finally Torqua pointed far 
 below to some bunches of tussock-grass, 
 the site of a big spring. 
 
 " I am nearly famished for a drink," 
 said Raphael. 
 
 " I, too," said Arturo. " My mouth is 
 as dry as a bean-pod ; and not better for 
 eating a tuna with the spines half picked." 
 
 They were skirting a long canon and fre- 
 quently came in view of a small winding 
 stream, with here and there a pool col- 
 lected in the rocks, glistening in the sun. 
 They were soon by its side, and, picking 
 up an abalone which some Indian had left 
 there, they drank in turn. 
 
 " You see my people have been here," 
 said Torqua, as he indicated several ves- 
 sels or bowls with grinding stones that lay 
 near by, with a heap of broken abalones. 
 " This is a small camp. This is what we 
 will grind our acorns and abalones in." 
 
 Refreshed by the water, they walked on 
 for three or four miles, seeing evidences of 
 Indians in shells and stone dishes along 
 the stream, but meeting no one. 
 
 " Now," said Torqua, as they came to a 
 
54 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 grove of small trees, " we must take to the 
 mountain ridge again until we pass the two 
 harbors, 1 as there is a town, Toybipet. You 
 can see it from here," and he led his com- 
 panions out on a little mesa and showed 
 them, two miles distant, the ocean on the 
 southwest side of the island and two per- 
 fect harbors, with a point between, and 
 beyond a broad, flat mesa, on top of which 
 could be seen the huts of Torqua's people. 
 
 " Many a time have I fished there," said 
 the Indian. u The abalones are plenty all 
 about, the big limpet is piled deep in lines, 
 and, as for fish, you can pull them in so 
 fast and so big that you will get weary 
 hauling at them." 
 
 " I do not think I should ever get tired 
 fishing," said Raphael. 
 
 " Nor I," joined in Arturo. " I never 
 went but once, and I have had a fever for 
 fishing ever since." 
 
 " That is the way we live here," said 
 Torqua ; " fish fish hunt sea lion, aba- 
 lone, wild goat but mostly fish ; and 
 such fish ! as long as a man. You have 
 
 1 Now known as Little Harbor. 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 55 
 
 never seen what you call caballa 1 ?" he 
 asked. " No ? Ah, then you have some- 
 thing to see." 
 
 " No," replied Raphael. " You see, Tor- 
 qua, in our country we lived in the interior 
 by a small stream, where the fish were 
 hardly as large as your thumb ; these we 
 caught with a willow, a string, and a bent 
 wire, with grasshoppers as a lure." 
 
 "As big as your thumb!" replied Tor- 
 qua ; " and you call that fish ? Ah, but 
 wait ! I shall show you fishing that is 
 fishing." 
 
 He now turned to the bed of a canon 
 that led them up on to the mountain, 
 affording them concealment, and when 
 high up, they stepped over the divide, 
 where Torqua said no people lived, as it 
 was too rocky, steep, and dry. They were 
 on the side of a precipice so abrupt that, 
 had they made a false step, they might 
 have rolled down hundreds of feet into the 
 deep canon. As the boys passed along the 
 narrow trail, evidently made by Indians 
 and wild goats, they stopped now and then 
 
 1 Tuna or horse mackerel; also tunny. 
 
56 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 to view the remarkable sight. Below them 
 a deep abyss, winding canons, the rocky 
 coast line, then the blue channel ; while 
 beyond was the mainland from whence 
 they came, the Sierras, capped with snow, 
 rising, like sentinels, here and there. They 
 crept around jutting points, scrambled over 
 a mountain, down whose slopes a river of 
 rocks seemed to have formed, and finally 
 came upon a band of wild goats. The 
 animals glanced at them and then bounded 
 away, creating little avalanches down the 
 steep sides. At the foot of a steep moun- 
 tain Torqua turned to the west again, and 
 as they sprang over an exposed divide, the 
 boys saw before them a deep and beautiful 
 canon, filled with cotton-wood trees and 
 shrubs, while the slopes which reached 
 away from it were green with native 
 grasses, with patches here and there of 
 gold, yellow, purple, and red, the wild 
 flowers of this isle of summer. Torqua 
 uttered a cry of delight as he saw it ; in- 
 deed, every hill and canon appeared to have 
 a special significance. Here he had killed 
 a large eagle; there it was that the big 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 57 
 
 goat had turned upon him and rolled him 
 down. At this crag the Indians from the 
 North, the Tshuma, had made a stand, and 
 Torqua pointed out the little cave where 
 he, his mother and brothers and sisters 
 had been concealed for days, until the 
 enemy was driven away. 
 
 " I would n't mind a piece of jerked beef," 
 said Arturo, who began to feel the pangs 
 of hunger. 
 
 " I, too," said Torqua ; " but when you 
 are hungry and can get no food, drink 
 plenty of water ; " and suiting the action 
 to the word, he threw himself down on the 
 rocks, leaned over a little pool, and drank 
 long draughts of the clear spring water, 
 after which he began to look around and 
 finally dug some peculiar lily-like plants 
 from the ground, which resembled onions, 
 with the husk of a cocoanut. These he 
 ate, sharing them with his companions. A 
 little farther on the stream entered a cactus 
 patch and here they gathered tunas, or the 
 fruit of the prickly-pear, and after scraping 
 them of their treacherous spines they ate 
 until their faces and hands were colored 
 
58 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 with the deep red juice. Then they took 
 a long rest, lying upon the dead leaves 
 beneath a grove of scrub oaks. 
 
 " Now we are safe," said Torqua. " It 
 would take a week for the soldiers to find 
 us, even if they knew where we were. They 
 would climb the steep canons up and down 
 and soon wear themselves out, while we 
 came by trails. Alala ! but that was a 
 trick we played them ! " and Torqua laughed 
 heartily. " How far do you think we have 
 travelled ? " he asked Arturo, who was try- 
 ing to mend his shoe, which had been torn 
 on the sharp, flint-like rocks. 
 
 " A league," said Raphael. 
 
 " Yes, almost a league, and we have half 
 a league more to go before we reach our 
 house." 
 
 "Do you really mean that we are to 
 have a house ? " said Arturo. " I supposed 
 we were to live in a cave." 
 
 "It is a cave house," replied Torqua. 
 " My people have used it for years, but 
 only when they were fishing at that point 
 and it came on to rain and lasted several 
 days. Then they lived there, though at 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 59 
 
 times when I was a what you call muchdcho 1 
 we lived there for some time. It is the 
 best hiding-place on the island." 
 
 Later the march was taken up again, 
 ever keeping to the canon bed, to avoid 
 meeting with any one. But the canon 
 widened out and was now a deep valley, in 
 the centre of which the stream ran six or 
 eight feet below the surface, sometimes 
 visible, again plunging beneath the sands 
 and flowing on beneath the soil to the dis- 
 tant sea, to emerge again in some cool spot 
 among the rocks and trees. Groves of 
 cotton-wood trees were passed, little glades 
 in which the wild grasses grew high and 
 where Torqua said he had often slept after 
 the grass had turned into hay and was dry 
 and warm. Never was there such a place 
 for camping out, in the modern sense, 
 never such a land for beauties of situation, 
 for new wonders and marvels. Now the 
 boys started back in surprise as the roar of 
 wings struck their ears, the California 
 partridge which occurred here in thou- 
 sands; now it was the wild dove which 
 
60 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 whistled across their pathwa} 7 , or gave its 
 mournful note. Everywhere, though miles 
 from the sea, they saw bits of the shells 
 of abalones, which Torqua said his peo- 
 ple had brought to eat. At every turn 
 they expected to come upon Indians, but 
 by mere good fortune they did not. Sud- 
 denly Torqua stopped and held up his hand 
 and bade them listen. They could hear 
 the song of birds, the hum of insect life, 
 the whispering of the leaves, or ears (nanah) 
 as Torqua called them, like music, and 
 above all a low, musical, booming sound. 
 
 " It is the surf beating on the beach at 
 the foot of the Whispering Leaf Canon," 
 Torqua explained. " The sand is white, 
 and where the canon stream flows in there 
 is a rocky ledge with masses of ferns, over 
 which the water flows. There we will 
 have a house when we go fishing. Our 
 house is above us over the divide. Come." 
 
 What had appeared to the boys to be a 
 solid wall of brush, rising almost directly 
 upward, they now saw contained a trail 
 that had been used for a long time. It 
 zigzagged up the mountain and was very 
 
THE FLIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 61 
 
 steep. Up this they went, and from here 
 it was seen that they had passed around 
 the two harbors. The boys could now see 
 the rancheria from the south facing the 
 sea, and near it wide green slopes. On 
 they climbed until they came to the divide. 
 Torqua had looked carefully around, as 
 they were now obliged to cross an open 
 place, the ridge of Mount Orizaba, as it 
 extended away to the sea. Not a living 
 thing was in sight, but following Torqua's 
 example and crouching low, the boys moved 
 rapidly along until they reached a clump 
 of cactus, where they rose and looked over. 
 To their amazement they saw a tall human 
 figure, standing back to them, looking at 
 the distant sea. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE CAVERN. 
 
 THE boys were almost paralyzed at 
 the sight of the strange figure, but 
 Torqua dropped flat upon the ground, 
 motioning to them to do the same, and 
 whispered to them not to move, as perhaps 
 the man, who was a shaman, or rain doctor, 
 would not notice them. They were at least 
 thirty feet from him, a clump of cactus 
 intervening, yet through the great spine- 
 covered leaves and yellow blossoms they 
 could see the Indian, who was dressed in 
 a strange garb of feathers and who now 
 began to chant a weird song ; then he 
 threw some sand in the direction of the 
 sea, blew upon 1 a bone whistle, and to their 
 relief slowly moved on without looking 
 behind. 
 
 " He is asking the god Chinigchinich for 
 rain," whispered Torqua, with suppressed 
 
THE CAVERN. 63 
 
 excitement. " To-morrow it rain, you 
 
 see." 
 
 He raised his head to the level of the 
 cactus, and as the boys followed suit they 
 saw the rain-maker pass slowly down into 
 the deep canon which led to the rancheria 
 at the two harbors, ever and anon raising 
 his arms in accompaniment to the monot- 
 onous wailing cry. When he finally dis- 
 appeared in the brush they came out from 
 their concealment and slipped over the ridge. 
 
 From here as far as the eye could reach 
 was seen a jumble of mountain peaks, their 
 slopes sometimes clear, again covered with 
 patches of green, and in the immediate 
 foreground a well-wooded canon which 
 wound about among rocky points and high 
 cliffs, so finding its way to the distant sea. 
 Immediately in front of where the boys 
 stopped to view the scene, but a hundred 
 feet below, rose an irregular mass of rocks 
 almost as high as a cathedral, with several 
 spires. 
 
 " This is the place," said Torqua. " Is 
 it not beautiful ? Did you ever see rocks 
 piled in such a way ? " 
 
64 THE ADVENTURES OP TORQUA. 
 
 The boys admitted they had not, but 
 they could not see where the house was. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Torqua, " this is the back ; 
 but we must wait and see if it is empty. 
 Do you stay here while I crawl over and 
 look in." 
 
 From between two great boulders they 
 watched him climb slowly and carefully 
 out upon the rocks, moving on all fours 
 like a lizard ; now stopping to listen, then 
 crawling along again. Now he disap- 
 peared, and a few moments later they saw 
 him upon the topmost peak, where he 
 clung, lying flat. He remained there some 
 time it seemed to the boys, but in reality 
 only a few moments. Then he rose to his 
 feet, waved his hand at them from the 
 dizzy height, and came back, leaping from 
 point to point with all the agility of a wild 
 goat. 
 
 " Come," he said, breathing hard ; " no 
 one there." 
 
 He led the way around the lofty pile, 
 lowering himself from rock to rock, then 
 leaping to the ground, running, half sliding 
 down the steep slope, came to a thick 
 
THE CA.YERN. 65 
 
 growth of cactus, in the midst of which 
 was a heap of gleaming abalone shells that 
 caught the rays of the sun and sent a thou- 
 sand flashes of color into the air. There 
 was a narrow trail leading directly through 
 it and into this he turned, and stood before 
 the entrance of a cleft in the rock that ex- 
 tended forty or fifty feet from the edge of 
 an overhanging ledge. 
 
 u A regular cavern ! " exclaimed Arturo. 
 
 " A cave, a dungeon ! " echoed Raphael. 
 " Torqua," he continued, " in Spain, the 
 bandits upon the Sierra Morena have just 
 such places to hide their treasure." 
 
 " My people have lived here for years, 
 and other people before them/' replied Tor- 
 qua proudly. " The hardest rain never 
 reaches in ; and in the great battle that 
 my grandfather, the chief, fought, they 
 made their stand here and the wild people 
 from the North never took it. You see," 
 he said, with the ardor and instinct of a 
 soldier, pointing down the slope, " the pile 
 commands the whole country, and no one 
 would ever think that there was a cave 
 here." 
 
 5 
 
66 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " That is true," assented Arturo. " You 
 never would see it until you reach the 
 entrance." 
 
 "See the mark of rny people/' added 
 Torqua, pointing to a sun-like mark on 
 the entrance, in red paint. " That means 
 6 Welcome.' So I say to you Don Arturo 
 and Don Raphael, welcome to my people's 
 home ; and when the Spaniards leave, when 
 they get tired hunting us or finding out 
 how we died, they will give you welcome 
 too." 
 
 Entering the cave, they found the floor 
 made of soft brown earth sprinkled with 
 the broken shells of the abalone ; on the 
 side were several stone ollas or mortar- 
 shaped urns with round stones for grind- 
 ing, and with them a big flat stone worn 
 to a polished surface. The room was suf- 
 ficiently large to hold ten or twelve persons 
 if crowded, but was better adapted for a 
 few. Around one side Torqua pointed out 
 a smaller cave, the sides of which were 
 blackened with smoke where the Indians 
 had built a fire, and he explained that it 
 was the cooking place. 
 
THE CAVERN. 67 
 
 u It is almost as I left it," he said. 
 "See!" and from beneath a shelving rock 
 he drew out armfuls of dried grass or hay 
 and spread it on the floor for beds. 
 
 " All ready made," said Arturo. 
 
 " Yes ; and look!" Dropping upon his 
 knees, the Indian youth began scraping in 
 the dust and soon unearthed a number of 
 spearheads six or seven inches long, made 
 of black flint ; then some arrowheads, a 
 bow, and a wooden throwing club, boome- 
 rang or macdna. " I hid them here before 
 they took me to the mission," he explained. 
 " To-morrow we will make more bows and 
 spear handles, and the door to the cave." 
 
 " A door! " repeated Arturo. 
 
 "Yes," replied Torqua; "not like the 
 big mission doors, but one that will keep 
 out the cold night wind." 
 
 " But where is the wood ? " asked 
 Raphael. 
 
 " You are looking at it," said Torqua, 
 laughing. " The tuna growing there is the 
 door, and all the supper we will get to- 
 night. Do you, Don Arturo, pick a lot of 
 tunas, the red ones, scrape off the spines 
 
68 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 with this knife/' handing him a long, slen- 
 der flint flake from the treasures he had 
 dug up, which had a wooden handle bound 
 to it with hide, " while Don Raphael and I 
 go for water to the arroyo below." 
 
 Arturo began the work of picking, while 
 Torqua, after a short hunt among the 
 bushes, brought out two finely formed ves- 
 sels or ollas of soapstone, which he said 
 he had made. Giving one to Raphael they 
 started down the hill, at the bottom of 
 which in the canon a stream of pure water 
 ran silently along toward the sea, whose 
 roar could be distinctly heard. 
 
 As they stooped over to fill the ollas, 
 Torqua whispered a warning. 
 
 Looking up, Raphael saw, just beyond 
 them, a little glade where the earth seemed 
 to be covered with birds with jaunty plumes. 1 
 Taking his throwing club from his belt, 
 Torqua, with scarcely any effort, sent it 
 whirling over the bushes into their midst, 
 and as the roar of their wings sounded, he 
 dashed after them and picked up several 
 that he had disabled. 
 
 1 California partridge. 
 
THE CAVERN. 69 
 
 " Hunting is easy here/' he said, as he 
 fastened the birds together with a whisp of 
 willow. " One each." 
 
 Having filled the ollas, they started up 
 the hill, taking many rests before they 
 reached the cave, where Arturo had a pile 
 of tunas and with a wry face was picking 
 the minute javelins from his fingers. 
 
 "Will you, Don Raphael, pick the 
 birds," said Torqua, flinging them down, 
 "while I start the fire?" 
 
 " I should like to know how you are to 
 build a fire without coals," said Arturo, 
 " though I believe you have almost every- 
 thing in this cave ; it 's like the magic 
 cavern we used to read about. You sit on 
 the carpet and wish, and you have it." 
 
 " Easy enough," answered Torqua, laugh- 
 ing. " Look ! " Taking some of the driest 
 of the- hay, he crumpled it up, selected a 
 flint chip, and struck it against another 
 round piece fitted for the hand. Small 
 streaks of flame followed every blow, glanc- 
 ing at the hay, and finally igniting it so 
 quickly that a smoke followed, which Tor- 
 qua, with his breath and the manipulation 
 
70 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 of his fingers, worked into a blaze. He 
 placed more hay on this, blowing it care- 
 fully, then some dry twigs, and carrying 
 the blazing mass round to the kitchen 
 cave, produced a rousing fire, upon which 
 he barbecued the birds, running sticks into 
 them, turning them over and over until 
 they were cooked and the cave was filled 
 with the fragrant odor. Then he ground 
 some of the tunas on the flat rock, after 
 which the boys sat down and ate their first 
 meal in a real cave of the Stone Age, with 
 the descendant of a Stone Age Indian as 
 their cook. 
 
 The sun was low by this time. Bats 
 began to flit noiselessly about ; the notes 
 of the partridge seemed to come from all 
 about, and presently the full moon rose 
 nearly opposite, over the hills. The boys 
 piled up the hay and grass ; and Torqua, 
 having put up a large branch, which he 
 had dragged up, between them and the 
 entrance, they lay down, and, weary and 
 exhausted after the long day of excitement, 
 quietly fell asleep. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SEA SPIDER. 
 
 THE sun was high in the heavens and 
 blazing cheerfully into the cave when 
 the boys awoke, but when they arose they 
 were all so stiff and foot-sore that they sat 
 and looked at one another dolefully for a 
 few minutes, Arturo groaning aloud as he 
 attempted to move. 
 
 " It will take a week for us to get over 
 that row and walk over the mountains," 
 he said, looking at his blistered feet. " I 
 feel as though I had been pounded." 
 
 " We will eat what there is," said Tor- 
 qua, " and then go down to the ocean and 
 take a swim ; that is a good cure." 
 
 They divided the birds, ate some of the 
 tunas, and then lay down again on the 
 soft hay, exhausted nature demanding a 
 longer rest. But at midday hunger asserted 
 itself and they started for the ocean, half 
 
72 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 a league away. Nearly all the way the 
 trail was through an arbor of trees and 
 bushes, over big boulders, choked with 
 ferns and sweet-scented vines, while the 
 wild rose grew in great clumps, filling the 
 air with fragrance, and the wild grape and 
 fluffy clematis draped the tops of the trees. 
 They found some willow trees, and Torqua 
 broke off many limbs which he proposed to 
 make into bows and arrows, and from an- 
 other tree, the iron-wood, he took branches 
 to be made into spear handles. They 
 finally came to the mouth of the canon 
 where the walls were high and precipitous, 
 and as they walked out upon the sand dunes 
 which the sea had tossed up, a band of 
 wild goats started up the steep ascent. 
 
 " We will have one of them in a few 
 days," said Torqua. " As soon as I can 
 make some arrows I will show you how to 
 bring them down ; also foxes and squirrels 
 and quail." 
 
 Reaching the beach, where a fine surf was 
 rolling in, the boys took off their clothes 
 and were soon beyond the breakers, dis- 
 porting in the waves; later they lay on 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 73 
 
 the sand in the sun, drying and waiting for 
 the tide to ebb so that they could collect 
 abalones and limpets. The beach above 
 the high-water mark was strewn with 
 wood, great trunks of trees worn smooth 
 by the sea, which Tor qua believed came 
 down from the North in the current which 
 set to the South. 
 
 " All these rocks," he said, pointing to 
 the ledge that was now beginning to show 
 with its beard of kelp, " have abalones on 
 them ; and we want the shell and the meat. 
 I think we make it now." 
 
 He started along the sand, and, as the 
 waves receded, boldly leaped upon the 
 weed-covered rock, where Raphael and 
 Arturo followed him, but not without 
 many slips and falls. Torqua had reached 
 down into a pool and overturned a stone 
 amid the kelp, when up shot a long, livid 
 object, like a snake, that waved violently 
 in the air. He uttered an exclamation, 
 which he used for various occasions, 
 " Alala ! alala ! " and started back ; then 
 he leaned forward and pounced upon some- 
 thing and shouted for help in half Spanish, 
 
74 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 half Indian, " Seize it, Don Arturo ! Hit 
 it, Don Raphael ! Strike it on the other 
 side with your club that's it." 
 
 The boys now caught a glimpse of a 
 hideous creature like a spider, with long 
 arms, several of which were wound about 
 Torqua's wrist, while the others seized the 
 rock, evidently trying to reach the water. 
 But Raphael struck them with his club, and 
 Torqua, who had grasped the body, after a 
 hard and exciting struggle in which he 
 rolled amid the kelp-lined rocks, tore the 
 animal from its hold, whereupon it threw 
 its long tentacles about his arm and exuded 
 a black fluid that ran in rivulets down 
 the rocks. 
 
 " It 's a sea spider, 1 " cried Torqua, " good 
 to eat." 
 
 Holding it down upon the rock with one 
 hand by main strength, he drew his flint 
 knife and killed it. Then fastening it with 
 a bit of willow, he strung it about his 
 waist. 
 
 "It looks like a spider," said Arturo, 
 "and must be the devilfish, a kinsman 
 
 1 Octopus. 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 75 
 
 of the kraken, described, you remember, 
 Raphael, in our book by the good Bishop 
 Pontoppidan of Norway." 
 
 " See the abalones ! " shouted Torqua, 
 dropping between the rocks. The bottom 
 appeared to be covered with the beautiful 
 shells haliotis, that in some instances were 
 piled one upon another. " Twist them off 
 so," he said, thrusting a flat stone beneath 
 one and skilfully wrenching it off. 
 
 The boys found that if the shell were 
 touched it "settled down and clung to the 
 rock with great tenacity, but if they slipped 
 the stone beneath it quickly it was an easy 
 matter to pry it off, and in this way they 
 collected as many abalones as they needed. 
 
 " How shall we carry them ? " asked 
 Raphael, looking at the accumulation in 
 dismay. " If we only had a basket." 
 
 But Torqua was equal to the emergency, 
 and showed them that the shell of the 
 abalone was punctured with a row of holes ; 
 then taking a long, slender line of kelp, 
 which he had found on the beach where it 
 had dried hard in the sun, he strung the 
 abalones on it, ten or fifteen in a bunch. 
 
76 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Throwing the largest over his shoulder, he 
 started on, followed by the boys, each with 
 his burden. 
 
 Instead of taking the canon trail down 
 which they had corne, Torqua walked along 
 the beach to the foot of a precipitous cliff, 
 then grasping a root, he drew himself up, 
 helping the others ; whereupon a narrow, 
 well-worn trail was seen leading upward 
 in a zigzag fashion. It was a hard climb, 
 but finally they stood, flushed and breath- 
 less, on the arm of the great mountain Ori- 
 zaba, which reached down to the very 
 ocean ; in fact, it was the divide upon 
 which the cave stood. It .was sufficiently 
 wide in places to form a little mesa, then 
 became very narrow, to widen out again. 
 The cave, or rather the tall pinnacle rocks 
 which formed it, was visible not a mile 
 away, and the boys had just picked up their 
 abalones to move on again after a rest when 
 Torqua uttered an exclamation and dropped 
 upon his knees so suddenly that Raphael 
 and Arturo thought he had been struck. 
 
 " Down, flat ! " he whispered. 
 
 The boys dropped behind a cactus patch 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 77 
 
 which fortunately began here, and for a 
 few moments were almost afraid to breathe, 
 then Torqua motioned, and raising their 
 heads slightly they saw, on a distant slope, 
 a party of men moving slowly along. One 
 of them seemed to be carrying a load and 
 the others were armed with guns. 
 
 " They did not see us, or they would have 
 stopped," said the Indian boy. " It is the 
 Spanish soldiers and some of my people. 
 They have been on a goat hunt, and see ! 
 one man carries the game." 
 
 The cavalcade now descended into the 
 canon and disappeared, evidently going to 
 the two harbor rancheria which Torqua 
 called Toybipet, but the boys remained 
 quiet for some time before they dared to 
 move, and then, alert, crept along the south 
 slope of the divide, finally reaching the 
 cave, where they found everything as they 
 had left it. 
 
 "Now," said Torqua, "to make our 
 home ready. You cut with the knife a lot 
 of leaves of the tuna and I will make the 
 door ; and while you pick tunas I will cook 
 the abalone." 
 
78 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " If you don't cook," said Raphael with 
 a laugh, " we shall starve. I can boil eggs 
 but we have no eggs." 
 
 " I believe I could fry fish if I had 
 the fish," said Arturo. " You must cook, 
 Torqua, and we will do the other work." 
 
 "All right," responded Torqua, throw- 
 ing off his belt, " we will have a feast of 
 abalones ; " and with a skilful lunge he tore 
 one from the shell and threw it into the 
 big stone olla, then another, until he had 
 five or six ; then taking the stone roller 
 or pestle, he pounded them until they were 
 in shreds, after which he tossed them into 
 a soapstone olla, and soon a savory and 
 altogether appetizing odor rose from the 
 little cave. In the meantime Raphael 
 and Arturo had cut many cactus leaves, 
 which Torqua, using the willow twigs, 
 now strung end for end, making a long 
 rope, the boys assisting until they had 
 twenty or thirty ropes. He then took some 
 boughs that were lying in front of the 
 cave and out of them made a frame to fit 
 the doorway ; from this he suspended the 
 ropes of cactus so that they hung side by 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 79 
 
 side and overlapped, like shingles, a very 
 fair door for so mild a climate, which later 
 on became covered with the chilocothe and 
 other vines, and so concealed the entrance 
 that no one would have suspected the 
 presence of the cave, even when standing 
 near it, a fortunate circumstance, as in the 
 days to come the boys were more than once 
 obliged to seek shelter under its protecting 
 walls. 
 
 Torqua had promised his friends that he 
 would teach them how to make fish hooks 
 and lines, and the following day he began 
 the work. 
 
 61 You see, Don Arturo," for he persisted 
 in so calling the boys, " it is very easy to 
 live at the mission where you have carpin- 
 teros to make beds or houses of wood, and 
 the cordeleros to make ropes, and the cal- 
 dereros to make your ollas out of copper or 
 iron ; but here we have all these things, 
 but no iron tools ; everything is of wood, 
 bone, shell, or stone. For our rope we 
 use seaweed ; our ollas we cut out of the 
 soft stone 1 ledges with knives of flint ; 
 
 1 Soapstone. 
 
80 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 our spears are also of flint, so are our 
 knives, with handles of bone or wood 
 lashed on ; and while we have no powder 
 to make thunder and lightning for guns, 
 we have arrows of flint which are sure 
 death when they soak in certain roots, 
 which I will tell you of. Now to make 
 fish hooks, for we must fish to eat and to 
 enjoy ourselves with the sport." 
 
 Selecting a large abalone shell, with a 
 stone he broke it in several pieces, then 
 taking one of the latter about as large 
 as a peso 1 , he chipped off the edges until 
 it was nearly round, and then, by the 
 aid of a flint, broke the surface in the 
 centre. He next selected from the curious 
 stone tools which he had dug up some- 
 thing which looked like a long, slender 
 cigar, the ends being slightly rounded. 
 With this he began to bore a hole, and as 
 the borer was of hard stone it soon pierced 
 the limy shell. Larger grew the hole, and 
 finally he had increased it to two inches in 
 diameter, and the disk of shell had become 
 a perfect ring of pearl. Taking a pebble, 
 
 1 Dollar. 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 81 
 
 he placed the ring on it and cleverly broke 
 out a quarter of it, leaving a rude hook. 
 With a rough stone he filed this down, 
 formed a notch on the outside instead of 
 on the inside for the barb, then cut a 
 notch on the shank to which to attach the 
 line. He now took a smooth dark-lined 
 slate stone and polished the shell hook so 
 that it became a really attractive object. 
 The boys were loud in the expressions of 
 admiration at his skill, and were soon at 
 work filing and cutting the beautiful shell ; 
 but it took them hours to form even a 
 rough hook, and often it broke beneath 
 their unskilled fingers and all the work 
 was wasted. Torqua made each of the 
 boys a bow, cut them arrows from the 
 willow branches, and showed them how to 
 bind on the flint arrowheads with wet 
 squirrel hide, which, in the sun, hardened 
 and shrank so that the tips were as firm as 
 though they were held in bands of steel. 
 
 Almost every day the Indian boy would 
 creep up to the summit of Mount Orizaba, 
 that towered over the island, to see if the 
 Spaniards had gone away ; and as he could 
 
82 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 still see signs of them, they did not ven- 
 ture far from the cave. They stole down 
 the canon for water and abalones, crept 
 upon the bands of quail, and Torqua killed 
 doves, quail, foxes, and squirrels on the 
 slope with his macdna, so they fared well. 
 Every day he taught the boys how to make 
 tools for their house. One day they made 
 arrowheads. The Indian selected a bit of 
 quartz, or flint, placed it in a split stick, 
 then held it in the coals until it was 
 hot. He next took a twig which he dipped 
 in water, touching it to the edge of the 
 stone ; wherever it came in contact a sliver 
 cracked off , and in this way, ever repeating 
 the act, he formed an arrow. By taking 
 much time he shaped some beautiful ones 
 in white, gray, blue, red, and variegated 
 stone and of all sizes. He also made each 
 of the boys a spear of white flint, which he 
 bound to the end of a slender pole with wet 
 fox hide, which, when dried in the hot 
 sun, bound the spearhead solidly upon the 
 shaft, and he daily gave them lessons with 
 the throwing club. For fishing lines he 
 selected the long, slender vines of kelp, 
 
THE SEA SPIDER. 83 
 
 soaked them in grease to render them 
 pliable, and dried them in a cool place, and 
 by skilfully fastening the ends soon had 
 three or four lines which were strong 
 enough to catch a very large fish. 1 
 
 " Some day," said Torqua, " I will show 
 you the place where the ollas come from, 
 but these are made by regular canteros, or 
 stone-cutters, who understand the art. 
 Though I make them, it is very hard work 
 and takes a long time, like the stone ollas 
 which our old women make who are too old 
 to do anything but pound, pound, pound." 
 
 It must not be thought that the boys 
 learned to make all these objects at once. 
 The art was accomplished but slowly, but, 
 aided by natural skill and ability, they in 
 time became almost as clever in the manipu- 
 lation of all the stone implements in use at 
 Pimug-na as the Indians themselves, and 
 indeed invented and suggested many ob- 
 jects and articles upon which their friends 
 
 1 The author has seen one of these lines, taken from 
 a grave on the island of St. Nicolas. It was coiled and 
 fastened, and had evidently been buried with the owner, 
 together with the fish hooks and sinkers. 
 
84 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 set the mark of approval. The boys were 
 finally equipped with all the implements 
 in use by the natives. Their drinking 
 cups were the abalone shells. Their seeds, 
 roots, and abalones were ground in the 
 heavy stone ollas, which, made by Indians 
 ages before, were to be found all over 
 the island. For cooking they had the 
 soapstone ollas, flint formed their knives, 
 pearly shells their fish hooks, kelp their 
 lines, while sinkers they carved out of the 
 soft soapstone, a vast quarry of which was 
 found on the island. 
 
 The boys found it easier to make arrow- 
 heads and shafts than to hit the game, and 
 it was weeks and months before they be- 
 came proficient enough to bring down a 
 fox or large bird with either arrow or 
 macdna, 1 and this was when, dressed in 
 skins like savages, they were forced to hunt 
 to provide the camp. 
 
 1 Like throwing club. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 
 
 ONE morning Raphael and Arturo were 
 awakened by Torqua, who bounded 
 into the cave with a loud shout and danced 
 about with much animation and many 
 extravagant gestures. Putting his hands 
 to his mouth, he gave a loud " hola " that 
 went ringing down into the canon. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " cried Arturo. 
 " Have you eaten the crazy plant ? " 
 
 " No," replied Torqua, " but they have 
 gone." 
 
 " Who ? The soldiers ? " 
 
 " Yes. I climbed the canon this morn- 
 ing, followed down the cliff, and saw the 
 boat coming down the coast until they 
 struck the wind ; then up went the sail 
 and away they flew, and now we can go 
 and see my people, now we can begin to 
 live, to hunt and fish," and Torqua again 
 uttered a shout that would have aroused 
 
86 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the Spaniards if any had been within a 
 mile of the cavern. " They have given 
 us up. They stayed to see if the people 
 would not tell them about us, and as they 
 do not know we are here, the soldiers think 
 that we were drowned in the cave, and 
 have gone back to San Juan to report to 
 the captain. You do not mind being dead, 
 do you, Don Arturo?" said Torqua. 
 
 "No," replied the boy, "not so long as 
 I know I am not." 
 
 " All right," replied Torqua. We are 
 dead to the soldiers, and now I will take a 
 present to the god. You see what my god 
 can do ; he saved us and has sent the sol- 
 diers away. I will take you to the temple ; 
 it is away in the hills over the mountains." 
 
 After they had eaten they started down 
 the mountain. It was a delight not to be 
 obliged to watch every tree and rock or to 
 skulk along under cover, and rejoicing in 
 their freedom, they strode along with songs 
 on their lips, imitating the partridges, and 
 shouting at the foxes that were very 
 numerous. Flocks of partridges filled the 
 mouth of every branching canon, the roar 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CEIINIGCHINICH. 87 
 
 of their wings sounding on the air, and ever 
 and anon the sharp whistling of the wings 
 of doves startled the boys, as these birds 
 started up at their feet and shot away 
 with undulating, plunging flight. Torqua 
 was searching for something, examining 
 the trees and rocks as he walked, when 
 suddenly he stopped and listened. 
 
 " It 's nothing but a raven," said Arturo, 
 as a harsh, strident note pierced the air and 
 a jet-black bird rose from a bush and flew 
 over their heads, alighting not far away, 
 eyeing them curiously. 
 
 "I heard the cry of the eagle," said 
 Torqua, listening eagerly, " and I must 
 have its feathers for the temple. There 
 it is! See, Don Arturo!" pointing to a 
 distant crag, on which, standing out against 
 the sky, was a small black object. To 
 reach it they were obliged to walk out 
 over a narrow ridge with very precipitous 
 sides which led to a seeming island in the 
 air, and while Torqua ran along the narrow 
 divide with the skill of long training, Ar- 
 turo and his brother made slower progress, 
 reaching a point which seemed to overhang 
 
88 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the sea. There they found Torqua crouch- 
 ing beneath a stone, and high in air above 
 them a great eagle with a white head, 
 uttering loud and harsh cries. 
 
 " He is too far away," said Torqua. 
 " There is his nest," pointing to a mass of 
 brush that topped a crag. " I will climb 
 up to it, and as he comes down I will 
 shoot him." 
 
 Acting on this plan, Torqua crept out 
 upon the rocky eyry and slowly made his 
 way up the pinnacle, holding his bow and 
 arrow in his mouth. The eagle had flown 
 upward in great circles until it resembled a 
 raven in size, but suddenly the boys saw it 
 dropping from the clouds like an arrow ; it 
 had seen Torqua creeping up to its nest. 
 Arturo shouted to him that the eagle was 
 coming, and Torqua quickly leaned back 
 against the rock and slipped his arrow into 
 place. He had hardly accomplished this 
 before the great bird seemed to literally 
 drop out of the sky upon him. It turned 
 as it reached the nest and with a savage cry 
 swooped upon and struck at him. Torqua, 
 pulling back his bow, fired at such close 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 89 
 
 range that he missed a vital part, the arrow 
 passing through the wing feathers. His 
 position was such that he could not move 
 without great danger of falling, and a fall 
 meant certain death on the rocks hundreds 
 of feet below. The enraged bird now 
 turned again and darted down, with a 
 whistling sound, and struck at him furi- 
 ously with its claws. 
 
 " Shoot it, Don Arturo, shoot ! " shouted 
 Torqua, crouching as far back as he could. 
 
 The boys had been crawling out toward 
 him, and as the eagle made another vicious 
 swoop, Arturo fired, but missed, making 
 the bird bound upward suddenly, allowing 
 Torqua to change his position and move 
 into a more secure place, and to slip an- 
 other arrow into his bow. Down wheeled 
 the eagle again like an avenging fury, bent 
 on the protection of its nest and young. 
 As it passed it turned completely on its 
 side, struck at the half-naked boy with 
 its fierce talons, then dealt him a blow 
 with its powerful wings that crushed him 
 against the rock. But Torqua was equally 
 quick, and as the eagle passed he drew back 
 
90 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the bow and sent an arrow quivering into 
 it. The great bird uttered a wild, fierce 
 cry and seemed to collapse in the air, 
 fluttered heavily for a while toward the 
 rock where the boys crouched, then, after 
 a convulsive effort, plunged downward and 
 fell on a rock not twenty feet from them. 
 They raised a shout and started toward it, 
 while Torqua climbed down and joined 
 them. The bird which had made so fierce 
 a fight was dead. The boys wondered at 
 its size and powerful wings, and wished that 
 they could measure it. 
 
 " It came near knocking me off," said 
 Torqua grimly, " but see, my arrow passed 
 way through it." 
 
 He pulled out the beautiful tail and wing 
 feathers ; then hurling the body down upon 
 the rocks, they took up their march over 
 the ridge and along the mountains to the 
 temple. 
 
 The view of the blue sea, at their feet, 
 yet one thousand feet below them, and far 
 away the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra 
 Mad res, was grand and impressive, and 
 more than once the party stopped to enjoy it. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 91 
 
 " It is what the Padres call pintura, a 
 picture," said Torqua, looking over the sea 
 with glowing eyes; then he turned to the 
 south and followed along the ridge, after 
 a while descending into a little valley. 
 Pointing to a clump of trees not far away 
 he said, " There is the temple ; there is 
 Chinigchinich." 
 
 As they walked slowly on the boys saw 
 that the earth had been tramped and worn 
 bare by many feet passing through an open- 
 ing in the brush. Soon they found them- 
 selves in the presence of the temple of the 
 god Chinigchinich. Arturo wished to laugh, 
 but his brother caught his eye and shook 
 his head as Torqua stood the picture of 
 reverence. The temple was merely a num- 
 ber of long stones arranged in a large circle, 
 points upward, in the centre of which was 
 a rude and grotesque wooden statue with 
 staring eyes. On the breast of this strange 
 god was a picture of the sun, or moon, and 
 all about it were innumerable feathers of 
 birds which had been offered by natives. 
 Many were held down by stones so that 
 they could not blow away, while some were 
 
92 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 fastened to the wooden god with cords of 
 grass, or to posts of wood which stood up- 
 right in the ground. Torqua approached 
 the circle with evident trepidation and 
 passed his dearly won eagle feathers into 
 the circle, repeating some words in his own 
 tongue in a quaint chanting tone. Then 
 he turned and said in Spanish, " Is it not 
 beautiful ? " 
 
 Arturo, to whom the question was ad- 
 dressed, evaded an answer by asking who 
 made it. 
 
 " No one knows," said Torqua, " but it 
 was made by my ancestors long ago, and 
 it is the finest god and temple on any of 
 the islands, so I have heard my father say, 
 and he has been in the war canoes to the 
 rancherias far to the north. Now," he 
 continued, " I am going to take you to 
 some of my people and the finest place on 
 the island, the Bay of Moons. 1 " 
 
 " Why the Bay of Moons?" asked Arturo. 
 
 "Because," said Torqua, "the bay is like 
 a moon shaped like it when the dragon 
 is half over it." 
 
 i Avalon Bay. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCIIINICH. 93 
 
 " A crescent?" suggested Arturo. 
 
 " Yes," replied Torqua, though it is 
 doubtful if he had ever heard the word. 
 
 There was a well-defined trail on the 
 ridge of the mountains along which Torqua 
 walked, the others following. Now through 
 clusters of manzanita they passed, winding 
 in and out, and after traversing hill and 
 dale and ravines they came to the edge of 
 a deep canon, which fell away at their feet 
 so precipitously that the boys instinctively 
 drew back. 
 
 "There it is," exclaimed Torqua, "the 
 Bay of Moons ! " his eyes kindling with 
 delight. 
 
 The boys shared in his enthusiasm, as 
 beneath them was a perfect crescent of 
 sand, in striking contrast to the blue of the 
 bay. On each point stood rocky sentinels, 
 the one to the north a huge, cone-shaped, 
 sugarl oaf-like rock sixty or seventy feet 
 high, separated from the mainland by a 
 little, channel. 
 
 " Many times I have climbed that," said 
 Torqua ; " and see," he added, " the homes 
 and canoes of my people ! " 
 
94 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 The boys saw a row of long canoes and 
 balsas hauled upon the white beach and 
 near them numbers of huts, built on a black 
 tract of land 1 just back from the water. 
 Here and there were figures moving about, 
 and columns of smoke rose into the air, 
 telling of the camp or town. Torqua could 
 not restrain his impatience, and, slipping 
 over the edge, he began the descent, dis- 
 regarding the trail and making what is 
 known as a short cut through patches of 
 cactus and beneath great clumps of grease- 
 wood, occasionally stopping to utter a loud 
 cry, " Alala ! " that reverberated through 
 the deep canon and its branches. The 
 boys, who were soon left behind, could see 
 the Indians collecting near the foot of the 
 mountain, and in a short time Torqua was 
 among them. When the boys reached him, 
 Torqua, smiling, said something in his 
 native tongue to the Indians, then turning 
 to them spoke in Spanish. 
 
 " These are my people, Don Arturo and 
 Don Raphael." 
 
 i A large hotel, the Metropole, stands on this kitchen- 
 midden to-day. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 95 
 
 None of the Indians understood a word 
 of Spanish, but they crowded around the 
 boys, patted their backs, and pointed to 
 Torqua, who explained that they were 
 expressing their welcome. They were tall, 
 finely formed men, lighter than the main- 
 land tribes, with intelligent faces. Some 
 wore skins of the otter about their loins. 
 All, including the children, of which there 
 were many, looked at the boys and their 
 white faces with the greatest curiosity. 
 
 Torqua's father now led the way to his 
 hut, which was constructed of skins and 
 brush, and would accommodate ten or more 
 people. Here Torqua's mother gave the 
 boys welcome, and they were shown his 
 grandmother, an old woman who, he said, 
 was one hundred and ten years old. She 
 sat by the door weaving a basket of the 
 twigs of willow and did not stop her work 
 even to greet Torqua, uttering a queer grunt 
 as he came in. 
 
 In the centre of the hut was a fire, and 
 the smoke, which found its way out of the 
 top, had blackened everything. Piles of 
 abalone shells glistened in the sun at one 
 
96 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 side, and on the fire was a stone pot, 
 from which rose savory odors of fish and 
 abalone. 
 
 The boys sat down on some sea lions' 
 skins, and Torqua's sister, a bright-faced 
 girl of sixteen, in a dress evidently made of 
 otter skin, passed them fish in abalone shell 
 plates and a paste of seed. She had strung 
 about her neck row after row of beads 
 made from shells, and in her ears were 
 singular rings, like fish hooks, made of the 
 pearly abalone. There was not a piece of 
 metal in the hut, but the Indians had 
 various articles of stone, wood, and shell 
 to take its place. Around about the place 
 were a number of huge stone mortars and 
 pestles, the former filled with chia seeds 
 and roots ; on the sides hung fish lines of 
 kelp, hooks of shell, and spears with points 
 made of flint, while bows of wood and clubs 
 of stone stood about. 
 
 Visitors now began to arrive, many 
 coming in and smoking their stone pipes 
 in silence, listening to, Torqua as he related 
 his experience. Finally he told the boys 
 that his people would adopt them into the 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 97 
 
 tribe, and, if the soldiers came after them 
 again, they would hide them away and 
 fight for them if necessary. 
 
 " We must have a house here to live in," 
 said Torqua. " My brother has given me 
 some stakes and skins and it will not take 
 us long." 
 
 Later they selected a spot on the side of 
 a hill, and, with the help of the natives, in 
 a short time had a hut framed and covered 
 in to keep out the cool night air. Torqua 
 brought great piles of soft brush and made 
 beds, over which were thrown soft skins of 
 the sea elephant and seal, and he produced 
 several more for covering. 
 
 " This is great sport," said Arturo, who 
 was building a fire with some coals Torqua 
 had brought in ; " and after a while we can 
 enjoy life." 
 
 " Yes," replied Torqua, " we will be great 
 hunters like my father." 
 
 They were interrupted by loud cries, and 
 on running out they saw that a large canoe 
 was coining in. The men paddled hard 
 and ran it upon the beach, then leaped 
 into the water knee-deep, seized it by tne 
 
98 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 rail, and carried it up the shore with loud 
 shouts. The canoe was filled with beauti- 
 ful fish with yellow tails and fins, some of 
 which weighed thirty pounds. The squaws 
 now came forward, with troops of children, 
 and took them out of the canoe and began 
 to clean them, while the fishermen went to 
 their huts or threw themselves down on the 
 sand to sleep and rest. The boys noticed 
 that as soon as the women began work on 
 the fish there was a great commotion among 
 the birds. Flocks of gulls and pelicans 
 gathered about them, coming so near that 
 the water in the vicinity of the beach was 
 covered with a shrieking, vociferous throng 
 that dashed at every morsel the squaws 
 threw at them and fought for it with great 
 vigor. The ravens on the surrounding hills 
 heard the clamor and began to come down 
 from their homes in the cliffs. At first they 
 alighted on the sand some distance away, 
 then walked down, and, gathering about 
 the women, tried to snatch the fish from 
 their hands. The women shouted at them, 
 threw sand over them, but never touched 
 the black thieves, which Torqua said were 
 
THE TEMPLE OF CHINIGCHINICH. 99 
 
 sacred birds which had been unmolested 
 so long that they robbed the women with 
 impunity, carrying off the cleaned fish and 
 stealing from the children particularly, in 
 the boldest fashion. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH. 
 
 THE boys readily adapted themselves 
 to life on the Bay of Moons. It 
 appealed to their love of adventure, as it 
 .was one of continued excitement. The 
 natives of Torqua's tribe were hunters and 
 the game was of the sea; big game, often 
 dangerous, and every day some adventur- 
 ous expedition was begun or planned, and 
 some strange or new animal brought to 
 shore. Torqua and the boys soon had their 
 own hut complete, their canoe launched, 
 fitted with lines, spears, bows and arrows 
 of their own manufacture. Their large 
 lines were made of ropes or cords obtained 
 from the Spaniards, but the small lines were 
 formed of the long kelp which abounded 
 along shore, and their hooks were fashioned 
 from the shell of the abalone. 
 
 " What do you think ? " said Torqua, who 
 
DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH. 101 
 
 came running into the tent one morning. 
 " Talco, my brother, has just come from 
 the opposite side of the island and says 
 there are swordfishes like stars in the sky 
 there. We each need a sword, because we 
 may go to war. We will go around and 
 catch one." 
 
 Arturo and Raphael eagerly assented, 
 and hurrying to their canoe which stood 
 upon the beach, they ran it down to the 
 water's edge, jumped in, and shoved off. 
 They paddled around the long beach of 
 pebbles by the precipitous bluffs which rose 
 to meet the mountains, then turned the 
 south end of the island, where they were 
 greeted by the hoarse barking of the sea 
 lions, which had formed a rookery here. 
 The old bulls, of enormous size, stood their 
 ground as the canoe approached, but the 
 females and young slid off into the water, 
 and dancing, bobbing, mermaid-like heads 
 appeared above the surface here and there, 
 literally surrounding the boat. But the 
 boys paddled on, passed a strange rock with 
 a human-like face 1 carved upon it by wind 
 
 1 Now known as Church Rock. 
 
102 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 and wave, then turned north and saw before 
 them the long trend of coast line and pre- 
 cipitous rock cliffs of the south shore. 
 
 " It's going to blow/' said Torqua, look- 
 ing up. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Arturo. " It 's as smooth 
 as glass and not a breath of wind." 
 
 " I don't know," replied Torqua. " I 
 feel it ; it blow to-morrow, perhaps to-night, 
 you see." 
 
 They continued to paddle on over the 
 summer sea, skirting a wide border of kelp, 
 their canoe cutting the water like a knife. 
 Suddenly a huge fish leaped from the water 
 not fifty feet from them and fell with a 
 crash, while following came a violent swirl 
 of waters. 
 
 " Stop ! " cried Torqua, flinging down his 
 paddle and grasping the harpoon. 
 
 " What is it ? " said Arturo. 
 
 " Swordfish. See his sword ? See ! 
 see ! " and out of the hissing water appeared 
 a huge body, with a long sword, and directly 
 after it another. 
 
 " A fight ! a battle ! " exclaimed Torqua. 
 " Back, Don Arturo ! Back with your 
 
DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH. 103 
 
 paddle, as they may take us for a fish and 
 sink us, run us through with their spears." 
 
 The boys backed water violently, and 
 finally, when forty or fifty feet away, 
 stopped the canoe and became witnesses to 
 one of the most savage fights ever seen. 
 Two swordfishes were contending for the 
 supremacy, circling around each other on 
 the surface, their sharp fins cutting the 
 water with a hissing sound. Out again 
 went one of the monsters, this time in the 
 direction of the canoe, and behind it came 
 the tall fin of the pursuer. The fish seemed 
 to rise four feet clear of the water, its large 
 staring eyes being plainly seen, then it fell 
 so near that it almost struck the canoe. A 
 second later a rushing, lifting body grazed 
 it, almost tipping it over, so that they all 
 lost their footing, and as they recovered 
 themselves they seemed to be in a very 
 maelstrom. 
 
 " Back, back off ! " cried Torqua, seizing 
 his paddle. 
 
 But this seemed difficult to do, as the fish 
 were darting about, now on one side, now 
 on the other, coming together with terrific 
 
104 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 blows which threw the water high in air. 
 Suddenly one of the swordfishes darted 
 away, and as swift as a beam of light 
 the other followed. The retreating fish 
 made an effort to rise in air, but just as 
 its head and sword rose above the sur- 
 face the avenger, or pursuer, charged it 
 like a cannon ball, and the excited observers 
 saw the sword enter its gill and pass through 
 the fish with all the cleverness of a rapier. 1 
 
 " He has him ! " exclaimed Raphael ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 It was true ; the final stroke in this duel 
 between the great swordsmen of the sea 
 had been given, and the attacking fish was 
 beating the water into foam in its efforts 
 to withdraw its weapon after the thrust, 
 while the other lay on the surface thrashing 
 its tail. 
 
 "Back away!" again ordered Torqua; 
 " he may charge us yet." 
 
 With a few sweeps of their paddles the 
 canoe moved away to watch the finish of 
 
 1 A similar battle was witnessed at Santa Catalina in 
 1898, and the author found the body of one of the duel- 
 lists at Catalina Harbor. 
 
DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH. 105 
 
 this mighty struggle. But the end was 
 near. With a violent side wrench the vic- 
 tor withdrew his sword, leaving the other 
 dying on the surface. 
 
 " He has killed him for us," said Torqua, 
 taking up his harpoon, and, bidding Arturo 
 paddle, they ran alongside. He hurled his 
 weapon into the side of the fish, then, see- 
 ing that it was dead, grasped the long sword, 
 while the boys began to paddle in shore. 
 They landed at the mouth of a deep canon, 
 which came winding down from the moun- 
 tains; and, having carried the canoe above 
 the surf, they hauled the dead swordfish out 
 upon the sands. It was ten feet in length, 
 and had a finely formed sword three feet 
 long. In the body were three jagged 
 wounds, while another passed entirely 
 through the head. The boys immediately 
 began to cut out the sword a long and 
 tedious process with bone and stone 
 knives ; but finally it was secured. Then 
 Torqua took the skin of a dogfish which 
 he found upon the beach and bound it 
 about the larger end and presented to the 
 boys a perfect sabre, a weapon the execu- 
 
106 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 tion of which they had witnessed and which 
 Torqua assured them, when dry, was a val- 
 uable possession. 
 
 The day had slipped rapidly away during 
 the exciting scene attendant upon the duel, 
 and when they turned to lift the canoe 
 Torqua stopped and pointed out at sea. 
 The water was calm, but, strangely enough, 
 a very heavy sea was running, great billows 
 coming in to sift through the barrier of the 
 kelp bed and beat upon the rocks with 
 a loud roar. The sky to the west was 
 ominously black, and extending from a 
 mass of clouds was a long, attenuated finger 
 of fog which seemed to be the advance 
 guard of a storm. 
 
 " No use try to go home," said Torqua, 
 "tip over sure, down below. I knew wind 
 come. I feel him." 
 
 Torqua was a true prophet. The wind 
 at first came in puffs and gusts, the sea 
 rose as if by magic, and then as though 
 collecting its energies the storm burst upon 
 the island with all the fury of a hurricane. 
 
 " No Bay of Moons to-night," said Tor- 
 qua. " What you say," turning to his 
 
DUEL OF THE SWORDFISH. 107 
 
 companions, " we go to the cave and next 
 day, when storm gone, hunt for the big 
 seal?" 
 
 " The sea elephant ? " asked Arturo. 
 
 " I think that what the Padre call him/' 
 Torqua assented, " but I don't know what 
 you call him." 
 
 Raphael tried to explain the mysteries 
 of pronunciation, but elephant was too 
 much for Torqua ; however, it was decided 
 to hunt for the big animals on the following 
 day. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 
 
 IN leaving the beach Torqua did not fol- 
 low the canon as usual, but climbed a nar- 
 row and rocky trail, so reaching the great 
 spur of Orizaba which reached down to the 
 sea, forming a hogback, or rib, of the island 
 at this point. They were well laden with 
 strings of abalone, and Torqua bore many 
 pounds of fish slung over his shoulder and 
 hanging down his back, which they had 
 caught on the way up the coast. When 
 they reached the summit the burdens were 
 flung down, and the boys turned their eyes 
 out over the sea, which rested beneath them 
 like a copper disk, tinted with a scarlet 
 glow, while near shore it caught the reflec- 
 tion of the deep purple shadows which 
 were now creeping out from rock and lee, 
 forming a splendid transformation scene. 
 A mile or two out was a fog bank, a mass 
 of dove color tipped with crimson, drawn 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 109 
 
 out into an attenuated form headed for the 
 island, laden with crisp and cooling vapors. 
 For a mile the boys again tramped in silence, 
 the tall pinnacle of the rock cavern being 
 always in sight. When within a few hun- 
 dred yards of it, Torqua, who was in the 
 
 Seal Rocks. 
 
 lead, stopped suddenly and dropped to the 
 ground. 
 
 " What is it ?" whispered Raphael, as he 
 flattened himself between a clump of cactus. 
 
 " Some one is creeping through the weed 
 in front of our cave," responded Torqua. 
 " Do you stay here and I will go on." 
 
 The boys remained quiet while the Indian 
 
110 THE .ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 crept over the divide, until he was out of 
 sight of the cave; then, rising, he ran swiftly 
 along until he reached the top of the cav- 
 ern, leaping from one rock to another, and 
 climbing up to the flat rock that over- 
 hung the door. There he flattened out like 
 a centipede again, wriggling his way along 
 until he could look down without being 
 observed. At first he did not see any- 
 thing, as the shadows had grown deeper 
 and night was coining on, but in a few 
 moments something moved, and he made 
 out the figure of a man. It was an Indian, 
 almost naked, but who ? Torqua knew that 
 the natives familiar with the place would 
 not hesitate to enter the cave, but this man 
 moved like an enemy, and wound his way 
 carefully, ever and anon glancing around 
 to see if he was watched. Suddenly a small 
 stone was dislodged by Torqua, falling 
 directly in front of the unknown, who 
 quickly looked up. He could not see 
 Torqua, as the latter's head was lost against 
 the rock, but Torqua caught one glimpse 
 of the swarthy, vicious countenance that 
 was turned upward, and in that fleeting 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. Ill 
 
 second recognized Zizu, the traitor and spy, 
 the Indian who, for reward, had on several 
 occasions sacrificed his adopted people to 
 the Spaniards. Torqua remained perfectly 
 quiet, and presently Zizu moved on until 
 he neared the entrance of the cave, when 
 he stopped a moment to listen, then peered 
 through the leafy curtain and began to 
 search for the opening. Torqua recovered 
 himself and deftly sprang back, beckoning 
 to Raphael, whose head he could see; then, 
 with the lightness of a goat, he leaped 
 down from rock to rock upon his bare feet, 
 until he reached a position just over the 
 spy, where he flattened himself out against 
 the rocks and crawled to the edge. Zizu 
 was feeling for the door, which was con- 
 cealed in a maze of dry cactus leaves. 
 Torqua was not twenty feet above him, 
 and, carefully measuring the distance, he 
 slid over the edge of the rock and dropped 
 fairly upon the traitor's back, who, uttering 
 a cry of terror, went rolling into the brush, 
 with Torqua clinging to him like the old 
 man of the sea. Zizu was completely 
 demoralized, and perhaps thinking that a 
 
112 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 wild animal had seized him, or some evil 
 spirit, he struck at the object that held 
 him, and endeavored to tear himself away ; 
 but Torqua had him in a grasp of iron, 
 legs and arms about him, and, slipping his 
 hand to Zizu's throat, choked him until he 
 ceased struggling ; then he rolled him over 
 and held him with his knee on the chest. 
 
 u Torqua ! " hissed Zizu, as he recognized 
 him. 
 
 " Yes, Torqua," repeated the latter, rising 
 to his feet as Raphael and Arturo ran up. 
 "What do you want?" 
 
 Zizu refused to speak, merely glaring at 
 the boys. 
 
 " Speak, dog ! " said Torqua, taking hold 
 of his long black hair and giving it a fierce 
 jerk or twist ; " speak, and tell us why you 
 are stealing around here like a coyote at 
 night." 
 
 "I was hunting for a place to sleep," 
 retorted Zizu. 
 
 " The truth is not in you," said Torqua. 
 " Do you know what our people will do to 
 you if they catch you on the island ? They 
 will burn you alive as an offering to Chi- 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 113 
 
 nigchinich, the ano who sold the secrets of 
 his people to the white man. They are 
 after you. You were hired by the Span- 
 iards to come over here and hunt us down, 
 but you ran into the riata yourself. 
 To-night you go to the Bay of Moons, and 
 to-morrow our people will have a fiesta to 
 celebrate your burning." 
 
 Zizu turned an ashen color at these 
 words, for he was a coward at heart, and 
 his small, bead-like eyes seemed ready to 
 pop from his head. He begged Torqua not 
 to deliver him up, and in broken Spanish 
 and Apache plead for his life with Arturo 
 and Eaphael. 
 
 " You like a snake, Zizu," said Torqua. 
 " So long as my foot is on your neck you 
 do no harm, but take it off, you bite." 
 
 Zizu plead so hard that finally Torqua 
 agreed to try him, and ordered him to go 
 and start the fire. While he was picking 
 up wood Torqua called the boys aside and 
 said, " He came over at night, and has his 
 canoe hid somewhere. The Spaniards have 
 offered him something to find out if we are 
 here. If we let him go he will deliver us. 
 
114 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 He dare not face my people, as they will 
 kill him, so I think we better keep him 
 prisoner, but we shall have to watch him." 
 
 To this the boys assented, and, calling 
 Zizu, Torqua told him that they would let 
 him live with them awhile, but at the 
 first false move on his part they would 
 kill him or turn him over to the people. 
 Zizu seemed greatly relieved at this, and 
 promised to do anything for his captors, 
 but Torqua assured the boys that he was as 
 treacherous as a snake, and would have to 
 be watched night and day. 
 
 "At night/' said Torqua grimly, "I tie 
 him up." And when the boys lay down 
 that night to sleep Zizu was handcuffed 
 with fishing line to Torqua on one side 
 and to Raphael on the other, so that any 
 attempt to escape would be discovered. 
 The next morning Torqua forced him to 
 show where his canoe was concealed in the 
 brush of a little canon, and rendered him 
 harmless by staving it in, as all the canoes 
 on the island were too large for one man to 
 manage. Zizu was trapped, and he realized 
 it. He rarely spoke except when spoken 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 115 
 
 to, and on his sullen face there was an 
 expression that the boys did not like. Zizu 
 was only biding his time. 
 
 "I wish I had a new line for my har- 
 poon," said Raphael the next morning, as 
 he sat in the cave trying to splice his rope 
 of seaweed, which had been broken in sev- 
 eral places. 
 
 " All we have to do," said Torqua, "is to 
 go and hunt for big seal. We want oil 
 fat and skin for ropes. Get your harpoons 
 and we will go." 
 
 The boys collected their weapons, and 
 Torqua gave Zizu an olla of water to carry. 
 The party then wound their way down into 
 the canons, and so on to the beach. 
 
 The sea w r as now perfectly smooth, the 
 horizon, owing to a distant cloud bank, 
 melting imperceptibly into the sky. The 
 canoe was run down the sands, and with 
 four paddles it was soon shooting through 
 the water like a living thing, producing a 
 feeling of exhilaration in the boys, which 
 showed itself in every move and gesture. 
 Torqua had headed the canoe to the north, 
 and they were passing one of the most 
 
116 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 precipitous portions of the island. High 
 cliffs rose abruptly from the water, cut and 
 worn by ages of contact with sea and ele- 
 ments. Everywhere gigantic rocks formed 
 the teeth of the shore line, against which, 
 in storms, the sea ground and vented its 
 fury ; rocks which had been broken off from 
 the cliffs above. Here were rookeries of 
 seals and sea lions, their harsh notes being 
 heard as the canoe shot by, while clinging 
 to the face of the rocky wall were groups 
 of cormorants, which gazed stupidly at the 
 passing craft. Mile after mile dropped 
 behind the canoe, which skirted the float- 
 ing kelp bed, the rocks of the coast line 
 ever changing ; now blazing in masses of 
 color, red, yellow, pink, and green, or ris- 
 ing in sombre grays, beyond which the hills 
 rose higher and higher, then suddenly 
 breaking away as they rounded a point, 
 two little harbors with silvery beaches, 
 upon which the sea broke with a musical 
 roar, and the town of Toybipet 1 coming 
 into view. Zizu was evidently troubled, 
 and kept his face turned seaward, perhaps 
 
 1 Now Little Harbor. 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 117 
 
 with good reason, as on the beach were 
 scores of natives, who, seeing the canoe, 
 waved their arms for the rowers to come in. 
 
 "I would go in and rest," said Torqua, 
 u were it not for this miserable Zizu ; they 
 would kill him." 
 
 Zizu was trembling with fear, and as one 
 of the natives ran out upon a point of 
 rocks to speak to Torqua, he dropped into 
 the bottom of the canoe. The boys now 
 saw that there was a large rancheria on 
 the bluff, with many huts, and they recog- 
 nized it as the town which Torqua had 
 pointed out the day they had landed. After 
 shouting a few moments to the man, Tor- 
 qua began to paddle again, and when they 
 had rounded a rocky point Zizu took his 
 place. The water was alive with fishes. 
 Schools of yellowtails, their fins out of 
 water, swam on all sides, and among them 
 huge sea bass. Torqua threw over a line 
 with his abalone hook baited with a small 
 sardine, and in a short time it was rushing 
 out like a living thing. The boys now 
 tossed over their lines, and the sport became 
 fast and furious. Torqua had an enormous 
 
118 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 yellowtail from the stern, which dragged 
 his arms into the water in its fierce rushes. 
 At the same time Arturo's bait was seized 
 by a white sea bass, which darted ahead, 
 making a tug of war. Raphael, meantime, 
 had hooked a yellowtail from the side, and 
 the scene was laughable in the extreme. 
 The boys uttered loud exclamations and 
 gave impossible orders, each being desirous 
 of saving his own fish ; but the two yel- 
 lowtails ran together, entangling the lines, 
 and escaped, leaving Raphael to play the 
 bass, which he did with no little skill. The 
 big fish rushed hither and yon, hauling 
 the canoe around, circling it, plunging to the 
 bottom to rise again in a variety of tricks, 
 with a view to escape ; but Raphael man- 
 aged the noble fish well, and ultimately 
 brought it alongside, where Torqua seized 
 it by the gills with a quick motion, and 
 jerked it into the canoe. He then held it 
 up that Raphael might observe its size. 
 
 "Nearly as tall as you, Torqua," said 
 Arturo. 
 
 "Almost," said Torqua, dropping it and 
 taking his paddle in hand. 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 119 
 
 Up the coast they flew for an hour, the 
 rocks becoming higher, more forbidding 
 and precipitous. Suddenly Torqua stopped 
 paddling. 
 
 " Do you see the opening ? " 
 
 " Where ? " asked Raphael, looking about 
 wonderingly. 
 
 "Right before you," replied Torqua, 
 laughing. "It looks like a solid wall, 
 but the opening of a fine port is in front 
 of you." 
 
 Even Zizu smiled at the puzzled expres- 
 sion on the faces of the boys, as they could 
 not see anything but a high wall of stone, 
 beyond which rose the tops of moun- 
 tains. Torqua took up the paddle again 
 and with a few strokes opened up a gate- 
 way which seemed to lead into the very 
 heart of the island. In a few moments 
 they entered the gate and found themselves 
 in what the Norwegians call a fjord, a deep 
 but smooth bay surrounded by low moun- 
 tains. Torqua did not row directly in, but 
 headed the canoe toward a little beach 
 upon the north shore, and when they had 
 hauled it above high-water mark he led the 
 
120 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 way up the slopes. He had not gone far 
 before the entire view opened up and the 
 boys looked down upon the bay and saw 
 that it extended almost half a mile, nearly 
 cutting the island in two, and that in the 
 
 Sea Lions. 
 
 centre was a singular cape with a perfect 
 curve. On the inner or sheltered side of 
 this the enormous forms of some animals 
 lying on the flats were seen. 
 
 " There is our oil and rope," said Torqua, 
 " what you Spaniards call ole-fat." 
 
 "The sea elephant," said Arturo, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 121 
 
 u We must not let them see us. Can 
 you swim the bay?" asked Torqua. 
 
 " Yes, and more too/' replied Arturo. 
 
 "Good," said Torqua, "follow me." 
 
 He then fastened his harpoon over his 
 shoulder and, having located the animals, 
 crept carefully down to the water's edge. 
 
 u You see, Don Arturo," he said as they 
 waded out into the bay, " if we took our 
 canoe over, they would hear us and slide 
 into the water, but we can swim across, 
 land, and creep upon them before they 
 
 see us." 
 
 This plan was followed to the letter, the 
 boys swimming together, Zizu keeping with 
 them. They crossed the bay and like seals 
 themselves, headed by the Indian boy, 
 crawled up the beach, which was covered 
 with large pebbles, until the crest was 
 reached. Here were clumps of low bushes, 
 through which they carefully passed, then, 
 at a sign from Torqua, stopped. Directly 
 in front of them and not fifty feet away 
 lay the sea elephants, huge, shapeless creat- 
 ures, looking like gigantic caterpillars. 
 Nearly all were over ten feet in length, 
 
122 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 and one colossal bull must have measured 
 eighteen or twenty feet. 
 
 The animals had not the faintest suspicion 
 of the presence of an enemy, and in low 
 tones Torqua gave his instructions to the 
 excited boys. 
 
 "You, Don Arturo, take the one to the 
 left, Zizu the next ; I will try the big bull, 
 and you, Don Raphael, rush at the big fellow 
 beyond the bull, and/* continued Torqua, 
 "strike hard, into the side behind the 
 forelegs." 
 
 All was ready. The boys, trembling, it 
 must be confessed, with excitement, grasped 
 their harpoons, got upon their knees, then, 
 at the word from Torqua, they sprang for- 
 ward and dashed down the incline into 
 the herd. The sea elephants awoke at the 
 noise, but before they had time to move 
 the hunters were among them. Torqua 
 was first and plunged his harpoon into the 
 bull, which turned upon him savagely. 
 Raphael struck his game fairly, and as 
 it rushed clumsily for the water he fol- 
 lowed it and was rolled over by another 
 sea elephant which came scrambling down 
 
THE SEA ELEPHANT ROOKERY. 123 
 
 the slope. Arturo missed his mark, the 
 animal rolling away so that the weapon 
 glanced, while Zizu, who had never been 
 known to hunt and who was a coward at 
 all things, fared the worst. He stood off 
 and hurled his harpoon at a bull, slightly 
 wounding it, whereupon the animal charged 
 him with open mouth, upon which he backed 
 away, falling over a log. Before he could 
 recover the enraged sea elephant was upon 
 him, seized him, fortunately by the deer 
 skin about his loins, and with an upward 
 jerk of its powerful head tossed the unfor- 
 tunate Zizu into the air. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A FIERY STEED. 
 
 TORQUA, who, stone club in hand, had 
 run in front of the sea elephant he 
 had struck to prevent it from reaching the 
 water, caught a glimpse of Zizu as he was 
 tossed, and gave an involuntary shout of 
 laughter as the native fell upon the back 
 of the enraged animal and rolled upon the 
 ground. 
 
 " Come, Zizu," he cried, " show yourself 
 a hunter." 
 
 But Zizu, recovering his feet, sprang clear 
 of the herd, which, demoralized, was rushing 
 in every direction, endeavoring to reach the 
 water. The boys rallied at Torqua's call 
 and succeeded in driving the wounded ani- 
 mals in and gradually up the slope, where 
 Torqua despatched them by striking them 
 on the nose. They were huge creatures, 
 the male having a snout or proboscis six or 
 
A FIERY STEED. 125 
 
 eight inches long, which it inflated when 
 enraged and which gave it an elephantine 
 and ferocious appearance. Torqua walked 
 down the beach and soon returned with a 
 large olla for trying out the blubber. He 
 then went to work cutting up the skin of 
 the animal into long strips. Every portion 
 of the sea elephant appeared to possess 
 some value. Its blubber was converted 
 into oil, its skin into rope, and its bones 
 into handles to various utensils. Torqua 
 also carefully pulled out the whiskers, which 
 he tied together to make brushes, or to be 
 used separately as needles. The meat was 
 laid out to dry. Zizu did not wait until it 
 was boiled, but ate certain portions raw, 
 evidently considering it a dainty. The 
 blood from the animals had run down into 
 the water, so reaching the little bay, and 
 after a while the boys noticed numbers of 
 large fins moving vigorously about sharks 
 gathering for the feast. 
 
 u Zizu," said Torqua, " swim over and 
 bring the canoe back." 
 
 "I will go around," replied Zizu in the 
 Indian tongue, furtively gazing with terror 
 
126 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 at the sharks, which were within a few feet 
 of the shore. 
 
 66 No, you will swim/' said Torqua men- 
 acingly, walking toward him. " Go/' he 
 said, "or I will throw you in." 
 
 Zizu shook like a leaf, nearly falling to 
 the ground, an abject spectacle, as Torqua 
 took hold of him. 
 
 " You are a coward, Zizu/' insisted Tor- 
 qua, and forthwith he dragged him into the 
 water and waded out among the sharks, to 
 the amazement of the boys. The water 
 was fairly boiling about the two, but Tor- 
 qna dragged the struggling native out 
 until they were over their depth, driving 
 him on, then following him, and the boys 
 could hear him taunting the unfortu- 
 nate Zizu for his cowardice all the way 
 over. They reached the shore safely and 
 brought back the canoe, when Torqua ex- 
 plained to the boys that the sharks were 
 perfectly harmless, that he had driven Zizu 
 in to punish him for some of his acts of 
 faithlessness to his people in the past. 
 
 It was hard and disagreeable work to cut 
 up the big sea elephant with stone and flint 
 
A FIERY STEED. 127 
 
 knives, but finally they obtained what Tor- 
 qua said they would need. The meat and 
 skin were loaded into the canoe, and leaving 
 the oil for a future trip, the hunters pushed 
 out into the bay and were soon paddling 
 down the rocky coast before the strong 
 west wind which had now sprung up. It 
 was late in the afternoon when they reached 
 the vicinity of the canon. Flying fishes 
 came soaring near and into the boat; one 
 struck Raphael so violently on the neck 
 that he lost his balance and toppled over 
 backward into Torqua's lap. Then a re- 
 markable scene was enacted. A large fish, 
 or many, surged along the surface, with 
 albicores and bonitos, dozens leaping into 
 the air, while flying fishes by the score rose 
 in every direction, soaring over the boat, 
 presenting a marvellous spectacle. 
 
 " Caballa ! " shouted Torqua, ducking 
 his head to avoid a flying fish. "Caballa ! 
 Look out for your eyes ! " 
 
 The boys dropped into the bottom of the 
 canoe to avoid the flying fishes, and gazed 
 with wonder at the leaps of the tunas. 
 They were four, five, even six feet in 
 
128 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 length, gracefully built, with yellow fins, 
 and made prodigious leaps upward after 
 the flying fishes, occasionally catching them 
 in the air as a hawk would a bird, 
 turning gracefully, and com- 
 ing down 
 like an 
 arrow. 
 
 " Suppose they 
 strike the boat?" 
 said Raphael, as a 
 huge fish plunged 
 into the water 
 Flying Fish. within a few feet 
 
 of the canoe, hurling water and spray over 
 them. 
 
 "Jump overboard." replied Torqua. 
 The excitement was increasing, and now 
 several acres of the ocean surface was a 
 mass of foam, caused by the rushes of the 
 insatiate fishes, which, crazed by the sight 
 of their prey, were now killing in wanton 
 sport. The fishes were gradually moving 
 to the south, and Torqua took up a coil of 
 line obtained in barter from the Russians, 
 to which was attached a large bone hook, 
 
A FIERY STEED. 129 
 
 and fastened to it a flying fish which had 
 come aboard, and with much skill sent it 
 whirling into the school. The moment it 
 struck the surface there came a swirl of 
 waters and out rushed the line, Torqua toss- 
 ing over coil after coil as rapidly as he could. 
 
 " Drop down low ! " he cried, as the end 
 came, "flat in the bottom." 
 
 The boys did so and not a moment too 
 soon, as the line was exhausted and sud- 
 denly came taut. The canoe was jerked 
 around as though on a pivot and surged on 
 after as fiery a steed as was ever harnessed 
 to a canoe. The fish swam directly out 
 to sea, taking them through the leaping 
 school, where every moment the boys ex- 
 pected to see a fish drop into the canoe, 
 Zizu in particular casting apprehensive and 
 terrified glances at the jumpers. Torqua 
 had slipped the line into a notch in the 
 bow of the canoe, and, leaning back, held it 
 down, as it was evident that if the fish, in 
 one of its rushes, got the line over the side 
 the frail craft would be swamped. On the 
 fish rushed, carrying a big wave ahead, out 
 by the kelp beds where the rollers began 
 
130 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 to be felt, headed for the unknown west. 
 After a mile or more had been covered and 
 the fish displayed no signs of letting up, 
 Torqua hauled on the line and passed it 
 to his companions, bidding them haul in. 
 This was easier said than accomplished, 
 but the boys lay back and tugged at the 
 line with all their strength, gradually gain- 
 ing foot by foot, until finally the fish was 
 turned and dashed in the direction of the 
 shore, towing them toward their own 
 beach, which could now be seen glistening 
 like a pearl against the sombre base of the 
 island shore. Raphael and Arturo could 
 not conceive it possible that a fish could 
 tow a boat so rapidly, or for so long a dis- 
 tance, and watched every movement of their 
 steed with wonder and amazement. 
 
 " How large do you think he is ? " 
 asked Arturo, wiping the spray from his 
 eyes. 
 
 " Perhaps as long as the canoe," said 
 Torqua, whose face was flushed from the 
 strain of holding on to the line ; " big 
 enough to tow us all around the island." 
 
 As he spoke the line slackened suddenly, 
 
A FIERY STEED. 131 
 
 and Torqua sprang to his feet, uttering an 
 exclamation of astonishment. 
 
 " Is he away ? " asked Raphael, also 
 starting up. 
 
 " No, no," replied Torqua, " but he may 
 be see ! see ! " he cried, " there he comes ! " 
 
 A remarkable spectacle was now wit- 
 nessed. The fish was coming along the 
 surface, throwing the water and headed 
 directly for the canoe. Torqua hauled the 
 line, hand .over hand; as rapidly as possible, 
 but he could not keep pace with the caballa 
 or tuna, which, when within ten or fifteen 
 feet of the canoe, turned suddenly, blazing 
 like a mass of silver, displaying for a 
 moment its huge proportions, then darted 
 away again with amazing speed. The boys 
 were very much excited at the manoeuvre, 
 not knowing what it meant; but Torqua 
 was a skilled fisherman, and his bronzed 
 body stood firm, his arms working like 
 windmills as he played the fish, hauling 
 and slacking. It was only a trick of the 
 big fish, an attempt to break the line, and 
 soon it was rushing along, towing them as 
 before. As they were being taken in the 
 
132 THE ADVENTURES OP TORQUA. 
 
 direction of home, Torqua did not attempt 
 to haul again. Nearer and nearer they 
 came to the canon, finally passing not two 
 hundred feet from the beach. As their 
 untiring steed displayed no signs of stop- 
 ping it became necessary to bring matters 
 to a climax, so Torqua gave the word and 
 all hands hauled on the line, forcing the 
 fish to swim in a circle about them, bring- 
 ing it nearer and nearer, despite its tre- 
 mendous rushes and plunges. Presently 
 Raphael cried that he could see it below 
 them. Up it came, foot by foot, fighting 
 despera.tely, Torqua shouting ejaculations 
 of encouragement, the boys, holding, haul- 
 ing with all their power. Another heave 
 and the great fish appeared alongside, beat- 
 ing the water into foam, swimming sturdily 
 ahead, still resisting and full of fight. 
 Torqua now grasped his harpoon and 
 plunged it into the tuna, then reached over 
 and, taking it by the gills, lifted, intend- 
 ing to slide it into the canoe. 
 
 The gunwale was pressed dangerously 
 low and just as the fish was about to topple 
 in it gave a mighty lunge, the boys slipped, 
 
A FIERY STEED. 133 
 
 lost their balance, and slid to that side. 
 The canoe careened and foundered, throw- 
 ing the excited crew into the water. For 
 a moment the light craft disappeared, then 
 came up end first, shooting into the air. 
 Torqua shouted to the boys to right her, 
 as he still held the harpoon, having pluck- 
 ily clung to it, a fact which was very 
 evident when he disappeared beneath the 
 surface, the fish jerking him down. Up he 
 came again, striking out sturdily with one 
 arm and holding the harpoon with the 
 other. Eaphael and Arturo had righted 
 the canoe and were now treading water by 
 her side and pushing her toward him. 
 Finally Torqua reached them and grasped 
 the canoe by the rails. All this required 
 several minutes, and as they clung to the 
 canoe Raphael said, "Where is Zizu?" 
 The Indian had disappeared. 
 
 There was a heavy ground swell run- 
 ning, making it difficult for them to see 
 objects on the water, but in a few moments 
 Torqua exclaimed, " There he is ! " 
 
 As the swimmers turned they saw the 
 dark form of Zizu crawling out of the 
 undertow of a big roller upon the beach. 
 
134 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 "Coward all the time," said Torqua, 
 dashing his long black hair from his eyes. 
 
 They righted the canoe as well as they 
 could, getting some of the water out of 
 it, then Raphael swam off and picked up 
 the paddles and harpoon handles and other 
 things which were floating about, after 
 which the canoe was turned in the direc- 
 tion of the beach and slowly pushed in, 
 hampered not a little by the fish, which 
 Torqua still held and which lunged heavily, 
 retarding their progress. 
 
 It took them some time to reach the 
 beach, but finally, on the crest of a big 
 roller, they went flying in, and the canoe 
 was left stranded. Quickly tipping out 
 the water, Raphael and Arturo dragged it 
 up the sandy incline, while Torqua hauled 
 the tuna above high-water mark. 
 
 " Where is Zizu ? " asked Arturo, who 
 was stripping off his dripping clothes. 
 
 Torqua started, looked up and down the 
 beach, his eye following along the ridge 
 which led to the cave, but Zizu was not to 
 be seen. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A MAN HUNT. 
 
 TORQUA was greatly excited at the 
 discovery, the boys proportionately 
 depressed, and they hurried along, the 
 Indian running at the top of his speed 
 toward the cave. When the others caught 
 up they found him standing as one be- 
 wildered. 
 
 "I knew he would leave us. I should 
 have killed him. You know, Don Arturo, 
 it is the way of our people with prisoners 
 of war; they have to die. But I knew 
 your Qua-o-ar (God) says not to -kill, so I 
 let him live, and now he, being a zizu 
 (devil), will kill us if he can ; but nop nom 
 nahacua" continued Torqua, dropping into 
 his own language as though talking to 
 himself, the words meaning " I shall hear." 
 "Do you, Don Arturo and Don Raphael, 
 stay here and keep watch ; one listen and 
 
136 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 one sleep, while I will go to my people and 
 tell them that Zizu is here." 
 
 Torqua threw on his otter skin, as the 
 night was coming on, and started down the 
 slope, running so rapidly that his dark 
 form was soon lost in the shadows. It 
 was over two leagues to the Bay of Moons. 
 He knew that by following the great canon 
 he could reach it in two hours, but as he 
 was about to turn up the stream he sud- 
 denly stopped and stood for a moment, 
 seemingly listening to the soft moaning of 
 the wind as it rustled the leaves. He was 
 thinking would not Zizu hide on the 
 beach and after they had gone steal the 
 light canoe and attempt to reach the main- 
 land ? So convinced was he of the correct- 
 ness of this sudden inspiration that he 
 turned abruptly and ran down the canon 
 toward the sound of the sea, which could 
 be distinctly heard. Every foot of the way 
 was well known to him, so he dashed on, 
 leaping from rock to rock, bounding over 
 trunks of trees, now fording the little 
 stream or crossing portions of the mesa, 
 finally coming to the sand dunes which 
 
A MAN HUNT. 137 
 
 made up the beach. Here he carefully 
 crept to where they had left the canoe 
 hardly an hour before. There was a deep 
 cut in the sand ; that was all. The canoe 
 was gone. 
 
 To be outwitted by Zizu, to be played 
 such a trick, was too much for Torqua's 
 equanimity, and he began a frantic dance 
 against Zizu, after the fashion of his 
 people, which was supposed to have a 
 terrible effect ; but Zizu had the canoe and 
 had escaped. Torqua knew that the rene- 
 gade Apache was a poor sailor and could 
 with difficulty manage the craft ; he also 
 knew that the wind was off shore at night 
 and that it would be almost impossible for 
 Zizu to reach the mainland. What then ? 
 He raised his eyes and looked off over 
 the water and far away saw a light; a 
 grass fire on distant Kinkipar, the island 
 called by the Spaniards San Clemente, 
 named by Viscaino after St. Clement. 
 
 The wind was favorable, Kinkipar was 
 but four leagues away. Zizu would row 
 there. The Kinkipar people were not 
 friendly to those of Pimug-na and would 
 
138 THE ADVENTUKES OF TORQUA. 
 
 welcome a spy like Zizu, who would 
 promise them a great reward from the 
 Spaniards if they would row him over to 
 the mission in one of their large canoes. 
 All this was worked out to a logical con- 
 clusion in a very few moments in Torqua's 
 active brain, and, turning, he ran up the 
 canon. In half an hour he reached the 
 wide, broad mesa, what is now Middle 
 Kanch, in the shadow of the mountains, 
 where there was a good trail winding in 
 and out among the cactus patches. Here 
 he made rapid time, so rapid, indeed, that 
 in little over two hours he came in sight of 
 the bay, saw the lights of the rancherias, 
 and a few moments later, breathless and 
 excited, bounded into the hut of his father, 
 the chief. The very name of Zizu, the 
 traitor, aroused the natives, and as they 
 crowded about and listened to Torqua's 
 explanation they all agreed that he was 
 wise, that Zizu would make for Kinkipar, 
 and decided that they would overtake him 
 or, in any event, would send a war party 
 over to demand him. 
 
 The warriors of ancient Avalon were men 
 
A MAN HUNT. 139 
 
 of action. They gathered their arrows, 
 bows, and war clubs at once, some of the 
 women brought out dried seal meat and 
 placed it in the large canoes, others filled 
 the ollas with water from the spring, while 
 here and there loud wailing rose, a dirge 
 for the memory of some relative who had 
 been lost in former wars with the people of 
 the off-shore island. The squaws crowded 
 around, bearing the arms of their fathers, 
 brothers, and husbands. The chiefs or cap- 
 tains of each lodge were provided with long 
 stone clubs, terrible weapons, while all 
 had spears of wood with flint points, and 
 bows and arrows. Many of the Indians 
 had knives of flint and other stone, several 
 bore clubs or swords formed of the ribs of 
 the whale, while others again were pro- 
 vided with weapons like hammers, stones 
 bound to clubs, to fling at or strike down 
 an enemy. There was great excitement. 
 Young warriors strutted about before the 
 admiring gaze of the young squaws. It 
 was their first war expedition. Some 
 boasted what they would do to the Kinki- 
 pars and Zizu, while above all rose the 
 
140 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 wailing dirge from the old women, telling 
 of death and despair. 
 
 In an incredibly short space of time the 
 warriors were ready. They now ran the 
 large war canoes down to the water and 
 with wild shouts leaped in, soon being lost 
 in the deep shadows which hung about the 
 base of the island. 
 
 Torqua had watched the exciting scene 
 with shining eyes and longed to join them, 
 but he knew that there was a possible 
 chance that Zizu might have sailed for the 
 mainland, in which event he would lead 
 back a party of soldiers directly to the cave ; 
 and, being loyal to his young friends, he 
 had decided that it was his duty to re- 
 turn to them. 
 
 What pangs it caused him to resist going 
 on the first war party that it was possible 
 for him to engage in can be imagined, as 
 to distinguish one's self in battle was a 
 sentiment which pervaded every savage 
 breast, and the young men in the tribe 
 were not considered warriors until they had 
 engaged in actual war. So it was with feel- 
 ings of disappointment that Torqua turned 
 
A MAN HUNT. 141 
 
 upward over the mountain trail. The 
 moon had risen, the stars shone brightly, 
 and each bush and tree cast a sharp shadow 
 on the trail before him. Turning to rest 
 after a steep climb, he faced the ocean and 
 saw the moon, a river of light, blazing its 
 way across the sea. As he looked, several 
 objects moved into its path, were for a 
 moment illumined by its radiance, then 
 disappeared. It was the fleet of canoes, 
 the war party moving against the ancient 
 enemy of Pimug-na to demand by force of 
 arms the traitor Zizu. 
 
 Torqua would be called a sentimentalist 
 to-day, as he was easily and strongly af- 
 fected by Nature ; beautiful scenery, the 
 sea, beauty, bravery, all kindled his blood, 
 aroused him to action; and now, overcome 
 by the charm of the night, he stood drink- 
 ing it in, wondering at the wild thoughts 
 which swept through his brain. Tobaquar, 
 the whole earth, sea and land and stars 
 of the sky, seemed to be spread before 
 him. At his feet glistened the fires of the 
 rancherias, and he could hear the crackling 
 as the women piled on more brush. Then 
 
142 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the wind sighed through the holly trees, 
 the air seemed to tremble with a rustling 
 sound. To Torqua the leaves of a tree 
 were its ears (nanah), and he wondered 
 if they, too, heard the mystic sounds of 
 night, the musical whispering, the tinkling 
 of wild grasses, the notes of the night 
 hawk, or the never-ceasing cry of the 
 cricket. As he stood on the edge of the 
 divide every sound from far below came 
 with striking distinctness. 
 
 Suddenly a strange cry " cu, cu, cu" 
 rent the air. Torqua's knees trembled as 
 he listened. He had heard the old men of 
 his tribe tell of the bird Cuwot, a mysteri- 
 ous creature which had never been seen, a 
 creature of the dark night which cried " cu, 
 cu, cu ;" a bird so gigantic that it once car- 
 ried a warrior across the river at Yang (Los 
 Angeles). Torqua stopped not to consider 
 that it might be, as it was, the squeaking 
 of a limb, but turned and ran, startling a 
 large hawk, which rose screaming above 
 him, which Torqua was positive was the 
 bird Cuwot, and which lent wings to his 
 feet as he dashed up the mountain, reach- 
 
A MAH HUNT. 143 
 
 ing the temple of Chinigchinich, where, 
 breathless, he flung himself down among 
 the eagle arid raven feathers at the base 
 of the grotesque statue of the god, safe at 
 last, saved from the Cuwot. 
 
 How long he lay there he did not 
 know, but the sun was illumining the 
 peak of Orizaba when he answered the call 
 of Don Arturo and entered the cave, look- 
 ing very much bedraggled. He at once 
 related his experiences, not excepting his 
 narrow escape from the Cuwot, which he 
 took as a bad omen. 
 
 " You may laugh," said Torqua, as the 
 boys looked credulous at his tale, "but 
 if you ever hear the cry of the Cuwot on a 
 dark night, look out for yourself ; it brings 
 misfortune." 
 
 The Indian was so confident that some 
 ill was about to befall them that he in- 
 sisted upon the boys leaving the cave, nor 
 could they dissuade brave Torqua from it. 
 The superstition of ages, the inheritance of 
 untold generations could not be changed in 
 a night, so the boys made preparations to 
 leave. The large mortars and ollas were 
 
144 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 buried, then taking their weapons and 
 packs they followed their Indian friend up 
 along the mountain ridge. 
 
 "If Zizu cornes back/' the latter said, 
 " he will lead his people to the cave for his 
 reward ; if we stay there, we will be caught. 
 It is warm ; now the rains are over we can 
 sleep in the hay or grass." 
 
 Half an hour later they came to a dense 
 grove of cotton-woods in a deep canon, 1 in 
 which a small stream flowed musically. 
 In the grove was a patch of grass, now hay, 
 which was so high that an enemy could 
 pass within a few feet without seeing them. 
 Torqua threw down his pack and went 
 down the stream a short distance, return- 
 ing with a stone ; by repeating the trip he 
 built up a fireplace, then grinding some 
 grass into a compact mass he ignited it 
 with two pieces of flint, waving the ball in 
 the air in a peculiar way until it broke into 
 flame, completing the operation so quickly 
 that it aroused the admiration of his com- 
 panions. 
 
 " We have metals gold, silver, iron, 
 
 1 Cotton-wood canon. 
 
A MAN HUNT. 145 
 
 copper, brass out of which vessels are 
 made, while you have only stones, shells, 
 wood, and bone ; yet you have almost 
 everything you need to obtain food and 
 cook it," remarked Arturo, watching the 
 flames. 
 
 Torqua laughed as he thrust a quail, 
 that he had knocked down, on a stick and 
 prepared to hold it over the fire. 
 
 " Yes ; but I would use the Spanish 
 things if I could get them. To make ollas, 
 spears, arrowheads, is hard work. Come 
 with me and I will show you where the 
 ollas are made for all the country. My 
 people, the Pimug-nas, were famous war- 
 riors, sea fighters, and the richest of all the 
 tribes. They had the secret of olla-mak- 
 ing, and sold them to the people on the 
 shore, sending over canoe-loads at a time." 
 
 As he spoke Torqua turned the quail on 
 the long stick. This, with two more, he 
 served with red ripe tunas. After the 
 meal he covered up the fire and led the 
 way up the canon. It was a deep gulch to 
 the north of Orizaba, filled in places with 
 
 trees. Raphael said it was the canon of 
 10 
 
146 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 meadows, but Torqua said, " Why call them 
 by name, like a man, there are so many ? " 
 
 They passed through patches of cactus 
 and up a steep slope, where the canon 
 widened out and great ledges of grayish 
 rock cropped out here and there. Torqua 
 went up to one, and after hunting around 
 brought out from the brush an olla half 
 completed, several flint knives, scrapers, and 
 hammers. He then pointed to the rocks, 
 and the boys saw that nearly every one 
 was scarred, as though something had been 
 broken off. On one boulder an object like a 
 cannon ball stood out, and every ledge bore 
 several of the round objects in various stages, 
 from a flat disk to an almost perfect ball 
 ready to be broken off. 
 
 " This is where my people make ollas," 
 said Torqua proudly. " The rock is soft 
 (steatite or soapstone), and they take a 
 knife like this ; " and suiting the action to 
 the word, he began to chip the soapstone 
 in a circle, outlining an olla. " This takes 
 days, sometimes a moon before the ball 
 is worked out. This one I cut myself," 
 and he stepped over to a rock where a ball 
 
A MAN HUNT. 
 
 147 
 
 was complete. Taking up a heavy stone, 
 he struck the attached ball a quick blow, 
 severing it from the rock. " Now all you 
 have to do," he continued, " is to dig it out. 
 Old squaw must do that." 
 
 Olla Partly Worked Out. 
 
 Torqua led them from ledge to ledge, 
 nearly all bearing an olla in some stage. 
 Finally they passed over the divide and 
 faced the blue sea or channel, beyond 
 which rose the peaks of the Sierra Madre 
 range. Part way down the slope was a 
 rocky mass, which the boys discovered was 
 
148 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 a small mountain l of soapstone, covered 
 on the south slope with scars where the 
 ollas had been broken off, while the ground 
 all about was strewn with ollas, perfect, 
 broken, and in all stages, mixed with flint 
 knives, showing that the manufactory had 
 been in operation for years. 
 
 Torqua had climbed upon the mountain 
 and stood looking out over the blue chan- 
 nel, when suddenly he uttered an exclama- 
 tion and came running down. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Arturo. 
 
 " Capa monies goats," replied Torqua, 
 pointing to a neighboring peak. " Do you 
 see those white and black spots against the 
 rock ? " 
 
 The boys looked in the direction indi- 
 cated and finally made out the animals. 
 
 "It is lucky we brought our bows and 
 arrows ; we can have barbecued 2 goat for 
 supper. I remember how Padre Ansel mo 
 
 1 This ancient olla manufactory at Empire Landing 
 was rediscovered in 1876 by Mr. Paul Schumacher, 
 representing the Smithsonian. Many of the unfinished 
 ollas, are still to be seen as they were left by Torqua's 
 people. 
 
 2 Roasted over hot coals. 
 
A MAN HUNT. 149 
 
 taught me how to make what he call '~bar- 
 bacoaj " and Torqna smacked his lips and 
 rubbed his stomach with the palm of his 
 hand. " You cut a piece of meat, run it 
 on a willow pole, and turn it slow, very 
 slow, over hot coals," and Torqua turned 
 his bow as he spoke, " turn very slow until 
 it all cooked black ; then eat. Alala ! Padre 
 Anselmo like his stomach ; he must have 
 been cook for the king ; he tell so much. 
 He like chili Colerado, chili con came " 
 
 "Hold on," cried Arturo, "you make 
 me hungry. If we can kill a goat, let us 
 have this famous barbecue." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed Torqua. " Come," 
 and down the slope he ran, stopping at a 
 little spring that had made a green patch 
 on the hillside, where they knelt down 
 and took a long drink, then in single file, 
 Torqua leading, they ran down the slope. 
 
 Torqua's plan was to gain the opposite 
 side of the mountain and creep upon the 
 goats, and after a hard and tiresome climb 
 of an hour they found themselves clinging 
 to the rough face of a cliff down from 
 which reached a dizzy precipice. 
 
150 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " Don't slip/' cautioned Torqua, whose 
 bare feet fitted into the crevices like a 
 goat's hoofs. " One slip and you roll 
 roll never stop." 
 
 The boys found it safer not to look at 
 the abyss, and moved along clinging to 
 the ledge, finally coming to a shelf, up 
 which they climbed, bringing them nearly 
 to the summit. 
 
 "Now," whispered Torqua. "creep over 
 the edge and shoot as quick as you see 
 them." 
 
 With arrows fixed, they flattened them- 
 selves out and crept along over the rocks. 
 Suddenly, with startling distinctness, came 
 the bleating cry of a young goat, and 
 not ten feet from them a little kid sprang 
 upon a rock and stood eying them with 
 wonder and surprise. Its innocence and 
 utter helplessness must have appealed to 
 the boys ; even the savage heart of Torqua, 
 that had been trained to laugh at sym- 
 pathy, was apparently touched by the sight, 
 as he made no movement. The kid hopped 
 down, its little hoofs clinking on the rocks. 
 Then the three hunters sprang to their 
 
A MAN HUNT. 151 
 
 feet and appeared like apparitions to the 
 herd upon a ledge immediately below them. 
 Twang ! twang ! twang ! sounded the bows, 
 and a buck with large horns and long, 
 bushy beard leaped into the air and went 
 crashing down the mountain, while a half- 
 grown goat was so badly wounded by 
 Arturo that Torqua sprang forward and 
 seized it. Eaphael alone had missed. They 
 had enough meat, and after putting the 
 dying animal out of its misery, Torqua 
 lowered himself down the cliff and secured 
 his game. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 AN OTTER HUNT. 
 
 TORQUA hauled his goat to the upper 
 ledge, skilfully skinned it, and taking 
 the best portions, threw them over his bare 
 shoulders, and led the way down the moun- 
 tain. The sun was overhead, beating down 
 so hot and pitilessly that they were glad to 
 reach the head of the cotton-wood canon 
 where the high brush afforded them pro- 
 tection. Here the hunters met a party of 
 Indians travelling from the isthmus town 
 of Sonag-na to the Bay of Moons, and 
 asked them to join them, and an hour later 
 they were lying under the cotton-woods at 
 the camp, through which a cool breeze 
 swept, watching Torqua barbecue a goat, an 
 interesting and savory operation. Tomat, 1 
 an old Indian, assisted. The haunch, pierced 
 by a long pole, was held over the glowing 
 
 1 Lightning. 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 153 
 
 coals and turned continually, Tomat holding 
 it until his face became almost blistered, 
 then Torqua relieved him until the meat 
 had been thoroughly browned, when it was 
 torn in pieces and handed around. 
 
 After this Tomat brought out his pipe, a 
 curious object resembling a funnel, ten inches 
 in length and made of the same soft stone 
 which was used in making ollas. In the 
 smaller end was fitted a mouthpiece of bone 
 from the leg of a bird, which was held in 
 place by asphaltum. Tomat filled the 
 straight pipe with native tobacco, lighted 
 it, and, bending his head far back so that 
 the tobacco would not drop or roll out, took 
 several puffs and passed it to his neighbor. 
 The odor of this native tobacco reached 
 Raphael and Arturo, and was so singularly 
 sickening and nauseous that they made an 
 excuse to rise and step aside when the pipe 
 reached them. 
 
 " My people will not like you to refuse," 
 said Torqua, with an ill-concealed smile. 
 
 " Tell them that I am homesick," said 
 Arturo jokingly. 
 
 " And for me," said Raphael, " say that 
 
154 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 I have taken an oath to Saint Catherine of 
 the island not to smoke for two moons as 
 a penance, and cannot break it." 
 
 Torqua explained this, but the old Indian 
 held out the pipe and insisted, with a jargon 
 that was undoubtedly a strong protest and 
 an argument in favor of their showing 
 their friendship. So the boys reluctantly 
 accepted the pipe in turn, took a puff, and 
 passed it on. After the pipe had been 
 passed Tomat took from his back an otter 
 skin, which he unrolled, displaying a num- 
 ber of bones of various sizes, from one ten 
 inches long to the leg bone of a small bird. 
 These were perforated with holes at regular 
 intervals, and the large one was ornamented 
 with bits of pearly abalone fastened to the 
 bone with asphaltum. These objects were 
 musical instruments, whistles and flutes, 
 and with much ceremony Tomat handed 
 them around. Then, observing that each 
 guest was supplied, he gave a shrill whistle 
 upon the leg bone of a deer as a signal, 
 and every one joined, producing a medley 
 of sounds that must have startled the birds 
 in the bush. Each player followed his own 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 155 
 
 taste and inclination as to the sounds. 
 There was unanimity upon but one point ; 
 this was the degree of noise produced. 
 Every one blew as loudly as possible, and 
 Raphael and Arturo, not to be outdone in 
 the gentle art, being skilled upon the 
 Italian piccolo, produced so many remarkable 
 sounds that the amazed Indians gradually 
 ceased and listened. Then Tomat handed 
 Arturo his ornamented flute, who, after 
 trying it and finding that it was something 
 like an ordinary piccolo, managed to produce 
 some simple Spanish airs, which so excited 
 and pleased the old Indian that he began 
 to dance and sing. The dance, Torqua 
 said, described the coming of the seasons, 
 the raindrops and flowers, and consisted 
 principally of stamping heavily upon the 
 ground, looking very fierce, and shouting 
 with a gutteral sound and breathing heavily. 
 Finally the old Indian addressed Arturo 
 and Torqua, explained that he was a famous 
 musician and maker of musical instru- 
 ments, 1 and that he presented the bone flute 
 
 1 The author has taken several of these flutes from the 
 mounds of the Catalina Islands. They were buried with 
 their owners. 
 
156 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 to Arturo in appreciation of his musical 
 gifts. Arturo asked Torqua to thank the 
 old man, and told him that he would play 
 for him at any time. 
 
 " I think," he continued, examining the 
 flute, " that I could improve on this. I 
 never expected to make music from a deer's 
 leg." 
 
 The Indians now rose and, after express- 
 ing their good will, left the camp for the 
 Bay of Moons, Tomat playing as he went, 
 while Arturo sounded his instrument until 
 the last naked figure disappeared over the 
 divide. 
 
 " When are we to see the white otter ? " 
 asked Arturo, as they lay in the grass after 
 the departure. 
 
 " Quen sake" replied Torqua, laughing. 
 " I have seen but two in all my life, but I 
 know where there is one, and we will go 
 and look to-day. If you want, we can get 
 plenty of others, black otter." 
 
 " Good ! " cried Raphael. " What think 
 you of a white otter shirt for me, Torqua ? " 
 he said, pointing to his ragged shirt. 
 
 " Black otter good for winter," said 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 157 
 
 Torqua. " Now summer, this good/' and 
 he slapped his naked skin. 
 
 " But my skin burns and blisters/' said 
 Raphael. " How is it that you don't, 
 Torqua ? " 
 
 " I don't know/' replied Torqua. " Your 
 face don't burn, Don Raphael. Torqua's 
 skin all face." 
 
 The boys laughed heartily at this clever 
 explanation, and as their clothes and shoes 
 had worn out it was evident that the time 
 had come when they would have to go 
 almost naked, as did the Indians in summer, 
 or dress in skins ; so, as otter skins were 
 best adapted for clothes, they were eager 
 for the hunt. As they might not return 
 for a day or more, they took some dried 
 meat in their packs, their bows, arrows, and 
 spears, and macanas, and with Torqua in 
 the lead began the march down the canon 
 to the south coast. They followed the 
 stream that was eddying along beneath the 
 branches of trees and bushes, now disap- 
 pearing altogether in the sand, to reappear 
 later on where the deep shadows prevented 
 evaporation. Torqua, whose high spirits 
 
158 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQtTA. 
 
 could not be restrained, sang a quaint song, 
 that startled the birds as he strode along : 
 
 " Non im mainoc, ni mainoc, 
 Non im mainoc, ni mainoc, 
 Yobare," 
 
 which he translated to the boys : 
 
 *' I do what I am doing, 
 I do what I am doing, 
 
 O church." 
 
 Torqua's songs seemed to have little mean- 
 ing, but they were musical and the boys 
 encouraged him. 
 
 " When you hear birds sing and see 
 beautiful things," cried Torqua, " you sing 
 this : 
 
 " Nop nom nahacua, 
 Non im nahacua, 
 Alala ! ' 
 
 " Meaning ' Thou shalt hear the things that 
 I hear,' arid as a chorus ' Alala,' meaning 
 ' Oho, oho ! ' ' which was shouted loudly 
 and made a great deal of noise, a strong 
 feature in all native music. 
 
 " I shall never learn your language, 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 159 
 
 Torqua," cried Arturo, after many laugh- 
 able efforts to sing the song. 
 
 " So I say to Father Anselmo about 
 Espanol," replied Torqua. " I was one, 
 two years, before I could speak ; before 
 then it was all sign. But I learn; you see 
 I speak Spanish very fine, Don Arturo." 
 
 Torqua' s Spanish was two-thirds Spanish 
 and one-third Indian, and the boys often 
 guessed at his meaning, but they did not 
 dispute his claims to linguistic powers. 
 
 " Ah, Spanish is easy to learn," replied 
 Raphael, but Torqua made a wry face as he 
 thought of the lessons and the strappings 
 he had jointly received from the Padre of 
 the mission. As they strode along Torqua 
 suddenly gave a shout of delight and ran 
 up a canon and was soon climbing a small, 
 smooth-leaved tree, which the boys saw 
 was loaded with cherries. When they tried 
 to eat them the cherry proved to be almost 
 all stone, but Torqua gathered quantities of 
 the fruit, and later he pounded the seeds in 
 a stone mortar and formed a paste, which, 
 when cooked, resembled frijoles. 1 Near the 
 
 1 Beans. 
 
160 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 cherry trees grew a plant resembling a 
 thistle, which bore small, gray, oblong seeds 
 called chia, which were ground and made into 
 a meal which the boys found palatable, in 
 the absence of bread. Now and then shoot- 
 ing partridge or dove, chasing the diminu- 
 tive foxes, with loud shouts they entered 
 fully into the delights of this wonderful 
 outdoor life, and it was well along in the 
 afternoon when they came to the end of 
 a canon, where the water fell over a boulder 
 into a fern-lined pool and was lost in the 
 sand dunes. The trees clustered around 
 the rock, forming a natural hut or arbor. 
 
 " Here we will sleep to-night," said 
 Torqua, throwing down his pack. 
 
 He quickly built a fire, and after a dinner 
 of roast partridge arid tunas they walked 
 down to the sandy beach and made their 
 way around the wild and jagged stones 
 which had rolled down from the mountains 
 here to form the shore line. Twenty or 
 thirty yards from the rocks the kelp ex- 
 tended, the long, olive-hued leaves lying 
 prone upon the surface, the entire mass 
 rising and falling with each incoming wave 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 161 
 
 and forming a complete breakwater to the 
 coast. This submarine forest was the home 
 of the sea otter, the animal lying in the 
 kelp leaves. 
 
 Torqua dropped behind the rocks and 
 began to work his way along so that his 
 body would not be seen, in which he was 
 closely followed by his companions. Every 
 few feet he would rise carefully, and from 
 some vantage scan the kelp bed. They 
 finally reached a large rock which rose 
 twenty or thirty feet from the ocean, evi- 
 dently surrounded at high tide. Climbing 
 up the sides of this the boys took refuge in 
 a cleft of the rock, from which they could 
 see the kelp bed for a long distance. The 
 rocks were covered with broken abalone 
 shells, showing that it had been frequented 
 by other otter hunters. Torqua was engaged 
 in telling the boys about the white otter 
 he had seen here, when suddenly he grasped 
 Arturo by the arm and pointed to the 
 kelp. In a little open place not two feet 
 square they saw the head of some animal, 
 which might have been that of a large 
 
 cat. It had bright eyes and was glancing 
 11 
 
162 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 sharply about, as though expecting an 
 enemy. 
 
 For a moment or two Torqua did not 
 move ; he might have been a part of the 
 dark rock upon which he crouched ; then 
 he began an almost imperceptible move- 
 
 Sea Otter. 
 
 ment, bringing his bow and arrow into 
 position. In the meantime the sea otter 
 seemed to have satisfied herself that there 
 was no danger and with utter abandon 
 threw herself upon her back, feet up in the 
 air, and then the hunters saw that there 
 were two animals, a small otter not over 
 eight inches long which had up to this time 
 been concealed by its mother. The little 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 163 
 
 one was very playful and crawled upon 
 her, then she took it in her arms very 
 much as a mother would her child, tossed 
 it upward, turning it over, tapping it with 
 her paws, diving beneath it, playing hide- 
 and-seek among the kelp leaves, and in 
 many ways displaying maternal affection. 
 A score of times Torqua was about to shoot 
 as the otter exposed herself, but the boys 
 stayed his hand and begged him to spare 
 her. Again, if she should be killed, what 
 would become of the baby otter ? Torqua 
 listened to these whispering arguments of 
 Arturo and Raphael with utter amazement. 
 
 " But we came to get otters," he whis- 
 pered, his fingers playing on the bowstring. 
 
 " Not that one," cried Arturo ; " not that 
 little mother. I never could wear her skin 
 as a shirt. Every time I put it on I should 
 think of this scene." 
 
 Torqua looked at his two companions 
 with growing astonishment, and deep in his 
 savage heart he began to suspect that per- 
 haps his friends were very strange in the 
 head. 
 
 "Well," whispered Torqua, "you do not 
 
164 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 have to wear it. I shall be glad to get it 
 for myself," and he drew back his bow ; as 
 he did so Kaphael sprang to his feet and 
 with a loud shout sent the otters scurrying 
 away out of danger. Torqua was inclined 
 to be angry at first, then he burst into 
 laughter. " We come otter hunting for 
 nothing ! " he cried. 
 
 "No, no," answered Arturo, " we spare 
 that one because it was so much like a 
 human mother and child." 
 
 This made Torqua laugh the more, and 
 he finally explained that all otters played 
 in a similar way, and that if they spared 
 them for that reason, they would never get 
 one. The boys were somewhat nonplussed 
 at this, but they kept under cover, and 
 finally Arturo thought he saw a small 
 black object swimming towards them just 
 beyond the kelp. It proved to be an otter, 
 perhaps on a fishing expedition. On it 
 came, swimming rapidly, and as it reached 
 a point exactly opposite, Torqua drew his 
 bow. The otter turned and bit at itself, 
 then commenced to beat the water and 
 swim in a circle, whereupon Torqua threw 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 165 
 
 down his bow and plunged from the rock, 
 swimming for the struggling animal. As 
 he approached, it attempted to dive, but it 
 was pierced through with the arrow and 
 turned and menaced him with a vicious 
 snarl ; but Torqua seized it by the leg and 
 towed it to the rock, where he despatched 
 it and drew it up for the inspection of his 
 companions, who admired its glossy fur or 
 pelt. The young hunters concealed them- 
 selves again, sweeping the kelp bed with 
 their eyes, watching for the faintest ripple 
 on the water which might tell of the otter. 
 Torqua had climbed a higher point, and as 
 the boys were about dropping off into a 
 siesta after a long watch they heard him 
 utter a suppressed sound to attract their 
 attention, and looking in the direction in- 
 dicated, saw, not one, but four or five heads 
 coming down the kelp bed. One was very 
 light indeed. As it came nearer it appeared 
 white, and Torqua leaned toward them be- 
 hind the rock and whispered excitedly, 
 "The white otter!" 
 
 It was the rarest of animals, without 
 doubt, and presently it leaped partly from 
 
166 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the water, showing its entire form of pure 
 white. Torqua quickly gave his directions. 
 They were all to shoot at the word, aiming 
 just below and back of the head. The 
 otters, like seals and sea lions, had a habit 
 of swimming along the kelp bed, and the 
 party was indulging in this pastime. As 
 they passed the rock not thirty feet away 
 the boys let fly at them, the arrows striking 
 in the midst of the pack, causing a great 
 commotion, two being wounded ; but the 
 white otter, the one their hearts were set 
 upon, dashed away under water. It had 
 escaped, as usual, protected as Torqua firmly 
 believed by some especial charm. Arturo 
 and Raphael dashed overboard to secure 
 the game and drew two fine otters to the 
 rock. As they crawled up they saw that 
 Torqua had reached the highest pinnacle of 
 the point and was looking out to sea, talk- 
 ing to himself in an excited manner. 
 
 "What is it, Torqua?" cried Raphael, 
 tossing his otter down and shaking his 
 black hair furiously, making the water fly. 
 
 Torqua did not reply ; he merely pointed 
 seaward, and following the direction of his 
 
AN OTTER HUNT. 167 
 
 arm they looked and made out a fleet of 
 large canoes, at least twenty in number, 
 loaded with men, coming up the coast from 
 the direction of Kinkipar. They were half 
 a league from shore, but the boys could see 
 the foam beneath the paddles and the white 
 spray under the bows as the canoes plunged 
 into the waves, urged on by the sturdy 
 arms of the native rowers. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ZIZU ESCAPES. 
 
 TORQUA was puzzled. The canoes 
 were shaped like those of his people, 
 but they were twice the number which 
 made up the fleet that had sailed for 
 Kinkipar to demand the surrender of Zizu. 
 Again, they were headed to the north and 
 were moving rapidly away from the Bay 
 of Moons and its vicinity. Torqua watched 
 them, bidding the boys keep out of sight un- 
 til they had passed a long point to the north; 
 then, after rapidly skinning the otters, they 
 swam ashore, the tide having surrounded 
 the rock, and made their way slowly to the 
 beach, finding their camp as they had left 
 it. Torqua was very quiet, considering 
 their successful hunt and the three fine otter 
 skins hanging on the limb. He built the 
 fire, made cakes of wild cherry seed, roasted 
 some doves, and after they had eaten, 
 suddenly announced that they had better 
 
ZIZU ESCAPES. 169 
 
 go down to the rancheria, Toybipet, at the 
 two harbors to find out what the fleet of 
 canoes meant. In a word, Torqua, easily 
 influenced by signs and tokens, had a pre- 
 monition that something was wrong, and, 
 packing the skins, the party started, climb- 
 ing the steep hogback, descending into 
 another canon, repeating this until the cave 
 was reached. They were surprised to see 
 a light there, and were soon hailed by a 
 stalwart, naked Indian, who, like a sentinel, 
 jumped up from behind a rock. He was a 
 kinsman of Torqua, and after an excited 
 conversation and much gesticulation the 
 latter turned to the boys. 
 
 " This is a messenger who has run from 
 the Bay of Moons to tell all our people to 
 get ready for war, to look for the enemy. 
 Our people met a strong force of warriors 
 at Kinkipar, twice their number, in a big 
 fleet of canoes from the north. Our people 
 gave them battle, but were not strong 
 enough to take them. They have gone 
 and taken Zizu and they may land here." 
 Torqua told the Indian messenger about 
 the fleet, and, taking their arms, -the party 
 
170 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 started over the mountains for the town at 
 the little harbors, which the enemy might 
 have concluded to raid. The rancheria 
 was less than a league away, and in little 
 over an hour they came to the broad mesa 
 covered with huts, high above the sea ; a 
 shout brought out a crowd of men, women, 
 children, and dogs. The men had seen 
 the fleet of canoes pass an hour before, and 
 had concluded that they were going to the 
 islands of "Nicalque or Limun, far to the 
 north. The messenger from the chief ran 
 on to warn the people at the isthmus towns 
 of Sonag-na, Cicacu, and beyond, while 
 Torqua and the boys went to one of the 
 huts to remain all night. The house was 
 of brush, with a frame of ribs of the whale 
 banked up around the bottom with dirt, 
 with a hole in the roof for the smoke to 
 find its way out. The floor was covered 
 with skins of sea lion, sea elephant, 1 and 
 those of the pelican, while from the rafters 
 hung others, baskets, and weapons of all 
 kinds. In the hut was the owner, Sho-ot, 2 
 a relative of Torqua's, his two wives and sev- 
 
 1 The last sea elephants were killed in or about 1850. 
 
 2 Rattlesnake. 
 
ZIZU ESCAPES. 171 
 
 eral children and dogs. As the guests came 
 in the women presented them with abalone 
 shells containing boiled fish and cakes of 
 chia seed, while the host brought out a fine 
 pipe of stone, inlaid with pearl, lighted it, 
 and passed it around. The Indians did not 
 appear to be alarmed at the rumors of war ; 
 they merely posted a sentinel on the bluff, 
 others on the trail, and then gave all their 
 attention to a matter of more consequence, 
 a wedding. After the supper the boys 
 wandered around the rancheria. The 
 young men were playing games ; some were 
 engaged at churckur&i, which consisted in 
 guessing in which hand a player had a 
 stick, the men becoming so excited that 
 they wagered almost anything they pos- 
 sessed. Others were playing clmrcharaJce, 
 a game of throwing split reeds; while 
 others again played hararicuar, hurling a 
 lance through a stone ring suspended from a 
 limb by a thong. Many of the men were 
 very skilful at this, especially Torqua, who 
 excited the admiration of the squaws by 
 shooting his arrow through a ring which 
 was swinging to and fro. 
 
172 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 The marriage took place the following 
 morning. The groom, a tall, muscular 
 Indian, had, according to custom, notified 
 all his relatives, and they gathered at his 
 hut early in the day, bringing shell money, 
 beads, and skins as gifts. When all had 
 assembled they formed in line, and marched 
 to the hut of the bride. Here were assem- 
 bled her relatives, and to them the money 
 and gifts were paid and at once divided up, 
 after which they called in a body upon the 
 groom and presented him and his relatives 
 with baskets filled with chia meal. Every- 
 thing was now ready for the ceremony, and 
 Torqua escorted the boys to the bride's hut 
 that they might see her wealth, which 
 consisted of innumerable strings of beads 
 hanging from her neck. Her cheeks were 
 painted a fiery red ; her dress was made of 
 the finest otter skins and the plumage of 
 rare sea birds. 
 
 The vicinity of the hut was crowded with 
 sight-seers, and Torqua forced his way 
 among them and called loudly, " Oma ! " 
 Oma was the Hercules of the island, the 
 strongest man, and as he drew near every 
 
ZIZU ESCAPES. 173 
 
 one stood back. He approached, and, throw- 
 ing his arms about the bride, lifted her 
 high on his shoulder and began carrying 
 her, with a dancing step, to the house of 
 the groom, followed by the crowd, shouting 
 and screaming with laughter : her relatives 
 following, throwing chia seeds and cher- 
 ries into the air, the guests scrambling and 
 fighting for the gifts, all of which increased 
 the excitement. As the bridal party neared 
 the groom's hut his friends came out, took 
 the bride from Oma, and continued dancing 
 along, placing her beside her husband. Bas- 
 kets of seed were now thrown over the two, 
 the crowd scrambling and scuffling for them, 
 the ceremony being complete when the last 
 seed was taken. This strange feast was to 
 be celebrated by a big fish, according to 
 Torqua, and the whole village trooped 
 down to the rocks and took their stations 
 in the stony amphitheatre. The small 
 canoes or balsas were launched, each hold- 
 ing two fishermen, who were the contestants. 
 They paddled out one hundred feet or more 
 from the shore, then threw over heavy lines 
 baited with fishes, which weighed several 
 
174 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 pounds, and began to fish, encouraged or 
 otherwise by the gibes and shouts of the 
 crowd on the rocks. Finally one of the lines 
 was taken and the canoe began to move out 
 of the bay, the men pulling and hauling, 
 while the crowd on the shore followed 
 along the rocks, many dashing into the 
 water and swimming out to the canoes, rid- 
 ing the waves and giving to the water an 
 animated appearance. The contest was a 
 long one, the canoe being almost tipped 
 over several times ; but ultimately a mon- 
 ster fish 1 six or more feet in length, of a 
 dark mahogany color, and weighing sev- 
 eral hundred pounds, was brought alongside 
 and despatched, but not before it had 
 nearly filled the craft. The swimmers 
 now surrounded the canoe and began to 
 push it in, while others took the rope and 
 painter in their teeth and swam in with it. 
 In the meantime Arturo and Raphael had 
 joined the crowd on the beach, who were 
 building a fire on a heap of abalone shells and 
 stones. Upon this the huge fish was hauled, 
 a dozen men performing the service. 
 
 1 Black sea bass (Stereolepis gigas). 
 
ZIZU ESCAPES. 175 
 
 " Fish barbecue ! " said Torqua, as the 
 savory odors began to rise. 
 
 When it was perfectly cooked the Indians 
 fell to and in an incredibly short time all 
 that remained of the monster fish were the 
 head and bones. That night the messenger 
 came back and reported that the people 
 of a rancheria at the north end of the island 
 said that they had seen the fleet of twenty 
 canoes sailing to the north, in the direction 
 of the islands of Nicalque and Enneeapah. 
 
 " Zizu has deserted his people," said 
 Torqua, " but some day he will sell them 
 again." 
 
 The impending danger being over, he 
 suggested that they return again to the cave 
 and build a canoe to replace the one stolen 
 by Zizu, Torqua having found a huge log 
 on the beach. 
 
 So the boys parted with their new friends 
 and began the long tramp over the hills. 
 Before they had travelled far and when 
 they crossed a divide that overlooked the 
 sea, Torqua stopped and listened. There 
 came from far out to sea a strange moan- 
 ing sound, the water itself had a peculiar 
 
176 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 glassy appearance, and the sky had taken 
 on a coppery hue. A storm was coming, 
 there could be no doubt of that, and before 
 the canon beach was reached it burst upon 
 them, blowing a hurricane out of a clear 
 sky, lifting the sand aloft in weird shapes, 
 which coiled upward to be hurled against 
 the face of the mountains. The sea pounded 
 upon the beach with such force that the 
 very earth appeared to shake, and the spray 
 and foam from great breakers caught by the 
 wind was blown far inland, buffeting the 
 boys so fiercely that they gave up, and made 
 their way to the cave, where they listened 
 to the roaring of the wind far into the 
 night. So fierce was the wind, so loud the 
 noise of crashing branches, that sleep was 
 almost impossible, and ever and anon Tor- 
 qua, after some particularly heavy blast, 
 would leap to his feet and cover his head 
 with a skin as though to shut out some 
 terrible nightmare. 
 
 "What is it, Torqua?" sleepily called 
 out Arturo, after Torqua had done this four 
 or five times. 
 
 " The Cuwot bird, Don Arturo," whis- 
 
ZIZU ESCAPES. 177 
 
 pered Torqua in faltering tones; " lis- 
 ten !" 
 
 But the boys could hear nothing but the 
 warring of the elements, the distant roaring 
 of the sea. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. 
 
 THE following morning, as the storm 
 had somewhat spent its fury, the 
 boys ventured out, and, attracted by the 
 roar of the sea, made their way down 
 the divide to the beach, where Torqua said 
 many shells would be washed ashore. So 
 violent was the wind that they dodged 
 in and out behind rocks and bunches of 
 cactus, being almost blown from the trail 
 at times. In this way they at last reached 
 a huge rock which rose directly from the 
 ocean, forming one side of the canon, high 
 above it. As Torqua ran out upon it he 
 uttered a loud shout and stood pointing 
 downward. Arturo and Raphael, who were 
 some steps behind, ran ahead, and fol- 
 lowing the direction of his arm saw a 
 sight which drove the very blood from 
 their cheeks. Not an eighth of a league 
 away a big galleon was rushing on to cer- 
 
THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. 179 
 
 tain destruction. All her sails had been 
 carried away ; her yards were bare except 
 here and there a rag ; her rigging was in 
 threads, the ropes, like whisps of hair, fly- 
 ing hither arid yon. She was completely 
 unmanageable, or seemingly so, and was 
 driving in upon the wall of rock under 
 bare poles. The sea was pitiless and ter- 
 rible, breaking as far as the eye could 
 reach, and so high that when the devoted 
 craft descended it seemed to the three boys 
 that she would never rise ; but her high 
 bow and poop seemingly prevented her 
 from foundering. Men could now be seen 
 upon her decks, waving for help, and the 
 boys closed their eyes to shut out the im- 
 pending horror as a huge roller lifted the 
 craft in air and shot her ahead like an 
 arrow from a bow, the sea almost cover- 
 ing her. But on she came, careening fright- 
 fully ; then she righted and kept head on, 
 telling of brave men at the helm. 
 
 " Can we do nothing, Torqua ? " cried 
 Arturo, his face white at the sight. 
 
 Torqua waved both hands in air in an 
 impassioned manner in reply. 
 
180 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 " But we must ! " cried Arturo, shouting 
 the words against the gale. "I cannot 
 stand here and see men coming on to sure 
 death." 
 
 " What we do ? " responded Torqua. 
 u I would help if I could, but there is only 
 one thing for them ; what the Padre teach. 
 I ask my god Chinigchinich to help them/' 
 
 The boys, partly abashed at being re- 
 minded of this by Torqua, gazed at him 
 a moment and then sent up a silent prayer 
 to their patron saint to intercede for these 
 doomed men. On the ship came, now not 
 a cable length distant. They could dis- 
 tinctly see the men on the deck below them, 
 and Arturo was confident that he made 
 out a woman. He ran out upon the rock, 
 waving his arms, Torqua rushing ahead, 
 all seized with the idea of letting the 
 death-stricken mariners know that human 
 beings were near. Down they went, crawl- 
 ing, slipping, sliding, hanging over preci- 
 pices, clinging to slippery ledges, crouching 
 when the fierce blasts came, then hurry- 
 ing on until they found themselves on 
 the face of the cliff, perhaps two hundred 
 
 
THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. 181 
 
 feet above the boiling sea. The galleon 
 was now on the setback or wash of the 
 waves. There was no shoal or reef on this 
 side of the mountain island. The granite 
 walls rose precipitately from water hundreds 
 of feet deep, and the doom of the ship was 
 to crash into the iron wall and be ground 
 into ten thousand pieces. On she came, 
 now riding a tremendous billow, rising 
 almost on end, then, caught on the crest, 
 came rushing at the wall of rock. The 
 boys saw the figures on the deck, heard the 
 despairing cries of lost men, shut their eyes 
 in very terror and clung faint and trem- 
 bling to the ledge as the galleon struck and 
 seemed lost in a mass of foam and spume 
 that, shroud-like, crept upward higher and 
 higher. When the boys looked down again, 
 to their surprise they saw a mast standing, 
 and as the foam and spray cleared it be- 
 came evident that the galleon had struck 
 bow first, her hull seemingly wedged in be- 
 tween two rocks which held her firmly. 
 
 " They may be saved yet! " cried Arturo, 
 starting on, followed by the others. 
 
 By careful climbing they reached within 
 
182 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 fifty feet of the top of the mast, from which 
 point they could see three persons clinging 
 to the high poop-rail, surrounded by a very 
 cauldron of boiling and seething waters. 
 All the shrouds had been carried away 
 and were swinging from the crosstrees, and 
 there was no way for the wrecked men 
 to ascend the cliff. 
 
 " If we had a rope we could haul them 
 up," cried Arturo excitedly. " I know we 
 can do it;" and lowering himself down from 
 the shelf he reached another, and there 
 finding a ledge which might have been used 
 by wild goats, followed it along and tried 
 to send a shout of cheer downward through 
 the flying scud. The boys could see that 
 one of the wrecked party was a woman, 
 now lashed to the rail. Torqua swung 
 himself out upon the mast that was wedged 
 into the rock, Arturo and Eaphael followed, 
 and seizing the longest rope within Breach 
 they endeavored to sever it. They had noth- 
 ing but shell knives, but with indomitable 
 courage they set to work wildly sawing, 
 cutting, filing, even biting, shouting unin- 
 telligible words to those below and hearing 
 
 
THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. 183 
 
 shouts in return. Every moment they ex- 
 pected to see a wave grind the galleon in 
 pieces, but she had turned upon her side so 
 that the seas struck her oak bottom and 
 wrenched and splintered it slowly ; in fact, 
 she had been tipped over and wedged be- 
 tween two jutting rocks of the cliff, and was 
 almost immovable. Every moment seemed 
 an age, but finally Torqua severed the rope, 
 and with a wild hurrah of encouragement 
 lowered it away. 
 
 It blew to one side in the gale and lashed 
 the rocky cliff, but the men caught it and 
 the boys saw them throw it around the 
 waist of the woman. The mast was stand- 
 ing at an angle of about sixty degrees and 
 she clung to it as a guide, while the three 
 boys, who had reeved it through a block, 
 began to haul. How desperately they 
 pulled, lifted, and strained for this human 
 life ! They had but a shelf to stand on, 
 but by taking a turn about the mast they 
 surely gained, foot by foot, and shortly had 
 the woman halfway up. Her face was 
 deathly pale and she seemed almost ready 
 to faint, but Arturo's words in Spanish 
 
184 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 seemed to revive her, and she answered 
 him and seemed to gain renewed courage. 
 Inch by inch, foot by foot, slowly along 
 the mast came the woman, and finally 
 Arturo reached down and saw that she was 
 a young girl, not over fourteen years old, 
 who now stretched out her hand and was 
 hauled upon the shelf. 
 
 A glad shout went up against the gale, 
 to be answered from far below. A few 
 moments later one of the men was hauled 
 up, and, being strong and vigorous, he made 
 better headway and was soon aiding his 
 rescuers in saving the second and last man. 
 As he was drawn upon the ledge both men 
 began in voluble Spanish to thank their 
 rescuers. Out of a large crew they were 
 the only ones saved. They were in the 
 cabin when the ship struck, thinking that 
 all was over. This was their salvation, as 
 every one on deck was swept away as the 
 galleon struck the rock. 
 
 Led by Torqua, the party began the climb 
 up the cliff, a most dangerous proceeding, 
 as the wind was sufficient to blow them off, 
 while the sea, where it struck the rocks, 
 
THE WRECK OF THE GALLEON. 185 
 
 swept upward with irresistible force and 
 more than once engulfed them. But Tor- 
 qua was an expert climber. He had fas- 
 tened the rope about the young girl, placing 
 her in the centre, he himself taking the 
 lead, and in this manner, foot by foot, tied 
 together, they made their way up the face 
 of the wall, so steep, so terrible in its 
 exposure, that even the black cormorants 
 did not frequent it. The ascent took them 
 over an hour, constant resting, hunting for 
 secure places occupying the time ; but 
 finally Torqua and the boys reached the 
 upper rock, and with a glad shout dragged 
 the party up behind its sheltering walls, 
 safe, sound, rescued from the wild and 
 pitiless sea. 
 
 The elder of the men introduced himself 
 to the boys as Senor Delagoa, who, with 
 his daughter Inez, was returning from the 
 Philippines to Spain. Their companion, 
 Captain Ignacio Hurtaldo of His Majesty's 
 Navy, was also a passenger. The galleon, 
 loaded with treasure, had been blown out 
 of her course by a severe storm, and in a 
 terrible hurricane which had been blowing 
 
186 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 for three days had been almost dismasted 
 and so had been driven upon the rock-bound 
 island, whose very name the navigators did 
 not know. There was but one thing to do. 
 The boys led the way to the cave, and, after 
 making the strangers as comfortable as 
 possible, went to the seashore again, and 
 returning before night with abalones, some 
 fish, and a wild goat, the wrecked people 
 soon had reason to believe that they had 
 fallen into hospitable hands. 
 
 " But how comes it," a-sked Senor Del- 
 agoa, " that I find two Spanish gentlemen 
 on this desert island?'* 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE WRECKERS. 
 
 BEFORE Arturo or Raphael had an 
 opportunity to reply to this question, 
 Torqua interrupted and with a significant 
 glance at the boys asked them to help 
 him bring some water. Observing that he 
 had some good reason for his action, they 
 excused themselves for a moment and fol- 
 lowed Torqua down the slope, somewhat to 
 the astonishment of Seiior Delagoa and his 
 companion. 
 
 "If I make your heart sick, Don Raphael," 
 said Torqua when they were out of ear- 
 shot, meaning if he had offended them, 
 " I am sorry, but I want to say, be careful 
 what you tell to these people. They are 
 Spanish ; they may be officers. They will 
 hire iny people to take them to the main- 
 land, then they will tell the soldiers of 
 
188 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 their salvation by you, and they will hunt 
 us down and carry us back." 
 
 " I did not think of that," said Arturo. 
 
 " Nor I," added Raphael. " They have 
 the secret of the cave, and we are at their 
 mercy." 
 
 " Not if you leave it to me," replied 
 Torqua, dropping his olla to the ground. 
 
 " What do you propose ? " asked Raphael. 
 
 "I say we keep them prisoners for a 
 while until we find out what they, do." 
 
 "How can we do it ? " 
 
 "Easy," said Torqua. "Frighten them; 
 make them think that my people will kill 
 them, then we can make them stay until 
 they agree not to tell the Spaniards about 
 us." 
 
 " I dislike to do this," said Arturo hesi- 
 tatingly ; " still, we have ourselves to look 
 out for. What say you, Raphael ? " 
 
 " I think Torqua is right," replied the 
 latter. "But," he added, laughing, "let 
 him do the talking. I cannot deceive the 
 young lady. How beautiful she is ! Did 
 you notice her eyes ? " 
 
 " I did indeed," said Arturo. 
 
THE WRECKERS. 189 
 
 It was finally agreed that they were to 
 say little and Torqua was to be chief. 
 After filling their ollas, they slowly climbed 
 the hill and again entered the cave. 
 
 " You must allow us to do our share of 
 the work/' said Senor Delagoa. u Hurtaldo 
 and myself are old campaigners, and my 
 daughter, Inez, can do something." 
 
 " Yes," assented the young girl, and she 
 continued, a slight flush suffusing her beau- 
 tiful face, " I wish to thank Don Arturo, 
 Don Raphael, and Senor Torqua for rescu- 
 ing us. Without their bravery we should 
 have been the victims of a frightful death." 
 
 Torqua was much elated at being ad- 
 dressed as Senor Torqua and for a moment 
 fairly lost his tongue, but the boys rallied 
 and assured the young girl that it had 
 made them very happy to have been the 
 means of their succor. 
 
 " You see, Senors," said Torqua, observ- 
 ing his opportunity, " we three were also 
 wrecked here and were very near drowning 
 as we came ashore. There are on the 
 other side of the island wild savages, and 
 you must by no means let them see you. 
 
190 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 After a while we will try and escape to 
 the south and reach San Diego, twenty 
 leagues off." 
 
 " We are in your hands," said Senor 
 Delagoa, " and I am sure we shall agree. 
 In any event, we shall do as you say, and 
 we hope to constitute one of your party, 
 sharing all the burdens." 
 
 This was very satisfactory, and the boys, 
 aided by the Spaniards and under the direc- 
 tion of Torqua, immediately began to build 
 a hut of boughs against the rock, the mate- 
 rial being brought up from the canon, and 
 by night they had two additional rooms, 
 the cave being given up to the young girl 
 and her father, while the four others occu- 
 pied the hut, which with its piles of hay 
 was very comfortable. 
 
 Although it was evident that Inez had 
 never performed any work, she insisted on 
 learning to cook, mended the boys' clothes, 
 and in a score of ways made herself useful, 
 and by her gentle and lovable disposition 
 endeared herself to them. She saw that 
 they were very reticent as to their past 
 and never questioned them, nor did the 
 
THE WRECKERS. 191 
 
 rescued men display any curiosity. On 
 the other hand, they talked much about 
 themselves. Senor Delagoa was a rich mer- 
 chant of Madrid and Captain Hurtaldo a 
 naval officer returning to Spain after ser- 
 vice in the Philippine Islands. The rescued 
 party were very careful not to wander 
 away from camp, and soon fell into the 
 ways of the boys. But, as Torqua said, 
 the end would come some day, as his peo- 
 ple would surely come up to the beach. 
 
 For a week nothing happened and no 
 one was seen. The party went daily to the 
 shore or to hunt for birds, and by their 
 combined efforts the larder was kept filled. 
 One day Senor Delagoa suggested that they 
 go and see if the galleon had disappeared, 
 so they walked down to the place of their 
 rescue. Torqua went ahead, and by climb- 
 ing out upon a ledge looked down upon the 
 spot. As he pulled himself up he cried, 
 " Alala ! " and waved his hands. The 
 others soon joined him, and to their sur- 
 prise saw the galleon almost intact in the 
 same position, wedged into the cleft in the 
 rock, her stern now high in air ; in fact, as 
 
192 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the tide was low, the entire ship was out 
 of the water. 
 
 " This means provisions, guns," said 
 Senor Delagoa. 
 
 "And clothes," said Inez, glancing at 
 the boys, whose garments of skins were 
 suggestive of a limited wardrobe. 
 
 "Suppose you go down, Torqua, and see 
 what there is," said Arturo. 
 
 " We all go in the canoe," replied Tor- 
 qua, his eyes glistening at the prospect of 
 loot. 
 
 " True," answered Arturo, " the water is 
 perfectly smooth." 
 
 They made their way to the beach, 
 launched the large canoe, and after paddling 
 for a mile along the kelp beds came to the 
 wreck. She was just above the water, but 
 the seas had played havoc with her bottom, 
 tearing out many timbers ; while ropes and 
 hawsers hung from her, swinging in the 
 wind. Making the canoe fast, Torqua 
 climbed a rope and stood upon the deck of 
 the galleon, where the others joined him, 
 leaving Inez in the canoe. By a singular 
 chance the cabin was intact, and it was 
 
THE WRECKERS. 193 
 
 apparent that had the crew gone below they 
 would have been saved. Torqua lowered 
 himself into the hold and reported that it 
 was filled with goods, and came out flour- 
 ishing a long sword which he had found 
 in the armory. 
 
 " The light things we can hoist up," said 
 Senor Delagoa ; " the others we can lower 
 into the canoe or raft them around." 
 
 It was the time of year when more 
 storms might be expected, according to 
 Torqua, so work was begun at once. The 
 canoe was filled with clothing and arms, 
 guns and pistols, kegs of powder and 
 shot, and Torqua broke open . a box 
 filled with doubloons and coin, part of 
 the treasure. They made three or four 
 trips with the canoe that day, piling the 
 goods on the beach, taking them up to the 
 cave at night. Among other things were 
 a sail or two, which they made into a tent. 
 The following day they lowered over two 
 of the booms, using blocks and tackle, and 
 with the planking of the partitions formed 
 a good raft. On this was lowered a variety 
 of goods, a complete set of sails, several 
 
 13 
 
194 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 boxes of tools, the property of the ship 
 carpenter, barrels of provisions, dishes, and 
 bales of rope. 
 
 Sefior Delagoa suddenly came to the side 
 and shouted, " Brava! a boat ! " 
 
 A boat it was in truth ; a boat in sec- 
 tions, but ready to be put together. Part 
 of this was carefully lowered down, and, 
 the raft being loaded, they boarded the 
 canoe and towed it slowly to the beach at 
 the mouth of the canon. For a week they 
 continued this work, until they had com- 
 pletely wrecked the galleon. Even the 
 treasure had been saved, and great bales 
 of silk, rich cloths of all kinds, and a thou- 
 sand and one articles which constitute ob- 
 jects of trade and barter. By the greatest 
 labor the five men and boys carried and 
 dragged the wreckage to the camp. The 
 large booms and timbers they hid on the 
 beach, covering them with sand, and at 
 the end of two weeks they were not only 
 completely housed, but provided with many 
 luxuries. 
 
 " As we are among dangerous tribes/' 
 said Senor Delagoa one day, " I suggest that 
 
THE WKECKERS. 195 
 
 we have our proper arms and learn the use 
 .of them." 
 
 This suggestion led to the forming of 
 the guard of five. The boys already knew 
 the use of the sword and gun, and Torqua 
 was soon initiated by the captain into the 
 secrets of Spanish arms of the time. The 
 boys felt some compunctions of conscience 
 at the -precautionary deception which they 
 had been a party to, especially when they 
 thought of the friendly and peaceful rela- 
 tives of Torqua, whose reputation had been 
 so reviled, but they little knew how soon 
 their arms and ammunition would come 
 into play. 
 
 The rescued Spaniards took a strong lik- 
 ing to Torqua, were evidently pleased with 
 his intelligence, and they more than once 
 expressed the opinion that he must have 
 other blood in his veins than that of the 
 pure Santa Catalina, or Pimug-na, savage. 
 His quaint pronunciation of Spanish, which 
 he had learned at the mission from the 
 Fathers, and the intermingling with strange 
 Indian phrases amused them, and the young 
 girl often made a point of teaching him. 
 
196 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " You must teach me your language, 
 Torqua, and I will teach you mine/' she 
 had said. 
 
 "What you call our cave?" asked Tor- 
 qua one night as they sat on the rocks. 
 "Not casa." 
 
 "No, cueva," answered Inez. 
 
 "Ah," cried Torqua, "so many names 
 for one thing in Espanol. Same with my 
 people. What you call the ear, espegar, is 
 nanah ; and so we call the leaves of the 
 tree its ears." 
 
 " What is God ? " asked the girl. 
 
 " Qua-o-ar," replied Torqua, pronouncing 
 the word reverently. 
 
 "I must tell you about our God," said 
 his teacher, "the God of the Spanish." 
 
 " Alala! " cried Torqua. " I have heard 
 too much from the Padres. I have my 
 own god, my own temple. Don Arturo 
 and Don Raphael will tell yon." Torqua' s 
 eyes flashed brightly. " The religion of 
 the Spanish kills, whips, makes slaves of 
 us," he said. "Don Arturo will tell you 
 that is why we fled from the mission," he 
 added excitedly. 
 
THE WRECKERS. 197 
 
 Raphael endeavored to stop Torqua by 
 nudging him with his elbow, and he imme- 
 diately realized what he had said, and 
 looked confusedly at the Spaniards, who 
 exchanged glances and smiled at his em- 
 barrassment. 
 
 " But the Padres are good men," insisted 
 Inez. 
 
 " They may be good in your land/' 
 replied Torqua, " but not all in our country. 
 Listen, Senorita. My aha (brother) was a 
 great chief at Sibagna (San Gabriel). The 
 Chicbinabros cut his head off. Why ? 
 Because he try to save his tahat (people). 
 The Padres throw water on my people, 
 soyna (baptize), make them say amar a 
 Dios, and if they refuse, beat them. At 
 Pasinogna (Rancho del Chino) they tied 
 men, women, children, hand and feet," 
 cried Torqua, imitating the movements, 
 "lash them with sticks, drove them like 
 coyotes to Toybipet (Spadra), and kept 
 their children from them until they took 
 the soyna (baptism), and," continued Tor- 
 qua, " when they did, they could not go 
 back to their people. They forced their 
 
198 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 gods upon my people ; they drive us from 
 the island ; they make slaves of my people 
 to build their missions or temples. But I 
 will not work for them ; I will die first." 
 And Torqua sprang to his feet and walked 
 to and fro. "You saw, Don Arturo," he 
 cried, " that I showed you our god, our 
 temple, but I did not try to force you to 
 worship it. No, no ; you like your God, I 
 like mine." 
 
 The Spaniards were very much enter- 
 tained at Torqua's enthusiasm, and, observ- 
 ing that he was much excited, did not 
 reply, but Arturo took Torqua aside and 
 told him that, without doubt, he had 
 offended the young girl, who intended no 
 harm. 
 
 "But," said Torqua, "I cannot think of 
 the wrongs of my people without blood in 
 my head. But I would not hurt the heart 
 of the Senorita ; " and, turning, he ran and 
 knelt at her feet, and lifting from his neck 
 a valued necklace of the pearly abalone, he 
 held it out and said, " Senorita, you know 
 the most cabat (beautiful) thing to the 
 people of Pimug-na or Kinkipar, the thing 
 
THE WRECKERS. 199 
 
 they fight for, hunt for, from moon to 
 moon, always the thing they risk many 
 lives to catch ? " And Torqua paused, 
 puzzled for language to express his ideas, 
 and uttering them in a medley of Indian 
 and Spanish. 
 
 Inez shook her head in bewilderment. 
 
 " It is the white otter. You are to Tor- 
 qua the white otter." 
 
 This was the finest sentiment he could 
 express. This was his apology. 
 
 The day following this occurrence, Ar- 
 turo and Raphael being left by Torqua at 
 the cave, the former said to the Spaniards, 
 " You gentlemen noticed that Torqua, in 
 his excitement, spoke of our leaving the 
 Mission of San Juan Capistrano, and as it 
 is impossible to conceal the fact from you 
 longer, it is better that we have an under- 
 standing." 
 
 Thereupon the boys related all they knew 
 of themselves and their escape. The Span- 
 iards listened to the remarkable story with 
 undisguised interest, and when it was con- 
 cluded Senor Delagoa said : 
 
 " I wish to assure you of our complete 
 
200 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 friendship. I can see that you have been 
 the victims of some perfidious conspiracy, 
 which I hope some time to aid you in 
 avenging; but even if this were not so, we 
 owe you a debt for our lives and that of 
 my daughter, which can never be repaid. 
 Had it not been for you and the brave Tor- 
 qua we should not be here, and I thank you 
 again and renew our pledges of friendship. 
 Now that we thoroughly understand our- 
 selves we can act. I assume that you do 
 not wish to remain here. Certainly we do 
 not, so I propose that we set up the boat 
 which we have rescued from the wreck, 
 provision her, and make the voyage down 
 the coast to San Bias. You shall pass as 
 my sons, and, once there, I can command 
 transportation to Spain, where we shall 
 undertake investigations to discover why 
 you were condemned to such a fate with- 
 out hearing. What say you ? " 
 
 It is needless to state that the boys 
 agreed to this proposition, and when Tor- 
 qua returned, bearing a string of fish, they 
 told him. His eyes dropped, and, letting 
 the fish fall, he turned from them; then, 
 
THE WRECKERS. 201 
 
 wheeling about, cried in his own tongue, 
 " Nonim nahama ! I hear, I hear. I save 
 their lives and they take my friends." 
 
 "But you shall go, too, Torqua," cried 
 Arturo, placing his hand on his shoulder. 
 " You shall visit our land beyond the great 
 
 sea." 
 
 Torqua turned, and his eyes fell on the 
 green mountains, traced the dark labyrinth 
 of canons down to the blue sea that spread 
 away into the west, and shook his head. 
 
 "Pimug-na is my home," he said. "I 
 could not leave it." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE ATTACK. 
 
 NOW that the Spaniards understood the 
 situation, and Torqua was assured 
 that they would not take sides with their 
 enemies at the mission, he led them down 
 to the Bay of Moons, showed them the 
 Vanquech of Chinigchinich, and took them 
 as completely into his confidence as he had 
 the boys. Every day they were more and 
 more impressed with his intelligence and 
 the marked difference between him and the 
 other natives, who were a race of fishing 
 warriors. It was an easy matter to start 
 Torqua, and his flights of oratory in broken 
 Spanish and the Indian tongue were re- 
 markable. As Senor Delagoa said, Torqua 
 was destined to become a great chief some 
 day. 
 
 " My father is a great chief," said Tor- 
 qua, as the party were returning from the 
 
THE ATTACK. 203 
 
 Bay of Moons, walking down the canon of 
 the Rancho Intermedio, or Middle Ranch. 
 "As I am the eldest son I am called 
 Tomear, and when he dies I shall be chief. 
 My father is an old man ; he can no longer 
 fight. But when I am chief " 
 
 " What then ? " asked Arturo. 
 
 " What would you do, Don Arturo," 
 replied Torqua, stopping at a dwarf oak to 
 pick the acorns, " in your country if a 
 strange people came, trying to make you a 
 slave, trying to make you work, killing 
 those who would not, poisoning some, set- 
 ting others mad with a fiery drink, throw- 
 ing down your gods and temples ? " 
 
 " I would drive them out," replied Arturo. 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed Torqua. " That is 
 what I tell my people to do to your 
 King. He sends his soldiers here ; they 
 kill us, they ruin our homes, they make 
 us work and build temples, missions to 
 their gods. This is my country, the land 
 of my people, Senor/' added Torqua, ap- 
 pealing to Senor Delagoa, "and it always 
 has been. We were happy people, con- 
 tented, until the Spaniards came. What 
 
204 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 right have they to it? They say they 
 wish to save us, but it is our land they 
 want. They take that in the King's name ; 
 but when I am chief, no more of my people 
 will be taken from Pimug-na to build up 
 adobe temples to the Spanish gods: no 
 more Pimug-nas will be slaves. They may 
 carry us over, but we will be dead." 
 
 " Brava, Torqua ! " cried Captain Hur- 
 taldo, " I am one of the King's soldiers, but 
 there is no one to hear my treason ; and 
 were I you, I would fight for my home. 
 The King has the divine right of kings, of 
 conquest, but I have often doubted the jus- 
 tice of it." 
 
 " And I," interrupted Inez, " believe it 
 is an outrage, if what Torqua says is true." 
 
 u It is true, Senorita," said Eaphael, " I 
 know it." 
 
 " Yes,"it is true, Senorita," repeated Tor- 
 qua, turning his dark and expressive eyes 
 to the smoke rising from Suanga 1 and the. 
 distant range where the snow cap of Mount 
 Santiago marked the land of the mission. 
 
 1 Suangd was a populous Indian village as late as 1780 
 to 1800, on the present site of Wilmington, near San 
 Pedro. 
 
THE ATTACK. 205 
 
 " If I told you all that the white soldiers do 
 to my people you would not believe it ; you 
 would think Torqua a zizu (devil) ; but it 
 is true true. Qua-o-ar (God) will avenge 
 us. Y-yo-ha-niv-gnma (that which gives 
 life) will destroy our enemies. Our peo- 
 ple are weak, our best warriors have been 
 forced from the island to the mission, given 
 poison (rum) which makes them mad. Be- 
 fore they carried me to the mission/' con- 
 tinued Torqua, " I tried to make my people 
 fight the Spaniards, but the Shaman 1 (medi- 
 cine man, rain-maker) told me to wait. He 
 had listened and the ears (leaves) of the 
 trees told him that the temple of the Padres 
 
 1 The prophecy of the Shaman seems to have been 
 fulfilled. In 1812 the Mission of San Juan Capistrano 
 was ruined by an earthquake, thrown to the ground, 
 killing many people. At the time of the discovery of 
 Southern California by Cabrillo, 1542, there was a large 
 and vigorous population on the mainland. All the 
 islands, San Clemente, San Xicolas, Santa Catalina, 
 Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, Anacapa, were in- 
 habited by Indians, but the incoming of the Spaniards 
 resulted in their almost complete extinction. In the 
 nineteenth century the Spaniards were deposed, and 
 to-day the Southern California Indians are almost a 
 memory; while with the exception of a few the fine mis- 
 sions mainly built and supported by Indian labor are in 
 ruins. 
 
206 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 would be thrown down by Chinigchinich ; 
 that the Spaniards would take the land, our 
 people would be driven into the sea, blown 
 away as the leaves of the forest, but," and 
 Torqua's face lightened, " the time of the 
 Spaniards would come. They would lose the 
 land they stole from us, be destroyed and 
 fade away like fog clouds before the sun." 
 The volatile Torqua was easily diverted. 
 In the midst of his oration a fox crossed 
 their path, and he dashed after it. It ran 
 directly down the trail, shaking its fine 
 brush, Torqua after it, running like a 
 deer, gaining step by step, foot by foot. 
 The boys were left far behind by this hu- 
 man antelope, who with a marvellous dash 
 of speed caught up w r ith the little animal, 
 stooped, seized it by the tail, and tossed it 
 dexterously into the air. As it came down 
 he caught it, and running back said, " A 
 favorite (pet) for the ' white otter/" hold- 
 ing out the fox to Inez, which, strangely 
 enough, did not attempt to bite. But she 
 could not be induced to carry it, so Torqua 
 slung it upon his shoulder and strode along, 
 the long brush of the fox streaming down 
 
THE ATTACK. 207 
 
 his naked back, its sharp nose by his face, 
 occasionally growling very fiercely. 
 
 By midday they had reached the cave, 
 where Inez was left while the rest went 
 down to the canon beach to look at the 
 boat and make plans for joining it. 
 
 " You must know, boys," said Senor 
 Delagoa, as they walked down the divide, 
 " that there was a vast treasure on the gal- 
 leon. You saved it, and, as the wreckers, 
 the larger portion is yours, so you are not 
 going back to Spain without means." 
 
 This Senor Delagoa illustrated when they 
 reached the beach. He dug up one of the 
 chests they had brought in on the raft, 
 pried open the cover, and exposed roll after 
 roll of doubloons, an immense treasure. 
 
 " Here we might use them for sinkers to 
 our fishing lines," said Raphael ; " that 's 
 all the good they could do us." 
 
 " Or for bullets to our guns," added Cap- 
 tain Hurtaldo. 
 
 " We will use them in Spain yet," said 
 Senor Delagoa, covering them up, tossing 
 one to Torqua with the suggestion that he 
 bore a hole in it and use it as a bead, Tor- 
 
208 THE ADVENTURES OF TOEQUA. 
 
 qua's neck being adorned with various ob- 
 jects, one of bis few savage weaknesses. 
 
 Tbey found the parts of the boat in good 
 condition, and Captain Hurtaldo, who was 
 familiar with the building of galleons and 
 packets, superintended the work. They 
 found the keel in several pieces and laid it 
 near the water, then with the aid of the 
 tools from the carpenter's boxes fitted 
 the ribs, and by hard and constant labor 
 in three or four days had the hull of 
 a vessel of forty feet in length in shape. 
 The laying of the planks was the most 
 difficult work to manage, as they were not 
 practical workmen. Some days Inez came 
 to the beach and watched them, and a 
 tent of canvas was rigged up to shelter 
 her from the strong wind which came in 
 every afternoon. At last the hull was 
 complete, but Arturo announced that there 
 was no oakum, and without that the craft 
 was like a sieve. The boat builders were 
 disconcerted. 
 
 " Why not plug it with this tar that 
 washes ashore?" asked Inez. 
 
 "You have a better head than any of 
 
THE ATTACK. 209 
 
 us," said her father, and every one began 
 hunting for tar or asphaltum, which per- 
 haps came up from submarine springs and 
 washed ashore. 
 
 In a few days they had collected a large 
 quantity from the rocks ; then Captain 
 Hurtaldo suggested that they unravel some 
 of the old ropes and make oakum, but Tor- 
 qua, after watching the operation, asked : 
 
 " Why not take the oakum out of the 
 seams of the wrecked galleon ? " 
 
 The simplicity of this solution of the 
 question made them all laugh, and, jump- 
 ing into the canoe, the boys paddled to the 
 galleon, which still hung in the cleft of the 
 rocks. The sun had warped an<J opened 
 her seams so that they yawned widely, and 
 it was a simple matter to pull out the long 
 ropes of tarred oakum, which was carried 
 back and the work of calking begun. The 
 vessel was rigged for two masts, which they 
 stepped without difficulty, and gradually 
 added the rigging, until she stood on the 
 sands complete, ready for launching. 
 
 "She needs but one thing," said Senor 
 
 Delagoa, " a name." 
 
 u 
 
210 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " Nombre ? " cried Torqua ; " what you 
 call nutra blanca ? " Then he struggled 
 with a medley of Indian words, meaning 
 that he would name her the " White Otter," 
 after Inez, who blushed with pleasure as 
 the others cheered at the christening. 
 
 " If we had some white paint we might 
 make her look like a white otter," said 
 Arturo. 
 
 " Plenty of it," replied Captain Hurtaldo. 
 " I found a keg of white lead and there is 
 a barrel of oil, and even brushes. The 
 galleon, you must remember, was well 
 equipped." 
 
 In two days more the " White Otter " 
 was painted, and a trim little craft she was. 
 Inez had made her a pennant of bunting, 
 and one of the ship's small bronze car- 
 ronades was mounted forward, which gave 
 her a trim and warlike appearance. 
 
 The facts regarding the wreck had long' 
 ago readied the dwellers in the various 
 rancherias of the island, and the galleon 
 had been visited by nearly all the natives, 
 while parties daily stopped at the beach to 
 watch the building of a ship ; and despite 
 
THE ATTACK. 211 
 
 the information provided by Torqua, who 
 was basking in the reflected light of the 
 white men, they could not understand how 
 the chichinabro (reasonable beings), as they 
 called the Spaniards, could find pieces to 
 fit so closely or how they built the vessel 
 so rapidly ; nor could Torqua make them 
 understand that she had been made across 
 the seas, taken apart, and was now being 
 put together. They merely looked on with 
 amazement, crying, " Cabatcho ! " " Cabat- 
 cho ! " meaning that it was of fine appearance. 
 Finally the " White Otter " was com- 
 pletely rigged, even to two small boats, 
 which, though much damaged in the 
 wreck, had been repaired. It was found 
 impossible to launch her without help, so 
 Torqua summoned thirty or forty men 
 from the neighboring rancheria of Toybi- 
 pet, and at ebb tide they began to dig a 
 trench about her. Then a line was run 
 out astern and anchored, and as the tide 
 rose, natives on the deck hauled, with much 
 shouting and screaming, and suddenly the 
 vessel moved and floated quietly out and 
 was anchored off shore. 
 
212 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 As the time came for leaving the island 
 the boys did not cease trying to induce 
 Torqua to go with them, and one day he 
 consented to go down the coast, taking two 
 or three of his people who were good canoe- 
 men. They were to be given the " White 
 Otter/' and to return on her. Torqua soon 
 selected his men, tall, robust fellows, and 
 Senor Delagoa taught them the use of arms, 
 gave them clothes to wear in the cold 
 weather at sea, and offered to pay them in 
 advance from the supply of gold. But they 
 preferred other things ; a mirror, a tin dish, 
 an iron spade, and other objects were se- 
 lected by them and the gold refused. 
 
 " We have gold and silver in the canons ; 
 all we have to do is to dig it out," said one 
 native to Torqua, who translated it. " But 
 it is too soft ; iron is hard." 
 
 The vessel was taken out every day until 
 they became thoroughly familiar with her, 
 and she proved both fast and seaworthy. 
 Then the loading for the trip began. The 
 treasure was stowed in the hold, one large 
 water hogshead was taken from the galleon, 
 filled and loaded, and the ship's stores of 
 
THE ATTACK. 213 
 
 meal, hard bread, rice, coffee, sugar, and 
 other articles drawn upon. The store of 
 dried goat's meat, of which the boys had 
 accumulated a large amount, was packed 
 away, and every object and article taken 
 from the galleon's supply that they could 
 use. Arms were not neglected, and three 
 carronades were added, besides barrels of 
 powder, balls and shot and sheets of lead. 
 Nothing seemed lacking, and one morning 
 Captain Hurtaldo announced that they were 
 prepared for a three months' trip. 
 
 It was decided to sail the following day, 
 and Torqna, Senor Delagoa and his friend, 
 and the boys went up to the cave to bring 
 down some of their possessions, and es- 
 pecially some extra sails which had been 
 used as tents. Inez was left in the beach 
 camp. The men were weary and walked 
 slowly, following the canon, stopping now 
 and then to kill a partridge or to collect 
 acorns or wild cherries. Keaching the cave 
 at midday when the heat was intense, they 
 decided to wait until the cool breeze of the 
 afternoon before returning. So folding up 
 the canvas, they lay down and took their 
 
214 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 last siesta in the cave that had so often 
 given them shelter. How long they slept 
 they knew not, but suddenly Torqua awoke 
 and sat up in a listening attitude, then 
 sprang to his feet and ran out. 
 
 "What is it, Torqua?" said Arturo 
 drowsily. 
 
 " I heard a cry/* said Torqua ; then he 
 continued, " Do you not hear it ? " 
 
 The boys ran quickly out, and in a few 
 seconds heard a distant cry. 
 
 " It is the messenger ! " cried Torqua, 
 leaping to the rocks and climbing upward, 
 followed by the boys. " When there is 
 trouble, war or enemies, my father, the 
 chief, sends out a runner who goes from 
 one rancheria to the other, warning the 
 people, telling them to assemble. Here 
 he comes ! " 
 
 At that moment a wild and almost naked 
 figure came up out of the canon, uttering a 
 shrill cry that struck terror to their hearts, 
 a foreboding of evil. He pointed behind 
 him, spoke excitedly to Torqua, and sprang 
 on down the slope, carrying the message to 
 the Bay of Moons. 
 
THE ATTACK. 215 
 
 " The Tshuma," explained Torqua, " from 
 the island far to the north have attacked 
 our people at the rancherias above us. He 
 says there are thirty canoes filled with 
 warriors, and that they have killed many 
 of our people." 
 
 "And Inez alone on the beach!" cried 
 Senor Delagoa. 
 
 The men seized their weapons and 
 climbed the divide, reaching the trail, the 
 easiest to the sea, and, led by Torqua, ran 
 rapidly down. When they reached the 
 fork of the canon they could make out 
 the distant rancheria at the two harbors, 
 and saw a crowd of women and children 
 climbing an adjacent canon, evidently flee- 
 ing from the common enemy. They ran 
 against the strong west wind, Torqua 
 bounding along the narrow and steep trail, 
 leaping and sliding down upon the beach. 
 Torqua was in the lead. He rushed to the 
 tent, threw it open. There was evidence of 
 a struggle ; everything was overturned, the 
 tent cut, the young girl was gone. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE AVENGERS. 
 
 THE members of the little party for a 
 moment said nothing. They were 
 paralyzed with the horror of the situation, 
 and Senor Delagoa raised his hands to his 
 face and turned away, as though to shut 
 out the terrible evidence of his loss. Tor- 
 qua was the first to recover action. 
 
 " They have her. Zizu has led them 
 here. I knew we should have killed him : 
 a snake is better dead ; but we will take 
 her, we will get her back again." 
 
 He sprang over the dunes to the beach ; 
 the sands were marked by scores of bare 
 feet, and at the water's edge were the tell- 
 tale marks of several canoes which had 
 been hauled up. 
 
 " The ' White Otter ' is gone ! " exclaimed 
 Arturo. 
 
THE AVENGERS. 217 
 
 It was too true. There were no signs of 
 the trim vessel, and their hearts sank within 
 them as they realized that pursuit was thus 
 delayed. 
 
 " They could not sail her ; they never 
 saw such a ship," said Torqua. " They must 
 have set her adrift." 
 
 Saying this, he ran down the beach and 
 leaped over the rocks so that he could see 
 beyond the point to the leeward. He then 
 shouted, waved his hands, and disappeared. 
 The others followed, and, climbing the rocks, 
 saw the " White Otter " half a mile down the 
 coast, evidently fast in the kelp bed, and 
 Torqua bounding in her direction. The 
 boys ran after him to a point opposite the 
 vessel. They were not a moment too soon, 
 as the strong west wind was beginning to 
 creep over the glassy water, and in a short 
 time the " White Otter " would have been 
 dashed upon the rocks. Torqua was al- 
 ready aboard, and Arturo and Raphael flung 
 themselves into the water with lusty over- 
 hand strokes, pushed themselves through the 
 kelp, reaching the vessel just as the wind 
 was beginning to force her in. 
 
218 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " Quick, Don Arturo ! " cried Torqua. 
 " She is all right ; take the rope." 
 
 Over went one of the small boats. Tor- 
 qua seized the oars, while Arturo made fast 
 a rope to the end of the bowsprit, then 
 Torqua gave way. The wind was already 
 so strong, coming up like magic, that the 
 water was covered with white caps, but 
 Torqua pulled until the veins stood out 
 upon his face, while the boys unfurled the 
 sail and stood by, ready to hoist as soon as 
 Torqua had hauled the bow off shore. It 
 was a strenuous effort, but the Indian boy 
 won, as he generally did, the bow gradu- 
 ally turning seaward. 
 
 " Once more/' shouted Raphael, " brava, 
 Torqua, brava ! Now up ! Ahoy, up with 
 her ! " and with brave shouts the foresail 
 went clanking up, and bellied out before 
 the now welcome wind. Arturo sprang to 
 the tiller, hauled it hard over, and the little 
 craft gathered way and surged ahead off 
 shore, Torqua leaping aboard as she went, 
 making the boat fast. Now the mainsail, 
 then the jib went spinning up under will- 
 ing, eager hands at the halyards, and the 
 
THE AVENGERS. 219 
 
 " White Otter " went speeding on like a race 
 horse, leaving danger far astern. 
 
 " Not a thing touched," said Arturo, 
 coming out of the cabin. 
 
 " No," said Torqua, " they only cut the 
 rope. They were afraid of her ; thought it 
 was some evil monster." 
 
 The boys made a reach half a mile out, 
 came about on the port tack, and ran into 
 the canon, coming up in the wind, lying to 
 while Torqua rowed in. The sea was so 
 heavy that he could not land, so Senor 
 Delagoa and the Captain threw themselves 
 into the surf and swam out, where Torqua 
 picked them up and carried them aboard. 
 
 " What say you, Torqua," said Senor 
 Delagoa, with an agonized look on his face, 
 " will they kill my daughter ? What shall 
 we do ? What action shall we take ? " 
 
 "No, they will not dare to kill her," 
 replied Torqua. " It is more likely that 
 Zizu has made them steal her for a ransom 
 from the Spaniards. We will take her, but 
 we must go to my people first." 
 
 " Slack off the sheets, Arturo," cried 
 Captain Hurtaldo, who took charge, "so 
 
220 THE ADVENTUKES OF TORQUA. 
 
 we will go like a bird; " and wing and wing, 
 they ran to the south before the gale. 
 
 " My plan," said Torqua, " is to go to 
 the Bay of Moons, where we will find all the 
 fighting men ready to avenge the attack, 
 join them, all go together and make war 
 against the Tshuma. It is of no use to go 
 alone. They would kill us. We beat them 
 once," he added. 
 
 " Then you have been there ? " asked 
 Captain Hurtaldo. 
 
 " No," replied Torqua, " but I see the land 
 in my eye. You see, Captain, in my people 
 every year so many children are taken to 
 be what you call libro (books). To these 
 children the old men repeat the history of 
 their tribe until they never forget it and 
 say it over and over. I was told by my 
 father about the land of the Tshuma, and 
 I can make you a pintura (picture) of the 
 island in the sand." Then finding a piece 
 of canvas and a brush with which they had 
 painted the vessel, Torqua made a crude but 
 effective map of the country of their enemies, 
 the kidnappers. " There are six islands," 
 he said, " twenty leagues to the north, but 
 
THE AVENGERS. 221 
 
 there is a small rock five leagues away ; 
 another, twenty leagues to the west, which 
 the Spaniards call San Nicolas. The people 
 are not friendly to my race. Then twenty 
 leagues to the north a long, slender island 
 of rocks, which the people call Enneeapah 
 (Anacapa) ; then there is a large island 
 called Limun three leagues off, and it is 
 here that the Tshuina live. It is the island 
 the first white man, Cabrillo, a great cap- 
 tain who came here years ago, called Santa 
 Cruz. There are many towns here, Poele, 
 Pisqueno, Patiquilid, Pualnacatup, Pati- 
 quiu, Ninumu, Muoc, Pilidquay, Lilibeque, 
 and Miquesesquelua. The next island is 
 Nicalque, or Santa Rosa, and there are three 
 towns, Nichochi, Coycoy, and Estocoloco. 
 The next island, far to the north, where the 
 great Captain Cabrillo died, is Liquimuymu, 
 or San Miguel. Here are two towns, 
 Zaco and Nimollollo. I can tell the number 
 of warriors and women," said Torqna 
 proudly. " They are poor, lazy, but some- 
 times they fight. It is to Limun that we 
 must go ; there they will take the Senorita 
 to the big town Muoc, there," said Torqua, 
 
222 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQTJA. 
 
 marking the spot on an open bay with his 
 brush. " But if it blows we may overtake 
 them on the way." 
 
 There was nothing then to do, and the 
 party sat in silence as the boat rushed on 
 like a living thing. She passed a great 
 rock with a human face, turned up the 
 island, and there was caught in a calm ; but 
 the boys got into the boat and towed her 
 along by the rookery of' the sea lions. 
 When passing out of the lee they again 
 encountered the breeze, and after a long 
 reach to the east came about and sailed 
 into the quiet Bay of Moons ( Avalon), with 
 its sugarloaf-like rock, its crescent beach, 
 and the huts of the Indians scattered over 
 the sands and amid the cactus that reached 
 back, up the wide water-washed canon. 
 
 All was excitement at the town, and, as 
 the party landed, the warriors were coming 
 down the trail from the different rancherias 
 in the canon mouths along shore where the 
 messengers had stopped, and large canoes 
 were rounding the point, filled with men. 
 The war canoes, some painted white, some 
 red, black, and yellow, a gay flotilla, each 
 
THE AVENGERS. 223 
 
 with a capacity of twenty men, were on the 
 beach, the double-ended paddles in them, 
 and the women were packing provisions, 
 ollas of water, tunas, chia, acorns, and wild 
 cherry ground up into paste, roast grass- 
 hoppers, slabs of dried meat, abalones, 
 squirrels, and birds. The warriors stood 
 about examining their arms, stone clubs, 
 arrows with flint barbs, poisoned with de- 
 coctions made by the Shaman. Some were 
 painted in lurid colors, and all presented a 
 martial and barbaric appearance. Torqua 
 soon learned the details. The enemy had 
 come at night, and, stealing in upon the 
 town at the north end of the island, had 
 killed some of the men and stolen the 
 women. They had come down as far as 
 their canon, and there finding the white 
 man's vessel, had stopped, taking Inez, then 
 starting north. Torqua informed his people 
 that Senor Delagoa offered them a great 
 reward if they rescued his daughter, and 
 in turn learned that every warrior in the 
 island was to join the expedition. 
 
 The best news to the white men came 
 not from Torqua, but from his father, the 
 
224 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 old chief. He addressed his people, told 
 them that he was too old to lead them, and 
 that he handed his club and his head-dress 
 over to Torqua, his eldest son, who was 
 second to none as a hunter, although he had 
 never been to war. While Torqua was a 
 young man, he was a physical giant, tower- 
 ing above nearly all his .people ; and as the 
 old chief made the announcement there 
 was a loud shout, showing that Torqua was 
 already a favorite. Torqua did not speak, 
 but when the noise had stopped he waved 
 aloft the eagle head-dress his father had 
 handed him, and, turning to the wild men 
 crowding about him, cried, with sparkling 
 eyes : 
 
 " Non oyb narik hani ma-agotum tcho-o-onum, 
 miknosho-o?n mongot ? " meaning, literally, 
 " I know you well, my warriors. We will 
 go to fight our enemies together. Are you 
 ready ? " 
 
 In reply they raised their spears and bows 
 and shook them in the air with wild cries, 
 and rushed for their canoes, followed by the 
 women and children, who waded waist-deep 
 into the bay, many swimming after the fleet 
 
THE AVENGERS. 225 
 
 as it moved off. The " White Otter " was 
 presently under way, but as the wind was 
 light, the brilliantly painted canoes passed 
 them, an inspiring sight, replete with 
 savage splendor. There were thirty war 
 canoes, of graceful shapes, holding at least 
 twenty men each, who plied double-bladed 
 paddles, which struck the water with pre- 
 cision, first on one side, then on the other, 
 the warriors uttering a low chant in perfect 
 unison ; an army of six hundred warriors 
 collected in three hours, and Torqua said 
 they would pick up more canoes up the 
 island. So it proved. 
 
 Every canon mouth had its Indian town, 
 village, or home, and out from the little 
 open bays came one or more canoes as the 
 flotilla passed. The canoes kept in shore, 
 but the " White Otter " was obliged to keep 
 off to find the wind, but so rapidly did she 
 sail that they reached the isthmus town 
 ahead of the canoes, joining them as they 
 passed the cave into which Torqua and the 
 boys had dashed months before to escape 
 their enemies. The wind was fresh, and 
 they ran into the isthmus at the head of 
 
 15 
 
226 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the fleet and, as Torqua had said, found 
 several more canoes, in all forming a fleet 
 of forty. The attack of the Tshuma had 
 been made at the next bay beyond at Pa-al 
 Peya-alinge, 1 and as the canoes ran in upon 
 the beach the warriors poured out over it, 
 mingling with their friends. The bodies 
 of the slain were lying on the sand, and the 
 funeral rites were to be held by the army 
 before they left. When everything was 
 ready the natives, and especially the rela- 
 tives of the dead warriors, began to utter 
 shrill cries, lamentations, and groans, the 
 sound being a babel confounded. Grad- 
 ually it merged into a low dirge, more be- 
 fitting such an occasion. The musicians 
 began to play, each being provided with 
 whistles of bone, into which they blew as 
 loudly and shrilly as possible, keeping time 
 by stamping upon the sand. In the crowd 
 Raphael noticed his old friend Tomat the 
 flute player, blowing vigorously upon his 
 deer bone whistle inlaid with pearl. The 
 old man saw him and, stepping forward, 
 
 1 Johnson's Landing now. There is but a large 
 kitchen-midden to represent this town to-day. 
 
THE AVENGERS. 227 
 
 handed him his whistle or flute, whereupon 
 Raphael joined the band of musicians. The 
 rites were, according to Torqua, usually kept 
 up for several days, but as the warriors 
 were going away, the ceremonies were 
 shortened. The knees of the dead were 
 tied to the neck, the head bowed, and the 
 hands lashed to the knees. The bodies 
 were then covered with skins or matting 
 of seaweed and placed in holes in the sand. 
 In the graves the members of the family 
 threw chia seeds, and about the body they 
 placed his mortar, pestle, beads, arrows, 
 spears, flutes, and' other possessions, which 
 were buried with him to be used in the 
 land beyond the grave, thus ending the 
 ceremony. 
 
 Captain Hurtaldo had fortunately loaded 
 the "White Otter" with arms which they 
 had taken from the armory of the galleon. 
 These consisted of broadswords and spears 
 and flintlock muskets. The latter were of 
 no use to the natives, but the swords and 
 spears delighted them, and Torqua had the 
 satisfaction of seeing fifty of his warriors 
 armed with these formidable weapons, 
 
228 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 which they bore with much pride. An 
 hour later the order was given to leave, 
 and the fleet set sail, led by the " White 
 Otter," which flew along before the breeze. 
 
 Torqua set the course to the north, 
 and they made such headway that they 
 had to repeatedly wait for the canoes, the 
 latter showing themselves fine sea vessels, 
 bounding along with remarkable speed. 
 At sundown they approached a rocky and 
 deserted island, which Torqua told Raphael 
 was never used by the Indians, as there 
 was no water upon it and it had no name 
 (Santa Barbara Rock). Here the fleet 
 rested, making fast to the kelp in the lee, 
 until early the next morning, when they 
 again set sail, the canoes streaming out 
 into the open sea for the long paddle of 
 fifteen leagues. 
 
 The Indians husbanded their strength, yet 
 forced the canoes along at such speed that 
 the fleet in a short time was out of sight 
 of land. Captain Hurtaldo crowded all sail 
 upon the " White Otter " and left the canoe 
 fleet behind, hoping to overtake the enemy ; 
 but as nothing was seen, they lay to and 
 
THE AVENGERS. 229 
 
 waited for the fleet to come up. A heavy 
 sea was now running and some of the long 
 canoes were shipping water, the men bail- 
 ing with abalone shells to keep them clear. 
 All day they paddled, at night keeping 
 closely together. On the second day Ar- 
 turo, who was at the helm, heard a shout 
 from the canoes, and, looking ahead, saw 
 the peaks of a jagged mountain rising from 
 the sea. Torqua came on deck at the 
 sound and pronounced it Enneeapah (Ana- 
 capa), 1 the first of the islands. By midday 
 they were close under the lee and the fleet 
 presently passed through a stupendous arch 
 some distance from the shore, alarming 
 vast numbers of pelicans which were roost- 
 ing on the island and which flew upward, 
 forming a cloud above it. The fleet made 
 for a sandy beach at the upper or north end 
 of Anacapa, where the canoes were beached. 
 Torqua took his white friends upon a high 
 rock and pointed out the island of Limun 
 (Santa Cruz), which could now be seen ris- 
 ing from a dense cloud of fog. It appeared 
 to be a league away, across a channel, 
 
 1 Ever-changing. 
 
230 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 and abounded in mountains which were 
 much more closely covered with trees than 
 Pimug-na, or Santa Catalina. As far as 
 could be seen there were no canoes in sight, 
 and Torqua was of the opinion that the 
 
 Natural Fortress. 
 
 enemy had reached its home port ; so he 
 decided to give his warriors a rest until 
 the following day and then steal upon the 
 towns along shore. 
 
 He went down among his men and gave 
 his instructions to the under chiefs and 
 captains, one of which was in charge of 
 each white canoe. The " White Otter " was 
 
THE AVENGERS. 231 
 
 anchored off shore and long into the night 
 the party discussed the morrow. The white 
 sandy beach was covered with warriors, 
 who looked like sea lions, several rook- 
 eries of which they had passed. 
 
 " Zizu is a coward like the ano (coyote)," 
 said Torqua, throwing a piece of the sail 
 over his legs to keep off the drenching fog 
 which was drifting in, " but he has the 
 cunning of the fox. He will never fight 
 until he is in a corner, but he can direct 
 the rest from some safe place." 
 
 " He is a good general, then," said the 
 Captain, " but a poor fighter." 
 
 Seiior Delagoa was so utterly cast down 
 that he did not speak. His thoughts were 
 continually on his daughter, every moment's 
 delay seemed interminable, and all through 
 the long night he sat thinking, wondering, 
 fearing, listening to the water that rippled 
 around the hull. Torqua was so excited 
 that he slept but little, and early morning 
 found him on the wet deck, looking at his 
 men lying quietly on the sands. As the 
 fog broke to the east and the first rays of 
 the sun caught the water, he thought he 
 
232 THE ADVENTUKES OF TORQUA. 
 
 saw something moving far to the east. 
 As whales were very common in the chan- 
 nel he was not startled, but presently he 
 made out a canoe, then another, stealing 
 out of the fog, then he gave a shrill, reso- 
 nant cry that brought every warrior to his 
 feet. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 
 
 AS the Pimug-nas dashed sleep from 
 their eyes they saw Torqua pointing 
 seaward, and at the sight of the fleet of 
 canoes a wild cry broke from the savage 
 warriors. The canoes were quickly run 
 down to the water, and, leaping to their 
 places, the Indians shoved off. 
 
 The crew of the " White Otter" had not 
 been idle ; the sails were run up, the anchor 
 hoisted with the greatest rapidity, and as a 
 stiff breeze was blowing, she gathered her- 
 self together like a bird and scudded away, 
 Torqua shouting to the chiefs of the canoes 
 to follow him. There was a rocky point 
 to the island at this anchorage, and as 
 the fleet moved out it was evident that 
 the enemy had not observed them. The 
 Tshuma had evidently gone over to the 
 
234 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 mainland shore, following that course, ac- 
 cording to Torqua, to find smooth water, 
 and they were now making a dash across 
 the channel in the quiet of the early morn- 
 ing from the land of the Saqpili and were 
 headed for Limun. 
 
 " How many canoes do you see ? " called 
 out Captain Hurtaldo, who was busy at the 
 carronades, loading them heavily. 
 
 Torqua began to count in the Indian 
 tongue, a difficult matter, as they were 
 bunched. " Paca, exco, rnaseja, scumu, 
 itipaca, itixco, itimasge, malahua, upax, 
 kerxco, kerxco-tomol," he cried, " ten 
 canoes ; others are ahead or behind." 
 
 They were at least half a league off: and 
 that distance nearer Limun, but the enemy 
 had been paddling all night evidently, 
 while Torqua's men were fresh. Torqua 
 headed for Limun to cut them off before 
 they reached it, and his warriors, discover- 
 ing his purpose, sent the canoes dashing 
 along at marvellous speed, the paddles mov- 
 ing like the flails of a windmill, glistening 
 like silver in the sun. When the enemy 
 saw them, instead of stopping to give fight, 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 235 
 
 as the Captain had hoped, they redoubled 
 their efforts and bore off a little, heading 
 for the centre of the island, two leagues 
 distant. 
 
 It was now a question whether the fresh 
 warriors could paddle fast enough to over- 
 take them before they could land. The 
 " White Otter " gained on them rapidly 
 and was not more than a mile behind when 
 they reached the lee of Limun, when she 
 lost the strong wind. The canoes soon 
 caught up and it became a stern chase, 
 though the Pimug-rias had the inside and 
 were slowly but surely gaining. The shore 
 of the island was precipitous to a remark- 
 able degree, near the south point for several 
 miles being an abrupt precipice. The fleet 
 hauled closer and closer in until it was 
 within five hundred feet of the rocky 
 shore. Then a savage shout went up, as 
 it was more than evident that they were 
 going to cut the Tshuma off. 
 
 The cliffs were undermined by caves, into 
 which the water rushed, forcing out the air 
 with a loud roar. These caves were so 
 numerous that it seemed as though the 
 
236 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 entire base of the island was honeycombed, 
 and the repeated roaring from them startled 
 the followers of Torqua. The enemy was 
 evidently trying to reach a village on a 
 little beach something like that of the Bay 
 of Moons, though without protecting capes 
 of rock. On the beach were several canoes, 
 and in a sandy place by the side of a little 
 laguna a village was seen. The " White 
 Otter" had picked up a breeze off shore and 
 was almost within gunshot. The crisp re- 
 port of the Captain's gun now sounded, 
 then the carronade was fired to bring them 
 to, but they did not stop paddling, nor was 
 the pace diminished; but they were being 
 cut off. 
 
 Prevented from landing at the town, 
 they were now making for a rocky cape 
 which projected into the sea, and Torqua, 
 with wild shouts, urged his men on. They 
 passed several small villages on the high 
 slopes, from which came volleys of arrows, 
 doing no damage. The pace had been so 
 vigorous that both fleets were failing in 
 speed. Torqua's party were gaining, but 
 despite all their efforts the enemy reached 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 237 
 
 Capa Diablo, as it was called, first. Here 
 they were met by a violent wind and sea, 
 but they surged on, the "White Otter" now 
 well upon them, but fearing to fire until 
 it could be seen which boat contained the 
 prisoner. 
 
 " If I only knew which boat she was 
 in," groaned the Captain, who had the car- 
 ronade loaded with scattering shot, " I 
 could blow them out of the water." 
 
 " Zizu too sharp for that," said Torqua, 
 who was clinging to the shrouds ; " he 
 keep the Senorita out of sight. He know 
 we will not shoot. Zizu the Temi (cap- 
 tain) sure." 
 
 The wind had increased to half a gale 
 as they approached the point, but suddenly 
 they came upon a protected bay, in which 
 could be seen a huge cave, which Torqua 
 said was Cueva Valdez, with huts on the 
 beach and some high on the sides of the 
 cliff. The enemy had been cut out of this 
 also, although it was the second large 
 town, and Torqua, pointing to his map, 
 said there was still another, a small, 
 perfectly protected bay, and the enemy 
 
238 THE ADVENTURES OF TOKQUA. 
 
 undoubtedly was making for this. They 
 were now paddling with desperation and 
 turning in, but Torqua's fleet skirted the 
 kelp-lined rocks, and were nearing them so 
 rapidly that, seeing that they were beaten 
 away, the Tshuma again bore off, and made 
 directly for the cape. The little bay was 
 passed, a glimpse of its oval-topped huts 
 seen, then the fleet dashed into high seas, 
 which came sweeping around the cape. 
 The enemy could not hold out much longer; 
 they were not three hundred yards distant, 
 when Zizu's fleet turned toward the rocky 
 coast at a sharp angle, at the same time 
 sending a cloud of arrows at the Pimug-nas, 
 with yells of defiance. They reached the 
 still water near the shore, and Torqua, 
 scenting some trick, leaped into a canoe 
 from the " White Otter," which had rounded 
 to, and urged the men on. A huge arch 
 now appeared, a high, black doorway, 
 which apparently led into the base of the 
 mountain. Into this Zizu's forces were 
 crowding in great confusion. The crew of 
 the " White Otter" had seen that she could 
 not go on, so the sails were lowered, the an- 
 
'""-' '"i 'V ' 
 
 gfm 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 239 
 
 chor tossed over, and, taking their arms, the 
 Spaniards sprang into the canoes that sur- 
 rounded them, and with shouts urged the 
 warriors on. Half of Zizu's fleet had 
 mysteriously disappeared, but the rest were 
 crowded together, and into them Torqua's 
 fleet dashed, receiving a shower of arrows. 
 Torqua, who was in the lead, immediately 
 saw that the prisoner was not in the 
 canoes, and, shouting this to his Spanish 
 friends, they fired their flintlocks, while the 
 Pimug-nas sprang into the canoes of their 
 enemies and cut. them down with the Span- 
 ish swords, running down the canoes and 
 throwing the crews into the water. The 
 canoes were now massed together in what 
 appeared to be a great room, 1 whose walls 
 were beautifully colored, and Arturo, Ea- 
 phael, and the rest sprang over them as 
 they would over a bridge. Arturo received 
 an arrow in the arm, but pluckily wrenched 
 it out, and turned in time to strike down a 
 savage, who, while clinging to the side of 
 the canoe, was about to plunge a spear into 
 
 1 Now known as the famous " Painted Cave," of Santa 
 Cruz Island. 
 
240 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Senor Delagoa. The scene and carnage was 
 terrible. The Pimug-nas gave no quarter, 
 expecting none. The stone walls gave back 
 the shrieks and groans of the dying and 
 wounded. Pressing on, they followed into 
 a second room, which was seen to be the 
 entrance to a third huge water cavern. 
 At least half of the enemy's canoes had 
 shot through an opening not much larger 
 than a boat. The end was near. The en- 
 raged Pimug-nas overran the canoes, and in 
 a very short time had slain many of the 
 enemy or beaten them into subjection. 
 
 Torqua now called to his men to return, 
 and the warriors backed their canoes out 
 into the sunlight. The dead and the dying 
 were hauled from the water, and Torqua 
 and the whites gathered for a council of 
 war. Torqua held a prisoner by the arm 
 and questioned him, threatening to kill 
 him if he did not answer. The man said 
 that Zizu was not with them. He had been 
 put ashore at the mainland, but the chief 
 had taken the prisoner to the island of 
 San Nicolas. 
 
 " Are you lying ? " asked Torqua ; then,, 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 241 
 
 turning to one of his Temi (captains) he 
 said, " Take this man and tie him. If we 
 find that he has told the truth, treat him 
 well, release him. If he has lied, kill him." 
 The prisoner appeared to be satisfied 
 with this, hence some concluded that he 
 was telling the truth ; but Torqua and his 
 friends were in a quandary. Torqua would 
 not believe the native, and was in favor of 
 entering the cave, but he knew nothing 
 about it, and it was evident that it could 
 not be accomplished without great loss of 
 life, as the opening was barely large enough 
 for a canoe to squeeze through. At this 
 juncture one of his men, named Tilac, came 
 over the canoes and informed him that he 
 had been in the cave, having years ago 
 been on a trading trip to Limun. Accord- 
 ing to him, there were three rooms, the 
 last the largest, over thirty varas in width 
 and of unknown height, while around the 
 edge at low tide was a ridge. From this 
 cave led smaller ones, only large enough 
 for sea lions, passing far under the island. 
 Five canoes had been destroyed and seventy 
 warriors taken captive or killed, and there 
 
 16 
 
242 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 were, it was estimated, fifty more within. 
 They could be starved out ; but supposing 
 the prisoner was with them? Torqua seized 
 several prisoners, and threatened them with 
 death, but they all told the same story. 
 
 " If we had armor, shields," said Arturo, 
 " we could push canoe after canoe in." 
 
 " I am for making the rush," said Captain 
 Hurtaldo. " I will lead it." 
 
 " I am with you," said Raphael. 
 
 " It is certain death," said Senor Delagoa. 
 " Look ! " 
 
 A wrecked canoe had drifted into range 
 on the swell and a volley of arrows struck 
 it from the narrow orifice. 
 
 "I have a plan," exclaimed Torqua. 
 " We have oil ? " 
 
 " Plenty," replied Raphael, " four or five 
 kegs." 
 
 Torqua called his men off, leaving a 
 guard in the outer room, out of range, and 
 soon had them on shore on the rocks, giving 
 the whites an opportunity to attend to their 
 wounds. While Arturo's arm was bandaged 
 Torqua sent some men up the cliff for brush, 
 and as they threw it down from the top of 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 243 
 
 the precipice he packed it in the bow of a 
 canoe and saturated it with oil. It was 
 dark before this was accomplished. Then 
 Torqua unfolded his plan. He selected 
 fifty men armed with the Spanish swords. 
 
 " You are to follow me. When it is 
 dark outside, it is so dark within the inner 
 room that nothing can be seen. We will 
 dive deep and swim through the entrance 
 under water, one after another, corning up 
 near the edge which Tilac told us about, 
 holding on there ; then when all are in, the 
 oil brush will be lighted and the canoe 
 pushed through the gate by men swimming 
 beneath her in the water. When the fire 
 blazes on the inside of the cave it will be 
 the signal for us to attack, and when those 
 on the outside hear our war cry let them 
 push in and we will take every Tshuma. 
 Ah, if it were only Zizu ! " 
 
 " Brava ! " cried the Spaniards, and the 
 Captain said, " You are a great general, 
 Torqua. I should never have thought out 
 such a scheme." 
 
 Torqua having completed his arrange- 
 ments, a dead silence fell upon the little 
 
244 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 army, and the prisoners who were 'lying on 
 the rocks, bound hand and foot, wondered 
 what move was to be made. Finally Tor- 
 qua, his sharp sword in hand, crept down 
 to the cave, entered the water carefully 
 and swam in, followed by Raphael, who 
 had insisted on accompanying him. Tor- 
 qua's orders were to give him time to 
 reach the interior; then, if no shouts were 
 heard, the next man was to dive, and so on. 
 A group of twenty gathered in the big 
 outside cave and Torqua swam cautiously 
 around the edge, keeping out of range. 
 When he reached the door or entrance he 
 dropped under water and, diving- to the 
 bottom, followed it along for fifteen feet, 
 coming to the surface far on the inside. 
 It was as black as night when he put out 
 his hand to feel for the ridge. It touched 
 a soft, hairy body, then a loud roar rose 
 that absolutely deafened him, a roar which 
 reverberated from side to side as though a 
 hundred guns had been fired ; at the same 
 moment a huge body fell into the water. 
 Torqua immediately sank below the surface, 
 his quick intuition telling him that it was 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 245 
 
 a sea lion. In a few seconds he rose again 
 with his nostrils at the surface like an 
 otter, and listened. He could hear the 
 low, guttural murmur of conversation at 
 the opposite end of the cave and could dis- 
 tinctly hear the lapping of water against 
 a sentinel canoe near him, but the darkness 
 was so intense that nothing could be seen. 
 Presently he felt his arm grasped ; it was 
 Raphael, who now clung to the side ; then 
 followed in turn brave Mokvuit, Posh6-o, 
 Voltu-an6, Polo-ov, Ohu-ute, and many more, 
 who came swimming, diving silently, per- 
 haps to their death. They were aided by 
 the swell which came surging in, creating 
 weird sounds, sucking, puffing, hissing, as 
 the water fell away from caves or filled 
 others, forcing out the air ; and occasionally 
 from some far distant subterranean nook 
 came the hoarse roaring bark of the sea 
 lion ; sounds which added to the terrors 
 of the place and situation. Torqua, sword 
 between his teeth, sank in the water, his 
 nostrils just above it, and felt his way 
 around, as one after another of his picked 
 braves came in, to a submerged ledge, upon 
 
246 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 which he crawled, so reaching the back of 
 the cave. Raphael was by his side, and 
 to these two the moments seemed hours. 
 Not a false note was played in this clever 
 tragedy, this savage game of war that never 
 had its equal in pluck or courage, being car- 
 ried on, perfected, and executed in an ocean 
 cave in the heart of the mountain. They 
 knew that men were coming in constantly, 
 like seals, but they did not know that the 
 entire force had entered until a sudden 
 glare of light shot through the narrow 
 opening and blazed up like an explosion. 
 It was the signal, but every black head 
 floating with nostrils just at the surface, 
 every strong arm clinging to the shining 
 wall, waited for the war cry of Torqua 
 before falling upon the enemy. At the 
 appearance of the light there was an in- 
 stant commotion and the submerged and 
 silent swordsmen could hear the canoes of 
 the enemy moving to the entrance. On 
 came the light, the oil blazing up, illumin- 
 ing the entrance, and as the bow of the 
 canoe appeared the Tshuma leader cried 
 out and a volley of arrows struck it. But 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 
 
 247 
 
 Torqua's men were beneath it and the 
 canoe moved mysteriously on, and then, 
 with a violent push, the swimmers shoved 
 the fire Tomol, or canoe, far into the cave. 
 The effect was marvellous. The light illu- 
 
 The Signal of Fire. 
 
 mined the room and displayed five canoes 
 loaded with men. With a shout Torqua 
 sprang into the one nearest him, and before 
 the astonished Tshumas knew what had 
 happened he was among them, followed by 
 Raphael, and striking them down. On the 
 instant the water appeared to be alive with 
 black, gleaming monsters who climbed into 
 
248 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the canoes, armed with long, fierce knives. 
 The attention of the Tshumas was distracted 
 from the entrance by the attack and through 
 it dashed a canoe, then another. The Tshu- 
 mas fought valiantly, though surprised ; they 
 rallied and tried to beat the men down, 
 who, out of the darkness, crawled and leaped 
 into their canoes. Some they pierced with 
 spears, others were slain with paddles and 
 clubs, but where one Pimug-na was knocked 
 back into the water ten seemed to spring 
 up. Torqua was felled by a blow from a 
 stone club but rallied, and with Raphael 
 and others drove every man into the water 
 from the canoe they had seized. The scene 
 at this time beggared description. The flam- 
 ing oil tinted the surroundings red, and the 
 bodies of the savages gleamed like those of 
 demons, while the groans of the dying and 
 drowning, fierce shouts to rally, and war 
 cries filled the stony chambers with echoes, 
 which bounded back and forth, appalling 
 sounds. Torqua and Raphael, fighting side 
 by side, sprang from canoe to canoe, which 
 now filled the weird room, seemingly im- 
 mune to danger, seeking Donna Inez. See- 
 
THE BATTLE UNDERGROUND. 249 
 
 ing in the midst of a motley throng a chief 
 wearing a head-dress of feathers, Torqua 
 turned in his direction, and the struggling 
 warriors fell apart as these two gladiators 
 came together. The Limun chief was armed 
 with a huge sword of whale rib, while Tor- 
 qua held the small steel blade of the Span- 
 iards. The two eyed one another for a 
 single second, then came the clash of 
 weapons. The ponderous bone sword came 
 whirling through the air, Torqua dodging 
 it cleverly; then rushing in, he, dropping 
 his sword in disdain, hurled the chief down 
 into the boat. The Pimug-na warriors had 
 beaten down those of Limun on every side, 
 and as the chief fell the few remaining 
 flung themselves into the inky water in a 
 final endeavor to escape, and the victors, 
 striking at them with their spears, uttered 
 wild shouts of victory. Senor Delagoa, 
 bleeding from a spear wound that had laid 
 open his cheek, was hauled out of the water 
 by Raphael, where he had been knocked. 
 Crazed by a desire for revenge, he had been 
 a notable factor in the fight, and now he 
 had cut his way over the canoes to Torqua, 
 
250 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 and with sword raised over the prostrate 
 but still struggling chief, demanded his 
 daughter. 
 
 " Let him speak, Torqua," he shouted. 
 "What has he to say?" 
 
 Torqua jerked the chief to his feet, twist- 
 ing a knife from his grasp, repeating the 
 Spaniard's demand. 
 
 " He says she is at San Nicolas," replied 
 Torqua, after a moment. "This must be 
 true ; this is the fourth one to say it. We 
 must search for her there." 
 
 He then gave the order to leave the 
 cave, 1 and out of the dark cavern, whose 
 waters were now dyed with blood, the 
 canoes one by one were pushed by the 
 victorious warriors. 
 
 1 The author entered this room or cave in 1897. When 
 a sea came in the entrance was closed, and the sounds as 
 the surges crossed the great room were appalling to the 
 strongest nerves. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 TO Arturo, who, wounded, had directed 
 the advance from without, the scene 
 following the battle in the ocean cave was 
 a strange one. Men and canoes poured 
 out of the narrow entrance of the cavern 
 like bees from a hive ; some swam, others 
 were dragged from the water ; some came 
 screaming in agony, others shouting their 
 victory, brandishing the weapons of their 
 enemies. Whether his comrades had sur- 
 vived was not known, and Arturo ques- 
 tioned many who came out by signs as to 
 the fate of Torqua and his brother, but the 
 warriors were dazed or crazed by the excite- 
 ment, by the lust of battle. 
 
 Suddenly a battered white canoe shot 
 from the narrow opening and a loud shout 
 went up as Torqua appeared, bleeding from 
 a score of wounds, but erect and defiant. 
 
252 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 With him were Raphael, Seiior Delagoa, 
 and the Captain, all showing evidences of 
 the fierce conflict. Torqua ordered the 
 captains to call their men together, and by 
 the time the sun rose the warriors had 
 loaded the canoes with the wounded and 
 prisoners, and the fleet bore away for the 
 next large town, Cueva Valdez. which stood 
 in the mouth of a, canon where, on the 
 north side of the beach, was a huge cave. 
 The town was a collection of round-topped 
 huts made of brush, supported by whale 
 ribs, and as the warriors ran their canoes 
 in with wild and victorious cries, women 
 and children came out and ran up the 
 canon, the Pimug-nas taking possession and 
 looting the town. Many of the men were 
 badly wounded, the canoes crushed, and 
 Torqua decided to remain a day. 
 
 The Cueva Valdez, 1 was of large dimen- 
 sions and in it most of his men found 
 shelter for the night. Early the following 
 day they sailed down the coast, raiding the 
 towns along shore, landing in strange crev- 
 ices and caves which mark this island as 
 
 1 This cave is one of the wonders of Santa Cruz Island. 
 
THE RESCUE. 253 
 
 one of the most wonderful of the group. 
 The canoes of the vanquished were not as 
 well made as their own, but they were 
 taken ; many were nearly thirty feet in 
 length, made of pine planks (tablazon), with 
 beam of over four feet. The planks were 
 fastened with deer sinews, the seams plas- 
 tered with asphaltum, some were gaily 
 painted with mineral colors, and the cap- 
 ture made a notable addition to the Pi- 
 mug-na fleet. Into the canoes the warriors 
 loaded the otter, pelican, and deer skins, 
 mortars, pestles, weapons, and everything 
 portable they could take from the deserted 
 towns, and finally at night they skirted the 
 lower end of the island and ran into a 
 little rocky bay, beaching the canoes on 
 the shore, where after a feast of roasted 
 abalones and chia seed, captured from the 
 Tshuma, they established their sentries to 
 prevent surprise, and stretched themselves 
 upon the rocks to sleep. 
 
 While the warriors were resting, the boys 
 took a guard of ten and followed up the 
 canon which led to the interior. An Indian 
 town was built on the sands not far away, 
 
254 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 evidently very old, as was seen from a 
 mound of shells near by. By its side ran 
 a little stream from the canon, forming a 
 laguna, and where the water had cut it 
 away human skeletons which had been 
 buried here long ago were seen. One had 
 a flat stone over it on which were many 
 straight marks. The canon led gradually 
 upward and was filled with fine oaks and 
 other trees, and after two miles opened up 
 into a little valley which seemed to be sur- 
 rounded by mountains. Here were many 
 huts which had evidently been deserted at 
 their approach, the Indians taking to the 
 hills and mountains. Several goats with 
 peculiar horns were seen and shot by the 
 boys to add to their larder. The valley, 
 the deep-wooded canon, the abundant sup- 
 ply of water, showed that the natives of 
 Limun had an ideal home, difficult to reach, 
 surrounded by rough water, but a veritable 
 paradise for savages. 
 
 The following morning, despite the fact 
 that many of the men were stiff from their 
 wounds, Torqua gave orders for the start, 
 and, led by the " White Otter," the fleet bore 
 
THE RESCUE. 255 
 
 away before the wind. All day long they ran, 
 bearing out to sea, as San Nicolas was the 
 most westward of all the islands and ten 
 leagues west of Pimug-na. The wind blew 
 heavily in the afternoon, a long, high sea 
 rolling in, making it a dangerous trip for 
 the gaily painted canoes ; but the crews 
 were natural seamen, skilled in the work, 
 and beyond a few seas shipped, nothing 
 happened to dampen their ardor. Night 
 came on and the moon rose full and bright. 
 Captain Hurtaldo had shortened sail, not to 
 run away from the fleet, when, without 
 warning, she seemed to slide up upon 
 something and heel over, almost capsizing. 
 Arturo and Senor Delagoa, who were sleep- 
 ing below, rushed on deck to find her list- 
 ing heavily and literally surrounded by a 
 school of whales. The canoes also stopped, 
 fearing to proceed. The huge animals rose 
 beneath them, rubbed their backs upon the 
 keels, spouting vapor over the fleet in a 
 most offensive manner, to the demoraliza- 
 tion of the men. One cetacean almost 
 threw the " White Otter" over by scraping 
 along beneath her, and the crew expected 
 
256 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 every moment to feel the heavy tail of the 
 monster ; but the whales seemed merely 
 actuated by a desire to play with the boats. 
 So friendly was one that the Captain de- 
 cided that something must be done, so he 
 fired one of the carronades, the sound effec- 
 tively driving away the unwelcome visitors. 
 
 Early in the morning those on the sailing 
 vessel sighted a low island with several 
 peaks, capped by a black wind cloud. 
 That it was the home of the wind gods 
 soon became evident, the wind rising and 
 blowing out of a clear sky. The Captain 
 ran up to the fleet and Torqua gave his 
 orders for ten canoes to land at the corral 
 harbor at the north, while he with others 
 would sail to the south spit. x\fter landing 
 they were to march up and down and meet, 
 examining every portion of the island. 
 
 " Not more than three hundred men on 
 San Nicolas," said Torqua. " Too cold ; 
 too much wind ; too much stones blow in 
 the air. My people say when very bad 
 man die he goes to San Nicolas, live in the 
 sand." 
 
 The wind blew furiously, and on the 
 
THE EESCUE. 257 
 
 outer point a terrific sea was pounding 
 upon the rocks, while the entire island 
 seemed to be exposed to the surf. There 
 was but one landing at the north end, called 
 the corral, a small enclosure in the rocks. 
 Before this was reached the natives were 
 seen on the sand about huts of brush. 
 
 The appearance of the fleet caused no 
 little excitement, and women and children 
 were seen running up over the sand dunes, 
 seeking shelter in the interior. The fleet 
 followed the kelp line and stopped at the 
 stone corral, which was in the lee and 
 which showed a narrow entrance, through 
 which the canoes passed, the paddlers leap- 
 ing into the water as they struck the beach, 
 lifting the boats high upon the sands. Tor- 
 qua waited until ten canoes had landed, 
 then observing that they were not molested, 
 that the enemy had fled, he bore away to 
 the south, followed by the remainder of the 
 fleet, keeping in the lee as much as possible. 
 After running four miles they came to a 
 long, sandy spit upon which were numerous 
 huts, and rounding this saw a small cove 
 or beach upon which a number of canoes 
 
 17 
 
258 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 were hauled. There was a heavy cross sea 
 running here, and, having anchored the 
 " White Otter," Torqua and his companions 
 boarded canoes and paddled for the beach. 
 So eager were the men to land that one canoe 
 was overturned and rolled over and over in 
 the surf, but the rest waited their opportunity 
 and landed in safety, the men always leap- 
 ing overboard and carrying the canoes above 
 high-water mark. 
 
 Torqua at once formed his men in a long 
 line, stretching out to cover the width of 
 the entire island. When they reached the 
 mesa, which was perhaps one hundred feet 
 above the ocean, they found themselves on 
 the level floor of a desert several miles in 
 extent, covered with limestone and sand 
 which had evidently been blown hither and 
 yon by the wind. Torqua gave the command 
 to march and his men moved on, eagerly 
 looking for signs of the enemy. Arturo ran 
 out upon the beach and examined the 
 whalebone huts, but found them vacant. 
 Everywhere along the shore where the war- 
 riors marched there were evidences of an- 
 cient human occupation; vast mounds of 
 
THE RESCUE. 259 
 
 shell l covered with piles of very large aba- 
 lone shells ; human skeletons, grinning 
 skulls, bones from graves evidently uncov- 
 ered by the winds that swept the sand 
 dunes, tossing them about in ever-shifting 
 forms. As they moved up the centre of 
 the island it grew broader, the east coast 
 being worn into the most fantastic canons, 
 winding down to the lower beach, cut and 
 worn by the wind into marvellous shapes, 
 so remarkable that the Spaniards could 
 scarcely believe that human hands had not 
 been the agents at work. All the canons 
 and gateways from the mesa down to the 
 sea were carefully examined as the warriors 
 marched on, but not a human being was found, 
 though everywhere some evidence of their 
 presence, in stone mortars, clubs, pestles, and 
 a variety of objects of Indian manufacture, 
 was visible. It was a singular spectacle, the 
 warriors, twenty or thirty feet apart, extend- 
 ing as far as the eye could reach in a sinu- 
 ous bending line. Nothing could escape 
 their scrutiny, and from the opposite direc- 
 
 1 These were to be seen at the time of the author's 
 visit, 1897. 
 
260 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 tion marched the rest of the army. They 
 soon passed the mesa, coming to a more 
 broken region and finally to the shore line, 
 on which was a vast mound or shell heap, 
 surmounted by numbers of beehive huts, 
 and about them they could see a crowd of 
 natives. Torqua's men raised a war cry at 
 the sight and rushed on, still preserving 
 their line, but closing in. A deep canon in- 
 tervened, and down into it, over steep sandy 
 sides, they plunged, finding it filled with 
 strange stone trunks, seemingly of trees. Ar- 
 turoand Captain Hurtaldo were sliding down 
 the canon side on a miniature avalanche, 
 when they saw an Indian on the opposite 
 side clinging to the rocks, then heard a cry, 
 and out of a cave in the yellow sandstone 
 not three hundred feet away came a famil- 
 iar figure, screaming, crying, sliding down 
 the slope. It was Inez, and, breathless, 
 weeping from joy and excitement, she liter- 
 ally rolled down the steep, sliding into the 
 arms of her friends. Senor Delagoa was 
 on the left of the line, making a charge on 
 the village, and the first question asked by 
 Inez was, "Where is my father?" Then 
 
THE RESCUE. 261 
 
 she turned and pointed to the cave, utter- 
 ing the word, " Zizu." 
 
 Arturo caught the name amid the tur- 
 moil and cries and dashed up the side of 
 the canon. The wind had evidently eaten 
 it out into small caves, and behind a huge 
 shelving yellow rock, upon which in red 
 paint was emblazoned the strange pictorial 
 welcome of the savages, he found the 
 entrance to a cave, and far in the corner, 
 huddled in a heap, lay trembling Zizu, whom 
 he dragged out, kicked, and rolled down the 
 slope like some offensive animal, where he 
 was seized and tied, with great difficulty 
 being saved from the stone clubs of the 
 infuriated natives by Arturo. 
 
 Torqua had well timed the advance of his 
 forces, as, when the party under him charged 
 the village, loud shouts were heard and up 
 from another canon to the north came 
 the other party. The San Nicolas savages 
 were surrounded. They made a brave stand, 
 sending their arrows into Torqua's men 
 with some effect ; then they turned and 
 were literally overrun, driven up the sandy 
 canons and like foxes run to earth. Senor 
 
262 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Delagoa soon heard the good news, and 
 Torqua's eyes blazed as he saw father and 
 daughter embracing, once more reunited ; 
 blazed in another way as he saw his old 
 enemy, Zizu, lying on the sand, bound hand 
 and foot, like a rabid ano or coyote. 
 
 While the warriors were looting the huts 
 and taking possession of the valuables of 
 the San Nicolas Indians, the little party of 
 whites gathered about Inez and listened to 
 her story. She said that while they were 
 away a party led by Zizu rushed in upon 
 her, and by signs asked where Torqua and 
 his friends were. She did not reply, so 
 Zizu seized her and forced her along down 
 the beach, placed her in the canoe, and threw 
 a mat of kelp over her. Soon after the 
 fleet put to sea, part going toward the 
 mainland with a message to the mission, 
 while Zizu headed for San Nicolas, as being 
 the most out-of-the-way location, intending 
 to hold her for a ransom. Zizu, after mak- 
 ing arrangements for the care of Inez with 
 the people of San Nicolas, was going to the 
 mainland, presumably to offer to rescue the 
 young girl, with the expectation of a large 
 
THE RESCUE. 263 
 
 reward from the Spaniards, but the coming 
 of the fleet had frustrated his plans, and, as 
 a last resort, he attempted to hide her in 
 the cave. But the cleverness of Torqua in 
 covering the entire island with his warriors 
 had prevented this. Again Zizu was out- 
 witted, and that he expected little or no 
 mercy was evident by his terror. 
 
CHAPTER XXTI. 
 
 WING AND WING. 
 
 TORQUA'S description of the wind gods 
 of San Nicolas was not exaggerated. 
 As night came on they raised a vigorous 
 protest. The wind rose and the little party 
 on the great shell mound sought shelter, 
 first in one of the native huts, then, driven 
 out by the vile odors, took refuge in the 
 hollow of a sand dune. The sea piled in 
 upon the rocks as though determined to 
 rend them asunder, great clouds of spray 
 swept through the air far inland, and the 
 sand by the dunes writhed like the skin of 
 some huge monster and before the blast 
 rose in the air like clouds, shutting out 
 the mountains, which seemed to melt away 
 before it. 
 
 The men had piled up timber from the 
 beach and sat beside the roaring fire talk- 
 
COAST LINE OF SAN NICOLAS ISLAND. 
 
WING AND WING. 265 
 
 ing and exchanging experiences far into the 
 night, Seiior Delagoa holding his daughter's 
 hand, the young men vying with each other 
 in attentions to her, while Torqua silently 
 gazed into the fire, proud of the compli- 
 ments and praise which fell to his share, 
 particularly the earnest and often-repeated 
 thanks of the young girl, who now learned 
 that Torqua, now the chief of Pimug-na, 
 was her rescuer. The wind roared fiercely 
 over the dunes, sending the sparks from the 
 fire high into the air. Far down the big 
 mound could be seen the camp fires of the 
 Pimug-nas, who were celebrating their vic- 
 tory by strange ceremonies and dances. 
 
 " It is evident," said Seiior Delagoa to the 
 boys, " that you are in danger. By this time 
 the Captain General of the Mission Presidio 
 has been informed that you and Torqua 
 escaped, and it will be his plain duty to 
 search the islands and capture you and 
 carry out his orders ; but I am confident 
 that with you in Spain I can, with certain 
 influence at my command, unravel the 
 skein and see you justified, so I advise that 
 we lose no time, but set sail at once, as by 
 
266 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 the first packet south the news of your de- 
 parture will be reported. I shall not feel 
 safe until I have you on the Atlantic headed 
 for old Spain." 
 
 " We are ready," replied Arturo. 
 
 "Then we will sail to-morrow/' replied 
 Senor Delagoa. "Torqua," he continued, 
 " I will deliver to you for your warriors a 
 sum of money. Tell them where our prop- 
 erty from the wreck is concealed ; it is 
 theirs ; and when I reach San Bias I will 
 see that the next ship north brings them a 
 load of the things which I know they need, 
 clothing and implements. I shall never 
 forget the brave men of Santa Catalina, 
 their valor and courage, and I wish to tell 
 them so. Can you not call- them up ? " 
 
 Torqua sprang to his feet and shouted 
 " Alala ! " which served as a call. As the 
 warriors collected quickly about him, their 
 savage faces and half-naked bodies, illu- 
 mined by the red blaze, presented a fantastic 
 and spectacular appearance. Senor Delagoa 
 made an arenga (address), Torqua acting as 
 interpreter, at the conclusion of which the 
 men shouted their approbation and several 
 
WING AND WING. 267 
 
 of the captains replied to the white chief, 
 all then joining in a smoke. 
 
 It was far into the night, and the deep 
 fog had settled like a pall on the island of 
 the wind gods when the weary members of 
 the expedition fell asleep on the sands, 
 watched by a few sentinels. 
 
 In the early morning they were awak- 
 ened by the blowing sand, and were given 
 an illustration of what the wind gods could 
 accomplish at San Nicolas during the day. 
 The sea rose with marvellous rapidity, and 
 swept the low, rocky shore with waves 
 which seemed to threaten the entire island. 
 So fierce was the gale that the crests of the 
 waves were blown away like clouds. The 
 wind lifted the sand in great coils and 
 wraiths, whirled it upward into the air, driv- 
 ing the Indians into the canons for shelter. 
 As it was impossible to leave, the boys 
 watched the effects of the storm on the vast 
 shell mounds and wandered along the shore 
 of the mysterious island. They witnessed 
 the sand blown from places, exposing skele- 
 tons with their stone mortars, and piles 
 and heaps of abalone shells to cover others, 
 
268 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 and saw how by the action of wind the deep 
 canons of the island were being filled, 
 glaciers of sand. 
 
 A more striking picture of wind-blown 
 desolation they had never dreamed of. 
 Everything about the island was weird and 
 uncanny. On one plain or mesa the ground 
 was covered with small polished pebbles the 
 size of peas, which the wind whisked into 
 the air like chaff. All the canons leading 
 to the sea were like the strange stairways 
 of giants, carved into mystic shapes by the 
 wind. Some of these were so beautiful 
 that it was difficult to believe that it was 
 the carving of nature. Everywhere was 
 found the evidence of ancient life, vast 
 shell mounds capped with shells, graves 
 marked by flat rocks and the ribs of whales, 
 and at one place the skeletons of four or 
 five whales were discovered, which, accord- 
 ing to a native, had been killed and washed 
 ashore by the terrific sea. All along shore 
 the cliffs were cut and eaten down into 
 strange pyramidal shapes. In the sheltered 
 places were great flocks of black cormo- 
 rants, and high in the rocks, away from the 
 
WING AND WING. 269 
 
 sea, were scores of sea lions, driven from 
 their native element by the gale, while here 
 and there diminutive foxes were seen chased 
 by the half -wild dogs of the natives. 
 
 As the Indians wished a sea lion, a hunt 
 was organized and a large bull shot by 
 Raphael. The boys crept upon a herd, 
 which dashed into the sea as they ap- 
 proached, several remaining on the rocks, 
 where, with open mouths, they menaced 
 their enemies, only retreating when they 
 were literally forced away. The warriors 
 dashed out into the water and hauled in 
 the dead sea lion, which, in a short time, 
 they had roasting on the beach. 
 
 " How can any one live in such a wind- 
 swept place, Torqua ? " asked Raphael, 
 loading his gun again as they stood looking 
 at a heap of bones and grinning human 
 skulls near the sea-lion rookery. 
 
 " You think your home in Spain the best, 
 Don Arturo," replied Torqua. " I like 
 Pimug-na, Tshuma like Limun. San Nico- 
 las is a bad place, blow all the time, but it 
 is home to these people ; they like it. Once 
 San Nicolas was a fine island, plenty of 
 
270 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 trees, many people, canoes, towns, and otter 
 skins, long, long ago ; but something 
 happen, and now it blow away. Sometime 
 San Nicolas will blow into the sea." 
 
 The following day, before the sun rose, 
 the wind having gone down, the start was 
 made. Torqua delivered the treasure from 
 the " White Otter " supply to his people 
 and explained that he was going south with 
 his friends the white men, but would return. 
 They were to go to Pimug-na and report to 
 his father, the former chief, their victories. 
 
 " Zizu you will leave," said Torqua. " He 
 has played us false many times, but the 
 White Otter has asked me not to kill him, 
 so we leave him here where the wind blows 
 night and day. He sought the place, let 
 him live in it. See that every canoe is 
 towed away," he cried, "that the dog of an 
 ano cannot escape." 
 
 The people of San Nicolas, finding that 
 they were not to be killed, came down to the 
 beach with their children and wild dogs, 
 and gazed, mute and silent, at the Pimug- 
 nas as they launched their gaily painted 
 canoes, and in consternation when they saw 
 
WING AND WING. 271 
 
 their own canoes to the last one carried off. 
 The " White Otter " weighed anchor, and 
 as she bore away the little party raised a 
 cheer for the brave warriors, who, with 
 sturdy stroke, followed them out into the wild 
 channel. For a while they kept company, 
 then the "White Otter," wing and wing, 
 gained and left them far behind; now they 
 were lost behind a big sea, now poised on a 
 distant crest like birds, then a fog cloud, 
 blown from the wind-swept island, closed 
 in and shut them out forever. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE PATRIOT. 
 
 AS the vessel flew by Pimug-na and its 
 mountains began to disappear in the 
 blue haze, Torqua became silent and op- 
 pressed, and for a long time sat gazing 
 steadfastly at the loved outlines of his 
 home, fast fading, melting away. Suddenly 
 he turned to Senor Delagoa, who had been 
 watching his strong and mobile face, and 
 said : 
 
 "Senor, you have asked me to go to 
 Spain." 
 
 " Yes," said his friend, wondering what 
 was coming. 
 
 " Good ! " continued Torqua, his face as- 
 suming an expression of dignity and even 
 solemnity, " I will go, Senor. You see what 
 my people are. They are children with the 
 stature of men ; they play all day long, 
 when the Spaniard works, thinks. I have 
 
THE PATRIOT. 273 
 
 wondered, Senor, what makes the difference 
 between my people and the Spaniards. 
 You have ships, wealth, money, arms of 
 hard metal ; my people, just as long here, 
 just as old, have nothing ; they know little 
 more than the birds, the squirrel. First I 
 thought the difference was the color. You 
 are white ; we are dark. But it is not that ; 
 it is the ' think,' it is in the head. The 
 Spaniard, the white man, is what you call 
 a pensador (thinker). The Pimug-na thinks 
 with his stomach. When he is hungry his 
 stomach says kill; when his stomach is 
 full, it says sleep. My people are made like 
 the white man inside ; they are brave, they 
 are good warriors ; the only change is, they 
 are dark. I will go to Spain and with my 
 money get the learning that Don Arturo 
 and Don Raphael have told me about, that 
 they have. I will buy my people tilings 
 that the white man has, and I will come 
 back to Pimug-na like a libro (book) and 
 tell my people what I know, show them 
 how to be a great people, so that they will 
 not be slaves, to be locked up in missions 
 and forced to work." 
 
 18 
 
274 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 " Brava ! Torqua, you are a true patriot," 
 cried Captain Hurtaldo impulsively. " You 
 are right, and we will do everything we can 
 for you." 
 
 Torqua was indeed a patriot and a phi- 
 lanthropist. The idea of freedom and lib- 
 erty and the principle that all men were 
 born equal was inherent in 'his heart, strug- 
 gling for expression ; he was a born leader 
 and would be a savior of his people. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the his- 
 tory of the eventful trip. The "White 
 Otter " made the voyage to Mexico and the 
 isthmus in fifty days, being forced to stop 
 along the coast, and a month later the 
 little party was on the way to Spain, 
 arriving there in due course of time. 
 Senor Delagoa was found to be a man of 
 great influence, and he soon unravelled the 
 political plot which had involved and threat- 
 ened the two boys. He learned that the 
 King had not understood the case, and had 
 the satisfaction of seeing Don Arturo and 
 Don Kaphael restored to royal favor, and 
 both given appointments as officers in his 
 Majesty's service as recompense. Torqua 
 
THE PATRIOT. 275 
 
 was supplied with instructors, and, as chief 
 of the Pimug-nas, vassals of Spain, he at- 
 tracted much attention and was accorded 
 the honors due one in his position. Two 
 years later we find him returning to his 
 people, accompanied by Don Raphael and 
 Don Arturo, who were ordered to the presi- 
 dios of San Juan and San Diego. They 
 crossed the isthmus, took a packet bound 
 north, and in due course of time sighted the 
 island of Santa Catalina. Torqua's impa- 
 tience was so great to see his people again 
 that he could not wait for the landing at 
 San Juan, and at his request the packet 
 put in at the Bay of Moons. Bancroft Ubraiy 
 
 There was the familiar sugar-loaf rock, 
 the huts on the beach, but, to their surprise 
 no canoes were seen, no natives swarming 
 on the shore. Perhaps they were in the 
 interior. Torqua could not wait, and, with 
 a soft cloth around him, plunged into the 
 clear waters and swam ashore. As he 
 climbed up the beach a chill struck his 
 heart ; the village was deserted, his father's 
 hut was falling to decay; the sands were 
 strewn with mortars, pestles, and shells ; 
 
276 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 ravens croaked dismally from deserted in- 
 teriors. The Pimug-nas were gone. He 
 walked to the rock upon which was em- 
 blazoned the welcome of his tribe and, 
 leaning over, he read signs that told that 
 his people were gone, but how or where 
 the rock writing did not explain. He en- 
 tered the boat that Don Eaphael and Don 
 Arturo had rowed in, and in silence pointed 
 to .the picture of desolation and decay. 
 
 The same day the packet reached San 
 Juan Capistrano, where their reception was 
 different from that a few years ago when 
 they stole down the caiion to the sea. 
 They were received with all honors, but 
 Tor qua, whose heart had been bursting, over- 
 flowing with joy at the prospect of rejoin- 
 ing his people, his very life and spirits 
 seemed nipped in the bud, and morose, yet 
 quiet and dignified, he walked among the 
 neophytes and Indians, who were collected 
 about the mission apparently under the 
 complete domination of the Padres. From 
 them he soon learned that his people had 
 been brought ashore by force by the zeal- 
 ous Friars and that their individuality had 
 
THE PATRIOT. 277 
 
 been lost by a cunning distribution among 
 the links of the great mission chain that 
 was insidiously creeping along the coast, 
 and at each of which a different dialect was 
 spoken. Torqua resented this with sup- 
 pressed fury and indignation, and began at 
 once a secret movement for the restoration 
 of his race. He found thirty of his bravest 
 warriors at San Juan. Ten were shearing 
 sheep; the young girls, their daughters, 
 were nuns, shut up in an enclosure called 
 a convent. Brave Colco, who led the 
 charge at Limun by his side, was a servant 
 at the table of a Spaniard, who, to amuse 
 his guests at dinner, threw tortillas rolled 
 into balls at Colco and other Indian ser- 
 vants, who were expected to catch them in 
 their teeth like dogs. They were forced to 
 work without pay ; many were confined at 
 night and the most rigorous punishments 
 were inflicted, all being subject to whippings, 
 while the monitors of the church often 
 used goads and lashes at mass to force their 
 attention to the strange gods and images. 
 This and much more roused Torqua to 
 a frenzy, and he began an immediate but 
 
278 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 secret campaign for liberty. He determined 
 to collect his people from every mission and 
 lead them back to Santa Catalina and make 
 them a free nation. 
 
 But Torqua still had enemies. His plan 
 was disclosed, and Zizu, his ancient enemy, 
 
 Mission of San Luis Rey. 
 
 now a spy and worker at the mission, re- 
 ported him to Padre Anmrrio, who caused 
 his arrest for inciting an insurrection, but 
 Arturo and Raphael secured his release. 
 Torqua was a true patriot. He felt that 
 his people had been enslaved, and with 
 a small band he fled and marched over 
 the hills to the Mission of San Luis Rey, 
 
THE PATRIOT. 279 
 
 working at night, hiding during the day. 
 They sent out scouts into the mission at 
 night and found that thirty or forty Pimug- 
 nas were here, but Padres Santiago and 
 Pegri, who with Indian labor had built 
 this fine mission, were notified of Torqua's 
 movement and object, and he was obliged 
 to flee with his little army, going to the 
 Mission of San Antonio de Palo, there find- 
 ing more Pimug-nas. From here Torqua 
 marched his slender following to the Mission 
 of San Gabriel Archangel, where stood the 
 large Indian town of Sibag-na. Here more 
 Pimug-nas joined him, and learning from 
 them that over one hundred of his people 
 had been carried to the Mission of Santa 
 Barbara he marched the little army over 
 the mountains, through the Ojai Valley, 
 little" knowing that they were now looked 
 upon as a menace to the church and fol- 
 lowed by an armed force. Torqua reached 
 Santa Barbara at night, and by his enthu- 
 siasm soon induced his people to join him, 
 and it was decided that the Pimug-nas should 
 take the canoes of the Indians of Xucu l (El 
 
 1 San Buenaventura of to-day. 
 
280 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 Pueblo de las Canoas), a large Indian town. 
 But their plans were frustrated by Padre 
 Oramas, who mustered the troops from the 
 presidio and ordered the Pimug-nas to sur- 
 render. A battle was the result, in which 
 the natives were defeated and driven away. 
 Being poorly armed, their arrows no match 
 for the guns of the Spaniards, they retreated 
 down the coast, followed by constantly aug- 
 mented forces of Spanish soldiers who were 
 ordered to capture them, and quell what 
 was looked upon as a mutiny. Torqua' s 
 forces were decimated in various ways in 
 his long retreat down the shore from Xucu 
 (Ventura), ever hoping to find canoes to 
 take them to their beloved island ; but the 
 Spaniards drove them on, and finally they 
 were surrounded on a high headland, which 
 reached boldly out, the nearest land to 
 Santa Catalina. It happened that Arturo, 
 now a captain, was, much against his will, in 
 charge of the force, and in the final engage- 
 ment he saw Torqua vainly rallying his 
 men, and called to him. But Torqua turned, 
 waved his hand in the air, and ran toward 
 the sea. Thinking that he would escape by 
 
THE PATRIOT. 281 
 
 some hidden trail, the soldiers followed, but 
 Torqua stopped for a moment, standing on 
 the edge of a precipitous rock which was 
 beaten by the waves many feet below. So 
 fierce was the sea here that the waves, strik- 
 ing the wall, rose and sent their spray high 
 up to the mesa. Suspecting that Torqua 
 would not surrender, Arturo ran forward, 
 shouting his name, " Torqua, amigo ! " but 
 Torqua stood like a bronze statue, his eyes 
 bent on the purple outlines of the distant 
 island mountains; and as the Spaniards 
 reached the brink of the awful precipice 
 they saw the white fluffy foam of a mighty 
 breaker rising higher and higher, and as it 
 poised, Torqua plunged down into its very 
 heart and was lost to view in the swirling, 
 seething maelstrom of the black current. 
 The Spanish soldiers drew back speech- 
 less, some in horror at the tragedy, others 
 in admiration of the deed, all believing 
 that Torqua, the bold and chivalrous leader, 
 was lost, crushed upon the jagged teeth-like 
 rocks which lined the shore. All but Ar- 
 turo, who, gazing into that churning sea of 
 foam, fancied he saw a human figure or 
 
282 THE ADVENTURES OF TORQUA. 
 
 was it a sea lion ? rise far beyond the kelp 
 and with vigorous strokes make for the 
 outer sea. Pimug-na was three leagues dis- 
 tant, crouching like some monster on the 
 sea. Could a man swim the distance ? 
 Who knows ? One of the prisoners, Tor- 
 qua's friend, brave Ohu-ute, gazing, as 
 though fascinated, at the swirling waters, 
 cried, " Tiribit par ! " meaning " The water 
 is good, better than the Spaniards," and 
 turned away, joy in his heart, knowing 
 well that the great chief was not lost, and 
 would lead them again. With him, Arturo, 
 and Raphael rested brave Torqua's secret. 
 
The WORLD'S 
 DISCOVERERS 
 
 THE STORY OF BOLD VOYAGES BY BRAVE 
 NAVIGATORS DURING A THOUSAND YEARS 
 
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 Boston Herald (editorial). 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND CO., Publishers 
 254 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 
 
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 Gold Seeking 
 
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 LITTLE, BROWN, ftf COMPANY 
 
 Publishers, 254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON 
 
A Story of the Stirring 
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 Fife and 
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 Oxley 
 
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 Little, Brown, & Co., Publishers, 
 
 254 WASHINGTON 
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STORIES OF THE 
 
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 SCOUTING FOR WASHINGTON 
 
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