History of California | Page 5

and were fairer, with more regular features, than the inhabitants of the mainland, who in southern California were a short, thick-set race, with thick lips, dark brown skin, coarse black hair, and eyes small and shining like jet-black beads. They were poorly clothed in winter; in summer a loin cloth was often all that the men wore, while the children went naked a large part of the year.
With wonderful skill the badly shaped boats were guided safely over the breakers until their bows touched the sand. Then the men leaped out and, half wading, half swimming, pulled them from the water and ran them up on the beach.
The little girls drew near and stood quietly by, waiting to be spoken to. Presently the leading man, who was short, dark, and handsomely dressed in a suit of sealskin ornamented with abalone shell, turned to them.
"Who are these little people?" he asked, in a kind voice.
"We are the children of Cuchuma and Macana," replied Gesnip, working her toes in and out of the soft sand, too shy to look her uncle in the face.
"Children of my sister, Sholoc is glad to see you," said the chief, laying his hand gently on Cleeta's head. "Your mother, is she well?"
"She is well and looking for you these many moons," said Gesnip.
The men at once began unloading the boats. The children watched the process with great interest, Abalone in their shells, a dainty prized then as well as now, fish, yellowtail and bonito, filled to the brim the large baskets which the men slung to their backs, carrying them by means of a strap over the forehead. On their heads they placed ollas, or water jars, of serpentine from quarries which may be seen in Santa Catalina to-day, the marks of the tools of workmen of, that time still in the rocks.
There were also strings of bits of abalone shell which had been punctured and then polished, and these Sholoc hung around his neck.
"Uncle," exclaimed Gesnip, touching one of these strings, "how much money! You have grown rich at Santa Catalina. What will you buy?"
"Buy me a wife, perhaps," was the reply. "I will give two strings for a good wife. Do you know any worth so much?"
"No," said the girl, stoutly. "I don't know any worth two whole strings of abalone. You can get a good wife for much less."
The men, who had succeeded in loading the contents of the boats on their heads and backs, now marched away, in single file, crossing the heavy sand dunes slowly, then mounting the range of foothills beyond. The children followed. Gesnip had her basket bound to her head by a strap round her forehead; but, though her uncle had taken out part of the contents, it was a heavy load for the child.
As they neared the top of the hill, Sholoc, who was ahead, lifted his hand and motioned them to stop.
"Hush," he said softly, "elk." Swiftly the men slipped off their loads and with bows in hand each one crept flat on his belly over the hill crest. Gesnip and Cleeta peeped through the high grass. Below them was a wide plain, dotted with clumps of bushes, and scattered over it they could see a great herd of elk, whose broad, shining antlers waved above the grass and bushes upon which they were feeding.
"Are those elk too?" asked Cleeta, presently, pointing toward the foothills at their left.
"No," replied her sister, "I think those are antelope. I like to see them run. How funny their tails shake. But watch the men; they are going to shoot."
As she spoke, four of the hunters, who had crept well up toward the game, rose to their feet, holding their bows horizontally, not perpendicularly. These weapons, which were made of cedar wood, were about four feet in length, painted at the ends black or dark blue, the middle, which was almost two inches broad, being wrapped with elk sinew. The strings also were of sinew. The quiver which each man carried at his side was made from the skin of a wild cat or of a coyote. A great hunter like Sholoc might make his quiver from the tails of lions he had killed. Projecting from the quiver were the bright-feathered ends of the arrows, which were of reed and were two or three feet long, with points of bone, flint, or obsidian.
The hunters, knowing how hard it was to kill large game, had chosen their arrows carefully, taking those that had obsidian points. Almost at the same moment they let fly their shafts. Three elk leaped into the air. One tumbled over in a somersault which broke one of its antlers, and then lay dead, shot through the heart by Sholoc. Another took a few leaps, but a second