here is an inexhaustible
supply of the finest timber in the world.

Surely British Columbia is a splendid jewel--still rough-hewn and uncut,
it may be, but one which will yet shine forth as one of the brightest
stars in the Imperial diadem.

CHAPTER X.

TUNA FISHING AT AVALON, SANTA CATALINA ISLAND.

I go
To the island-valley of Avilion;
Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
Deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard-lawns
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea.

_The Passing of Arthur._

The lines placed at the head of this chapter are in many ways not
inappropriate to Santa Catalina Island, with its little village of
Avalon, though meadows and lawns are somewhat conspicuous by their
absence.

For there can be little doubt that the name is connected with the
Arthurian legend, and must have been brought to this far-off land by the
early Spanish monks 200 years ago. No doubt the peaceful silence of the
island and the deep blue of the summer sea reminded one of them of some
island in distant Spain, where the great king is still sleeping. To
quote "Fiona McLeod":--

This tradition is found among every European people. Where is
Joyeuse Gard? Some say it is in the isle of Avillion off the
Breton shores; some say it is in Avalon, under the sacred hill of
Glastonbury.

Arthur himself has a sleeping place (for nowhere is he dead, but
sleeps, awaiting a trumpet call) in "a lost land," in Provence, in
Spain, under the waters of the Rhine.

The Californians have fortunately retained many of their beautiful
Spanish names, instead of changing them into Anglo-Saxon vulgarisms. It
is surely far better for a town to be called Los Angeles, Pasadena, or
San Francisco, than Southville or Jacksonville. Coronado beach and El
Plaza del Rey, the playground of the king, are ideal names for a
watering-place.

The island of Catalina lies 24 miles off the coast of California
opposite Los Angelos. About 30 miles long, and situated so as to act as
a barrier against the Pacific swell and the prevailing winds, it forms,
with the opposite coast, a kind of large bay or sheltered piece of
water, which is always smooth. It is only very occasionally in the
winter that a nor'-wester blows into it. It is for this reason, and this
alone, that Catalina is the only place suitable for tuna fishing, though
there