T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
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G IAN T W OLVES OF THE SEA
T he killer w hale usually travels and h u n ts in
“ schools” or packs of from three to a dozen or m ore
individuals, according to th e N ational G eographic
M agazine. U nlike m ost w hales, the m em bers of these
schools do not travel in a strag g lin g p arty , b u t swim
sid e by side, th eir m ovem ents as reg u larly tim ed as
those of soldiers.
A reg u larly spaced row of advancing long black fins
sw iftly c u ttin g the u n d u lated surface of th e sea p ro
duces a sin g u larly sin ister effect. T h e evil im pression
is well justified, since killers are the m ost savage and
rem orseless of w hales. T h e jaw s are arm ed w’ith rows
of effective teeth , w ith w hich th e anim als attack and
devour seals and porpoises and even destroy some of
th e larger w’hales.
K illers are like g ian t wolves of th e sea, and th e ir
ferocity strik es te rro r to o th e r w arm -blooded in h a b
ita n ts of the deep. T h e E skim os of the A laskan coast
of Bering sea consider k illers as actual w olves in sea
form . T hey believe th a t in th e early days, w hen the
w’orld was young and m en and anim als could change
th e ir form at will, land wolves often w ent to th e edge
of the shore ice an d changed to k iller w hales, and th e
killers retu rn ed to the edge of th e ice and came o u t as
wolves, to go rav en in g over th e land. Some of th e
natives assure me th a t even today certain wolves and
killers are still endow ed w ith th is pow er an d , on ac
co u n t of th eir m alig n an t character, are m uch feared
by h u n ters.
K illers are know n to swallow small seal and p o r
poises en tire and attack large w hales by te arin g aw ay
th eir fleshy lips and ton g u es. W hen attack in g larg e
prey th ey w ork in packs, w ith all the u n ity and fierce
ness of so m any wolves.
TH E N A M E “C A LIFO R N IA ”
E arly in the 16th cen tu ry th ere was published in
Spain a rom ance entitled “ Las S ergus de E sp la n d ia n .”
T h is w ork told of th e doings of a pagan queen of A m
azons who w ith allies from the “ rig h t hand of th e
In d ie s” assisted in th e attack on C onstantinople, or
S tam boul, as th e T u rk s called it.
T h e nam e of th is A m azonian queen was Calafia and
h er kingdom w hich possessed a w ealth of gold, d ia
m onds and pearls was called C alifornia. It is supposed
th a t the nam e of the queen was derived from “ C a lif,’ ’
th e title of M oham m ed’s successor. In th e rom ance
th e follow ing passage appears:
“ K now th a t on th e rig h t hand of th e Indies there is
an islan d , called C alifornia, very close to th e T e r
restrial P aradise, and it was peopled by black wom en
w ith o u t any m an am ong them , for they lived in th e
fashion of the A m azonia. T h ey were of stro n g an d
h ard y bodies, of ard en t courage and of g reat force.
T heir island was the stro n g est in the w orld, w ith its
steep cliffs and rocky shore. T h e ir arm s were all of
gold and so w as the harn ess of th e w’ild beasts w’hich
they tam ed and rode. P'or in th e w hole island there
was no m etal but gold. T hey lived in caves w rought
out of th e rocks w ith m uch labor. T h ey had m any
ships w ith w’hich they sailed out to other countries to
obtain b o o ty .”
W hen C ortez and De G rijalva, S panish explorers,
in 1534 visited the Pacific coast of N orth A m erica and
discovered th e peninsula of Low’er C alifornia w hich
th e y th o u g h t w’as an island, th ey believed th a t they
were near th e coast of A sia. As they found the
co u n try sim ilar in m any respects to th a t described in
the rom ance— pearls wyere found in th e g u lf along th e
eastern side and th e m o u n tain s yielded gold— th ey
nam ed the land C alifornia.
JU V E N IL E D E L IN Q U E N T S H A R S H L Y TREATED
F re q u e n tly th e stu d e n t of A m erican history finds it
difficult to u n d ersta n d w hy some of th e early colonists
who cam e to Am erica as a place of refuge from unjust
persecution and law s unreasonable restric tin g their re
ligious w orship in th e Old W orld should them selves
have insisted on the enforcem ent of cruelly rigorous
laws and in m any instances have dealt so harshly w’ith
persons of a religious faith different from th eir ow n.
C onnecticut w hich took th e lead in providing for
the education of children had some m erciless law s for
p u n ish in g y o u th fu l evil-doers. P rof. W . B. Bailey of
Y ale, in a pam phlet, “ C hildren Before the C ourts
in C o n n e c tic u t,” issued by th e federal c h ild re n ’s
bureau, tells us about some of these h arsh legal p ro
visions relative to c h ild re n .
T h e code of 1650, re-enacted 22 years later, p ro v id
ed: “ If any child or children aLove 16 years old,
and of sufficient u n d ersta n d in g , shall curse or sm ite
th eir n atural father or m other, h eo r they shall be p u t to
d eath , unless it can be sufficiently testified th a t th e
p aren ts have been very u n ch ristian ly negligent in th e
education of such children or so provoked them by
extrem e and cruel correction th a t they have been
forced th e re u n to to preserve them selves from death or
m aim ing. E x o d u s 21:17; L eviticus 20:9; E x o d u s
2 1 :1 5 .”
I t was fu rth e r provided th a t “ if any man have a
stubborn or rebellious son of sufficient u n d erstan d in g
and years, viz., 16 years of age, w hich will not obey
th e voice of his father or th e voice of his m other, and
th at w hen they have chastened him he will not harken
u nto them ; then m ay his father or m other, being his
n atu ral parents, lay hold on him and b rin g him to the
m agistrates assem bled in co u rt, and testify u n to them ,
th a t th e ir son is stu b b o rn and rebellious and w’ill not
obey th e ir voice and chastisem ent, but lives in su n d ry
notorious crim es, such son shall be put to death.
D euteronom y 2 1 :20,21.”