HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 505 



petty governor or collector of customs. Moreover, 

 the principal commercial ports of this coast (Mazatlan 

 and San Bias) are inaccessible to merchant vessels for 

 four months of each year, and during that time are 

 visited only by small coasters. But, with Lower 

 California in our possession, merchant vessels of 

 whatever character, at all seasons and in all winds, 

 can find a refuge in La Paz, and their cargoes 

 despatched in such quantities and to such points of 

 the opposite coast as circumstances may justify. This 

 place in a few years will be what Mazatlan now is, 

 and Mazatlan experience the fate of San Bias and 

 Acapulco. 



The importance, however, of this port results mainly 

 from its geographical position, and the influence it 

 is likely to exert as a military and naval depot upon 

 our commercial interests in the Pacific. The port of 

 San Francisco, in Upper California, should be well 

 fortified, and every care taken to make it a harbor 

 of refuge for our merchant and military marine, in 

 case of a maritime war ; but it must be remembered 

 that that place is nearly fifteen hundred miles from 

 the nearest port of Mexico, and that it is very far 

 north of some of the best whaling grounds in the Paci- 

 fic, and too distant to afford much protection to our 

 commerce with Central America, although its position 

 gives it a controlling influence over the commerce of 

 Sandwich Islands, Upper California, and Oregon. 

 In the same way a well-fortified naval station at La 

 Paz, from its immediate proximity to the coast of 

 Mexico, would have a most beneficial influence on our 

 commercial and whaling interest in this part of the 

 Pacific. The great value, in time of maritime war, 

 of such key points as La Paz, and the commanding 

 43 



