MCGEE] THE DIFFICULT ISLANDS 65 



uating tlie vestigial features, erroneous and otherwise, of the Kino map, 

 the Jesuitsof peninsularCaliforniaemployed themselves in reesploratiou 

 of the western coast of the gulf, a particularly productive expedition 

 being that of Padre Ferdinaudo Consag, in 1747. The padre's map rep- 

 resents the western coast in consideiable though much distorted detail, 

 and depicts "1. del Angel de la Guarda" as a greatly elongated body, a 

 third of the way across the gulf from the western coast; next in size is 

 "I. d S. Lorenzo"; then come " I. d S. esteban " in the middle of the gulf, 

 and in the same transverse line, but quite near the eastern coast, " I. d S. 

 Agustin'', the two being apjjroximately equal in size, while above and 

 about equidistant from them is "I. de S. Pedro", about half so large as 

 either. These, with four smaller islands near the western coast, bear 

 the general designation "Islas de Sal, si puedes", which in this case 

 may be translated "Salt (possibly) islands," though later forms of the 

 name imply a quite different meaning, i. e., "Islands of Get-out-if-(you-) 

 can", or "Getoutif canst".' The eastern coast shows two deep inden- 

 tations named "Tepoca" and "Bahia d S. Juan Bautista" bounding a 

 peninsula corresponding in position to insular Seriland.^ It is evident 

 that the cartography of the eastern coast is based on that of Kino, that 

 the island of San Agustin is hypothetic, and that the Lind-mass of 

 Tiburon proper is not separated from the mainland, while Sau Pedro 

 island is apparently the Isla Patos of the i^reseut. The moie general 

 map by Venegas combines details of the Consag, Kino, and other maps; 

 "I. del Angel de la Guarda" is greatly magnified and placed some- 

 what too far northward, while both San Lorenzo and San Esteban are 

 made much larger than "I. San Agustin", which is represented as 

 scarcely larger than "I. de S. Pedro"; the mainland is indented to 



*It seems probable that various early cartographers were misled by the traditional lore of *'saline- 

 ros", or salt-making Indians, in combination with tlie unusual designation of these islands. In his 

 test Padre Consag roniiered the terui ■' Sal-si-puedea", and strongly emphasized the violent tidal cur- 

 rents and consequent dangers to vessels which suggested the vigorously idiomatic designation to 

 early navigators (Venegas. Noticia de la California, ill, p. 145) ; in the Venegas map (ibid., tonio I, p. 1) 

 the name is used without tlie qualifying comma, and in the text it is hyphenated " Sal-si-puedes'", the 

 author observing concerning the local currents, " These currents run with astonishing rapidity, and 

 their noise is equal to that of a large rapid river among rocks: nor do they run only in one direction, 

 but set in many intersected gyral ions " (A Natural and Civil History of California, p. 63). And the 

 "Sacerdote Eeligioso", whose letters place him among the authorities on Lower California, wrote: "In 

 the narrows of the gulf are a multitude of islets, for tlie passage being so dangerous to vessels they are 

 called Sal gipuede^^" (Noticias dela Proviiicia de Californias, Valencia, 1794, ji. 11); while Hardy, who 

 navigated this portion of the gulf early in the present century ( Travels in the Interior of Mexico, London, 

 1829, p. 279), mentioned a passage "between the islands called 'Sal si Puedes' (get bilck if you can)". 

 So, too, Dutiot de Slofras wrote of ' ' les iles de Sal si puedes (Sors si tu peux)" in his Explorations du 

 Territoire de TOriegon, Paris, 1844, p. 219. Bancroft properly reduced the obscure connotive phrase to 

 the single denotive term " Salsipuedes," and noted the signilicatiou as "Get out if thou canst" (North 

 ilexican States, vol. I, ]i. 444). In 18711-1875 Dewey restricted the name to asingle island and a channel, 

 and emphasized the currents in the latter " against whicli sailing vessels found it almost impossible 

 to make any headway " (The West Coast of Mexico, Publication 56, U. S. Hydrographic Oflice, liureau 

 of Navigation, 1880, p. 113), and rendered the name "Sal-si-puedes " in the text, "Sal si puedes " on the 

 charts. Hittell's reference to "tlie group of islands then known as Salsipuedes, the largest of wbicli 

 is now called Tiburon" (History of California, vol. I, p. 2251, doubtless expresses the early use of the 

 terra precisely, save that the present Tiburon was long treated as a part of the mainland, while its 

 names were applied to Isla Tassiie or some other islet. Vide postea, p. 45. 



^Seno de California, etc., in Venegas, Noticia de la California, tomo III, p. 194. 

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