The early Explorers. 237 



tions b}'' personal knowledge of the localities which they de- 

 scribe ; but while giving these great discoverers the fullest credit 

 for surveys unparalleled before or since their time (when all the 

 attendant circumstances are considered), I cannot withhold my 

 admiration for the indomitable courage and perseverance of the 

 older Spanish navigators who, in ill-conditioned and ill-supplied 

 vessels, with crude instruments and methods, and with crews 

 nearly destroyed by scurvy, fought their way from the tropics 

 to the wildest parts of the Alaskan coast regardless of seasons. 

 " Tliere were giants in the earth in those days." 



The records of such of these earlier voyages as have been pub- 

 lished are too short and meager to be of much more value than 

 isolated statements of what was done on given dates ; and the 

 inaccuracy of the observations for the determination of the geo- 

 graphic positions has led manj'- writers to judge that all these 

 men were touched with the spirit of Maldonado, de.Fonte and 

 de Fuca. In comparatively recent controversy, which was un- 

 fortunately marred by national feelings, Cabrillo and Ferrelo have 

 been placed not only at the latitudes which their erroneous in- 

 struments presumably gave, but located on the immediate coast, 

 when they were storm-driven far to seaward, while Drake has, 

 even at this late day, been carried as far north as the island of 

 Vancouver. 



But with the present knowledge of our coast it is possible to 

 locate Ulloa in his heroic struggle north of the gulf of Sebastian 

 Vizcaino ; to track Cabrillo and Ferrelo in their discoveries in 

 the terrific " southeasters " of our mid-winter; to place Drake 

 under cape Ferrelo and Punta de los Reyes, and to fix with cer- 

 tainty the most of Vizcaino's positions. Later than 1603 I have 

 not undertaken identifications in this short paper, except to inci- 

 dentally mention Father Taraval's visit to point Eugenio, and 

 his landing upon Natividad and Cerros islands, which has been 

 so much misapprehended by a recent author. 



The Voyages of Cabrillo and Ferrelo, 154^-^3. 



I was particularly interested in the voyages of Cabrillo and 

 Ferrelo, and in studying their narratives have endeavored to put 

 myself in their places. Understanding the character of the sea- 

 sons and the difficulties of the winds, currents, swell and fogs 

 which they encountered, I have tried to follow them day by 



