242 G. Davidson — Nortliwestern Coast of America. 



The Main features of the Discoveries of Cabrillo and Ferrelo. 



The general progress of the two ships may be first briefly 

 stated by mentioning the more easily identified places and then 

 by following their narratives in more or less detail. 



The vessels sailed in company from cape San Lucas, in lati- 

 tude 22° 52', July 6, 1542 ; reached Magdalena bay, in latitude 

 24° 32'', July 13 ; Pequeha bay and point, in latitude 26° 14', 

 July 19 ; port San Bartolome, in latitude 27° 39', August 1 ; 

 Cerros island, in latitude 28° 02', August 5 ; point Canoas, in 

 latitude 29° 25', August 15 ; port San Quentin, in latitude 30° 24', 

 where they took possession of the country, August 21 ; point 

 Santo Tomas, in latitude 31° 33', September 8 ; San Diego bay, 

 in latitude 32° 40', September 28 ; Santa Catalina island, in lati- 

 tude 33° 27', October 7, and San Buenaventura, at the eastern 

 entrance to the Santa Barbara channel, in latitude 34° 17', Oc- 

 tober 10. 



During these three months their progress had been very slow, 

 because the prevailing summer wind was directly ahead, and 

 they must have made many and many a tack to work their 

 clumsy vessels to windward. With the modern vessel of the 

 same size the time would have been less than a month. The 

 weather was favorable, no storms of wind and rain, but gener- 

 ally clear skies, with fogs at night but absent by day. They 

 reached the Santa Barbara channel in the pleasantest part of 

 the year, after the long dry season, and the country apparently 

 much parched. They had ho difficulties with the natives, and 

 we may well suppose that they looked forward with hope and 

 confidence to continued success and the prospect of the discovery 

 of precious metals. At San Buenaventura they established very 

 friendly relations with the populous villages of that vicinity, 

 with the river coming through the mountains on the west and 

 the Santa Clara coming through the broad flat valley to the 

 eastward. They readily obtained food from the natives, and 

 perhaps had no need to draw the seine. 



In their progress through the Santa Barbara channel, they 

 must have been charmed by its beauty and by the friendliness 

 of the natives, for they anchored half a dozen times, Cabrillo 

 says : " They sailed little in several days on account of the too 

 fine weather, and on Wednesday, the eighteenth of said month 

 [October], they arrived at a long point which forms a cape, and 



