294 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 



the investigations of the expedition, the results of which are given in the present 

 volume. 



Notwithstanding the accounts given of the natives and their habits are often 

 meager and unsatisfactory, it is chiefly to this narrative that the ethnologist must turn 

 for information bearing on the history of the Indians of California prior to the destruc- 

 tive influences of civilization, especially fatal as they appear to have been among these 

 inoffensive tribes. 



The diary throughout presents evidence that the supposed narrator, Ferrel, was 

 a sailor, probably with but little education, and by no means overzealous in gath- 

 ering facts concerning the tribes encountered. Hence, not unnaturally, the events 

 chronicled with most minuteness are the number of leagues sailed each day, the ap- 

 pearance of the coast, depth of water, and direction of the winds; in fact, those matters 

 appealing more particularly to the interest of the mariner, while incidentally appear 

 his observations on the natives and the manner of their reception of the strangers. 

 These, however, when combined are sufficient to enable general deductions of consider- 

 able value to be made. 



The account, in the main, appears to have been intended as a straightforward 

 and honest narration of events, and, although statements occur that it is difficult or 

 even impossible to reconcile with the now known facts, the discrepancies apparently 

 result from a commingling of things seen and accounts imperfectly understood from 

 the Indians, but probably fully believed, and are, perhaps, not greater than was to have 

 been expected from the attending circumstances. As, for instance, when cows and 

 sheep are spoken of, in the course of the narrative, the account must be considered 

 somewhat apocryphal, and attributed to the natural desire of the Spaniards to discover 

 as many good things as possible in the new land, so as to enhance its value as a pos- 

 session of the Spanish Crown. It should be remembered, too, that all the information 

 received from the Indians was obtained wholly by signs — an extremely hazardous 

 method at best, and one peculiarly liable to confuse and mislead the unskilled. 



To present Ferrel's narrative without an attempt to identify and fix with precision 

 the various points visited and named by the Spaniards, was deemed little less than use- 

 less, and accordingly an effort was made in this direction by Dr. H. C. Yarrow and the 

 writer. It was soon perceived that to accomplish this in a satisfactory manner our 

 efforts must be supplemented by the aid of some one who was personally and intimately 

 acquainted with the coast and who also possessed a sufficient degree of nautical knowl- 

 edge to follow the not always perfectly intelligible courses laid down. For this no one 

 could be more fully qualified than Lieut. Commander H. C. Taylor, of the Navy, whose 

 long service on the west coast in connection with the labors of the Coast Survey has 

 made him perfectly familiar with nearly every cape and anchorage from the Columbia 

 River to Cape St. Lucas. Commander Taylor entered with a hearty cooperation into 

 the work, and it is to his aid that the results here given are largely due. 



As discovery and exploration formed important objects of Cabrillo's expedition, 

 the plan followed by the Spaniards naturally was to coast along close enough to land 

 to afford a good view of its nature and capacities. The dangers of an unknown shore, 

 with its rocks and shoals, were fully guarded against by anchoring each night, which 

 course added materially to the closeness of the examination, while the small size of the 

 vessels and the danger of parting company made this precaution doubly necessary. It 



