1640.1 STORY OF THE VOYAGE OF FONTE. 85 



to the North Pacific, for the purpose of exploring its American 

 coasts, and of intercepting certain vessels which were reported to 

 have been equipped at Boston, in New England, in search of a 

 north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From Callao 

 he proceeded to Cape San Lucas, where he detached a vessel to 

 explore the Californian Gulf; thence, continuing his voyage along 

 the west coast, he passed about two hundred and sixty leagues, in 

 crooked channels, among a collection of islands called by him the 

 Archipelago of St. Lazarus; and beyond them he found, under 

 the 53d degree of latitude, the mouth of a great river, which he 

 named Rio de los Reyes — River of Kings. Having despatched his 

 lieutenant, Bernardo, with one vessel, to trace the coast on the 

 Pacific farther north, he entered the great river, and ascended it 

 north-eastward, to a large lake, called, from the beauty of its 

 shores, Lake Belle, containing many islands, and surrounded by a 

 fine country, the inhabitants of which were kind and hospitable. 

 On the south shore of the lake was the large town of Conasset, 

 where the admiral left his vessels ; thence he proceeded, (in what 

 manner he does not say,) with some of his men, down a river 

 called the Parmentier, flowing from Lake Belle eastward into 

 another lake, to which he gave his own name, and thence, through 

 a passage called the Strait of Ronquillo, in honor of one of his 

 captains, to the sea. 



On entering the sea, the admiral learned, from some Indians, 

 " that, a little way off, lay a great ship, where there had never been 

 one before ; " and, on boarding her, he found only an old man and 

 a youth, who told him that they came from the town called Boston, 

 in New England. On the following day, the captain, named 

 Nicholas Shapley, arrived, with the owner of the ship, Seymour 

 Gibbons, "a fine gentleman, and major-general of the largest 

 colony in New England, called Maltechusetts, ,, between whom and 

 the admiral a struggle of courtesy was begun. The Spanish com- 

 mander had been ordered to make prize of any people seeking for 

 a north-west or a west passage ; but he would look on the Bosto- 

 nians as merchants, trading for skins ; so he made magnificent 

 presents to them all, and, having received, in return, their charts 

 and journals, he went back to his ships, in Lake Belle, and thence, 

 down the Rio de los Reyes, to the sea. 



In the mean time, the lieutenant, Bernardo, had ascended another 

 river, called, by him, Rio de Haro, into a lake named Lake Velasco, 

 situated under the 61st degree of latitude, from which he went, in 



