112 SPANISH COLONIES IN NEW CALIFORNIA. [1774. 



of the dispute. Bucareli, the governor of Buenos Ayres, whose acts 

 had been disavowed by his sovereign, was raised to the high and 

 lucrative post of viceroy of Mexico. 



The issue of this dispute between Great Britain and Spain, served 

 to impress upon the government of the latter power still more 

 strongly, the conviction of the necessity of occupying the vacant 

 coasts and islands of America adjoining its settled provinces. 

 Efforts for this purpose were accordingly made, not only on the 

 coasts of California, but also on those of Texas, of the Mosquito 

 country, and of Patagonia, and were continued, at great expense, 

 though with little effect, until 1779, when they were abandoned, in 

 consequence of the wars excited by the revolution which ended in 

 the independence of the United States. 



The efforts of the Spanish government were, however, specially 

 directed towards the west coasts of North America ; and, in order 

 to give them efficiency, a particular branch of the administration of 

 Mexico was created, under the title of the Marine Department of 

 San Bias, which was charged with the superintendence and ad- 

 vancement of the establishments in that quarter. The port of San 

 Bias, in Mexico, at the entrance of the Californian Gulf, was made 

 the centre of the operations for these purposes : arsenals, ship- 

 yards, and warehouses, were erected there ; all expeditions for the 

 coasts farther north were made from it, and all orders relative to 

 them passed through the chief of the department, who resided at 

 that port. 



In this manner, before 1779, eight establishments were formed, 

 by the Spaniards, on the Pacific coast of America, between the 

 Californian peninsula and Cape Mendocino ; the southernmost of 

 which was San Diego, near the 32d degree of latitude, and the 

 northernmost, San Francisco, on the great bay of the same name, 

 near the 38th. These establishments were, in their character, 

 almost exclusively military and missionary ; being intended solely 

 for the occupation of the country, which it was proposed to effect, 

 as far as possible, by the conversion of the aborigines to the 

 Catholic religion, and to the forms and customs of civilized life. 



The military arrangements were all on the most miserable scale. 

 The forts, some of them dignified with the name of castles, were 

 of mud ; the artillery were a few old pieces, of various sizes, 

 generally ineffective, and the garrisons were all slender : the men 

 were badly armed, badly clothed, and seldom or never exercised, 

 though they were well fed, as the country was covered with cattle, 



