118 VOYAGE OF HECETA AND BODEGA. [1775. 



The exploring vessels, after parting with the San Carlos, doubled 

 Cape Mendocino, and, on the 10th of June, anchored in a small 

 roadstead beyond that promontory, in the latitude of 41 degrees 

 10 minutes. The officers, priests, and a portion of the men, imme- 

 diately landed, and took possession of the country, in the name 

 of their sovereign, with religious solemnities, bestowing upon the 

 harbor the name of Port Trinidad; and they then engaged in 

 repairing their vessels and obtaining a supply of water, which 

 afforded them employment for nine days. 



During this period, the Spaniards held frequent communications 

 with the people of the country, who dwelt principally on the banks 

 of a small stream, named by the navigators Rio de las Tortolas, — 

 Pigeon River, — from the multitude of those birds in its vicinity. 

 The Indians conducted themselves uniformly in the most peace- 

 able manner, and appeared to be, on the whole, an inoffensive and 

 industrious race. They were clothed, for the most part, in skins, 

 and armed with bows and arrows, in the use of which they were 

 very expert; their arrows were, in general, tipped with copper 

 or iron, of which metals they had knives and other implements — 

 whence procured the Spaniards could not learn. No signs of 

 religious feelings, or ceremonies of any kind, could be discovered 

 among them, unless their howling over the bodies of the dead may 

 be considered in that light. 



Having completed their arrangements, Heceta and Bodega sailed 

 from Port Trinidad on the 19th of June, leaving a cross erected 

 near the shore, with an inscription, setting forth the fact of their 

 having visited the place and taken possession of it for their sove- 

 reign : this monument the Indians promised to respect ; and they 

 kept their word, for Vancouver found it there untouched in 1793. 

 The Spaniards considered the discovery of the place important : the 

 harbor being, according to their journals, safe and spacious, and 

 presenting facilities for communication between vessels and the 

 shore ; and the surrounding country fruitful and agreeable. Van- 

 couver, however, gives a much less favorable view of the harbor, 

 which he pronounces to be in no respect a secure retreat for 

 vessels, as it is entirely open to the south-west winds, which blow 

 on that coast with the utmost violence at certain seasons of the 

 year. The other accounts of the Spaniards, respecting the place 

 and its inhabitants, are, in general, confirmed by those of the British 

 navigator. 



The Spaniards, after leaving Port Trinidad, were obliged to keep 



