iS The V O Y 
would probably there wait for him, with a far greater 
Strength than he could now cope with ; for he had at 
this' time but one Ship left, not ftrong, though it was a 
very rich one. All Things therefore conlid'ered, he re- 
folved to go round to the Moluccas., and fo follow tile Courfe 
of the Portuguefe , to get Home by the Cape of Good Hope i 
But, being becalmed, he found it neceiTary to fail more 
Northerly to get a good Wind ; upon which Defign they 
failed at lead 600 Leagues, which was all the Way they 
made from April 16. to June 3. June 5. being got into 
43 0 of North Latitude, they found the Air exceffive cold ; 
and, the further they went, the Severity of the Weather 
was more intolerable : Upon which Score they made to- 
ward the Land, till they came into 38° North Latitude, 
under which Height of the Pole they found a very goodBay, 
and had a favourable Wind to enter the fame. Accord- 
ingly here they had fome Correfpondence with the People 
of the Country, whofe Houfes lay all along upon the Wa- 
ter- fide. They lent the Admiral a Prefent of Leathers, 
andCawis of Net-work, who entertained them with fo much 
Kindnefs and Liberality, that the poor People were infi- 
nitely pleafed. Though the Country be cold, yet they 
fo order the Matter in the framing their Houles, as to live 
out of Danger of ftarving * for they furround them with 
a deep Trench, upon the oiumoft Edge of which they 
raife up great Pieces of Timber, which clofe all together 
at the Top like the Spire of a Steeple ; their Bed is the 
bare Ground, flrewed with Rudies, and their Fire-place in 
the Middle, about which they all he. The Men go naked, 
the Women wear a clofe Garment of Bulrufhes, dreffed 
after the manner of Hemp, which, faftened about their 
Middles, hangs down to their Hips, and upon their 
Shoulders they have 'a Deer’s Skin ; but their very good 
Qualities make Amends for their ordinary Drefs and Figure, 
being extremely dutiful to their Husbands. The Admiral 
had, quickly after, another Prefent from them, which was 
Feathers, and Bags of Tobacco ; a coniiderable Body of 
them waiting upon him at the fame time : They were all 
gathered together at the Top of an Hill, from whence 
their Speaker harangued the Admiral, who lay below in his 
Tent pitched at the Bottom of the Hill : When this was 
ended, they left their Weapons, and came down, offering 
their own Prefents, and, at the fame time, civilly return- 
ins; thefe which the Admiral had made them. All the 
while, the Women who remained above, poffeffed with a 
mad Fury, tore their Hair, and made dreadful Howlings, 
which is the common Mufic at their Sacrifices, fomething 
of which Nature was then folemnizing : But whilft thefe 
above were ferving the Devil, the Men below were better 
employed, attending very diligently to Divine Service, 
then performed in the Admiral’s Tent. Thefe Circum- 
ffances, though trivial in themfelves, are of Confequence 
in affertihg cur firft Difcovery of California. 
14. The News of the Englijh being there, having fpread 
about in the Country, there came Two Ambaffadors to the 
•Admiral, to tell him, that the King was coming to wait upon 
him, and defired a Token of Peace to affure his fafe Con- 
du£t. The Admiral having given this, the whole Train 
began to march towards them, and that in very good and 
graceful Order : In the Front came a very comely Perfon, 
bearing the Sceptre before the King, upon which hung 
Two Crowns, and Three Chains of a very great Length : 
The Crowns were made of Net- work, and artificially 
wrought with Feathers of many Colours, and the Chains 
were made of Bones. Next to the Sceptre-bearer came 
• the King himfelf, a very comely proper Perfon, fhewing 
an Air of Majefty in all his Deportment ; he was fur- 
rounded by a Guard of tall martial-looked Men, who were 
all clad in Skins : Next to thefe came the common People, 
having (to make the finer Shew) painted their Faces, fome 
white, fome black, and fome of other Colours, and all with 
their Arms full of Prefents, even the very Children not 
excepted. The Admiral drew up all his Men in Line of 
Battle, and flood ready to receive them within his Fortifi- 
cations; At fome Diftance from him, the whole Train made 
a Hair, and kept a profound Silence, at which Time the 
Sceptre- bearer made a Speech of half an Hour long: This 
being ended, the fame Officer, of a Speech-maker, became 
s Dancing-mailer, and, at the fame time, (truck up a Song, 
AGES of Ecok I 
in both which he was followed by King, Lords, and com- 
mon People, who came Tinging; and dancing up to the 
Admiral’s Felices. Being all fet down there, ("after fome pre- 
liminary Compliments) the King made a folernn Offer 
of all his whole Kingdom, and its Dependences, to the Ad- 
miral, defiring him to take the Sovereignty upon him ; and 
profeffing, that he himfelf would be his very loyal SubjedL 
And, that this might not feeni to be mere Compliment and 
Pretence, fie did, by the Confent of his Nobles there pre- 
fent, take off the illuftrious Crown of Feathers from his 
own Head, ahd fix it upon the Admiral’s ; and, at the fame 
time, invefting him with the other Enfigns of Royalty, 
did, as much as in him lay, make him King of the Coun- 
try. The Admiral accepted of this new-offered Dignity,, 
as her Majefty’s Reprefentative, in her Name, and for her 
Ufe •, it being probable, that from this Donation* whether 
made in jell or in earned, by thefe Indians , fome real 
Advantages might hereafter redound to the Englijh Nation 
and Xntereft in thole Parts. The common People difperfed 
themfelves up and clown every-where amongft the Admiral’s 
Tents, expreffing an Admiration and Value for the Englijh , 
to the Degree of Madnefs and Profanenefs, coming befofo 
them with Sacrifices, which they pretended to offer with a 
profound Devotion to them, till they, by Force, kept them 
back, expreffing their utmoft Abhorrence of them ; and 
directed them to the Supreme Maker and Preferver of all 
Things, whom alone they ought to honour with religious 
Worfhip. The Admiral and his People travelled to fome 
Diftance up in the Country, which they found to be ex- 
tremely full of Deer, which were large and fat, and very 
often 1000 in a Herd. There was alfo fuch a vaft Plenty 
of Rabbets, that the whole Country feemed to be one intire 
great Warren ; they were of theBignefsofaP^r^ry Coney, 
their Heads like thofe in our Parts, their Feet like a Mole’s, 
and their Tail refembling that of a Rat * under the Chin 
of each Side is faftened a Bag, into which the Creature in- 
jects what Food it gets Abroad, and preferves it for a 
Time of Neceffity. The Fleffi of them is a valuable 
Difh among the Natives, and their Skins afford Robes 
for the King, and all the great Men. The Earth of 
the Country feemed to promife very rich Veins of Gold 
and Silver, there being hardly any digging without throw- 
ing up fome of the Ores of them. The Admiral called it 
Nova Albion , partly in Honour to his own Country, and 
partly from the Profpeft of white Cliffs and Banks, which 
it yields to them that view it from the Sea. At his De- 
parture hence, he fet up a Monument with a large Plate, 
upon which were engraven her Majefty’s Name, Picture, 
Arms, Title to the Country, the Time of their Arrival 
there, and the Admiral’s own Name. In this Country the 
Spaniards had never fet Footing, nor did they ever difeo- 
ver the Land by many Degrees to the Southward of this 
Place. 
15. Sailing from hence, they loft Sight of Land till 
October 13. upon which Day in the Morning they fell in 
with certain Illands in 8° of North Latitude ; from whence 
they met a great Number of Canoes coming laden with 
Cocoas, and other Fruit : Thefe Canoes were hollowed 
within with a great deal of Art, and looked fmooth and 
fhining without like burniffied Horn \ the Prow and Stern 
both yielded inwards, Circlewife ; on each Side of them 
layout Two Pieces of Timber, about a Yard and an half 
long, more or lefs, as the Veffel was bigger or lefs •, they 
were of a confiderable Height, and, for Shew, fet off 
in the Infide with white Shells : The People that were in 
them* had the lower Part of their Ears cut round, and 
(Fetched down a confiderable Way upon their Cheeks, by 
the Weight of thofe Things they hang in them. " They 
feemed to defign their Nails for Weapons, letting them 
grow a full Inch in Length. Their Teeth are as black as 
Pitch • and they have a way to preferve them, by eating of 
an Herb, with a fort of Powder, which they ever carry 
about with them for thatPurpofe. October 18. they came 
to feveral other Illands * fome of which appeared to be very 
populous, and continued their Courfe by the Iflands of 
Tagulada , Zelon , zxAZewarra •, the firft of which had 
good Store of Cinnamon, and the Inhabitants of all of them 
were Friends to the Portuguefe . The Admiral, without 
making any Delay, (leered the fame Courfe ftilh November 
