144 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
lence of the disease and the debility arising from it are such, 
that the patients frequently die while talking with their 
friends. Such is the dreadful pestilence that has swept the 
Captain-General’s ranks, and now fills the Almiranta with 
groans, shrieks, prayers and curses ! 
While she is making her way back to Acapulco, the Capi¬ 
ta na and frigate remain in the harbor of Monterey to take in 
wood and water, and explore the adjacent country. They 
find this finely diversified with lawns and groves of pine, firs, 
willow and poplars, with an abundant undergrowth of roses 
and fragrant shrubs. The open lands are also dotted with 
clear, pure lakes. The country is inhabited by a great vari¬ 
ety of wild beasts. A large bear, a species of horned cattle 
similar in size and shape to the buffalo, and another which, 
from the description, might be ancestor of the Americana 
Horribilis, are among the most remarkable. The voyagers 
give to this latter beast the size of the wolf, the form and 
horns of the stag, the skin and neck of the pelican, a tail half 
a yard in width and twice as long, and a cloven foot! If it 
were a native, one might be led to speculate on the propin¬ 
quity of sulphur ! The country also abounds in deer, rabbits, 
hare, wild-cats, bustards, geese, ducks, pigeons, partridges, 
thrushes, sparrows, goldfinches, cranes, vultures, and another 
bird about the size of a turkey. On the seaboard are great 
numbers of gulls, cormorants, and other sea-fowl. The sea 
abounds in oysters, lobsters, crabs, sea-wolves, porpoises and 
whales. On the shores are many rancharias, the residents of 
which are an affable, generous people, living under some form 
of government. They use the native arms and subsist chiefly 
on fish and game. They seem fond of the Spaniards, and ex¬ 
press the most sincere sorrow at their intention to leave them 
But this is unavoidable. Both vessels run out of the harbor 
with a fair wind, on the fifth day of January, 1603, and stand 
away northward. 
Soon after passing the harbor of San Francisco, in Lat. 37° 
45', they lose sight of each other, and the Capitana puts 
