TRAVELS IN THE CAL1F0RNIAS. 
145 
back into it, to await the arrival of the frigate, and also to 
survey the harbor and surrounding country. Another reason 
which the Captain-General has for wishing to stop here is to 
ascertain if there be any remains of the San Augustine, which 
had been driven ashore in 1595 with other vessels sent by 
the Government from the Philippine Islands, to survey the 
coast of California. The pilot of this squadron, Francisco 
Valanos, is acquainted with the country. He reports that 
they left a large cargo of wax and several chests of silk on 
the shore of this harbor. The General, therefore, runs the 
Capitana in, and anchors her behind a point of land called 
Punta de los Reyes. Becoming more anxious, however, for the 
fate of the frigate, he weighs the next day and runs out in 
search of her. A gentle northwester takes him up the coast 
within sight of Cape Mendocino, when a violent southwester, 
accompanied by sleet and a heavy sea, combined with the 
sickly state of the crew, induces him to seek a southerly 
harbor, in which to await the coming of spring and the rein¬ 
forcement from Mexico. 
They are now in a deplorable state. Six seamen only are 
able to be on deck. The officers are all sick. The Padres 
are scarcely able to administer the last rites to the dying; 
and the few well ones are in dreadful consternation lest a 
storm come on, and the ship go down, for want of men to 
manage her. This determination of General Yiscayno, 
therefore, raises the spirits of the healthy, and cheers the sick 
to their best efforts. When the wind changes so that the fog 
is dispersed, the pilots take an observation and find themselves 
in Lat. 42°, opposite a cape which runs eastwardly, and 
unites with a range of snowy mountains. This they call 
Cabo Blanco de Sebastian. The lost frigate runs very near 
the Capitana during the storm spoken of, but not being 
able to live in such a sea, she comes to anchor under a huge 
rock near Cape Mendocino. The pilot, Florez, when the 
storm abates, finds himself in Lat. 43° north, near Cape 
Blanco, and the month of a large river, whose banks are 
13 
