148 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
of this fruit they begin to recover. Nor have the Padres been 
less afflicted. Such is the condition of their hands and mouths, 
that the crucifixes which they have held and often caressed, 
while the disease has been devouring their frames, are covered 
with a filthy gore! Their couches, as well as those of the 
crew, are masses of putrid matter ! But now all are creep¬ 
ing on deck ; the ship and its appurtenances are cleansed ; 
their rotting frames begin to heal! On the 21st of March 
they are so far restored that the Capitana puts to sea, and 
after a pleasant sail of eight days, moors in the bay of Aca¬ 
pulco. When her anchor runs, and the pallid forms of the 
few survivors are seen at the bulwarks, the horrid spectacle 
chills every tongue! The people gather on the shore in 
silence. But soon mothers call the names of those who, many 
months before, have been buried in the sea! Fathers seek 
their sons whose graves the wolves have opened in the forest 
of San Diego ! Mothers, in the excess of maternal sorrow, 
demand of the Captain-General their offspring, who have fall¬ 
en, muscle and bone, morsel by morsel, before the terrific 
pestilence ! A few recognize among the living, the disfigured 
countenances of their friends, and rushing on board embrace 
them with loud lamentations ! The Almiranta rides hard by 
The frigate arrives in as deplorable a state as the Capitana. 
Her crew is reduced to a number scarcely sufficient to remem¬ 
ber the sufferings and the names of those who have died. 
Thus terminates the voyage of Viscayno. He has explored 
the whole Pacific coast of Upper and Lower California. 
