TRAVELS IN THE C ALIFORNI AS, 
191 
into the sea of Gallicia or Acapulco. £ Tnstissima noctis 
imago.' 3 The Californians got about me like chickens, and 
they were not my least confidants, as being new-born sons of 
the Great Madonna, and had run this risk in her service. Af¬ 
ter all my journeyings and voyages, I never knew what dan¬ 
gers or distresses by land or sea were, until now.” They are 
driven by this horrible tempest into the bay of San Josef, thirty 
miles south of Loretto. On the third of February, the storm 
abating, they run up to the desired haven, and are received 
with universal gladness. 
In 1708, Padres Salva Tierra and Juan Ugarte go with 
Padre Mayorga into the midst of the mountains to an Indian 
settlement called Comondu, and invest him with a mission 
there under the name of San Josef; and after having aided 
him in gathering the Indians, building a chapel, and some 
bough huts, they return to Loretto. Padre Mayorga forms 
some neighboring Indians into two towns which he calls San 
Juan and San Ignacio; builds a fine church at the former 
place; opens a school for boys at his own house; erects a 
seminary for girls; builds a hospital for the sick; prepares 
maize fields at San Josef, and plants vineyards at San Juan 
and San Ignacio. 
o 
Many other fertile spots are discovered among the deserts 
of California, soon after Salva Tierra’s arrival, suitable for 
the establishment of missions. But misfortunes by sea and 
land retard their occupancy. The following is an instance of 
this kind. The bark San Xavier sails from Loretto in August, 
1709, with $3,000 in specie, to purchase a supply of pro¬ 
visions in Senora. A storm of three days’ continuance drives 
it on a barren coast, north of Guaymas, where it is stranded 
among the sands and rocks. Some are drowned; others save 
themselves in the boat. Hostile Indians, called Seris and 
Tepocas, fall upon those who escape and drive them to sea in 
the open boat; dig up the $3,000 which they have hidden in 
the sands; take the helm from the bark, and partly break it 
in pieces for the nails. The crew in the boat encounter very 
