TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 271 
of June, they celebrate their landing. It is Pentecost day. 
The officers and men of the sea and land expeditions assemble 
under a great oak tree near the shore. They erect an altar in 
its shade, hang bells on its branches, and proceed with their 
services. They chant Veni Creator , consecrate the water, erect 
and bless a grand cross, unfurl the royal standard, chant the 
Mass, and sing a Salve to the Virgin, whose image occupies 
the altar. And after the Padre Junipero has delivered a pa¬ 
thetic discourse, a solemn Te Deum is sung to the Great Cre¬ 
ator. The officers now take formal possession of the country 
in the name of their king. These ceremonies being completed, 
they repair to a shady place on the beach and dine, as they 
have worshipped, amid salutes of small arms, and the cannon 
of the vessels. Thus is commenced the settlement of Mon¬ 
terey, in Upper California. All this done, the Padre President 
proceeds to found the mission of Monterey, in the same man¬ 
ner as he has done that at San Diego. But he finds it more 
difficult to induce the Indians to avail themselves of his teach¬ 
ings. The firing of the artillery and muskets at the celebra¬ 
tion of the first Mass, has so terrified them, that the heart of 
the excellent Padre is not gladdened by a baptism, till the 
twenty-sixth of the following December. 
Meanwhile the ship San Antonio being detained some time 
at Monterey, the Padre President is enabled to explore portions 
of the neighboring country. He finds the fertile soil so abun¬ 
dant and the natives so numerous, that he writes to the chief 
of the College of San Fernando in Mexico, that a hundred 
more missionaries may be well employed in the Californias. 
This favorable account of the country induces the Viceroy at 
Mexico to order thirty Franciscan monks to proceed to San 
Bias—twenty of whom are destined for Lower and ten for 
Upper California. The latter sail from San Bias in the San 
Antonio, on the seventh of January, 1771, and on the twelfth 
of March, put into San Diego, sorely afflicted with the scurvy 
They go overland to Monterey. The monks destined for 
