AJ-001: Cabrillo, Relation of the Voyage (1542-1543)

              


    1542]  RELATION OF THE
VOYAGE OF
CABRILLO    23
   &nbs
;completely denuded of soil.1 One of them is larger than
the
    others. It is about two
leagues in circumference and
affords
    shelter from the west
winds. They are three leagues from
the
    mainland, and are in
thirty-four degrees. They called
them
    Islas Desiertas2 (Desert
Islands). This day great
smokes
    were seen on the land. The
country appears to be good
and
    has large valleys, and in the
interior there are high
moun-
    tains.
  &nbsp
 On the following Thursday they went about six
leagues
    along a coast running
north-northwest, and discovered a
port,
    closed and very good, which
they named San Miguel.3 It is
    in
thirty-four and one-third degrees. Having cast anchor
in
    it, they went ashore where
there were people. Three of
them
    waited, but all the rest
fled. To these three they gave
some
    presents and they said by
signs that in the interior men like
  the Spaniards had
passed. They gave signs of great fear.
2 On the night of
this day they went ashore from the ships
to
    fish with a net, and it
appears that here there were some
In-
    dians, and that they began to
shoot at them with arrows
and
    wounded three
men.
    Next day in the morning they
went with the boat farther
    into
the port, which is large, and brought two boys, who
under-
    stood nothing by signs.
They gave them both shirts and
sent
    them away
immediately.
    Next day in the
morning three adult Indians came to
the
    ships and said by signs that
in the interior men like us
were
    travelling about, bearded,
clothed, and armed like those
of
    the ships. They made signs
that they carried crossbows
and
    swords; and they made
gestures with the right arm as if
they
    were throwing lances, and
ran around as if they were on
horse-
    back. They made signs that
they were killing many
native
    Indians, and that for this
reason they were afraid.
These
    people are comely and
large. They go about covered
with
    skins of animals. While they
were in this port a heavy
storm
    occurred, but since the
port is good they did not feel it at
all.
    1 Cf. Evans's
translation.
    2 Los Coronados
Islands, lat. 32° 25'. Henshaw thought that they
were
    San Clemente and Catalina,
but manifestly without good grounds (Voyage
of
    Cabrillo, p.
305).
    3 San Diego Bay. The
extremity of Point Loma is near lat. 32°
40'.