CHAPTER XXI.

LEGENDS AND EARLY HISTORY.

The origin of the name "California," has been a fruitful subject of discussion by writers, both of the past and present centuries, all of whom fail to give. any positive data or circumstance to support the various theories regarding it; and as the most searching investigation has failed to clearly define the origin of the name some of the opinions regarding the subject may be given. It is claimed that the name was first found in a small volume of romance published in Spain in 1510, entitled, "The Sergas of Esplandian, the Son of Amadis of Gaul." The following extracts from this comparatively ancient book will show how the name occurred.

"Know that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California, very near the Terrestrial Paradise, which was peopled by black women, without any men among them, because they were accustomed to live after the manner of the Amazons. They were of strong and hardened bodies, of ardent courage and of great force. The island was the strongest in the world from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their arms were all of gold and so were the caparisons of the wild beasts they rode."

"In the island called California are many griffins on account of the great savageness of the country and the immense quantity of wild game to be found there."

As the name originated, however-before civilized man had beheld the land, before Cortez had invaded Mexico, Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean, or Magellan first navigated its waters, it is supposed that the name California originated in the brain of the novelist mentioned above. Centuries before the discovery of the American continent and while the early navigators of Europe made slow and tedious voyages to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, the stories of the discoveries of distant lands and strange people constituted much of the romantic and fabulous tales related about the "Terrestrial Paradise," and the "Land of Gold," their marvelous wonders and strange peoples. The Spanish novelist already quoted, assured his readers that the imaginary animal, the griffin-half lion and half eagle-which was supposed to watch over mines of gold and hidden treasure had its abode in California. To show the absurdities of these early times and the notions of the people respecting this then unexplored land, the following extracts are given from the records of some of the early-explorers of the South Pacific, who had worked up their imaginations respecting the fabled Land of Gold. One writer, describing the dangers of the seas, says: "The crew and passengers consume their provisions and then die miserably. Many vessels have been lost in this way: but the people have learned to save themselves from this fate by the following contrivance: they take bullocks' hides along with them, and whenever this storm rises they sew themselves up in the hides, tak

ing care to have a knife in their hand; and being secure against the sea-water, they throw themselves into the ocean. Here they are soon perceived by a large eagle called a griffin which takes them for cattle, darts down and seizes them in his grip, and carries them upon dry land where he deposits his burden upon a hill or in a dale there to consume his prey. The man, however, now makes use of his knife to kill the bird and creeps forth from his hide. Many people have been saved by this strategem."

Another traveler, writing of the strange lands he had visited in this region of the world, says: "In one of these islands are people of great stature like giants, hideous to look upon, and they have but one eye which is in the middle of the forehead, and they eat nothing but raw flesh and fish." "And in another isle toward the south dwell people of cursed nature who have no head, but their eyes are in their shoulders. And in another isle there are dwarfs which have no mouth, but instead they have a little round hole through which they take their food and drink by means of a pipe or pen or something by sucking it in. Many other diverse people of diverse natures there are in other isles and lands there about."

That California was the land mentioned by the novelist in 1510, cannot be doubted, as it was considered an island and placed upon the maps as such until the Viceroy of Spain, in 1686 (more than one hundred and fifty years after Cortez), visited the country and discovered and reported it to be a part of the main land of the continent of America. I have chosen from what is regarded as the most authentic and reliable historical accounts obtainable of the early

discoveries and explorations on the Pacific Coast. Errors may exist in the records of these pioneer adventurers, but in the main they are no doubt truthful. Such explorers as Drake, Magellan, and Capt. Cook and some of the more enterprising of the Latin race, were men of high character, and were accompanied by scientific men to record all observations worthy of note. The first explorations of the Pacific Coast of North America were made by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. After Hernando Cortez had completed the conquest of Mexico, he commenced exploring the adjacent seas and countries, no doubt with the hope of discovering lands richer than those he had conquered, and which would afford new fields for the exercise of his daring enterprise and undaunted perseverance.

He employed yessels in surveying the coast of the Mexican Gulf and of the Atlantic more northerly. Vessels were built upon the Pacific Coast for like purposes, two of which, as early as 1526, were sent to the East Indies. The first expedition of the Spaniards sent along the western coast of Mexico was conducted by an officer under Cortez. He sailed from the mouth of the Zacutula River, in July, 1528, and was six months engaged in surveying the shores from his starting place to the mouth of the Santiago River, a hundred leagues farther northwest. The territory. he visited was then called Talisco, and was inhabited by fierce tribes of men who had never been conquered by the Mexicans. When the expedition returned, Cortez was in Spain, whether he had gone to have his title and powers more clearly defined. He returned in 1530 with full power to make discoveries and con

quests upon the western coast of Mexico.

The country claimed by Cortez for Spain was the southeast portion of the peninsula which was afterwards called California. An expedition commanded by Francisco de Ulloa was sent out by Cortez, sailing from Acapulco, on the 8th of July, 1539. It reached the Bay of Santa Cruz after losing one of the vessels in a storm. From Santa Cruz, Ulloa started to survey the coast toward the north. Upon the examination of both shores of the Gulf of California he discovered the fact of the connection of the peninsula with the main-. land near the thirty-secand degree of latitude. This gulf Ulloa named "the sea of Cortez." The following October he returned to Santa Cruz and soon sailed again with the object of exploring the coasts farther west. He rounded the point now called Cape St. Lucas, the southern extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, and sailed along the coast towards the north. His vessels were opposed by northwestern storms and he often landed and fought with the natives. In January, 1840, Ulloa reached an island near the coast which he named the "Isle of Cedars." There he remained until April, when one of his ships, bearing the sick, and accounts of his discoveries, was sent back to Mexico. Some writers assert that he continued his voyage farther north, while others claim that nothing more was ever heard of Ulloa after the return of the vessel he sent back.

Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar, and a Moor, had been sent by the Spanish Viceroy, to make further discoveries in the interior, and had sent home glowing accounts of rich and delightful countries which they claimed to have discovered. Mendoza, who had