In the Footprints of the Padres

le barrier. Upon the point of entering one of the most wonderful harbors in the world, the glory of the newest

the Vermilion Sea, perhaps from its resemblance to the Red Sea between Arabia and Egypt; or p

ake hoped to intercept one of these richly laden galleons, and he therefore threaded the Straits of Magellan, and, sailing northward, found himself, in 1579, within sight of the coast of California. All along the Pacific shore from Patagonia to California he was busily occupied in capturing and plundering Spanis

orth latitude, they found it intolerably cold; upon which they steered southward till they got into thirty-eight degrees north latitude,

ity of the weather. Going on shore, they found a fire in the middle of each house, and the people lying around it upon rushes. The men go

athered themselves together at the top of a small hill, from the highest point of which one of them harangued the Admiral, whose tent was placed at the bottom. When the speech was ended they laid down their arms and came down, offering their presents; at the same time returning what t

e able, that the king would visit him, if he might be assured of coming in safety. Being satisfied on this point, a numerous company soon appeared, in front of which was a very comely perso

n dressed in skins, who were followed by the common people, who, to make the grander appearance, had

dancing, in which he was followed by the king and all the people; who, continuing to sing and dance, came quite up to the tent; when, sitting down, the king took off his crown of feathers, placed it on the Admiral's head, and put on him the other en

y looked upon as more than mortal; and accordingly prepared to offer sacrifices to them, which the English rejected with abhorrenc

n which were engraved her Majesty's name, picture, arms, and title to the c

s-who, though apparently gentle and well disposed, were barbarians-should naturally have possessed the taste so characteristic of a barbarous people, and have loved to decorate themselves even lavishly with ornaments rudely fashioned in this rare metal. Yet th

ledge of the discovery of California by the Spaniards six and thirty years before he dropped anchor in the bay that now bears his name, and for many years he was looked upon as the first discoverer of the Golden State. Even to this day there are those who give him all the credit. Queen Elizabeth knighted him for his services in this and his previous expeditions; telling him, as his chro

existence, though he was almost within sight of it. In one of the records of his voyage we read of the chilly air and of the dense fogs that prevailed in that region; of the

Acapulco. When she hove in sight there was a chase, a hot engagement, and a capture by the English Admiral. "This prize," says the historian of the voyage, "contained one hundred and twenty-two thousand pesos of gold, besides great quantities

in the form of bowers; with a fire before the door, round which they lay and slept. Some of the women wore pearls about their necks, which they fastened with a string of silk grass, having first notched them round." Captain Rogers imagined that the wearers of the pearls did not know how to bore

excellent marksmen. The women, whose features are rather disagreeable, are employed in making fishing-lines, or in gathering grain, which they grind upon a stone. The people were wil

ila ship," as the chronicle records. "The prize was called Nuestra Se?ora de la Incarnacion, commanded by Sir John Pichberty, a gallant Frenchman. Th

von Humboldt says: "The port of San Francisco is frequently confounded by geographers with the Por

l that Sir Francis should have called the land New Albion. As for the origin of the name California, some etymologists contend that it is derived from two Latin words: calida fornax; or, as the Spanish put it, caliente fornalla,-a hot furnace. Certainly it is hot enough in the interior, though the coast is ever cool. The name seems to have been applied to Lower Californi

any rate, the name was not given to the famous bay that now bears it before 1769, and until that date it was unknown to the world. It is not true, as some have conjectured, that the name San Franc

of New Spain. It was believed that it abounded in pearls, gold, silver, and other metals; and even in diamonds and precious stones. Fruitless expeditions, private or royal, set forth in 1615, 1633 and 163

al Station at

alabaster, were rent asunder and noiselessly rolled away. The change was magical. In a few moments we found ourselve