Fray Antonio de la Ascension: A Brief Report of the Discovery in New Spain

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I

In the past year of 1602, by order of our very Catholic and most Christian King, Philip III, king of Spain, Don Gaspar de Zuniga y Acevedo, Count of Monterey, may he be in heaven, being viceroy of New Spain, two small ships and a frigate were equipped by his order and command in the port of Acapulco, which is in New Spain, on the coast of the South Sea. They were supplied with all necessary arms and provisions for a voyage of one year, the time it was thought this expedition would last. Sebastian Vizcaino went as captain and commander of the soldiers and vessels and Captain Toribio Gomez de Corban went as admiral. There embarked in these ships and the frigate two hundred persons, more or less, one hundred and fifty of them select and experienced soldiers, who were also very skilful sailors, to assist in whatever might present itself concerning affairs at sea as well as those of war on land, and to escort the general. Several famous captains and the ensign who had done heroic deeds in his Majesty’s service in Flanders and Britain and in the cruise of the galleons embarked as counsellors, all well accustomed and experienced in affairs of war and of the sea. They were Captain Pascual de Alarcon, Captain Alonzo Esteban Pequero, Ensign Juan Francisco Sureano, Ensign Juan de Acevedo Tejeda, and Ensign Melendez. And for steering the ships there went select pilots, very vigilant and experienced, two for each vessel. And for spiritual matters and the guidance of souls, three religious, priests of the Discalced Order of Carmelites, were appointed; they were Father Andres de la Asumpcion, who went as commissary, Father Tomas de Aquino, and I, Father Antonio de Ascension, who writes this report. They were sent in order that in the name of his Majesty the king our Lord, and of his religion, and of the Province of San Alberto of New Spain, immediate possession might be taken of the realm of the Californias which was to be discovered and explored; in order that thenceforward they might take charge of the conversion and instruction of all the heathen Indians of that realm; and in order that on the voyage they might administer the sacraments to those who were in the ships. … I have said this and signed here my name so that persons who may read this brief and concise report may be convinced that in all its contents I am telling the truth; and in order not to be prolix I am brief in everything, with a style plain and simple, as will be seen in what follows.

II

This armada sailed from the port of Acapulco the 5th day of the month of May, of the said year, 1602, every one, before embarking, having confessed and received communion, the captains as well as the soldiers and cabin-boys of the two vessels.

The order which the viceroy gave them was to explore all the coast from the above-mentioned port of Acapulco to the Point of California, and everything from there to Cape Mendocino; and on returning, if there should be time and opportunity, to explore the Mediterranean Sea of California. Pursuant to this order, the armada sailed northwest, coasting all along the shore and land of New Spain as far as the islands of Macatlan and thence crossing over so as to reach the Point of California. It is fifty leagues across the sea from one side to the other.

From the time this armada sailed from the port of Acapulco until it reached Cape Mendocino there were always strong headwinds, because almost continually the northwest wind prevails on all this coast; it was necessary, therefore, to sail with bowlines hauled, which was an incredible hindrance, as there were days when it was not able to gain a league’s headway. Tacking to the sea or to the land, one way or the other, the voyage was made, and for this reason the outward trip was very prolonged, and all the ports, bays, rivers, and inlets of the entire coast were examined very minutely. It took us nine months from the time we left Acapulco to reach Cape Mendocino, where we arrived on the 20th day of the month of January, 1603. Cape Mendocino is in latitude 42° north, and we went even farther, to the latitude of 43°, to what was named Cape San Sebastian, where the coast turns to the northeast, and where the entrance to the Strait of Anian seems to begin.

III

This exploration was made with very great care and vigilance and cost a great deal of labor and exertion and tedious illness, and the lives of many who took part in it, because of undergoing so much labor, in continual pain and always struggling against the wild waves which the sea heaved up and against the winds which caused them. Moreover, the provisions became so stale that they finally had no virtue or nutrition. From these two causes there ensued a sickness like a pest, which affected every one and was extremely painful, so that more than forty-four persons died on the voyage. I made a report of all that happened on this voyage, in which is related at length everything that took place during it and what was seen and discovered on it, and upon which I rely. This armada returned to Acapulco, and the captain’s ship, in which I came, entered it March 21 of the said year, 1603. Thus eleven months were spent on the voyage from the time of sailing until port was made. In this short account I will speak briefly of some of the most important things I saw, learned, and observed throughout the land and seacoast which we saw and explored.

IV

This realm of California is very large and embraces much territory, nearly all inhabited by numberless people. It has a good climate, is very fertile, and abounds in many and various kinds of trees, the most of them like those in Spain, abundant pastures of good grazing land, and a great number of different kinds of animals and birds. The sea of all this coast is full of a variety of savory and wholesome fish, which I will mention later. All the land of this realm is in the temperate zone, which is situated in the northern division, and the climates 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 81 pass over it. It has the exact form and shape of a casket, being broad at the top and narrow at the point. It is this latter which we commonly call Punta de la California. From there it widens out to Cape Mendocino, which we will describe as being the top and breadth of it. The breadth of this land from here to the other sea, where the Mediterranean Sea of California comes and connects with the sea that surrounds and encircles Cape Mendocino, must be about one hundred leagues. In this part this realm has north of it the Kingdom of Anian, and to the east the land which is continuous with the realm of Quivira. Between these two realms extends the strait of Anian, which runs to the North Sea, having joined the Oceanic Sea which surrounds Cape Mendocino and the Mediterranean Sea of California, both of which are united at the entrance of this strait which I call Anian. Toward the west is the realm of China, and toward the south all the realm of Japan. …

Thus it is plain that this realm of California is a land separate and distinct from the lands of New Mexico and the realm of Quivira, which is continuous with the latter, although there is a long distance and much territory between the one realm and the other. The sea between these two realms, which is the one called the Mediterranean Sea of California, since it is between lands so large and extended, must be about fifty leagues wide. In the middle of it there are many islands, some small and others larger; but I cannot say whether they are inhabited or not. The inhabitants of Cape Mendocino are so opposite and remote from the kingdom of Old Castile in our Spain that it is midnight in the noted city and university of Salamanca when it is noon at Cape Mendocino, and vice versa: so that they are the antipodes of each other, being opposite each other, and in the same climate, but with different and diametrically opposite meridians. Hence it follows that they must possess the same atmospheric conditions and climate, having the same winter, summer, and autumn. It is possible that they differ in some conditions and temperatures, because of the different influences of the vertical stars which affect their qualities.

Those who are acquainted with and understand the sphere and cosmography will have no doubt of this; but in order to make myself better understood I made for those who do not understand it a geographic map of it all, which I have with me; and I am sending a copy of it to his Majesty and to his Royal Council of the Indies, that they may understand the great size and the situation of this great realm. And I believe it will be indispensable and important, in order that the present maps of the world may be compared with it and corrected, because many of the things which are depicted in them relating to matters of this realm are very different from what they actually are. This is not to be wondered at, since the land and seacoast of this realm have never been viewed or explored so exactly and designedly as on this expedition, which went solely for this purpose.

V

The Cape of San Lucas, which is at the extremity of California, whence all this realm begins and takes its name, forms in its shelter a bay called San Bernabé, so spacious that it is a good bay and will accommodate many ships, although it is not protected on all sides. This bay, or cape, of San Lucas is under the Tropic of Cancer, and off the islands of Magatlan, which, on the coast of New Spain, are the frontier and limit on this side of the bishopric of Guadalajara and of the kingdom which they call Nueva Galicia. It is fifty leagues, more or less, across the sea, which is the width of the Mediterranean Sea of California between the realm of California and that of Galicia. This latter joins the kingdom of New Spain and extends to New Mexico, continuing to the kingdom of Quivira, and terminating at the Strait of Anian, as has already been said. Some call it the Mediterranean because it flows between these two large realms; others call it the Vermillion Sea, since in this passage the water looks a bright reddish color, perhaps because the land at the bottom is red, or it may be from the spawn brought here by the river-fish that come to swim in that sea, this color being caused by the blood; for once I saw that the water at the port of Acapulco was of this bright reddish color, and they told me that it was because of the fish spawn. On the old maps it is called the bay, or gulf, of Ballenas, because there, as on all the coast as far as Cape Mendocino, there are so many whales that they cannot be numbered, nor would it be believed by anybody who had not seen them. And because until now it has been understood to be a bay or large gulf, formed there by the sea, and not a regular and continuous sea, which it is, they gave it this name.

In this passage are the islands called the Marias, and another small one called San Andres; and through all this sea there are many other islands. Among them, facing the port formed by the Tizon River, which flows into this sea from New Mexico in latitude 35°, is the island of Giganta, where lives the queen of the neighboring peoples. In this sea, on both shores, other islands also, as well as the land of California, have many oyster-beds, which produce pearls, many, rich, and large. They are found as far as latitude 36°, as I say in the last chapter of the report which I made of this discovery.

VI

I will say that the wealth and abundance of pearls in this sea is very great, a thing which is well known and remarked upon by persons who have coasted along the sea; and they are, indeed, large and beautiful, choice, and very perfect. The oysters are not very deep, for the Indians search for and bring them up. This is not to make use of the pearls, because they do not understand or value them, but only to eat the fish within. In order to open the oysters and more easily extract their contents they put them in the fire, whereupon they open and the pearls are burned or smoked. When found they are thrown away, as if they were stones of no value.

There are many different kinds of fish in this sea, large and small, which are seen to go in shoals or schools. As they are fish known in other seas, I will here name some of those I have caught, had in my hands, and eaten,’ so that the abundance, excellence, and wealth of that sea may be understood. There are, as I have said, multitudes of very large whales, and a great quantity of sardines, large and small, slender and thick, which are, according to what they say, the common sustenance of the whales, and may be it is for this reason there are so many. There are ruffles, porgy, sea-bass, corrundas, small sharks, or dog-fish, sturgeon, esmirigalas, skate, salmon, tunny, ray, chucos, sea-horse, little bass, striped tunny, gilthead, sole, mutton-fish, porpoise, newts, tirgueros, common oysters, those that bear pearls, and many other never seen and unknown. And there are octopus. … These fish are of fine flavor, palatable, and wholesome. All these varieties were caught every year by casting the net, or seine. Sometimes the seine was so full that it broke.

VII

The country of this Cape San Lucas is very fertile and healthful, with a fine climate and clear sky. It has good level land and is not very mountainous. All of it is perfectly adapted to cultivation and to keeping and raising stock, both cattle and sheep, goats and swine. There is plenty of wild game for hunting and fowling, such as rabbits, hare, deer, lions, tigers, armadillos, ringdoves, quail, and many ducks. Of trees, there are figs, broccoli, agaves, mangroves, mastick, and, near the beach, a grove of plum trees.

In place of gum or resin, they exude in great quantities very good and fragrant incense. The fruit which they produce is very delicious, as I have been told by those who have tried it on other occasions. There is also on the shore of this land which encircles the Bay of San Bernabe, where I saw all the things mentioned, a lagoon of good fresh water, all surrounded and hedged in with brambles. On the other side, near the rocks and the beach, there is a little lagoon of salt water, left by the sea in high winds, which was covered, all around, with very good salt, plentiful, white, and of a good taste. Here also are many robust Indians, of good disposition, who use bows, arrows, and darts for arms. They gave indications of being bellicose and spirited; for, when some natives came to see us at this port, they said that if the soldiers would put away the arquebuses they carried they would also come without arms. Laying them aside, they seated themselves, saying in a loud voice “Vtesi,” that is to say, “Seat yourselves” or “be seated,” which is the surest and most certain sign of peace in use among them. With this ceremony they came peaceably, and treated us with friendliness.and civility, although always with extreme caution and suspicion, and on hearing an arquebus discharged they immediately ran away. When they came, they always brought with them such little things as they had, showing themselves to be a people grateful and thankful for what the soldiers and religious gave them.

VIII

It is at this port that his Majesty should order the first settlement of Spaniards to be made when he sends people to pacify the country, in order that the pacification of all this realm and the preaching of the Holy Gospel may begin here. It is situated near and convenient for trade and communication with New Spain and Peru, as the ships to New Spain touch at this place when they come from Peru by the new mode of navigation now in use, and they come in one month. Besides these, it has other advantages for sustaining human life, and for enabling the Spaniards to keep their trade and commerce in good and secure communication, because, besides the pearl-fisheries near by, there is, on the south coast, a neighboring land which we call Sierra Pintada or del Enfado. It has many minerals of various kinds; and one can go by land to extract them, and to get the gold and silver which they may contain. Apparently they are very abundant, according to experience and trustworthy information upon which I rely.

It is the best place that could be found in the world for the maintenance and mode of life of the Discalced Carmelite religious (who, by order of the king, our lord, have charge of the conversion of this realm), and for their abstemious and penitent life, because of the good mild climate as well as the great abundance of many kinds of good fish, as is stated above. The heat of the climate is not so excessive as to need linen, nor does it require much protection against the cold, so that one kind of clothing can be worn all the time. Moreover, the proximity of the country to New Spain and the facility of navigation from one realm to the other is very important for providing it with the religious, for governing them by one provincial, and for conveying some and bringing back others, according as the necessity of the religious may require; for, having settlements as far as the port of Navidad where they can embark if they do not wish to go to Acapulco, in a month one can go from Mexico to the Californias with great ease and comfort.

IX

After remaining in this port and bay of San Bernabe some days, we set sail for the purpose of making the exploration of Cape Mendocino. As the coast runs from southeast to northwest, and as the wind is continually from that quarter, that is, northwest, we found it so severe and strong that four times against our will it forced us to put back into the port from which we sailed. Finally, at the end of some days, with bowlines hauled, we made our way and arrived at the port of Magdalena, which was formerly called the port of Santiago. Here the Indians received us peacefully and, as an acknowledgment of submission, offered the Spaniards their bows and arrows, very nicely wrought, and brought some incense like that we had procured in the Bay of San Bernabe, a sign that there are here a great number of these trees which produce it. An arm of the sea enters this port, unless it is some large river which disembogues here and empties into the sea. But it was ascended only about a league, being left for exploration when we should return from Cape Mendocino. Here many Indians came out to us in their canoes and showed themselves friendly and gentle.

This port is very good and spacious, and has two mouths or entrances. By one, small vessels only can enter; by the other large ones can enter, as it has good soundings. Here and all along this coast there are many whales, and, if it is true that amber comes from their filth, as I understand, from what I saw on this voyage, there must be much amber on this coast; for not far from this place, though farther up on the same coast, we found another port, which was named San Bartolomeo, on whose shore was a large quantity of ambergris, in cakes, like soft, whitish pitch. We did not recognize it as such, and for this reason we took no notice of it. Afterward, when giving a description of it to those who are well acquainted with amber, they said that it was very fine ambergris. There was a large quantity of it in this port. Perhaps God our Lord allowed none of those who went there to know this, since it may be that in the interest of going to obtain it his Majesty will send ministers with the design of converting those Indians, for according to the signs which they gave it will be easy to bring them into our Catholic faith.

X

We went forward, making the exploration carefully and slowly, because head winds impeded it. Other ports and islands were discovered along the coast, and all along it there were many Indians, who signalled us with smoke columns and other signs; but, in order to reach Cape Mendocino, everything was left to be examined on our return. Finally, after much labor we reached the port of San Diego, which is very good and capacious and offers many very good advantages for Spanish settlement. Here the ships were cleaned and oiled again, the place being quiet, and there being many friendly and affable Indians there. They use bows and arrows and appear warlike and valiant, since, notwithstanding they came to see us every day, they always treated us with so great a distrust that they never had complete confidence in us. They pronounced so very well in our language what they heard us speak that anyone hearing them and not seeing them would say they were Spaniards. Every day they would come in order that we might give them some of the fish we caught in the net, and they would go away quietly after they had helped to haul it in.

The harbor is large and secure, and has a large beach within, like an island of sand, which the sea covers at high tide. In the sand on this beach there is a great quantity of yellow pyrites, all full of holes, a sure sign that in the neighboring mountains and adjacent to this port there are gold mines; for the water, when it rains, brings it from the mountains, and the whole watershed converges here. On the sandy beach which I said was in this harbor we found some large pieces, like adobe, brown or dark red in color, and very light in weight, like dried cowdung. They had neither a good nor a bad odor, and they are said to be amber. If this is so, there are great riches and an abundance of amber here.

There are many different kinds of fish, of very good taste and flavor, such as ray, sea-horse, lobster, crab, guitarras, sardine, turtle, and many other kinds. There is much wild game for hunting and fowling; and there are many large, grassy pastures. The Indians paint themselves white, and black, and dark London blue. This color comes from certain very heavy blue stones, which they grind very fine, and, dissolving the powder in water, make a stain, with which they daub the face and make on it lines which glisten like silver ribbons. These stones seem to be of rich silver ore, and the Indians told us by signs that from similar stones a people living inland, of form and figure like our Spaniards, bearded, and wearing collars and breeches, and other fine garments like ours, secured silver in abundance, and that they had a name for it in their own language. To ascertain whether these Indians knew silver, the general showed them some silver bowls and a plate. They took it in their hands and spun it around, and, pleased by the sound, said it was good, and was the same as that possessed and valued highly by the people of whom they had told us. Then he put in their hands a pewter bowl, but when they struck it the sound did not please them and, spitting, they wanted to throw it into the sea.

The people of whom the Indians told us might have been foreigners, Hollanders or English, who had made their voyage by the Strait of Anian and might be settled on the other coast of this land, facing the Mediterranean Sea of California. Since the realm is narrow, as has been said, it may be that the other sea is near that place; for the Indians offered to guide and take us to the place where they say the people are settled. If this is so, it is probable they have large interests and profits there, since their voyage is so long and difficult. Still, it is true that by passing through the Strait of Anian and reaching their land by that latitude, their voyage is only half as long as that from the port of San Juan de Ulua to Spain. This will be clearly seen from evidence furnished by the globe. In this case, it will be to his Majesty’s interest to endeavor to assure himself of the fact: first, in order to know the route, and secondly, in order to expel from there such dangerous enemies, lest they contaminate the Indians with their sects and liberty of conscience, by which great harm to their souls will follow, whereby instructing them and leading them in the paths of the true law of God will be made very difficult. Besides this, his Majesty will be able to secure many other advantages, as I shall show later.

XI

After we left the Port of San Diego we discovered many islands placed in a line, one behind another. Most of them were inhabited by many friendly Indians, who have trade and commerce with those of the mainland. It may be that they are vassals of a petty king who came with his son from the mainland in a canoe with eight oarsmen, to see us and to invite us to go to his land, saying that he would entertain us and provide us with anything which we needed and he possessed. He said that he came to see us on account of what the inhabitants of these islands had reported to him. There are many people in this land, so many that the petty king, seeing that there were no women on the ships, offered by signs to give to everyone ten women apiece if they would all go to his land, which shows how thickly populated it all is. And besides, all along, day and night, they made many bonfires, the sign in use among them to call people to their land. Since there was no convenient port where the ships could be secure in the country whence this petty king came, the acceptance of his invitation was deferred until the return voyage.

Thereupon we went forward with our voyage, and at the end of some days arrived at a fine port, which was named Monterrey. It is in latitude 37°, in the same climate and latitude as Seville. This is where the ships coming from the Philippines to New Spain come to reconnoitre. It is a good harbor, well sheltered, and supplied with water, wood, and good timber, both for masts and ship building, such as pines, live oaks, and great white oaks, large and frondose, and many black poplars on the banks of a river that near by enters the sea and was named the Carmelo. In climate, in birds and game, in variety of animals and trees, in everything it is essentially like our Old Spain. When the ships from China arrive at this place they have already sailed four months and they come in need of repairs, which in this harbor they can make very well, and with perfect convenience; therefore it would be a very good thing for the Spaniards to settle this port for the assistance of navigators, and to undertake the conversion to our Holy Faith of those Indians, who are numerous, docile, and friendly. And from here they might trade and traffic with the people of China and Japan, opportunity for that being favorable because of propinquity.

The land of this country is very fertile and has good pastures and forests, and fine hunting and fowling. Among the animals there are large, fierce bears, and other animals called elks, from which they make elk-leather jackets, and others of the size of young bulls, shaped and formed like deer, with thick, large horns. There were many Castilian roses here. There are pretty ponds of fresh water. The mountains near this port were covered with snow, and that was on Christmas day. On the beach was a dead whale, and at night some bears came to feed on it.

There are many fish here, and a great variety of mollusks among the rocks; among them there were certain barnacles, or large shells, fastened to the lowest part of the rocks. The Indians hunt for them to extract from them their contents to eat. These shells are very bright, of fine mother-of-pearl. All along this coast, there is a great abundance of sea-wolves or dogs, of the size of a yearling calf. They sleep on the water, and sometimes go ashore to take the sun; and there they place their sentinel in order to be secure from enemies. The Indians clothe themselves in the skins of these animals, which are healthful, fine, beautiful, and convenient. Finally, I will say that this is a good and commodious port, and might be settled, but this should be done in the way which I shall set forth hereafter.

XII

We set sail from here after dispatching the admiral’s ship to New Spain with the news of what had been discovered and with the sick who were unfit for service. Among them returned Father Tomas de Aquino, one of the three religious who were going in this fleet, because he had been ill many days, and in order that the sick might have someone to confess them should God desire to relieve them of this life. Our departure in quest of Cape Mendocino was made on the first Sunday after Epiphany, of the year 1603. On the coast we noted the port of San Francisco, where in times past there was lost a ship from China which was coming with orders to explore this coast. I believe that much of the wax and porcelain which the vessel carried is there to-day. And we arrived at Cape Mendocino in latitude 42°, which is the highest latitude at which the China ships sight land. Here, because of the severity of winter in this climate, and of the cold, and the stiffness of the rigging, and because almost all the crew were ill, the sails were lowered. The captain’s ship got into the trough of the sea, and, as it could not be steered, the currents that run to the Strait of Anian whose entrance begins here, carried it little by little toward land. In eight days we had ascended more than one degree of latitude, which was up to 43°, in sight of a cape that was named San Sebastian. Near it empties a river that was called Santa Inez. No one landed here, as all the crew were very ill, only six persons being able to walk. Here the coast and land turns to the northeast, and here is the head and end of the realm and mainland of California and the entrance to the Strait of Anian. If on this occasion there had been on the captain’s ship even fourteen sound men, without any doubt we should have ventured to explore and pass through this Strait of Anian, since all were of good courage to do this. But the general lack of health and of men who could manage the sails and steer the ship obliged us to turn about toward New Spain, to report what had been discovered and seen, and lest the whole crew should die if we remained longer in that latitude.

With this decision and agreement the return voyage was begun. It was made by coasting along shore with favorable winds, exploring all the ports, bays, and inlets that we had sighted on our outward voyage. As the northwest wind is so usual and continual on this coast, one can easily come from Cape Mendocino to the port of Acapulco in one month, if the pilot knows how to choose the correct routes at the proper times, as I set them down in an itinerary which I made for this voyage. The course which we took on our return was along the coast, and so near it that everything on it was seen with great clearness and distinctness. The Indians, as they saw us pass at a distance, sent up columns of smoke and other signals to attract us; and wherever we landed they gave indications of their good natures and intelligence, hence it ap peared to us all that they might easily and with very little labor be taught our Holy Catholic faith, and that they would receive it well and lovingly. But this should be done with great prudence and in the manner that our Master and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, taught us in his Holy Gospel.

As to how persons should be sent to new lands for the conversion of the heathen Indians, I wrote a brief treatise, which I sent to the king, our lord, Philip III. In it I discuss what ought to be done that the people may be converted and that his Majesty may with just title become the lawful emperor and lord of their lands; and to this I refer the reader. Nevertheless, as there I have treated of the general instruction for all, here, for the sake of greater clearness, I will set forth briefly what his Majesty can and ought to do for the conversion of the Indians of this great realm of the Californias in particular, and to pacify their lands and become lord over them with good conscience, as will be seen by beginning with number 231 below of this little treatise.

Finally, returning to our voyage, I will say that we returned to the port of Acapulco on March 22, of the year 1603, having passed through great labor and severe illness, of which died the number of people that I mentioned at the beginning; and I made a full report of all that happened on the voyage, and a map of the situation of this realm.

 

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Source: Herbert Eugene Bolton, ed. Spanish Exploration in the Southwest, 1542–1706. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1916.