The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco | Page 5

boat, called a viroco, and in this the ship's company of more than
seventy persons continued the homeward voyage. The little vessel
reached Puerto de Navidad in safety, and here the commander and part
of the company left it in charge of the pilot, Juan de Morgana, with a
crew of ten men, who brought it into Acapulco on the 31st of January,
1596; a most remarkable voyage of nearly twenty-five hundred miles
by shipwrecked, sick, and hungry men, crowded into an open boat.
With the loss of the San Agustin, explorations of the California coast
by laden ships from the Philippines came to an end.
Sometime prior to the summer of 1595, the viceroy of New Spain, Don
Luis de Velasco, entered into an agreement with certain persons
looking to the exploration of the coasts of the Californias and the
settlement of the land. The consideration for this undertaking, which
was to be at the expense of the adventurers, was the privilege of pearl
fishing and trade, together with all the honors, favors, and exemptions
usually given to the pacifiers and settlers of new provinces.
Preparations for the expedition were under way, when a dispute arose
between the leader and his partners in the enterprise, and the matter was
carried into the courts. Before a decision was reached, the leader died,
and the judge ordered the other partners, among whom was one
Sebastian Vizcaino, to begin the voyage to the Californias within three
months. Under this order, Vizcaino applied to Viceroy Velasco, and
received his permission to make the journey. This was the condition of
affairs when, on October 5, 1596, Velasco was relieved and a new
viceroy, Don Gaspar de Zúñiga y Azevedo, Count of Monterey, took
command. At Velasco's request, Zúñiga made a careful examination of

all matters pertaining to the expedition to the Californias, and the result
was not favorable to Vizcaino. The new viceroy did not think that an
enterprise which might involve results of such vast importance should
be entrusted to the leadership of a person of such obscure position and
limited capital. He also doubted if Vizcaino had the resolution and
capacity necessary for so great an undertaking, and it appeared to him
that if disorders should arise among his men through lack of discipline,
or if the natives of the country to which he was going should repel him,
the repute and royal authority of the king would be in danger. On the
other hand, there was the decision of the court, the concession of the
viceroy, and the fact that Vizcaino had already been at expense in the
matter. Zúñiga communicated his doubts to the former viceroy, who, in
his perplexity, submitted the question to a theologian and a jurist,
selected as the viceroy writes, from the number of those whose
opinions were entitled to the greatest consideration. Their decision was
that the concession of the viceroy had the force of an agreement and
contract; that what was at first a favor had become a right, and that, as
the captain had manifested no incapacity and had been guilty of no
offense, the compact could not be varied. The audiencia[2], before
whom Zúñiga also laid the matter, was of like opinion. In view,
therefore, of the length to which the affair had gone, the viceroy
resolved not to annul the contract but to do all in his power to insure
the success of the expedition. That Vizcaino's soldiers might respect
and esteem him, the viceroy clothed him with authority and showed
him the greatest honor. He required Vizcaino to furnish him with
complete memorandums and inventories of the ships and lanchas he
intended to take with him, with their sails and tackle, the number of
people, and the provisions for them, arms, ammunition, and all other
property, and he instructed the royal officers at Acapulco that the
expedition must not be permitted to sail until it was fully provided with
everything necessary for the voyage and the safety of the people. The
Council of the Indies, on receiving Zúñiga's report, ordered him to
cancel Vizcaino's commission and select another leader for the
expedition, but before this order could reach the viceroy, Vizcaino had
sailed. The expedition consisted of the flagship San Francisco, six
hundred tons; the San José, a smaller ship, under command of Captain
Rodrigo de Figueroa, and a lancha. Vizcaino sailed from Acapulco in

March, 1596. His first stop was at the port of Calagua on the coast of
Colima, where he took on some of his people and stores, and to this
point the watchful viceroy sent a personal representative to see that
Vizcaino complied with all of his requirements, and to report on the
conduct of his soldiers. From here Vizcaino sailed northwest to Cape
Corrientes, thence northerly to