What should be a great port,
protected from all winds, was but an ensenada; what should be the Rio
Carmelo was but an arroyo; what should be great lakes were but
lagunillas; "and where, too, were the people, so intelligent and docile,
who raised flax and hemp and cotton?" Costanso says that in their entire
journey, they found no country so thinly populated, nor any people more
wild and savage than the few natives whom they met here. It is not
strange that Portola failed to recognize, in the broad ensenada,
Vizcaino's Famoso Puerte de Monterey.
The situation of the command was becoming very grave. The food supply
was almost gone. They had killed a mule, but only the Indians and the
Catalonians would eat it. The commander called a council of officers, on
December 6th, and told them the condition of affairs. They had not found
the port they had come in search of, he said, and had no hope of finding
it or the vessel that should have succored them; they had but fourteen
half sacks of flour left; winter was upon them, the cold was becoming
excessive, and snow was beginning to fall in the mountains. He invited
free discussion, but postponed the decision until the next day, that all
might have time for reflection. On December 7th, after hearing mass, the
junta again met. Some were for remaining where they were until the
provisions were entirely consumed, and then retreat, relying on the
mules for food during the journey to San Diego; others thought it better
to divide the party, one-half to remain and the other return to San
Diego. Both projects were carefully discussed, and both presented
difficulties. The prevailing sentiment seemed to favor a return, and the
governor announced his determination. They would return to San Diego at
once, he said, for if the snow should close the mountain passes, the
whole expedition would be lost.
A violent storm arose in the afternoon, which lasted until the night of
December 9th, delaying the march.
On Sunday, December 10th, they began the retreat from Monterey. Before
leaving Carmelo Bay, they set up a large cross on a little hill on the
shore of the ensenadita, and on it, cut into the wood, the legend: "Dig;
at the foot you will find a writing." A message was put into a bottle
and buried at the foot of the cross. It gave the facts of the
expedition, its commander, date of starting, the dates of entering the
channel of Santa Barbara, of passing Point Concepcion, of the passage of
the Santa Lucia mountains, of the sight of Punta de Pinos, of Point
Reyes, etc.
"The expedition desired to reach Point Reyes, but some esteros
intervened which ran far inland, which required a long journey to go
around, and other difficulties (the chief of which was the want of
provisions), made it necessary for us to return, believing that the Port
of Monterey might perhaps be near the Sierra de Santa Lucia, and
thinking that we might have passed it without observing it. We left the
estero of San Francisco on our return on the 11th of November. We passed
the Punta de Ano Nuevo on the 19th of said month, and reached the second
time this Port and Ensenada de Pinos on the 27th of the same."
It states that from that day to this they have made diligent search for
the port of Monterey, but in vain, and now, despairing of finding it,
their provisions nearly gone, they return to San Diego. Then follows the
latitude at various points as observed by Costanso. It requests the
commanders of the San Jose or San Antonio, if they, or either of them,
should be informed of the contents of the letter and the condition of
the expedition, to sail down the coast as near the land as possible,
that the expedition might sight and obtain succor from them.
The march that day was across the Point of Pines, one league and a half,
and they camped on the shore of Monterey Bay, where they erected another
cross with an inscription announcing their departure. On the 11th, they
ascended the Salinas and began to retrace the route of their coming.
They killed many geese, which relieved their necessities somewhat, and
on the 21st were clear of the Santa Lucia mountains. The hungry soldiers
stole flour, and to prevent further theft, the comandante divided the
remainder among them. On the 28th the command was stuck fast in a
mudhole near San Luis Obispo, and were unable to say mass, though it was
a feast day[37]. On January 3d, they passed Point Concepcion. Here,
among the Channel Indians, food was abundant, their severe trials were
over, and the health of the command improved daily. Instead of following
up the Santa Clara river, they crossed the Santa Susana mountains, into
the San Fernando valley, and followed down the Los Angeles river,
crossed the Santa Ana, January 18th, and reached San Diego, January 24,
1770, with the command in good health and without the loss of a man,
"with the merit of having been compelled to eat the flesh of male and
female mules, and with not having found the Port of Monterey, which we
judged to have been filled up by the great sand dunes which were in the
place where we had expected to find it."[38]
Portola found a joyful welcome at the little camp at San Diego. Many had
died, and Junipero and Father Parron were just recovering from scurvy.
No tidings were yet received from the San Antonio. The commander made a
careful inventory of supplies, and reserved enough to march to Velicata
in case the San Antonio did not appear when the remainder should be
exhausted. This, he calculated, would be a little after the middle of
March, and the 20th of that month was fixed as the date of departure,
very much to the disappointment of the priests.
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