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 Zuniga y
Azevedo, Count of Monterey, took command. At Velasco's request, Zuniga
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. Zuniga 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 Zuniga 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 Zuniga'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 Jose, 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 the Islands of San Juan de Mazatlan.
From Mazatlan he bore west-northwest across the Gulf of California and
landed in a large bay which he named San Felipe, afterwards known as the
Bay of Cerralbo. From here he went to La Paz bay, which he so named
because of the peaceful character of the Indians, who received him
hospitably with presents of fish, game, and fruits. This was, it is
supposed, the place where Jimenez, the discoverer of California, lost
his life in 1533, and where Cortez planted his ill-fated colony two
years later. In entering the bay, the flagship ran on a shoal, and they
were obliged to cut away her masts and lighten her of her cargo of
provisions, a great part of which was wet and lost. Here Vizcaino landed
and built a stockade fort, and leaving the dismantled flagship and the
married men of his company under command of his lieutenant, Figueroa, he
sailed on October 3rd, with the San Jose and the lancha and eighty men
to explore the gulf. He encountered severe storms which separated his
vessels, and not having proper discipline among his men, had trouble
with the Indians of the coast, during which nineteen men were lost by
the overturning of the ship's long boat. He turned back to La Paz, where
his men, disheartened by the storms and the loss of their comrades,
demanded to be returned to New Spain. His stock of provisions was
running low, and putting the disaffected on the flagship and the lancha,
he sent them back, and with the San Jose and forty of the more
adventurous of the men, again sailed, on October 28th, for the
headwaters of the gulf. For sixty-six days he battled against strong
north winds, and only succeeded in reaching latitude twenty-nine; then
yielding to the demands of his men, he sailed for the port of the Isles
of Mazatlan.
The results of the expedition did not add to Vizcaino's reputation, but
he made a most glowing report of his discoveries. He told of a land
double the extent of New Spain and in situation much preferable; its
seas abounding in pearls of excellent quality and in fish of all kinds,
in quantity greater than was contained in any other discovered sea;
while in the interior of the land, some twenty days' journey to the
northwest, were people who lived in towns, wore clothes, had gold and
silver ornaments, cloaks of cotton, maize and provisions, fowls of the
country (turkeys), and of Castile (chickens); thus the Indians told him
- not only in one place but in many.
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