The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-02-01
GeseriPtion Of California,
Historical, Typographical, and Geographical
SKETCH OF THE CALF ORNIAS
NEW CALIFORNIA

Historical Typographical and Geographical
SKETCH OF THE CALF oRNIAs.
NEW CALIFORNIA
Translated expressly for the Crescent from the Twenty fifth
Chapter of the EsSai Poiitique Ee Rovaune de Ia
.Nou1ette Espagne par ALEXANDRA DE HUMBOLDT -
Second Edition: Paris. 1927.
PROVINCE OF NEW CALIFORNIA
Population sO3 l50O in square 2I3
Inhabitants to the square league,
That part Of the coasts of the Grand Ocean which
extends from the Isthmus of Old California or from
the bay g de Todos Sanos,'' South of the port of
San Diego,) as far as Cape Mendocino, bears upon
the Spanish maps the name of New California.
1t is long and narrow strip of land, on which.
since forty wears, the Mexican Government has
established missions and military posts. No village
or farm is found north of the port of San Francisco,
which place is distant more than 70 leagues from
Cape Mendocino The province of New Califor
MIA, in its present state is 1877 leagues long, bv
10 broad. The city of Mexico is, in straight line
the same distance from Philadelphia as from Mon
terey, the principal mission of California situated
in the latitude, within four minutes, CadiZ
We have before referred to the voyages of many
monks, who, in the commencement of the last cen
fury, in passing from the peninsula of Old Calior-
MA to Sonora, made the circuit of the sea of Cor
fez on foot. Since the time of the expedition of
NJ. GalveZ, military detachments come from Loreto
to San Diego Even now the mail goes from that
port along the northwest coast as far as San Fran
northern of all the Spanish settlements on the new
continent, is almost in the same latitude the little
village of Taos in New Mexico 1t is distant from
it only 300 leagues, and, though Father Escalante,
IN his apostollcal expeditions, made in the year
1777 advanced as far as the western bank of the
river Zaguananas, toward the mountains of Qua
caros, no traveller has passed from New Mexico to
the Californian coast. This fact will be the more
astonishing to those who know, from the history of
the conquest of America, the spirit of enterprise
and admirable courage with which the Spaniards
were animated in the Sixteenth Century. Herman
Cortez debarked for the first time in Mexico on the
shores of Chalchnhcuecan, in 1919, and four years
later he constructed his vessels the South Sea- at
Zacatnla and Tehuantepec. In 1887, Alvar Nunez
CabeZa de Vaca appeared, with two companions,
worn out by fatigue, hungry and almost naked, al
Culiacan. opposite the peninsula of California He
had landed, with Parfiio Narvaez, in Florida and
after two years of travelling, after having traversed
all Louisiana and Northern Mexico, he arrived at
the Grand Ocean. This distance accomplished by
NuneZ is almost as great as the route followed by
Capt. Lewis, from the banks of the Mississippi to
Nouka at the mouth of the Columbia River. In
considering the difficult expeditions of the first
Spanish conquerors in Mexico, in Peru and on thu
Amazon, one Is struck with surprise that, in the
course of two centuries, the same nation has never
found land route, in New Spain, from Taos to
Monterey; in New Granada, from Santa Ft to
Carthagena or from Quito to Panama in Guiana
from Esmeralda to ST. Thomas del Angoslura.
In the English maps many geographers give to
New California the name of New Albion This
is based upon the il-founded opinion that the
nav gator Drake the first, in 157S to discover
the northwest coast of America, between $50 and
4So of latitude. The celebrated voyage of Sebas-
Iian Viscaino, without doubt, took place "a years
subsequent TO the discoveries of Francis Drake
But Knox and other historians appear forget that
Cabrio had already, in 1913, examined the coasts
of New California as far as the latitude of 43o, the
limit Of his navigation. The name of New Albion
ought then be restricted to that section living be-
tween latitude of 43o and 4So, or from Cape Banco
to the entrance of Juan de Fuca. Thence from the
missions of the Catholic to those of the Greek
church !; that is, from the Spanish village of San
Francisco to the Russian establishments on Cook
river, at Prince w lam's Bay, at the Zodiac Isles
and at the Unalaskas, there are more than a thou
sand leagues inhabited by free people, and abound
ing in beaver and otter Consequently discussion
on the extent of New Albion, and the disans
rights which Europeans pretend to acquire by erect
ing crosses, making inscriptions trees or burying
bottles, is unnecessary. Though the whole line of
New California examined by Sebastien Wis
caino, las is proved by the plans drawn by himself
in 1902 this beautiful country was not occupied
by the Spanards till 67 years later. The Court of
Madrid believing that the other maritime European
powers would form establishments on the north
west coast of America, which might become dan
gerous 10 the ancient Spanish colonies gave orders
Visitador GalveZ to found missions and garrsons at
the ports of San Diego and Monterey. With this
object, two vessels left the port of San Bias and
anchored at San Diego in the month of April, 1863.
Another expedition arrived by land by the way of
Old California. Since the time of Viscaino no Eu
ropean had landed those distant shores. The
Indians appeared astonished to see men with gar
ments, though they knew that further to the east
there was a race of people whose color was not
that of copper. There were even found among
them pieces of silver money, which, without doubt
had come from New Mexico. The first Spanish
colonies suffered much for want of subsistence and
from epidemic disease resulting from fatigue bad
food and bad clothes. Nearly all were taken ILL.,
and only eight persons remained well. Among the
latter were two respectable men, a monk celebrated
for his voyages, Junipero Sierra, and the chief of
engineers, Nj. CostanZo, of whom in the course of
this work, we have often spoken with praise. They
were occupied with their own hands in digging
graves to receive the dead bodies of their compan-
IONS The succOr brought by the land expeditions
arrived too late to benefit this unhappy colony- The
Indians, IN announcing the arrival of the Spaniards
mounted on casks and threw their arms in the air,
to express that they had seen the whites on horse
back. Just the soil of Old California is arid and
stony, SO is that of the new province fertile and
arabic. 1t is of the most picturesque countries
to be seen. The sky is cloudy, but the frequent
miss which render difficult the approach to Mon
terey and San Francisco, give vgor to vegetation,
black mould.
In the eighteen missions which now exist in Cali
forna, wheat, maize and beans, are cultivated in
aJundance. Barley lentils and peas, flourish well
in the greater part of the province, in the midst of
the fields. As the &c Franciscans who govern the
missions all Europeans, they have taken great
pains to introduce into the gardens of the Indians
the production of most of the garden vegetables,
and fruit trees, which cultivated in Spain.
The first colonists, who arrived in 1863, found
in the interior of the country wild vines
from which a large but very sour grape was pro-
duced. This was, perhaps, one of the numerous
kinds of vines, Indigenous to Canada, Louisiana
and New Biscay and which are as yet very I'M
perfectly known to botanists. The missionaries
have introduced into California the vine whose
culture the Greeks and Romans spread all over
Europe, and which undoubtedly is foreign to the
new continent They make good wine in the
villages of San Diego, San Juan Capistrano, San
Gabriel, San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara, San
Luis Obispo, Santa Clara and San Jose, conse-