The weekly union record., 1864-05-14
IFrom the Atlantic Moaihly.l
The Queen Of California.

hundred and fifty five years ago. Her precise
contemporaries were Amadis OF Gaul, the EN-
peror EsplaIdisn. and the Sultan Radiaro
And she hourished, as the books say, at the
time when this Sultan made bis unsuccessful
attack on the. city of Consaniinople-au of
which she saw, part Of which she was.
She was not petite. nor blond. nor golden
haired. She was large and black as the ace OF
clubs. But the prejudice OF color did not then
exist, even among the most bTaZea faced, or the
most copper headed. For, as you shall learn,
she was rep1ied the most beautiful of women
and it was she, 0 Californians. who welded
the gallant Prince Taanque-your first known
king. The supporters Of the arms of the
beautiful shield of the State of California
should be- on the right, knight armed ccpq-
PIE, and on the left an Amazon sable, clothed
IN skins. as you shall now see.
Z. +. Hale, of Boston, sent to the Antigua
rian Society, last year, a paper which shows
that the name of California was knoYn to lit
eraiure before it was given to our peninsula by
/ Cortes. Cortes discovered the peninsula in
1885, and seems to have called il California
then. But Hale shows that. twenty-five years
before that time, in a romance called the
Deeds of Esplandian," the name OF California
Was given to an island "on the right hand
of the Indies This romance was a sequel, or
! fifth book, to the celebrated romance of
"Amadis of Gaul." Such books made the
/ principal reading Of the young blades of that
day who could read at all It seems clear
enough that Cortes and his friends. coming TO
the point furthest 10 the west then known
which all of them, from Columbus down, sup
posed 10 be in the East Indies-gave to their
discovery the name, familiar to romantic ad-
venturers, OF California, to indicate their belief
that this was ION the right hand of th- Indies
Just so Columbus called his discoveries 1.-The
Indies, Just so was the name "E Dorado
given to regions which it was hoped would
prove to be golden. The romance had said
that IN the whole of the romance island of Cal
ifornia there was no metal but gold Cortes,
who did not find pennyweight of dust in the
real California, still had no objection TO giving
so golden name to his discovery.
Hale with that brevlty which becomes anti
quarians, does not go into any of the details of
the lille and adventures of the Qleen of Cali
fornia as the romance describes them. We
propose, in this paper, to supply from it this
relicency of his essay
The reader must understand, then, that in
this romance, printed in 1910, sixty years or
less after CCnstaniinople really fell into the
hands of the Turks, the author describes pre-
tended assault made upon it by the Intidel
Powers and the rallyIng for It's rescue OF
Amads and Perion and LiSuarte, and all the
princes of chivalry with whom the novel of
, "Amadis of Gaul" has dealt. They succeed in
driving away the Pogons, las you shall hear"
ln the midS' OF this great crusade every word
/ of which, of course, Is the most fictitious of
fiction, appear the episodes which describe
California and its Queen.
First, of California itself here is the descrip
tion
Now you are TO hear the most extraordinary
thing that ever was heard OF 10 any chronicles
or IN the memory of man, by which The city
would have been lost on the next day, but that
where the danger came there the safety came
also. Know, then, that on the right hand of
the Indies there is au island called California,
very close to the side Of the Terrestrial Para
dise,* and it was peoped by black women,
without any man among them, for they lived in
the fashion of AmazonS. They were of strong
aud hardy bodies, of ardent courage and great
force. Their island was the strongest 10 all the
world, with its steep cliffs and rocky shores.
Their arms were all of gold, and 50 was the
harness of the wild beasts which they tanned
and rode. For, IN the whole island, there was
no metal but gold. They lived in caves wrought
out of the rock with much labor They had
many ships. with which they sailed out 10 other
countries to obtain booty.
In this island, called California, there were
many grifins, on account of the rnggedness of
the country, and its infinite host OF Wild beasts,
such as never were seen in any other part OF the
world. Aud when these gritfius were yet small,
the women went out with traps 10 take them
They covered themselves over with very thick
hides and when they had caught the little
griffins, they took them to their caves and
brought them up there. And being themselves
quite match for the grffns, they fed them
with the men whom they took prisoners, and
with the boys 10 whom they gave birth, and
brought them up with such arts that they got
much good from them. and 20 harm. Every
man who landed on the island was Immediately
devoured by these griffins, and although they
had had enough, none the less would they seize
them and carry them high up in the air in their
fight, aud when they were tired of carrying
them, would let them fall anywhere as soon as
they died.
These grifins are the Monitors Of the story,
or, if the reader p!eases. the Merrimacs Alter
this description, the author goes on IL introduce
10 US our Queen. Observe y reader, that
although very black and very large, she is
very beautiful. Why did not Powers carve
his statue of California out of the backest
OF Egyptian marbles? Try once more, Powers.
We have found her now
"Now, at the time when those great men Of
the pagans sailed with their great fleets, as the
history has told you, there reigDed in this island
OF California Queen. very large in person, the
most beautiful OF all Of them, OF blooming years,
and in her thoughts desirous of achieving great
things, strong of limb and of great courage,
more than any of those who had FLIED her
throne before her. She heard tell that all the
greater part of the world was moving in this
onslaught against the Christians. She did not
know what Christians were. for she had 20
knowledge Of any parts of the world excepting
those which were close to her But she desired
TO see the world and its various people; and
thinking that, with the great strength of herself
and Of her women, she should have the greater
part of their plunder, either from her rank or
from her proves, she began to talk with all of
those who were most skilled in war, and told