Description of California.

Historical, Topographical, and Geographical SKETCH OF THE CALIFORNIAS.

NEW CALIFORNIA.

Translated expressly for the Crescent, from the Twenty-fifth Chapter of the “Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne; par Alexandre de Humboldt.

Second Edition: Paris, 1827. PROVINCE OF NEW CALIFORNIA.

Population in 1803, 15,600.

Extent of surface in square leagues, 2135.

Inhabitants to the square league, 7.

That part of the coasts of the Grand Ocean which extends from the Isthmus of Old California, or from the bay “de Todos Santos,” (south of the port of San Diego,) as far as Cape Mendocino, bears upon the Spanish maps the name of New California. It is a long and narrow strip of land, on which, since forty years, 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 78 leagues from Cape Mendocino.

The province of New California, in its present state, is 197 leagues long, by 9 or 10 broad.

The city of Mexico is, in a straight line, the same distance from Philadelphia as from Monterey, the principal mission of California, situated in the same latitude, within four minutes, as Cadiz.

We have before referred to the voyages of many monks, who, in the commencement of the last century, in passing from the peninsula of Old California to Sonora, made the circuit of the sea of Cortez on foot.

Since the time of the expedition of M. 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 Francisco.

This last establishment, which is the most northern of all the Spanish settlements on the new continent, is almost in the same latitude as the little village of Taos in New Mexico. It is distant from it only 300 leagues, and, though Father Escalante, in his apostolical expeditions, made in the year 1777, advanced as far as the western bank of the river Zaguananas, toward the mountains of Guacaros, 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.

Hernan Cortez debarked for the first time in Mexico on the shores of Chalchiuhcuecan, in 1519, and four years later he constructed his vessels on the South Sea, at Zacatula and Tehuantepec.

In 1537, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca appeared, with two companions, worn out by fatigue, hungry, and almost naked, at Culiacan, opposite the peninsula of California.

He had landed, with Parfilo Narvaez, in Florida, and after two years of traveling, 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 Noutka, at the mouth of the Columbia River.

In considering the difficult expeditions of the first Spanish conquerors in Mexico, in Peru and on the Amazon, one is struck with surprise that, in the course of two centuries, the same nation has never found a land route, in New Spain, from Taos to Monterey; in New Granada, from Santa Fé to Carthagena, or from Quito to Panama; in Guiana, from Esmeralda to St.

Thomas del Angostura.

In the English maps many geographers give to New California the name of New Albion.

This name is based upon the ill-founded opinion that the navigator Drake was the first, in 1578, to discover the north-west coast of America, between 38° and 48° of latitude.

The celebrated voyage of Sebastian Viscaino, without doubt, took place 24 years subsequent to the discoveries of Francis Drake.

But Knox and other historians appear to forget that Cabrillo had already, in 1543, examined the coasts of New California as far as the latitude of 43°, the limit of his navigation.

The name of New Albion ought then to be restricted to that section lying between latitude of 43° and 48°, or from Cape Blanco 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 William’s Bay, at the Kodiac Isles and at the Unalaskas, there are more than a thousand leagues inhabited by a free people, and abounding in beaver and otter.

Consequently discussion on the extent of New Albion, and on the soi-disans rights which Europeans pretend to acquire by erecting crosses, making inscriptions on trees or burying bottles, is unnecessary.

Though the whole line of New California was examined by Sebastien Viscaino, (as is proved by the plans drawn by himself in 1602,) this beautiful country was not occupied by the Spaniards till 67 years later.

The Court of Madrid believing that the other maritime European powers would form establishments on the northwest coast of America, which might become dangerous to the ancient Spanish colonies, gave orders to the Viceroy, the Chevalier Santa Cruz, and the Visitador Galvez to found missions and garrisons at the ports of San Diego and Monterey.

With this object, two vessels left the port of San Blas and anchored at San Diego in the month of April, 1763.

Another expedition arrived by land, by the way of Old California.

Since the time of Viscaino no European had landed on those distant shores.

The Indians appeared astonished to see men with garments, 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 an 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 Serra, and the chief of engineers, M. 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 companions.

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 horseback.

Just as the soil of Old California is arid and stony, so is that of the new province fertile and arable.

It is one of the most picturesque countries to be seen.

The sky is cloudy, but the frequent mists which render difficult the approach to Monterey and San Francisco, give vigor to vegetation, and fertilize the soil, which is covered with a deep black mould.

In the eighteen missions which now exist in California, wheat, maize and beans, are cultivated in abundance.

Barley, lentils and peas, flourish well in the greater part of the province, in the midst of the fields.

As the 36 Franciscans who govern the missions are 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 are cultivated in Spain.

The first colonists, who arrived in 1769, found in the interior of the country wild vines from which a large but very sour grape was produced.

This was, perhaps, one of the numerous kinds of vines, indigenous to Canada, Louisiana and New Biscay, and which are as yet very imperfectly 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 José, consequently the whole length of the coast south of Monterey, and north of that place as far as 37°.

The European olive is cultivated with success at Santa Barbara, and especially at San Diego, where oil is made not inferior to that of Andalusia or the valley of Mexico.

The cold winds which blow impetuously from the north, and north-west, sometimes prevent the full maturity of fruit on the sea coast.

Thus, the village of Santa Clara, at nine leagues from Santa Cruz, and protected by a chain of mountains, has better vineyards, and more abundant fruit harvests, than Monterey.

At this last place the monks, with much satisfaction, show to travellers many useful vegetables, propagated from the seeds which M. Thouin confided to the unfortunate La Pérouse.

Of all the missions in New Spain, those of the north-west coast offer the most marked signs of a rapid progress in civilization.

The public have read with interest the details concerning these distant regions, published by La Pérouse, Vancouver, and more recently by two Spanish navigators, De Galiano and Valdes. I have succeeded in procuring, during my sojourn in Mexico, the statistical tables formed in 1802 by the President of the Missions of New California, Father Firmin Lasuen.

It appears, from a comparison which I have made with the official documents preserved in the archives of Mexico, that in 1776 there were but eight villages; in 1790, eleven; while in 1802, the number had increased to eighteen.

The population of New California, counting the Indians attached to the soil who commence to devote themselves to the cultivation of the earth, was, in 1790, 7,748; in 1801, 13,668; in 1802, 15,562.

The number of inhabitants has, according to this, doubled in twelve years.

Since the foundation of the missions, or from 1762 to 1802, there have been, according to the parochial registers, 33,717 baptisms, 8009 marriages, and 16,984 deaths.

From this we cannot infer the proportion existing between births and deaths, because adult Indians receiving baptism (los neofitos) are confounded with children.

The valuation of products of the soil, or the estimate of crops, offers convincing proofs of the increase of the industry and prosperity of New California.

According to the tables published by M. Galiano, the Indians in the whole province sowed in 1791, 874 fanegas of wheat, which produced a crop of 15,197 fanegas.

In 1802 the product had doubled, the quantity of wheat sown being 2089 fanegas, and the crop 33,576 fanegas.

The number of cattle existing in 1802, was as follows: oxen, 67,782; sheep, 107,172; hogs, 1040; horses, 2187; mules, 877.

In the year 1791 there were in all the Indian villages but 24,958 head of large cattle.

This progress of agriculture, these peaceable conquests of industry, are so much the more interesting, as the natives of this coast, very different from those of Nootka and the Bay of Norfolk, were, only thirty years ago, a nomade people, living by fishing and hunting, and cultivating no kind of vegetables.

The Indians of the bay of San Francisco were then as degraded as are now the inhabitants of Van Dieman’s Land.

It was only in the channel of Santa Barbara that in 1769 the aborigines were found somewhat advanced in agriculture.

They built large houses in a pyramidal form, which they joined together.

Kind and hospitable, they offered to the Spaniards vases of a curious make.

These baskets are covered inside with a kind of asphaltic preparation, which makes them impervious to water and the fermented liquors which are put in them.

The northern part of New California is inhabited by two nations, the Rumsen and Escelen, who speak languages entirely different, and form the population of the garrison and village of Monterey.

The population of New California would have increased much more rapidly, if for some centuries the rules governing the Spanish establishments had not been diametrically opposed to the true interests of the metropolis and the colonies.

According to these laws, the soldiers stationed at Monterey are not permitted to live outside of their quarters, or to establish themselves as colonists.

The monks are generally opposed to having whites for colonists, because these, as people who reason, would not probably be subjected to as blind an obedience as the Indians.

“It is very afflicting” says a Spanish navigator “that the soldiers who pass a laborious and hazardous life, cannot, in their old age, fix themselves in the country, and become agriculturalists.” * * * By removing the shackles we have referred to, the missions of the Rio Negro, San Francisco, and Monterey, would be peopled by a great number of whites.

But what a contrast do the principles of colonization adopted by the Spaniards present to those by which Great Britain has in a few years created the villages on the eastern coast of New Holland!

The Rumsen and Escelen Indians partake with the Aztecs, the fondness for the warm bath.

The Temazcalli, which are still found in Mexico, and of which the Abbé Clavigero has given an exact description, are real vapor baths.

The Aztec Indian extends himself in a heated oven, of which the floor is constantly dampened with water.

The natives of New California, on the contrary, take the baths which the celebrated Franklin recommended as baths of warm air.

There is near every house a little edifice built in the form of a temazcalli.

On returning from work the Indians enter the oven, where a few moments before the fire has been extinguished.

They remain for a quarter of an hour, until they become covered with perspiration, when they throw themselves into a neighboring stream.

This rapid transition from heat to cold, this sudden suppression of the cutaneous functions, which the European, with reason, repels, causes agreeable sensations to the savage, who, above all things, enjoys what strongly excites him, or re-acts powerfully upon his nervous system.

The Indians inhabiting the villages of New California, have for some years been engaged in the manufacture of coarse woollen fabrics.

But their principal pursuit, and that which may become an important branch of commerce, is the making of leather from deer skin. * * * * The Russian and Spanish establishments being up to this time the only European colonies which exist on the northwest coast of America, it will be useful to enumerate all the missions of New California which have been founded, up to the commencement of the year 1803.

This detailed notice is the more interesting at a time when the inhabitants of the United States manifest the desire of a movement towards the west, to the coasts of the grand Ocean, opposite to China, and which abound in otter and beaver.

The Missions of New California succeed each other, from south to north, in the order here laid down:

San Diego.—A village founded in 1769, at 15 miles distant from the most northern of the Missions of Old California.

Population in 1802, 1560.

San Luis Ruy de Francia.—Founded in 1798.

Population 600.

San Juan Capistrano.— Founded in 1776.

Population 1000.

San Gabriel.—Founded in 1771.

Population 1050.

San Fernando.—Founded in 1797.

Population 600.

San Buenaventura.—Founded in 1782.

Population 950.

Santa Barbara.—Founded in 1786.

Population 1100.

La Purisima Concepcion.—Founded in 1787.

Population 1000.

San Luis Obispo.—Founded in 1772.

Population 700.

San Miguel.—Founded in 1797.

Population 600.

Soledad.—Founded in 1791.

Population 570.

San Antonio de Padua.—Founded in 1771.

Population 1050.

San Carlos de Monterey.—Capital of New California.

Founded in 1770, at the foot of the Cordillera of Santa Lucia, which is covered with oaks and other trees.

The village is two leagues distant from the garrison, which bears the same name.

It appears that Cabrillo bad already examined the Bay of Monterey on the 15th of November, 1542, and on account of the beautiful pines which cover the tops of the neighboring mountains, he named it la Bahia de los Pinos, (Bay of the Pines.)

Its present name was given it 60 years later, in honor of the Viceroy of Mexico, Gaspard de Zuniga, Count of Monterey, an enterprising man, to whom some great maritime expeditions are due, and who engaged Juan de Onate in the conquest of New Mexico.

The population of the village is 700.

San Juan Bautista.—Founded in 1797.

Population 960.

Santa Cruz.—Founded in 1794.

Population 440.

Santa Clara.—Founded in 1777.

Population 1300.

San Jose.—Founded in 1797.

Population 630.

San Francisco.—Founded in 1776. It has a splendid harbor.

The geographers often confound this place with Drake’s Port, which is further north in lat. 38° 10′, and which the Spaniards call the Port of Bodega.

Population of San Francisco 820. We are ignorant of the number of whites, mestizoes and mulattoes in New California, whether in garrison or in the service of the Monks of St. Francis. I believe their number amounts to 1300; for in the two years 1801 and 1802, there were among the white and mixed races 35 marriages, 182 baptisms and 82 deaths.

It is only upon this part of the population that the Government can rely in case of an attack which may be attempted by some of the maritime powers of Europe.

The above account of New California presents a picture of a flourishing country, fertile, with a delicious climate, capable of sustaining a dense population, and seemingly destined to permanent improvement.

At the time of Humboldt’s observations, the condition and rapid advancement of New California, in population and civilization, justified him in anticipating such a future.

It was shortly after this that the revolution occurred which deprived Spain of its most flourishing colony, and doomed Mexico to subsequent decay and imbecility.

No province of Mexico felt the influence of the change in a shorter period, or to a greater extent, than New California.

The signs of commercial activity and opulence disappeared from its seaportstowns and villages, formerly flourishing and increasing in population, were gradually abandoned by their inhabitants—agriculture languished—the natives returned to their pristine state of barbarity, and indolence, poverty and progressive decadence took the place of prosperity and wealth.

Such was the country when it came into the possession of the Americans by the Treaty of Guadalupe.