coasts and ports of the bay of
the Californias might be included in it, as well as the fisheries. In
reply I ordered, on the twenty-seventh of September of five hundred
and ninety-nine, that letters be written to him in my name that I
considered the demarcation and exploration of that coast and its
ports very desirable, and that he should accordingly set about it
immediately; but advising him not to undertake the exploration of
the Californias except in passing. In pursuance thereof, I appointed
Sebastian Vizcayno for that purpose as he was a man experienced in
maritime matters, and careful and skilled in those of that route,
and as he was one with whom I was thoroughly satisfied. Having given
him for the voyage two vessels, a lancha and a barcoluengo, [31] with
the sailors and soldiers, ammunition and provisions, necessary for a
year, and a cosmographer, skilful and versed in geometrical tables,
in order that he might very minutely and accurately place and set
down what should be discovered on a map and chart. After having
received his orders and instructions, he set sail on the fifth of
May, in the year 602, from the port of Acapulco to make the above
mentioned exploration; as I was advised by the said Conde de Monterrei
and Sebastian Vizcaino. [32] These afterward wrote me by several
letters (the most recent of which were dated on the last of April,
604) that Sebastian Vizcaino spent eleven months in that voyage; and
that he began, from the same port, to delineate and sound the coast,
ports, bays, and indentations up to the thirty-seventh degree, with
all the precision and exactness needful and required; and that from
the thirty-seventh degree to the forty-second he accomplished nothing
beyond sighting the land. He had been unable to take so particular care
there as he had done up to the thirty-seventh degree, because many
of the crew fell sick, and the weather there was very contrary. He
said that that whole coast, as far as the fortieth degree, extends
northwest and southeast; that the other two degrees remaining in
the forty-two degrees extend practically north and south; and that
from the mouth of the Californias up to the thirty-seventh degree,
he found three very excellent ports on the mainland--namely, San
Diego in thirty-three degrees, and the second, of less excellence,
near it. That of San Diego is very large and capable of holding
many vessels; and it has water and wood. The third is better and
more suita