the
village understood the English tongue. The skipper gave a long low
whistle of suppressed astonishment, and wondered if we had drifted down
to Lower California in two days and nights, and had struck a Mexican
settlement. The colors on the flagstaff and the absence of any
Americans gave some show of reason to this startling conclusion; and
Lanky, who was now the interpreter of the party, asked the name of the
place, and was again told that it was San Ildefonso; but when he asked
what country it was in and how far it was to San Francisco, he was met
with a polite "I do not understand you, Senor." Here was a puzzle:
becalmed in a strange port only two days drift from the city of San
Francisco; a town which the schoolmaster declared was not laid down on
any map; a population that spoke only Spanish and did not know English
when they heard it; a Mexican flag flying over the town, and an
educated priest who did not know what we meant when we asked how far it
was to San Francisco. Were we bewitched?

Accepting a hospitable invitation from the padre, we sauntered up to
the plaza, where we were ushered into a long, low room, which might
once have been a military barrack-room. It was neatly whitewashed and
had a hard clay floor, and along the walls were a few ancient firelocks
and a venerable picture of "His Excellency, General Santa Ana,
President of the Republic of Mexico," as a legend beneath it set forth.
Breakfast of chickens, vegetables, bread, and an excellent sort of
country wine (this last being served in a big earthen bottle) was
served up to us on the long unpainted table that stood in the middle of
the room. During the repast our host, the priest, sat with folded hands
intently regarding us, while the rest of the people clustered around
the door and open windows, eying us with indescribable and
incomprehensible curiosity. If we had been visitors from the moon we
could not have attracted more attention. Even the stolid Indians, a few
of whom strolled lazily about, came and gazed at us until the pompous
old man in faded Mexican uniform drove them noisily away from the
window, where they shut out the light and the pleasant morning air,
perfumed with heliotropes, verbenas, and sweet herbs that grew
luxuriantly about the houses.

The padre had restrained his curiosity out of rigid politeness until we
had eaten, when he began by asking, "Did our galleon come from Manila?"
We told him that we only came from Bolinas; wh