Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/39



and moanes,  with  bitter  teares  and  wringing  of  their haads, tormenting  theniselues."  This  was  exceedingly Hke  the  California  Digger,  as  was  also  their  king, before  whom  on  his  appearing,  "came  a  man  of  a  large body and  goodly  aspect,  bearing  the  Septer  or  royall mace,. . .  whereupon  hanged  two  crownes,  a  bigger and a  lesse,  with  three  chaines  of  a  maruellous  length," and  so  on.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  the  English- men prevented  these  people  from  worshipping  them, and  offering  sacrifice  as  unto  gods  ;  and  the  eagerness with  which  they  accepted  Elizabeth  for  their  sovereign was  pleasant  to  see.  But  about  gold  ?  "  There  is  no part  of  earth,"  says  the  preacher,  "here  to  be  taken up wherein  there  is  nol  a  reasonable  quantity  of  gold or silver."  And  again:  "The  earth  of  the  country seemed to  promise  rich  veins  of  gold  and  silver,  some of the  ore  being  constantly  found  on  digging."  Even a  school-sjirl  would  recoa;nize  in  this  the  extravaofance of  fiction.  Climates  change ;  simple  savages  might mistake  Drake's  buccaneers  for  gods  ;  but  if  gold  and silver  ever  existed  amid  the  rocks  and  hills  in  the neighborhood  of  Drake  bay,  the  world  has  yet  to know  it.

In his  Noticia  de  la  California,  Miguel  Venegas, speaking of  the  voyage  of  Sebastian  Vizcaino  along the shore  of  Upper  California  in  1602,  draws  attention to the  royal  cedula  of  the  19th  of  August,  1606, granting Vizcaino  permission  to  explore  California,  and inserts that  document  in  the  first  volume  of  his  his- tory. The king  says,  referring  to  Vizcaino's  voyage of 1602,  "que  descubrio  el  dlcho  Sebastian  Vizcaino en  la  costa  en  mas  de  ochocientas  leguas,  que  anduvo, se  informo,  y  que  todos  decian,  haver  la  tierra  adentro grandes  poblaciones,  y  plata,  y  oro," — that  the  said Vizcaino was  told  by  the  Indians  along  the  whole coast of  800  leao-ues  which  he  discovered,  of  laro;e  set- tlements in  the  interior,  and  of  silver  and  gold. " Whence  Vizcaino  is  inclined  to  believe,"  the  king continues,  "that  great  riches  may  be  discovered,  es-