Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/43



current reports  something  wonderful  long  before  their treasures were  disclosed. " This  extraordinary  range of  mountains,"  says  Jonathan  Carver  in  1766,  "is  cal- culated to  be  more  than  3,000  miles  in  length,  with- out any  very  considerable  intervals,  which  I  believe surpasses  any  thing  of  the  kind  in  the  other  quarters of  the  globe.  Probably  in  future  ages  they  may  be found  to  contain  more  riches  in  their  bowels  than those  of  Indostan  and  Malabar,  or  that  are  produced on  the  Golden  coast  of  Guinea ;  nor  will  I  except even  the  Peruvian  mines."

No little  excitement  occurred  in  Mexico  about  the time of  the  expulsion  of  *the  Jesuits,  who,  it  was  re- ported, had found  extensive  deposits  of  gold  on  the peninsula of  California,  and  had  concealed  the  fact from the  government. It was  in  the  rivers,  in  the rocks, and  in  the  soil,  people  said,  and  the  supposed concealment as  to  the  spot  containing  the  precious metal, on  the  part  of  the  Jesuits,  tended  in  no  wise toward delaying  their  enforced  departure. To prove the matter  Jose  Galvez,  marquis  of  Sonora,  accom- panied by Miguel  Jose  de  Azanza,"  in  1769  passed  over into  California  and  instituted  a  search.  A  few  weeks of  fruitless  endeavor  satisfied  Azanza,  who  returned to  Mexico,  saying  that  the  marquis  was  insane  to continue  the  search ;  for  the  expression  of  which opinion  Azanza  was  incarcerated,  and  kept  in  pi'ison for  a  time.  Galvez  found  nothing,  however,  though the  Jesuits  afterward  affirmed  in  France  that  it  was true  they  had  found  gold.  This  was  probably  said  in order  to  occasion  regret  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had caused  their  expulsion.  All  this  of  course  is  irrele- vant to  the  present  purpose,  except  that  in  the  loose and  general  reference  made  to  the  event,  it  is  not stated,  and  often  not  known,  that  the  Jesuits  were never  in  Upper  California,  and  that  the  search  of Galvez  and  Azanzfc  was  confined  strictly  to  the  penin- sula of Lower  California.

Such facts,  mutilated  and  misstated,  floating  in  the