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DAWN AND THE DONS 40 point on the crescent shore of Monterey Bay between Monterey and Santa Cruz, nearly twenty miles distant from where Vizcaino had landed. There were here, of course, none of the landmarks

described in Vizcaino’s log, or in his official report. Clearly then, this was not the port that Portola had been directed to find, though the latitude was reckoned by Constanso to be near that recorded by Vizcaino. So they went on slowly and watchfully northward, following the coastline, and on November first, a scouting party under Sergeant Ortega, came upon San Francisco Bay. Several historians, including Charles E. Chapman, who is unusually accurate, believe that Ortega, on that day, looked across the Golden Gate. What he saw proved to be an extensive body of water, but Portola was not interested. He was looking for the port of Monterey, and this clearly was not it. It does seem strange that Portola should have paid so little attention to this natural harbor, which was destined to become the greatest seaport on the Pacific coast of the western hemisphere. The truth is—and this partly explains Portola’s apathy— that the entire party were footsore and weary, both Portola and Rivera had fallen ill, many of his men were sick with scurvy, and provisions were running low. And Portola’s mind was on the object of his search. Such was the condition of affairs when they turned back and made their way again to the mouth of the Salinas river; and then followed a series of happenings that seemed to indicate bewilderment in the minds of