Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/286

268 aground for a time at San Diego, sailed north with the effects of the colony. Lying at anchor in Monterey, she broke her cables in a gale on the afternoon of December 21st, and was driven on the beach about two miles above the town, where she soon went to pieces. Three men lost their lives.

There is a popular tradition that the Natalia was the same vessel on which Napoleon had escaped from Elba, in 1815. This statement is repeated by almost every writer who has mentioned the colony. No one presents any evidence in its support, but I am not able to prove its inaccuracy.

The Morelos, with Padrés and the rest of the colonists, 120 in number, also had a narrow escape from shipwreck in a gale off Point Concepcion, according to the statement of Antonio Coronel; but she arrived safely at Monterey on September 25th, and the new-comers were as warmly welcomed at the capital as