Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/23

Rh might find shelter. He was also to explore generally and seek for the flitting strait of Anian, in which interest had been roused anew by mariners' tales. While the results of this expedition add little to the knowledge gained by Cabrillo, sixty years before, yet the records of Vizcaino's discoveries furnished for more than a century and a half the sole guide to the north-west. They name a number of points, islands, and inlets, including the bay of Monterey, and leave the impression that in latitude 42°, the extreme point reached, a great river had been discovered which students found little trouble to identify with Anian Strait.

Vizcaino sought in vain to promote a further exploration of this region, for the interest therein had subsided, but an opportunity presented itself in a different direction. Franciscans had reached Japan, and had succeeded after many tribulations in prevailing on the emperor to admit more missionaries and to send envoys to Spain in order to establish intercourse with the Spanish' people. They arrived at Mexico during the rule of the marqués de Salinas, and brought news also of some islands rich in gold and silver, which a drifting Portuguese vessel was said to have found in Japan waters. Whether this report proved the main incentive or not, the viceroy determined to respond to the advances made, and in 1611 Vizcaino was sent as embassador with instructions to establish commercial relations between the two countries, and to spend a winter in Japan examining the coast and harbors, and gaining information about the rich isles, which were then to be sought for. He was accompanied by six barefooted Franciscans, three being lay brothers, and