November ^>n. approaching the houfe we found this good lady, who, like her
1-----,---- - fpoufe, had paffed the middle age of life, .decently dreffed, feated crafslegged
on a mat, placed on a ftnall fquare wooden .platform raifed three or
four inches from the ground, nearly in front of the door, with two
daughters .and a-fern, clean and decently drefled, fitting by her; this-being
the mode obferved by thefe ladies when they receive v-ifitors. The
decorous and pleafing behaviour • o f the children was really admirable,
and exceeded any thing that could have been.expedited from them under
the circumftanDes-of their fxtuation, without any-other advantages than
the -education and example of .their parents ; which however feeined to
have been ftudioufly attended to, and-did them great credit. This plea-
• fing fight added to the friendly reception Of our hoft and hoftefs,
rendered their -lowly refidenee no -longer an objeSt of lour attention,;
and having .partaken o f the refreshments they had provided; we remounted
our horfes in order to take a -view o f the -fu-rrou.nding country
before we returned on board' to -dinner, where S.enr' Sal and his family lhad
■ prom-ifed to favor .me with their good company, and who had .requelled
my permiffion to increafe their party by the .addition o f feme other
ladies in the garrifon.
Our excurfion did not extend far from the Prefidio; which is fituated
as before defcribed -in a plain furrounded .by hil'ls.' This plain is by no
means a dead flat, but ,of unequal -fu-rface ; the foil is o f a fandy nature,
and was wholly under pafture, on which were grazing -fe.veral flocks of
fheep and. herds of cattle ; the -fides of the fenro-UndingJkiUs, though but
moderately .elevated, feetned barren, or nearly To 4 and their fummits
were compofed of naked uneven rocks. Two ftnafl fpaces in the plain,
very infecurely dnc-lofed, were appropriated to ikitchen gardens ; much
labour did not appear to have been bellowed either in the improvement
of the foil, in felefting the quality of the vegetables, or in augmenting
their produce; the feveral feeds once placed in the ground, nature was
left to do the reft without receiving any afliftance from manual labour.
Sen'- Sal having been made acquainted with the difficulties we had to
encounter in removing our wood to the fea fide, politely offered us the
carts he had for the ufe o f the Prefidio; but on their being produced
I was
I was greatly difappointed, as they were by no means fo well calculated Nov7e^ CT
as the miferable ftraw canoes for the fervice they were intended to ----- ----- -
perform.
Thus, at the expence of very little examination, though not without
much difappointment, was our curiofity fatisfied concerning the Spanifh
town and fettlement o f St. Francifeo. Inftead of finding a country tolerably
well inhabited and far advanced in cultivation, if we except its
natural paftures, the flocks of fheep, and herds of cattle, there is not an
objeft to indicate the molt remote conneftion with any European, or
other civilized nation.
This Iketch will be fufficient, without further comment, to convey
fome idea o f the inaftive fpirit of the people, and the unprotefted
ftate o f the eftablifhment at this port, which I fhould conceive ought
to be a principal objefl of the Spanifh crown, as a key and barrier
to their more fouthern and valuable fettlements on the borders of the
north pacific. Should my idea of its importance be over-rated, certain
it is, that confidered folely as an eftablilhment, which muft have
been formed at confiderable expence, it poffefles no other means for
its protection than fuch as have been already defcribed; with a brafs
three-pounder mounted on a rotten carriage before the prefidio, and a
fimilar piece of ordnance which (I was-told) was at the S.E. point of
entrance lafhed to a log inftead of a carriage; and was the gun whofe
report we heard the evening o f our arrival. Before the prefidio there
had formerly been two pieces o f ordnance, but one o f them had
lately burft to pieces.
The examination o f thefe few objefits, and the confequent obfervations
upon them, occupied our leifure until dinner time, when we returned
on board, accompanied by Sen'- Sal, his wife, and party, and one of the
fathers of the million of St. Francifeo, Martin de Landaeta, who brought
me a prefling and polite invitation from his brethren, and who proved
to be a very pleafing and entertaining acquifition to our fociety.
The next day, being funday, was appointed for my vifiting the Sunday 18.
miffion. Accompanied by Mr. Menzies and fome of the officers,
and our friendly Sen1- Sal, I rode thither to dinner. Its diftance from
V ol. II. C the