>793- breeze, was frequently attended with very foggy weather; we however
■ _ t made fo good a progrels, that by the afternoon o f the 14th we paffed
Mmday.4. cape Qrford; to the fouthward of which, as we proceeded along the
coaft, we obferved on the eminences and hills that form the fhores, at
certain diftances, large fires burning throughout the whole night; a cir-
cumftance that had not before occurred to my obfervation on this
coaft.
Being anxious to obtain fome certain information refpefting the port
of Bodega, of which the inclemency o f the weather the preceding fea-
TueTday 15. fon had difappointed me, I dire&ed Mr. Puget to make the bell of his
way thither, whilft I proceeded to St. Francifco, in the hope of meeting
Sen' Ouadra there, or at Monterrey, with fufficient credentials for fettling
the bufinefs depending about Nootka; which, it was not improbable,
might render our return thither immediately necelfary. Mr. Puget
having received his dire&ions, and having appointed St. Francifco as
a rendezvous where he would either meet or hear from me, he immediately
departed for the port of Bodega; and as there was not the leal!
probability of Mr. Menzies being able to vifit that part o f the coaft by
any other opportunity, he accompanied Mr. Puget in purfuit o f botanical
information.
In the-evening cape Mendocino was feen bearing s. e. at thediftance
Wednef. .6. of 7 or 8 leagues. During the night, and all the next day,- the wind was
light and very baffling, attended with a thick fog, or hazy weather, that
Thurfdayty: continued until the morning of the 17th, when, with a fine breeze from
the n . n. w., we fteered along the coaft to the fouth-eaft o f cape Mendocino.
A t noon the obferved latitude was 39° 18'; the coaft then in
fight extending by compafs from north to e. s. e. ; the neareft Ihore n. e.
diftant about a league.
In the afternoon we paffed point Barro de Arena, and to the north-
weft of it fome breakers were now feen, about two miles from the Ihore,
‘ that had not been noticed on our former vifit.
The Chatham, though at fome diftance before us, was yet in fight, and
kept clofe to the land; but we direQed our courfe for point de loS Reys.
Light baffling winds attended by fogs or thick weather, prevented our
reaching
reaching that diftance until noon of the lg th ; when we palled that
promontory with a pleafant breeze from' the N. N.w., which by feven v— v——<
r . , -< . o i-1 ‘ r ' Saturday iq.
ii) the evening brought us to an anchor in port bt. rranciico, near our
former birth off the Prefidio.
• We were foon hailed from the Ihore, upon which a boat was dif-
-patched thither, and immediately 'returned with our civil and attentive
friend Sen'- Sal ; who, in addition to the offers o f his fervices
and hofpitality, gratified us by communicating the interefting intelligence
.of the ftate of Europe, up to fo late a date as the preceding february ;
which, as may be naturally expefted, had long been an object o f our
moft anxious curiofity. After fupper Sen'- Sal retired to the Ihore, and
the next morning I received from him two letters; the one requefting,
in an official form, that I Would acquaint him in writing o f our arrival
in port St. Francifco; of the fupplies we Ihould want, and of the
time I intended to remain in that port, in order that he might immediately
communicate the fame to the governor of the province ; the other ftating
that, under the fuperior orders by which alone his conduft could be governed,
he was obliged to make known to me, that no individual could
be permitted to come on {fibre, but for the purpofes of procuring wood
andwater, excepting myfelf and one officer, or midfhipman, who might
pals to the Prefidio, where I fhould be received and attended as on our
former vifit. -
Thefe reftriftions were of a nature fo unexpefted; ungracious, and
degrading, that I could not but confider them as little {hort of a difmiffion
from St. Francifco, and I was left in the greateft perplexity to account
for a reception fo totally different from what we had experienced on a
former occafion, and fo contrary to what I had been taught to expeft,
by the letters with which I had been honored from the viceroy of New
Spain, in return to my letter of thanks for the great civilities that had
been conferred upon us.
I was given to underftand, that a captain in the Spanifh infantry,
named Arrillaga, had arrived at Monterrey fome time in the courfe o f
the preceding fpring ; and being the fenior officer, had taken upon himfelf
V ol. II. 3 K the