The Search for Fretum Anian [pp. 466-478]

THE SEARCH FOR FRETUM ANIAN.
ordered to "discover the Strait of Anian,
along the coast of the South Sea, and to
fortify that strait to resist the passage of
the English nation, which were feared
to pass through that strait into the South
Sea." Nothing having been accomplish ed in his first voyage, De Fuca was a
second time dispatched, in a small cara vel, to prosecute his discoveries along
the northern coasts, in 1592.
In his second voyage, De Fuca dis covered, as he believed, the South Sea
opening of the long desired Strait of
Anian. Familiar to us as is the Strait
of Fuca, we see every thing to justify
such a belief in the mind of the Greek
navigator. Never doubting the exist ence of Fretum Anian, and having entered into a broad inlet, wherein he sail ed for more than twenty days, coming
into a broader sea, (the Gulf of Georgia)
and passing by divers islands, he returned triumphant to Acapulco, where
he was received with promises of reward
by the Viceroy. As usually was the
case with the Spanish authorities, the
Viceroy neglected to perform his promises; and De Fuca, after two years of
waiting, stole away to Europe, in the
hope of enlisting the interest of Queen
Elizabeth of England in his discovery.
At Venice, he met with Locke, the author, who endeavored to procure for him
the patronage of Sir Walter Raleigh;
but failing to do so, he soon after heard
of the death of De Fuca, at a town in
his native Greece.
By order of Philip II, who had been
informed of the rumored discoveries of
several navigators, the Count de Monterey, Viceroy of Mexico, fitted out another expedition in I602, to discover the
coast northward as far as Cape Mendocino, and beyond, if practicable, as far
as the Strait of Anian. It was in this
expedition that another survivor of the
Spanish galleon- Sebastian Viscanio -
distinguished himself. He made surveys
of the Bay of Magdalena, of the harbor
called Isla de Cerros, of the ports of San
Quintin, and San Diego; and last and
most important, of the Bay of Monterey.
Here a portion of the fleet returned to
Acapulco, on account of sickness among
the crews; while Viscanio continued to
sail northward, escorted only by a fra gata, which was parted from him in a
storm soon after leaving harbor. With
only his own vessel, he proceeded as far
as San Francisco Bay, where he waited
in vain for his consort. The vessel then
proceeded north to the latitude of fQrty two degrees, naming several capes in his
survey, after which Viscanio returned to
Mexico.
In the meantime, the fragata, when
she paited from the caiitana, had been
driven by a strong south-west gale a
long way in advance of the commander's
ship, and had taken shelter at last behind a great rock in the neighborhood
of Cape Mendocino, until the gale was
past. Then, emerging from his shelter,
Ensign Martin de Aguilar, thefragata's
master, coasted in his little vessel as far
up as Cape Blanco, which he named.
Proceeding yet a little northward and
westerly, he came to "a rapid and abundant river, with ash-trees, willows, brambles, and other trees of Castile, on its
banks, which they endeavored to enter,
but could not, on account of the force of
the current." "It is supposed," says
the historian of this expedition, "that
this river is the one leading to a great
city, which was discovered by the Dutch
when they were driven thither by storms,
and that it is the Strait of Anian, through
which the ship passed in sailing from
the North Sea to the South Sea; and
that the city called Quivera is in those
parts, and this is the region referred to
in the account which his Majesty read,
and which induced him to order this expedition." Such was the report carried
to Acapulco by Aguilar.
The river described in the above paragraph answers to a description of any
I869.]
475