Higher up the river the heathen said there was another channel which is as large, or larger than, the one which we are following. This is true, for the next day we found where it joined with the latter and the [volume of] water is doubled.[53] Therefore the river higher up must be little smaller than the San Juan Capistrano. We stopped and slept on an elevation covered with trees of the kinds described previously.
26th day. We set out at seven o’clock in the morning. The river spreads out considerably and in two places the boats ran aground because the tide was very low. However there is a [deeper] channel along the banks. After we had gone about a league and a half we reached the stream entrance which was mentioned yesterday and the water was doubled in quantity and the river now was about 7 varas deep and 400 wide. From here downward [the river] seems like an arm of the ocean, for the land becomes lower and at the meeting point of the sea and the other river the current is brought to a standstill. The two streams are from the Río de San Francisco and, with the stream which we left yesterday, constitute in all three channels and consequently form islands.[54] Farther above, where all the water is united in a single stream, the river must be as large as it is down here, but nevertheless it will not be as large as the San Juan Capistrano.
Down here, where the two channels unite, there is a village of the Ompines. Some of the people have already been baptized at San José, because they [are accustomed to] pass over to the opposite shore. We traveled in the entire day some twelve leagues and stopped where the hills end which are opposite the high hill of the Bolbones and which are very bare, completely devoid of trees and shrubs. However, the deer run in herds, for there are some great plains with an occasional low hill.[55] Those persons should come to this point who wish to sail up the Río de San Francisco, as we have heard it was formerly called, for it was here that the schooners turned around.[56] We went on to the place where we slept on the 17th of this month and it seems to me that they [the former explorers] came this far and must have returned from here, that is, without ascending higher up the river, because there is not enough water for schooners.
The first six leagues which we covered today are populated, as I said before, with various kinds of trees, but the last six are very bare. This Río de San Francisco, which we are now leaving, is good for any kind of settlement and contains many people, but one cannot get to it except by boat. The narrowest passages are at the Port of San Francisco or at the Strait of Carquinez.
27th day. Holy Mass was celebrated at the hill of the Ompines. We set out at about eleven o’clock in the morning and went some twelve leagues, six of them to the north and the rest winding through a slough of fresh water close to the land of the opposite shore. We slept on a height about a league before arriving at the plain of the Suisunes. All that we have passed today is low, but very bare hills; in all this country there is no running stream. Going from here to the Suisunes there must be at least a half-tide so that the boats will not run aground.[57]
28th day. Holy Mass was celebrated, the day being that of the Holy Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude. We went about one league and stopped at the end of the slough of the Suisunes [Suisun Slough] at half a boat’s length from shore so that one could jump onto solid ground. It was on a big plain, with fine land, completely covered at a short distance with oaks and live oaks, finally becoming uneven and hilly. The Serro de los Bolbones [Mt. Diablo] lies about twelve leagues to the southwest.
We sent four neophytes from the San Francisco Mission, natives of this area, to locate their countrymen, and fifty men from two villages presented themselves, all unarmed. They brought us some of those things which they held in highest esteem and gave us their war decorations.[58] We responded in the same manner by paying part of their value. The villages are called Malaca and Suisun. According to what the Indians said, the latter is divided into three parts. They claimed that it was quite close but according to the signs between here and the shore somewhat less than two leagues away; a short time ago they were living on the shore. That was where Second Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga struck them the blow.[59] Thoroughly cowed the poor people have remained, for they are badly scared. There is another village called Ululato farther away. It had been told us that they wanted to fight but the exact opposite happened, because they did not dare to visit us. In terror they sent us some eighteen presents, which were not worth much, using a Suisun as messenger, and stated, as I have indicated, that they were afraid to approach us. The presents were paid for, by means of the Suisun, who was sent to tell them that they should not be afraid. But they did not appear. It is known that these people are all very tractable. The place is very good for the establishment of missions but there remains the difficulty of getting there except by boat through the narrow passages mentioned above.
29th day. We set out at two o’clock in the morning and arrived at Carquinez Strait by sunrise. The section which we traversed this morning is a large bay, and before arriving at the Strait the water is already salty. The Carquinez Hills also are bare.[60] We stopped below the Strait about four hours and in the afternoon arrived at Angel Island opposite the Presidio. We sailed in the afternoon under a favorable wind and reversed the trip of the first two days by the same route. The two bays and their islands are discussed there [i.e., the entries for the first two days]. We could have reached the Presidio if we had not stopped so long, because on the down trip one goes at least twice as fast. This is because at least eight of the twelve hours from tide to tide are consumed by the outgoing tide, which flows very rapidly. There is a quite natural reason [for this phenomenon], for the water which enters must flow out again, having been held in the meantime by the rivers, plus that which the rivers themselves carry down. All this I have already heard from the Indians, and on that account those who are not very skillful, struggling to[61]...
30th day. We left Angel Island, opposite the Presidio at ten o’clock in the morning. Up till now the sea had been calm, but now a squall fell upon us, the sea arose, and we took shelter on the opposite shore, in front of the fort. The sea stayed in this condition all day. In the afternoon it seemed to certain persons that there was some improvement. Finally we crossed, although the sea was quite rough and we, the fifty-eight people, arrived at the Presidio. The only difficulty was the breaking of a rudder pintle of the mission boat on a log, but it was soon repaired.
Gervasio Argüello
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