[ 15] From the crossing of the San Joaquin the distances and directions cannot be reconciled with the apparent locations. Thus the village of the Taualames would appear to lie on the east bank between the Stanislaus and the Tuolumne (Dolores), and Schenck so places it. Yet Viader says the Tuolumne R. was 2 or 3 leagues north of the village and the Merced about 6 leagues southeast. Elsewhere (on the 25th) he says that Taualames is 2 leagues below the mouth of Orestimba Cr. If so, it would be 8 or more leagues south of Mayem.
The most probable route would follow up the west bank of the San Joaquin to the vicinity of the Tuolumne, then across and up the east bank to the Merced. Having crossed the Merced and back to the west bank of the San Joaquin, the group retraced their steps downstream, past Orestimba Cr. to the starting point opposite Taualames.
[ 16] Turning west the expedition crossed three leagues of plain and came upon Arroyo Corpus Christi, at present Del Puerto Cr. This identification is additional evidence that Taualames was about 3 leagues south of the Tuolumne R., as Viader implies. On the 26th and 27th the trail led up Del Puerto Cr. to its headwaters, past San Antonio V., and through the hills northeast of Mt. Hamilton to Mission San José. The total distance is given as 23 leagues, or about 48 mi. according to Viader’s reckoning. This is reasonably close to the actual airline distance.
[ 17] Although the first three days of the journey concern San Francisco Bay rather than the Central Valley, it seems preferable to present a translation of the whole diary. To attempt to segregate those entries pertaining solely to the delta area would save but little space and would destroy the continuity of the narrative.
[ 18] The body of water south of Pts. San Pablo and San Pedro and generally north and northeast of Angel I.
[ 19] The distance, that is, will be about twice that across the Golden Gate.
[ 20] Pt. Pinole.
[ 21] “Tierra firme de San José.” This expression referred by convention to the entire East Bay area, including the Coast Ranges from Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay south to Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties.
[ 22] It is clear from this statement that Abella considered 8 hours’ rowing time as equivalent to 8 leagues. A league on land was usually measured in practice by an hour on foot or horseback, and this system was based upon the usual steady progress of a horse or man throughout a day. Oarsmen in still water, and with moderate effort, could approximate the same rate. But here the boats traveled with or against tidal and stream currents, subject to drift in the winds, or traversed the sloughs, where movement might or might not be restricted. From these considerations it follows that the transposition directly of hours of travel into leagues of distance has no meaning whatever. Indeed, when the narrative states leagues, the expression should be interpreted as hours.
In the present instance the distance from the Embarcadero in San Francisco to Angel I., to Pt. San Pablo, to the entrance of Carquinez Strait, assuming straight-line navigation, is about 24 mi. This means 3 mi., or slightly less per league, according to Abella’s calculation, somewhat in excess of the usual value for the league, of 2.6 mi. But Abella states that he waited for the incoming tide, which of course would have