We traveled a league more and crossed another arroyo, where we saw an abandoned village, and in a hut many birds stuffed with grass, which some Indians had to hunt with. Here the soldiers got some wild tobacco of which there was a considerable amount.
Although Font does not mention the exact number of villages seen, his account in other respects closely parallels that of Anza and does nothing to refute the statement that there were six villages between Irvington and San Lorenzo.
On the appearance of these Indians Font and Anza are very positive. Crespi had said the natives were light-colored. Font says (F2, p. 356), "They are somewhat bearded, gentle, and very poor, but in color they are the same as all the rest." Elsewhere he reiterates his opinion that Crespi was mistaken. Anza adds, regarding appearance (A, p. 136):
The Indians who have been seen from the first arroyo forward are not short haired like those from the Mission of San Antonio to the port of San Francisco. These of which we are now speaking wear their hair tied upon the very top of their heads where only a piece of thread is to be seen.
The journey on April 1 brought Anza's party to camp on Rodeo Creek (Bolton, 1930, II: 138n). It is noteworthy that these explorers saw much more timber than had Crespi, or perhaps they were merely more circumstantial in their account. Font (F2) says:
The road followed the foot hills of the range which I mentioned on the 8th of March. In all its exterior this range has very few trees, except a grove of redwoods in front of the mouth of the port, although in its interior it has thickly grown groves and is quite broken ...
Anza notes also "a large grove of pines of redwoods." Alameda Island is described as having "a very thick grove of oaks and live oaks on the banks of the estuary." The same grove is shown on Font's sketch of the area (Bolton, 1930, IV: 362) with the legend: "Bosque que esta al estsudeste de la Boca del Puerto."
On some of the streams there is said to be a prolific growth of trees, on others very little. Thus Font (F2) says that San Leandro Creek (Bolton's identification) had "a very deep bed grown with cottonwoods, live oaks, laurels and other trees." The creek near Mills College was "almost without trees." Somewhere in Oakland the party crossed two arroyos with "a heavy growth of trees." North of Oakland the vegetation apparently varied. The general impression one gets is that the larger streams were bordered by oak, willow, and cottonwood, whereas the smaller ones were essentially destitute of trees.
The Spaniards had considerable contact this day with the natives. Font in the Complete Diary makes it clear that Oakland and Berkeley were crossed and Wildcat Creek reached before the first Indians were seen. At that point, however, an abandoned village was found. On the banks of the next arroyo was an inhabited village containing 23 men and 7 women, others being away foraging. Anza says this was a village of about 100 persons. Font then says that on the next arroyo was a "fair-sized village." Although Anza does not specifically mention this village, both he and Font agree that at the camp (on Rodeo Creek) was another town, which Anza says "is larger than the two mentioned." Font concurs, in effect, with the statement that when the expedition halted, they were greeted by 38 Indians—presumably adult males.