Zenas Leonard - Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard

21st. This morning the ocean was calm as it was the previous evening. – All its sleeping energies were lashed into fury, and the mountain waves of the great deep would roll and dash against the shore, producing the most deafening sound. In the course of the day a detachment of our company was despatched to make discoveries, who returned in the evening and stated that they had discovered many signs of white people, whom they supposed to be Spaniards, but they were unable to come up with them. This same party also found the carcase of a whale which was ninety feet long – the tusks weighing 4 1/2 pounds. About noon of the third day after we arrived here, the attention of the company was directed to an object which could be dimly seen at a distance riding on the water, which was immediately judged to be a ship, but no one knew from whence it came, where it belonged or where going. It was now our curiosity to know more of this singular object and if possible to attract their attention and bring them to shore. Accordingly we fastened two white blankets together and hoisted them into the air on a pole. This had the desired effect. It was not long until we could tell that the distance between us was fast diminishing, and our joy and surprise may be imagined when we beheld the broad stripes and bright stars of the American flag waving majestically in the air at the mast head. The ship anchored some distance from the shore and the boats were despatched to see what nation we belonged to, and what our business was. Their astonishment was equally as great as ours when they ascertained that we were children of the same nation of themselves. On making this discovery, and a signal to that effect being given by the boats, the ship fired several salutes of cannon in honor of our meeting, which made the welkin ring. – On further acquaintance we ascertained this ship (the Lagoda) to belong to Boston, commanded by Capt. Baggshaw. After exchanging civilities by shaking hands all round, Capt. Baggshaw strongly insisted on us going on board and partaking of the ships fare, stating that he had a few casks of untapped Coneac. This was an invitation that none of us had the least desire to refuse, and accordingly 45 of us went on board the Lagoda, leaving the remainder to take care of the camp, amp;c. When arriving on the ship Capt. B., had a table spread with the choicest of liquors amp; best fare the ship would afford, which was immediately surrounded with hungry Capt's. Mates, Clerks, Sailors and greasy trappers – after eating, the glass was passed around in quick succession, first drinking after the fashion of brave Jack Tars, and afterwards in the mountain style, mixed with something of the manners of the natives, in order to amuse the sailors.

After we got on board, the sea became very rough, causing the vessel to pitch and plunge a great deal as she lay at anchor, and consequently I was compelled to return to shore from sea sickness. The balance remained and kept up the celebration until daylight the next morning, when they all returned to land, accompanied by the ships crew to taper off on the harder fare of the trapper and hunter. The feast on the vessel was far superior to anything we could give them, although they appeared perfectly satisfied with the reception they met with from us, as it was a long time since they had tasted any fresh meat, or any thing but salted victuals; and theirs was the first bread, butter, cheese, amp;c., that we had seen for more than two years.

After the feasting was at an end, Capt. Baggshaw gave us a description of the country to enable us to lay our plans accordingly. He said the nearest settlement was the town of St. Francisco, about forty miles north of our present encampment, situated on the south side of the Francisco Bay, formed by the river which we descended, which he calls Two Laries, or Bush river. It is about three-fourths of a mile wide at its mouth, and is considered a safe harbor for almost any quantity of vessels; and within 60 or 70 miles South of us is the town of Monterey, also Spanish, the capital of this province, amp; which is called Upper Calafornia. He also informed us that about 60 or 70 miles north of St. Francisco, and about 100 miles from our present position was a Russian settlement, which consists of about 150 families who settled in this country a few years ago for the purpose of catching sea otter, which are of great value, on account of the quality of the fur. They also cultivate the ground to a considerable extent. Captain Baggshaw went and examined the carcase of the whale which our men had found, and pronounced it to be the Sperm whale, the oil of which is of the most valuable kind. He supposed it had been washed here when the sea was rough during a storm, and was unable to make its way back over the sand bars. From him we also learned some further particulars concerning the mountain which had caused us so many hardships in crossing, parts of which was visible from the ocean, particularly the snow covered peaks. This he called the Calafornia mountain, as it runs parallel with the coast for a great distance, commencing at the mouth of the Columbia river, and extending along the coast to the mouth of Red river, or Gulf of Calafornia, forming a beautiful country from the sea shore to the base of the mountain, and extending north and south a distance of about 6 or 700 miles of rich soil, well timbered and abundantly watered by innumerable small streams heading in the mountain and flowing toward the Father of Waters.

Most of this vast waste of territory belongs to the Republic of the United States. What a theme to contemplate its settlement and civilization. Will the jurisdiction of the federal government ever succeed in civilizing the thousands of savages now roaming over these plains, and her hardy freeborn population here plant their homes, build their towns and cities, and say here shall the arts and sciences of civilization take root and flourish? yes, here, even in this remote part of the great west before many years, will these hills and valleys be greeted with the enlivening sound, of the workman's hammer, and the merry whistle of the plough-boy. But this is left undone by the government, and will only be seen when too late to apply the remedy. The Spaniards are making inroads on the South – the Russians are encroaching with impunity along the sea shore to the North, and further North east the British are pushing their stations into the very heart of our territory, which, even at this day, more resemble military forts to resist invasion, than trading stations. Our government should be vigilant. She should assert her claim by taking possession of the whole territory as soon as possible for we have good reason to suppose that the territory west of the mountain will some day be equally as important to a nation as that on the east.

The next day Capt. Baggshaw took leave of us and started out on his trading expedition – appointing Monterey as the point where we were to meet in a few days.

The next morning after the departure of the ship, we were all in readiness to start for Monterey, the Capital of the Province, which lays in a southern direction. After travelling a few miles along the coast finding it very difficult in consequence of the wet, swampy ground, we found the carcase of another large fish, measuring 47 feet in length, with a horn or sword projecting from its nose 12 1/2 inches long. As travelling so near the water still continued difficult, we here concluded to strike out into the plain, where we found much better walking, the country being quite level, soil rich, and a few Indians. Some of these natives live well, as they cultivate pumpkins, beans, and some of them Indian corn – they also raise an abundance of melons, which grow to an enormous size. But all these Indians still seemed to be very ignorant and stupid.

On the evening of the 22d November we encamped at some rough hills near a small creek. In this neighborhood there are a great number of these hills, all of which are well covered with excellent timber, and abounding with all kinds of game except buffaloe. The most of our company had become nearly bare-footed for want of moccasins, as we had wore out every thing of the kind in travelling from the Rocky mountains – and, as winter was approaching, and no one knowing what kind of a reception we would meet with among the Spaniards, it was advised that we should tarry here and provide ourselves with an abundant winter supply of shoes. Accordingly, our hunters were despatched to scour these hills for the purpose of getting hides to make moccasins, amp;c., when we would be at leisure. In the evening the hunters all returned to camp, with the tongues of 93 deer and some of the hides, and also of some wild cattle, which are likewise very numerous. They brought the tongues in order to show the number each man had killed. The wild cattle are very timerous, keeping hid pretty much all day and feed at night. They are much wilder than deer, elk, amp;c. Our hunters brought in some of the choice parts of the cattle they killed, which was quite fat beef, but it was much inferior to the meat of the buffaloe of the Rocky mountains. These cattle incline much to rough and hilly parts of the country, owing, it is supposed, to the Spaniards and Indians hunting them when found in the plains.