UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 1 w Vol. VI., Part I. 1910 Series II. TRANSACTIONS PROCEEDINGS Qtt\? (fengrajiijtral Variety of % f ariftr CONTENTS THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA CALAFIA THE QUEEN OF THE ISLAND OF CALIFORNIA Tli' to Xon-Memhers Si.uu Pri. Authors are alone responsible for their respective statements. In MS. communications, all new or unfamiliar geographical names should be written in imitation of Roman Type. inj >« The Origin and the Meaning of the Name California Calafia the Queen of the Island of California Title Page of Las Sergas GEORGE DAVIDSON, Ph.D., Sc.D., LL.D. President Geographical Society of the Pacific Transactions and Proceedings of the Geographical Society of the Pacific Volume VI, Part I; Series II. 1910 (Brnnraplriral ^acfeie of tljr ^ariftr OFFICIAL DEPOSITORY ON THE PACIFIC COAST FOR ALL CHARTS ISSUED BY THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, WASHINGTON, O. C. ORGANIZED MARCH I, 1831 INCORPORATED JANUARY OTH, 1892. OFFICERS president: PROFESSOR GEORGE DAVIDSON, Ph.D., Sc.D., LL.D. (University of California) vice-president: HON. RALPH C. HARRISON. directors: PROF. GEO. DAVIDSON, HARRY DURBROW, JOHN PARTRIDGE, HENRY LUND. treasurer: HARRY DURBROW. FOREIGN CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: HENRY LUND. (Consul for Sweden and Norway) HOME CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: E. J. MOLERA. RECORDING SECRETARY: JOHN PARTRIDGE. COUNCIL HENRY J. CROCKER, HON. RALPH C. HARRISON, WILLIAM HOOD, C. E., C. FREDERICK KOHL, EUSEBIO J. MOLERA, HON. GEO. C. PERKINS, (U. S. Senate) HON. A. P. WILLIAMS. The Origin and the Meaning of the Name California. Calafia the Queen of the Island of California. Title Page of Las Sergas. George Davidson. CONTENTS. Page 1. Introductory _.. 1 2. Application of the name California from Robert Dudley, 1630-47, to the authorities of the year 1903 3 3. Some early charts upon which the name California is found. The First Vessel with the name California.... 9 4- Early Spanish mention of the name California in Narra- tives and Documents - 17 5. The first mention of the origin of the name California in recent years - 21 6. The Causes which gave rise to the Romances - 23 7. The Historian Ticknor's estimate of the Romance of Ama- dis de Gaula 25 8. Bemal Diaz, one of the Conquistador es and Historian of the Exploits of Cortes, had read the Amadis de Gaula 27 9. The Mythical Amazons, the Griffins and the Terrestrial Paradise — 28 10. The Griffins of the Romances 3 1 11. The Terrestrial Paradise - 32 12. The Origin and the meaning of the names California, Ca- lafia, and the associated names in Las Sergas de Esplandian - - 33 13. Translations from Las Sergas concerning the Island of California and Calafia, the Queen thereof 35 14. Brief Notice of Bemal Diaz and his History of the Con- quest of Mexico -__ .- -- 46 INTRODUCTORY. Before the acquisition of California from Mexico, 1848, there had been several attempts to declare the origin and the meaning of the name California, and in subsequent years the subject was revived. The proposed solutions indicate that the matter has not been so fully or so clearly presented to our people as it might be; and there- fore we have undertaken the task of tracing the history of the name, and have ventured to give a meaning to this and associated names. For this purpose we present such of the modern explanations as we have access to, from Robert Dudley, 1630-47, to authorities as late as 1903. We exhibit the use of the name in early charts and in early Span- ish documents and narratives to the end of the seventeenth century. The first recent historian to point to the source of the name was George Ticknor, in his "History of Spanish Literature". His mention of the source carries us beyond the time of the Con- quistadores of Mexico, and suggests they were readers of the Ro- mances of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This necessarily causes us to remark upon the origin, object, and character of those Romances; and upon the machinery which their authors employed. Even when the name California is traced to its first appearance in the "Exploits of Esplandian," there is no explanation offered about its origin ; but from the statement of the nominal author that this Romance was originally written in Greek, we suggest a solution. At the close we present a free translation of parts of the text where- 2 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. ill ''LA MUY ESFORZADA REINA CALAFIA, SeXORA DE LA GRAN ISLA California," plays a spectacular role in assisting the Turks in their attempt to conquer Constantinople from the Christians, with her hosts of Amazons, her fleets and her griffins. We have descriptions of their island home which abounded in gold and precious stones, the character of the Amazons, their man- ners and customs, their war trappings and their animals. We briefly relate the personal encounters of the queen Calafia with the Christian knights, her being eventually overmatched, the fury of her lionhearted sister Liota, and finally the marriage of both to Christian knights. All these creations of the romancer conspired to inflame the younger Spanish nobles after the expulsion of the Moors and Jews from Spain, when there were no more provinces to conquer unless Columbus should discover a western route to India. APPLICATION OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA FROM DUD- LEY TO THE AUTHORITIES OF THE YEAR 1903. Robert Dudley in his "Area no del Mare" ^describes, in volume III, the chart XXXIII entitled "II Mare d'America Occidentale"; and in speaking of the galleons from the Philippines making the northwest coast of America, says that little faith is placed on the accuracy of location of the ports on account of the no- table differences of distances on the more common charts which make for example the distance between California and Cape San Lucas twelve hundred English leagues [che fanno la distanzafra la California, e'l capo s. Lucar leghe 1200 Inglese], instead of six hun- dred. The last paragraph of the volume is: "The Vermilion Sea begins "at the Cape Santa Clara of California [capo santa Clara della "California], as shown elsewhere, and passes by the island which is "named de'Giganti, and is in the Northern Sea, in 43° of latitude, "through the kingdom of Coromedo; and this determines that "California may be an island off Western America and not terra "firma as [Giovanni] Jansonio states on his chart. With this state- "ment is ended the sixth and last volume. II fino."f In Father Bisselius' work he first mentions California on page 400, % where heproposesto name all the regions of the eastern and northern part of North America with the western kingdoms of Quivira and Tolmum, Estotilandia, and then turning to the south, on the west coast, he begins with California. Page 400 ; 337 old. *** "The kingdoms and regions better known to our navigation are "these: those which lie on the south sea, Zurium, in an oblique di- rection from the west; in these after Quivira and the lands of the "Tolmi, in the same extent of coast, the regions of California are *Dell Arcano Del Mare, di Rvberto Dvdleo Dvca di Northvmbria * * * in Firenze * * * Royal Folio. 3 Vols., 1630, 1646, 1647. With charts, etc. •(■Identification of Sir Francis Drake's anchorage on the Coast of California. * * * Davidson * * * California Historical Society, 1890: Page 50 n. f'Joannis Bisselii e Societate Iesu Argonauticon Americanorum sive Historian periculorum Petri de Victoria ac sociorum eius." Libri XV., M. DC XLVII. There were two editions. The one we have quoted is the larger, 486 pages and 12 of in- dex with small map; the older one has 405 pages and 17 pages of index: San Francisco Free Public Library. [Destroyed in the fire of 1906.] 4 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. "stretched out on the sea toward the east, (orientem versus). The "back of this land is shut in by mountains from which flows into the "ocean the river Farrell6nes. The sides are surrounded by waters "in the manner of arms. On the right indeed, which looks toward "the south, the South Sea; on the left however, toward the north, it is "bordered by a certain gulf running transversely up beyond the "middle of the length of California. Some call this the Vermilion "Sea." *** Page 401; 338 old. On page 402 Bisselius alludes to the numberless streams that plunge into the Pacific from the coast range of mountains, begin- ning at the mouth of the [gulf of] California, to Nicaragua. And further he refers to the Gulf of California (Califomiani Sinus) and the uninhabited islands (Desertas Insulas), as they are called. Page 402; 339 old. Where is the river 'Farrellones' of Bisselius ? It may be the Colo- rado, but very likely the Rio Grande de Santiago, which breaks through the coast range of mountains, drains the lake Chapala two hundred and fifty miles to the southeast, and in its course receives four or five large tributaries from the northeast and north. It comes upon the coast at San Bias in latitude 21° 32' , longitude 105° in. Directly off this small port lie the Tres Marias, at a distance of sixty nautical miles, and they rise from 1350 to 2020 feet above the sea. They are quite large, and stretch through twenty-five miles on a northwest course. They are covered with cedar. George Horn, in his work on the origin of the people of America, undertook to trace the origin and migration of peoples by similarity of words; and writing of Corea thus curtly refers to the derivation of the name California from the name of the Coreans: "Hi Coreani "primo in Californiam venerunt; quae nomen suum a Caoli habet." Page 243, chapter VI. On page 266 he says the Mexicans did not come from the east through I" land, Greenland and New France, asHugo wished; but from the west and Coro through California and New Mexico.* He -.tions the name- in two other places. I.ibri Qvatvor. Hagae Comitis. Sumptibus Another edition. Hemipoli, Sumptibus Joannis Mullcri Bibl, lWi9. Of these two editions, one Both have same date of dedication, HS52. San Fran- .<<] in the fire of 1906] TESTIMONY OF BAEGERT AND VENEGAS. 5 Father Baegert, S. J., spent sixteen years in Lower California, 1751-1767, was a man of philological tastes, a thorough linguist and made a study of the language of the Waicuri dialect. He is certain the name is not of Indian origin. He cites the explanation of the calida fornax, but does not vouch for its correctnes, although he acknowledges the healthfulness of the climate. Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale quotes the learned Jesuit D. Giuseppe Compoi who believed the word California was composed of the Spanish word'cala', alittlecove or bay, and the Latin word 'for- nix', meaning the vault of a building, [also the vaulted opening from which sallies are made.] He applies this to the bay under Cape San Lucas, where an arch is seen under a rock at the western part, and that this arch is as perfect as if constructed by art. And that Cort6s thereupon applied the name California to it. We have seen this arch from the anchorage, and it is shown in the volume published by the Hydrographic Office at Washington in 1880;* it does not agree with the good father's account. Furthermore, we have no proof whatever, that Cortes ever sailed so far west as Cape San Lucas: he remained in the region northeast of San Jose del Cabo. The History of California was written in 1757 by the Mexican Jesuit Father Miguel Venegas and afterward translated into En- glish in 1759, and from the latter translated into French in 1767. He says that "until lately it was very imperfectly known that it [California] had been first considered a peninsula, then an island"; and finally he gives credit to Father Kino [Chino] for proving that it was a peninsula [1698-1702.] He evidently overlooked the exam- inations of Francisco de Ulloa a hundred and fifty years earlier. He writes that "the name Islas Carolinas was given to this country "in honor of Carolus II of Spain, [1665-1700], when, by his order, "the conquest of California, then thought to be an island, and the "others adjacent, was undertaken with a force equal to the enter- prise." He then mentions that this name was used in many maps, and adds: "The name by which the country is at present known, is that of "California, an appellation given to it at its first discovery. Some "use the name in the plural number, calling it the Californias." *The West Coast op Mexico * * * No. 56. See sketch opposite page 46. 6 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. He wishes he could give the origin and etymology of the name; but none of the Missionaries have found any trace of such a name being given to the country, or harbor, bay, etc. He cannot subscribe to the name being derived from the two Latin words, calida-fornax,ahot furnace. None of the Conquista- dores used such a mode of naming their conquests. He thinks it was possibly derived from some words spoken by the Indians and misunderstood by the Spaniards, and gives examples of such mis- takes. There he leaves the matte r. Captain Burney, in writing of the voyage of Cortes to the penin- sula of California, says: "In what manner this country came to be distinguished by the name California is left uncertain. It is not 'believed that the name was derived from the natives; as the mis- 'sionaries who have since resided among the Calif ornians, have not 'at any time heard of such being applied to any port, bay, or part 'of the country. Some have conjectured that on account of the 'heat of the weather, Cortes formed the name California, from the 'Latin words calida and fornax. But we are not told that there 'was greater heat of weather in the peninsula, than on the opposite 'coast of New Spain; and it has been remarked, that no other of the 'names given by Cortes, were immediately from the Latin lan- 'guage."* Then he refers to Bernal Diaz, whom we quote elsewhere. Captain Beechey, on his visit to the Mission of San Juan,Novem- 1)' r 1826, recounts his conversations with Father Arroyo, and gives the good padre's explanation of the etymology of the name of the nsula of California. f "I shall observe first, [says Beechey] "t hat it was never known why Cortds gave to the bay which he first "discovered, a name which appears to be composed of two Latin rds < alida and fornax, signifying heat and furnace, and which ards transferred to the peninsula." He then refers to and to Burney whom we have just quoted. He continue s: "It was thought in Monterey to have arisen in consequence of a which pnvails throughout California, of the Indians shut- ting themselves in ovens until they perspire profusely, as I have South Sea or Pacific Ocean, Royal Navy, 1803. Four volumes, Quarto, Vol. I. [NO'S Strait. * * * by Captain F. on 1831. Vol. II. page 55. VARIOUS ETYMOLOGICAL HYPOTHESES i "already described in speaking of the Temeschal. It is not im- probable that the practice appeared so singular to CortCs that he "applied the name of California to the country, as being one in "which hot ovens were used for such singular purposes. Padre Ar- "royo, however, maintained that it was a corruption of colofon, which, "in the Spanish language, signifies resin, in consequence of the pine "trees which yield that material being so numerous. The first set- "tlers, he said, at the sight of these trees would naturally exclaim, "Colofon, which by its similarity to Californo, (in the Catalonian "dialect, hot oven) , a more familiar expression, would soon become "changed." In 1878, Professor Jules Marcou made a report to the Chief of Engineers, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., entitled "Notes upon the First Discoveries of California, and the Origin of its Name." Later he published it in pamphlet form. * In this report he writes: "Cortes and his companions, struck with "the difference between the dry and burning heat they experienced, "compared with the moist and much less oppressive heat of the "Mexican tierra caliente, first gave to a bay, and afterwards ex- pended to the entire country, the name of tierra California, de- "rived from calida fornax, which signifies fiery furnace, or hot as an "oven. * * * The author who first employed the name of California "was Bernardo Diazof Castillo, who says that Cortes gave the name." H. H. Bancroft in his History of Californiaf says that the Cali- fornians of 1846, Vallejo,and Alvarado agree that the name came from the words kali forno, upon authority from Baja California; and meant either a "high hill" or "native land." It looks very much like the Kal-i-forno, to be mentioned. He furthermore adds that E. D. Guilbert of Copala, Sinaloa, in- formed him in 1878 that an old Indian of his locality called the pen- insula Tchalifalni-al, "the sandy land beyond the water." Thos. E. Slevin, L.L.D., (one of the Councillors of the Geographical Society of the Pacific), has suggested this was not an Indian word, but the In- dian pronunciation of the Spanish word California. This is a highly probable explanation. In his History of California, Theo. H. Hittell commences by saying: "The first account of California that is found in old records, repre- *The first publication was in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, in 1876. - tVolume I, page 66 n, 1885. S THE ORIGIN OP THE NAME CALIFORNIA. "sented it as an island, rich in pearls and gold. It was said to lie at "a distance of ten days' journey from the Province of Ciguatan, and "to be inhabited by women only.* * * Such was the strange "story brought to Mexico from Colima by Gonzalo de Sandoval, 'and transmitted by Cortes to the Emperor Charles V., in the latter "part of the year 1524." He adds in a footnote: "The account is " contained in the Carta Quarta de Relacion, dated October 15, "1524."* Later he refers to the hypotheses of "caliente" and "fornalla"; and the sweat-houses of the Indians. He quotes from Bernal Diaz, and especially refers to the expression "y entonces toparon con la California, que es una baia," and suggests that the word 'baia' is a misprint for 'isla' ; but is satisfied that Cortes intended it to cover the entire country. Page 53. A late writer, "M. L."of Fresno, who appears to be well posted on the subject, and who has evidently examined the geology of Lower California, expresses the opinion that the name came from the Indians. In approaching Loreto (on the eastern coast of the penin- sula in latitude 26° 10') he saw snow white heaps upon a knoll, and asked the guide "Que cosa es?" "Cal y forno" answered the In- dian; when he knew at once he had the true meaning and origin of the name California, because these white heaps were lime kilns; 'cal' meaning lime, and 'forno' an oven or kiln. He believed that Ulloa, remembering Montalvo's California, accepted the name for the country. t We find no proof that the Indians of Lower California built houses of stone and mortar, although Diaz says the great edifices of the City of Montezuma were constructed of cal y canto, stone and mortar. A recent writerin the "Booklover", 1903, says the true meaning of the word California has never, to his knowledge, been made public in America, although he refers to the "Century Dictionary of Names" (1901) conjuring an "old yarn" about the Esplandian, etc. He derives iifromthe Arabic wordKalifat, a province, which he chang- > .vi Arabic -Espafiol compound Kalif on, a great province. Fi- nally he declares the form became Kalif-ornia. He does not be- lieve any one in the United States has seen the original"Las Sergas." Thes- specimens of guessing indicate that it is time the origin be made known, so far as usage in Romances, Documents, Narratives, and Charts furnish evidence. 1 ai.icohnm ire H. Hittell !S'.)7. Vol I,p:ine37 Chronicle, June, L893; Nkw York Herald, June, 1895. SOME EARLY CHARTS ON WHICH THE NAME CALIFORNIA IS FOUND. 1541. — There was published in 1770 in Mexico in the "Historiade Nueva Espana" by Francisco Antonio Lorenzana, between pages 328- 329, amapbearingthe name of the pilot Domingo del Castillo.asmaker, with inscription as follows: "Domingo del Castillo, Piloto me fecit en Mexico ano del Nacimiento de N. S. Jesu Christo de M.D.XLI." This history is a reprint of the Cortes letters and the map given em- braced the shores and islands of the Sea of Cortes as examined by Ulloa, laying down the lower end of the peninsula and the western coast of lower California as far north as Ulloa had reached in 1539, that is, Cape Engano north of the Island of Cerros or Cedros, in latitude 29° 56 '. At that cape Ulloa was baffled by the strong northwesterly winds and returned to New Spain. Upon this map the name California is placed at the southern ex- tremity of the peninsula. While we have no proof that this name was upon the original chart and not added by Lorenzana in his edit- ing, it seems highly probable that it was placed there by Castillo. If so, it is the first use of the name California upon a chart as far as my knowledge goes. 1542. — Spanish names had found place on the Map of the World by Alonzo de Santa Cruz that indicated a familiarity with the earlier expeditions of the Viceroy Cortes, and the galleons. Mr. E. W. Dahlgren, in describing the map just mentioned, writes: "On the "west coast of Mexico, we see two remarkable inscriptions, Califor- nia is called 'the island discovered by Marquis del Valle;' page 26, " [la. que descubrio el Marques del Valle; page 47], and the coast "north of this point is called 'the land to which Don Antonio de "Mendoza sent out an exploring expedition' , page 26; [tierra que "enbio a descubrir don Antonio de Mendoza, page 47]. Thus we "have the two latest geographical dates which have been given a "place on the map. Hernando Cortes, being appointed 'Marques "del Valle de Oaxaca' in 1529, took formal possession of the Cali- fornia peninsula on the 3rd of May, 1535, although the news did not "reach Spain until after 1537, when Cortes returned to Acapulco." * * * page 26. "On Santa Cruz's map there is no distinct coast-line north of Cali- fornia." * * * page 27. 1(1 THE ORIGIN OP THE NAME CALIFORNIA. "Thus on this Map of the World we find no Terra Australis." ' < Jjc * :•: T i; (cr,' '27 . * l.'ii ",. -Herrera has a crude chart of part of the west coast of Mexico, and northward to "C. de Fortun" in latitude 43°. The pen- insula is named California; and its southern extremity lies in 20°t "Description," page 2. We date this chart soon after 1543 when the expedition of Cabrillo and Ferrelo, 1542-43, returned to New Spain. Cabrillo had died at San Miguel Island, in the Santa Barbara Channel, January 3rd 1543, and chief pilot Ferrelo took command and made another attempt to follow the coast beyond Punta de Arena, and saw the high land of the Cape Mendocino region. He probably made King Peak, in latitude 40° 00' , 4090 feet above the sea and only ten miles inland. On account of a great storm and the dangers he encountered in this vicinity he named it el Cabo de Fortunas. This peak is visible seventy-three miles seaward. J 1559. — "The Interior of New Spain "after Mercator, 1559.** On this chart off the southeast point of the peninsula is "Calfornia, alys punta de vallenas. ' ' This map has the name India in the south- west part of New Spain. 1 570. — Prof. Jules Marcou, in his "Notes upon the First Discovery of California", says: "Abraham Ortelius, on his map of 1570, en- "titled Americ a sive orbis nova descriptio, wrote at the point indi- "cating Cape San Lucas the name C. Call, formia. * * * page 6. "The same geographer, in the first edition of his atlas, Thea- "trum Orbis Tcrrarum, gives, in a map dated 1570, and entitled Tar- io sive Magni Chami Regni, California as a peninsula with the "name C. Califormio." * * * ; page 6. On the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum," 1570, of Ortelius the scale is too small to insert these names. This map is a crude attempt of raphic projection. Alonzo de Santa Cruz, 1542. Explanations by E. W. Dahlgren, 18 ' lies de Antonio de Herrera Coronista Mayor de Sv \! Rey \'ro. Senor. Madrid, 1730. See map i this or a similar chart that Michael Lok, de Fortun in latitude 43", and thence swung thecoast •vith the m. ig it. IND Explo mi. Northwest Coast of America, By 126, 2 I', and chart. EXPEDITION 1540 12." by George Parker Winship in the 14th. i . i Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892-93; Part I. MAPS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 11 1582. — C. Calif orno. On the queer map of Michael Lok (the promulgator of the Juan de Fuca fiction) , the extremity of the pen- insula is named "C. Californo." It was published by Hakluyt in 1582, but may have been drawn earlier because it notes among others, the discoveries, "Anglo rum 1580," meaning those of the Cabots, Frobisher and Drake. There is, however, no mention of Drake nor of Nova Albion. The Pacific Coast is made to terminate about latitude 44°, and thence strikes eastward under the "Sierre Neuada," to a narrow isthmus in latitude 40°, just north of the "Apal chen" mountains. [Appalachian?]* 1587. — Punctum Calif orniae. In Hakluyt 's edition (Paris, 8vo. 1587) of Peter Martyr's De Orbe Novo there is a map of the At- lantic and Pacific Oceans, extending from about longitude 10° east to 210° west, through 220°. The Pacific Coast is carried to 50° north and under that parallel is noted "Nova Albion, Inuenta An. 1580, ab Anglis." Cape San Lucas is named "Punctum Calif or- niae." The map as shown is 7% inches by Q>% inches, was presented to Hakluyt by some unknown admirer, and is dated Paris, Cal. Maij, M. D. LXXXVII. 1588-94. — Calif ornoa. This is the spelling upon "The Silver Mapof the World," which is assumed to be "a contemporary medal- lion commemorative of Drake's great voyage (1577-80)," * * * by Miller Christy * * * Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles: London, MDCCCC. The diameter of the silver medallion is 2.76 inches; thickness 0.028 inch. Mr. Christy assumes the medallion to have been struck in 1581. We have shown in a paper yet in MS. that the Silver Map must have been engraved after Drake's voyage of 1585-86. 1595. — On the Iodocus Hondius hemispherical map of 1595 (?) he designates the peninsula of Lower California as 'California.' This map contains reports of discoveries to 1588. 1596. — The northern half of De Bry's "America Sive Novus Orbis, 1596," has the peninsula named 'California'. See reference to Coronado's Expedition, by Win ship. *The title in Mr. Christy's reduced copy is "Illvstro Viro, Domino Phillipo Sidnaso, Mi- chael Lok Civis Londinensis Hanc Chartam Dedicabat: 1582." 12 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. 1597. — "Wytfliet's New Granada and California, 1597," in the Coronado Expedition. The title of the map is 'Granata nova et California'; and at the end of the peninsula is 'C. de California,' and between it and the main coast 'Californiae Sinus', the Gulf of Cali- fornia. 1602-3. — On the chart of the reconnaissance of the northwest coast by Sebastian Vizcaino, drawn up from his thirty-two sub- charts by the officers of the Sutil y Mexicana in 1792-1802, the name "Californias" stretches through parts of Upper and Lower California. 1618-1627.— The Hondius Map of the World [Iodocus; Henricus] is quite large; each hemisphere is four feet in diameter. On the peninsula is the name California; at the extremity is C. de Cali- fornia. The title of this map is "Novissima ac Exactissima Totius Orbis Terrarum Descriptio Magna", etc., Amsterdam, 1618; but it took Hondius, Junior, nine years to finish it. He does not use any of Vizcaino's names. The copy we have consulted belongs to Cap- tain Gustave Niebaum of San Francisco. [Destroyed in the Con- flagration of April 18-20, 1900.] 1030-1646. — We have photographs of a series of large charts from the Imperial Museum at Munchen which must antedate Dud- ley's Arcano del Mare of 1630, '46, '47. On one is the "Callifornia R."[egnum], and the "G. della Callifornia"; on another "P. della Callifornia" on the north side of the "R. botta Callifornia," with an i bor to denote an anchorage; latitude 24^°; and "C. di Callifor- nia" east of San Josd del Cabo. On another of these charts there is the legend "II Regm della Callifornia," but the first three words are crossed out. In latitude 27 degrees is noted "La Costa della Callifornia." In several others are noted "Callifornia," "Callifornia R."[egnum], "C. di Calli- fornia," "Capo di S. Lucca della Callifornia." On one chart the cape on the main land directly east of the south- ern end of tin peninsula is denoted "C. dirimpetto la Callifornia"; i. e. Cape opposite to California. 1630 1647. — On Dudley's "Carta prima Generale d'America**" ofl the southern extremity of the peninsula is "la California"; al- ready California had been considered an island. MAPS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 13 1647. — In the "Argonauticon Americanorum sive Historiae peri- culorum Petri de Victoria ac socio rum eius" by Ioannes Bisseliuse Societate Jesu, Libri XV; M. DC. XLVII, there is a chart only 4% x 2% inches, with the name California on the peninsula, at the head of which is the "Tolmu Regnu." [Tolmum Regnum.] 1671. — On the chart of Arnoldus Montanus, published in Hol- land, California is laid down as an island that terminates at Cape Blanco north of Cape Mendocino. Along the length of this island is the name "California." An English edition of the book and chart was published in 1672. 1699. — California I. In the volumes of Dampier's account of his semi-piratical voyages, 4th Edition, 1699, there are two maps; upon one the name as here given, is applied to the lower part of Califor- nia, the northern part not being drawn. Upon the western hemis- phere "California" is laid down as an island extending to latitude 44°. 1698-1702.— The "Tabula California; Anno 1702" was made from the personal observations of R. Father Eusebius Francisco Chino, S. J. In this he names the gulf and the peninsula "Califor- nia," and states that he made his journey through the peninsula from latitude 25° to latitude 33°. It is not necessary to follow the charts of the eighteenth century, yet we mention the "Tabula Californiae Anno 1702. Ex aut- optica observatione delineata a R. P. Chino e S. J." It is de- voted to the locations of the missions south of the River Gila and on the eastern coast of the peninsula of California, his "Californiae Pars." The gulf is named "Mare Californias;" and the Pacific is the "Mare del Zur." We add with some detail a description of a map which we have not seen elsewhere mentioned. In his"Geographia dModerna Descripcion del Mundo," Don Sebas- tian Fernandez de Medrano*, has introduced a map of America wherein we find some peculiarities of geography and the name Cali- fornia appears twice. The map is seven by six inches and is in- serted between pages 220 and 221. It is on a spherical projection *Geographia 6 Moderna Descripcion del Mundo. y sus partes, dividida en dos tomos, y com- puesta por Don Sebastian Fernandez de Medrano General de Batalla, y Director de la Aca- demia Real y Militar del Exercito de los Payses Baxos. Enriquezida de Cartas Geographicas y mas Estampas, Tomo Primero Amberes. Por Henrico y Cornelio Verdussen, Mercaderes de Libros Ario 1709. Size 6% x 4^ inches, 2 Vols, in one, 274 and 296 pages with Indices and plates. 14 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. and the central meridian reachesto latitude 75° north and 55° south. On the western coast of North America, "California" is laid down as an island lying in anorthwest and southeast direction, and stretching from latitude 22° north to43° or 44° at the "FretumAniani". There is no name given to the long strait or gulf lying between the island and the main land; but the ocean to the westward of the island is the "Mare California?." Of the names of land features we find on the irregular line westward from the Fretum Aniani for twenty degrees of longitude in the latitude of 45° the "Terra Esonis" (Land of Eso or Yezo, Japan ?). The northwestern cape is "C. Blanco " in latitude 41°; "P. d. Monti Ry" in latitude 38°; "Canaled.S. Barbara" in latitude 35°, but the channel and islands are located south of that name. Point Conception, not named, is in latitude 34°. We find the "I. d. S. Catalina" in latitude 32^°. The island of "S. Clement" is fixed to the east of Catalina. Far- ther south liesthe "I. d. Pararos;" the "P.d. S. Apolline", and "C. Lucas" in its proper latitude. These arc all the names on the chart that relate to California and the northwest coast; but we may state that the "Fretum Aniani" leads eastward into a great sea that approaches the north eastern coast of America. In the Pacific, south of 20°, he gives the broad ocean the name "Mar del Zur" to latitude 15° S. ; "Mare del Zur" along theMexican and Central American coast; and "Mare Pacificum" south of the tropic of Capricorn. In the Pacific we find many of the islands of the Hawaiian group with Spanish names, S. Pedro, Los Reis, etc., but they are located ten degrees too Ear south and too far west. They recall the group Lands on the Ilondius map of 1618-27. scribed California in one page of his text, and we a brief lit< ral translation thereof. . CALIFORNIA. thertotb | and north of the islands of Las Velas he Ladroi hat of California(h< ldevento our time ■ 1m< h has to the eastward the Red Sea onamed reason as that of Arabia. To the rd arc the limits <»t the China Sea [Oceano Chinense], FERNANDEZ DE MEDRANO ON CALIFORNIA. 15 which also bathes to the westward the islands of Las Velas and Salomon ; to the northward they sweep to the mainland of the King- dom of Quivira, and to the land to the south is the Mar Pacifico. This comprehends everything between the 23d and 43d degrees of latitude, and between the 237th and 262d degrees of longitude. The traverse from north to south is 350 leagues, from the east to the west is 110 leagues, and the circumference is 1100 leagues. In this area there are many pieces of land uninhabited and sterile, and only at the south are named numerous points and capes which have been discovered and reconnoitred by the Spaniards. All the other islands of the Pacific Ocean and to the south are of little consequence, and so we will pass to those islands which lie to the northward, and to those which are named the Windward and the Leeward Islands." Then he describes Greenland, Newfoundland, and the West In- dies. The whole description of California and the Pacific is erro- neous, and not in conformity with the map which he presents. But it will be noted that he gives the southern and northern limits of California as 23° and 43°, agreeing with data to the time of Vizcaino. The longitudes are reckoned eastward through 360 degrees from the Meridian of Ferro, the southwestern island of the Canaries, in latitude 27°45 / and longitude 17°40' west from Greenwich. The leagues given are those of old Spain, and as they are used in other old Spanish narratives we present his explanation of their relation to one degree on the surface of the earth. THE LENGTH OF AN OLD SPANISH LEAGUE. Fernandez, in his subdivision "de la Grandeza de la Tierra," pages 40-42, states that the circumference of the terrestrial globe is di- vided into three hundred and sixty degrees; and that each degree is subdivided into seventeen and one half Spanish leagues; p. 40. And after enumerating the lengths of the subdivision of a degree by Italy, Germany and France, he repeats the former statement and adds that each league contains three and three sevenths miles. This makes the old Spanish league equal to 3.43 geographic miles, or 3.95 English Statute miles. The author ventures upon stating the circumference of the globe, and its superficial area, and comes remarkably close to modern de- terminations. THE FIRST VESSEL NAMED CALIFORNIA. From 1603 to 1768 Spain was oblivious to the possibilities of Cali- fornia. In 1741 Lord Anson was on the coast of New Spain waiting for the annual treasure ship from the Philippines. He afterwards captured her off the straits of San Bernardino. But Spain con- tinued in her lethargy towards California. The irruption of Captain Cook into the South Sea in 1768-9 awakened her. About this time there was a commercial war in London over the claims of the Hud- son's Bay Company as to their rights to territory and the enormous profits of the fur trade, and whether they had discovered the route to the Indies from Hudson's Bay. In this war of rival interests, Mr. Arthur Dobbs formed an opposition company about 1740, and later fitted out two vessels to carry on the fur traffic and if possible open the route to the South Seas. Part of the exploits of these parties are given in a volume pub- lished in London in 1748 containing "An account of a voyage for the discovery of a Northwest passage by Hudson's Streight to the Wes- tern and Southern oceans of America, performed in the year 1746 and 1747 in the ship California, Captain Francis Smith, commander", by the clerk of the California.* The ship is reported as 140 tons. The use of this name for one of the vessels indicates no doubt that they had in view a voyage along the northwest coast and as far south as California, and is, as far as we know, the first application of the name California to a vessel. *The author's name was Drage. See Barrow's Arctic Voyages, (1818), p. 287. / EARLY SPANISH MENTION OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA IN NARRATIVES AND DOCUMENTS. The first mention of the name California which we have found in print is found in Francisco Preciado's diary of the voyage of dis- covery of Francisco de Ulloa on both coasts of the Gulf of California, and on the Pacific Coast as far north as latitude 29° 56' . This voyage occupied the latter part of 1539 and the early part of 1540.* The vessels were sailing southeastward, close along the eastern coast of the peninsula (October-November), and the narrator says: "We "found ourselves fifty-four leagues distant from California, a little "more or less, always in the southwest seeing, in the night time, "three or four fires." This narrator uses the name California but once;Hakluyt interpolates the "point of California." Bernal Diaz is the authority most frequently quoted in reference to the naming of the peninsula. In chapter CC of his "Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana,"f he mentions the name and the circumstances of its application by Cortes. In an ap- pendix we give a few words of his career and standing. That chapter recounts the supreme efforts which Cortes essayed for the discovery of new lands and new islands. His captains failed him, his ships were lost, and finally he fitted out a last armada and took command himself. He "determined to fulfill his contract "with the Most Serene Empress Dona Isabel, of glorious memory." But failure followed failure. He carried his vessels from Te- huantepec to the westward and northward along the coast to the Gulf of California. After a severe trial, Diaz says, "he was deter- "mined to discover other lands [than Santa Cruz Island, reported "by Ximenes' crew], and by chance came upon California which is "a bay. [Cortes * * * fue a descubrira' otras tierras, y entonces "toparon con la California, que es una bahia.]" He remained at ♦There is no earlySpanish publication or record of his discoveries. The Italian account is in the third volume of the Navigations and Voyages of Gio. Battista Ramusio, pages 339-354, published in Venice in 1565. It was published in English by Hakluyt in 1600 in his Voyages, etc., Vol. Ill, pages 397-424. The Italian title is too long to quote: see Voyages of Discovery and Exploration on the Northwest Coast of America, Davidson, 1886. tHiSTORY of California, H. H. Bancroft. Vol. I, 1542 to 1800, page 65 n. JHistoria verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana escrita por el Capitan Bernal Diaz del Castillo uno de sus Conquistadores. Nueva edicion corregida. Paris, 1837. Four vol- umes, 12 mo. See Vol. IV. Chapter C C; pages 335-338. The original history was not completed until the period of Drake's 1577-80 expedition, but the name and the results of the Ulloa and Cabrillo voyagesof discovery had been made public. 18 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. this anchorage a long while; then went to New Spain, leaving a colony at the place. His vessels returned and carried back to Na- tividad all the soldiers and captains; [todos los soldados y capi- tanes que habia dexado en aquella isla 6 bahia, que llaman la Cali- fornia]. Cortes then ordered Captain Francisco de Ulloa to sail from Natividad on June 15th, 1535, to explore the eastern coast of the peninsula and lay it down more thoroughly [que corriesen la costa adelante, y acabasan de baxar la California]. From this ac- count, which Diaz must have received from those who were in the expedition, it appears that the name was given to a bay or an- chorage, to the island protecting that anchorage, and lastly to the Peninsula. Herrera mentions the name twice:* "i £ los diez de Noviembre, "continuando siempre la hermosura de la Tierra, se hallaron a" cin- "cuenta i quatro Leguas de la California, pareciendoles siempre, que "aquella tierra era mui poblada, i toda esta Costa es mui profun- da" ***Cap. IX, p. 202, col. 1. And about December 15th 1539 Ulloa discovered the Bay of San Abad, (now Santa Marina Bay in latitude 24° 20' ), the southern entrance to Magdalena Bay, where he had trouble with the Indians and one was killed. He says the Indians could not understand the interpreter "que los Castellanos llevaban, "natural de la Isla de California." Cap. X, p. 203, col. 2. Herrera charges Preciado with advising Ulloa to kill the Indians, and in the Index we find the following statements: "Francisco Preciado aconseja a Ulloa embista a los Indios, i por que ? * * * pide licencia a Ulloa en la Isla de los Cedros para matar vn lndio, i se la niega." During 1535-37 Ulloa reconnoitered the eastern coast of the peninsula of California to the Colorado and thence southward, there- by establishing the geographic relations of the peninsula and conti- nental coasts. In 1539, with the vessels Santa Agueda and Trinidad he was or- dered to reconnoiter the southern extent of the peninsula, and then conl inue northward along the Pacific coast. *Hirro UA Gbnbsu.1 de los Hechos de los Castellanos * * * Decada VI, Lib. I, Cap: VIII. IX. X. CABRILLO AND FERRELO 19 After his failure to beat his sluggish ships more than sixty miles north of Cerros Island against our usual northwest winds and an adverse current, the further exploration of the coast along the Pa- cific was assigned, in 1542, to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portu- guese navigator in the service of Spain, and Bartolome Ferrelo, chief pilot, who were more successful and saw land as far north as King Peakbetween Point Arena and Cape Mendocino. They did he- roic work, and Cabrillo lost his life at San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel. * We quote extracts of their reports as given by Herrera:f "Sun- "day, on the second day of July [1542], they found themselves in "twenty and four degrees and more, and recognized the Port of "Marques del Valle [Cortes] which is called La Cruz, [Santa Cruz], "which is on the Coast of California;" and the marginal note is to the same effect. Cabrillo. Ferrelo says: "Sunday, the second day of July [1542], they were "delayed in crossing over [the Gulf of California] by the weather, "which was not favorable, almost four days; they anchored the fol- lowing Monday, on the third of the same, off the Point of Califor- "nia, and were here two days, and from this place they reached the "Port of San Lucas the fbllowingThursday." In latitude 27° 07' , he "says, "were groves of trees which they had not seen from the "Point of California." In his "Description" Herrera says that "California is a great "point of land that stretches into the sea through several degreesof "latitude; and from its [southern] extremity it reaches towards the "northwest about two hundred leagues; nevertheless it has not re- ceived much attention, neither its Ports nor Islands in the Gulf of "California" * * *. The marginal reference is "California"; page 24, column 1. In his index, Volume VIII, Herrera says that Cortes gave the name; "pusola el nombre California." In the text, Vol. VIII, page 139, column 2, in speaking of Galicia, Culiacan, etc., he writes: "i mas adelante, la California, adonde lie go el primer Marques del "Valle, que le puso este nombre." ♦Voyages of Discovery and Exploration on the Northwest Coast of America, 1539 to 1603. Davidson, 1886. tHisTORiA, etc. Decada VII, Libra V, Cap. Ill, p. 89. 20 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. After the time of Cabrillo and Ferrelo the galleons of Mexico made their voyages to the Philippines by a nearly direct route with favor- able winds; but on their return trip they held well to the north- ward to catch the northwest winds, and reached the Pacific Coast of America in the latitude of Cape Mendocino, and even higher. We have this clearly stated by the Viceroy, Marques de Villa Manrique, who wrote to the King of Spain on the 10th of May, 1585: * "The coast of New Spain ascends from the south even to 42° of "latitude, because your Majesty's ships coming from the Philip- "pines make the land in that latitude, and thence follow the coast to "Gapulco [Acapulco]." A few lines later he speaks of the voyage made to the "Californias" by Cortes. So the name was a matter of common usage. Hakluyt uses it in 1587 in a letter in his Voyages; Vol. Ill, page 303; published in 1600. ♦Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California, 1891, page 14. Los Angeles THE FIRST MENTION OF THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA, IN RECENT YEARS. The first mention we find of the origin of the name California in recent years is made incidentally by George Ticknor in his "History of Spanish Literature." He is comparing the style and meagreness of Esplandian with the eloquence and spirit of Amadis, and writes: "All reference to real history and real geography was apparently "thought inappropriate, as may be inferred from the circumstances, "that a certain Calafria [Calafia], queen of the island of California, "is made a formidable enemy of Christendom through a large part "of the story; and that Constantinople is said at one time to have "been besieged by three millions of heathen. Nor is the style better "than the story. The eloquence which is found in many passages "of the Amadis is not found at all in Esplandian; on the contrary, "large portions of it are written in a low and meagre style," etc. He first published his history in 1849, we quote from the fourth Amer- ican edition, 1872, Vol. I, page 244. The second writer who referred to the name California in Las Sergas de Esplandian was Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D. D., who presented a paper on the subject to the American Antiquarian Society, at the Hall of the American Academy in Boston, April 30th, 1862. It was printed the same year. He introduces the subject by saying that his "attention was acci- dentally directed a few weeks since to what I think will prove the "origin of the name of California, as applied to the peninsula so "known." Near the close he says "the original work is now so rare, that I "think the copies in the valuable library of Mr. Ticknor are the only "ones in Massachusetts. To his invaluable collection, and to that "kind courtesy which opens it to every student, and illustrates it "from the treasures of his own studies, am I indebted for all the au- thorities of value which I am able to cite here." He refers briefly to Venegas, Diaz and Herrera. Further, to Father Compoi, Clavigero, Rev. Dean French, Powers' Statue of California, Greenhow; and reaches Las Sergas de Esplandian; gives a short quotation naming the Queen and the Island ; and notes some of the earlier editions of the romance, and of the later Spanish ef- forts to introduce it to modern Europeans in 1857. This was done 22 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA. more particularly to illustrate the formation of the language to the present time. Before this edition D'Herbelay, the early French paraphraser, retained the whole story, but shifted the locality [but not the queen] to the river Borysthenes* and the Riphan moun- tains; and in 1779, the Count de Tressan published a translation which the reverend writer criticizes somewhat severely, and is in error when he says that the name California is left out in that trans- fer; see page 563, Vol. II, of the translation. Dr. Hale concludes by saying that "I know I furnish no etymol- "ogy for that word California," but suggests "the root Calif, as the "Spanish spelling for the sovereign of the Mussulman power of the "time, was in the mind of the author as he invented these Amazon "allies to the Infidel power." ♦Borysthenes Flu., later Danapris, now Dnieper, which falls into the northern part of the Black Sea about one hundred miles east of Odessa. THE CAUSES WHICH GAVE RISE TO THE ROMANCES. In the earlier centuries of the Christian era, from the inexorable code of the duel among the stronger, arose the principles of chivalry. The leaders throughout Christendom held its demands sacred be- yond all other considerations. It was the religion of might, and of right as they understood this. When Peter the Hermit aroused Europe in the eleventh century to recover the Holy Sepulchre from the Turks, the opportunity for the development of chivalry for a high purpose was presented, and tens of thousands enlisted or were forced under the Banner of the Cross. History has no parallel to the madness that lasted through two cen- turies. From this fanaticism and frenzy was evolved a reckless spirit of adventure and of enterprise. The religious-military orders of Templars, Knights-Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, and others, were founded for the delivery of the Holy Land from the Turks, and naturally there arose many religious and military orders or organizations which are represented today. From the exploits of the Crusaders, the knights and kings, real or unreal, there necessarily grew the wonderful, unnatural and impossible Romances, of which the Round Table of King Arthur, and the Paladins of Charlemagne are well known examples. Traditions were conjured, Amazons created, giants, griffins and unknown beasts of land, air and water were brought forth for every emergency. The Terrestrial Paradise was the region to be discovered in the far east. In one generation Spain closed the centuries of warfare against the Moors; she expelled a hundred thousand of her Jewish popula- tion. With peace reigning and industry nearly destroyed, her young nobles sought new fields for enterprise. The daring sea ex- plorations of the Portuguese aroused Spain to the opening of a vast, unknown field for exploitation. Columbus appeared, and Isabella saw the discovery of a new world. Then quickly followed the con- quest of Mexico, of Central America, of Peru, and the countries of the Amazon and the Orinoco. The ardent soul of Spain was awakened. In fifty years her fleets had passed the Strait of Magallanes, crossed the Pacific, and discov- ered the Philippines. She circumnavigated the globe; her traffic 24 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA crossed the Pacific to the Occident ; and her discoverers reached nearly to Cape Mendocino. No romance read by her nobles and her people, approached the height of such supreme accomplishments. It is not to be marvelled that when the Romances began to ap- pear they were seized upon by the people, who had little to read save some dry treatises of philosophy or theology. They were to be found everywhere ; edition after edition appeared in different places. The traditions of the days of the Crusades were still recited, and these new Romances seemed the verification of the old stories. They were read, discussed, and were an intellectual enjoyment of the people, high and low. Their reading was not confined to Spain; the Amadis was trans- lated into French, Italian, Dutch, English, German, and even into Hebrew. Robert Southey translated the Amadis. Ticknor says that "we have abundant proof that the fanaticism "for these romances was so great in Spain during the sixteenth "century, as to have become matter of alarm to the more judicious. "Many of the distinguished contemporary authors speak of the "mischiefs, and from different sources we know that many who "read the fictions took them for true histories. The evil, in fact, had "become formidable and the wise began to see it. At last these "romances had been deemed so noxious, that in 1553 they were pro- hibited by law from being printed or sold in the American colo- "nies, and in 1555 the same prohibition, and even the burning of all "copies of them then extant in Spain itself, was earnestly asked for by "the Cortes. And this prohibition would have become a law were it "not that the abdication of the emperor, the same year, stopped "action upon it." The passion for this class of literature gradually abated, and at last died out when Cervantes attacked it with exquisite ridicule. THE HISTORIAN TICKNOR'S ESTIMATE OF THE RO- MANCE AMADIS DE GAULA. He says that in the extraordinary and innumerable family of Romances the Amadis is the poetical head and type. The author "certainly had a knowledge of the old French Romances, such as "that of Saint Graal or Holy Cup: — the crowning fiction of the "Knights of the Round Table." He then traces the Original to Vasco de Lobeira, a Portuguese gentleman attached to the court of John of Portugal.*** "He "died in 1403. * * * Our first notice of it is from a grave "statesman, Ayala, the Chronicler and the Chancellor of "Castile, who died in 1407 * * * Gomez Eannes de "Zurara, keeper of the archives of Portugal in 1454, * * * leaves "no substantial doubt that the author of the Amadis of Gaul "was Vasco de Lobeira."* As Lobeira died in 1403, that carries the date earlier than 1400. The original has been undiscovered. A manuscript copy existed as late as 1750. It is supposed to have been burned in the palace of the Dukes of Arveiro in 1755. The Spanish version was made between 1492 and 1504 by Garcia Ordohes de Montalvo, and very probably was printed before 1504, because Montalvo (page 235 n. ) says in his prologo that both of the Catholic Sovereigns were still alive, and it is known that Isabella died in 1504. Montalvo wrote the Esplandian perhaps before he published the Amadis, and introduced it as the fifth Amadis. The purpose of the Amadis was to set forth the character of a perfect knight so as to illustrate the virtues of courage and chastity as the only proper foundation of such a character. Page 237. The Amadis is admitted by general consent to be tbe best of all the old romances of chivalry. * * * The Amadis, therefore, was a work of extraordinary popularity in Spain; and one which, during the centuries of its greatest favor, was more read than any other book in the language. Page 241. To show that its popularity was genuine Mr. Ticknor adduces testimony from Cervantes: ♦History op Spanish Literature, George Ticknor. 2nd edition, 1854, pages 221, 222, Vol. I. l2l) THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA Even when "the avenging satire of Cervantes" * swept away the whole of the Romances, we see that he "was not insensible to its "merits. * * * The first book that, as he tells us, was taken from "the shelves of Don Quixote, when the curate, the barber, and the "housekeeper began the expurgation of his library, was the Amadis "de Gaula. * * * 'There is something mysterious about this "matter,' quoth the curate; 'for, as I have heard, this was the first "book of knight-errantry that was printed in Spain, and all the "others have had their origin and source here, so that, as the arch- "heretic of so mischievous a sect, I think he should, without a hear-, "ing, be condemned to the fire.' 'No Sir,' said the barber, 'for I, "too, have heard that it is the best of all the books of its kind that "have been written, and, therefore, for its singularity, it ought to "be forgiven.' 'That is the truth', answered the curate, 'and so let "us spare it for the present"; a decision, which, on the whole, has been confirmed by posterity, and precisely for the reason Cervantes has assigned. Pages 243, 244. Mr. Ticknor might have continued a little further: "The next one, said the barber, is the Exploits of Esplandian, the "son of Amadis de Gaula. Verily, said the curate, the goodness of "the father shall not avail the son. Throw him into the yard and "let him make a beginning of the pile for the intended bonfire." And so Esplandian was doomed to the flames. [Translation by Charles Jarvis.] *"A1 immortal Cervantes estaba reservado el aniquilar de un solo golpe los libros de cabal- lerias." Don Pascual de Gayangos. " BERNAL DIAZ, ONE OF THE CONQUISTADORES, AND HISTORIAN OF THE EXPLOITS OF CORTES, HAD READ THE AMADIS DE GAULA. At the time when Cortes with his victorious army was approach- ing the city of Montezuma, Diaz writes: "The discourse with the "Caciques was finished and we immediately moved toward the city. "The chiefs had brought with them so many people from the sur- rounding districts to see us that the roads were filled with them. "The next morning we reached the broad highway of Iztapalapa, "which is straight and level as any that exists in Mexico. There we "halted, and thence beheld many cities and towns in the water, "[of the lake], and on the firm land were others with multitudes of "people. We were seized with admiration, and declared they "seemed like the castles of enchantment recorded in the book of "Amadis [de Gaula.] Grand towers, temples and edifices that "seemed to rise from the water. And all these were constructed of "stone and mortar, [cal y canto.] Some of our soldiers said they "could not be sure whether they were really seeing this or were "dreaming. "And it must not be wondered that I, on the spot, should de- scribe the scene in this manner, and which I have long pondered. "We have beheld unnumbered things that have never been heard "of, never seen, and never dreamed of." Diaz continues his des- criptions; and devotes Chapter LXXXVIII to "el gran e solemne "recebimiento que nos hizo el gran Montezuma a Cortes, y a todos "nosotros en la entrada de la gran ciudad de Mexico."* See appendix for Diaz.'s life. ♦HlSTORIA VERDADERA DE LA CONQUISTA DE LA NuEVA ESPANA, ESCRITA pOR EL CaPITAN BlSR- nal del diaz del Castillo, uno de sus conquistadores. Nueva edicion cotregida. .Pans, L,l- breria de Rosa. 1837, 4 Vols., duo; see Vol. II, pages 67, 68. THE MYTHICAL AMAZONS, THE GRIFFINS, AND THE TERRESTRIAL PARADISE. Ancient medals and monuments represent the Amazons in war- like costume. They used bows and arrows, javelins, an axe of peculiar shape, and bucklers in the form of a half moon. They are said to have founded an empire along the south and east coasts of the Black Sea, with their principal seat on the river Thermodon which empties near the southernmost part of that sea. Homer relates that when Priam was encamped with the Phry- gians on the banks of the Sangarius (Saggarios) the Amazons ('A/ia^o'i/e?) equal-to-men joined them. * Their queen Penthesilea, who invented the battle axe, aided in the defence of Troy. Herodotus particularly decribes the battle fought between the Greeks and the Amazons on the Thermodon, with their defeat and being carried into captivity. Diodorus Siculus says there was a nation living on the Thermodon that was governed by women, who managed all military affairs. He also mentions another race of Amazons who dwelt in Africa and that they were of greater antiquity than those on the Thermodon. Plutarch, in his life of Theseus, treats of the Amazons, and con- siders the accounts which have been preserved of them as partly fabulous and partly true. In his life of Pompey he locates them in the Caucasus, and on the Thermodon. Quintus Curtius details the visit of Queen Thalestris of the Ama- zons to Alexander the Great; it is mentioned by other authorities, and Justin says it required a twenty-five days' march. This fable of the Amazons survived classical antiquity, and came down through the centuries to the days of chivalry and romance; but we need only refer to the first letter of Columbus to be satisfied that the early navigators brought the fables to the western world, and cultivated them on new soil. Francisco de Orellana's chronicler, the Dominican Fray Gaspar de Carvajal, transplanted the fable to regions of the Amazon River, in the wild search for "el hombre dorado." In 1522 Cortes sent Gon- calo de Sandoval to succor Christoval de Olid who had gone to Co- lima. and from him we have the report of a very rich island peopled •Iliad: Book III, lines 187-8: The mouth is eighty miles east of the Bosporus. AMAZONS OF THE NEW WORLD 29 with Amazons, ten days' journey from Colima. This legend ap- pears in the fourth letter of Cort6s to the Emperor Carlos V, dated Oct. 15, 1524.* In 1529 a large expedition left Mexico to continue the discoveries of Olid and Sandoval, but especially to reach the island. In the Historia de Nueva Espana escrita por su esclarecido Con- quistador Hernan Cortes, aumentada con otros documentos, y notas; por el Ilustrisimo Sehor Don Francisco Antonio Lorenzana, Arzobispo de Mexico, etc., 1770, this story is given in detail. As a matter of history it eventually killed the legend of the Amazons. We find a unique illustration of the persistence of the belief in Dourado's chart of the Coasts of Mexico and California, under date of 1580. f In the country east of "La Mar Bermeia," or Vermilion Sea, [Gulf of California], there are three groups of two Amazons in each, armed with bows, and seeking game. The figures are drawn over one inch in height, in puris naturalibus. There are also two caballeros on horseback armed with long spears, and one of them is attacking a mazama. In other places are spotted deer. The belief in the Amazons was not confined to the Conquerors of Mexico; it preceded their advent, and was extended to both the Americas. Columbus heard of the Amazons on his first voyage. In his letter of March 4, 1493, in speaking of the Caribs, he says:J "They are the same who have intercourse with the women on the "first island which is found on the voyage from Spain to the Indies, "on which no men live. These do not follow any womanly occupa- tions, but use bows and arrows of cane, like those mentioned above, "and cover and arm themselves with brazen plates, of which they "have many. * * * ♦Venegas repeats the legend and explains it. Vol. I, pages 131-132. tOur photographic copy of the chart No. 13, from Cod. Iconogr. 137. in the Royal Museum of Munchen is within half a centimeter of the size of the original which is 47 cm. by 64 cm. Mr. Edward W. Mealey, U. S. Consul, wrote to us saying that the original was elaborately drawn on parchment. It is a curious and inaccurate delineation of the coast, but we can locate some of the places on the coast, as "Puerto de Nauidad de aqui Sale lias naues para maluco," in lati- tude 19Mj°; "C: Bllanico feza des pobllada," in latitude 34° which we believe is Point Concep- cion. Beyond this all is vague guess work to Rui Lopez de Villalobos, west of the great strait, in latitude 41°, and 620 leagues west by north from Point Concepcion. Rui Lopez de Villa- lobos was never on the California Coast. JThe Gilded Man, Eldorado: Bandelier, page 113. 30 THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME CALIFORNIA "The legend of the Amazons was unquestionably domiciled upon "the American continent by the Spaniards, and was suggested by "imperfectly understood accounts of distant tribes given by the "natives, to whose words the Spaniards were not inattentive." The legend appears first in the fourth letter of Cortes to the Em- peror Carlos V, dated October 15, 1524: "And among the reports which he [Gonzalo Sandoval] brought ' from that province [Colima] was an account of a very good harbor ' (puerto escondido) , [ Acapulco ? — D. ] which was found on that coast ; ' * * * and also he told me of the lords of the province of Cigua- 'tan, that many of them asserted there was an island inhabited only 'by women without any grown man among them, and that from 'time to time men went out to them from the mainland ; *** when 'they bore daughters they kept them, but the sons were put away. 'This island is ten days' distance from the province and many of the 'principal men had gone there from the province and had seen them. 'I was also told they were rich in pearls and gold." Page 114. "On the 20th December, 1529, Nuno Beltran de Guzman, at the 'head of a large Spanish squadron and more than eight thousand 'Indians left [the city of] Mexico for the purpose of continuing the 'discoveries begun by Sandoval for Cortes in the northwest. * * * 'His march was directed first toward Miochoacan, but its ultimate 'goal was the gold-rich and pearl-bearing island of the fabulous 'Amazons." Page 119. "This expedition was a bitter disappointment. Sandoval had 'brought the story of the Amazons from Cihuatlan in the present 'state of Sinaloa; but instead of the island on which he had placed 'the soldierly women, Guzman was shown only a few insignificant 'villages. He found them, however, exclusively inhabited by 'women and children, for the men had fled to the mountains. The 'legend of the Amazons was thus resolved into those mistakes sure 'to arise at that time on the first contact of Europeans with natives 'whose language they could not understand. No trace was found 'of gold, pearls, or treasures of any kind. The story of the Ama- 'zons ceases from this time to be of any significance in the history liscovery in the northern half of America." Page 122. It may be added that the habitat of the Amazons extended to South Ann rica.in fact over nearly the whole region where the early Spanish adventurers and discoverers forced their way. In the northern oi South America there was a wonderful amount THE GRIFFINS OF CALIFORNIA ,31 of energy wasted in the search for 'el hombre Dorado,' or the gilded man; and we quote, from page 64: "The fable of the Amazons survived from classical antiquity as "one of the cycle of myths that were credited or held possible. In "Francisco de Orellana's chronicles, the Dominican Fray Gaspar de "Carvajal transplanted it to the banks of the great South American "River. * * * This arose from a simple statement that below the "mouth of the Rio Negro women took part in the fighting against "the Spaniards. Another statement was an account by a captive "Indian of a tribe of Amazons, rich in gold, living north of the river. "*** The Amazon River henceforward formed the southern bound- "ary of the mythical region within which 'el hombre Dorado' could "still find a place." Page 64. THE GRIFFINS OF THE ROMANCES. The Griffin is seen on ancient medals, and the chariot of the Sun was drawn by these imaginary animals with the head and wings of the Eagle and the body and legs of the Lion. They represented strength and activity. Having been adopted by the Greeks and the Romans in ornamental architecture they became a common representation of the marvellous to writers of the Romances. And the belief in their existence comes down to a very late day. The Griffins of Queen Calafia play a very picturesque but un- fortunate part in her assault upon the walls of Constantinople. Bisselius (1647) says of the western coast of North America: "Chains of mountains stretch along the coast horrifying by their "sharpness and steepness to their very peaks. Wonderful numbers "of wild animals abound among their fastnesses. People tell that "in the forests the Gryphes [Griffins] are found ; and this is not a fable "but the truth. *** Along this coast is located the land of Cali- " forma." THE TERRESTRIAL PARADISE. The earlier peoples of Europe discussed the location of the Gar- den of Eden. Among other surmises it was imagined to be upon a high mountain area overlooking the greater part or all of the earth, and that from it flowed the four large rivers of the world, the Ganges, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Nile. Sir John Mandeville who went to the east in 1322 says, [Warren, page 7,] "And beyond the land and isles and deserts of Prester John's "lordship*** there is the dark region*** which lasts from this coast "unto terrestrial paradise, where Adam our first father, and Eve "were put." The wise men say, "that the terrestrial paradise is the highest "place of the earth, and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle "of the moon as she makes her turn." But the shrewd narrator closes: "of paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there." In 179S, Columbus on his third voyage discovered the island he named Trinidad, off the delta of the river Orinoco, in latitude 10^° north. He sailed around it through the Gulf of Cuparipari (Paria) and through the Dragon's Mouth having the island and the main- land in view; he continued west along the continental shore, Vene- zuela, as far as Margarita Island. He believed that he had dis- covered so great a protuberance of the earth's surface that he be- lieved our globe pear-shaped; and in his letter to the King quoted scripture about the earthly paradise, the area in which the four great rivers had their source. He could find no Roman or Greek authority for its location ; nor had he seen it on any map ; but he had learned that all the learned theologians had fixed it in the east. He is satisfied that the "earthly paradise" is near the equinoctial line, that it can never be reached except by special providence. The blandnessof the climate, the immense volume of fresh water com- ing from many large rivers, the opinions of holy and wise theologians, conspire to satisfy him that "the terrestrial paradise is situated at the spot I have described." Columbus evidently believed he had reached the land of India where the Garden of Eden had been in- definitely located. THE ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE NAMES CALIFORNIA AND CALAFIA, AND ASSOCIATED NAMES, IN LAS SERGAS DE ESPLANDIAN AND AMADIS DE GAULA. A condensation of the title of Las Sergas is: "El Ramo que de "los quatro Libros de Amadis de Gaula sale; llamado Las Sergas del "Muy Esforzado Caballero Esplandian, hijo del Excelente Rey "Amadis de Gaula."* And the edition of 1510 was generally attri- buted to Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo. The expanded explanation of the title announces that it was written in Greek by the "Gran Maestro Elisabat, who saw and took "part in what he relates." To keep up the illusion of this romance having been written in Greek there are several proper names of persons and places intro- duced in this, and in the earlier romance "Amadis de Gaula." The base word of these names is the Greek /ca\Xo? (kallos), meaning beauty. The Greek dictionary states that the form KaWi- (kalli) in compound words gives the idea of beautiful to the simple word, or is like a mere adjective with its substantive. Numerous examples are given as Ka\\Uep(o<; (kalli-keros) , with beautiful horns; KaWivi/cos (kalli-nikos) , with glorious victory ; tcaXkioTn] (kalli-ope), the beautiful- voiced ; KaX\,icf>vWovr}r\p, plural (prjpe; (pheres) , the Centaurs. This name is used but once. A further ac- count of this island is given later. IV. Califan," abeautiful villaor town belonging to Barsinan,lord of San Suena." From icaXXi-, beautiful, and (fravos [phanos], bright, etc. This name is used twice in the Amadis de Gaula. V. Califeno el Soberbio, Califeno the Superb; one of the for- ty bravest Caballeros. From icaXXi-, beautiful, and ep. 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