At any
rate, the bay between Santa Cruz and the Point of Pines was the only
Monterey they could find. According to Washburn, Vizcaino's account
was far from a correct one. It was no fault of Portola and Crespi
that, after spending a month on its shores, it never occurred to them
to recognize the bay.
On the Point of Pines they erected a large wooden cross, and carved on
it the words: "Dig at the foot of this and you will find a writing."
According to Crespi this is what was written:
"The overland expedition which left San Diego on the 14th of July,
1769, under the command of Don Gaspar de Portola, Governor of
California, reached the channel of Santa Barbara on the 9th of August,
and passed Point Concepcion on the 27th of the same month. It arrived
at the Sierra de Santa Lucia on the 13th of September; entered that
range of mountains on the 17th of the same month, and emerged from it
on the 1st of October; on the same day caught sight of Point Pinos, and
the harbors on its north and south sides, without discovering any
indications or landmarks of the Bay of Monterey. We determined to push
on farther in search of it, and on the 30th of October got sight of
Point Reyes and the Farallones, at the Bay of San Francisco, which are
seven in number.
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