iles.
This report was made to me by Pilot Don Jose Canizares, to whom I
entrusted the examination of the port, because I was seriously sick.
Reconnaissance of the Port of San Francisco, with Map
Report of the Pilot Don Jose de Canizares to Commander Don Juan de Ayala
Translation of a Certified Copy of the Original in the Archives of the
Indies at Seville.
Dear Captain:--During the four times that I made reconnaissance of this
Port, and made its map, I found at the northeast and north-northeast
what is shown on the map and I here describe. To the north-northeast
of Angel Island, distant about a mile, there is a bay running in a
direction north-northwest to south-southwest. The distance between the
points forming said bay, is about two leagues, and the shore line is
about two and a half leagues. To the northwest of the shore there are
three small islands, forming between them and the shore a narrow passage
of shallow water closed to the southwest. This bay is all surrounded
with hills with few trees, which are mostly laurel and oak, but at a
distance to the west-northwest, is visible a wood of what seems to
be pines. In the middle of this bay is standing a high farallon with
submerged rocks around it. On the northeast of it there is sufficient
water for anchorage, as is shown on the map. There is no doubt of its
being good anchorage for vessels, provided they have good cables and
anchors, for they are subject to great stress because of the current,
which at this point, cannot be less than four miles an hour[69].
North-northeast of said bay there is a mouth about two miles wide, where
there are four small white rocks, the two north ones with the two south
ones[70] form a channel of nine brazas depth. From this, one passes
to another bay[71] more spacious, the diameter of which is about eight
leagues, its shape a perfect isosceles triangle; its mouth is divided
into two channels,--one, on the side of the southwest coast, turns to
the northwest at about the distance of a mile and ends in two large
harbors which are situated in the same shore at about four league's
distance from the mouth that communicates with the first bay; from the
northwest point of the furthest harbor to the north of it, distant about
one and a half leagues, in turning a point to the west-northwest, a
large body of water[72] is seen, which I did not examine because the
channel which leads to it is extremely limited, its depth n
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