50
DAWN AND THE DONS
on the occasion of his first visit, Portola had erected two large crosses, one on Carmel Bay and one near Point Pinos. These were easily found, and concerning the second one, near Point Pinos, Father Crespi, on the day of their arrival, made the following entry in his daily journal:
“After traveling about three leagues, we arrived at one o’clock at the little salt water lake near Point Pinos, toward the northeast, where in the first journey the second cross had been set up. Before making camp, the Governor, one of the soldiers and myself went on to the cross in order to find out if there was any sign by which we might know that those of the vessel had already arrived, but nothing of the sort was found. We found the cross surrounded on all sides by arrows, and little branches with many feathered crests, stuck up in the ground, which had been put there by the gentiles.” By “gentiles,” Father Crespi means the native Indians. “There was also a string of sardines, still somewhat fresh, hanging from a branch by the side of the cross; on another was a piece of meat, and at the foot of the cross there was a little pile of mussels.”
This, of course, aroused great curiosity and much speculation, but no explanation was forthcoming until intelligent communication was established with the Indians. Then it was learned that the natives, having observed a red cross on the breast of each of the white visitors, and having seen this large cross, which appeared doubly large to them at night, believed it to be some
