OCR Text |
Show ·114 Ex. Doc. No. 41. olcl gun was mounlc<l in this hovrl, looking through an embrasure to the west ward. ln thi.· build i 11 g I was told that 1 cou 1 u slow my party and my instrumrnl safely. We preferred the op n air an1l th mud1ly plaza, saturated with all sort of filth, to this wretched hole; but havinO' no alt rnative l . b . ' our chronometers anc Instruments were towed in it and guarded by the indefatigable Mr. 13 lor. I went off to accept from the hos}) itality of a friend the first bccl I hatl ern in many months. About midnight there wa. one of those false alarn1s which ev~>r and anon disturbed this goodly town. Four burly fellows ru. h •cl to man this gun, but they found themselves unexpectedly op}JOSecl by Mr. l3rstor and two or three of my party. J3ut for thi. timely resistance, my whole littl stock of chronometers, barometer, &c., w_o u 1 cl h a v? b e c n tot a I 1 Y. d e' troy e d . . In t h m o r n i n g, t h r o u g h eh e kmd exnt1ons of my fn<'nd, C<1ptam GilJe. pir, I ·was enabled to get a hou e with two rooms, the only uno ·c·upi •d quarters in the town. Fore~ecing employment. of. a difi'erent nature, my li ttle party occuptcd them elves bu tly m collecting and bringing up th notes of our field-work. On the 2 th Deccmbc•r I r ccivecl notification from General 'Kearny to .leave ~ny party in an Diego and report 1.4) him for duty 1 as the act1ng adjutant gen ral of the forces; Captain Turner his a c 1 j uta n t g r n e r a l , h a v in g be c n a s s i g n c d 1) y h i m to t h com m a n :1 of the remnant of the company of thr 1 t clragoons. Mr. Wnrner was ·till too unwell, from the wounds rrc ivt cl at San P.a s qua I, to a c.c o r:n pan y us, or to com m c· n c c t h s u r v <· y of San D1cgo bay. Wt ·hLrtg to have a secure· place to drpositc my instruments, notes~ &c., I applic•d to Captain Dupont to giv(' th<'m a place on board the yane. lie granted this request, aud kindly insisted that Mr. J3e. tor and Mr. Stanly . hould also go on board where they could pursue their work unmolested. ' I si.oulo be very .ungrateful if I did not here make my acknowledgments to Captam Dupont, and all the offitcrs of the navy with whom we were thrown in contact, for the uniform kindn ss a·nd the generous hospitality with whi.ch they always supplie(l our personal wants, and the promptness w1th which they rendered assistance in any public enterprise. ~y work as topographic~! engineer may be consitlerccl' to end at th.ls place; and )that port10!1 of the map cmbracctl between San Dt~g? and the ~ u ebl? or Cmdad de los An gel s is com pi] ed from ex1st.tng maps, w~th slight al.terations made by myself from a view of the ground, Without the aHl of in lrum ants. . The coas~ ~s taken ~rom old Spanish charts, ptlhlishcd in Maclricl m 182?, londly furn1 h d me by Captain Wilkes. Tbc harbor of San D1ego has b en surv yed by Cn pta in, ir Ed ward Be I c her, of the royal navy, whose determination of the longitude of the spit to the south of Punta Lorna, published in his "voyage rouncl the world," has been adopted, in the absence of time or instruments to enable me to make the requisite ob r.rvations. The long_itutle o~ the same point by Malispina 117° 17', and the chronometnc long1tudc brought by myself from my last station Ex. Doc. No. 41. 115 over th mountains, wl1 r lu11ar ·distances w re ob. crv •cl, ] J7° 14' · b u t I h a v c n o t h i t a t e d t o t n k ' t h · n· s u I t s o f i r Jt.. cl w a r cl B (' I c h c r; although I have had no opportur ity of ~ecing his observat ions. M a l is p i n a's o b. c r vat i o n s we r <' m ad c I o n g s i n c c , an d t h e n· ~ u lt s from the chronomct•rs brought ovt·r land by m' are liable to 0bj 'Ctions: fir t, from the imp ·rft·clion in lht• d •term ination of my intermediate stations by lunar distan ·es, and, next, fron1 the disturbance to whic:h the c hrorH>m<'tns were subjected in the batt! of the 6th Dcc<>mbcr, ancl th ' skirmish of the 7th, but mon' particularly the last, where a uddcn charg' was made in an open pl ain on our ba~gag by the enemy'. t:avalry . The harbor wa originally explored by ''bastian Vizcaino in 1603, but no settlement was nHtd<' at Sart Di 'go until 1769. V t• s s c I s m a y r i d c at a n · h o r i n tl1 ' h a r b o r , lH' r f c c t I y 1a n cl -1 o t k p c 1 , but in v cry h c n v y south c r I y g a 1 's :om e in<' on v t' n i c n r r may b t' fp It by those not pro id<·d with good grou nd tackle, from tb • immense volumes of kt·lp driv<'n into th ' harbor. The kelp (fu ·us gigantens) Oe('upies a space in front of th h ar· b or so til ' m i J t· s i n 1 c n g t h an d h a I f a. m i I · w i d . A t a d is tan c <', l took the kc 1 p for a ] ow is I and, but was in formed of my ·rror by Captain clu:nck, who told me- v •s ' els were forced through it in a stiff br Ct'ZC. Ou tlw morning of the 29th Dec mbcr we marchc1l out of an Diego with the following force: Cnpt. Lieut. SCirgt. Cor pl. Dug. PrivMcs. Dragoons •..•.....•.••• 1 ] 2 4 2 4.7 ailors acting ar.ldl ·ry .. 1 1 2 4 39 Sailor' and marmes act-ing infantry ....•••..• 8 10 ]7 17 315 Volunteers ..••.•.•..••• 3 3 6 4.8 Thr e employes of the topographical engine<>rs, thrc mrdieal offi ce rs, and twenty-five men, Indians, and Californians; t1H' whole clividccl into four divi ions or battalions, com manded r<'spedivcly by Captain Turner, Lieutenant H.eu ·~Ja w, Lieut nan.t Z ic lin, and Captain Gillespie. ix pice ' of artill •ry, of various calibrr, got up with great ex-ertion, under the order· of Commodor tockton, by Li!'ut nanl Tilghman of th navy, acting as c.:aplain of artillery. A wagon train, con ·i. ting of onr four-wh('c] carrit~gc and ten ox cart~, under the c harge of Lieutenant Minor of the navy. The wagons were h avily laden, and our progr •ss wa low in the ('Xtrt · mr. v..r e did not rea ch the ol idad, the first watering place, till 8 o'clock at night. . I was ordered to ride forward and lay out a def nstve camp, hoping to ~iv conficlenc to th' ailor ·, many of whom wcr' now, for the fir~l tim', tran~[t'rr 'd to a new eh·ment. We soon found tht'ir hah its of discipline aboard ship made the transition easy, and I speedily arriv 'd at the conclusion that Jack, properly handled, made a very good infantry soldier. |