madrono. They saw the tracks of many deer and also of bears. The Indians
met them with friendly offers of black tamales and atole, which were
gladly received by the half-starved Spaniards. They begged the strangers
to go to their rancherias, but the governor excused himself, saying that
he must go forward, and dismissed them with presents of beads and
trinkets. On the 6th, they reached the end of the canada, which suddenly
turned to the east, and saw that the estero[32] was finished in a
spacious valley. To the canada they gave the name of San Francisco[33].
Traveling a short distance towards the east, they camped on a deep
arroyo, whose waters came down from the sierra and flowed precipitately
into the estero. They were on the San Francisquito creek, near the site
of Stanford University[34].

Having failed to get through to Point Reyes by the ocean beach route,
Portola now sent Ortega around by the contra costa giving him four days
in which to explore the country and find the port containing the
supply-ship.

Ortega with his exploradores, guided by some friendly Indians from the
neighboring rancherias, set out after noon on November 7th and returned
in the night of the 10th. He reported that he had seen no sign of port
or ship, and was convinced he had not understood the information the
Indians had tried to convey to him, and that the port of Monterey could
not be in advance. They also reported that the country they had seen
towards the north and northeast was impassable for the expedition, for
the reason that the Indians had burned the grass and, in addition, were
hostile and would dispute the passage. They said that they had
encountered another immense estero on the northeast (Carquinez Strait),
which also ran far inland and connected with the one on the southeast,
and that to double it would take many leagues of travel[35].