The country has plenty of wood, but the trees are very small, hardly better than bushes.  But woods, which are an ornament to most other countries, serve only to make this appear the more desolate; for locusts swarm here in such numbers, that they do not leave a green leaf on the trees.  In the day, these destructive insects are continually on the wing in clouds, and are extremely troublesome by flying in, one’s face.  In shape and size they greatly resemble our green grasshoppers, but are of a yellow colour.  Immediately after we cast anchor, they came off in such numbers, that the sea around the ship was covered with their dead bodies.  By their incessant ravages, the whole country round Porto Leguro was stripped totally naked, notwithstanding the warmth of the climate and the richness of the soil.  Believing that the natives are only visited with this plague at this season of the year, I gave them a large quantity of calavances, and shewed them how they were sown.  The harbour of Porto Leguro is about two leagues to the N.E. of Cape St Lucas, being a good and safe port, and very convenient for privateers when cruizing for the Manilla ship.  The watering-place is on the north side of the bay or harbour, being a small river which there flows into the sea, and may easily be known by the appearance of a great quantity of green canes growing in it, which always retain their verdure, not being touched by the locusts, as these canes probably contain, something noxious to that voracious insect.

The men of this country are tall, straight, and well set, having large limbs, with coarse black hair, hardly reaching to their shoulders.  The women are of much smaller size, having much longer hair than the men, with which some of them almost cover their faces.  Some of both sexes have good countenances; but all are much darker-complexioned than any of the other Indians I saw in the South Seas, being a very deep copper-colour.  The men go quite naked, wearing only a few trifles by way of ornament, such as a band or wreath of red and white silk-grass round their heads, adorned on each side with a tuft of hawk’s feathers.  Others have pieces of mother-of-pearl and small shells fastened among their hair, and tied round their necks; and some had large necklaces of six or seven strings, composed of small red and black berries.  Some are scarified all over their bodies; others use paint, some smearing their faces and breasts with black, while others were painted black down to the navel, and from thence to the feet with red.

The women wear a thick fringe or petticoat of silk-grass, reaching from their middle to their heels, and have a deer-skin carelessly thrown over their shoulders.  Some of the better sort have a cloak of the skin of some large bird, instead of the bear-skins.  Though the appearance of the Californians is exceedingly savage, yet, from what I could observe of their behaviour to each other, and their deportment towards us, they