THE WEST SHORE.
KOUENOI.ATUIIE OF THE PACIFIC COAST.
MNBnf lUfi.l IhitK. f altrad the attention of
(J trt,ri.U to .! tt. lyM "tare of ita
irUtur. l r.-t.rb, Kpaniab. Hootch, Eng iD,
An-rirti., Ir.in and Ctiw-k jrgon names nave
.tru-W ilb .lh.r for tho nutoj, ud in bo
ctM .fu-n " cf-nfow! and dtfjointed
u k. rMir from lb fi.M and D P0MP,,,on
,f bjbrid. The bM left ui many names of
,.,ul.lful origin. t; l. m no ipokrn and written, of
t signifies Krisliib name " Frenchified," I rench
um Arl.cil, Imlian and i och names Amen-fui-l.
al-uud n every band, interspersed with
g.urrr tal of English, Hwitrb, French, Spanish and
Aififiiwin origin. itb not a few derived from the
Unb, but MjrfNiir Cbiuook.
Id th r.vM of evolution, which is still going
(.0, many tame have entirely lost their original lig-tif-ranm,
and have Ixyv.nw transformed into others
IcmIi: distinct and apparently irrelevant mean
it t Thus " (sn " cm k, name! after a bulbous
I Ut.i (,f j-rrikt nhlle value and much prized by the
Italians, u uow Uin " low " creek, and it supposed
by Ibn in j r i1 j- of the living along iU banks
Ui hate It-u christened in honor of tome frisky bo
nce of j.iutjrrr days. Ko long u thn intensely prac
tical an I unimaginative American, with little rever
m fur antiquity and a high regard for the practi
calities df (hi I'tw-tit, ihull continue to occupy this
fir land, th name of foreign origin must continao
It submit U this pnvM of evolution, though in a less
Irgrr than in lb L The ntremcly olT-handed
manner in which the wly sutlers tf Oregon and
California, wj-vially of the Utter state, dfiilt with
tbo well ktioio name of the country, niustbaveloen
highly antiojitjg t.) tin.' who In,! Imh'u accustomed
t t- k Ibna in tl.eir purity. The Argouauti of 'I'J
in California alaugl.tI iho Spanish names even
tnoto rorklMly than did the whit wagon immiganta
of O,rfci.o lb Canadian-French titlea of tbo adjacent
Utcv K-rao (,f tb tumr tbry translate, using tho
jbob,tnl.m Ki;S!i,h ,rd; jD tJ(r fMlf
rrt U,n ,,.!:g ,ul f,.k.,vl th pronunciation, or
krj i Mo pronunciation with a dilT.-rent selling
or rv!;clly !t,, U,th, ,hll, in many instant old
tamn.rfPrt.tJrrlTd:rd. and nron,Mlto,vl
Irwn IUL,! U und-r.t..,l why many of our
lrt
tun', and why
cerUinod, the origin of Borne of the names of moet
common use, the reason for their being bestowed, the
process of their evolution, if such a change has taken
place and the other titles the same objects have borne
in times past In a more elaborate article, these
BiKht be classified according to their origin, but in
this brief sketch they will be taken at random, and
necessarily a great many will not be spoken of at all.
Let us begin with the names of the states and ter
ritories. California is a word of doubtful origin. It
first appeared, so far as is now known, in a popular
romance which was published in Seveille, Spain, in
the year 1510. It was entitled " The Sergas of Es
plandian, tho Son of Amadis, of Gaul," and related
many wonderful adventures of that mythical person.
In this book occurred the following passage: " Know
that on tho right hand of the Indies there is an island
called California, very near the Terrestrial Paradise,
which was peopled by black women, without any men
among them, because they were accustomed to live
after the manner of the Amazons. They were of
strong and hardened bodies, of ardent courage, and
of great force. Tho island was the strongest in the
world, from its steep rocks and great cliffs. Their
arms were all of gold, and so were the caparisons of
of the wild beasts they rode."
This exciting and popular book was universally
read in Spain for many years after its publication,
and no doubt did much to inflame the young cavaliers
with that spirit of adventure which took so many of
them to tho New World in search of the fountain of
perpetual youth, and mythical cities with their stores
of silver, gold and precious stones, for which they
searched for more than two centuries. Twenty-five
years later, Cortez, having completed his bloody con
quest of Mexico, and having constructed vessels on
the Pacifio coast of that country, dispatched an expe
dition in search of an island " of Amazons, or women
only.abounding in pearls and gold," of which the
" grcRt men " had told him. The result of this expe
dition was tho discovery of the peninsula of Lower
California, to which the historian Gomez informs ui
was given tho name California. There have been va
rious speculations among scholars and geographers
concerning tho origin of this word, and by some of
them tho early explorers have been credited with
manufacturing it from the Latin calix fornax (a hot
furnace), or tho Spanish calliila fornalla. If they
uui, it is tho only instance on record where they man-
t kl Li'L kL.I in It ..r .i .1
" "i feature or ihmr . .. , : . - ...
U, any .Undanl mho,lly f ,r f ithpr ,7 u . 1 ! UIaclarpJ ord in such a cold-blooded and scienUlio
Uon o, ,tL.VTS hr of f tbrm Tb0DTlV I mnm' The chief objection to this pedantic origin
sn.M"l.k. TW kn, ,lkp lU pr ' 7, v' I uthot that the name appeared in its purity, in the
tew1rBflaitriarr k.n nr j-wrtw 11, ! IMuc-M above, more than a quarter of a cen
ittrrr.1 u tnuy t. kt . M LrarW u . V ' tury i4 hi8hly probable that the name
J 1 ai. 1 that was to stir tho cupidity and enterprise of the