of 42° north latitude.Etext of Spanish exploration of west coast, including diaries In 1585, Captain Francisco de Gali, on the return voyage from the Philippines, via Macao, was directed to sail as far north as the weather would permit, and then east, and upon reaching the coast of California to make maps on his journey south. However, Gali accomplished only limited chart-making. He reached the California coast at latitude 37° 30' (Pillar Point—just south of today's San Francisco), and noted that the land was high and fair; that the mountains were without snow, and that there were many indications of rivers, bays, and havens along the coast. In 1594, Captain Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho, a Portuguese sailor in the service of Spain, sailed from the Philippines in the San Agustin with orders similar to those of Gali. In this attempt, he reached land between Point St. George and Trinidad Head on November 4, 1595. Following the line of the coast southwards, Cermeñon's ship became wrecked and was beached in Drake's Bay, north of San Francisco. Using salvaged and local materials, the crew constructed an open boat, and the ship's company of more than seventy persons continued the homeward voyage. This open vessel reached Acapulco in early 1596—a remarkable voyage of nearly twenty-five hundred miles in an open boat. With the loss of the San Agustin, exploration of the California coast by ships loaded with cargo from the Philippines came to an end. In 1602, the Basque captain Sebastián Vizcaíno, sailing for Spain, explored the coastline from Mexico as far north as Monterey Bay in today's California, where he went ashore. He ventured inland south along the coast, and recorded a visit to what is likely Carmel Bay. His major contributions were the glowing reports of the Monterey area as an anchorage and as land suitable for settlement, as well as the detailed charts he made of the coastal waters (which were used for nearly 200 years); however no settlements in today's California were established for the next 150 years. In the late 17th century, Spain sent the first missionaries into today's Baja California, founding the first mission there in 1683 at San Bruno on the east coast of the Baja peninsula (San Bruno was abandoned as unsuccessful after two years). In 1697, the first "permanent" mission was established at Loreto, about away from San Bruno, also on the east coast of