Note 14 — HABITAT

Originally the name Islas Sal-si-puedes (Get-out-if-canst) was applied to the various islands of this gateway of the gulf, including San Lorenzo, San Esteban, and San Agustin (now Tiburon), together with the smaller islets, as shown in the map of Padre Fernando Consag (in Noticia de la California y de su Conquista, etc., por el Padre Miguel Venegas, 1757, tomo III, p. 194); and Padre Consag’s account of the currents encountered in 1746 explains the designation: “The great sea which runs here even in fair weather would not allow us to stay, and it was with great difficulty we took in a little water. We now attempted to weather the Cape of San Gabriel de Sal-si-puedes, so greatly dreaded by seamen on account of those islands, several contiguous points of land and many ledges of sunken rocks extending a great way from the land. Here the sea is so agitated by the current that a gale or a calm makes but little difference” (English translation of Venegas’ Noticia, titled A Natural and Civil History of California, 1759, vol. II, pp. 312-313). Hittell speaks of “the group of islands known as Salsipuedes, the largest of which is now called Tiburon” (History of California, 1898, vol. I, p. 225). Dewey restricted the name to a single small island near the Baja California coast. Further references to the islands and their designations are noted postea, p. 65.