Chapter XIII

CONVINCING THE SHIP'S CAPTAIN

     For the next portion of the journey Juan and Old Father were to accompany Fages to San Diego. There the commandant was to meet the mule train and arrange for supplies to be taken to the northern missions. Serra and Juan would then board the San Carlos and sail to a port in Mexico. From there they would walk over land to Mexico City. But there were problems. First the San Antonio, carrying supplies long awaited and vital to the missions had been forced to turn back because of severe winds. Without these supplies the missions would face starvation long before the mule train arrived. It was therefore up to Serra to convince the ship's captain to make another attempt. Once this was settled a quarrel between Fages and the captain of the San Carlos caused further delay. But finally Juan's dream of sailing on the sea in a big ship came true. He was on his way to a new world, "one no Achastan had ever before seen."