January 20. He returned to Acapulco without meeting the fragata.
In the meantime de Aguilar also sailed northward, and he records that on January 19 he reached the 43rd parallel, and found a point that he named Cape Blanco. North of the cape he reported a large river. Here he turned back, and must have been very near his capitana the next day as Vizcaino was discovering Cape Sebastian. Most of the crew of the fragata, including de Aguilar, died on the way back to Acapulco. Just what de Aguilar discovered on the Oregon coast no one knows. He was 10• too far north of Cape Blanco, and there is no large river north of that cape. It has been suggested that what he really found was what is now known as Cape Arago, and the river flowing into the sea was Coos Bay. Some color is lent to this theory by the fact that on March 12, 1778, Captain James Cook writes of his discovery of Cape Arago, which he called Cape Gregory, and stated that he thought he observed the Cape Blanco of de Aguilar in proximity. He was too far away to see the mouth of Coos Bay.
On April 24, 1792, Captain George Vancouver sighted what we now know as Cape Blanco, and named it Cape Orford in honor of George, early of Orford, his "much respected friend." Vancouver determined its latitude as 42° 52", very nearly its, true position. There was some speculation on Vancouver's ship as to whether or not it was the Cape Blanco of de Aguilar, but the position, being 10' too far south, and its dark color "did not seem to intitle it to the appelation of cape Blanco."
Vancouver brings up the matter again in his Voyage of Discovery Around the World in the latter part of the entry for April 25. He passed and identified Cape Gregory (now Cape Arago) of Captain Cook, and made a reasonably accurate determination of its latitude, though he noted the difference between his figures and Cook's.
