CASE B Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/californiahistorOOforbrich CALIFORNIA A HISTORY OF UPPER AND LOWER CALIFORNIA u This Book is one of a limited edition of two hundred and fifty copies, the impressions being taken upon hand-set type, which was immediately distributed. This copy is No. fS-r Signed by the publisher s kii^ii&i;: S"^'^ i^'; i?^:- "^'^■^^^^^^^^ S. DRtiMMOND,/>n:rt., Mexico, 7S32 Father Antonio Peyri {/Et. 67) Missionary at San LuiS Rey, Upper California I ; '. ; ' From 1799 to 1832 Puhlished by T. C. RUSSELL. San Francitci CALIFORNIA A HISTORY of UPPER & LOWER CALIFORNIA From THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY to the PRESENT TIME Comprising An ACCOUNT of the CLIMATE, SOIL, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE &c. A FULL VIEW of THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS and Condition of the Free ©" Domesticated INDIANS With an ^penbix relating to STEAM-NAVIGATION IN THE PACIFIC SUu£(trateD With a New Map, Plans of the Harbors and Numerous Engravings By ALEXANDER FORBES, ESO. Sleprinttb Page /or Page, and appnximalttj Line for Line, from the Originai. Edition Published by SMITH, ELDER Sf CO., London.<18J9, and to Which is Added A New INDEX ^an Jfranciatco, California THOMAS C. RUSSELL 1734 Nineteenth Avenue 1919 il -q^.^ ,'^' fv.t. Copyright, 1919 ^ ^yO' ^ Thomas C. Russell O'^ Printed hy Thomas C. Russell, at 1734 Nineteenth Avenue San Francisco, California, United States 0/ America PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD TO THE REPRINT EDITION / speak to the reader-^ let the ^writer listen Orientai. Pro\'KRB (adapted) The uppermost thought in the mind of the publisher, in printing this edition, was to adhere faithfully to the text of the original, as well as to maintain a line-for-line and page-for-page plan. Hence the text was not read before composition for the purpose of correcting errors. A hasty, superficial examination, however, was made, in order that some degree of accuracy and uniformity might be established for the spelling of proper names. This is no trifling matter, the best-printed works demonstrating that neither absolute accuracy nor uniformity in this respect is maintained, or is even attainable ; and who shall decide when doctors disagree ^ The experience of a lifetime spent among printers, publishers, and authors has proven that the author's MS. is entitled to respect before a change is made at the hands of the printer. Such is indeed the custom in all good book-printing houses, and such custom should also obtain in the reprinting of a book. Hence few verbal changes were made in reprinting this work, and only a few bracketed corrections after a gross error, these latter being inserted interlinearly sometimes. Much more, along these lines, could have been done with propriety, and perhaps should have been done; hence it must not be presumed that many questionable matters were passed unnoticed. Had the original MS., instead of the printed book, been used as "copy," no such merciful consideration would have been shown. The typographical expression of the work is quite as faulty as the text and style of the author; and although there are, here and there throughout the work, evidences in plenty of stately, legitimate book- composition, yet the crudities of the raw, undisciplined printer prevail, manifested in inaccurate syllabication, over-capitalization, punctuation showing not the slightest conception of the text, and in other ways. These, if not reformed altogether, are reformed indifferently, at least, in the reprinting. Let us consider, first, Spanish words, phrases, and nomenclature. Forbes is not so great an offender as many present-day writers in the Sa ba PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD matter of italicizing Spanish words unnecessarily, but, like these writers, he is given to translation, and, what is worse, to half-translation. As, — San Juan Baptista (39) San Juan Bautista Our Lady de los Dolores (109) Nuestra Senora de los Dolores Our Lady of the Regla (119) Nuestra Senora de la Regla St. John Capistran (126) San Juan Capistrano If it is proper to translate the Spanish "Nuestra Senora" etc. into the English" Our Lady" etc. , why not translate "Dolores" and "Regla" also ? Both are translatable. But why destroy the charm of the ori- ginal Spanish .? The opinion of the reader without understanding is not worthy of consideration. Of a different nature is the clipped form of the mission name, as " Dolores," " San Juan," etc. ; but clipping is sometimes mutilation, as ' * San Borja " for " San Francisco de Borja ' ' {.vide post y p. 88). A common and very reprehensible practice, but of which Forbes cannot be accused, is that of inserting a comma in the names of the missions, as in "San Juan, Bautista." This is not Spanish usage, nor is there any usage in English style that fits the case. The many titles of the Spanish monarch, printed in full, would occupy many lines, yet not a comma, nor other mark of punctuation, is used to set off one title from another. The Spanish idea is evident to a thinking person. The offense noted is aggravated by the omission of the graphic accent and the substitution of a French twist to a Spanish word, in the name of a mission, as in "San Fernando, Rey de Espagna,' ' which, in turn, is juggled into "San Fernando, Rey de Espagna." The Spanish of all this is, simply, "San Fernando Rey de Espafia. " In this reprint edition, the lists of missions given in statistical matter afforded an opportunity to print the names of the Franciscan missions accurately (see pp. 201, 202, 259-260), while the index afforded the further opportunity of adding an alternative appellation, as in the case of the missions of San Carlos and San Francisco. Forbes, in the text, did not mention each and every mission. Spanish usage is violated also by Forbes in the printing of personal names. Thus on page 7, the name of Bezerra de Mendoza is clipped down to "Mendoza," and did not the immediate context make mani- fest the person meant, Hurtado de Mendoza, another explorer sent out previously by Cortes, might be inferred. In the instances follow- ing, the gross error, "Francis," printed as a praenomen of Serra, is probably the result of a compositor's attempt to improve" upon his "copy." The praenomens "Vicente" and "Luis" are not enough for the English reader, although good and approved Spanish usage. PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD la (48) Guillem (Guillen), (79) Cobrillo, Viscayno (Cabrillo, Vizcaino), (84)Vin- centeVilal, (Vicente Vila), (92) Francis JuNiPERO Serra, Pedro Foxes (Fr. [Fray] JunIpero Serra, Pedro Pages), (115) Aranza (Anza), (117) Artiago (Arteaga), (122) Father Vincente, Fa- ther Lewis (Vicente Fuster, Luis Jay me ) . Quotations from other authors are quite numerous in the original edition. The poet Southey suffered a Httle, and, in reprinting, a few crudities are smoothed out, but as Forbes, on page 222, seems to have purposely rearranged a few lines, no change is made. Vancouver was badly misquoted, and the original language is restored, as below, the italic indicating most of such restorations. But how could underwood that did not exist have any appearance .'' their sides and summits exhibited a high degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed with copses of various forms and magni- tude, and verdant open spaces enriched with stately fruit trees of of different descriptions. . . . the underwood, that had probably attained its early growth, had the appearance of having been cleared away, . . . which, with the lofty range of mountains [170] their sides and summits exhibited a high degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed with copses of various forms and magni- tude, verdant open spaces, and enriched with stately forest trees of different descriptions. . . . the underwood, that had probably attended its early growth, had the appearance of having been cleared away, . . . which, with the range of lofty rugged mountains Beech ey, on the other hand, is cited exactly by Forbes as to figures, signs, and words. Thus on page 165, the mean annual temperature of San Francisco is given as 53° 2'. This is inaccurate notation. The figure 2 here is a decimal. The ichthyologist, as well as the meteor- ologist, should have had his day in court with Beechey. Thus: — ■ In the bay of Monterey we noticed the scomber colias and another kind of mack- arel, the torpedo and another species of raia, achimara, and swarms of small fish resembling the Sardinia. Muscles are found in considerable quantities. . . . Besides these shell fish, there were no- ticed afew patella, limpet, turbo, cardium, and mya shells, and among other lepas, a rare species of /. anotifera and a chiton {tunicatus }) . [179] In the Bay of Monterey we noticed the Scomber colias and another kind of mack- erel, the torpedo and another species of Raia, a Chimara, and swarms of small fish resembling the sardine. Mussels are found in considerable quantities. . . . Besides these shell-fish, there were no- ticed a few Patella, limpet, Turbo, Car- dium, and Mya shells, and, among other l^pas, a rare species of Lepas anatifera, and a Chiton (tunicatus }) . Nor did Beechey have much respect for or knowledge of la lengua castellana. Note particularly the punctuation. The neophytes being thus arranged, the The neophytes being thus arranged, the speaker began: " Santissima, Trinidada, speaker began, ' Santisima Trinidad, — Dios, Jesu Christo, Espiritu Santo" — Dios,JesuCristo[orJesucristo],Espiritu pausing between each name [217] Santo,' pausing between each name Sa PUBLISHER'S FOREWORD Uniformity in matters orthographical was sought to be attained in reprinting, although many archaic and obsolete spellings are retained. American usage, it will be observed, prevails, however. One more example of changes made should suffice to show the necessity for typographical revision throughout the work. its government has been hitherto con- its government has been hitherto con- trouled by persons who have not put trolled by persons who have not put in practice not even the rudiments of an in practice even the rudiments of an enlightened policy [305] enlightened policy Incidental remarks are made, in this Foreword, to the typographical aberrations in other works. In mercy, their names are not mentioned. In few of them is there displayed the technical skill of the disciplined book-printer. A finished book can be printed only in a book-printing house, with its staff of experienced book-compositors, skilled proof- readers, and competent executives. Even here gross errors of many kinds escape the sharpest eyes and the keenest wits. The Riverside Press, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a reputation second to none for typographical accuracy, yet Royce's California, in the handsome American Commonwealths series, issued from that press, is spotted with such errors as those following. Brooks seems to be a perfeecly trust- munication from him [Buch-/anan is the worthy observer. [289] antecedent oi Aim']," 6ut I recei'vet/ not/f- The little one chose with ecstatic delight ing. ' ' The italics are as printed in the some tiny scent-bottles, which she called copy before me. [132] "baby-decanters." [348] (14) Crespi (Crespi), (17) Rezanof "Your letter," says the captain to the (Rezanof, or Rezanoff), (23) Hijar (Hi- senator, "led me to expect some com- jar), (24) Guteirrez (Gutierrez). The error "perfeecly ' ' was probably made in correcting, and escaped the reviser. By baby- decanter" a toy or small decanter is meant; hence the hyphen is improperly used. Buch-/anan" is an inaccurate division ; the syllabication is, Bu-/chan-/an. The redundant quotation- marks preceding the phrase ' l?ut I" etc. may have been inserted in making an author's change; such errors are generally corrected in the first reading, but may escape the reviser if not corrected in the type. It is too much to hope that this reprint edition is free from the many lapses to which type, with the innate perversity of all things inanimate, is prone, or that it is free from lapses traceable to other sources. The letterpress, — this term includes type-setting, proof-reading, and press- work, — as well as the index-making, of this reprint is the result of the labor of one hand and mind. The reader who is familiar with the procedure in a well-regulated book-printing house will understand. ALEXANDER FORBES The AUTHOR of This WORK Bibliographers have little to say about the author of this History of California ; they confine their annotations almost exclusively to the work itself. The name Forbes appears quite frequently in California history, and this fact has led to much confusion as to the identity of the author. The publisher of this reprint edition is indebted to Mr. Milton J. Ferguson, the librarian of the California State Library at Sacramento, for a cameragraph copy of an article which appeared in the San Francisco Evening Bulletin of January 9, 1864, which clearly settles this matter, and at the same time unfolds much interesting, and what was at one time perplexing, detail. This article, so far as it relates to Forbes, is reprinted here without the slightest change. Made Their "Piles" before 1848 — Pacific Coast Notables Late papers from the East bring news of the death of two noted rich men, who made their "piles" from California long before the discovery of gold, and are intimately connected with the first developments of her commerce, and somewhat of her literature. The first of these is Alexander Forbes, one of the founders of the house of Barron, Forbes & Co., of Tepic, in Mexico, who died in the city of London in the early part of 1863. In California literature he is known as the author of '^ A History of Upper and Longer California, from their first Disco-very to the Present Time — comprising an account of the climate, soil, mission establishments, etc., published in an octavo volume at London, in 1839. Though without pretension or display of literary talent, Mr. Forbes gives in his work very useful and excellent information, and his map of the country which is the best of the time, lays down data entirely ignored by map-makers up even to 1846 — so slow did knowledge penetrate into book-makers' heads, until their eyes were limned with the lustre of gold, or of the new era which California has opened to human progress. Mr. Forbes is said to have been largely engaged in mercantile business in Buenos Ayres before 1825, about which period he became connected with Eustacio Barron, who had, during the wars of Napoleon in Spain, acted as officer in the British forces in the peninsula, opposed to the French Emperor, and who was appointed British Consul-General in the city of Mexico, about 1835, where he was universally esteemed and respected. He died in that city about 1857. The prin- cipal establishment of the new house was at Tepic, where for many years under the style of their well-known firm they have dispensed iiospitality like magnificos, and carried on to the present time the most extensive commercial transactions of any mercantile concern on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This business, together with their manufactory of cotton fabrics near Tepic, realized immense profits, greatly augmented since 1853 from the operations growing out of the celebrated 9a 10. FORBES: THE AUTHOR New Almaden mine, in Santa Clara county, the developments of which awakened only in 1863 the attention of the Spanish Government as affecting the demand of quicksilver from the old Almaden, which has been worked since the birth of Christ. During the California revolution of 1846, Gen. Jose Castro found his way to Tepic, and there sold to Alexander Forbes his share of the New Almaden mine. The sagacity of Forbes and his knowledge of the great value which would attach to a competitor of Old Almaden, induced him immediately after to hurry on his way to Alta California and verify by actual sight the extent of his "streak of luck " — this windfall from the bag of fortune. When he arrived, he found the Ameri- cans in possession of this country, and being satisfied that Eolus had wafted his bark to one of the rich ports of Mercury, took possession of his vein of cinnabar; and all the first outlays between 1847 and 1854, were done under his immediate orders, either on the spot before July, 1848, or in Mexico afterwards, before his retirement to England, about 1856, on the dissolution of the old firm. Our California author was the brother of the eminent London physician. Sir John Forbes, lately deceased, among whose family he "willed" $250,000 and left also the valuable real property he died possessed of in England, his nephew, Alex- ander C. Forbes, being his principal legatee. Since his return to England, after thirty years spent in Spanish America, he resided on his estate of Whitechurch in Oxfordshire, or at his town house in Piccadilly; but It seems he died a bachelor of some seventy years and left neither chick nor child. Both Forbes and Barron, whose names are now as well stuck to California as they are to Ireland and Scot- land, were nearly connected with respectable and ancient families mentioned in the chronicles of Great Britain and Ireland, but no library. Institution of learning, or relief to their fellow men in the California countries, were remembered by them in their wills. Before they died, various of our lawyers and speculators had thinned their purses, and no doubt they hurled a few quiet curses at the name of California. As the Spaniards say, they were muy enojada con Alta California ; and they unhap- pily cut her off with less than a shilling. The other notable referred to in the introductory paragraph of the preceding article was William Sturgis, of Boston, to whom Alfred Robinson dedicated his now rare old book. Life in California (1846). From Bancroft's History of California (vol. Iv, p. 152) " Forbes' book was not only the first ever published in English relating exclu- sively to California, and more than any other tlie means of making known to English readers the country's advantages, but It has always maintained Its reputation of being one of the best extant on the subject." From Allibone's Dictionary of English Literature "This work furnishes us with a striking illustration of the wretchedness of man, if he lives without exchange and well-developed property, even though surrounded by a bountiful nature." — Lieber's Essays on Property and Labour, p. 140; 148, 149. "A valuable work. The author was one of the first of the Anglo-Saxon race to explore this, till lately, unknown country; he reaped the reward of his enterprise by securing the possession of the great quicksilver mines, now worked by the firm of which he is the head." "A work of superior excellence and most useful instruction." — Chancellor Kent. CALIFORNIA: A HISTORY OF UPPER AND LOWER CALIFORNIA FROM THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME, COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CLIMATE, SOIL, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, A PULL VIEW OP THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS AND CONDITION OF THE FREE AND DOMESTICATED INDIANS. WITH AN APPENDIX RELATING TO STEAM NAVIGATION IN THE PACIFIC. ILLUSTRATED WITH A NEW MAP, PLANS OF THE HARBOURS, AND MUHEROCS ENGRAVINGS. BY ALEXANDER FORBES, ESQ. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO. CORNHILL. 1839. TO JOHN FORBES, M. D., F. R. S. £ffc. ^c &c. My dear Brother, — I herewith send you, such as it is, my work on California, in which I have attempted to give some account of that very remarkable and Httle - known country. If, on perusing my papers, you deem them worthy of pubHcation, let them be published ; but, in that case, you must not only be the Editor of my book, but its foster - father ; and as it usually happens with adopted children that they are more indebted to those who train them to manhood than to those who give them existence, so it may well be that my "California," if found to possess any merit by the public, shall owe more to your care than to the capability of its original author. I need not tell you how little accustomed iii A 2 iv DEDICATION I am to literary labors of any kind, and you well know that my present position puts it even out of my power to take advantage of those emendations or improvements which are apt to suggest themselves during the progress of a work through the press. In all these things, then, I claim the help of your more experienced hand, and trust implicitly to your judgment and kindness. Should you decide on publishing my history of California, I request that you will place this letter at its head, as a Dedication to yourself, as, whatever be its fate as a book, I am most desirous that it should, at least, bear witness to all those of its readers, who know either you or me, with what sincere esteem and regard I always am, my dear brother, Yours faithfully and affectionately, Alexander Forbes. Tepic, Zlnd October y 1835. PREFACE The chief part of the following work was transmitted from Mexico to the editor three years ago. Circum- stances, which it is unnecessary here to mention, deferred its publication to the present time. This delay, although in some respects to be regretted, has been attended with several advantages. It has enabled the author to forward to the editor some additional matter of importance, particularly the account of the recent declaration of independence by California. This and other additions have been inserted in their proper places. In another respect, also, the delay in the pub- lication has perhaps been rather fortunate than otherwise. The changed relations of California with Mexico, and the new relations with other states thence likely to accrue ; the existing position of Mexico in regard both to France and England ; and, above all, the great interest just now excited in the commercial world by the projected vi PREFACE improvement between the different Spanish-American states, and between Great Britain and them, by means of steam-navigation, — all these will probably render the work more attractive to many readers at the present moment, than it would have been three years ago. The greater part of the contents of the volume, however, the editor believes, stands in no need of any adventitious help to make it interesting to most readers. The ample details which it contains of the spiritual conquest (as it has been called) of California, — that is, of the entire subjection of the native inhabitants by the Spanish missionary priests, — and the striking view which it presents of the singular system of civil polity and ecclesiastical slavery which has been the result of this conquest, and still exists in full activity, are matters which cannot fail to engage the attention of all who delight to view man in novel and strange aspects, and under the influence of circumstances calculated to try the good and the evil parts of his nature. The editor believes that the present volume contains a much fuller account of all these_ things than is to be found in any other work. An interest of a very different kind will attach PREFACE vu to that portion of the volume — a large portion — which relates to the natural character and pro- ductions of the country, the actual state of its agriculture and commerce, and its capabilities as a field for European colonization. In this respect, the present work seems calculated to give rise to much speculation, if not to important enterprises of a practical kind. Respecting the suggestion, thrown out by the author, of the chance now offered to the people of Great Britain, of getting a footing in Upper California, either by the voluntary cession of the country to the state, or to a com- pany, as a consideration for debts not likely to be otherwise discharged, the editor offers no opinion. It seems, however, to be one not unworthy the attention of the parties involved in the public loan to Mexico, or even of the British government itself. In preparing the MS. for the press, the editor has, in accordance with the author's wish, added, in the body of the volume, various brief extracts, here and there, from the works of travelers who have visited California, and which he thought would render the original account more interesting, by giving some additional details. His viii PREFACE authorities are, here, chiefly, Laperouse, Vancouver, Langsdorff, and Beechey, — all of whose works contain very interesting, and no doubt very accurate, accounts of the state of the country at the time they visited it. These additions, and the arrangement of the original materials in a some- what more book- like shape, are all the share that the editor can claim in the present work. The author wishes to be considered responsible for everything else, whether matter of fact or matter of opinion. For the matter in the appendix, however, the editor is solely responsible ; but he trusts the author will not hesitate to sanction an addition which must prove both useful and interesting to his readers. The first document in the appendix — the account of the ports of California, by Captain Hall — is so intimately connected with the subject of the work that it cannot fail to be regarded as an important addition to its contents ; and the editor regrets that he neglected to apply for the information at an earlier period, in order that it might have been incorporated with the topographical details in the third chapter of the second part of the volume. PREFACE ix The remaining documents in the appendix — those relating to the projected plan of steam -navigation in the Pacific, and a more speedy communication between the western coasts of the American conti- nent and England — likewise appear to the editor of too much importance in themselves, and too inti- mately connected with the interests of the countries described in the work, to be withheld from the reader. Whatever tends to facilitate and improve the navigation and commerce of the more southern states must exert a powerful influence on the condi- tion of California, — a country which will be found to be pre-eminently calculated to be the granary of South America, and whose present emancipated condition will doubtless greatly augment its com- merce generally. It cannot be for a moment doubted that if the projected line of navigation were established between Valparaiso and Panama, it would speedily be prolonged northward to Guatemala, Acapulco, and San Bias, on the Mexican coast, and from thence to Upper California, either by the Pacific coast to San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco, or along the gulf northward to the Rio Colorado. The editor has learned from a gentleman, acquainted with the X PREFACE navigation of those seas, that not only the Gulf of California is perfectly navigable by steam-vessels to its upper extremity, but that the Rio Colorado is so, also, up to its junction with the Gila. As to the probability of the speedy accomplishment of the designs of the projected company, the editor is not in a situation to pronounce an opinion ; but when we consider with what gigantic steps Steam has proceeded since its birth, the wonders it has already wrought in its mere infancy, and the wealth and enterprise of British merchants, there certainly seems no more reason for doubting that the splendid scheme will be realized at no distant date, than there can be any question as to the vast benefits its accomplishment must confer upon the countries to which it refers. By the message of the President of the United States, to the two Houses of Congress, of the 4th instant, it is clear that by the convention between Russia and the United States, made in April, 1824, no settlements on the northwest coast were to be formed by Russian subjects, or under the authority of Russia, southward of north latitude 50° 40'. Nevertheless, long before that convention, and ever since, Russia has held her settlement of La Bodega, in PREFACE xi north latitude 38° 19', as shown by the map. It is not in accordance with the usual spirit of the United States, in enforcing the due fulfillment of all treaties affecting their boundaries, to have acquiesced so long in this flagrant infraction, but perhaps, as the Russian intrusion was not upon their territories, but upon those of Mexico, they did not think it worth their while to complain. However, by the refusal of Russia to renew the above convention, it appears that the Emperor does not wish that his subjects settled southward of 50° 40', north latitude, should be subject to any molestation, or that they should be prevented from making fresh settlements in other places. The editor does not think that the attention of the governments of Mexico, the United States, and Great Britain has been sufficiently drawn to Russian policy on the northwest coast of America. The editor cannot close this prefatory notice with- out expressing, in the author's name and his own, the obligations they owe to their friends Captain Smyth, R. N., R. C. WyUie, Esq., and John Hall, Esq., for their kind assistance in rendering the work more worthy of the reader's attention. For nearly all the pictorial illustrations the author is indebted xii PREFACE to the elegant pencil of Captain^ Smyth, which has never failed to perpetuate the more remarkable scenes of the numerous countries visited by him. The plans of all the harbors delineated on the map (with the exception of San Francisco, copied from Captain Beechey's excellent chart in the Admi- ralty) have been furnished by Captain Hall from his own original surveys. To Mr. Wyllie, whose former residence in Mexico rendered his opinion important on many points, the editor is indebted for several valuable suggestions and much active assistance during the progress of the work through the press. J- F. Chichester, December 24, 1838. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Part I LOWER CALIFORNIA CHAPTER I History of Lower California from Its Discovery to Its First Settlement by the Jesuits. — Native Inhabitants. — Nature of the Country 7 CHAPTER II Progress of the Jesuits to the Death o/ Father Kino. — Mode of Converting the Indians 27 CHAPTER III Progress oJ the Missions to the Present Time 46 CHAPTER IV Character (?/'//'f Missionary Government. — Present State ^of the Country. — Produce. — Pearl-Fishery. ... 56 xiii xiv CONTENTS Part II UPPER CALIFORNIA CHAPTER I First Settlement of Upper California by the Franciscans. — History of the Missions to the Death of Father Serra 79 CHAPTER II Recent History of Upper California. — Present Political Condition and Prospects 131 CHAPTER III Topography (j/ Upper California. — Natural Productions 154 CHAPTER IV Some Account of the Original Inhabitants o/ Upper Cali- fornia. — Their Manners and Customs 180 CHAPTER V Account o/" Ml? Missionary Establishments. — Present State of the Indians in Them. — Remarks on the Missionary System Generally, and on the Conversion of Infidels . 199 CHAPTER VI State o/ Agriculture in Upper California. — Its Produce in Grain and Live-Stock 246 CHAPTER VII Commerce o/ Upper California, — Navigation. — Revenues 281 CHAPTER VIII Upper California Considered as a Field y2ir Foreign Colo- nization 309 CONTENTS XV APPENDIX I REMARKS on the HARBORS of CALIFORNIA. By Captain John Hall 327 II On STEAM-NAVIGATION in the PACIFIC. Remarks by a Former Resident 332 III EXTRACTS I PANAMA and the PACIFIC. A Memorandum Sent to the Foreign Office, on the Advantage of Using the Isthmus of Panama as a More Rapid Means of Communication between Europe and the Ports of the Pacific Ocean. By the Hon. P. Campbell Scarlett 343 II Extract yrow "Statements and Documents Relative to the Establishment of Steam -Navigation in the Pacific." By William Wheelwright, Esq. 346 Letter from Captain Fitz Roy 350 III Extract from the Prospectus of the ' ' Pacific Steam Naviga- tion Company," to be Incorporated by Royal Charter. Capital, ;^250,000, in 5,000 Shares of ;^50 Each. Issued November 5, 1838 351 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES 1. Portrait of Father Peyri Frontispiece 2. Portrait of a Native Indian . ... To face page 7 3. View of the Bay of Monterey 105 4. View of the Harbor of San Francisco 127 5. View of Santa Barbara 167 6. Indian Hot-Air Bath, or Temescal 197 7. View o///"^ Mission (jy San Carlos tfW Bay o/" Monterey 199 8. View of the Presidio and Pueblo (j/^ Monterey .... 203 9. View o/ /^^ Mission o/ San Francisco 211 10. Th rowing //6^ Lasso. ^/^^Viewo//^^? Mission oySAN Jose 273 Californian Plow {woodcut) ■ 248 N. B. — In the luoodcut of the Californian ploiv (page 248), the small ^wedge-shaped figure is intended to represent a section of the SOLE, or main piece of the plonu MAP of CALIFORNIA At the end of the work xvi CALIFORNIA The extensive tract of country comprised under the general name of California, or the Cali- FORNiAS, constitutes, at present, part of the Mexi- can republic, and was formerly included in the viceroyalty of New Spain. It extends along the border of the great Pacific Ocean, which bounds it on the west. The northern limit of the country actually settled by the Spaniards is the Bay of San Francisco, the entrance of which lies in 37° 48' N. lat. ; but right of territory is claimed by the Mexican government much farther north, — indeed, far beyond the Russian settlement of Bodega, which lies in lat. 38° \9\ The southern boundary is Cape San Lu- cas, the extremity of the peninsula of Lower Cali- fornia, and lies in N. lat. 22° 48'. The longitude of Cape San Lucas is 109° 47' W., and that of San Francisco 122° 27" W. ; consequently the direction of the coast is towards the northwest. This exten- sive country is bounded on the east by the Gulf of 1 1 B : ;;;;2':;; ; ,;.,;'; CALIFORNIA California, the Rio Colorado, or Red River, and the Indian territory, which also limits it on the north. Since the division of the Mexican republic into federal states, the whole of California has been erected into what is termed a "territory," which differs from a state in this, that it has not an elective governor or legislature, but is under the immediate control of the general government of Mexico, which appoints its governor, under the name of com- mandant-general, and all the subordinate officers, civil and military. Although now constituting only one territory or province, in a political sense, this extensive region has always been considered as two distinct coun- tries ; and indeed they are well entitled to be so considered, both from their natural differences and their civil history. The name of California was for nearly two hundred years exclusively applied to the great peninsula which is now termed Old or Lower California, and which is arbitrarily bounded on the north by a line drawn from the top of the Gulf of California to the shore of the Pacific, con- siderably to the southward of the port of San Diego. After the discovery and settlement, by the Spaniards, of the country to the north of this peninsula, and which was also named California, as being part of the same tract of coast and in- habited by the same race of people, the distinctive CALIFORNIA 3 appellations of Upper and Lower, or New and Old, California became necessary, and have since been universally applied ; the peninsula being termed Lower^ as being in a lower degree of latitude, and, of course. Old, from its earlier settlement. When spoken of conjointly, the two countries have been, and are still frequently, designated THE CALI- FORNIAS, more especially by English navigators. The principal object of the present work is to give an account of the upper province, this being the only one which is of much importance ; it seems, however, necessary to take some notice of the lower also, not merely from the intimate geographical and political relations which exist between the two countries, but because the history of both is closely connected, and that of the one throws light on the settlement and actual condition of the other. On account of its earlier settlement, I shall commence with the lower province, and shall endeavor to compress into as small a space as possible what seems necessary to be said respecting it. B2 PART I LOWER CALIFORNIA ^f^^ K^ '^ - Z)ra.u;n A>Capt.Wm.Sm\th.R N Ws; 1 C RUhbELL Publisher, San Franciiec Portrait of a Native Indian CHAPTER I HISTORY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA FROM ITS DISCOVERY TO ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT BY THE JESUITS.— NATIVE INHABITANTS. — NATURE OF THE COUNTRY Old or Lower California was discovered in the year 1534, by a squadron fitted out for purposes of discovery, by the great Cortes, and commanded by Grijalva. This expedition sailed from the coast of Guatemala, and soon reached the shores of Califor- nia. The adventurers put into a harbor in the gulf, in what they supposed to be an island, and which they named Santa Cruz. This supposed island, however, is part of the peninsula of California, and the harbor is that now known by the name of La Paz ; but there is an island lying off this harbor which is still called Santa Cruz. The companion of Grijalva, on this occasion, was Mendoza, who com- manded the other ship ; and Ximenez was pilot. Both of these perished during the expedition : the former in a mutiny of his men, headed, it is said, by Ximenez ; and Ximenez himself by the natives, in the Bay of La Paz, together with twenty other Spaniards. The issue of this voyage was altogether so unsatisfactory that Cortes re- 8 LOWER CALIFORNIA solved to pursue the discovery himself ; and, in the following year, fitted out three ships at the same part of Guatemala, called Tehuantepec, which he himself joined when they reached the port of Chia- metla, having marched overland from Mexico with a large retinue of soldiers, negro slaves, settlers, and priests. He soon reached Santa Cruz (La Paz), and sent back some of the ships for the people and the provisions which he had left behind. The country was found so barren as to afford no sustenance to his armament; and the imperfect navigation of that day rendered the transport difficult and dan- gerous, even from so short a distance as the opposite coast. Only one vessel is said to have returned, and with a very imperfect supply of stores. But, in the mean time, Cortes explored the gulf to the north- ward, visiting both shores : and it is believed that he ascertained that California was neither an island nor an archipelago, as had been supposed. For some time after this the Gulf of California was named the Sea of Cortes: it was also called the Red Sea (El Mar Rojo), either from resembling the Red Sea of the Old World in its shape, or from the discoloration of its waters, in its northern part, by the Rio Colorado, or Red River. After many labors and dangers, Cortes returned to the port of Acapulco, recalled by the machinations of his rivals and ene- mies in Mexico; but he continued to prosecute the LOWER CALIFORNIA 9 discovery of the new countries, by means of ships, at his own cost, and commanded by his own officers. The principal of these was Francisco de Ulloa. This officer, in 1537, sailed with three ships, and contin- ued, nearly for the space of two years, exploring the different shores of the gulf up to almost its northern point. The expedition of Ulloa confirmed the pre- vious report of the extreme barrenness of California, and the rudeness and poverty of the natives, who were found quite naked. He saw the indigenous goat (argali), and observed some vessels of clay in the possession of the Indians, — a circumstance which escaped the notice of several future travelers. Many subsequent attempts to explore and settle California were made by the viceroys of New Spain, and also by private adventurers, but with little or no results of consequence for nearly a century. In 1562-3, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explored the western coast of the peninsula, reaching as high as lat. 62°. In 1596, in the viceroyalty of Don Caspar de Ziiiliga, count of Monterey, Don Sebastian Viz- caino commanded an expedition to the gulf, and made some effort to settle the country permanently by establishing a garrison at the old station of Santa Cruz, which he named La Paz, from the peaceable deportment of the inhabitants. General Vizcaino surveyed the coast a hundred leagues to the north of this, and found the inhabitants less peaceable, 10 LOWER CALIFORNIA having had some of his people killed by them. Owing to the want of provisions and the extreme barrenness of the coast, the attempt was abandoned, and Vizcaino returned to New Spain at the end of the same year. A still more extensive expedition sailed, under the same commander, in 1602, to explore the west coast of the peninsula, and proved very successful, as far as related to the examination of the coast. Vizcaino, in this voyage, not only ex- amined the port of Magdalena and other places on the west coast of the peninsula, but, sailing northwards beyond the limits of this, discovered, in Upper Cali- fornia, the harbor of San Diego, and Monterey (so called after the Viceroy) and San Francisco, which last, as we have seen, is still the northern limit of the Spanish settlements. The coast was explored, but imperfectly, as far north as the lati- tude of 43°. This part of the coast was visited about twenty-four years previously by Sir Francis Drake, who remained some time in the harbor of San Francisco,* and explored the interior to some distance. He named the country New Albion, and took possession of it for England, not being aware that it had been pre- viously visited by the Spaniards under Cabrillo. Both Vizcaino and Drake recognized the fertility of this country, and noticed some of the principal pro- ductions both of the vegetable and animal kingdom. LOWER CALIFORNIA 11 The Indians were found to be mild and friendly, resembling those in the lower province. Sir Francis Drake mistook the common head-dress of some of them, which is worn around the head, somewhat in the manner of a crown, as the emblem of royalty, and considered the gift made of this to him, by one of the chiefs, as the abdication of the sovereignty of the country in favor of Queen Elizabeth ! There still prevailing among the inhabitants of New Spain a strong belief of the great riches of Califor- nia, both in gold and pearls, but particularly the latter, successive expeditions visited the coasts of the gulf, after brief intervals, through the whole of this century. Many also were set on foot, not so much for the purpose of acquiring wealth as with the view of converting the Indians ; the most anxious desire for effecting this being prevalent not only among the religious orders of Mexico, but at the court of the successive monarchs in Old Spain. In 1615, Captain Juan Iturbi made a voy- age to the gulf at his own expense, and, on his return to Mexico, inflamed the existing desire for the conquest of California, by the display of a great quantity of valuable pearls which he brought with him. Father Venegas states, that for one of these pearls Iturbi paid 900 crowns as the King's fifth alone, making its value at least j^ 1,000. In the course of three successive years, viz. 1632, 1633, 12 LOWER CALIFORNIA and 1634, Captain Francisco de Ortega made three voyages to the same ports, and, two years later, Carboneli, his pilot, followed his example. In 1648, Admiral Casanate again made an attempt at settle- ment, under the authority and at the expense of government, taking with him priests for the con- version of the Indians ; but, like all his predecessors, he was repulsed, not by the natives, but by the in- superable barrenness of the country. The early histories of California narrate many other attempts equally unsuccessful ; as, that of Pinadero in 1664, of Lucenilla in 1668, and of Admiral Atondo in 1683. The expedition of this officer was more considerable than most that had preceded it, and was distinguished by the company of the Jesuit missionary Father Kuhn, formerly a professor in a German university, and afterwards famous for his exploits in the conversion of the Indians, under the Spanish name of Kino. Atondo stayed some considerable time in the country, and traversed a considerable portion of the interior, the zealous fa- thers exerting all their powers in converting and baptizing the natives, but with such indifferent suc- cess that he also finally abandoned it, with the whole of his establishment, within a period of three years. This expedition, fruitless as it was, cost the Mexi- can government no less a sum than 225,400 dol- lars.* The last of these attempts, made under the * Venegas, vol. I, p. 224. LOWER CALIFORNIA 13 direction of the military and civil powers was that of Itamarra, who made a fresh descent, at his own expense, in the year 1694, and with the same fruit- less results as all his predecessors. Some years before this, on the return of Admiral Atondo, the Viceroy and Council of Mexico had come to the resolution that the settlement of this country was impracticable by the means hitherto adopted, and that it should be no more attempted at the public expense : it was, however, decided, at the same time, that the reduction of the peninsula should be recommended to the Society of Jesuits, and that a fixed sum should be paid to them, for this purpose, but of the King's treasury. This recommendation was most cordially received by this zealous society, and Father Kino and the other missionaries, who had accompanied Atondo, kindled yet higher among their brethren their desire for the spiritual conquest of California, which was destined, in fact, to take place under their indefatigable zeal and courage. In contemplating what was thus effected, it is no wonder that the historian of California, himself a member of this holy order, should regard the cause as hallowed, and the agents as under the protection of Heaven. "The great conqueror, Hernando Cortes, (he says,) several times employed, in the conquest of California, the whole force he could raise. His example stimulated many private per- 14 LOWER CALIFORNIA sons ; even governors, admirals, and viceroys made the attempt. At last the kings of Spain themselves took the scheme into their own hands ; yet the result of all such vast expenses, such powerful efforts, was, that the reduction of California was given over as impracticable. And so indeed it was, by the means made use of by men, but not by those which God had chosen. Arms and power were the means on which man relied for the success of this enter- prise, but it was the will of Heaven that this triumph should be owing to the meekness and courtesy of His ministers, to the humiliation of the Cross, and the ' power of His Word. God seemed only to wait till • human nature acknowledged its weakness, to dis- play the strength of His almighty arm, confound- ing the pride of the world by means of the weakest instruments." * In the intended reduction of California under the new system, Father Kino was the presiding genius, as he had been the originator, of the plan. This excellent and extraordinary man had been professor of mathematics at Ingoldstadt, where he was in high favor with the electoral house of Bavaria. In consequence of a vow made to Saint Francis Xavier at a time when he was not expected to live, he left * Noticia de la California y de su conquista temporal y espiritual hasta el tiempo presente. Por el Padre Miguel Venegas. Madrid, 1757. LOWER CALIFORNIA 15 his professorship and came to America, full of zeal for the conversion of the heathen. " Proposing to himself (says Father Venegas) this holy apostle as his model, he imitated his virtues, and all the other qualities of his seraphic mind." The new mission- ary was certainly a man of extraordinary talents as well as virtues, and his whole life proved how well he fulfilled the vow which had transported him from the lecture-room of Ingoldstadt to the savage wilds of America. But in the conquest of California he fortunately met with associates no less able and willing than himself, among the learned men of his own order, and particularly in the fathers Salva- tierra, Ugarte, and Piccolo, afterwards so distin- guished for their labors and success in this under- taking. To Salvatierra the direction of the first attempt was confided, Kino remaining on the oppo- site coast of Sinaloa, and Ugarte in Mexico, all equally active, in their respective stations, in pro- moting the great design. The spirit being once kindled, the rich among the laity as well as the re- ligious orders in New Spain contributed largely to the outfit of the expedition, and settled sums for the endowment of the new missions expected to be established. The government took no part in the enterprise, further than granting the fathers per- mission to enter the country, to enlist soldiers on their own account, and to have sole authority over 16 LOWER CALIFORNIA all concerned in the expedition and in the intended missions, requiring only, in return, that the country should be taken possession of in the name .of the king of Spain, and that the expedition should be in no way burdensome to the government. On the 10th October, 1697, Father Salvatierra sailed from the port of Yaqui, on the eastern side of the gulf, with his small band of five soldiers only, and their commander, and on the third day reached California. For some days they were employed in looking out for a convenient station, and at length fixed on the bay of San Dionisio, ten leagues north of San Bruno, where Admiral Atondo had pitched his camp. There, on the 19th October, they landed, and finding a convenient spot near a spring of water about a league and a half from the shore, they pitched their tents, and transported from the ships their stores of cattle and provisions, the good father be- ing the most active laborer of the party. ** Here (says Father Venegas) the barracks of the little gar- rison was built and a line of circumvallation thrown up. In the center a tent was pitched for a tempo- rary chapel ; before it was erected a crucifix with a garland of flowers, and, everything being disposed in the best manner possible, the image of Our Lady of Loreto, the patroness of the conquest, was brought in procession from the ship and placed with proper solemnity. On the 25th, formal pos- LOWER CALIFORNIA 17 session vv^as taken of the country in the name of the , King of Spain and the Indies. Before proceeding further with the history of these true soldiers of the Cross, and the minute but not uninteresting warfare which they maintained for so many years against the rude natives of Cali- fornia and its still ruder soil, until at length they triumphed effectually over the former and as much over the latter as was possible, it may be well to notice briefly the nature and extent of the obstacles they had to contend against. In all the numerous attempts that had been made to make a settlement in this peninsula, it was inva- riably to the rugged and unproductive nature of the • country, not to the opposition of the natives, that the failures were attributable. Like all the aboriginal tribes encountered by the Spaniards in America, the Californians were a feeble and weak-hearted people ; and although when irritated or oppressed • they not seldom turned on their tyrants, and, when revenge could be safely indulged, did not hesitate to cut off openly or by stratagem such as fell into their power, still they never offered any effectual resistance to the invaders, hundreds, or even thou- sands, of them being often kept in awe by a mere handful of armed Europeans. These poor people had good reason both to fear and hate the Spaniards, as they were often greatly maltreated by the mili- 18 LOWER CALIFORNIA tary and commercial adventurers who visited their country before the Jesuits, and more especially by the traffickers for pearls, by whom the Indians were frequently kidnaped, and forcibly compelled to act as divers. Yet it was remarkable that, from the beginning, they showed little unwillingness to be present at or even to share in the ceremonies of the Catholic religion, (which were seldom lost sight of by the adventurers of those days, however stained with crimes, ) or to benefit from the supplies of food which they derived from their visitors. At the period of the landing of the Jesuits, the natives seem to have been in precisely the same condition, as to civilization, as when first visited by , Grijalva one hundred and sixty years before. They were little advanced from the rudest state of barbarism. Prop- erly speaking, they had neither houses nor clothes, although they made use of temporary huts formed of boughs of trees and covered with reeds, and the women wore girdles or imperfect petticoats formed also of reeds ; the men were entirely naked, except that they wore ornaments for the head, composed of feathers, shells, or seeds. They lived by hunting and fishing, and on the spontaneous produce of the soil. They cultivated no species of grain or esculent vegetable, and they seemed to possess no other arts than what were necessary for the manufacture of nets, and bows and arrows, for catching prey by sea LOWER CALIFORNIA 19 and land, and for the construction of their imper- fect clothing and ornaments. Some of the tribes had a few vessels of clay, but their chief articles for containing both soHds and Hquids were constructed of reeds. Even their means of transport on the water were rude rafts formed of bulrushes, no boats or canoes of wood or hides being found among them. They seem scarcely to have had any fixed forms of government or religion, although the different villages and tribes submitted, on important occa- sions, to the direction and rule of some one or more who were distinguished by their age, strength, or other natural gifts, and there were also a class of persons among them, who were the ministers of some superstitious observances, and the pretenders to . preternatural powers in the prediction or pro- duction of future events, and in the infliction or cure of diseases. These people were termed sorcerers (hechiceros) by the missionaries, although Fa- ther Venegas has the boldness to assert that **it cannot be thought that these poor creatures had any commerce or entered into a compact with apostate spirits, or that they received any in- structions from them." It is, however, very true that, whether deluded or deluding, these sorcerers or priests exerted a powerful influence over the minds of their countrymen. This influence was greatly heightened by their being the exclusive professors C 2 20 LOWER CALIFORNIA and practicers of the important art of healing. "What greatly strengthened their authority (says Venegas) was their being the only physicians from whom they could hope to be relieved in their pains and distempers ; and whatever was the medicine, it was always administered with great ostentation and solemnity. One remedy (he continues) was very remarkable, and the good effect sometimes produced by it greatly heightened the reputation of the operator. They applied to the suffering part of the patient's body the chacuaco, which is a tube formed out of a very hard black stone, and through this they sometimes sucked and at other times blew, but both as hard as they were able, supposing that thus the disease was either exhaled or dispersed. Some- times the tube was filled with cimarron or .wild tobacco, lighted, and the smoke was either blown- out or sucked in, according to the doctor's direction. This powerful caustic (adds the historian) sometimes, without any other remedy, has been known entirely to remove the disorder." Of this fact such of our modern surgeons as are in the habit of prescribing local irritation or scarification by inflammable sub- stances, termed moxas, will entertain no doubt. At the time California was visited by the Jesuits, the whole of the country explored by them, from Cape San Lucas as far north as the 2Hth degree of north latitude, was thinly and irregularly peopled LOWER CALIFORNIA 21 by numerous tribes, more or less stationary in their rude villages or encampments, differing very little in their general habits and condition, yet sufficiently marked to be distinguished by fixed names, and speaking different languages, or different dialects of the same. The best informed among the fathers, particularly Father Taraval, of whom we shall hereafter have occasion to speak, believed that, al- though there were many varieties of dialect, there w€re only three languages, decidedly differing from one another, so as to constitute natural distinctions. These, in their respective spheres, extended, as might be supposed, from sea to sea, dividing the peninsula lengthwise into three nations : the Pericii occu- pying the southern division, as far north as the Bay of La Paz, about the 25th degree of latitude ; the Monqui, the middle space, extending a little to the north of Loreto, in about the 26th degree ; and the Cochimi, to the northward of this, as far as the country was explored. As would naturally happen in such a rude state of society, the limits of these countries were not at all definite, and even the dif- ferent people had quite different names given them by their own or other tribes. In particular, it would seem that the people of the south were as com- monly termed Edii as Pericii, or those of the north as often Laymon as Cochimi. Each of these great divisions contained clans or tribes who 22 LOWER CALIFORNIA professed to be distinct from their neighbors, call- ing themselves by different names, using a some- what different speech, and demonstrating their na- tionality by incessant feuds and petty wars with their neighbors ; but it would be worse than use- less to follow our authorities in taking any notice of these, as this could only tend to confuse the reader. The country inhabited by these people was, and is, one of the most barren and unattractive to be found in the temperate or hotter regions of the earth. The peninsula of California is seven or eight hun- dred miles in length, and varies in breadth from thirty to one hundred miles, the medium breadth being from fifty to sixty. It consists of an irregular chain, or broken groups, of bare rocks and hills, in- terspersed with tracts of a sandy soil nearly as un- productive. The greatest height of this mountain ridge is rather less than 5,000 feet. In some shel- tered spots, where the soil has been left safe from the torrents, there is a fertile mold ; but such spots are very rare and of small extent. Water is, also very scarce. There are only two or three small streams in the whole country, and springs of good water are extremely infrequent. It would seem as if the action of the heavy rains from the central ridge of rocky hills, and the encroachments of the ocean on both its shores, had gradually washed away the mold and soil from its surface, except where it LOWER CALIFORNIA 23 was of such a ponderous quality as sand, or where it was penned up by a barrier of rocks on all sides. In some places of this last kind, the soil was found remarkably fertile, and when they chanced to be in the vicinity of water, which was but seldom the case, the produce extracted from them by the indus- try of the new-comers was sometimes marvelously great. Such oases were of no especial use to the natives, except in as far as they furnished the chief localities for the growth of the trees and plants which supplied them with nuts and berries. The extreme barrenness of the soil prevented the growth of trees of any magnitude, except in a very few spots of insignificant extent, insomuch that the missionaries were obliged, as we shall see hereafter, to send to the opposite coast of Sinaloa for the materials for constructing houses. In this region, however, the fertility of the sea seemed to make amends for the barrenness of the land. The shores of California abound in the great- est variety of excellent fish, although from ignorance or stupidity the natives derived much less benefit from this exhaustless storehouse than it was capa- ble of affording. In one respect, indeed, this store- house was too productive for their happiness, since it was the fame of its pearls which, ever since its first discovery, had attracted so many adventurers to its shores, bent on enriching themselves, and alto- 24 LOWER CALIFORNIA gether regardless of the welfare or even lives of the natives. " Great numbers ( says Father Venegas ) resort to this fishery from the continent of New Spain, Nueva Galicia, Culiacan, Sinaloa, and Sonora, and the many violences committed by the adven- turers to satiate, if possible, their covetous temper have occasioned reciprocal complaints ; nor will they ever cease (adds the good father) while the desire of riches, that bane of society, predominates in the human breast." * And nothing can show more strongly the pure and disinterested motives of the Jesuits than the law which they obtained, after much trouble, from the Mexican government ; viz. , that all the inhabitants of California, including the soldiers, sailors, and others under their command, should be prohibited not only from diving for pearls, but from trafficking in them. This law was the cause of great and frequent discontent among the military servants of the fathers, and even threat- ened the loss of their conquest, but it was never- theless rigidly enforced by them during the whole period of their rule. Fishing for pearls was not, indeed, prohibited in the gulf and along the shores of California, but it was carried on by divers brought from the opposite shores by the adventurers en- gaged in it. Before returning to the history of Father Salva- * Venegas, vol. I, p. 50. LOWER CALIFORNIA 25 tierra and his little band, I must be permitted to make one remark. If the reader should be dis- posed to smile at the minuteness with which, now or hereafter, we may dwell on the humble proceed- ings of the fathers, and their children the Indians, or may detail the puny wars of their Lilliputian armies, we can only offer the excuse preferred by the good Father Venegas in similar circumstances. "These particulars (he says) may possibly appear trifles not worth mentioning ; but let me entreat the reader to try their value in the balance of reason. Let him reflect what an agreeable sight it must be, even in the eyes of the Divine Being himself, to see men who might have acquired a large fortune by secular employments, or lived in quiet and esteem within the order they had chosen, voluntarily banish themselves from their country and relations to visit America, and, when there, resign employments and leave a tranquil life for disappointments and fatigues, to live among savages, amidst distress and continual danger of death, without any other motive than the conversion of the Indians. At least, let every one ask himself, whether any worldly interest whatever could induce him to employ himself in such low and obscure actions, and amid such privations and dan- gers, and he will be convinced of the importance and dignity which actions, contemptible in the eyes of men, receive from the sublimity of the motives 26 LOWER CALIFORNIA which inspire them."* It is, indeed, impossible to read the accounts of the settlement of the two Cali- fornias by the Spanish missionaries without feeling the greatest admiration and reverence for the bold and pious men who undertook and accomplished the most arduous task of civilizing and Christianizing these savage countries. It may be true that the means they adopted to effect their ends were not always the wisest, that the Christianity they planted was often more of form than substance, and the civilization, in some respects, an equivocal good : still it cannot be denied that the motives of these excellent men were most pure, their benevolence unquestionable, their industry, zeal, and courage indefatigable and invincible. Not only did they suffer every hardship without repining, but they shrank not from death itself, which more than once thinned their ranks ; and it is the crowning glory of their benevolent justice that they were as zealous in protecting the poor Indians from the oppression and cruelties of the Spanish soldiers as they were in endeavoring to subject them to their own spir- itual domination : And Charity on works of love would dwell In California's dolorous regions drear. f *Venegas, vol. I, p. 230. t Southey. CHAFFER II PROGRESS OF THE JESUITS TO THE DEATH OF FATHER KINO. — MODE OF CONVERTING THE INDIANS No SOONER was the little settlement, described in the last chapter, made, than Father Salvatierra set about his office of converting the Indians. He be- gan by endeavoring to learn their language, and sought to gain their good-will by all sorts of kind- ness and unsuspicious familiarity, rewarding all such "as would consent to be catechized and to re- peat prayers, with daily largesses of boiled maize, or pozole, of which the Indians were very fond. Indeed, the pozole was more attractive than the Latin prayers, and they soon began to seek for the one without the other, and this being refused, they set about considering whether they might not obtain their ends by force. Accordingly, after some smaller attempts, such as stealing the good father's horse and his goats, both for food, they made a regular attack on the camp on the 13th November. On this occasion it was thought that no less than 500 of the Indians assaulted their little intrench- m6nts, which were defended only by ten men ; and 27 28 LOWER CALIFORNIA although Father Salvatierra would not allow the soldiers to fire on the enemy until things came to extremities, and although the great hope of safety of the besieged — the paderero — burst in pieces on the first discharge, still a few wounds and deaths among the Indians inspired such terror among them that they soon retreated, and speedily sent messengers to sue for peace. This victory naturally raised to a high pitch the courage and enthusiasm of the Span- iards. '*At night," says Father Venegas, "solemn thanks were returned to God, his most holy Mother, and St. Stanislaus (whose festival it was), for his mani-, fold favors. They adored the Holy Cross as the standard of faith, they sang Ave to Our Lady as their captain, and unanimously determined to re- main in that country." Nor did they fail to see in all this affair manifest signs of divine protection. To say nothing of the defeat of 500 men by ten, "it was observed (continues our authority) that most of the arrows stuck in the pedestal of the cross, whilst both it, and the tent which served for the chapel, were untouched." Shortly afterwards. Father Francisco Maria Pic- colo arrived from the opposite coast with fresh supplies, and the resolution to continue with his brethren in California. He was a worthy fellow- laborer of Salvatierra, who was greatly comforted by his arrival. The small garrison now set about LOWER CALIFORNIA 29 erecting some works of defense and buildings of a more permanent character; viz., "a chapel for placing Our Lady in," and houses for the fathers and cap- tain, — the walls of stone and clay, and the roofs of thatch. The fathers returned to their daily labors of catechizing and maize-distributing, and all went on favorably for a few months ; but the Indians at length perceiving that the object of the Spaniards was neither to fish for pearls nor to obtain them in barter, but to introduce a new religion, they were once more excited — on this occasion by their priests, whose power and revenues were manifestly in jeopardy — to try to drive their new teachers from the country. They were, however, immedi- ately dispersed by the muskets of the soldiers, and peace being restored, the fathers once more pro- ceeded with their zealous labo;;s. The first step was to learn the language of the natives, (a step, by the by, which seems disregarded by the present race of Californian missionaries,) for the greater conveniency of doing which, as well as a means of security, "Father Piccolo (we are told) took upon him to instruct the boys and girls, whom he caused to come within the encampment, whilst, without it,. Father Salvatierra instructed the adults, and by this mild measure (says Venegas) they had their sons as so many hostages." In the month of June, a new bark arrived, with fresh stores of all sorts, and a 30 LOWER CALIFORNIA reinforcement of seven soldiers sent by Father Ugarte ; and the fathers, having now pretty well learned the language, and being, moreover, pro- vided with horses, began to carry their operations into the neighboring country, both north and south. In examining the country, they crossed the penin- sula to the shore of the Pacific, and established the mission of San Xavier under Father Piccolo, who took up his abode there in October, 1699. Early in the following year, we are told that the number of settlers already in California, including the civilized Indians and mestizos from the Mexican coast, amounted to no less than 600 ; but this great num- ber was the source rather of weakness than strength, as the country, as yet, afforded scarcely any means of support to the new-comers. They were conse- quently in the greatest straits, but could obtain no relief or assistance from the government. In the month of August of this year, it is stated in an offi- cial document that "they had reduced the Indians, for the space of 50 leagues, to a settled obedience, and founded four towns, with above six hundred Christians, most of them young, and no less than two thousand adult catechumens." But these mag- nificent statements had a very unsubstantial foun- dation, as we find that, shortly after, some of the new missions were given up, the baptisms suspended, and the garrison, with the captain at its head, muti- LOWER CALIFORNIA 31 nying, partly from want of pay and provisions, and partly from impatience at the restraints put upon - them by the fathers for oppressing and ill-using the Indians. The fathers, however, adhered firmly to their principles, and discharged the refractory sol- . diers, retaining only a few of such as were faithful to them. The dismissal of the whole military force was, however, contemplated, should they not speedily receive some pecuniary aid from Mexico. The dis- charge of the heavy debts already incurred was confided to a bank which, we fear, is hardly solvent in these degenerate times. *' After the total reduc- tion of the soldiers," saj^s Father Salvatierra, in a letter to his friend the solicitor of Guadalajara, *'we shall consult on liquidating all arrears; and if, for want of a military force, our Calif ornian sons should send us to give an account to God, there will still remain Our Lady of Loreto, who unques- tionably will pay the whole." A great relief was afforded to the mission by a supply of stores sent by Father Ugarte in the fol- lowing spring, and still greater by the arrival of the father himself on the 19th of March, who had at length determined to unite his labors to those of his brethren in California. This worthy man seems to have had a more enlarged mind, as well as a more robust physical constitution, than his brethren. On being appointed to the new mission of San Xavier 32 LOWER CALIFORNIA de Viaundd, planted a short time previously by Father Piccolo, some distance from Loreto, to the southwest, in the midst of the Vigge Mountains, he, for the first time, seems to have adopted the only principle on which colonies, of any kind, can be settled, — making them support themselves. Al- though, from the extreme barrenness of the country and the insufficiency of the protection afforded by the soldiers, this task had hitherto been deemed hopeless, Ugarte determined to make the triat; and as he knew that it could only succeed by a more systematic attempt at civilizing the natives, he lost no time in setting about this. In one respect, his position at San Xavier was favorable, as the neigh- borhood contained a much larger share of soil capable of cultivation than that of Loreto or other parts yet examined. With these views. Father Ugarte began at once to learn the language and study the character of the natives, preparatory to his greater schemes ; and to show his confidence in them, he speedily dismissed the few soldiers he had with him, on account of their ill conduct, and remained alone among the Indians. The following account of the good father's diurnal labors and general mode of proceeding with the Indians, and also the speedy results, is taken from Venegas, and is at once picturesque and affecting. "In the morning, after saying mass, and at which LOWER CALIFORNIA 33 he obliged them to attend with order and respect, he gave a breakfast of pozole to those who were to work, set them about building the church and houses for himself and his Indians, clearing the ground for cultivation, making trenches for the conveyance of water, holes for planting trees, or digging and preparing the ground for sowing. In the building part. Father Ugarte was master, over- . seer, carpenter, bricklayer, and laborer. For the Indians, though animated by his example, could neither by gifts or kind speeches be prevailed upon to shake off their innate sloth, and were sure to slacken if they did not see the father work harder than any of them ; so that he was the first in fetch- ing stones, treading the clay, mixing the sand, cutting, carrying, and barking the timber, removing the earth, and fixing materials. He was equally laborious in the other tasks, sometimes felling trees with his ax, sometimes with his spade in his hand digging up the earth, sometimes with an iron crow splitting rocks, sometimes disposing the water- trenches, sometimes leading the beasts and cattle, which he had procured for his mission, to pasture and water ; thus, by his own example, teaching the several kinds of labor. The Indians, whose narrow ideas and dullness could not at first enter into the utility of these fatigues, which, at the same time, deprived them of their customary freedom of roving 3 D 34 LOWER CALIFORNIA among the forests, on a thousand occasions suffi- ciently tried his patience, coming late, not caring to stir, running away, jeering him, and sometimes even forming combinations and threatening death and destruction : all this was to be borne with unwearied patience, he having no other resource than affability and kindness, sometimes intermixed with gravity to strike respect ; also taking care not to tire them, and suit himself to their weakness. **In the evening, the father led them a second time to their devotions, in which the rosary was prayed over and the catechism explained, and the service was followed by the distribution of some provisions. At first, they were very troublesome all the time of the sermon, jesting and sneering at what he said. This the father bore with for a while, and then pro- ceeded to reprove them ; but, finding they were not to be kept in order, he made a very dangerous ex- periment of what could be done by fear. Near him stood an Indian in high reputation for strength, and who, presuming on this advantage, — the only quality esteemed among them, — took upon himself to be more rude than the others. Father Ugarte, who was a large man, and of uncommon strength, observing the Indian to be in the height of his laughter, and making signs of mockery to the others, seized him by the hair, and, lifting him up, swung him to and fro. At this, the rest ran away in the LOWER CALIFORNIA 35 utmost terror ; they soon returned, one after another, and the father so far succeeded to intimidate them, that they behaved more regularly for the future. "In the succeeding years, Father Ugarte saw the i happy fruits of his patience, having not only brought the Indians to the knowledge of the Christian doc- trine, and a decent attendance at divine worship, but likewise to a suitable life, without any of the disor- ders of their savage state. He inured their indocile sloth to labor, and he had plentiful harvests of wheat, maize, and other grain ; he may be said to have surmounted impossibilities in watering, and cultivating craggy and rugged grounds. He even made a considerable quantity of generous wine, of which, after supplying the missions in California, some was sent to New Spain in exchange for other goods. He likewise bred horses and sheep, and was, indeed, the purveyor- general of the garrisons and missions, who, without the assistance of Father Ugarte' s fortitude and industry, could not have subsisted ; but no difficulty deterred him, and at last he brought his labors to the intended issue, and, under a long course of obstructions and impediments, he saw his wishes happily accom- plished. *'To give a full idea of the industry and zeal of this religious man, we shall add what he did in the following years for clothing his naked Indians. D 2 36 LOWER CALIFORNIA His sheep, brought originally from the other coast, being sufficiently increased, that his Indians might make the best use of their wool, he determined to teach them the method of preparing, spinning, and weaving it for clothes. Accordingly, he himself made the distaffs, spinning-wheels, and looms. Though, to forward and improve so beneficial a , - scheme, he sent [to] Tepic for one Antonio Moran, a master weaver, and allowed him a salary of five hundred dollars. Moran stayed several years in Cali- fornia, till he had sufficiently instructed the Indians in their trade and some other handicrafts. By ' these new manufactures he saved the vast expenses of sail,-cloth and baize, — a measure both political and pious. ' ' It was not without reason that the venerable Father Salvatierra used always to call Father Ugarte the apostle ; for, sublime as the title was, his labors were not unworthy of it. Always in action, and \ indefatigable ; present everywhere, and doing every- thing ; he attempted everything, and he accom- plished everything ; but his activity never so sig- nally appeared as in those beginnings where the difficulties seemed insurmountable ; sometimes he was preaching, assisting, admonishing, and attend- ing the soldiers ; at other times he was searching for new spots of ground for villages and fields ; sometimes baptizing the children, and sometimes LOWER CALIFORNIA 37 instructing the adults ; sometimes administering the sacraments to the sick and performing the last offices to the dying. Sometimes he worked in the buildings ; sometimes in the field, making water- trenches, plantations, and fields ; sometimes he was mending the roads ; sometimes helping to get ready the barks for sea. In fine, he was continually laboring in every kind of employment, and the greatest fatigue he took upon himself." A striking proof of the good father's exertions was seen a few years after, in 1707, when all New Spain, including the provinces of Sinaloa and Sonora, on the opposite side of the gulf, suffered extremely for want of rain. California had also been without rain, yet we find Ugarte says, in a letter to a friend, "It is now two months since the seamen and lands- men ate here good bread of our own harvests, while the poor in the other coast, in Sinaloa and Sonora, are perishing." Previously to this period, however, much distress was suffered and many reverses under- gone. Repeatedly, there were risings among the Indians, both under Father Ugarte and at the other missions, and more than once the cattle, and even the harvests, were destroyed by them ; but nothing could destroy the perseverance of the missionaries. In 1702, Father Piccolo, after a long absence, returned with a slight supply of money to pay the troops still remaining, and brought with him some 38 LOWER CALIFORNIA more soldiers, as well as handicraftsmen, and two new missionaries, — the fathers Basaldiia and Minu- tili. In the following year, Ugarte brought from the opposite side of the gulf a large supply of cattle and provisions, while Salvatierra made progrekes to extend his knowledge of the country. About the same time, a great disaster befell the mission of San Xavier, now under the charge of - Basaldua, the neighboring Indians unexpectedly attacking it and killing all the adult catechumens, or converted Indians, with the exception of some who escaped to the garrison. To punish this crime, an expedi- tion was sent into the country of the Indians, which speedily defeated them. The chief promoter of the attack was taken, publicly tried, and finally executed by the captain, notwithstanding the entreaties of the fathers. This example of severity seemed to be produc- tive of good effects, as the Indians remained long afterwards quiet and tractable, and the opportunity was not lost of extending the spiritual as well as military conquest of the country. But the distress for want of provisions was still often extreme, and more than once it was proposed by the soldiers and others that the country should be abandoned. In this extremity. Father Salvatierra was appointed Provincial of the order in Mexico (in 1705), — an appointment which proved of the greatest benefit LOWER CALIFORNIA 39 to the missions. His first step was to address a fnemorial to the Viceroy, detaiHng at great length the state and prospects of the missions and the general condition of the country and its inhabitants. In this paper he states, that, although the country is so barren that it can never be made fit for the residence of Spaniards, yet that the father Jesuits had managed to reduce a portion of it, one hundred leagues in circuit. He says, that the whole of this part is in such profound peace that the fathers can go over it alone, without any guard of soldiers, the natives willingly conforming themselves to whatever the fathers require of them, being ready, together with 1,200 Christians, catechumens, and gentiles, to take arms in their behalf. He states, also, that 1,225,000 dollars had already been expended in the settling of the country. In 1705, Father Salvatierra once more visited California, with fresh supplies of money and recruits. He found a new mission established at San Juan, Londo, and he recommended the immediate forma- tion of two others, in places formerly fixed on, — one about fourteen leagues south of Loreto, and the other forty leagues north, on the river Mulege, the former being named San Juan Bautista and the latter Santa Rosalia. The former of these enter- prises was intrusted to Father Pedro Ugarte, who seems to have possessed the same happy tempera- 40 LOWER CALIFORNIA ment and strong good sense as his brother Juan. The following is Venegas's account of his mode of proceeding on his first arrival at his mission : — "Father Pedro Ugarte found his Indians perfectly quiet, peaceable, and without any apprehension, though the only shelter he had for some time among them was the shade of the mesquites, and after- wards of a hut made with branches of trees, whilst the chapel and a little dwelling of adobes, or raw bricks, was building. He endeavored, by little presents and caresses, to gain the affections of his Indians, not so much that they should assist him in the building, as that they might take a liking to the catechism, which he explained to them as well as he could, by the help of some Indians of Loreto, while he was perfecting himself in their language. But his kindness was lost on the adults, who, from their invincible sloth, could not be brought to help him in any one thing, though they partook of, and used to be very urgent with him for, the pozole and other eatables. He was now obliged to have recourse to the assistance of the boys, who, being allured by the father with sweetmeats and presents, accompanied him wherever he would have them ; and to habitu- ate these to any work, it was necessary to make use of artifice. Sometimes he laid a wager with them who should soonest pluck up the mesquites and small trees ; sometimes he offered rewards to LOWER CALIFORNIA 41 those who took away most earth ; and it suffices to say, that, in forming the bricks, he made himself a boy with boys, challenged them to play with the earth, and dance upon the clay. The father used to take off his sandals and tread it, in which he was followed by the boys skipping and dancing on the clay, and the father with them ; the boys sang, and were highly delighted ; the father also sang ; and thus they continued dancing and treading the clay, in different parts, till meal-time. This enabled him to erect his poor dwelling and the church. Thus, with invincible patience and firmness under excess- ive labors, he went on, humanizing the savages who lived on the spot, those of the neighboring rancherias, and others, whom he sought among woods, brakes, and caverns ; going about every- where, until at length he administered baptism to many adults, and brought this new settlement into some form." In 1707, Salvatierra having voluntarily resigned his dignity of provincial that he might prosecute his objects in California, returned thither with four of the natives whom he had taken with him to Mexico, and were brought back sufficiently in- structed to instruct their own countrymen. Shortly afterwards, in the beginning of 1708, the mission of San Jose was founded, in the center of mountains, about twenty leagues N.W. of Loreto, and almost at 42 LOWER CALIFORNIA equal distance from both seas. In 1710, the small- pox broke out among the Indians, and carried off a great many, particularly children ; and other fevers showed themselves, as well among the soldiers as the Indians. The superseded priests, or sorcerers, took advantage of these misfortunes to promote discon- tent, persuading the Indians that the smallpox was owing to the fathers, who introduced the disease with the water of baptism, purposely to destroy the children. It is probable that, independently of the accidental source of disease and death from this dreadful malady, the half -civilized natives began already to exhibit that tendency to sickness and decay which has always prevailed, and still prevails, among the domesticated Indians, and which forms so striking a contrast with their comparative immu- nity from epidemic and slow maladies in their wild condition. The year 1710 was distinguished in the history of California by the death of Father Kino, a man whose name is worthy of grateful remembrance not only by his own order, but by all good men. Although, as we have seen, the great promoter of the Calif or- nian missions. Kino was so engaged in his own la- bors of the same kind among the Indians in the opposite coast that he could take no other share in the new enterprise than that of exciting the zeal of others to the conquest, and using his .utmost exer- LOWER CALIFORNIA 43 tions in supplying the new settlers with provisions or other necessary supplies. This he continued to do, in the most effective manner, until his death; and it is certain that much of the success of the missions of the peninsula, perhaps their very per- manency, was owing to his exertions. In his own particular sphere, and among his own people, his labors were incessant, most exemplary, and suc- cessful. "He labored," says Father Venegas, ** in the reduction of the Indians, with a zeal truly wor- thy of admiration ; went undauntedly alone among them, formed them into villages, prevailed on them to sow their lands and take care of their cattle, as the means of keeping them together, and employ- ing subordinate agents for their civil polity. He had the patience to learn the different languages, translated the catechism and prayers, which, without being disgusted by their indocility and dullness, he taught them verbally. He likewise composed vo- cabularies and observations for the use of his assist- ants and successors ; and such were the happy effects of his wonderful mildness and condescen- sion, that they all loved him and confided in him as their general father. He built houses and chap- els, formed villages and towns, reconciled nations who were at enmity, and had he, according to his repeated request, been seconded by other mission- aries, the conversion of all the nations betwixt 44 LOWER CALIFORNIA Sonora and the rivers Gila and Colorado might have been easily accomplished, and the missions of New Spain and California have carried on an in- tercourse by land, — a design which always appeared extremely difficult. But the hardships which this worthy man suffered from the Indians were the least, or rather not to be compared to those he met with from some Spaniards, against whose violences he was as a wall of brass, in favor of his converts. They obstructed his enterprises, and prevented his being assisted by others, it being their interest that the poor Pimas should be branded with the name of rebels and enemies, that they might commit depre- dations among them, and force the Indians to serve them as slaves." Amid all his domestic labors as a missionary. Father Kino could not quite forget the tastes of the professor, and entertained an anxious desire to ex- plore the country to the north, and more particularly to solve the problem, at that time still doubted, as to the insular or peninsular character of California. It is but justice to the worthy missionary to state that, in wishing to extend his geographical researches, he was much more influenced by the desire to benefit the cause of Christianity than that of science, as he believed it would be most important for the welfare of the new missions in California if they could be made accessible by land. With the view of setthng LOWER CALIFORNIA 45 the question, he made several journeys to the north- ward, and although he did not actually penetrate into California by land, he satisfactorily ascertained its connection with the mainland of New Spain. He made no less than five journeys in the years 1700, 1701, and 1702 and 1706, in all of which he reached the rivers of Gila or Colorado, and on one occasion he crossed the latter, but was prevented by an acci- dent from passing on to Monterey, in Upper Cali- fornia, as he intended ; but he pointed out the way which was followed by his successors many years afterwards. CHAPTER III PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS TO THE PRESENT TIME During the succeeding years, the fathers, more par- ticularly the indefatigable Ugarte, made many pro- gresses through the peninsula in search of more favorable localities for missions, and also with the benevolent object of composing the feuds and petty wars between the different tribes, which had always been found a great obstacle to their civilization. In the year 1716, Father Salvatierra succeeded in getting recognized and established a general system of government, of a better and more definite kind than had hitherto prevailed, including the mission- aries, the soldiers, divers, and natives ; and as this was observed not only during the whole period of the dominion of the Jesuits, but also, in a great measure, during the rule of their successors, and even still exists, it is necessary to give a brief notice of it here ; but we shall first complete the sketch of the history of the missions. In the year 1717, California was visited with a 46 LOWER CALIFORNIA 47 tremendous hurricane, accompanied with violent rains, which is deserving of notice in this place, not only because it destroyed the house and church of Father Ugarte, but because the effects then wit- nessed help to account for the singular bareness and barrenness of the country. Both at San Xavier and Mulege all the cultivated land was utterly de- stroyed, the soil being carried away by the torrents, and nothing left but the bare rocks and stones. Modern travelers give similar accounts of the country, and justify the obvious remark of Venegas, that "if, in former ages, these hurricanes were fre- quent in California, it is not surprising that all its mold should have been swept away, its bare rocks alone remaining, and its plains and valleys covered with heaps of stones." hi 1719 a great feat was performed by the inde- fatigable Ugarte, in the construction of a vessel of considerable size, in California, with native timber, which he discovered, of sufficient size, — and there only, — amid the mountains, full thirty leagues from the river Mulege, where the vessel was built. In 1720, two new missions were founded, — that of La Paz, near the bay of that name, eighty leagues south of Loreto ; and that of Guadalupe, nearly at the same distance, to the N.W., amid the mountains, but much nearer the shore of the Pacific than the gulf. This part of the country is so extremely barren that no 48 LOWER CALIFORNIA grain can be produced in it, and the inhabitants are therefore supported either by such cattle as it will support, or by maize brought from other missions. Such, however, was the zeal of Father Helen, the founder, that in six years from its first settlement no less than 1,700 Indians were converted and settled in five villages, each with its church. In the follow- ing year, Ugarte sailed on a voyage of discovery to the north of the gulf, surveyed the coast, and reached the river Colorado, confirming all the previous state- ments of Kino. In the survey, several harbors and watering-places were discovered on the Califor- nian shore, but the same barrenness prevailed over all. "There 's something ails the spot; the place is cursed." In this year, also, the mission of Dolores del Sur was founded, midway between Loreto and La Paz, in a place described as the most barren of all California, there being no spot whatever fit for the growth of maize. Father Guillen, the founder, remained here, however, upwards of thirty years, during which time, by his single exertions, he con- verted to Christianity the whole of the natives over a tract of forty leagues, extending from sea to sea, settling them in villages, and destroying all feuds among the different clans. This mission, in sub- sequent years, proved valuable to the fathers as an asylum when other districts fell from their allegiance. In 1723, the mission of Santiago was founded, to the LOWER CALIFORNIA 49 south of La Paz ; and in 1728, that of San Ignacio, in the extreme north, in latitude 28°, about seventy leagues from Loreto. This last was founded by Father Luyando, a wealthy Mexican Jesuit, at his own expense ; and as the account of its foundation and early progress gives a good picture of the general mode of proceeding of the Jesuits in establishing their settlements at the period at which we are now arrived, I shall here give, in an abridged form, from Venegas, the simple and humble history of the establishment of this little community. It had been a long time a great object with the fathers to found a mission to the north of Guada- lupe, as well for the great general purpose of ex- tending Christianity among the natives as because the country possessed some local advantages. So early as 1706, this country of the Cochimi had been visited by Father Piccolo, and the Indians had shown very favorable dispositions, which continued to be cherished by the occasional visits of the fathers from the southern missions. The spot selected for the mission of San Ignacio, which' lies in about the 28th degree of north latitude, and one third nearer the gulf than the ocean, was preferred for its extraor- dinary fertility, compared with most of the other stations. It possessed both water, and a soil fit for the growth of corn. In January, 1728, Father Lu- yando set out on his expedition to Loreto, accom- 50 LOWER CALIFORNIA panied by nine soldiers, the Cochimi Indians of San Ignacio having been previously prepared to receive him favorably, by Father Sistiaga of Santa Rosalia. He entered on his office of civilizing the Indians (which was little else than that of teaching them to repeat the prayers of the Church, and baptizing such as believed) and of cultivating the soil at the same time. As a preliminary to baptism, he insisted on the abjuration of faith in the native jugglers or priests, and demanded the breaking and burning of their smoking -tubes, and other instruments and tokens of superstition, as a proof of this. As usual," the feeding of the Indians went hand in hand with the conversion, and, by his largesses and 2eal, Father Luyando, in a few months' time, could number fiye hundred catechumens at his distributions of pottage and of holy water. Aided by the converts, the sol- diers set about constructing a church, and with such . zeal that it was finished and consecrated within the year. The year before, Sistiaga had planted some maize and wheat. This was now har- vested, and the agricultural operations much ex- tended. Father Helen, also, at a former visitation, had introduced some foreign vegetables, and Father Luyando now laid out a spot for a garden, *' where (as Father Venegas says) exotic plants, in that bar- ren land, throve well, and others, which were natives of it, throve under his culture." He likewise LOWER CALIFORNIA 51 planted vines, olive-trees, fig-trees, and sugar-canes ; all of which seem to have succeeded, and proved of great service to the mission. The Indians in this mission 'proved, on the whole, more intelligent than in the others, and readily joined in the good father's husbandry, so that at the fourth harvest we are told that he garnered no less than a thousand bushels of grain of all sorts. Their new lord also endeavored to prevail on them to live in huts, which he taught them' to build, of unburnt bricks and the boughs of tKees ; but he found it very difficult to reconcile them to live in them. Into the parts fit for pas- tures he likewise introduced cattle, both large and small, with the view to breeding. In short, every- thing seemed prospering and likely to prosper, ' ' when ( as Father Venegas expresses it ) the great enemy to the peace and happiness of mankind in- stigated the neighboring Indians to disturb the tranquillity of the mission, and render all the pains of the father abortive." Previously to this greater disturbance, however, it was evident that things did not proceed quite smoothly in the little state. From the beginning, it was found, here as elsewhere, that the elders of the tribes were slow to embrace the new faith, even when almost all the young and the women had done so ; and it is not to be wondered (as Father Venegas says) "that, having been the respected teachers of the nation, they could not E2 52 LOWER CALIFORNIA prevail on themselves to be scholars to strangers, or stand among boys, or even be ridiculed by them." It showed, indeed, a marvelous ignorance of human nature in the fathers to place the seniors in such degrading relationship to their children and women. However, the actual aggressors in the attack on the new Christians of the mission came from the north, or, rather, had their haunts on the northern borders of the converted Indians. Some of the villages of those people they attacked, and killed a few of the inhabitants. The rest fled to the mission for pro- tection ; a great alarm was excited, and war was declared. All the converts were mustered, and were proved to amount to 350 men fit for war. To these were joined the garrison of the mission, consisting of two soldiers^ and, after due preparation of arm- ing and disciplining, they boldly marched in pursuit of the enemy. These proved to be very inferior in numbers, and not very vigilant, since they allowed themselves to be surrounded while asleep during the night. Two, only, escaped ; all the rest, to the number of thirty-four, were taken prisoners, and marched in triumph to San Ignacio. Great was the glory, and great the rejoicings, which Father Venegas records with all the solemnity of history. "The fathers (he says) led the victorious army to the church, where thanks were returned for this victory, gained without shedding any blood, or even LOWER CALIFORNIA 53 discharging a single arrow. Next day, all the peo- ple were assembled, and, the soldiers and gover- nors sitting as judges, the prisoners were brought to trial, and, being convicted of rebellion, robbery, and murder, they were sentenced to be removed to Lo- reto, as guilty of capital crimes. At this the new Christians danced for joy, thinking they should now have the pleasure of killing their enemies and re- venging themselves." But the good fathers were too tender-hearted to indulge either the converts or the soldier-judges, and the whole affair ended by the ''principal murderer" being whipped! How- ever, the lenity, as well as the victory, had good effects on the natives, as most of the conquered afterwards became converts, and the tribes to the north were at once checked by the demonstration of power, and the mild exercise of it. In 1730, the mission of San Jose, close to Cape San Lucas, was founded, and, soon after, that of Santa Rosa, near the same extremity of the penin- sula ; and, although they seemed to be attended, at first, with the usual success, this was shortly put an end to by a general rising of all the natives in this district. There being only two or three soldiers among all the missions, no effectual resistance could be afforded to the "rebels," as the fathers termed them, and, accordingly, they soon had everything their own way. In 1734, the two fathers, Carranco 54 LOWER CALIFORNIA and Tamaral, were murdered, as well as one of the soldiers ; the other fathers and the soldiers fled, and the whole of the southern missions were con- sequently lost. Apprehensive of similar disasters in other parts, the fathers were recalled from the northern missions ; and at one time in the following year not a Spaniard remained in the . country, ex- cept at Loreto. In this disastrous state of affairs they were relieved by a reinforcement of troops from Sinaloa, headed by the governor, who attacked the Indians in different places, and finally reduced the country to tranquillity. After some time the missions were gradually restored, and the fathers proceeded in their works of conversion and civiliza- tion. Accordingly, we find, from an official report drawn up by the missionaries in 1745, that not only all the old stations were reoccupied, but several new ones planted. They amounted, in all, to fourteen, besides two then in progress ; viz., — 1. Nuestra Senora de Loreto. 2. San Francisco Xavier. 3. Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Sur. 4. San Luis Gonzaga. ' 5. San Jose de Comondu. 6. Santa Rosalia de Mulege. 7. La Purisima Concepcion. 8. Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. 9. San Ignacio. LOWER CALIFORNIA 55 10. Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Norte. 11. Santiago del Sur. 12. Nuestra Senora del Pilar de la Paz. 13. San Jose del Cabo de San Lucas. 14. Santa Rosa de la Ensenada de Palmas. No very great progress, however, could be made in so unpromising a field, from which the whole race of missionaries were removed in 1767, on the general expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish dominions. At this time the number of missions were sixteen. The exiled fathers were superseded in their missions by a body of Franciscans from Mexico, but they were soon displaced by the Dominican monks, who still keep possession of the country. In 1786, as Laperouse informs us, the missions were fifteen in number, ten of them being still possessed by the Franciscans, the others by the Dominicans. The whole number of converted In- dians at that time was reckoned at about four thousand. The garrison of Loreto consisted of fifty-four soldiers, and this, and a few soldiers fur- nished to the other missions, was the whole military force of the country. CHAPTER IV CHARACTER OF THE MISSIONARY GOVERNMENT.— PRESENT STATE OF THE COUNTRY. — PRODUCE. — PEARL-FISHERY During the rule of Father Salvatierra, the whole regulations relating to the property and conduct of the missions and the treatment of the natives were, as already stated, reduced to a regular system, and this has been acted on ever since, with but slight deviation, even by the enemies of the order of Jesuits, who succeeded them. As affording the best security for the funds belonging to the mis- sions, farms in Mexico were purchased by them. At the same time, the payment of the royal sala- ries allowed to the missionaries was put on a better footing. These salaries were paid to the directors of the missions in Mexico, the missionaries having the equivalent value transmitted to them in the form of clothes, furniture, utensils, provisions, medi- cines, mules, &c. The garrisons and soldiers were paid by government, but they still continued under the authority of the fathers, except as re- garded their internal discipline, and when they were engaged in matters of a purely military character. The following extracts from Father Venegas give ^a 56 LOWER CALIFORNIA S7 tolerably clear view of the general economy of the missionaries, both religious and civil ; but it is neces- sary to recollect, in reading them, that the narra- tor is, himself, one of the order which he eulogizes. "At first the fathers subsisted all the Indians, who came to settle in villages, on condition that they should no longer wander among the woods and mountains, but be instructed in the faith ; and in these charities great part of the contributions of the benefactors has been expended. And after they were thus brought together, it being impossi- ble to subsist all, and equally so to make fields for sowing in many parts, either from the nature of the soil, want of water, or the innate indolence and sloth of the people, the following method was taken. First, the missionaries supported all the Indians who attended divine service. Every morning and night they have an allowance of atole, — the name they give to their pottage, — made of maize, boiled, ^nd afterwards bruised, macerated in water, and put a second time over the fire. At noon they are served with pozole, or boiled maize, with fresh or salt meat, and - fruits or vegetables, according as the mission is provided. In the same manner the In- dian governor of the village, the sick, the aged, and the children of all the rancherias, male and female, from six to twelve years, are provided with food. Besides this, every week the same allowance is 58 LOWER CALIFORNIA given to all the Indians of two rancherias, male and female, in consideration that they all come in their order, two by two, to the head village of the mis- sion, in order to renew their instructions. Lastly, every Sunday, all who attend divine service have a portion of victuals, and in Passion Week the like is sent to all the rancherias. ' ' The missionary priest likewise clothes all his parishioners with serges, baize, and palmillas, a sort of coarse cloth woven in Old Spain ; he also pro- vides them with cloaks and blankets, which he pro- cures from Mexico, on his stipend. Those who can work are instructed by the fathers in the manage- ment of the fields, and watering the ground, the product of which is entirely for their own advan- tage, and the consequence is, that they gather it, and immediately waste the whole;, unless the fa- thers take care to save it up, in order to make a proper distribution, or to send relief to another mission in necessity. Wine is the only product withheld from them, and this in order to prevent drunkenness ; and it is for this reason, that, though the vintages are but inconsiderable, some quantities of it, there being but few consumers in California, have been exported to New Spain, in exchange for other commodities. What wine the father has is chiefly given to the sick, whom he likewise supplies with medicines, so that a missionary and priest of LOWER CALIFORNIA 59 California is not only charged with the care of their souls, but likewise with all the several duties of a father of a family, together with the several me- chanical occupations from a laborer to a cook. He is likewise a tutor, apothecary, surgeon, and physician to all ; and this without the least profit, advantage, or reward, spending his own substance, abridging himself of conveniencies, even necessa- ries, to supply their wants. " In every mission newly founded, the father is attended by a soldier, who, within certain bounds, has the power of the captain of the garrison. When the father has assembled any rancherias, he ap- points the person whom he thinks most proper as governor of the village ; another Indian to take care of the church ; and out of each rancheria a person of the most promising morals, and particu- larly instructed, is appointed catechist. The gover- nor's office is to keep peace and good order ; and if anything happens that he cannot remedy, he is to acquaint the father and soldier with it. The churchwarden is to take care of the church and keep it clean ; he is also to take notice of those that fail coming to mass and other exercises of devotion, those that do not behave with proper respept, and those who either return to their former supersti- tions, or betray any ill-will against the fathers, or disgust at the instructions. The catechist of the 60 LOWER CALIFORNIA rancheria summons them every morning, before they go to the woods, to repeat their prayers and catechism ; and if anything deserving animadver- sion happens in the rancheria, he acquaints the father of it. '* During the absence of the father, either to visit villages and rancherias, attend the sick, or termi- nate quarrels, the soldier acts as his vicegerent, and has an eye to everything. He is, at the father's order, to go wherever it is necessary ; he can seize delinquents and mildly punish them, unless in capi- tal cases, when he is to lay the case before the captain of the garrison, who is invested with the judicial power. Lesser faults are punished with whipping, and the greater with imprisonment or the stocks. "The first care is of the children, as the whole depends on their education. Some, from all the missions, are brought up at Loreto, which has a reading, writing, and singing school, with proper masters, who come from the opposite coast. They become gradually polished by conversation ; they are taught the Spanish, and afterwards are pro- moted to be churchwardens or catechists in their rancherias, where they are greatly respected. At the head villages, every- morning, the churchwarden assembles all the inhabitants in the church, whither the rancherias come by turns, and there the Te LOWER CALIFORNIA 61 Deum is sung. This is followed by the mass, and afterwards by the catechism, which is translated into their languages, and, several times a week, the whole concludes with an explication, or sermon, instructing and animating them in every part of the Christian life. The adult Christians then undertake some employment, or go among the woods in quest of sustenance. At night they all meet again in the church, and perform their devotions. Every Sun- day they walk in procession round the village, sing- ing ; they then return to the church, where a ser- mon is preached to them. The like is done at Loreto every Saturday, in Spanish, for the garrison. *'No one is compelled by force to receive the faith ; all who are baptized desire it, not only freely and without the least compulsion, but all possible assurances are given of their sincerity and perseverance. The garrison and soldiers check the insults of the savages ; but if the orders and intentions of His Majesty and the Spanish government be complied with, they never offer them the least injury, never so much as pursuing them, unless provoked ; the chief end of their service is no more than as a just and prudent safeguard for the lives of the missionaries." What with the insuperable barrenness of the country, and the injurious influence of the system of civilization — or, more properly speaking, domesti- 62 LOWER CALIFORNIA cation — so rigidly persevered in by the missionaries, the indigenous population of Lower California has greatly diminished, while the defect has not been in any degree supplied by the influx of strangers. Indeed, the nature of the soil and the institutions of the fathers conspire in forbidding all immigra- tion. Humboldt states the total amount of the national population not to exceed , nine thousand, rather more than half of which are the tributary converts of the fathers. This estimate is perhaps too small. I can, however, state with confidence, that, even at the present time, the population, including all classes, does not exceed fourteen or fifteen thousand. Most of the missions are in a wretched condition, and the Indians, poor and helpless, slaves both in body and mind, have no knowledge, and no will but those of the friars. We shall defer all particular notice of their pecu- liar character and position until we come to give an account of Upper California. The capital, Loreto, has less than three hundred inhabitants. The only town of any importance, as to size, is La Paz, which, together with San Antonio, contains, perhaps, a population of two thousand, — most of them the mixed progeny of European sea- men, Spanish Creoles, and Indians. The vicinity of a tolerable harbor — Pichilingue — renders this place of more importance. LOWER CALIFORNIA 63 > The indomitable barrenness of Lower California, the more remarkable as contrasted with the fertility of the upper province, has not only necessarily kept at an extremely low ^bb her agriculture and com- merce, but has given the country so bad a character that its resources have fallen far below their intrinsic value. If the country is capable of producing little, the antiquated monastic institutions by which it is throughout possessed are ill calculated to improve this little. The natural productions are nearly the same as those in Upper California. There are said to be many mines of gold and silver in the penin- sula, but none are now worked, unless, indeed, we may except those of San Antonio, near La Paz, which still afford a trifling supply. Besides Indian corn, the > sheltered valleys near the different missions produce a variety of fruit, such as grapes, dates, figs, quinces, peaches, pears, olives. The dates, figs, &c., are dried and preserved, and exported ; and wine is made from the grapes, and also exported, as well as a kind of spirit distilled from the mescal. These articles, with pearls, tortoise-shell, a few bul- lock's hides, some dried beef, cheese, soap, &c., con- stitute all the exports, which are, for the rniost part, sent to San Bias and Mazatlan in small coasting- vessels. The imports are chiefly provisions and clothing, agricultural and domestic utensils, sup- plies for the ceremonies of the church, and a small share of the ordinary luxuries of life. 64 LOWER CALIFORNIA For one branch of commerce — the pearl-fishery — CaUfornia has been famed from its first discovery. The glory and the riches derived from this source are, however, almost traditional ; at least, the actual amount of the trade is insignificant. Nevertheless, it is by no means certain that the sources of a beneficial commerce in this respect do not yet exist, provided proper means were taken for pursuing it with effect. Long before the discovery of America by the Europeans, the natives of many of the maritime parts of it were acquainted with the art of diving for pearls, as these were found by the first discoverers to be held in great estimation as ornaments. * Hernando de Soto found them in great quantity in Florida, where the tombs of the native princes were ornamented with them ; and among the presents made to Cortes by Montezuma, before his entry into Mexico, necklaces of precious stones and of pearls are mentioned by Gomara : these Cortes sent to the Emperor Charles V. The Incas of Peru, also, we are told by Garcilaso, set a great value on pearls, but the laws of Manco Capac prohibited the natives from exercising the trade of diver, as being dangerous to the individual and not very profitable * It was not, indeed, necessary that they should be divers, in order to possess pearls, as we find from the voyage of Father Consag (Venegas, vol. II, p. 310) that in certain places (as at Cape San Miguel, in lat. 29 deg.) the sea throws up on the shore great quantities of them. LOWER CALIFORNIA 65 to^the state.* After the discovery of America, the traffic in pearls became considerable. They were found chiefly near the island of Cubagua, in the mouth of the Rio de la Hacha, and in the gulf- of Panama, near the Islas de las Perlas (whose inhabi- tants still pursue the fishery), on the shore to the north of Acapulco, and on the east coast of Cali- fornia, in the gulf. We are told by Acosta that, in 1587, 697 pounds of pearls were imported into Seville, from America, upwards of 1 1 pounds of which were of the greatest beauty, and destined for the king, Philip II. .The pearl-fisheries of Cabagua and Rio de la Hacha seem to have been of short duration, and their exhaustion turned the traders more eagerly towards that of California, which had already sup- plied the crown of Spain with its richest pearls, found in the expeditions of Yturbi and Pinadero. In those times, the trade in pearls was certainly very considerable, and this continued to be carried on without any restriction up to the period of the settling of the country by the Jesuits. It is stated by Torquemada, that, previously to the arrival of the strangers, the Californians hardly put any value on the pearls, as they were in the habit of throwing the oyster into the fire, in order to obtain the flesh for food, the pearls being destroyed by the same process. "But the avidity of others," he adds, *'has * Humboldt's New Spain. 66 LOWER CALIFORNIA communicated its flame even to this simple people, who are now eager to get, and careful to keep, what they have seen highly valued by foreigners." The conduct of the Jesuits in regard to this fishery has been already stated : it was strictly forbidden, on account of the oppression and cruelty to the natives to which it led. The rude and savage adventurers of those days little regarded the welfare, or even lives,; of the In- dians, when put in competition with their own self- ish interests, and it was customary to kidnap, and employ by force, as divers, in the pearl-fishery, all they could lay their hands on, on the coasts and islands of the gulf. Many of the natives, no doubt, volun^ tarily lent themselves to this employment, under certain terms of remuneration, but this was rather the habit of the few regular traders, than of the many casual adventurers who sought the peninsula in search of its boasted treasures. A characteristic illustration of this fact is mentioned by Father Consag, in his voyage for surveying the coast of , California in 1746, and which we believe to be no less just as indicative of the character of the fathers, than it is of the practices of the pearl-fishers. On reaching a part of the coast near the top of the gulf, he says, ' ' The people, on seeing the canoes, took us for divers, and fled up the country, the outrages and brutality of these men having reh- LOWER CALIFORNIA 67 dered them equally dreaded and detested by all the natives of California, but, on being made ac- quainted by some of their countrymen, who were with me, that A Father was come in ther canoes, they immediately returned."* It is indeed true, that, after the establishment of the Jesuits, the pearl- fishery, which had been previously greatly inter- rupted by the opposition of the natives, originating in these cruelties, began to be prosecuted with greater vigor and success than ever, now that the divers were left, in a considerable degree, unmo- lested ; but the divers and traders did not belong to California, but came from the opposite shores of the gulf, whose inhabitants to this day -are the prin- cipal fishers. The Jesuits had the influence to obtain authority from the government not only for ex- cluding all vessels from fishing in the gulf, except such as had the viceroy's license, but also that the military commandant in California (who, be it re- membered, was under the authority of the fathers) should' have the power to examine and verify these licenses, and to prevent the approach of all vessels not provided with them. It was expressly forbid- den to every one, whether soldiers or seamen, be- longing to the missions to have anything to do with the fishery, — a regulation which excited extreme discontent at the time, but which the fathers had * Venegas. F2 68 LOWER CALIFORNIA the power to get fully carried into effect. Their reason for debarring their people from this trade was their conviction, founded on experience, that, if permitted, it would not only seduce them from their proper duties in the missions, but would in- evitably lead to the oppression of their children the Indians, as they termed them. At the period of these regulations, — at the very commencement of the seventeenth century, — the revenue to the crown was not inconsiderable, as the king's share (a fifth) amounted to no less than 12,000 dollars per annum for every bark employed. After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the trade seems to have declined greatly, partly, no doubt, from the exhaustion of the oyster-beds, but partly, also, from the mismanagement of the whole system adopted in its prosecution. When the pearl-fishery was prosecuted to its greatest extent, from six to eight hundred Indian divers, called ' ' busos, ' ' were employed. It was car- ried on by small vessels, of from fifteen to thirty tons burden, which were fitted out by private adventurers, and carried each from thirty to fifty divers. The owners accompanied the vessels, and carried with them provisions for the people, and a little money to advance them in the course of the season. The place of fitting out was at the port of Guaymas, on the opposite coast, and, when ready, LOWER CALIFORNIA 69 they had to procure a license from the commandant- general of the province of Sonora, in which that port is situated. Being so provided, they made sail for the coast of California, and cast anchor on such banks as contained pearl-oysters, which banks are called " placeres. " The whole fishery, however, was not anciently carried on by vessels of the size above mentioned, and perhaps decked vessels were not at all then employed. The armadores went in launches, and the divers used canoes, bringing the oysters on shore for the purpose of opening them. This is evident from the large heaps of shells yet remaining in many spots. Numerous canoes are still attached to the larger vessels em- ployed at the present time. The manner of carrying on the fishery was as fol- lows. The vessel being anchored and everything ready, the divers plunged down in all directions, and dug up with a sharp-pointed stick as many oysters as possible while they could remain under water ; they then came up, took breath, and at the same time deposited the oysters in bags hung over the vessel's sides. Having done this, they again plunged under water, repeating the same operation till the bags were full, or the usual time for work- ing expired ; they then all came on deck with the bags, and placed themselves in a circle round the- owner, or, as he was called, the "armador," who 70 LOWER CALIFORNIA took the contents of the whole bags, and made a division as follows : two oysters for the armador, two for the busos, and one for the king, — proceed- ing in this way till the whole of the oysters were disposed of. When this operation was concluded, they all began to open the oysters, beginning with those which fell to the lot of the armador, but with- out moving from the circle which they had formed round him, and he had then to watch with the utmost vigilance, for they had a dexterous knack of swallowing the most valuable pearls along with the live oyster, which they threw into their mouths by a kind of sleight of hand, which it was almost impossible to detect. The king's fifth was then opened under the same precautions, and the pearls deposited in the presence of all. Lastly, the divers opened their own oysters, and the pearls were equally divided amongst them, and generally sold on the instant to the armador, to whom they were always indebted for their outfit and for previous advances. They, however, never failed to reserve some, which they sold to the dealers on shore, who always accompanied the busos, and who often made more money than the armadores. Those dealers carried with them spirituous liquors, chocolate, sugar, cigars, and other cheap articles, of which the Indians are passionately fond, and for which they often exchanged pearls of great value. LOWER CALIFORNIA 71 The season for carrying on the fishery is from the beginning of July till the beginning of October. The exact value of pearls produced while this busi- ness was prosperous cannot be now easily ascer- tained. It has been variously estimated. From documents supplied to Mr. Hardy in 1825, and pub- lished in his Travels in Mexico, it is stated, on the authority of Don Jose Maria Retes, that the num- ber of vessels employed annually on the fishery of Loreto was from six to eight, and the quantity of pearls from four to five pounds weight, worth from 8 to 10,000 dollars. Captain John Hall, an experi- enced navigator and trader in these seas, gives us some valuable information on this subject, about the same date. A letter of his is published in Mr. Hardy's Travels; but we have obtained much further information from him on this and other matters touching California. He gives a somewhat different version of the mode of proceeding in the distribution of the oysters in the year 1825. He says, " Every time the diver comes up, the largest oysters which he may bring with him are placed on one side for the Virgin. All the rest are then thrown into a large pile, and in the evening they are divided thus : eight shells are put on one side for the owners, eight on the other for the divers, and two in a third heap for the government." It would thus appear that the present ruling powers are con- 72 LOWER CALIFORNIA tented with one half the share of their predeces- sors. It is, however, somewhat curious, in these times, that the Virgin should retain her full privi- leges, if not an augmentation of them. Mr. Hardy says that about sixteen or eighteen small vessels are annually employed in the fishery, and obtain, when the weather has been favorable and the divers fortunate, about 500 dollars' worth of pearls each, — sometimes as much as 1,000 dollars. He adds, however, that the expense of the fitting out and other contingencies reduce the net profits to the proprietors very considerably.* The follow- ing statement, kindly furnished me by a friend who resides on the spot, will show the extent and value of this fishery in the year 1831. This year, two vessels sailed on the pearl-fishery from the port of Guaymas, and other two from the river Yaqui, in its vicinity, as also two boats. The whole carried two hundred busos. The largest ves- sel had seventy; the next, fifty; the third, thirty; the fourth, also thirty ; and the boats, ten each. One vessel brought forty ounces of pearls, great and small, which were valued at 6,500 dollars ; another, twenty- one ounces, valued at 3,000 dollars ; another, fifteen ounces, valued at 1,800 dollars; and the fourth, twelve ounces, valued at 2,000 dollars ; — making the value, exclusive of the two boats, * Travels in Mexico, p. 238. LOWER CALIFORNIA 73 amount to 13,300 dollars, or about two thousand six hundred and sixty pounds, sterling. It has always been the popular opinion among the Spaniards that there were immensely rich banks of pearl-oysters on the shores of an island near the head of the gulf, called Tiburon, but that its inhabitants, who use poisoned arrows, were of such a savage disposition that no one could approach it with- out being sacrificed. This originated in, or at least was confirmed by, the circumstance of some people being killed near it, and, in consequence, the king of Spain, whose laws seemed always to be made on the supposition that none of his subjects had the power to risk his own life, or the common sense to judge when it was in danger, decreed that no one should hereafter approach that island for any pur- pose or on any pretext whatever. This interdict has been to the present time strictly obeyed ; and although the Mexican republicans have thrown off the Spanish dominion, yet the dominion of early prejudice is not so easily got rid of, and conse- quently the island of Tiburon is still considered by the Mexican Spaniards as equally rich and perilous as heretofore, although recent visitors, and among others Mr. Hardy, have proved the risk and the riches to be equally apocryphal. The most remarkable incident in the recent his- tory of the pearl-fishery of California is the fact 74 LOWER CALIFORNIA of an association having been formed in London, in the year 1824 or 1825, for the express purpose of prosecuting it, under a new and improved system. The new company was termed the ' ' Pearl and Coral Fishery Association," and great expectations were entertained from the activity of the director, Lieut. Hardy, R. N., and the use of a diving-bell with which he was furnished. The employment of the diving- bell certainly, at first sight, seems to hold out a great prospect of success ; and we learn from Humboldt that, long before the formation of this association, the same idea was entertained by the Mexicans themselves, and a project of this kind was started in 1803, by an ecclesiastic residing at the City of Mexico. He conceived, that, as the busos (divers) lose much time, and also injure their health, in their repeated descents and ascents, there would be im- mense benefits derived from taking advantage of the facilities afforded by the diving-bell for explor- ing the depths of the ocean. Furnished with a mask and a flexible tube, the diver, he conceived, would be enabled to explore not merely the space immediately below the bell, but all around it, as far as the length of the tube would permit. This tube was connected with the body of the bell, which not only acted as a reservoir for the supply of air, but also as a place of refuge or resort when the diver was exhausted. Humboldt says that he saw a LOWER CALIFORNIA 75 number of experiments made with this apparatus in a small lake or pond near the castle of Chapul- tepec, and remarks that it was, no doubt, the first time a diving-bell was constructed at a height of upwards of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. It would appear that, subsequently, the priest, the maker of this diving-bell (which was made of wood), proceeded to California, and was reported to have realized, by means of it, a large fortune in a short period. We have, however, no authentic accounts of the expedition. The diving-bell of the London association was, we believe, not a whit more advan- tageous to the progress of pearl - fishing, or to the shareholders in London, than was that of the good padre, even if it had never left its native pond at Chapultepec. Some very ineffectual at- tempts seem to have been made, but not at all of a kind to decide the impracticability of such a plan of fishing, and we believe we may safely say that this problem remains still to be solved. PART II UPPER CALIFORNIA CHAPTER I FIRST SETTLEMENT OF UPPER CALIFORNIA BY THE FRANCISCANS. — HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS TO THE DEATH OF FATHER SERRA New OR Upper California was discovered about the year 1542, by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Spanish navigator, and the coast explored by him (or by his pilot, after his death) as far north as 43° or 44° N. lat. Part of the same coast, as formerly stated, was visited by Sir Francis Drake in 1578. He did not, however, touch so far to the southward as the coun- try now called California, although the whole of this coast has generally been called New Albion, the name given to it by Sir Francis. In 1582, the same coast was visited by Francisco Gali, and was, as we have already seen, more fully explored in 1603 by Sebastian Vizcaino. Captain Cook's discov- eries did not reach so far to the southward as even Drake's, but the whole of the coast has been since visited and fully explored by other European navi- gators, besides Spaniards. The most distinguished of these, and who have 4)ublished accounts of the 79 80 UPPER CALIFORNIA country, are, Laperouse, in 1786; Vancouver, in 1792; Langsdorff, in 1805 ; and Beechey, in 1826. All of these found the country completely settled by the Spaniards ; and it is the object of the present chap- ter to give an account of how this settlement was first effected. On this occasion, as in the case of Old California, I shall also avail myself of the infor- mation supplied by an old Spanish, or rather Mexi- can, chronicler ; and here my authority is Father Francisco Paloii, one of the original missionaries, and subsequently principal of the convent of San Fernando, in Mexico. The work of Father Palou was published in Mexico, in 1787. It gives a most minute account of the settlement, under the name of **A Life of the Chief Missionary Father Junipero Serra." The expulsion of the Jesuits from Lower Califor- nia in 1767 seems to have attracted public attention more strongly to the countries of which it forms a part, and led to the determination of settling and civilizing the upper province. In the year fol- lowing, this settlement was finally resolved on by the Viceroy of Mexico, the Marques de Croix, and, as on former occasions, the enterprise was commit- ted to the care of the priesthood. Accordingly, in 1768, Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar, was nominated missionary president of Upper Cali- fornia, with a staff of sixteen brothers of his own UPPER CALIFORNIA 81 order, all taken from the convent of San Fernando. Some of these friars were destined to replace the Jesuits in Lower California, and the remainder, together with their chief, to proceed to the '* spir- itual conquest" of the upper province. Before proceeding with the detail of the humble proceed- ings of these good men, I would warn the reader here, as in the case of Lower California, that if he is prepared to estimate the importance of the history only according to the magnitude of the events or the dignity of the actors, he had better pass over the following narrative. To those, how- ever, who look below the surface of things, and who, in the pages of history, regard more the springs of action, the motives and conduct of the agents, than the grandeur of the results, and who study the influence of progressive events, however small, on the happiness of communities, "the short and simple annals" which I am about to trace will not be devoid of interest. The father- president having arrived at San Bias in the month of February, 1768, with his sixteen missionaries, they there met an equal number of Jesuits who had arrived from Lower California, whom they were to replace, and on the 12th March they sailed for Loreto, in the same vessel which brought the Jesuits. '*This seraphic and apostolic 6 G 82 UPPER CALIFORNIA squadron (as Father Paloii calls it), headed by the venerable Father Junipero Serra," arrived at their destination, all well, on the first of April, and dis- persed themselves, each to his respective mission, to wait the arrival of the " visitador - general, " Don Jose Galvez, who was soon to follow them. He arrived, and embarked at San Bias on the 24th of May following, but experienced such a bad voyage that he did not arrive at La Paz till the sixth of July, having been unable to make Loreto. Galvez not only brought orders to visit the missions of Lower California, but also a royal order to superin- tend the expeditions to be dispatched for Monterey and San Diego, in Upper California. Accordingly, after examining the situation of the different mis- sions in Lower California, and particularly those on its northern frontier, the visitador thought the best mode of putting the orders of the King into execu- tion would be to add to the projected expedition by sea, another by land, which, setting off at the same time, might join at San Diego, and there make the first establishrnent. This plan he communicated to the father- president, who fully approved of it, and offered to hold himself and a competent number of his brother missionaries ready when required. It was subsequently determined that three missions should be formed in Upper California ; viz. , one at UPPER CALIFORNIA 83 the port of Monterey, another at the port of San Diego, and a third between those two ports, to be called San Buenaventura. Soon afterwards, two of the three packet-boats destined for this expedition arrived from San Bias, — one called the San Carlos, and the other the San Antonio. The former vessel having been put in a state fit for sea, the provisions and stores which had been brought from San Bias were put on board, as well as those collected in La Paz. There were also put on board agricultural implements, various seeds, both of Old and New Spain, and such other neces- saries as could be procured, and which they thought would be useful in the new country. It was at the same time resolved that the land expedition should take two hundred head of black cattle from the most northerly of the missions of Lower Cali- fornia, in order to stock the new establishments with that useful animal, and to enable them to cul- tivate the soil. The San Carlos being ready, the visitador-general fixed the day of her departure, and ordered that all should prepare themselves by means of the holy sacrament. This was accordingly done, and the rev- erend father- president, after saying the mass " de rogativa " to the most holy patriarch San Jose (whom they named patron of all the expeditions by sea and land), blessed the vessel and colors, and G2 84 UPPER CALIFORNIA gave his benediction to all the people. The visi- tador then pronounced a long discourse, and, every- thing being embarked, they set sail on the 9th day of January, 1769. There were embarked in this vessel her com- mander, Don Vicente Vila, twenty- five soldiers of the Catalonian volunteers, with the Lieutenant Don Pedro Prat, surgeon in the royal navy, with a suffi- cient crew, and corresponding number of officers, accompanied, for their spiritual consolation, by the Father- Friar Fernando Parron. The San Antonio not having got higher up than Cape San Lucas, the visitador proceeded there on the sailing of the San Carlos ; and having examined and repaired her also, everything was embarked, and she made sail on the 15th of February of the same year. Her com- mander was Don Juan Perez, an able navigator, brought up in the Philippine trade. In her also went two father- missionaries. Friar Juan Vizcaino and Friar Francisco Gomez. The third vessel was called the San Jose, and was dispatched from Loreto on the 16th of June, the same year. Her commander's name is not known, and the friar that was to have proceeded with her fell sick, so that none of the missionaries were on board. The fate of these vessels proves the deplorable state of navigation among the Spaniards in those seas at this period. The San Carlos arrived at San UPPER CALIFORNIA 85 Diego on the first of May, and lost the whole of the people by the scurvy, thirst, and hunger, except the officers, the cook, and one seaman. The San An- tonio, although she sailed five weeks later, arrived on the eleventh of April, but lost eight of her crew by scurvy. The San Jose was never heard of after her leaving Loreto. The land expedition was set about with all pos- sible activity, and it appears that those worthy fathers and visitadores not only took their divinity from the Bible, but their military tactics also, for Father Paloii relates, "that, considering the land expedition not less arduous and dangerous than that by sea, owing to the many savage and depraved tribes through which they had to pass, it was re- solved, in imitation of the patriarch Jacob, to divide it into two companies, in order that if one was unfortunate, the other might be saved." Don Caspar de Portola, captain of dragoons, was appointed governor of California, and commander of the land expeditions; Captain Fernando Rivera y Moncada was nominated his second, and appointed to proceed with the first division. The governor was to follow with the second. Captain Rivera y Moncada and his people left Santa Ana, in Lower California, in the month of September, 1768, and, after a short time, arrived at the village of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, which is on the Indian 86 UPPER CALIFORNIA frontier, and where they met part of the baggage which had been sent in launches to the Bay of San Luis. Having examined the country, and found it incapable of maintaining even the cattle, from its entire want of pasture, they proceeded farther into the Indian territory, and at the distance of eighteen leagues, in the direction of San Diego, they found a place suited to their wants. The whole caravan was accordingly conducted thither. From this place the commander gave notice to the visitador, who was then in the south fitting out the vessels, that in the month of March he expected to be ready to continue [on] his route. Accordingly, they left this place, called by the natives Velicata, and proceeded on their destination on the twenty- fourth of March, 1769. This division consisted of its commander, Rivera y Moncada, Father Crespi, a midshipman, twenty -five soldiers, three mule- teers, and a number of converted Indians as ser- vants or assistants to the muleteers and for other purposes ; they were armed with bows and arrows. After having passed fifty-four days on their march without experiencing anything remarkable, they arrived at the port of San Diego on the fourteenth day of May, when they found at anchor the San Carlos and San Antonio. The mules, horses, black cattle, muleteers, and baggage, which were to accompany the second UPPER CALIFORNIA 87 division being collected at Velicata, the governor and the father- president arrived there on the thirteenth of May. Being detained some time waiting the arrival of troops and necessaries, they took the opportunity to examine the neighborhood, and finding it superior to that of another mission not very distant, called San Francisco de Borja, and considering that it would be well calculated for a point of communication between Upper and Lower California, they resolved on removing the mission to that place. Father Paloii thus describes the ceremony of taking possession : ' ' This being determined on, and the day following being the fourteenth of May, the first of the Pascua of the Holy Ghost, they imme- diately set about taking possession of the soil in the name of our Catholic monarch, and thus laid the foundation of the mission. The soldiers, muleteers, and servants set about clearing away a place which was to serve as a temporary church, hanging the bells, and forming a grand cross. On the day following, they commenced the foundation. The venerable father- president, being invested with the capa and alba pluvial, blessed the holy water, and with this the site of the church, and then the holy cross, which, being adorned as usual, was planted in front of the church. The patron named for this church, and of the whole mission, was San Fer- 88 UPPER CALIFORNIA nando, the same name as that of our college in Mexico. Having chanted the first mass, the ven- erable president pronounced a most fervent dis- course on the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the mission. The sacrifice of the mass being concluded, the Veni Creator was then sung, the want of an organ and other musical instruments being (says Father Palou) supplied by the continual discharge of the fire-arms during the ceremony, and the want of incense, of which they had none, by the smoke of the muskets ! The second division, commanded by the Governor Portola, and accompanied by the president, com- menced its march from Velicata on the fifteenth of May, 1769. They followed the track of the Jesuit Wenceslaus Link, who went, three years before, tow- ards the Rio Colorado, to a place which he called Cieneguilla, distant from the new mission of San Fernando Velicata twenty- five leagues northward. From this place they pursued the same direction, with the view of finding the mouth of the Rio Colorado, but they were unable to arrive at it, on account of a rocky and steep mountain, which they reached after a few days, over which their cattle could not pass. This obliged them to return to the [San Francisco de Borja] frontier mission of San Borja, from which the expe- dition of Link had set out. They now changed their route to the northwest, and, approximating the UPPER CALIFORNIA 89 coast of the Pacific, were soon enabled to find the port of which they were in search, and where they arrived on the first day of July, having spent forty- six days on their journey. The following letter, written by the president to his future biographer. Father Paloii, will serve to explain their situation and views after they reached San Diego. "My dear Friend and Sir, — Thank God, I arrived the day before yesterday, the first of the month, at this port of San Diego, truly a fine one, and with reason called famous. Here I found those who had set off before me, both by sea and land, except those who have died. The brethren Fathers Crespi, Viz- caino, Parron, Gomez, are here, and, with myself, all well, thanks be to God. Here are also the two vessels, but the San Carlos without sailors, all having died of the scurvy, except two. The San Antonio, although she sailed a month and a half later, arrived twenty days before the San Carlos, losing on the voyage eight sailors. In consequence of this loss, it has been resolved that the San Antonio shall return to San Bias to fetch sailors for her and for the San Carlos. The causes of the delay of the San Carlos were, first, lack of water, owing to the casks being bad, which, together with bad water obtained on the coast, occasioned sickness among the crew ; and secondly, the error which all were in respect- 90 UPPER CALIFORNIA ing the situation of this port. They supposed it to be in thirty-three or thirty-four degrees of north lati- tude, some authors saying one, some the other, and strict orders were given to Captain Vila and the rest to keep out in the open sea till they should ar- rive in thirty-four degrees, and then make the shore in search of the port. As, however, the port, in reality, lies in 32° 34', according to the observations which have now been made, they went much be- yond the port, thus making the voyage much longer than was necessary. The people got daily worse from the cold and the bad water, and they must all have perished if they had not discovered the port about the time they did, for they were quite unable to launch the boat to procure more water, or to do anything whatever for their preservation. The Father Fernando did everything in his power to assist the sick, and although he arrived much re- duced in flesh, he had not the disorder, and is now well. We have not suffered hunger nor other pri- vations, neither have the Indians who came with us ; all have arrived fat and healthy. The tract through which we have passed is generally very good land, with plenty of water, and there, as well as here, the country is neither rocky nor overcome with brushwood. There are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The road has been in some places good, but the greater part bad. UPPER CALIFORNIA 91 About half-way, the valleys and banks of rivulets began to be delightful. We found vines of a large size, and in some cases quite loaded with grapes ; we also found abundance of roses, which appeared to be like the same as those of Castile. In fine, it is a good country, and very different from that of Old California. We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those on this coast of the Pacific contrive to make a good subsistence on various seeds, and by fishing. This they carry on by means of rafts or canoes made of tule (bulrush), with which they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, old and young, go naked ; the women, however, and even the female children, are decently covered from their breasts downwards. We found, in our journey, as well as in the places where we stopped, that they treated us with as much confidence and peace as if they had known us all their lives ; but when we offered them any of our victuals, they always refused them. All they cared for was cloth, and only for something of this sort would they exchange their fish or whatever else they had. During the whole march we found hares, rabbits, some deer, and a multitude of berendos (a kind of wild goat). I pray God may preserve your health and life many years. "From this port and intended mission of San 92 UPPER CALIFORNIA Diego, in northern California, 3rd July, 1769. I kiss the hands of your reverence, and am your affection- ate brother and servant, (> TR. JUNfPERO OERRA. In consequence of what had before been deter- mined on, the San Antonio was dispatched on the 9th July to San Bias, under the command of Perez, with what was reckoned a sufficient crew, but she arrived at that port with very few people, nine having died in the course of the voyage. It was now resolved that the principal part of the united expedition commanded by the governor should proceed overland from San Diego to the north- ward, to discover and settle the port of Monterey, and that the father -president should remain with two of the missionaries and eight soldiers. The fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez were named by him to accompany the expedition. The fourteenth day of July was fixed on for the depart- ure of this expedition, and the following persons nominated for the same : Don Caspar Portola, com- mander-in-chief, with one servant; the two fathers before named, with two converted Indians of Lower California for their service ; Don Fernando Rivera y Moncada, second in command, with a sergeant and twenty-six soldiers of his company; Don Pedro Fages, lieutenant of the Catalonia company, with seven of his soldiers who remained fit for the march; UPPER CALIFORNIA 93 Don Miguel Costanso, engineer, and seven mule- teers, and fifteen Indians of Lower California, to assist in conducting the mules with the provisions and baggage. This expedition, after having been absent six months, returned to San Diego without finding the port of Monterey, or at least what they considered to be such, judging from the description given of it by Sebastian Vizcaino, although, in fact, they had visited this bay, but considered that it was either a different place or that the port had been filled up with sand. They proceeded on to the northward till they discovered the fine harbor now called San Francisco, to which they were induced to give that name from the following circumstances. When the president left Lower California, he took his orders from the visitador- general respecting the names of the new missions, and the patrons to be assigned them; but observing that he did not point out any one which was to be that of the founder of the order, he exclaimed, "And is our Father San Francisco to have no mission assigned to him?" The visitador replied, " If San Francisco wishes to have a mission, let him show you a good port, and then let it bear his name." The friars who accom- panied the Monterey expedition, as well as its com- mander, on seeing the fine bay at which they had arrived, exclaimed, "This is the port to which the 94 UPPER CALIFORNIA visitador referred, and to which the saint has led us," and immediately called it the Bay of San Fran- cisco. They then set up a cross, took possession, and proceeded on their return to San Diego, where they arrived on the 24th January, 1770. Whilst the governor and his companions were absent on the discovery of Monterey, the president was not idle at San Diego. His proceedings are thus described by his historian. Father Paloii : ''The zeal which burned in the breast of our ven- erable Father Junipero did not permit him to forget the principal object of his coming, and on the 16th day of July he commenced the foundation of the mission by chanting a mass, and performing the other ceremonies which are expressed in the treaty of foundation of that of San Fernando. On this day the Spaniards are accustomed to celebrate the triumph of the Holy Cross, and it was hoped that as by that- sacred signal they obtained, on this same day in the year 1212, the famous victory over the barbarous Mohammedans, they might obtain, by erecting the same standard, the discomfiture of the infernal army, and be enabled to subject to the easy yoke of our holy faith the barbarous gentiles who inhabit this California. ''Having dedicated one of the huts which they had erected, as a church, they endeavored, by presents and affectionate expressions, to bring the natives UPPER CALIFORNIA 95 towards it, who came within sight ; but they paid no attention to anything, except to receive what- ever was offered them, except provisions ; but on no account would they touch any of our victuals, and on a bit of meat being forced into a child's mouth, it spit it out as if it had been poison. This circumstance was considered as a miracle from Heaven ; for if they had been as desirous of provis- ions as they were of cloth, they would have left the strangers to have starved of hunger. Their desire for all sorts of cloth was extreme ; so much so, that the sails of the vessel in the bay were not safe, they having gone one night in their rush canoes and cut a large piece out of one of them. At length, pre- cautions were taken to prevent like acts ; yet, as no punishment was inflicted, they proceeded to still greater lengths, and stole openly, confiding in their numbers, and being armed with bows and arrows, vt^ooden swords which cut like steel, and clubs which are very formidable. And now finding that they were opposed, they resolved to try their fortune, and, by taking our lives, possess themselves of all our spoils. This they attempted to do on the twelfth and thirteenth of August, but were obliged to retire. On the fifteenth of this month, after the Father Fernando had gone on board to say mass, with two soldiers, four only remaining on shore, and our venerable president and Father Vizcaino hav- 96 UPPER CALIFORNIA ing finished mass at the mission, there fell upon them a great number of Indians, all armed for war, who began to rob everything they could find, taking away from the sick even their sheets. The corporal immediately called out. To arms ; and when they saw the soldiers putting on their leather armor and taking their muskets, they retired a little and began to shoot their arrows. The four soldiers, the carpenter, and the blacksmith, also commenced firing with much valor, but particu- larly the blacksmith, who, although he had not armor to defend him, advanced, calling out, ' Long live the faith of Jesus Christ, and die the dogs his enemies.' Whilst this was going on, the father- president with his companion went inside the house, recommending all to God, and praying that there should not result any deaths either among his own people or among the gentiles, and that the souls of the latter might not be lost, which otherwise would be saved by future baptism. *'The war, however, still continued, accompanied by the terrible yells of the Indians, when a boy called Jose came running in great haste, and pros- trated himself at the feet of our venerable presi- dent, saying, ' Father, give me absolution, for the Indians have killed me.' The good father absolved him, and he died immediately, an arrow having passed through his throat, but his death was kept UPPER CALIFORNIA 97 secret. Of the Indians, many fell, and the rest, seeing the destructive effect of the fire-arms, retired, carrying with them the whole of their dead and wounded, in order to prevent us from knowing their loss. They were enabled to conceal the deaths, but the number of wounded was soon known, because in a few days they returned in peace, requesting to be cured, which was done by our good surgeon. This charitable conduct on our part caused them to be somewhat grateful, and the sorrowful experience of their unsuccessful attack created fear and respect, which made them deport themselves differently from what they had hitherto done, and they still con- tinued to resist the mission, but without arms. Of the Christians, four were wounded, viz., the Friar Vizcaino, one soldier, an Indian of California, and the valiant blacksmith, but none of them danger- ously, so that in a short time all were well, and the death of the boy was concealed." The following narrative, given by Father Paloii, will show the importance the missionaries attached to the baptizing of the Indians, and the inconsola- ble disappointment which the good Father Junipero suffered by the caprice of the parents of one of the children. This was the first of the inhabitants of Upper California who had submitted to this cere- mony. "Of those who came oftenest amongst them was an 7 H 98 UPPER CALIFORNIA Indian of about fifteen years of age, who seldom let a day pass without coming, and he at last was in- duced to eat whatever was given him, without any fear. Our Father Junipero had a great desire to encourage him, and to teach him something of the Spanish language, to see if by this means he could accomplish the baptism of any of the youths. After some time, and when the Indian understood a little of the language, the venerable father desired him to try if he could bring a little one, with con- sent of its parents, to become a Christian, and told him to inform them, that, by allowing a little water to be put upon its head, it would become a son of God and of the Father Junipero, and also be of the kindred of the soldiers ; that it would be clothed, and, in short, be equal to the Spaniards. The young man seemed to understand what was said to him, and, after going amongst the Indians, returned, ac- companied by a great many, one of whom brought a child in his arms, and made them understand, by signs, that he wished it to be baptized. Full of joy, our venerable father gave some clothes to cover the child, asked the corporal to be its godfather, desired the soldiers to attend the celebration of this first baptism, and also ordered that all the Indians should be present. When the president had finished the previous ceremonies, and was about to pour the water, the Indians suddenly snatched away the UPPER CALIFORNIA 99 child, and immediately miade off in great haste for their huts, leaving the good father in amazement, with the water in his hands. Here (says the Father Palou) all his prudence was necessary to enable him to hold his peace under such a gross action, and he was obliged to employ all his influence over the soldiers to prevent them from taking vengeance for the affront, but, on considering the barbarism and ignorance of those miserable beings, it was deemed necessary to dissemble their chagrin." Father Pa- loii adds, "that the feeling of the venerable father was such, seeing the baptism of this child so frus- trated, that for many days the sorrow and pain which he suffered might be discovered in his coun- tenance, his reverence attributing the conduct of the Indians to his own sins, and many years after- wards, when he related this circumstance, he had to wipe the tears from his eyes." The country at this time did not furnish them sufficient provision for their subsistence, so that they had to depend on supplies from San Bias, to which place the San Antonio had been sent, but as she had not yet made her appearance, and it being apprehended that she was lost, the governor ordered an account of the provisions on hand to be taken, and found that they could not hold out longer than to the month of March following. He, in conse- quence, gave notice to the father - president that H 2 100 UPPER CALIFORNIA unless the vessel arrived with provisions by St. Jo- seph's Day (the twentieth day of March), the whole expedition would set out on their return by land for Old California, and abandon entirely the enterprise of settling the new country. This notice afflicted the good Father Junipero in the most sensible man- ner, who, according to his biographer, ''finding no other resource but in God, had recourse to prayer, asking in the most earnest manner that he would have compassion on so many gentiles whom they had discovered, and not allow their labors to be in vain, seeing that if they were to abandon the present enterprise, the conversion of those Indians would be left to an indefinite time, and perhaps abandoned forever. At the same time, the father fully resolved not to accompany the expedition back, but to remain with some of his companions, and sacrifice himself for the love of God and for the advancement of his glory. ' ' The eventful day at last arrived, and was celebrated by the chanting of the mass, and by every other mode of solemnizing it which their circumstances permitted. The father- president preached a sermon, and every preparation was made for the departure of the expedition the following morning ; but on this very day ( says Paloii ) " God was pleased to satisfy the ardent desires of his servant, through the intercessions of the most holy patriarch, and gave every one the UPPER CALIFORNIA 101 consolation to perceive clearly and distinctly a ves- sel," which, however, disappeared next day. This sight of the vessel was sufficient to delay the depart- ure of the expedition, every one viewing it as a miracle of the patriarch saint, and which animated them to remain some time longer, not doubting that this was, if not the San Antonio herself, at least a sure presage of her speedy arrival. This, in effect, happened four days after, it being the identical San Antonio which was seen on the day of St. Joseph, and which was prevented from entering the harbor from those casualties so common in sea voyages. The father-president made a vow to celebrate this miracle by an annual mass on the day of St. Joseph, which he religiously performed to the end of his life. On the arrival of the San Antonio, which brought a supply of provisions, it was determined to make another effort to discover Monterey, for which pur- pose Father Junipero proceeded by sea, in the San Antonio, and the governor by land, accompanied by Father Crespi. Both left San Diego about the middle of April, 1770, and, after forty-six days' navi- gation, the San Antonio anchored in the Bay of Monterey, the land expedition having arrived some days before. Nothing can show more strikingly the backwardness of nautical science at this time among the Spanish navigators, than the fact that this coast- ing voyage of a few degrees took up forty-six days ; 102 UPPER CALIFORNIA in the present day it would be no miracle for a vessel to sail between San Diego and China in the same space of time. The following is the letter of the president to Father Palou on taking possession of the future capital of the dominions over which he was to preside. "My dearest Friend and Sir, — On the 31st day of May, by the favor of God, after rather a painful voyage of a month and a half, this packet San An- tonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored in this horrible port of Monterey, which is unaltered in any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian Vizcaino in the year 1603. It gave me great consolation to find that the land expedition had arrived eight days before us, and that Father Crespi and all others were in good health. On the third of June, being the holy day of Pentecost, the whole of the officers of sea and land, and all the people, assembled on a bank at the foot of an oak, where we caused an altar to be erected and the bells to be rung. We then chanted the Vent Creator, blessed the water, erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the royal standard, and chanted the first mass that was ever performed in this place. We afterwards sang the Salve to Our Lady, before an image of the most illustrious Virgin, which occupied the altar ; and at the same time I preached a sermon, con- UPPER CALIFORNIA 103 eluding the whole with a Te Deum. After this, the officers took possession of the country in the name of the King, our lord (whom God preserve). We then all dined together in a shady place on the beach, the whole ceremony being accompanied by many volleys and salutes by the troops and vessels. ' ' The concluding part of this epistle may not be thought the least interesting, as it will show that while men of an ordinary education would only have thought of their own personal situation and present difficulties, and of asking for assistance to help them out of them, the pious Franciscan only meditated on popes, saints, and calendars. He con- tinues : "As in last May it is a whole year since I have received any letter from a Christian country, your reverence may suppose in what want we are of news ; but, for all that, I only ask you, when you can get an opportunity, to inform me what our most holy father the reigning Pope is called, that I may put his name in the canon of the mass ; also, to say if the canonization of the beatified Jose Cu- pertino and Serafino Asculi has taken place, and if there is any other beatified one, or saint, in order that I may put them in the calendar and pray to them, we having, it would appear, taken our leave of all printed calendars. Tell me also if it is true that the Indians have killed Father Jose Soler in 104 UPPER CALIFORNIA Sonora, and how it happened, and if there are any other friends defunct, in order that I may com- mend them to God, with anything else that your reverence may think fit to communicate to a few poor hermits separated from human society. We proceed to-morrow to celebrate the feast and make the procession of Corpus Christi (although in a very poor manner), in order to scare away whatever little devils (diablillos) there possibly may be in this land. I kiss the hands, &c. tij^ t * c >> bR. JUNfPERO OERRA. They then proceeded to found the mission of Monterey and to construct a chapel ; but the In- dians were so terrified by the noise made at the celebration of the first mass, and by the firing of the artillery and muskets, that it was a considerable time before they ventured again to approach the strangers. It was not till the 26th of December that the first baptism of the Indians was celebrated at Monterey, which, however, turned out better than the first essay at San Diego, and filled the pious mind of Father Junipero with inexpressible pleasure. He afterwards boasts that in three years this mission had 175 baptized Indians ; which is a proof of how slowly savages admit of civilization or receive a new religion, however fervently practiced or perse- veringly advocated. It was soon found that the first place selected for Oi. O < < CQ UPPER CALIFORNIA 105 the mission was inconvenient ; they therefore moved it to the borders of the river Carmelo, its present situation. The San Antonio being detained for some time, the father -president was enabled, to examine the adjoining country, and finding many Indians, and good situations for establishing more missions, he wrote to the chief of the college of San Fernando, in Mexico, that although a hundred missionaries more were sent, there would be employ- ment for them all. In consequence of this favorable report of the promising appearances of the new country, the Viceroy, in concert with the college of San Fer- nando, ordered thirty missionaries to proceed from Mexico to San Bias, — ten for Upper and twenty for Lower California, — and provided them with sacred vessels and ornaments for the churches, and also with ten thousand dollars in money, to enable the father -president to form the other missions which he had projected. Orders were given to have two vessels ready at San Bias for the conveyance of the missionaries and their effects ; viz. , the San Antonio, with the ten missionaries destined for Upper Cali- fornia, and the San Carlos, with the twenty for Lower California. The San Antonio left San Bias on the second of January, 1771, and arrived at San Diego on the twelfth of March, all on board affected with the scurvy. The missionaries then 106 UPPER CALIf^ORNIA proceeded overland to Monterey. The mission- aries who embarked for Loreto had much worse fortune than their brethren ; for, although Lo- reto is but a few days' voyage from San Bias, within the gulf, and the transit subject to no peril whatever, yet it so happened that the unlucky San Carlos, instead of proceeding up the Gulf of California northerly, was driven, as they reported, by winds and currents, southerly to Acapulco. Nor was this all : the captain of this vessel, after having allowed himself, at the best season of the year, and on a sea the most placid in the world, to be carried — one can hardly suppose how — so far south, put into a port on the coast, called Manzanilla, now well known as a good one, got his vessel on shore, and gave notice to the Viceroy of Mexico that he could not proceed on his voyage ! The poor friars, being now left to shift for themselves, resolved to proceed overland, a distance of not less than twelve hun- dred miles, and along a coast without roads, with- out inhabitants, and abounding in all manner of hardships and dangers, as well as being remarkable for its insalubrity. This journey they actually per- formed, and marched along the shore of the Pacific and the Gulf of California till they arrived opposite to Loreto, and then passed over to that place. The captain, in the mean time, got positive orders from Mexico to repair his vessel and proceed on his UPPER CALIFORNIA 107 voyage. He at length sailed from Manzanilla, and, after many difficulties, arrived at Loreto on the thir- teenth of August, extending the voyage to eight months, which is now usually made in five or six days ! By the arrival of the new missionaries in Upper California, the father - president was enabled to ex- tend his operations, and proceeded to found the mission of San Antonio de Padua, in the hills of Santa Lucia, distant from the coast of the Pacific about eight leagues, and about twenty from Mon- terey. Some time after the establishment of this mission, we are told by our authority that so severe a frost took place on the first day of the Pascua of the resurrection, in the year 1780, that a field of wheat, which was shot and in flower, became as dry and withered as if it had been stubble left in the field in the month of August. This was regarded as a great misfortune by the Indians, and still more by the fathers, they knowing better the great loss to the mission from the want of food. It became neces- sary to send the converts to the woods to collect seeds and fruits for their subsistence, in the manner they had been accustomed to do before their conver- sion. The fathers, however, (says Paloii,) encour- aging their faith, and confiding in the patronage of San Antonio, invited the new Christians to cele- brate the novena of this saint. At the same time. 108 UPPER CALIFORNIA they ordered the frosted field to be artificially irri- gated with water, and in a few days the fresh blades were seen springing from the roots of the former stalks, so that at the end of the novena the field was perfectly green. The watering was con- tinued, and the wheat grew so rapidly that in fifty days the new wheat was as high as the former had been, and in full bloom ; it filled well, and was ripe at the same time as in former years, giving such an abundant harvest and such fine grain as was never before experienced. *'The fathers, (continues Pa- lou, ) as well as the Indians, acknowledged this to be a special miracle which the Lord deigned to work in their favor by the interposition of the holy patron, San Antonio, and rendered him their most affectionate thanks accordingly." Some less faith- ful than our good fathers and their humble converts may doubt whether San Antonio or the water, with the rays of a summer's sun, had the greatest merit in this miracle; but it may be granted on all hands, that the prodigy had the excellent effects which the friars deduced from it, viz., that it encouraged new converts to come to them and saved them from the threatened famine. Soon after the settlement of San Antonio, the establishment of San Gabriel was determined on, and missionaries, with soldiers, were dispatched from San Diego for that purpose. The following is the UPPER CALIFORNIA 109 miraculous account given of this expedition by Father Paloii. * * On the tenth of August, the Father- Friar Pedro Cambon and Father Angel Somera, guarded by ten soldiers, with the muleteers and beasts requisite to carry the necessaries, set out from San Diego, and traveled northerly by the same route as the former expedition for Monterey had gone. After proceed- ing about forty leagues, they arrived at the river Qesus de los Temblores] called Temblores, and while they were in the act of examining the ground in order to fix a proper place for the mission, a multitude of Indians, all armed, and headed by two captains, presented them- selves, setting up horrid yells, and seeming determined to oppose the establishment of the mission. The fathers, fearing that war would ensue, took out a piece of cloth with the image of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, and held it up to the view of the barbarians. This was no sooner done than the whole were quiet, being subdued by the sight of this most precious image, and, throwing on the ground their bows and arrows, the two captains came running with great haste to lay the beads which they brought about their necks at the feet of the sovereign queen, as a proof of their entire regard, manifesting, at the same time, that they wished to be at peace with us. They then informed the whole of the neighborhood of what had taken place, and the people, in large 110 UPPER CALIFORNIA numbers, — men, women, and children, — soon came to see the Holy Virgin, bringing food, which they put before her, thinking she required to eat as others. In this manner (continues our historian), the gentiles of the mission of San Gabriel were so entirely changed that they frequented the establishment with- out reserve, and hardly knew how much to mani- fest their pleasure that the Spaniards had come to settle in their country. Under those favorable aus- pices the fathers proceeded to found the mission with the accustomed ceremonies, and celebrated the first mass under a tree, on the nativity of the Virgin, the eighth of September, 1771." After the settlement of San Gabriel, which was the fourth, and is now one of the richest, missions of California, the missionaries found that neither their numbers nor their means enabled them to com- mence others, and they continued doing all in their power to improve those they had already estab- lished. The following letter from Father Junipero, dated so late as the eighth of August, 1772, shows that their situation was not the most comfortable, nor their progress very much advanced, although they had been more than three years in the coun- try. " My dear Friend and Sir, — Thanks be to God, I am in good health ; and hunger, which in this country mortifies and has mortified many poor peo- UPPER CALIFORNIA 111 pie, has not been felt either by me or the fathers, my fellows. There is no fear of being under the necessity of abandoning any of the missions now established. The people are chiefly maintained by the Indians, and they live God knows how. The milk of the cows and the vegetables of the garden have been two great sources of subsistence for these establishments. Both begin, however, now to get scarce ; but it is not for this I feel mortified : it is because we have not been able to go on with other missions. All of us feel the vexatious troubles and obstacles which we have to encounter, but no one thinks of leaving his mission, or desires to do so. The consolation is, that, troubles or no troubles, there are various souls in heaven from Monterey, San Antonio, and San Diego. From San Gabriel there are none as yet, but there are among those Indians many who praise God, and whose holy name is in their mouths more frequently than in that of many old Christians ; yet some think that from mild lambs, which they are at present, they will return one day to be lions and tigers. This may be so if God permits ; but we have three years of experience with those of Monterey, and with those of San An- tonio two years, and they appear better every day. If all are not already Christians, it is, in my opinion, only owing to our want of understanding the lan- guage. This is a trouble which is not new to me ; 112 UPPER CALIFORNIA and I have always imagined that my sins have not permitted me to possess this faculty of learning strange tongues, which is a great misfortune in a country such as this, where no interpreter or master of languages can be had until some of the natives learn Spanish, which requires a long time. At San Diego they have already overcome this difficulty. They now baptize adults and celebrate marriages, and we are here approximating the same point. We have begun to explain to the youth in Spanish; and if they could return us a little assistance in another way, we should in a short time care little about the arrival of the vessels, as far as respects provisions ; but as affairs stand at present, the missions cannot much advance. Upon the whole, I confide in God, who must remedy all." After begging of his friend to procure more mis- sionaries to be sent, he proceeds : — *' Let those who come here come well provided with patience and charity, and let them pass on in good humor, for they may become rich, — I mean in troubles, — but where will the laboring ox go, where he must not draw the plow ? and if he do not draw the plow, how can there be an harvest?" Having now formed four missions, the father- president resolved on returning to Mexico, and for that purpose set out for San Diego, where he intended to embark. On his way to that place, he UPPER CALIFORNIA 113 founded another mission, which he called San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ; and having visited that of San Gabriel, being the only one he had not seen, he proceeded to San Diego, where he embarked in the packet-boat San Carlos on the twentieth of October, and arrived at San Bias on the fourth of Novem- ber, 1772. On his arrival in Mexico, which was on the sixth of February following, he found that the Viceroy Bucareli had determined to withdraw the marine establishment from San Bias, and to abandon that port ; but Father Junipero represented to him that this was the only place from which a communication could be kept up with California, and so fully im- pressed him with the importance of the new missions, that he not only consented to continue the establish- ment at San Bias, but also ordered a frigate, which had been begun to be built there, to be finished for the purpose of exploring the coast of Upper Cali- fornia, and in the mean time gave orders for one of the packet-boats to be dispatched to Monterey with provisions. This packet-boat, with the usual mishap attending all their sea voyages, in place of making Monterey, was driven up the gulf, and reached Loreto with the loss of her rudder, and otherwise so much damaged that she could not again proceed on her voyage, by which accident the missions were nearly all starved, and the \vhole 114 UPPER CALIFORNIA fathers, soldiers, and converts were obliged to subsist chiefly on milk for eight months. Having obtained all his demands, the father- president left the city of Mexico in September, 1773, with various missionaries, officers, and soldiers, as also a grant of necessaries, consisting of maize, beans, flour, and clothing, to the value of above twelve thousand dollars ; and by his recommenda- tion an expedition was ordered to proceed by the rivers Gila and Colorado, and to discover a passage by that route for the purpose of keeping up a com- munication by land, and thus avoid the misfortunes which had always befallen their expeditions by sea. Captain Juan Bautista Anza, commandant of Tubac, in the province of Sonora, was appointed to this land expedition, and eventually arrived safe at Monterey. Father Junipero proceeded to San Bias in January. He divided the supplies between the packet-boat San Antonio and the new frigate, and embarked in the latter himself. She was called the Santiago of [or] Nueva- Galicia, and commanded by his friend Don Juan Perez. Although they were bound direct to Monterey, yet from some of those fatalities which never ceased to attend them, they were obliged to put into San Diego, where they arrived on the thirteenth of March, after a passage of forty- nine days. The frigate afterwards pursued her voyage to Monterey, but Father Junipero chose to go over- land for the purpose of visiting the other missions, UPPER CALIFORNIA 115 and on his way met Captain Anza, who had, as before stated, passed overland from Sonora, and who informed him that it was practicable to open a com- munication by the route he had come, and that, ac- cording to his orders from the Viceroy, he was about to take measures for establishing this communication. Anza here also informed the president of the deplorable state in which Monterey was from the want of provisions ; that * ' there was not so much as a cup of chocolate to enable them to break their fast," — a privation, of all others the most insufferable to a Mexican Spaniard, to whom chocolate is one of the most indispensable necessaries of life. The Captain added that they were reduced to live entirely on milk and herbs, without bread, or any other thing whatever. This relation made the good father shed tears, and he made all possible haste to arrive with the succors he had with him. He arrived on the eleventh of May, and found that the frigate had been there two days before him. The father- presi- dent was received at Monterey with the greatest dem- onstration of joy, and plenty once more appeared amongst them. The frigate, after remaining at Monterey till the eleventh of June, sailed, in conformity with the instructions of the Viceroy, in order to make dis- coveries on the northwest coast. She proceeded as far as fifty- five degrees north, when she discovered I 2 116 UPPER CALIFORNIA an inlet, which they named Santa Margarita, and without seeming to have done anything else, they returned to Monterey, where they arrived on the twenty -seventh of August of the same year. A second voyage was afterwards made from San Bias by the same frigate, under the command of Don Bruno de Heceta, a captain in the royal navy, who took with him, as his second in command, the same Don Juan Perez who commanded the previous expe- dition. The frigate was accompanied by a schooner commanded by Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega, the future friend of Vancouver, and who was so well known on this coast. This expedition sailed from San Bias in the middle of March, 1775. They proceeded to the northward, surveying the coast to forty-seven degrees of north latitude, when they lost sight of the schooner in a gale of wind on the thirtieth of July. The frigate, however, continued to coast northward till they arrived about the same latitude as in the last voyage ; and having again returned to the forty- ninth degree, they held a con- sultation of officers on the eleventh of August, and it was resolved, in consequence of the greater part of the crew being ill of the scurvy, and the advanced state of the season, to return along shore and to look out for the schooner. This plan was adopted, and they arrived at Monterey on the twenty- ninth of August, with almost all the sailors ill of the scurvy. UPPER CALIFORNIA 117 They here found the schooner, which had safely arrived some time before them. After receiving the account of this expedition, the Viceroy Bucareli determined to set on foot a third, and for that purpose ordered a frigate to be built at San Bias, and also sent a lieutenant of the navy to Peru to purchase a vessel to accompany the frigate. The new frigate was named the Princesa, and the ship purchased in Peru the Favorita. They were ordered to be got ready with all haste, and the Viceroy gave directions to put on board everything necessary for a voyage of one year, with a sufficient crew, and complement of marines. Don Ignacio Arteaga was appointed to command the squadron, and two missionaries from the convent of San Fer- nando accompanied him. These two vessels sailed from San Bias on the twelfth of February, 1779, and as Don Juan Perez had died at sea on the for- mer voyage, they took another pilot in his stead. The chief object of the expedition was said to be to discover a passage to the North Atlantic. Noth- ing worthy of notice happened till they arrived at fifty-five degrees of north latitude, on the third of June, when they entered a strait, which they called the Strait of BucareU. Here they occupied them- selves in looking for a passage to the eastward till the first of July, when they proceeded to the north- ward, and were in about sixty degrees of north 118 UPPER CALIFORNIA latitude on the first of August, and here, they say, they found a large port, quite secure, and well pro- vided with wood and water, as well as abundance of fish. This they took possession of and named Santiago. It is supposed to be what is now called Cook's Inlet. Finding an arm branching off to the northward, and appearing to run far inland, the commander dispatched an armed launch, with an officer and a pilot, to examine it, but, after passing up this creek for some days, the launch returned without seeing any appearance of its termination, the crew, however, bringing with them some natives from the interior of the bay. The commander did not proceed farther in this survey, but, as there were many sick, resolved, as the season was far advanced, and the equinox near, not to make any more sur- veys, but to consider his labors as concluded. He accordingly desired the pilots to make for some of the new settlements in California, where he might cure the sick and pass the equinox. Thereupon [San Krancisco] they stood for the port of San Fernando, which they reached on the fifteenth of September, 1779, when the usual masses and other religious ceremonies were performed to celebrate the happy issue of this adventurous voyage. I have gone before the order of time for the pur- pose of giving a connected account of these voyages to the northwest, but I wish only to notice them in UPPER CALIFORNIA 119 as far as they relate to the estabhshments of Cali- fornia. It is sufficient to look at the dates and the time employed on those voyages to show that little could be added by them to nautical science or dis- covery. Modern voyagers know that the summer weather continues in those latitudes long after the time the Spaniards considered it as concluded, and it would not nowadays be thought very enterprising if any of our commanders gave up his discoveries in the northern regions at the end of August ! But the president and Commandant Arteaga, whose apprehensions of the equinox overcame his faith in the protection of Nuestra Senora de la Regla, thought it best to return in time, and found himself safely anchored in San Francisco on the fifteenth of September, seven days before the justly dreaded time of the sun's passing the line. With the supply of provisions and other neces- saries which the president brought from Mexico, the missionaries recommenced their labors with much vigor, and had a corresponding success in the conversion of the natives and the establishment of new missions ; but in the following year an occur- rence took place, which was considered of great importance, being no less than the attack of San Diego and the assassination of one of the mission- aries by the natives. This affair is related by Father Paloii with great unction and ^becoming 120 UPPER CALIFORNIA gravity. **In proportion (says he) as the fathers and the new Christians were full of joy and peace, the discontent of the great enemy of souls was increased : his infernal fury could not suffer him to see that in the neighborhood of San Diego his party of gentiles was coming to a close, so many being brought over to our true religion by means of the ardent zeal of the ministers, and the more particularly as they were about to plant another mission between San Gabriel and San Diego, which would effect the same with the Indians in that dis- trict, over which he still had the power, and which would, of course, diminish his party. He therefore bethought himself of some means not only of pre- venting this new establishment, but of destroying that of San Diego, which was the oldest of the whole, and so revenge himself on the missionaries, his opponents. In order to accomplish these diaboli- cal intentions, he availed himself of two converts from among those who had been some time baptized, who, after the feast of San Francisco, went amongst the Indians, publishing that the fathers intended to put an end to the gentiles, and to make them become Christians by force ; and in proof of this, desired them to consider how many had already been bap- tized. Although many doubted, yet the greater part believed the story of those apostates ; and the Devil having so disposed them, he engendered in UPPER CALIFORNIA 121 their breast the passion of anger against the fathers, and with this disposition they formed the cruel intention of taking away their lives, as also to kill the soldiers, set fire to the mission, and so destroy the whole. Nothing of this was known at San Diego, nor was any such plot in the least appre- hended ; for although a sergeant and some soldiers were sent in search of the two converts who went away without leave, yet the only account they received was, that they had gone a long way inland, towards the river Colorado, and nothing was observed among the Indians which indicated war, but what soon happened shows their intentions, which, how- ever, they concealed with great art. More than a thousand Indians collected from different places and divided themselves in two parties, one to attack the mission, and the other the presidio, where the soldiers were quartered. They intended to set fire to both at the same time, and to kill all the people ; on which wicked design they set out, armed with bows and arrows, spears and clubs. **They arrived at the bed of the river on the night of the fourth of November, whence the two divisions took their respective routes, — the one for the presidio and the other for the mission. The party destined for the latter arrived at the huts of the converts without being observed, putting some Indians as guards to prevent the inmates from 122 UPPER CALIFORNIA going out or giving any alarm, and threatening them with death if they attempted to do so. Some then proceeded to the church and sacristy for the purpose of robbing the ornaments, vestments, and whatever else they might find, while others laid hold of lights and endeavored to set the quarters of the soldiers on fire. These, who consisted only of a corporal and three men, were soon awakened by the horrid yells of the Indians, and im- mediately armed themselves, the Indians having already begun to discharge their arrows. The Father Vicente joined the soldiers, together with two boys. The Father Luis, who slept in a sepa- rate apartment, on hearing the noise, went towards the Indians, and, on approaching them, made use of the usual salutation, 'Amar a Dios, hijos,' (Love God, my children,) when, observing it was the father, they laid hold of him as a wolf would lay hold of a lamb, and carried him to the side of the rivulet. There they tore off his holy habit, commenced giving him blows with their clubs, and discharged innumerable arrows at him. Not contented with taking away his life with so much fury, they beat and cut to pieces his face, head, and the whole of his body, so that from head to foot nothing remained whole, except his consecrated hands, which were found entire in the place where he was murdered. " Meanwhile others of the Indians proceeded to UPPER CALIFORNIA 123 the place where two carpenters and the blacksmith were sleeping, and who were awakened by the noise. The blacksmith ran out with his sword in hand, but was immediately shot dead with an arrow. One of the carpenters followed with a loaded musket and shot some of the Indians, who were so much intimidated that he was allowed to join the soldiers. The other carpenter, who was ill, was killed in bed by an arrow. The chief body of the Indians now engaged the soldiers, who made such good use of their fire-arms, by killing some and wounding others, that the Indians began to waver, but they at last set fire to the quarters of the Spaniards, which were only of wood, and who, in order to avoid being roasted alive, valiantly sallied forth and took posses- sion of another small hut, which had served for a kitchen, and which was constructed of dried bricks. The walls, however, were little more than a yard in height, and only covered with branches of trees and leaves to keep out the sun. They defended them- selves by keeping up a continual fire upon the multitude, who, however, annoyed them much with their arrows and wooden spears, more particularly at one side of the hut, which was without a wall. Seeing the damage that, by this means, they were suffering, the soldiers resolved to take out of the house, that was on fire, some bales to fill up the open part of the kitchen. In doing this, two of 124 UPPER CALIFORNIA them were wounded, and disabled from giving any more assistance, but they succeeded in fetching the bales, and filHng up the breach with them. There then only remained the corporal, one soldier, the carpenter, and the Father Vicente. The corporal, who was of great valor, and a good marksman, ordered that the others should load and prime the muskets, he only firing them off, by which method he killed or wounded as many as approached him. The Indians, now seeing that their arrows were of no avail owing to the defense of the walls and bales, set fire to the covering of the kitchen, but, as the materials were very slight, the corporal and his com- panions were still enabled to keep their position. They were greatly afraid lest their powder should be set on fire, and this would have been the case if Father Vicente had not taken the precaution to cover it over with the skirt of his habit, which he did in disregard of the risk he ran of being blown up. The Indians, finding that this mode of attack did not oblige their opponents to leave their fort, commenced throwing in burning faggots and stones, by which Father Vicente was wounded, but not very dangerously. The whole night passed in this manner, till, on the rising of the sun, the Indians gave up the contest, and retired, carrying off all their killed and wounded. The whole of the de- fenders of the kitchen -fort were wounded, the UPPER CALIFORNIA 125 corporal concealing his injuries until the Indians had retired, in order to avoid discouraging his companions." I have given the description of this contest at full length, and in the language of the Franciscan historian, in order to show that a battle, when the forces on one side only consisted of three soldiers, commanded by a corporal, may be made nearly as much of on paper as when mighty armies meet. The account of the defense of the kitchen -fort is given with as much gravity and circumstantiality as if the narrative were of one of Napoleon's vic- tories ; and it must be confessed that the issue was as important to the individuals engaged in this Lilliputian combat as was the result of Austerlitz or Lodi to their victor. It is also worthy of record as being the most serious attempt to obstruct the Spanish missionaries in their spiritual conquest of California ; and it may in some degree account for the apparently miraculous conquests of the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru, in former times, by proving how superior the European, with his musket and his gunpowder, is to the feeble and unskillful Indian with his bow and arrow. On hearing of the misfortune which befell San Diego, the father- president, who was then at Monte- rey, resolved to proceed to that mission, but was not able to accomplish his design till the month of 126 UPPER CALIFORNIA June. He then proceeded by sea, in the Princesa, and, with the assistance of the seamen of this vessel, the soldiers, and others, he repaired the damages done by the Indians, and again put matters on the same footing as before the attack. Subsequently he set about forming another mission, called San Juan Capistrano. On his way to this place he was about to be attacked by the Indians, but was saved by one of the converts, who had the presence of mind to call out, in the Indian dialect, that many soldiers were close behind, on which the assailants gave up their intention, and finally joined the Spaniards on their journey, receiving beads and becoming friends. '^ After founding this mission, the president pro- ceeded to Monterey, and prepared to establish that of San Francisco, on the borders of the bay of that name, which had long been projected. He left Monterey on the seventeenth day of June, 1776, with some soldiers and several families of people, who had come overland from Sonora to establish themselves in the country, carrying with them black cattle, mules, and necessaries for the new mission. One of the packet-boats proceeded at the same time for the harbor of San Francisco, with the rest of the necessaries. On the twenty -seventh of June the expedition arrived near the situation where ^they intended to 4^^ m^: '9 Ml '^ ' ' ! 1 M ? l' ' 't ' I ' Z Pi o b ID < u OS u 0. o" u oi < Oi o < X UPPER CALIFORNIA 127 plant the mission, on the banks of the lake near one of the arms of the Bay of San Francisco. While they there waited the arrival of the vessel to determine the exact spot for its foundation, many of the natives came to them with demonstrations of peace, and expressed pleasure at their arrival. Find- ing that the packet-boat did not make its appearance, they commenced cutting timber for their houses, and pitched upon the most eligible situation for the presidio, near the place where they had halted. Indeed, the vessel did not arrive till the eighteenth of August, having been detained by contrary winds, which drove her back as far as to the latitude of thirty- three degrees. They took solemn possession of this presidio on the seventeenth day of September, "this day being (says Father Paloii) the festival of the impression of the sores of San Francisco, the patron of the port. After blessing, adoring, and planting the holy cross, the first mass was chanted, and the cere- mony concluded by a Te Deum^ the act of possession in the name of our sovereign being accompanied with many discharges of artillery and musketry by sea and land." They afterwards proceeded to survey the harbor both by land and by a launch, and ascertained that there was no other outlet to the ocean except by the passage through which they had entered. 128 UPPER CALIFORNIA Previous to the vessel returning to San Bias, they performed the ceremony of taking possession of the mission, in the same manner as they had before done of the presidio, and this they did on the day [on] [October.] of San Francisco, in the ninth of November. It appears that about this time Father Paloii joined the missionaries in Upper California, as he now begins to speak in the first person ; conse- quently his authority is even more valuable than before. We resume our narrative in his words. '*None of the natives attended these ceremonies, as in the middle of August the whole of those who inhabited this place disappeared, going in their rush balsas, some to uninhabited islands in the bay, others to the other side of the strait. This move- ment was occasioned by their being surprised by a tribe or nation called the Salsona, their great ene- mies, who on this occasion killed a great number of them, and set fire to their huts. This misfor- tune we were unable to prevent, as the surprise and destruction took place without our knowledge, and when we endeavored to detain the flying Indi- ans, they paid no attention to us. This flight of the Indians was the cause of our being a long time without making any converts, as we did not see any of them again till the end of March of the following year. They then began to get over the fear of their enemies, and once more reposed some UPPER CALIFORNIA 129 confidence in us. The first baptism performed in this mission was on St. John's Day of this year, 1776. I shall not further follow the progress of the President Junipero Serra and his spiritual associates in the formation of the other missions ; suffice it [1784] to say, that, before his death in 1782, there were established, in addition to those already mentioned, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura, which, together with San Diego, Monterey, San Antonio, San Gabriel, and San Francisco, made, in the whole, eight missions, all of which he occasionally visited. But he had at last to yield up his account, and to withdraw from the field in which he had so long and so laboriously toiled, in the hope, however, of joining in another world his prototype and master, San Francisco, whom he had so assiduously made the object of his veneration and model for his labors in this. "We piously believed (says Father Palou) that he had slept in the Lord a little before two, in the afternoon, on the day of San Agustin, in the year [1784] 1782, and that he would go and receive in heaven the reward of all his apostohcal labors. He fin- ished his laborious life at the age of seventy years, nine months, and twenty-one days. He had passed fifty-three years, eleven months, and thirteen days 9 K 130 UPPER CALIFORNIA in holy orders ; and of this time, thirty- five years, four months, and thirteen days in the office of apostoHc missionary, in which time he performed the glorious actions which we have seen, having lived in continual activity, occupied in virtuous and holy exercises and in singular prowesses, all directed to the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls." CHAPTER II RECENT HISTORY OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — PRESENT POLITICAL CONDITION AND PROSPECTS The same plan of colonization and management, which has been described in the preceding chapter, continued to be carried on ^vith little or no varia- tion by Father Serra's successors until the whole of the littoral territories of California, with all their inhabitants, came under the temporal and spiritual dominion of the missionaries. A description of the settlement and progress of the individual missions, if their history could be obtained, would possess lit- tle interest. In a subsequent chapter I shall give an account of the actual condition of the whole, and will now conclude this by a brief notice of the civil history of the country up to the present time. . During the long period that had elapsed since the first foundation of the missions, many large dona- tions had been bestowed, and numerous estates in land and houses left for the benefit of the missions, which were consolidated into a fund called the 131 K 2 132 UPPER CALIFORNIA California Pious Fund. This fund was managed by the convent of San Fernando, and other trustees in Mexico, and the proceeds regularly remitted annually to California, as also the salaries assigned to the missionaries by the king. The government likewise sent soldiers to protect them from the attacks of the wild Indians and foreign enemies. Under this state of things, the missions greatly prospered. They went on augmenting their, posses- sions, increasing their stock of domestic animals and the number of converted Indians, until they had absorbed nearly the whole of the valuable lands, to the almost total exclusion of free white settlers. No one could possess land, except by a grant from the missionaries, who, on all occasions, were very reserved in conceding such grants, and few colonists were to be found, except the officers of the troops, the soldiers, and their followers. Great care was taken that the soldiers should not leave too many descendants, to the supposed prejudice of the mis- sionary plan ; and as no officer or soldier in His Catholic Majesty's service can marry without his special license, it could easily be managed that as many marriages were permitted as were desired, and no more. This fully accounts for the very scanty number of free colonists that exists in California. In Upper as in Lower California, the missionary establishments were acknowledged to be the great UPPER CALIFORNIA 133 objects for which the country was settled and main- tained ; and they existed in an almost complete state of independence of the Mexican government. Still, the country belonged to Spain, and all the ordinary government establishments were kept up in it, although to a much smaller extent than in the other provinces of the viceroyalty of New Spain. The general - commandant of all the troops in the country was also governor of all places and per- sons not under the immediate authority of the fathers. He resided at Monterey, and had a salary of four thousand dollars. He could not interfere ^ with the affairs of the missions, but was obliged to grant them assistance when they claimed it. The ancient system remained in full force until the period of the revolution in Mexico and the separation of all the Americas from Spain. At that time. Upper California was formed into what is called a territory, and Lower California into another, on the ground of their respective populations not amounting to the number entitling them to be federative states, these being established on the basis of population. The territories are not entitled to have gover- nors or legislatures, but are allowed to send one member to the general congress. This member is entitled to sit and take a part in discussions, but has no vote. The territories are, from their being deprived of governors or legislatures, subject to the 134 UPPER CALIFORNIA immediate government and legislation of the general government in Mexico. This reduced Upper Cali- fornia to be directed by an agent of the government, who resided there, under the denomination of com- mandant-general. This state of things California has not, as yet, had much cause to lament ; for, until wiser legislation is adopted, and greater harmony exists between the general government and the different state legislatures, it is no great misfortune to be deprived of the labors of a provincial popular assembly. The two Californias send each a member to the general congress, elected by popular suffrage. The first deputy elected for Upper California was a cap- tain of the Californian troops, and a Spaniard by birth ; but on his arrival at San Bias he found a law had been passed excluding natives of Spain from congress, and he was obliged to return. A lieutenant was then elected to succeed him, who proceeded to the city of Mexico, where he died. A sergeant of the same corps was next elected, who served out his term of two years in the Mexican congress, and then returned to his native country. This retrogression in the rank of the honorable members is rather singular. When an enlightened man shall govern this dis- tant and thinly peopled country, it must be much better regulated than if it were domineered over and UPPER CALIFORNIA 135 plundered by a set of ill-informed and rapacious men united into a democratic council, and daily manufacturing absurd laws and regulations, which, after a very short time, are laid aside for some fresh whim, as a child throws away its plaything at the sight of a new one. It is true that even in the ter- ritories there is some semblance of a local govern- ment, for they have what is called a deputation, which is a sort of privy council, more for the purpose of advising with the commandant than of originating anything of themselves. Their powers are consequently very limited, and their reunion takes place but very seldom. When visited in 1826 and 1827 by Captain Beechey, the missions had begun to feel the effect of the recent changes in the government of Mexico. At this time there had arrived orders to liberate all the Indians "who had good characters, and were supposed able to maintain themselves, from having been taught the art of agriculture or some trade." They were directed to have portions of land given to them for their maintenance, and the district to be divided into parishes, with curates provided for each. At the same time, the missionaries' salaries, formerly paid by government, (400 dollars per annum,) were suspended, the country being expected to support its own establishment. Considering the utterly helpless and enslaved state of the Indians, which 136 UPPER CALIFORNIA we shall describe more fully by and by, it is not to be supposed that a system of legislation of " this sort, however philanthropic in appearance, could really answer the intended object. Accordingly, when Captain Beechey returned in the following year (November, 1827) he found that the new project had failed, and matters were in some degree restored to their former state. In consequence of the strong remonstrances of the fathers, the governor had modified the orders received from Mexico, and agreed to make the experiment on a small scale. ''After a few months' trial, (says Captain Beechey,) he found that these people, who had always been accustomed to the care and discipline of school-boys, finding themselves their own masters, indulged freely in all those excesses which it had been the endeavor of their tutors to repress, and that many, having gambled away their clothes, implements, and even their land, were compelled to beg or to plunder, in order to support life. They at length became so obnoxious to the peaceable inhabitants, that the padres were requested to take some of them back to the missions, while others, who had been guilty of misdemeanors, were loaded with shackles and put to hard work, and when we arrived were employed in transporting enormous stones to the beach to improve the landing - place. ' ' * This unfortunate * Voyage to the Pacific, vol. II, p. *320. UPPER CALIFORNIA 137 result was taken advantage of by the fathers, and their remonstrances procured not only the restora- tion of their salaries, but a promise of payment of the arrears, they consenting to be submissive to the new government. Since this time, various contradictory laws have been passed respecting this country, and projects for its government and improvement, equally con- tradictory, set on foot; yet it is true that no change of government or of system has been able materially to alter the original Franciscan dispensation, which may still be said to exist in all its primitive purity. The great source of the property of the missions is, however, now, I believe, effectually dried up, viz., their supplies from Mexico ; for although the natives of Spain and their descendants inhabiting Mexico retained their religious zeal for conquering infidels and converting heathens longer and in greater force than the other European Christians, yet the American revolutions swept this, together with the Inquisition, and many other equally ven- erable customs, entirely away, and the modern repub- licans want money too much at home to think of sending any to so remote a place as California, so that the Pious Fund of California, like most other funds that could be made available, has been put to less pious uses. But the value of the estates of the missions has so much increased, as well from 138 UPPER CALIFORNIA the multiplication of the domestic animals and aug- mented agricultural produce of the soil as from the additional demand and consequent increase of price which the opening of the trade to strangers has caused, that the missionaries are not only able to maintain themselves, but have to spare ; and in place of receiving supplies from Mexico, are even obliged to maintain the government troops. And although it has been a general opinion in Mexico, since the revolution, that the Californian system should be altered, yet it would appear that the government, under the presidency of Bustamante, or rather the ministry of Alaman, thought otherwise, for in 1833 they sent a reinforcement of eleven Fran- ciscan friars, with a new prefect of the same order at their head. These friars were some time de- tained at Tepic, a town near San Bias, waiting for a vessel, where I had an opportunity of seeing them. They were fresh from a convent of Zacatecas, where the rules are very strict. They all wore a habit of the coarsest gray woolen cloth, their crowns shaven, and sandals on their feet. They were totally igno- rant of the world, and of everything respecting the country which they were going to govern. They brought to one's mind, in the most lively manner, the days of the pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, and if the anomalous nature of their destination could have been kept out of view, they would have formed UPPER CALIFORNIA 139 an interesting group. As it was, it was impossible not to feel respect for their character, and a degree of veneration, mixed with pity, on thinking on their destiny, and observing their very pious, humble, and meek demeanor. It will not be here out of place to give, in a few words, the future history of these poor friars, as it will illustrate at once their character and the still very unsettled state of these countries. It will also, doubtless, remind the reader of the old days of Fathers Salvatierra and Junipero Serra. General Figueroa, being appointed military gov- ernor or commandant - general of Upper California, chartered a vessel in Acapulco to take himself, with some officers and soldiers, to Monterey, and intended to call at San Bias for eleven missionaries who were to join him there. Instead, however, of proceeding directly to San Bias, he thought it would be better to touch at San Lucas, in Lower California, dis- embark there with the soldiers, and send the ship to San Bias for the friars, and then to proceed to Mazatlan for some military stores. This was accord- ingly done ; and while the vessel was in the Bay of Mazatlan, and after having the gunpowder and most of the other stores on board, she was struck with lightning, which passed along the mizzenmast into the hold, and set fire to some materials very near the powder. The fire was fortunately extin- guished before any bad consequence ensued. The 140 UPPER CALIFORNIA lightning passed close to the cabin of the friars, who were all below, and it was remarked with what wonderful calmness they betook themselves to their only remedy, — their sacred offices and rosaries. It was, indeed, only by force that the officers and sea- men could remove them from off the hatch to get down the magazine, which was immediately below them, and they were thus only saved by the prompt exertions of the seamen from being blown to atoms. This danger being over, and the vessel again put to rights, she proceeded to Cape San Lucas to take on board the General and troops ; and as the friars were all sick, never having before even seen salt water, they went on shore the moment the ship came to anchor. The General then gave orders for embarkation next morning, and the first division of soldiers proceeded to the beach with ammunition, arm-chests, &c. When the whole was ready for putting off in the launch, a sergeant informed his officers that he and his comrades had determined not to proceed to Upper California, declared for the party of General Santa Anna, then in revolution against the government, and avowed their intention of proceeding to San Bias to join their brother patri- ots engaged in the same cause. At the same time arming themselves, they proceeded to fire upon the quarters of the General, with whom were the unfor- tunate friars. In this extremity, the General and UPPER CALIFORNIA 141 his companions, who were unarmed, had to fly, and the mutineers took possession of the ship, and obliged the captain to carry them to San Bias, taking along with them the military chest, in which were sixteen thousand dollars, as well as the private prop- erty of the general and his officers. The sergeant, however, generously, or rather piously, sent on shore, before his departure, three thousand dollars for the friars, thus verifying what is far from un- common, that a very considerable degree of religious feeling may be manifested by those who are guilty of the most atrocious crimes. The poor friars were now left in an almost desert country ; and having experienced so unpromising an onset in their sea voyage, resolved not to trust themselves again to that element, which seemed to them so unpropitious, and which had also been so fatal to their predecessors, the first settlers of California. They at first determined to follow the route by land which the Father Junipero had done so many years before them ; but, reflecting upon the difficulties which presented themselves, and receiving the coun- sel, or perhaps commands, of the general, they were at length prevailed on to proceed to La Paz, and there wait further orders from Mexico. In the mean time the vessel proceeded on her voyage to San Bias, during which the sergeant broke open the military chest, and took what money 142 UPPER CALIFORNIA he thought necessary, to divide amongst his follow- ers and the sailors ; he also assigned a sum for the captain and mates, which, as they did not think it prudent to offend him, they received, but returned on their arrival at San Bias. On the arrival of the vessel at this port, which had also declared for Santa Anna, the sergeant and his soldiers were re- ceived by their compatriots with open arms, and the remainder of the money, which he chose to deliver up to the authorities, was thankfully re- ceived, leaving this worthy character to appropriate to himself what he pleased. The ship, after repair- ing her damages, getting some fresh stores, and spending a long time on the coast, at last proceeded to La Paz, where the friars once more embarked, and finally arrived at their destination. Notwithstanding this indication of following up the old system, a law was soon after passed by the general congress of Mexico for entirely removing the missionaries, dividing the lands and cattle amongst the Indians and settlers, and appropriating their funds in Mexico to the use of the state. The democratic party, then in power, soon after the passing of the law, named commissioners, amongst their own friends, to carry it into execution, and empowered them to engage emigrants in Mexico to accompany them, and to whom the pay of half a dollar a day was assigned till their arrival in Cali- UPPER CALIFORNIA 143 fornia, with a free passage, and provisions during ^ their voyage. Nearly three hundred people engaged on those terms, consisting of men, women, and chil- dren. They were of every class of persons except that which could be useful ; for there was not one agriculturist amongst them. They were chiefly from the city of Mexico, and consisted of artisans and idlers who had been made to believe that they would soon enrich themselves, in idleness, in this happy country. There were to be seen goldsmiths pro- ceeding to a country where no gold or silver existed ; blacksmiths, to where no horses are shod or iron used ; carpenters, to where only huts without furni- ture were erected; shoemakers, to where only san- dals of rawhide were worn ; tailors, to where the inhabitants only covered themselves with a blanket; doctors, to where no one gets sick. There were also engravers, printers, musicians, gamblers, and other nameless professors, — all bound on this hopeful cru- sade, which their enthusiastic leaders assured them would procure unalloyed felicity and unbounded riches. The projectors and leaders of this colony had also formed and published a magnificent plan of a public company, which they entitled "The Cos- mopolite Company " (Compania Cosmopolitana). It embraced the three great branches of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, which were to be car- ried on upon a scale of great magnitude. Gover- 144 UPPER CALIFORNIA nors, directors, secretaries, clerks, inspectors of accounts, administrators, majordomos, and all the other multifarious officers so well understood in Spanish undertakings, and so necessary in such projects, were provided in profusion, and the most minute regulations specified for their government. None of our celebrated companies of 1825 could possibly surpass them in the extent of their views or the exactness of their detail. To carry this scheme into execution, subscription shares were opened for the emigrants and others, and it is said that about eight thousand dollars (;£^ 1,600) were obtained. Doubtless, if this colony and company had been allowed to put their plan of spoliation of the missions in execution, it might not have turned to so bad account. But, immediately after their leaving San Bias, General Santa Anna assumed the government, displacing Gomez Farias, the leader of the democrats ; and one of his first acts was to dispatch a messenger overland, by the way of the Rio Colorado and round the head of the Gulf of California, in order to prevent the Californian com- missioners from carrying their projected plan against the missions into execution. The commis- sioners and emigrants, having embarked at San Bias in two vessels, had a long passage, and allowed Santa Anna's messenger to arrive before them, so that General Figueroa refused to admit of their UPPER CALIFORNIA 145 commission, but assigned them lands on which they might settle as emigrants. This was remonstrated against most violently, but they were obliged to submit, and they retired to a spot on the Bay of San Francisco, where they were for a time supported on provisions from the nearest mission. They en- deavored to settle themselves among the other colo- nists, but, being accused of views contrary to the existing state of things, they were banished from the country, and in the month of May, 1835, the leaders of this colony, together with many of their followers, returned to Mexico, landing in a vessel at San Bias. Thus ended the first attempt made by the Mexi- can republic to augment the population and to alter the state of California. Its termination has been such as was to be expected from such an ill-concerted plan. This foolish scheme cost a very large sum of money, at a time when the government could ill spare it. However, had this money been applied in a proper manner, and had industrious agricul- tural settlers been sought for and introduced judi- ciously, the result, both to the country and to the settlers, would have been highly beneficial, whereas it has only brought misery on the emigrants and loss and ridicule on the government. It is perhaps advantageous for California that it should remain a part of the Mexican republic, inas- 10 L 146 UPPER CALIFORNIA much as it reaps the advantage of disposing of its produce in the Mexican ports free of foreign duties. This advantage is, however, at present, but nominal ; for, in the first place, it sends little or no produce to that country ; and in the second place, the coasting duty is exorbitant, being twelve per cent on the selling price where the articles are landed. But when a wiser policy is adopted, and when California becomes an exporting country, this advantage would be of much consequence. California, however, is quite a distinct country from Mexico, and has nothing in common with it, except that the present inhabitants are of the same family. It is therefore to be apprehended that on any cause of quarrel between the two countries, it will be apt to separate itself from the parent state. This, from its distant situation, and the difficulty of conveying troops from Mexico, would be easily effected ; and although the present population is inadequate to form permanently an independent nation, yet the fashion of splitting countries into small, independent portions has become so prevalent in the late Spanish possessions that an attempt to realize such a project may not be so improbable as it should now seem. The situation and natural resources of California are so favor- able that a small number of inhabitants could resist any attacks made upon it by such a nation as Mexico, or it might even soon overawe the coast UPPER CALIFORNIA 147 of Mexico itself, and force the government of that country to grant it such terms as it should demand. The shores of the Mexican republic on the Pacific are ill calculated for maintaining any maritime force. It has none at present ; and, from its un- healthy situation, scarcity of materials, and want of sailors or maritime enterprise, it is not likely ever to have on the Pacific any formidable navy. On the contrary, California is calculated, in an eminent degree, to become a maritime power. Its coasts are healthy, its harbors excellent, and its capacity to produce materials for ship-building and marine stores is almost without limits. If, therefore, there should ever exist a sufficient population to maintain a separate sovereignty, or the occupiers of the country be of a quality and character capable of taking advantage of those resources, Mexico, instead of being able to reduce California, would be obliged to succumb to it. Any foreign power, if disposed to take possession of California, could easily do so, but the happy state of peace which reigns at present in the world, and the just principles which the great powers of Europe have adopted, of not interfering with the possessions of others, put any fear of that kind out of the question. The settlement of the Russians at Bodega is, strictly speaking, in the Mexican terri- tory ; but it has conducted itself so quietly, that no L 2 148 UPPER CALIFORNIA attempt has been made to disturb it, although sus- picions have been entertained that at some future day the whole of Upper California would fall into their hands. A latent jealousy also exists in the minds of some of the Mexican politicians, that if foreign emigrants were admitted in great numbers into California, they might set up for themselves, and cause the loss of the country. This, however, is but an imaginary contingency ; and if the Mexican government would adopt a wise system of coloni- zation laws, and a liberal general policy, under which their citizens could live happily, no fears on that account, for a great length of time, need be entertained. Under the present system, it is of little consequence to whom it belongs. If, indeed, a future Cochrane should visit the shores of California and make common cause with its inhabitants, as our hero did with the Chilefios, the period might not be remote when it should make the Mexican shores tremble as Chile did those of Peru. And, truly, there seems no alternative, except to admit foreign emigrants or to allow the country to remain stationary ; for the character of the present popu- lation leaves no probability of its rapid increase either in number or enterprise, and nothing can be expected of emigration from the other Mexican states, which are themselves but too thinly peopled, UPPER CALIFORNIA 149 and whose inhabitants are but ill fitted for such a country as California. [The preceding part of this chapter, as well as the whole of the present work, was finished and sent to England in the year 1835. The following additional particulars are given from a recent letter received by the editor from the author, and are too important to be suppressed.] In the year 1836, the inhabitants of Monterey and the vicinity rose, and, declaring themselves inde- pendent, attacked the garrison and forced the com- mandant and troops to capitulate. At a public meeting of the inhabitants, called subsequently, on the 7th November, at Monterey, the following reso- lutions were passed as the basis of a provisional government. 1st. Upper California is declared to be inde- \ pendent of Mexico during the non-re-establishment of the federal system which was adopted in the year 1824. 2nd. The said California shall be erected into \ a free and governing state, establishing a congress which shall dictate all the particular laws of the country and elect the other supreme powers neces- sary, declaring the actual *' Most Excellent Depu- tation ' ' constituent. 3rd. The rehgion shall be the Roman Catholic 150 UPPER CALIFORNIA Apostolic, without admitting the exercise of any * other ; but the government will not molest any persons for their particular religious opinions. 4th. A constitution shall regulate all the branches of the administration ''provisionally," in conformity, as much as possible, with the expressed declara- tion. 5th. Until what is contained in the foregoing * articles be put in execution, Senor Don Mariano ^ Guadalupe Vallejo shall be called on to act as commandant - general. 6th. The president of the " Most Excellent \ Deputation" shall pass the necessary communica- tions to the municipalities of the territory. They followed up these proceedings by expelling the whole officials of the Mexican government, and all the troops, from the country, and transporting them to the Mexican territory. On receiving notice of this revolution, the Mexi-| can government immediately had recourse to their usual mode of warfare, fulminating furious procla^ mations and addresses to the citizens, appealing to*} their patriotism, and ordering to be prepared, without delay, a formidable expedition to proceed against such audacious and unnatural sons of the republic, whom it was incumbent on them to put down, and chastise as their treason deserved. The first patriotic ebullition, however, soon subsided. No expedition \ UPPER CALIFORNIA 151 was prepared, California was soon forgotten, and it has remained for nearly two years to do as it pleases, to have a government of its own manufacture, or to live without a government at all. Being thus left to the freedom of their own will, the Calif ornians, true to the spirit which has animated all the Spanish- American colonies since their emancipation, imme- diately began to divide themselves into parties ; and although there are only about five thousand Spanish Creoles in the whole country, they had their party of the north, which declared for an entire independence of Mexico, and the party of the south, which ad- hered to Mexico on certain conditions. The want of frequent communication with Mexico renders it quite uncertain what may at present (June, 1838) be the state of the country ; but it is, at least, evi- dent now, if there was any doubt formerly, that it is at this moment in a state which cannot pre- vent its being taken possession of by any foreign force which may present itself. The British govern- ment seem lately to have had some suspicion that California would be encroached upon, if not taken entire possession of, by the Russians, who are settled so close upon its northern frontier, but, by the latest accounts, no encroachment has been made, nor has any augmentation been made, either in the number of people in the colony or in the fortifica- tions. The danger does not lie there. There is another restless and enterprising neighbor, from 152 UPPER CALIFORNIA whom they will most probably soon have to defend themselves, or rather to submit to ; for although the frontiers of North America are much more distant than the Russians, yet, to such men as the back- settlers, distance is of little moment, and they are already well acquainted with the route. The north- ern American tide of population must roll on southward and overwhelm not only California, but other more important states. This latter event, how- ever, is in the womb of time, but the invasion of California by American settlers is daily talked of ; and if Santa Anna had prevailed against Texas, a por- tion of the inhabitants of that country, sufficient to overrun California, would now have been its masters. There have been some thoughts of proposing to the Mexican government that it should endeavor to cancel the English debt — which now exceeds fifty millions of dollars — by a transfer of California to the creditors. This would be a wise measure on the part of Mexico, if the government could be brought to lay aside the vanity of retaining large possessions. The cession of such a disjointed part of the republic as California would be an advantage. In no case can it ever be profitable to the Mexican republic, nor can it possibly remain united to it for any length of time, if it should even be induced to rejoin this state, from which, at present, it is, to all intents and purposes, separated. Therefore, by UPPER CALIFORNIA 153 giving up this territory for the debt, [it] would be getting rid of this last for nothing. But would the English creditors accept of it ? I think they might, and I think they ought. They have lately displayed an inclination to treat and to receive lands as a part of the debt, where no land exists belonging to Mexico. In the settlement made with Lizardi & Co., as agents for the Mexican government in London, lands are stipulated to be delivered, at a certain price per acre, in Texas, in which Mexico does not possess an acre, in the state of New Mexico, which is many hundred leagues inland in Sonora, and God knows where. To the good fortune, however, of the English creditors, this contract has been disapproved of by the Mexican government, and it is hoped that some more rational scheme will be hit upon to give the creditors some sort of tangible security for at least a part of what they have been so scandalously fleeced out of. If California was ceded for the English debt, the creditors might be formed into a company, with the difference that they should have a sort of sovereignty over the territory, somewhat in the manner of the East India Company. This, in my opinion, would certainly bring a revenue, in time, which might be equal to the interest of the debt, and, under good management, and with an English population, would most certainly realize all that has been predicted of this fine country. CHAPTER III TOPOGRAPHY OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — NATURAL PRODUCTIONS The part of Upper California at present occupied by the missions and settlers is about five hundred English miles in length, and the breadth from the sea to the first range of hills may be stated at an average of forty miles, which will give an area of twenty thousand square miles, and about thirteen millions of English statute acres. This, however, is but a small part of Upper California, as the whole country extending to the Rio Colorado, and to an undefined limit northward, is included in its terri- tory ; and although the missionaries have hardly extended their settlements to the northward of the Bay of San Francisco, yet the most fertile lands, and those fittest for European settlers, lie to the north of and around that bay. The whole extent of Upper California, properly so called, presents a su- perficies equal to many of the most extensive and powerful kingdoms of Europe. All this immense extent of territory, except that occupied by the missions on the coast, is possessed 154 TOPOGRAPHY 155 by scattered tribes of Indians, and has been hitherto but Httle known. Since, however, the Mexican coun- try has been opened to strangers by the revolution, those plains and wilds have been traversed by adven- turers from the United States of North America. Parties of hunters, armed with rifles, and carrying a few articles for barter, have traveled from the borders of the Mississippi to the shores of the Pacific, and have astonished the Californians by their sudden appearance, and still more by the fact that they had escaped the vengeance of the wild Indians. The adventures of those American hunters furnish exam- ples of the most extraordinary daring, and present a remarkable contrast to the conduct of the indolent native Creole. The latter seldom leaves his own habi- tation, or exposes himself to the rays of the sun ; whereas these men, from their being always in the open air, and from the effect of their rough pursuits, appear nearly as wild as the beasts they are in chase of. The Spanish settlers always considered the Indians on the Rio Colorado and countries adjacent as ferociously inimical to white men, and that it was almost impossible to pass through their territory. This is, however, a great exaggeration ; for although some of the tribes may not be so docile or pusil- lanimous as those formerly living on the shores of the Pacific and in other parts of Mexico, yet there are none of them very formidable. 156 UPPER CALIFORNIA The country immediately behind the high lands which bound the present possessions of the mission- aries is reckoned even superior to that on the coast, and is said to consist of plains, lakes, and hills, beautifully diversified, and of the greatest natural fertility, capable of yielding every variety of vegetable productions, and abounding with timber of great size. To the northward of these plains are situated two large lakes, said to be distant from one another about eighteen or twenty leagues, and their extent is described to be very great ; but so little certain is known respecting them, that it would only lead to error to repeat the tales related by those who have never seen them. There is no doubt, however, of their existence, and that they possess many fine islands, which are inhabited by Indians. The lakes and streams in this district abound with bulrushes, called by the natives tule, and from this the whole Country takes its name, being called the plains of the Tulares. As bearing on the topographical character of the Indian countries, I will here introduce a short notice of some missionary travels through a part of them, undertaken shortly after the first establish- ment of the missions in Upper California. The information is interesting from the earliness and authenticity of its source, and not the less so because it throws some Httle light on the character of TOPOGRAPHY 157 the natives, and the policy of the original founders of the Cahfornian missions. For this and other valuable information on the subject of the present work, derived from some scarce books and old manuscripts, I am indebted to the great kindness of Don Manuel Najera, prior of the Carmelite con- vent in Guadalajara, in the republic of Mexico, a gentleman as distinguished for his extensive learning as [for] his excellent moral qualities. Don Manuel has in his library a collection of valuable and scarce books and MSS. on the subjects of Mexican history and antiquities, and it is to be hoped that he will one day give to the public the result of his extensive researches. The first of these curious documents is a manu- script written by Friar Francisco Garces, giving an account, in the form of a journal, of a journey per- formed by him in the year 1775, from the missions on the borders of Sonora to Upper California, and his return by nearly the same route. This journey was made about six years after the establishment of the Franciscan missions in Upper California. The Father Garces naturally expected to be received by his brethren and the military authorities in the new settlements with kindness, and admitted as a co- adjutor in the work of civilizing the natives, and in establishing the true faith amongst them, more particularly as having verified, by his successful journey, the facility of communicating by land with 158 UPPER CALIFORNIA Mexico, and of connecting in one bond the whole territory from the Rio Colorado to the Pacific. But very different was his reception. On his arrival at the mission of San Gabriel, he was told that it was not at all desirable that a communication should be opened, by which the Indians on the Rio Colorado and the intervening plains might be enabled, per- haps, to molest or attack the new settlements. So much displeasure did the governor of California show to the traveler, that he refused him all suc- cor or assistance, and even denied him the neces- sary provisions to enable him to return. Finding such an inhospitable reception. Father Garces re- mained only a few days with his brother missionaries, and set out on his return, traversing the country called the Tulares, and finally arriving at his own mission in Sonora without any accident. There is a short manuscript annexed to that of the Father Garces, professing to be the journal of Father Francisco Atanacio Dominguez and Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, kept during a journey performed by them in 1776, from Santa Fe, the capital of . the province of New Mexico, towards Monterey, in Upper California. Those friars took a more northerly route than Garces, and were, by their account, at one time as far as 41° N. But, after they had arrived as far as what they considered to be 136 leagues in a direct line west of Santa Fe, and reckoning themselves yet a great TOPOGRAPHY 159 distance from Monterey, they determined to give up the enterprise, and to return. From the accounts given by these missionaries, it appears that the borders of the rivers Gila and Colorado were thickly peopled by Indians in a very low state of civilization. They, however, cultivated some maize, and even wheat, and they had also cattle. The travelers did not encounter the slightest opposi- tion or hostility from any of the tribes through which they passed. On the contrary, they were received with kindness, and presented with a part of such food as they possessed. On leaving the vicinity of the Rio Colorado and proceeding westerly, they found the natives fewer in numbers and less civilized, the greater part being entirely naked, and living on roots, and seeds of trees. Father Garces says that his manuscript will be accompanied by a map made by Father Pedro Font, who accompanied him a part of the journey, but who separated from him and returned. This map, however, is missing ; and although Garces informs us that he carried with him a quadrant and mariner's compass, it is difficult to trace his route, as he only gives the latitude at very distant points ; but he gives the number of leagues daily traveled, and the point oi the compass towards which he directed his course. The journeys of those friars are chiefly valuable 160 UPPER CALIFORNIA in as far as they prove that there is nothing in the character of the Indian population of the country lying between the peopled Mexican states and Cali- fornia which can prevent its being easily colonized, or which could prevent a free communication over- land ; neither is the distance at all formidable. It is also proved by them that the whole of this vast country is free from any natural obstruction to its settlement and cultivation. There are no impene- trable forests, and the greater part is a level country, full of pasturage, and capable of being cultivated. The Father Garces traveled between the thirty- fourth and thirty- fifth degrees of latitude, having taken his departure from the west bank of the Rio Colorado, in about 35° N., keeping in the direction of the mission of San Gabriel, in Upper California, making the distance, by his diary, from this river and the said mission, only about ninety leagues, which agrees very well with the distance as laid down upon the maps. He makes the distance from the last of the missionary settlements in Sonora, called "Tuc- s6n," to the Rio Colorado, seventy- five leagues; thus making the whole distance from those settle- ments to San Gabriel, on the Pacific, 165 leagues. This distance, by the usual mode of traveling in Mexico, would only be about ten days' journey. As these travelers, however, take no observations for the longitude, for which they had not the necessary TOPOGRAPHY 161 instruments, there is no great certainty as to the distances they give. They calculate the leagues by the rate at which their mules travel ; and as the maps we have are formed by this mode of surveying, they cannot be much depended upon. These missionary travels being undertaken chiefly with the intention of converting the natives and of fixing on the proper places for planting missions, everything which is most interesting to the general reader or geographer is almost lost sight of. The Father Garces traveled with the Virgin Mary painted on one side of a piece of canvas, and the Devil, in the flames of hell, on the other. To unfurl this standard was his first operation on arriving at the habitation of a tribe of Indians ; and he ob- serves, that, on showing the Virgin, they generally exclaimed "Good!" but on turning the other side, they said **Bad!" This introduction was followed by some questions, put through interpreters, respect- ing their willingness to become Christians, and vassals of the king of Spain ; whether they knew anything of heaven, of God, or of the Virgin, &c. The father, however, took some pains to ascertain the names of the different tribes on the rivers Gila and Colorado, and of their wars and numbers. He gives the following list of the nations he visited, or had an account of; viz., — 11 M 162 UPPER CALIFORNIA On the River Gila On the River Colorado Nations Souls Nations Souls Papaga [Papago] 4,000 Cucopa [Cocopa] .... 3,000 Pima 2,500 Tallignamay 2,000 Cocomaricopas 2,500 Carjuenche [Cajuenche] . . 3,000 Yuma 3,000 TQ]aIchedon [Alchedoma] . 2,500 Tamasabs [Mohave] . . . 3,000 9,000 16,500 Total 25,500 He gives the names of eleven other nations, which inhabit the country more to the northward, but does not state their numbers. This numeration is exclusive of all the tribes in the intervening country from the vicinity of the Rio Colorado to the Pacific Ocean ; and although the tribes which he saw there do not appear to have been so numerous as those on the rivers, yet they were very considerable. The fathers Dominguez and Escalante found to the northward, as far as they reached, the whole country occupied by tribes which appear to have been more civilized and better clothed than those on the rivers and plains to the southward, so that the aggregate population of these as yet unknown countries must be great. Since these journeys, which seem to have been undertaken by the missionaries with some zeal, there has been nothing done, either to ascertain the real state or situation of those countries or to TOPOGRAPHY 163 civilize the natives. The whole country beyond the mission of Tucson is, as in former days, in the pos- session of the Indian tribes, and the vast region between the frontiers of Sonora and the strips of country occupied by the descendants of the Span- iards in Upper California is a terra incognita^ and not merely so, but, apparently, utterly forgotten by the inhabitants and government of Mexico. The lakes of the Indian country abound with a great variety of fish and aquatic birds, and have, on their borders and islands, great numbers of otters, and other animals which supply valuable furs. The Spanish missionaries had, long ago, an intention to form new missions in the plains of the Tulares, but this was never accomplished, and the revolution has probably put an end to all such projects for a long time. The situation of Upper California, between the tropical and northern zones, places it in the list of those countries which have always been most prized by mankind ; and the nature of its soil and climate, and most of its other topographical relations, are calculated to justify all the favorable expectations which its happy geographical relations naturally give rise to. "The climate (says Laperouse) differs a little from that of the southern provinces of France ; at least, the cold is never so piercing there ; but the heat of summer is much more moderate, owing to M 2 164 UPPER CALIFORNIA the continual fogs which reign there, and which procure for the land a humidity very favorable to vegetation." This account of Laperouse is not quite correct. The southern parts of the country are not entirely exempt from the periodical rains and long droughts to which the tropical climates in their vicinity are liable. For this reason, irrigation of the land sown with wheat becomes necessary there. In the northern districts, however, and particularly around the Bay of San Francisco, the rains are more general, and irrigation unnecessary. The periodical rains of the south, which are very heavy, begin to fall in November and continue till April, being the reverse of what takes place on the Mexican continent, where the rains commence in June and end in November. From Monterey northward, a thick fog commences on the cessation of the rains, and continues till the month of August. During this period the fog prevails almost daily in the morning, but during the rest of the year the sky is beautifully clear and serene. The degree of temperature in a country extending through so many degrees of latitude, and possessing such a variety of surface, must vary much in differ- ent places. I regret that I possess no accurate data to fix this. In the month of December (1826), it is stated by Captain Beechey that the mean tempera- TOPOGRAPHY 165 [5J.2=f] ture of San Francisco was 53° 2\ — the maximum 66°, and the minimum 46° ; and the hygrometer is said to have indicated a dry atmosphere. The surface of the country is considerably varied in different districts, being in some places elevated into ranges of low hills, in others spreading out into extensive plains. The hills vary from one thousand to upwards of three thousand feet in height. Some seem chiefly composed of sandstone. The soil is, in some places, of a light, sandy character, yet far from sterile ; in others, of the richest loam. In some spots the surface is marshy, but the prevailing char- acter of the soil is dryness. Indeed, the chief defect of the country is the infrequency of springs and rivers, although this infrequency is far from amounting to a serious obstacle to agriculture, or even to extreme fertility. Water can be obtained, in most places, by digging, and the plains between the mountains and the shore are here and there intersected by small streams, on the banks of which most of the missions are founded. The largest rivers are those which run into the Bay of San Francisco, and arise from the north, the northeast, and the southeast. The largest of these — the Sac- ramento — has been traced some hundred miles upwards to the northeast, where it was found still a large river. It is supposed by some to flow out of a large lake, but this point remains yet unascertained. 166 UPPER CALIFORNIA It is navigable, at least by boats, to a great distance inland. The San Joaquin, also of considerable size, rises in the distant mountains in the southeast. The Jesus Maria empties itself into the Sacra- mento, at some distance from its mouth. It is also navigable by boats to a considerable distance. It flows from the south and east, through a country said to be of great fertility, and susceptible of irriga- tion by it. The other rivers are much smaller, and, indeed, most of them are only rivulets. Most of them water different missions, and derive their names from them. They are, Rio del Rancho (which flows into the Bay of Monterey), El Pajaro, San Carlos, Santa Clara, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Cruz, Santa Ines, San Buenaventura. California possesses several harbors, and one, at least, of great excellence. San Francisco is not only the principal port in California, but the largest and safest on the whole western coast of America. It is an arm of the sea, or bay, which runs a considerable distance inland, and is accessible by a narrow but deep and safe entrance. It divides itself inside into various wide branches, so as to make it one of the most capacious harbors in the world. Monterey is only an open bay, or roadstead, but is safe from almost all winds. This station. ^^ O < 0. < 33 -< V3 .__ii^ TOPOGRAPHY 167 being more centrical than San Francisco or San Diego, has been hitherto the place of chief resort for foreign vessels, and has been considered as the capital of Upper California; but if the country around the Bay of San Francisco was peopled and cultivated, that port would be the most convenient for the foreign commerce of the country, it being, in all respects, so much superior to the others. The canal of Santa Barbara, as it is called, that is, the strait between the island of Santa Cruz and the mainland, near the mission of Santa Barbara, is also much frequented ; and although it is not considered a very safe anchorage, yet vessels often discharge and take in their cargoes there. The Bay of Santa Barbara is completely sheltered from the northwest and westerly winds, but exposed to the S. E. and S. W. The anchorage is very indifferent, being all hard sand. The best anchor- age is about half a mile off the outer head, which forms the little bay where the landing - place is. There is no kind of tide or current here, but there appears occasionally to be a rise and fall of two or three feet. San Diego is a good harbor, and very secure. It is quite sufficient for the reception of merchant vessels, but is of much less capacity than San Fran- cisco. This harbor runs a considerable distance inland, and is very convenient and commodious for 168 UPPER CALIFORNIA commerce. About one mile within the mouth, there is good anchorage in ten fathoms water. The tide here runs four times in the twenty-four hours, — six hours flood and six ebb. The port extends to a considerable distance to the eastward, where there is a channel in the center, of four or five fathoms water all along. The sand-banks run off on each side about a cable's -length, and are, in part, dry at low water. There is no water to be got here, except at the presidio. It is brought down to the beach in carts. Port San Pedro is a very extensive bay, being sixteen miles from point to point. It is difficult for a stranger to find the best anchorage, as it is not indicated on the ordinary charts. There is no kind of mark whatever on the shore, the nearest house being four leagues off, half-way to the mission of San Gabriel. The best anchorage — and that which all vessels trading with the mission occupy — is close under the N. W. point of the bay, about half a mile from a large rock, which is inshore, and about one mile from the beach. There is good holding - ground of stiff mud, in four and a half fathoms, at a place from which the point bears S. half-west, the rock N. E., and the landing-place W. N. W. San Juan. — The anchorage of this bay (lat. 33° 33', long. 117° 120 is close under the western head. TOPOGRAPHY 169 Care must be taken, in coming to anchor in the night, to round the head (if coming from the north- westward) about a mile distant, as there are several very dangerous rocks some distance from it, nearly level with the water. It is difficult landing when the wind blows from the S. E., on account of the high surf ; but when the wind is westerly and N. W., it is quite smooth. The anchorage is good throughout the bay; the ground, a mixture of sand and mud in five fathoms. All travelers in this country have been struck with its fertility and beauty, but especially with its fertility. In many places, however, even where the valleys and plains are fertile, the hills are bleak and bare ; and on the coast, in many places, as in the neighborhood of San Francisco, the sea- winds and fogs blast the foliage of all the trees in exposed situations. Captain Beechey compares the effect to that produced by the same cause in Shetland. It is probably more analogous to that observed in Cornwall. More inland, nothing of the kind is seen ; but a succession of scenes which are indeed most delightful to the traveler, whether he has come from the arid wilds of the south, the bleak north, or from the ocean. Such scenes were not lost on Vancouver when he visited this coast. In his account of a journey from Mon- terey (to Santa Clara, he notices many such. *'We 170 UPPER CALIFORNIA considered our route (he says) to be parallel to the sea-coast, between which and our path the ridge of mountains extended to the southeastward ; and as we advanced, their sides and summits exhibited a high degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed with copses of various forms and magnitude, verdant open spaces, and enriched with stately forest trees of different descriptions. About noon, we arrived at a very pleasant and enchanting lawn, situated amidst a grove of trees at the foot of a small hill, by which flowed a very fine stream of excellent water. We had not proceeded far from this delight- ful spot, when we entered a country I little expected to find in these regions. For about twenty miles it could only be compared to a park which had originally been closely planted with the true old English oak ; the underwood, that had probably attended its early growth, had the appearance of having been cleared away, and had left the stately lords of the forest in complete possession of the soil, which was covered with luxuriant herbage, and beautifully diversified with pleasing eminences and valleys, which, with the range of lofty rugged moun- tains that bounded the prospect, required only to be adorned with the neat habitations of an industrious people to produce a scene not inferior to the most studied effect, of taste in the disposal of grounds." * * Vancouver's Voyage, vol. ii, p. 17. TOPOGRAPHY 171 When it is considered that this was in November, the beauty of the scenery is not a little enhanced. " New California (says Humboldt) is as well watered and fertile as Old California is arid and stony. The climate is much more mild than in the same latitude on the eastern coast of the new continent. The frequent fogs give vigor to vegetation and fertilize the soil, which is covered with a black and spongy earth." This last observation is only partially true, as will appear from what is stated above. Respecting the extreme fertility of the soil, all observers accord with Laperouse, and also as to its singular aptitude for the growth not only of European productions, but of those of the warmer regions of the earth. In the garden at the mission of [San] Buenaventura, Vancouver was alike struck with "the quality, quantity, and variety of its excellent productions, not only indigenous to the country, but appertaining to the temperate as well as torrid zone ; not one species having yet been sown or planted that had not flourished and yielded its fruit in abundance and of excellent quality." "These (he adds) have principally consisted of apples, pears, plums, figs, oranges, grapes, peaches, and pome- granates, together with the plantain, banana, cocoa- nut, sugar-cane, indigo, and a great variety of the necessary and useful kitchen - herbs, plants, and roots." * It would not be easy to match such an * Vancouver's Voyage, vol. ii, p. 494. 172 UPPER CALIFORNIA assemblage as this elsewhere ; and yet this is only a part of the useful fruits and vegetables now culti- vated in California. We shall defer what we have to say of its farinaceous products until we come to speak of the state of agriculture. The object of the present sketch being mainly economical, or commer- cial and statistical, it never was my intention to notice matters foreign to this, however interesting. Had it been otherwise, I should have greatly regretted my inability to give any account of the natural history of California, which remains a rich and almost untrodden field for future inquiries. I will merely put down here a few observations which my scanty materials and imperfect knowledge enable me to make. The country abounds with trees, which grow not only in detached groups or clumps on the plains and valleys, but spread out into extensive forests. They grow to a large size, and are of various kinds, some resembling those of Europe, others peculiar to the country. Of the former kind are the oak, elm, ash, beech, birch, planes, and various varieties of pine. These last, and the oak, of which there are several varieties, are the most plentiful, and grow to the greatest size. The number and variety of shrubs are great, but the stock of indigenous trees bearing fruit is very small. An indigenous variety of vine was found by the early settlers, yielding grapes of a considerable size. TOPOGRAPHY 173 but not ripening to sweetness. The fathers intro- duced the true wine-grape {Vitis vinifera), which had long flourished in the Old California. Indeed, in many parts of California the native vine is so plentiful, and its produce so abundant, that brandy is now made from them in considerable quantity. The latitude of the Bay of San Francisco corresponds almost exactly with that of Lisbon, and is conse- quently not very much to the northward of Bor- deaux ; other parts of the country correspond in latitude with Madeira, and, in the opposite hemi- sphere, with the Cape of Good Hope ; so that this country embraces the analogues, at least, of the most celebrated wine countries in the world, and consequently offers a wide and most promising field for the cultivation of the grape in all its varieties. The missionaries, long ago, also introduced the European olive, which is successfully cultivated for its oil. The country is singularly free from underwood, — a circumstance which renders traveling through even the uncultivated parts much easier than in many other wild countries. No minerals of particular importance have been found in Upper California, nor any ores of metals. There are, however, a variety of rocks suited for building, as well as limestone slabs fit for paving, and plenty of clay for making bricks. 174 UPPER CALIFORNIA The country abounds with animals, both indi- genous and imported. Of the former, a few are peculiar to that part of America, but the majority are found in the countries lying to the north and south of it. Among the indigenous animals are found the American Hon {Felis concokr), the Ameri- can tiger {Felis onca)y buffaloes, stags, roes, the wild mountain - cat, foxes, bears, polecats, jackals, hares, rabbits, field -rats, &c., &c. The great tame- ness of some of these animals, the facility with which some are caught, and the reacquired wild- ness of others, show at once their number and how little civilization has extended in the country. ** Numerous herds of horses and cattle (says Langs- dorff) were running wild here, without any attention being paid to them ; the horned cattle even render the country not very safe for foot-passengers. Besides the herds, we met a great number of foxes, and a large wolf, which ran away frightened. The foxes appeared to live upon the most friendly terms with the young calves, and followed the cows about as if they had been equally their children." "We often amused ourselves (he says in another place) with shooting the crested partridges and the rabbits which abound upon the sand-hills near the shore. One day, we went, accompanied by twelve people, and conducted by thirty or forty Indians, to catch hares and rabbits by a sort of snaring, when, TOPOGRAPHY 175 in three hours, without firing a shot, we had taken seventy-five, and most of them aUve." * Of the indigenous quadrupeds, two of the most interesting is that termed by the Spaniards berendo, and a very large deer, which has been supposed by travelers to be the reindeer, but which is the elk or moose-deer of North America. The animal termed berendo is also a native of Old California, where it is termed, by the natives, taye, . '* It is (says Venegas) about the bigness of a calf a year and a half old, and greatly resembles it in figure, except in its head, which is like that of a deer, and the horns very thick, resembling those of a ram; its hoof large, round, and cloven; its tail short." This animal is the arga/i, a species which seems inter- mediate between the goat and the sheep. The Calif ornian species is the American argali, Ovis pygargus of Cuvier. They still abound in the plains at the foot of the mountains, and are always found in large herds. This animal is probably only a variety of the Asiatic argali, so plentiful in north and central Asia. The roe abounds. The large deer are now become scarce in California, being driven from their haunts by the herds of European cattle ; but they are still hunted for the sake of their hides and tallow, the latter being of very excellent quality, much superior to that of oxen. They were very * LangsdorfF: Voyages and Travels, vol. ii, pp. 179, 192. 176 UPPER CALIFORNIA plentiful when the country was first visited by the Spaniards. A large herd, we are told by Father Palou, was encountered by Father Serra on his first journey from Monterey to [San] Francisco, in the great plain of San Bernardino. The Spaniards, he says, at first took them for European cattle, and marveled not a little how they came there. But they soon found out they were deer, and the soldiers of the party contrived to shoot several of them. They found their horns to measure no less than eleven feet from tip to tip. Another large animal, termed by the natives cibolo^ is the wild American ox, or bison. It is also now banished to the wilds, but is sought by the hunter for its skin, which is dressed in a particular manner, with the hair on, and is used in many parts of Spanish America as a sort of bed or carpet. The otter and beaver are still to be found on all the rivers, lakes, and bays, but their numbers have greatly decreased since the country has become more settled. Even during the last twenty or thirty years the diminution of these animals is most marked. When Langsdorff's ship was lying in the Bay of San Francisco in 1804, he says "the valu- able sea-otter was swimming about the bay in num- bers, nearly unheeded ' ' ; and when Laperouse was there he calculated the annual power of supply of the presidency of Monterey alone at 10,000 skins TOPOGRAPHY 177 of this animal,* and he was assured that double that quantity might be furnished by the whole country, f The Indians, at that time, caught the otters in snares, on land, or knocked them down with sticks, their want of any other boats than balsas making them very inexpert fishermen by sea. In 1824, Captain Beechey estimated the annual export of skins at 2,000. Now the quantity is probably less than even this ; but there can be no doubt that the amount of produce might be greatly increased by a better system of hunting. Nothing can show the ignorance and folly that prevail in this country respecting all matters of commerce, more than the fact stated by this traveler, that, at the period of his visit, the inhabitants were actually buying otter-skins of the Russians at twenty dollars apiece, while the animals were swimming about unmolested in their own harbors ! We will defer any account of the domestic Euro- pean animals until we come to speak of the agri- culture and commerce. The feathered tribes, both of the land and water, are found in very great abundance. Some few are peculiar to California, but the majority are found either in the countries that lie to the south or north of it; but, as Captain Beechey observes, ** there are not many which delight either by the brilliancy or beauty of their plumage, or by the melody of their * Voyage, vol. iii, p. 307. t lb., vol. ii, p. 227. 12 N 178 UPPER CALIFORNIA note." This general character of the birds curi- ously indicates the character of the country as intermediate between the tropical regions, where the brightness and variety of the plumage of birds are so remarkable, and the colder climates of the north, which have such a delightful compensation for the soberer colors of their birds in the excel- lence of their song. The following list, chiefly taken from Laperouse, Vancouver, Langsdorff, and Beechey, comprehends all the more common birds. I set them down without any particular order. White-headed eagle, black vulture, great and small falcon, goshawk, . sparrow-hawk, large -horn owl, raven, magpie, crane, curlew, crow, oriole, wood- pecker, goatsucker, golden -crested wren, bee-eater, partridge, quail, jay, wood-pigeon, plover, snipe, razorbill, humming-bird, crane, goose, duck, cor- morant, pelican, heron, water-hen, shag, &c. The small-tufted partridges, peculiar to California, are most plentiful in the plains. They keep together in large flocks of three or four hundred, and are excellent eating.. Some of the species of sea-birds exist in immense abundance. Captain Beechey says that a species of wild goose, which came from the north in November, may be seen * ' covering whole acres of ground, or rising in myriads with a clang that may be heard at a very considerable distance." TOPOGRAPHY 179 The inhabitants of Upper CaUfornia, like those of the Lower, seem little regardful of the exhaustless stores of food contained in the waters of their shores. In the former (certainly not in the latter). Captain Beechey's explanation of the fact may be admissible; viz., that "fish are not much sought after, in con- sequence of the productions of the land being so very abundant." "Several sorts, however, (he adds,) are brought to the tables of the missions. In the Bay of Monterey we noticed the Scomber colias and another kind of mackerel, the torpedo and another species of Kaia^ a Chimcera, and swarms of small fish resembling the sardine. Mussels are found in con- siderable quantities upon the shores, and form a large portion of the food of the Indians bordering upon the coasts and rivers. At Monterey, two species of Haiiotis, of large size, are also extremely abundant, and equally sought after by the Indians. They are found on the granite rocks forming the southeast part of the bay, which appears to be their northern limit. The natives make use of these shells for ornaments, and decorate their baskets with pieces of them. Besides these shell-iish, there were noticed a few Patei/a, limpet, Turbo^ Cardium, and Mya shells, and, among other Lepas, a rare species of Lepas anatifera, and a Chiton {tunicatusl).'' * * Vol. ii, p. 83. N 2 CHAPTER IV SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF UPPER CALIFORNIA.— THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Upper California, when first visited by the Span- iards, was, as we have already seen, inhabited by the same race of men as the lower province. The natives of Upper California, however, varied some- what, both in their physical characters and customs, from those of their southern brethren, but hardly more than they differed from one another in differ- ent districts. They were acknowledged by all to be a timid and feeble race, compared with the hardy red men of the northeastern parts of North America ; but remarkable variations as to their physical character, in regard to size more especially, prevail amongst them. Hence, although the gen- eral testimony of observers gives them the above character, such striking exceptions are noticed that some have been led to give to the whole population a different character. Thus Venegas, in speaking of the 18(1 ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 181 natives of the southern province, says : * ' Of all the natives hitherto discovered, the Calif ornians are, at least, equal to any in the make of their bodies." Captain Beechey says : ' ' The stature of the Indians whom we saw in the missions was by no means diminutive. The Alchedoma are of good height, and the Tularenos were thought to be, generally, above the standard of Englishmen." On the contrary, Laperouse describes them as, in general, small and weak. M. Rollin, his surgeon, although he says they are taller than the Chilian Indians, yet gives the average height as five feet two and a half inches. Langsdorff says none of the men seen by him were above five feet. They are of a considerably darker color than the natives of the provinces more to the south, and what with their filthy habits and constant exposure to the sun, they approach the hue of the negro. They resemble the negro also in their large, projecting lips, and broad and flat noses. Their hair, however, is very different from that of the negro, being long and straight, not crisp. If left to grow, it hangs down to the hips, but they commonly cut it to the length of four or five inches, which makes it stick out like quills. The hair grows very far down towards the eyes, which makes their naturally low forehead look extremely low. The eye- brows are, in general, small, though in some bushy. The beard is also, in general, very scanty, although 182 UPPER CALIFORNIA occasionally a full, flowing beard is observed, the causes of the difference not being well known. Our earliest authority — Father Palou — notices the difference of color between the tribes on the two sides of the Bay of San Francisco, and also the con- trast between the Upper and Lower Californians in the mode of wearing their hair. He also considers this custom, as also that of sprinkling ashes on the body, as partly dependent on causes of temporary occurrence. '*A11 the natives of Upper California, (he says,) both men and women, cut their hair very short, particularly when any of their relations or friends die. In these cases they also put ashes on their heads, faces, and other parts of their bodies. This practice of throwing ashes on their persons was general among all the nations which had been reduced under the dominion of the Spaniards, but those in the south never cut their hair. On the contrary, they seem to have great pride in its abun- dance, and stick beads and other ornaments into wreaths of it bound round their heads. They are also in the habit of painting themselves in party- colored stripes of red and black ; and this is also an emblem of mourning for their friends, for whom they seem to entertain strong affections." Laperouse doubts whether the scantiness of beard so generally seen is natural or the effect of art. We believe that it is partly natural, but chiefly ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 183 the effect of art ; and they apply the same depilatory process to other parts of the body. These people also tattoo their bodies, but in a much less degree than the Indians of the islands, and the practice is chiefly confined to the women. They turn their toes inwards in walking ; and their timid carriage, at first sight, announces their pusillanimous character. Both sexes, in their native state, go nearly naked, having only a wrapper, of greater or less extent, around the waist. In the winter, however, they use a sort of outer garment of deerskin or otter- skin, or of the feathers of water-fowl. These latter are chiefly worn by the women, and are rather inge- niously constructed. The feathers are twisted and tied together into a sort of rope, and these are then tied close together so as to have a feathery surface on both sides. They twist strips of otter- skins in the same manner, so as to have the fur on both sides. Like all savages, they are fond of ornaments for their persons. These consist of bits of carved wood, worn as ear-rings ; bandeaux of feathers around the head; shells rounded and strung as beads; &c., &c. Their feather bandeaux are sometimes very beauti- ful, and the acquisition of the materials of some of them must be a work of great labor. Langs- dorff counted in one 450 tail-feathers of the golden- winged woodpecker, and as there are only two of these in each bird, that are used, half the number 184 UPPER CALIFORNIA of birds must have been killed to make up the wreath. The moral qualities of these people are certainly not beyond the range of their physical, although in judging of these we must neither take the estimate from the early reports of the Spaniards, nor from'^X the reports of travelers who have seen them only y in their domesticated state. The Spaniards have • always been anxious to establish a low estimate of ' their mental powers, as a reason and excuse for their 7 manner of treating them. Still, it must be admitted that the Californians are, as formerly stated, a feeble- '^ hearted and feeble-minded race. '*It is not easy " (says Father Venegas) for Europeans, who were never out of their own country, to conceive an adequate idea of these people ; for, even in the least - frequented corners of the globe, there is not a nation so stupid, of such contracted ideas, and weak, both in body and mind, as the unhappy Californians. Their characteristics are stupidity and insensibility ; want of knowledge and reflection ; inconstancy, impetuosity, and blindness of appetite ; an excessive sloth, and abhorrence of all fatigue; an incessant love of pleasure and amusement of every kind, however trifling or brutal ; — in fine, a most wretched want of everything which constitutes the real man, and renders him rational, inventive, tract- able, and useful to himself and society." In accordance with this view of the character of X ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 185 the natives, the Spaniards in the missions are in the habit of applying the degrading epithet of beasts (^bestias) to the wild or unconverted natives, while they assume to themselves, and even to their con- vertites, the term which has generally been supposed to belong to the whole human family, viz., rational creatures {gente de razon). Certain it is that they, at least, have none of that boldness and independence of character, and very little of that activity, industry, and perseverance, which distin- guish the Indians nearer the pole. Even the tribes only a few degrees to the north are much more ingenious and enterprising, — indeed, in every way more civilized. The whole of the Indians at present inhabiting the vast plains of the Tulares, as well as those on the Rio Colorado and to the northeast, are of the same race as those which formerly inhabited the coast, and whose children are now the subjects or slaves of the missionaries. They seem to have made no advances towards civilization since the first discovery of their country. Although they possess so favored a portion of the earth, they almost entirely neglect tillage, and live by the chase and spontaneous productions of the fields and forest. A trifling exception must, indeed, be made in favor of those who live in the immediate vicinity of the Spanish settlements, as they now possess some cattle and horses. The wild 186 UPPER CALIFORNIA Indians are divided into small tribes, which wage frequent wars with each other, chiefly, it is believed, on account of disputes respecting the boundaries of the districts wherein they respectively claim the exclusive right of hunting, and gathering fruits and other means of subsistence. Their numbers, in pro- portion to the extent of the country they inhabit, are, like those of all tribes in such a stage of civili- zation, or rather uncivilization, very small. Their habitations are small round huts of rushes, v/ of a temporary character, erected where they halt for a season, and burnt when they change their station. Their huts are well described by Captain Beechey, as well as the wretched condition of the inmates. "They were about thirty -five feet in circumference, constructed with pliable poles fixed in the ground, and drawn together at the top, to the height of twelve or fifteen feet. They are then interwoven with small twigs and covered with bulrushes, having an aperture at the side to admit the inhabitants, and another at the top to let out the smoke. The exterior appearance of these wretched wigwams greatly resembles a beehive. In each dwelling are nine or ten Indians, of both sexes and of all ages, nearly in a state of nudity, huddled round a fire kindled in the center of the apartment, a prey to vermin, and presenting a picture of misery and wretchedness seldom beheld in even the ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 187 most savage state of society." Although this picture is taken from a tribe of Indians that had left wIM life and voluntarily come in to one of the missions. Captain Beechey or his companions were given to understand that this was the state in which they live when free. It is to be believed, however, that these people, thus coming voluntarily to join the mission, had been previously sophisticated from their native wild habits by the vicinity of the strangers. "It is true (says old Venegas) that they stand in no need of large rooms for depositing their furniture, and the various articles of their wardrobe, by which the greatest part of our houses is taken up. In removing, they take all their furniture on their shoulders ; for they consist only of a chest, a dish, a bowl made in the shape of a high-crowned hat, a bone which serves them for an awl in making it, a little piece of touchwood for kindling a fire, a small net in which they put their fruit and seeds, another, in the shape of a purse or bag fastened to a kind of prong across their shoulders, in which they carry their children, and lastly, their bow and arrows, — to which some, who affect elegancy, add a shell for drinking. Those who live near the coasts have also nets for fishing. This furniture the women carry when they remove from one place to another. The men have only the bow and arrows, 188 UPPER CALIFORNIA with their appurtenances, as flints and feathers for the arrows, and sinews for the bows. But, to secure them, and at the same time not to incommode them in their march, they make holes in their ears, where they hang a large case, which holds the things they need." (Vol. i, p. 78.) The following account of the mode of subsistence, and of some of the habits, of the natives of Upper California, is particularly worthy of attention, not only as being drawn up by a resident, but as the first notice of these matters that can, in any way, be depended on. It is taken from Father Palou's work, to which we are already so largely indebted. '*The natives of this part of the country main- tain themselves by the seeds and herbs of the field, to collect which, when in season, is the duty of the women. The seeds they grind, and of the flour make gruel, and sometimes a kind of pudding or dough, which they form into balls of the size of an orange. Some of this flour has an agreeable flavor, and is very nutritive ; that produced from a black seed has the taste of toasted almonds. To this diet they add fish, which they catch on the shores of the bay, and which are exceedingly good. They have, also, shell - fish in abundance. In addition, they have the produce of the chase, and wild -fowl, such as deer, rabbits, geese, ducks, quails, &c. It also sometimes happens that a whale is driven on shore. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 189 an event which they celebrate with great rejoicings, as they value its flesh and blubber above all things. They roast the flesh of this animal in holes made in the earth, and when their first voracity is appeased, they hang up the remainder on the trees, and cut pieces off as they do with the seal, which they esteem next to the whale. In the woods, they also find acorns, which they grind in like manner, and make gruel and balls of. There are likewise nuts of the same quality as in Spain, and on the high ground and sand-hills, strawberries of excellent flavor, and much larger than those of Europe, which ripen in the months of May and June. There is likewise a blackberry, which is found in great abundance. In the highlands there is an edible root, which they call amok, about the size of an onion, and which, after being roasted in their ovens, has an agreeable, sweetish taste. "Another variety of this amole serves all the pur- poses of soap ; but of this the natives have no great need, as their clothing is very scanty. This, indeed, is exclusively confined to the females, the men going without any, except what nature gave them. *'The other sex, however, even the young girls, have always some covering, which is made of the tule, or bulrush, and which consists of one piece before and one behind, in the manner of a petticoat. They have also a piece thrown over their shoulders. The 190 UPPER CALIFORNIA men, in the mornings, are accustomed to plaster themselves over with mud. This, they say, keeps out the cold ; and, accordingly, when the sun grows hot, they wash it off. *' These people have their marriages, but they con- sist of no other ceremony than the consent of the parties, and they are only binding till they disagree, or choose to part. They have no other mode of canceling a marriage than by using the phrase, * I throw you away.' It is nevertheless true that we found many couples, both young and old, who lived in great unity and peace, esteeming their children, and their children them. Parentage or relationship forms no obstacle to their intermarriages. It is very common for the wife to urge her husband to marry her sisters, and even their mother ; and the common custom is, when a man first marries, that he takes the whole of the sisters for wives. These many wives of one husband live without jealousies or disputes, each looking on the whole of the children as if they were their own, and the whole living in one house. In fact, the first bap- tisms made at this mission were of three children, all born within two months, sons of an Indian man, and of three sisters, to all of whom he was married, as well as to their mother." Father Palou adds, that this description of the natives found on the borders of the Bay of San Francisco may be applied, with ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 191 some local differences, to the whole of the Indians of Upper California, as, although those Indians spoke many different languages, yet their habits and customs differed but little. The tule, or bulrushes, with which the rivers and lakes of the Indian country abound, are put by the natives to a variety of uses. One of the most important or singular of these is the structure of the rafts or boats, if they may be so called, with which they navigate their lakes and rivers, and even the bays and shores of the ocean. This raft, which, at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, and even to this day, constitutes almost their sole means of trans- port on the river, is termed balsa, and is perhaps the rudest or most primitive mode of navigation found among any people. The balsas are entirely formed of the bulrush, and are constructed by bind- ing them together into bundles of about ten feet in length, of considerable thickness in the middle, and gradually tapering to each end. These bundles or sheaves are then tied together at the ends until the whole mass is of sufficient size to buoy up two or more persons. The boat thus formed is about ten feet long, of considerable breadth in the middle, and tapering regularly to each end. They are propelled by paddles, and, from their shape, go equally well with either end foremost. In calm and smooth water, the center parts of the rafts may be dry, but more commonly 192 UPPER CALIFORNIA the rowers sit on them, soaked in water, as they seldom rise above the surface. The greatest me- chanical ingenuity displayed by the Indians is in the construction of their baskets and bows and arrows. Some of the former, constructed of the barks of trees, are water-tight, and used for carrying water. They are likewise employed for roasting their grain before it is ground. This operation is performed by the women, over a little lighted charcoal, and is done with so much rapidity and address that the grain is thoroughly roasted without setting fire to the basket, although this is made of very combustible materials. Many of the baskets are ornamented with the scarlet feathers of the Oriolus phoeniceus, or with the black crest-feathers of the Calif ornian partridge, and are really very handsome. The Californian bow is of a good shape, from three feet to four feet and a half long, neatly wrought, and strengthened with the tendons of deer. These not only support the wood, but greatly augment its elasticity. The arrows, as well as the bows, are neatly wrought, hav- ing points of obsidian or a kind of flint, which are let into the wood, and bound fast with tendons. The Indians are extremely skillful in the use of these weapons, killing the smallest birds with them. In doing so, however, they exhibit fully as much cunning and patience as skill, as they steal along concealed till they are very near their game, seldom ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 193 stooping until within fifteen or twenty paces. They show particular ingenuity and skill in their manner of killing deer. This has been noticed by all trav- elers, and is still practiced precisely in the same manner. **We saw an Indian (says Laperouse) with a stag's head fixed upon his own, walk on all-fours as if he were browsing the grass, and he played this pantomime to such perfection that all our hunters would have fired at him at thirty paces had they not been prevented. In this manner they approach herds of stags within a very small distance, and kill them with a flight of arrows." The same exhibition was made to Vancouver and Langsdorff. Laperouse further says : "By these means they can, nearly to a certainty, get within two or three yards of the deer, when they take an opportunity of its attention being directed to some other object, and discharge their arrows from their secreted bows, which is done in a very stooping attitude." Captain Beechey says, in addition, that the Indian not only imitates the actions but the voice of the deer, and seldom fails to entice several of the herd within his reach. Equal ingenuity is shown by them in catching water-fowl. The following is the account of this given by Captain Beechey : ' ' They construct large nets with bulrushes, and repair to such rivers as are the resort of their game, where they fix a long pole 13 o 194 UPPER CALIFORNIA upright on each bank, with one end of the net attached to the pole on the opposite side of the river to themselves. Several artificial ducks, made of rushes, are then set afloat upon the water between the poles, as a decoy, and the Indians, who have a line fastened to one end of the net, and passed through a hole in the upper end of the pole that is near them, wait the arrival of their game in conceal- ment. When the birds approach, they suddenly extend the net across the river by pulling upon the line, and intercept them in their flight, when they fall stunned into a large purse in the net, and are captured. They also spread nets across their rivers in the evening, in order that the birds may become entangled in them as they fly." * It is difficult to come at the real religion of the natives, on account of the general ignorance of their language. Laperouse says they have no knowledge of a god or future state ; more recent travelers assert that they are idolators, worshiping the sun, and believing in both a good and an evil spirit, whom they seek occasionally to propitiate. Father Paloii gives a somewhat different account of their religion. "In none of the missions (he says) has there been observed any idolatry whatever, — only a mere negative infidelity; neither have they shown the least difficulty in believing any of our mysteries. * Vol. ii, p. 75. ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 195 We have only observed amongst them some super- stitions and vain observances, and occasionally, among the old, some pretensions to supernatural power ; as, that they had the power to send the rains, thunder, &c. ; that they had dominion over the whales, &c. But these pretenders were seldom credited even by their own tribes, and they were believed to put forth these pretensions for the purpose of obtaining presents. One superstition, however, seemed firmly believed by all ; viz. , that any sickness with which they were afflicted arose from the incantations of their enemies." The Indians seem to have some notion of a future state. About San Francisco they burn their dead, after adorning the corpse with flowers, feathers, &c., and laying beside it a bow and arrows. The cere- mony is attended with loud shouting and other savage demonstrations of regret. More to the south- ward they always bury their dead ; and Father Paloii says that, in his time, there were, near Santa Barbara, inclosed cemeteries for the purpose. It is but justice to these poor people to state that their affections seem very strong, as exhibited in the extreme tenderness and love shown by the parents to their children, and the general care of the sick and wounded, and also the remarkable strength of their friendships. Long after the loss of friends, they shed tears on their being brought to their o 2 196 UPPER CALIFORNIA remembrance, and they conceive it to be a great offense for any one to name them in their presence. Laperouse says that although they neither eat their prisoners, nor their enemies killed in battle, yet that when they had vanquished and put to death, upon the field of battle, chiefs or very courageous men, they will eat some pieces of them, less as a sign of hatred or revenge, than as a homage which they pay to their valor, and from the belief, com- mon to them with many other savages, that this food will increase their own courage. The same authority informs us that they scalp their slain enemies, and pluck out their eyes, which they have the art of preserving free from decay, and carefully keep as precious signs of their victory. The Indians, in their native state, are very healthy, notwithstanding their filthy habits. It is very far otherwise in their domesticated state. Both with the wild and the domesticated tribes, the hot-air bath, or temescal, is the sovereign remedy for most of their diseases. This is administered in the following manner. A round hovel or oven of mud is built for the purpose. It has a small opening in the side to enter by, and a smaller one at the top for the escape of the smoke. Several persons enter this at the same time, quite naked, and make a fire close to the door, on the inside. They continue to add fresh wood to the fire as long as they can bear the • io* *a 0. D X h < o X ^ ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 197 heat. This soon throws them into a profuse perspi- ration over their whole frame. "They wring their hair, (says Captain Beechey,) and scrape their skin with a sharp piece of wood or an iron hoop, in the same manner as coach-horses are sometimes treated when they come in heated, and then plunge into a river or pond of cold water, which they always take care shall be near the temescal." A variety of this process — a hot-sand bath in place of a hot- air bath — is described by M. Rollin, but it seems to be more prevalent in the countries farther north. "The manner of preparing the temescal (he says) consists in scooping a trench in the sand, two feet wide, one foot deep, and of a length proportioned to the size of the patient. A fire is then made through the whole extent of it, as well as upon the sand which was dug out of the hollow. When the whole is thoroughly heated, the fire is removed and the sand stirred about, that the warmth may be equally diffused. The sick person is then stripped, laid down in the trench, and covered up to his chin with heated sand. In this position a very profuse sweat soon breaks out, which gradually dimin- ishes according as the sand cools. The patient then rises and bathes in the sea or nearest river. This process is repeated until a complete cure is obtained." * * Laperouse, vol. iii. 198 UPPER CALIFORNIA It is impossible to form any trustworthy opinion of the amount of the Indian population in the other parts of California, not in the immediate possession of the missions. < 0. ^ < ^ < z < Z o CHAPTER V ACCOUNT OF THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS. — PRESENT STATE OF THE INDIANS IN THEM.— REMARKS ON THE MISSIONARY SYSTEM GENERALLY, AND ON THE CONVERSION OF INFIDELS From the feeble and mild physical and moral characters of the aboriginal natives of California, as described in the preceding chapter, the success of the missionaries in subjecting them to their temporal and spiritual dominion, although certainly remark- able, is yet very easily understood. Much credit is unquestionably due to them, and the result exhibits, in a striking point of view, the efficacy of the system followed by the fathers, more especially when compared with that adopted by missionaries in other countries. Still, it will hardly be believed that had the Jesuits of Lower California or the Franciscans of the upper province (and the same may be said of the Jesuits in Paraguay) been set down amid many of the other tribes of the same continent, and yet more, among the fierce races of the islands and continents in the southern hemisphere, they would never have succeeded in civilizing — or to avoid dispute, domesticating — them, but would have been destroyed or driven from the country in 199 200 UPPER CALIFORNIA a short space of time. Their lot, however, was, fortunately, different ; and assuredly there are few events in history more remarkable, on the whole, or more interesting, than the transformation, on the great scale, wrought by the Jesuits and Franciscans in Paraguay and California. In the present chap- ter I purpose giving an account of the Indians in their converted or domesticated state, but must previously detail the progress of the different mis- sionary establishments, and their actual condition. Humboldt says that in 1776 there were eight villages or missions ; and in 1790, eleven ; and in 1802, eighteen. According to Laperouse, (who vis- ited California in that year,) there were ten missions in 1786, and the number of converted or domesticated Indians was 5,143. One of the missions — Santa Barbara — was only just founded, and contained no converts. Vancouver visited the coast in 1793, and found that several new missions had been founded since the visit of Laperouse ; viz., Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa [La Purisima Concepcion], and La Soledad." The following authentic document, supplied by Humboldt, gives the names of the missiops, and dates 'of their foundation, respectively, and the popu- lation in the year 1802, or rather, the number of the converted Indians^ the other classes not being mentioned. It is extracted from the Essay on New Spain. MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 201 Foun- dation Males 1769 1798 1776 1771 1797 1782 1786 1787 1772 1797 1791 1771 1770 1797 1791 1777 1797 1776 San Diego de Alcala .... San Luis Rey de Francia . San Juan Capistrano .... San Gabriel Arcangel .... San Fernando Rey de Espana San Buenaventura Santa Barbara La Purisima Concepcion . San Luis Obispo de Tolosa . San Miguel Arcangel .... Nuestra Seiiora de la Soledad San Antonio de Padua .... San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey San Juan Bautista Santa Cruz Santa Clara de Asis San Jose San Francisco de Asis .... 737 256 502 532 317 436 521 457 374 309 296 568 376 530 238 736 327 433 822 276 511 515 297 502 572 571 325 305 267 484 312 428 199 555 295 381 1,559 532 1,013 1,047 614 938 1,093 1,028 699 614 563 1,052 688 958 437 1,291 622 814 Totals 7,945 7,617 15,562 [in the orieinal edition, two errors appear in the Foundation column; viz., 1794 instead of 1791 (Santa Cruz), and 1779 instead of 1776 (San Francisco). Also, the names of the missions were much abbreviated. The error "Santa Rosa" (p. 200) is owing to Vancouver's " Sta Rosa la Purissima" (vol. ii, p. 489).] Humboldt informs us that he could not ascertain the numbers of the other classes of the population in 1802, whether whites, mestizos, or mulattoes, either in the presidios or in the service of the fathers, but he believed the whole number did not exceed 1,300. This would give the whole popula- tion of Upper California, at that time, at something less than 17,000 (16,862). The number of missions founded to the present time is twenty-one, and the total amount of the Indian population in these, in the year 1831, was 18,683. The number of other classes, exclusive of the Indians, that is, of the garrison and free settlers, was 4,342, — making a total of 23,025 for the whole 202 UPPER CALIFORNIA country. The following table gives an accurate state- ment of all classes of the population, and in every locality, in the year just mentioned. The enumeration will hold nearly good for the present time (1835). Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, People of All Classes and Ages and Towns Men Women Boys Girls Total Jurisdiction of San Francisco Presidio of San Francisco . . . . 124 85 89 73 371 Town of San Jose de Guadalupe . . . 166 145 103 110 524 Mission of San Francisco Solano . . . 285 242 88 90 705 Id. of San Rafael Arcangel . . . 406 410 105 106 1,027 Id. of San Francisco de Asis 146 65 13 13 237 Id. of Santa Clara de Asis . . . 752 491 68 60 1,371 Id. of San Jose . . , 823 659 100 145 1,727 Id. of Santa Cruz 222 94 30 20 366 Jurisdiction of Monterey ' Presidio of Monterey 311 190 110 97 708 Village of Branciforte 52 34 27 17 130 Mission of San Juan Bautista .... 480 351 85 71 987 Id. of San CarlosBorromeode Monterey 102 79 34 21 ' 236 Id. of Nuestra Seiiora de la Soledad 210 81 23 20 334 Id. of San Antonio de Padua . 394 209 51 17 671 Id. of San Miguel Arcangel . . 349 292 46 61 748 Id. of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa . 211 103 8 7 329 Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara Presidio 0/ Santa Barbara .... 167 120 162 164 613 Mission of La Purisima Concepcion. . 151 218 47 34 450 Id. of Santa Ines 142 136 82 96 456 Id. of Santa Barbara 374 267 51 70 762 Id. of San Buenaventura .... 383 283 66 59 791 Id. of San Fernando Rey de Espana 249 226 177 181 833 Town of La Reina de los Angeles . . 552 421 213 202 1,388 Jurisdiction of San Diego Presidio ©/"San Diego 295 -| Mission of San Gabriel Arcangel . . Id. of San Juan Capistrano . 574 464 ' 1,911 683 621 5,686* Id. of San Luis Rey de Francia 1,138^ Id. of San Diego de Alcala . . . 750 520 162 146 1,575 Totals 10,272 7,632 2,623 2,498 23,025 * We are unable to give these latter details accurately, the copy having accidentally caught fire when in the hands of the printer. MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 203 In illustration of the preceding table, as well as to exhibit the general economy of the missions, it is necessary to give some account of the various departments or classes in which the population is distributed. Presidencies, or Presidios. — Upper California is divided into four military districts, the head- quarters of which are respectively denominated the presidio of the district or jurisdiction. At each of these, troops are stationed, under the authority of a military commandant. These presidencies, as seen in the table, are San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. The buildings at the different stations are nearly all of the same class and dimensions. They consist of a square of about one hundred yards each side, inclosed by a wall of unburnt bricks, called adobes, of about four yards in height, within which are the residence of the commandant, lodging for the troops, the church, warehouses, &c. A short distance from the presidios are what they choose to call the castillos, or forts. That of San Francisco, which is thought to be the most formidable, is about a mile distant from the presidio. It is, however, of little use, both from its bad construction and too elevated situation. It is meant to protect the entrance to the harbor, but in its present state it can neither protect nor annoy anything. That of Monterey, although its situation 204 UPPER CALIFORNIA is good for commanding the anchorage, yet, as it has no parapet, and only a few guns of small caliber and in very bad condition, is of no consequence. At Santa Barbara, two old guns lie on an esplanade, but are quite unserviceable. The castillo of San Diego is about five miles from the presidio. Its locality renders it of no use, but there are good situations in the intricate entrance to the harbor which could be fortified so as easily to prevent the entrance of an enemy. Those fortifications resemble the innumerable others which the Spaniards thought necessary to erect in all their colonies. A fort was always thought absolutely necessary at every sup- posed vulnerable point ; but, so that a castillo was once erected, with a few guns, generally of heavy metal, the duty of the government and the com- mandant for the time being was considered as ful- filled, and the rot and the rust were forever after left to their natural province of destruction. It is nearly a century since anything has been done for the castillos of California. A good practical illus- tration of the strength of these forts was afforded in the year 1819, when a pirate -vessel from Buenos Ay res landed a few men at Monterey, captured the fort, destroyed most of its guns, and pillaged and burnt the town. In each of the presidios there are a certain num- ber of soldiers stationed, who have always been MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 205 troops of an inferior description. Those that went with the first settlers were a sort of mihtia raised on the Indian borders of Sonora, and denominated ^^ compahias de cueras,'' (Hterally, hide companies,) from their wearing a sort of cuirass of hides {cuera), in order to defend them from the arrows of the Indians. The number of troops assigned to each presidio was two hundred and fifty, but this number was never complete. They consisted entirely of horse. They were always badly clothed, and worse paid, so that their appearance was that of tattered ragamuffins; and from their undisciplined state and idle habits, they were good for nothing except to retake any of the miserable Indians who might escape from the missions, which was indeed their chief employ- ment. The policy of the missionaries always was to prevent the increase of any considerable popula- tion, except at their own missions ; and the soldiers were not allowed to marry, except by express per- mission from the king, and this was, of course, not easily obtained ; so that those men lived in a sort of celibacy which corresponded with the other monastic establishments. In the present day, things are somewhat altered, but not much for the better; for whatever soldiers are sent to California are the refuse of the Mexican army, and most frequently are deserters, mutineers, or men guilty of military crimes. Those presidios are also appropriated as 206 UPPER CALIFORNIA receptacles for transported felons ; so that California is the Botany Bay of Mexico. Ranch OS, or National Farms. — In the neighborhood of each presidio, and generally at the distance of four or five leagues, certain farms, called *'ranchos," are set apart for the use of the soldiers. These, on their first establishment, were also meant to be depositories of tithes to be collected in cattle and grain by the government ; but, as the missions have never been liable to tithes, and the other settlements are of small value, this branch of revenue was never of much consequence, and those ranchos only contain a few cattle belonging to the presidios. They are under the direction of the commandants of the respective presidios. Towns, or "Pueblos." — There are only three free towns independent of the missions and presidios in all Upper California. These towns owe their origin to the retirement of the old Spanish or creole soldiers in the service of the missions, who, after a certain length of service, become entitled to exemp- tion from any further military services, and have permission either to return to their native land or to settle in the country. Most of these soldiers are married and have families, and when the retirement of ' the pueblos is preferred, grants of land, with some necessary articles, are given them to commence their new occupation of husbandry, MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 207 which, with the aid of the natives, they generally cultivate successfully. The most fertile spots have been generally chosen for the pueblos, and the produce of these not only supports the inhabitants of the place, but supplies the wants of the neigh- boring mission and presidio. The principal pueblo is Nuestra Senora de los Angelesy situated about eight miles from the mis- sion of San Gabriel, and about twenty miles from a roadstead on the Pacific, called San Pedro. The population of the town is about fifteen hundred. It has an alcalde or mayor, three regidores, and a sindico : this composes its ayuntamiento, or town council. The vicinity is occupied by vineyards and maize-fields, and as the lands are level and highly fertile, it is capable of great agricultural improve- ment. This town has been proposed as the capital of the country; and as the Spaniards have, in their colonies, always chosen an inland situation for their capital towns, this scheme might have been adopted if the country had remained in their hands, but it is to be presumed ) that Monterey will, under the present circumstances, be considered as the capital until a population shall arise on the Bay of San Francisco, when, from its superiority as a harbor, the capital town will ultimately, no doubt, be fixed there. The second town is San Jose^ situated about a league from the mission of Santa Clara, and twenty 208 UPPER CALIFORNIA leagues from the Bay of San Francisco. A small river, or, rather, large rivulet, passes by it, and discharges itself into that bay. The inhabitants amount to about six hundred, and it has its alcalde and council, the same as Los Angeles. The inhabi- tants occupy themselves in the cultivation of wheat and other grain ; they have a considerable number of cattle, and trade in the skins and tallow of deer, which are found in great numbers in this district. The situation of this town is in a very extensive plain, and in a part of the country highly adapted for the cultivation of wheat ; but in some places it is deficient in water, at least for the purpose of irri- gation, which, in many parts of California, is neces- sary for successful cultivation, owing to the long droughts which are experienced at certain seasons of the year. In this neighborhood there are still large tracts of fine land unoccupied by the missions. The third town is called Branciforte. It is about a mile distant from the mission of Santa Cruz, a mile and a half from the shore of the Bay of Monte- rey, and eighteen leagues from the presidio of that name. Its inhabitants do not much exceed a hun- dred and fifty, and their occupation is rural labor. This town has also its alcalde, but is dependent on the military commandant of Monterey. This account of the few free towns, or rather villages, that exist in Upper California, shows how MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 209 little progress population has made in this country by free settlers. This arises not only from the inap- titude of the Spaniards for colonizing a country of this description, but also from the jealousy of the missionaries, who arrogated to themselves the property of almost the whole of the land, so that settlers could only establish themselves by their toleration. By this means, only a select number were admitted, and these firm adherents of the missionaries, who would blindly obey their mandates, which mandates, with the inquisition in their neighborhood, were not to be trifled with. The whole of the free settlers even at this time do not exceed five thousand. In this number is included the whole population of white and mixed castes who live in the country, in the free villages, and at the missions and presidios, exclusive of the Indians bound to the missions. Of these free settlers, many live at the missions and on their lands, and can hardly be said to be independent of them. It is obvious that it is from the free white and Creole races, and from the introduction of fresh colonists, the future population of California must proceed ; for the enslaved Indians are already on the decline, and on the dissolution of the missionary system they will dwindle away, and soon become almost extinguished. Nothing can be more remarkable than the physical 14 P 210 UPPER CALIFORNIA difference between the free creole race (including the mestizos or those of mixed blood) and the enslaved Indians of the missions. The Creoles are a remarkably fine set of people, of large stature, and of as athletic form as perhaps any other in the world. I have seen natives of Upper California who might pass for the fabled giants of Patagonia ; and when they go, at times, to the Mexican coast, the contrast between them and the emaciated inhab- itants of the aguish shores of the more southern country is most conspicuous. The Missions. — These estabhshments are all formed on the same plan, and consequently greatly resemble each other. They vary, however, accord- ing to their extent, standing, and population, and also according to the individual character of the directing fathers for the time being. Each mission is governed by one or more missionaries, all friars of the order San Francisco. One of these is styled prefect, and not president,^ as was formerly the case. Through him is (or was) carried on all the public correspondence with the government of Mexico ; but he has no power superior to the others, and each may be said to be absolute in his own mission. Each mission has allotted to it, in the first instance, a tract of land of about fifteen miles square, which is generally fertile, and well suited for husbandry. This land is set apart for the ...1 ^ ¥?s - vv ^^ ' r^i '^^ i^ 6 * s *j»r f l.il" >/%> %^ ' ■ ■= '^ I'-.^'f „ , -e Mi 'I ^^f" '^ '^?i6a*' »:riiJSm . MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 211 general uses of the mission, part being cultivated, and part left in its natural condition and occupied as grazing-ground. The buildings of the mission are, like the presidio, all on the same general plan, but are varied according to the locality and number of the inhabitants. Most of the missionary villages or residences are surrounded by a high wall inclos- ing the whole; others have no such protection, but consist of open rows of streets of little huts built of bricks. Some of these are tiled and whitewashed, and look neat and comfortable. Others are dirty and in disrepair, and in every way uncomfortable. In the mission of Santa Clara, which in several respects excels the others, the houses of the Indians form five rows or streets, which, compared with the old straw huts, must be considered really comfortable ; and this is the greatest improvement that has taken place in the domestic civilization of these people at the missions. The buildings are generally built in the form of a square, or part of a square, the church usually forming a portion of the elevation. The apartments of the fathers, which are often spacious, the granaries, and workshops, compose the remainder. The Indian population generally live in huts, at about two hundred yards distant from the principal edifices. These huts are sometimes made of adobes, but the Indians are often left to raise them on their own plan ; viz., of rough poles erected into P 2 212 UPPER CALIFORNIA a conical figure of about four yards in circum- ference at the base, covered with dry grass, and a small aperture for the entrance. When the huts decay, they set them on fire, and erect new ones, which is only the work of a day. In these huts the married part of the community live, the unmarried of both sexes being kept, each sex separate, in large, barn-like apartments, where they work under strict supervision. The storehouses and workshops, at some of the larger missions, are of great extent and variety. There may be seen a place for melting tallow, one for making soap, workshops for smiths, carpenters, &c., storehouses for the articles manu- factured and the produce of the farms, viz., stores for tallow, soap, butter, salt, wool, hides, wheat, peas, beans, &c., &c., &c. Four or five soldiers have their residence a few yards farther off, and are meant to watch the Indians and to keep order; but they are generally lazy, idle fellows, and often give the missionary more trouble than all his Indians, and instead of rendering assistance, increase his troubles. But, in all Spanish countries, nothing can possibly be done without soldiers, and the idea of having any public establishment without a guard of soldiers would appear quite ridiculous. The church is, of course, the main object of attraction at all the missions, and is often gaudily decorated. In some of the missions, where there is MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 213 good building- stone in the vicinity, the external appearance of the sacred building is not unseemly; in other missions the exterior is very rude. In all of them, the interior is richer than the outside promises. In several there are pictures, and the subject of these is generally representations of heaven or hell, glaringly colored, purposely, to strike the rude senses of the Indians. Laperouse says that the picture of hell in the church of San Carlos has, in this way, done incalculable service in promoting conversion, and well remarks that the Protestant mode of worship, which forbids images and pom- pous ceremonies, could not make any progress among these people. He is of opinion that the picture of paradise in the same church has exerted comparatively little effect, on account of its tame- ness; but Langsdorff tells of wonders in this way wrought by a figure of the Virgin represented as springing from the coronal of leaves of the Agave Americana^ or great American aloe, instead of the ordinary stem ! The priests also take care to be provided with rich dresses, for the same purpose of inspiring awe. The object of the whole of the Calif ornian or missionary system being the conversion of the Indians, and the training of them up, in some sort, to a civilized life, the constant care of the fathers is, and ever has been, directed towards these ends. 214 UPPER CALIFORNIA ' The children born in the missions are, of course, devoted to the missionary discipline from their infancy ; but the zeal of the fathers is constantly looking out for converts from among the wild tribes on the borders of their territories. Formerly, when the missionaries were strangers in the land, and the natives were numerous, and spread around their settlements, there was no lack of materials on which to exercise their converting zeal. But for a good many years the case has been different. The natives have become fewer in number, and have been gradually receding from the missionary territory. The very progress of conversion has necessarily occasioned this. New means of obtaining converts have been therefore had recourse to ; and there can be no doubt that some of these means , go far beyond the bounds of legitimate persuasion. It would be injustice to tax the fathers with openly sanctioning, much less directing, the more severe of these means ; yet they cannot be altogether ignorant of them, and must be regarded as encouraging them indirectly. And, indeed, it must be admitted that, with their particular views of the efficacy of baptism and ceremonial profession of Christianity in saving souls, the conversion of the Indians even by force can hardly be otherwise regarded by them than as the greatest of benefits conferred on these people, and therefore justifying some severity in MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 215 effecting it. No one who has seen or known any- thing of the singular humanity and benevolence of these good fathers will for a moment believe that they could sanction the actual cruelties and blood- shed occasionally wrought in their name by the military and more zealous converts. Certain it is, however, that every encouragement is held out to all who shall bring in gentiles for conversion. Converts that can be depended on are stationed in the vicinity of the haunts occupied by their wild brethren, whose business it is to represent their own condition in the most favorable light possible, with the view of inducing them to join the missionary fold. Others are permitted to pay visits to their kindred of more distant tribes, with the same views, and are almost expected to bring back converts with them. "At a particular period of the year, also," we are told by Captain Beechey, "when the Indians can be spared from the agricultural concerns of the establishment, many of them are permitted to take the launch of the mission and make excursions to the Indian territory. ... On these occasions the padres desire them to induce as many of their un- converted brethren as possible to accompany them back to the mission, of course implying that this is to be done only by persuasion ; but the boat being furnished with a cannon and musketry, and in every respect equipped for war, it too often happens that 216 UPPER CALIFORNIA the neophytes and the gente de razon, who super- intend the direction of the boat, avail themselves of their superiority, v^^ith the desire of ingratiating themselves with their masters, and of receiving a reward. There are, besides, repeated acts of aggression which it is necessary to punish, all of which furnish proselytes. Women and children are generally the first objects of capture, as their husbands and parents sometimes voluntarily follow them into captivity." * One of these proselytizing expeditions into the Indian territory occurred during the period of Cap- tain Beechey's visit in 1826, which ended in a battle, with the loss, in the first instance, of thirty-four of the converted, and eventually in the gain (by a second expedition, sent to avenge the losses of the first) of forty women and children of the invaded tribes. These were immediately enrolled in the list of the mission, and were nearly as immediately converted into Christians. The process by which this was effected is so graphically described by Cap- tain Beechey, that it would be doing him injustice to use any words but his own. "I happened (he says) to visit the mission about this time, and saw these unfortunate beings under tuition. They were clothed in blankets, and arranged in a row before a blind Indian, who understood * Beechey: Voyage to the Pacific, vol. ii, p. 24. MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 217 their dialect, and was assisted by an alcalde to keep order. Their tutor began by desiring them to kneel, informing them that he was going to teach them the names of the persons composing the Trinity, and that they were to repeat in Spanish what he dictated. The neophytes being thus arranged, the speaker began, * Santisima Trinidad, — Dios, Jesu Cristo, Espiritu Santo,' pausing between each name to listen if the simple Indians, who had never spoken a Spanish word before, pronounced it correctly, or anything near the mark. After they had repeated these names satisfactorily, their blind tutor, after a pause, added ' Santos,' and recapitulated the names of a great many saints ; which finished the morning's tuition." * After a few days, no doubt, these promising pupils were christened, and admitted to all the benefits and privileges of Christians and gente de razon. Indeed, I beHeve that the act of making the cross, and kneeling at proper times, and other such -like mechanical rites, constitute no small part of the religion of these poor people. The rapidity of the conversion is, however, frequently stimulated by practices much in accordance with the primary kidnaping of the subjects. " If, as not infrequently happens, any of the captured Indians show a repugnance to conversion, it is the practice to * Beechey: Voyage to the Pacific, vol. ii, p. 30. 218 UPPER CALIFORNIA imprison them for a few days, and then to allow them to breathe a little fresh air in a walk round the mission, to observe the happy mode of life of their converted countrymen ; after which they are again shut up, and thus continue incarcerated until they declare their readiness to renounce the religion of their forefathers." * As might be believed, the ceremonial exercises of the Roman Catholic religion occupy a considerable share of the time of these people. Mass is performed twice daily, besides high- days and holidays, when the ceremonies are much grander and of longer duration ; and at all the per- formances every Indian is obliged to attend, under the penalty of a whipping; and the same method of enforcing proper discipline, as in kneeling at proper times, keeping silence, &c., is not excluded from the, church service itself. In the aisles and passages of the church, zealous beadles of the converted race are stationed, armed with sundry weapons of potent influence in effecting silence and attention, and which are not sparingly used on the refractory or inattentive. These consist of sticks and whips, long goads, &c., and they are not idle in the hands of the officials that sway them. The following is the course of proceedings in the missions on ordinary occasions ; and as there is little or no variety in their monotonous life, the * Becchey, vol. ii, p. 18. MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 219 picture may be received as a general one. It was thus witnessed by Laperouse, and it is equally extant at the present time. The Indians, as well as the missionaries, rise with the sun and go to mass, which lasts about an hour. While this is in progress, the breakfast is prepared, — the favorite atole, or pottage, which consists of barley flour, the grain being roasted previously to grinding. It is cooked in large kettles, and is seasoned with neither salt nor butter. Every cottage or hut sends for the allow- ance for all its inmates, which is carried home in one of their bark baskets. Any overplus that remains is distributed among the children, as a reward for good behavior, particularly . for good lessons in the catechism. After breakfast, which lasts about three quarters of an hour, they proceed to their labors, either out of doors or within. At . noon, the dinner is announced by a bell, and the Indians, quitting their work, go and receive their rations as at breakfast -time. The mess now served is somewhat of the same kind as the former, only varied by the addition of maize, peas, and beans. It is named pozok. After dinner, they return to their work, from two to four or five. Afterwards, they attend evening mass, which lasts nearly an hour, and the day is finished by another supply of atole, as at breakfast. In the intervals of the meals and prayers, the Indians are, of course, variously employed. 220 UPPER CALIFORNIA according to their trade or occupation ; that is to say, either in agricultural labors, according to the season, or in the storerooms, magazines, and laboratories of the mission. The women are much occupied in spinning, and other little household labors; the men, in combing wool, weaving, melting tallow, &c., or as carpenters, shoemakers, brick- layers, blacksmiths, &c. One of the principal occupations of the missions is the manufacturing a coarse sort of cloth from the wool of their own sheep, for the purpose of clothing the Indians, j^ The grinding the corn is left almost entirely to the women, and is still performed by a hand-mill. All the girls and widows are kept in separate houses during the day, while at work, being only permitted to go out occasionally, like boys at school. The unmarried of both sexes, as well adults as children, are carefully locked up at night, in separate houses, the keys being left in the keeping of the fathers : and when any breach of this rule is detected, the culprits, of both sexes, are severely punished by whip- ping, — the men in public, the women privately. It is obvious from all this that these poor people are, in fact, slaves under another name; and it is no wonder that Laperouse found the resemblance pain- fully striking between their condition and that of the negro slaves of the West Indies. Sometimes, although rarely, they attempt to break their bonds, MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 221 and escape into their original haunts. But this is of rare occurrence, as, independently of the difficulty of escaping, they are so simple as to believe that they have hardly the power to do so, after being baptized, regarding the ceremony of baptism as a sort of spell which could not be broken. Occasionally, however, they overcome all imaginary and real obstacles, and effect their escape. In such cases, the runaway is immediately pursued, and as it is always known to which tribe he belongs, and as, owing to the enmity subsisting among the tribes, he will not be received by another, he is almost always found, and surrendered to the pursuers by his pusillanimous countrymen. When brought back to the mission, he is always first flogged, and then has an iron clog attached to one of his legs, which has the effect of preventing his running away, and marking him out in terrorem to others. Notwithstanding this dark picture of the general mode of life of the converted Indians, it must not be imagined that it is one of much real hardship, or that it is generally thought so by the parties them- selves. On the contrary, it accords too well with the native indolence of their character and total defect of all independent spirit. It is true that the system tends most powerfully to keep up and to aggravate the natural defects in their character, and to frustrate all prospect of true civilization and 222 UPPER CALIFORNIA all rational improvement. Still, it cannot be said that they are discontented. If they lead the life of groveling animals, they have, at least, their negative happiness. If they are cribbed like the stalled ox, they are fed like him, and they have hardly more care or fear for the future than he has. The bliss is theirs Of that entire dependence that prepares Entire submission, let what may befall. . . . No forecast, no anxieties, have they : The Jesuit governs and instructs and guides ; Food, raiment, shelter, safety, he provides : Their part it is to honor and obey, Like children under wise paternal sway.* Their labor is very light, and they have much leisure time to waste in their beloved inaction, or in the rude pastimes of their aboriginal state. These last consist chiefly of dances and certain games, and gambling of various kinds. Of two games they are especially fond, and spend much of their time, like boys, as they are, in their performance. They are thus described by Laperouse : ' ' The first, to which they give the name of takersiuy consists in throw- ing and rolling a small hoop, of three inches in diameter, in a space of ten square fathoms, cleared of grass. Each of the two players holds a stick, of the size of a common cane, and five feet long. They endeavor to pass this stick into the hoop whilst it is in motion. If in this they succeed, they gain two * Southey : A Tale of Parag;iiay, canto iv, 7, 8. MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 223 points; and if the hoop, when it stops, simply rests upon their stick, they gain one by it. The game is in three points. This game is a violent exercise, because the hoop or the stick is always in motion. "The other game, named tousse, is more easy. They play it with four, — two on each side. Each in his turn hides a piece of wood in his hands, whilst his partner makes a thousand gestures to take off the attention of the adversaries. It is curious enough to a bystander to see them squatting down opposite to each other, keeping the most profound silence, watching the features and most minute cir- cumstances which may assist them in discovering the hand which conceals the piece of wood. They gain or lose a point, according to their guessing right or wrong, and those who gain have a right to hide in their turn. The game is five points, and the common stake is beads." * These and other games of chance, some of them learnt from the Spaniards, as those at cards, are indulged in to a criminal excess ; and frequently they lose, in this way, all they can call their own, — the clothes off their backs, the favors of their wives, and even their wives themselves. This picture is not softened by the addition of intoxication, — a vice not infrequent in the missions. From the total subjection in which the Indians * Laperouse, vol. ii, p. 224. 224 UPPER CALIFORNIA grow up and live, never being taught, or indeed allowed, to act, and hardly to think, for them- selves, it could scarcely be expected that they should attain any real knowledge of life or independence of conduct, even if they had been originally of a better stock. As it is, they are, in regard to the capacity and power of acting as members of a civilized community, on a lower scale than even the domesticated negroes of the West Indian colonies. They are reduced to the state of mere automatons, totally subjected to the direction and guidance of others. It has accordingly been inva- riably found that when any of them have been set at liberty, or placed in a position to act for them- selves, by leaving the missions or otherwise, they were utterly incapable of maintaining themselves ; nay, even so stupid as to be incapable of exercising the office of a beggar, even when their very exist- ence seemed at stake. This seems hardly credible, yet it is a fact. The extreme state of debasement in which they are held not only has deprived them of their mental powers, but it has diminished their physical strength. They are not only stupid and pusillanimous, but puny and feeble. It is well known that savages are prone to be filthy in their habitations ; but, in their natural state, their living so much in the open air, their exertions in hunting and diversions, counteract MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 225 this cause of disease ; but at the missions, the Indians being still allowed to live in all their native filthiness, and their lives being now comparatively sedentary, with little corporeal and less mental exercise, they inevitably grow up debilitated in body as well as in mind. And how could it be otherwise ? All thoughts and occupations to commute. To change their air, their water, and their food, And those old habits suddenly uproot, Conformed to which the vital powers pursued Their functions, — such mutation is too rude For man's fine frame unshaken to sustain.* Great numbers fall a prey to fevers, dysenteries, and other acute diseases. Langsdorff tells us that the missionaries informed him that upon the least illness they become wholly cast down, and lose all courage and care for recovery, refusing to attend to the diet or anything else recommended for them. Chronic diseases of various kinds are also prevalent, and add to the mortality. Syphilis prevails to a frightful extent, being indeed almost universal, not only among the Indians, but the Creoles and Spaniards. It produces frightful ravages among the former, as they refuse all treatment of it, even when this is accessible to them, which is not always the case. These circumstances, with the natural tendency which all the Indian race have to diminish in * Southey: A Tale of Paraguay, canto iv, 28. 15 Q 226 UPPER CALIFORNIA numbers in a state of civilization, much more in a state of bondage, make the loss of life very great in the missions ; and now that fresh recruits can be procured with difficulty, and, under recent events, probably not at all, and consequently the stock maintained only by the procreation of those already domesticated, it is probable that the whole race will gradually diminish, and, in a few generations more, will become entirely extinct. In concluding this sketch of the present state of the domesticated Indians of California, which unquestionably betrays a lamentable want of judg- ment and sound philosophy on the part of the men who have been the original founders, and are still the strenuous supporters, of the system under which these melancholy results have arisen, it would be extreme injustice not to place in the strongest contrast with their want of judgment the excellent motives and most benevolent and Christian - like intentions by which they have been always influenced. Considering the perfectly absolute and totally irre- sponsible power possessed by the missionaries over the Indians, their conduct must be allowed to have been invariably marked by a degree of benevolence and humanity and moderation probably unexampled in any other situation. To each missionary is allotted the entire and exclusive management of his mission. He is the absolute lord and master of all MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 227 his Indians, and of the soil. He directs, without the least interference from others, all the operations and economy of the establishment, — agricultural, mechanical, manufacturing, and commercial, — and disposes, according to his will and pleasure, of the produce thereof. He allots his lands ; orders his seed - time and harvest ; distributes his cattle ; encourages, chastises, and commands all the human beings under his charge, — and all this without being accountable to any power on earth ; for, by a conve- nient fiction, this property belongs to the Indians, and the Indians are his slaves. There are, I fear, few examples to be found, where men enjoying such unlimited confidence and power have not abused them. And yet I have never heard that the missionaries of California have not acted with the most perfect fidelity, or that they ever betrayed their trust or exercised inhumanity, and the testi- mony of all travelers who have visited this country is uniformly to the same effect. On the contrary, there are recorded instances of the most extraordinary zeal, industry, and philanthropy in the conduct of those men. Since the country has been more opened, strangers have found at their missions the most generous and disinterested hospitality, protection, and kindness, and this without one solitary instance to the contrary, that I have ever heard of. I cannot avoid this opportunity of gratifying my Q2 228 UPPER CALIFORNIA feelings by noticing in a more especial manner one of those worthy men, as affording a recent example of what I have said of their order. Father Antonio Peyri, whose portrait appears in the front of this volume, took possession of the mission of San Luis Rey in the year 1798. He first built a small thatched cottage, and asked for a few cattle and Indians from the mission. After a constant residence of thirty-four years at this place, he left it stocked with nearly sixty thousand head of domesticated animals of all sorts, and yielding an annual produce of about thirteen thousand bushels of grain, while the population amounted to nearly three thousand Indians ! He left also a complete set of buildings, including a church, with inclosures, &c. Yet, after these thirty-four years of incessant labor, in which he expended the most valuable part of his life, the worthy Peyri left his mission with only what he judged to be sufficient means to enable him to join his convent in the city of Mexico, where he threw himself upon the charity of his order. The toil of managing such an establishment would be sufficient motive for a man of Father Peyri' s age to retire ; but the new order of things, which has introduced new men and new measures, — when the political power has been intrusted to heads not over- wise, and to hands not over-pure, when the theoretical doctrines of liberty and MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 229 equality have been preached, while oppression and rapine have been practiced, — has doubtless accelerated his resignation. Whatever his motives may have been, his voluntary retirement in poverty, to spend his remaining days in pious exercises, must be applauded by the religious, and his noble disinter- estedness by all. At his mission, strangers of all countries and modes of faith, as well as his fellow- subjects, found always a hearty welcome and the utmost hospitality. Many of my countrymen and personal friends have related to me with enthusiasm the kindness and protection which they have received at his hands, — boons which are doubly valuable where places of entertainment do not exist, and where security is not very firmly established. I had the pleasure of seeing the Father Peyri on his way to Mexico, and although I had heard much of him before, yet his prepossessing appearance, his activity, and knowledge of the world, far above what could have been expected under the circumstances, gave me even a higher opinion of his worth than I before entertained. The excellent climate from which he had come, and his constant employment in the open air, made him look like a robust man of fifty years of age, although he was then sixty- seven ; and although his general character and manners were necessarily very different from what could be expected from a mere cloistered monk, yet 230 UPPER CALIFORNIA in his gray Franciscan habit, which he always wore, with his jolly figure, bald head, and white locks, he looked the very beau ideal of a friar of the olden time. This worthy man, having now entered the cloisters of a convent, may be considered as dead to the world ; but he will live long in the memory of the inhabitants of California, and of those numer- ous strangers who have been entertained at his hospitable board at San Luis Rey. The best and most unequivocal proof of the good conduct of these fathers is to be found in the unbounded affection and devotion invariably shown towards them by their Indian subjects. They venerate them not merely as friends and fathers, but with a degree of devotedness approaching to adoration. On the occasion of the removals that have taken place of late years from political causes, the distress of the Indians, in parting with their pastors, has been extreme. They have entreated to be allowed to follow them in their exile, with tears and lamen- tations, and with all the demonstrations of true sorrow and unbounded affection. Indeed, if ever there existed an instance of the perfect justice and propriety of the comparison of the priest and his disciples to a shepherd and his flock, it is in the case of which we are treating. These poor people may indeed be classed with the "silly sheep," more than with any other animal ; and I believe they MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 231 would, in the words of the poet, even " Hck the hand," though it were ''raised to shed their blood," — if this were the hand of the friar. Before concluding this sketch of missionary and of still Indian life, it may not be inappropriate or useless to consider, in a few words, the actual benefits conferred by the missionary systems of con- verting savage nations ; what is the relative value of those systems ; and whether they are the best that could be adopted. In the first place, what have the natives of Cali- fornia gained by the labors of the missionaries .? What service have those friars rendered to the Spanish nation, or to the world in general .? They have transformed the aborigines of a beautiful country from free savages into pusillanimous, super- stitious slaves ; they have taken from them the enjoyment of the natural productions of a delicious country, and ministered to them the bare neces- saries of life, and that on the condition of being bondsmen forever. Is there any one who can suppose that those men, who formerly wandered in their native wilds, ' ' free as the wind on their mountains," were not happier than the wretched herds of human animals which are now penned in the missionary folds ? It must be owned 232 UPPER CALIFORNIA that the arts of agriculture and the use of the domestic animals are infinitely preferable to the scanty endowments of the hunter or barbarian state; but what share of the blessings resulting from these do the Indians enjoy ? They are made to assist in the toil which those improvements bring along with them ; but for this toil they have no reward ; for them there are no hopes ! Can any one, of a well- constituted mind, approve of this transformation, or reflect on it without sorrow ? Admitting, which I most readily do, that the natives in this part of America were and are very low in the scale of even savage happiness, surely we must allow that their actual condition as domesti- cated animals — I will not say as civilized men — is a degree even below this, when we look to the mind, the only source, seat, and criterion of enjoyment that deserves the name of human. True it is, as the poet whom we have already several times quoted, says of them, — Their inoffensive lives in pupilage, Perpetually, but peacefully, they led, From all temptation saved, and sure of daily bread. Still, I think, no one with the feelings of a man, capable and conscious of independence, will for a moment prefer this happiness of the stalled ox to the enjoyments of the free and robust Californian savages (checkered and embittered as these enjoyments MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 233 "were with many hardships and privations) when left to subsist on the spontaneous productions of their woods and fields ; tracking the wild deer on their plains ; bringing up fish from their waters ; traversing, without control, their forests and their mountains ; or basking, in dreamy inactivity, on the banks of their rivers, or on the shores of the ocean. Does it benefit the world more that twenty thousand Indians should live in aggregated huts on one side of the mountains, than in scattered tribes on the other ? Does it promote the cause of true religion that this number of beings should be repeating the offices of San Francisco, and singing hymns before the image of the Virgin Mary, in a church, more than that an equal number should offer their orisons under the canopy of heaven to the supreme being whom they suppose to be represented by the rising sun ? I think not ; but it certainly interests humanity to know that one of the finest countries on earth has been doomed to be the abode of men reclaimed from one state of misery and barbarism, only to be plunged in another sort of barbarism and an aggravated state of misery, whereas, under other management, it might now have been the abode of millions of the human race, enjoying all the advantages and comforts of civilization and opulence, which some other states of America, not so favorably situ- ated, are so fully possessed of. The mind of man 234 UPPER CALIFORNIA can hardly conceive a contrast more complete than that between the present state of California and the United States of America. On the one hand, we see an immense population formed into a com- munity governed by wise laws, and outvying the old countries of Europe not only in the arts of life and the various improvements of modern times, but even in numbers, sending out fleets over all the earth, and in constant and intimate connection with the whole world. On the other hand, we see a few helpless slaves engaged in superstitious exercises, immersed in the most complete ignorance, utterly unknowing and unknown to all beyond the precincts of their wretched huts ! If North America had been first peopled under the influence of Spanish friars; if the red men of the north had been inclosed in folds, and taught to sing hallelujahs to the Virgin and repeat the offices of San Francisco ; if they had been made nominal owners of the soil, to the exclu- sion of white men, and governed according to the Franciscan system, — what would have been the rank of that country at this day among the nations of the earth ? Nay, had even Mexico, Peru, and the other Spanish colonies, been subjected to this system, what figure would they have now made in the new world of republics ? All that we can allow is, that the missionaries are honest men ; that they pursue with assiduity MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 235 "what they believe to be their duty; that they labor in their vocation with zeal. But we entirely ronHernn thprr__Rysfpmj anA kmpnf I'tc r(:'si]1<"'' ^In their view of the subject, the conversion of those infidels to the Roman Catholic faith is the sole object of their labors. Attention to their temporal comforts or intellectual cultivation cannot be expected of teachers whose tenets are, that to abstain from all worldly comforts, and to despise all human learning, is their paramount duty. Consequently no instruction has ever been given to their neophytes, beyond learning to repeat, in Spanish or Latin, the offices of the Church. Those offices they, of course, repeat by rote, without at all knowing their meaning ; but as it is sufficient in the Romish Church that its members perform the ceremonies, and repeat the offices in any language, whether understood or not, the jargon muttered by the Indians is perfectly ortho- dox, and entitles them to all the future happiness which this infallible Church has to bestow. What would those respectable and philanthropic persons think, who are so numerous in England, and so much interested in the propagation of civiliza- tion and religion, if all their labors and immense pecuniary sacrifices ended only in changing the condition of the wild but free inhabitants of a fine country into one of slavery and superstition ? Would they consider the religious, moral, or tem- \^ 236 UPPER CALIFORNIA poral advantages of pusillanimous slaves to be very superior to the original condition of the wild infidel hunters ? I know there are none of those benevo- lent persons who would be satisfied with such a transformation ; but I fear some of their own enter- prises have not had much better success. It is true that their agents and missionaries have other aims than those of the Spanish Catholic friars. Their views are to instruct those they convert, and they are more fastidious in admitting their neophytes to the rites of baptism and other privileges of Christianity. This is, no doubt, as it should be, but it has the effect of diminishing greatly the number of prose- lytes, and experience has shown how infinitely more successful the Catholic missionaries have been than the Protestant. I do not mention this with a view to recommend the Catholic system, but I cannot help thinking that some modification of the rigid British missionary plan might be adopted which would be more successful. I even venture to think that men might be easier reclaimed from a savage, barbarous, or semi - barbarous state by other means than by that of religion. I do not mean that they should be left without religious instruction. Far from it. But I mean to say that the first attempt to civilize them might be better done by teaching them, by degrees, the arts and comforts of a more advanced state of society by MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 237 laymen. How is it to be supposed that a savage could, on the very first contact with a stranger, be made to comprehend a series of mysteries, of which he never before dreamed, and which are in exact contradiction to all the knowledge or prejudices of his bygone life, — to everything which he had hitherto considered sacred and venerable, and which had been handed down to him, in the ancestral legends, with the character of incontrovertible truths ? — those new mysteries, too, being such that reason alone cannot enable the most powerful mind, even of those born under the Christian dispensation, to comprehend. It is impossible that savages should be made, at once, saints or philosophers ; but I think a system of progressive instruction, by enlightened and prudent teachers, whose duty should be, not to instill literary or religious knowledge so much as the common arts of life, might be successful in bringing a people, living in a state of barbarism and ignorance, to adopt great improvements in the course of time, and finally accomplish their complete civilization. I do not despair that the time will come when, instead of illiterate fanatics with cargoes of Bibles and religious tracts only, prudent men will be sent among the heathens, carrying with them, Bibles and tracts certainly, but also agricultural and manufacturing implements, useful mechanical inventions, furniture, and clothing. 238 UPPER CALIFORNIA with instructions to reclaim the savage, not merely by the terrors of future punishments, but likewise by the fascination of a more comfortable worldly existence. I much question if ever the task should be under- taken of attempting to instruct the adult savages in any sort of literary knowledge ; and I have some doubts of the possibility of instilling into their minds the rudiments even of the Christian religion ; but, under a proper system, no difficulty need be apprehended of the children imbibing as much literary instruction as should be thought necessary, and of their learning thoroughly all the tenets of Christianity. I should hope, however, it would in all cases become consistent with the promotion of religious instruction to teach it in a milder form than is usually done by the Protestant missionaries abroad. Can it be supposed that a human being, arrived at the use of reason, will hear for the first time, without the most appalling horror, the announce- ment of a future abode of penal fire, into which he must be cast forever if he do not renounce all his former customs and religion, and conform to certain conditions which must at first sight appear to him impossible ? In this first encounter, is it to be won- dered at that the savage imbibes an unconquerable aversion to the new creed, or is inspired with a dis- belief of its truth, never afterwards to be overcome ? MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 239 Those missionaries, however well meaning they may be, take generally an erroneous view of the means they ought to adopt for the accomplishment of the end they are pursuing. It also happens but too often that those men, in addition to their pro- fession of religious teachers, assume the character of legislators and governors, for which offices none can generally be more unfit ; and when they are so situated that, they can, without control, exercise such powers, the greatest disorder and mischief have ensued. Instead of making good Christians or a moral and industrious people of the natives, they have merely broken up all their old customs and rude rules of morality and order, and converted them into a lawless and profligate rabble. This, according to the report of some of the most respect- able voyagers, is the case in many, at least, of the islands in the South Sea, where the missionaries have had the most unlimited opportunity of domi- neering. Is there, then, no possibility of civilizing mankind but by divines ? Would an enlightened layman have no influence over savage people ? Would the an- nouncement of the art of agriculture, of mechanical inventions, of the use of clothing, of good houses and furniture, of the comforts enjoyed by other men, have no charms for people destitute of all these things ? Would the advantages of improved 240 UPPER CALIFORNIA implements and improved accommodation, good clothes and good food, have no attractions for them ? Would the plain and easily understood explanation of all these advantages, told by a man of this world, be less attended to than the rhapso- dies of an enthusiast, whose benefits are all in prospect, and the most comprehensible of whose doctrines announces an eternity of horrors in another life ? When religious instruction becomes necessary and practicable, certainly let it be taught ; but let it be taught as in every civilized country, under the control of the civil power. Experience teaches us that missionaries — such missionaries as have heretofore been sent to foreign countries, among savage tribes — are not fit to be intrusted with civil power. They have never yet succeeded in governing well, — not even an island of Madripores inhabited by a few families. The foregoing observations apply to religious missionaries, such as they are at present, or, at least, such as they were formerly ; and I repeat, that laymen, capable of merely instructing savages in things concerning their temporal weal and com- fort, would be infinitely more serviceable to them, and to the cause of humanity and Christianity, as primary teachers, than such men can possibly be. I am, however, far from thinking that religious MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 241 missionaries might not be so educated as to combine all the advantages to be found in lay teachers, with the capacity and authority to instruct in religion also. In regard to such instructors, I would only say that they should be careful, in combining the spiritual with the temporal information, not to give too prominent a position to the former, but rather to insinuate than enforce their severer precepts, trusting, in the first instance, to the means already mentioned as more suited to the capacities and ignorance of their pupils. I have been so long absent from England, that I know not whether there is any special education for those who are now sent abroad as missionaries ; but I am sure there will be no success in the undertaking until they are not only instructed in the arts of Ufe most calculated to attract and benefit the savage, but taught also (to pious men the severer lesson of the two) to let the earthly food of temporal knowledge take the precedence, and even for a time to super- sede the heavenly manna which it is their more especial duty to administer. Although the system of the Catholic missionaries may not much improve the moral or physical state of their converts, yet their success in gaining prose- lytes must ever be superior to that of the Protestant, particularly the English Methodist Protestant. Noth- ing can be better adapted to captivate the simple 16 R 242 UPPER CALIFORNIA savage than the gorgeous ceremonies of the CathoHc service ; nor can there be agents more fitting than the persevering and well - discipUned friar, whose whole life and studies have been directed to this end, whose angry passions no injury can rouse, or whose humility and patience no insult or obstacle can overcome. With him our missionary can bear no comparison, any more than can the attractions of their respective forms of worship. To a savage, who must be chiefly taught through the medium of his senses, the Catholic service is most fascinating. The whole ceremony of the mass is performed by a sort of dumb show, accompanied with music and glittering ornaments, which may be said to be just as well understood by a savage of California as by an hidalgo of Spain, and which will soon become to the one as it is to the other, a duty or a show which he feels himself uneasy at missing. He will also soon be made to believe that on such easy terms as attending punctually on this pleasing exhibition he will be entitled to everlasting happiness. By the tenets of the Catholic Church, this title is not doubtful, but positive ; for its dogmas teach that the fiat of the priest in this world is certainly con- firmed in heaven, if the exercises prescribed are performed. Not so the doctrine of Protestantism, even when administered by the calm and rational minister of an established church ; for even then a MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 243 doubt hangs over the mind of the most virtuous ; but when the doctrine of a doubtful salvation and an eternity of punishment is inculcated by a fanatical Methodist, who not infrequently may be taken from the anvil to hammer divinity into the heads of the heathen, then a truly sledge-hammer method of conversion is the result, and the astonished convert cannot but be confounded with horror ! This gloomy doctrine is increased by the nudity and somber style of their places of worship ; sometimes, also, by the austere and forbidding physiognomy of the preacher, whom the frightened hearer often regards as directing his eyes and his denunciations to him individually. Under such circumstances, there are not wanting examples of the scared savage fairly taking to his heels, and fleeing from the preacher and his doctrines forever. When the Protestant missionaries have absolute dominion, as in some of the islands, and among insulated tribes, they put down all the ancient cus- toms and diversions, however innocent, not solely by persuasion, but by coercion, and in this way their gloomy system is carried to its extreme. This is another of the great causes of their inferiority to Catholic missionaries in gaining the good will of savages. The prohibition of sports and diversions to men bred in a savage state, and comparatively idle, will be always intolerable. They have much R 2 244 UPPER CALIFORNIA time which cannot be otherwise filled up ; and so strongly will their ancient customs have fixed them- selves in their very constitutions, that it will be impossible for them to forego altogether their use; and when it is attempted to deprive them thereof, the loss of their friendship and confidence will inevitably be the consequence. Of the diversions amongst savages, music and dancing form the chief part ; and as both these exercises are contrary to the tenets of some of the Protestant missionaries, they must be absolutely prohibited ; so that on the first encounter the missionary and his convert are at issue. The poor savage finds himself debarred from all his pleasures, and deprived of what he thought a recompense for his toil and his privations. The white man comes and takes away the few comforts he hitherto enjoyed. And what does he give him in return ? Why, he promises him that if he lays aside the song and the dance, foregoes all pleasure and mirth, puts on a sour instead of a laughing countenance, attends to the rhapsody of the preacher, — then he promises that he may perhaps escape being damned forever, and avoid passing his eternity amid fire and brimstone prepared for him in the world to come. This is no encouraging out- set for one who was taught to think that he could dance and sing till the end of his mortal days, and then join his departed friends in the land of MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 245 spirits beyond the western wave, to spend his eternity in bHss. It is no wonder if such expounders of the Scripture appear to the untutored savage more Hke the agents of an evil spirit, sent on earth to terrify mankind, than the ministers of a benevolent God, who ' ' willeth not the death of a sinner ' ' ; more like the sowers of the seeds of evil, than the cultivators of the vineyard of the Lord of mercy ! There can hardly be a greater contrast than between a jolly, laughing friar, cajoling his converts into his fold by indulging their innocent foibles and pro- pensities, and the spare, sour, ascetic Methodist, who takes from his followers all their pastimes and pleasures ; but it must be admitted that the contrast in the numerical results of their conversions is no less striking. CHAPTER VI STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN UPPER CALIFORNIA. — ITS PRODUCE IN GRAIN AND LIVE-STOCK The lands of California, as we have seen, are almost exclusively in the hands of the missionaries, and consequently its agricultural opcratioms are chiefly carried on by them. This art or science is well known not to be, even now, in a very advanced state in Spain, and could not possibly have been well understood, even in its then state, by the monks who first settled in Californta in the last century. The actual state of agriculture in this country — which has not in any degree improved since its first introduction — may, consequently, easily be imagined to be most rude and backward. It is not thought necessary by those primitive farmers to study the use of fallows or green crops ; to adopt the six or seven course shifty or any other shift whatever ; nor to study the alternation of white and leguminous grains, or any such modes of improved husbandry. These arc refinements they 24« STATE OF AGRICULTURE 247 never heard or dreamed of, and it would be as reasonable to expect that they should adopt such novelties as that they would the doctrines of Luther or Calvin. Their only plan of renovating the fertility of an exhausted soil is to let it rest from culture, and to abandon it to its native weeds until it may again be thought capable of bearing crops of grain. From the superabundance of land in the country, a second cultivation of exhausted ground is not resorted to for many years, and perhaps not at all. The grains chiefly cultivated are maize or Indian corn, wheat, barley, and a kind of small bean called frijol. This bean is in universal use all over Spanish America, and is a most pleasant food. They are cooked when in a ripe state, fried with lard, and much esteemed by all ranks of people. Maize is the staple bread-corn, and is cultivated in rows or drills. The cultivation of this grain is better managed than that of the others, and is certainly superior to what might be expected from such rude farmers, and with such implements of husbandry as they possess. The plow used not only in California, but in all other parts of America inhabited by the Spanish race, is of great antiquity, and is also, I believe, still used in Old Spain. It is composed of two principal pieces. The one which we shall call the main piece is formed out of a 248 UPPER CALIFORNIA crooked branch of timber, cut from the tree, of such a natural shape as to form this main piece, which constitutes, of itself, the sole and handle or stilt. It has only one handle, and no mold-board or other contrivance for turning over the furrow, and is there- fore only capable of making a simple rut equal on both sides. A share is fitted to the point of the sole, but without any feather, and is the only iron in the whole construction of the plow. The other piece is the beam, which is of great length, so as to reach the yoke of the oxen by which the plow is drawn. This beam is also formed of a natural piece of wood, cut from a tree, of the necessary dimensions, and has no dressing, except the taking off the bark. It is inserted into the upper part of the main piece, and connected with it by a small upright piece of wood, on which it slides, and is fixed by two wedges. By withdrawing those wedges the beam is elevated or lowered, and by this means the plow is regulated as to depth of furrow, or what plo-wmen call giving more or less earth. CALIFORNIAN PLOW The long beam passes between the two oxen like the pole of a carriage or ox-wain, and no chain is STATE OF AGRICULTURE 249 required for drawing the plow. A pin is put through the point of the beam which passes before the yoke, and is fixed there by thongs of rawhide. The plowman goes at one side of the plow, hold- ing the handle or stilt with his right hand, and managing the goad with his left. There are never more than two oxen used in these plows, and no driver is required, the plowman managing the plow and directing the oxen himself. The manner of yoking the oxen is not as is done in the north of Europe, by putting the yoke on the shoulders, and fixing it by a wooden collar or bow round the neck. The yoke is placed on the top of the head, close behind the horns, tied firmly to their roots and to the forehead by thongs, so that, instead of drawing by the shoulders, they draw by the roots of the horns and forehead. When oxen are so bound up, they have no freedom to move their heads. They go with their noses turned up, and seem to be under great pain. I know not if this was the custom of the ancients; but I am persuaded that no guide to the ancient customs of Europe can be sought for, in the present day, so safely as amongst the Spaniards, who seem in few respects to differ from their ancestors of the earliest ages. On my asking a native of Spain what could be the motive for making an ox to draw by the head and a horse by the shoulders, he 250 UPPER CALIFORNIA replied, that wise men had found that particular animals had their strength lodged in particular parts of their body, and it was found that the strength of the ox lay in its horns. I then stated to him, that almost all other nations thought otherwise, and yoke their oxen by the shoulders ; therefore the question was, whether the Spaniards or the other nations were in the right. To this he immediately replied in a tone of indignation, "What ! Can you suppose that Spain, which has always been known as the mother of the sciences, can be mistaken on that point ? " Against this, of course, no further argument could be offered ; and, in the Americas, oxen will continue to draw by the horns, perhaps for ages to come, as taught by their scientific mother of Spain. Their carts are drawn by oxen yoked in the same manner, and in this case they have to bear the weight of the load on the top of their heads, which is certainly the most disadvantageous mechanical point of the whole body. This renders their sufferings more severe than in the plow, and it is truly distressing to see the poor animals writhing under a load which, on their backs or shoulders, they could easily support. The form of the ox-cart is as rude as that of the plow. It is composed of a bottom frame of a most clumsy construction, on which is raised a body of a few bars stuck upright, of a great height, and connected at STATE OF AGRICULTURE 251 the top with other sHght bars. This cart is usually without lining, but when used for carrying maize, it is lined with canes tied to the upright bars. The pole is of very large dimensions, and long enough to be fastened to the yoke in the same manner as the beam of the plow. This also adds greatly to the distress of the poor oxen, because, the pole being tied fast to the yoke, which rests on their heads, they feel every jerk and twist of the cart in the most sensible manner; and when the road is full of stones, sloughs, and all manner of obstructions, as it generally is in America, it appears as if the animal's head would every moment be twisted off ! The wheels of the Calif ornian ox- cart, as well as those of the other Spanish Americas, are of a most singular construction. They have no spokes, and are composed of only three pieces of timber. The middle piece is hewn out of a huge tree, of a sufficient size to form the nave and middle of the wheel all in one. This middle piece is made of a length equal to the diameter of the wheel, and rounded at the two ends to arcs of the circumference. The other two pieces are made of timber naturally bent, and joined to the sides of the middle piece by keys or oblong pieces of wood, grooved into the ends of the pieces which form the wheel. The whole is then made circular, and resembles the wheels of the 252 UPPER CALIFORNIA barrows used in the north of Scotland for carrying peat or turf out of the mosses or bogs. There does not enter into the construction of this cart a particle of iron, not even a nail, for the axle is entirely of wood, and the linch-pin of the same material, as well as the pins that fix the cart to the axle. From the construction of the plow, as already described, it will be perceived that, there being no mold -board or feathered share, the furrow cannot be cut up and turned over, as with an English plow, a rut only being made ; consequently the soil can only be broken by successively crossing and recrossing the field many times ; and it is evident that, however often crossed by a machine of this kind, the root-weeds of any tenacity can never be cut, so that this mode of plowing must always be very imperfect ; and although four or five crossings are often given, yet the soil is not sufficiently broken or the weeds eradicated. The necessity of giving so many crossings is a great waste of labor ; and as the plowing is deferred till the commencement of the rains, and very near the time of sowing, an immense number of plows must be employed. It is no uncommon thing to see, on the large maize estates, in some parts of Mexico, upwards of one hundred plows at work together ! With these plows it is not STATE OF AGRICULTURE 253 necessary to divide the field into ridges or brakes. As they are equal on both sides, they have only to begin at one side of the field and follow one another up and down, as many as can be employed together without interfering in turning round at the end, which they do in succession, like ships tacking in a line of battle, and so proceed down the same side as they came up. A harrow is totally unknown ; and where wheat or barley is sown, a bush is generally used to cover in the seed, but in some places, instead of this, a long, heavy log of wood is drawn over the field, something on the plan of a roller, but dragging, without turning round, so as to carry a portion of the soil over the seed. In the cultivation of maize, when the field is sufficiently plowed or crossed, a rut or furrow is made by the plow, at the distance intended for the drills, which is generally five or six feet. In this rut the seed is deposited by hand, the laborers carrying it in small baskiets, out of which they take a handful, and drop from three to five grains at once, which they slightly cover with their foot from the loose earth on the side of the rut, and so proceed, depositing a like number of seeds at the distance of about three feet. In this state the seed is left to spring up to a moderate height, and then the plows are again put to turn a furrow on each 254 UPPER CALIFORNIA side of the rut, towards the young plants, thus forming a drill. When the maize grows up to a considerable height, it is commonly cleaned by hand, by pulling up the weeds ; the middle, between the drills, is again turned up by the plow passing up and down, and the labor is then finished. The sowing of maize, as well as of other grains, in Upper California, commences in November, or as near the commencement of the rains as possible, and the harvest is -in the months of July and August. The process of harvesting maize is as follows. The laborer carries with him a large and very deep basket of wickerwork, with which he proceeds along the drills, and fills it with the heads of maize. When full, he carries it on his back to the end of the field, where an ox- cart is stationed, and into which he empties his basket. When the cart is full, it proceeds to the place of deposit. In this way the stalks are all left ; and when all their heads are gathered, the cattle are then turned into the field, and eat up the leaves, and such parts of the stalks as are eatable. These are found to be very nutritious, and the cattle get fat at this season, more than on the best grass pastures. The next operation is to separate the maize from ^ the head or husk. This is done by rubbing the full head against a few empty husks bound together. STATE OF AGRICULTURE 255 and is a very tedious operation. Maize, in warm countries, is very liable to spoil, and to be infested by an insect called, in Spanish, gorgojo ; and as it is found that maize keeps longer in the husk, it is sometimes left so till it is required for use ; but although it may be kept somewhat longer in this state than when separated, yet it is also soon subject to the attack of this insect. On the coast of the tropical country of Mexico, it is difficult to keep maize above six or eight months, but in California it can be kept for a much longer time. Perhaps, by kiln-drying and other methods, maize might be preserved, even in tropical climates, for a great length of time ; but I have seen no attempt at any plan of this kind, although it would be, if successful, attended with immense benefit to the growers of this grain in the populous parts of Mexico, particu- larly on the coast, where the prices vary so much in different years, and even at different seasons of the same year. The produce of maize, in proportion to the seed, is perhaps more than that of any other grain what- ever; but this, doubtless, chiefly arises from its being always planted in drills, and I am not certain if wheat and other grains might not give equal returns if planted or dibbled in the same way. The return from maize in good land is often as high as a hundred and fifty fold, and even higher ; and if it is much 256 UPPER CALIFORNIA under a hundred, it is thought to be an inferior crop. The calculation, however, of the produce of grain by returns from the seed is founded on an erroneous principle ; but in South America it is always so cal- culated, as they have no fixed land-measure, so that it is difficult to ascertain what any certain quantity of land actually produces. This has led to very mistaken notions respecting the fertility of those countries. When I first arrived in Chile, I was told that wheat seldom or never yielded less than fifty returns, and that it sometimes gave one hundred and fifty, but could not reconcile this with the appearance of the crops I saw in the fields, which certainly never surpassed the appearance of a good crop in England. I could only suppose that it was to be accounted for by thin sowing, which I afterwards found to be the fact. Perhaps, on measuring an acre of land in any part of the world, the produce in any kind of grain will not greatly exceed that of the best crops of wheat produced in the north of Europe. I measured a small piece of ground in Mexico, sown with barley, and the seed used was about the third part of what is ordinarily used in England, but I had not an opportunity of ascertaining its produce. It must have produced three times as much from the seed as the ordinary returns in England to have given an equal quantity per acre as in that country. One thing, however, may be STATE OF AGRICULTURE 257 allowed, which is, that grain raised by irrigation in hot countries must produce more than by any other mode of cultivation ; and as much of the wheat in South America is cultivated in that way, the produce, in such circumstances, may be more than in Europe ; but I have never seen, even by irrigation, anything which could promise a very superior return per acre to a heavy crop in England. Wheat is sown "in broadcast," on land prepared as for maize. In the south of California, owing to the length of the dry season, it is cultivated by irrigation ; but in the north, and particularly round the Bay of San Francisco, as formerly stated, the rains and dews are sufficient, and irrigation is not necessary. From the lands being new, and natu- rally fertile, the produce of wheat ought to be very great, and from the excellence of the climate the quality of the grain should be very fine. Samples of wheat from the Cape of Good Hope were exhibited many years ago in London as a curiosity for their superior fineness, and sold at an exorbitant price for seed. California corresponds in situation to the Cape of Good Hope, and if the culture and quality of the seed were attended to, wheat of equal fineness must be produced. At present, from the unskillfulness of the culture, and the inattention to procure good seed, neither the quantity nor quality is equal to what they ought to be. The 17 S 258 UPPER CALIFORNIA cultivation of wheat is at present but very limited, although, from the excellence of the soil and climate, and the abundance of land fit for the production of this grain, Upper California ought to^be, and one day must be, the granary of all South America. Barley is cultivated, but in small quantities, no use being made of it, except to feed horses. They make no malt liquor or spirits from this grain. The kind cultivated both in California and Mexico is what is called '*bigg" in Scotland, being the old variety with six rows. It produces a very small grain. What will my Northern friends think when they are informed that oats are not known in any part of the Spanish Americas ! They not only do not raise this species of grain for their own use, but not even for the use of their horses. All kinds of grain in California are thrashed out at once, without stacking or housing any part of it with the straw. In the neighborhood of the mines and large towns in Mexico, wheat and barley straw is used as fodder for the working horses and mules, and from its dry and brittle state in those warm countries, it is, in the act of thrashing, reduced to a state which more resembles chaff than straw. It is, in fact, like straw cut by machinery in England, and is carried to market on mules' backs, inclosed in large net bags, one on each side. Hundreds of mules are to be seen daily entering Guanajuato, and STATE OF AGRICULTURE 259 other large mining towns, with these immense globes of cut straw at their sides, more resembling balloons than anything else. In California, however, as the pastures are so abundant, and few mules or horses worked, little use is made of the straw. The following table gives the whole produce, in grain, of Upper California, in the year 1831, calculated according to the localities, and in fanegas. GRAIN Names of tht Jurisdictions, Missions, z o 5 S < z < and Towns u X II B J J O A ■a < > •i < ^3 < m < Jurisdiction of San Francisco Presidio of San Francisco . . . 233 70 40 ' 343 Town of San Jose de Guadalupe 1,657 1,560 191 3,408 Mission of S. Francisco Solano 1,171 200 24 241 24 1,660 Id. of S. Rafael Arcangel . 774 130 15 388 20 1,327 Id. of S. Francisco de Asis 670 15 9 340 58 1,092 Id. of Sta. Clara de Asis . 2,400 60 25 200 2,685 Id. of S. Jose 4,000 160 1,000 300 123 10 1,100 386 418 20 6,641 Id. of Sta. Cruz .... 876 Jurisdiction of Monterey Presidio o/' Monterey . . . , - 490 332 131 953 Village of Branciforte .... 103 160 80 343 Mission of S. Juan Bautista . . 840 170 40 255 6 1,311 Id. of S. Carlos Borromeo 200 215 62 477 Id. of Na. Sa. de la Soledad 538 50 243 62 893 Id. of S. Antonio de Padua 955 115 40 568 23 1,701 Id. of S. Miguel Arcangel 599 36 9 57 33 734 Id. of S. Luis Obispo de Tol osa 350 60 20 20 450 8 2 260 UPPER CALIFORNIA Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, and Towns < U s 7. II .,- w 'S. CD III " t -^ "a < a. ? > u < n 03 N < < Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara Presidio o/' Santa Barbara . . . 300 90 390 Mission of La Purisinia Concepcion . 700 100 20 56 17 893 Id. of Sta. Ines 800 400 20 1,220 Id. of Sta. Barbara 730 90 50 336 30 1,236 Id. of S. Buenaventura .... 700 200 160 800 1,860 Id. of S. Fernando ReydeEspana 200 250 40 65 555 Town of La Reina de los Angeles . 138 1,758 179 2,075 Jurisdiction of San Diego Presidio o/San Diego 140 125 5 270 Mission of S. Gabriel Arcangel . . 1,400 400 13 25 1,838 Id. of S. Juan Capistrano . . . 450 625 30 5 1,110 Id. of S. Luis Rey de Francia . 1,800 2,000 200 1,200 15 5,215 Id. of S.Diego deAlcala. . . 2,946 420 80 1,200 4,646 Total fanegas 25,144 10,926 1,644 7,405 1,083 46,202 Taking the fanega at 2^2 English bushels, the harvest in 1831 will be as follows: — Quarters Wheat 7,8571/2 Maize 3,414^/2 Frijoles -514 Barley 2,314 Beans, garbanzos, and pease 338 Total quarters 14,438 Now, reckoning the following as the average price of grain in California at the present time, viz., wheat and barley 2 dollars the fanega, or jf 1 Ss. the English quarter, and maize at Wi dollars, ox £\ per STATE OF AGRICULTURE 261 quarter, the following will be the value of the produce, in English money. £ s. d. Wheat 9,822 17 6 Maize 4,268 Barley 2,314 Pease and beans, reckoned as barley . . . 852 Total /17,256 17 6 The quantity of wheat produced, it will be per- ceived, is much greater than any of the other sorts of grain, which is the reverse of what takes place in the other Mexican states, wheat bearing a small proportion to maize, which latter is the staple bread- corn. The mills for grinding flour in Upper California are but few, and of the most primitive construction ; but none better are to be found in the other parts of Spanish America, not even in Chile, where wheat abounds. These mills consist of an upright axle, to the lower end of which is fixed a horizontal water-wheel placed under the building, and to the upper end the millstone ; and as there is no inter- mediate machinery to increase the velocity, it is evident that the millstone can make only the same number of revolutions as the water-wheel. This makes it necessary that the wheel should be of very small diameter, otherwise no power of water thrown upon it could make it go at a rate suffi- cient to give the millstone the requisite velocity. It is therefore made of very small dimensions, and 262 UPPER CALIFORNIA constructed in the following manner. A set of what are called cucharas (spoons) are stuck into the periphery of the wheel, which serve in place of float- boards. They are made of pieces of timber, in something of the shape of spoons, the handles being inserted into mortices on the edge of the wheel, and the bowls of the spoons made to receive the water, which spouts on them laterally, and forces round the small wheel with nearly the whole velocity of the water which impinges upon it. I never knew of the existence of a mill of this construction till I saw one in South America, but I since find that Sir Walter Scott, in his Pirate, describes a similar one as having been in use in the Shetland Islands. This mill is erected at very small expense, but it is no small boast for a mission in California to have one of them, and I believe there are only three in all the country. That most useful plant, the potato, thrives well in California, but the people in this, as in every other Spanish country, do not make this root a staple article of subsistence, nor is it used as a substitute for bread. When potatoes are brought to the table in Spanish countries, they are made up into a dish to be eaten alone. They are, however, now much more cultivated than before the introduction of strangers, who use them as in Europe, and who will, in time, show the inhabitants their value. - Of green vegetables for the table, the peasantry, STATE OF AGRICULTURE 263 and all those who live in the country, make little or no use. It is a remarkable fact that in all parts of Spanish America no such things are to be seen in the gardens of the peasants, nor even in those of the proprietors of estates, as cabbages, or greens of any kind. Only in the vicinity of large towns are to be found cabbage-gardens. In California, it may be said that, before the admission of foreign settlers, neither the potato nor green vegetables were cultivated as articles of food. No such thing as the cultivation of turnips in the large way, or for the food of cattle, is at all known. They have a small white kind for the table, but its flavor is insipid, and, as well as other green vegetables, is but little used. The cultivation of hemp was formerly carried on to some considerable extent, and furnished a supply of this article to the arsenal of San Bias. Its produce was abundant, and of very excellent quality. Its cultivation, however, was discontinued soon after the withdrawing of the Spanish squadron from San Bias, and has not again been renewed ; but in the hands of industrious settlers this undoubtedly would be a source of great profit. Flax has also been tried, and proves congenial to the soil and climate ; but from the total want of machinery for dressing it, and industry to manufac- ture it, nothing has been done, except merely by way of trial. 264 UPPER CALIFORNIA The vine thrives in CaHfornia in an extraordinary degree. It is cultivated already to a very consider- able degree, and might be extended almost without limits. Wine is now made, of tolerably good quality, and some even very excellent. Nothing is wanting but intelligent persons to make wine of superior quality, and which would find a ready market in Mexico and the neighboring countries, where the vine does not grow. The quantity of wine and brandy consumed in those countries is immense, all of which could be supplied from California at a price infinitely less than what is now paid for that brought from Europe. Raisins, also, the produce of the vine, ' are articles of considerable consumption, so that this branch of industry would be a source of great riches to an enterprising and industrious people, but at present, instead of exporting either wine or brandy, they have to purchase them for their own use. The olive is also produced in very great perfec- tion, and when well prepared, is not inferior to that of France, and the oil would be equally good if expressed and preserved with care. These are articles of great consumption among a Spanish population, and would be of much importance as exports to the neighboring republics. Pasturage, however, is the principal object pursued STATE OF AGRICULTURE 265 in California, as well as in all the Spanish settle- ments of America. The immense tracts of country possessed by them, in proportion to the population, added to the indolent and unenterprising habits of this race of men, render the pastoral state the most congenial to their situation and disposition. Few men and little labor are required to take care of herds of cattle, which naturally increase rapidly in the vast plains abounding with rich pastures, whereas, to raise grain, great labor and a numerous population are required. The pastures of Upper California are most abundant, and the domestic animals have increased amazingly. The following, table gives the total number of cattle, of all descriptions, in the year 1831. DOMESTIC CATTLE Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, and Towns H n P a: X •r. a ■r. ^. 'r. < U s < u z Jurisdiction of San Francisco Presidio of San Francisco . . . Town of San Jose de Guadalupe . . Mission of S. Francisco Solano . . Id. of S. Rafael Arcangel . . . Id. of S. Francisco de Asis . . Id. of Sta. Clara de Asis . . . Id. of S. Jose Id. of Sta. Cruz Jurisdiction of Monterey Presidio 0/ Monterey Village of Branciforte 5,610 4,443 2,500 1,200 4,200 9,000 12,000 3,500 5,641 1,000 470 2,386 725 450 1,239 780 1,300 940 3,310 1,000 40 134 4 1 18 38 40 82 70 3 5,000 2,000 3,000 7,000 13,000 5,403 50 17 40 266 UPPER CALIFORNIA Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, and Towns IS u 'A K O X s S 1 m a X < o o u 1 Mission of S. Juan Bautista .... 7,070 401 6 1 7,017 17 Id. of S. Carlos Borromeo . . 2,050 470 8 4,400 55 Id. of Na. Sa. de la Soledad . . 6,599 1,070 50 1 6,358 Id. of S. Antonio de Padua . . 5,000 1,060 80 2 10,000 55 60 Id. of S. Miguel Arcangel . . 3,762 950 106 28 8,999 15 60 Id. of S. Luis Obispo de Tolosa 2,000 800 200 50 1,200 24 Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara Presidio of Sauta Barbara . . . 7,900 1,300 220 Mission of La Purisima Concepcion. 10,500 1,000 160 4 7,000 30 62 Id. of Sta. Ines 7,300 320 112 2,200 50 Id. of Sta. Barbara 2,600 511 150 2 3,300 37 63 Id. of S. Buenaventura .... 4,000 300 60 3,100 30 8 Id. of S. Fernando Rey de Espana 6,000 300 60 3 3,000 Town of La Reina de los Angeles . 38,624 5,208 520 Jurisdiction of San Diego Presidio o/San Diego 608 625 150 58 Mission of S. Gabriel Arcangel . . 20,500 1,700 120 4 13,554 76 98 Id. of S. Juan Capistrano . . . 10,900 290 30 5 4,800 50 40 Id. of S. Luis Rey de Francia . 26,000 2,100 250 5 25,500 1,200 250 Id. of S. Diego de Alcala. . . 6,220 1,196 132 14 17,624 325 Totals 216,727 32,201 2,844 177 153,455 1,873 839 [in the orieinal volume, the names of the missions, both in the tables and in the text, were printed in an abbreviated style, and in many instances without the graphic accent. In this reprint edition, the names are printed as fully as possible in the tables, and the erapbic accent printed wherever proper.] In addition to the above, there are a great number running wild, particularly mares, which they hunt and kill, in order to prevent their eating up the pasture from the useful cattle. From this immense number of domestic animals little advantage is obtained beyond the value of the hides and fat. The management of the dairy is totally unknown. There is hardly any such thing in use as butter or cheese, and what little is made STATE OF AGRICULTURE 267 is of the very worst description. It will, no doubt, appear strange when I assert that the art of making butter and cheese is unknown in all the Americas inhabited by the Spaniards and their descendants ; yet, as far as my own experience goes, as well as my information, this is in reality the case ; for although something under the name of butter and cheese is generally to be found, yet they are made in a way entirely different from that practiced in the north of Europe, and certainly have but little resemblance to those so much esteemed aliments as there prepared. Both the butter and cheese, particu- larly the former, are execrable compounds of sour coagulated milk and its cream mixed together, the butter being made of the cream, or top of the milk, mixed with a large proportion of the sour coagulated part, and beat up together by the hand, and without a churn, till something of the consis- tency of butter is produced. It is of a dirty gray color, and of a very disagreeable flavor, which in a short time is rendered still worse by its tendency to get rancid, in which state it is almost always found before it arrives at the place of sale, and is, of course, intolerable to palates used to that of a better sort. The cheese is made of the remainder of the sour milk, or sometimes of the whole milk and cream. In either case, it is made up in small molds containing about half a pound, and undergoes no 268 UPPER CALIFORNIA pressure, except by the hand. It is ahvays mixed with a large proportion of salt, and is of a soft, crumbling consistency. There is another sort of cheese, or something resembling it, made of sweet milk coagulated with rennet. It is made in thin cakes, which they form by pressing the curds between the hands till they are freed of the whey, and then left to dry. This is called panela, and is much better than the sour composition. It is used as a luxury, and sent about as presents. In some parts of Lower California, situated on the gulf, and in the northern parts of Sonora and New Mexico, real cheese is made, and some of it of very good quality. This, however, is only an exception to the general observation, and proves that there is nothing to prevent good cheese from being made in those countries. How this art has been introduced into such remote corners of the Spanish possessions as Lower California and New Spain, whilst unknown in the others, I am unable to ascertain.* It is truly incredible that from such an immense number of cows as is contained in Upper California * Good butter has also been made, and continues to be so, though in small quantities, (and I believe confined to one dairy,) in the neigh- borhood of the city of Mexico. This practice was introduced by a stranger, since the revolution ; but I imderstand the consumption is chiefly confined to foreigners, and the price very high. STATE OF AGRICULTURE 269 no attempt should be made to reap advantage from their milk. The produce of the dairy has always been an object of consideration and profit in all ages and in all countries. It seems, however, that even in Old Spain, at the present day, this branch of husbandry is much neglected, and it is well known that Cadiz and other maritime towns have always been supplied with butter and cheese from Holland and Ireland. A Mexican gentleman, who was lately at Madrid, informs me that no butter is used in that city, except as a rarity, and that if it be wanted, it must be ordered beforehand, and paid for at a high rate. It is doubted whether the ancients knew the art of making butter and cheese, such as are used in our time. Articles of food under these names were known, but authors doubt if they were at all of the same character as our modern aliments of the same name. I am strongly inclined to favor those who argue against true butter and cheese being known in antiquity, and this solely from the example of the Spaniards ; for, as I have before said, they must be taken as great authorities in whatever relates to ancient customs. They have preserved them, not in books, but in practice, in much greater purity than any other of the Euro- pean nations. The Hebrew word which is taken to mean butter, I find, is interpreted by some to signify 270 UPPER CALIFORNIA sour thick milk. This is exactly the Spanish butter. Sour thick milk, covered by its own cream, is what they make their butter of, and sour thick milk, with or without the cream, constitutes the material for their cheese. The Greek word, I am told, is said to mean a mixture of butter and cheese, and the Spanish butter is a mixture of butter and cheese, and their cheese a mixture of cheese and butter. Be this as it may, a prejudice undoubtedly exists amongst the natives of Spain, and their American progeny, against the aliment of the dairy. Butter is never used in cooking or in sauces, and the physicians strictly prohibit, in all cases of illness, not only butter and cheese, but every sort of milk diet, and it is never recommended, and often prohibited, even in health. It is, at all events, certain that the dairy, in Upper California, is entirely neglected, and, in consequence, a source of great agricultural riches lost. The supercargo of a British ship from India, bound for the coast of Mexico, informed me that, on making the coast of California, they touched at the Russian settlement called La Bodega, and which borders on the Spanish territory, or rather of right belongs to it, and although the part which the Russians possess is sterile in comparison to the fine plains occupied by the Spaniards, yet they found, immediately on their arrival, a present, sent on board STATE OF AGRICULTURE 271 by the Russian governor, of most excellent butter, cheese, fat mutton, and good vegetables, — all things most desirable to people arriving from a long voyage. They soon after proceeded to Monterey, the capital of Spanish California, where they could find nothing but bull-beef ! Neither bread, butter, cheese, nor vegetables were to be procured. This was in the beginning of the year 1822, and immediately before the revolution ; and I am assured by a Mexican officer, lately arrived from Monterey, that the strangers, who comprise a considerable proportion of the inhabitants of that town, are at this time (1834) actually furnished with butter and cheese from the Russian settlement of La Bodega. The Spanish mode of managing cattle is, in many other respects, peculiarly their own. They leave their oxen uncastrated till they are three or four years old. The operation of castration they have no idea of performing on calves, so that in a large herd of cattle we find a great proportion of them are bulls, roaring, and goading each other at a fearful rate. The greater part of the beef consumed in the city of Mexico is of bulls. It is no uncommon thing to see a drove of them, without the admixture of a single ox, wending their way to the shambles of Mexico, from the very remote parts of the republic. Some estates on the shores of the Pacific were formerly accustomed to send a thousand 272 UPPER CALIFORNIA bulls at a time to the city of Mexico. This custom exists to the present time, but the haciendas ^ or estates, having been much ruined by the revolu- lutionary wars, the numbers are not now so great as formerly, but considerable droves, at certain seasons of the year, still pass on as heretofore. I never could find any reasonable motive alleged for this custom. The true one, doubtless, is their having inherited it from their forefathers ; and I have no doubt it has descended to them uninterruptedly from the ancient Lusitanians. This custom is strictly preserved in California, and thousands and tens of thousands of bulls now roar, in all their native virtue and vigor, on its wide-extended plains. Owing to this practice, and from the circumstance of the cattle being seldom folded, they are very shy, and in a half -wild state, for which reason it is necessary, in catching them, to use the lasso. This has been so often described that it is perhaps unnecessary to do so here ; yet it is so wonderfully managed by the South Americans that it can never be seen practiced without admiration, and, like a horse-race or fox-chase, attracts every one within its reach to witness it. For although it is, in general, a useful and necessary occupation to secure the cattle in this way, yet it is, by the lookers-on, and even by those engaged in it, considered as an amusement, and to which they are passionately STATE OF AGRICULTURE 273 attached. There is, in all the cattle-estates in Spanish America, a time set apart, at certain seasons of the year, for the purpose of collecting the cattle, in order to overlook and count them, and to brand the young ones with the mark of the estate, and perform certain other operations, as well as to accustom them to take the fold, and prevent them from running wild. This is called a rodeo^ and is a holiday-time to all the inhabitants of the estate and its vicinity. Numbers come from great distances to assist gratuitously at the fete. On this occasion the cattle are driven into a large ring-fold, at a wide opening on one side. This is afterwards all closed up, except a small door, left for the cattle to be forced out at. Those that are to be operated upon are made to escape at this door singly; and when a bull finds himself in the open field, he makes off with the utmost speed, pursued by a space of horsemen swinging their lassos in the air ; and while in full chase, and when they get within point-blank, those foremost throw their lassos, some round the horns, others round the neck ; some entrap a hind leg, others a fore one ; they then stop short their well- trained horses, and the bull falls as if shot, tumbling heels over head. In a moment he is secured by tying the lassos round his legs, and by some of the people lying down on his head. In this state the wildest bull lies perfectly motionless, and suffers 18 T 274 UPPER CALIFORNIA whatever operation has to be performed, almost without making an effort at resistance. Although I have so often seen the feat of the lasso, I never was tired of looking on and wondering at the dexterity with which it is performed ; nor could I ever comprehend exactly by what art a man at full gallop could throw a noose so as to catch a bull by the hind leg while he was flying from his pursuers at all his speed. The noose must necessarily go under the foot, be drawn up, and run tight on the leg, which appears to be a sleight of hand almost impossible. Early and constant practice can only enable one to acquire such dexterity, and indeed the practice of the lassoers begins from their earliest infancy. The first thing you see in a little urchin's hand is a lasso of thread or twine, with which he essays to ensnare his mother's kittens and chickens, and perhaps from those elemental essays the theory of the lasso can only be comprehended, for the rapidity and magical-like effect with which the real lasso is thrown leaves no time or opportunity to see how it acts. It appears that, to secure the hind leg, the large noose of the lasso — which, by swinging it round the head, is formed into a circle — is thrown so as to pass under the leg at the very moment when this is elevated in making the spring, while the bull is galloping, and placed exactly where the leg must fall on coming to the ground. When the STATE OF AGRICULTURE 275 lasso is thus thrown, and the leg placed within the circle of its noose, the thrower instantly checks his horse, and gives his lasso a jerk in the very instant of time when the bull's foot touches the ground, and thus draws the noose up and tight round the leg. All this must be done in a moment of time ; and although it appears almost impracti- cable, yet I think this is the mode of operating. To catch the animal by the horns or neck is easily understood, and does not require so much skill ; yet even to do this with certainty to a bull at full speed, and on a horse in chase, requires much practice and dexterity. The saddles used are well fitted to the exercise. They rise high before and behind, and have a knob on the fore part, on which the riders can lay hold to secure themselves, and on which they can make fast or wind up the lasso, the end of which, however, is not tied to this knob, but to a ring in the girth of the saddle. The horses are so taught as to lean over, when checked, against the direction in which the bull draws, and thereby secure themselves from falling down under the sud- den tug occasioned by the impetus of the animal when it is brought up by the lasso. This, as well as the whole proceeding, is admirably shown in Captain Smyth's drawing, from which the plate is taken. The bridle used is equally well adapted to the purpose, being most powerful in its structure, and calculated T2 276 UPPER CALIFORNIA for suddenly checking a horse. It is a single curb, of a peculiar construction, having the bit doubled up high in the mouth, without a joint, and instead of a curb-chain it has a solid ring of iron, which passes through the upper part of the doubled-up bit within the mouth, and then passes behind the lower jaw, thus forming a most tremendous lever, sufficient to break the horse's jaw if powerfully applied. The use of this makes the horse's mouth so sensible, and gives the rider such complete power over him, that he is checked at full speed in the most instantaneous manner. It is a common practice, in some parts of Spanish America, for the people, in exercising their horses, to ride up full speed at a wall, and when the horse's head is within a few inches of it, to check them all at once. This masterly mode of management of their horses can alone enable them to use the lasso with such dexterity as they do. I have before said that little milk is used by the Spanish race in America, and when they do use it, they have a very awkward way of taking it from the cow. They think it is absolutely necessary to use the calf to induce the cow to give her milk. For this reason they first let the calf suck for some time alone, and then lay hold of one of the teats while the calf is still sucking the others, and so by a kind of stealth procure a portion only of the milk. They have no idea that a cow would STATE OF AGRICULTURE 277 give milk at all if the calf was altogether taken away from her ; so that when cows are kept for their milk, the calves must be kept along with them, and as they get the best share, a great number of cows and calves must be kept to produce a small quantity of milk. It will be seen from the table given at page 266, that the number of sheep in all Upper California is only one hundred and fifty-three thousand odd, which might be increased almost without limits ; but as their wool is of a quality unfit for exporta- tion, and mutton little used for food, there is no encouragement at present for any attention being paid to their propagation. The sheep in California, as well as in all the other parts of Spanish America, are of a bad breed, and their wool of the very coarsest quality. The whole seem to be exactly of the same kind. It is strange that, while in Spain the finest-wooled sheep in the world — the merinos — have so long existed, an inferior breed, producing the coarsest wool, should have been carried to their colonies. Perhaps the propagation of the merinos, like the grape, was discouraged or prohibited in the Americas, in order, as was the policy of the mother country, to give the monopoly to the flocks of Estre- madura, as well as to the vineyards of Catalonia. It is extraordinary, however, that some one should not have introduced into any of those vast countries a 278 UPPER CALIFORNIA better breed, even in the time of the Spanish govern- ment, and still more extraordinary that, since the revolutions, which have removed all obstacles, no amelioration of this breed has taken place. There are large flocks of sheep in Chile ; immense num- bers on the table-lands of Mexico, which abundantly supply the capital with mutton ; and myriads scat- tered over the middle or southern republics, — all of which, as well as those of California, are of the same breed, and their wool invariably exceedingly coarse. It might be thought that in the tropical climates the temperature and other circumstances may have changed the quality of the fleeces; but in Upper California the latitude nearly corresponds with that of Estremadura, and in some parts exactly so; yet the quality of the wool is equally bad there, as in the equatorial latitudes of Peru and Colombia. The British settlements of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land correspond with the latitudes of Chile and California, and we see what a fine quality of wool is produced there, equaling that of Spain, and already forming an important article of exportation from those colonies. . It is impossible to conceive a country more adapted to the breeding of sheep than Upper California ; and if a good kind were introduced by intelligent breeders, the benefit would be incal- culable. The same plan is followed with the sheep STATE OF AGRICULTURE 279 as with the black cattle, in respect to castration ; and the flocks consist only of rams and ewes, with- out any wethers, which are the most valuable stock. The mutton, like the beef, is therefore bad. Droves of rams, as well as bulls, are seen daily entering the city of Mexico, and other places of consumption all over the Spanish Americas. Swine do not seem to be very much attended to in California, but in other parts of Mexico they are bred in great numbers. They are reared and fed chiefly for their lard, and are of a very good kind, derived from the Chinese breed. They are fed in a manner so as to produce as much fat and as little flesh as possible. They are allowed to grow to a certain age in a lean state, subsisting chiefly on such roots and herbs as they can procure at large in the woods and fields, and when they arrive at the proper age and size for killing, they are then shut up, or at least kept at home, and as much maize given them as they can eat, this being administered to them in moderate quantities at a time, so as not to surfeit them. By this means they soon get enormously fat, and when slaughtered they are found to be almost all lard to the very bones. This lard they peel off as blubber is peeled off from a whale, the whole being entirely separated from every part of the flesh and entrails, leaving an aston- ishingly small proportion of flesh. They are often 280 UPPER CALIFORNIA so highly fed as to be unable to move. I have seen some unable to get farther up than on their haunches, just far enough to reach their food, and when satiated, tumble down again and grunt them- selves to sleep. In the sale and purchase of these animals, their weight of flesh is never taken into account. The calculation is, how many pounds of lard they will produce. Lard, with all ranks, is a necessary of life. Perhaps in the whole range of their cookery — which is sufficiently ample — no dish is done without hog's lard. From the sopa to the frijoles, all have a large proportion of it in their composition. Even their bread, to eat with the indispensable chocolate, has its proportion of lard. And although they delight in seeing every dish swimming in this, their favorite fat, yet butter in any dish, or used in any way as sauce, is abhorred as much by a Spanish- American as by an Englishman is the train-oil of a Russian boor. The following may be taken as about the average price of cattle in Upper California at the present time. Fat ox . . . . 5 dollars = ;^1 Mare .... 5 dollars = ^1 » § Cow .... 5 dollars = 1 Sheep .... 2 dollars = 8 • Horse (saddle) . 10 dollars == 2 Mule .... 10 dollars == 2 • CHAPTER VII COMMERCE OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — NAVIGATION — REVENUES In the time of the Spanish government, CaUfornia had no foreign commerce ; and as its almost insular situation cut it off from any frequent intercourse with Mexico by land, it was considered more in the light of a colony of that country than as an integral part. There was little or no commerce or communication carried on between them, except by the transmission from San Bias of the annual supplies to the missions. The greatest impulse which the intercourse between Mexico and California ever had was about the years 1792 and 1793, when a Spanish squadron was stationed at San Bias for the purpose of settling the dispute with England about Nootka Sound. This squadron, on their passage between San Bias and Nootka, called at Monterey and other places in Upper California to take in provisions, wood, and water ; but on the retiring of the squadron the intercourse reverted to its former state, and continued so till the breaking out of the 281 282 UPPER CALIFORNIA revolution in 1821. Soon after this event, the foreign merchants established in Chile and Peru, as well as those in Mexico, directed their attention to California as a place where some commerce might be carried on, particularly in hides and tallow. With this view, an English mercantile house in Lima formed an establishment at Monterey, and several vessels soon after went for the purpose of trading. The North-American traders, who are always the first to take advantage of new and remote markets, also turned their attention to California, and several vessels of that nation soon resorted there from the ports of South America, as well as from China and the Sandwich Islands. By this means some impulse was given to this trade, and which was expected to increase, but as the articles have been chiefly confined to hides and tallow, and the consumption of goods small, it has not risen to much importance. The amount of the annual exports, in the first few years after the opening of the ports to foreign vessels, was estimated to be about thirty thousand hides, and about seven thousand quintals of tallow, with a few small cargoes of wheat which the Russians required for their settlements on the northwest coast of America. This, with trifling quantities of wine, raisins, and olives, carried to San Bias, consti- ^ tuted the whole of the exports. Those exports were paid for in barter, chiefly in coarse manufactured COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 283 cottons, together with a few other articles of small value, necessary to a community who had but few artisans, but whose wants were very limited. Taking the value of the hides at two dollars each, and the tallow at eight dollars per quintal, and reckoning the value of the wheat and other articles at fourteen thousand dollars, the whole amount of exports would have been one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, or about twenty- six thousand pounds sterling. Since this period, however, the trade has increased considerably, particularly in the last year, — 1834, — owing, it is said, to the missionary friars, in antici- pation of being displaced, having slaughtered a very large number of cattle, — some say to the amount of one hundred thousand. Even if this be true, the number of black cattle stated in the table for 1831 need not be lessened. It is said that the missionaries who published those tables always gave an account of fewer cattle than they actually possessed, so that I presume the amount stated in the table is not more than what actually exists at the present time, but is more likely to be under the real number. There has been considerable intercourse of late between California and the Sandwich Islands, to which live cattle have been carried. This trade, which is almost entirely in the hands of the Americans, is not yet of much importance, but will increase 284 UPPER CALIFORNIA as the two countries proceed in civilization. There has also been lately some demand for wheat and provisions for the establishment of the English Hudson's Bay Company on the river Columbia. The trade in furs, particularly that of the sea-otter, formerly so considerable, and once so promising, has dwindled into insignificance. This is so much the case, that otter- skins are now occasionally imported from the Russian settlements to the north, and at an extravagant price, although the animal, as we have seen, is so abundant in their own waters. When Lape rouse visited California in 1786, he found at Monterey a Spanish commissary appointed by government to collect all the skins of the other missions, as a perquisite to the government. They amounted then to 20,000, and might have been increased to 30,000. Laperouse himself says, in his official letter to the Minister of Marine, that 50,000 could easily be procured annually. When it is considered how great the demand for this article is in China, and that this demand is not always satisfied but at an extravagant price, the great potential, if not the actual, value of this article of commerce to California will be admitted. The imports are such as will be easily understood from the account which we have given of the inhabitants, and of their habits and wants. They consist of cloth, wearing-apparel, articles of furniture. COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 285 agricultural implements, deals, salt, silks, candles, fire- works, &c. The internal commerce of California is of very little consequence. There are, as we have seen, no large towns, and the inhabitants of the country have not advanced to a state which requires the division of labor, which is the basis of internal commerce. Where all are cultivators of the soil, and at the same time artificers and manufacturers, each for his own necessities, there can be few interchanges. Before the revolution, a circulating medium — that great engine of commerce — was scarcely known, and little esteemed ; for when noth- ing was to be bought, money was of no value ; and when the strangers arrived first on the coast, they found no coin, barter being the only thing understood. This, however, was advantageous for the first adventurers, who sold their goods at the exorbitant prices which were established by the Spanish merchants for articles which had formerly to be conducted from Vera Cruz or Panama, passing through many hands before they got to California, and surcharged with duties and old-fashioned profits without number. Yet goods at those enormous prices were more acceptable to the missionaries than money, they having their numerous Indians to clothe, and a superabundance of cattle to slaughter. This state of things, however, has now considerably 286 UPPER CALIFORNIA altered. The success of the first adventurers drew others after them, and the missionaries, having been well supplied with goods, and finding the avidity with which the traders demanded their hides and tallow, began to know better the relative value of the articles dealt in, and more equitable prices were fixed. There is yet very little currency in California ; and as the small population and little industry of the inhabitants do not give room for much consumption, the advancement of commerce has not been rapid, and it is but yet of very little consideration. The whole coast of the Pacific Ocean, from Valdivia in latitude 40° south to the extremity of California in 42° north, was in the exclusive pos- session of the Spanish nation for three centuries. This line of coast bounded countries the most fertile in every production the earth affords. The abundance of the precious metals was infinitely superior to that contained in all the world besides. In this immense space is to be found all the varieties of climate, and consequently all the exchangeable commodities which stimulate commerce. All this gave an inexhaustible field for traffic, which ought to have exalted that part of the world above all others in the scale of commercial opulence. The British possessions either in the East or West Indies cannot be compared, in extent or variety of COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 287 productions, to the immense continuous territories of the Spaniards in America ; nor can the navigation of the seas which surround or border on the British colonies — which have their hurricanes, their shoals and currents — be compared to the mild Pacific coast of America, which is entirely free of all sort of dangers. No hurricane, shoal, or dangerous current, is to be found in all the extensive coast, from the southern to the northern boundary, of the Spanish possessions on the Pacific. No line of coast is so perfectly safe to navigate. It is literally without danger of any description whatever, and more resembles a lake navigation than that of an immense ocean. The Pacific coast of Spanish America is, in unin- terrupted extent, equal to the whole coast of the Old World, from the Naze of Norway to Cape Verd, in Africa. What reflections must this give rise to when we consider that this line of coast comprehends Denmark, Germany, Holland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the countries round the Mediterranean, and part of Africa ? And, certainly, the American shores are bounded by countries naturally more rich than all those ancient and powerful countries united. The whole of this American coast was inhabited before its discovery by the Spaniards, and many parts of it possessed by a people far advanced in civilization ; yet this immense coast, possessing all the natural 288 UPPER CALIFORNIA productions on the terrestrial globe, and enjoying every conceivable advantage for trade, had, over its whole extent, — after being three hundred years in the possession of Spain, — not more than about thirty vessels, exclusive of launches ! Had this coast and the adjacent countries fallen to the lot of England, or any other commercial and enterprising nation, what would have been their state at this day ? Would they not have rivaled Asia ? Would they not have been even superior in riches and commerce to that celebrated continent ? The American countries so situated are, in fact, naturally richer than India, and offer more objects of commerce if they were well peopled by an enter- prising race ; the productions of the soil are more varied, owing to the greater variation of climate ; their mineral riches are beyond comparison greater; and the useful domestic animals abound in much greater perfection and in greater numbers ; while the whole of the valuable tropical fruits of Asia either are produced there, or might be so if culti- vated. All those immense advantages, however, had not the power to rouse the dormant energies of the Spaniard. It appeared as if those extraordi- nary bounties of nature had the effect of lulling them into apathy ; but whatever the cause might have been, certain it is that, until the time that those magnificent countries were wrested from the COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 289 Spanish nation by her own sons, the whole, or almost the whole, of so many sources of commer- cial wealth were entirely neglected. The coasts were without commerce or navigation. A death- like tranquillity reigned in all the provinces, the inhabitants of one being scarcely known to the other. Indeed, it may be questioned if the people of Mexico at that time knew much more of Chile or Buenos Ayres than the inhabitants of Labrador know of Patagonia at the present day. The Spanish system of exclusion and restrictions on all foreign trade with their possessions in America is well known, but it is remarkable that the duties and restrictions on their own coasting trade were also most oppressive. The reason for this is quite incomprehensible, as it bore only on the subjects of Spain, and could hardly be supposed to promote their leading principle, viz., to favor the trade of the mother country. The produce of one district could not be imported into another without paying a hea\'y duty, under the name of alcabala ; neither could it be removed from one place of sale to another, in the same district, without paying over again the same alcabala ; so that every time goods were moved from one town to another, an additional duty was to be paid, and this duty has been justly styled the never- ending alcabala. The multiplicity of laws and regulations by which Spain fettered 19 U 290 UPPER CALIFORNIA every sort of commerce in the American colonies, the vexatious and capricious conduct of the miHtary and custom-house officers so notorious in those countries, also tended greatly to discourage coasting navigation ; and so little practiced and so ignorant of their pro- fession were the navigators on the Pacific coast, that it was considered a greater adventure for a coasting- vessel to go from one province to another than it would be by others to make a voyage round the world. There were in Lima two or three large vessels for the purpose of bringing wheat from Chile. Those vessels belonged to the bakers, and made one voyage during the year. They had their stated seasons at which they sailed, and their depart- ure was fixed to a day. They had also their fixed track, from which they never deviated. The voyage from Lima to Valparaiso is only about four hundred leagues, but took usually about three months to perform it in. A story is told of one of these vessels having got to Chile in fifty days, and the captain was put into the Inquisition on the suspicion of his having had to do with the Devil. The voyage back to Lima, being by a favorable wind, was performed in much less time. This voyage is now performed outwards in about twenty days, and back in about ten. The same practice was observed in the navigation of the other parts of the coast. That from San Bias to Monterey, in COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 291 California, required from two to three months, but is now performed in about twenty days. In all the coasting trade of America, as well as in the foreign voyages of the Spaniards, a fixed track was laid down, and never on any account deviated from. The orders of the government often pointed out the day of sailing, at certain seasons of the year, and the route pursued ; and a law was in force regulating the day on which vessels and fleets should depart from the different ports of America to Spain, Manila, &c., which neither the captain, agents, nor owner durst disobey. When a Spanish merchant vessel arrived in any of the American ports, the captain was obliged immediately to wait on the commandant and to deliver up to him the ship's papers. From that moment the vessel and captain were entirely under the orders of the commandant. Under the Spanish law, all merchant seamen and officers are subject to the marine law. They are liable to be tried for all offenses, and have the privilege to be sued for civil debt only, before the marine military tribunal ; so that the captain and crews of merchant ships were always under martial law, and subject to the immediate orders of the naval officers command- ing at the ports where they might arrive. All merchant vessels, before their sailing, had also to be examined by the orders of the commandant, and must be pronounced by him as fit for performing U 2 292 UPPER CALIFORNIA their voyage in respect to the sufficiency of the hull, tackle, provisions, officers, and men, and receive a certificate to this effect. This, as may be supposed, led to the most scandalous abuses, and, in the state of corruption at which Spanish agents had arrived in the Americas, this certificate was not often to be obtained without fees and bribes proportionate to the ability of the giver or the rapacity of the receiver. No redress was left to the unhappy captain or supercargo of a vessel who fell into the hands of a rapacious commandant, or one whom he might have offended ; for a Spanish employee never failed to fortify himself with such an over- whelming multitude of legal documents, signed and countersigned by judges and notaries, and approved by all the cautious checks which the Spanish government, in its wisdom, had invented to prevent fraud in their American officers ! The civil institutions of the Spaniards were, in this respect, much in the style of their religious discipline. If an officer took care to make out the whole of the complicated written documents required by the regulations, if he had the number of prescribed signatures, the approbation and attestation of the various officers appointed to check and countercheck his accounts, he might rob and oppress as much as he pleased. All his documents being correct, no charge could be made against him, just as COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 293 a good Spanish Catholic may commit all the sins in the decalogue, yet if he conform to the ceremonies prescribed by the Church, he is a good Catholic still, and the Inquisition itself could not meddle with him. It would be curious to collect some of the voy- ages performed by the Spaniards, not only on the American coasts, but from Manila and other parts of Asia, as well as from Europe, and to compare them with the improved navigation of the present day. I shall only here give a brief account of one of the voyages from Manila to America, as related to me by an officer of the vessel which performed it. The ship Philipina, of seven hundred tons burden, in the service of the Spanish Philippine Company, commanded by Don Juan Yvergoytie, a captain in the Spanish royal navy, officered by lieutenants and midshipmen also of the navy, and manned with a crew of a hundred and forty men, sailed from Manila in 1799, with a cargo of bale- goods, bound to Lima. On leaving Manila, it was the captain's intention to keep to the southward, by a track which had been recommended to him, and which was sanctioned by the royal authorities, but, in attempting this new route, they encountered nothing but contrary winds, and were obliged, after being some time at sea, to put first into the island of Mindanao, and afterwards into the Pellew Islands, 294 UPPER CALIFORNIA in order to procure a fresh stock of water and to recover their crew, many of whom were already affected with scurvy. The captain then gave up his plan of pursuing this route, and proceeded by the usual course to the northward. After a long passage, they made the coast of California, and put into Monterey, where they laid in a fresh stock of water and provisions and refreshed their crew. They then left that port and proceeded to San Bias. The whole time occupied in the voyage from Manila to San Bias was eleven months ; but as a great proportion of the voyage to Lima was still to be performed, and as there were rumors of English vessels being in the Pacific, the captain petitioned the Viceroy of Mexico to be allowed to discharge his cargo at San Bias, which was granted, and a termination put to this eventful voyage. At the present time, a voyage from Manila to San Bias is performed in about seventy days, and from Manila to Lima in three months. If the good ship Philipina had proceeded to Lima, her ultimate destination, her voyage could not have been shorter than fourteen or fifteen months. This vessel remained a year at San Bias, where her expenses amounted to 72,000 Spanish dollars, and then returned to Manila. A friend of mine has often told me that he was the first who owned a square-rigged Mexican vessel COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 295 on the Pacific. He arrived at San Bias in 1802, in a vessel belonging to the Philippine Company, and having obtained liberty to remain in the country, set about constructing a vessel at that port, for the purpose of trading on the coast. After an infinity of difficulties, he succeeded in launching and rigging his vessel, which he called the Guadalupe, in honor of the patron saint of Mexico. This vessel was of the burden of 26 tons, and brig-rigged. The owner was not a little proud of his enterprise and of his vessel, with which he proceeded to trade in the Gulf of California. He had also the honor to be the first who entered the port of Guaymas with a sailing vessel, although it is now so much frequented by vessels of all descriptions. On approaching this fine harbor, he had his doubts if there was sufficient water to admit the Guadalupe, for she drew no less than four feet and a half ; but by keeping the lead constantly going, and approaching under easy sail, he anchored in safety, and found that a 74-gun ship might have done so alongside of him. This vessel, being the first of that class which was ever seen on that part of the coast, created great curiosity and wonder, and on the report of her arrival reaching the interior, the country people flocked to see her, the most respectable families coming from a great distance to Guaymas for that purpose. 296 UPPER CALIFORNIA Although what has been said may, in some measure, account for the backwardness and want of enterprise which was so remarkable in all the Spanish colonies of America, yet another great cause sprang from the immense field which every one found unoccupied in his immediate neighborhood, and which presented at home more objects than his industry or his capital could embrace, and prevented him from embarking in maritime enter- prises to distant parts, with which he had few or no commercial relations, and of which he had little geographical knowledge. A Spanish creole of Peru had much more knowledge of the land of Canaan or Palestine than of Mexico or California. The separation, however, of the colonies from the mother country, and consequently from the Spanish monopoly, opened a wide field to all sorts of enter- prise ; but the native inhabitants were without knowledge or means to profit by the circumstance, in as far as regarded the navigation and commercial facilities of these coasts. The want was at first almost entirely supplied by strangers, who resorted to these countries on the opening of the ports, and by them the coasting trade was at first exclusively carried on. The vessels were owned by strangers, and the crews consisted of foreign seamen. This, however, was soon looked on with jealousy by the new republics, although some of the more enlightened COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 297 saw that the only way to create a marine was to admit foreign sailors, foreign vessels, and foreign capital, in order to breed up their own people to a seafaring life, and to give time for native artisans and native capital to grow up, so as to enable them to have ships and a coasting trade by degrees. Chile seemed to adopt this principle, as it has done every other liberal one, in a much greater degree than any of the other states ; but Mexico, which is the least maritime of all the others, and ought to admit foreign seamen with most freedom, has adopted the old-fashioned and exclusive measures, as if it were a first-rate maritime nation of the old school, decreeing that all Mexican vessels shall be commanded and officered by Mexicans, and that two thirds of their crews shall be native seamen. This wise decree was made when there was not one Mexican captain, officer, or seaman on the whole Pacific coast of the Mexican republic ! Mexico, in this, as well as in all other matters of commercial regulation, has adhered more than any of her sister republics to the old Spanish regimen, and, like her maternal prototype, has succeeded in putting herself almost out of the list of commercial countries. While the government is continually talking of the country's regeneration, and of its determination to adopt a liberal system, and particularly to protect the coasting trade, it is daily issuing some absurd 298 UPPER CALIFORNIA law founded on the jealousy of strangers interfering, by which it manages to put the country almost on the same footing as it was in the time of the Spanish monopoly. If the laws now in existence on paper were rigidly enforced, there would not at this moment be a single coasting-vessel on all the Mexican coast of the Pacific. There is not a single vessel at this moment commanded by a Mexican, nor are there any officered or manned by natives, yet decrees are thundered out against abuses, and contraband, and infractions of laws, as bulls are from, the Vatican, and are as much attended to. The mis- erable and antiquated commercial policy of Mexico has rendered the merchants in her dominions a set of smugglers, her custom-house officers their abettors, and has reduced her trade and the reve- nues from her custom-houses to a point almost of insignificance. From what has been said it will not appear strange that the intercourse between California and Mexico has never been very active. It has not improved much since the separation of the countries from Spain. The communication between the two is still very infrequent, and the commercial transac- tions of no importance whatever. California holds hardly the relation of even a colony to Mexico. Mexico has more intercourse with China than with California. Even at the time I am writing, advices COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 299 are not received in Mexico from Monterey above once or twice in a year. The last deputy elected by California to the Mexican Congress informed me that, during the two years he served, he only received two letters from California while in Mexico. It remains to be seen whether the new order of things in this country will lead to more enlightened views and greater commercial enterprise. The new project, also, of a line of communication, by steamers, along the whole coast of the Pacific, if ever carried into effect, will doubtless modify considerably the present state of things ; but nothing can permanently benefit California until she pos- sesses inhabitants of more enlightened views, and consents to remodel her internal economy, civil and political. Although no further connected with the subject of the present chapter than in having reference to navigation, I cannot help mentioning in this place two circumstances of recent occurrence, which have come to my notice, and which may by some be considered as illustrating the very difficult and long - contested question of the first peopling of America. The British brig Forester, bound from London to the river Columbia, and commanded by Mr. John Jennings, fell in with, in the year 1813, a Japa- nese junk of about 700 tons burden, one hundred 300 UPPER CALIFORNIA and fifty miles off the northwest coast of America, and abreast of Queen Charlotte Island, about 49° of north latitude. There were only three persons alive on board, one of whom was the captain. By the best accounts Captain Jennings could get from them, they had been tossing about at sea for nearly eighteen months. They had been twice in sight of the land of America, and driven off. Some beans still remained, on which they had been maintaining themselves, and they had caught rain-water for their drink. This vessel had left the northern coast of Japan, loaded with timber for some of the islands to the southward, and had been blown off the coast by gales of wind. She had no masts standing, but was, in other respects, not much injured. Captain Jennings took the survivors on board of his vessel, and delivered them at the Russian settlement of Norfolk [?] Sound, the governor of which, owing to the friendship existing between Russia and the Japanese, sent a vessel on purpose with them to their own country. In the course of ages, many such circumstances might happen ; and if a vessel, in a like situation, having some women on board, should have been driven on shore on the American coast, the origin of a race would have been the result. And, considering the high antiquity of the Japan empire, and the number of ages which navigation has been known to them, it COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 301 is quite probable that many such contingencies should have happened, particularly when it is considered that in these latitudes the prevailing winds blow from the westward, and consequently directly from the coast of Japan to that of America. The other circumstance is the recent arrival of a Japanese junk at the Sandwich Islands, and of which I have received the following account. '* On the 1st of January, 1833, a Japanese junk appeared off those islands, and anchored on the west side of Oahu, when a native of China, living on the island, went on board and found four men alive, but only one able to walk. The account they gave was, that they had left Japan about eleven months before, with a crew of eight people ; that they were driven off the coast ; that they had been living on salt fish and rain-water; and that the other four men had died of starvation. This vessel was only of about eighty tons burden, and was lost in attempting to get her into a harbor in Oahu." This is a proof that the islands in the Pacific might have been, at least, peopled from the same quarter, although the arrival of vessels from Japan at these islands must have been more rare than on the north coast of America, because they are situated more southerly, and not in the track of the prevailing westerly winds, but, on the contrary, within the easterly trade winds. The present circumstance, however. 302 UPPER CALIFORNIA removes all doubt of the possibility of such arrivals, and is the more remarkable as the Sandwich Islands are amongst the most easterly, and consequently most distant from the Asiatic continent, so that the arrival of vessels at the other less remote islands is still more probable. Revenue. — From what has been stated, in this and the preceding chapter, of the agriculture and commerce of California, its revenue cannot be sup- posed to be of much consequence. It may be said, indeed, that, before the revolution, it produced no national revenue whatever. The tithes which belonged to the government were collected from the free settlers, but, as the missions were exempted, their value was a mere trifle. On the opening of the ports in 1821, and for some years after, the collectors of the customs were officers appointed by the different presidios to receive such duties as might be obtained from any vessels arriving in their respective districts ; and although a commissioner was sent from Mexico in 1825, little was done by him. The same practice continued till 1828, when Don Jose Maria Echeandia was named commandant- general, who appointed a collector and comptroller of the custom-house, to reside at San Diego, and to have subordinate officers at Monterey. Since that time some order has been introduced in the collection of the duties. About this time it COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 303 was conceded by the Mexican government that, owing to the poverty of CaHfornia, and to encourage its settlement, two fifths of the duties estabUshed by the general Mexican tariff should be deducted on all goods landed in both Californias ; but on being re-exported to the other Mexican states, these two fifths should be exacted on the goods so re-exported. This regulation still exists. The Mexican duties are charged by a tariff which fixes the rates on every different article. This tariff was promulgated in 1828, and discovers the utter incapacity of its framers for such a task. The whole of the imports are fixed at a most exorbitantly high rate, which causes a duty of not less, in most cases, than from a hundred and fifty to two hundred per cent on the first cost. But ridiculous distinctions are formed, in order to protect the imaginary interests of their native manufactures, and fruits of their soil, as well as many prohibitions with the same object. The modern governments of the world are at last discovering their errors, and striving to explode the old-fashioned and ruinously illiberal system of protecting duties and national preference to manufactures and arts not adapted to their soil or circumstances, and which has contributed so much to the alienation of one people from another, as if they had distinct interests, and as if they ought to contribute to the discomfort of their neighbors 304 UPPER CALIFORNIA for the purpose of securing some imaginary advantage to themselves. The Mexicans, however, still see nothing but wisdom and the sources of political prosperity in all the antiquated prohibitions, protections, and ' exorbitant duties of the most barbarous age of commerce ! This outrageous system, so contrary to sound policy, and so opposite to the modern and enlightened doctrines of political economy, has reduced the revenue from her custom-houses to a trifle, and her treasury to bankruptcy. The old colonial system, however much decried by the new republics, seems so rooted in their natures that nothing but what savors of its ancient principles seems good policy. The same organization of the custom-houses, the same divisions of duties under different denominations and percentages which create an interminable set of accounts and documents, the same number of officers, — in short, the same confusion, and facilities for contraband, still exist, in their revenue department, in all the perfection of the olden time. These, and their necessary appendages of alcabalas and custom-houses in every inland town, which rendered the fiscal laws and practices of Spain and her colonies so intolerable, still flourish in all their vigor, and place the new republics almost out of the pale of enlightened commercial communities, and at the same time COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 305 make them so remarkable for their bad financial credit. The whole of the new republics which have arisen out of the old Spanish colonies have strictly imitated their parent in putting their finances in a state of bankruptcy, in which, under their present systems, they are likely to remain. I should be exceedingly sorry, by the foregoing general observations, to inculpate the whole of the statesmen in those new countries now erected into republics. I know that many of them are of the most liberal and enlightened views, and capable of governing their country on better principles ; and I also know that supposed circumstances of necessity oblige a great proportion of their best -informed citizens to yield to the policy which they know to be mischievous, in the hope that in better times wiser measures may be adopted; but it unfortunately has happened, particularly with Mexico, of which country I am now speaking, that its government has been hitherto controlled by persons who have not put in practice even the rudiments of an enlightened policy in its commercial laws, nor made one step to the reform of its ruined and bankrupt finances. Unfortunately, the great bulk of the people think that, instead of reducing the duties, abating the eternal custom-houses, and sim- plifying • the absurd classifications of duties at the maritime custom-houses, in order to augment their 20 X 306 UPPER CALIFORNIA prosperity and better their revenue, they have only to impose higher duties, multiply officers of the customs, pass restrictive measures for the encouragement of native manufactures which do not exist, and to fulmi- nate decrees and issue moral precepts against unfaithful employees, and smuggling citizens, and foreigners. In this manner the Mexican government has gone on, through all its changes in the steady course of heaping duties upon duties, multiplying restriction, and augmenting offices, till its mercantile system has become a monstrosity not to be paralleled in any corner of the world. The general Mexican tariff applies equally to Cali- fornia as to the other parts of the republic, except the abatement of two fifths already mentioned ; but as this is only a temporary measure, it is liable to be recalled at any time the government may think fit. Many of the regulations and prohibitions of this tariff are quite absurd as applied to California, for its productions are entirely different from those of the tropical climates of Mexico, for which it is adapted ; but nothing has been attempted to modify its provisions so as to fit it to the peculiar circumstances of that country. The following account of the financial state of Upper California in 1831 may be depended on. It was furnished to me by a friend well acquainted with the subject. COMMERCE — NAVIGATION 307 The expense of the presidial companies, according to the late regulations, is estimated at ninety- one thousand dollars per annum, to which must be added the pay of the commandant -general, sub- inspector, auxiliary troops of the squadron of Mazatlan, maintenance of the convicts, and other various charges, which, all together, may be reckoned at forty thousand dollars. This will make the whole charges borne by the general Mexican government amount to one hundred and thirty- one thousand dollars. The net amount of the revenue does not exceed thirty- two thousand dollars, thus making a deficiency of about one hundred thousand dollars annually to be borne by the Mexican treasury, over the revenue produced in the territory of Upper California. This is the state of the revenue of Upper California, to which Mexico would have, if it paid its debts and its soldiers, to remit one hundred thousand dollars annually; but as the Mexican treasury is not in the habit of satisfying very punctually the demands against it, and as it has quite as urgent claims from other quarters of the republic, nearer home, California is left to bear the deficiency the best way it can. Instead of money, military officers and placemen are sent, with reams of laws and orders to repair the system, and to apply the current nostrums of the day to heal all maladies, X 2 308 UPPER CALIFORNIA leaving, as heretofore, the soldiers in rags and the employees without pay. The result of the whole is, that all parties have to recur to the missions and the friars for their daily maintenance, to prevent them from starvation. The debt owing by the government to the missions for such supplies amounted, in 1831, to four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.* * No alterations have been made in this chapter since it was first written. It must, consequently, be understood to refer to the state of things previously to the late revolution. — Ed. CHAPTER VIII UPPER CALIFORNIA CONSIDERED AS A FIELD FOR FOREIGN COLONIZATION It would not be supposed, a priori, that men would select for their abode either the extreme northern regions, where the fruits of the earth are scarce, and the labor required to produce them great, and where all manner of privations are excessive, or the burning climes of the tropics, where dangers and discomforts of a very different kind, but equally great, abound ; and yet, however inexplicable it may be, we find human beings who seem to prefer for their habitations the frozen regions of the higher latitudes, and the scorching plains of the torrid zone. We find people clinging to a soil which does not yield them sufficient subsistence, and to a climate which threatens to freeze them to death. We find human beings in Patagonia who have to support life by eating raw fish taken from the sea, or the flesh of wild animals, whose skins serve to preserve them from perishing of cold. We 309 310 UPPER CALIFORNIA also find, near the opposite pole, beings equally wretched, and refusing to move from their native snows. We find, on the other hand, men inhabiting the most pestiferous situations, under the very line, in the midst of forests and marshes, whose exhalations communicate to the air they breathe pestilence and death, and whose whole lives are passed in defending themselves from noxious animals and poisonous reptiles. Is it not astonishing that the frozen and uninhabitable shores of Patagonia, Hudson's Bay, the pestiferous marshes of the tropical coast of America, and the burning sands of Africa, should be filled with people, whilst such delightful countries as California are so devoid of inhabitants ? Again, we find in Europe a superabundant and daily increasing population, the utmost exertions of a great part of whom cannot procure them bread. In Great Britain and Ireland, there are millions of human beings, of superior intellects and varied acquirements, who find it utterly impossible to get employment or food ; and yet countries exist, in which the choicest fruits of nature are left to waste for want of hands to gather them, and where labor is hardly necessary to enable every one to live in plenty. While in Europe lands can only be acquired by the rich and the powerful, in some of the finest countries of the earth luxuriant soils are lying waste, without proprietors and without cultivators. COLONIZATION 311 Taking every circumstance into account, perhaps no country whatever can excel or hardly vie with California in natural advantages. Its geographical situation is such as one would point out if he was desired to select the most favored situation in the world. Its topographical relations are also most favorable. It stretches along the shores of the Pacific Ocean without extending much inland, and thereby enjoys all the manifold advantages of a maritime country.* By its great extension from north to south, settlers have also the option of selecting a climate suited to their health or views. Other countries there are, of course, which have the same relative situation on the globe; but I think it may safely be asserted that there is no other, of the same extent, which possesses so many natural and local advantages. Some countries, although they are placed in the same geographical relation, are sandy deserts or inundated marshes ; others are uninhabitable mountains or impervious forests. Some are destitute of ports and rivers ; while others are surrounded or possessed by savages, or bordered by shoals and unapproachable shores. California, on the contrary, enjoys natural and local advantages equal to its geographical situation. Its soil is of the most fertile description, capable of producing the * I speak of that part inhabited by the Spaniards, for, taken in its whole extent, California reaches far inland. 312 UPPER CALIFORNIA choicest fruits and grains in the greatest perfection and abundance. Its coasts are bold, and free of danger, washed by the placid Pacific Ocean, and possessed of ports of the first order. It is also watered by abundant rivers ; and there is nothing in the configuration of the surface of the country to forbid the eternal spring which its situation promises. There is found a temperature equally removed from extreme heat or cold ; and the range of hills which bound the maritime portion of California to the northeast shelter it from the only winds which might be apprehended seriously to injure the fruits of its soil or to incommode its inhabitants. The situation of California for intercourse with other countries, and its capacity for commerce, — should it ever be possessed by a numerous and industrious population, — are most favorable. Its western shores on the Pacific, as has been already shown, possess capacious ports. The port of San Francisco, for size and safety, is hardly surpassed by any in the world. It is so situated as to be made the center of the commercial relations which may take place between Asia and the western coasts of America. The route by which the voyage from India, China, Manila, and other Asiatic countries, is performed to the American coast, particularly to that of Mexico, Guatemala, &c., obliges vessels to pass very near the coast of California, because, COLONIZATION 313 in order to avoid the easterly trade -winds, it is necessary to stand to the northward to get into the variable and prevailing westerly winds, just as vessels must do when bound from the West Indies to Europe. The vessels of the Spanish Philippine Company, on their passage from Manila to San Bias and Acapulco, generally called at Monterey for refreshments and orders. Thus it appears as if California was designed by nature to be the medium of connecting, commercially, Asia with America, and as the depot of the trade between those two vast continents, which possess the elements of unbounded commercial interchange ; the one overflowing with all the rich and luxurious commodities always characteristic of the East, the other possessing a superabundance of the precious metals and other valuable productions to give in exchange. California is also admirably calculated for carrying on a trade with all the new republics bordering on the Pacific; and as its productions are of a different description from those of the countries chiefly situ- ated within the tropics, it is capable of furnishing therr^ with articles of indispensable necessity, which hitherto they have been obliged to procure from Europe at an enormous expense, and often, from the length of the voyage, rendered useless by the damaged state in which they arrived. California could furnish abundantly all those countries with 314 UPPER, CALIFORNIA flour, potatoes, salted provisions, hides, tallow, butter, cheese, wine, brandy, oil, olives, raisins, apples, and other fruits, as also with hemp or cordage, flax, wood, pitch, tar, &c., all of which would arrive by a short voyage, and in perfect condition, and be furnished at reasonable prices. Another commercial field offers to be gradually opened, in the numerous islands scattered over the Pacific Ocean, with some of which, particularly with the Sandwich Islands, considerable dealings are already carried on by foreign vessels, and also by those under the Sandwich Island flag. These carry live-stock to those islands, which have benefited amazingly by the introduction of black cattle and horses, of which they now possess large numbers. The foregoing is a brief view of what commercial consequence California might soon arrive at if peopled by an active and enterprising race of men ; but, under the present system, and while the population retain their present character of indolence and total want of enterprise, it must stand still. If, on the con- trary, this country was under an enlightened and liberal government, which knew how to promote its colonization, and to encourage the resort of industrious settlers, from whatever quarter they might come, it could not fail to become known, and selected as a refuge by the innumerable starving population of the Old World, and would soon be one COLONIZATION 315 of the most interesting and prosperous spots on the earth. It is true that its distance from Europe is great, but it is not much greater than that to New Holland or Van Diemen's Land, which so many emigrants now reach at a moderate expense. The great number of vessels proceeding to fish for whales in the Pacific might also, perhaps, be made the means of conveying emigrants to California, so as to be advantageous both to the owners of the vessels and the passengers. This fishery has, of late years, been most successful on the coast of Japan ; and to vessels passing to that coast round Cape Horn, California would not be much out of the way. They would there be able to refresh their crews, and lay in a fresh stock of provisions and water for their ultimate destination. These vessels carry out empty casks for the purpose of holding their oil. These would serve for carrying water for the passengers, so that, except in the article of provisions, scarcely any additional expense would be incurred. Should the projects, now much talked of, of forming a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, and of establishing a line of steamers along the western coast of South America, be ever carried into effect, the means of transport of individuals to California would be extremely easy, and in less than half the time required for a voyage to Australia. 316 UPPER CALIFORNIA The probability of the commercial advantages of such projects forms quite a separate subject of inquiry. The opening of a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, across the Isthmus of Panama, or at some more favorable point in that neighborhood, by means of a canal, has long occupied the attention of the nautical and scientific world; and if this enterprise should ever be carried into effect, a voyage from Europe to California would be comparatively short, and emigrants could be carried there with little more expense than to Canada. If ever this route shall be opened, California will then be one of the most interesting commercial situations in the world. It would, in that case, be the point of rendezvous for all vessels engaged in the trade between Europe and Asia by that route. It is nearly mid -voyage between those two continents, and would furnish provisions and all naval supplies in the most ample abundance, and most probably would become a mart for the interchange of the commodities of the three continents. No other station in the course of this route would be in any way equal to California. The parts of America through which the supposed canal must pass must be low and in a tropical climate, consequently unhealthy ; they are also unproductive of provisions and naval stores ; whereas California •presents a healthy climate, good harbors, provisions, and naval stores of all descriptions. COLONIZATION 317 The opening of this passage may perhaps be considered as a remote contingency. But when we reflect on what has been achieved within the last fifty years, what has been the progress of the world in that time, and look at what is in progress, is it too much to indulge in a hope that this enterprise, so manifestly useful, and on all hands allowed to be practicable, may at no very distant period be accomplished ? If California, and the country through which the proposed canal has to pass, had appertained to England for three hundred years, as they have done to Spain, would not, at this day, such a canal have been the thoroughfare for the trade to Asia ? Nay, would not the people of England have opened this communication for the sole purpose of settling such a country as California, if no other object had been taken into account ? I shall here presume to give my opinion, that all attempts to make a passage between the two oceans will be abortive, unless the territory through which the canal passes shall be ceded in sovereignty to some powerful European state, or put under the guaranty of a convention of European states, because the new republics into which the late Spanish colonies have been divided have not the stability, nor have they adopted that liberal policy, which is necessary to insure a free transit, indispensable for the good success of such an undertaking. The 318 UPPER CALIFORNIA security of those who had to expend such large sums of money, and the protection of the extensive commerce which would have to pass through such territory, are alike indispensable. Another consid- eration, in my opinion, is also indispensable to the success and utility of this undertaking, viz., that the canal should be made of a capacity sufficient to admit merchant vessels to pass through without discharging their cargoes. To make a canal for boats, or on any other scale than to permit vessels to pass on to the ulterior destination of the goods, would be entirely nugatory. The expense and delay of transporting the cargoes by boats, in such a country as that through which the canal passes, would be very great, and the loss, by periodical rains, robbery by an ill - regulated population, and a thousand causes, would counterbalance all other advantages ; but the principal difficulty and expense would be to procure vessels in the Pacific to prosecute the remaining part of the voyage. On this ocean, at present, the freights paid for vessels are most exorbitant, and from the nature of the coasts in the neighborhood of the canal, which are all unhealthy, and unfit for the creation or maintenance of a marine, no improvement of consequence is to be expected. It would result, in the case supposed of a mere boat-canal, that, after a cargo had been forwarded to the eastern entrance of the canal, and COLONIZATION 319 transmitted to the Pacific by boats, the time that might elapse before a vessel could be procured to proceed with this cargo to China or other destination would be more, and the expense greater, than if the original vessel had proceeded directly round the Cape of Good Hope. It has been lately much recommended to make a railroad from Porto Bello to Panama, or somewhere in that vicinity; but the foregoing objections exist to this, in all their force, as to a canal for boats, and I should consider such an undertaking utterly useless, in a commercial point of view. If, on the contrary, the canal was made capable of admitting vessels to pass through with their cargoes, the delay would be very small and the expense trifling. Asia would be thereby brought by one half nearer to Europe, and the passage to all the west coast of America and the Pacific islands shortened in a still greater degree. This revolution in the commerce with Asia and the Pacific Ocean, if it were to happen, would aggrandize the country of which we have been treating, in an extraordinary manner ; and however distant this era may be, it is not to be supposed that, in the present state of the world, when such rapid progress is making in everything that is useful, this gigantic improvement will be indefinitely delayed, and particularly when it would appear that the means are but trifling in comparison to the end 320 UPPER CALIFORNIA proposed. When we look at what has already been done in North America, England, Holland, France, and other countries, the undertaking alluded to does not appear to be formidable. Perhaps the Caledonian Canal, which passes through Scotland, and unites the North Sea with the Atlantic, is not a much inferior undertaking to the one proposed, and the plan on which it has been constructed ought to be adopted. This canal is capable of admitting the largest loaded merchant vessels to pass through it without discharging ; and one of the same capacity between the Atlantic and Pacific would effect all the vast advantages which I have mentioned, and, indeed, many more. In the present unsettled and uncertain state of Upper California, in its internal and external political relations, and more particularly in the state of anarchy which has resulted from the changes that have taken place since the preceding chapters of the present work were written, it would be absurd to recommend it as a field for emigration at this moment. As, however, this state of things cannot be expected to be permanent, and as it is to be hoped that, whether the country reunites itself with Mexico or achieves permanent independence, more liberal and enlightened principles of government and state polity will prevail, there appears much probability that the views that have heretofore been COLONIZATION 321 entertained respecting the colonization of the coun- try by foreigners will be greatly modified, and that encouragement will be given to the only proceeding calculated to effect the permanent prosperity of the country. Should such be the case, I know of no place, as I have already stated, better calculated for receiving and cherishing the superflous population of Great Britain. Hitherto, nothing could have been less encouraging to the settlement of strangers than the proceedings of the successive governments of republican Mexico. For although the different parties who have ruled the country have, in many public acts, held forth their great desire to encour- age emigration to all parts of the country, all their laws devised with this object have been dictated too much in the old Spanish spirit to be really practically useful. By the multiplication of regulations and restrictions, they contrived to envelop their meaning and provisions in such uncertainty that they could scarcely be understood, while most of them embraced some antiquated prohibitive principle which rendered the whole nugatory. In all of the acts relating to emigration, for instance, there have been such absurd clauses as that the emigrant must profess the Catholic religion; that he shall have a certain capital, a trade or profession ; that he shall appear before the authority, shall have a regular passport, &c. As yet, few strangers have established themselves 21 Y 322 UPPER CALIFORNIA in Upper California. Such as have done so, have proceeded thither, as it were, casually, in vessels trading to the coast, and are, consequently, chiefly seafaring men ; but several mechanics and others have also established themselves, and all have been received with the utmost kindness by the natives, and the greater part of them have intermarried with them. The native inhabitants are indeed remarkable for their peaceable, inoffensive character; and on their part no opposition is to be apprehended. It might be presumed that the chief opposition to the admission of strangers was to be expected from the missionaries. It would be supposed that, from their education, and from the fear of losing the influence they possess, none could view the entrance of strangers with so much jealousy as they; but it is a curious fact, that, from the first establishment of these missions to the present day, as well in the time of the Spanish government as under the republican system, the reception of strangers has always been much more cordial by the missionaries than by the government officers ! The different navigators who have touched on the coast of California since its first settlement have unanimously borne testimony to this fact ; and since the country has been opened to strangers indiscriminately, the hospitality and kindness of the missionaries have been the praise of every one who has been there. Foreign mechanics COLONIZATION 323 have been employed at almost all the missions, and the most cordial reception experienced by all of them. As, however, the greatest part of the lands to the southward of Monterey, and along the coast, are in the hands of the missions, it is not to be expected that they could view with satisfaction any large number of emigrants landing in their territories, and which might require the cession of land, or interfere to disturb their peculiar system. But, indeed, whenever circumstances permit foreign emigrants to establish themselves in Upper California, they ought to settle to the northward and eastward of the Bay of San Francisco, and on the lands around that bay, and on the banks of the river Sacramento, and other streams which fall into it. These are the best lands, and in the best climate for settlers from the north of Europe. They are peculiarly favorable for the raising of wheat and other grain, and for the rearing of cattle. The immense tracts of fertile land not encumbered by forests, the facility of water intercourse by the country being intersected by the creeks on the Bay of San Francisco, and the various branches of the rivers which fall into it, render this situation highly advantageous ; and its northerly situation, and the general distribution of the rains throughout the year, make it fitter for agricultural pursuits than the more southerly districts. It has also the advantage Y 2 324 UPPER CALIFORNIA of being but little inhabited, and is unconnected with the possessions of the missionaries. It ought also to be a fundamental principle, in any plan of emigration to this country, that a sufficient number should go together, in order that they might form, at first, a society by themselves. Their lands should be selected as distinct from those of the missions and the present free towns as possible, so that no dispute as to territory, or on any other account, could ensue. For this reason, the lands on the Bay of San Francisco, as before recommended, are the most proper. In the course of time, the emigrants and the native settlers would become acquainted, and approximate. Their union would be the consequence, and this would tend to promote their mutual happiness and prosperity. But all this presupposes great reform to be made in the character of the Mexican government and its agents ; for it must be admitted that, at present, British emi- grants would not find themselves much at ease under the control of the local authorities in any district of the republic. Nothing can be more different from the non-interference with private enterprise and private conduct which characterizes the British policy, than the meddling and vexatious interference of the military and civil authorities, which mixes in all the business of life in the present Spanish-American countries, and which is thought COLONIZATION 325 necessary to enforce the infinity of laws and regu- lations enacted for the guidance of the citizens in their most minute affairs. This is a never-failing source of annoyance and disgust, and gives perpetual opportunities for injustice and oppression. The prisons in all parts of the republic are more full than they ever were in the time of the Spaniards, and the most slight pretext is quite sufficient to justify an alcalde or a military officer in sending any one to prison, and keeping him there during his will and pleasure. APPENDIX I Remarks on the Harbors of California, with Directions for Navigating Them. By Captain John Hall. (Extract o/'^ Letter /o //^^ Editor. ) ***** The following particulars are extracted from my journal of a voyage made to the coasts of California in the year 1822. I give them literally as set down in my log-book at the time. La Bodega. — On the 8th of June we entered the port of this the most southern settlement of the Russians on the west coast of California. It lies in lat. 38° 19' north, and is only about 58 miles N. W. of San Francisco, the most northern of the Spanish missions on that coast. On the following day we were visited by the Russian governor, who came from the town, which is situated about 30 miles north, on the coast. He brought with him two fine fat sheep, a large tub of butter, and some milk, which were very acceptable after a long voyage, and gave us proof at once of his hospitality, and of the abundance and cheapness of provisions. The price of a bullock, at this time, was only twelve dollars, and of a fine sheep, two dollars. Vegetables were also plentiful in their proper season. To sail into this port when the winds are from the N. W. (and these are the prevailing winds throughout nearly the 327 328 HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA whole year, with the exception of the winter months), a vessel coming from the northward should pass between the point and the rock, as a dangerous shoal lies immediately off the south end of the rock. We anchored with the rock bearing W. by S. , distant three quarters of a mile. The bottom is good holding- ground all throughout, being a mixture of clay and sand. In port, a vessel is sheltered from all winds but the south and S. W. The watering-place is situated in the small bay where the Russian storehouse stands, and the water is good, and easy of access. On the 14th of June, we sailed from La Bodega, proceed- ing southward for the adjoining Mexican port of San Francisco, which we entered on the 17th, having been detained on , account of the thick, foggy weather and light winds, which caused us to anchor frequently. San Francisco. — In entering this port, which is one of the best and most interesting, from its security and magnitude, in the world, great attention must be paid to the tides, which, during the full and change of the moon, run very rapid, and, I should think, in mid - channel, at the ' rate of six miles per hour. A vessel going in would do well to keep in the middle of the stream, as on both sides there are very strong eddies, in which you are apt to lose the command of the helm, and consequently are obliged to anchor. After getting within the heads, keep Fort Blanco about a point on the starboard bow. Passing the fort, the anchorage is situated in a small bay immediately abreast of the Presidio^ where a vessel will find good holding- ground in five fathoms, about a cable' s - length from the beach. Provisions are cheap. A bullock costs only six dollars, and eggs are two dollars per hundred. The harbor also abounds HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 329 with fish, which can be procured with a net, in great quantities. Monterey. — On the 20th, we weighed for Monterey, where we came to on the 24th, saluting the fort with five guns, which were returned by the same number. As a harbor, Monterey is extremely inferior to San Francisco. However, it is quite protected from the south and S. W. winds ; and by anchoring well under the point, a vessel may also be protected from the N. W. , although the N. W. winds send in a very heavy swell. Fish here, also, is plentiful, as are, likewise, provisions generally, including good bread. On the 27th of the same month, we took our departure for Santa Barbara, where we came to an anchor on the 29th. Santa Barbara. — This bay is only sheltered from the N. W. winds, being exposed to the south and S. W. The anchorage is not very good, being hard sand, and over- grown with seaweed. We had such a quantity of this on our anchor when we hove it up, that it entirely impeded the ship's progress until we got it clear. We found no tide nor currents, but there appeared to be a rise and fall, inshore, of about two feet. All kinds of provisions are cheap here, as also fruits, viz., grapes, pears, apples, and plums, in their season. San Pedro. — We sailed from Santa Barbara on the 6th of July, and anchored, in the Bay of San Pedro on the 8th, in the evening. We found the anchorage good, and a safe landing-place about three quarters of a mile south of the small rock or island marked in the chart. The mission of San Gabriel is about ten leagues distant from the landing-place, which latter is called San Pedro. This name 330 HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA can be only applicable to the anchorage, as the shore, at the time we visited it, had no houses erected upon it, nor were there any cultivated grounds adjoining. San Juan. — On the 13th we sailed for San Juan, where we anchored on the following day ( it being distant only about 30 miles), in five fathoms water. In coming into this bay from the north, care must be taken to give the bluff point a wide berth, as some dangerous rocks lie off it, distant about a mile or more. Here, provisions, fruits, vegetables, and fish are plentiful. Good wine can also be procured from the friars, both white wine and red, the latter being of a peculiarly fine flavor. San Diego. — On the 18th we got under weigh again, for the neighboring port of San Diego, where we arrived on the following day, anchoring in ten fathoms, about a mile wide of the point. We found the tide setting out at the rate of one and a half miles per hour. A vessel should always keep the north shore aboard, as we found the deepest water there. Grapes here are in great abundance, and good wine is produced from them. The ports of La Bodega, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and San Diego, are so accurately delineated in the chart by Mr. Arrowsmith, now before me,* that any further remarks would be superfluous ; and it is needless to dilate upon the minor ports both of Upper and Lower California, which, although the seats of missions, are yet of little mercantile importance, always, however, excepting the port of San Quintin, lat. 30° 23' N. When we arrived on the coast, the country had, only a few * The map attached to this vokime. — Ed. HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 331 weeks before, declared itself independent of Spain. We were consequently received, on our entrance to every new port, in a hostile manner, or with great suspicion, until they satisfied themselves that we were not a Spanish cruiser. We were surprised to find a Russian establishment so far south as La Bodega, but the inhabitants all along the coast considered it as an intrusive settlement within the boundaries of Mexico, and threatened to drive them (the Russians) out whenever they should have sufficient force. By the latest accounts, the Russians are still there, and increasing. In conclusion, I would remark that CaHfornia, viewed as a maritime station, is unrivaled by any other section of the western coast of America. The ports of San Francisco, San Diego, and San Quintin afford the most secure anchorage for numerous fieets, with facilities for establishing wharves, docks, and arsenals of all descriptions. The climate is one of the best and most healthy I have ever visited, and the country is one of the most fertile. Exclusive of Lower California, this country contains upwards of 430,000 square miles, and, allowing only fifty inhabitants to each, is capable of supporting a population of twenty- one millions of people. From its geographical position, it possesses very great advantages, on account of the expeditious and easy intercourse which it can maintain with Japan, China, the Philippine Islands, India, Australia, and all the islands in the Pacific. In the above computation of space and population, that small part of territory occupied by the Russians is included, as, I believe, neither by treaty nor by conquest can they allege any right to its possession. I am, sir, your obedient servant, John Hall. Home Cottage, Blackheath, Dec. 15, 1838. 332 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION II Extract of a Letter to the Editor, on the Subject of Steam-Navigation in the Pacific, from a Gentle- man formerly Resident in One of the Mexican Ports on the Pacific London, Dec. 20, 1838. 1 HAVE taken some pains to make myself acquainted with the grounds on which the " Pacific Steam Navigation Company " is founded, with its proceedings as far as they have gone, and its prospects as far as I can comprehend them. Of this you may rest assured, that it has already received the patronage of the leading merchants trading to the Pacific, several of them having subscribed with the expressed object of forwarding an undertaking fraught with so many public benefits, while others have entered more largely into it with the view of participating in the great profit which it promises as an investment. The general result given in the 34th page of Mr. Wheelwright's pamphlet, showing 466,950 dollars as the amount of annual receipts on four steamers, costing from 400,000 to 450,000 dollars, and, against the same, only 236,630 dollars of annual expenditure, whereby the company will IN THE PACIFIC 333 realize an annual profit of 230,320 dollars, or (at 4-Sd. exchange) ;^46,064, is so extraordinarily large that my first impression was to look upon the project as one hatched by parties connected with our Stock Exchange ; but on turning to schedules A and C, I not only found that the above results were verified by a committee of British merchants residing in Lima, and presided over by Her Majesty's consul-general for Peru, but that a note was added, giving reason to hope for still larger profits, under economical arrangements in the management of the items of expenditure. It appears that this plan, speculative though it seems, dates its rise from the circular officially issued by Her Majesty's consul - general for Peru, dated Lima, 18th June, 1826, directed to British merchants and residents generally, requesting their attention to dispatches from Her Majesty's government, promising facilities to carry it into effect, and requesting their active co-operation. No undertaking, therefore, could originate under more respectable auspices, and, from inquiries I have made, I have no hesitation in stating that the gentlemen who have taken it up in London are of the utmost respectability, and influenced by the most honorable motives. The author of "California" has not expressed himself in favor of the extension of this proposed line from Panama to the northern Pacific, further than as the reader may construe his remarks in pages 315 to 320. But I feel confident, after viewing the success of steam in the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea, in the Mediterranean, and backwards and forwards to England, at all seasons of the year, and, above all, in so many safe and expeditious voyages across 334 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION the Atlantic, that the day is not far distant when either the directors of the present Pacific Steam Navigation Company, or some new company, will take up the northern line. The numerous population along the western coasts of Central America and Mexico, and the rich products of the adjoining provinces in gold, silver, pearls, cochineal, and indigo, ought to afford profitable employment for steamers as far up as the Gulf of California, at least ; and were emigration ever turning its tide to California in the way suggested by the author, from page 320 to the end, whether under the direction of Her Majesty's government, or of a public company, the aid of steam could not fail to be required. Under the strongest presentiment that these ideas will not lie many years inoperative, I have made calculations of the distances from Panama to the principal northern ports, which I here subjoin as not without . importance in the present inquiry. These calculations do not pretend to be exact to a mile or to an hour, but they are sufficiently so for our purpose. Nine miles are allowed per hour. The distances from Panama to San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, Bodega, and Columbia River, are given in two ways. First, by the line of coast, via Mazatlan ; and second, from Panama direct. Table of Distances and Hours' Steaming from PANAMA to the Following Ports ; viz. From Panama to — miles hours The Gulf of Nicoya 435 48 The Gulf of Papagayo 590 65.30 Realejo 680 75.30 IN THE PACIFIC 335 From Panama to — miles hours Sonsonate 847 94 Yztapa 937 104 Socunusco .... 1,095 121.30 Tehuantepec 1,210 134.30 Acapulco 1,495 166 Navidad 1,810 201 San Bias 1,962 218 Mazatlan 2,091 232 Guaymas 2,448 272 Rio Gila, where it joins the Colorado 2,793 310 San Diego — Via Mazatlan 3,016 335 Direct from Panama 2,760 306.30 Monterey — Via Mazatlan 3,376 375 Direct 3,120 346.30 San Francisco — Via Mazatlan 3,456 384 Direct 3,200 355.30 Russian settlement at Port Bodega — Via Mazatlan 3,514 390.30 Direct 3,258 362 The British settlement at Columbia River — Via Mazatlan 4,034 448 Direct 3,570 385.30 Bering's Straits, via Columbia River 5,970 663 Woahoo, [Oahu,] Sandwich Islands 4,620 513 St. Peter and Paul, [Petropavlovsk,] Kamchatka, via Woahoo 7,380 820 Jedo, [or Jeddo, or Yeddo, ( = Tokio),] in Japan, via Woahoo [Oahu] 7,950 883 Canton, via Woahoo [Oahu] 9,540 1,060 In the above table, the distance to Bering's Straits and the ports that follow is given to satisfy the reader's curiosity, and not with a view to any practical utility in the way of steam - navigation, unless greatly improved and cheapened. It is not impossible that chemists may discover some new power equal to steam, and producible at less expense, or that our engineers may invent some mechanical mode of 336 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION propulsion for vessels, rendering the Isthmus of Panama the most direct and expeditious route, not only to these ports, but to Manila and the whole Eastern archipelago. It will be seen from this table that the British settlement* on the Columbia River might be reached from Panama, by steam, in nineteen days, or, say, about forty days from Eng- land. By the same route, the important port of San Fran- cisco might be reached in sixteen days from Panama, or thirty- six from England, and the Russian settlement of La Bodega in about six hours longer time. What a change in our communications, when the nearest Russian settle- ment on the west coast of America will be brought within thirty-six days and six hours' steaming from our own shores ; when even St. Peter and St. Paul [Petropavlovsk] , in Kam- chatka, will be within fifty days' steaming ; Yedo [Tokio], within fifty- seven ; Canton, within sixty- four ; and Woahoo [Oahu], in the Sandwich Islands, within forty- two days ! Such are the wonderful results that, sooner or later, may be expected from the mere power of steam (improved and cheap- ened, as it may be, by fresh discoveries), and the resumption of the old line of communication between Europe and the Pacific, via Chagres and Panama. I here use the word resumption deliberately ; for, from the era of Columbus ( 1502 ) down to 1824, that line was the high road between Spain and her colonies along the west coast, not only for Spanish settlers and merchants, but for whole cargoes of goods, and regiments of soldiers. The famous Vasco Nunez de Balboa, so early as 1513, crossed the isthmus, with troops, from his settlement of Santa Maria del Darien, to the Gulf of San Miguel, S. E. of Panama; and the * I call it British, believing we have not yet relinquished its northern hank. IN THE PACIFIC 337 latter, eleven years afterwards, viz., in 1524, had already become a city of sufficient importance to have a governor, and to furnish to Francisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and Fernando Luque the men, arms, and ships with which they proceeded to the conquest of Peru. Soon afterwards, it became the seat of a royal "audiencia," and, until the suppression of the Spanish galleons, and the opening of the free trade, was the grand emporium of all the merchandise, from Spain, destined for the southern coast of New Granada and Peru, and the northern ports of Guatemala. During the late war of independence in Peru, several regiments from Spain were sent up the Chagres to Panama, and from thence by transports to Peru ; and it was by the same course that Cruz Mourgeon, the last vice -king appointed by Spain for New Granada, passed with his forces in 1822. The history of the buccaneers proves that as early as the days of Queen Elizabeth our own piratical countrymen, and other lawless inhabitants of the West Indies, were quite familiar with this route, which they passed and repassed at pleasure ; and until the trade with the Pacific by Cape Horn became open to our own merchants, they supplied the wants of the Spanish colonists on the Pacific coasts, through Jamaica, by the same channel. It is therefore clear that, in resuming that old line of communication without either the aid of railroad or canal ( though doubtless either of these would greatly facilitate the transport of passengers and goods), the Pacific Steam Navigation Company makes no new nor dangerous experiment. A British merchant, then sailing on board the vessel whose course is given in the map attached to the present work, so recently as 1824 took on board, in Panama, and carried to San Bias, a thousand bales of goods, bought 22 Z 338 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION and packed in Jamaica, and which had been conveyed across the isthmus by the way indicated. The expenses on each bale placed in Panama were seven dollars three riales, and consisted of the following items; viz., — DoL. Rial. Freight on each bale, from Jamaica to Chagres 2 Agency at Chagres 4 Freight, per canoe, from Chagres to Cruces 1 5 Duty of deposit, in Cruces 4 Agency 2 Mule-hire, from Cruces to Panama (7 leagues) 2 4 In all 7 3 on each bale of about 150 lbs. weight. The canoes on the Chagres are large enough to take eighty of these bales at once; have "toldos" (a kind of awning, made of cane and palm-leaves, impervious to the sun and rain), are quite safe, and managed with great adroitness by negro watermen remarkable for their size and strength. It would require some nicety of calculation to enable me to institute an exact comparison between these charges and those on the same goods carried round by Cape Horn. I am inclined to think that on goods outwards the latter would be the cheapest route ; but on lace, fine linens, silks, and jewelry, the additional expense could not be sensibly felt; and where the object is to be first in a market, in the time of war to save risk, and at all times to save interest of money, the Panama and Chagres route, even as it was in 1824 and is now, must be the preferable one, both as regards the above description of goods outwards, and bullion, specie, cochineal, and indigo homewards. NoTK TO Page 339 [a printed slip attached thereto, in original edition]. — The writer regrets that he mis- understood the conversation held with his good friend Mr. Clarke, so far as his having taken goodi with him from Jamaica to Panama. His meaning was, that he had made six trits between Jamaica and Panami with mercantile objects, but not that he took goods with him, his house, like all others in Jamaica, of pure agency, being merely the sellers of the goods that the Panama merchants took across on their own account, and for which they remitted in bullion and specie, without experiencing difficulty, danger, loss, or outrage of any kind. IN THE PACIFIC 339 Besides the seven dollars three riales above mentioned, I may state that in 1824 the transit duties levied in Panama were three dollars two riales on each bale ; but, by a late decree of the government of New Granada, all the transit duties have been abolished, so that, perhaps, at this moment the whole charges may not exceed six dollars per bale from Jamaica to Panama. I lately conversed with an intelligent Havana merchant, — D. R. Clarke, Esq. , — now in London, who has been six voyages with goods from Jamaica (backwards and forwards) to Panama. [*] He never incurred the smallest loss or risk, either from the river, the road, the natives, or the climate; but, to avoid delay, he thinks that a tram-railroad,* either from the junction of the Trinidad with the Chagres to Panama, or from Porto Bello to Panama, would be of great use, easily made, and cheaply supported. Perhaps the former would be preferable, on account of the dangerous fevers which prevail in Porto Bello, but not on the Chagres. The above remarks are made, assuming that Her Majesty's government establishes a line of steamers through the West Indies as far as to Chagres, and that the Pacific Steam Navigation Company take the passengers and goods up at Panama, in the Pacific, carrying them thence, on their way south and north, without delay ; for if the reader will refer to the map, he will find that the vessel whose course is there traced (a fast sailing schooner of the class known under the designation of ' clipper") took thirty- two days in sailing from Panama to San Bias, — a voyage which, by a steamer proceeding direct, might be accomplished in nine days. A dull sailing vessel would have taken perhaps sixty [*See««/^, p. 338, for note printed on slip inserted in original edition. — Pub.] * I mean a road with rails, where the carriages and wagons are dragged by horses and mules, both of which abound and are cheap in the isthmus. Z 2 340 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION days or more to perform the same voyage, from the extreme difficulty of sailing out to the westward from Panama Bay, in consequence of calms, alternating with squalls from all directions, and the struggle she would have to maintain, in proceeding along the coasts of Central America and Mexico, against opposing winds and currents. The same "clipper" (though to go eleven and eleven and a half knots per hour was not unusual with her) took twelve days on her voyage from Valparaiso, in sailing from the equator to Panama. I mention these apparently uninteresting minutiae to establish the important fact, that even were such a canal made as the author of "California" recommends (page 319), without steamers ready at Panama (as the Pacific Steam Navigation Company proposes to have them) to carry on, at once, goods and passengers northwards and southwards, little advantage would be gained as regards ports to the southward of Payta, or northward of Manzanilla, on the coast of Mexico. The saving of time would not be very great, and the expense, allowing for tolls on the canal, would, I fear, not be much less than by the voyage round Cape Horn. I do not think that steamers from Panama northwards would pay the ovi^ners farther than San Bias or Mazatlan. Were, indeed, the tide of emigration setting strongly to California or the settlements on the Columbia River, occasional trips might be made, so far, profitably; but as for Woahoo [Oahu], Jeddo \_or Yeddo=Tokio], Canton, and other places named in the calculations above given, steamers from Panama to them will never pay, until, in the progress of discovery, the expenses of steamers are brought down more nearly to a level with those of sailing vessels. If ever this desirable event be realized, the ideas here thrown out will assume a IN THE PACIFIC 341 "practical importance, and it will behoove Great Britain, as queen of the sea, to maintain by steam the same naval character which she has earned by canvas. The Isthmus of Panama will then become a point of very great importance. The author of California (page 317) hints the possibility that the isthmus might be ceded to some European state. If it ever should be so ceded, the nation holding it will acquire an immense influence and power over the communications of the world (supposing the above improvements in steam), with a territory well wooded, well watered, fertile in the extreme, rich in gold and pearl-fisheries, capable of supporting a numerous population, and not, by any means, generally unhealthy ; while the inhabitants will acquire that wealth and prosperity which the advantages of their situation secure to them. But, even allowing — as is most probable — that New Granada will continue to retain its sovereignty over the isthmus, there is nothin'g in the history or character of that republic which can justify our fears that it will not religiously maintain its stipulations in favor of the route across to Panama. Of all the South American republics. New Granada has shown the greatest respect to public faith ; and the Hurtados, the Arossamenas, the Gomezes, the Quezadas, the Paredeses, and other respectable inhabitants of Panama, are too much alive to the continuance and improvement of the old overland intercourse, whereby their city has flourished, not to protest against any injurious imposts or prejudicial interference. I believe that, hitherto, no passenger, nor merchant traveling across to Panama, can justly complain of any outrage, either to his person or property, from either the local authorities or from individuals. They are all aware that nothing short of the 342 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION resumption of the old line of communication between Europe and the Pacific can restore their former prosperity and develop the latent resources of their beautiful country, and they are prepared to make every exertion to secure so desirable an object. Had the line of steamers above suggested been now in operation, it is obvious that the present French blockade of the Atlantic ports of Mexico could have been counteracted by sending the cargoes of vessels warned off, to Chagres, across to Panama, and thence to the Mexican ports of the Pacific. In conclusion, I may state that 1 understand proposals for steam- navigation on the Atlantic ports have been submitted to the Mexican government by a firm of great standing in that country and in London, and that a favorable answer is expected by the first packet. IN THE PACIFIC 343 III EXTRACTS I PANAMA and the PACIFIC. A Memorandum Sent to the Foreign Office, on the Advantage of Using the Isthmus of Panama as a More Rapid Means of Communication between Europe and the Ports of the Pacific Ocean. By the Hon. P. Campbell Scarlett In passing, within the last few months, down the coast of South America, on the Pacific side, from Valparaiso, through Lima, to Payta, in the neighborhood of Guayaquil, and to Panama, and from thence to the Atlantic Ocean, across the Isthmus of Darien, I had occasion to observe the truth of representations frequently made to me by British merchants in those settlements, how much shorter and more certain might be the communication of intelligence from those places to England by that route, than by the passage round Cape Horn. That passage, in merchant vessels, to and from England direct, averages — Days For Valparaiso 100 Lima 110 Guayaquil 120 — a length of time which is not only inconvenient for commercial objects, but which, in some degree, cuts off the British settler from correspondence with his friends and family, and unnecessarily 344 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION prolongs the period of receiving such intelligence as the British consuls in those quarters niay find it expedient to convey to the government, whereas the passage by Panama might with ease be effected in the following periods : — Days From Valparaiso 62 Lima 51 Guayaquil .-46 as the following details will show : — From Valparaiso to Lima 11 Lima to Payta or Guayaquil 5 Payta to Panama 10 Across the isthmus 1 Thence to England, touching at one of the Windward Islands 35 Making, in the whole 62* Taking Lima as a central position, by this calculation it appears that the difference of time in conveying correspondence from the western coast of South America to England may be thus stated : — Days From Lima, by Cape Horn 110 Lima, by Panama 51 Difference of time in favor of the route by the West Indies . . 59 The passage from Panama to Chagres is perfectly easy, being only twenty-one miles by land, and the remainder by a river safe and navigable for boats and canoes. This was the route by which the several towns and provinces on the Pacific Ocean made their communications with Europe before the separation of the colonies from Spain ; but the frequent revolutions which have taken place in South America, and the consequent poverty and want of enterprise in the Spanish part of the population, seem to have put a stop to the regular and periodical communications between these places, which were formerly established by public authority. * This is unnecessarily long. The journey, by way of the isthmus, has been accomplished, from Lima to Liverpool, in 46 days. IN THE PACIFIC 345 This communication might be very easily effected by the addition of a few small, fast-sailing vessels of war, or steamers, which should make periodical visits to the towns I have mentioned. The advantage of a direct communication between Panama and the West Indies has already been felt and obtained by the practice of the admiral on the West India station, who is accustomed to dispatch a sailing vessel of war, at stated periods, to Chagres, in order to bring official and other correspondence, as well as specie, from the Pacific coast of South America. I am the more induced to make these representations, from a conversation I had with Commodore Mason, in which he expressed his concern that he had not adequate force under his control to give protection to British commerce on the South American shore of the Pacific, and his confidence in the opinion, which has been much confirmed by my own observation, as well as by the report of others, more competent than myself, that such commerce has a tendency to increase if duly protected, and that if vessels of war were more fre- quently enabled to visit the various ports on the coast from Valparaiso to Panama, better security would be afforded to the British merchants against the revolutions, to which the property of all persons resident on those shores is so often exposed, from the feebleness of the gov- ernments, and the successive changes which are the consequence of that weakness. The establishment of steamboats would render the return of correspondence, against the prevailing southerly winds, of equal rapidity. The trade-winds are not violent in that sea, and men-of- war, in particular, have generally made passages down the coast with great dispatch. However, the introduction of steam-navigation in the West Indies having already shown that merchant sailing vessels are disposed to carry sufficient coal in ballast for the supply of fuel, it is equally obvious that the same facilities might be afforded to carry out coal to the Pacific coast until such time as, from its raised value and the increased demand for it, the inhabitants of those regions may think it worth their while to work the veins of coal which are well known to exist at various places on the western coast.* London, Sept. 6, 1835. * [Scarlett:] South America and the Pacific. London, 1838. Vol. ii, p. 281. 346 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION II Extract from "Statements and Documents Relative to the Establishment of Steam - Navigation in the Pacific." By William Wheelwright, Esq. The establishment of steam -navigation along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, in connection vv^ith the passage of the Isthmus of Panama to the Atlantic, has long excited much interest, and this has been more strongly manifested as the commerce and intercourse with those countries have increased. In consequence of instructions from the British government, addressed to the British consuls-general in Chile and Peru, directing them to inquire into the best means of establishing a communication between Great Britain and the western coasts of South America, by way of the isthmus, public meetings of the British and foreign merchants were convened for this object. At these meetings in Chile and Peru, the consuls-general presided, and committees were appointed to examine my plans and statements, which, after the fullest investigation, were unanimously approved of, and sanctioned at subsequent general meetings. The subject of steam -navigation in the Pacific has occupied my attention for the last four years ; and that I have carefully considered it, the extent and minuteness of my calculations will, I trust, prove. The feasibility of the proposed plan, and the authen- ticity of the facts upon which I have based my expectations of success, have been established by the reports of the committees appointed to inquire into them ; and large as the anticipated profits of this undertaking may appear to those not intimately acquainted with the local peculiarities of the Pacific states, I will nevertheless assume that the correctness of my statements will be generally admitted, supported as they are by the evidence of disinterested par- ties, whose probity, as well as practical knowledge of the subject, is the best assurance that my data have been fully and fairly examined. Her Majesty's government, considering the advantages that must accrue to the trade of this country with the Pacific, and to commerce in general, by the establishment of a more prompt communication, has deemed the undertaking entitled to its support, and conferred on the Pacific Steam Navigation Company a royal IN THE PACIFIC 347 charter ; and as these advantages will be common to all nations, it is only reasonable to look for the friendly disposition of other governments. The governments of the Pacific states, equally impressed with the benefits that must result from the establishment of a rapid communication along their shores, as tending to increase their commerce and improve the political and moral condition of society, have materially assisted in furthering this object by granting to the undertaking, for a term of years, exclusive and valuable privileges for the navigation of their coasts. It will be seen by the prospectus that Her Majesty's government has determined on the early establishment of steam-packets to the West Indies, which, with the co-operation of steam-navigation in the Pacific, will reduce the communication between Great Britain and the coasts of Peru and Chile from a period of four months to one of thirty or forty days. This accelerated and easy communication must naturally tend to an increased intercourse and a more extended trade with the west coast of South America. The uncertainty and fluctuations which at present attend all mercantile operations with those now distant markets will, in a great degree, be obviated by the means of trans- mitting frequent and regular advice, while the returns for shipments will be available three or four months earlier than they are under present circumstances. Specie and bullion are constantly remitted, and that with ease and security, by the Isthmus of Panama. The means of transporting goods are likewise abundant, and the whole have been exempted from transit duty by a late decree of the congress of New Granada. The directors, being satisfied that whatever tends to facilitate the commerce of the west coast must materially benefit the company, have in contemplation a plan for insuring all property shipped in their vessels, if it be desired, by which means bills of lading will at once become available and transferable documents. Thus the proposed undertaking is of the greatest importance to the merchant and manufacturer whose commercial operations are directed to the Pacific. Their property will be placed more within their own control, and on a footing of greater security, while the facilities extended to trade cannot fail to give it a new impulse, to increase its importance, and eventually to produce a greater demand for British manufactures. 348 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION The local trade, also, would derive great advantages from an accelerated communication between the several ports in the Pacific. Owing to the present irregularity of advices, vessels are often indefi- nitely detained at the different ports of the coast ; and from the same cause no changes in markets can be beneficially and mutually acted upon. By steam, a regular interchange of advices would be established every fifteen days, and many voyages would be performed in forty or fifty hours, which now occupy twenty or twenty-five days. There are other interests in South America, of too important a character to be lost sight of, and which must reap the benefit of any measure that tends to the development and improvement of the re- sources of that country. To the different states, loans to the amount of millions of British capital have been made, for which no return has been received, nor, till an amelioration of their domestic and international affairs be brought about, can any such be expected. One great cause of the political instability of the South American governments is the absence of prompt communication, by which the efforts of the executive to suppress rebellion are constantly frustrated. The difficulties of journeys by land, and the uncertainty of voyages by sailing vessels, impede that regular and rapid intercourse which steam-navigation alone can supply, — an intercourse essential to the well-being and advancement of those countries. The effect of it would be to strengthen the executive authorities, to promote the industry of the people, and to contribute to an improved state of public and private credit. The accompanying letter of Captain Fitz Roy, of Her Majesty's navy, corroborates also a very important fact as regards the accel- erated and easy communication which can be effected between the Pacific coast, Australia, New Zealand, and the various islands in that ocean. By traversing the Isthmus of Darien, the long and turbulent passage round Cape Horn would be avoided, and the period of four months, now occupied in performing the voyage from Europe to those distant parts of the world, would be reduced to about sixty or seventy days. This is an interesting point as relates to the civilization of the inhabitants of the numerous islands of the Pacific, to which the missionary societies have for a considerable time past been directing much of their attention. A tedious and painful voyage will be exchanged for one of comparative ease, and IN THE PACIFIC 349 the difficulty of access, which now so much obstructs their labors, will be greatly diminished. While the important and interesting colony of Australia will be so greatly benefited by the establishment of steam -navigation in the Pacific, its influence over the immediate as well as the more remote sections of the British empire must not be overlooked. The island of Jamaica will once more become an entrepot of supplies for the northern ports of the Pacific, and, to a great extent, be enabled to resume that lucrative trade by which her prosperity was formerly so much promoted. There is no difficulty in crossing the Isthmus of Panama. The journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic is easily effected in eighteen hours, while the return occupies two days. By the proposed line of road from Panama to the junction of the rivers Trinidad and Chagres, to which point steamers of from four to five hundred tons may navigate without difficulty, the whole journey across could be accomplished in eight or ten hours. Having, in the course of the preceding observations, endeavored to prove the great benefits which must accrue from the establishment of steam-navigation on the waters of the Pacific, I have now to show that the means and facilities for carrying it into operation are amply sufficient. Coal exists in, Chile in great abundance, and is obtainable at a very cheap rate ; it may also be had from England at a moderate price ; while the nature of the trade between the west coast and Australia would insure an abundant and cheap supply from that colony in case of need. The increasing trade of England with the west coast is the best proof of the security which is there afforded to commerce. If the merchant and manufacturer whose goods are often deposited for lengthened periods in the public custom-houses, and frequently sent to the interior on long credits, enjoy a security which enables them to repeat and gradually to increase their shipments, how much greater security will be afforded to the company, whose vessels will sail under the British flag, be under the protection of a British squadron, and possess the special guaranty of the separate local governments. The means of repairing vessels are abundant. Guayaquil is an excellent arsenal, and particularly favorable for the repair of steam- 350 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION vessels, while some of the ports of Chile offer, in this respect, almost equal advantages. In conclusion, I may be allowed to state that a broader or more promising field for steam operations than that which the Pacific affords does not exist in any part of the world. The prevailing south winds, the calms, and the currents of that ocean render navigation by sailing vessels tedious and uncertain in the extreme, while the nature of the whole country, from Valparaiso to Guayaquil, — presenting a succession of mountains and deep ravines intersected by sandy deserts, — offers every imaginable obstacle to land-traveling ; and yet there are four millions of inhabitants, within the proposed line of intercourse, ready to participate, to a greater or less degree, in the benefits to arise from the proposed undertaking. Nature thus seems to have intended for steam-navigation that great line of coast, the physical difficulties of which oppose an almost insurmountable barrier to any other mode of prompt communication. William Wheelwright. London, Oct. 22, 1838. Letter fro?n Captain Fitz Roy, Referred to in the Preceding Observations 31, Chester Street, Oct. 1, 1838. Dear Sir, — In answer to the questions contained in your letter of the 25th of September, I send the following brief remarks. With respect to the general project, I have no doubt whatever of its utility, or of the facility with which it may be carried into execution. The principal advantages which it holds out to the public are, a very important saving of time in communicating with Peru and Chile, together with a regularity of intercourse, which cannot fail to cause a vast augmentation of trade, as well as a material improvement in the state of those countries. Among the facilities offered for its successful accomplishment are, a sufficient supply of fuel, smooth sea, a regular trade-wind, and a great number of safe ports extremely easy of access. IN THE PACIFIC 351 So far as I am competent to give an opinion of your statements relative to the intercourse which might be effected between Great Britain and Australia by a western route, I agree fully to what you have stated. Indeed, I cannot help expressing my admiration of the patience and candor by which you seem to have been actuated during the four years you have devoted to the preparations for this great undertaking. In my own mind, there is no doubt whatever of the existence of coal in abundance at various places on the western coasts of South America, and that its quality is sufficiently good to make it available for steam-vessels. I have the honor to be, Dear sir. Your obedient servant, Robert Pitz Roy. William Wheelwright, Esg., London, III Extract from the Prospectus of the ' ' Pacific Steam Navigation Company," to be Incorporated by Royal Charter. Capital, ;^250,000, in 5,000 Shares of £^^ Each. Issued November 5, 1838 The object of this company is to establish steam-navigation along the shores of the Pacific, from Valparaiso to Panama, embracing all the principal ports in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and the west coast of New Granada, and, in conjunction with Her Majesty's packets in the Atlantic, to promote a more rapid and regular commu- nication with Europe by the Isthmus of Darien. The undertaking was projected by Mr. Wheelwright, and sanc- tioned at public meetings of the British and foreign merchants in Chile and Peru, convened and presided over by Her Majesty's consuls-general at the express desire of Her Majesty's government, to consider the best means of establishing a direct communication between England and the Pacific. The statements and calculations 352 ON STEAM-NAVIGATION of Mr. Wheelwright, exhibiting the most satisfactory pecuniary results, underwent a most minute and searching investigation by committees appointed for the purpose, and at a subsequent general meeting they were unanimously approved of. Mr. Wheelwright has obtained decrees from the governments of Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, securing to him and his assigns the exclusive navigation of the coasts by steam, with all necessary immunities and privileges (including an exemption from port dues), for the period of ten years. These decrees, and the powers conferred thereby, have become the property of the company. Her Majesty's government also, actuated by a sense of the benefits which will be conferred by this undertaking upon British commerce, has consented to grant the company a royal charter, by which alone the important objects of the company can be effectually attained. Although the nominal capital for this undertaking is stated at ;^250,000, it is calculated that less than one half of this amount will be sufficient to carry into full effect the operations of the company, Mr. Wheelwright, now in this country, will return to South America as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed, for the purpose of superintending the company's concerns, in conjunction with such mercantile firms as may be appointed to act under the control of the directors. W. P. Robertson, Secretary. London. [Imprint, Original Edition] Cticijestter : Printed by William Hayley Mason INDEX 23 353 EXPLANATORY of the INDEX The intelligent reader will require but little explanation to get the best results from the following index. Perhaps the principal matter to which attention should be called is the names of the missions, which are grouped together therein in alpha- betical order, with the Spanish word Misibn preceding each name {•vide post, pp. 364-365). As said in the Publisher's Foreword to this new edition, Forbes did not, in the text, mention each and every mission; hence, for lists of the missions, the tables on pages 201, 202, 259-260, 265-266, must be referred to. The reader will note, after finding the desired entry, and upon referring to the text-page, that sometimes more is stated in the index than is warranted by the text. Thus after the name of a padre," S.J."or" O.F." will be found after such name. These indicate the order of the padre, — Jesuit or Franciscan, — and are helpful in other ways. This given instance should show the purpose of the others. Sometimes the entry may seem like that in an index-digest. Thus in the entry " California, Upper," p. 357, it is stated that Drake was on the coast in 1579, and Gali in 1584, while the text-page gives these dates as 1578 and 1582, respectively. The best authorities, although their pages indicate that they have "troubles of their own," are agreed on these dates as given in this index. The other matters "read into" the index will, it is hoped, be apparent to the reader. The index to a book is not generally so accurate as the text, and notwithstand- ing what has previously been said, all presumptions should favor the text. It must be remembered always that the text of this new edition is not edited, the principal changes made being in the emendation of proper names, of orthography generally, of the division of words, of matters typographical, the last mentioned covering an infinitude of detail making for the "finish" of the printed page without mutilating the text. 354 INDEX AcAPULCO, pearl-fishery near, 65. Acosta, Jose de, cited, pearls imported into Seville, 65. Adobes, unbumt bricks, 203. See also Presidios. Agriculture, backward and unprogress- ive, chiefly in hands of padres, 246 5 Indian com, wheat, barley, frijoles, chiefly cultivated, 247; plowing, and peculiar mode of yoking oxen, 248- 252; sowing etc. of cereals, 253 etseq. See also Cattle, Grain, Oxen, Pota- toes, Vegetables, etc. Alaman, Lucas, Mexican Secretary of Relations, favorable to missions, 138. Alcabala (excise; duty on all sales). See Customs Duties. American hunters, traders, trappers, etc. , daring of, and compared with Hispano- Californians, 155. See also United States. American merchants in Spanish Amer- ica open trade with California after Mexican revolution, 282 ; export cattle from California to Hawaiian Islands, 283. See also Commerce. Amole, a root eaten by the Indians, a variety of which is saponaceous, 189. Anza, Juan Bautista, comandante at Tu- bac, Sonora, leaves there in command of expedition to establish communica- tion by land witli Upper California, ar- rives at Monterey, 114; meets Serra later while pursuing his object, reports feasibility thereof , and informs him of privations at Monterey, 115. See also Bucareli. Argali (a wild goat), 9. See also Be- rendo. Arteaga, Ignacio, commands expedition supposed to be to discover passage to North Atlantic, accomplishes little. and, ignorantly dreading the equinox, heads for port of San Francisco, 117- 119. See also Perez, Princesa. Asia, how islands of Pacific could have been peopled from, 301. See also Panama. Asses. See Cattle. Atole, cooked Indian corn, a food of the mission Indians, 57. Atondo (or Otondo) y Antillon, Isidro, with padres, attempts settlement of Lower California, 12, 13. See also Kino. Balsa (a rude Indian raft of tule), 191. Basaldua, Juan Manuel, S. J., in charge of mission of San Francisco Xavier at time of Indian uprising, 38. Basketry, Indian, 192. Beans, frijoles, universally eaten, how cooked, 247. See also Grain. Beechey, Frederick William, visits Cali- fornia in 1826, 1827, 80, 135; his Voyage to the Pacific cited passim; liberation of the Indians at the mis- sions, and effect of, 135, 136; tem- perature of San Francisco, 165; sea and shell fish, 179; stature of Alche- domas and Tulareiios, 181; skill of Indians in imitating deer, and in catching water-fowl, 193; temescal, or hot-air bath, 197; how Indians inveigled or forced into missions, 215, 216; religious tuition by blind In- dian at mission, 216, 217. Berendo, or taye, argali {Outs pygargus of Cuvier), 9, 91, 175. Bestias, degrading epithet applied to wild Indians, 185. See also Gente de raz,6n. Bezerra de Mendoza, Diego, accompa- nies Grijalva in expedition fitted out 355 356 INDEX by Cortes, and is killed in mutiny, 7. See also Ximenez. Bodega, La, Russian settlement at, 1 ; sterility of that part of California, 270; dairy products of Russians at, 271 ; British ship at, 270, 327; hospitality of Russians at, 327; harbor described, and sailing directions, 327, 328, 330; settlement regarded as intrusive within the boundaries of Mexico, 331. Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco, com- mander of the schooner (Sonora) ac- companying the Santiago on her second northern voyage, 116. See also Perez. Bows and arrows, Indian, 18; neatly wrought, bows of good shape, and arrows with points of obsidian or flint, 192. See also Beechey, Indians. Branciforte, pueblo or town of, popula- tion of, 202; location, inhabitants, government, etc., 208. See also Cat- tle, Grain. Brick-making (adobe), 33. Bucareli y Ursiia, Antonio Maria, Vice- roy of Mexico, resolves to abandon port of San Bias, but dissuaded by Serra, 113; orders completion of frigate there (the San Antonio), to explore coast of Upper California, and orders packet-boat (the San Carlos), with supplies for the missions, sent to Monterey, 113; orders expedition under Anza, comandante at Tubac, to proceed by the Gila and Colorado to establish communication by land, 114; orders frigate Princesa built at San Bias, and purchases the Favorita, for another expedition by sea, 117. Bucareli, Strait of, discovered by Arte- aga, 117. See also Princesa. Building material, stone, slabs, brick- clay, 173. See also Adobes. Bustamante, Anastasio, President of Mexico, favorably disposed toward missions in California, 138. Butter and cheese, peculiar Spanish and Hispano-Californian methods and re- sults in making, and supposed origin thereof, 266-271. See also Dairy, Russians. Cabrillo, Juan RodrIguez, explores coast of California in 1542-43, 9, 10; discovers Upper California in 1542, 79. Caledonian Canal, an undertaking not inferior to that involved at Panama, and its plan of construction recom- mended, 320. "California," name, formerly applied exclusively to Old or Lower (or An- tigua or Baja) California, 2. California, Lower, 1-3 ; discovery of, by Ximenez, in 1534, in Grijalva and Be- zerra expedition, 7; barrenness of, 8 et seq. ; expeditions for purposes of discovery or exploration by Cortes, Cabrillo, Iturbi, UUoa, Vizcaino, 7 et seq. ; attempted settlements at and voyages to by Atondo, Carboneli, Casanate, Itamarra, Lucenilla, Ortega, Pinadero, and Vizcaino, 9 et seq. ; belief of riches in gold and pearls in, 11; expeditions to, not principally to acquire wealth, but to convert the Indians, 11; barrenness of, repulses attempts at settlement, 12 et passim; spiritual conquest of, undertaken by the Jesuits, 13; Kino the presiding ge- nius of the plan, 12 et seq. ; Salvatierra arrives in, and takes possession of the country, 16; the Indians as found by the padres, their tribes, and where located, their languages, etc., 17 et seq. ; physical features of the country, 22 et passim; water scarce, no trees of any magnitude, harmful heavy rains, 22; shores of, abound in great variety of fish, 23; pearls attract ad- venturers, 23; Salvatierra's methods with the Indians, who unsuccessfully attack camp, 27 ; Padre Piccolo in, 28 ; number of settlers in, 30; progress of the Jesuits in, 30 et seq. ; Padre Juan Ugarte arrives in, and plans to make missions self-supporting, 31 et seq.; cattle-raising, agriculture, wine-mak- ing, woolen manufactures, 35, 36; Indian uprisings, 37 et passim; Salva- tierra's report of progress, 39; Padre Pedro Ugarte and his energetic ways with the Indians, 39; diseases among INDEX 357 Indians and soldiers, 42 ; death of Kino, 42; Salvatierra establishes new and permanent system of government for country, 46; visited by destructive hurricane and rains, accounting for rocky surface of country, 47; ship built at Mulege, 47; Padres Helen and Guillen in, 48; Padre Luyando arrives, and with Sistiaga prosecutes work among the Indians and in agri- culture, 49, 50; Padres Carranca and Tamaral murdered, 50; official list of fourteen reoccupied missions in, in 174 5, after destructive Indian uprising, 54; the Jesuits, expelled in 1767, are superseded by the Franciscans, and these by the Dominicans, 5 5 ; state- ment of Laperouse, in 1786, as to number of missions, soldiers, and In- dians, 55; Humboldt's estimated pop- lation of 9,000 considered too low, 62 ; Indian population diminishing, 62 ; condition of missions and Indians, 62; Loreto,the capital, population 300,and La Paz, with San Antonio, population 2,000, mixed, 62; harbor of Pichilin- gue renders La Paz a place of impor- tance, 62; resources of country fall below intrinsic value on account of its bad reputation, arisingfrom its indomi- table barrenness, 63; missions retard progress, 63 ; mining for gold and sil- ver near San Antonio unimportant, 63; sheltered valleys produce corn, grapes, dates, figs, quinces, peaches, pears, olives, 63; wine and dried fruit, and spirits distilled from mescal, exported, with hides and dried beef, cheese, soap, pearls, tortoise-shell, 63; imports of provisions and cloth- ing, agricultural implements and do- mestic utensils, supplies for religious ceremonies, and a few luxuries, 63; Padre Consag's voyage of discovery, 66; account of the pearl-fishers and pearl-fisheries, and laws governing them, 64-75. See also California; Califomias, The; California, Upper; Hall, Captain John ; Hail, Lieutenant ; Hardy, Capt. R. W. H. California, Gulf of, a boundary of The Califomias, 1; called also the Sea of Cortes, the Red Sea, or El Mar Rojo, 8 ; expeditions to, to exploit wealth in gold and pearls, and to convert the Indians, 11 et passim. Califomias, The, part of Mexican re- public, and formerly of New Spain ( = Nueva Espana), 1; boundaries of, 1, 2; a "territory" under Mexico, 2; natural differences between the two divisions of, 2 ; civil history different, 2 ; two distinct countries, 2 ; the two divisions named, respectively, "New" (=Nueva, Sp.) and "Old" (=An- tigua, Sp. ), or "Upper" (^Alta, Sp. ) and "Lower" ( = Baja, Sp. ), 2, 3 ; when spoken of conjointly, des- ignated "The Califomias," 3; that California not an island nor an archi- pelago, believed to have been estab- lished by Cortes, 8; but Kino (45) and Juan Ugarte (48) establish fact; settlements attempted, 9, 11, 12; Drake visits northern coast of, and names country New Albion, 10; fer- tility of, recognized by Vizcaino and Drake, 10; display of pearls by ex- plorers excites desire for conquest of, 1 1 ; spiritual conquest of, undertaken by the Jesuits, 13. California, Upper, Russians in, 1 ; Cabri- llo first on coast of, in 1 542, 79 ; Drake on coast, in 1579, 79; Gali on coast, in 1584, 79; Vizcaino on coast, in 1603, 79; Beechey, Langsdorff, Laperouse, and Vancouver visit, 80; Marques de Croix plans to settle and civilize, by "spiritual conquest," 80; Serra,with Franciscan friars, leaves convent of San Fernando, in Mexico, in 1768, to undertake the "conquest," 80, 81; Galvez, at La Paz, plans a sea and a land expedition, 82; the San Carlos sails from La Paz, the San Antonio from San Lucas, the San Jose from Loreto, 84; Portola appointed gov- ernor of California, and commands land expedition, 85; first division of land expedition, under Rivera y Mon- 358 INDEX cada, arrives at San Diego and finds the San Carlos and San Antonio, the San Jose being lost, 86; the second land division, under Portola, with Serra, arrives later, 89 ; Portola leaves forport of Monterey, which is passed without identification,butportof San Francisco discovered, and party returns to San Diego, 92-94; mission of San Diego founded, 94; Indian uprising, 95; the San Antonio, with supplies, failing to arrive, preparations are made to aban- don the country, 100; prayeranswered, supposed miraculous appearance of the vessel, which disappears, and ar- rives four days later, 100; two expe- ditions reach the port of Monterey, Serra by land and Portola by sea, 101 ; mission of San Carlos founded, 104; more Franciscan missionaries arrive, after many hardships, 105-107; found- ing of mission of San Antonio, 107; of San Gabriel, 108; Serra leaves for Mexico, 112; founding of mission of San Luis Obispo, 113; Viceroy Buca- reli aids Serra in mission plans, and orders dispatch of sea and land expedi- tions, 113, 114; disastrous voyage of the San Carlos from San Bias, by which the missions are nearly starved, 113; Anza sets out from Tubac to estab- lish overland route from Sonora, 114; new frigate Santiago and the San An- tonio, with supplies, reach Montery, after fatalities on way from San Bias, Serra leaving the frigate at San Diego and proceeding overland, 114; Anza meets Serra, 115; the Santiago leaves Monterey on voyage of discovery, and returns after accomplishing little, making a second voyage, this time from San Bias, with a schooner (the Sonora) , and returns to Monterey, the crew ill with scurvy, 115, 116; Buca- reli sends out a third expedition (the frigate Princesa and the Favorita) , said to be to discover a passage to North Atlantic, ' ' Strait of Bucareli ' ' named, new port found and named "Santiago, ' ' and expedition stood for port of San Francisco, dreading, in August, the equinox, 117; mission progress, 119; Indian uprising at San Diego, 119 et seq. ; founding of mission of San Juan Capistrano, 126; Serra, at Monterey, prepares to establish mission of San Francisco, 126; founding of the pre- sidio and mission of San Francisco in 1776, 127, 128; death of Serra, 129; management of the Pious Fund, 132; powers and duties of Spanish military comandante, 133; as a territory under Mexico, 133; representation in legisla- ture, 134; absurd laws, and rapacity of government, 135 ; some semblance of a local government, 135; changes in Mexican government, resulting in new laws for the missions, 135; Beechey's account of such changes, and their results, 135; old customs swept away, and misuse of the Pious Fund, 137; Figueroa appointed military coman- dante, and meets disaster on way to Monterey, 139; Compaiiia Cosmopol- itana, and its ill-advised attempt at colonization from Mexico, 142, 143; colonists, not permitted to settle on mission lands, retire to spot on Bay of San Francisco, and are at length ban- ished on account of their views, 145 ; country open to anyf oreign power, 147 ; revolution at Monterey in 1835, ex- pulsion of Mexican officials and troops, resolutions passed as basis for provis- ional government, and Vallejo called upon to act as comandante general, 149, 150; impotent fulminations of Mexican government, 150; suggestion that Mexico transfer sovereignty of country to English creditors in can- cellation of indebtedness, and that a company be formed by them such as the East India Company, 152, 153; topography, generally, 154-179; ac- count of the country and its inhabi- tants, from MS. records of travels of Padres Garces, Dominguez, and Velez to Upper California, 157; climate, 163, 169, 311, 331; rivers, 165, 166; bays, 166 et seq. ; beauty and fertility, 169 INDEX 359 et seq. ; trees, shrubs, fruits, and vege- tables, 170 et seq. ; grape-vine, wine and brandy, olive-oil, 173 5 building- stone, etc., 173; wild and domestic animals, wild-fowl, song-birds, sea and shell fish, 174-179; Indians of, physi- cal and moral characteristics, manners and customs, 180-198; life in, manage- ment and government, etc., of the missions, presidios, pueblos or towns, 199-245; agriculture, live-stock, pro- duce, dairying, milling, etc., peculiar and ancient Spanish methods in use, 246—280; no foreign commerce in, under Spanish rule, 281; considered a colony by Mexico, and little com- merce between, 281; foreign mer- chants, after Mexican revolution, be- gin trade with, and send vessels, 282; American vessels in Pacific trade re- sort to, principally for hides and tallow, and carry cattle to Hawaiian Islands, 282, 283; former export of fur-skins dwindled from neglect, 284; imports of cloth, clothing, furniture, agricul- tural implements, etc., 284; no coin in circulation, trade in barter, heavy duties, large profits, 285; hindrances to commerce, 288 et passim; back- ward state of navigation, restrictive laws on trade and shipping, and some remarkable voyages, 289 et seq. ; as a field for foreign colonization, 309 et seq. ; situation of, favorable for com- merce, 312; potentialities of, when railroad built or canal cut across the Isthmus of Panama and steam-com- munication established, 315 et seq. Califomians (i. e., those of Spanish ori- gin ) , indolent and unenterprising, 155; compared with American adventur- ers, 155; as possible occupiers of mis- sion lands on expulsion of the mission- aries, 209; fine physique of, 210; pas- toral state congenial to their situation and disposition, 265 ; peculiar ideas of, as to butter and cheese making, and management of cattle, 266-271; the rodeo a holiday and time of amuse- ment of, 273 ; noted for peaceable and inoffensive character, 322; intermar- riages with foreigners, 322. Cambon, Pedro Benito, O. F., at found- ing of San Gabriel, 109. Carboneli, Estevan, pilot of Ortega, 12. Carranca, Lorenzo, S. J., murdered by Indians at San Jose del Cabo, 53, 54. Casanate, Pedro Portel de (or Porter y), attempted settlement of Lower Cali- fornia by, 12. Castillos, or forts. See Presidios. Catalonian volunteers, company of, on San Carlos, with Vila, 84. Cattle, domestic (black cattle, horses, mules, asses, sheep, goats, swine), number of, at missions, 265, 266; herds of European, displace deer, 175 ; peculiar management of, by Califor- nians, 271 et seq. ; marketing of, 271, 272; average price of, 280. See also Beechey, Bodega, LangsdorflF, Rus- sians. Chacuaco (a stone tube used by Indian priest or sorcerer), 20. Charles V, Cortes sends pearls to, 64. Cheese. See Butter and cheese ; Dairy. Chocolate, considered indispensable by Spanish Mexicans, 115. Cieneguilla, Padre Link at, on his way to the Rio Colorado, 88. Cimarron, or wild tobacco, used by In- dian sorcerers, 20. Colonization, Serra's policy of, carried out, after his death, by his successors, 131 ; attempt by Mexicans to colonize mission lands, 142 et seq. ; Mexicans suspicious of foreign immigrants, 148; inaptitude of Spaniards for coloniza- tion, 209; strangers well received by Hispano-Califomjans, 322. See also California, Lower; Compania Cosmo- politana, San Francisco, Soldiers, Colorado River. See Rio Colorado. Commerce, not much foreign, in Cali- fornia, during Spanish rule, 281 ; after revolution, foreign merchants of Chile and Peru turn to, 282; and ships of American merchants resort to, from South America, Hawaiian Islands, and China, 282; exports of hides and tal- 360 INDEX low, wheat, wines, raisins, and olives, 282; value of exports, 283; fur trade dwindled from neglect, 284; internal commerce insignificant, 285; barter universal, 285 ; first adventurous trad- ers benefit from lack of circulating medium, 285; customs duties, and "never-ending alcabala," 285, 289; padres barter cattle for miscellaneous imports, 285; oppressive restrictions of Spaniards upon foreign and coasting trade, 289; and of Mexicans, after revolution, 296 et seq. ; smuggling, insignificant revenues, and dwindling trade, 298. See also Hudson's Bay Company, Langsdorff, Laperouse, Missionaries, Monterey, Russians, San Bias. Compania Cosmopolitana, formed to exploit and colonize mission lands, 142, 143; plan frustrated by Santa Anna, and settlers expelled from San Francisco Bay lands, 144, 145. Companias de cueras {cuera = a leather jacket), 205. Consag, Fernando, S. J., voyage of, in 1746, to survey coast, 66. Cook, Captain James, on Northwest coast in 1778, 79. Cortes, Hernando, fits out Bezerra- Grijalva squadron in 1534, 7; heads new expedition in 1535, and is believed to have ascertained that California is neither an island nor an archipelago, 8 ; sends out further expeditions, 8; his example stimulates further efforts, 13. Costanso, Miguel, engineer, on Monte- rey land expedition with Portola, 93. Crespi, Juan, O. F. , joins Rivera at Veli- cata, 86 ; at San Diego, 89 ; leaves with Portola land expedition for Monterey, 92. Croix, Carlos Francisco de (Marques de Croix), Viceroy of Mexico, plans to settle and civilize Upper California by "spiritual conquest," 80. Customs duties, Mexican, 146,285 ; Span- ish, 289 ; criticism of Mexican system, 302-306. See also Alcabala, Echean- dia. Revenue. Dairy, management of, unknovra in Cali- fornia, 266. See also Bodega, Butter and cheese, Russians. Diseases and disorders, Indian sorcerers' methods of curing, 20; immunity of Indians from, in their wild state, 42 ; smallpox and fevers break out among Indians and soldiers, 42. Diving-bell, for pearl-fishing, 74, 75. Dominguez, Father Francisco Atanacio, MS. account of journey of, with Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, in 1776, from Santa Fe toward Monterey, 158- 162. Dominicans, in Lower California, after expulsion of Jesuits, 55. Drake, Sir Francis, visits coast of Cali- fornia in 1579, 10,79; in old harbor of San Francisco, and explores interior, 10; names country New Albion, 10, 79; not aware of previous visits of Spaniards, 10; experiences with the Indians, 11. East India Company, formation of similar company suggested, should California be ceded in cancellation of debt to English, 153. Echeandia, Jose Maria, comandante gen- eral, appoints collector and comptroller of customs to reside at San Diego, with subordinates at Monterey, 302. Faces, Pedro, lieutenant of Catalonian company, leaves San Diego for Monte- rey with Portola, 92. Farias, Gomez. See Gomez Farias. Faunas (includes land and amphibious animals, and those of sea and shore, and the feathered tribes of land and water), 91, 163, 174-179. See also Beechey, Indians, Langsdorff, Lape- rouse. Favorita, The. See Bucareli, Princesa. Figueroa, Jose, Mexican governor of California, on voyage from Acapulco to Monterey, escapes from mutinous soldiers, 139. Fish, shores of California abound in, 23, 163, 179, 329. See also Beechey. INDEX 361 Flax, soil and climate of California con- genial to, 263. Flour-niilis, of primitive construction, described, 261. Font, Pedro, O.F., missing map of, 159. Foods and foodstuffs. See Amole, Frijol, Pozole, and also under specific names of foodstuffs. Forester, The, British brig, meets dis- abled Japanese junk off Northwest coast, 299. See also Japanese junks. Forts, or castillos. See Presidios. Franciscans, in Lower California, 55; leave convent of San Fernando to re- place the Jesuits in Lower California, and to undertake the "spiritual con- quest" of Upper California, 81, 82, 105,106; reinforcement from convent of Zacatecas, their character, and their experiences on voyage, 138-142. See also Missionaries, Serra, etc. Frijol, or small bean, universally eaten in Spanish America, how cooked, 247. See also Grain. Fruits and fruit-trees, apple, 171, 329 banana, cocoanut, 171; fig, 51,63,171 peach, 63, 171; pear, 63, 171, 329 orange, plantain, 171 ; plum, 171, 329 pomegranate, 171; quince, 63; straw- berry, 188; sugar-cane, 51, 171. Fur-bearing animals, 163, 176, 284. See also California, Upper; Commerce, Langsdorff, Laperouse. Fuster, Vicente, O.F., wounded in In- dian uprising at San Diego, 122, 124. Gila River, 44, 159. See also Anza, Rio Colorado. Goat. SeeBerendo; Cattle, Domestic. Gold, belief of riches in, in California, 11; mines of little value exist, 63. Gomez Farias, Valentin, Vice-President of Mexico, overruled by Santa Anna in colonization scheme of Compaiiia Cosmopolitana, 144. Gomez, Francisco, O.F., sails on San Antonio with Perez, 84; at San Diego, 89; leaves with Portola for Monte- rey, 92. Grain (wheat, maize or Indian com, frijoles or small beans, barley, beans and garbanzos and pease), quantity raised at missions, etc., and value thereof, in 1831, 259, 261. See also Agriculture, etc. Grape, indigenous variety, 9 1,1 72; prop- agation discouraged by Spanish gov- ernment, 277; 329, 330. See also Fitis ^inifera, W^ine and brandy. Great Britain, fears of, of Russian en- croachment in California, 151; propo- sition of cession of California to cred- itors in, in cancellation of debt, 152. See Bodega, East India Company. Grijalva, Hernando, in expedition sent out by Cortes, 7. See also Bezerra. Guatemala, 7, 8. Guaymas, port of outfit for pearl-fishers, 68, 72; first sailing vessel at, 295. Guillen, Clemente, S. J., founder of Dolores del Sur, 48, Gali, Francisco, visits coast of Upper California in 1584, 79. Galvez, Jose (Marques de Sonora), visitador-general, arrives at La Paz, and plans for expeditions by land and sea, and for establishment of mis- sions, 82, 83. See also Portola, Ri- vera, Serra; San Antonio, The; San Carlos, The; San Jose, The. Garces, Francisco, O. F. , journey from Sonora to Upper California in 1775, 157-162. Gente de razon (rational or reasoning beings), 185, 216,217. ^tea\soBestias. Hall, Captain John, his account of the pearl-fisheries, 71; his report on the harbors of California, 327 et seq. Harbors of Upper California. See Bo- dega, Monterey, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, San Pedro, Santa Barbara. Hardy, Captain R. W. H., his report as to pearl-fishing, 71, 72, 73. Hardy, Lieutenant, director of pearl- fishing company, 74. Hawaiian Islands, cattle exported from California to, 283. See also Com- merce. 362 INDEX Heceta, Bruno, commands Santiago on second voyage, 116. Hechiceros (Indian sorcerers), their methods of treating diseases, 19, 20. Helen, Everardo, S.J., founds the mis- sion of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, 47, 48 ; introduced grain at San Igna- cio, 50. Hemp, successfully grown, 263, Horses, raising of, at missions, 35. See also Cattle, Domestic; Langsdorff. Hudson's Bay Company, wheat and pro- visions sent to, at Columbia River, 284. Humboldt, F. H. A. von, cited passim; his estimate of population of Califor- nia, 62; compares New with Old California, 171; population of mis- sions, as given in his Essay on New Spain, 201. Indian corn. See Grain, Maize. Indians, their rudeness, poverty, and nu- dity, 9; their pottery, 9; peaceable at La Paz, but less so northward, 9 ; found mild and friendly by Drake, 11 ; head- dress, 11; Spanish monarchs and reli- gious orders desirous of their conver- sion, 11 et seq. ; feeble and weak- hearted, revengeful, easily kept in awe, 17; kidnaped to act as pearl-divers, 18 ; huts of boughs covered with reeds, men nude except for head-ornaments, women wear reed girdles, live by hunt- ing and fishing and on spontaneous produce of the soil, no arts but those in making nets or bows and arrows or in the making of their clothing and ornaments, 18; some vessels of clay, but chiefly of reed, and rafts also of reed (tule), 19; no fixed form of gov- ernment or religion, but submission made, on occasion, to rule of one or more, 19; sorcerers (hechiceros) pre- tended to preternatural povyers, and practiced the art of healing, 19; tribes numerous, more or less stationary, differ but little in habits, have fixed names, speak different languages or different dialects, and indulgt; in petty feuds, 21, 22; their innate sloth, 33; hechiceros incite to rebellion against missionaries upon breaking out of dis- ease, 42; elders of tribes slow to em- brace new faith, are placed on level with children by the missionaries, 52; slaves both in body and mind at the missions, 62 ; their implicit trust in the padres, 66; in primitive state, subsist on seeds and fish, go far out to sea to fish in tule rafts, 91 ; are very civil, and treat the incoming missionaries with confidence, 91 ; all the males go naked, all the females decently covered, 91; demoralization follows liberation from missions of those supposed to be ca- pable of self-support, 135, 136; erro- neous supposition of ferocity of those in wild state on the Rio Colorado, as none are very formidable, 155; those on the Gila and Colorado in very low state, but cultivate corn and wheat and have cattle, while those farther west are entirely naked and live on roots and seeds, 159 et seq. ; differences exist between those of the two Califomias, and from one another in both, 180; early visitors differ as to physical character- istics of , 1 8 0, 1 8 1 ; tattooing, their dress or nudity, ornaments, customs, im- plements of the chase and for fishing, rafts or balsas for transportation by water, food, cooking, family life, mar- riages, polygyny etc., affections, burial rites, wars, their notion of a future state, temescal or hot-air bath, dis- eases and their treatment, difference between those wild and those domes- ticated and those living near the mis- sions, 180-198; conflict of authorities as to religious ideas or superstitions of, 194; dead are burned with cere- monies at San Francisco, more to the south they are always buried, and near Santa Barbara there were inclosed cemeteries, 195; parts of a chief or brave man killed in battle are eaten, and eyes plucked out and preserved as signs of victory, 195. See also Beechey, Langsdorff, Laperouse, Pa- loii, RoUin, etc. INDEX 363 Indians, tribes or divisions of, — Alchedonia,162,181 Monqui, 21 Cajuenche, 162 Papago, 162 Cochimi, 21,49,50 Pericu, 21 Cocomaricopas, 162 Pima, 162 Cocopa, 162 Tallignaniay,162 Edu, 21 Tamasabs, 162 Laymon, 21 Tulareiios, 181 Mohave, 162 Yuma, 162 Irrigation, 33, 58; unnecessary around Bay of San Francisco, but otherwise in southern part of California, 164, 257. Itamarra, Francisco, his fruitless attempt in 1 694 to civilize Lower California, 1 3 . Iturbi (or Yturbi), Juan, expedition to Gulf of California, 11 ; finds pearls, 65. Japanese junks, disabled, found, with survivors, — one off Northwest coast, 299; and one off Oahu, 301. See also Asia. Jayme, Luis, O.F., killed in Indian up- rising at San Diego, 122. Jennings, John, commander of British brig Forester, 299. See also Japanese junks. Jesuits, undertake spiritual conquest of Lower California, 13; their labors af- ter reaching Loreto, 16 et seq. ; have law enacted to protect Indians from pearl-fishers, 24, 67; tribute to their self-sacrifice and devotion, 25, 26; means employed by them to accom- plish their ends questioned, 26; their efforts to gain the good-will of the Indians, 27; progress in founding towns and in conversions, 30; general mode of proceeding in establishing settlements,49; restrain converts after victory over wild attacking Indians, 53; missions established by them in Lower California, 54, 55; superseded by Franciscans upon their expulsion from the Spanish dominions, 5 5, 80, 81 ; regard of the Indians for, 67. Kino (Kuhn) , Eusebio Francisco, S. J. , accompanies Atondo to Lower Cali- fornia, 12; originator and presiding genius of plan of spiritual conquest of California, 14; remains in Sinaloa, 15; his character etc., 15, 42; his death, 42; tribute of Venegas to, 43, 44; es- tablishes fact that California is a part of the mainland, 45; his travels to the Gila and the Colorado and on the peninsula, 44, 45. Langsdorff, George Heinrich von, in California in 1805, 80; cited as to wild horses and cattle, beasts of prey, and game generally, 174; fur-bearing ani- mals, 176; his description of the In- dians, their feather ornaments, their skill as hunters, 181, 183, 193. La Paz (bay and town), point of discov- ery of Lower California by Ximenez in 1534, and named SuntaCniz,7; Cortes at, in 1535, 8; Vizcaino at, in 1596, and renames place, 9; Pericii Indians oc- cupy country south of bay, 21; mis- sion of La Paz founded near,47 ; popu- lation of town, 62; gold and silver mines near, 62 ; Galvez at, 82 ; the San Carlos sails from, on expedirion for establishment of missions, 83, 84. Laperouse, Jean Fran(,-ois Galaup, visits California in 1786, 80; his Voyage cited passim ; Franciscans and Domin- icans in Lower California, 55; climate of California, 163, 171; describes the Indians as small and weak, 181; their stealth in pursuit of deer, 193; asserts that they have no notion of a god or a future state, 194; their practice of eating parts of a brave enemy killed in battle, scalping, plucking out and preserving their eyes, 196; the teme- scal and its use described, 197; num- ber of missions and their Indians in 1786, 200; influence of pictures in the mission churches, 213; Indian life at the missions resembles slavery, 220; Indian games and gambling, 223; re- port of trade in otter-skins in 1786, 284. Lasso, method of using, and skill of th^ Califomian in its use, 273 et seq. Link, Wenceslaus, S.J., his route to the Rio Colorado, 88. 364 INDEX Loreto, its garrison, 55; the capital of Lower California, 62 ; pearl-fishery at, 71. See also Franciscans, Jesuits, San Carlos, Serra. Los Angeles. See Nuestra Seiiora de los Angeles. Lucenilla y Torres, Francisco, his un- successful attempt at colonization in Lower California in 1668, 12. Luyancio, Juan Bautista, S. J., founder of mission of San Ignacio, 49-51. Maize (Indian com), the staple bread cereal of the Californians, 247; mode of cultivation, harvesting, etc., 247, 253 et seq. ; the injurious insect gorgo- jo, 255. See also Agriculture, Grain. Mazatlan, exports from Lower California shipped to port of, 63. Mendoza. See Bezerra y Mendoza. Mescal, spirits distilled from, 63. Mexico, extent of territory in Californias claimed by, 1; religious orders in, de- sirous of conversion of Indians in Cali- fornia, 11; Viceroy and Council of, consider secular attempts at settle- ment of Lower California failure, and decide to leave reduction of peninsula to Jesuits, 13; debt of, to England, 152; not much commerce between California and, 281 ; jealous of foreign ship-owners, and places restrictions upon them, 296 et seq. See also Great Britain, Russia, Texas. Minerals, none of importance found, 173. See also Gold, Silver. Minutili, Geronimo, S.J.,at San Fran- cisco Xavier, 38. Misionde la PurisimaConcepcion, found- ed 1787,201. Mision Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, founded 1720,47. See also Helen. Mision Nuestra Seiiora de la Soledad (or Maria Santisima de la Soledad), founded 1791, 201. Mision NuestraSenoradeLoretoConcho, the first mission in Lower California, founded 1697, 16; Indians defeated in uprising, 27-28; garrison erects works for defense, a chapel, and houses, 29; mutiny of garrison and discharge of soldiers, 31. See also Loreto, Piccolo, Salvatierra; Ugarte, Juan. Mision Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Sur, founded 1721, and was valu- able as an asylum when the other mis- sions fell from the allegiance of the missionaries, 48. See also Guillen. Mision Nuestra Senora del Pilar de la Paz, founded 1720,47. Mision San Antonio de Padua, founded 1771, 107; severe frost destroys grain at, and supposed miraculous restora- of growth by irrigation, 108; 129. See also Serra. Mision San Buenaventura, founded 1782, 129. See also Vancouver. Mision San Carlos Borromeo de Monte- rey (or San Carlos del Rio Carmelo), founded 1770, on shore of Monterey Bay, 104; its removal to the Rio Car- melo, 105 ; picture of hell in church of, 213. See also Serra. Mision San Diego de Alcala, the first mission in Upper California, founded 1769, 94; uprising and defeat of Indi- ans, 95, 96; arrival of overdue San Antonio when shortage of provisions had almost brought about abandon- ment, her appearance and disappear- ance a few days before being regarded as a miracle and a presage, 100-101. See also San Diego, Serra. Mision San Fernando deVelicata,founded 1769, 87. See also Serra. Mision San Fernando Rey de Espana, founded 1797, 201. Mision San Francisco de Asis (Dolores), founded 1776,127-129. See also Serra. Mision San Francisco de Borja, founded 1762, 87. See also Serra. Mision San Francisco Solano (Sonoma), founded 1823 (hence not in Hum- boldt's table on p. 201, ante), 202. Mision San Francisco Xavier de Vigge- Viaundo, founded 1699, 30, 31, 32; uprising of Indians at, 37, 38; 39; hur- ricane at, washing away the cultivable soil, 47. See also Piccolo, Salvatierra; Ugarte, Juan. INDEX 365 Mision San Gabriel Arcangel, founded 1771, 108 et seq. ; uprising of Indians subdued by display of image of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, 109; Serra visits, 113; Garces coldly received at, 158. See also Cambon, San Pedro, Somera. Mision San Ignacio de Kadalcanian (or San Ignacio Loyola), founded 1728, in fertile spot, 49; success in conversion of Indians and with tropical produce, 51; wild Indian attack upon, and repri- sal by garrison and converts, 52. See also Luyando, Sistiaga. Mision San Jose, founded 1797, 201. Mision San Jose de Comondu, founded 1708, 41. Mision San Jose del Cabo de San Lucas, founded 1730, 53; Indian uprising at, 53. See also Carranco, Tamaral. Mision San Juan Bxtutista de Ligui (or Malibat), founded 1705, 39. See also Ugarte, Pedro. Mision San Juan Bautista, founded 1797, 201. Mision San Juan Capistrano, founded 1776, 126. See also San Juan, Serra. Mision San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, founded 1772, 113. See also Serra. Mision San Miguel Arcangel, founded 1797,201. Mision San Rafael Arcangel, founded 1817 (not in Humboldt's list, p. 201, ante). Mision Santa Barbara, founded 1786,129. Mision SantaClaradeAsis, founded 1777, 129; its Indian village, 211. Mision Santa Cruz, founded 1791, 201. Mision Santa Ines, founded 1804 (not in Humboldt's list, p. 201, ante). Mision Santa Rosa de la Ensenada de Pal mas, founded 1733, 53. Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege, founded 1705, 39; hurricane at, washing away all the cultivable soil, 47. Mision Santiago de los Coras, founded 1723, 48. Mision Santiago del Sur, 55. *** See pages (not cited) 54-55, 201, 202, 259-260, 265-266, for lists of missions. Missionaries ( Franciscans, Jesuits) , their lenity with rebellious Indians, 28, 53; as men of affairs, their industry, etc., 33, 227; their patience with the Indians, 33,34; perseverance and methods, 37, 40, 41, 227; efforts to clothe the In- dians, 35; manufacture woolens, 36; venerated by the Indians, 67, 230, 231; policy to grant no land to colonists, and to keep the soldiers celibates, 132, 205, 209; ordered by Mexico to liberate intelligent Indians, and apportion lands to them, but disastrous results to the Indians follow, 135; salaries reduced, but restored later, 135,136; abundance at the missions, 138; their settlements hardly beyond Bay of San Francisco, 154; their intention to found missions on the plains of theTulares, 163 ; their success in conversions owing to weak- ness of Indian character, 199; their judgment and methods criticised, 226; their management of crops, etc., 227; their humanity and fidelity, 227; their methods compared with Protestant endeavor, 23 1-245 ; their slaughter and sale of cattle in anticipation of expul- sion from missions, 283; barter cattle for imported necessaries, 285; their hospitality and kindness to all visitors, 322. See also Agriculture, Coloniza- tion, Mision etc. (for the names etc. of the missions). Missions, Presidios, Soldiers, etc. Missions (life at, management of, etc. ), how Indians treated, 27, 31 et seq.; plan to make them self-supporting, 32 ; their management reduced to a sys- tem, 56; investment of their funds to secure salaries, 56; civil and religious economy, 57; subsistence and clothing of the Indians, 57, 58; irrigation and cultivation of the soil, 58; life at and management of, the duties of the pa- dres, Indian workmen or church offi- cers and converts, children, soldiers, etc., 56-61 ; wretched condition of the Indians, 62; their welfare the main object of settlement of country, and are almost independent of the Mexican 366 INDEX government, 133; disastrous results follow order to liberate and give land to intelligent Indians, 135; padres re- monstrate, and restorations made, 136; frustration of attempt to colonize and exploit their lands and property, 142; population and names of missions, pre- sidios, and pueblos, 201, 202; their government by the padres, the lands allotted to them, their buildings and Indian huts, 210 et seq. ; their store- houses, workshops, soldiers' quarters, etc., 212; how sexes kept apart, 212, 220 ; construction and contents of their churches, 212, 213 ; how wild Indians secured and converted, 216 et seq. ; religious services, and punishment for inattention, 218; daily routine of life, industries, etc., 219, 220; separation of sexes, and punishment for violation of rules, 220 ; escape of Indians seldom successful, and severe punishment pro- vided, 221; the games takersia and tousse, playing-cards, gambling, and intoxication, 222, 223 ; ravages of acute diseases, 225; grain produced, 259- 260; domestic cattle, 265-266; ex- emption from taxation, 302; debt of the Mexican government to, for sup- plies furnished to Mexican officials, 308; employment of foreign mechan- ics, 322. See also Beechey, Langs- dorff, Laperouse, Vancouver; Agri- culture, Cattle, Grain, Indians, Mis- sionaries, Mision etc. (for names of the missions), Pious Fund, Presidios, etc. Monterey, its harbor discovered by Viz- caino, 10; failure of Kino to reach, 45; Galvez plans to establish mission at, 83; climate, 164; its bay described, 166, 329; considered the capital of California, 167, 207; its bay the chief resort for foreign vessels, 167 ; sea and shell fish found in bay, 179; pirates pillage, 204; its presidio, 204; Spanish squadron at, 281; English merchants seek to trade at, 282 ; Mexican customs station, 302. See also Anza, Domin- guez, Portola, Serra, Vancouver, etc. ; Mision San Carlos, etc. Moran, Antonio, master weaver, brought by Juan Ugarte to instruct Indians, 36. Mulege River, Juan Ugarte builds ship at, 47. Mules. See Cattle. Najera, Manuel, prior of Carmelite convent at Guadalajara, possessor of rare books and MSS., renders valu- able service to the author, 157. Nootka Sound dispute, 281. Norfolk Sound, governor of the Russian settlement at, sends home Japanese survivors found on disabled junk, 300. NuestraSeiioradelosAngeles, pueblo of, Rivera at, 85 ; near Mision San Gabriel Arcangel, 207; population, govern- ment, proposed as capital of California, fertility of its soil, its vineyards etc., 207, 208. Olives and olive-oil, 51, 63, 264. Ortega, Francisco, makes three voyages to Lower California, 12. Otondo. See Atondo. O'vis pygargus. See Berendo. Ox-cart, Calif ornian, described, 251. Oxen, Spanish method of yoking by the horns, and the Spaniard's reason for doing so, 249-251. Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 332 et seq. Paloii, Francisco, O.F. , author of Life of Serra, 80, cited passim; departure of the land and the sea expeditions for Upper California, 85; ceremony of taking possession of the soil, 87; found- ing of the mission of San Diego, and the Indian uprising, 94 et seq. ; Serra's chagrin upon failure to baptize infant, 97; arrival of the San Antonio at San Diego when party ready to abandon country for lack of supplies, 101 ; sup- posed miracle in restoring growth of wheat by irrigation, 108; Indian up- rising, and death of Luis Jayme, 119 et seq. ; founding of presidio and mission of San Francisco, 127; Indian customs and physical differences, 182; habits INDEX 367 of the Indians, their food, scant dress of females, nudity of males, marriage, polygyny, different languages, but hab- its and customs the same, 188-191; Indians not idolatrous, some pretend to supernatural powers, their supersti- tion as to cause of sickness, their dis- posal of the dead, 194-195. Panama, projects of building a railroad across isthmus, and of establishing a line of steamers on west coast, also of cutting a canal, 315 et seq. ; distances to Pacific ports from, 334-335. Parron, Fernando, O.F., on San Carlos with Vila, 84; at San Diego, 89; in attack by Indians at San Diego, 95. Pasturage, abundant and rich, affords con- genial employment to Spaniards, 265. Pearls, display of valuable, excites desire for conquest of California, 11; attract adventurers, 23; history of the indus- try, — how conducted, how regarded by the missionaries, the government's share in the output, Indian divers, pearl merchants, etc., 64-75. See also Jesuits; California, Lower, etc. Perez, Juan, commands the San Antonio from Cape San Lucas to San Diego, 84; commands the frigate Santiago on her first northern voyage (114), is second in command (piloto) on her sec- ond voyage, and dies at sea, 116, 117. See also Bucareli, Heceta, Serra. Peyri, Antonio, O. F. , his successful management of San Luis Rey, and his retirement, 228, 229. Piccolo, Francisco Maria, S. J., associate of Salvatierra, 1 5 ; at Loreto with sup- plies, 28 ; founds San Francisco Xavier, 30, 32; his return thereto, 37, 38. Pichilingue, harbor, 62. Pifiadero, Bernardo Bernal, attempts a settlement at Lower California, 12; pearls found on his expedition, 65. Pious Fund (Fondo Piadoso), donations and bequests, houses and land, consoli- dated for benefit of missions, 131; managed by convent of San Fernando, 132; misapplication of fund, 137. Pirates, pillage and burn Monterey, 204. Plow, Califomian, description and wood- cut of, 247, 248. See also Oxen etc. Population of missions, presidios, and pueblos, 200, 201, 202. Portola, Gaspar, governor of California, and commander of the land expedi- tion to march to San Diego, leaves Loreto with its second division, 85; at Velicata with Serra, 87; arrives at San Diego, 89 ; leaves in command of the united divisions for Monterey, and passes the harbor without identifying it, but reaches the harbor of San Fran- cisco, and returns to San Diego, 92- 93 ; leaves again by land for Monterey, while Serra proceeds by sea, and both reach the port, 101. Potato, thrives well in California, but not staple food, 262. Pottery, Indian, 9. See also Indians. Pozole (cooked corn), 27, 33, 57. Prat, Pedro, naval surgeon, on the San Carlos with Vila, 84. Presidios, or presidencies, number and population, 202, 203 ; their buildings inclosed by walls of adobe, 203 ; ineffi- ciency of their castillos, or forts, with a few guns of small caliber, 203, 204; their compantas de cueras, poorly clad horse troops, the refuse of the Mexican army, 205 ; are receptacles for trans- ported felons, 206, their expense, 307, See also Monterey, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Soldiers. Pnncesa,The, and the Favorita, sail from San Bias, under Arteaga, on voyage of discovery, and "Strait of Bucareli" and "Santiago" discovered, 117; at San Francisco on return, 118, 119; Serra goes to San Diego in Princesa, 126. See also Bucareli. Pueblos, or towns, only three in Califor- nia, independent of the missions and presidios, 206; formed for retired sol- diers, 206; most fertile spots chosen, 207. See also Branciforte, Nuestra Sefiora de los Angeles, San Jose de Guadalupe. Rains and fogs, in Upper California, 368 INDEX 164. See also California, Lower; San Francisco. Raisins, 264. Ranchos, or national farms, attached to the presidios, for the use of soldiers, meant to be also depositories of tithes of grain and cattle, 206. Revenue, none in California before Mex- ican revolution, tithes payable by free settlers, missions exempt, 302; criti- cism of Mexican tariff system and fis- cal management, 302-306; deficit, 307; military and civil officials resort to mis- sions for maintenance, 308. See also Customs duties, Monterey, San Diego. Revolutions, against Mexico, at Monte- rey, in 1836, 149 et seq. ; against Spain, in 1821, and its effect on commerce, 282. Rio Colorado, or Red River, a boundary of the Californias, 2, 154; discolors the waters of the gulf, 8 ; 44 ; Indians of its borders erroneously considered as fierce, — numerous, in low state, but cultivate grain and have cattle, 155 et seq., and are of the same race as those at the missions, 185. See also Anza, Gila River, Indians etc. , Link. Rivera y Moncada, Fernando Xavier, comandante of the presidio of Loreto, leaves Santa Ana in command of first division of the Portola land expedition, 85; arrives at San Diego, 86; leaves, as second in command, with Portola on first land expedition to Monterey, 92. Rivers of Upper California, derive names mostly from missions, 165-166, — Jesus Maria San Gabriel Los Angeles San Joaquin Pajaro San Juan Capistrano Rio del Rancho Santa Ana Sacramento Santa Clara San Buenaventura Santa Cruz San Carlos Santa Ines Rodeo (the rounding up and branding etc. of cattle), a time of amusement and festivity in California, 273. Rollin, M., surgeon with Laperouse, his description of temescal, or hot-air bath, 197. Russians, their settlement at Bodega, 1 ; suspicions that California might fall Into their hands, 147; fears of British government concerning, 151, 152; their hospitality, 271, 327; exports of wheat to their settlements on North- west coast, 282; Mexicans threaten to drive them out, 331. Salvatierra, Juan MarIa, S.J., directs first attempt in execution of plan of spiritual conquest of California, 15; sails from Yaqui, arrives in Lower California, and founds mission of Lo- ' reto, 16, 17; learns language of and ingratiates himself with the natives, 27; his humanity during Indian attack, 28 ; by instructing adults, children are hos- tages, 29; his letter in regard to debts, and discharge of refractory soldiers, 3 1 ; appointed provincial in Mexico, and reports conditions to Viceroy, 38, 39; visits California, and advises founding more missions, 39; resigns as provin- cial, and again returns to California, 41; secures the enactment of laws for better government, 46; reduces mis- sion management to a system, 56. San Antonio (or Principe), The, under Perez, sent by Galvez from Cape San Lucas to San Diego, with supplies for the new missions, 84; arrives at des- tination with scurvy on board, 85, 86, 89; sent to San Bias, and nine die dur- ing voyage, 92, 99 ; her appearance and disappearance off port of San Diego, and her arrival four days later, 101; leaves San Bias for San Diego, with supplies and ten missionaries, and ar- rives with all on board affected with scurvy, 105 ; arrives at San Diego from San Bias, with supplies, after long voy- age, 114. San Antonio, Its population, 62; insig- nificant gold-mines at, 63. San Bias, Serra at, 81 ; 89; the San Anto- nio arrives at, from San Diego, 92 ; the San Carlos sails from, for Loreto, and the San Antonio for San Diego, 105; Bucareli dissuaded by Serra from aban- INDEX 369 doning marine establishment at, and orders frigate ( Santiago ) built, 113; the San Antonio, and the Santiago with Serra, sail from, for Monterey, 114; the Princesa built at, 117; the Princesa and the Favorita sail from, under Ar- teaga, 117; Franciscan friars at, on way to California, 138-142; declares for Santa Anna, 142; supplies for missions sent from, 281; Spanish squadron at, 281; exports from California sent to, 282. Sec also Figueroa, etc. San Buenaventura, plan for mission at, 83. San CarIos,The,undcrVila,with supplies for new missions, sails from La Paz for San Diego, 83-86, 89; leaves San Bias for Loreto with supplies, and has dis- astrous voyage, 105-107; leaves San Diego, with Serra, for San Bias, 113; leaves San Bias for Monterey, with supplies, is driven up gulf, damaged, and reaches Loreto, 113. San Diego, port of, 2 ; its harbor discov- ered by Vizcaino, 10; plan for mission at, 83; its harbor described, 167, 330; presidio of, 203 ; customs collector ap- pointed for, 302; supplies for shipping, and facilities for establishing wharves, docks, arsenals, 331. See also Eche- andia, Franciscans, Indians, Mision San Diego, Missionaries, Missions, Portola, Serra; San Antonio, The; San Bias ; San Carlos, The ; San Jose, The; etc. San Dionisio, Bay of, site of Atondo's camp, and of mission of Loreto, 16. San Fernando, Mexico, convent of, fur- nishes Franciscan missionaries for spir- itual conquest of California, 80 et pas- sim. San Francisco (port, bay, etc.), the bay the northern limit of Spanish settle- ment, 1, 10; Vizcaino at (old harbor), in 1603, and Drake in 1579, 10; Por- tola Monterey land expedition at, in 1769, 93, 94; the Princesa and the Favorita, under Arteaga, arrive at, in 1779, 118; founding of the presidio and mission in 1776, and survey of the harbor, finding only one outlet to the 24 ocean, 126-128; Indian war at, 128; heterogeneous colony from Mexico driven away from, 145 ; most fertile lands, and those best fitted for Euro- pean settlement, around and north of the bay, 154, 323 ; rains are more gen- eral around bay, and irrigation is un- necessary, 164, 257; mean annual tem- perature 53.2°, 165; rivers flowing into bay, 165 ; port is the largest and safest on western coast, and one of the most capacious in the world, 166; effect of sea-winds and fogs in exposed situa- tions, 1 69 ; Indians of, bum their dead, with attendant ceremonies, 195; pre- sidio of, 203 ; port, for size and safety, hardly surpassed in world, 312; lands around bay favorable for raising grain and rearing cattle, 323 ; natural advan- tages for agricultural pursuits, and for communication by water, 323; harbor described, sailing directions, 327,328; secure anchorage, and facilities for es- tablishing wharves, docks, arsenals, 331. See also Mision San Francisco. San Jose de Guadalupe (pueblo or town) , near the mission of Santa Clara, 207; its government, inhabitants, etc., 208. San Jose, The, sails from Loreto witli mission supplies, and is lost, 84, 85. San Juan, its bay described, 168; sailing directions, etc., 330. San Juan Londo, site of a mission, 39. San Lucas, Cape, 1, 20; the San Antonio sails from, for San Diego, 84. San Luis, Bay of, 86. San Pedro, Port, described, 168; anchor- age etc., near Mision San Gabriel, 329. San Quintin, excellence of port, 330, 331. Sandwich Islands, exports to, 283. See also Commerce; Japanese junks. Santa Ana, 85. See also Rivera. Santa Anna, AntonioLopez, 140, 144, 152. Santa Barbara, bay and channel described, 167; inclosed Indian cemetery at, 195 ; its presidio described, 203; anchorage, tides, etc., of harbor, 329. See also Mision Santa Barbara. Santa Clara. See Mision Santa Clara; Vancouver. 370 INDEX Santa Cruz (island), Upper California, 167. Santa Cruz, Lower California. See La Paz. Santa Fe. See Dominguez. Santiago (or Nueva Galicia), The, built at San Bias, 113; leaves for Monterey under Perez, is obliged to put into San Diego for repairs, and voyage resumed to Monterey later, 114; proceeds on northern voyage of discovery, and re- turns to Monterey, 115, 116; leaves San Bias under Heceta and Perez, with schooner (Sonora) under Bodega, on second voyage of discovery, and re- turns to Monterey, finding there, the schooner, previously lost sight of in gale, 116, 117. See also Serra. Serra, Junipero, O. F. , nominated father- president to undertake spiritual con- quest of UpperCalifornia, 80,81; leaves convent of San Fernando, 81; at Lo- reto, and approves plan of Galvez, 82; at Velicata with Portoki, 87; founds mission of San Fernando, 87 ; his letter to Palou from San Diego, 89-92; founds mission of San Diego, 94; in Indian attack at mission, 95; his sor- row when Indian parents prevent bap- tism of infant, 98; goes to Monterey on the San Antonio, 101 ; his letter to Palou, 102 et seq. ; founds mission of San Carlos, 104; letter to chief of col- lege of San Fernando results in more missionaries being sent, 105; founds mission of San Antonio, 107; letter to Palou, 110; resolves to go to Mexico, and on way founds San Luis Obispo and visits San Gabriel, 112, 113; sails on the San Carlos from San Diego, 113; his success with Bucareli, 113; leaves city of Mexico, and sails on the Santi- ago from San Bias, leaves her at San Diego, meets Anza on way to Monte- rey, 114, 115; goes on the Princesato San Diego after Indian uprising, 125; on way to found San Juan Capistrano, is saved from death by Indian, 126; returns to Monterey, and makes prep- arations for founding of mission of San Francisco, 126; his death (at San Car- los), 129; sketch of his life by Palou, 129; his plan of colonization and man- agement carried on by his successors, 131. Sheep, raising of, at missions, 35; infe- rior breed all over Spanish America, and breeding of merinos discouraged by Spanish government, 277-278. See also Cattle. Ship-building, first ship built in the Cali- fomias (the Triunfo de la Cruz), 47; California rich in material for, and for marine stores, 147. See also Bucareli, Princesa, San Bias, Santiago, Ugarte. Silver, said to exist in peninsula, 63. Sistiaga, Sebastian, S. J., assists Luyando at founding of San Ignacio, 50. Soap, 63. See also Amole. Soldiers, with Salvatierra, 16; hated by Indians, 17; prohibited from diving for pearls, 24 ; padres protect Indians from their cruelties, 26, 31; disperse Indian attacks on Loreto, 28, 29; mutiny at Loreto from want of pay etc. , and be- cause of restraints, and are dismissed, 30, 31; dismissed from San Francisco Xavier for ill conduct, 32; suffer with Indians from fevers, 42; included in new law for better government, 46; only two in band of converts making reprisal on wild Indians, 52; paid by government, but padres control, except in military matters, 56; their duties, 59, 60; heroism of, at San Diego, 96; cannot marry without permission, 132; powers and duties of comandante of troops, 133; commissioned and non- commissioned officers sent to repre- sent California in Mexican legislature, 134; mutiny of , on way to Monterey with Figueroa, 139; companias de cue- ras, 205; those sent to California are refuse of Mexican army, deserters, etc. , 205; grants of lands in pueblos to re- tired, 206; how quartered at missions, 212; worthless character of, 212; in rags, and obtain subsistence at mis- sions, 308. See also Presidios. Somera, Angel, O. F., at founding of mission of San Gabriel, 109. INDEX 371 Sonora-Monterey route, 157. See also Anza, Serra. Sonera, schooner, accompanies the San- tiago on her second northern voyage, 116; returns to Monterey, 117. See also Bodega y Quadra. Sorcerers (hechiceros,or Indian priests), 19; incite Indians to expel mission- aries, 29; further efforts, on breaking out of smallpox etc., 42. Southey, Robert, his Tale of Paraguay cited, 26, 222, 225, 232. Spain, discovery and settlement of Cali- fornia by, 2 ; monarchs of, desirous of conversion of the Indians, 11 ; discour- ages propagation of fine grapes and sheep, 277, 278; possessions of, on Pacific coast, 286; neglect of and re- strictions upon commerce and naviga- tion by, in America, 286 et seq. ; fiscal lavps and practices of, criticised, 304. Spanish navigation, deplorable state of, on Pacific coast, 84, 119; severe laws regarding mariners and navigation, customs duties, accounts of unduly long voyages, abuse of authority by officials, etc., 289 et seq. Spirits, distilled, 63. Spiritual conquest (conquista espiritual) of California, by the Jesuits, how financed, 1 3 et seq. ; power delegated by government to and assumed by padres, 15, 16; undertaken by Fran- ciscans upon expulsion of Jesuits, 80. See also Galvez, Kino, Piccolo, Pious Fund, Salvatierra, Serra, Ugarte. Steam-navigation, proposed line of steam- ships for exploitation of Pacific coast via Isthmus of Panama, 332 et seq. Swine, not much propagated in Califor- nia, but otherwise in Mexico, 279. See also Cattle. Takersia, a game played by Indians, 222. Tamaral, Nicolas, S.J., murdered by Indians at San Jose del Cabo, 53, 54. Taraval, Sigisimundo, S.J., his opinion as to Indian languages, 21. Taye, or argali, 175. See also Berendo. Tehuantepec, Cortes equips ships at, 8. Temescal, or hot-air bath, 196-197. Tepic, Franciscans at, on way to Cali- fornia, 138. Texas, possible settlers from, 152; ces- sion of lands in, to Great Britain, 153. Textile materials. See Flax, Hemp, etc. Tiburon, its Indians, pearis, etc., 73. Tobacco. See Cimarron. Tousse, a game played by Indians, 223. Towns, or pueblos. See Branciforte, Nuestra Seiiora de los Angeles, San Jose de Guadalupe. Trees, shrubs, etc. , great number of, but few indigenous fruit-bearing trees, 172. See also Vancouver. Tucson (orTu^on; Papago, Tu-uk-so- 6n),160, 163. Tulares (tules), plains of the, 156; Gar- ces traverses, 158; intention of the Franciscans to found missions on, 163 ; Indians of, 185. Tule (or bulrush), Indians construct rafts of, 91, 189, 191; women wear girdles of, 18, 189. Ugarte, Juan, S.J., associate in plan of spiritual conquest, 15; sends supplies and soldiers to Loreto, 29, 30; arrives at Loreto, and appointed to San Fran- cisco Xavier, 31; applies principle of making missions self-supporting, 32; character of, 31, 32, 36, 37; as over- seer, carpenter, etc., 33, 36; his treat- ment of insolent Indian, 34; makes and exports wine, 35; his success with crops and cattle, and in manufacturing woolens, 35-37; builds vessel at Mu- leje, 47; sails on voyage of discovery in gulf, reaches the Colorado, and con- firms statements of Kino, 48. Ugarte, Pedro, S. J. , founds San Juan Bau- tista de Ligui, 39; his character, 39,40; his successful methods with the Indi- ans, 40, 41. Ulloa, Francisco, commands exploring expedition in gulf, 9. United States, likelihood of invasion of California by frontiersmen etc. from, 151, 152; hunters, traders, trappers, etc., from, 155. See also Americans. 372 INDEX Valdivia, Chile, 286. Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, appointed comandante- general by provisional government, at Monterey, in 1836, upon declaration of independence of Mexican rule, 150. Vancouver, George, visits California in ' 1792, 80; his journey from Monterey to Santa Clara, 169; his description of the garden at San Buenaventura mis- sion, 171; skill and stealth of Indians in deer-hunting exhibited to, 193 ; the new missions he finds established on his second visit (1793), 200. Vegetables, green, 171; not much used, 263; plentiful at Bodega, 327. Velez de Escalante, Father Silvestrc. See Dominguez. Velicata, Rivera at, 86; Crespi at, 86; Serra at, and establishes mission of San Fernando, 87; Portola at, 87. Venegas, Miguel, S.J., his Noticiade la California cited passim; valuable pearls, 11; Atondo's fruitless and expensive expedition, 12; spiritual conquest of California, 13; Kino's vow, 15; Sal- vatierra's arrival in Lower California, 16; Indian sorcerers, 19-20; pearl- fishers etc., 24; tribute to self-denial etc. of missionaries, 25; celebration after victory over Indians, 28; labors of the missionaries, 29-53; religious and civil economy of missions, 57 et seq. ; the Indians, 181-187. Vigge Mountains, site of mission, 32. Vila, Vicente, commands San Carlos, 84. Vitis njimfera, 173; vine thrives well, 264. See also Grape. Vizcaino, Juan, O.F., 84, 89; in Indian attack at San Diego, 95; wounded, 97. Vizcaino, Sebastian, his expedition to gulf and futile attempt at settlement, 9, 10; explores west coast, discovers ports of San Diego, Monterey, (old) San Fran- cisco, 10, 79; examines port of Mag- dalena, 10; insufficiency of his descrip- tion of port of Monterey to satisfy Portola of its identity, 93. Wheat, how cultivated etc. in Califor- nia, 246 et seq. See also Flour, Grain. W^ild-fowl, 163. See also Beechey, La- perouse. Wine and brandy, 35, 58, 63, 264, 330. Wine-grape, 173. See also Grape. Wool, inferior quality of, 277. XiMENEZ, FoRTUNO, piloto of Grfjalva, de facto discoverer of Lower California in 1534, killed at La Paz, 7. Yaqui River, Salvatierra sails from, 16; pearl-fishers' port of departure, 72. Yturbi. See Iturbi. Zacatecas, Franciscan friars from con- vent of, on way to California, 138-142. Zuiiiga, Caspar, Viceroy of New Spain, 9. THE END Printed by Thomas C. 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