Class _E-2l^4:_ Book . f ?^ ^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSU^ LkL^ ^u [-a ^, See ptxge 61 THE EMBBAOINa WHAT I SAW AND HEAED THERE, WITH SCENES m THE PACIFIC. BY J. T. FARNHAM, ^^n^j^ AUTHOR OF "TEAVELS IN THE GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES," ETC. ETC. IIIttstrat^K PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY JOHN E. POTTER, No. 617 SANSOM STREET. 1859. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by JOHN E. POTTER, In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. ■4- PREFACE. California is my theme. She is now an integral portion of this great RepubUc. A mighty popula- tion from all parts of the world has congregated ou her shores, and with giant strides she marches on to power and greatness. Her mineral wealth seems inexhaustible, vast sums of gold being annually exported to the Atlantic States and elsewhere. But a few short years and her condition was widely different. With but a sparse white popula- tion ; with a government hardly existing other than in name, deeds of wrong, of violence, and of blood were of constant occurrence. Of this interesting portion of her history comparatively little is known ; and it is of this period that I propose to write. To what I saw and heard while in the country has (iii) IV PREFACE. been added authentic information from every known source. We may learn much from the pulseless soli- tudes — from the desert untrodden by the foot of living thing — from the frozen world of mountains, whose chasms and cliffs never echoed to aught but the thunder-tempests girding their frozen peaks — ■ from old Nature, piled, rocky, bladeless, toneless — if we will allow its lessons of awe to reach the mind, and impress it with the fresh and holy images which they were made to inspire. And now, dear reader, my task is done. Should you laugh and weep, suffer and rejoice, with the actors in the wayfarings before you, and send your fancy in after-times over those rose-clad realms where they will lead you, and feel the dews of a pleasant remembrance falling on your hfe, I shall receive a full reward for my toil. Adieu. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The great Pacific — A Storm at Sea — Our Crew and Com- pany — Various Yarns — Old Ocean in a Rage — How we turned in, 5 CHAPTER II. Pictures of Woe — The Sack of Bones — His Experiences in California — The Black Cook and Scotch Mate — Land, ho! — Various Emotions produced — Honolulu and the Professor of Psalmody, f'2 CHAPTER III. The First Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands — What Civiliza- tion and Christianity has done — On the Sea again — Our Crew and Passengers— A Squall — Land ahead — California forever ! 37 CHAPTER IV. Brief Whispers of a Revolution — California Officials — Famish- ing in Prison — Isaac Graham and his Men — Alvarado in Power — Base Treachery, 52 CHAPTER V. What the Prisoners Said — John Warner's Story — The Spec- tral Fleet — The Hardy American Trappers — The Mock Trial — The brave Tennesseean in Despair — A California Festa, 70 CHAPTER VI. Vale of San Carmelo — A California Lawyer — Long Tom Sas- safras — The Coast — El Mission De Santa Barbara — The Prisoners again — A Friend in Need, 98 CHAPTER VIL California as it was — The Search for Gold — Wreck and Hor- rible Sufferings of Cortes' People — The Excitement at its Height — The Star of Cortes wanes 117 (V) VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER YIII. Spanish Adventurers again — Their Fortunes and Misfor- tunes — Indian Courtesy — A Terrible Disease — Of&cers all Sick — A Sovereign Balm and an Affecting Scene, 127 CHAPTER IX. Brilliant Hopes and Small Results — An Intended Massacre— A Holy Yoyage Commenced — Trouble with the Indians — The Padres Triumphant — Last Days of Father Kino, 149 CHAPTER X. The Holy Voyagers at their Work — A Famine — The First Execution in California — What one Musket did — Poison and Death, -. 168 CHAPTER XI. The Padres and the Indians — Hope on, Hope ever — The Good Father Salva Tierra — His Sufferings and Death — Great Mourning — Thirty Thousand People in Prayer, 189 CHAPTER XII. The Wealth of Exhaustless Energy — Triumph of the Cross — Zeal of the Padres — Frightful Tempests and a Water Spout, 201 CHAPTER XIII. How Father Napoli Discomfited the Indians — A Band of Depredators — A Terrible Storm — An Indian Force and a Victory — A Voyage of Discovery — Another Jonah and an Enormous Shark, 221 CHAPTER XIV. Troubles Thicken — The Indians in Revolt — Brutal Murder of Father Carranco — Infernal Orgies — Another Murder — The Indians to the Rescue — A Victory of Love — California Shrouded in Gloom, 237 CHAPTER XV. Life and Light again for California — Thieves and a Fight — Death of Father Junipero — What California was — Masterly Inactivity of Alvarado — Captain Jose Castro, his Intrepid Ally, 261 CHAPTER XVL War with the United States — Heroism of the Americans — Various Battles — Conquest — Discovery of Gold — On the Pacific again — Long Tom finishes his Yarn — Poor Graham and the last of the Prisoners — Home again, 299 CHAP! f B I. A Reminiscence — A Spectacle — Oreg( r.— J«,ridward and Seaward— Th« Great South Sea—Magic Palace— TitkL\^ in Studding-sails — Caverns — Storm in Full Blast — Professor of Psc..mody — Fur Hunter — A British Tar — An Author— A Seaboat — A Cor-tscrew — A Flagon — A Conversa- tion about Life in the Northwest — Its Dogs — Logs — Food — Surface- - Lords of the North — Frozen Mountains — Moss — Flowers — Potatoes, Oats and Barley — Indian Wives and Sheep — The Arctic Shore — Suicide of a Brav^e Man — A Solo— Eel Pond — Ghost in the Shrouds — Tumult in Upper and Lower Ocean — Minor Key — War-cry — Special Pleading — The Sea— Wine and Song— To Bed. In a work entitled "Travels in the Great Western Prairies," &c., to which the following pages are a sequel, I left my readers off the mouth of Columbia river, in sight of the green coast of Oregon. Lower Oregon ! A verdant belt of wild loveliness ! — A great park of flowering shrubs, of forest pines, and clear streams ! The old unchanged home of the Indian ; where he has hunted the moose and deer ; drawn the trout from the lake, and danced, sung, loved, and war- red away a thousand generations. I cannot desire for my- self any remembrances of the Past which shall bring me more genuine wealth of pleasurable emotions than those which ':ame to me from that fourth sunset of December, 1840, when I was leaning over the bulwarks of the ship Vancruver, looking back on Oregon, and seaward over the great Pacific! A spectacle of true grandeur ! The cones of eternal snow which dot the green heights of the President's range oi mountains, rose on the dark outline of the distant land, and 6 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. hung glittering on the sky, like islands of precious stones; so brightly did they shine in the setting sun, and so completely did the soft clouds around their bases seem to separate them from the world below ! The shores of Lower Oregon ! They rise so boldly from the sea ! Themselves mountains sparsely clad with lofty pines, spruce and cedar trees, nodding over the deep ! And then the ground under water ! No flats, no mud banks there. The cliffs are piled up from the bottom of the ocean The old Pacific, with his dark depths, lies within one hundred yards of them ! And the surges that run in from the fury of the tempests, roll with unbroken force to the towering rocks, and breaking with all their momentum at once, making the land tremble, and send far seaward a mighty chorus to the shout- ing storm ! The Pacific ! the Great South Sea ! It was heaving at our bows ! steadily, wave on wave came and went and following each other in ceaseless march pressed onward ; like the world's hosts in marshaled files^ they hastened past us, as if intent to reach the solid shores, where some resistance would broach their hid- den strength and pour their fury out ! Behold the sea ! Its troubled wastes are bending and top- pling with a wild, plashing, friendly sound ; a deep, blue, un- certain vastness ; itself cold and passive ; but under the lash of the tempest, full of terrific life ! Our ship stood staunch upon the palpitating mass, and seemed to love it. Mizen and mizen-top, main and main-top, fore and fore-top- Bails, and the lower weather studding-sails were out. The breeze from the land which had carried us over the bar still held, every thread of canvass drew, every cord was tight, and as we looked up through the rigging to the sky, the sails, cordage and masts swayed under the clouds like the roofing of some magic palace of olden tales. All hands were on deck ; both watches sat about the windlass ; while the second officer and mate looked at tho horizon over the weather-bow, and pointed out a line of clouds crowding ominously up the southwestern sky. The captain stood TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 7 npon the companion-way, looking at the barometer. In a little time officers and passengers gathered in a knot on the larboard quarter. " I ken there's a storm comin' up frae the soo'est," said the Scotch mate. " The clouds loom fast, sir, in that quarter," said Mr. New- ell, the American second-mate. " I reckon it will be upon us soon." Captain Duncan needed no information in regard to the weather on these shores. He was everywhere an accomplished seaman. On the quarter deck — with his quadrant — on the spars — and at the halyards ; but especially in that prophetic knowledge of the weather, which gives the sous of Neptune their control over the elements, he had no superiors. " Take in the studding-sails and make all fast on deck," is the order, issued with quietness and obeyed with alacrity. Water casks, long-boat, and caboose are lashed, ropes coiled up and hung on th^ pins in the bulwarks, and the hatches put down in storm rig. The wind before which we were running abated, and the horizon along the line of departing light began to lift a rough undulating edge. " Take in the mainsail !" " Go aloft and take a reef in the maintop !" "In with the fore-main, and let the trysail run !" followed each other in haste, as the sailors moved to the cheer- ing music of their songs in the work of preparing the ship to wrestle with a southwester. Everything being made snug, we waited its coming. The rough water which appeared a mere speck when the wind came upon the circle of vision, had widened till its extreme points lay over the bows. On it came, widening and elevating itself more and more ! The billows had previously been smooth, or at least ruffled sufficient only to give their gentle heaving sides a furzy aspect, while the tops occasionally rose in trans- parent combs, which immediately crumbled by their own weight, into foam down their leeward acclivities. But now a stronger spirit had laid his arm on these ocean coursers. The wind came 8 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. on, steadily increasing its might from moment to moment ! At first it tore the tops of the waves into ragged lines, then rent the whole surface into fragments of every conceivable form, which rose, appeared and vanished, with the rapidity of thought, dancing like sprites among the lurid moving caverns of the sea ! A struggling vastness ! constantly broken by the flail of the tempest, and as often reunited, to be cleft still farther by a re- doubled blast. The darkness thickened as the storm increased; and when the lanthorn was lighted in the binnacle, and the night-watch set, the captain and passengers went below to their wine and anecdotes. Our company consisted of four persons. One was a singing-master, from Connecticut, Texas, New Orleans, and St. Louis. He was such an animal as one would wish to find if he were making up a human menagerie ; so positive was he of step, so lofty in the neck, and dignified in the absurd blunders wherewith he perpetually corrected the opinions and assertions of others. Another was a Mr. Simpson, a young Scotchman, of re- spectable family, a clerk in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. This was a fine fellow, twenty-five years of age, full of energy and good feeling, well-informed on general topics, and like most other British subjects abroad, troubled with an irre- pressible anxiety at the growing power of the States, and an overwhelming loyalty toward the mother country and its Sove- reign skirts. The other personages were the commander, Dun- can, and the author. The Captain was an old British tar, with a heart full of generosity for his friends, and a fist full of bones for his ene- mies. A glass of cheer with a messmate, and a rope's end for a disobedient sailor, were with him impromptu productions, for which he had capacity and judgment ; a hearty five foot nine inch, burly, stout-chested Englishman, whom it was always pleasant to see and hear. This little company gathered around the ca,bin table, and all as one listened a moment to the beatings of the tempest. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 9 A surge — another — and a third still heavier, beat upon the no- ble ship, and sent a thrill through every timber. On they roll- ed, and dashed, and groaned. But her iron heart only seemed to gather strength from the conflict, and inspire us with a feeling of perfect safety. " A fine sea-boat is the Vancouver, gentlemen," said Captain Duncan, " she rides the storm like a petrel :" and with this com- fortable assurance we seated ourselves at the table. I had nearly forgotten Tom, the cabin-boy ; a mere mouse of a lad ; who knew the rock of a ship and the turn of a corkscrew as well as any one ; and as he was spry, had a short name, a quick ear, and bore the keys to the sideboard and some things elsewhere, all well-bred stomachs would not fail to blast my quill, if I omitted to write his name and draw his por- trait. Well, Tom was one of those sons of old England, who are born to the inheritance of poverty, and a brave heart for the seas. Like many thousand children of the Fatherland, when the soil refused him bread, he was apprenticed for the term of seven years to seamanship. And there he was, an English sailor-boy, submitting to the most rigorous discipline, serving the first part of his time in learning to keep his cabin in order, and wait at the table, that when, as he was taught to expect, he should have a ship of his own, he might know how to be served like a gentleman. This part of his apprenticeship he performed admirably. And when he shall leave the cork-screw and the locker for the quarter-deck, I doubt not he will scream at a storm, and utter his commands with sufficient imperiousness to entitle him to have a Tom of his own. " Tom," said Captain Duncan, " bring out a flagon of Ja- maica, and set on the glasses, lad. This storm, gentlemen, calls for cheers. When Neptune labors at this pace, he loves his dram. Fill, gentlemen, to absent wives." This compliment to the sacred ascendency of the domestic affections was timely given. The storm hoveled hideously, for our lives, our families 10 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. were far distant over seas and mountains, the heart was pressed with sadness : we drank in silence and with swimming eyes. A pleasant conversation followed this toast, in which each one of our little band exhibited himself in his own way. The Cap- tain was a hearty old Saxon, who had inherited from a thousand generations, a love for home, its hearth and blazing evening fire, its old oaken table, its family arm-chair, and the wife who presided over that temple of holy affections. In him, therefore, we had the genuine spirit of those good old times when man used his physical and mental powers, to build about his heart the structures of positive happiness, instead of the artificial sem- blances of these, which fashion and affectation draw around the modern home. Our professor of psalmody was the opposite of this. He had, when the red blood of youth warmed his heart in the ways of honest nature, spoken sweet things to a lovely girl, won her affections, promised marriage, and as his beard grew became a gentleman ; that is, jilted her. He, therefore, was fond of free- dom, could not be confined to so plain and quiet a business as the love of one woman, and the care of a family of children. " It was quite horrid, indeed it was, for a man who had any music in his soul ; the mere idea was concentrated picra to his moral stomach ; the thought, bah ! that a gentleman could ever think of being a daddy, and trotting on his paternal knee a semi- yearling baby." Mr. Simpson was from the braes of Scotland. For many years he had lived an isolated and roving life, among the nows, morasses, and lakes of the wilderness, which lies west and north- west of Hudson's Bay. He had been taught his catechism at kirk, and also a proper respect for the ties of the domestic senti- ments. But the peculiar idea of manliness* which grows up in those winter realms of danger, privation, and loneliness, had gradually habituated him to speak of these relations as desirable mainly when the body had expended its energy in striding mountains, in descending rocky torrents with boats laden TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 11 with furs, and in the other bold enterprises of these daring traders. From him we obtained a description of some portions of that vast country occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company; and some information on other topics connected with it. Life in the Company's service was briefly described. Their traveling is performed in various ways at different seasons of the year and in different latitudes. In Oregon their journeys are chiefly made in Mackinaw boats and Indian canoes. With these they ascend and descend the various streams, bear- ing their cargoes, and often their boats, from the hej^d-waters of one to those of another. In this manner they pass up the Cowelitz and descend the Chihilis with their furs and other goods ; thus do they reach the head-waters of the northern fork of the Columbia, pass over the Rocky Mountains, and run down the rivers and lakes to Canada. Farther north on the east side of the Rocky Mountain range, they travel much on foot in summer, and in winter (which is there the greatest part of the year) on sledges drawn by dogs. Ten or twelve of these animals are attached to a light sledge, in which the man sits wrapped in furs and surrounded by meat for his car- nivorous steeds and provisions for himself Thus rigged, the train starts on the hard snow crust, and make eighty or one hundred miles before the dogs tire. When the time for rest comes, they are unharnessed, fed, tied to the bushes or shrubs, and the traveler enveloped in furs, addresses himself to sleep under the lea of a snow-bank or precipitous rock. When na- ture is recruited, the train is again harnessed and put on route. The Aurora Borealis, which flames over the skies of those latitudes, illuminates the country so well, that the absence of the sun during the winter months offers no obstacles to these journey ings. Drawn by dogs over mountain and plain, under heavens filled with electric crackliuo- light, the traveler feels that his situation harmonizes well with the sublime desolation of that wintry zone. In this manner these ad- 12 SCENES IN THE PACI IC. venturous men travel from the mouth of Mackenzie's river lo York on Hudson's Bay and to Canada, Their dwellings are usually constructed of logs in the form of our frontier cabins. They are generally surrounded by pickets, and in other respects arranged so as to resist any attack which the neighboring savages may make upon them. They are usually manned by an officer of the Company and a few Canadian Frenchmen. In these rude castles, rising in the midst of the frozen north, live the active and fearless gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company. The frosts of the poles cditi neither freeze the blood nor the energy of men who spring from the little Island of Britain. The torrid, the temperate, and the frozen zones alike hear the language and acknowledge the power of that wonderful race. The food of these traders is as rude as their mode of life. At most of the Forts they live almost exclusively on the white and other kinds of fish ; no vegetables of any description are obtainable ; an occasional deer or woods buffalo or musk ox is procured ; but seldom is their fare changed from the produce of the lakes and streams. At a few of their stations not even these can be had ; and the company is obliged to supply them with pemican. This is buffalo meat dried, finely pulverized, mixed with fat and service berries, and secured in leathern sacks. They transport this from latitudes forty-eight and nine to different places on Mackenzie's river, and other parts of the extreme north. Wild fowls, geese and ducks afford another means of subsistence. At York and other posts in the neighborhood of lakes, large numbers of these fowl are taken in the summer season, and salted for winter use. But with all their painstaking, these gentlemen live but poorly ; on a diet of flesh alone, and that of an indifferent quality. Hardy men are these lords of the snow. Their realm em braces one-ninth of the earth. This immense territory Mr. Simpson mformed us has a great variety of surface. On the north-eastern portion lie extensive tracts of per petually frozen mountains, cut by narrow valleys filled with TRAVELS IN THE CAL1F0RNIA8. 13 fallen cliffs, among which dash and roar numerous rivers on their way to the frozen sea. Scarcely any timber or other vegetation grows in these wastes. A lonely evergreen or a stunted white birch takes root here and there, and dur- ing the few weeks of summer, mosses and linchens pre- sent a few verdant spots in the damp recesses of the rocks. But cold winds, laden with hail and sleet, howl over the budding of every green thing! The flowers can scarcely show their petals and set their seeds, before winter with its cracking ices and falling snow embraces them ! The section of country which lies about Mackensie's river, differs from that described, in having dense forests •kirting portions of the valleys, and large plains ot moss md linchen, on which feed the deer, buffalo, musk-ox and moose. The river itself is, in summer months, navigable 'or batteaux several hundred miles. It is well stored with trout, salmon, w^hite and other fish. But the winters there also scarcely end, before they begin again their work of freezing land, str( am, and sea. The extensive country lying on the head w^aters of the streams which run northward into the Frozen Ocean, east- ward into Hudson's Bay, and southward into the Canadian waters, is composed of sw^amps, broken at intervals with piles of boulders and minor mountains, and dotted with clumps of bushes, plots of hassocks, and fields of wild rice. The waters of these tad" lands form many lakes and lofty cascades on the way to their several destinations. The roar of these on the dreadful frozen barrenness around, Mr. Simpson represented to be awful in the extreme ; so wild, hoarse, and ringing are their echoes. We are informed that there are considerable tracts of arable land on the western side of Hudson's Bay, occupied by several settlements of Scotch : that these people culti- vate nothing but potatoes, oats, barley, and some few garden vegetables ; and are altogether in a very undesirable con- dition. He also informed us of a tra^t of tillable land, 14 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. lying some hundreds of miles north-east of Lake Superior, on which Lord Selkirk had founded a colony ; that this settlement contains about three thousand peopHe composed chiefly of gentle- men and servants, who have retired from the Company's ser- vice with their Indian wives and half-breed children. They cultivate considerable tracts of land, have cattle and horses, schools and churches, a Catholic Bishop and a Protestant preacher of the English Church. Some years since, a Mr. McLeod, from this settlement, went to Indiana and purchased ;»■ very large drove of sheep for ts use. But in driving them a thousand miles over the prairies, their fleeces became so matted with poisonous burrs, that most of them died before reaching their place of destination. Mr. Simpson related a few incidents of an exploring expedi- tion, which the Company had despatched to the northern coast of America. The unsatisfactory results of those fitted out by the home government, under Parry, Franklin, Boss, and Back, which had been partially furnished with men and means by the Company, led it at length to undertake one alone. To this end it despatched, in 1838, one of its officers, aceonvpanied by our friend Simpson's brother, well furnished with men, instruments, and provisions, on this hazardous enterprise. I have since been informed, that this Mr. Simpson was a man of great energy and talent — the one indeed on whom the Company relied for the success of the undertaking. From his brother I learned only that the unexplored part of the coast was surveyed, that the waters of Davis' Strait were found to flow with a strong eurrent westward, and enter the Pacific through Behring's Strait ; and that Greenland consequently is an island or con- tinent by itself ! The Mr. Simpson of this expedition is now known to the civilized world to have trodden the ices and snows, and breathed the frozen air of that horrid shore ; and by so doing to h*ve added these great facts to the catalogue of human knowledge ; and having become deranged in consequence of his incredible sufilerings, to have blown out his own brains TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 15 on the field of his glorious deeds. Our companion, poor fellow, was happily ignorant of that sad event, and spoke of the expedition only as one of great hardship, yet such as he would have gladly shared. His brave kinsman was then dead ! When Mr. Simpson paused in these interesting narrations, our professor of psalmody, who had been beating the table with a tuning-fork, opened a solo upon Texas. He had been in that country, and was, in his own estimation, as familiar with its rivers, plains, forests and destiny, as with the paths across his father's sheep pasture. Galveston was a London in embryo : Sam Houston had inherited the knee-buckles and shoe-knots of Washington's patriotism : the whole country was an Eden in which he had obtained the best sight for a grist-mill and the finest pond for eels ! In short, we were informed in a tone of self-consequence, at least an octave above mi, on any known scale of conceit, that himself and a brace of fellow blades, on hearing that the government had offered a bounty of land to emigrants, went thither, remained long enough to perfect their title to a share of the public domain, and were then obliged by pressing business to return to the States and leave others to fight and die for freedom. He had a belief that the Californias would make a respectable abode for man, if it were conquered by a bold arm, a little music, and made into a Republic by a man, he did not mention his own name, whose character for bravery, intelligence and taste for the fine arts, he did not say psalmody, would draw around him the unemployed intellect and courage of the States. In conclusion he modestly remarked, that he himself was des- tined to the Californias, but did not say that he intended to open there a revolutionary singing-school. While this conversation was going on, the good old ship was struggling with the tempest. She headed north-westerly, and as the storm and swells came from the south-west, she at one time lay in the trough of the sea, and then, as the wave bore down upon her, swayed to the leeward a moment, rocked unou 16 SCENES IN THE PACIPTC. its summit, and as the surge passed on, reeled to the windward and slid into the trough again. This is the bitterest motion of a ship at sea, whether he whom it staggers be a " land lub- ber " or " salt." The latter finds it difficult to take his watch- walk from the windlass to the fore-stays, and swears that such a lullaby is as unworthy of the ocean god as it is unseemly for a decent sailor, to stand, at one instant with one leg clewed up and the other out, and the next clewed the other way, and be compelled, at each change, to brace himself back in the attitude of being frightened to death by a ghost in the shrouds. The landsman, may perhaps feel too much awe to swear at the great deep, employed in its sublime labors ; or if he dare profane thus the majesty of his Maker's movements, his noble self is usually the object of so much solicitude as to deny him any adequate opportunity of doing so. His stomach will de- mand much of the attention which he would fain bestow upon other objects ; and it will scarcely be refused what it requires. We sat at the table till eight bells. A delightful chit-chat we had ; such a variety of wisdom, such splendor of reminiscence, such bolts of reason rending and laying bare all the mines of thought were there! But this and all that we had in expectancy that night ended not in smoke ; that would have been land-like ; but in a stealthy withdrawal of our company, one at a time, to pay their tribute to Padre Neptune. The singing master struck minnr Z:ey first ; the fur hunter followed with his war-cry ; the Green Mountain lawyer came to the encounter with a throat full of special plead- ing ; and after a hot melee each surrendered, on such terms as he could procure, all claim to the inborn rights of a quiet stomach and clean nose ; and turned in. The night was passed by us in the cabin in clinging to our berths. The seamen on deck struck the bells, changed the watch, and stood out like iron men on the tide of that terrible tempest ! Their thrilling "0 he oe" occasionally cut sharply and cheeringly TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 17 into the hoarse cadences of the storm ! Every other sound of living thing was buried in the clangor of the elements. The next morning opened with gloomy grandeur. The clouds brightened by the first rays of the sun in detached spots only, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession, intimated that the whole mass of a3rial fluid was fleeing at a fearful pace before the unabated tempest. As the light increased into full day, the canopy hung so dark and densely down the heavens, that night appeared to have retained the half of its dominion. It need not touch the water as fogs do ; but the massive heavy fold left be- tween itself and the surface of the ocean, a space apparently three hundred yards in depth. That was a sight to wonder at. I could conceive of nothing in nature so far beyond the power of words to portray. Does the simile of a boundless tomb, vaulted with mourning crape, shaken by fierce winds, half lighted, filled with death-screams, represent it? I can- not tell : but such an idea rose as I looked out upon the scene. Old Ocean, too, was in a glorious mood. I have often seen the Atlantic lay with his mighty bosom heaving to the sky, calm and peaceful like a benevolent giant slumbering on a world of lesser things ; or, to use no figure, I had seen it slight- ly agitated, every particle tremulous under a soft breeze, every drop sending back the sunshine, or multiplying indefinitely the stars of a clear June night. I had seen it when the swells were torn by a " dry squall," or an hour's " blow," and heard its icebergs crack and plunge ; and seen its fearful waterspouts marching so near me that I could hear their awful roar! But I had not seen it raised and rent, in the height of its tu- mult and power. All this was now before me in the great Pacific. At ten o'clock the storm had gained its utmost strength. The ship was laid to. The waves were dashing over her bulwarks. The Captain was standing braced upon the weather quarter, dressed in a long pea-jacket, stout sea-pants and boots, an oil-cloth cap covering head and shoulders. The 18 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. watch on duty were huddled under the weather bow and lashed to the stays to prevent being washed overboard. The second mate stood midship, holding fast to the rigging. All were looking at the storm. The ship herself lay like a lost water bird, rising, falling, buried andmountiDg again, among the over- whelming waves. The appearance of the sea! — Who can describe it? Like the land, it had its valleys, and mountains, and streams. But its vales, instead of flowers and grasses, were cover- ed with wisps of torn water ; the mountains instead of snowy peaks, were billows, crested with combs of light blue water, tipped with foam, perpetually tumbling down and forming again, as the floods rushed on, lashing one another. And the streams were not such as flow through meadows and woodlands among creeping flower vines ; but swift eddies, whirling through the heaving caverns of the sea. Its voice ! Its loud bass notes ! — What is like it ? Not the voice of the storms which assemble with lightning, thunder and wind, and pour devastating hail and fire on the up- per heights and vales of the Rocky Mountains. Nor is it like the deep monitory groan that booms down the Great Prairie Wilderness at midnight, growing louder as it draws near, until the accumulated electricity ignites in one awful explosion, rending the clouds and tearing up the shaken ground ! Nor is it like the voice of Niagara. That great cataract of the earth has a majestic stave, a bold sound, as it leaps from the poised brink to the whirling depths below ! And when the ancient woods, with all their leafy canopies and ringing crags, stood up around it, and neither the ham- mer of the smith, nor other din of cultivated life, cast its vexing discords among the echoes, the sounds of Niagara must have resembled this sublime duett of the sea and storm ; but never equalled it! It was a single note of nature's lofty hymns. To the ear of the Indian who stood upon the shelving rocks and heard it ; who saw the floods come coursing down the rapide, bend upon the brink, and plunge TRAVELS IN THE CALIFO.INIAS. 19 plunge with quickened speed into the vexed caldron, sending their peals to the rainbowed heaven, they must have borne au anthem as grand as his wild mind could compass — greater even. His bow must have dropped, and himself and the unharmed deer stood together, in mute wonder at Niagara chanting to the shades and silence of the old American Wilderness ! But the song of the sea ! Is it not more than this ? Miles in depth ; hundreds of leagues in breadth ; an immensity drop on drop and mass on mass in motion ! The tempest piles up the surface into lofty ridges, every inch of which emits a peculiar liquid sound, which, mingling sweetly with each other far and wide, pulsates through the surrounding air and water ! Sweet and boundless melodies of the seas ! We know that the incum- bent air takes up a part of them, while another part goes down into the still and motionless depths below; the sublime un- broken darkness of the sea ! It was unpleasant to feel that the screaming cordage of our ships and the quarreling of the hull and the waves, should deprive us of hearing the tones of the Pacific waters, during the strength of a hurricane, unmarred by any other sound. Can it ever be given man to hear it ? It is the Creator's great choir ! Ocean tuned by His own hand, and swept by the fingers of his tempest ! Our good ship, carrying barely sail enough to make her obey the helm, beat from the southeast to the northwest. On the outward tack we generally made a few miles on our course, a part of which we lost on the other. It was vexatious to be bufi"etted thus to no purpose ; to have our stomachs in a tumult ; our jaws grinding down our teeth instead of eating; but withal it was very amusing. I had always thought men in a tolerable state of misery, possessed increased capacities to render them- selves ridiculous. A number of common-place things proved this idea to be true. Turning-in was one of these. This is a process of going to bed ; extraordinary in nothing else than the aovel manner in which it is performed at sea in a gale. The reader will pardon me. Please step into the cabin of the Vancouver, and be seated by the nice little grate, filled with 20 SCENESINTHE PACIFIC. blazing coals from the mines of Paget's Sound. You will per« haps amuse one eye with Tarn O'Shanter, while with the other you explore. The six foot lawyer is gathering toward his berth. It is the lower one on the larboard side of the cabin. His countenance, you will observe, is a miniature tempest. The ship rolls suddenly, his feet slip from under him, and he slides under the table, accompanied by a bag of apples, a scuttle of coal, Tom, the cabin-boy, and a hot poker ! Coal, apples, and the law, strown in indiscriminate confusion ! As one might expect, the lawyer extricates himself from his difficulty, enters a " nolle prosequi'''' against further proceedings in that direction, i.ud stretches himself in his berth, without attempting to per- suade his wardrobe to take separate lodgings. The fur-trader seems determined to undress. Accordingly, when the ship, in her rollings, is nearly right side up, he attempts to take off his coat ; unfortunately, however, when he has thrown it so far back as to confine his arms, the ship lurches heavily, and piles him up in a corner of the cabin ! Odds-blood ! how his Scotch under-jaw smites the upper ! It appears that wrath usually fights its battles in that part of mortality to a greater or less extent. On this occasion, our friend's teeth seem to have been ignited and his eyes set blazing by the concussion ! As, however, there is nothing in particular to fight but the sea, and Xerxes has used up the glory of that warfare, the fur-dealer takes to his berth, without further demonstration of himself than to say that he thinks " the devil's tail is whisking in the storm,'* and that "his oxfoot majesty and the fin-tailed god must bo quarreling stoutly about the naiads." But the professor of psalmody is not to be prevented by these failures from unrobing himself for the embraces of Somnus ; not he. " And if the planks of the ship will float me long enough it shall be done." He does not say that he is on his way to the cciiquest of the Californias ; and that he will strip himself of his blue roundabout, as he will that beautiful country of its ill- fitting tyranny. His berth is on the starboard side. The ship is pitching and dodging like a spent top. How his bravery will TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 21 end under such circumstances is a question of no little interest But that something will soon be done, you perceive becomes evident ; for now as the starboard side lowers on the retreating wave, he seizes hi« outer garment with both hands, and with a whistle and jump that would do credit to a steam-car off the track, wrenches himself out of it just in time to seize the edge of his berth as the next surge strikes the ship and throws it sud- denly on the other side. His vest comes off with more ease and less danger. Boots, too, are drawn without accident. But the pants ! they are tight ! He loosens the buttons ; slides them down ; with one hand he holds fast to the berth ; pulls off the left leg with the other, and is about extricating the right foot, but, alas ! that sudden jerk of the ship scatters his half-clad person, bravery, pants and all, among the trembling trunks, stools, table-legs, &c., to the manifest detriment of the outer bark of his limbs ! At this moment Mr. Simpson is in the midst of his favorite passage — " Ah Tam, ah Tam, thou '11 get thy fairin', In hell they '11 roast thee like a herin' ' The professor of psalmody, after some search, finds himgeli:' again, and with courage unimpeached, lies down in silence. CHAPTER II. The next Morning — Eating — Mermaids — Cupid — A Sack of Bones on Its Legs — Love — A Grandsire — She was a Woman — Chickens — A Black Son o' the De'il — A Crack o' the Claymore — Sublimity — Tropical Sight — Paternal Star — Cook — A Sense — Edge of the Trades — A Night — " On Deck" — A Guess — A Look and Doubt — To be Duvibfoundered — A Bird Note — Mouna-Kea — Christmas Eve — Watch-Fires of Angels — Birds — Fish — Homestead — Hawaiians — The Land — Moratai — Mooring —Landing at Honolulu— A Slice of Bull— Poi— The Death Wail- Hospitality — The Lover and his Destination — The Fur Hunter on the Back Track — The Professor of Psalmody. The next morning the storm was unabated. The furies seem- ed abroad. It was a cold sleety day. Both the atmosphere and the ocean looked like maniacs. Not a shred of the visible world seemed at ease with itself ! Commotion, perpetual growls, screams and groans, came up from the tempestuous deep ! Above were clouds, hurrying as from a falling world 1 Below was the ocean shaking ! Eating on this day was attended to in a very slight degree. When the dinner bell rang we were all on deck, standing in utter abandonment, to whatever the Fates might have in re- serve for us. Not one would have broken a Christmas wish- bone with the prettiest girl living, to decide whether we should go below or be tumbled overboard. Captain Duncan was a skillful diagnostician in all such cases. He urged us below. But the thought of bringing our nasal organs into the full odor of bilge water, the steam of smoking meat, po- tatoes, and bean soup, arrested our steps. The good Cap tain, however, pressed us with renewed kindness, and we dragged ourselves down to the table. Ye Mermaids, how could ye ever learn to eat at sea ! How could ye, rocked to TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 23 sleep in infancy by the billows, educated in the school of the tempest, learn to hold your heads still enough to comb your glistening tresses ! and much more get food within your pearly grinders ! Pictures of woe were we, starving, yet loathing food ; thirst- ing, yet unable to drink ; wishing for a mote of the stable world to look upon, yet having nothing but the unstable water and air ; imprisoned on the rolling deck, with no foothold, or any odor of flower or earth around. I am reminded here how interesting to the antiquarian would be the inquiry, whether or not Cupid was ever at sea in a storm. If he were, he would have crowned Hogarth's immortality with its richest wreath, if transferred to canvass, in the act of running from the dinner-table, throwing his quiver behind him, and tip- ping his roguish face, bloated with the effort of a retch- ing stomach, over the taffrail. Poor fellow, it makes one quiver to think if there ever were a Cupid, and he ever took passage from the Columbia river to the Hawaiian islands, and ever did attempt to eat, and while doing so were obliged to conform to the etiquette of sea sickness, how sadly he must have suffered, and how unlovely the arrow-god must have become ! This sea-sickness, however, is a farce of some consequence. Like the tooth-ache, fever and ague, and other kindred follies of the body it has its origin in the faculty will please an- swer what. But seriously. It is an effort of our nature to assimilate its physical condition to the desires of the mind. Man's natural home as an animal is on land. As an intellectual being he seeks to pass this bound, and resorting to his capacity to press the powers of external nature into the service of his desires, he spikes planks to timbers, commits himself to the waves, rocks on their crests, habituates head and foot to new duties, and, girded with the armor of his immortal part, thafi wealth of Heaven, goes forth, the image and representative of his Maker, to see, to know, and to enjoy all things. But a truce to philosophy. We are on the sea. The elements have 24 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. raved twelve days and are at rest again. Quiet and variable breezes from the north push us pleasantly along ; appetites re- turn ; we shave our chins, comb our hair, and begin once more to wear the general aspect of men. On the nineteenth of December our group of characters was honored by the appearance of a fine honest fellow from the steerage. He had suffered so much from sea-sickness, that he appeared a mere sack of bones. He was a native of one of the Southern States ; but the Yankee spirit must have been born iu him : for he had been to the Californias with a chest of carpenter's tools, in search of wealth ! Unfortunate man ! He had built the Commandante-General a house, and never was paid for it ; he had built other houses with like consequences to his purse ; had made many thousands of red cedar shingles for large prices and no pay ; and last and worst of all, had made love, for two years, to a Spanish brunette, obtained her plighted faith for marriage, and did not marry her. It was no fault of his. During the last year of his wooing, a Californian Cavaliero, that is, a pair of mustachios on horseback, had been in the habit of eating a social dish of fried beans occasionally with the father of the girl, and by the way of reciprocating his hospitality, he advanced the old gentleman to the dignity of a grandsire. This want of fidelity in his betrothed wrought sad havoc in our countryman's afi'ections. He had looked with confiding tenderness on her person, returned her smile, and given her one by one his soul's best emotions. Such affections, when they go forth and not lost, leave a void to which they never return. He was alone again without trust, with nothing on earth, or rather, on the sea, to love but his carpenter's tools. The object of his regard had disgraced herself and him. To avoid the scene of his misery, he had invested in horses the little money he had accumulated ; accompanied the Hudson's Bay Trading Company to Oregon, and having cultivated land a year or two in the valley of the Willamette, had sold his stock and property, TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 25 and shipped for home, with every tooth strung with curses against the Californian Spaniards. California itself, not including the bodies or souls of the people, he thought to be a desirable country. The very atmos- phere was so delicious that the people went half-naked to enjoy it. Hard to abandon was that air, and the great plains and mountains covered with horses, black Spanish cattle, and wild game. The fried beans, too, the mussels of the shores, and the fleas even, were all objects of pleasure, utility or industry, of which he entertained a vivid recollection. But that loved one ! she was beautiful, she was kind, alas ! too kind. Ho loved her, ibe was wayward ; but was still the unworthy keeper of his heart ; still a golden remembrance on the wastes of the past — lovely, but corroded and defiled. His opinion was that she wag a woman ! The weather became sensibly milder each day as we moved on our course ; the water warmer, the fish and fowl more abun- dant. The latter presented themselves in considerable variety. The white and grey albatross, with their long narrow wings, and hoarse unmusical cry, cut through the air like uneasy spirits, searching the surrounding void for a place of rest, and finding none ! Our cook contracted a paternal regard for these birds ; the basis of which was, that whenever he threw overboard the refuse of the table, they alighted in the wake of the ship, and ate the potatoe peelings, bits of meat, &c., with a keen appetite. *' Ah," said he of the spit, " it is a pleasure to cook for gentle- men in feathers even, when they eat as if they loved it." But he was still more partial to Mother Carey's chickens. In a fair morning these beautiful birds sat on the quiet sea in flocks of thousands, billing and frollicking in great apparent happi- ness. " There's your poultry, gentlemen," cried his curly pate, peering from the galley. " Handsome flocks these about the stacks of water ; plumper and fatter, I'll warrant ye, than any that ever squawked from the back of a Yorkshire DonkcY. No need of cramming there to keep life agoiu'. 26 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. They finds themselves and never dies with pip or dys- pepsy." " Hout wi' yer blaguard pratin', ye black son of the De'il ; and mind ye's no burn the broo' agen. Ye're speerin' at yer ngly nose, an' ne'er keu the eend o' ye whilk is upward. Ye sonsie villain ; when I'se need o' yer clatter I'se fetch ye wi' a rope's-end. And now gang in and see yer dinner is fit for Christian mooths." This salutation from our Scotch mate, drove in the head of our poultry man, and we heard no more dissertations on sea- fowl during the voyage. At dinner the mate congratulated the company on the excellence of the pea-soup, remarking that it '' smacked muir o' the plaid than usual," because he "had gi'en the cook a crack o' the claymore on his bagpipe ; a keekin, as he war, at things wi'out when he should ha' been o' stirrin' his meal." Trifling incidents like this occasionally . broke the monotony of our weary life. Our latitude and longitude were taken daily at twelve M., and the report of these and the dis- tance from the islands always gave rise to some prophetic an- nouncements of the day and hour when we should anchor in the dominions of Kamehameha. The evenings also furnished a few diversions and pleasant objects of contemplation. Bathing was one of the former. After the shadows of night had set in, we used to present ourselves at the mainstays, and receive as much of the Ocean as our love of the sublime by the gallon, or our notions of cleanliness demanded. And when the hoot- ing, leaping, and laughing of the ceremony were silenced, the cool comfort of the body left the mind in listless quietude, or to its wanderings among the glories of a tropical sky. It was the 24th of December; the mid-winter hour. But the space over us was as mild and soft a blue as ever covered a September night in the States. The stars sent down a deli- cate sprinkling light on the waters. The air itself presented some peculiar aspects. It was more nearly transparent than any I had ever breathed ; and there seemed to be woven into TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 27 all its thousand eddies a tissue of golden and trembling mist, streaming down from the depths of heaven ! There was p, sin- gle sad spot on the scene. The north star, so high and brilliant in the latitude where I had spent my previous years, was gradually sinking into the haze about the horizon. I bad in very early life looked with greater interest upon that than any other star. The little house which my deceased father had built on the shore of a beautiful lake among the green woods of Ver- mont, stood " north and south" upon the authority of that staa-. And after he had died at that humble outpost of the settle- ments, leaving me a boy of nine years, his death-bed, the little house, and the star which had guided my parent's hand in laying the foundation on the brow of the deep wilderness, came to be objects of the tenderest recollection. I was sorry to see it ob- scured ; for it always burned brightly in our woodland home ; and was the only thing which, as years rolled on, remained as- sociated with paternal love. I remember, too, another class of emotions that gave occu- pation to my heart in those beautiful nights. We thought and talked of Cook. He had ploughed those seas long before us ; had discovered the group of islands to which our voyage tended ; had met a fearful death at the hands of the inhabi- tants ; and some of his bones yet lay, scraped and prepared for the gods, in the deep caverns of Hawaii ! The waters rippling at our ship's side, had borne him ; had rushed in tempests, and lain in great beauty around him; had greeted the dis- covery flag of the brave old Fatherland, and heard its can- non boom ! We were sailing under the same flag. It was not, indeed, the same identical bunting which floated in 1789; but it was the emblem of the same social organiza- tion, of the same broad intelligence; the insignia of the same Power, whose military embattlements, grain fields and homes, gird the Earth ! I was glad to approach Ihe Hawaiian Islands on the track of Cook, under the old British flag. Is there a human sense which derives its nutriment from J8 JOtNES IN THE PACIFIC. the thing.' whieb arc gone? Is there a holy-flower which ?iprin^ up among the withered tendrils of buried beauty ? a strong and vigorous joy, which, like the Aloe, blooms a moment on the cold midnight of heavy sorrow ? Is there an elevation of the whole being into a higher condition, when we wander among the trees, the ruins and the graves of former times ? It may be m. For surely he who treads the dust of Rome and stands on \h»i ruins of Thebes, ha.s a species of previous existence wrapped about him. He sees in the one case armies thronging the Ap|H«u-way, hears the multitude surging in the forum under the ejjthuftiasm kindled by Cicero, and feels that the eagle of free- dom is throwing the pinions of bis protection over the energies of man. In the other case ho bears the voice of the mighty chieftain Bummoiiing hi^ millions of su]>servient hands. The hammer and the C-'nael, from the beginning to the end of day, send up their vast dm to the passing hours. The mountam columns of Thebes stand up in the presence of the pyramids ! And a subject land bows in servitude to a great and controlling intellect. We arc there, and form an integral wave in the sea of vitality that flowed forty ages ago ! We venerate the broken tomb of the past. We knock gently at its gate, and find our bodies and minds grow vigorous and happy in those sublime imaginings, which carry our entire selves back to see and converse with those men, the mere ruins of whose deeds still astonish man- kind ! We retired to rest this evening in unusually fine spirits, for, with the aid of the good breeze piping down from the northwest, we expected sight of land by the next sunset. Our sleep, however, was not remarkably deep, for I recol- lect that the wind freshened during the night, as it generally does in the edge of the trades, and compelled the morning- watch to take in sail The noise occasioned by this move- ment was construed, by the wakeful ear of our desires, into a shortening canvass to prevent running on land ; and wo turned out to see it. But it was yet beyood view. The TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 29 night, however, was worth beholding. It was one o'clocV ; the sky overhead was clear and starry ; around the north- western horizon hung a cluster of swollen clouds, like Moorish towers, fciuitiy tipped with the dim ligiit. In the southwest lay another mass, piled in silent grandeur, dark battlement-like, as if it were the citadel of the seas ! The waters were in an easy mood. The ship moved through them evenly, save that she cut the long smooth swells more deeply than the space between them, and occasionally started from his slumber a porpoise or a whale. We turned-in again and slept till the breakfast dishes clat- tered on the table, and Tom informed us that Mr. Newell supposed he had seen at sunrise the looming of the land in the southeast ! That announcement brought us to our feet ; sleep gave place to the most active efforts at hauling on and buttoning up the various articles of our wardrobe. " On deck ! on deck ! where away the land ?" and we tasked Dur eyes with their utmost effort to scan the nature of the dark embankment on which the mate had founded his au- guries. The excitement at length drew all the passengers ind officers to the starboard-quarter ; each man looked and expressed himself in his own way. To guess, was the iTankee's part ; to look and doubt, was John Bull's plea- sure ; to wuss it might be true, was the Scotch contribu- tion ; and to reckon awhile and commend himself to be iumbfoun bred if anything could be known about it, was the Carolinian carpenter's clincher. The matter left standing thus, we obeyed Tom's summons to breakfast. While engaged in filling our countenances with the reali- ties of life, we were startled with a bird's note from the deck ! It proved to come from one of those winged songsters of the islands, which often greet the toiling ship far at sea, and with thei-r sweet voices recall to the soul, weary with the rough monotony of an unnatural life, the remembrance and antici- pation of the land ; the green and beautiful land ; where the glorious light brightens the flowers ; where the flowers shed 30 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. their perfume on the air, and the fruits of trees, and shrubs, and plants, are poured into the lap of the ripened year. Who does not love the birds 1 who is not made better and happier by hearing them sing among the buds and leaves, when the streams begins to babble, and the mosses to peer above the retiring snows 1 when the violet opens, and meadows and forests change the brown garb of winter for the green mantle of the young year ? No one who loves nature and can sympathize with it. But this one — perched in the rigging of the ship in which we had been imprisoned for weeks — a messenger from the glens and hills sweetly chanting our welcome to them, was an object of the tenderest interest. It had the cordial greet- ing of our hearts ; and while talking about it, we could not forbear reaching our hands towards it, and grieving that we had no intelligible language wherewith to convey our salu- tations, and ask the tidings from its beautiful home. The captain consulted his reckoning, and found that we lay about one hundred miles northwest-by-north from the island of Hawaii. The breeze, instead of decreasing with the ascent of the sun, as it had done for a number of days past, held on ; and with all the weather studding-sails out, we made about ten knots during most of the morning. About ten o'clock, Mr. Newell, who had been watching that embankment of cloud in the southwest, which had excited our hopes at sunrise, touched his hat to Captain Duncan and remarked, " That cloud retains its bearing and sliape very much like the loom- ing of land, sir. We must be in sight of some of the islands : we made ten knots by the log, sir, during my watch." The Captain had expressed his belief that he could sail his ship under that cloud without lead line, or copper bottom; and it was still his opinion that an English commander like him- self, an old salt of thirty years' standing, would be as likely toknowthe complexion of the land as any gentleman with less experienced optics. However, he sent Tom for his glass and TRAVELS IN THE CALIFOR> AS 31 peered into it with the keenest search. It was deligl tful, meantime, to us land-luhbers, to watch the workings of his face. There was a gleam of triumph creeping over it as he first brought his glass to bear upon the object. But as the highest part of the pile came into the field of vision, his cheeks dropped an instant, then curled into the well-known lineaments of chagrin, and then into those of rage, as if he would rather all the land were sunk, than he be found mis- taken in a matter so purely professional. " Damn the land !" he at length exclaimed ; *^ I suppose it must be Mauna-Kea," and gave the glass to a passenger. The breeze piped up and we moved on merrily. Merrily flew the gladdening waters from the prow ; steadily as the masts stood out the canvass on the clear blue sky ; and brightly beamed the warm and mellow day on the sea. The Scotch mate, who swore by any dozen of things that his memory happened to seize, affirmed by his blood and the whisky that had been buried seven comfortable years at his auld aunt's homestead, that he would see the lassies of Hono- lula before he was a day older ; the professor of psalmody sung, "Here's a health to thee, Tom Moore ;" the Hawaiian Island servantsof the Hudson's Bay Company began to count their money preparatory to the purchase of poi ; the crew began to tell yarns about " sprees" they had enjoyed in Chili, New Holland, Liverpool, Vera Cruz, St. Petersburgh and Montevideo ; the six foot bootswain began to whistle ; Tom began to grin ; a former cabin-boy began to think of his mother, whom he expected to meet in the islands ; the visitor bird chirped in the rigging ; and all for joy ! For now the lofty peaks of Hawaii loomed above the clouds, the sea-weed gathered on the prow, and the odor of the land puffed over us. At five o'clock the breeze slackened again, and until nightfall the ship barely moved enough to obey her helm. Near ten in the evening it freshened, but as we were in the neighborhood of a lee-shore, the captain thought it prudent 32 BCENESINTHEPACIFIC to keep good sea-room, and accordingly shortened sail and lay off a part of the night. This was Christmas eve, that nucleus of so much social and religious joy throughout the Christian world, and a merry one it was to us. Not so in the ordinary sense of the trencher and cup, the music, dance, and the embrace o( kindred ; nor rendered such by the pealing anthem or the solemn prayer, swelling up through the lofty arches hung with boughs of ever-green and the prophetic star of Beth- lehem ! But nature herself seemed worshipping ! The heavens were unmarred by a single breath of mist, except what rested upon the heights of Hawaii ; and on all its vault the stars shone, not as brightly as in the frosty skies of the temperate zones, but with a quiet subdued lustre, as if they were the watch-fires of angels assembled to celebrate the earth's great jubilee. The Pacific, too, lent the scene its most charming condi- tion. Wide an-d gently curved swells rolled down from the north, smooth, and noiseless, except when they dashed upon our noble ship, or w^ere broken by the dolphin coursing through and dotting them with phosphorescent light ! The sea-birds were hailing each other a merry Christmas. The grey and mottled albatross, flying from billow to billow, occasionally clipped the waves with his sword-shaped wings, and shouted gladly to the elements ! The gulls and other birds sat in countless flocks in every direction, sinking, rising and chattering on the panting sea ? And schools of tiny fish with bright golden backs swam by the side of the ship, as children, after long absence, gather with cherish- ed remembrances around the old homestead on this blessed night. At dawn on the 25th one of the islands lay six mile dis- tant in the southeast. The sky was clear ; the sea smooth ; the porpoises blowing about us ; aright whale was spouting a hundred rods astern ; and our Hawaiians, looking from the mainstays at the land, were uttering their beautiful language TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 3*i of vowels with great volubility. Poi (the name of their naticwal dish), wyhini (woman), and iri (chief), were the only words I then understood ; and these occurred very often in their animated dialogues. Poor fellows ! they had been five years absent from their poi ; five years separated from the brown beauties of their native isles ; five years away from their venerated sovereign. No wonder, there- fore, they were charmed with the dim outline of their native land ! A mass of vapor hung along its heights and con- cealed them from view, save here and there a volcanic spire which stood out on the sky, overlooking cloud, mountain, and sea. As the light increased to full day, this cloudy mass was fringed on the edge nearest us wuth delicate golden hues ; but underneath it and inward toward the cliffs, the undisturbed darkness reached far eastw^ard, a line of night belting the mountains mid-heaven. Downw-ard from this Ime to the sea, sloped red mountains of old lava, on which no vegetable life appeared. On a few little plains near the beach the cocoa-tree sent up its bare shaft ; and as the clouds broke away we discerned clumps of rich foliage on the heights. But generally the aspect was that of a dreary broken desert. We sailed past the western cape of Moratai, and laid our course for the southeastern part of Oahu. At two o'clock our good old ship lay becalmed under the lofty piles of ex tinct craters, six miles northeast of Honolulu. At four the breeze freshened, and bore us down abreast of the town. Soon after a boat came rapidly from the shore with a pilot on board b}^ the name of Reynolds ; a generous, jolly old American gentleman, of long residence in the islands. He greeted his countrymen with great kindness, and having brought the ship to anchor outside the reef, invited us to go ashore in his boat. It was manned with islanders. They rowed to the entrance of the channel, rested on their oars while the angry swells lifted us at one instant on the summit of tke waters and at another dropped us into the 34 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. chasm between them, till the third and largest came, whe*; by a quick and energetic movement, they threw the boat upon the land side of it, and shot us into the harbor with the rapidity of the wind ! We passed the American whalers which crowded the anchorage ; ran under the guns of the fort ; struck the landing at the pier ; leaped ashore among crowds of natives, besprinkled with an occasional Eu- ropean face : followed an overgrown son of John Bull to another man's house, took a glass of wine, and scattered ourselves in various quarters for the night. Thus terminated our voyage from the Columbia river to the Kingdom of Hawaii. The distance between Oregon and these islands is about three thousand miles. We had sailed it in twenty-one days. The next morning the Vancouver entered the harbor with the land-breeze, and anchored near the pier. The '' steer- age" and the Hawaiians now came on shore. The former settled his hat over his eyes and sought a barber's shop ; the latter repaired to t-he town with their friends. I fol- lowed them. Whenever they met an old acquaintance they immediately embraced him, and pressed noses together at the sides. After many salutations of this kind they ar- rived at the market-place ; made a purchase of poi ( a fer- mented paste of boiled taro) , and seated themselves with their friends around it. The poi was contained in large calabashes or gourdshells. With these in the midst they began to eat and recall the incidents of pleasure which had sweetened their early years. Their mode of conveying the poi to their mouths was quite primitive. The fore and middle fingers served in- stead of a spoon. These they inserted to the depth of the knuckles, and having raised as much as would lie upon them, and by a very dexterous whirl brought it into a globu- lar shape upon the tips, they thrust it into their mouths, and licked their fingers clean for another essay. They had been seated but a short time when others joined them, who T K A V ii L fe i N THE C A L I F o R N I A S brouffht sad news. One of their former friends had recen died ! On hearing this their hands dropped, and the dread- ful wail ewai burst from every mouth, as they rose and went towards the hut in which the dead body lay. It was situ- ated a short distance from the hotel ; and during the night I heard that wail ring through the silent town ! A more painful expression of sorrow I hope never to hear. The next morning I went to the burial. The wail was sus- pended during the ceremonies ; but for several succeeding nights it continued to break my slumbers. A few days after- ward I saw them gathered again near the market-place em- ployed with their pou The wages of five years' service was nearly exhausted. They had given a large portion to the chief of their district, and spent the rest in feasting and cloth- ing their poor relatives. They were poor when I lost sight of them. But those whom they had fed were sharing their pittance with them. The most affectionate and hospitable people on earth are these Hawaiians. Our Carolinian remained a few days at Honolulu, and took passage in one of P. J. Farnham & Co.'s ships for New York. He insisted to the very last of my intercourse with him, that his Californian brunette was a woman ! Mr. Simpson took lodgings with that distinguished slice of a John Bull to which I have already referred. He em- ployed himself with much industry upon his duties of set- tling accounts with his host, who, as the agent of the Com- pany, had sold the lumber, fish, &c., exported from Oregon to these islands. After tarrying a month at Honolulu, he returned in the Vancouver to Columbia River. He was a fine fellow, full of anecdote and social feeling, talented and modest ; and I doubt not will eventually rise to the highest rank in the Company's service. The professor of psalmody stopped at the hotel and pre- pared to exhibit himself. His first essay was to deliver to tfhe American Missionaries and others, certain letters which he had obtained in Oregon. His next was to aw^aken the 36 8CEH1 iFTTk. I Pacific. genius o! music. Foi Ihis purpose he attended a number of singing parties, at \»»hich he attempted to make himself useful to three young Americans, who sang with masterly taste. In the opinion of the professor they " needed a little burnishing," which he volunteered to give them. Unfortu nately for the art, however, they were vain enough to sup- pose they had Ir .rned music before his arrival ; and did not therefore value his suggestions so highly as he himself did. But the professor persevered. His forbearance knew no limit towards the deluded tyros. On all public occasions he never failed to throw out many invaluable hints as to movement, ascent, and style generally. He even encou- raged them to hope that, with all their imperfections, they might attain a respectable degree of excellence if they would attend to his instructions. Whether or not his exer- tions were ever properly appreciated by these gentlemen is a question whch remains unsettled to this day. But the most interesting event which occurred to the professor in Hono- lulu was his interview with the sister of the young lady whom he had forsaken. She was the wife of a Missionary, a zealous servant of her Master. He called on her and was invited to remain to tea. I was present. Everything was sad as the grave ! The mercies of Heaven were im- plorcii upon his blighted conscience ! He left, little hap- pier for the reminisccTices awakened by the visit, and soon after sailed for California. I heard of him as an ingenious man in mending a watch on shipborj-d, but never as one of moral integnty or as the Napoler.n of the Cdlifornias ! CHAPTER III. Hawaiian Islands — Spaniards first visited them—HooT ili Wyhini — Ac- count of Coolr's visit— A god— A Robber and his Death— Vancouver's Visit — Kamenameha I. — A Treaty— Cattle — Origin of the Islands — Poetry, and another Book— Legends — Toiu — Philosophy of Civilization — A Way to the End— What is Taught — Gratitude— Departure from the Islands — Lava and Cauldrons— Goats and Men— Passengers— Cap- tain, Mates and Crew — A Human Managerie — Northing— Variables — Ten days Out — Too nauseous for Music — Uncombed Hair — Exhila- rated — Lovely — Growing Fat— Ten Knots — Ten more days out— An Ocean Don- -American and English Tars— A Squall — A new mode ol taking Eels — Lemd ho — Mission — Wrath — Monterey. This group of islands was first \isited by a Spanish ship, during the early explorations of the northwest coast of America, by Admiral Otondo, Viscaiyno, and others. The traditions of the natives say, that a small vessel was driven ashore on the southern coast of Hawaii, that two of the crew only escaped death among the breakers, and that these intermarried with the natives and left children. I saw some descendants of these men. Their European features and the use oi a few corrupted Spanish words, satisfied me of the truth of the legend and the ship's nationality. Captain Cook next visited them in 1779. The circum- stances of his visit and massacre, as given me by a very aged chieftainess, Hoopili Wyhini, will interest the reader. " Captain Cook's men were allowed to steal a canoe be- longing to our people. Our chiefs asked that it might be returned ; but Captain Cook had made us believe that he was a god, and thought to take what he pleased. Our tra- ditions asserted that gods would not rob, and we told him 38 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. SO. But the canoe was not restored. Our people thought, therefore, that if Cook would steal from them, it would be right to steal from him ; so in the night time, they swam under water a long distance to the ships, loosened the boat from one of them, and having brought it ashore, broke it in pieces for the nails. Cook was very much enraged at the loss of his boat, and threatened us with destruction if it were not returned. But it could not be ; it was destroyed. *' A number of days passed in very angry intercourse be- tween our people and the foreigners, during which a chief suggested that so unjust a being could not be a god. But all others said he was the great Kono. This was in our days of darkness. Why do you press me to remember such unpleasant things ?" I explained that I was anxious to know the truth of the matter, and she continued : *' At length Cook came on shore with an armed force, and went to the king's house to persuade him to go on board his ship. The chiefs interfered and prevented him. Cook was angry, and the people were in a great rage. He went down to the shore where his boat lay. The people gathered around him. The chief who did not believe him a god, tried to kill Cook, but Cook killed him ; and then the people who belonged to that chief, killed Cook. It thus became clear that Cook was no god ; for we thought our old gods could not die. These were our years of sin, before the Pono (Gospel) came among us; and it is not pleasant to speak of them." This venerable chieftainess was advanced in womanhood at the time of Vancouver's visit, in 1779. She gave the following account of it : " When Vancouver arrived at Hawaii, Kamehameha was the chief of three districts on that island. These were Kona, Kohala, and Hamakua. That year he fought against the reigning king, and conquered the whole island. Kameha- meha did not sec "^'ancouver at Kona, where he first ac ,■lll!I!^ 'M' liiiiiiP iH]piii'-'"Wijll|i|!)Uj^;l TRAVELS IN THE CALIF ORNIAS 4:?f*ored. But a little after the time of our national holidays^ which occurred in the latter part of the Christians' Decem- ber, he came to Kealukekua Bay. There I first saw him. Kamehameha also visited him at that place. The flag- sliip, brig and store-ship, appeared to be under the general command of a man whom we called Puk6ki ; the captain of the store-ship we called Hapilinu. " While this squadron remained in the bay, myself and thirteen others went aboard. They were Kamehameha, his three brothers and one sister, myself, my aunt, and two other women. The remainder were chief men. After being at sea four days, we anchored in Kealukekua Bay in which Cook was killed. " Kamehameha was very friendly to Vancouver — according to our old rules of hospitality, he furnished him with a concu- bine. He gave me to him. I passed nine days on board his ship. Kamehameha presented to him a great many hogs and bananas, and received trifling presents of old iron in return. At the end of nine days I left the ship, in company with some other chiefs, to visit my sick brother, and did not return. " On another occasion, Kamehameha, his chiefs, and two Englishmen who had been adopted by some old chiefs and made a part of the king's counsel, named John Young and Isaac Davis, were passing the day on board the flag-ship, when Kamehameha addressed to Vancouver these words t ' E nana mai ea u, eia ka aina,' which being interpreted, means, 'Look after us, and if we are injured, protect us.' To this Vancouver assented. An instrument in writing, which he said would bind his sovereign to keep the pro- mise he had made, was framed and presented to the king. I do not know whether Kamehameha understood what was written ; nor do I know whether or not the king signed it. But until the French captain. La Place, came, and abused us, we thought the English would protect us ; because Van- couver promised to do so. Kamehameha always said the English were our friends — that the islands were his, and CENES IN THE PACIFIC. these friends would keep off all danger from abroad* It is not clear to me that they have been faithful to the words of Vancouver. •' Vancouver built a tent and high tower on shore. In the former he sometimes slept. In the latter his learned men pointed bright instruments at the moon and stars. A doctor, whom we called Makaua, visited the volcano. He had sore lips when he returned. He brought down some sulnhur, saltpetre, and lava. " Vancouver gave me two fathoms of red broadcloth. To the king and chiefs he al?o gave some of the same. He said the king of England sent it to us. I had two husbands at this tJme. The one was Kalanimamahu, the son of Keona, and the other Hoopili, the late governor of Maui. The first was the father of Queen Auhea ; the latter is buried among the people near the church. Those were days of darkness. " Vancouver gave to Kamehameha four cattle, three cow3 and one bull. He said to Kamehameha,* feed them five years, and then begin to kill and eat.' They were shut up in a field several years, but broke out one after another, and went to the mountains. Very few were killed for thirty years. During the last ten, many have been slaughtered for their hides and tallow. Vancouver killed one of the calves be- fore he left us. They were brought from California. " Vancouver had an interpreter whom our people called Lehua ; and another who was a native chief in the island of Taui. This latter had made a voyage in an English whale-ship, during which he had learned the language of that nation. By means of these men, he asked questions, and received answers in regard to our old ways. Once he asked ' whence came these islands V and our chiefs re- plied — ' Hawaii is the child of the gods Papa and Wakea, and the other islands are the children of Hawaii.' " The chief priests then said Hawaii was in a very soft state immediately after birth, but a god descended from the skies and called—' E Hawaii Ea, Hawaii Oh,' and the god TRA'^ELS IN THE CALiFORNIAS. Hawaii came forth, communicated to the pulpy land a gyra- tory motion, made it come around him, and assume a per- manent form. Vancouver replied, ^ right.' *' I am sixty-five years old and must die soon." I was exceedingly interested in these conversations with this remarkable w^oman. She had been one of the wives of Kamehameha the First ', had commanded his navy of v>'ar canoes, during his conquests, and was at the time of my in- terview with her the acting executive of Maui, and a scholar in the Missionary Sabbath school ! I remained three months in these beautiful islands, en- joying the revelations of these chronicler of old and curious times. The king, chiefs, foreign residents and Missionaries, perceiving my avidity in gathering information respecting the country and its people, rendered me every aid in their power to facilitate my inquiries. Nor do I ever expect again to find a richer field of the strange, the beautiful, the w^onderful and the sublime, than was there presented to ms. The legends of a thousand generations of men, living apart from the rest of mankind, among the girding depths o^ the Pacific seas ; the stories of the-ir gods and goddesses ; the tales of their wars ; the fate of bad princes w' hom their deities reprimanded from the skies ; the beatification of the good on whom their divinities scattered blessings; thei* forms of government ; their religious ceremonies ; the' genealogies ; their poetry, more of it than Greece ever had^ and still sung by bards travelling from village to village , their dances; their rejoicings at a birth; their wailingg over the dead, and, the solemn ceremonies of their burials ; ire a few of the interesting subjects investigated. The intense interest, as well as the amount of writing re. quired to exhibit these matters, will furnish my best apology for passing them in this place. They may hereafter appear in a separate volume. But I cannot allow my readers to pass from the Hawaiian kingdom, without presenting to their ce the interesting fact, that a hundred and seven thou- 42 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC sand savages have been brought within the pale of civiliza- tion and Christianity through the instrumentality of ths Americans. Twenty-five years ago a nation occupied the kingdom of Hawaii which sought its happiness from a systematic viola- tion of the fundamental laws of Creation. Their food was under the tabu, or ban ; so that the powerful in civil and religious affairs appointed the best edibles for their own use, and made death the penalty to their wives, daughters and inferiors, if they tasted them. The fire kindled to ccok the food of the men was tabued ; it was death for woman to kindle hers from it, or cook or light a pipe at it. The per- son of the king was tabued. It was death to touch him, or any article which he had used, or to step on his shadow, or the shadow of his house. And at the hour of midnight hu- man victims were slaughtered, and piled on scaffolds with dogs and hogs, around the temples which they woald con- secrate to their deities ! ! Here human nature had been forced from its true appe- tencies to the material and spiritual Universe. Its misery followed as an inevitable consequent. But the Hawanans were thinkers. The violated ordinances of the world recoil- ing on them at every tread of life, forced on them the thought of obedience and its blessings. And they rose in their power ; ate from the full hand of Heaven ; prostrated their ancient temples ; burned their hideous gods ; made the civil power subservient to the common good ; and restored themselves, after immemorial ages of degradation, to the quiet reign ot the natural laws. It is most remarkable that the American missionaries were on their voyage to the islands while these things were being done ! The law of relationship between these people and their Maker had been lost among the crude follies of idol-worship and civil tyranny. These they had broken down by a mighty blow. The fragments of their temples, altars and gods, were strewn o v^er the land. An entire nation looked on the flowers^ the stars, the rivulet, the ocean, the birds and themselves^, Cocoa Tree of Hawaii. — P. 4& TRAVELS IN THE CAL FORNIAS. 43 and believed in no God ! ! The vessel which brought to them the Christian faith anchored at Honolulu ! The event, which shook the hill, darkened the sun and opened the graves of Judea, was proclaimed, and gave its hopes of Heaven to a hundred thousand people ! A nation thus en- tered the world as its loved homestead became obedient to Its organization ; called back the wandering religious sym- pathies to the worship of the true God ; opened to every faculty the sphere of its legitimate enjoyments ; and made human nature again a component part of creation, existing in harmony with it and its Author. Man must incorporate himself into that great chain of relationship and sympathy which runs from inorganized matter to the first feeble manifestation of vegetable life, and thence upward through bud, leaf and blossom, and upward still along the great range of animal existence to the think- ing and feeling principle, and thence to God. It is in this manner alone, that he can feed his faculties with their own aliment. And it is his ignorance of the dependence of each portion of his body and mind, on each and every external existence, which makes thorns for his feet and keeps up a perpetual warfare between himself and the immutable con- ditions of his true happiness. I am sincerely persuaded that the regulating principle of human culture, is to sympathize with every form of creation within our knowledge ; to enter the world as our home ; to seat ourselves at its hearth ; to eat its viands and drink its blessings ; to slumber in its arms ; to hear the floods of har- monious sounds which come up to us from the matter and life libout us ; and to yield our being to the great dependent chain of relationship which binds God's material empire, His lealms of mind and Himself, in one sympathizing whole ! The universal requirement is, that man's nature shall be brought into harmony with creation and its Author. This is •the wholelaw of our being. Obedience to it is the unalterable condition of happiness ; the only true test of civilization ; the 44 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. only state in which our powers, physical and mental, will operate harmoniously ; the only position of our existence which looks forward on the path of our destiny, with any cer- tainty that thought, feeling, and act, will lead to results pleasureable to ourselves and in harmony with the rest of the world. It is a want of proper reflection on this matter which has rendered abortive so many efforts to civilize different por- tions of the race. In India, in the forests of the west, in every other place, except the Hawaiian Islands, where the societies of Protestantism have made efforts to ameliorate the condi- tion of the barbarian, nearly the whole acting force has been brought to bear on the cultivation of the religious sentiments. The theory has been, make them Christians, and everything else will follow as a promised favor of Heaven. No error has cost the church more money and life tiian this. The savage has been taught the doctrines of salvation, and his direct relations to the Deity. Thus far, well. But there was no corresponding teaching to the rest of his na- ture. His physical wants and the mode of supplying them, remained unchanged. All his relations to the external world continued the same. And the largest number of the strong- est desires of the mind being thus left, to contend with those which the missionaries attempted to excite and purify, it is no wonder that so little has been accomplished. In the Hawaiian Islands the missionaries found a people living in villages, having a property in the soil, and depend ing chiefly upon its culture for their subsistence. They also found them destitute of every kind of religion, and de- sirous of receiving one : they were a talented people and anxious for new ideas. This was a remarkable state of things. Their physical adaptation to the natural world was so far in advance of the mental, that the latter only required to be placed on an equal footing with the former, to produce the civilization and moral rectitude which they now possess. The result of missitf-nary efforts in these islands, if well TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 45 understood, may lead to some valuable changes in the mod« of operating elsewhere. It will be learned that while the physical wants and the mode of supplying them, are op- ^^used to the ordained condition, it is vain to expect the Christianized state. We may, meanwhile, rejoice at this single result. It is one of the great events of the age. Twenty thousand Haw^aiiaiis are members of Christian chiwches. Seventy thousand read and write. The whole people are better taught, more in- telligent, and farther advanced in civilization than are the citizens of the Mexican Republic. Their Government is more paternal, and administ-ered more kindly than any other known to civilized man. But I must hasten homeward. The hospitality of countrymen during my tarry in these islands, the kindness of countrymen, bestowed on me, a stranger, fleeing from my grave, and sad — away from those on whose hearts I had a right to lean — how can I ever for- get them ! While those beautiful islands have a place in my memory, they will be associated with some of the most grateful recollections of my life. It is painful to think that I may never again grasp the hands of some noble spirits, whom I saw and loved in the kingdom of Hawaii ! To the sea ! on board the bark Don Quixote, Paty, master, bound for Upper California! We left the harbor of Honolulu, under a sweet land breeze from the forests crowning the vol- canic hills in the rear of the city, and bore away to the west- ward along the coast. The mountains of decomposing lava rose from the water side in sharp curving ridges, which, ele- vating themselves as they swept inland, lay in the interior piled above the clouds. Some of them were covered with the dense green foliage of the tropics ; and others were as desti- tute of vegetation as when they were poured, a liquid burning mass, from the cauldron of the volcartoes. Many valleys dot- ted with the hay-thatched huts of the natives, their fields of taroy and orchards of bread-fruit, cocoa and plantain, lay along the shore. 1 he lower hills were covered with frolick- 46 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. iiig goats, and here and there on the projecting cliffs, stood a group of stalwart figures, brown as the rocks, shouting their pleasure at seeing our ship, with all sails steadily drawing, push through the waves. Having rounded the southwestern cape, we laid our course through the channel between Oahu and Taui, with the intention of availing ourselves of the north- ern " variables" to carry us to the American coast. In the cabin we had seven passengers ; Mr. Chamberlain, the fiscal agent of the American Missions at the islands — a man of a fine mind and unpretending goodness, who had un- dertaken the voyage for the benefit of his health — Mr. Cobb, the mate of a whaler, a plain honest man, going home to die of an injury from the falling of a spar on shipboard ; a spend- thrift of Philadelphia, returning from a two or three years' spree in the Pacific ; and a brace of Char^estown boys, who were on their way homeward for goods anc' weethearts. One of these was an excellent little fellow, wiw » soul full of music and justice ; the other a singer of bass and an acting agent general, in the same depu^tment. The only representa- tive of the fair sex w^e could boast of was a half-breed Ha- waiian lass, going to visit the '' Major,'' her father, an old mountaineer from New England, who was keeping a small shop at Santa Barbara, in Upper California. Captain Paty was a little man, with a quiet spirit, and a generous heart ; a New England man who alw^ays kept his eye to the windward, and gave his sails to the stoutest breeze without fear of clew^ lines or stays. The mate, a lusty English tar of the Greenwich school, was a jolly old boy, whose face was always charged with a smile, ready to be let oiF on the least occasion of conferring happiness. Our second mate was an Italian, who had left his country for doubtful reasons, married an American girl in the city of New York, buried her, and was now roaming the seas in the double capacity of second mate and sliip's carpenter, for the means of educating his only child. Our crew was a collection of odd-fellows. The first in TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 47 neight and importance was "Yankee Tom;" the second a pair of English renegadoes, from the royal navy or else- where ; next came a number of old tars, who hailed from the earth generally ; then several Hawaiians, and last of all, the cook ; as dark a piece of flesh as ever wore wool, and as independent a gentleman as ever wrestled with a soup pot. Thus we were all manned fore and aft. The extremes of cursing and prayer, of authority and subservi- ency, law, divinity, and merchandize, were there. Indeed, we had a piece of everything in the way of thought, feeling, taste and form, requisite to furnish a very respectable human menagerie. And if the shade of our friend Cuvier had leisure on his hands to look in upon us, and observe the paws of our lions, the teeth of our tigers, the grins of our apes, the wool of our lambs, and the men- tal and physical qualities of each species, I doubt not he was satisfied with the diversity of their powers and the completeness of the collection. When leaving the latitude of the islands, we had a dis- tant view of the Taui. It was studded with mountains of moderate elevation, clothed with evergreen forests. It ap- peared beautiful enough to be the island of Indian Mytho- logy under the setting sun, where the good will find eternal hunting, fishing, and women of unfading beauty. But our ship stood away under a strong breeze, and we soon lost sight of the island in the mist and shades of night. While making our northing we experienced a great va- riety of weather. On the first two or three degrees it was comparatively mild, and the generous breezes appeared to push us on with a right good will. But on reaching the lati- tude beyond the Trades, the winds from the northwest over- took us. These currents of air in the winter and spring are exceedingly rough, gusty and cold; and being often alternat- ed with the warm breezes from the torrid zone, produce con- ditions of the atmosphere, which, in more senses than one, may be termed " variables." The balmy breath of one day 48 SCENES INTHE PACIFIC contrasts strongly with the frozen blasts of another ; the soft bright clouds from the south, with the harsh dark shadows from the north, and the rippling sea when the former fans it, with the ragged waves which roll under the latter. Ten days out ; latitude thirty-eight ; wind fresh from th« northwest ; Mr. Chamberlain quite ill, but able to be on deck with his thermometer ; the Charlestown boys too sick to make music ; the Philadelphia blade's hair uncombed ; Mr. Cobb very much exhilarated with the bold movement of the ship; the half-breed Hawaiian lass as lovely as cir- cumstances permitted ; the crew growing fat on salt beef ; the ship, making her ten knots, headed towards Cape Men- docino, and everything else in some sort of condition ; thus stood the affairs of our floating home. Ten days more passed on, and little change in these things occurred, for better or w^orse ; save that, when we arrived within a hundred miles of the coast, the northerly winds be- came less violent, and their temperature higher. Our old bark was as brave a Don among the waters as one would wish to see. He was of American origin, a fine model of an ocean cavalie-r, and did battle with the floods as fearlessly as any ship that ever doubled the Cape. Our tvTie on board, there- fore, went off rather agreeably; for the speed of a landsman's passage at sea is the absorbing element of its pleasures. The officers and crew had employment enough to occupy them, and were usually in that agreeable mood of body and mind which produces a good appetite, hearty joking and sound sleeping. When the winds were stiff, they busied themselves in keeping sails, ropes, spars and masts at their appropriate duties ; and w^hen a w^arm sun and steady breeze came, the sailors overhauled the wormy biscuits, re- paired old sails, picked oakum, put the spun-yarn wheel in motion, while the Italian carpenter drove jack-plain, and the English mate gave us a specimen of rope-splicing and bending sails according to the rules at Greenwich. I noticed on board the Don Quixote, and elsewhere during TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORN.AS. 49 my wanderings, a difference between British and Ameiican seamen, which I believe to be quite general. It is this. The Briton is better acquainted with the things to be done on deck and among the rigging than the American is. He splices a rope better ; he knows better how to make a ship look trim and comely. But he knows comparatively nothing about the hull of his craft. His seven years apprenticeship has been devoted to learning the best mode of sailing a vessel and keeping her in good condition. He learns nothing more. The American, on the other hand, begins at the keel, and reads up through every timber, plank and spike, to the bul- w^arks. And although he does all the minor labor of the fair-day deck work with less neatness and durability, yet he will do it so well, and throw his canvass on the winds with such skill and daring, as to outsail, as well as outmanage his very clever rival. The Fatherland should be proud of Jonathan. He is a rough, hard-featured lad ; and in right of primogeniture, as well as other indisputable relations, he must succeed to the paternal power over the seas. At meridian, on the 16th of April, we ascertained our- selves to be about seventy-five miles from the American coast. All were weary of the voyage. It had been exceed- ingly monotonous ; not even a storm to break its tedium. At two o'clock of this day, however, we had an incident in the shape of a squall, from the northwest. It was attended with chilling winds which fell upon us like a shower of freez- ing arrows, and drove everybody, except officers and seamen, below. The blowing, the raining, the clatter of quick feet upon deck, the cry of the sailors, " heave-a-hoy !" as they shorten sail and brace up the yards ; the heavy swells, beat- ing the ship like ponderous battering-rams ; the air, that up- per ocean, running its flood most furiously upon that which lies beneath ; our vessel riding the one as if escaping from the wrath of the other ; the upper surface of the airy seas, crowded with fleets of thunder-clouds chasing each other madly, and sending out the fire and noise of terrible conflict . 50 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. These are the features of that squall. Our good ship reeled and trembled under the shock of the waters and winds, as if her planks and timbers were separating. Below at such a time was doubtless our safest berth, but that was far from being peculiarly comfortable ! About h-all of the passengers were on each side of the cabin, holding at the berths ; and when the ship rose on a billow and careen- ed, it straightened those on the larboad side like lamprey- eels hanging to rocks ; while, as the surge passed on, the ship careened the othey way, making eels of those on the starboad side ! The furniture tumbled, the steward giving chase fell in the midst of it ; the Hawaiian lass attempted to gain her berth and fell ; and tumult, danger, sublimity, and the ridiculous, united to provoke alternatively our laughter, fear and admiration. It cleared up in an hour, however, and we went on agviin pleasantly, under a three-knot breeze. On the evening of the 17th, we heard right gladly the cry of " Land ho !" Where away ?" " A little on the starboard bow !" I was in the cabin at the time. Any other word spoken with a greater volume of voice would have passed unheard. But land ! land ! the solid land ! with its odor of earth and flower, is a word which, if utter- ed in a whisper, has deep music for one who has for twenty odd days been stunned by contentious waves ; a sweetness and vigor of meaning to the weary wayfarer on the seas, which must be heard, — " Land ahead." Its winged messengers already twittered in the rigging ! The shores loomed on the edge of the horizon ! The white cliffs on the north side of Monterey Bay, in Upper California, were in sight ! We kept our course towards them till daylight-down, and then beat off and on till the dawn of the following morning. Jtpril iSth, The land, the glorious old land, is near us on our left — five miles away ! The cattle of the Mission Santa Cruz are grazing on the hill ! The matin bells are ringing from its tower, and the arrowy light is routing the darknesi , yfifi'llpi'l" TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 51 from the Californian mountains ! A morning of the blooming spring poured down from Heaven on this Italy of America ! A sunrise on the land ; and the conquered night where it very properly may be, running wild over the seas ! A breeze from the west drove us slowly down the bay, so near the shore that we had a clear view of it. At the northeast corner of the bay is a green gorge, down which flows a small stream of pure water. Near its mouth, on a snug little plain, stands the mission of Santa Cruz, with its chapel and adobie Indian huts. Around it are some fields, on which the Indians raise grains, vegetables an4 grapes. Beyond this, to the northward, the country swells away into lofty hills, covered with grass and sprinkled with copses of pine and oak. From Santa Cruz down to Monterey, the land is broken by low hills, too rough for general cultivation, upon which grow a few trees of a soft and worthless character. But the greenness of the whole surface in the spring of the year, and the absence of any abode of man, make it very appropriate pasture-ground for the wild horses, cattle, mules, and the grisly bears, lions and elk, that herd upon it. About five o'clock we round to, under the Castle of Mon- terey. The boat is lowered, the captain and part of the pas- sengers get aboard of her, and shove off for the landing. The ship meanwhile lies off and on within hail. When a hundred fathoms from the shore we are hailed by the cus- tom-house barge, and ordered back to the ship ! Whereupon a parley takes place, during which we are informed that California is in a state of revolution, and that no foreigners can enter the country. I was emaciated with sea-sickness, enfeebled for want o! fresh food, and altogether so miserable at the idea of not dining that day upon Californian beans and beef, that I made a desperate effort to express in Spanish the honest rage of my heart at such treatment. But having uttered French instead of Spanish wrath, I was about correcting myself, when a 62 8CENESINTHEPAC1FIC !ean villainous physiognomy, supported a lank, long-armed and long-shinned carcass, in lieutenant's epaulettes, replied in French, '' Ah^ mon frere Frangais^"^^ and immediately gave orders for us to land. The boat therefore ran through the surf, grazed upon the rocks, and lay dry on the beach. CHAPTER IV. Mother Earth — Revelation — Americans and P»-itish in Prison — A Guard— A Governor — An Interview — An Alcalde — A Passport — A running Sa- lute — Cries for Air and Water — Despair — A Horrid Night — Starvation — Dungeons — A Demand — Signals — A course adopted — A Leaf of Hi? tory — General Echuanda and his Deeds — A Tennessean Hunter and a Clerk — A Camp Formed — A League — A March — An Attack — A Ban- ishment — Independence — An old Method of Rewarding Friends — A No- tification — A Junto — Wagers and Seuoritas — A Stratagem and its Con- sequences — Names of Prisoners. On the land ! The human frame derives its vital elements from the generous land ! The earth is our mother, and she seems to rejoice when her children tread her threshold and ask her for bread and happiness. We inquired the cause of the reported tumult in the coun- try, and were answered in brief whispers ! The speakers looked cautiously around them for listening ears and Spanish rapiers. It was difficult to find a man with an English tongue and a white skin, who dared converse alone with us on any subject. Indeed, it was impossible to do so. For whenever the attempt was made, some Spaniard drew stealthily near to listen ! And when the gentleman from the ship left the land- ing for the town, in company with some American and Britisih residents, the government officers mingled among them, and changed the conversation as often as it turned upon what thev TKAVELB IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 53 tei rned '' the revolution." Men of stout hearts even spoke liule. Life appeared to hang upon a breatli in Monterey ! \\ c entered the house of an American merchant by the name of Larkin, and sat down to tea. We did not eat alone ! An officer of the government sat with us ! Conversation ran on general topics. The cause of the apparent trepidation was inquired into by an American from the Don Quixote, but nothing could be elicited. The official sat erect, swelled his person into dignity, ate heartily, drank deeply, rose first from the table, an intimation that we might follow his iUus- trious example ; burned his fingers in smoking a paper cigar, and at length rolled his greasy form out of doors. " Rid of you at last, thank God," said a little Englishman, who had dropped in during supper, *' and now for talk inside of ceilings." We soon learned from Mr. Larkin and others, that one hundred and fifty odd Americans and Britons were thirsting and starving in the prisons of the town and destined to be sacrificed to Spanish malignity ! The question arose. Can they be saved ? It was hoped they might ; it was re- solved on our lives that they should be ; while all in a low voice spoke of the uncertainty of life for an hour in Monterey! The first duty, on setting foot in California, is to report oneself to the governor, and obtain from him a written per- mission to remain in the country. This I proceeded to do. Mr. Larkin was obliging enough to accompany me to the governor's residence. We found before it a small number of men, who were usually complimented with the cognomen of " guard." They consisted of five half-breed Indians, and what passed for a white corporal, lounging about the door in the manner of grog-shop savans. Their outer man is worth a description. They wore raw bull's-hide sandals on their feet, leathern breeches, blankets about their shoulders, and anything and everything upon their heads. Of arms, they had nothing which deserved the name. One made preten- sions with an old musket without lock ; and his four com- rades were equally heroic, with kindred pieces, so deeply 5-s • SCENES IN THE PACIFIC rusted, that the absence of locks would have been an un- portant item in estimating their value. We passed this valorous body, ascended a flight of stairs, and entered the presence of governor Juan Baptiste Alva- rado ; awell-formed, full-blooded, Californian Spaniard, five feet eleven inches in height, with coal-black curly hair, deep black eyes, fiercely black eye-brows, high cheek bones, an aquiline nose, fine white teeth, brown complexion, anci the clearly marked mein of a pompous coward, clad in the broad-cloth and whiskers of a gentleman. When we entered he was sitting behind a kind of writ- ing-desk, at the farther end of the room. He rose as we entered, and received us with the characteristic urbanity of a Spanish body without a soul ; waved us to chairs, when he would have seen us tumbling from the balcony ; smiled graciously at us with one corner of his mouth, while he cursed us with the other ; seated himself, laid up his arms and hands on the upper shelf of his abdomen, and asked if the ship had anchored ! El Goubernador had sundry reasons for making this inquiry concerning the Don Quixote. The chief one, however, was, that he and his officers, like all their predecessors, had been in the habit of looking on the arrival of a ship in the port of Monterey as a discharge of debts and a license for new levies on their credit. Let it not be supposed that I believe a Cali- fornian Spaniard is ever so far false to his nature, as to wish his debts paid, while his credit will supply his wants. My investigations into the character of his progenitors both In- dian and Spanish, will always preserve me from such an error. Nor would I have it believed, that the transplanted chivalry of the Andalusians does not absolutely boil and bubble, at the bare thought of not being able to plunder from the rest of mankind a gentleman's living. Any such impeach- ment of the sagacity and scrupulousness of these men would be a wrong against which my sense of justice would most vehemently protest In plain words, then, at the time the TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 55 Don Quixote came into the bay, Alvarado and his officers were deeply in debt, and distressed only to select means of paying them, accordant with Californian honor. The arrival of a ship in port furnished just these means. The manner in which it did so may be unworthy of specification. El Alta California is a department of the Mexican Repub- lic ; and by law the moneys collected for port-dues and duties belong to the revenue of the central government. But as the right to life, property, and the pursuit of happiness is, among the Californian Spaniards, construed to authorize both indi- viduals and States to defraud, plunder and murder, if they find it safe and lucrative to do so, the freemen, or rather the Gov- ernor of California and his subalterns, were in the habit of commuting a large portion of the port-dues and duties, for certain sums of money and quantities of goods for their own personal use. Their capacity for this kind of plundering formed in part the basis of their credit with foreign mer- chants and traders, from whom they obtained their supplies. Hence the anxieties of Sa Excellentissimo about the bark. If she had come to anchor there must necessarily be a small chance for robbery in the tonnage dues ; and if richly laden with goods subject to duties, she would be quite a mine, which he already dreamed himself plundering with golden success. As soon as we could turn his attention from these hopes of gain, Mr. Larkin informed him of my wishes, and with much deference suggested the humanity of transferring me from idleness on shipboard to the enjoyment of Castilian industry ashore ; to wit, lounging, grinning, sleeping, and smoking rolls of paper tinctured v/ith " the weed." Sa Excellentissimo found it difficult to comprehend the necessity of the request^ inasmuch as the bark might come to anchor for my quiet and health, in which case Fwould be permitted as seamen were, to be on shore during her stay in port. But being informed that there were no goods on board the bark, that it was not intended to bring her to anchor, and that, consequently, neither bribes nor Mexican tribute would 66 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. be paid to Don Juan Baptiste Alvarado, El Goubemador iel Alta California, he frankly confessed that he saw no necessit) , indicated by his interest, why I should ever have existed, and still less made any of my pleasures dependent on him or his Alta California. This I esteemed, as in all chivalry I was bound to do, an exhibition of the great elevation of character as well as an in- dication of the height from which Sa Excellentissimo had descended to reach my case ! Therefore, 1 bowed assent to the majesty of such philanthropic and truly civilized opinions. What man in Castilian presence could do otherwise 1 But a doubt still hung over the eyebrows of the don. He looked at my height, six feet Green Mountain measure ; at my ward- robe, consisting of a Hudson Bay Company's frockcoat of blue, a speckled vest from London, pants of English extrac- tion, boots from the lapstones of Lynn ; and, shrugging his shoulders like a grisly bear in an effort to be a gentleman, said we could go to the alcalde ; then with most sovereign emphasis bowed us out of his presence ! The alcalde was at home, or rather in his adobie den ; for there is neither a home nor the semblance of it in all the Spanish world. He was taking his siesta, or midday nap, on a bull's hide in the corner of his apartment. The dog, which had barked us into his presence, had awakened him ; so that when we entered the room, he was rolling his burly form towards a chair. After being well-seated, and having with some difficulty brought his eyes to bear upon us, he was pleased to remark that, the weather was fine, and that various other things existed in a definite state ; as that his dog was very fat ; the bean crop gave good promise ; the Hawaiian Islands were ten leagues from Monterey ! ! ! the Californi- ans were very brave men ; and that the Don Quixote had not come to anchor ! ! To each of these announcements I gave an unqualified assent. Having ascertained by these means that I was well- mstructed in beasts, beans, men and geography, he imme- TRAVELS IN THE CALlF0RNI--w8. 57 diately took me into favor, expressed great surprise that my friend should have thoutrht that he could refuse my request, and assured me that it gave him infinite pleasure to write me a permission of residence. Here it is. When the reader is informed that it was an impromptu production, he will be able to estimate, in a faint degree indeed, the in- telligence and genius of the Californians. Only one hour and a quarter were consumed in bringing it forth ! Mr. Thomas J. Farnham pasagero en la barca Americana Don Gluixott habiendama manifesta do el pasporte de su consul y queriendo quidar en tierra a (vertarblesse) en su salud le doy el presente bolito de des en barco en el puerta de Monterey 1 1 A 18 de Abril de 1840. Antonio Ma. Orio. A permission this to remain on shore as long as might be necessary for the restoration of my health ! Having received it with many demonstrations of regard, we took our leave of the illustrious dignitary under a running salute from his dog, and repaired to el casa del goubernador (the governor's house) . The dog accompanied us. He appeared to rejoice in our presence. After he saw us pass into the governor's door he howled piteously, and trotted off toward the prisons. We obtained from Sa Excellentissimo a written confir- mation of the alcalde's document, and returned to the house of Mr. Larkin. There w-e met a number of Americans and Britons, from whom we learned that their countrymen w'ere famishing unto death in the prisons of the town ! A con- sultation, held in an upper room, in w^hispeis, under the dreadful ceitainty that death would be the penalty if it be- came known to the demon government, ended the labors of that day and night ! The house of my friend was but a few rods from some of the prisons, and when all was still at midnight, I could hear, between the breaking surges on the beach, the prisoners cry — " Breathe fast, for God's sake ! I must come to the grate soon or I shall suffocate !" SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. ** Give me water, 3^ou merciless devils ! give me water !" *•' You infernal sons of the Inquisition, give me drink or fire on me I" And then another voice at the grate exclaimed, " Give us something to eat ! O God, we shall die here ! We can't breathe ! Half of us can't speak !" And then another voice, husky and weak, said " Why !" in a tone of despairing agony, which became so low and inarticulate that I could not hear what followed. I had not seen the prisoners, but their cries banished sleep and all desire to rest. I therefore went out upon the balcony and seating myself in a dark nook watched, as well as I was able, the movements in the town. A portion of the troops were on duty as an armed patrol. The tap of the drum and the challenge, " Quin vive ?" with the reply, <' Californias ;" " Quin jente 1" and the response, *' Mexicanos," broke in upon their heavy, sounding tramp! About four o'clock the men in the castello, or fort, became alarmed by the cracking of dry brush in the neighboring wood, and the patrol rushed to their rescue. It proved to be the echo of their fears. The patrol soon returned to their posts, and silence again reigned. It was a horrid night ! Nature was laughing and bright on earth and in the sky. But fiends had gone forth to mar her beauty. The same spirit which had devastated the virtues and freedom of half the earth was abroad in the wilds of California, as of old in Chili, torturing those whose courage their bravado could not subdue, or their pretension intimidate ! The sun came up next morning most brightly in that clear blue sky of California : but it shone on sadder hearts than I had ever before seen. The flowers were creeping up along the streets ; and the grasses, invigorated by the winter rains and the warm days of spring, were growing on the hills ; the cattle and wild animals roamed about enjoying the rich liberty which nature gave them. They possessed no qualities which could excite the wakefulness of Spanish malignity ! They TRAVELS IN THE C \ 1. F O U V I A S. f)9 were _o\vIn^ and frolicking out their freedom on the kind and ])eautiful earth. But man was raising the murderous blade against his fellow I Mr. Larkin made arrangements with the government to- day to furnish the prisoners with food and drink. Their cells were examined and found destitute of floors ! The ground within was so wet that the poor fellows sunk into it several inches at every step. On this they stood, sat and slept ! From fifty to sixty w^ere crowded into a room eighteen or twenty feet square ! They could not all sit at once, even in that vile pool, still less lie down ! The cells were so low and tight that the only way of getting air enough to sustain life, w^as to divide themselves into platoons, each of which in turn stood at the grate awhile to breathe ! Most of them had been in prison seven or eight days, with no food except a trifling quantity, clandestinely introduced by a few daring countrymen outside. When I arrived at the prisons some of them were frantic ; others in a stupor of exhaustion ; one appeared to be dying ! An American citizen went to the governor with a statement of their condition, and demand- ed that both Americans and Britons should be handsomely treated ; that they should have air, food, drink, permission to bathe, and dry hides wherewith to cover the mud in their cells. Since our arrival the Don Quixote had been lying off and on. She usually ran out one morning and swept into the harbor the next. This circumstance, together with the fact that this American was always on the shore when the vessel passed the anchorage, making signals to her, which neither himself nor those on board understood, created the idea that he was an official of the American Government, and as such, had rights which it would be well to respect. This impression was much strengthened, both by the accidental circumstance of his w^earing a cutlass with an eagle upon its hilt, and his holding restraints imposed on his acts as highly insulting and disrespectful ! This course of con- duct had the effect designed. Those cowardly apologies of 60 SCENES INTHE PACIFIC men became thoroughly impressed that he bore in his own person the combined powers of the American Republic and the Rritish Empire. Clothed, therefore, with authority so potent, he took measures for the relief of the prisoners. But, before entering upon the narration of these measures it will be proper to give a history of the events which led to the imprisonment ofthese men, and their intended immolation. In 1836, a Mexican General by the name of Echuandra was the Commandant General of Upper California. Some years previous, as will be particularly shown in another place, he had come up from Mexico, with a band of fellow- myrmidons, and having received the submission of the coun- try to the authorities of that Republic, commenced robbing the Government for which he acted, and the several inte- rests which he had been sent to protect. Nothing escaped his mercenary clutches. The people, the missions, and the revenue were robbed indiscriminately, as opportunity offered. A few of the white population of the country par- ticipated in these acts. But generally the Californians were the sufferers ; and, as is always the case with unhonored rogues, raised a perpetual storm of indignation about the dishonest deeds of those whom they desired to supplant, for the purpose of enacting the same things. An occurrence of this kind was the immediate cause of the Revolution in 1836. A vessel had cast anchor in the harbor of Monterey. Gen- eral Echuandra, not having that honorable confidence in the immaculate integrity of the custom-house officers, which thieves are accustomed to have in one another, placed a guard on board the craft, to prevent them from receiving bribes for their own exclusive benefit. To this the officers demurred ; and in order to free their territory from the creatures of one whose conscience would compel him to receive bribes for hi3 own pocket instea-d of theirs, they sent their own clerk, a young rascal of the country, by the name of Juan Baptiste Alvarado,to inform the general that it was improper to sug- gest, by putting a gtiard on board, that the officers of the ship TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. ^1 which lay under the fort, either intended or dared attempt to evade the payment of duties ! ! The General, however, was too well acquainted with his inalienable rights, to be wheedled out of them in this man- ner ; and manifested his indignation toward the clerk, for attempting to abtrude his plebeian presence on his golden dream, by ordering him to be put in irons. Alvarado, how- ever, escaped. He fled into the country, rallied the farmers, who still loved the descendants of Philip the Second more than El Presidenfe^ and formed a camp at the Mission of San Juan, thirty miles eastward from Monterey. Near this mission lived an old Tennessean by the name of Graham ; a stout, sturdy backwoodsman, of a stamp which exists only on the frontiersof the American States — men with the blood of the ancient Normans and Saxons in their veins — with hearts as large as their bodies can hold, beating n>othing but kindness till injustice shows its fangs, and then , lion-like, striking for vengeance. This trait of natural character had been fostered in Graham by the life he had led. Early trained to the use of the rifle, he had learned to regard it as his friend and protector ; and when the season of manhood arrived, he threw it upon his shoulder and sought the wilderness, where he could enjoy its protection and be fed by its faithful aim. He became a beaver hunter — a cavalier of the wilderness — that noble specimen of brave men w^ho have muscles for rid- ing wild horses and warring with wild beasts, a steady brain and foot for climbing the icy precipice, a strong breast for the mountain torrent, an unrelenting trap for the beaver, a keen eye and a deadly shot for a foe. A man was this Gra- ham, who stood up boldly before his kind, conscious of pos- sessing physical and mental powers adequate to any emer- gency. He had a strong aversion to the elegant edifices, the furniture, wardrobe, and food of polished life, coupled with a vivid love of mountain sublimity, the beautiful herbage on uncultivated districts, the wild animals and the streams of water roaring down the frozen heights. Even the grey 62 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC . deserts with the hunger and thirst incident to tre; /elling over them, had wild and exciting charms for him. On these his giant frame had obstacles to contend with worthy of its powers ; suffering and even old Death himself to take by the throat and vanquish. These and the open air by a pro- jecting rock, with the dry sand or the green sward for a tiearth and couch, a crackling pine knot fire blazing against the cliffs, and roasting a buffalo hump or the sirloin of an elk, after the day's hunt had ended, constituted the life he was fitted to enjoy. He had forced his way over the Rocky Mountains and located himself in Upper California. This country was suited to his tastes. Its climate allowed him to sleep in the open air most of the year ; an abundance of native animals covered the hills, and nature was spread out luxuriantly everywhere, in wild and untrodden freshness. As I have said, this brave man resided near the mission of San Juan. He had erected there a rude dwelling, and a dis- tillery. On the neighboring plans he herded large bands of horses, mules and cattle. To this fine old fellow Alvarado made known his peril and designs ; whereupon the foreign- ers assembled at Graham's summons, elected him their cap- tain, an Englishman by the name of Coppinger, lieutenant, and repaired to San Juan. A council was held between the clerk and the foreigners. The former promised, that if by the aid of the latter he should successfully defend himself against the acting governor, and obtain possession of the country, it should be declared independent of Mexico ; and that the law, which incapacitated foreigners from holding real estate, should be abrogated. The foreigners agreed, on these conditions, to aid Alvarado to the utmost of their power. The next morning the united forces, fifty foreigners and twenty-five Californians, marched against Monterey. They entered the town in the afternoon of the same day, and took up their position in the woods, one hundred rod's in the rear of the castello or fort. No event of importance TRAVELS IN THE CALIF0RNTA8. 63 occurred till the night came on, when the awe with which darkness sometimes inspires even the bravest minds, fell with such overwhelming power on the valorous garrison, that notwithstanding they were supported by the open mouths of the guns, the barking of their dog, the roar of the surf, and the hooting of an owl on a neighboring tree -top, they were absolutely compelled to forsake the ramparts, for the more certain protection of unmolested flight! Graham and his men perceiving the discomforture of their enemies, availed themselves of their absence by taking pos- session of the evacuated fort. Alvarado, meantime, actuated. It is to be presumed, by a desire to save life and a philosophi- cal conviction of the dangers incident to bullets rendered crazy by burning powder, restrained the fiery ardor of his tw^enty-five Californians, and held his own person beyond the reach of harm, in case some luckless horse or cow stray- ing over hostile ground on that memorable night, should scare the fleeing garrison into an act of defence. The next morning he and his brave men were found peering from their hiding-places in a state of great anxiety and alarm ! A battle had almost been begun in Monterey ! The blood of their enemies had almost begun to fatten the soil of Cc J- fornia ! They themselves had ne^arly stepped in blood knee deep, among the carcasses of the hated Mexicans ; the be- som of destruction had shaken itself, and had barely missed commencing the havoc of bone and flesh, which would have crushed every mote of Mexican life within their borders ! Thus they gloried among the bushes ! ! Old Graham stood at sunrise on the earth embankments of the Castello. A hunting shirt of buckskin, and pants of the same material, covered his giant frame ; a slouched broad-brimmed hat hung aroand his head, and half covered his large, quiet, determined face ! In his right hand he held his rifle, the tried companion of many fearful strifes among the savages ! Four or five of his men sat on a dis- mounted thirty-two pounder, querying whether tbey could 64 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. repair its woodwork so as to bring it to bear on the Presido or government house. Others stood by a bucket of water, swabbing out their rifle barrels, and cleaning and drying the locks. Others of them were cooking beef; others whittling, swearing, and chewing tobacco. About nine o'clock flags of truce began their onerous duties. Alvarado came from the woods and took part in the councils. The insurgents demanded the surrender of the Gov- ernment ; whereat the cavaliers of the Presido considered themselves immeasurably insulted. Two days were passed in this parleying without advancing the interests of either party. They were days big with the fate of the future ; and who could weary under their dreadful burthens 1 Not such men as Alvarado. He bore himself like the man he was, through all the trying period. He uniformly preferred delay to fight- ing ! He was sustained in this preference by his right hand villain. Captain Jose Castro. Indeed, it was the unanimous choice of the whole Californian division of the insurgent forces, to wit, the twenty-five before mentioned, to massacre time instead of men. For not a single one of them manifested the slightest impatience orinsubordination under the delay— a fact which perhaps demonstrates the perfection of military discipline in California ! The foreigners diflfered from their illustrious allies. Graham thought "two days and two nights a waitin' on them baars* was enough." Accordingly, taking the responsibility on himself, after the manner of his distin- guished fellow-statesman, he sent a flag to the Presido with notice that two hours only would be given the Governor and his officers to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The demand of the old Tennessean, however, was disre- garded. The appointed time passed without the surrender. Forbearance was at an end. The lieutenant of Graham's rifle corps was ordered to level a four pound brass piece at the Presido. A ball was sent through its tiled roof, imme- diately over the heads of the Mexican magnates ! ♦ Bears. "^^ TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 65 It is wonderful how small a portion of necessity mingled with human affairs will quicken men's perceptions of duty. No sooner did the broken tiles rattle around the heads of these valiant warriors, than they became suddenly convinced that it would be exceedingly hazardous to continue their resistance against such an overwhelming force ; and that the central government at Mexico would not be so unreasonable as to ex- pect four or live hundred troops to hold out against Los Rijie- ros Americanos. This view of the case, taken through the shattered roof of the Presidio, was conclusive. They sur- rendered at discretion ! Alvarado marched into the citadel of government ! The Mexican troops laid down their arms ! The emblems of office were transferred to the custom-house clerk ! When these things had transpired, General Echuan- dra was pleased to say to Alvarado with the most exalted good sense, " had we known that we were thrice as many as you, we should not have surrendered so soon ;" thereby de- monstrating to the future historian del Alta California that he and his friends would either have fought the seventy-five with their five hundred or protracted the siege of bravado much longer, had they been able to count the said seventy-five at the distance or five hundred yards, during the lapse of two days ! Difficulties in the use of optics often occur in Cali- fornian warf ire which are not treated of in the books. The end of this revolution came ! The schooner Clarion of New Bedford was purchased, and the Mexican officers ship- ped to San Bias. Juan Baptiste Alvarado customs' clerk proclaimed El Alta California an independent republic, and himself its govenor. But more of this on a subsequent page. It suffices my present purpose to have sliown how far this Al- varado was indebted to the foreigners dying in his prisons for the station and power which he was using for their desruc- tion. He could never have obtained possession of Monte- rey without them. And had they not slept on their rifles for months after that event^ a party in the south under hia uncle Don Carlos Carrillo, or another in the north under his (56 SCENESINTHEPACIFIC. uncle Guadaloupe Viejo, would have torn him from his ill- gotten elevation. Thus upper California became an independent state, and Alvarado its governor. The central government at Mexico was of course much shocked at such unpolished, ungloved impudence ; threatened much, and at last in September, 1837, induced Alvarado to buy a ship, send despatches to Mexico, and become El Goubernador Constitutionel del Alta California^ associated with his uncle Viejo, as Commandante General. After this adhesion to the Mexican Government, Alvarado became suspicious of the foreigners who had aided him in the " Revolution," and sought every means of an- noying them. They might depose him as they had done Ecliuandra. And if vengeance were always a certain conse- quent of injustice, he reasoned well. The vagabond had promised, in the day of his need, to bestow lands on those who had saved his neck and raised him to power. This he found convenient to forget. Like Spaniards of all ages and countries, after having been well served by his friends, he rewarded them with the most heartlsss ingratitude. Graham in particular was closely watched. A bold open- handed man, never concealing for an instant either his love or hatred, but with the frankness and generosity of those great souls, rough-hewn but majestically honest, who be- long to the valley States, he told the Governor his sins from time to time, and demanded in the authorative tone of an elder and affectionate brother, that he should redeem his pledges. The good old man did not remember that a Span- iard would have lost his nationality had he done so. A Spaniard tell the truth ! A Spaniard ever grateful for ser- vices rendered him ! He should have knocked at the tombs of Columbus and Cortes, and every other man who ever served that contemptible race. He would have learned the truth, and gathered wisdom from it. He asked for justice and received what we shall presently see. Graham loved a horse. He had taken a fine gelding with TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 67 him when he emigrated to the country, and trained him for the turf. Every year he had challenged the whole country to the course, and as often won everything wagered against bis noble steed. Jose Castro, a villain with a lean body, dark face, black mustachios, pointed nose, flabby cheeks, uneasy eyes, and hands and heart so foul as instinctively to require a Spanish cloak, in all sorts of weather, to cover them, and his Excellentissimo w^ere among Graham's heavi- est debtors. Behold the reasons of their enmity. Another cause of the general feelings against the Ameri- cans and Britons in California was the fact that the Senoritasy the dear ladies, in the plenitude of their taste and sympathy for foreigners, preferred them as husbands. Hence Jose Castro was heard to declare a little before the arrest of the Americans and Britons, that such indignities could not be borne by Castilian blood ; " for a Californian Cavaliero can- not woo a Senorita if opposed in his suit by an American sailor, and these heretics must be cleared from the land." Such were the causes operating to arouse the wrath and ripen the patriotism of the Californians. The vengeance of baffled gallantry bit at the ear of Captain Jose Castro ; the fear of being brought to justice by Graham, tugged at the liver of Alvarado ; and love the keenest, and hate the bitterest, in a soul the smallest that was ever entitled to the breath of life, burnished the little black eyes and inflamed the little thin nose of one Corporal Pinto. These were the worthies who projected the onslaught on the foreigners. Their plan of operation was the shrewdest one ever con- cocted in California. Since the " Revolution" of '36 the Californian Spaniards had been convinced that the Americans and Britons were vastly their superiors in courage and skill in war. From the beginning, therefore, it was apparent that if they were to get one or two hundred of these men into their power, it must be done by stratagem. Accordingly, Graham's annual challenge for the spring races in 18^0, was conveniently con- tS SCENESIN rHEPAlJlFir stmed into a disguised attempt to gather his friends for the purpose of overthrowing Alvarado's Government. This sug gestion was made to the minor leading interests, civil and military, and a Junto was formed for the safety of the State ; i)r in plain truth, for the gratification of the several personal enmities and jealousies of half a dozen scoundrels, w^ho, disregarding the most sacred pledges to their friends, would rob them of their property and sacrifice their lives. This Junto marshalled their forces at Monterey, and adopted the following plan for accomplishing their fiendish designs : — The soldiers were detailed into corps of two, three and four in number, to which were attached several civilized Indians. These bands were secretly sent to the abodes of the foreigners, with instructions to convey them with dispatch before the Alcaldes of the neighboring mis- sions. This they accomplished. The victims, on receiving information that the Alcaldes desired to see them, repaired to their presence, willingly, and without suspicion of evil intentions against them. As soon, however, as they arrived, they were loaded with irons, and cast into the loathsome cells of these establishments in which the Padres formerly confined their disobedient converts ! Thus, one by one, they succeeded in arresting one hundred and sixty odd Americans and Britons — brave old trappers, mechanics, merchants, whalemen and tars — men who, if em- bodied under Graham, with their rifles in their hands, coUiJ have marched from San Francisco to San Lucas ; conquered nme hundred miles of coast, and held the Government of the country in spite of the dastards who were oppressing them. But they were caught in a net skilfully thrown over them, and were helpless. After each man w^as bolted safely in his dungeon, the harpies proceeded to his house, violated his family, plundered his premises, and drove aw^ay his Ii7'« stock as private booty — the reward of the brave ! Having in this manner collected these unhappy men in jxe prisons of the several missions, Alvarado and Castro Monterey, California. — P. 69. San Francisco, California. — P. 69. TRAVELS [ N THE C A T. I F R N I A 8, 69 irarched their whole disposable force to one mission alter ^nuiher and brought them in heavy irons, a few at a time, ..o the Government dungeons at Monterey ! The names of some of these men, together with their places of residence in Cahfornia, which I happened to pre- serve, are given below. Those who lived near the mission of San Francisco Bay, were, Lewis Pollock, John Vermillion, William McGlone, Daniel Sill, George Frazer, Nathaniel Spear, Captain Mc- Kenley, Jonathan Fuller, Captain Beechay. Those who resided at El Pueblo San Jose, were William Blirkin, George Fergusson, Thomas Thomas, William Lang- it} s, Jonathan Mirayno, William Weeks, Jonathan Coppm- ger, William Hauts, Charles Brown, Thomas Toiplison, Richard Westlake, James Peace, Robert McCallister, Tho- mas Bowen, Elisha Perry, Nathan Daily, Robert Livermore, William Gulenack, Jonathan Marsh, Peter Storm, Job Dye, William Smith, Jonathan Warner, and tw^o Frenchmen. Those from Santa Cruz, were, William Thompson, James Burnes, F. Eagle, Henry Knight, Jonathan Lucas, George Chapel, Henry Cooper, Jonathan Herven, James Lowyado, Francisco, LaGrace, Michael Lodge, Josiah Whitehouse, Robert King. From Nativada, Graham's neighborhood, w^ere, Isaac Graham, Daniel Goff, William Burton, Jonathan Smith, and Henry Niel. Those residents at Selenias, were, William Chard, James O'Brien, William Brondn, William Malthas, Thomas Cole, Thomas Lewis, William Ware, anJ James Majoiis. In Monterey, were, Leonard Carmichael, Edward Wat- son, Andrew Watson, Henry McVicker, H. Hathaway, Henry Bee, William Trevavan, Jonathan Maynard, William Henderson, James Meadows, Jonathan Higgins, Mark West, George Kenlock, Jeremiah Jones, Jonathan Chamberlainj Daniel , Joseph Bowles, James Kelley, James Fair- well, Walter Adams, Mr. Horton, Jnmes Atterville, Mr. 70 SCENESIN THE PACIFIC Jones, Jonathan Christian, William Chay, William Dick«y, Charles Williams, Alvan Willson. CHAPTER V THE PRISONRES. Forty-one of the prisoners whose names appear on the concluding pages of the last Chapter, furnished me with written accounts of their arrest, and subsequent treatment. Believing that the reader will be more interested in these, than in any abstract that could be made of them, I will trans- cribe a few which best illustrate this barbarous persecution. ^* I, Isaac Graham, a citizen of the United States of Ame- rica, came across the continent to California, with a pass- port from the Mexican authorities of Chihuahua, and ob- tained from the General commanding in Upper California, a license to run a distillery in that country, for the term of eight years ; this business I have followed since that time. " On the sixth of April last (1840) there appeared to be mischief brewing. But what it would prove to be, none of us could tell. The Californian Spaniards travelled usually much about the country ; and conversed with the foreigners rather shyly. They had threatened to drive us out of Califor- nia several times ; and we tried to guess whether they were at last preparing to accomplish it. But from what we saw it was impossible to form a satisfactory conclusion. " On the same day, however, Jose Castro, Bicenta Con- trine, Ankel Castro, and a runaway Botany Bay English con- vict, by the name of Garner, a vile fellow, and an enemy o! mine, because the foreigners would not elect him their cap- tain, passed and repassed my house several times, and con- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 71 versed together in low tones of voice. I stopped Jose Cas- tro, and asked him what was the matter. He replied that he was going to march against the Commandante General Viego, at San Francisco, to depose him from the command of the forces. His two companions made the same assertion. 1 knew that Alvarado was afraid of Viego, and that Jose Castro was ambitious for his place ; and for these reasons, I partly concluded that they spoke the truth. " A little later in the day, however, the vagabond Garner called at my house, and having drunk freely of whisky be- came rather boisterous, and said significantly, that the time of some people would be short ; that Jose Castro had re- ceived orders from the governor to drive the foreigners out of California, ortodispose of them in some other way. He boast- ed that he himself should have a pleasant participation in the business. I could not persuade him to inform me when or in what manner this was to take place. I had heard the same threat made a number of times within the past year, but it resulted in nothing. Believing, therefore, that Garner's words proceeded from the whisky he had drunk, rather than the truth, I left him in the yard, and in company with my partner, Mr, Niel, went to bed. Messrs. Morris and Bar- ton, as usual, took to their couches in the still -house. " We slept quietly, until about three o'clock in the morn- ing, when I was awakened by the discharge of a pistol near my head, the ball of which passed through the handkerchief about my neck. I sprang to my feet, and jumped in the direction of the villains, when they discharged six other pistols, so near me that my shirt took fire in several places. Fortunately, the darkness and the trepidation of the cow- ards prevented their taking good aim ; for only one of their shots took effect, and that in my left arm. " After firing they fell back a few paces and commiinced reloading their pieces. I perceive by the light of their pis- tols that they were too numerous for a single man to contend with, and determined to escape. But I had scarcely got six 72 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. paces from Ihe door when I was overtaken and assailed with heavy blows from their swords. These I succeeded in parry- ing off to such an extent that I was not much injured by them. Being- incensed at last by my successfvd resistance, they grappled with me, and threw me down, when an ensign by the name of Joaquin Terres drew his dirk, and saying w^ith an oath that he would let out my life, made a thrust at my heart. God saved me again. The weapon passing be- tween my body and left arm, sunk deep in the ground ! and before he had an opportunity of repeating his blow they dragged me up the hill in the rear of my house, where Jose Castro was standing. They called to him, ' Here he is ! here he is !' whereupon Castro rode up and struck me with the back of his sword over the head so severely as to bring me to the ground ; and then ordered four balls to be put through me. But this was prevented by a faithful Indian in my service, who threw himself on me, declaring that he would receive the balls in his own heart ! "Unwilling to be thwarted, however, in their design to de- stroy me, they next fastened a rope to one of my arms, and passed it to a man on horseback, who wound it firmly around the horn of his saddle. Then the rest of them, taking hold of the other arm, endeavored to haul my shoulders out of joint ! But the rope broke. Thinking the scoundrels bent on killing me in some way, I begged for liberty to commend my soul to God. To this they replied, ' You shall never pray till you kneel over your grave.' They then conducted me to my house and permitted me to put on my pantaloons. While there they asked where Mr. Morris was. I told them I did not know. They then put their lances to my breast and told me to call him or die. I answered that he had made his es- cape. While I was saying this, Mr. Niel came to the house, pale from loss of blood and vomiting terribly. He had had a lance thrust through his thigh, and a deep wound in his leg, which nearly separated the cord of the heel. ''They next put Mr. Niel and myself in double irons, car- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORN AS. 73 ried us half a mile into the plain, left us under guard, and returned to plunder the house. After having been absent a short time, they came and conducted us back to our rifled home. As soon as we arrived there, a man by the name of Manuel Larias approached me with a drawn sword, ind commanded me to inform him where my money was buried. I told him I had none. He cursed me and turn- ed away. I had some deposited m the ground, but I de- termined they should never enjoy it. After having robbed me of my books and papers, which were all the evidence I had that these very scoundrels and others were largely in- debted to me, and having taken whatever was valuable on my premises, and distributed it among themselves, they proceeded to take an inventory of what was left, as if it were the whole of my property ; and then put me on horseback and sent me to this prison. You know the rest. I am chained like a dog, and suffer like one." Mr. Albert F. Morris, whose name appears in Graham's account of his arrest, gives me some farther particulars. It may be well here to say, that this Morris was a British subject, a descendant of the former Surveyor-General of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Having strayed from friends and home, he found himself in California destitute of the means of liveli- hood. In this state of want he hired himself to Graham as a laborer in his distillery ; and was living on his pre^mises in that capacity at the time of the events just related. '^ On the night of the sixth of April, 1840, when we were about going to bed, two persons arrived who asked for lodgings. Mr. Graham told them they might find quarters with us in the distillery. They dismounted and took bed with me and Mr. Barton; and Messrs. Graham and his partner Neil took their bed in the house, about thirty yards distant from us. '' Nothing occurred to disturb us until about three o'clock in the morning, when, being awakened by aloud knocking at the distillery door, I sprang out of my bed, and asked who 74 SCENESIN 'THE PACIFIC. was there ? No answer bein^^ returned, I repeated the ques- tion in a stern voice, when a man outside replied, ' Nicholas Alviso.' He being a near neighbor I answered, ' very well,' and told one of those present to light a candle. But while this was being done, a number of people outside called out, ' Where is Graham 1 Tear the devil in pieces !' and imme- diately afterward rushed with great violence against the door. I told them to wait a moment, but they cried out with still greater clamor for Graham, and seemed to rush toward the house where he slept. Quite a number, however, remained at the distillery, beating at the door in a savage manner and threatening death to the inmates. I drew my pistols, and at that instant Nicholas Alviso called aloud for all hands to beat down the door. On they came against it; I fired ; and they returned the fire and wounded me in the left side. I then seized my rifle and snapped if, at them ; they retreated, and I escaped into the swamp in the rear of Graham's house. After concealing myself among the bushes, I saw fifteen or twenty men with drawn swords making most deadly blows at Messrs. Graham and Neil. I heard Ankel Castro give orders to hew them down ; Garner urged them to do the same, " I remained in the swamp till late the next night, when I walked eight miles to the farm of Mr. Littlejohn, where I remained two days. Then, with an Indian to guide me, I rode to the mission of Santa Cruz on the north side of Monterey Bay. Here I called at the houses of Messrs. Dye and Young ; told them what had happened, and went up among the hills for safety. '' On the sixteenth, Francisco Young came to me and said, that Captain Burlinen had come after me with a company of riflemen. He assured me that I should not be put to death or manacled if I surrendered myself without resistance. I con- cluded after some hesitation to do so, and followed him down to Mr. Dye's distillery. There I found Captain Burlinen, with eleven Californians, armed with the rifles which they had taken from the Britons and Americans. After obtaining a TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 75 promise from the captain that my life should not be taken and that I should not be pat in irons or otherwise bound, I delivered my rifle to him and became his prisoner. I wem then marched down to the Mission of Santa Cruz between the soldiers, and put under guard until the next morning. " Soon after sunrise on the seventeenth they began pre- parations for taking me to Monterey. I had, when escap- ing from Graham's premises, left most of my clothing, and not knowing in what this affair might end, I desired the captain to take me by that route. To this he consented. But it was of no service to me ; for I found both my port- manteaus broken open and all my clothing stolen. Mr. Niel was in the house. He had been badly wounded in the af- fray of the sixth. A lance h; d been thrust through his thigh, and a deep sabre cut inflicted upon the leg. He told me that the Botany Bay Garner did it. I saw several balls sticking in the w^alls of the bedroom in which Mr. Niel lay. The floor was much stained with blood. The pre- mises had been plundered. We stayed at Graham's house an hour, and proceeded towards Monterey. *'I arrived in town the next day. It was occupied by sol- diers, and the prisons filled with foreigners. They immedi- ately put me in double-irons, and carried me before a body of men w^ho pretended to act as a court of justice. I desired that Mr. Spence, the alcalde, might be sent for as an inter- preter. But they w^ould not allow it. They said I must be content with the one they had provided. His name was Nariago. He was by no means capable of the task. But I was compelled to take him or none, and go into the exami- nation. I was sworn ; and then the interpreter said it was well known that I had been writing letters against the gov- ernment. I asked him to produce the letters, that I might see them. He replied, * that it is not necessary.' He then said that Mr. Graham was at the head of an attempted revo- lutionary movement against the government, and that I knew something about it. I replied that I had never heard 76 SCENESINTHEPACIFIC. Mr. Graham suggest anything of the kind. I said that he had expressed a determination to represent to the governor the shameful treatment of Mr. Higgins ; and the outrage upon the foreigners while they were burying their country- men at Santa Barbara ; and particularly the monstrous deed of digging him up after burial, and leaving his corpse naked above ground. I confessed I had offered to go with him to the governor for that purpose. *'The interpreter then asked w^hy I fired on the people at Graham's distillery. I answered that I did it in self defence. He inquired how that could be. I told him, as it was impos- sible for me in the night time to see those who made the as- sault on the distillery, I could not know whether they were the authorized agents of the government, or robbers whom it was my duty to resist. My life was at stake, and I fought for it, as they w^ould have done under like circumstances. It was next asked why I did not seek redress from the govern- ment, if I supposed them robbers. I said that I had no time to do so between their attempts to kill me and my own neces- sary acts to prevent them ; and that if I had had opportunity I had no assurance, under the circumstances, that govern- ment would protect me. This last answer Avas translated with some embellishments; and the interpreter informed me it was considered highly insulting to the governor. I answered that no insult was intended, but that I was under oath, and could not vary from the truth. I w^as then asked why I fled to Santa Cruz. My reply was that I had lost all confidence in the justice of the government, and flew to the wilderness for protection. At this the alcalde was greatly incensed, or- dered my answ^ers to be reduced to writing, and commanded me to affix my name to them, together with the additions which their desire for an excuse to destroy me induced them to append. I stated that I did not suppose myself obliged to place my signature to an instrument written in a lan- guage which I could not read. I signed it with swords over my head. What the paper contained I never knew. TRAVELS IN THE CALIF0RNIA8 77 They would not allow me to attempt to read it. The ex- amination being ended, they took me to the fort and placed me under a strong guard for the night. The next day, the nineteenth of April, they manhed me under escort of a company of infantry into the public green, before the gov- ernment house, to hear prayers. After which, I have no doubt, they intended to shoot me, but were prevented from doing it through the fear of Mr. ." I have other interesting narratives showing the most in- human conduct in the Governor of Upper California, while Lirresting these Americans and Britons, which I must pass for want of space. There is one, however, that refers more especially to the causes which brought many of them into a country where they were subject to such merciless usage, that I cannot prevail on myself to omit. It is a saying among seamen that when a ship doubles Cape Horn *' the rope's end and shackles are the Old Man's argument." Sailors in those seas are often glad even to escape from a bloody deck to the chances of dungeons and rapiers in the Californias. *' I left the American ship Hope, of Philadelphia, in Ma- nilla, and there being no chance of getting a passage to the United States from that place, I went passenger to Macao, in the ship Rasselas, of Boston, commanded by Captain ****•*. On my arrival there, all his crew having left him, Captain ****** asked me to ship on board his vessel for a voyage. I and some others agreed to do so on these conditions : that if after serving^ one month, while the ship lay in that port, we did not like it, we were to be at liberty to leave her. When the month was up we all requested to go on shore. But he said all might go except William Warren, Robert McAlister, and myself. We were accordingly detained on board. No boat from the shore was allowed to come alongsrde for fear we should escape. After a short time the ship proceeded on her voyage to Kamschatka. And in this way were we forced to go without sigiing articles, and contrary to our agreement. 78 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. One day when ray watch was at work on deck the captain came along and said I was not sewin-g the sail right ; and 1 said I thought I was; when he kicked me over the eye with a large heavy shoe he had on at the time. And when the pain made me start to my feet, with the blood running dow^n my face, he said that I \vanted to kill him with a knife, and im- mediately had me put (hands and feet) in irons. I remained so for half an hour; when the captain, ordering me to be tied up to the main-rigging, and taking his knife from his pocket, cut the shirt off my back, and gave me two dozen lashes with his own hand. After this 1 vvas taken down and thrown in the longboat among the hogs, and fed on bread and water for a fortnight. In this situation I suffered very much. For I was ironed hand and foot, the weather was extremely cold, and I was without shirt, shoes and stockings. At the end of the two weeks the ship arrived in port, and I was taken out of the longboat. My feet, too, were stripped of their fetters ; they were swelled so much that it was with difficulty I could walk. I was kept manacled at the wrists till the ship had got underway out of the harbor. After she had passed the fort the captain ordered a boat lowered and sent me ashore on a barren place, where it was impossible for me to go to the settlement without a boat, and left me with the irons on my hnnds. In this situation I spent two days and nights on the beach without food or water, when I was picked up by a man who gave me a passage in a canoe to the settlement. Here 1 had to work hard for my victuals. After nine months the schooner Clementine, of New York, arrived, and I asked Captain to take me out of ttie country, but he refused. I then w^ent to Oliotsk, thinking to go overland to St. Peters- burg ; finding a vessel there from the States, however, I wanted to ship in her, but was detained by the Russian government, and forced to work for the Russian American Fur Company the two following years. After having been forced to bear the rigors ot two Siberian winters, without much clothing, and to serve as a slave for tw^o and a half years, TRAVELS IN THE CAI. IFORNIAS I got a passage to Sitka, Nortliwest America, where, affcii? five months' working for the Russians, I was permitted to go away in the brig Baicaland was discharged in San Francisco, '' John Warner, of Scotland." The next event in this poor fellow's life was his impri- sonment in California. His sufferings there were scarcely less than those he had endured elsewhere. The names of his companions at Macao appear in the list of prisoners which was given in the previous chapter. The 19th was an exciting day. More of my countrymen and others, allied by the blood of a common ancestry, were arriving from the interior in irons. As soon as they came in town they were taken in front of the prisons, pulled vio- Imtly from their horses by Indians, and frequently much bruised by the fall. Their tormentors then searched them, took forcible possession of their money, knives, flints, steels, and every other little valuable about their persons, and thrust them into prison. About eleven o'clock, A. M., the American called on the governor to learn the cause of this treatment, and was informed that there had been considera- ble conversation among the prisoners for months past, about '' being abused by the government," and that threats had been made about " going to the governor for justice," and other things of that kind, which rendered ti necessary for the peace of the country to get them out of it, or into their graves. The American replied, that the treaty stipulations between the governments of the United States and Mexico required the authorities of each country to treat the citizens of the other with kindness and justice. His Excellentissimo replied, that the government of the Californias would not be restrained in its action by treaties which the central government might make ; and that if the department of the Californias should violate such compact with the United States, that government would seek redress from Mexico ; that the Californian government was the iiure 80 eCENESINTHEPAClFIC. agent of the Ceptral government, and therefore not respio sible to other nations for its administration. The Mexican e;Dvernment alone had a right to complain of its acts. The American replied, that the department of the Califor- nias being an integral part of the Mexican nation, any inju- ry which its authorities should inflict on the persons and rights of other nations might well be redressed on the persons and property of the Californias. The Governor answered, that he thought not. He was then asked, what he supposed an American or British fleet would do, if one should at that time anchor at Monterey? This question startled the miserable tyrant. That spectral fleet outside, its reputed commander in his very presence, and the constant plying of the Don Quixote between him and his armament, seemed for a moment to come before him, like a fearful reality. Perceiving the impression made upon him, the American took advantage of the occasion to remark, that it would be necessary for the Californian guvernment to bring the persons then in confinement to a speedy tria* for any alleged misdemeanor, or set them at liberty without trial, at a very early dav , for the American government and its citizens required him, and would, if necessary, compel him, in this instance at least, to do an act of strict justice. The quiet and firm tone of this address threw his Excel- lentissimo into a most sublime rage. He ordered the guards to fire on the American, and strode through his apartment, bellowing fearfully, and raising a very dense cloud of dust ! The American, meanwhile, knowing that Californian noise boded little danger, stood quietly awaiting the termination of the tumult. It ceased after a while, and mildly saying to the governor, that he had only to repeat, that the pris- oners must be tried and lawfully condemned or set at liberty, and that soon, he walked through the guards and returned to his lodgings. He had not been at home more than an hour when a message arrived from Don Jose Castro, Alva- vado's captain advising him not to appear in the stre^'t* TRAVELS III THE CALIFORNIA S. 81 \ aeain, for he feared that his life would be taken by the sub afterns of the insulted government ! ! rhis message was intended to prevent him from appear- ing before the grates, and encouraging the prisoners to bear their sufferings like men worthy their high extraction ; and also to deter him from interfering with the unholy purposes of the Government against their lives. It failed of its object. His reply was, that he did not at that time comprehend the necessity ot Captain Castro's anxieties in regard to him, and that as he should have business in the streets about sunset, those who felt disposed would have an opportunity at that time to make any demonstrations congenial with their feel- ings. At sunset he walked down to the prisons, heard again through the grates the cries of their tenants for air and water, and returned to Mr. Larkin's, to pass a miserable night— a night of unavailing compassion. The next day he went into two of the cells, took the names and residence of a portion of the prisoners, and learn- ed their general condition. They had nothing on which to sleep or sit except the wet ground ; w'ere emaciated, pale and sickly ; some of them could scarcely walk to the grate to get fresh air ; one could not stand, and his fellows from time to time held him up to breathe ! They said in their despair, that they could keep hope alive as long as he dared to walk frequently before the prison, for his presence obtained them better treatment from their enemies, and encouraged the more desponding to expect through him deliverance from their sufferings ! Graham's cell was under a double guard. It could not be approached. People were even forbidden to pass it. I oc- casionally approached near enough to hear the lion-hearted old man roar out his indignation. A great and brave soul had that man. Its best energies had been bestowed on the mgrate Alvarado. He had made the rascal into a gover- nor ; and this was the beginning of his reward. The afternoor was spent in much perplexity by the officers 82 SCENESINTHEPAC FIC. of the government. They believed the American to h e some- thing more than a Commodore. His precise rank they could not determine. It was evident to them that he had a fleet outside under his command ! But he spoke and acted as if he not only had authority on the seas, but the land also, even in Los Californias ! He was everywhere present, forbidding one thing and ordering another ; rushing into the gover- nor's apartments, upbraiding him for his acts, and threaten- ing to bring destruction upon the town, unless all his capri- cious wishes in regard to the rebels were gratified. His cha- racter was an enigma. If he assumed it, death was too light a punishment. If he were really a high agent of the Repub- lic of North America, his bearing and acts comported with his character, and indicated that great circumspection would be necessary in the course adopted toward the prisoners. Mr. Larkin was called upon to express his opinion in this vexed matter ; but he very properly said that he knew noth- ing about it, except that this man appeared to be one who understood his duties, whatever they were ; and suggested that it might not be well to disregard his opinions, or other- wise treat him with disrespect. The subaltern dignitaries thereupon made their complimentary acknowledgments to the American, and passed a part of the day with him and Mr. Larkin. It pleased them to say many handsome things of the bravery and intelligence of the citizens of the States. They were told in reply that the United States expected the prisoners to be released from unjust and tyrannical impri- sonment. The Senors bowed assent ; but mentioned as a difficulty in the way of this proceeding, that to release them would be an act of great disrespect to the governor, Juan Bap- tiste Alvarado. To this it was replied that such disrespect would not be very alarming — not quite so serious as the Paixhan guns of an American or British man-of-war. Another night of suffering in the prisons. '' Heat, heat ! Air ! for God's sake £»-ive us air ! nir ! You brown devils, TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA 8. 83 give US air !" were heard at intervals, till the noise Di open- ing day drowned these agonizing entreaties. On the morning of the twenty-first, the American was retusod any intercourse with the prisoners. During the fore- noon, therefore, he walked many times past the grates of ihe several buildings ; stopped often and encouraged the in- mates by his mien to hope on still. Mr. Larkin had fed them liberally in the morning, and furnished every cell with an abundant supply of water. Yet they suffered greatly ! They looked on damp prison walls, and dragged chains at their wrists and ancles ! They stood or sat or lay on poached mud! They saw in the future every image of coming evil ! Suffocation, the pangs of death one at a time, com- ing slowly by day and among the sleepless moments of the long and hot night — life pendent on the mercy of a Califor- nian Spaniard. These constituted heir condition. About noon of the 21st, a half-breed Spaniard rode into town at fall speed and held a hurried conversation with the guard around the prison, and then entered the house of the Governor. A few moments having elapsed he reappeared and went to the quarters of Jose Castro. A moment more Castro came upon the green, issued a hasty order to Corporal Pinto, and re- paired to the Governor. The horseman, meantime, galloped rapidly to the Castello. Immediately his Excellentissimo ap- peared on the balcony, and ordered the drums to beat to arms ! Soon there was hot haste in every dwelling. Women ran to the windows and doors ; children pulled at their mothers' skirts, and asked what had happened. The men ran to the public green, took their stations in the ranks, and looked al- ternately towards the hills and the prisons. The dogs bark- ed and trotted about in apparent wonder; the goats bleated and stamped their feet ; and the horses neighed and ran to the sea-side, and the cattle raised head and tail and lan to- gether ! In fact, such a time of locomotion had not for many a day been seen in Monterey. In order to explain tliis phe- nomenon, it will be necessary for me to show its cause. 84 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. A law of the Republic of Mexico requires the citizens of other nations, who would hunt, trap, or trade for furs on any portion of her dominions, to obtain from the proper authori- ties written licenses to that effect. Three, four, and six months, are the usual terms of time specified in them, and the rights conveyed by them vary, from the mere privilege of trapping, to all the several franchises of a general trader. With these stowed away in deer-skin pouches, enveloped in the bladders of the buffalo so saturated with grease that nei- ther the storms nor streams can penetrate them, they load their mules with traps and goods and go forth into the wilderness. The territories over which they more commonly travel are those which lie on the rivers Jila, the Colorado of the West, the San Joaquin, and Sacramento, countries inhabited by In- dians only, among which thecitizen^J of the Indio-Spanio-Bra' vo-Furioso-Militario-Despotico-Republica- Americana^ dare not enter. Into these wastes the daring Americans fight their way through the savage tribes ; trap the beaver among flying poisoned arrows ; guard each other while they take in turn their hurried sleep ; eat the flesh of wild animals and beaten grass seed; or, as is often the case, loose themselves and die of hunger, thirst, or the prostrating effects of the poisonous wa- ters in the sandy solitudes over which they attempt to travel. If, however, they survive the hardships of these journeyings, collect large quantities of furs, and return to the borders of civ- ilization, satisfied that their toil, however hazardous it may have been, has resulted in an adequate reward, it is still un- certain whether they have labored for their own or another's benefit. The authorities who have sold them their licenses em- ploy various means to rob them of what they have so dearly acquired. The more common of these is to raise questions in regard to the validity of the licenses. To this end the hunter and his furs .re seized and carried before the Alcalde, on the assumption that they have been obtained without lawful per- mission . The court is opened, and the possession and seizure is proven — the hunter offers in evidence of his right of pro American Fur Traders, — P. 84. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 85 perty, his carefully preserved license. It is examined by the court and if found to have been granted by the political par- ly then in power, it is declared sufficient, and the hunter and his furs are leleased. But if it unfortunately proceeded from the antagonist political sect, the court, with a wisdom by no means peculiar to themselves, pronounce that act of their predecessors of no effect, and declare the furs forfeited to the government. Nor is the hunter rendered secure from de- predation by the adjudged legality of his acquisition. Nu- merous instances have occurred in which the officials of New Mexico, after they have rendered judgment in his favor, have hired the partially civilized Indians to follow the poor hunter, on his way over the plains towards his home, and rob him of every skin he has taken, even his wardrobe, food, animals, rifle, and left him to perish or return to the cold hos- pitality of those whose creatures have ruined him. Instances of another manner of committing these robberies have occurred. An American hunter obtained his license in Chihuahua, went to Upper California, and after a very suc- cessful hunt among the Tulares' lakes in the valley of the San Joaquin, went down to Monterey for rest and supplies. On his arrival he was summoned before the Alcalde to show by what right he had entered the country and trapped the beaver He had lost some of his animals while fording- a mountain torrent, and with them his passport and license. He there- fore, could show no authority for his presence, nor cause w^hy the furs in his possession should not be declared contraband. He was not permitted to send to Chihuahua for evidence. The loss of some three thousand dollars' worth of furs, and seven years imprisonment, at Monterey, was the result. Another American by the name of Young, who appears m in the narrative of my travels across the continent, was, by means like these robbed of some thousands of beaver-skins, the avails of many years' toil. But this iniquitous plundering has not been confined to the w^hites. The civilized Indians on our western frontier, who make frequent excursions over M SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. the Rocky Mountains in search of furs, have from time h> time been subjected to losses and the moist degrading personal treatment from theCalifornian and New Mexican authontie:?. Whites and Indians having been injured in this manner, with- out personal resistance, until all hope of retribution from the federal government, and every prospect ol better morals on the part of the robbers, had forsaken them, have taken the club into their own hands : and the ruined Indian and white man put on the red paint of battle, band together, make incursions among the covyards of Santa Fe, and even cross the mountains, and lay tribute upon the mules and horses of the Californians. Such were the Indians whose presence created the alarm at Monterey. They number- ed about fifty. And the vagabond government well knew that those fifty rifles if brought upon the town at that time would send every poltroon of them to their last rest. No wonder, then, that there was quaking at Monterey. Old scores and la« ter ones w^ould have been balanced, if those men had dream- ed that Americans and Britons were in the prisons of Monterey. It was suggested by several persons that the prisoners would be shot during the week without trial. Acting upon this hint the American intimated to some of the more pru- dent and intelligent among them, his willingness to aid them in breaking prison, taking the town, and disposing of the authorities at rope's end, if they did not give them a fair trial within three days thereafter. These propositions in- spired them with such new life, or rather so kindled into action the little that was left in them, that those who had strength enough to make themselves heard, struck up '' Hail Columbia," and " Rule Britannia," with a fervor that at intervals choked their utterance ! I never before felt the force of these national songs. The night was still! Scarcely a sound was heard save the heavy surf beating on the rocks of Puentos Pinos. I walked around the prisons till eleven o'clock, to the peril of life, in- deed, but in the enjoyment of feelings dearer than life itself. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 87 " Hail Columbia !" I wish my readers could conceive soineihing of the stirring might of those words sung by parched lips within the prisons of California ! Dying Amer- icans sang them ! The unconquerable sons of the Repub- lic sang them, though strength was sinking and the blood flowed feebly through her children's veins ! '* Rule Britannia!" The battle anthem of the fatherland ! Sturdy Britons were there to sing. Their voices seemed weak when they began it ; but as their feelings seized more per- fectly the inspiration of poetry and music, the floating walls of the Island Empire seemed to heave in view. " Rule Bri- tannia !" It came ringing through the grates during the lat- ter part of the evening with a broken, wild shout, as if the breath of those who uttered it came fresh from Trafalgar ! Pinto, the captain of the guard, inquired the purjwrt of their songs, and was told by a Scotchman at the grates that they were " the war-cries of Britain and America, and that the Californians, Mexicans, and the rest of the Spanish creation, had better vote themselves asses and devils before those nations forced the idea into them from the muzzles of their rifles !" This Pinto was a small pattern even of a coward, but what there was of him one could not doubt was the genuine article. He had a small narrow head, very black stiff* hair, a long thin nose with a sharp pendant point ; small snakish eyes, very near neighbors, and always peering out at the corners of the sockets; a very slender sharp chin, with a villanous tuft of bristles on the under lip ; a dark swarthy complexion burnish- ed with the grin of an idiotic hyena. Who would not expect such an animal to be frightened at the carnage songs of the parent of nations and her firstborn child ! He did fear, the miniature scoundrel ! He had been one of the principle in- stigators of this barbarity, and if he believed in the recupe rative energies of prostrated justice he had reason to tremble. In his trepidation he sought the quarters of Jose Castro. This man was his monster superior. With the general out* 88 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. lines of the human frame, he united every lineament of a thoroughbred ourang-outang : as, very long arms, very large brawny hands, a very heavy body, and a very contemptible face, vTinkled and drawn into a broad concentrated scowl of unsatisfied selfishness. This dignitary made the rounds of the guard and retired to his couch, satisfied that he was really what he modestly called himself — the Napoleon of Western America ! Pinto took up his position with great resolution in the shade of an adobie wall, at a safe distance from the prisons ; and when I I'eft the ground he was employing his knees in knocking each other into a stiff stand against unmanly fear. Nothing else worthy of note occurred during the night. On the morning of the 22d the governor sent again for the American. He would not see the messenger. About nine o'clock, however, he walked down before the prisons and spoke a word of cheer to their inmates. They were wretched, but hope was awakened in them by his presence and fearlessness. There was evident consternation among the dons. That American signalling the Don Quixote every morning as she swept into the harbor, and the idea of a fleet outside, its commander ashore, communicating with it by a fast-sailing brig, and that commander defying the governor, breaking through the guards, conversing with the prisoners, and those martial songs by night, were ominous circumstances in the eyes of those contemptible tyrants ! About noon it was reported that the prisoners would have a trial ! A little advance this ! The government had begun to yield to its fears, what it would not to its sense of justice. The next morning, the 23d, the entire standing army, con- sisting of sixteen filthy half-breeds, and a corps of about sixt^ volunteers, mustered at the beat of the drum before the pri- sons. Twenty-one of the prisoners were brought out between the lines, marched to the governor's house, and seated on the grass in front of it. They were emaciated and pallid, but re- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 89 Bolute. The American pushed his way through the crowd of officers and citizens, seated himself within twelve feet of the prisoners, and manifested to them by the sincerest com- passion and most resolute acts, that if they died he died with them. He had agreed with them to appear before the prison at the middle hour of night, on the twenty-fourth, and go with them to freedom or a brave death, if they were not fairly tried and on evidence condemned, or released before the fol- lowing midnight. This promise they felt would be kept. The trial, as it was called, soon commenced. Each man was summoned singly from his seat to a low^er room in the governor's house, and called upon to produce his passport. Most of them replied, that they w^ere arrested in their fields or workshops, and were not permitted to go to their resi- dences for papers or anything else. To this the Alcalde who sat in judgment said, " I have no evidence before me of your lawful right to remain in California." The next question was, '' What do you know of a revo- lutionary movement under Graham ?" The reply was, " I know nothing of any such movement or intention." '' What meant that advertisement for a horse-rac^, put forth by Graham?" '* It meant what such advertisements have meant for the last five years : a wish on the part of Graham to run his American horse in California." *' Nothing more ? Nothing more V* This was the form of trial in each case. The only favor they craved was, that they might have an interpreter who understood both languages. This was denied them. A miserable tool of the government, who spoke the English so badly that he could never make himself understood, succeeded, by his manner of translating their answers, in making them confess themselves guilty of high treason, and other misdrni:eanors worthy of the bullet. SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. Aftei all had pcissed this ordeal, a Botany Bay Convict, by the name of Garner, was called in evidence on behalf of the government. His testimony rwrnoved all lingering doubts. He established the unqualified guilt of all. Graham, in par- ticular, who had been preferred over him as commander of the foreign riflemen in Alvarado's revolution, and whom he had previously attempted to kill, he declared to have formed a scheme of ambition, which, had it not been discovered, ^vould have dug the grave of every Spaniard in California ! ! This man's testimony was written out and signed by his murderous hand. It may be in due time a blister on his perjured soul. The reported confessions of each prisoner were reduced to writing in the Spanish language. They contained, as I after- ward learned in Mexico, things never said, accounts of acts never performed, and bequests of property to their persecu- tors, their jailers, and to those, who, on several occasions, thrust sabres at their hearts when nearly helpless in the dun- geons of Monterey, which I need not say were never ma£ vagabonds who don't regard the honor of God or the rights of men. I have been here now seven yejirs ; have always been a peaceable man, except when I took part with the Californians against the tyranny of Govern- ment officers sent up from Mexico. And now I am lassooed like a bear for slaughter or bondage, by these very men whose lives and property myself and friends saved. Well, Graham may Hve to prime a rifle again ! If he does, it will be in California ! Farewell to you. I hope we shall meet in Mexico." The old man brushed a tear from his weather- beaten generous face, and we left him. The American repeated his visit to the sick Englishman. He had neither ate, drank, nor spoken. His hmbs were en- tirely cold and motionless ; fast sinking. The ladies in at- tendance were very compassionate, and bestowed on him every kindness he was capable /of receiving. Yet how inhu- man the power which, calling itself a Government, authorises such murders ! The halter which swino-s at the biddino- of a civil tribunal, the axe which flashes along the grooves of the guillotine, have their horrors ; and the head picked up by the mob and shown while life yet speaks from the eyes, and the dying love of Freedom still clothes the countenance. 116 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. sliocks human forbearance ! But to be killed by inches, to be sent to the arms of death by the long agonies of thirst and famine, for no crime save that of being an American or Briton, is a sacrifice at which malice itself in its soberer mo- ments shudders and turns pale. So was this man dying. He breathed heavily. One of Castro's officers came in, and re- marking that he was undoubtedly a feeble man, kissed his hand gallantly to the ladies and retired. The evening was spent with Mrs. J. A. Jones, the Califor- nian spouse of the former American Consul at the Hawaian Islands, and her sisters. A stroll, a i 'e-a-lete, and the sweet guitar ! The air was balmy ; the smiles ^'ere deeply sympathiz- ino" ; the laugh savored richly of the t arest impulses of the soul ; the music was the warm brea of the great living principle of the best affections. All bt ond was barbarism and wilderness ! The vast pampas, the unexplored streams, the unpruned forests, the growling hosts of beasts that war with hfe and gnaw each other's bones ; the roaring seas; the wild men, women and children, unlocated, homeless, — the untamed fields of earth and the deserts of the human heart lay outside ; within was our little company. Will the reader tarry here awhile and listen to tales of olden times ? They tell of heroic deeds, of martyrdoms, and glorious conquests. They will bring back the events of buried years; wdl show the deeds of those who acted here and died ; and as the scene moves on, this charming land, with all its countless beauties and its grey and noiseless wastes, will appear. CHAPTER VII. An Incomparable Wilderness— A Strange Period— Phrenzy — An InJiMi Fire — Gentlemen by the Grace of God versus Genllemen by the Grace of Pelf— A Sight of a Great Sea — The first Voyage around the Earth — A Sur- render — Victims— Fleet — Voyage — Another Voyage — Murder — Mas- sacre — Another Voyage — Shipwreck — Beaten to death in the surf — The Dead and their Requiem — Gathered at their Ancient Altars — A Return — Another Voyage — An Arrival from a Ten Years' tramp among the Sav- ages — An Expedition by Sea and Land — Death of the Discoverer of California. Any part of the earth with its forests, its native grasses, herbs, flowers, streams and animals, unmolested by the trans- forming powers of that race which derives a hvelihood from agriculture, commerce, and their attendant handicrafts, is a spectacle of great interest. The seasons as they come and go — the spring with its rich blossoms and leaves — the sum- mer w^Jth its fulness of vigor — the autumn w^ith its dropping fruits — and the winter, that Sabbath of the year, when na- ture rests from her toil — all bring to the old wilderness un- numbered charms. But who can portray them ? They are so closely grouped, so richly tinted, so mellow, so sacred and grand, that a long life is required to perceive them. And I often think, if we should study the ancient woods and tower- ing rocks, and the countless beauties among them, through all our days as we do in childhood, w^e should be drawn nearer to virtue and to God ! California is an mcomparable wilderness. It differs from that which overhung the Pilgrims of New England. That was a forest broken only by the streams and the beautiful lakes in which the Indian angled for his food. This is a wilderness of groves and hwiis, broken by deep and rich ravines, sepa- 118 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. rated from each other by broad, and wild wastes. Along the ocean is a world of vegetable beauty ; on the sides of the mountains are the mightiest trees of the earth ; on the heights are the eternal snows, lighted by volcanic fires ! But this is not the place to describe the features of this remarkable country. I have said there is a tale of olden times connected with it and its people, which must first be given. A strange period in the history of man is that, in which the Californias became known to Europeans. The latter years of the fifteenth, and the first of the sixteenth century, embrace it. It is a barba- rous era of human energy — not the energy of well-directed reason — but of that recuperative force of human nature which for centuries bends under ignorance and inaction, and then, like some central spark, ignites the mass, and flows forth over every opposing obstacle. The attempt to take Palestine from the Infidels has called out the combating and rehgious faculties in conjunction. Vene- ration for the Church and its rites is the ruling idea ; the cross is transferred from the cathedral to the field of battle, and with so- lemn hymns to God the people of Europe march to their graves on the desecrated plains of Jerusalem. This religious battling has an end ; but its influence on the minds of the people has been immense. They have wrapped their faith around their lances ; turned from commerce, the subjugation of the soil, and general industry, to war upon opinions — to an unsettled state of fanatical vagabondism, which turns the world loose upon itself in a religious phrenzy that is forced to seek an outlet among the waves of the western seas. Half the solid land of the globe with its boundless forests, its Amazon and Mississippi Rivers, its mountain ranges, its unnumbered forms of animal life, its savage infidels — all its vastness, beauty and gold, catches the restless fancy of the age, and Columbus is among its sea-weed — sees the light of the Indian's evening fire, and invites the enthusiasm of the Old World to the New. It comes. It is love of wealth, power, and faith ! Pizarro. — P. 119. Cortes.—-'?. 1 19. TRAVELS IN THE CALIF ORNIAS 119 Venice, Genoa and Florence are bringing overland, from the East Indies, so much wealth, that kings are tributary to them. The palaces of the merchant princes outvie those of (he cut-throats Royal by the Grace of God. And the lead- ing cord of events now is, to find a shorter route to the silks of Hindostan. For in this lies the possibility that these Grace of God gentlemen may rid themselves of their unpleasant dependence upon the coffers, navies and armies, of these free States. Portugal, Spain, France, England, enter the lists of this great Tournament of El Dorado. The prize sought to be wrested from the hand of Dame Fortune is, a water pas- sage through the American Continent, by which the ships of the discovering nation may reach the East Indies. Columbus, Balboa and Cortez on the part of Spain, seek it along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico ; but the Continent spreads itself an everywhere present barrier to their hopes. This Vasco Nunnez de Balboa in 1513 is in the Gulf of Uraba ; and an Indian chief called Panquiaca conducts him over the Cordilleras range of the Isthmus Darien, to Michae/mas Gulf on the Pacific. The Great Pacific Ocean is first seen by this man. His name is written among the heroes of those benighted years. It is dyed in the blood of many thousand slaughtered Indians. He leads Pizarro to the foul murder of the Incas! He opens the arteries of Guatimala ! In 1519, Fernando Magellano, in the service of Portugal, discovers the Strait which bears his name, sails across the South Paciiic, and touches at the Ladrone and Philippine islands. Among the latter group himself and many of his companions perish. Juan Sebastian del Cano succeeds to the command, traverses the Indian Ocean, doubles the Cape of Good Hope, and moors safely on his native shore. Two passages to the East Indies have now been discovered, and the earth for the first time circumnavigated in 1522. The Pacific has been seen at Darien, and ploughed in the Antarctic latitude. But its north- ern parts are yet unexplored. Hernando Cortez, the student of Salamanca, the magistrate of San Diego de Cuba, the 1^0 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. murderer of Montezuma and Guatlmozin, the slender, five feet seven inch conqueror of Mexico, undertakes this. On the thirteenth of August, 1521, Mexico surrenders to Cortez, and the King of Mechoacan, whose dominions extend to the shores of the Pacific, also submits to this magistrate of San Diego. Men are sent to explore three different points ft)r a ship-yard on the coast of the Great South Sea ; forty Spaniards, carpenters, sawyers, and blacksmiths, are sent to the chosen port ; iron, anchors, cables, sails, rigging, pitch, oakum, bitumen, and other naval stores, sufficient to build t\vo brigantines, are borne by Indian slaves and a few mules, from Vera Cruz to Zacatula ; a distance of six hundred miles ! But misfortune is beginning to tread on the heel of Cortez' enterprise. These materials, soon after their arrival at Zaca tula, are consumed by fire. He has used all his private funds in the purchase ; but as his credit is still good, a thousand Indian backs, stout and subservient, are again gored and broken by similar burthens. And the mountain path-ways from Vera Cruz are a second time thronged with victims, dying under the bales of materials for building the magis- trate's brigantines. Cortez sees them rise from keel to top- ^4ast, constructed with very sharp bows, and masts leaning iorward, carrying triangular sails j and although ill-shaped, they run near the wind. In 1524, this fleet sails under com- mand of one Christopher de Olid, on a voyage among the unseen waters of tlie North ! This expedition, however, re- sults in nothins: but wind and storm, and the return of the ships in a miserabb condition. Great minds in different ages have reposed belief in strange things. Caesar trusted in the entrails of birds; the British Parliament enacted laws against witchcraft ; and this Cortez, in 1524, believes in a nation of immense women, called Ama- zons, inhabiting a very large island whose shores are strewn with pearls and gold ! A sufficient variety of taste has hu- man credulity, to give it a keen appetite and capacious throat. Cortez determines to discover the habitation of these TRAVELS IN THE C 4 L I F R N I A S . 121 large ladies. But in 1528 his fame falls into the hands of Spaniards who treat it with the same respect as they already have that of Columbus ; that is, begin to dig its grave. To avoid the vexations which the Viceroy of Mexico, and a few other envious men, are throwing around him to cripple his efforts, he sails to Spain and presents himself to his King. He is received at court with marked kindness, is made Mar- quis del Valle de Guaxaca, Captain General of New Spain and the provinces and coasts of the South Sea, discoverer and peopler of those coasts and of the island of pearls, gold and Amazons, with a grant of the twelfth part, for himself and heirs, of all the territory that he shall discover and conquer. These powers, privileges and honors fire anew the volcanic spirit of this five feet seven inch slender student of Salaman- ca. In 1530, therefore, after having agreed with his sove- reign to prosecute his discoveries in the South Seas at his own expense, he returns to Mexico; and finding the Audie-n- cia, the Council of Government, still inimical to him, deter- mines at once to undertake the manifold duties of his office. Accordingly in May, 1532, he appoints Diego Hortadc Mendoza, a relative of his, commander of two ships which he has built at Acapulco, and sends him on a cruise into the Pacific. The crew of one of these vessels mutinies and brings her back to Xalisco. The other, under the personal command of Mendoza, is never heard of after she leaves port. Misfortune never weakens Cortez' resolution. On advice of his kinsman's loss and the ill fate of his expedition, he proceeds to Tehuantepec, and superintends the building of tv7o other ships. These sail in 1534 for the fabled island of Amazons, under command of Hernando Grijalva and a cousin of Cortez, Diego Becera Mendoza. Grijalva pro- ceeds three hundred leagues to a desert island which he calls San Tomas, and returns. Ximenes, the pilot of the other, kills the commander, and having assumed the command, sails up the Gulf-coast of California as far as the bay of Santa Cruz. Here himself and twenty of his crew are destroyed by 122 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. the Indians. After this event the sailors take the vessel down the coast of Mexico to a port called Chiametla. Ximenes' people, in the true spirit of the race to which they belong, represent the country in which their pilot has been killed, as fruitful and thickly peopled, and the sea around it, stored with great quantities of pearl beds. So that the mis- fortunes of former voyages only serve to arouse the uncon querable spirit of this magistrate of San Diego de Cuba, to %rther effort in search of the rich islands and countries in the '^orth Pacific. He accordingly gives public notice, that Her- nando Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, Marquis del Valle, His Majesty's discoverer, &c. &c., designs to take command of a fleet for this purpose. Spaniards from all parts of the country enter his camp at Tehuantepec ; three Dew ships are launched, well supplied with stores for a long cruise, and sent northward to Chiametla ; thither Cortez goes, with a large body of priests, officers and soldiers, and several families, de- signing to settle in the territories he may discover ; the ship of Ximenes, lying at Chiametla, empty and plundered, is fitted up as the fourth vessel of this little squadron ; and Cortez and a part of his followers sail into the unknown north ; enter the bay where Ximines was killed ; and call it Santa Cruz, Bahia de la Paz. Having landed his people and stores at this place, he sends his ships back to Chiametla for a part of the stores and peo- ple which have been left. But tempests fall upon them, and contrary winds so thwart them, that only one ever returns to La Paz. Their stores and provisions consequently wane fast ; the country around is desolate and barren ; death gnashes his teeth upon them, and starvation walks a ghastly image through their pallid ranks ; but Cortez sees a difficulty only to conquer it. He immediately puts to sea in his only remaining ship ; crosses the gulf ; coasts along its eastern shore for the space of fifty leagues, amid infinite dangers from rocks, currents and tempests ; finds his lost ships stranded on the coast of TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 123 Senora^ and the bodies of his companions rotting and beating among the breakers ! A sad end to those men was that ! A dolorous termination to Cortez' hopes of discovery ! and dread- ful to the people of La Paz, on a heated and desolate shore, starving and thirsting, the living eating the dead and drinking their blood ! On his return he finds the few wretched ones who yet live, mad with hunger ! They shout with wild ma- niac joy, and rush into the surf! They try to swim to the ship for food and are cast back upon the shore by the surges ! Many perish in the angry waters ! Cortez lands and gives them food in sparing quantities. But the tides of life have been ebbing too long ! Their dying energies are overtaxed ! They die by twenties and are buried among the brambles with the holy water sprinkled on them for a coffin and winding sheet ! The rude cross of wood stands over each one's grave, the symbol of faith and life to come ! And now the deep de- sert, red and toneless, hears their requiem, in the clanking cable of Cortez's ship, as the wailing crew heave the anchor, and depart from the eastern shore of Lower California ! Meantime report at Mexico says that the murderer of Gua- timozin and Montezuma has perished in the western seas, Cortez is the name of a corse bloated and sunken in their depths. The caciques of the fallen dynasty shout for glad- ness among the mountains of Mexico. Their enslaver no longer breathes. The great relentless heart of Cortez is rotting. His fiery eye has ceased to burn. His unconquera- ble soul no longer hovers over their native vales, and the sound of his terrible voice is for ever hushed. This belief rouses their lost courage. They gather around their ancient altars. The holy Sun is besought to blight their oppressors with his fervent fires, and send hfe, love, and true hearty among his fallen children. They worship in their ancient temples, and vow that they will be free. The Marchioness Donna Juanna de Zunniga, daughter of the Count de Aguilar and cousin to the Duke de Bejan, has loved the student of Salamanca, and become his second wife 124 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. And the love of this woraan still burns ardently, and alone, for her absent husband. The Audiencia at Mexico are Span- iards, and as such can lay aside their jealousy of Cortez when his prowess is required to save their necks. A virtue this which never fails to grow where Castilian blood fertilizes the human frame. The Caciques now line the mountain sides with their followers ; the war-cry bounds across the vale of the city. " Cortez is dead, and we can be free !" is sung on all the heights from the Gulf to the Pacific. That Audiencia now loves Cortez. They condole with his wife on her pro- bable loss, and allow her to send a ship with letters from her- self urging his return. The Caciques press towards their holy city, and its sacred lakes. The avenging passions of enslaved millions growl through the land, and the clash of savage arms, their dancings and songs, mingle in one direful din on the ear of the Viceroy. He sends entreaties that Cortez will return and save the country. These messages from the Vice- roy and his wife reach him on the coast of Senora ; he sails back to La Paz ; leaves Francisco de Ulloa in charge of a part of his people ; returns to Acapulco ; goes to Quahuna- huac to meet his anxious wife ; and thence proceeds to Mexi- co. The poor Indians learn that the murderer of their Emperor lives ! They lay down their arms, and every hope of freedom. Ulloa has followed his master, and awaits his orders at Acapulco. In May, 1537, he is again ordered to sea with three ships, the Santa Agueda, La Trinidad, and Santo Tor- res. He touches at Santiago de Buena Esperanza ; at Guay- abal ; crosses over to California, and follows the coast to the head of the Gulf. Along this coast he sees man} volcanoes, bare mountains, and barren valleys. Whales abound in the sea ; and on the land he finds large, heavy, and very crooked sheep's horns; also naked Indians taking fish with hooks made of wood, bone, and tortoise-shell, who wear bright shells about the neck, and use the maws of sea-wolves for TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 125 drinking vessels ! After a year's cruising in the Gulf, or Ma de Cortez, Ulloa returns to Acapulco. About this time Alvar Nunnez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions, Castello, Dorontes, and a negro called Es- tevanico, arrive at Mexico. They are the only survivors of three hundred Spaniards who landed in Florida with Pamfilo de Narvaez, ten years before, with the intention of conquering that country. They have been defeated and driven from Flo- rida, and having wandered on foot though Louisiana, Texas, and other parts inhabited by savages, they appear among their countrymen naked, and so changed in their personal ap- pearance, that their language is almost the only evidence of their origin. This Alvar Nunnez Cabeza de Vaca relates such surprising tales of his adventures, and the gold, pearls, &c., seen in the north, as to kindle anew the avarice of the Spaniards. The excitement, however, does not reach its height until the return of a monk who has travelled over those countries with the design of Christianizing the natives. This man has seen rich countries covered with grains, fruits, countless herds of black cattle, and mountains shining with the precious metals. The Viceroy and Cortez are enemies. They both conceive the design of penetrating these countries. But the former induces the creditors of the latter to vex him with le- gal proceedings while he himself dispatches an expedition by sea and another by land, to discover and conquer these won- der-born regions. The land force is led by Francisco Vas- quez Coronado. He marches at the head of one thousand chosen men; and after many hardships reaches his destination, m 52^ N. Lat., three hundred leagues north of Culiacan, Cinaloa, and Valle de Senora. He finds a province here composed of seven towns in which are about four hundred men and a pro- portionate number of women and children. The largest has two hundred houses of earth and rough wood. Some are four and five stories high. The entrance to each floor is from the 126 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC outside by means of stairs, which, for security, are removed at night. The country not being strewn with gold and gems, how- ever, as the soldiers anticipated, they propose to return. But Coronado sends a body of them three hundred leagues farther ' north, in search of two cities, called Quivira and Axa. They find only a rich country abounding in fruit, cattle and wild beasts. Meeting with nothing, therefore, in all these regions to gratify their cupidity during a search of three years, they return to Mexico and report to that effect. This expedition has traversed the interior of Upper California. The arma- ment, meantime, has sailed to the place of rendezvous on the Pacific coast of Oregon, and awaited in idleness the arrival of the land expedition. But as Grijalva was spending his time in searching for a land of gold, and the fabled cities of Quivira and Axa, instead of seeking his countrymen at the appointed place, the commander of the fleet found it conve- nient to return to Mexico. He is soon after disgraced and dies of chagrin. Thus terminate the Viceroy's expeditions ! The friends of Cortez bruit this failure of his enemy to de- fraud their chief of his rights. But the star of that great man is sinking ; and they cannot stay its fall. Thwarted and overreached by his enemies, and finding the mind of his sove- reign poisoned by their machinations, he resolves to present himself again at Court and demand his rights. Accordinp^ly, in 1540, he embarks with his two sons for Spain ; attends the King in his unfortunate expedition to Algiers ; and after spending seven years in vain efforts to regain the favor of his monarch, expires of grief and disappointment at Castillya de la Cuesta, while on his way to meet his daughter at Cadiz. Thus dies the conqueror of Mexico and discoverer of California ! CHAPTER VIII. Three hundred years ago— The Capitana, Almiranta, Frigate and Bara« Longo— A rani Bird— Mazatlan— A Fog and a Reef— San Barrabe— Laying down Arms— Rich Shores— Game— Nature's Salt Works- Departure— A Northwester— A Separation— Signal Fires— A Desert- Fish- A Saline Lake — Tracts and a Meeting— An Island— A Precious Mountain— Amber— Cerros-Circunma vigating— San Hypolito— Up the Coast— A Gale— Out of sight— Comes to Anchor— Bahia San Francisco of the South— Native Cattle—Indian Courtesy— A Meeting— Another Bay— A Battle— Weighs— San Diego— Savages— Graves- Santa Catarina— Its Inhabitants and Customs— Its Productions— A Temple— A line of Islands— His Majesty and Hospitality— A Blow- Four Canoes— Rio San Carmelo— Monterey in 1G02— Death— The Al- miranta dispatched to Mexico— A Horrid Disease— The Country— Its People and Animals— Bahia San Francisco of the North— Cape Men- docino— Death ! Death !— Retwn to Mazatlan— Death— To Acapulcc -Lamentations ! ! In 1542 the Viceroy of Mexico sends Juan Rodriguez Ca- brillo from the Port of Navidad with two ships, on a voyage of discovery up the coast of Cahfornia. He touches at Santa Cruz, la Magdalena, Cape del Enganno in lat. 32^, La Cruz in 33", de la Galera in 36i^ the Bay of San Fran- cisco in about 37o 40', and sees a large Cape, in lat. 40'', which he calls Mendocino, in honor of the Viceroy. In March, 1543, he reaches 44^' without making any additional discover- ies of importance. At this time, the cold being very intense, he turns his ship homeward and enters the harbor of Navidad on the 14th of April, 1545. No other expeditions are under- taken to California, until 1596 ; when Count Monterey, the reigning Viceroy, receives an order from Philip II. for mak- ing discoveries and settlements in California. In obedience to this order, Sebastian Viscayno is appointed Captain-general 128 SCENE? IN THE P A C .F I C . of the Expedition, and Capt. Toribio Gomez admiral. Botb are persons of great worth, enterprise and skill. Two ships, the Capitana and Almiranta, are purchased, and a frigate built expressly for this service. There is besides a barco longo for surveying creeks and bays, and such other services as cannot be performed with deeper keels. Three barefooted Carmel- ites, Padre Andrez de la Assumpcion, Padre Antonio de la Ascencion, and Padre Tomas de Aquino, accompany the ex- pedition in the capacity of spiritual advisers ; and Capt. Alon- zo Estevan Peguero and Ensign Gaspar de Alarcon, as coun- sellors in relation to the proceedings of the expedition. Capt. Geronimo Martin is likewise attached to it as draughtsman of the coasts, islands, and harbors which shall be discovered. This body of officers are men of enterprise and skill ; and sup- ported by the best seamen in Spanish America, great results are anticipated from the voyage ! On the 5th of May, 1602, the fleet sails from Acapulco. Strong head winds and currents buffet them for many days ; but on the 19th of May, they reach Puerta La Navidad, and put in to obtain ballast and repair the Capitana. All which being dispatched with the utmost speed, they proceed on their voyage and reach Cape Corrientes on the 26th of May. Having surveyed this coast, and the adjacent country, they sail northward to the Islands of Mazatlan. These they reach on the 22d of June. They are two in number, lying near each other, and making a fine roadstead between them and the main shore. In this the Capitana and Almiranta come to anchor. The frigate having been separated from them soon after leaving Navidad, they fear she is lost ; but they are glad to find her lying in a river which empties into this roadstead. The officers and priests visit one of the islands. Great num- bers of sea birds, about the size of a goose, having a bill nearly half a yard in length, legs resembling those of the stork, and a large crop in which they carry small fish to their young, cover the beach ; deer and wild goats abound inland. These islands lie at the entrance of the Gulf of California. 1RAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 129 Having passed a part of the day among them, they steer across the mouth of the Gulf, and on the 9th of July make Cape San Lucas. As they stand in, a heavy fog falls upon them, and completely conceals the shore. For a day and a half they lie thus enveloped, out of sight of each other, and in great danger. At length it clears up a little, and the Al- miranta discovers that she is within twenty-five fathoms of a reef of rocks, on which she barely escapes being dashed in pieces. Having borne away from so fearful a doom, they en- ter a bay where they rejoice to find the frigate already an- chored. This is the day of San Barnabe, and accordingly the harbor is named in honor of that saint. Their attention is soon attracted to the natives, who, armed with bows, arrows, and spears, hne the shore, shouting fiercely, and throwing sand in the air. General Viscayno lands with twelve soldiers, the priests and oflficers. But the natives are so intimidated by the lighted matches and arque- buses that they are near losing all communication with them, when Padre Antonio de la Ascencion, advancing alone, mak- mg signs of peace and friendship, induces them to stop, em- braces them all kindly, and gives assurance that no harm is intended them. They now lay down their arms, and intimate that the soldiers must do the same before they will advance. The Padre conveys this wish to his friends, and calls a little negro boy to bring a basket of biscuit to distribute among them. At sight of the negro they are greatly pleased, and tell him, by signs, that there is a village of people like him- self not far thence, with whom they are on friendly terms. Having received beads and other presents, they retire to their rancherias, or settlements, much pleased, though apparently not entirely free from apprehension. After this, the general and others walk about to examine the shore. Not far distant they observe a pond of clear water, on the borders of which lie great quantities of sardine and pilchard, which have been thrown up by the breakers. The next day they visit another SCENES IN THE PACIFIC Spot, where they find the shore for some distance strewn with pearl oysters of the most brilliant and various hues. The little fleet lies in this bay several days to repair, and take in wood and water. The boats, meantime, are kept constantly abroad taking fish. Soles, lobsters, pearl oysters, &c., are procured. The quail, wood-pigeon, rabbits, hares, deer, lions, tigers, are seen on the hills; various kinds of trees, as the pitahaya, fig, lentisk, and a great variety of plum shrubs, which, instead of gum, emit a very fragrant odor, grow in the valleys. In the vicinity of the anchorage is a low tract of ground subject to be inundated by the sea, dur- mg the prevalence of the southwesterly winds. Its shape is such that when the waves retire a large quantity of water is left, which evaporates and leaves a deposit of fine white salt. The Indians of this region go entirely naked. They are, however, extremely fond of ornamenting their hair, and of painting their bodies in black and white stripes. Having finished the repairs about the time the moon changes, and having by the distribution of goods produced a "avorable state of feeling among the soldiers, the Captain-' General, about the first of July, orders the squadron to put to sea. But they run only three leagues, when a northwest- erly wind springs up, which soon increases to such a gale that they are compelled to put back into the bay of San Barnabe. Three times they stand out, and as often are com- pelled to return. At last they determine to leave the barco longo, which the Capitana has towed, much to the detriment of her progress, and on the 5th of July, for the fourth time, attempt to gain the open sea. The Almiranta and Capitana with great difficulty make some headway against the tem- pest. But the frigate is obliged to part company, and run in under the land. When the gale abates, the commander is desirous of uniting with the frigate, and for this purpose lays in for the shore. On the 8th they make land under the blow of some lofty hills, where they are becalmed. This range of highlands they call Sierra del Enfado, or Mount TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS 131 Tedious. On the 16th a breeze fills their sails, and the ships stand away for the harbor de la Magdalena. Here they are enveloped in a fog so dense that a man cannot be seen at six paces. The Capitana runs into the harbor, but the Almi- ranta is compelled to turn her prow seaward. When the fog clears up, therefore, they have lost sight of each other. The people of the Capitana mount the hills which skirt the bai^bor, and build signal fires on the heights. These are seen by the people of the Almiranta ; bat mistaking them for the fires of the Indians, continue to stand off. The Captain-Gene- ral now becomes very anxious for the missing ship and fri gate ; and, as soon as the gale abates, sails in quest of them. He first explores the bay of San Jago ; but not finding them there, proceeds to Magdalena, and, to the joy of all, anchors near the frigate. They weigh anchor again on Sunday mornina; the 28th of July, and that they may not be parted again, the Capitana takes the frifjate in tow. A ojale which comes on from the northwest after they leave the harbor, prevents them from 'standing as far from the shore as they desire. But they bear away along the coast, and soon after heave in sight of a bay which seems to be formed by the mouth of a river. This the frigate is sent to survey. But ascertaining the mouth to be crossed by a line of impassable breakers, they continue their voyage. On the eighth of August they discover another bay. Being now very much in want of wood, water, and fresh food, some soldiers are sent on shore to search for them. The country, however, is perfectly barren and destitute of all. An island is in sight which promises the required aid. It proves to be small, with a soil of gravel and sand, and thronged with gulls. The creeks are frequented with im- mense numbers of sea wolves, and a great variety of fish. The boat is sent out with fishing tackle, &c., and in an hour two men take a supply for both vessels. Transfiguration day is passed here ; and Padre Antonio celebrates mass. After service, the sergeant and some soldiers 132 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. being;' out in search of water and wood, find a lake filled with very good salt. Near it are some pits containing brackish water. Around these they discover innumerable foot prints, and other signs which, to their inexpressible joy, clearly in- dicate that the crew of the Almiranta have been here before them ! They therefore take a small supply of this miserable water, and sail for the island of Cerros in search of their com- Danions. On their way they pass a very high barren moun- tain upon the main coast, showing every variety of color, on a bright shining surface. It is affirmed, by a sailor from Peru, to be a bed of silver and gold ! They are very desirous to ascertain if this opinion be true ; but the wind will not per- mit them to land. They soon after enter a good harbor, which they name San Bartholome. Here the General sends Ensign Alarcon and some soldiers ashore for water. The only thing they find worthy of notice is a kind of resin, or gum, which being rathpr offensive to the smell, they do not think worth taking to the ship. They believe it to be amber, and report enough of it to load a large ship. As no w^ater is to be found on ' this barren shore, they continue their search for the lost vessel. On the last day of August they come to anchor at the island of Cerros. While they are furling their sails, Padre Tomas de Aquino discovers the Almiranta approaching them. The .most extravagant joy is manifested on board both ships at this meeting. Capt. Viscayno learns that she has been lying m a fine harbor since the nineteenth ; that she has just weigh- ed for the purpose of circumnavigating the island in search of the Capitana, and that supplies of wood, water, salt, &c., may be had at her last mooring ground. Accordingly, the little fleet runs into the Almiranta's old harbor. Here the General orders his men to pitch a tent for the Padres, and take in supplies. But the water is found so remote, that the General sends Ensign Juan Francisco and Sergeant Miguel de TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 133 Legar with twelve soldiers, over the island, to see if there be not some spring or stream more accessible. After a long seardi they report the discovery of a rivulet about two leagues distant. Everything is now ordered on board and the fleet proceeds at once to the mouth of the stream. While they are taking in water, the General orders the frigate to make the circuit of the island. On their return, the cosmographer reports it to be about thirty leagues in cir- cumference, to have high mountains covered with cedar and pine, and to be inhabited by savages, who answered all their signs of peace with the most threatening gestures. On the main coast a large bay was observed, which seemed to run far inland. All the ships of the fleet being supplied with water, they set sail on the ninth of September. Their course is northerly, towards the main shore. They make it on the eleventh, and discover a fine bay, which they call San Hypo- lito. Anchors are dropped and preparations made for sur- veys. For this purpose the General orders some soldiers ashore under Capt. Peguero and Ensign Alarcon. The coun- try is found very beautiful. A broad and well-beaten road leads inland from the coast to a large hut covered with palm- •eaves, capable of containing fifty persons. While returning to the ship they take a great quantity of the best fish, on which all hands feast sumptuously. Thus fed, and joyful that they have found so desirable a country, they raise anchors and stand up the coast. As they sail along they see many large fires, which they deem an indication that Indian villages are numerous. But they have proceeded a few leagues only, when a violent gale springs up from the northwest, which compels them to run in under some lofty hills bordering the sea. To the southeast of this anchorage is seen a line of white cliffs on which there appear to be a great number of Indians. The General, there- fore, orders the frigate in shore with the cosmographer to take a chart of the coast and ascertain the condition of the natives. On coming in close 'onder the heights she is becalmed at such 134 SCENES IN THE PACIFfC a distance from the shore that they cannot land. The sea, meanwhile, running very high outside, obliges the ships to lie to for twenty-four hours, during which time the frigate drifts out of sight and the Almiranta is near foundering. In the morn- ing they endeavor to continue their voyage. But the wind increases till evening, when a thick fog envelopes earth, sea, and ships. The Almiranta being in much jeopardy from the in- juries received the previous night, the General determines to look for some harbor where they may be secure against the heavy storm presaged by the fog. He finds none; but much to their surprise, the following day opens clear, and with a gentle breeze, which carries them off the Mesas, near which the frigate left them. TI:e promises of fair weather, however, prove very deceitful ; for before night a gale, more violent than any they have experienced, and accompanied by a thick fog, overtakes them. The ships lie to all night under reefed mainsails ; but before morning they lose sight of each other. The General now makes every effort to fall in with the Almiranta ; and keeping close in shore for this pur}X)se, very unexpectedly meets the frigate. But as he gets no tidings of the ship, his fears for her safety are not lessened. He there- fore puts into a fine harbor which they have discovered north- west of Cape Enganno, and there awaits her. He believes that, if still in a sailing condition, she must, by pursuing her instructions in regard to her course, necessarily pass near the mouth of this bay. They call this harbor Bahia de San Fran- cisco. In a rancheria near the anchorage they find a species of onions. Goats' horns, also, are strewn over the ground. The surrounding country is level, fertile, and very beautiful. The plains are fed by large herds of cattle and deer. The crew of the frigate point out an island a little north of the anchorage which they call San Geronimo ; and the Captain- General orders some of the seamen ashore to examine it. It proves to be heavily wooded, and frequented by immense Hocks of birds. Its shoals abound in the finest cod and other fish Of these they t^ke a supply for all the ships. Beyond the TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORN AS 135 island they discover a large bay into which a considerable creek empties itself with a strong current.. The frigate goes in to survey it. They observe great numbers of naked Indi- ans fishing in the creek, who approach the Spaniards with the liveliest marks of joy, offer them the best of their fish, and show them several wells of pure fresh water. When these things are reported to Captain Viscayno, he orders a tent to be pitched for the celebration of mass, and preparations made to lie here till the Almiranta comes up, or all hope of her is lost. They take in wood and water. Every morning the Indi- ans bring them" a supply of fish for the day, and pay such deference to the Spaniards, that they never visit the rancherias in the neighborhood, without first soliciting the permission of the General and the Padres. The Spaniards return their courtesy with trifling presents, which enlist their wonder and admiration so deeply, that immense numbers of Indian men, and women with two infants each, flock from the neighboring rancherias ; pronounce Spanish words after the soldiers ; eat with them ; and in other ways show a disposition to culti- vate the most friendly and intimate acquaintance. The fe- males are clad in skins, and show much propriety of conduct. These Indians carry on a considerable trade with their inland neighbors by furnishing them with fish, and receiving in re- turn net purses, curiously wrought, and a root called mexcalli or maguey, boiled and prepared as a conserve. Of both these articles they give great quantities to the Spaniards in return for the beads and other trifles. They in- form their visitors that up in the country there are a great many people who wear clothes and beads, and have fire-arms. They are supposed to refer to Onate's land expedition from Mexico. Having now abandoned all hope of the Almiranta, it being twenty-eight days since she parted from them, the General, on the twenty-fourth of October, stands out to sea. Just as he leaves the bay, to his great astonishment and joy, the long absent ship is seen approaching. 136 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. Being now all united again, the General gives orders ♦ continue the voyage, and run into the first harbor discovered. They soon see a large bay, which the tender is ordered to ex • plore. It is well sheltered from the northwest winds ; but as its shores are lined with great numbers of warlike Indians instead of landing they proceed up the coast. A north wester, however, soon obliges them to put back, and come to anchor. This being the anniversary of St. Simon and St Jude, they give the name of both saints to the bay. The next morning Captain Peguero and Ensign Alarcon are sent ashore with some soldiers to look for wood and fresh water. Find- ing none of the latter, they dig some wells in a moist spot overgrown with sedge and flags. While doing this, the Indians seem very brisk and bold; but do not molest the Spaniards till some presents are offered them. Construing this act into a sign of fear on the part of their visitors, they at once become impudent, attempt to steal, and even go so far as to try to take one of the boats from the boys who are left in charge of it. To deter them from further violence, one of the soldiers, as they are going off to the ship, fires his piece in the air. But the Indians finding no one hurt, grow more insolent than ever ; and the next day when a small party goes on shore to obtain water, they become so very trouble- some that two soldiers who have their matches lighted, order them to stand back. But this only increases their audacity. One of them throws his bow over the head of' a soldier. The pilot draws his sabre, and severs it. They now draw up in form, and place their arrows on their bow-strings. The soldiers, who have lighted matches, are ordered to fire upon them ! In a moment six Indians lie bleeding upon the sand! Their companions snatch them up and bear them away ! The news of this occurrence spreads like the wind among the neighboring rancherias, and in a short time two hundred Indians painted fiercely, wearing plumes upon their heads, and armed with bows and arrows, rush down to attack the TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 137 Spaniards. The Ensign, on seeing them, orders his men to make ready The Indians, however, do not rehsh the ap- pearance of the arquebuses, and remain at a distance, talk- ing and gesticulating in the most earnest manner. At length they send one of their number with a little dog, in token cf their desire to make peace. The man, while making the treaty, eyes the arquebuses very keenly, and signifies that four of his people are already deceased, and others dying of their wounds ; and in token of their sincere wish not to hear from these gods of fire again, he makes a number of presents to the soldiers who bear them, and retires. The squadron leaves the bay on Wednesday the first of November. Continuing along the coast, they come to the mouth of a very large bay, sheltered on all sides, except the sea-ward one, by lofty mountains. It is protected at the entrance by two islands, which they call Todos Santos. The frigate and the Almiranta run in to make surveys. But the Capitana standing off, and night approaching, they dread another separation so much that they put out and rejoin the General. The next morning preparations are made to enter it again, for a more deliberate examination. But a favorable breeze springing up, they conclude to leave it for their re- turn, and continue the voyage. On the fifth of November they fall in with four islands, which they call Coronadas. On the tenth they enter the fa- mous harbor of San Diego. The day after their arrival, En- sign Alarcon, Captain Peguero and eight soldiers are sent out to explore. They first direct their steps to a heavy forest which lies on the northwest side of the bay. This is ascer- tained to be about three leag-ues in width and half a one in breadth. The trees are chiefly oaks, with an undergrowth of fragrant shrubs. Obtaining a fine view of the bay from the heights, they ascertain it to be spacious, land-locked, and every way desirable ; and returning to the ships, report such to be its character. This result being deemed satisfactory by the jreneral, he orders a tent pitched on shore for the celebra* i38 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC tion of mass, and preparation to be made for repairing the ships. One part of the crews therefore is assigned to clean and tallow the hulls, another to fill the water casks, and another to procure wood and keep guard. One day when each department is employed at its appoint- ed task, a sentinel posted in the forest sees a large ^body of Indians coming along the shore, naked, painted with red and white colors, and armed with bows and arrows. In order if possible, to avoid bloodshed, the General desires Padre Anto- nio to go and offer them peace. He is accompanied by En- sign Juan Francisco and six soldiers. Signs of peace being made with a bit of white linen, the Indians immediately de- liver their arms. The Padre embraces them all affectionate- ly ; and thus the best understanding is at once established. But observing so large a number of persons on board the ships, they retire in much apprehension ; and after consulting some time together, send two of their women alone to the tent. They approach with a timid air ; but being kindly re- ceived and presented w^ith beads, biscuit, &c., they return and make such a report to their people as soon brings the whole troop down to the water side. They are generally naked ; their bodies striped with white and black paint ; and their heads loaded with feathers. Their light paint seems to the voyagers, to be compounded of silver and other materials ; and on being asked what it is, they give the Spaniards a piece of metallic ore, saying, " it is made from this." They add that far up in the country there are many people, wearing beads and clothes like theirs, who make of this metal such ornaments as the General has on his purple velvet doublet. All desirable preparations being made, they sail from this beautiful bay of San Diego. While they have tarried in it, many of the crew who had been sick of the scurvy, have re- covered, and many others have died. It is a sorrowful occa- sion for those who still live, to part from the graves of their companions. They are interred on the borders of the magni- ficent forest northwest of the bay ; and the well known trees TRAVELS IN THE CAIIFORNIAS. 139 which spread their branches over them, are discernible as they leave the land ! They scarcely clear the headlands of the harbor when a terrible northwester comes down upon them and changes their grief to fear. They see another voy- age begun which may terminate their own lives. But they keep their course and soon make another large bay. It is surrounded by a level, beautiful country, the inhabitants of which make fires on the heights along the coast, and by every sign in their power, invite the fleet to anchor. On approach- ing the land, however, they find no shelter from the northwest wind and stand out again to sea. A few leagues brings them to the large island of Santa Catarina. On the twenty-eighth they anchor in the bay. The in- habitants of Santa Catarina make the most noisy and earnest invitations for them to land. The GT^neral therefore orders Admiral Gomez, Capt. Peguero, and Ensign Alarcon, with twenty-four soldiers, to land on the island, and learn what the natives so earnestly desire. As soon as they reach the shore, they are surrounded by Indian men and women, who treat them with much kindness and propriety, and intimate that they have seen other Spaniards. When asked for w^ater they give it to the whites in a sort of bottle, made of rushes. They explore the island. It appears to be overgrown with savin and a species of briar. A tent is pitched for religious service, and Padre Tomas being ill. Padres Antonio and An- drez celebrate mass in presence of all the people. These In- dians spend much of their time in taking the many varieties of fish which abound in the bay. They have boats made of plank, capable of containing twenty persons. In these they carry long slender poles, to which harpoons of fish-bone are attached by long ropes. They strike with the harpoon and pay out rope till the fish is unable to run longer, and then if it be small, take it into the boat, or if large tow it ashore. They prize the sea-wolf most highly, as well on account of its fiesh, which th«y eat, as its skin, of which they make most ot their clothing. 140 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. The women of this tribe are beautiful, modest, and ex- tremely well conducted. The children have fine complexions and are very amiable. They live in large huts, dispersed m rancherias, and have many convenient utensils made of rushes Their island abounds in a small root resembling the common potato, which is much prized as an article of food. On this island is a very large level enclosure, with an altar in the centre surrounded by a circular wall or partition of various colored feathers. Within this circle is a figure painted with a great variety of hues, and resembling the image by which the Indians of Mexico typify the devil. In its hands are the figures of the Sun and Moon. As the soldiers ap- proach this place they discover two very large crows within the enclosure, which rise on their coming up and alight on some rocks in the vicinity. Before the guide can remonstrate, their pieces are levelled and both birds fall. This act calls forth the bitterest lamentations from the Indian, who evidently regards them as sacred to his deity. Santa Catarina has se- veral fine harbors. It abounds in partridges, quails, rabbits, hare and deer. The people are very numerous, and exhibit much ingenuity in pilfering from their visitors. On the twenty-first of December the squadron leaves Santa Catarina to explore other islands which extend in a line nearly one hundred leagues up the coast. They are found to be inhab- ited by shrewd, active people, who trade much among them- selves and with their neighbors on the continent. Between a portion of them and the main land is a channel called the Canal de Santa Barbara. After exploring them, the fleet puts back to the continent, near the southern mouth of this channel. Before they reach the shore, however, four men come up to the Capitana, and row three times round her with the most astonishing swiftness, all the while chanting a kind of wild measure, similar to what the Indians of Mexico call almatote. By this the Spaniards understand that they have the Indian king or cacique on board. And so it proves ; for when the ceremony is over, his majesty steps on board the TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 1 Capitana, and after walking three times around the quarter- deck, addresses himself in a long speech to the General and his officers. This being concluded, he adopts the more intel- ligible method of signs, to inform the Spaniards that the na- tives of Santa Catarina have sent his majesty advices of the' r visit, and have also spoken of their bravery, generosity, and the many presents made by them. All these things have kindled in his majesty a desire to cultivate the acquaintance of such illustrious persons ; and he backs his protestations of regard by the proposition to furnish them with everything they desire to eat and drink, and with the moderate supply of ten women each ! To prove his ability m this last offer, himself and son will remain as hostages while one of the sol- diers shall go on shore and ascertain the fact. As it is near night, however, the General very ungallantly declines his offer in behalf of himself and crew ; and his majesty at length departing, it is thought best to improve the fair wind then coming on, to prosecute the voyage. Setting all sail, there- fore, they progress rapidly till they nearly complete the sur- vey of the channel. The breeze leaves them opposite a cluster of islands, six in number, and about two leagues dis- tant from each other. The channel is ascertained to be about twenty- four leagues in length. The main coast is beautifully diversified with woodland and lawn, among which are several Indian villages. The following night the wind changes to northwest, and blows a tremendous gale for about sixty hours. The waters in the channel are lifted into mountains. The ships are driven almost uncontrolled among the islands. The greatest fear prevails that all will be lost. On the third day, however, the tempest abates. The Capitana and Almiranta are safe, and with the fair weather stand in for the continent. But the fri- gate is missing. The coast is skirted with lofty mountains which shelter some fine bays. From one of these, four ca- noes run out at the same moment, filled with savages bring- ing a large quantity of excellent sardines. These Indians 142 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. are tall, fine-looking people. They cover tliemselves with goat-skins before entering the ships ; and as if sensible that language not understood would be of no use, they utter not a word, but express their thoughts by signs. Appearing very good-natured, and not disposed to pilfer, the Spaniards pre- sent to them some clothing and trinkets, with which they seem delighted. The next day, others coming on board urge the General to bring his ships to their country, in order that they may furnish him with plenty of fish and acorns. The frigate now rejoins the ships. She has been driv(^n among the islands, and experienced much hospitahty irom the natives. They now all get under way and stand nearer the shore in search of a harbor. The whole coast has been enveloped in a thick fog since the gale. A fair wind, how- ever, springing up, they run along the edge of the mist till the fourteenth of January, when the weather clearing, they find themselves under a ridge of high mouHtains, white at the top, and clothed with wood at the base. This range they call Sierra de Santa Lucia. Four leagues beyond it a river tumbles through a ledge of rocks into the sea. Its banks are covered with black and white poplar, willow, birch, and pine. This stream they call Rio San Carmelo. Two leagues farther on is a splendid harbor, between which and the mouth of the Carmelo, is a heavy pine wood, form- ing a cape. This is Punto de Pinos. In this harbor the squadron comes to anchor. The crews are very much reduced by sickness. The master and mate of the Al- miranta are both unable to leave their births ; the Captain- General and his mate are scarcely able to appear on deck ; a great many of the soldiers and boys are very sick; and sixteen have died since leaving Bahia de San Francisco. iJnder these circumstances it is resolved that tne Aimiranta shall be sent back under the command of Admiral Gomez, with the two pilots Pasqual and Balthazar, and all the sick; th t she shall take r sufficient number of sound men to mau TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 143 her ; and that the rest shall go on board of the Capitana and frisfate. The General will send advices and a chart of all his discoveries, with a request that a reinforcement and supplies may be sent on early in the spring, to enable him to complete the survey of the coast and Gulf. In accordance with this arrangement the sick are put on board with great care; Padre Thomes de Aquino is assigned to accompany them, and on the twenty-ninth of January the Almiranta sets sail for Acapulco. The disease which preys so distressingly and fatally on the ships' crews is one of a very singular character. It is supposed to arise from the action of the cold winds of this region upon the relaxed constitutions of persons who come into it from warmer climates. The pa- tient is seized with violent pains throughout the system, which are soon followed by such extreme sensibility as forbids the slightest touch. This latter symptom is often so excruciating as to draw tears and groans from the stoutest men. Soon after this the surface becomes spotted with an eruption of a purple color, fine and sharp, feeling as if shot were inserted under the skin. These are followed by wales or hues of the same color, similar to those raised by the infliction of severe blows. They are about the width of two fingers ; appear first on the upper posterior portion of the thigh ; but soon spread themselves to the flexure of the knee. Wherever they appear the parts become rigid, and remain in the position in which they were first seized. The whole system now swells prodigiously, and the patient cannot be moved in any manner without suffering extreme torture. The disease finally ex- tends itself to all parts of the body, affecting particularly the shoulders, head and loins, and causing the most distressing pains in the kidneys. No relief can be obtained by change of position ; for the slightest motion is agony. In time the entire body is covered with ulcers so exceedingly sensitive that the pressure of the lightest bed covering is intolerable. At length the gums and jaws swell so that the mouth cannot be closed, and in man} cases the teeth droD out ! The vio- 144 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. lence of the disease and the debility arising from it are such, that the patients frequently die while talking with their friends. Such is the dreadful pestilence that has swept the Captain-General's ranks, and now fills the Almiranta with groans, shrieks, prayers and curses ! While she is making her way back to Acapulco, the Capi- tana and frigate remain in the harbor of Monterey to take in wood and water, and explore the adjacent country. They find this finely diversified with lawns and groves of pine, firs, willow and poplars, with an abundant undergrowth of roses and fragrant shrubs. The open lands are also dotted with clear, pure lakes. The country is inhabited by a great vari- ety of wild beasts. A large boar, a species of horned cattle similar in size and shape to the buffalo, and another which, from the description, might be ancestor of the Americana Horribilis, are among the most remarkable. The voyagers give to this latter beast the size of the wolf, the form and horns of the stag, the skin and neck of the pelican, a tail half a yard in width and twice as long, and a cloven foot ! If it were a native, one might be led to speculate on the propin- quity of sulphur ! The country also abounds in deer, rabbits, hare, wild-cats, bustards, geese, ducks, pigeons, partridges, thrushes, sparrows, goldfinches, cranes, vultures, and another bird about the size of a turkey. On the seaboard are great numbers of gulls, cormorants, and other sea-fowl. The sea abounds in oysters, lobsters, crabs, sea-wolves, porpoises and whales. On the shores are many rancharias, the residents of which are an affable, generous people, living under some form of government. They use the native arms and subsist chiefly on fish and game. They seem fond of the Spaniards, and ex- press the most sincere sorrow at their intention to leave them But this is unavoidable. Both vessels run out of the harbor with a fair wind, on the fifth day of January, 1603, and stand away northward. Soon after passing the harbor of San Francisco, in Lat. 37^ 45', they lose sight of each other, and the Capitana puts TRAVELS IN THE CALIF0RNIA8. 145 back Into it, to await the arrival of the frigate, and also to survey the harbor and surrounding country. Another reason which the Captain-General has for wishing to stop here is to ascertain if there be any remains of the San Augustine, which had been driven ashore in 1595 with other vessels sent by the Government from the Philippine Islands, to survey the coast of California. The pilot of this squadron, Francisco Valanos, is acquainted with the country. He reports that they left a large cargo of wax and several chests of silk on the shore of this harbor. The General, therefore, runs the Capitana in, and anchors her behind a point of land called Punta de los Reyes. Becoming more anxious, however, for the fate of the frigate, he weighs the next day and runs out in search of her. A gentle northwester takes him up the coast within sight of Cape Mendocino, when a violent southwester, accompanied by sleet and a heavy sea, combined with the sickly state of the crew, induces him to seek a southerly harbor, in which to await the coming of spring and the rein- forcement from Mexico. They are now in a deplorable state. Six seamen only are able to be on deck. The officers are all sick. The Padres are scarcely able to administer the last rites to the dying ; and the few well ones are in dreadful consternation lest a storm come on, and the ship go down, for want of men to manage her. This determination of General Viscayno, therefore, raises the spirits of the healthy, and cheers the sick to their best efforts. When the wind changes so that the fog is dispersed, the pilots take an observation and find themselves in Lat. 42^, opposite a cape which runs eastwardly, and unites with a range of snowy mountains. This they call Cabo Blanco de Sebastian. The lost frigate runs very near the Capitana during the storm spoken of, but not being able to live in such a sea, she comes to anchor under a huge rock near Cape Mendocino. The pilot, Florez, when the storm abates, finds himself in Lat. 43° north, near Cape Blanco, and the mouth of a large river, whose banks are SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. covered with ash, willow, and other trees, w-ell known to the Spaniards. This river they are very desirous to explore, supposing it will conduct them to the great city reported by some Dutch mariners, to exist in this region ; or that it is the Strait of Anian, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific ' The worthy pilot, however, has no chance of immortalizing himself by running through Smith's river to the city of Man- hattan. The current is against his course and his fame ; and he turns back with the determination of sailing to Acapulco without unnecessary delay. Meantime the Capitana is making all possible speed for La Paz, the harbor selected for her winter quarters. Oc- casionally, in her progress, she is visited by the trading canoes of the Indians. But nothing of moment befals her save that her crew grow more and more sickly, till she reaches a large island lying east of Santa Catarina, when only three persons beside the Captain-General are able to keep the deck. There is no conversation, no mirth on board ! Orders are conveyed in the quiet tone of conversation! The good Padre Andrez moves quietly about among the sick, the sole physician, nurse, priest and confessor of that gloomy hospital ! Now he bears medicine to the sick, and smoothes their pillow; now he administers the extreme unction, and anoints with holy oil the dying ; now he seals the lips and closes the eyes of the dead ! Prayers and groans alone are heard ; except when the burial service is hmriedly chanted, and the sudden plunge announces that some one is gone from among them for ever ! These terrible afflictions induce the General to abandon his intention of wintering at La Paz, and to run directly for the islands of Mazatlan, where he can procure better treatment for his dying crew. On the third of February he reaches the island of San Hilario and passes on to Cerros. Here he stops and obtains a supply of wood and water. On his departure, he leaves letters and signals for the frigate, in case she should touch there, and turns his prow for Cape San Lucas. He -eaches it on the fourteenth of February, and standing directly TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORiNlAS. 147 mjross the mouth of the Gulf, enters a harbor near the island of Mazatlan on the seventeenth of the same month. An account of his condition being sent to the Viceroy, he determines to go in person to San Sebastian, a village about eight leagues from the harbor, for more immediate aid. He starts on the nine- teenth with five of his soldiers. But being utterly ignorant of the country, they take the wrong path, and wander two days in the wood without food or water. At length they fall into a broad beaten road, and while resting themselves by the way- side, a drove of mules, laden with provisions, comes along. These are going from Castile to Culiacan. The General learns from the muleteers that an old friend of his has become the Alcalde of the latter place, and immediately accepts their eiYer to convey himself and soldiers thither. At this town they are furnished with every comfort for themselves and those on board the ship. The poor seamen and Padres ! They are now reduced to the most lamentable condition ! Helpless, covered with ulcers, and unable to speak or eat ! Among other things that are sent them, is a kind of fruit which is considered a specific for this disease. It bears among the natives the cognomen, Xocohuiltzes. It resembles an apple. The leaves of the plant are exactly like those of the pineapple. The fruit grows in clusters. The rind or shell is yellow, and contains a pulp full of seeds. Its flavor is slightly tart. Its medical properties are such that it cleanses the mouth reduces the gums, fastens the teeth, heals the ulcers, purifies the blood, &c. Its virtues were acci- dentally discovered by an officer who was attending the burial of a victim to this frightful disease, from his own ship. He was himself somewhat infected, and passing under a tree, plucked and ate some of the fruit. In a few minutes he voided from the mouth a large quantity of purulent matter, mingled with blood. The soreness was at the same time much relieved, and the gums contracted upon the teeth so that they no longer rattled in his mouth. The poor seamen and soldiers have suffered most deplorably from this malady. By the use #CENES IN THE PACIFIC. of this fruit they begin to recover. Nor have the Padres been less afflicted. Such is the condition of their hands and mouths, that the crucifixes which they have held and often caressed, while the disease has been devouring their frames, are covered with a filthy gore ! Their couches, as well as those of the crew, are masses of putrid matter ! But now all are creep- ing on deck ; the ship and its appurtenances are cleansed ; their rotting frames begin to heal! On the 21st of March they are so far restored that the Capitana puts to sea, and after a pleasant sail of eight days, moors in the bay of Aca- pulco. When her anchor runs, and the pallid forms of tha few survivors are seen at the bulwarks, the horrid spectacle chills every tongue! The people gather on the shore in silence. But soon mothers call the names of those who, many months before, have been buried in the sea ! Fathers seek their sons whose graves the wolves have opened in the forest of San Diego ! Mothers, in the excess of maternal sorrow, demand of the Captain-General their offspring, who have fall- en, muscle and bone, morsel by morsel, before the terrific pestilence ! A few recognize among the living, the disfigured countenances of their friends, and rushing on board embrace them with loud lamentations ! The Almiranta rides hard by The frigate arrives in as deplorable a state as the Capitana. Her crew is reduced to a number scarcely sufficient to remem- ber the suflferings and the names of those who have died. Thus terminates the voyage of Viscayno. He has explored the whole Pacific coast of Upper and Lower California. CHAPTER IX. A.D. 1615— A.D. 1633-4— Don Pedro Portel de Cassanate— A.D. 1&47— A.D. 1666-7— A.D. 1683— Indians— A Battle— All busy— Orders from Mexico — Ships dispatched — A Garrison and Church — An Ex- pedition into the Interior — Despatches arrive — A Determination- Padre Kino — Padre Juan Maria Salva Tierra — The Jesuits — Powers granted — Salva Tierra goes to California — The Resurrection — Inso- lence — An Attack— A Repulse— A General Onset— A Route— Peace — Arrival of Padre Piccolo — An Exploration — Condition of the Conquest Salva Tierra goes to Senora for Food— An Expedition to the Gila and Colorado of the West by Padres Kino and Salva Tierra — Return to Senora— Padre Salva Tierra leaves for California— Another Expedi- tion to the Gila and Colorado by Padres Kino and Gonzales— Indians and Rivers — Death — Last Days of Padre Kino — A lost Grave. No other expedition of any moment is undertaken to Cali- fornia until 1615, when Captain Juan Iturbi obtains a license for making a voyage at his own expense. One of his two ships is captured by a Dutch pirate. With the other he reaches the coast of Cinaloa, and procures suppHes from a Je- suit Missionary, Padre Ribas, preparatory to crossing the Gulf. But before leaving port he is ordered out to convoy the Philippine ship to Acapulco. This done, he returns to Mexico, and by exhibiting the pearls he has taken fires anew the wonder and cupidity of the whole country. The Califor- nian pearl fisheries are soon thronged. A few find what they desire, but an infinitely greater number are disappointed. The results, however, lead to the granting of a hcense to Francisco de Ortega to make a voyage up the Gulf. He sails in March, 1632. Accompanying him is Padre Diego de la Nava, the newly appointed Vicar-general of California. On the second of May they land at San Barnabe bay ; and having made a special survey of the coast from this point to SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. La Paz and purchased some pearls of the Indians, they touch at Cinaloa, and in June go thence to report their proceedings to the Viceroy. In 1633 and '34, Capt. Ortega makes two other voyages for the purpose of forming a settlement in Cali- fornia ; but finds the country so barren that he is obliged to abandon his design. He now proposes to have a garrison es- tablished at some proper point for colonization, and a sum of money granted from the royal treasury to maintain settlers for a definite period. But while he is agitating these measures, he has the mortification to learn that his pilot, Carboneli, has not only obtained a license for making a voyage, but asserts the practicability of settling the country farther north, with- out depending on the government for supplies. This pilot sails in 1636 ; but to his chagrin nowhere finds such a coun- try as he has promised ; and, after obtaining a few pearls, re- turns to confess his failure. After this, an expedition is undertaken at His Majesty's ex- pense. The governor of Cinaloa receives orders to pass over to California and survey the islands, bays, coast and face of the country, preparatory to making a chart for the use of na- vigators. He does so. Padre Jacinto Cortez, a missionary of Cinaloa, accompanies him in order to ascertain if it be practicable to Christianize the Indians. They complete the svrv*>y in July, 1642, and soon after send their charts, pearls, and other things procured, to the Viceroy. A change is now taking place at Mexico. The Viceroy, Don Diego Lopez Pacheco, Marquis de Villena and Duke of Esclona, returns to Spain under suspicion, and is succeeded by Don Juan de Palafox. The Marquis successfully vindi- cates himself against the malicious charges of his enemies, and procures an expedition to California to be ordered under Admiral Don Pedro Portel de Cassanate. This man is em- powered to build and equip fleets, and make settlements in California, and do such other acts as he may deem best calcu- lated to bring the natives of that country into the church. The TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 151 spiritual welfare of this expedition is committed to Padres Jacinto Cortez and Andrez Baes, Missionaries of Cinaloa. Having arrived at Cinaloa, Cassanate receives instructions to go out and meet the Philippine ship which it is feared will fall into the hands of English or Dutch pirates. He brings her safely in ; and while he is making preparations to sail again to California, two of his ships are burned. Discourag- ing as this circumstance is, he resolves not to be defeated by it. Two others are built at Cinaloa in 1647-8, in which he sails to the place of destination. But he finds the country, as far as he explores it, barren and dry. Before he completes his survey, however, he receives orders to go a second time and conduct a Philippine ship into Acapulco. This done, he proceeds to lay the results of his expedition before the Viceroy. This excellent man is soon after promoted to the Govern- ment of Chili ; and California is neglected till 1665, when Philip IV. again orders its reduction. The execution of this effort is entrusted to Don Bernado Bernal de Pinadero. But the Spanish treasury is now exhausted ; the nation and its colonies are impoverished. Two small vessels only, therefore, are built in the Valle de Venderas. In 1666 they sail to the coast, rob the poor natives of some pearls, and make their way back to report that expedition also, a failure. The Queen mother, acting as Regent, orders Pinadero to make another attempt. In this he is accompanied by the celebrated Padre Kino. This likewise results in nothing valuable. In the fol- lowing year Francisco Luzenilla obtains a license for a voy- age at his own expense. This proves, like all others, fruit- less of results worthy of note. In 1667, the importance of making a settlement in California for a rendezvous of ships trading to the Philippine Islands, is again brought before the Council of the Indies; and it is finally determined to instruct the Viceroy and the Archbishop of Mexico to send out Admi- ral Pinadero again, if he will give security for the perform- ance of that duty according to the decrees of Council; and if he decline, to make the offer to any person who will under- 152 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. take it, at his own expense ; and if none so offer, it is ordered to be accomplished at the expense of the crown. Admiral Pinadero having refused, Admiral Otondo accepts the proposi- tion. The spiritual Government is conferred on the Jesuits. Padre Kino as superior, and Padres Copart and Goni accom- pany the expedition. They put to sea from Chacala on the eighteenth of May 1683, and in fourteen days reach La Paz. They think it singular, on landing, not to see any Indians ; but as soon as they begin to erect a garrison, considerable numbers appear, armed and hideously painted, who intimate by sio^ns that the Spaniards must leave their country. After some effort, how- ever, on the part of the Padres, and uniform kindness from the officers, soldiers and seamen, their intercourse becomes apparently unconstrained and friendly. Soon, however, cir- cumstances occur which arouse suspicion. The reported murder of a mulatto boy, added to some indignities towards the garrison, indicate the need of great watchfulness on the part of the voyagers. Danger lurks near them. The Guaya- curos among whom they sojourn, offer to unite with their enemies, the Coras, for the extirpation of the Spaniards. The Coras appear to entertain the proposition, but report it to the Admiral on their earliest opportunity. The soldiers are thrown into such a panic by the discovery of this plot, that the Admi- ral and Padres are obliged to exert all fheir authority and persuasion to induce them to meet the event with fortitude. The day of the intended massacre arrives. The Indians ap- pear, to the number of thirteen or fourteen hundred. A pa- derero, or cannon, is fired among them, by which ten or twelve are killed and several wounded. The remainder retire in confusion to their rancherias. The garrison is safe; no one even vrounded. But this victory does not discourage their fear of the Indians. The dry crags, the treeless sands and thirsty torrent-chasms are, to the anxious mi" ds of the timid men, peopled with forms of death ; and every a wl of the lean wolf upon the heights, grates like TRAVELS IN THE CAL IFOR N IAS 153 a coffin screw on their ears. Otondo is, tliereiore, obliged to weigh anchor lor lluiqui on the Senora shore. Here he sells all his pearls, and pieilges his plate lor stores. Like a brave man bent on his end, he seeks again the Californian shore, and on the sixth of October anchors at San Bruno Bay, in Lat. 16^ 30'. On the same day, Otondo, the three Padres, and some sol- diers, explore for fresh water, and hnd it in a narrow vale one mile and a half from shore. Near this they establish a gar- rison, build a rude church, and some huts. And now Otondo sends two ships to Mexico wath an account of his proceed- ings, and a request for more money ; takes possession of the country in the name of the king ; goes fifty leagues westward in the month of December among mountains and desert vales ; ascends an elevation, where he finds several leao:ues of table land, with a temperate climate and a fresh-water lake of small size ; advances beyond, on a toilsome journey over steeps and depths, in search of a peak from which to see the Pacific Ocean ; fails to do so, and returns to San Bruno. The Indians whom they meet are much delighted with the paternal kindness of the Padres. Otondo employs himself a year in like ex- plorations at different points along the coast. The Padres are busy meantime in learning the language of the Indians and instructing them in the Catholic religion. They trans- late the Catechism, teach it to the children, and these in turn teach it to their parents. The voice of heathenism utters prayers to Jehovah on the Californian mountains ! The Padres find no word in their language to represent the resurrection of the dead. That idea has not existed in their minds, and consequently has no expression in their language. Resort is had to a very ingenious method of finding one which will present it. Some flies are immersed in water un- til animation seems extinct. They are then placed among ashes in the heat of the sun till restored to life. The In- dians who witness the operation cry out, Ibimuhueite ! Ibi- muhueite ! This word or expression is afterward used to 154 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. represent the resurrection of the Saviour, and conveys to the Indian a clear conception of that holy event. The Padres instruct during the year four hundred adults and many child- ren, but baptize none except those who are at the door of death. Some of these sick indeed, recover, and prove useful teachers. Most of them, however, die, holding fast their new faith. In these several ways do the priests and Otondo consume the year. At its close, dispatches arrive from the Viceroy requiring an account of proceedings, and forbidding any farther attempts to be made for the conquest and settle- ment of California w^hich should involve the Government in expense. On the reception of these dispatches a council of the Pa- dres and military officers is held, the determination of which is, that a small ship shall be sent with dispatches to Mexico, that the Padres shall continue to teach the Indians, and Oton- do to explore the country and pearl beds. In September, 1685, however, a peremptory order comes prohibiting farther efforts at settling the country, and ordering, if possible, to keep possession of what is already conquered. But it has now become apparent that San Bruno must be abandoned. No rain has fallen for nearly two years ; dearth, thirst, and hunger, stand near them ; and to escape is the settled desire of all, except the priests. These men of iron souls would stay to teach the savage. But Otondo weighs anchor, and with priests, soldiers, seamen, and three native converts, squares his yards for the harbor of Matanchel, on the Mexi- can shore. This is the last expedition of the civil power of Spain to conquer and settle California. Padre Ktno has begun to conquer it with the Cross ; and we shall follow him in his triumphs and trials while he achievei? it. The professor of Ingoldstadt, Padrk Kino, tlie devotee of San Xavier, traverses Mexico preaching to his brother Jesuits the glories of mar- tyrdom, and the rich reward of those who save from wo the doomed and lost In order to forward his zeal, he is ap» TRAVELS IN THE CALIFOilNIAS lf)5 pointed to the charge of the Missions on the Senora coast, whence it will be easy to send supplies across the Gulf to the more barren regions of the peninsula. Padre Juan Maria Salva Tierua is designated to lead the way on the California side. He solicits contributions ; obtains Padre Juan Ugarte, a professor in the college at Mexico, as a fellow-laborer ; fif- teen thousand dollars to be pledged the Society of Jesuits for the enterprise ; ten thousand more to be given it as a fund for one mission ; prevails upon the Commissary of the Inqui- sition at Queretaro, Don Juan Cavalero Y. Ozio, to subscribe funds for two other missions, and obligate himself to pay what- ever bills shall be drawn on him by Padre Salva Tierra. The license for the Jesuits to enter California is granted on the fifth of February, 1627. The special warrants empower- ing Padres Kino and Salva Tierra to enter California are subject to these conditions : that they waste nothing belong- ing to the king, nor draw upon the government treasury with- out express orders from his majesty ; that they take posses- sion of the country, and hold it in the name of the King of Spain. The powers granted them in these warrants are, to enlist soldiers at their own expense ; appoint a commander, whose immunities shall be accounted the same as in time of war ; to commission magistrates for the administration of justice in California ; and discharge all these from their service at will. With full powers both civil and ecclesiastical, therefore, and the treasury both of the Inquisition and of many private indivi- duals to draw upon, Padre Salva Tierra goes from Mexico to Guadalaxara ; thence to Hiaqui, in Senora ; and thence on the tenth of October, 1697, with five soldiers, Estevan Rodriguez Lorenzo, Bartoleme de Robles Figueroa, Juan Caravana, Nicolas Marques, and Juan, with their commander, Don Luis de Torres Tortolero, embarks for the scene of his future trials. A great moral hero, with his little band, kneeling in prayer on t^ie deck of a galliot, bound for the conquest of California ! The sails are loosened to the winds 3 they leave the harbor ; 158 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. but they have proceeded hardly a league, when a squall comes on, which strands them on the beach. All now appear to be lost. But they save themselves in the long-boat ; and when the tide rises, the galliot floats again, and proceeds on her voyage. A holy voyage is begun ) its consequences are full of hope to man ! On the thirteenth they touch at San Bruno, in California, and at San Dionysio, ten leagues south of San Bruno. At the latter place, fifty Indians receive them with joy. A fine watering-place, discovered in a deep and fruitful glen, indi- cates the place for an encampment. The provisions, bag- gage, and animals, therefore, are landed, and the barracks of the httle garrison built; a line of circumvallation is thrown up, in the centre of which a temporary chapel is raised ; be- fore it a crucifix, adorned with a garland of flowers, is erect- ed ; and " the image of our Lady of Loretto, as patroness of the conquest, is brought in procession from the galliot, and placed with proper solemnity." On the twenty-fifth of Oc- tober, formal possession is taken of the country in the name of the King of Spain. Thus commences the religious conquest of California by Padre Salva Tierra; a voluntary exile from the highest cir- cles of European life ; a great man, with a strong and kind heart ; abandoning kindred, ease, and intellectual society, for the well-being of the stupid and filthy natives of the Cali- fornian deserts. The Padre now sends the galliot to Hiaqui for Padre Piccolo, some soldiers and provisions. Meantime he applies himself with unceasing assiduity to learning the Indian lan- guage and teaching religion. He pursues the same course as he would with stupid children ; induces them to learn the prayers and catechisms, by rewarding attention and industiy with something to eat. By thus addressing their strongest propensity as a stimulant for the acquisition of knowledge, he hopes to awaken and instruct their higher faculties of thought and sense of right. In the latter he, for a time, fails. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 157 For the savages, dissatisfied with the amount of food which the Padre gives them, fall upon the animals of the post, destroy them, and steal corn from the sacks. Nor are they satisfied with this. They meditate a general attack on the garrison, in order to destroy or drive the people from the country. The good Padre knows their designs, but continues his kindness. Their insolence increases. On the thirteenth of November, the tribes meet to strike a decisive blow. Four savages come to the camp about noon, while the garri- son are eating. The sentinel tries to prevent their entering the trenches, and one of the boldest of them deprives him of the staff used as a halberd. The soldier cries out, and Tor- tolero running up, wrests it from the Indian with such force and boldness, that the invaders are frightened and retire. At this moment the Indian Alonzo de Tepahui, who keeps the swine and sheep in a valley overgrown with rushes and flags, is assaulted by another party. But aid being immediately rendered, himself and animals are saved. And now falls a shower of arrows and stones from five hundred Indians, ad- vancing to attack the camp. Ten men and one Californian Indian compose the garrison. And how shall they be so detailed as to meet this numerous force ? Tortolero, the acting commander, stations himself and Bartolerae de Robles on the entrenchment facing the lower part of the valley, the post of greatest danger ; on the oppo- site side are Juan de Peru and the Indian Alonzo de Tepahui ; on the side looking towards the river, stands the bold and active Indian Marcos Guazavas ; on the remaining side is Estevan Rodrigues ; the Maltese Juan Caravana has the care of the paderero, or cannon, placed at the gate of the camp ; and near to him is Nicolas Marques, the Sicilian, as assistant gunner ; Salva Tierra and Sebastien, his Indian, occupy the centre, in order to give aid where there should be the most need. The forces have barely time to make this disposition of themselves, when the savages begin to advance on all sides, with dreadful shouting and outcries. They are repulsed with as 158 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. little destruction of life as possible. Padre Salva Tierra de- sires that course to be pursued. The Indians return to the at- tack repeatedly for two hours, throwing stones, arrows, and wooden javelins into the trenches, when suddenly the whole body retreats and the action ceases. Half an hour elapses, and they return reinforced, and press upon the trenches with rage so fierce and deadly, that the hope of successful resistance with- out the paderero grows faint. The Padre, therefore, consents to have it fired. The match is applied. But instead of de- stroying the Indians, it bursts in pieces and flies about the camp, knocking Juan Caravana senseless to the ground. The Indians against whom it has been levelled, perceive this misfortune, and send notice of it to others with the remark, that since the paderero does not kill, they need not fear the smaller pieces. Of this they are the more persuaded, because the Padre has ordered the soldiers to shoot over them. And the kind old priest, now that the Captain thinks it necessary to fire into the Indian ranks, rushes between the guns and the savages, beseeching them not to press on sure destruction ! Three arrows shot at him are the reward of his kindness. Happily, the Padre is not injured. But he withdraws and leaves them to their fate. And now they fall before the muskets of the soldiers ! The wounded and dying groan on every side ! A route succeeds ! They fly in confusion to their villages ! Soon after, messengers of peace arrive. The first is a Chief. He weeps ; he talks in broken grief; he acknow- ledges himself the cause of these disturbances ; he first formed the plot, inspirited and drew in the other tribes ; he and they have sought vengeance ; but are now sincerely repentant. Next comes a band of women leading children. They seat themselves at the gate of the camp, and weeping bitterly, and promising good conduct for themselves and their husbands, offer the children as hostages. The good Padre is greatly rejoiced to see these signs of sorrow ; explams to them TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 159 the wickedness of their acts; and promises them peace, friendship, and other good things, if their husbands prove true to their league. And receiving one of the children in order to remove all suspicion from their minds, sends them to their friends and homes with shouts and other demonstrations of great joy. And now night comes on in this vast waste of burned mountains ! The httle chapel is opened for worship. Special " thanks are returned to God, His most holy mother, and Saint Stanislaus for his manifold favors." On examining the camp next morning, it is found " that most of the arrows stick in the pedestal of the cross; whilst the cross itself, and tent which serves for a chapel to ' oiu" lady of Loretto,' are untouched." None of the garrison are killed ; two only are wounded. These are the brave Tortolero and Figueroa ; and they adore the holy cross as the standard of their faith ; " they sing Ave Maria to our lady as their Captain, and unanimously determine to remain in the country." This garrison is called Loretto. To it, for many years to come, will centre the events of the country. Even now it is a bright and lone starry point : the only lamp of truth that burns, from Cape San Lucas to the north pole, is at Loretto. The only civilized men that live on all that extent of coast, breathe this first night after the battle, with their hands clenched on their guns, in the tents of the garrison at Loretto in Lower California ! On the twenty-third of November a long-boat arrives from Senora with Padre Francisco Maria Piccolo — a missionary among the Tarahumares, who has left his former field of toil, for this new one in California. Padre Salva Tierra has, by his arrival, a companion at his prayers, and in his labor among these savages. The soldiers now erect some works of defence within the camp; the trench is enlarged and fortified with a palisade and thorny branches of trees ; a chapel is built of mortar and stone, with thatched roof, for the image of " our Lady of Loretto ;" three other structures are raised, one for the Padres, one for the Captain, and one for a magazine ; and 160 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. near to these are raised the barracks. The Padres employ themselves with the Indians. A small tribe is allowed to take up quarters near the camp. The native priests, perceiving by this movement of their people, that their authority is diminishing, raise a party to op- pose the Padres. They steal a long-boat and break it in pieces ; attack a party in pursuit of them, and are driven from the ground ; repent, and are again received into favor by the forgiving Padres. Don Pedro Gil de la Sierpe sends Padre Salva Tier- RA a bark called San Firmin, and a long-boat called San Xavier. With these they bring wood, fruits, and horses and cattle, from the opposite coast of Senora. The Padres under- srtand the Indian languages ; they also have horses to bear them in their travels ; and they undertake, in the beginning of the year 1699, to explore different parts of the country. Padres Salva Tierra and Piccolo visit a place called Londo, eight leagues northward from Loretto. Here is found a populous village and some tillable land. But the inhabitants flee as the Padres approach. They call it San Juan de Lon- do. Next they attempt to penetrate Vigge Biaundo, lying south of Loretto. On the tenth of May, the soldiers, after much suffering among the rugged precipices, refusing to go farther. Padre Piccolo determines to go alone, and climbs the precipices till he comes to a village, where he is received by the savages with the most cordial demonstrations of love. He instructs them four days ; names the place San Xavier, and departs. Some portions of this mountain valley can be ir- rigated and tilled for grains and fruit trees. The neighboring heights are craggy and barren ; about their bases are some fine pasture lands. From San Xavier, Padre Piccolo goes westward to the sea, and explores its coast in vain for a harbor and habitable lands. During this journey he discovers, four leagues southwest from San Xavier, a large village of tractable Indians. They reside on the head waters of a fine stream running westward into the Pacific 3 — a beautifu. spot among a dreary desolation. TRAVELS IN THE C A LI FOR N I AS. IGI which he consecrates to San Rosalia. At San Xavier, during his absence, the Indians and soldiers have built with sun-diied bricks some small houses and a chapel. The Indians from San Rosalia are there ; and PADRt; Salva Tierra consecrates the Chapel to San Xavier, with great devotion and joy. This done, Padre Piccolo is left in charge at San Xavier, and Pa- dre Salva Tierra returns to Loretto. The shi[)ping of the mission at this time consists of two ves- sels, the San Firmin and San Josef, and the long-boat San Xavier. The number of settlers already in California of Spa- niards, half-breeds, and Mexican Indians, is six hundred per- sons ; and as the means of supplying them with food from the country produce, has not increased in proportion, it becomes necessary to redouble their diligence to obtain them elsewhere From Mexico they can export nothing, for the Captain of the Garrison at Loretto, having been prevented from using the converts in the pearl fishery, and thus ruining their health, and the Padre's hope of rearing them for Heaven, has, by his misrepresentations of these benevolent men, rendered ineffec- tual Padre Ugarte's efforts in that quarter. Unfortunately also at this juncture, the two ships of the California missions are cast away ! Nothing is left them now but the long-boat ! Distress is creeping upon them ! The fearful, maddening ex- pectation of starving to death begins to be talked of in Loret- to, when Padre Salva Tierra takes the leaky long-boat and goes to the great presiding genius of the missions. Padre Kino, in Senora, for relief. These Padres are devoted friends. They meet and embrace each other warmly, and relate, in the shades of a beautiful evening, all the hardships which have befallen them ; and the success that has attended their labors among the savages. Padre Salva Tierra has reduced the Indians for the space of fifty leagues about Loretto ; founded four towns, in which are six hundred Indian Christians ; two thousand adult Catechumens, besides many children ; all of w^hom are now starving ! Padre Kino entered Senora in 1687. He was appointed to 162 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. the lonely missions in the neighborhood of the Indians in the upper country, called Pimeria Alta, a district extending three hundred miles to the northward of Senora, and embracing the Tallies of the Gila and the Colorado. He went alone among these wild Indians ; learned their language ; formed them into communities ; prevailed upon them to cultivate grains and raise cattle ; and, by the aid of subordinate agents, has reformed their civil pohty; and indoctrinated them in the mysteries and hopes of the CathoUc faith. And such is the reverent love of these savages for the excellent Padre that they greet him everywhere as little children do a kind parent, who comes to bless and love them. This influence he uses only for their good. He procures from his Sovereign an edict against their being seized by the Spaniards and immersed in the mines to labor till dead ! He acquaints the Vice-Royal Government at Mexico that the military powers often accuse them of rebel- lion, and make war upon them for the base purpose of taking them captives to dive for pearls and dig in the mountains for the precious metals, and procures a cessation of such barbari- ty. This is a great work of mercy. For previously, in all those regions, it has been customary for the civil and military authorities to make the Indians labor on the lands or in the mines five years after their conversion. They pay for Chris- tianity in their hearts by the servitude of their bodies. And seldom do the poor Indians live to be free again, after this chain of avarice is put upon them. Very many are the clus- ters of little wooden crosses, near these mines, which stand over the graves of those who have been worked to death in their deep and dismal depths ! Padre Kino gives them liber- ty ; builds them houses and chapels ; teaches them agricul- ture and many other useful arts. Their animals now range on a thousand hills ; their ploughs turn the soil of a thousand fields ; and their belfries send their peals for prayer and praise up a thousand vales ! Such is the result of the labors of Padre Kino in Pimeria, and such the happy condition of the numerous tribes of In- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 163 dians on the waters of the Gila and Colorado in the year 170(X These Padres have wrought well in the vineyards of the Faith. And they are now met to converse about the fate of these la- bors. They have learned that malice has destroyed their in- terest in Mexico and Spain. They know that the lives of the garrison at Loretto depend on their sole energy and means. And well would it be for the distressed everywhere if the re- lief which they need were dependent on such hearts and heads as those of the Padres Kino and Salva Tierra. The Indian farms are laid under contribution, and the keel of genuine mercy is fast cutting its way to Loretto to feed the dying ' Words, wishes, speeches, associations, societies, general and special committee rooms, and newspapers devoted to " the cause," are the outlets and substance of benevolence in the seventeenth century — an untiring chase after the shade of a great idea. In the seventeenth, these hated priests of an odious order, whose name has come to be the common term of the most refined knavery, and even introduced into our lexicons as the appellation for the basest villany, perform acts of the highest virtue, endure hardships of the severest charac- ter, and make sacrifices of the noblest nature, for a class of beings who will never have intelligence enough to appreciate them. After succors are sent to California, these Padres agree to explore the northwest country, in order to ascertain whether California be an island, or whether it be merely a peninsula. This question is deemed of great moment to the missions in California ; for if supplies can be sent by land from Padre Kino's mission to Loretto, the expense of shipping to carry them across ♦^^he Gulf will be avoided, and the certainty of their arrival much increased. Accordingly, it is agreed that Padres Kino and Salva Tierra shall take differ- ent routes towards the Colorado. They determine to visit, on the way. Padre Kino's converts at the several missions in that region, and meet at Mission de I>olores. Accordingly Padre Salva Tierra goes by San Ignacio, 164 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. San Diepo de Uquitoa, and San Diepo de Pitqiiin, to river Caborca, and follows its course to Tibutama, Axi, Concepcion de Caborca; while Padre Kino takes the route by Cocospera, San Simon and Jude ; strikes the river Caborca and follows its banks through Tierra Tibutama, and other villages, to the place of rendezvous. Thence the Padres, accompanied by ten soldiers, go northward to San Eduardo de Baissia, San Luis de Bacapa, and thence twelve leagues to San Marcello. This latter place lies northeast from the mouth of the river Colorado, fifty leagues north of the latitude of the Gila, the same distance from the river Ca- borca and the same distance eastward from San Xavier del Bac. The soil of this valley is fit for tillage and pasturage, and abounding in water for all uses. It is surrounded by deserts and lofty mountains. Here they are informed by the Indians of two ways to approach the mouth of the Colorado ; the one to the right over the mountains and valley of Santa Clara, the other and the shorter along the coast over a broad tract of sands. The Padres desire to examine the coast, and for this reason, unfortunately, choose the latter route They travel thirty leagues on the south side of the mountains in search of the Gulf ; pass a large section of the mountains, composed of pumice stone ; and on the nineteenth of March, arrive at the sandy waste. On the twentieth. Padre Kino and Captain Mateo Mange, ascend a lofty peak in Lat. 30^ N., and not only see the Gulf 'but the opposite shore and mountains of California. On the twenty-first they reach the beach. Want of fresh water, and the difficulty of wading in the loose and burning sand, compels them to return to Marcel- lo, and take a higher track, in Lat. 32^ 30', where they ascend a bill of moderate height, from which are clearly seen the moun- tains of California, the termination of the Gulf, the mouth of the Colorado, the junction of California with the continent ! The Padre Kino joyfully returns to San Marcello to build a church and give directions for a new mission, while Salva Tierra goes to Cabarca Delores and the other missions of Senora, collect- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 165 ing charities for California, and with heightened expectations of saving the hves of his friends at Loretto, ships himself and them in the old long-boat San Xavier at the mouth of the river Hiaqui, and arri\es at Loretto the latter end of April, 1701. Joy fills the camp on the arrival of the good Padre ; and earnest thanksgivings are offered in the chapel by his spiritual children on account of his return. Here we leave California for a brief space to follow good old Padre Kino through the labors of his last days. In No- vember of 1701 he takes another excursion to San Marcello by a new route, and thence onward to the Gila. He fords this river at San Dionysio near its junction with the Colorado ; and having viewed the neighboring country, repasses the Gila and descends the Colorado twenty leagues, among the villages of the Yumas and Quinquimas. Here vast numbers of Indians come to see the Padre and hear him speak of the white man's God. The Colorado at this place is two hundred yards wide. The Indians swim it. If they desire to take anything across, it is placed in a water-tight basket, made of rushes and herbs called Corysta, and floated along before them. Padre Kino crosses the river on a raft made of tree-tops, and finds on the other shore, great numbers of Quinquimas, Coanopas, Bagio- pas and Octguanes Indians, to whom he explains, by means of interpreters, the nature of the true God and the after state. He travels on foot three leagues to the residence of the chief of the Quinquimas. The country over which he passes is level, and covered with a soil fit lor tillage and grazing. He calls the place Presentacion de Nuestra Senora. In this neigh- borhood he sees ten thousand Indians. Padre Kino is very desirous of travelling to Monterey and Cape Mendocino. But it being impossible for his animals to ford the river, he reluctantly gives up the hope of progressing farther, and returns to his missions in Pimeria. In February, 1702, Padre Kino journeys in company with Martin Gonzales. On the twenty-eighth they arri-ve at San Dio- nysio, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado. On the way ]66 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC and at this place the Indians throng the path of this good man, kneeling like children to a loved grandsire for a blessing. In March they advance as far as the village of the Quin- quimas, and name it San Rudesindo. These Indians show Much love towards the Padres, and even towards the beasts that bear them. The good Padre Gonzales is affected to tears by these demonstrations ; and strips off a part of his own wardrobe to clothe an aged man who follows him. They now travel down the Colorado to its entrance into the Gulf. Here many Indians come from the western shore and entreat the Padres to pass over into their country. They learn from them that the Pacific is ten days' journey from this place. The night of the tenth is spent at the point where the river and the Gulf meet. The tide rises very high and swashes near their couches ; horned night-owls hoot on the crags ; Padre Gon- zaies groans with extreme illness ! These Padres have de- signed to cross the river at this r>lace, and travel over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean. But Padre Kino sees the necessity of returning with his sick brother. He succeeds in getting him to the mission of Tibuiama, where he dies. Death in the wilderness, to one who goes into its depths to sow the seeds of salvation, is sweet. The desires of the mind touch the earth lightly. Their objects are things of thought and trust. The hand of hope is laid on the skies ! The eye follows it to the temple of immortal faith ; is absorbed and fixed there, to the exclusion of everything material. The Dains incident to the separation of the living principle from the body, are like brambles which one passes to fields ot flowers and fruits, singing birds, pebbly streams, and odorous shades. And the grave itself becomes in truth the pass-way only to the full enjoyment of the proper objects of the moral sense, without iknit or satiety. So this missionary dies, and is buried among the graves of Indian Christians at Tibutama, The years 1703, 1704, and 1705, Padre Kino spends in building up the missions of Pimeria, and in resisting the per- secuticn raised against him because he will not permit the TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 1G7 owners of the mines and plantations to enslave his converts. Having no one to assist him in so wide a province, he is al- most constantly travelling from one mission to another, ex- horting, encouraging, disciplining, and protecting his spiritual children. These duties task severely the tottering strength of the good old man. But he labors without intermission or discouragement, as he ripens for his reward. Nor does his ardent interest in the Californian missions abate. Every few months he forwards to Loretto his largesses of provisions and animals. But as the expense of supporting shipping for that purpose becomes more and more apparent and perplexing, he determines once more to attempt an exploration of a land route, by which suppUes can be sent from the mission on the Gila down the coast to Loretto. Accordingly, in 1706, he turns his footsteps again towards the Colorado, in company with the chief military officers of Senora, and the Franciscan monk, Manuel de Ojuela. This last expedition of Padre Kino results in confirming his previous discoveries. But be- ing unable to penetrate to Loretto, he returns to his missions, and defends them with the same dauntless courage against the avarice and cruelty of the miners, and the civil and military powers, till 1710, when he passes from the scenes of his be- nevolence and trials to his grave. There are few good men in the world. Consequently, when one of this class dies, there is a jewel lost from the crown of earthly virtue. ALL feel the loss of its hght, and grope nearer to the ground in their way onward to their destiny. Padre Kino has given his best energies to the Pimerian and Californian missions. The poor Indians on both sides of the Gulf have been accustomed to eat his bread and receive his blessing. The bells now toll through all Pimeria and Senora, at Loretto and San Xavier. The Indians kneel in their rude chapels, and pray for his soul, and invoke for him the good fellowship of departed saints Padre Kino is buried among the heights of Pimeria, the scene of his trials and hopes. His grave is lost among the driving sands of those desolate re- gions ; but his good deeds will live for ever CHAPTER X. Meeting of Padres Salva Tierra and Ugarte— A Plot— Burning of Saa Xavier— Ugarte at San Xavier— Famine— A Runaway — A Murder — A Campaign — Rejoicings — A Tempest — An Arrival of Food and Sol- diers — Measures for the Advancement of the Conquest — Exploration of the Interior — Sacking of San Xavier — Massacres — A Court Martial — An Execution — Peace — Expedition to the North — Distress — A Council, and its Results — Endurance — Roaming and Starving— An Attack — Salva Tierra leaves California— His Return— Extension of the Con- quest — Ligui, and a great Example — A Chastisement— A murderous Attempt — Mulege — Cada Kaaman — The Triumph of the Good — Poi- son — Death. During the absence of Padre Salva Tierra in Pimeria, Padre Ugarte has arrived at Loretto with a few supplies. The meeting of these two men in that distant land is warm and hearty. They have labored long in the same cause — have hoped ardently for the same result — the growth of the tree of life on the shores of California. The one has used his utmost energies at Mexico and Guadalaxara to procure the means to support the other, while breaking up the ground and casting in the seed. And when all his efforts are closing in disappointment, and the dark night of malice is casting gloom over them, and his expectations are giving place to despair, he flies to his fellow-laborer in the wilderness, to die with him, if need be, in a last struggle to bring the Californian Indians within the fold of the Catholic faith. After thanks are rendered to God for the favor of meeting again, the Pa- dres earnestly resolve to sustain the sinking missions. It is agreed, therefore, that Padre Piccolo shall go to Mexico and make farther trial to obtain funds for that purpose. He ac- cordingly puts to sea, but is driven back by a tempest ; and again he leaves the harbor, but is again compelled to return. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 169 These unfavorable trials induce him to postpone his voyage to a more favorable season. He returns, therefore, to his mission at San Xavier, and Padre Ugarte remains at Loretto with Padre Salva Tieura, to learn the Indian language, and assist wherever his services may be needed. Another class of events now transpire which change some- what the aspect of affairs among them, and give hope of better things. The military commandant, who has, by his misrepresentations, rendered abortive the efforts of Padre Ugarte, at Mexico, finds that the authorities will not relieve him from subordination to the Padres, and resigns. Captain Don Antonio Garcia de Mendoza is therefore succeeded by one Isadore de Figueroa. This man, however, proves unworthy of his trust in a difficulty with the savages of San Xavier. The Indians of that mission plan the murder of Padre Piccolo. And led on by the conjurors, or priests of their old religion, they come down upon the few converts who remain faithful, with such violence as to get possession of the premises ; and enraged at the Padre's escape to Loretto, burn the mission buildings and furniture. A number of the converts have been killed in this outbreak ; the fields of San Xavier, the only grounds within the limits of the missions on which grain can be grown, are laid waste ; the success of the savages in this instance will embolden them to attack Loretto. All these, as reasons, determine the Padres to send Captain Figueroa with his soldiers to chastise them and recover the mission. Accordingly he marches his troops to San Xavier. The In- dians flee before him. The soldiers desire to pursue them. But the commander forbids it ; and otherwise shows such a w^ant of courage and manliness, that the soldiers depose him, and elect in his stead, Don Estevan Rodriguez Lorenzo, who leads them in pursuit among the breaks of the moun- tains ; but without success. At the end of this year, 1700, Padre Fgarte having learn- ed the Indian language, and the Indians of San Xavier having become satisfied and peaceable, it is resolved to rebuild the SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. ^•nission and put it under his charge. Accordingly he leaves Loretto for that purpose. But on arriving there, the Indians, through fear of the soldiers that accompany him, run into the mountains. The Padre, nowise discouraged by this circum- stance, takes up his quarters on the site of the burned mission, and awaits their return. Meanwhile the soldiers, not having Indians to serve them, prove troublesome. They abuse the Padre and one another in such manner that he determines to trust himself with the Indians, rather than any longer suffer their insolent behavior; and accordingly sends them back to Loretto. After the departure of the soldiers. Padre Ugarte remains alone all day about the ashes of the mission and the graves of those who were killed at the time it was destroyed ! He does not know how soon they will fall upon him likewise, and take his life. Night comes on and passes away ; and he is yet alone. At daylight a httle Indian lad comes shyly, about the Padre's couch ; is treated kindly by him ; examines the fields, and hastily returns to his tribe : and shortly afterward the good Padre is surrounded by hun- dreds of Indians rejoicing at his arrival, and protesting that soldiers are disagreeable members of their community. The Padre and the Indians now unite their energies to rebuild the mission. The first labor of Ugarte is, to secure their regular attendance on the catechising, the prayers and mass ; and by kind and affable treatment, to alienate them from their sorcer- ers ; the second is, to accustom them to till the land and take care of the cattle. To accomplish these objects he induces them early in the morning to attend mass ; after which Le feeds those who will engage in erecting the church or clear- ing the land for cultivation, or making trenches for irrigation, or digging holes for planting trees, or preparing the ground for sowing seed. In the progress of these labors the good Padre works more than any of them. He is overseer, brick- layer and farmer. He is first in bringing stones, first in treading clay for mortar, in mixing sand, cutting, carrying, bringing timber, removing earth and fixing materials 3 some- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 171 times spading up the groiincl, sometimes splitting rock with a crowbar, sometimes turning water into the trenches, and at others leading the beasts and cattle, which he has procured tor his mission, to pasture and to Wci4er. By his own ex- ample he teaches them to throw off their natural sloth, to feed themselves and live like rational beings. But this great ex- ample does not suffice to wean them from a love of the woods, and a listless and starving inaction. A thousand times they try his patience, by coming late to mass and to work, and by running away and jeering him, and sometimes threatening and forming combinations to take his life. All this the old man bears with unwearied patience, kindness, and holy fortitude. In the evening the Padre leads them again to their devotions. At this time the rosary is prayed over, and the catechism ex- plained ; and this service is followed by the distribution of some provisions. At first these Indians jest and jeer at the service, and mock at what he says. This the Padre bears patiently, till he finds forbearance increases the evil, and then makes a very dan- gerous attempt to suppress it. An Indian in high repute among his fellows for physical strength, stands near him during service, and mocks at all that he does. The other In- dians, regarding bodily strength as the only quality of great- ness, are vastly pleased that their champion seems the superior of the Padre. Ugarte perceives by their bearing, that he is losing their confidence. He therefore seizes the savage, in the midst of his profanity, by the hair of his head, and swings him to and fro, with determined violence, till he begs for quar- ter. This so frightens the tribe that they afterwards behave with strict d-ecorum when engaged in religious duties. The work of building the mission edifices, however, goes on slow^ly. The Padre, careful not to weary his Indians with labor, at fre- quent intervals instructs their stupid minds in the best methods of performing their tasks, and most especially, in the know- ledge of their Maker. In succeeding years he enjoys the pleasm-e of seeing his neophytes well instructed in the doc- T^2 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. trines of the Catholic Church, inured to patient labor, and residing in comfortable houses. He has turned the mountain streams along the crags, and changed the barren dust of the mountains into cultivated fields, burdened with harvests ot wheat, maize, and other grains. He even makes generous wines, sufficient to supply the missions in California, and an overplus to exchange in Mexico for other goods. He like- wise breeds horses and sheep, cattle and mules. Indeed, such is the success of Padre Ugarte's fortitude and industry, that in 1707 he becomes the Purveyor-General of the missions, and relieves them by the produce of his converts' labor, from some of the fears of starvation on that desolate coast. Thus has this excellent man, in the course of seven years, opened, by his individual influence on the Californian Indians, a large plantation, the products of which, in favorable seasons, feed thousands of savages and seven hundred whites. His efforts now take another direction. His sheep, brought origi- nally from the opposite coast, have increased to such an ex- tent, as to yield large quantities of wool. This the Padre determines shall be made to clothe his naked Indians. He, therefore, with his own hands, makes spinning-wheels, looms, and other weaving apparatus, and teaches his Indians to use them. In order to perfect them in these manufactures, he obtains a master weaver, one Antonio Moran, from Tepic, under a salary of five hundred dollars per annum, to instruct them in weaving, and various other handicrafts. By these new manufactures, the missions are saved vast expenses for sail-cloth and baize. The Indians are clad ; the grains and vegetables, although not a full supply, are ordinarily suf- ficient to prevent famine. The cattle and the other animals being added to these, suffice to meet the necessities of the Californian missions. A deed of true benevolence performed, where human praise can never speak of it, is a jewel in the crown of our nature, which can never be dimmed. How it beams on the robes of the good man as he steps into his grave ! How 't glistens in the tear of silent gratitude that is TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 173 shed over the tomb of the dead, as ages crumble it into dust ! How rich a halo does it throv^r back on all after time, a rem- nant light of Bethlehem's holy star, to lead the living to the same happy use of their capacities ! These Indians' remote descendants will forget this good man. But his deeds will live in their virtues. We will now look into the movements of Padres Salva TiERRA and Piccolo. Near the end of the year 1701, the pro- visions which Padre Kino has sent to Loretto, are exhausted, and Padre Piccolo's departure to Mexico for a supply is has- tened. He sails on the second of December, leaving the Pa- dres, the garrison and Indians in absolute want. For sixty days they subsist o.i roots, wild fruits, and a few fish which they find washed up on the shore. On the twenty-ninth of January, 1702, however, their distress is changed to gladness by the arrival of a boat from Padre Piccolo, laden with meat, maize, and other provisions. This supply, in the bountiful hands of Padre Salva Tierra, lasts but a short time ; and want returns upon them with all its horrors. At length the last filthy piece of meat is consumed, and they betake themselves, Indians and Padres and garrison, to the shores for fish, and to the moun- tains for Pitahayas and other fruits and roots. Amidst these suiferings occurs a difficulty with the Indians. A soldier by the name of Poblano has married one of the Indian converts. In the month of June her mother visits her and invites her home to the joyful ingathering of the Pitahayas. They go away in the night unperceived, and run to the mountains. The next morning the soldier pursues them a limited distance, but returns imsuccessful. A day or two afterwards, he goes with a Californian Indian near a village, where they hear a great deal of shouting and merriment. An old Indian, whom they meet, advises them to return, because their lives will be en- dangered by proceeding. The soldier insults the old man and shoots him. The noise of the discharged musket rouses the village, and the soldier dies, pierced with arrows. His Indian 174 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. companion is wounded, but brings to Loretto information of this misfortune. The Padres of San Xavier return to Loretto, and prepare to march in pursuit of the murderers. The Indians, learning this movement, gather all their forces and destroy the corn ' fields of San Xavier, and a few goats, on whose milk the Pa- dres are subsisting, during this calamitous famine. The sol- diers arrive in time to prevent the destruction of the buildings. At length the parties begin to skirmish, and four of the Indians are killed. But their numbers and violence increase daily. The troops suffer incredible hardship among the preci- pices, and breaks of the mountains. Distress and consterna- tion are beginning to seize them. Death is looked for as inevitable. But they rejoice again; they breathe freely again ; a bark comes over the tranquil and heated sea, with provisions and a recruit of soldiers ; and runners are sent from Loretto to San Xavier, to give all a speedy share of the joy- ful news ; they eat and drink again in the Californian missions ! The Indians are intimidated by the arrival of fresh troops, and submit ; and the grateful Padres give thanks to God in a solemn Te Deum for this unexpected deliverance. Great anxiety is felt in California for the fate of Padre Piccolo. No tidings of him have been received since he left the port of Loretto. He has, however, arrived safely at Cinaloa, about the first of February, 1702, and sent them supplies ; has hastened thence to Guadalaxara and Mexico ; by indefatigable exertions has obtained six thousand dollars from the Government for the payment of soldiers; and having collected charities from a few individuals, has pur- chased goods for the relief of the most urgent necessities of the missions ; has obtained a guarantee of Don Josef de La Puente Marquis de Villa Puente, for the support of three new missions ; and from Nicolas de Arteaga, an offer to support another ; and from the Government, six hundred dollars per annum thereafter ; has secured the appointment of two Padres, Juan Manuel de Bassaldua and Geronimo Minutili, as mis- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNMAS. 175 «ionaries to California ; and has purchased a vessel at Aca- pulco, called Nuestra Senora del Rosario ; has embarked at Matanchel with his goods, provisions, his brethren, and some artisans, for Loretto. Fine breezes bear them into the Gulf; then a tempest swoops down upon them and compels them to throw overboard that part of the cargo which is stowed on deck ; but helping gales bear them to their destined port, on the twenty-eighth of October, 1702. And now again the cross is raised before the people ; the lofty anthem of thanksgiving swells up the parched moun- tain, and every knee bows to God and Senora de Loretto. Most of the garrison had been discharged for want of money to pay their wages ; few have remained to protect the Pa- dres. Joyfully now do they all gather about Padre Piccolo, with warm eifusions of thanks for his expedition, and engage anew to bear arras, and beseech the mercies of God for the missions of California. This reinforcement of troops, arti- sans, anIFIC. exploring the country. He takes with him the Captain and some soldiers, ami proceeds to San Xavier, where he is joined by Padres Piccolo and Bassaldua. Thence they travel with great difficulty over the thirsty mountains to the Pacific, and search the coast far northward for a harbor, fresh water, and tillable land. None is found which will shelter ships from the prevailing winds. Some land, with a good soil, is dis- covered ; but the absence of water for irrigation renders it useless. By going south, however, they fall upon the Httle river San Xavier. Here they find a few Indians who, after run- ning away, are persuaded to show themselves friends. On their return these Padres pass two rancherias, the inhabitants of which they induce to move nearer to Loretto. This jour- ney proves fruitless. They have discovered no suitable place for the establishment of a new mission. In May, they make another, in search of a river emptying into the sea one hundred and twenty miles north of Loretto. Having ar- rived near Concepcion Bay, they fall in with a large ranche- ria of Indians, who seize their bows and arrows and come out to destroy them. The Californian Indians, however, who are acting as guides to the Padres, explain the benevolent object of their visit; and all are received as friends, and treated with the kindest hospitality. These Indians inform the Padres of a large tract of crags and abysses lying be- tween them and the river that they seek, which it is impos- sible to pass, and they return to Loretto. A dismal misfortune now falls on California. Some Indi- ans arrive at Loretto full of fright and sorrow, from whom the Padres learn that the wretch who formed the last conspiracy, the murderer of the soldier Poblano, and incendiary of the mission of San Xavier, has fomented discontent, assembled the rancherias, and massacred all the adult converts at San Xavier, except the few who have escaped to Loretto. This sad news determines the Padres and the Captain to punish those factious individuals, in such a manner as to prevent such outrages in future. Accordingly the Captain and soldiers fall TRAVELS IN THE CA.LIF0RN-A8 177 on the conspirators at night, kill a few, amonjr whom is one of the most active in the massacre ; but the leader escapes. The Captain, however, declares he shall die. But the rough- ness of the country prevents pursuit. Another means of arresting him is adopted. The Indians are told that they shall never have peace until they surrender this chief of vil- lains, and in a few days he is brought into the mission of San Xavier A court-maitial is now called, and the culprit ar- raigned, tried, and condemned to death ! The Padres inter- fere to save him. But the Captain will not yield. The pri- soner confesses that he intended to destroy all the converts and the Padres ; that he has burnt the chapel and the images ; that he has had a chief hand in the murder of Poblano ; that he has been inducing the Indian women to marry the soldiers, in order to have more killed in the same manner ; and the Captain will not release him from the punishment which he deserves for such terrible acts and intentions. All the Padres, therefore, gather at San Xavier to attend the last hours of the miserable man. They teach him to look at the fearful scenes which will break on him when the spirit's eyes open on eter- nity ; exhort him to kiss the cross of redemption and lift his love to him who bled upon it for sins like his. He is taken to the plain in chains, blinded, made to kneel down and is shot ! This is the first execution for a capital crime in Cali- fornia. Its influence is salutary. The Indians become peace- able, and regular in their duties. The Padres make use of restored peace in exploring the country to find sites for new missions. The river Mulege, at the north, is visited by Padres Piccolo and Bassaldua in the bark San Xavier. They find arable land on its banks, a league in width, which appears suitable for a mission station. They therefore proceed to Senora to obtain riding animals wherewith to explore the southern shore for a land route to Loi'etto. Having returned, they descend the coast a few leagues, where a range of dry volcanic heights arrests their progress, and compels them to abandon their design, and re- 178 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. embark for Loretto in the San Xavier. On their way, they put into Concepcion Bay which lies south of the opposing Mountains ; send the bark to Guaymas for supplies ; go by land along a path partially cleared by the preceding expedi- tion ; arrive at a valley which they call San Juan de Londo, where they meet Padre Salva Tierra; and thence pro- ceed in great haste to Loretto. Misfortune calls for their sympathy. An ordinance has been issued by the Viceroy at Mexico, prohibiting any one from engaging in fishing for, or trading in, pearls, on the Californian coast, without a license from the Government, countersigned by the military commandant at Loretto. The object of this regulation is to prevent avari- cious individuals from drawing the Indians away from the missions ; an evil which the Padres have long endeavored to extirpate. But notwithstanding this regulation, two vessels have come upon the coast without license, and are fishing off Loretto, when a tempest breaks them from their moorings and strands them in the bay. The crew of one of them, seventy in number, are saved, and fourteen of the other succeed in gaining the shore. These eighty odd men the Padres clothe and feed a whole month, — the time required to get their ships off and repair them, — when the one with seventy souls sails for Mexico. This unexpected draught upon the small stores of the missions bears so heavily upon them, that the arrival ot Padre Piccolo from Senora, with the bark partially laden with provisions, barely saves them from starvation. Near the close of the year the twelve survivors of the other crew are taken to the continent by Padre Minutili, who has been appointed to the missions at Tibutama. But their presence for so long a time at the garrison has greatly increased the sufferings of all the stations. It is now 1704, the seventh year of the religious conquest of California. It seems to be the last of the missions. The Padres have labored inces- santly. Many of the natives have been baptized, and are becoming accustomed to labor. The lands are somewhat TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 179 productive, and the manufacture of cloth is considerably ad- vanced. Their attendance on the ordinances of religion gratifies the Padres, and civilisation seems to be taking root among these savages. But as the converts increase, the num- ber of persons to be fed and clad are multiplied. And as the necessities of these grow, the hopes of a proper supply be- come more precarious. The vessel in which grains are to be brought from the opposite coast requires overhauling before she can put to sea. Without her the money for the pay- ment of the garrison cannot be obtained from Mexico. But as the Padres have no means of repairing her, Padre Bassal- dua, for life or death, sails in her towards Mexico, and Padre Piccolo, with equal self-devotion, embarks for Senora in the leaky and shattered bark San Xavier. The mission of San Josef, on the continent, has been an- nexed to the Californian missions, in order that the Padres may use its resources for a uniform supply of provisions and animals. The brave Padre Piccolo is passing now between this station and Loretto, with all possible speed and activity. But the little provisions he is able to collect, ill suffice the wants in California. And as this little is often spoiled in the leaky boat before its arrival, starvation is again expected at Loretto. Meantime Padre Bassaldua arrives on the coast of Mexico with his creaking, leaky vessel ; proceeds to Guadalaxara and Mexi- co ; urges the execution of the Royal Orders for the support of the mission. ; is unsuccessful ; collects enough to repair his vessel ; procures a small supply of necessaries from benevo- lent individuals ; sails in company with Padre Pedro Ugarte, who has been appointed to fill the place of Padre Piccolo, and in the latter part of June rounds into the bay of Loretto, to add to the number of the desponding and starving ! The Padres send the vessel and the bark to the continent for pro- visions. But the shattered condition of these craft, and the northwest gales, twice oblige them to put back empty. And when at last they succeed in making the voyage, little relief comes of it. There is a want of every necessary of lite 180 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC among the Padres and soldiers. The latter complain that their certificates of services sent to Mexico have not been honored ; and the former see that some decided step must be taken either for the salvation or abandonment of the missions. Padre Salva Tierra calls together the Padres and the Cap- tain, and another officer of the garrison, to deliberate, and informs them that they can expect no speedy relief from their friends at Mexico ; that he cannot more clearly depict the melancholy condition of their affairs than their common sufferings do ; that he is summoned to Mexico to confer concerning the execution of the Royal Orders for the relief of the missions ; but that he will not leave California until the mis- sions are either relieved or destroyed. He desires, however, that others will fully deliberate, and freely determine whether they shall all remain there, and suffer for the glory of God, or go to Mexico, and await a more favorable juncture for renew- ing the conquest. He himself is ready to eat the wild fruits, and in other respects fare as the converts do, rather than abandon them. Padre Ugarte opposes leaving the country. Padres Piccolo, Pedro Ugarte and Bassaldua agree with him : and the Captain declares that he is astonished to hear a pro- position of the kind ; that he will solemnly protest against the Padres, if they should abandon the conquest. Neverthe- less, notice is given to the people, that w^hoever will, may embark in the vessel going to Mexico, and that bills shall be given them for the arrears of their wages. But instead of embracing the offer, they all refuse to leave the Padres. The fear of an insurrection among the soldiers on account of the non-payment of wages and want of food being removed, the Padres dispatch the vessel and the bark to Guaymas for supplies. While they are waiting for these. Padre Ugarte sets an example of patience and fortitude. He goes into the mountains and woodlands, gathers the wild fruits and digs edible roots, reminds his spiritual children of the death in Canaan, and God's goodness to Jacob — while the soldiers and officers vie with the good man in all his works of love. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 181 The Padres do not abandon their determination to found the other missions, for which funds have been promised. With this design in view, and also to bring new matters of interest to the minds of the distressed people. Padres Salva TiERRA and Pedro Ugarte visit the district of Ligui, lying on the coast south of Loretto. A single soldier and two Indians accompany them. As they approach the village, many In- dians rush from an ambush and begin to fire their arrows at them with great fury. The soldier, Francisco Xavier Va- lenzuela, draws his scimitar and brandishes it briskly in the sun with one hand, while with the other he fires his mus- ketoon in the air. These movements so frighten the savages that they throw their weapons and themselves on the ground, and allow the whites to approach them. The two Indians interpret for Padre Salva Tierra. He assures them that he comes only to do them good; that he has brought Padre Ugarte to live with them as a father, who will lead them to a happy futurity. On hearing this, they affectionately embrace Padre Salva Tierra, and bid their wives and children to come from their hiding-places. The Indians are sad that the Padres do not remain longer with them, and can only be comforted by a strong promise that Padre Ugarte will soon return. They baptize forty-eight of the children, and depart for Loretto. In the month of August, of this year, the vessel and bark return from Guaymas with provisions. Close upon this happy event, follows another, which causes much grief to the Padres and the Indians. Padre Salva Tierra is appointed visitor to tb*^ missions of Cinaloa and Senora. The prospect of losing the society and fatherly love of this great and good man, causes deep sorrow among all ranks. He is also called to Mexico by order of the Viceroy, to attend an assembly to be soon convened by command of his Sovereign, in which the propriety and possibility of executing certain royal orders con( erning the conquest and settlement of California are to be discussed. Before he departs, he consecrates the new 1S2 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. church at Loretto, and appoints to the command of the garri^ son, Juan Baptiste Escalante, a distinguished warrior, against the Apaches on the Gila, and Nicolas Marques, as Lieutenant, to till respectively the places of the worthy Captain Estevan Lorenzo and Ensign Isidro, who, to the sorrow of the Pa- dres, have resigned their posts on account of some bitter feel- ings towards them among the soldiers These matters being settled to the satisfaction of all parties, he appoints Padrfe Juan Ugarte to the supreme government of the garrison and missions, and on the first of October sails for the continent. He goes to Guadalaxara, confers with the Audi- encia of that department, passes on to Mexico, and finds him- self appointed Provincial of New Spain, and missionary of California. The good Padre, overwhelmed w^ith this unex- pected distinction, urges, w^ith sincerity and zeal, his unfitness for the office, and his desire to labor and die a simple mis- sionary among his Californian Indians. But the Padres assure him that the rules of his order wnll not permit hira to decline; and persuade him, that under so good a man as Provincial, the church will cheerfully further his pious desires for the conversion of the Indians of California. The Padre Juan Maria de Salva Tierra, therefore, in hope of bettering the condition of his converts in that forlorn wilderness, enters upon the duties of Provinical Bishop of New Spain. Padre Salva Tierra in his official character communicates with the Viceroy, and lays before him his views of the proper measures of his Government for the furtherance of the mis- sionary enterprise in the territories under his charge. He states, generally, the advances of the Spiniah power in those vast realms by means of the Jesuits, aiui that .n order to hold these conquests, the power by which they have been obtained must still be exercised. The honor and benefit of the Crown and of the Catholic Church demand this of his Excellency's Government. He is favorably heard, and all classes of peo- ple second his views. But the delay and selfishness which ^^'^e ever characterized the Spanish power in America and TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNiAS 183 elsewhere press on the track of the good Padre, and he is tbrced to leave Mexico on a visit to the churches of his Dio- cese, without any decided assurances that his views will be acted on. The poverty of the Crown, while half the world is diiJjging gold and silver for its coifers, is an additional cavise of this inaction. We next find Padre Salva Tierra, in 1705, appealing to the Jesuit College and the Audiencia of Guadalaxara, to suc- cor the missions. Soon after this he lands at El Mission del Nuestra Senora de Loretto, amid the general joy of the Pa- dres, soldiers and Indians. To the latter, particularly, he has been a father ; and they dance and shout around him in an ecstacy of gladness to see again his grey head and benevo- lent face. The Padre finds his brethren in great wretchedness, but full of unwavering determination to carry forward the work which he has so valorously begun. Padre Piccolo, who has been ap- pointed visitor of the missions of Senora, in order that he may have authority and opportunity to draw provisions more regu- larly for those of California, has been forwarding at intervals whatever he could gather from those poor establishments. But this has been sufficient only to prevent starvation or the abandonment of the country. However, the missions still exist, and the venerable Padre Salva Tierra is happy. Their discomforts have been much increased during his absence by the growing tyranny of Capt. Escalante, who has become im- patient of his subjection to the Padres, and abusive to the In- dians and soldiers. An account of this state of things having been forwarded during the Padre's tarry there, he has brought with him Don Estevan Rodriguez Lorenzo to supersede Esca- lante — an arrangement which results in much satisfaction to the missions. The Provincial remains two months in California ; but he does not excuse himself from his usual arduous labors. His new dignity furnishes no pretext for idleness. He bends all his energies to the well-being of the natives ; takes measures 184 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. for the establishment of two new missions ; the one at Ligui and the other at the river Mulege. The small number of his associates, however, is an obstacle to the accomplishment of his wishes. There are but three Padres with him. One of these is required at San Xavier, and one at Londo. This dis-" tribution will leave but one to take care of the magazines, disburse the stores, nurse the sick, and perform the spiritual functions at Loretlo — a task which no single man can per- form. Accordingly, Jayme Bravo, the lay companion of Pa- dre Salva Tierra, is induced to take upon himself the tem- poral affairs of the garrison and mission, and thus leave the Padres free to pursue their religious labors. This arrange- ment being made, the Provincial departs for Mexico about the last of November, 1704, and the Padres Pedro Ugarte and Juan Manuel de Bassaldua commence the exploration of the new stations. The former goes twelve leagues south, to Li- gui, and the latter forty leagues north, to the river Muiegej while Padre Juan Ugarte takes care of the missions at Loretto San Xavier and Londo. The Ligui Indians are found to be peaceable, but so ex- tremely indolent that the Padre can get no help from them in the construction of the mission buildings. His ingenuity and patience, however, are equal to his necessities. He feeds the boys of the tribe with sweetmeats, makes them small presents, and by his paternal address, soon attaches them so strongly to his person, that they follow him wherever he goes. He resorts to many artifices to habituate them to labor ; lays wagers with them on their comparative dexterity in pulling up bushes, removing the earth from the sites of the buildings, and challenges them to dance with him on the clay of which the bricks are to be made. The boys sing and poach the mud with their feet, and so does the Padre. And in this w^ay he clears his ground and erects the buildings of his mission. He also teaches these boys the Spanish language, and they teach their own to him. He explains to them the catechism and prayers, and they do the same to their parents. Thus, with untiring A California Lidian. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 185 patience, firmness and labor, does he bring the mission ol San Juan Baptista into form, and its Indians under his control And not these only ; but going many miles into the woods and the breaches of the mountains, he gathers in the wan- dering, feeds and clothes them, and teaches them to till the ground and live like men. At last he succeeds in humaniz- ing the greater portion of these rude people. They call him Padre, follow him to the labor of the field, and gather about the altar in his humble church to worship. All are industri- ous, well-fed, well-clad, and happy. As the Padre, however, is felicitating himself on these results of his labors, an accident occurs which well nigh ruins all. He is called to baptize a sick woman, with whom he finds an old sorcerer employed according to their ancient cus- toms. The Padre bids him depart, administers extreme unc- tion to the woman, remains with her till death, buries her according to the forms of the church, and after reprimanding severely the converts w^ho have lent their sanction to the jug- gler, dismisses them with much indignation. This severity of the Padre rouses the sullen fierceness of the Indians to such extent that, instigated by the disgraced sorcerer, they form the design of murdering him. They use the utmost secrecy, and make death the penalty of divulging their purpose. The Padre always has a boy sleeping in his apartment ; and when at length the night of the massacre comes, this boy desires that he may be allowed to spend it with his friends, the Indi- ans. The Padre objects ! The boy urges ! The Padre in- quires the reason ; and the boy, after much hesitation, tells him, " Because, father, this night they are going to kill you !" On hearing this, he sends for some of the chief ones, and with a resolute and dauntless air tells them, " I know you have formed the design to kill me this night. But remember ! With this musket I will, when you come, slaughter you all." Having said this, he quickly leaves them full of consterna- tion at what they have heard. Oppiessed with fear, they retire to their associates in the 186 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. design; consult much, and at last conclude to seek safety from the Padre's musket in flight. In the morning their lodges are deserted ; not an Ind:«an is in sight of the Mission San Juan Baptisla Ligui. On the following day the Padre goes out to seek his lost flc^^k. They are found hidden away among the cliffs, and flee at his approach. After con- siderable parleying, however, they are convinced that the Padre seeks their good alone, and return to the mission tho- roughly persuaded that he loves them, but can never be made to fear them. This excellent man continues at his mission, enduring every privation, till 1709, when the severe fatigues of years weigh him down and compel him to seek health in Mexico. Thither he goes in the character of negotiator and procurator of the missions. No sooner, however, does he recover his health in a tolerable decree, than he returns and resumes his labors. But illness again compels him to leave this inhospitable shore for the mission at the River Yaqui, on the opposite coast, where he makes himself useful as an agent and pur- veyor-general for California. But let us follow the Padre Juan Manuel Bassaldua to the R-iver Mulege. He starts in 1705, and with great diflSculty surmounts the crags as far north as Concepcion Bay. Here his progress is arrested by hills to all appearances in- surmountable. But " trial before despair" is the Padre's motto. He fills ravines with rocks, and cuts away the woods; and after incredible labor, passes his animals over to Mulege. There is a valley near the mouth of this little stream ten leagues in length, suitable for tillage. In this, two miles from the Gulf, he locates his mission, and consecrates it to Santa Rosalia ; builds his dwelling and church of adobies ; remains four years ; collects the Indians from all the neighboring set- tlements ; instructs them in religion and the useful arts ; and so endears himself to them, that when his health fails, and he m transferred 1 1 Guaymas, the poor savages find it difficult to TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 187 discover in his successor, the excellent Padre Piccolo, his equal in kindness and active benevolence. Padre Piccolo exerts in this new field all his well-tried en- ergies. Besides his labors as a spiritual teacher, he travels into the interior several times in search of proper sites for new settlements, and discovers those places which are after- wards occupied by the missions of Guadaloupe, La Purissima Concepcion, and San Ignacio. In the year 1718 he surren- ders his charge to Padre Sebastian de Sistiaga. This Padre digs trenches to convey the waters of the river over the fields, and in other ways improves the facilities for training those active and intelligent children of the desert to the habits of a better life. On the sixth of November, 1706, Padre Piccolo, three sol- diers, and some Mulege Indians, with two asses bearing their provisions, journey westward towards the country of the North Cochimes, which is called Cada Kaaman, or Sedge Brook. It lies on the skirts of the mountains, thirty-five leagues, by the vales, from Santa Rosalia. On the third day he is met by a whole settlement of Indians, in a valley which, on a former visit, he has named Santa Aguida. These poor peo- ple express great joy at seeing the Padre again, and follow him to the neighboring rancherias, called Santa Lucia and Santa Nympha. In these places also he is greeted most kindly, and desired to remain. On the nineteenth of Novem- ber he arrives at the head springs of the brook which waters the vale. Here he finds three considerable neighborhoods of savages, who welcome his coming with feastings, dances, and songs, in which those from Santa Lucia and Santa Nympha join with exceeding delight. He remains at this place until December, comforting and teaching them. A large arbor is built by the willing Indians, in which mass is celebrated. The neighboring villagers forsake their homes to attend upon the Padre's instructions. Fifty mothers eagerly offer their child- ren in baptism. And now he departs, followed by a large crowd of people, who mourn that he leaves them j and pre* J8S SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. ceded by others who shout their gladness among the parched hills, that he journeys towards their villages. They clear the path before him of stones and other obstacles ; present him with strings of wild fruit to eat ; and bring him water from the stream to drink. While these new missions are in progress, the old ones, at Loretto, San Xavier, and Londo, are slowly advancing in com- fort and usefulness. Nor are the Padres in charge of them idle in making explorations for other establishments. In 1706 Jayme Bravo, in company \vith the Captain, seven soljdiers, and some Indians, goes to San Juan Baptista Ligui, anJ having felicitated Padre Pedro Ugarte upon the happy beginning of his mission, passes along the shore towards the south. He has travelled a day and a half, when an Indian brings word that four of his soldiers are dying ! Jayme Bravo and the Captain return, and find that one of them has found a fire where some Indian fishermen have been roasting a spe- cies of fish called Botates, the liver of which contains a very active poison. This soldier communicates the news of food at hand to his fellows, and they hasten to devour it. A friendly Indian warns them not to eat. But the soldier who first discovered the fire replying, " None of your noise, Indian ; a Spaniard never dies," eats plentifully and gives to his com- panions. One of them chews and swallows a little ; another chev/s, but does not swallow ; the other merely handles and views the fish. Well would it have been if they had regarded the caution of the Indian : for in a very short time they are all seized with convulsive pains more or less violent, accord- ing to the use they have made of the fish. The first expires in half an hour. He is soon followed by the second ! The third, who merely chewed the fish, remains insensible till the following morning ! The man who only handled them is in a very bad condition for several days. This misfortune obliges the explorers to abandon their enterprise. They re- turn to Ligui to bury the dead in the consecrated grounds of the mission, and send their sick to Loretto. CHAPTER XI. Fa Ire Juan Ugarte and Jayme Bravo explore the Pacific Coast — Dearth — Thirst — Padre Salva TiEtiRA — A Tempest— Landing at Loretto— San Josef— Wrecked — Padre Salva Tierra goes to the Rescue — En- ergy — Suffering — Die by Thousands — Wrecked — At Sea in a Long- boat — The Limit of Despair — They toil on — The Guaycuros— Massa- cre — San Ignacio — Padre Salva Tierra leaves California — Death of a Hero at Guadalaxara. Meantime Padre Juan Ugarte prepares to reconnoitre the coast of the Pacific. The chief of the Yaqui nation waits on him with forty of his warriors. The Captain, with twelve sol- diers and some converts, is at his command for the same duty ; the beasts and provisions for the journey are ready ; and Padre Juan Ugarte and the layman Bravo, on the twenty-sixth of November, 1706, leave Loretto, with their troops and pack animals divided into three companies, on their wearisome way over the western mountains. Their march lies through the Mission of San Xavier and the Indian village called Santa Rosalia, and from that point passes over the dry and herb- less waste of heights and vales to the sea. Here they meet several hundred Guaycuros, who are friendly to them. Thence they march southward many leagues, and find no water in all the distance except in little wells dug by the Indians. They then turn their course to the north. They march all day over burning sands, famishing with thirst, and halt at night near the channel of a dry rivulet. Thence they send men a few leagues farther up the shore, and others up and down the thirsty channel, in quest of water. They all return to camp with- out success. Next they disperse themselves in every direc- tion to find a plat of low ground where they may dig wells, but find none. As a last resource, they now let loose their 190 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. animals, that they may, by their powerful instincts, find means of quenching their thirst ; but all these contrivances are vain. They kindle a fire to keep themselves warm, and, weary and famishing, stretch themselves on the sand for the night. In the morning Padre Ugarte greets the rising sun with the services of Mass ; and while they sing the " Litany de Seno- ra de Loretto," an Indian calls out in the language of his people that he has found water ! With solemn gratitude they dig into the oozing soil; they obtain a supply for themselves and their animals ; and having filled several vessels to serve them on their return, offer a service of thanksgiving to the Virgin, and commence their journey to Loretto. While the Padres are thus employed in establishing mis- sions and exploring California, Padre Salva Tierra is ear- nestly petitioning the Pope to discharge him from the office of Provincial Bishop of New Spain. He desires to spend his declining years among the Indians of California. In 1706 his discharge comes ; and with inexpressible pleasure does the good old man collect supplies of clothing, provisions and ammunition, for the mission. He is joined by two other Padres, Julian de Mayorga and Rolandegui. To their care he commits the stores, with directions to repair to the har- bor of Matanchel and await the arrival of the bark w^hich is to take them to the peninsula. The Padre himself goes by land four hundred leagues along the coast to the harbor of Akomi in Senora, for the purpose of collecting free contribu- tions from the missions in the regions through which he jour- neys. About the first of January he sails for Loretto. He has a long tempestuous voyage. "This night," says he, "the thirty-first of January, was extremely dark. We were with the mast lashed, and without a rudder ; and amidst rocks and islands ; the sea continually making a free passage over us ; the sailors spent with toil and hunger, having been without food for a day and a half, were prostrate, giving up all for lost. The least damage we could expect was to be driven TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 191 into the sea of Gallicia or Acapulco. * Tnstissima noctis imago.'' The Californians got about me like chickens, and they were not my least confidants, as being new-born sons of the Great Madonna, and had run this risk in her service. Af- ter all my journeyings and voyages, I never knew what dan- gers or distresses by land or sea were, until now." They are driven by this horrible tempest into the bay of San Josef, thirty miles south of Loretto. On the third of February, the storm abating, they run up to the desired haven, and are received with universal gladness. In 1708, Padres Salva Tierra and Juan Ugarte go with Padre Mayorga into the midst of the mountains to an Indi m settlement called Comondu, and invest him with a mission there under the name of San Josef; and after having aided him in gathering the Indians, building a chapel, and some bough huts, they return to Loretto. Padre Mayorga forms some neio-hborino; Indians into two towns which he calls San Juan and San Ignacio ; builds a fine church at the former place ; opens a school for boys at his own house ; erects a seminary for girls ; builds a hospital for the sick ; prepares maize fields at San Josef, and plants vineyards at San Juan and San Ignacio. Many other fertile spots are discovered among the deserts of California, soon after Salva Tierra's arrival, suitable for the establishment of missions. But misfortunes by sea and land retard their occupancy. The following is an instance of this kind. The bark San Xavier sails from Loretto in August, 1709, with $3,000 in specie, to purchase a supply of pro- visions in Senora. A storm of three days' continuance drives it on a barren coast, north of Guaymas, where it is stranded amonof the sands and rocks. Some are drowned ; others save themselves in the boat. Hostile Indians, called Seris and Tepocas, fall upon those who escape and drive them to sea in the open boat ; dig up the $3,000 which they have hidden in the sands ; take the helm from the bark, and partly break it in pieces for the nails. The crew in the boat encounter very 192 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC many dangers in their perilous voyage to the south. Storms overtake them. Their boat becomes leaky. They have no water. They live, however, to reach the river Yaqui, sixty leagues from the wreck. From this place a pearl-fisher's bai'k is sent to Loretto with an account of these disasters : Padre Salva Tierra hastens over in the Rosalia to Guaymas ; sends her to a port near the scene of the shipwreck ; dis- patches the bark San Xavier to the vessel, while he himself, attended by fourteen Yaqui Indians, passes up the rugged coast by land ; is two days without a drop of water; and at last arrives at the wreck. The San Xavier's men are merely sustaining life on boiled herbs. He sends to the nearest mis- sion for food by an Indian, who succeeds in passing through the hostile Seris and Tepocas, with a small supply. This does not suffice. Death is near them, when the indefatigable Padre determines to journey through bands of murderous sav- ages to the harbor of San Juan Baptista for help ! He has not travelled far along the coast when he arrives at a settlement of Indians, who come out against him under arms. They are led by an old man, who urges them on with terrible vociferations. Nothing less fearful than death seems promised in their present situation. But the Padre, with his usual in- trepidity, advancing alone towards them, makes some small presents to the old man and his son, which, accompanied by signs and kind gestures, soften their ferocity a little, when to their surprise and joy they hear the guns of the Rosalia ! The explosion of these cannon is new to the Indians they think it the voice of avenging gods — they immediately run away and bring to the Padre food, and $3,000 which haj been taken from its place near the wreck. The Padre thiis unexpectedly recovers his lost money, and the means of con- tinuing the lives of himself and men. The Rosalia anchors near the disabled San Xavier ; and the provisions on board for a time relieve the distressed work- men, seamen and Padres. But as two months are consume^ in refitting the wreck, they are again often in want The Father Salva Tierra goes alone to meet the Indians.— -F. 192 TRAVELS IN THE CaLIFORNIAS 193 missions of the region afford them occasional aid ; but the dearth which has pervaded the country during this year, so far disables these establishments from furnishing adequate supplies, that Padre Salva Tierra sends a messenger to the distant mission garrison, ninety miles up the country, called Nuestra Sennora de Gaudalupe, begging the Captain Don Francisco Xavier Valenzuela to send them food. This excellent man immediately despatches what succors he can command ; and soon after comes in person with some of his men and a mor* liberal supply. When he arrives, such is the distressed condition of the Padre and those with him, that this commander and his vete- rans seat themselves on the beach and weep. After a con- tinual repetition of trials like these, during two sultry months, the San Xavier is afloat, and the brave Padre sails his vessel to the Californian coast ; visits the Padre Piccolo at Santa Rosalia Mulege, and encouraging that lonely priest in the prosecution of his holy labors, drops down to Loretto. Soon after his arrival the small pox, that exterminator of the In- dian race, sw^eeps away the greater part of the children and many adults, in all the missions. The garrison also suffers very much from irregularity of diet consequent upon the pre- carious means of supply, and the necessity of living in that sultry climate, on salt meat and maize. All these sicknesses and deaths the Indians attribute to the Padres. Their children, say they, are killed by baptism ; the adults with the extreme unction ; and the soldiers are made sick by continual expo- sure to the malign influence of prayers, masses and the exalt- ation of the Host. These suggestions are raised by their old sorcerers, and threaten to embitter the Indians fatally against the Padres. But the neophytes stand by their Priests, and convince their countrymen of their error. From 1709 to 1711, a famine spreads over the entire Mexi- can Territories, and California consequently obtains no sup- plies from that source. The distress of these years is so iS eeedingly gr©tit, that the Indian neophytes betake themseh«B 194 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC to the mountains, and live on roots and wild fruits : while the soldiers of the garrison eat herbs with the self-denying Padres : and to complete the misfortunes of this devoted country, two barks used in bringing a little food from Senora, are cast away. In 1711, Padre Salva Tierra sends Padre Francisco Peralta, who arrived in California two years before, to Matanchel to repair the old Rosario. But the frauds practised by the work- men consume many thousands of dollars, and make the bark so miserable a thing, that in its first effort at sailing it runs ashore in spite of the helm, and is u^erly lost. They now build a new one, at an expense of $22,000. In this, then, laden wdth supphes, they put to sea. But a storm rising, the ill-built craft proves to be unmanageable, tlie sport of the waves and w^inds. She is driven to Cape San Lucas and back again to the isles of Mazatlan. Here some of the sailors forsake her; others remain onboard, and after many difficul- ties, take her in sight of the coast of Loretto. A storm now drives her ashore on the opposite coast. It is the eighth ot December. The night is terribly dark and tempestuoi»e Four seamen clear away the small boat, and regardless of the lives of the others, shove off. Those who are kft hang to the main and mizen masts surging in the seas ! Padre Bensto Guisi and six seamen are drowned. Padres Guillen and Doye, and twenty others, with the greatest difficulty, un- lash the long-boat, bail out the water with two calabashes, and throwing aboard a piece of an old sail and some bits ot boards for oars, commit themselves to the mercy of the waves In the morning they find themselves several leagues from land. They row down the coast a day and a half, and after a bois- terous night land three hundred miles south of Guaymas. Eighteen persons, naked, wet, pierced with cold, exhausted with rowing, without food or water, with the single comfort of having escaped death in the sea, land on a barren waste interspersed with fertile tracts overrun with briars and bram- bles They gather oysters, 'i'llts and herbs to cat, anrl TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 195 march into the interior to find inhabitants. As they break their way, the brambles and briars lacerate their naked bodies. Two days of agony from this cause and from hunger and thirst, bring them into an open plain, w^here they are found by Indians. These they induce to give information of their pre- sence and sufferings, to the commander of the town Tamasula, who visits them with horses, water and maize cakes, for their relief. From this town they go to Guazave, the nearest mission \u Cinaloa, where they fortunately find Padre Francisco Maza- regos. This lesuiv Missionary entertains them in the most liberal manner. The briars of the rugged path over which they travelled, have torn their clothing from their backs ; and this holy man calls upon hif; Indian converts to contribute of their means, wliile he himself bestows his own wardrobe, to clothe the naked sufferers. Having been refreshed by rest and food, and once more clad, they leave the hospitable Padre of Guazave for the town of Cinaloa. Here also they are generously entertained by Padre Juan Yrazoqui, until each departs to his appointed sta- tion. Padre Guillen is roused instead of discouraged, by these hardships. Like all those great spirits who are sowing the gospel on the deserts of California, his sinews become the stronger as they are worn by hardship. He travels over the deserts to the missions at Yaqui, and in the month of January, 1714, sails to California in the good old San Xavier. The missions are again entirely dependent upon this bark for the transport of supplies; the loss in New Rosario, of the commodities and clothing, on which the Padres, seamen, and soldiers depend to sustain life, no money left, no clothing, no food, the only sea-craft in their possession unseaworthy, and no means of repairing her, on a desert land and among hostile Indians kept in subjection chiefly by the supply ot their physical wants, now impossible to be done, are the dis« couraging circumstances which weigh on the heavy hearts of the Padres But who shall set bounds to the power of mora! 196 SCENES N THE PACIFIC. motive, when linked with zeal drawn from faith in God ? These Padres look for death, but they desire to die, sickle in hand, reaping the harvests of redemption! They toil on; they gather wandering Indians into towns ; instruct them, thirsting and starving a part of each day, and spending the remainder among the mountains and forests, gathering here and there a dried root, or a bunch of wild fruit, to eat. Padre Ugarte is even not content with these labors, but makes exploring tours among the Indian settlements south of San Xavier. Wherever he goes they throng his way, ask for the baptism of their children and the establishment of missions among them. It is 1712, and Padre Piccolo, though in bad health, imitates the zeal of Padre Ugarte. "With the Captain, a few soldiers and Indians, he travels westward from Santa Rosalia Mulege, crosses the mountains of Vajademin, finds beyond them a small clear brook ; follows it to the sea, ex- amines the barren coast about its mouth, ascends a little stream about twenty miles ; erects a cross and devotes the neighboring grounds to a contemplated mission. While he remains here many hundred Indians come in from the neigh- boring settlements, beseeching the Padre to remain with them, and as an inducement to do so, promise to give him their best wild fruits and feathers, and devote their children to the Catholic faith. He agrees to send them a Padre to instruct them more fully in religion, and returns to his station. The vessels used by the people of the opposite coast in fishing for pearls bring a scanty supply of provisions. The Padre and people clothe themselves in the skins of wild beasts, and continue their labors. In the year 1716, Padre Salva Tierra sails south in a brigantine called Guadalupe, to La Paz, in order to make peace with, the Guaycuros, who still retain an unfavorable remembrance of Admiral Otondo's ill-advised conduct, and the constantly repeated injuries of the r>earl fishermen. He is accompanied by three Guaycuri prisoners taken from the pearl fishers, whom he is carry* mg back to their homes TRAVELS' IN THE CALIFCRNIAS. 197 When he enters La Paz bay the Loretto Indians leap over- board and swim ashore ; the Padre, Captain and soldiers fol- low hastily in their boats ; but do not arrive in time to prevent the Loretto tribe from such warlike demonstrations as put the Guaycuros to flight. They flee, leaving their wive^ and children to follow after at a slower pace. The Lorettc Lidians do not regard the orders of Padre Salva Tierra but led by savage impulse, fall upon the hapless women anc children. These attempt to defend themselves with stones. But they must have perished had not the Captain and the nimblest of the soldiers arrived at the commencement of the infamous encounter. The unoffending creatures are saved 3 and wailing horribly, follow their cowardly fathers and hus- bands. This unfortunate event tries exceedingly the good Padre Salva Tierra. He sorrows that his benevolent designs should terminate in an outrage upon those whom he comes to cherish. But it is apparent that this rashness of the Loretto Indians renders useless any attempts at friendly connections with the Guaycuros. He therefore distributes to the prisoners from the pearlfishers' vessels, some agreeable presents, explains to them, that his object in visiting their countrymen was to re- store themselves to their homes, and enter into friendly rela- tions with the Guaycuros nation, and dismisses them with such other marks of his good intentions as will open a proba- bility of successful negotiation with their countrymen on anolher occasion. He returns to Loretto with a heavy heart : and sends the brigantine to Matanchel for goods and pro- visions. A furious storm strands it ; the vessel and cargo are a total loss; and nine persons are drowned. Thus death again thins the ranks of the Californian missions ; want and nakedness stalk among them ; and the old San Xavier, after eighteen years' service, is the only sea craft connecting them with the continent and with life. Amidst all these difficulties, however, the untiring Padres found the mission of San Igna- ci« i« the Cada Kaaman, or the vale of the Sedge Brook. 198 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC It is now eighteen years since Padre Salva Tierra landed in California and erected the cross at Loretto. His labors have been arduous and unremitted. His trials by shipwreck and tempests, by progresses over mountains and deserts, by hunger and thirst, by arrows and Indian knives, by endu- rances of all kinds, have whitened his hair, withered his bones and muscles, made his steps unstable and his head tremble at the throbs of his heart. He feels that the holy water must soon fall on his coffin lid, and California be de- prived of his services. It is the year 1717. He is at Loretto, with little to eat, and badly clad, and scarcely able to walk or stand. But he teaches the children — exhorts the adults to the service of God, and superintends every particular move- ment of the garrison and the mission. In March, Padre Nicholas Tamaral, appointed to the proposed mission of La Purissima, arrives at Loretto, bringing letters from the reign- in o- Viceroy of Mexico, in which among other matters it is stated that the King has forwarded important instructions rela- tive to advancing most efficiently the spiritual conquest of California, together with a summons that Padre Salva Tierra shall immediately repair to Mexico to aid in devising the best means of effecting that object. Disease, pain, want and danger present no obstacles to this aged Patriarch, when the interest of his missions calls upon him for action. He im- mediately determines to go to Mexico. Accordingly the government of California is committed to the wisdom of Padre Ugarte, and on the 31st of the same month of March, the good Padre and Jayme Bravo sail for Matanchel. Nine days' passage brings them to the desired port ; they take mules for Tepic ; the good Padre suffers greatly at every misstep of his animal ; they arrive at Tepic ; the Pa dre is in extreme torture ; but tortures cannot deter him fron his holy labors ; he is too weak and too much racked witi pain to mount a horse or mule, and is therefore borne in litter on the shoulders of Indians, to Guadalaxara. Here his illness increases so that he can proceed no farther. He is TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 19S lodged in the college of Jesuits. The Padres are in attend- ance upon him. Two months of agony wear toward a close ; and death begins to chill his limbs, glaze his eyes, and chain his utterance : and when he can no longer stir, he calls to him his faithful companion, J ay me Bravo, and in the most earnest manner, giving him instruction and powers for acting in his stead at Mexico, commends him and his beloved missions to the guardianship of Heaven. And now a hero dies ! Not one who has swung the brand of war over the villages and cities of nations; not one who has crushed the hearts of men, yoked them in bondage, and severed every tendril of mercy and justice from the governing powers; not such a hero as men will worship ; but a great and good man, offering life and every capacity of happiness within him to the well-being of savages in a barren waste of mountains ; a hero in the heavenly armor of righteousness, endur- ing fatigue, hunger, thirst, and constant danger among the flinty, unwatered wastes of unthinking and uninstructed hu- man nature ; a missionary of a Californian wilderness ! All the people of the city and neighboring villages crowd to the college, and kneel through the streets and alleys, on the balconies and roofs of the houses, and pray for the repose of the departed soul of Padre Salva Tierra. There is no noise in Guadalaxara, nor business ; it is a city of prayer : they come one after another and kneel and pray, and silently retire ; thirty thousands of people beseech Heaven with one earnest desire — that he whom they have loved, he who has labored so ardently in propagating the faith, may find a man- sion of repose and reward in the upper world ! Some CUi- fornian Indians, whom he has brought with him, exhibit extraordinary grief; the whole city assists at the interment; they bury him in the chapel he has erected many years ago to the Virgin of Loretto. And thus end the mortal part and mortal deeds of Padre Salva Tierra. But his remembrance is written in the imperishable record of those great minds 200 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. who have conquered nations with the sabre of truth, and led them to a more inteUigent and happy condition. Jayme Bravo, after the burial of Padre Salva Tierra, pro- ceeds to Mexico, lays the condition of the Californian mis- sions before the Vice-Royal Council, obtains an appropriation of four thousand dollars for the building and equipment of a vessel for the mission service, three thousand and twenty-two dollars for discharging the debts due at the death of Padre Salva Tierra, and eighteen thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars for the pay of the soldiers and sailors. While these things are transpiring in Mexico, a terrible hur- ricane, accompanied by violent rains, sweeps over Cahfornia. Padre Ugarte's house, and the church at Loretto, are levelled to the ground ; and the Padre himself stands by the side of a rock exposed to the tempest for twenty-four hours. At San Xavier, the channels used for irrigating the lands are filled with stones, and the water thrown in torrents over the fields. Both soil and sprouting crops are carried away. The same misfortune occurs at Mulege. The blasts of the tem- pests are so terrific at the garrison, that a Spanish boy named Matheo, is taken up in one of their gyrations and never seen more ! Tornadoes of this kind are frequent in California But the Padres have seen none equal to this for violence ard continuance. What little soil has been found in the country has been dislodged and s#ept into the sea ; the country is laid waste ; its rocks are bare ; its plains and vales are £OV« ered ^vth heaps of stones. CHAPTER XII. Padre Bi'avo in Mexico— Return to California — First ship built in North- west America — Expedition to the G uay euros— Nuestra Sennora del Pilar de la Paz — Founding Nuestra Sennora de Gaudalupe — Burning of Idols— A Famine — Locusts — A Pestilence — The Dying — Explo- rations by Land and Sea— Indian Country— Dreadful Sufferings- Tempests — Water-Spouts — Return of the Explorers. Thus stands the condition of the Californian missions in 17 1 1. More than five hundred thousand dollars of private benefac- tions have been expended upon them ; and the twenty-five thousand more lately granted by the government, have been invested, and chiefly lost in disasters by sea and land. Now the crops are destroyed, and the utter annihilation of these es- tablishments is anticipated in the course of the year. But Jayme Bravo is in Mexico. He collects a few provi- sions and goods, and accompanied by Padre Sebastian de Sistiaga in a Peruvian vessel presented to the missions by the Viceroy, arrives at Loretto in July, 1718, and gives new energy to the missions. The founding of the San Miguel by Padre Tamaral, in 29- and odd minutes N. among the moun- tains near the Gulf, is one of the features of returning hope. Soon after this Padre's arrival at his station, two neighboring settlements of Indians are baptised. After this he, with innu- merable hardships, crosses the mountains to the settlement of the Cadigomo tribe. Here he meets with the Indians from the settlements of La Purissima Concepcion, and accompanies them home. He finds the soil of their fields washed away by the late tempest, but determines to establish the mission La Purissima among them. And after years of toil, the zealous man builds a parsonage and church, brings several maize ^elds under cultivation, opens a mule track over the moun- fiU2 s(;enes in the pacific. tains to Ihe mission of Santa Rosalia, and extends his jurisdic- tion over forty settlements, situated within a circuit of ninety miles around him. Many years ago the Philippine Islands were discovered aid settled by Spain. Soon a considerable trace sprung up be- tween them and the Spanish possessions in Mexico. Indeed the products of the Philippine Islands destined for old Spain, are landed at Accapulco, carried across the country on muks, and reshipped for Old Spain at the port of Vera Cruz. The passage from these islands to the Mexican coast is made, for the greater part, through the Chinese seas, to latitude 30*^ N. Here voyagers fall in with the variable winds, which take them to the American coast, between latitudes 30*^ and 40^ N. At this point, during the spring, summer and autumn, they meet the northwesterly winds, which drive them down the coast to Accapulco. In these early times navigation is imperfectly understood. That ocean too is chiefly unknown. Naviga- tors are not familiar with its currents, and consequently every voyage across its trackless waters is hazardous and prolonged. And when they reach the American coast, the crews are sick with the scurvy ; and they should land for a supp5y of fresh pro- visions. But while no harbor is known, from Cape San Lucas to the remote north, at which wood, water and other necessary relief can be had, the ships are obliged to keep down the coast \o Mazatlan, Accapulco, or some other port, before they make their first landing, after leaving the East Indies ; a distance of more than eleven thousand miles. And when they arrive at these ports, it frequently happens that nearly all the crew are irrecoverably diseased, or dead. In order to avoid this dread- ful evil, the Spanish crown has often ordered the missionaries to explore the coasts for a bay surrounded by a country suita- ble for the settlement of a colony. This they have often at- tempted, but the want of proper animals in their progresses, and the miserable character of the craft used in their voyages, have thus far prevented the attainment of their wishes. But Padre Uga te now determines to survey both the Pacific and TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORN AS 203 Gulf coasts of the peninsula. His means are so small, how- ever, in every respect, that his brethren do not perceive how he will do it. He wants provisions, men and a ship. And such is the condition of public feeling in Mexico, and such the dilficulty of journeying there, that he cannot hope for aid from his friends in that quarter. But who knows the wealth of exhaustless energy ! Padre Ugarte will build a ship in Cali- fornia ! ! He has, however, neither plank, timber, sails, nor rigging, tar, nor any other necessary materials for such a work ; nor has he either a builder or shipwright, sawyer, or other naval artificers ; and if he had, there is no food for their sup- port ; and worse than all, he has no money wherewith to sup- ply any of these deficiencies. But the Padre says the King's orders must be obeyed ; that this cannot be done without the ship ; and therefore the ship must be built irrespective of means. The sufferings of his fellow beings also demand it The people of the garrison and some of the Padres smile at Padre Ugarte's resolution against what seems to them an im- possibility. But they do not estimate the creative powers of a mind bent on the accomplishment of its desires. He obtains a builder from Senora, and makes preparations for bringing timber from the opposite coast, as he has done for the erection of his churches. But hearing of a grove of large trees two hundred miles north of Loretto, he changes his determination, and in September, 1719, goes with his builders, two soldiers and some Indians to Mulege. Here he remains a day with Padre Sistiaga, and then strikes out for that line of mountains which overhangs the mission of Gaudalupe. They climb the heights and scour the barren plains ; endure inexpressible difficulties and toils; and at last discover a considerable number of Gua- rivos trees of suitable size ; standing, however, in such bottoms and sloughs, that the builder declares it impossible to get them to the sea. The Padre, disregarding this suggestion, goes to Loretto ; makes preparations for a vigorous effort to build a •hip of Californian timber ; returns to the north ; levels rocks, cuts away brush ; and making a road ninety miles in length 204 SCENES IN THE PAPIKIC. from Muiege to the timber, fells it, saws it into plariks, trans- ports them to Muiege, and in four months builds a vessel am. launches with his own hands, in September, 1720, the first ship ever built on the northwest coast of North America ! ! In this herculean labor the Padre has employed his entire means. The little valuables sent him by his friends in Mexi- co and elsewhere, have not been spared. Even his wardrobe has been freely distributed among the laborers. He himself has swung the axe, has used the whip-saw, the chisel and the hammer ; he has risen with the dawn, and invoking the smiles of Heaven and the aid of ministering spirits in his toil of soul and body, kindly called his men to their tasks. They famish, and so does he. And when the fatigues of each day are over, the jutting rocks are their resting-place ; a few hides their bed. Yet the ship is built. High on her stern, firmly affixed to her bulwarks, is raised the symbol of their faith. Hei name, how appropriate, is, the " Triumph of the Cross." During the progress of the work, Jayme Bravo, as purveyor of the missions, goes to the coast of Cinaloa to procure goods and provisions. On his arrival there he is surprised to find letters from the Provincial of Mexico, ordering him to Gua- dalaxara for ordination. He accordingly ships his supplies and travels with all speed to that city ; is admitted to holy orders ; and by direction of his superior, proceeds to Mexico to procure aid for the missions. His energetic labors are crowned with success. On the fifteenth of March, 1720, the council orders a bark built, to sail between Accapulco and Peru, to be delivered to Padre Jayme Bravo, together with the arms and stores which he desires. The means of founding a new mission at La Paz, are also furnished by the Marquis de Villa Puente ; and Padre Bravo is designated as its priest and founder. With a new ship, therefore, well laden with supplies, and with new hopes for all the missions, and especially well furnished for his new work at La Paz, the Padre Jayme Bravo sails from Accapul- co in July, 1720, and in August of the same year enters the TRAVELS IN THE CALIF ORNIAS. 205 harbor of Loretto, amidst a general burst of joy and religioua thanksgiving of tiie starving people on shore. Comfort and joy reign again throughout the missions. The Padres and the garrison are clothed again ; and the means being furnish- ed, their thoughts are again turned to the establishment of other missions. Padre Jay me Bravo leads the new under- taking. Two expeditions are therefore projected; one by land and another by water. The former is designed to open a land communication betw^een Loretto and the site of the in- tended mission ; the other for the conveyance of the men and provisions, and other necessaries of the enterprise. The forces intended for the expedition over land rendezvous at San Juan Baptista Ligui, under command of Padre Clemente Guillen. Padre Ugarte leads the other. He embarks on board the " Triumph of the Cross" with Padre Bravo, the soldiers and Indians, and a good stock of stores and utensils. They arrive in safety at the bay of La Paz. This is in the country of the Guaycuros, or Pericues, who have been grievously wronged by Admiral Otondo and the Spanish pearl fishermen. They are consequently inimical to the Spaniards, and will perhaps make deadly war upon them as they land. But it soon appears that those prisoners from the fishing barks, whom Padre Salva Tierra has returned to their homes, have given to their countrymen such an ac- count of the Padre's kind treatment as disposes them to friendship. Some of them appear in arms; but as soon as they see the costume of the Padres, their arms are laid aside. Seated on the ground, they allow the Padres to ap- proach, and accept with high demonstrations of pleasure, various presents. The object of the expedition is made known. They are assured by the Padres that it is for their benefit They have come to found a mission among them : to make peace between them and the Indians of the neigh- boring islands : to teach them agriculture and the useful arts, and to instruct them in the principles of the Christian religion. Thereupon the Indians receive them as friends, and 206 SCENES IN THE PAClFtC. give them permission to erect the cross and consecrpte their shores to God. Huts are now erected for all the people ; the stores and beasts are brought ashore ; a piece of ground is cleared for a church and a village ; and to the great sur- prise and delight of the Indians, a mission is founded among them. The expedition by land, under Padre Guillen, has not yet arrived; and much disquietude is awhile felt for its fate. But it is soon changed to gladness. Three hundred miles have been travelled, over mountains, through woods and mo- rasses ; and as the sun is falling on the brown heights in the west, a salute of musketry is heard on the northern shore of the bay ; it is returned by the ship ; and the boats are imme- diately sent over for Padre Guillen and his company. They are worn, naked, hungry, and thirsty ; and with joy only known to themselves, they bathe in the surf, drink the water from the spring, and eat the food of their brethren in the new mission at La Paz. Padre Ugarte labors three months at La Paz, in establishing Padre Bravo in his mission. And now having confirmed the league of peace with the Indians by numerous acts of benevolence and Christian love, he takes a most affectionate leave of Padre Bravo and the soldiers who remain with him, and embarks for Loretto. Padre Guillen is so much worn with his land expedition, that he also returns by sea. The Ligui Indians who accompanied him, follow ba( k the path by which they came. Padre Bravo, as all others in charge of these missions have done before, learns the Indian language ; builds a parsonage, church and huts ; and with the greatest assiduity, applies himself to gain the affection of the natives, civilize and instruct them, and relieve them from want. As a reward of his labor, more than six hundred children and adults receive baptism ; and more than eight hundred adults are assembled in three well regulated settle- ments, called Nuestra Sennora del Pilar de La Paz, Todos Santos, and Angel de la Guarda. He also, as he pursues his holy labors, discovers some tracts of arable land sixtr TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 207 miles distant, which he annually plants with maize. All thij Padre Bravo accomplishes single handed in seven years. In the year 1720, while the Padres are yet at La Paz, a mission is founded by Padre Everard Hellen, among mountains in latitude 27^ N., thirty leagues northwest of San Ignacio, thirty from Concepcion, and from sixty to seventy north ot Lorettc. The climate of this location is cold and unhealthy. But ttie Indians repair to it from the neighboring settlements, and express the utmost joy that the Padre, after long solicita- tions, has come to give them the religion of the white man. This mission is dedicated to Nuestra Sennora de Gaudalupe. In the midst of the labor of erecting the edifices of the mission, the Padre visits the most distant of the surrounding settle- ments, to instruct the aged and sick, who are unable to come to him. During his absence for these works of charity, the captain, soldiers and Indians, forward the erection of the church, parsonage and other buildings of the mission ; so that at the end of six weeks, it is in so good a condition that the captain, leaving a guard of four soldiers, returns to Lo- retto. Such is the zealous industry of Padre Hellen, and the inter- esting attention of the Indians, that on Easter eve, 1721, he baptizes a few converts. And now from all the villages come applications for instruction and baptism. The good Padr** finds it diflficult to make the Indians understand, that some knowledge and the abandonment of their old practices are necessary, before they can receive the sacred rite. He exhorts them to give up the trumperies used in their heathenish cere- monies, and worship Jehovah. At length they bring him a large quantity of pieces of charmed wood, feathers, cloaks, deer's feet, &c., which he commits publicly to the flames, while he receives the transfer of their faith to the religion ot the cross. Thus the Padres are making all desirable pro- gress in the spiritual culture of the Indians, and everything promises well. But the following years, 1722 and '23, are very disastrous to their feeble settlements ; and especially so 20S SCENES IN THE PACIFIC to Gaudalupe. The whole country is overrun with locusts The fruits, the chief sustenance of the Indians, are entirely ,ie- stroyed. The maize and other supplies in the granaries, are dis- tributed to save them from famine. But in Gaudalupe, even these are insufficient. The Indians are therefore compelled to subsist on the locusts; and the consequence is a terrible epidemic, by which great numbers are destroyed. They are afflicted with painful ulcers of a most loathsome character. During this epidemic. Padre Hellen has to fill the offices of physician, nurse, confessor, priest, and father. He endures almost incredible fatigue ; flies from one village to another ; administers medicine, prepares food, and smoothes with a wo- man's tenderness, the rude couches of his suffering children. Thus he continues till the sickness ends ; when worn out with the multiplicity and the character of his labors, he hails the approach of a season of rest with joy and thanksgiving. But scarcely does it come, when another still more fatal pestilence breaks out among them. A dysentery unusually fatal sum- mons the fainting energies of the good Padre to another effort. He again enters upon his charitable offices, going from rancheria to rancheria, like an angel of mercy, consoling, comforting, praying and blessing. At last the consequences of his severe labor fall upon himself in a distressing hernia, and defluxion of the eyes, so extremely painful, that he is obliged to leave his flock and retire to Loretto. In a few months he is sufficiently restored, however, to return to his du- ties, and his afflicted Indians receive him with every demon- sta-ation of faithful love and veneration. The Padre avails him- self of this attachment to draw them to his faith so effectually, that, in 1726, seventeen hundred and seven converts of all ages are the fruit of Padre Hellen's devout labors. Some, living at a distance, are attached to the more contiguous mis- sions of Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio. But twenty ranche- rias remain to Padre Hellen. These he maintains in the most peaceful and gentle intercourse with each other and with himself. They are divided into villages of four rancherias. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 209 with each a chapel. And in these humble sanctuaries, as often as the Padre visits them, the red men gather and pay their devotions to the true God ! The pro^jress made in spir- itual improvement is equal to his most ardent desires. But the nature of the country forbids equal advancement in the arts of civilized life. They cannot raise the small grains ; and their only resource is the cultivation of maize and the raising of cattle. These are procured by the Padre ; anu ■with the native fruits afford them a comfortable subsistence. The justice and kindness of the Padre win him the love and esteem of all the Indians ; and he desires to live and die among them. But his health again failing, and his superior regarding him with more tenderness than he does himself, transfers him to an easier office in Mexico. And thus, having spent sixteen years in the most arduous and faithful discharge of his duties as a missionary in California, he, with grief and tears, in 1735, takes leave of the Indians of Santa Guadalupe. While these labors are being prosecuted, a very strong de- sire is felt by the Padres to extend the commercial and civil advantages of California by the establishment of colonies, gar- risons, and good harbors, for the accommodation of the Philip- pine and Chinese ships. In order to accomplish this, it is desirable to do three things ; first, to take a minute survey by water, of the Pacific coast, from Cape San Lucas northward, in search of such harbors ; second, to pursue the same search by a land expedition, skirting the coast between the same points ; and third, to survey the Californian Gulf, in order to ascertain whether the peninsula be really such, or an island, cut off from the main land by a channel at the north end Great difficulties oppose the prosecution of all these enter- prises by the feeble powers of the Padre. But after mu ^,h de- liberation, it is resolved to undertake the two last. The sur- vey of the Gulf being deemed the most difficult and import- ant. Padre Ugarte determines to take charge of it himself, and while he is making the necessary preparation, he desires Padre Guillen to attempt the land tour, on the Pacific Coast. 210 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC They 1( arn from the narrative of Viscayno, who has sui *Jie oc. the banks of a beautiful lake near one of the arms o^the bay, select a situation for the Presidio, and cut the tim- ber to erect it. The natives, meanwhile, throng around to witness their labors and make demonstrations of friendship. The vessel arrives on the eighteenth of August. The work progresses, and on the seventeenth of September, they take solemn possession of the new garrison. The holy cross is planted above the peaceful waters of the bay, and the silent hills re-echo the chanting of the Mass, the sublime Te Deum and the roar of artillery and musketry, announcing to the untamed tenants of the wilderness, the dominion at once of the cross and the sword. The same ceremonies attend the tak- ing possession of the mission on the ninth of the following November. These objects accomphshed, the vessel returns to San Bias. The faithful Padre Junipero continues his labors without ceasing, founding in addition to the missions already named, those of Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura. But his efforts draw to a close. He has thrown the gushing energies of a warm and kind heart upon the arid wilderness. Solitude, famine, heat and cold, thirst and hunger, have been welcome as the sole conditions under which he could perform his errand of mercy and love to the red man. And now that the holy cross which his hands have planted, gleams heaven- ward from the dark bosom of these wastes, and devotion blends its gentle tones with the harsher poeans of the winds and waves, and the voices of human industry, the good Padre, worn out with the fatigues and anxieties of his arduous post, must prepare to rest from his labors. The hand of age is upon him ; his head whitens ; his frame bends and trembles ; his steps falter , he leans upon his younger and more vigor- ous brethren for support ; and at last his grateful and beloved spiritual children, the sons of the forest, see him no more He retires to die. His heart clings to those who have so long hved under the protection of hi5 fostering hand, and the las* V78 SCENES IN THE P A CM F I C . beiiting of life mingles with a prayer for blessings on his in fant missions. The bereaved Friars watch his last breath and close his eyes on the day of San Augustine, in the year 1782. His life has been nearly seventy-one years long ; lifty-three of which have been spent in holy orders, thirty-live in the stern and trying duties of a missionary in the New World. Thus closed the life and earthly labors of Padre Junipero NAMES OF MISSIONS, AND DATES OF TKEIR FOUNDATION Date of Foundation. Missions. 1769j •■ - - - San Diego, [de Monterey. 1770, . - . - San Carmelo, or San Caries 1771, . . - ^ San Gabriel. u . . - San Antonio de Padua. 1772, - - - - San Luis Obispo. 1776, - - - - San Juan Capistrano. 1777, - - . - Santa Clara. 1779, . . . - San Francisco 1782, . . . - Santa Buenaventura. 1786, _ . - - Santa Barbara. 1787, . . - - La Purissima Concepcion. 1791, . . . - NaSadelaSoledad. 1794, « . . - Santa Cruz. 1797, . - . - San Miguel. u . . - - San Jose. it . . . - San Juan Bantista. u . . . - San Fernando. 1798, - . . - San Luis Rey de Francia 1817, .. - - - San Rafael. 1822, - - - - San Francisv-'o Solano, These missions at length became very rich, and from 1793 to 1820 sold an immense quantity of hides and tallow to Ame- rican and British ships which visited the coast. An anec- dote related to me by an intelligent man in California is m point. Previous to 1793 the Padres killed the surplu*- bulls TRAVELS IN THE CA.LIFORNIAS. 279 of their herds, saving the hides, and leaving the taLow to rot on the plains ; because it was an article difficult to preserve until foreign ships should begin to visit them and furnish a market ; and thus untold quantities of it were lost. One of the Padres, however, who had a little more chemistry and other worldly wisdom than his brethren, caused his Indians to dig a very large and deep vat in the earth on a shaded spot, and line it well with brick and a durable cement, in which from year to year, as his bulls were killed, he stored his tal- low ; and thus continued to do, till the trading ships called for the deposit ; when it was found that his vat contained three large cargoes of excellent tallow. The cattl-e in the missions at this period were very numerous. Most of them had from eighty to one hundred thousand each. They also had bands of horses and other kinds of stock pro- portionably large. The Padres of a single mission not unfre- quently purchased an entire cargo of goods from American merchants — and such were the known resources of their es- tablishments, and their uniform punctuality and honesty, that these cargoes were frequently delivered to the priests with no other security than their verbal promise to pay. Indeed, these old Franciscan Friars, who entered this wilderness clad in their grey habits with sandals on their feet and the cross in theii* hands, were men for whose equals in mental power, in physical courage and moral intrepidity, we shall seek in vain in these days of vapid benevolence, of organizations whick spend their money in sustaining a system of denunciation, instead of applying it with day-laboring energy for the extir- pation of the evils against which they inveigh. These men had not made addresses before the assemblies of anniversary occa- sions, but had wielded the pruning hook of holy truth and of the principles of the social state, and of the refining and ex- alting virtues, upon the unpruned territories of degraded human nature. They had not bewailed the woes of men at the pomt of a goose-quill, and from the dark walls of a com- plaining heait shut up in an indolent body, sent forth a sack 280 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC- of theories for alleviation, which the world must adopt befo a freezing hand can be warmed or a hungry mouth filled But they had bared their hearts to the arrow of the savage and gone out to the theatre of personal labor, driving before them domestic animals bearing seed-grain, the plough, the ^ axe, the spinning-wheel and the loom, gathering the stupid wandering Indians into communities, rearing the edifices of Christianity and the family condition on the shore of that great ocean girded with heathenism and wretchedness, opening its unploughed plains and training them to yield their increase tc nourish the body — and from the garner of Heaven drawing man- na for the soul. They did not teach religion only and at all times, and rely on that as a nutriment for the rearing and comfort of the whole man. On the contrary, they recognized in the human being a nature allied to matter as well as spirit ; with faculties which connect him as a material existence with his material abode, and powers of mind which were made to teach him his relations to the material world, as well as those which raise the hand of religious faith to the skies, to seize the hope of the after world. Like knowing and reasoning, as well as pious men, they cared for the bodies as well as the souls of those whom they went to convert to Christianity. And in bringing the Californian savages into that industry 4irhich must always accompany true virtue and piety, tht labor of the converts produced in that climate, where so littlt is required to sustain them during unproductive seasons, a vast amount of surplus wealth. This the Padres alone were capa- ble of throwing into the market ; and consequently, at the period just spoken of, the business of the Californias received its origin, its character and impulses from them. Society from them took its form and its tone ; and the Government of the country was as mild, wise and just, as these unpretending men who directed its action. The golden age was this of the Californias. The Indians in the whole of Lower, and that part of Upper California which lies between the first range of mountains and he sea, and extending from San Diego t.: TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS, 281 the riorth till it embraces the shores of the Bay of San I'Van- cisco, were gathered into missions ; not less than seventy-five thousand of them were living, laboring and worshippins: God with the Padres on those immense plantations ! Their granaries were filled with grain, their orchards were laden with oranges, plums, pears, citrons, lemons, apples and figs. Their vineyards covered the hill-sides, and their flocks and herds the plains ! If a stranger arrives in the Californias, and approaches a mission, the Indians and Padres go out to meet him ! He re- ceives the welcome of sincere hearts. The wine from the vineyards — the bread and beef and frixoles are placed before him, and the Padre's best bed given him. He is pressed to re- main, not a cold hour of freezing ceremony and suspicion, but months — during life if he will — in their hospitable abode. But if he will travel on, he is furnished with horses and attendants to the next mission, where he is again welcomed and treated in a similar manner, and thus he journeys through the entire country .f he desires, and leaves it with regret. But the history of this delightful realm shows a change in the features of this scene. In 1821, New Spain had achieved an independent national existence, and adopted a partially republican form of govern- ment. The Californias, removed by their geographical situa- tion, as well as the feelings of their people, from the wars and victories of that eventful crisis, had retained their loyalty to old Spain until as late as the year 1825, when General Echuandra arrived in Monterey with full powers to receive the submission of California to the authorities of the Mexi- can Republic. The first act of this functionary was to require of the Pa- dres to take the oath of allegiance to the new Government. This they coulo not do according to the rules of their Order, without the cons(*nt of their Prefecto — the Padre President. This priest declared himself unwilling to give his consent until his King had abandoned the sovereignty of the Califor- nias; whereupon General Echuandra arrested him, conveyed birn to Monterey, and banished him to Manilla. 2S2 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. Immediately after the Padre Prefecto's banislmien., Echa* andra made a tour of the missions, assembled the Indians in each, and by an interpreter, explained to the«i that the Mexi* can Government had directed him to declare the Indian con- verts of the Californias to be free citizens of the Mexican Republic — released thereafter from what he termed slavery to the Padi-es, and subject only to the laws of the nation and his commands as its official agent ; aud that all those who bore good characters, and had learned agriculture, or any of the useful arts by which they could gain a livelihood for them- selves and families, he was instructed to say were entitled to have lands assigned them on the mission premises, and a pro- portionate quantity of the animals, as cattle, horses, &c., and be gathered into parishes with Padres to superintend them who should be subject to the missions ; that those of them, who had not learned agriculture, or other useful art, or had not sustained reputable characters, must remain at the missions and earn by their increasing knowledge and virtu« a title to freedom and the rights of property. The Padres were required to aid in carrying out these mandates of the Republic, and at the same time to continue their work of converting and training the Indians for the civil and social state contemplated by the Government. Meantime the General informed the Padres that their yearly stipend of four hundred dollars would be indefinitely withheld ; ordered them to have bells rung whenever he approacheci the missions ; and to in- struct the converts that they, as well as themselves, were subject to his authority. This course of the Mexican Government appears on its face to be one of those high moral acts which a single age seldom sees twice performed. The Creator has sent down to us, through the train of ages, the evidence that in the begin- ning He created as great a variety of the human genus as He did of any other race of living beings. From the New Hol- lander, who is connected to our kind by a physical form but little superior to that of the ape, and by tbfc i»stinct and ca- TRAVELS IN THE CAL^F0RN[.l8. 283 pacity to build a fire to warm his frame when beset with cold— to the Negro — the Hottentot — the Indian — the Asiatic and the European species, there is a gradual development of beauty and capacity of body and mind, which forces us to think that the same harmonious variety was introduced into the creation of the human family, which is so manifest in other orders of the animal world. Among celestial intelligences, toe, there are greater and lesser stars of existence ; and the Great Ma- ker burns above them all. Such variety is a palpable fact on earth. The highest obedience to God is the recognition of Him in His own character, and of creation as it fell from His hands ; and having done these things dutifully, to place our- selves in the ordained relation to the external world, to other men, to ourselves and to Him. One of the noblest acts in this line of obedience is to say to those who are for wise purposes made inferior to us, be free — be men. And if we had no other sources of information from which to learn the real nature and intent of the course of the Mexican Govern- ment towards these Mission Indians, we should place it among the noblest deeds of men. But unfortunately it deserves equal distinction of an opposite character. Let succeeding events be heard in evidence. These declarations of Echuandra and the banishment of their Prefecto, diminished the Padres' hopes of perfecting what they had so gloriously begun — the rearing the Indian population by degrees to the labors, the thoughts, the religion and happiness of civilisation. They w^ell understood what all men will eventually come to know, that an ignorant, stupid species of the human kind, never was and never can be free before their stupidity and ignorance are removed ; that the introduction of such people as civil agents among a body of citizens of the higher species, who sustain the re- spoi/oibilities of advanced society, is attended with no good to a ay party ; but on the contrary, attaches to the acts and thoughts of the higher, advancing and thinking s-pecies, the antagonism of the unthinking, the indolent and degrading in- 2S4 SCENES N THE PACIFIC. ferior, whose influence can only be to weaken the moral power of their superiors, and draw them off with all the force of physical indulgence to the confines of barbarism. They perceived, indeed, that freedom to their converts, from their paternal restraints, was only an illusive synonyme of annihi- lation ; that they would, when removed from the action of a superior intelligence, return to the savage state, or use their liberty in following their strongest instincts, which, after all their labors, were towards vices alike ruinous to bodily and moral health. The Padres, for all these causes, became dis- couraged, and made less effort for the temporal enlargement of their missions. The departure of their best neophytes to the lands assigned them by the Government, left them only the refractory and the ignorant to work the lands, guard ne herds and flocks, and manufacture the cloth, leather and wine , and these being encouraged by Echuandra, neglected theii labor, and insulted the Padres when punished for so doing. They even went in bodies to Echuandra and complained that the Padres insisted that they, the free citizens of the Mexican Republic, ought to cultivate the mission farms ; and the Gen- eral encouraged them in their folly. They informed him that the Padres withheld their rations, unless they cultivated the land to raise a new supply ; and Echuandra assured them they had reason for dissatisfaction. And on one occasion, when a Padre was insisting on obedience to these wholesome regula- tions by which they had been elevated from the most abject barbarism to the comforts of a partially civilized state, the deluded creatures threw him violently upon the ground, and otherwise abused him. This, Echuandra assured them, was an act worthy of a citizen of the Mexican Republic. While the Padres were thus seeing the mission plantations becoming covered with weeds, the buildings going to ruin, their influence over the converts lessening, and these, their spiritual children, given to drunkenness, gambling, theft, and lasciviousness, a party of young Friars from the Convent of San Fernando, in Mexico, were distributed among some of TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 285 the missions, and the Padres resident commanded to in- struct them in the Indian languages and other matters which would prepare them to supplant their teachers. The in- fluence and usefulness of these excellent men was, by these measures, rapidly undermined, till the year 1827, when two of them, Padres Repol and Altemira^ of the mission Santa Barbara, fearing for their personal safety, secretly left the country in an American vessel bound to Boston, and sailed fiom that city to Spain. In the year 1835, others left with passports from Government, and went through Mexico to Spain ; and others, worn out with labor and sorrow, died in the country and were buried under the churches of their missions. In the same year a body of Franciscan monks from the Col- lege at Zacatecas, were sent into the Californias by the Gov- ernment. To these were assigned the rich missions lying north of San Antonio. The old Padres retained the poorer ones lying to the South. Thither these good old priests retired, banished from the missions they had reared, and deprived of the means of comfort which they had procured ; and now, in those inhospitable places, they continue to perform their spirit- ual functions, deprived in their old age not only of the com- forts, but of the very necessaries of life. Aged men, tottering grey-headed men ; men who had in youth left the abodes of civilized life ; who had forsaken father, mother, kindred, and for forty years toiled in the Californian wilderness; plough- ed the soil, built churches and dwellings ; brought into life, justice and hope and music and prayer to the God of the Uni- verse ; under whose hands the trees of virtue and civilisa- tion flourished, adorning the hitherto barren wastes of mat- ter and soul ; such were the men condemned by a selfish anarchy to wretchedness and want. But a policy so blind brings evil as its legitimate result. In 1835, the whole power of the priests over the temporal affairs of these establishments, in both the Californias, was transferred to officers of government called Admmistradores. 286 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. One of these was located at each mission. Their duties osten- sibly were to farm them for the benefit of the converts, in order to allow the Padres their whole time for their spiritual labors. But the actual object of this measure was to bring the income and property of the missions within the grasp of the hungry leaches of the Californian Government. For, immediately after the appointment of these officers their wants became pressing, and they began to send orders for hides, &c., to the Adminis- tradores, which were uniformly honored and passed to the credit of the missions. Thirty thousand hides and as many arohas of tallow, had been the annual export of this country ; but now, a slaughter of the animals commenced, which surpassed the annual in- crease; and the Padres encouraged the defrauded Indians at the yearly branding, to let many go unmarked and run wild, in anticipation of the approaching period, when tyranny would drive them from their homes to the wilderness. The effects of these measures were to decrease the number of cattle and the amount of the products of the missions, paralyze the in- dustry, deteriorate the morals of the whole community, and introduce in the place of the mild and paternal government of the Padres, the oppressive anarchy of a weak and cruel mili- tary despotism ; the more despicable in itself, as it proceeded from a source where liberty and equality was the theory, and slavery and robbery the practice of the governing class. In the year 1836, a quarrel arose between the Mexican Go- vernor at Monterey, and a custom-house officer by the name of Juan Baptiste Alvarado, in regard to the division of certain bribes which had been paid to the officers by the supercargo of a for- eign ship, as a remuneration for entering upon the government books only half of the cargo, and admitting the remainder for a certain sum in specie and goods, paid to themselves; and the first result of the difficulty was a revolutionary movement under Alvarado and Graham, as I have heretofore related. But it is necessary here to add that, after the surrender of the Mexican authorities, the foreigners and Californian Spaniards assembled TRAVELS IN T/IE CAHFORNIAS. 287 at Monterey and passed these resolutions as the basis of a pro- visional government. 1st. Upper Cahfornia is declared to be independent of Mex- ico during the non-re-establishment of the Federal systeoi, which was adopted in 1824. 2d. 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 necessary, declaring the " Actual Most Excellent De- putation Constituent." 3d. The Religion shall be the Roman Catholic Apostolic, without admitting the exercise of any other ; but the govern- ment 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 declaration. 5th. Until what is contained in the foregoing articles be put in execution, Seiior Don Guadalupe Vallejo shall be called to act as Commandante General. 6th. The President of the " Most Excellent Deputation" shall pass the necessary communications to the municipalities of the Territory. These proceedings were followed by the banishment of the Mexican Governor, officers and soldiers from the country; the proclamation of Juan Baptiste Alvarado, Civil Governor, and his uncle, Seiior Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Military Governor, or Commandante of the " Republic of Upper Cali- fornia." Meantime this new Government had placed the seal of final ruin upon the missions. The official corps which had formerly drawn salaries from the Central Government at Mexico was now dependent upon the resources of the country. The Revolutionists and Lawgivers owned large plantations, many of which grazed ten or fifteen thousand head of cattle, besides horses, mules, sheep, &c. But these were private property, SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. not to be taxed for public purposes by these self-denying^ patriots. The missions, therefore, were resorted to for the means of supporting the Californian Government during the years 1836, 1837, and 1838 ; and sad was the havoc made upon them by those base descendants of the Chivalry of Spain. As soon as information of this Revolution in Upper Cali- fornia reached Mexico, the Central Government, with Busta- mente at its head, and a kennel of worthless cowards to bark, but never to bite at approaching danger, raised, as is the custom of that hybrid nation of Indian and Spanish Don Quix- ote-Sancho-Panza-Rosinante-Windraill-Furiosos, on such occasions, an army of fulminating proclamations to the citi- zens of La Republica Mexicana, and the remainder of the universe, to arm themselves and proceed in terrible array, dealing death elbow-deep in annihilation, against these auda- cious and unnatural sons of the great, brave, free, glorious, and never-to-be-insulted or conquered nation of Mexico. But these Californians were true, at least, to the weakness and fol- lies of their Spanish blood. Nowhere on the vast plains and mountains of one-half of this continent is there anything Spanish, whether negro, Indian, mulatto, or mestizo, in which may be found anything stable and bloodless. The charactei of these people may be summed up in these few words : vola tility, ignorance, stupidity and pride, coupled with the basest and most cowardly cruelty. Their very language is a furious hyperbole, and their entire nature as a people, is the superlative degree of the adjective frothy, without a substantive of any sort to qualify. The lofty chivalry of Spain was buried in the tombs of the American discoverers and conquerors. Its corslet and spear have fallen into the hands of their Indio-Spanish descendants ; and a more worthless rabble of bastards never assumed the name of nation. See these Californians. No sooner had they declared their independence and rid themselves of the officers from Mexico, than they divided into two parties ; the one in the North under Alvarado of Monterey asserting complete inde- Bustamente. — P. 288: TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. 289 pendence of Mexico ; and the one in the South under Don Carlos Antonio Carrillo, seeking to unite the country a^ain to the parent State. And a blight of idiocy must have fallen on that mind which cannot perceive in the events that ensued, the terrific tread of oppressed human nature, when, clad in the armor of its own avenging power, it goes forth to the conquest of its rights. The Ides of March ! How ominous ! Caesar quailed in March ! And how much more ought all the enemies of the great Alvarado's supremacy to have shaken from heel to crown, when, on the fifth of that dreadful month of March, he announced to his troops that Don Pedro, the Russian Grovernor at Bodega, had received letters from St. Petersburg, containing news that France and England had resolved to place Iturbide II., son of the Emperor Iturbide I., upon the throne of Mexico ! ! The reader may almost see His Excellency's wrath kindling at this proposed encroach- ment on the liberties of nations. " What, France and Eng- land pretend to foist a monarch upon the people of Mexico, and even upon His Excellency of California !" — and that too while he was Governor 1 Such impudence, if it were not " ridiculously impotent as against Mexico, would be found so in regard to California ! !" And to this eflfort at patriotism and self-complacency, see his heroic Californians emitting some fumes of bravery, accompanied with a series of consola- tory threats, stamping their feet on the Lord's footstool, and strongly grasping their swords, looking things unutterable enough to put a notable end to the hopes of Iturbide 11. During this daring demonstration for freedom, Alvarado is universally believed to have stood firmly at his post, and un- shrinkingly done his duty. The Don in the South also is reported not to have lost a meal of beans on account of this startling intelligence. Courage in California, as elsewhere, is a fine tonic for weak nerves. The event too which sue ceeded this in the history of the Californias found both these worthies in the field of glory. So that if some ignorant reader should presume to say, at this point of our narration, that the 290 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. Don was less brave, patriotic, or in any other sense less a Californian cavallero, than Alvarado, he is desired to suspend the expression of such an unworthy opinion until he shall have read the following account of a campaign which, I am credibly informed, is considered by the warriors of that coun- try the most remarkably glorious on record. In the spring of 1838, a courier arrived from Santa Bar- bara, bearing a message of mighty import from the illustrious Don Carlos Antonio Carrillo to Alvarado the Conqueror. Its purport was that the high — mighty — invincible — and ever-to-be-dreaded Central Government at Mexico, had bared its puissant arm, stretched it out, raised it up, brought it down, and at a single blow, made and put together a gentleman Don, to wit, Don Carlos Antonio Carrillo, and constituted him the Goubernador del Alta California : and with the ex- ercise of the like resistless power had ordered the said Alva- rado — villain — robber — slave — to surrender, lay down, and for ever after eschew the sceptre of Goubernador del Alta California ; unto which message His Excellency, in the true CastiUan spirit, and with as much good sense as any one had a right to expect of him, Alvarado the Conqueror, replied. " On seeing the commission of my successor, and on finding it conformable to the usages of the Nation ; and on obtaining from him my said successor, a guaranty of safety to my per- son and property, and also to the persons and property of those who acted with me in the Revolution of 1836, 1 will resign the reins of government into the hands of my illustri- ous uncle. Otherwise not — never!" This response of the lofty Alvarado was soon en route towards the dwelling-place of the Don. But the mountainous character of the country over which its bearer passed retarded its speed so much that the sixth day had w^ell nigh closed before the indignation of that exalted man was fired at the story of Alvarado's inso- lence. It was fortunate, undoubtedly, that so much time was allowed to elapse between the development of the courage necessary to enable the Don to send the messenger to Alva- Mexican CavaUy,—Vd.ge 290. Mexican Infantry, -^V^e 290. TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 29^ radO) and that effort of sublime forbearance required to re- ceive his answer. For it is deemed an established principle in the physiology of courage as well as of steamboats, that too great a pressure upon the internal surface of an enclosing boiler will cause a bursting, disastrous, in a certain sense, to those in the vicinity. Soldiers going into battle for the first time are said to give the happiest illustrations of this law. Be this as it may, however, true it is, that when the courier related to him all that the Governor had said, the exalted Don exhibited a capacity in the manufacture of fury at short notice, which made the floor tremble on which he stood ; and it is currently believed that if there had not been a hiatus be- tween the demand of the Don and the said refusal of Alva- rado, greater danger to the integrity of the Don's physical system would have been the unwholesome consequence. As it was, however, that immense personage merely took a glass of native wine, and summoned his friends to arras for doing battle in behalf of La Republica Mexicana. Alarm, that protecting genius of all cowards, is declared to have a swift wing. At all events, no sooner did the banner of the glorious old Don begin to flap on the breezes of wake- ful night, than she presented her fluttering form at Monterey, and whispered in the ear of Alvarado, of power, of camps, of carnage fields, of fame's bold clarion, and the terror of his uncle Don. All these things put together made one other thing quite clear to Alvarado's vast comprehension ; namely, that he must again take to the field — the field in which in 1836 he had earned bright laurels, and again fight as he then did, for country and freedom, or bow submissively before the overpowering valor of his great rival. Nor was his genius at fault in this trying exigency. He took his reso- lution ; and having done so, what else could the world have expected, than that his Excellency and the never-to-be- equalled Captain Jose Castro, of villainous memory, should call the troops to arms and march for the seat of war. And this tb^iv certainly did as nearly as circumstances permitted ; 293 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. tha-t is to say, Alvarado remained in Monterey, three hiHi" dred miles from powder and ball, and Jose Castro marched towards Santa Barbara with an army of six men. The Don meanwhile was not inactive. He wisely deter- mined, as a first step, to take military possession of Santa Barbara. Accordingly, from the balcony of his habitation, which the foreign residents had fitted up for him at El Pueblc de los Angelos, he gave notice to his veteran army assem- bled one hundred strong, that he should march immediately upon that devoted town and sack it according to the rules of war. After a long and tedious forced march on horseback, of thirty miles, in a single day, over a grassy and undulating country, during which they endured more, if possible, than their forefathers did in all their wars with the Moors, they arrived on the 20th of March, 1838, upon a hill about two miles from that village, encamped, held a council of war, and humanely determined to send in a flag, and an expression of their unwillingness to shed blood; but the messenger was especially instructed to announce, that the town of Santa Barbara must be surrendered, or the veteran army would take possession of it, if, in so doing, they " trode at every step upon the pulseless hearts of the dying inhabitants !" The Commandant of the place was not so much frightened by this announcement as he ought to have been. But, on the contrary, knowing probably that the old Don was a man of his word and not of deed, sent back the following reply. " Senor Carlos Antonio Carrillo had better not be in haste to enter Santa Barbara. Alvarado will soon make his gr^nd entrance. K, however, the Don should deem it his duty to sack Santa Barbara, it will be mine to yield to the disagree- able necessity of preventing such a catastrophe, by firing on his ranks and destroying the lives of fellow-countrymen. God and Liberty !" This message was more terrific than satisfac- tory to the commander of the invading army. But as night soon cast its protecting mantle over the fierce brows of the immortal one hundred, it was never known to the fuilest TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 293 extent how much heroisra they exhibited when ordered into quii-rters for the night, with the injunction to hold themselves ready for the dreadful work of death at a moment's warning. It is however known that a mounted picket guard was sta- tioned on the hills, and a strong patrol along the ravines, between the camp and the town, and that all. Napoleon-like, slept upon the eve of vast events ; that the next morning dawned ; the earth turned on its axis, showed the sun and hid it again ; and that the army of the Don neither left its en- campment, nor took possession of Santa Barbara ; and that night came again ; that patrols and pickets were stationed as before. But such apparent inaction was not to continue On the morning of the 23d, a movement clearly showed that irresolution was no part of the Don's nature. And well did he exclaim, as he addressed the soldiery on that most memora- ble day, — " The pent firss of Californian bravery, who can quench them ? What one of us, whether plebeian born or a de- scendant of the Spanish Cavaliers, will flee before the servile minions of the ignoble Alvarado ? What man with a heart quickened by Castilian blood, will not pour out that blood in defence of California, and the union of the Mexican States ? " To this appeal a response arose and echoed amona; the hills, in that hearty and lusty manner so characteristic of Spanish Californians, and other animals distinguished for long ears. He next commended the courage displayed, and the valorous exploits performed in the siege they were prosecut- ing. " They had crowned their names with deeds of immor- tal renown." And then the officers' swords flamed from their scabbards, and the privates stood shoulder to shoulder in the most threatening attitudes of the genuine warrior, as the Don took breath, and with emphasis remarked, that the army of Santa Barbara was approaching ! ! ! It approached ! ! ! All saw it ! ! ! Halted ! ! The Don reconnoitred ! ! and horrible to tell — the opposing forces numbered one hundred and four noses ! ! His own, himself included, one hundred and one only ! ! ! A difference of three whole noses, against the Don ! ! ! And 294 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. who in California knew better than he, the power and effect of such superiority ? Who understood more clearly than the Don, the execution which that number of noses might do in the approaching struggle for " law and order ? " But who, among all living and dead heroes, could better rally the energies required to meet that horrible crisis, than the Don 1 None ! His horse even partook of the overpowering mag- nitude of the energies that bestrode his back, and bore his rider along the line with unwonted speed and fire as the order boomed along, for the soldiers to prime anew their pans —shoulder their gleaming muskets, and retreat within the walls of the Mission Santa Buenaventura ! ! Three days after this intrepid retreat of the invading army, the redoubtable Captain Jose Castro arrived at Santa Bar- bara, with the army of the North, six men strong, well ap- pointed with muskets, powder, ball, and Californian patriot- ism. His entry was a triumph ; rendered sweet to that warrior's heart by the consciousness of being looked upon, while his army defiled through the streets, as the saviour of all the mud walls, tiles, and babies of that famous town. He repaired to quarters in the barracks, dined with becoming dignity, and smoked a cigar. After this important business had been dis- patched, he summoned before him the authorities, and made an exhibit of the luxuriant love of country, which had led Alvarado — that superlative adjative of the genus homo, to assume the government of Alta California, and assured the Commandante, and Alcaldes, that he was authorized and ready to receive the surrender of the place, and the fealty of the inhabitants to the Revolutionary Government. He added, that he hoped it might not be necessary for him to use force in the premises. This latter intimation, backed as it was by the standing presence of the army of six, was deemed of great service to humanity, for no hesitation was manifested by the population, amounting to some six hundred souls, about sub- mitting to the new order of things so gallantly proposed to them by the renowned Captain. Captain Castro. — ^Page 294. TRAVELS IN THE OALIFORNIAS. 29'5 The next act of Captain Castro which history will delight to record, was that of arresting certain persons at Santa Bar- bara supposed to be favorable to the pretensions of the Don ; namely, Pedro C. Carrillo, the old Don's son, and a Don An- gelo, former Administrador of the Port of Monterey, under the late Mexican authorities. The former he put on board the bark Kamamula, and sent to sea for safe keeping ; the latter was transmitted to Monterey as a tropny of the glorious victory achieved by the Grand Army of six at Santa Barbaia. Captain Castro tarried only two days at Santa Barbara. But during that short space of time he was enabled, by using that indefatigable industry and intrepidity for which he was so remarkable, to make the two arrests which I have men- tioned. And although it has been said by persons presumed to be envious of the Captain's right to call himself the Napo- leon of California, that these prisoners made no attempt to escape, but, on the contrary, surrendered themselves without resistance, yet the impartial historian will undoubtedly find, on thorough investigation, that he who captured Graham and others with so much bravery and renown, could not, in the possibility of things, have done this act so tamely as the ene- mies of the Captain would maliciously represent. Captain Castro was a Napoleon, and by what specious sophistry can mankind be made to believe that he did not arrest Senores Pedro and Angelo, in a manner worthy of that immortal name ? On the third day, the Grand Army of the North being in- creased by the people of Santa Barbara to one hundred men, and supplied with three field-pieces, moved against the Grand Army of the South at San Buenaventura. They arrived in the night ; and while the darkness shielded them from view, they planted the cannon on the heights overlooking the Mis- sion, and otherwise prepared themselves for the horrors of the coming day. When the morning dawned, the Captain had the satisfaction to perceive that his position had been so well taken that the garrison of the opposing forces was com- 296 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC pletely at his mercy ; and like all other great men, being shocked at the idea of shedding blood so profusely as be must do, if he opened upon the Mission the terrors of his cannon, he sent in a flag and demanded a surrender. But, strange to say, the Don, not having before his eyes the fear of Castro's ammunition, refused obedience to this reasonable request, and commenced a brisk discharge of musketry from the walls. This was answered by those outside with both muskets and cannon. The work of death thus commenced w^ent on until the shutting in of night on the fourth day ! How grateful were the shadows of that night to the besieged ! The lighted taper that burned at the altar of the Chapel, sent a straggling ray over the area within the walls, and glimmered faintly on the arms of the Don's soldiery I But neither that light from the altar of hope, nor the beaming bayonets of the besieged vete- rans, could inspire their hearts with the firmness required to prolong so terrific and destructive a conflict. In the silent moment of midnight, therefore, more than half of the Don's remaining troops made a desperate sally from the gate, and not being opposed for awhile, believed that their intrepidity had saved them ! But they were unfortunately mistaken ! The Captain's sentinels had noticed their operations, and sounded the alarm so bravely that they surrendered them- selves at discretion, without waiting for the unnecessary cere- mony of being captured, or in anywise endangered. After these men had thus daringly given themselves up to their foes, their companions, the glorious old Don and all, capitulated. And now came the calling of the rolls and the burial of the dead ! Sad rites to those who survive such days of carnage ! Forty-eight hours of cannonading on the one side, and of busy musket-shots on the other ! ! How many had ceased to breathe, was the anxious inquiry ! The offi- cial returns read thus, " Of the army of the South one man killed. Of the army of the North one man wounded. — God and Liberty." It is proper to observe in this place, that it Was afterwards a question often raised between the soldiers TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 297 of the two armies, whether the Don or the Captain surrendered. But the most authentic accounts rather favor the opinion tliat the Captain had the better of the battle. And I have httle doubt that when the Hume of that country shall write its annals, and some unborn Ossian shall sing of the mighty tread and thundering bucklers of the Castros and Carrillos of that streamy land, they will not only commemorate the bloody ramparts of San Buenaventura, but speak worthily of the Don, as great even in defeat, and of Captain Jose as glo- riously triumphant. This idea is remarkably strengthened by the fact that as soon as the termination of the campaign was announced at Monterey, the puissant Alvarado journeyed to San Buenaventura, and thence in company with his Captain Castro to El Pueblo de los Angelos, where he took posses- sion of the worthy old Don's house, and acted the Governor upon the wines and brandies therein contained, with all the taste and suavity so well known to be his peculiar excellen- ces, and possessed himself of whatever else he listed of the Don's personal estate. But — how unjust not to name it — after having robbed his uncle, he gave in return a promise to pay, which I was told still stands good against him, a sum equal to his own estimate of the value he had taken. From El Pueblo de los Angelos, Governor Alvarado proceeded to San Diego, the southernmost port of Alta Cali- fornia ; and received there and elsewhere the submission of the inhabitants, till the whole country recognized the said Juan Baptiste Alvarado, El Goubernador del Alta California. Even the glorious old Don Carlos Antonio Carrillo is said to have paid court to the young conqueror, and not altogether unwilHngly, after so much blood shed in defence of his dig- nity and the high honors of his office, to have laid aside his pretensions with much grace and apparent satisfaction ; thus demonstrating that noble and rare principle which leads the truly great man, — after the exercise of every energy, after wading through seas of gore, after baring his bosom to the knife of fate, after having met, defied, endured, every hazard, 298 SCENES IN THE P-CIFIC. every hardship, for the aUainment of his just rights,- to prove himself not only " par secundis," but " major adversis," by seeking repose, and calling on the shades of forgetfulness to fall around the memory of heroic exploits, which such a man blushes to hear coupled with his name. So httle need has true worth of noise and praise. But I should do great injus- tice to the worthy Don, if J neglected to state his manner of obtaining the commission of Governor of Upper California, in support of which he struggled so manfully. About two years after the Revolution which raised A/va- rado to power, the excellent old Don sent a-n »«count of that event to his friend Sa Excellentissimo, El Prcsidente Busta- mente, in which among other matters it was stated that, in case Mexico would make an appointment of a Californian of the Governorship of the country (suggesting at the same timt* that he the worthy Don was at the service of the State,) — ^he, the Don, and his amigos would reconquer the country, and return it to the allegiance of Mexico. The Don's brother, a man of great patriotism — id est, Mexican patriotism, or the most devoted disposition to take care of himseif, — bore this dispatch. In due time he returned with a commission — em- powering his brother Don to assume the Government o^ Alta California. The only irregularity in the instrument which arrested attention was the absence of the proper signa- tures and the Seal of State. But as the Don was called El Goubernador in the body of the instrument, that irregu- larity was deemed by his friends of trifling importance. But it was this that the wily Alvarado seized upon as a pretext for not delivering up the helm of Government to the most excellent and stately old Don, and allowing himself, and his partisans to be shot according to the law, for having rebelled against La Republica Mexicana. From the year 1838 to the year 1840, the time when the author entered California, Alvarado continued to be the Gov- ernor of that lovely land. And during that period no events occurred worthy of being detailed. CHAPTER XVI. A New Era in California — War with the United States — Various Battles — Heroism of the Americans — Conquest — Discovery of Gold — Brilliant Hopes — On the Pacific again — Long Tom Finishes his Yarn — Speculations on the Future of California — The Prisoners — Poor Graham — Home and my Wife — Reflections. Soon after this commenced a new era in the history of California. In 1845 a rupture occurred between the United States and Mexico. Commodore Sloat of the Pacific Squadron, hearing of the commencement of hos- tilities on the Rio Grande, immediately seized Monterey, hoisted the Star Spangled Banner from the Custom House, and issued a proclamation of war to the people of the Californias. It would be foreign from our purpose to give a detailed history of this war. The principal incidents are doubtless still fresh in the memory of most of our readers. Sufiice it to say, that Commodore Stockton, General Kearney, Colonel Fremont, Captains Barrows and Thompson, and hosts of others, did honor to the flag of their country by their gallant achievements. At the Rio San Gabriel, and on the plains of Meza, decisive battles were fought against overwhelming odds, when victory, as usual, perched upon the American banner, with a loss of only one killed and thirteen wounded in the two fights. Various other engagements occurred, the history of all of which will be found in other volumes. One incident will illustrate the daring and heroic cha- racter of the men engaged in that glorious struggle. At (299) 300 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. Santa Barbara, Lieutenant Talbot, with only nine men under his command, was besieged by a large body of the enemy and compelled to evacuate the place. He gal- lantly forced his way through the besiegers to the moun- tains in the vicinity, where, refusing to surrender on any terms, he kept the enemy at bay like a tiger in his lair, until they set fire to the groves and bushes around him, and actually burned him out. He then forced a march of five hundred miles through the enemy's country on foot to Monterey, where his arrival caused the utmost joy to all the Americans, with whom he was a great favorite, and who had given him up as lost. By the terms of the treaty of peace, California came into possession of the United States. Next came the discovery of gold and the rush of emigrants to that coun- try from all parts of the world. Exaggerated stories of the immense mineral wealth of the new El Dorado in- flamed the minds of men, and thousands left the slow but sure pursuits of home for sudden wealth in a strange land. With a few the dream has been realized; and although in the aggregate vast sums of gold have been obtained, yet a large proportion of the miners have learned the to them sad lesson that man, in any country, to be truly happy, must earn his living by the sweat of his brow. Through much exposure and sufi'ering, wearied and heart broken, the poor miner has not unfrequently returned from the scene of his brilliant hopes to spend his last hours among his early friends — a sadder but a wiser man. But to return. On the fifth of May, 1840, we made our adieus to our acquaintance in Santa Barbara, prepa- ratory to falling down the coast. The American visited the sick Englishman,found him breathing faintly, and apparently very near death. But it was necessary to embark, and leave the dying man in the kind care of his nurses, who, I have no TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 303 rfoubt, administered to his last want, and made his grave-dress wi^h willino; hands. " Dead — starved to death ! Death of a Briton irom thirst and starvation, by direction of Juan Eap' tista Alvarado, Governor of Upper Cahfornia/'- Is the account which truth will ^ve, on earth anii at the judgm^^nt, cf this man's death. At twelve c'clock, the lusty fellows at the windlass had t«he ar^chor on the bow, and our good old ship was bearing down the coast under a fxiie northerly breeze. She, or rather he, for I believe aii Dons are males, and particularly Don Quix- otes, being i-n ballast, ran rapidly, cheeringly, and exultingly over the quiet sea. And right glad were we to be under weigh. We had been long enough among the jolly birds and flowering meadows of California, to rejoice to be again at sea. It was sad, howevw, to be borne away from the prisons and the moans of our fellow-countrymen. And now the deep blue sea — its mermaid song — its anthems of sub- limity — its glories and beauties ; really and in truth, what are they 1 What man in his senses loves the Ocean ? The mer- maids are all porpoises, and their songs all grunts ! The deep sounds of the ocean's pealing organ, are the rude groans of the winds and the dashing rage of far-rolling surges, rap- ping madly at the bows ! The tufts of dancing foam on the bitter wastes — desert, heaving, unsympathizing, cold, home- less ! Love of Ocean ! ! Poetry of Ocean ! ! It is a pity I cannot love it — see in its deep still lower realm, or in its lonely tumults, or its surface when the air is still, its heat, Ihirst and death, its vast palpitating tomb, the shady hand and veiled smile of loveliness ! — that I cannot believe Old Ocean has a Iteart, which sends its kindly beatings up and down all the shores of earth ! Poetry ! Loveliness ! They may be there ; but Ocean's odor and mien are not poetry to me ! If I have ever said anything to the contrary, I beg the pardon of the sea poets. There is, ho?v^ever, a certain class of beings who hold a very different opinion : these are the regular old Salts ; men who from boyhood have slept in the 304 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC forecastle, eaten at the windlass, sung at the halyards, danced on the yards to the music of the tempest, and hailed the tu- mult of the seas as a frolic in which they had a joyful part. We respect these poets. Indeed, the Ocean to them is a world, the theatre of their being ; and by inhabiting it all their days, these singular men become changed from partici- pants in the delights of natural life on land, to creatures of memory. Memory ! that mental action which sifts the past of its bitterest evils, and gives only the blossom and the fruit to after-time. These they enjoy in the midnight watch, at the dawn, in the storm, the calm, and in visions of sleep ; but for ever upon the deep, on the great expanse of the Sea ! Is it wonderful, then, that they should love it ? that their affections become poetry 1 See them seated at their meal before the mast ; their wide pants lap over their sprawled limbs ; the red flannel shirt peers out at the wrists, and blazes over their broad chests between the ample dimensions of the heavy pea- jacket ; and crowning all is the tarpaulin with its streaming band, cocked on one side of the head ; and grouped in the most approved style of a thoroughly lazy independence, they eat their meal. At such times, if the weather be fine, stud- ding-sails out, and top-gallants pulling, they speak of the ship as a lady, well decked, and of beautiful bearing, gliding like a nymph through the gurgling waters. If the breeze be strong, and drives her down on her beams, they speak of her as bowing to her Lord and Master, while she uses his might to bear her on to her own purposes. And if the tempest weighs on the sea, and the fierce winds howl down upon her dead ahead, and the storm-sail displays over the fore-chains its three-sided form, and the ship lays up to the raging ele- ments, breasting every swoop of wave and blast, she still is a lady, coming forth from her empire of dependent loveliness to bow before an irresistible force, only to rise again, and present the sceptre of Hope to dismayed man. These Salts believe in the poetry of the sea, and of the noble structures in TRAVELS IN THE CALIFOKIMAS. 305 which they traverse its pathless immensity. And it may be that tliey are right, and I am wrong. During the day we passed near to the coast. A fruitful strip of land running along the shore ; broken by hills in- creasing in height from the water-side towards the interior, and bounded by high mountains partially covered with trees, but generally burnt and barren, is a true showing of that part of California. It was a bright day, with a cool whole- some air. Every sail was out and filled, as white as snow, the wind on the larboard quarter, the crew lounging, and the dolphins chasing, and the gulls screaming, and the spray dashing^ at the bows. Home, and the mother of my buried boy, if I may speak of myself, the heart's guiding star on those wastes of soul and of nature, were drawing near me, and in thought were there. Speed on, noble ship, speed on ; it is the illusion of happy memories, speed on ! On the sixth and seventh the breeze continued favorable. The coast was generally in sight, and appeared to be more and more barren as we followed it down ! On the eighth we sailed along the east side of Guadeloupe. This island is about thirty miles in circumference, somewhat mountainous, evidently of volcanic origin, surrounded by im- mense reefs of black rocks, and destitute of coral formations There are two places of access, the one on the southwest, the other on the northwest side. It has no harbor for anything else than small boats; and though containing considerable quantities of arable land, is uninhabited except by sea birds, turtles and goals. The latter are the offspring of a few of these animals landed upon it by the early Spanish navigators. They have been m unmolested possession of the island for the last eighty years, and are now so very numerous, that they could be profita- bly hunted for their skins and tallow. In former times this island used to abound in sea elephants and hair seal ; but the Ame- rican hunters and whalers have nearly destroyed them. Ai we passed, a right whale spouted near the shore. The cir- 306 SCENES IN THE P.iClFIC. cumstance electrified Tom, and opened his word loom to the following yarn. " The lubber, that whale ! I would like to be in the bow of a staunch boat, with four stout oarsmen, and a bold fellow to steer upon him ; I would soon make him spout blood in- stead of water ! * I was telling you the yarn of my becoming a sailor, when the old man coiled up my thoughts among the halyards. Now that whale brings them back again, and while he is taking his observation, and blowing his nose, I'll finish my yarn. I was about nineteen when I blundered against the capstan of a whaler, and shipped at New Bedford for a three years' cruise. We left port with as good an outfit of harpoons, lines, knives, trying-pans, stores, and ship's crew as ever swam the brine. I remember we had a studdin-sail breeze a longer time on our passage out, than I ever saw before or since, ex- cept in the trades. We put out all sail in sight of the New Bedford Light, and never took in a rag until we had crossed the equator ; and then we struck a dead calm, which conti- nued fifteen days. That was the worst siege at oakum and spun yarn that Tom ever saw. The sun seemed to pour down fire ! It was so warm that the tar in the deck fried and bubbled ; and the old long boat shrunk so much that you could stick your thumb through between the planks; and the decks were so hot that we were obliged to keep them con- stantly wet to enable us to stand on them. And as to breath- ing, we found that the hardest work of all. The great atmosphere seemed to have escaped, and left a perfect void ! The ocean was smooth ; not a rough spot upon it as big as a cent, except when the cook threw his slush overboard ! It lay and rolled like a bending sea of glass ! The vessel, with its sails hanging loose on the mast, rose and fell on it like a sheet upon the breast of the dying. The sky was awfully bare and deserted ! Not a shred of a cloud dotted it for fif- teen days ! I never felt lonesome till that time. I had rather lay to under storm sail a twelvemonth, than be compelled to TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA?. 307 pick oakum and make spun yarn, and think through a calm like that. Well, at the end of fifteen days, just as the sun set, a little cloud about as large as John's tarpaulin, scud up in the nor'west, like an angel of mercy to tell us there was wind once more in the heavens ; and about eight o'clock the old ocean began to stir ; the air struck our parched bodies, and the sails flapped, the vessel moved, and we began to feel that we were climbing out of a great hot grave ; I never shall forget that calm. " Well, we had light breezes till we got off Montevideo, when a stiff norther came on, which bore us on under double- reefed topsails down to the Cape. Here it came on to blow a gale, and we were obliged to run into Magellan, and lay to under the lee of the highlands. After lying there two days, the wind chopped round northeast, and the old man thought we might as well run through the Straits. But the gale was renewed, and rushed overland upon us with such fury that we could carry for a number of days, only sail enough to make the ship lay her course. At last we hove in sight of the Pacific, and run afoul one of those villainous head winds which you know often set into the west end of the Straits. This detained us nine days. At the end of this time, it hauled into the northeast, and enabled us to get into the open sea. Our course from the Straits was NW. But the wind again chopped round dead ahead ; consequently all we could do was to try to hold our own. We accordingly beat off and on, and lay too twelve days, when we found me must up helm and let her run. The gale was awful ; and as we advanced south the raggediiess of the sea was continually more and more frightful ; the cold became intense ; the water froze upon the deck six inches deep ; and the spars, and masts, and rigging were covered with ice to such an extent, that the ship swayed under the gale, and was likely to swamp ; the most like a death-call from the mermaids that Tom ever saw, was that gale. The ship lurching her spars into the waves, the sailors slipping, the rigging sufi, and the only sail set, 308 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. covered with ice several inches thick ; the iLasts like vast icicles, and the old man and every man expecting eviery mo- ment to go down ! After drifting, however, as far as 70^ South, the gale abated, the wind changed, we cut away the studding-sail, rigged another, and stood away for the north, and in a few days got rid of our ice and other troubles. We now took our course for New Zealand, and about 300 miles east of that island fell in with the whales I thought of, as we" . " Bear a hand there, you lubbers." " Aye, aye, sir." " Bring out the old trysail, and run your yarns into that." " Aye, aye, sir." And thus was Tom's yarn again severed, much to his chagrin, and my regret ; for I longed to hear a whalesman's account of his bold and dangerous calling. On the 10th of May we came in sight of Cape Saa Lucas, bearing thirty miles SE. It was about five o'clock, P. M. The wind had been dying away since noon, and now barely kept the ship moving. The western portion of the sea was all light and glorious ; it lay panting, as a wearied giant juft returned from the field of conflict. The sun, as he fell stea- dily dow^n the great arc of heaven, Avas reflected more and more widely and intensely, until his reddest rays shot through the clear tops of the billows, and scattered a purple drapery 'of clouds sprinkled with gold up half the western sky. Gay- plumaged land birds gathered on the rigging, and twittered and sang to the approaching tw^ilight. The land was eight miles from us ; a rough red waste of mountains ! those holy desolations where the Indians' God made his descent to bless them, their streams, their fruits, and give elasticity to their bows. Sturdy scenes ! rocks on rocks, gloom on gloom, sand on sand, and dearth feeding dearth, and universal thirst prey- ing on animal and herb ! The living things in the sea fro- licked around us. The dolphin, the bonitos, the flying fish, the porpoise, the right whale, were all employing their muscles in their own way among the sleeping waters ; and about the sides of the almost motionless vessel swarmed shoals of bright and active little fish that seemed to beseech us for TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 309 protection and food. As the sun's disc sank below the hori- zon, and he withdrew his last rays from the mists of the sea, and left the stars to their own twinkling, the mellow clear blue of a tropical sky came out over us ; such a sky as hangs over Athens and the Egean tides and islands. This was re* fleeted back from the waves, on which the stars danced and flickered, were extinguished and lighted up again, as swell after swell approached the ship, and rocked, as does the heart of the mother the child slumbering on her breast. The moon was in the first quarter, rounding to the full. And I remember never to have felt so strong a sympathy with it as on that glorious night. If dreams come when reason sleeps, and recollection serves only to feed the affections, and deepen the musings of the imagination and associating powers,! cer- tainly dreamed with eyes on the moon and stars and the sea of that night. The day had gone ; it was night ; the start were out, and the sea was dancing to the music of the hi distant and ceased tempest, and the moon had come over my home, was shining through its windows upon the table at which we ate, on the chairs in which we sat, on the wafls that had witnessed the high and unmarred pleasures of the domestic affections. It was lighting up the altar of my holiest hopes, and crowding upon it every gem of joy which had shone on the path of the past ! A bird chirped among the rigging a note which resembled one that had gladdened even- ing w^alks, and often died in the ear as in the opening spring sleep was gathering us to rest ; and that chosen star, that con- secrated star, that star on which we hung our vows at parting, was looking down upon me ! I walked forward among the watch, who were loitering about the forecastle in silence. '' A fine night this, sir," said one of them, " a fine night, sij. This weather reminds one of our New England Indian sum- mers, when I used to go out of an evening to a country dance, and throw clubs into the trees to get the finest apples for the neighboring girls. I recollect that I lost my heart on just 6uch a night as this, when about twelve years old ! I wen* 310 scenes" in the pacific, over to neighbor Parker's to invite them to a husking, and the old gentleman insisted, after I had done my errand, that I should stay awhile and help John shell a grist of yellow corn ; for he wanted to go to mill at sunrise next morning. So down I sat on a little wooden bench at one end of the warming-pan handle, which was put through the ears of a wash-tub, and shelled away bravely. But all the time I was at work, Rachel was pulling my ears, and throwing kernels of corn at me, and showing her white teeth and sweet lips and eyes around me, until my ears and cheeks burnt, my eyes were swimming with love, and my head and heart felt so mixed up together that they have never got unravelled since." Another one said that these yarns about love were always coming up around the windlass, and he hoped they would be hauled in, and stowed away soon, for it was quite enough to remember one's girl and poor old mother thousands of miles away when obliged to ; and that this way of bringing them into every watch, and harrowing up one's feelings, was worse than being strung up at the yardarm every twelve hours : as he said this, he turned away, and wiped his moist cheek on the sleeve of his pea-jacket. On the 11th, we lay along the Cape. The contour of the land was distinctly visible. The mountains rise in arid grandeur, rough volcanic cinders, red and desolate. They are curiously piled. Huge mountains sprout from the main masses, and hang over wooded jungles a thousand feet below. Turrets rise on turrets like giant castles of an olden land They are an irregular, unstratified, ugly, desolate confusion of rocks and dust. On the 12th, we lay six miles SE. of the point of the Cape. We had a fine view of both shores of the Gulf of California for fifty miles. The scenery was ex- tremely interesting. The eastern Cape shore was much like the western. The eastern shore of the Gulf, the edge of the Mexican main, was sublime. Not so much so on account of its massiveness or its altitude, as its resemblance to a conti- TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 311 nent of continuous cities, interspersed with groves. The general aspect was dreary. On the 13th, a light breeze from the south bore us along about three knots the hour. The Gulf shores opened wider as we advanced. High mountains rose on the main in the NE. The coasts of the Gulf are said to be mountainous up to the mouth of the Colorado of the West. In the evening the mountains on the Mexican side were lighted up with immense fires — some of them resembled those of volcanoes ; others, the raging flames among the firs and pines of the Green Mountains ; others, the deep glow of the log heaps of the American fallows. On the fourteenth we sailed across the mouth of the Cali- fornian Gulf or sea of Cortes, and at night-fall lay in full view of the rocky islands around the anchorage of Mazatlan. Cape San Lucas had faded away in the northern horizon near sun- set, and I confess I regretted to know that I should probably see its hills and plains no more ; but a reflection upon the des- tiny of the Californias took the place of such sorrow. That country must become a constituent member in the great broth- erhood of American Nations. As a maritime country it is unequalled on the western coast of America ; indeed J. should say, it is not approached in this respect by any country border- ing on the Pacific seas. The harbors of San Quintin in Latitude 30^ 23' N., San Diego in Latitude 33° N., and San Francisco in Latitude 37^ N., afford secure anchorage for the navies of the civilized world, and every desirable facility for erecting wharves, docks and arsenals. These indenting a country capable of sustain- ing thirty-five millions of people, with the healthiest climate on the continent, affording abundance of live oak and other materials, without stint, fbr the construction and rigging of vessels, and a rich soil bearing on the same acre the fruits of the tropical and the temperate zones ; with the greatest possi- ble facilities for commercial intercourse with the eastern shores of the Russian Empire, China, India, Australia, and the Ha* 62 312 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. waiian, and other Islands of the Pacific, as well as the whole western coast of America, indicate the Californias as the seat of the ruling maritime power of that half of the world. But there are other reasons for this opinion. A canal can easily be cut from the head of steamboat navigation on the San Joaquim to the head waters of the Gulf of California. This, for warlike and commercial purposes, would be invalua- ble. Another circumstance, however, is of more value than any I have named in forming an estimate of the undeveloped greatness of this charming country. It is the intellectual and physical might of the people who are to inhabit it. In order to indicate what race this is to be, we need only refer to the facts, that the navigable waters of the Missouri River are within six hundred miles of Puget's Sound : that a railroad of that length will send the commerce of the Indies, China, and the Californias into the Mississippi valley, and send the inhabitants of that valley to the Californias ; and that Nature herself has connected that country with the States by an excellent natural road. This route from the San Joaquim to the plains of the Mis- souri is not only feasible but easy. A Mr. Yunt, from Frank- lin, in the State of Missouri, and now a resident of Upper Cahfornia, travelled from the Great Salt Lake to Monterey with loaded mules in thirty days. From this lake to the navi- gable waters of the San Joaquim is not more than three hun- dred and fifty miles, with plenty of wood, water and grass the whole distance. The high range of mountains between the San Joaquim and Mary's river can be passed in six hours. There is a low gap, pathway leading through it. The route from this gap leads up Mary's river to the forks ; thence up the east fork, and over the plains, to the Pont Neuf branch of the Saptin ; thence through a gap in the mountains to Big Bear river at the Soda Springs ; thence up Bear river and over the plains to the Rendezvous on the Sheetskadee ; thence over the plains to the Sweetwater branch of the north fork o TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 313 Great Platte ; thence down that river to its entrance into the Missouri. Along this track population must go westward. No one acquainted with the indolent, mixed race of California, will ever believe that they will populate, much less, for any length of time, govern the country. The law of Nature which curses the mulatto here with a constitution less robust than that of either race from which he sprang, lays a similar penalty upon the mingling of the Indian and white races in California and Mexico. They must fade away ; while the mixing of different branches of the Caucasian family in the States will continue to produce a race of men, who will enlarge from period to pe- riod the field of their industry and civil domination, until not only the Northern States of Mexico, but the Californias also, will open their glebe to the pressure of its unconquered arm. The old Saxon blood must stride the continent, must command all its northern shores, must here press the grape and the olive, here eat the orange and fig, and in their own unaided might, erect the altar of civil and rehgious freedom on the plains of the Californias. Mazatlan ; we anchored in the roads, and having passed a day and two nights with Mr. Parrot, our worthy consul, and another American who was addicted to aristocracy and smug- gling, we bade adieu to Captain Paty and his Don Quixote, to Messrs. Johnson and Chamberlain, and sailed for San Bias in the schooner Gertrudes, formerly the Honduras of the Hawaiian Isles. On the sixteenth we anchored along^ side the prison-ship in the roads of San Bias, and had the pleasure of knowing that none of our countrymen had perished on the passage. They had suffered greatly from thirst and hunger ; but they lived ; and that to us and to them was cause of the deepest gratitude. Forty-six Americans and Britons in chains ! — in the chains of Californian Spaniards ! Will not the day come when vengeance will be repaid ? During the afternoon and the night following day we rode sixty miles to the city of Tepic, and laid the case of these pris- 314 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. oners before the American and British consuls, who ren- dered them all the aid and protection which their situa- tion required. Graham finally returned to California, a broken-spirited, ruined man. The others are dispersed elsewhere. From here we mounted our mules, crossed the Republic of Mexico, and sailed to New Orleans. THE END. 2:' Jni 'S^M 10 D?^ %^