MISSIONS AND MISSION INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA. 473 



to be rid either of vermin or filth, as the idea of cleanliness for 

 the sake of cleanliness is foreign to the savage mind. Constant 

 residence in one spot, under such conditions as Vancouver and 

 others described, had its legitimate effect upon the health of the 

 neophytes, as we shall see. 



In these huts lived the married only ; the unmarried were 

 domiciled in separate buildings, usually directly under the eyes of 

 the missionaries, where they were locked up at night, each sex 

 separate. The unmarried women also worked separately, and 

 always under supervision. 



When the missions were first established, the good fathers, as 

 a rule, experienced little difficulty in securing converts. Kind 

 words, and the gifts the Indians received in the shape of food and 

 clothing, proved an efficient means of conversion, and they were 

 baptized in gratifying numbers. Converts were encouraged to 

 visit their wild brethren at home, and by flattering accounts of 

 mission life induced many to return with them. As neophytes 

 grew scarce, the area from which they were drawn was extended, 

 and a greater or less number of recruits was obtained from the 

 distant interior tribes. Later, such means proved unavailing, 

 and other and more questionable methods were resorted to. Upon 

 one pretext or another, armed soldiers and armed converts were 

 sent out who frequently returned with a goodly number of cap- 

 tives ; and, for two reasons, these were mostly women and chil- 

 dren : first, because they were preferred, since the husbands fre- 

 quently followed them into captivity ; and, secondly, because in 

 the conflicts which preceded the capture of the wives and children 

 many of the men were killed and the rest driven away. In 

 these conflicts the wounded appear to have received little mercy. 

 Beechey witnessed the tragical issue of one of these holiday ex- 

 cursions by the neophytes of the mission of San Jose', and we are 

 indebted to him for the details. An armed launch had been placed 

 in charge of an alcalde of the mission, who while on the trip 

 planned an attack upon the Cosemenes of the San Joaquin, either 

 directly for the purpose of securing converts or in revenge for 

 some aggression. While in camp near the village they intended 

 to attack, the neophyte party was surprised by the Cosemenes, 

 and thirty-four were killed or taken captive. In this case appar- 

 ently the alcalde acted without authority, and doubtless without 

 knowledge or connivance on the part of the priests. However, 

 when the news reached the mission it was thought necessary to 

 strike terror into the victorious tribe, and accordingly an expedition 

 was sent against them. The result was that forty men, women, 

 and children were killed and forty women and children were capt- 

 ured and brought back to the mission. Thus the loss of the con- 

 verts was more than made good, the surrounding tribes were in- 



