MENTAL STRAIN. 485 



sion, in which the Indian, as usual, was the sufferer. The vast 

 mission herds and flocks melted away ; the implements which were 

 intended for the use of the Indian farmers were not, as a rule, 

 forthcoming ; and, of course, without domestic animals and with- 

 out the means of tillage, the land was of no use. The Govern- 

 ment, though possessing no claims whatever upon the mission 

 property, made frequent demands upon it, and, as Bancroft states, 

 the period from 1836 to 1842 was one of disaster in mission his- 

 tory. The downward path of the natives was rapid. Those who 

 obtained property sold it and converted the proceeds into liquor 

 and then resorted to stealing, to flight to the wild tribes, or to 

 return to bondage under the guise of servants in the town or on 

 the ranches. In the area between the Bay of San Francisco and 

 Los Angeles there are to-day probably not one hundred Indians. 

 Of the so-called mission Indians in San Bernardino and Los An- 

 geles Counties, the last Indian report gives a population of four 

 thousand three hundred and thirty. But very few of these are 

 descendants of the mission Indians of Franciscan times. 



Such, in brief outline, is the history of the mission Indians. 

 They lived and died, and their few descendants now drag on a 

 miserable existence in out-of-the-way places, so poor and barren 

 as to be beyond the covetousness of the whites, or live dependent 

 wards of the Government. 



-+•+- 



MENTAL STRAIN. 



By M. CHARLES EICHET. 



A BOOK on mental over-pressure has been written by Madame 

 Manaceine for the protection of the men who are to follow 

 us. A continuance of the kind of life that is now led in the great 

 centers of civilization will involve the risk of compromising the 

 lot of future generations. We are going blindly, groping, toward 

 a new humanity, to issue from us, of which we can not predict the 

 character. This humanity is in danger of being a poor affair in- 

 deed, from whatever point of view we may regard the case, unless 

 we conduct ourselves better. Madame Manaceme has undertaken 

 to analyze the present conditions of existence, physiological and 

 psychological; to exhibit us to ourselves as we are; to draw a 

 balance-sheet of our mistakes in habits and education, for the 

 avoidance of a threatened decay. We owe her thanks for her 

 generous and patient attempt. 



We have no right to be unconcerned about the future of man- 

 kind. We have an account to settle with the men of coming ages. 

 We must be careful for them. They are worthy of our interest 



