PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 23 



piece of ground is then allotted for his support, but 

 he is never wholly free from the establishment, as part 

 of his earnings must still be given to them. We heard 

 of very few to whom this reward for servitude and 

 good conduct had been granted ; and it is not impro- 

 bable that the padres are averse to it, as it deprives 

 them of their best scholars. When these establish- 

 ments were first founded, the Indians flocked to them 

 in great numbers for the clothing with which the 

 neophytes were supplied; but after they became ac- 

 quainted with the nature of the institution, and felt 

 themselves under restraint, many absconded. Even 

 now, notwithstanding the difficulty of escaping, de- 

 sertions are of frequent occurrence, owing probably, 

 in some cases, to the fear of punishment — in others 

 to the deserters having been originally inveigled into 

 the mission by the converted Indians or the neophytes, 

 as they are called by way of distinction to Los Gentiles, 

 or the wild Indians — in other cases again to the fickle- 

 ness of their own disposition. 



Some of the converted Indians are occasionally sta- 

 tioned in places which are resorted to by the wild 

 tribes for the purpose of ojffering them flattering ac- 

 counts of the advantages of the mission, and of per- 

 suading them to abandon their barbarous life ; while 

 others obtain leave to go into the territory of the 

 Gentiles to visit their friends, and are expected to 

 bring back converts with them when they return. At 

 a particular period of the year, also, when the Indians 

 can be spared from the agricultural concerns of the 

 establishment, many of them are permitted to take 

 the launch of the mission, and make excursions to the 

 Indian territory. All are anxious to go on such occa- 

 sions, some to visit their friends, some to procure the 



