3880 THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF 
into their language; for, among themselves, no one would blush on account of 
any misdeed he had perpetrated. If one had killed his father and mother, 
robbed churches, or committed other infamous crimes, and had been a hundred 
times whipped and pilloried, he would, nevertheless, strut about with a serene 
brow and an erect head, and without being in the least degraded in the eyes of 
his people. 
Laziness, lying, and stealing are their hereditary vices and principal moral 
defects. ‘They are not a people upon whose word any reliance can be placed, 
but they will answer in one breath six times “yes” and as many times “no,” 
without feeling ashamed, or even perceiving that they contradict themselves. 
They are averse to any labor not absolutely necessary to supply them with the 
means of satisfying hunger. If any work occurred in the mission, it was 
necessary to drive and urge them constantly to their task, and a great number 
complained of sickness during the week-days, for which reason I always called - 
the Sunday a day of miracles, because all those who had been sick the whole . 
week felt wonderfully well on that day. If they were only a little more indus- 
trious, they might improve their condition, to a certain extent, by planting 
some maize, pumpkins, and cotton, or by keeping small flocks of goats, sheep, 
or even a few cattle; and, having now learned to prepare the skins of deer, 
they could casilyssupply themselves with garments. But nothing of this kind 
is to be expected of them. They do not care to eat pigeons, unless they fly 
roasted into their mouths.* ‘T’o work to-day and to earn the fruit of their 
labor only three or six months afterwards seems to be incompatible with their 
character, and for this reason there is little hope that they will ever adopt a 
different mode of life. 
Books could be filled with accounts of their thefts. They will not touch 
gold or silver; but anything that can be chewed, be it raw or cooked, above 
the ground or below, ripe or unripe, is not more safe from them than the mouse 
from the cat, if the eye of the owner be only diverted for a moment. The 
herdsman will not even spare the dog that has been given to him to watch the 
flock of sheep or goats intrusted to his care. While one day observing, un- 
seen, my cook, who was engaged in boiling meat, I noticed that he took one 
piece after another out of the kettle, bit off a part, and threw it again into the 
vessel. The meal on the missionary’s table, when he is suddenly called away, 
is not safe from their thievery, and even the holy wafers in the sacristy are in 
danger of being taken. by them. Yet they sometimes lay their hands on things 
of which they can make no use whatever, in a way really surprising, which 
shows to what degree stealing has become a habit with them. 
For eight years I kept, ranging at large, from four to five hundred: head of 
cattle, and sometimes as many goats and sheep, until the constant robberies of 
the Indians of my own and the neighboring mission compelled me to give up 
ceattle-breeding.t In the bodies of nineteen cows and oxen, that had been 
killed in one day in the mission, there were found, after the removal of the skin, 
more than eight flint-points of arrows, the shafts of which had been broken off 
by the wounded animals while passing through the rocks and bushes. I 
believe that more of these animals were killed and eaten by the natives than 
were brought to the mission for consumption, and horses and asses suffered in 
like manner. 
* German proverb. 
t The cattle, as well as the goats and sheep, are described as small and lean, owing to the 
scanty pasturage. The horses, though small, were of a good breed and enduring, but they 
did not sufficiently multiply, and fresh animals had to be imported every year to mount the 
soldiers and cowherds. ‘‘ The ass alone,’ says the author, ‘‘ which is nowhere choice, but 
always contented, fares tolerably well in California. He works but little, and feeds on the 
prickly shrubs with as much relish as if they were the most savory oats.” The number of 
hogs on the whole peninsula hardly amounted to a dozen. 
