3888 THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF 
happier than the civilized inhabitants of Europe, not excepting those who seem 
to enjoy all the felicity that life can afford. Habit renders all things endurable 
and easy, and the Californian sleeps on the hard ground and in the open air 
just as well and soft as the rich European on the curtained bed of down in his 
‘splendidly decorated apartment. Throughout the whole year nothing happens . 
that causes a Californian trouble or vexation, nothing that renders his life cum- 
bersome and death desirable; for no one harasses and persecutes him, or ear- 
ries on a lawsuit against him; neither a hail-storm nor an army can lay waste 
his fields, and he is not in danger of having his house and barn destroyed by 
fire. Envy, jealousy, and slander embitter not his life, and he is not exposed 
to the fear of losing what he possesses, nor to the care of increasing it. No 
creditor lays claim to debts; no officer extorts duty, toll, poll-tax, and a hun- 
dred other tributes. There is no woman that spends more for dress than the 
income of the husband allows; no husband who gambles or drinks away the 
money that should serve to support and clothe the family ; there are no children 
to be established in life; no daughters to be provided with husbands; and no 
prodigal sons that heap disgrace upon whole families.. In one word, the Cali- 
fornians do not know the meaning of meum and tuum, those two ideas which, 
according to St. Gregory, fill the few days of our existence with bitterness and 
uncountable evils. 
Though the Californians seem to possess nothing, they have, nevertheless, 
all that they want, for they covet nothing beyond the productions of their 
poor, ill-favored country, and these are always within their reach. It is no 
wonder, then, that they always exhibit a joyful temper, and constantly indulge 
in merriment and laughter, showing thus their contentment, which, after all, is 
the real source of happiness. 
The Californians know very little of arithmetic, some of them being unable 
to count further than szz, while others cannot number beyond ‘free, insomuch 
that none of them can say how many fingers he has. They do not possess 
anything that is worth counting, and hence their indifference. It is all the 
same to thera whether the year has six or twelve months, and the month three 
or thirty days, for every day is a holiday with them. They care not whether 
they have one or two or twelve children, or none at all, since twelve cause 
them no more expense or trouble than one, and the inheritance is not lessened 
by a plurality of heirs. Any number beyond six they express in their lan- 
uage by much, leaving it to their confessor to make out whether that number 
amounts to seven, seventy, or seven hundred. . 
They do not know what a year is, and, consequently, cannot say when it 
begins and ends. Instead of saying, therefore, “a year ago,”’ or ‘during this 
year,” the Californians who speak the Waicuri language use the expressions, 
at is already an ambia past, or, during this ambia, the latter word signifying 
the pitahaya fruit, of which a description has been given on a previous page. 
A space of three years, therefore, is expressed by the term “three pitahayas ;” 
yet they seldom make use of such phrases, because they hardly ever speak 
among themselves of years, but merely say, “long ago,” or, “not long ago,” 
being utterly indifferent whether two or twenty years have elapsed since the 
occurrence of a certain event. For the same reason they do not speak of 
months, and have not even a name for that space of time. A week, however, 
they call at present ambija, that is, “a house,” or “ a place where one resides,” 
which name they have now, per antonomasiam, bestowed upon the church 
They are divided into bands, which alternately spend a week at the mission, 
where they have to attend church-service, and thus the week has become 
among them synonymous with the church. 
When the Californians visit the missionary for any purpose, they are per- 
fectly silent at first, and when asked the cause of their visit, their first answer 
is vara, which means “nothing.” Having afterwards delivered their speech, 
