256 



CALIFORNIA. 



California, our ears, this punishment being also admitted, but 

 * -v - not exercised with much severity." The utmost re- 

 gularity and order pervades these religious communi- 

 ties. Seven hours a day are allotted to labour, and 

 two to prayers ; they have each a certain allowance 

 of food, which consists of boiled corn and maize, and 

 which is prepared and served out in the morning, at 

 noon, and in the evening. On festivals, the ration is 

 beef, which many of them eat raw. Corporal pu- 

 nishments are inflicted on both sexes, for the neglect 

 of pious exercises, or for the smallest dishonesty ; that 

 of the women, however, is private, while the men are 

 exposed to the view of all their fellow converts, that 

 their punishment may serve as an example. As soon 

 as an Indian is baptised, he immediately becomes a 

 member of the community, and subject to its laws. 

 On no pretence whatever is he allowed to return to 

 his rancheria or family ; his fate is as decided as if 

 he had pronounced eternal vows, and should he escape, 

 he is brought back by force, and under pain of the 

 lash is compelled to join in the solemn devotions of 

 the altar, and to offer up his unwilling prayers to 

 that Being who desires not the homage of the lips, 

 but the free and unreserved worship of the heart. 

 This system of government has been attempted to 

 be justified from the character and disposition of 

 its subjects. They are represented as a nation of 

 children that never arrive at manhood : they are 

 small and weak, entirely destitute of that love of 

 liberty and independence which characterises the 

 northern nations, and equally ignorant of their in- 

 dustry and arts. They have very few ideas, are 

 almost incapable of reasoning, and have so little 

 stability, that unless continually treated as children, 

 they would escape from those who have been at the 

 trouble of instructing them, and again return to their 

 original barbarism. But if the Californian Indian 

 be bo destitute of the ideas and qualities of men as 

 he is represented, by the present principles of Spa- 

 nish legislation, he will be continually kept so. He 

 has no property that he can call his own. His labour 

 and actions are entirely under the direction of his 

 masters, whom he has been taught to regard as su- 

 perior beings, who hold an immediate and constant 

 intercourse with God ; and thus he is retained in 

 that very species of ignorance which it should be 

 their chief study to eradicate. " Would it be im- 

 possible," says LaPerouse, " for an ardent zeal, and 

 an extraordinary patience, to convince a small num- 

 ber of families of the advantages of a society found- 

 ed on the rights of the people ? to establish a right 

 of property among them, which is so bewitching to 

 all men ; and thus, by this new order of things, to 

 engage each man to cultivate his field with emula- 

 tion, or to dedicate his time to some other kind of 

 employment." It must be allowed, however, that 

 though the executive power of the missionaries is 

 absolute and uncontrouled, the Indian converts 

 throughout this country are governed with the great- 

 est mildness and humanity. 



We shall now proceed to give a general descrip- 

 tion of this province, with a short account of its 

 various productions. In such an extent of country 

 it cannot be expected that the temperature of the 

 ah- should be uniform. Accordingly we find in Ca- 



lifornia a very great variety of climate. In the California, 

 northern province the sky is often foggy, and very " ~f~" *** 

 cold winds sometimes blow with impetuosity from 

 the north and north west ; but the climate, in gene- 

 ral, is much more mild than in any similai situation- 

 of the same latitude on the eastern coast of America. 

 In the central districts of the peninsula the air is ex- 

 cessively dry and sultry ; but in the southern parts 

 it is more moderate, and of a more kindly quality, 

 the heat being tempered by its proximity to the 

 ocean ; and towards the northern extremity of the 

 gulf, in the same seasons of the year, the water even 

 freezes. The sky is constantly serene, of a deep 

 blue colour, and without a cloud ; and it has been 

 frequently observed, that should any clouds appear 

 for a moment at the setting of the sun, they display 

 the most beautiful shades of violet, purple, and green ; 

 a phenomenon which is supposed to depend upon a 

 particular state of the vesicular vapour, and the pu- 

 rity of the air. 



Old California is in general barren, wild, and rug- 

 ged, and overrun with rocks and sand. A chain of 

 mountains stretches along the interior, of which the 

 most elevated, the Cerro de la Giganta, is from 4500 

 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and appears 

 to be of volcanic origin. They are almost totally 

 bare of verdure, or at most only covered with small 

 shrubs, briars, and low trees. Among these moun- 

 tains, however, are interspersed several vallies of a to- 

 lerable soil ; and some of the plains, particularly in 

 the vicinity of the coast, are well adapted both for 

 pasture and tillage, and might be greatly improved 

 by cultivation. Its greatest deficiency is the scarcity 

 of water. From Cape San Lucas to the river Colo- 

 rado, an extent of nearly 200 leagues, there are only two 

 streams that run into the Gulf of California ; the one 

 passes through the mission of San Josef, and dischar- 

 ges itself into the bay of S. Barnabas ; the other ia 

 the Mulege, which waters the mission of Santa Ro- 

 salia. The currents which descend on the eastern 

 side of the mountains, are far from being numerous ; 

 but their course and position have not yet been dis- 

 tinctly ascertained. Several springs are scattered 

 throughout the country, whose waters, except in 

 times of great rain, are swallowed up in the arid sand 

 long before they reach the ocean. " Through a par- 

 ticular fatality," says M. Humboldt, " it is remark- 

 ed, that the rock is naked where the water gushes 

 out, while there is no water where the rock is cover- 

 ed with vegetable earth. Wherever springs and earth 

 happen to be together, the fertility of the soil is im- 

 mense ; and it was in these places, of which the num- 

 ber is far from great, that the Jesuits established 

 their first missions." New California, however, has 

 a very different appearance. It is well watered, 

 woody, and fertile ; and is one of the most picturesque 

 countries in the world. Frequent fogs and dews give 

 vigour and vegetation to the soil, which consists of a 

 black spongy earth, and produces in great abundance 

 many of the first necessaries of life. Wheat, maize, 

 barley, beans, lentiles, &c. are cultivated in the fields ; 

 and most of the roots and fruit-trees of Spain have 

 been carefully introduced into the gardens of the In- 

 dians. They have, besides, plantains, bananas, co- 

 coa-nuts, sugar-canes, indigo, and a great variety of ; 



