188 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



feet thrust in ponderous stirrups, and in his hand 

 swung a coil of ready lasso, his only offensive arm. One 

 of the trappers knew a little Spanish, and instantly 

 hailed him. 



" Compadre" he shouted, " por onde va ? " The 

 Californian reined in suddenly, throwing the horse he 

 rode on its very haunches, and darting down the bluff, 

 galloped unhesitatingly into the midst of the hunters. 



" Americanos ! " he exclaimed, glancing at them ; 

 and continued, smiling " Y caballos quieren, por eso 

 vienen tan lejitos. Jesus, que 'mala gente /" "It's 

 horses you want, and for this you come all this way. 

 Ah, what rogues you are ! " 



He was an Indian, employed at the Mission of San 

 Fernando, distant three days' journey from their present 

 position, and was now searching for a band of horses 

 and mules which had strayed. San Fernando, it ap- 

 peared, had once before been visited by a party of 

 mountain freebooters, and the Indian therefore divined 

 the object of the present one. He was, he told them, 

 " un Indio, pero mansito: " an Indian, but a tame one;* 

 " de mas, Christiana : " a Christian moreover (exhibiting 

 a small cross which hung round his neck.) There were 

 many people about the Mission, he said, who knew how 

 to fight, and had plenty of arms; and there were enough 

 to "eat up" the " Americanos , sin frijoles," without 

 beans, as he facetiously observed. For his part, however, 

 he was very friendly to the Americanos ; he had once 



* The Mexicans call the Indians living near the Missions and 

 engaged in agriculture, mansos, or mansitos, " tame." 



