196 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



of God. Don Juan Ofiate was, therefore, quickly 

 despatched to take possession ; and in his train followed 

 twelve Castilian families of sangre azul, to colonise the 

 newly acquired territory. The names of these still 

 remain, disgraced by the degenerate wretches who now 

 bear them, but in whom scarce a drop of blood remains 

 which ever filtered from the veins of the paladins of 

 Old Castile. 



Then commenced the troublous times. The Missions 

 were upheld by dint of steel alone ; and frequently the 

 Indians rose, and often massacred their white perse- 

 cutors. The colonists were more than once driven 

 bodily from New Mexico, and were only reinstated by 

 the aid of large bodies of armed men. 



In California, however, they managed these things 

 better. The wily monks took care to keep all inter- 

 lopers from the country, established themselves in snug 

 quarters, instructed the Indians in agriculture, and soon 

 gained such an ascendency over them, that no difficulty 

 was experienced in keeping them under proper and 

 wholesome restraint. Strong and commodious Missions 

 were built and fortified, well stored with arms and 

 ammunition, and containing sufficient defenders to defy 

 attack. Luxuriant gardens and thriving vineyards soon 

 surrounded these isolated stations : the plains waved 

 with golden corn ; whilst domestic cattle, thriving on 

 the rich pasture, and roaming far and near, multiplied 

 and increased a hundred-fold. 



Nothing can be more beautiful than the appearance 

 of one of these Missions, to the traveller who has lately 



