LIFE IN THE FAR WEST- 137 



arms ; and there were enough to " cat up," the " A meri- 

 canos, san frijoles" without beans, as he facetiously ob- 

 served. Fo T his part, however, he was very friendly to 

 the Americanos; he had once met a man of that nation 

 who was a good sort of fellow, and who had made him 

 a present of tobacco, of which he was particularly fond. 

 Finding this hint did not take, he said that the horses and 

 mules belonging to the Mission were innumerable " like 

 that," he added, sweeping his hand to all points of the 

 compass over the plain, to intimate that they would 

 cover that extent; and he could point out a large herd 

 grazing nearer at hand than the Mission, and guarded but 

 by three vaqueros. Regaled with venison, and with a 

 smoke of his coveted tobacco, he rode off, and made his 

 way to the Mission without delay, conveying the start- 

 ling intelligence that a thousand Americans were upon 

 them. 



The next morning the thirteen doughty mountaineers 

 quietly resumed their journey, moving leisurely along to- 

 wards the object of their expedition. 



It will not be out of place here to digress a little, in 

 order to describe the singular features of the establishments 

 formed in those remote regions by the Catholic Church, as 

 nuclei round which to concentrate the wandering tribes 

 that inhabit the country, with a view to give them the 

 benefit of civilised example, and to wean them from their 

 restless nomadic habits. 



The establishment of Missions in Upper California is 

 coeval with the first settlement of Southern Mexico. No 

 sooner had Spanish rule taken a firm foothold in the Aztec 

 empire, than the avowed primary object of the military 

 expedition began to be carried into effect. " To save the 

 souls" of the savage and barbarous subjects of their most 

 Catholic majesties was ever inculcated upon the governors 

 of the conquered country as the grand object to be sought 

 after, as soon as tranquillity was partially restored by the 

 submission of the Mexicans ; and the Cross, the sacred em- 

 blem of the Catholic faith, was to be upraised in the 

 remotest corners of the country, and the natives instructed 





