142 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



abou.no. in tiiat province. Full, however, of the wonderful 

 miracle of Santa Clara of Carmona, which had been 

 brought to light through the agency of the medallion at 

 the end of his rosario, Fray Venabides must needs return 

 to Spain, and humbug poor old Fernando, and even the 

 more sensible Isabel, with wonderful accounts of the riches 

 of the country he had been instrumental in exploring, and 

 of the excellent disposition of the natives to receive the 

 Word of God. Don Juan Onate 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 In- 

 dians rose, and often massacred their white persecutors. 

 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 interlopers 

 from the country, established themselves in snug quarters, 

 instructed the Indians in agriculture ; and soon gained 

 such an ascendancy over them, that no* difficulty was ex- 

 perienced in keeping them under proper and wholesome 

 restraint. Strong and commodious Missions were built 

 and fortified, w r ell stored with arms and ammunition, and 

 containing sufficient defenders to defy attack. Luxuriant 

 gardens and thriving vineyards soon surrounded these iso- 

 lated 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 passed 

 the arid and barren wilderness of the North- West. The 

 adobe walls of the convent-looking building, surmounted 

 by cross and belfry, are generally hidden in a mass of 





