158 LIFEINTHEFARWEST. 



sombrero surmounted his swarthy face ; a colored blanket, through 

 a slit in which his head was thrust, floated in the air from his 

 shoulders ; leathern leggings encased his lower limbs ; and huge 

 spurs jingled on his heels. He rode in a high-peaked Mexican 

 saddle, his 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. 



" Cojnpadre,'" he shouted, " j:ior onde va V 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, j)or eso vienen tan lejitos. Jesus, 

 que viola gentel" — " It's horses you want, and for this you come 

 all this way. Ah, what rogues you are I" 



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 appeared, 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 

 niansito ;" an Indian, but a tame one ;* '' de oitas, Christiano ;" 

 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 Asniericanos ; he had once met a man of that 

 nation who was a good sort of fellow, and 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 



* The Mexicans call the Indians living near the missions and engaged in agri- 

 culture, maTisos, or mansilos, tame. 



