The Field of the Cloth of God 321 



to irrigate the mustard. A prosperous-looking 

 farmhouse is seen now and then in the centre of 

 a gold leaf a mile square, you can think of no 

 other comparison, then another ranchhouse, 

 surrounded by the richest of green hues, still 

 mustard, mustard before the flower has ap- 

 peared. On the hillsides the mustard sweeps 

 upward like a flame, covering the slopes, the 

 blossom adding to the brilliancy of the valley. 



Possibly, it was this and the charms of the 

 valley that attracted the mission fathers a cen- 

 tury or more ago. They established the mission 

 about fifteen miles up the stream, one of the 

 links of the great ecclesiastical chain that ex- 

 tended along the coast from Southern California 

 to San Francisco. A century ago, many Mexi- 

 cans lived here, and the Franciscans were a 

 power, but in a day or two spent in rambling 

 over the country in the vicinity of La Purissima 

 Concepcion not half a dozen swarthy counte- 

 nances were seen. 



One intelligent Mexican, the descendant of a 

 man who formerly owned nearly the entire coun- 

 try, spoke of the old times in a philosophical 

 way. " The Spanish are too lazy for the gringo; 

 they have no show. Spain and the Spanish are 

 in their decadence ; they reached their prime two 

 centuries ago, they are down; and in about two 

 centuries more of trusts and graft," he said, 

 laughing, " the Americans will be in the same 



