CALIFORNIA. 187 



fashion. The children are, for the most part, left to take care of 

 themselves, and run about naked and dirty. They are generally 

 robust, and their relative number seems to be very great; thus, it is 

 by no means uncommon to see families of fourteen or fifteen children ; 

 and an instance was mentioned to me of a woman near Yerba Buena, 

 who had had twenty-six. A large number die from accidental falls 

 from horses, with which from their earliest childhood they are accus- 

 tomed to be engaged. They early become expert and' fearless riders, 

 and this skill is not confined altogether to the male sex ; the women 

 are almost equally expert. Families with numerous members are 

 seldom met with who have not had to mourn the loss of several of 

 their number from casualties of this sort. 



Although the Californians are comparatively few in number, yet 

 they have a distinctive character. Descended from the old Spaniards, 

 they are unfortunately found to have all their vices, without a proper 

 share of their virtues ; they are exceedingly fond of gambling, which 

 is equally in favour with the male and female portion of the commu- 

 nity. Their games consist in cards, dice, &c. 



Their amusements are cock-flo-hting, bull and bear-baiting, and 

 dancing ; these are the predominant occupations of their lives, always 

 accompanied with excessive drinking. Parties of amusement, to 

 which the surrounding population is invited, are frequent ; these 

 generally last for three days, and rarely break lip without some 

 quarrel. Weddings are particularly liable to these disorders, and at 

 each of the three last that took place at and in the vicinity of Yerba 

 Buena, previous to our visit there, a life was lost by the cuchillo. 

 This weapon is always worn, and is promptly resorted to in all their 

 quarrels. 



The female portion of the community are ignorant, degraded, and 

 the slaves of their husbands. They are very fond of dress, and will 

 make any sacrifice, even their own honour, to gratify it. The men 

 have no trades, and depend for every thing upon the Indians at the 

 missions, some of whom are quite ingenious, both as carpenters and 

 blacksmiths. The whites are so indolent, and withal have so much 

 pride, as to make them look upon all manual labour as degrading ; 

 in truth, they regard all those who work as beneath them ; the)', in 

 consequence, can never be induced to labour. An anecdote was 

 related to me of one who had been known to dispense with his 

 dinner, although the food was but a few yards off, because the Indian 

 was not at hand to bring it to him. 



The state of morals here is very low, and is every day becoming 



