396 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP stowage can. proceed to another port in the same dominion without 
being liable to seizure by the customs. 
The imprudent nature of these laws, as regards California, appears 
to have been considered by the authorities in that country, as they 
overlook the introduction of goods into the towns by indirect chan- 
nels, except in cases of a gross and palpable nature. In this manner 
several American vessels have contrived to dispose of their cargoes, 
and the inhabitants have been supplied with goods of which they were 
much in need ; but had the navigation laws been strictly attended to, 
the vessels must have retuimed unsuccessful, and the inhabitants have 
continued in want. 
Far more liberal has been the hand of nature to this much 
neglected country, in bestowing upon it a climate remarkable for its 
salubrity. The Spanish settlers in California enjoy an almost uninter- 
rupted state of good health. Many attain the age of eighty and ninety, 
and some have exceeded a hundred years. There have been periods, 
however, when the small pox and measles have affected the population, 
and particularly the Indians in the missions, who, unlike the Spaniards, 
appear to suffer severely from diseases of all kinds, d he small pox 
many years ago prevailed to an alarming extent, and carried off several 
thousand Indians ; but since the introduction of cattle into the country, 
and with them the cow pox, it has not reappeared. Vaccination was 
practised in California as early as 1806, and the virus from Europe has 
been recently introduced through the Russian establishment at Rossi. 
The measles have also at times seriously affected the Indians, and in 
1806 proved fatal to thousands, while it is remarkable that none of the 
Spaniards affected with the disease died. Dysentery, the most pre- 
valent complaint amongst the converted Indians, no doubt arises in a 
great measure from the coldness and dampness of their habitations, and 
becomes fatal through the want of proper medical assistance. They are 
happily free from the hooping cough. 
This state of ill health does not extend to the uncivihzed In- 
dians ; and, notwithstanding the mortality in the missions, the climate 
of California must be considered salubrious. Perouse, Vancouver, and 
Langsdorff were of the same opinion ; and to judge of it by the geneial 
