102 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
two other Indians stood about among the hens and ducks, 
grinning and squinting at us in much wonder and humility ! 
Such was the group on the hen-dog-Indian side of the 
scene. Ourselves occupied the other. 
We stood at our horses’ necks, one hand on the rein, and 
awaited something, we knew not what. The Esquire rolled 
his little black eyes in delight to see us; put one hand on the 
hip, and stood on one leg, and then changed into an opposite 
position; shaking and giggling with joy meanwhile, and ap¬ 
parently not knowing where to begin to entertain either him¬ 
self or us. At length, Dr. Bale came to his relief, by referring 
to the fact that he owned more land before the mission was 
founded, than he now seemed to enjoy. At this he took fire, 
and went into a dissertation on the titles of the Padres and 
Indians; the substance of which, I learned from the Doctor, 
was, that the Padres had taken possession of the valley about 
forty years before, had taught the Indians to work and pray, 
had given a portion of his lands to other Indians, and when 
civil troubles came, had killed most of the cattle and sold the 
hides and tallow to ships, for hard dollars, and with bags of 
these dollars left the country and the Indians who had earned 
them. “ There,” said he, pointing to his blind wife, “ is all 
they have left me of my wife; she worked hard and is blind ; 
and these little fields are all they have left me of my broad 
lands.” 
His violent gesticulation and tone of voice led me to the 
belief that he was tinctured with mania. The poor fellow 
and his wife excited our commiseration deeply, and I cannot 
remember them, even now, without reviving the pity I felt for 
the “ Indian lawyer” and his poor blind wife, tottering about 
her lowdy hut. 
From these premises we turned rein for Monterey. Our 
Californian steeds laid hoof to the rough road in a manner wor¬ 
thy their Arabian sires. Speed, speed ! Backward the gravel 
flew from their willing feet, as we mounted the heights. 
Gully and rock were leaped with a joyful neigh ! We reached 
