178 SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
embark for Loretto in the San Xavier. On their way, they 
put into Concepcion Bay which lies south of the opposing 
Mountains; send the bark to Guaymas for supplies; goby 
land along a path partially cleared by the preceding expedi¬ 
tion ; arrive at a valley which they call San Juan de Londo, 
where they meet Padre Salva Tierra; and thence pro¬ 
ceed in great haste to Loretto. Misfortune calls for their 
sympathy. 
An ordinance has been issued by the Viceroy at Mexico, 
prohibiting any one from engaging in fishing for, or trading 
in, pearls, on the Californian coast,without a license from the 
Government, countersigned by the military commandant at 
Loretto. The object of this regulation is to prevent avari¬ 
cious individuals from drawing the Indians away from the 
missions; an evil which the Padres have long endeavored to 
extirpate. But notwithstanding this regulation, two vessels 
have come upon the coast without license, and are fishing off 
Loretto, when a tempest breaks them from their moorings and 
strands them in the bay. The crew of one of them, seventy 
in number, are saved, and fourteen of the other succeed in 
gaining the shore. These eighty odd men the Padres clothe 
and feed a whole month,—the time required to get their ships 
off and repair them,—when the one with seventy souls sails for 
Mexico. This unexpected draught upon the small stores of 
the missions bears so heavily upon them, that the arrival of 
Padre Piccolo from Senora, with the bark partially laden with 
provisions, barely saves them from starvation. Near the 
close of the year the twelve survivors of the other crew are 
taken to the continent by Padre Minutili, who has been 
appointed to the missions at Tibutama. But their presence 
for so long a time at the garrison has greatly increased the 
sufferings of all the stations. It is now 1704, the seventh 
year of the religious conquest of California. It seems to be 
the last of the missions. The Padres have labored inces¬ 
santly. Many of the natives have been baptized, and are 
becoming accustomed to labor. The lands are somewhat 
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