200 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
who have conquered nations with the sabre of truth, and led 
them to a more intelligent and happy condition. 
Jayme Bravo, after the burial of Padre Salva Tierra, pro¬ 
ceeds to Mexico, lays the condition of the Californian mis¬ 
sions before the Vice-Royal Council, obtains an appropriation 
of four thousand dollars for the building and equipment of a 
vessel for the mission service, three thousand and twenty-two 
dollars for discharging the debts due at the death of Padre 
Salva Tierra, and eighteen thousand two hundred and 
seventy-five dollars for the pay of the soldiers and sailors. 
While these things are transpiring in Mexico, a terrible hur¬ 
ricane, accompanied by violent rains, sweeps over California. 
Padre Ugarte’s house, and the church at Loretto, are levelled 
to the ground; and the Padre himself stands by the side of a 
rock exposed to the tempest for twenty-four hours. At San 
Xavier, the channels used for irrigating the lands are filled 
with stones, and the water thrown in torrents over the fields. 
Both soil and sprouting crops are carried away. The 
same misfortune occurs at Mulege. The blasts of the tem¬ 
pests are so terrific at the garrison, that a Spanish boy named 
Matheo, is taken up in one of their gyrations and never seen 
more! Tornadoes of this kind are frequent in California. 
But the Padres have seen none equal to this for violence and 
continuance. What little soil has been found in the country 
has been dislodged and swept into the sea; the country 
is laid waste; its rocks are bare j its plains and vales are cov¬ 
ered with heaps of stones. 
