TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIAS. , 209 
with each a chapel. And in these humble sanctuaries, as 
often as the Padre visits them, the red men gather and pay 
their devotions to the true God! The progress made in spir¬ 
itual improvement is equal to his most ardent desires. But 
the nature of the country forbids equal advancement in the 
arts of civilized life. They cannot raise the small grains; 
and their only resource is the cultivation of maize and the 
raising of cattle. These are procured by the Padre; and 
with the native fruits afford them a comfortable subsistence. 
The justice and kindness of the Padre win him the love and 
esteem of all the Indians; and he desires to live and die 
among them. But his health again failing, and his superior 
regarding him with more tenderness than he does himself, 
transfers him to an easier office in Mexico. And thus, having 
spent sixteen years in the most arduous and faithful discharge 
of his duties as a missionary in California, he, with grief and 
tears, in 1735, takes leave of the Indians of Santa Guadalupe. 
While these labors are being prosecuted, a very strong de¬ 
sire is felt by the Padres to extend the commercial and civil 
advantages of California by the establishment of colonies, gar¬ 
risons, and good harbors, for the accommodation of the Philip¬ 
pine and Chinese ships. In order to accomplish this, it is 
desirable to do three things ; first, to take a minute survey by 
water, of the Pacific coast, from Cape San Lucas northward, 
in search of such harbors; second, to pursue the same search 
by a land expedition, skirting the coast between the same 
points; and third, to survey the Californian Gulf, in order to 
ascertain whether the peninsula be really such, or an island, 
cut off from the main land by a channel at the north end 
Great difficulties oppose the prosecution of all these enter¬ 
prises by the feeble powers of the Padre. But after much de¬ 
liberation, it is resolved to undertake the two last. The sur¬ 
vey of the Gulf being deemed the most difficult and import¬ 
ant, Padre Ugarte determines to take charge of it himself, and 
while he is making the necessary preparation, he desires 
Padre Guillen to attempt the land tour, on the Pacific Coast. 
18 
