323 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
Jila and its neighboring lands, which invites us to expect 
hereafter to see them inhabited by a somewhat dense and 
thriving population. 
The past history of this valley well delineated would fur¬ 
nish a tale of great interest. This was a part of the field in 
which the good Padre Kino administered to the savages the 
wholesome truths of Christ’s Redemption. Who shall ever 
learn, till the great scroll of the past is opened by our Maker, 
what he endured, and what his joy was to suffer thus for 
others ! And now that the walls of his missions lie crum¬ 
bling into dust on the banks of the Jila, and the Indian has 
returned to his wild estate, who shall be able to know how 
many sorrows* he alleviated, how many pleasures he height¬ 
ened, and what well-springs of future events his labors have 
opened, which shall enrich and gladden the hearts that shall 
beat there in coming time ? Peace to the good man’s soul ! 
His memory will never be forgotten by those who love great 
and good men, devoted to deeds of righteousness. This val¬ 
ley was also one of the stopping-places of the Montezuma or 
Village Indians, during their southward movements from 
Behring’s Straits to the city of Mexico and its vicinity. And 
here, it is said, the following remarkable prophecy was de¬ 
clared by one of their old seers. “ The adorable Sun says 
that we shall wander” (a certain number of years) “ and build 
cities, and see them destroyed, until we arrive in a great val¬ 
ley surrounded by proud and lofty mountains, in which shall 
be fertility, great beauty of growing things, and broad lakes 
of clear sweet waters. From one of these lakes an eagle 
shall rise on his strong wings towards the God whom we 
worship, with a serpent’s neck in his beak and his lower part 
in his claw.” This was to be the sign that they should wan¬ 
der no farther, should build a city among the Lakes, should 
live there prosperously a certain number of years, at the 
end of which a people whiter than themselves should come 
and conquer them, and that they should never afterward be 
enabled to obtain their independence. Believing in this pro- 
