remove the missionaries, and to divide their lands and cattle among the natives and settlers. Santa Anna coming into power through the aid of the church party, before the law could be carried into effect, it was repealed.

It was a very narrow escape for the Fathers, however. Commissioners had been appointed by the government to engage emigrants in Mexico, who were to be paid half a dollar per day till their arrival in California, with a free passage, and provisions on the way.

Nearly three hundred men, women, and children arrived at San Francisco in 1834, to form a colony on the strength of this confiscation law; but Santa Anna had sent messengers overland with instructions to Figueroa, the Governor of the Territory, who, when the emigrants arrived, informed them of the changed condition of affairs, and the missions escaped spoliation for that time. But their end was near, for amid all the turmoils and political convulsions that distracted Mexico during the ensuing ten years, every party that managed to get hold of the reins of government continued to fleece the Fathers out of something, till, little by little, they were deprived of all their privileges.

The missions became neglected, the Indians could no longer be induced to plant crops, and there was nobody else who would, so the fields were overgrown with weeds, and the Fathers became careless, killing thousands of their cattle to obtain the price of their hides and tallow. Matters grew from bad to worse until 1840, when the Congress took charge of the missions, and most of them were permitted to go to ruin. In 1845, several of those remaining were sold at auction to whoever would buy them, and the miserable Indians, whose labors had built them up, were abandoned to their fate. Thus ended the mission system of California, a system which had clearly "outlived its usefulness, but had prepared the way for a better civilization, in which the unfortunate natives of the soil were not destined to participate.

The last of the old missionaries, Father Altemira, the Padre of San Rafael and Sonoma at the time of the abolishment of the missions, was living at Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands, in 1860.

The following is a list of the missions, the date of their formation. and where located:

20th..San Rafael.

Oct. 9, 1791.
June 11, 1797...
.June 24, 1797..
.July 25, 1797
.Sept. 8, 1797.
.June 13, 1798.
Sept. 17, 1804.
Dec. 14, 1817

.Latitude 34°16'

Latitude 33°3'

Latitude 34°52′
.Latitude 380

1820..........
21st..San Francisco de Solano de Sonoma....April 25, 1820 ...Latitude 38°30'

These missions were all built on one general plan, but some were constructed of better materials, and more artistically finished than others, according to the locality and skill of the missionaries in charge, who generally acted as architects, masons, and superintendents. They usually formed three sides of a square in outline. In the middle was the church, on which the greatest amount of labor was always expended, in order to make it as large and as handsome as possible. Its interior was as highly decorated as the means of the presiding Father would admit. Its walls were always adorned with gorgeously colored pictures of subjects calculated to attract the attention of the simple minded natives, while about the altar were placed massive gilt candlesticks, images, gold and silver vessels, and everything that had a tendency to attract special attention to them. The old Mission Church, at Santa Clara, which still exists, in excellent repair, is an interesting specimen of the skill of the missionaries, and of the labor of the natives. At this (mission the houses of the natives formed five rows of streets, and were more comfortable than at any other.

The old Mission of San Juan, which stands fronting the town of San Juan South, is another good illustration of these relics of the past. Its adobe walls, with their long corridors of massive arches, is strongly in contrast with the modern brick convent adjoining, in which one hundred young ladies are taught the same religion the founders of the missions sought to propagate among the natives.

The Santa Barbara Mission, which also continues in tolerably good repair, is one of the most pretentious of these ancient structures. At each corner of the front of this building there is a tower thirty-five feet high, surmounted by double belfries, above each of which is the symbolical cross. In front of this massive façade there still remains the

ruins of a large fountain, and the signs of the walks and parterres the Fathers delighted to cultivate.

The houses occupied by the priests were always close to the church, and behind them were arranged the workshops and storehouses. Most of the main buildings were constructed of adobe, or unburnt clay, moulded into masses as large as a man could conveniently lift, and were roofed with tiles partially burned, to better stand the weather. The quarters occupied by the natives were generally at some distance from the church, and consisted sometimes of rough adobe walls, covered with leaves, and at others of mere huts, such as the Indians usually constructed for themselves in the wilderness.

Near the Indian quarters, which were called the rancheria, was the castillo, in which resided the garrison, generally three or four Mexican cavalry soldiers-an accompaniment of every mission. This citadel was made as strong as possible, to withstand attacks from the Indians, in case of outbreaks among them, which were of frequent occurrence during the early days of the settlement. The soldiers who resided at the missions were a worthless set of ruffians, most of them having been transported to California as a punishment for crimes committed in Mexico.

In addition to the military stationed at the missions there were distinct military establishments called Presidios, maintained by the Spanish government to aid in preserving peace among the natives, as well as to repel any attempt at invasion by foreign powers. There were four of these Presidios-located at San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, the chief harbors in the territory. Each was fortified with high walls made of adobe, on which were mounted a few guns of small calibre. The garrisons were rarely inside these fortifications. Being under but little restraint, they roamed over the country, or settled upon some pleasant spot, took one of the converted Indian women for a wife, and obtained a grant of land as a dower. The first grant of land in the territory, by the Spanish government, was made on the 27th of November, 1775, to Manuel Butron, a Spanish soldier, who married Marguerita, one of the converts of the Mission of San Carlos.

Many of the old Spanish soldiers and their descendants are living in California, at this time, on ranchos granted to them for services at these Presidios. One of these relics of the past was living at Santa Barbara in 1865, and was quite a curiosity in his way. He wore knee breeches and buckles, and silver buttons on his jacket, as in the days of old, and was fond of telling about the events that occurred while

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California was under the dominion of Spain. He was in Monterey in the year 1800, and had such a vivid impression of the great earthquake of 1812 as to give quite an interesting account of the forty days shaking which then occurred. He was with Captain Morago on the first expedition sent to explore the country, when that Captain discovered the San Joaquin River, and reached the Sierra Nevada, giving the present . name to Calaveras county, in consequence of finding the bones of so many dead Indians scattered about. What changes have taken place in the country during the life of this old resident!

It appears to have been the design of the Spanish government to settle the country by such men, as it authorized the laying out of "pueblos," or towns, near each of the presidios and missions, in which every settler was to have had a two hundred vara lot of ground, as a homestead, with the privilege of certain common and timber lands, laid out for the use of the villages. This relic of Spanish rule in California has been the source of much litigation since the country has come into the possession of the Americans, as the titles to lands made by the Spanish or Mexican authorities are recognized in the courts of the United States.

The site on which the City of San Francisco has been built was a portion of the pueblo of the mission located there. A number of parties claimed this land, on the pretext that there was no pueblo at this place, but the Supreme Court of the United States having decided that there was, a new cause of litigation arose, to decide who were the lawful custodians of the four leagues of these pueblo lands-by whom, and to whom, they should be distributed. These points continue to attract much attention, and are of vital importance to the present and future prosperity of the State.

There were also three independent towns, or pueblos, altogether separate from the missions and presidios, formed by the old Spanish or Creole soldiers discharged from the service, who married among the natives and settled at these places, which were: Los Angeles, San José, and Branciforte-now Santa Cruz.

THE ABORIGINES OF CALIFORNIA.

There is scarcely any subject connected with the early history of the State, more instructive or suggestive, as exhibiting its natural wealth, than the condition of its original inhabitants, when they were first discovered.

Owing to the studied efforts of the missionaries, to misrepresent the mental and physical condition of the native Californians, in order

to palliate their own conduct in holding them in bondage for so many years, it is not safe to trust the writings of the Fathers on this subject. According to their reports, the unfortunate race stood at the very foot in the scale of humanity--were inferior in intelligence to the Bosjesmen of Africa, and worse in their habits than the disgusting aborigines of Australia. Such a character not only does injustice to the aborigines of California, but to the country that gave them birth; although it is generally accepted by those who form an estimate of the condition and disposition of the race, by the wretched remnant of it now remaining. It is necessary to go back to the period ere he became sophisticated by civilization, to form a just estimate of the aboriginal Californian, or of the country he inhabited. Fortunately, there are numerous disinterested sources through which the most reliable information on the subject may be obtained, from the date of their first discovery.

It is unjust to charge him, as do some, with being indolent, because his native land furnished him with abundance of food, without much exertion on his part; or to say he was cowardly, because he was not continually at war with his neighbors, in an incessant struggle for existence the normal condition of most savage races; or to consider him more savage than other savages, because he built only frail houses and made but few clothes, which the mildness of the climate, and the Some writers even fashions of his race, enabled him to dispense with.

go so far as to insist that the Californian Indians were lower, as types of humanity, than the Fejee or Sandwich Islanders, because the latter made clothes, cultivated the soil, and were skilled in the use of weapons of warfare. Such writers should remember that the islanders were compelled to make garments, to protect themselves against the heat and cold of their country; were obliged to cultivate the soil, or starve, as it produced but little spontaneously, and had to become dexterous in the use of weapons of warfare, in order to avoid being eaten by their conquerors. No such exigency or necessity attended the life of the aboriginal Californian. Is it fair, then, to charge him with indolence, because his beneficent Creator had abundantly provided for all his wants, and left him but little to do except to enjoy life? No country in the world was as well supplied by Nature, with food for man, as California, when first discovered by the Spaniards. Every one of its early visitors have left records to this effect—they all found its hills, valleys and plains filled with elk, deer, hares, rabbits, quail, and other animals fit for food; its rivers and lakes swarming with salmon, trout, and other fish, their beds and banks covered with