that might arise as to cattle-property, overhaul and inspect all brands of stock being driven from or through the county, and to steal as many "hoobs" as he possibly could, without detection. In fact, the "perquisites" constituted pretty nearly the entire pay of this valuable officer, and if they all understood their business as well as the one it was my fortune to cabin with for a number of months, they made the office pay pretty well.

By the time the rodeo season was over, about the middle of May, the "Matanza," or killing season commenced. The number of cattle slaughtered each year was commensurate with the number of calves marked, and the amount of herbage for the year, for no more should be kept alive than the pasture on the rancho could support. After the butchering, the hides were taken off and dried; the tallow, fit for market, was put into bags made from hides; the fattest portions of the meat were made into soap; while some of the best was cut, pulled into thin shreds, dried in the sun, and the remainder thrown to the buzzards and the dogs, a number of which were kept-young dogs were never destroyed-to clean up after a matanza. Three or four hundred of these curs were to be found on a rancho, and it was no infrequent occurrence to see a ranchero come into town with a string of them at his horse's heels.

Let us consider one of the habitations of these people. Its construction was beautiful in its extreme simplicity. The walls were fashioned of large sun-dried bricks, made of that black loam known to settlers in the Golden State as adobe soil, mixed with straw, measuring about eighteen inches square and three in thickness; these being cemented with mud, plastered within with the same substance, and whitewashed when finished. The rafters and joists were of rough timber, with the bark simply peeled off, and placed in the requisite position, the thatch being of rushes or chaparral fastened down with thongs of bullock's hide. When completed, these dwellings stand the brunt and wear and tear of many decades, as can be evidenced by the number which are still occupied through the county. The furniture consisted of a few cooking utensils, a rude bench or two, sometimes a table, and the never-failing red camphor-wood trunk. This chest contained the extra clothes of the womenthe men wore theirs on their backs-and when a visit of more than a day's duration was made, the box was taken along. They were cleanly in their persons and clothing; the general dress being, for females, a common calico gown of plain colors, blue gowns with small figures being those most fancied. The fashionable ball-dress of the young ladies was a scarlet flannel petticoat covered with a white lawn skirt, a combination of tone in color which is not surpassed by the modern gala costume. Bonnets there were none, the head-dress consisting of a long, narrow shawl or scarf. So graceful was their dancing that it was the admiration of all strangers; but as much cannot be said for that of the men, for the more noise they made, the better it suited them.

The dress of the men was a cotton shirt, cotton drawers, calzonazos, sash, serape, and hat. The calzonazos took the place of pantaloons in the modern costume, and differed from these by being open down the side, or, rather, the seams on the sides were not sewed as in pantaloons, but were laced together from the waistband to the hips by means of a ribbon run through eyelets, thence they were fastened with large silver bell-buttons; in wearing them they were left open from the knee down. The best of these garments were made of broadcloth, the inside and outside seams being faced with cotton velvet. The serape was a blanket with a hole through its center, through which the head was inserted, the remainder hanging to the knees before and behind. These cloaks were invariably of brilliant colors, and varied in price from four to one hundred and fifty dollars. The calzonazos were held in their place by a pink sash worn around the waist, while the serape served as a coat by day and a covering by night.

Their courtship was to the western mind peculiar, no flirting or love-making being permitted. When a young man of marriageable age saw a young lady whom he thought would make a happy help-mate, he had first to make his wishes known to his own father, in whose household the eligibility of the connection was primarily canvassed, when, if the desire was regarded with favor, the father of the enamored swain addressed a letter to the father of the young lady, asking for his daughter in marriage for his son. The matter was then freely discussed between the parents of the girl, and, if an adverse decision was arrived at, the father of the young man was by letter so informed, and the matter was at an end; but, if the decision of her parents was favorable to him, then the young lady's inclinations were consulted, aud her decision communicated in the same manner, when they were affianced, and the affair became a matter of common notoriety. Phillis might then visit Chloe, was then received as a member of her family, and when the time came the marriage was celebrated by feasting and dancing, which usually lasted from three to four days. It may be mentioned here that when a refusal of marriage was made the lady was said to have given her lover the pumpkin-si dio la cabala.

The principal articles of food were beef and beans, in the cooking and preparing of which they were unsurpassed; while they cultivated to a certain extent, maize, melons, and pumpkins. The bread used was the tortilla, a wafer in the shape of the Jewish unleavened bread, which was, when not made of wheaten flour, baked from corn. When prepared of the last-named

meal, it was first boiled in weak lye made of wood ashes, and then by hand ground into a paste between two stones; this process completed, a small portion of the dough was taken out, and by dextrously throwing it up from the back of one hand to that of the other the shape was formed, when it was placed upon a flat iron and baked over the fire.

The mill in which their grain was ground was made of two stones as nearly round as possible, of about thirty inches in diameter, and each being dressed on one side to a smooth surface. One was set upon a frame some two feet high, with the smooth face upwards; the other was placed on this with the even face downwards, while through an inch hole in the center was the wheat fed by hand. Two holes drilled partly through each admitted an iron bolt, by means of which a long pole was attached; to its end was harnessed a horse, mule or donkey, and the animal being driven around in a circle, caused the stone to revolve. We are informed that these mills were capable of grinding a bushel of wheat in about twelve hours! Their vehicles and agricultural implements were quite as primitive, the cart in common use being formed in the following manner: The two wheels were sections of a log with a hole drilled or bored through the center, the axle being a pole sharpened at each extremity for spindles, with a hole and pin at either end to prevent the wheels from slipping off. Another pole fastened to the middle of the axle served the purpose of a tongue. Upon this framework was set or fastened a species of wicker-work, framed of sticks bound together with strips of hide. The beasts of burden were oxen, which were yoked with a stick across the forehead, notched and crooked so as to fit the head closely, and the whole tied with rawhide. The plow was a still more quaint affair. It consisted of a long piece of timber which served the purpose of a beam, to the end of which a bundle was fastened; a mortise was next chiseled, in order to admit the plow, which was a short stick with a natural crook, having a small piece of iron fastened on one end of it. With this crude implement was the ground upturned, while the branch of a convenient tree served the purposes of a harrow. Fences there were none, so that crops might be protected; ditches were therefore dug, and the crests of the sod covered with the branches of trees, to warn away the numerous bands of cattle and horses, and prevent their intrusion upon the newly sown grain. When the crops were ripe, they were cut with a sickle, or any other convenient weapon, and then it became necessary to thresh it. Now for the modus operandi. The floor of the corral into which it was customary to drive the horses and cattle to lasso them, from constant use had become hardened. Into this inclosure the grain would be piled, and upon it the manatha, or band of mares, would be turned loose to tramp out the seed. The wildest horses, or mayhap the colts that had only been driven but once, and then to be branded, would be turned adrift upon the straw, when would ensue a scene of the wildest confusion, the excited animals being urged, amidst the yelling of vaqueros and the cracking of whips, here, there, and everywhere, around, across, and lengthwise, until the whole was trampled, and naught left but the grain and chaff. The most difficult part, however, was the separating these two articles. Owing to the length of the dry season, there was no urgent haste to effect this; therefore, when the wind was high enough, the trampled mass would be

tossed into the air with huge wooden forks cut from the adjacent oaks, and the wind carry away the lighter chaff, leaving the heavier grain. With a favorable breeze, several bushels of wheat could thus be winnowed in the course of a day; while, strange as it may appear, it is declared that grain so sifted was much cleaner than it is now.

The government of the native Californian was as primitive as the people. There were neither law-books nor lawyers, while laws were mostly to be found in the traditions of the people. The head officer in each village was the Alcalde, in whom was vested the judicial function, who received on the enactment of a new law a manuscript copy, called a bando, upon the obtaining of which a person was sent round beating a snare-drum, which was a signal for the assemblage of the people at the Alcalde's office, where the Act was read, thus promulgated, and forthwith had the force of law. When a citizen had cause of action against another requiring the aid of court, he went to the Alcalde and verbally stated his complaint in his own way, and asked that the defendant be sent for, who was at once summoned by an officer, who simply said that he was wanted by the Alcalde. The defendant made his appearance without loss of time, where, if in the same village, the plaintiff was generally in waiting. The Alcalde commenced by stating the complaint against him, and asked what he had to say about it. This brought about an altercation between the parties, and nine times out of ten the justice could get at the facts in this wise, and announce judgment immediately, the whole suit not occupying two hours from its beginning. In more important cases, three "good men" would be called in to act as co-justices, while the testimony of witnesses had seldom to be resorted to. A learned American judge has said that "the native Californians were, in the presence of their courts, generally truthful. What they knew of false-swearing, or perjury, they have learned from their associations with Americans. It was truthfully said by the late Edmund Randolph, that the United States Board of Commissioners to settle private land claims in California had been the graves of their reputations."

They were all Roman Catholics, and their priests of the Franciscan order. They were great church-goers, yet Sunday was not the only day set apart for their devotions. Nearly every day in the calendar was devoted to the memory of some saint, while those dedicated to the principal ones were observed as holidays; so that Sunday did not constitute more than half the time which they consecrated to religious exercises, many of which were so much in contrast to those of the present day, that they deserve a short description.

The front doors of their churches were always open, and every person passing, whether on foot or on horseback, did so hat in hand; any forgetfulness on this head caused the unceremonious removal of the sombrero. During the holding of services within, it was customary to station a number of men with

out, who at appointed intervals interrupted the proceedings with the ringing of bells, the firing of pistols, and the shooting of muskets, sustaining a noise resembling the irregular fire of a company of infantry.

In every church was kept a number of pictures of their saints, and a triumphal arch, profusely decorated with artificial flowers, while, on a holiday devoted to any particular saint, after the performance of mass, a picture of the saint, deposited in the arch, would be carried out of the church on the shoulders of four men, followed by the whole congregation in double file, with the priest at the head, book in hand. The procession would march all round the town, and at every few rods would kneel on the ground while the priest read a prayer or performed some religious ceremony. After the circuit of the town had been made, the train returned to the church, entering it in the same order as that in which they had departed. With the termination of these exercises, horse-racing, cock-fighting, gambling, dancing, and a general merry-making completed the work of the day. A favorite amusement of these festivals was for thirty or forty men on horseback, generally two, but sometimes three on one horse, with their guitars, to parade the town, their horses capering and keeping time to the music, accompanied with songs by the whole company, in this manner visiting, playing, and singing at all the places of business and principal residences; and it was considered no breach of decorum for men on horses to enter stores and dwellings.

Some of their religious ceremonies were very grotesque and amusing, the personification of "the wise men of the east" being of this character. At the supposed anniversary of the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem, seven or eight men would be found dressed in the most fantastic styles, going in company from house to house looking for the infant Savior. They were invariably accompanied by one representing the devil in the garb of a Franciscan friar, with his rosary of beads and the cross, carrying a long rawhide whip, and woe to the man who came within reach of that whip-it was far from fun to him, though extremely amusing to the rest of the party. The chief of these ceremonies, however, was the punishment of Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of his Master. On the supposed periodicity of this event, after nightfall and the people had retired to rest, a company would go out and prepare for the forthcoming ceremonies. A cart was procured and placed in the public square in front of the church, against which was set up an effigy made to represent Judas, by stuffing an old suit of clothes with straw. The houses were then visited, and a collection of pots, kettles, dishes, agricultural implements-in fact, almost every conceivable article of personal property was scraped together and piled up around Judas, to represent his effects, until in appearance he was the wealthiest man in the whole country. Then the last will and testament of Judas had to be prepared, a work which was accorded to the best scribe and the greatest wit