of the mass, morning and night prayer, confession and communion at stati times-the true worship, in a word, of the Deity, succeeded the listless, aimless life, the rude pagan games and the illicit amours. The plains and valleys, which for centuries lay uncultivated and unproductive, now teemed under an abundance of every species of corn: the hills and plains were covered with stock; the fig tree, the olive and the vine yielded their rich abundance, while lying in the harbors, waiting to carry to foreign markets the rich products of the country, might be seen numerous vessels from different parts of the world. Such was the happy and prosperous condition of the country under the missionary rule; and with this the rea ler is requested to contrast the condition of the people after the removal of the Religious, and the transfer of power to the secular authorities. was passed by the The dispersion and Within eight years "In 1833, the decree for the liberation of the Indians Mexican Congress, and put in force in the following year. demoralization of the people was the imme liate result. after the execution of the decree, the number of Christians diminished from thirty thousand six hundre l and fifty to four thousand four hundred and fifty! Some of the missions, which in 1834 had as many as one thousand five hundred souls, numbered only a few hundred in 1842. The two missions of San Rafael and San Francisco Solano decreased respectively within this period from one thousand two hundred and fifty and one thousand three hundred, to twenty and seventy! A like diminution was observed in the cattle and general products of the country. Of the eight hundred and eight thousand head of live stock belonging to the missions at the date above mentioned, only sixtythree thousand and twenty remained in 1842. The diminution in the cereals was equally striking; it fell from seventy to four thousand hectolitres. By descending to particular instances, this (the advantage of the Religious over the civil administration) will become even more manifest still. At one period during the supremacy of the Fathers, the principal mission of the country (San Diego), produced as much as six thousand fanegas of wheat, and an equal quantity of maize, but in 1842 the return for this mission was only eighteen hundred fanegas in all." But why prolong these instances which are adduced by the learned and Reverend Father? Better will it be to let the reader judge for himself. Figures are incontrovertible facts; let them speak: COMPARATIVE TABLE EXPLAINING THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MISSIONS BY THE FATHERS IN 1834 AND THAT OF THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES IN 1842. Being twenty-one missions in all distributed over a distance of two hundred and eighty-nine leagues. We have thus far dwelt principally upon the establishment of the missions, and the manner of life pursued by the native Indians; let us now retrace our steps, and briefly take into consideration the attempt made by yet another nation to get a foothold on the coast of California, but which would appear not to have heretofore received the attention which the subject would demand. The Russians, to whom then belonged all that territory now known as Alaska, had found their country of almost perpetual cold, without facilities for the cultivation of those fruits and cereals which are necessary to the maintenance of life; of game there was an inexhaustible supply; still, a variety was wanted. Thus, ships were dispatched along the coast in quest of a spot where a station might be established and those wants supplied, at the same time bearing in mind the necessity of choosing a location easy of access to the headquarters of their fur-hunters in Russian America. In a voyage of this nature the port of Bodega in Sonoma county, which nad been discovered in the year 1775 by its sponsor, Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, was visited in January, 1811, by Alexander Koskoff, who took possession of the place on the fragile pleas that he had been refused a supply of water at Yerba Buena, and that he had obtained, by right of purchase from the Indians, all the land lying between Point Reyes and Point Arena, and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he remained for awhile, and to Bodega gave the name of Romanzoff, calling the stream now known as Russian river, Slavianka. The King of Spain, it should be remembered, claimed all territory north to the Fuca straits. Therefore, on Governor Arguello receiving the intelligence of the Russian occupation of Bodega, he reported the circumstance to the Viceroy, Revilla Gigedo, who returned dispatches ordering the Muscovite intruder to depart. The only answer received to this communication was a verbal message, saying that the orders of the viceroy of Spain had been received and transmitted to St. Petersburg for the action of the Czar. Here, however, the matter did not rest. There arrived in the harbor of San Francisco, in 1816, in the Russian brig "Rurick," a scientific expedition, under the command of Otto von Kotzebue. In accordance with instructions received from the Spanish authorities, Governor Sola proceeded to San Francisco, visited Kotzebue, and, as directed by his government, offered his aid in furtherance of the endeavors to advance scientific research on the coast. At the same time he complained of Koskoff; informed him of the action taken on either side, and laid particular emphasis on the fact that the Russians had been occupiers of Spanish territory for five years. Upon this complaint Don Gervasio Arguello was dispatched to Bodega as the bearer of a message from Kotzebue to Koskoff, requiring his presence in San Francisco. This messenger was the first to bring a definite report of the Russian settlement there, which then consisted of twenty-five Russians and eighty Kodiac Indians. On the twenty-eighth day of October, a conference was held on board the "Rurick" in the harbor of San Francisco, between Arguello, Kotzebue and Koskoff; there being also present Jose Maria Estudillo, Luis Antonio Arguello and a naturalist named Chamisso, who acted as interpreter. No new developement was made at this interview, for Koskoff claimed he was acting in strict conformity with instructions from the Governor of Sitka, therefore Kotzebue declined to to take any action in the matter, contenting himself with the simple promise that the entire affair should be submitted to St. Petersburg to await the instructions of the Emperor of Russia. Thus the matter then rested. Communications subsequently made produced a like unsatisfactory result, and the Russians were permitted to remain for a lengthened period possessors of the land they had so arbitrarily appropriated. In Bodega, the Russians, however, went to work with a will, whether they had a right to the soil or not. They proceeded into the country about six miles and there established a settlement, houses being built, fields fenced, and agricultural pursuits vigorously engaged in. As soon as the first crop had matured and was ready for shipment, it became necessary for them to have a warehouse at the bay, where their vessels could be loaded, which was done, it being used for the storage of grain or furs as necessity called for. It was not long before they found there was a strong opposition to them and that it would be necessary to build a fort for their protection if they would keep possession of thei newly acquired domain. Open warfare was threatened, and the Russians had reason to believe that the threats would be carried out. Besides the Spaniards, there was another enemy to ward against-the Indians-over whom the former, through the missions, had absolute control, and the Russians apprehended that this power would be used against them. Several expeditions were organized by the Spanish to march against the Russians, and while they all came to naught, yet they served to cause them to seek for some place of refuge in case of attack. This they did not care to look for at any point nearer the Bay of San Francisco, for thus they would be brought in closer proximity to the enemy, hence they went in an opposite direction. Doubtless the Muscovite would have been glad to have adopted a laissez faire policy towards the Spanish, and would have been well satisfied to have let them alone if they would only have retaliated in like manner; fearing, however, to trust the Spaniards, they proceeded to search for such a location as would afford them natural protection from their enemies. In passing up the coast to the northward, they came to Fort Ross, where they found everything they desired. Vast meadows stretched to the eastward, affording pasture to flocks without number. "This is the forest primeval; the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms, Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep voiced neighboring ocean There was a beautiful little cove in which vessels might lie in safety from the fury of northern storms; near at hand was an ample stretch of beach, on which their rude yet staunch argosies could be constructed and easily launched upon the mighty deep; no more propitious place could have been found for the establishment of the Russian headquarters. The location once chosen they set to work to prepare their new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the shore of the ocean, and in such a position as to protect all their ships lying in the little cove, and prevent any vessel inimical to them from landing. The plat of ground inclosed in this stockade was a parallelogram, two hundred and eighty feet wide and three hundred and twelve feet long, and containing about two acres. Its angles were placed very nearly upon the cardinal points of the compass. At the north and south angle there was constructed an octagonal bastion, two stories high, and furnished with six pieces of artillery. These bastions were built exactly alike, and were about twenty-four feet in diameter. The walls were formed of hewed logs, mortised together at the corners, and were about eight inches in thickness. The roof was conical shaped, having a small flag-staff at the apex. The stockade approached these towers in such a way that one-half of them was within the inclosure and the other half on the outside, the entrance to them being through small doors on the inside, while there were embrasures both on the inside and outside. They were thus arranged so as to protect those within from an outside enemy, and to also have all within, under the range of the cannon, so that in case of an internal eruption the officers could readily quell the emute. The stockade was constructed as follows: A trench was excavated two feet deep, while every ten feet along the bottom of the trench a hole was dug one foot deep. In these holes posts about six by ten inches were inserted, and between the posts and on the bottom of the trenches there was a strong girder firmly mortised into the posts, and fastened with a strong wooden pin. Slabs of varying widths, but all being about six inches thick, were then placed in an upright position between the first posts and resting on the girder in the trench, being firmly fastened to them. At a distance up the posts of twelve feet from the lower girder, there was run another girder, which was also mortised into the posts and made fast with pins. These girders rested on the tops of the slabs mentioned as being placed between the posts. The slabs were slotted at the top, and a piece of timber passed into the slots, then huge wooden pins were passed down through the girders and the piece in the slots, and well into the body of the slab. The main posts extended about three feet higher, and near the top a lighter girder was run along, and between the last two mentioned there was a row of light slabs, two inches thick and four inches wide, pointed at the top like pickets. It may well be imagined that when the trench was filled up with tamped rock and dirt, that this stockade was almost invulnerable, when we remember the implements of war likely to be brought against it in those days of rude weapons. All around the stockade there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or carronades, of which latter, it is said, there were several in the fortress. On the northern side of the eastern angle there was erected a chapel which it is said was used by the officers of the garrison, alone. It was twenty-five by thirty-one feet in dimensions, and strongly built, the outer wall forming a part of the stockade, and the round port-holes for the use of carronades, are peculiar looking openings in a house of worship. The entrance was on the inside of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door, held upon wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about ten by twenty-five feet in size, thus leaving the auditorium twenty-one by twenty-five feet. From the vestibule a narrow stairway led to a low loft, while the building was surmounted with two domes, one of which was round, and the other pentagonal in shape, in which it is said the muscovites had hung a chime of bells. The roof was made of long planks, either sawed or rove from redwood, likewise the side of the chapel in the fort. Some degree of carpenter's skill was displayed in the construction of the building, for a faint attempt at getting out mouldings |