we kept up a constant connection with the presidio, and by the close of the summer i had added much to my vocabulary, beside having made the acquaintance of nearly everybody in the place, and acquired some knowledge of the character and habits of the people, as well as of the institutions under which they live.

california was discovered in 1534 by ximenes, or in 1536 by cortes, i cannot settle which, and was subsequently visited by many other adventurers, as well as commissioned voyagers of the spanish crown. it was found to be inhabited by numerous tribes of indians, and to be in many parts extremely fertile; to which, of course, were added rumors of gold mines, pearl fishery, &c. no sooner was the importance of the country known, than the jesuits obtained leave to establish themselves in it, to christianize and enlighten the indians. they established missions in various parts of the country toward the close of the seventeenth century, and collected the natives about them, baptizing them into the church, and teaching them the arts of civilized life. to protect the jesuits in their missions, and at the same time to support the power of the crown over the civilized indians, two forts were erected and garrisoned — one at san diego, and the other at monterey. these were called presidios, and divided the command of the whole country between them. presidios have since been established at santa barbara, san francisco, and other places, dividing the country into large districts, each with its presidio, and governed by a commandante. the soldiers, for the most part, married civilized indians; and thus, in the vicinity of each presidio, sprung up, gradually, small towns. in the course of time, vessels began to come into the ports to trade with the missions and received hides in return; and thus began the great trade of california. nearly all the cattle in the country belonged to the missions, and they employed their indians, who became, in fact, their serfs, in tending their vast herds. in the year 1793, when vancouver visited san diego, the missions had obtained great wealth and power, and are accused of having depreciated the country with the sovereign, that they might be allowed to retain their possessions. on the expulsion of the jesuits from the spanish dominions, the missions passed into the hands of the franciscans, though without any essential change in their management. ever since the independence of mexico, the missions had been going down; until, at last, a law was passed, stripping them of all their possessions, and confining the priests to their spiritual duties, at the same time declaring all the indians free and independent rancheros. the change in the condition of the indians was, as may be supposed, only nominal; they are virtually serfs, as much as they ever were. but in the missions the change was complete. the priests have now no power, except in their religious character, and the great possessions of the missions are given over to be preyed upon by the harpies of the civil power, who are sent there in the capacity of administradores, to settle up the concerns; and who usually end, in a few years, by making themselves fortunes, and leaving their stewardships worse than they found them. the dynasty of the priests was much more acceptable to the people of the country, and, indeed, to every one concerned with the country, by trade or otherwise, than that of the administradores. the priests were connected permanently to one mission, and felt the necessity of keeping up its credit. accordingly the debts of the missions were regularly paid, and the people were, in the main, well treated, and attached to those who had spent their whole lives among them. but the administradores are strangers sent from mexico, having no interest in the country; not identified in any way with their charge, and, for the most part, men of desperate fortunes — broken-down politicians and soldiers — whose only object is to retrieve their condition in as short a time as possible. the change had been made but a few years before our arrival upon the coast, yet, in that short time, the trade was much diminished, credit impaired, and the venerable missions were going rapidly to decay.

the external political arrangements remain the same. there are four or more presidios, having under their protection the various missions, and the pueblos, which are towns formed by the civil power and containing no mission or presidio. the most northerly presidio is san francisco, the next monterey, the next santa barbara, including the mission of the same, san luis obispo, and santa buenaventura, which is said to be the best mission in the whole country, having fertile soil and rich vineyards. the last, and most southerly, is san diego, including the mission of the same, san juan capistrano, the pueblo de los angeles, the largest town in california, with the neighboring mission of san gabriel. the priests, in spiritual matters, are subject to the archbishop of mexico, and in temporal matters to the governor-general, who is the great civil and military head of the country.

the government of the country is an arbitrary democracy, having no common law, and nothing that we should call a judiciary. their only laws are made and unmade at the caprice of the legislature, and are as variable as the legislature itself. they pass through the form of sending representatives to the congress at mexico, but as it takes several months to go and return, and there is very little communication between the capital and this distant province, a member usually stays there as permanent member, knowing very well that there will be revolutions at home before he can write and receive an answer; and if another member should be sent, he has only to challenge him, and decide the contested election in that way.

revolutions are matters of frequent occurrence in california. they are got up by men who are at the foot of the ladder and in desperate circumstances, just as a new political organization may be started by such men in our own country. the only object, of course, is the loaves and fishes; and instead of caucusing, paragraphing, libelling, feasting, promising, and lying, they take muskets and bayonets, and, seizing upon the presidio and custom-house, divide the spoils, and declare a new dynasty. as for justice, they know little law but will and fear. a yankee, who had been naturalized, and become a catholic, and had married in the country, was sitting in his house at the pueblo de los angeles, with his wife and children, when a mexican, with whom he had had a difficulty, entered the house, and stabbed him to the heart before them all. the murderer was seized by some yankees who had settled there, and kept in confinement until a statement of the whole affair could be sent to the governor-general. the governor-general refused to do anything about it, and the countrymen of the murdered man, seeing no prospect of justice being administered, gave notice that, if nothing was done, they should try the man themselves. it chanced that, at this time, there was a company of some thirty or forty trappers and hunters from the western states, with their rifles, who had made their head-quarters at the pueblo; and these, together with the americans and englishmen in the place, who were between twenty and thirty in number, took possession of the town, and, waiting a reasonable time, proceeded to try the man according to the forms in their own country. a judge and jury were appointed, and he was tried, convicted, sentenced to be shot, and carried out before the town blindfolded. the names of all the men were then put into a hat, and each one pledging himself to perform his duty, twelve names were drawn out, and the men took their stations with their rifles, and, firing at the word, laid him dead. he was decently buried, and the place was restored quietly to the proper authorities. a general, with titles enough for an hidalgo, was at san gabriel, and issued a proclamation as long as the fore-top-bowline, threatening destruction to the rebels, but never stirred from his fort; for forty kentucky hunters, with their rifles, and a dozen of yankees and englishmen, were a match for a whole regiment of hungry, drawling, lazy half-breeds. this affair happened while we were at san pedro (the port of the pueblo), and we had the particulars from those who were on the spot. a few months afterwards, another man was murdered on the high-road between the pueblo and san luis rey by his own wife and a man with whom she ran off. the foreigners pursued and shot them both, according to one story. according to another version, nothing was done about it, as the parties were natives, and a man whom i frequently saw in san diego was pointed out as the murderer. perhaps they were two cases, that had got mixed.

when a crime has been committed by indians, justice, or rather vengeance, is not so tardy. one sunday afternoon, while i was at san diego, an indian was sitting on his horse, when another, with whom he had had some difficulty, came up to him, drew a long knife, and plunged it directly into the horse’s heart. the indian sprang from his falling horse, drew out the knife, and plunged it into the other indian’s breast, over his shoulder, and laid him dead. the fellow was seized at once, clapped into the calabozo, and kept there until an answer could be received from monterey. a few weeks afterwards i saw the poor wretch, sitting on the bare ground, in front of the calabozo, with his feet chained to a stake, and handcuffs about his wrists. i knew there was very little hope for him. although the deed was done in hot blood, the horse on which he was sitting being his own, and a favorite with him, yet he was an indian, and that was enough. in about a week after i saw him, i heard that he had been shot. these few instances will serve to give one a notion of the distribution of justice in california.

in their domestic relations, these people are not better than in their public. the men are thriftless, proud, extravagant, and very much given to gaming; and the women have but little education, and a good deal of beauty, and their morality, of course, is none of the best; yet the instances of infidelity are much less frequent than one would at first suppose. in fact, one vice is set over against another; and thus something like a balance is obtained. if the women have but little virtue, the jealousy of their husbands is extreme, and their revenge deadly and almost certain. a few inches of cold steel has been the punishment of many an unwary man, who has been guilty, perhaps, of nothing more than indiscretion. the difficulties of the attempt are numerous, and the consequences of discovery fatal, in the better classes. with the unmarried women, too, great watchfulness is used. the main object of the parents is to marry their daughters well, and to this a fair name is necessary. the sharp eyes of a due?a, and the ready weapons of a father or brother, are a protection which the characters of most of them — men and women — render by no means useless; for the very men who would lay down their lives to avenge the dishonor of their own family would risk the same lives to complete the dishonor of another.

of the poor indians very little care is taken. the priests, indeed, at the missions, are said to keep them very strictly, and some rules are usually made by the alcaldes to punish their misconduct; yet it all amounts to but little. indeed, to show the entire want of any sense of morality or domestic duty among them, i have frequently known an indian to bring his wife, to whom he was lawfully married in the church, down to the beach, and carry her back again, dividing with her the money which she had got from the sailors. if any of the girls were discovered by the alcalde to be open evil livers, they were whipped, and kept at work sweeping the square of the presidio, and carrying mud and bricks for the buildings; yet a few reals would generally buy them off. intemperance, too, is a common vice among the indians. the mexicans, on the contrary, are abstemious, and i do not remember ever having seen a mexican intoxicated.

such are the people who inhabit a country embracing four or five hundred miles of sea-coast, with several good harbors; with fine forests in the north; the waters filled with fish, and the plains covered with thousands of herds of cattle; blessed with a climate than which there can be no better in the world; free from all manner of diseases, whether epidemic or endemic; and with a soil in which corn yields from seventy to eighty fold. in the hands of an enterprising people, what a country this might be! we are ready to say. yet how long would a people remain so, in such a country? the americans (as those from the united states are called) and englishmen, who are fast filling up the principal towns, and getting the trade into their hands, are indeed more industrious and effective than the mexicans; yet their children are brought up mexicans in most respects, and if the “california fever” (laziness) spares the first generation, it is likely to attack the second.