December. e x e r c 'fc the arts both o f furgery and medicine with great fuccefs, efpe-
'— X'— ’ Cla% ^ latter, for the credit o f which they may be much indebted to the
unimpaired conftitutions of their patients, and the natural healthinéfs of
the climate. The fcarcity o f fpirituoüs liquors, and the great regularity df
the inhabitants in food and employment, induces a life of lemperar.ee
and confequently, the difeafes to which they ’are liable are feld'oih of a'
malignant nature, and in mold inftances readily yibld to the'fimpIelF
means of cure;
The number of the natives, at this period, who were faid to hayè ehi-1
braced the Roman Catholic perfuafiotr under the difcipline!df‘ the Fran-
- . ehoan and Dominican .'orders of miffionaries in’,New Albion, and fhroiigf^'
out the peninfula of California, amounted to about! twenty tlioufahdi arid'
they were eftimated at an eighth or tenth of die whole native popuIatidiP
o f thofe countries. Their progfefs towards civilization feems to have!
been remarkably flow; and it is1 not very likely,to become more fa - ’
pid, .until; the. impolicy of excluding foreign 'vifitors fhall be laid afide, '
w d an amicable commercial intercourfe Tubftitutéd in- :its’' room; b f '
which fyftem, new wants becoming- neceffary, new comforts would,
he, introduced; this, would ftimulate them to- induftry, tliëif lands ’
would be examined and cultivated, and their flock o f cattle would, by
attention, foon increafe fo abundantly, as to ‘enable them to'difpofe of
the furplus produce ó f their farms to ftrangers, for fuch iarticIek'OT
convenience.as would tend to facilitate their labours,- and otherways'feft-''
der their lives more comfortable. Provifions, timber,’ and Tea otter fkins,"
would be the firft commodities for their exportation ; and though the
fea otter fkms obtained in thefe parts, are certainly inferior to thofe prd- Ï
cured further to the north, they couldmot fail o f becoming a profitable
article of traffic. V ■ [i j
I did not find that New Albion had yet been fuppofed to contain anV'
valuable minerals, nor is California confidered much richer’in that fe- :
fpe£l; though I underftood, that about 14 leagues to the north-weft 'of
the Prefidio o f Loretto, which is fituated in the 26th degree of-north ’
latitude on the ffiores o f the peninfula in the gulph o f California, the
Spaniards had lately dilcovered two filver mines that were ftated to be
tolerably productive. The Prefidio p f Loretto is on a more-exténfive
plan
R O U N D T H E W O R L D .
plan than any in New Albion; its inhabitants amount to about feventy
Spaniards and feveral families o f Indians, befides a mixed race; exclu-
fiye of the garrifon, which is compofed of a company of fixty foldiers,
with their officers.
The miffionariös o f the Francifcan order, who extend their funftions
no further fouth than St. Diego, aft in all cafes under the particular di-
reftion of their college, a branch of which is eftabliffied at Mexico ;
with which a conftant correfpondence is kept up, and by which their
conduft appears, on all occafions, to be regulated; and they feem, in
moft refpefts, nearly independent of military fubjeftion.
From this brief lketch, fome idea may probably be formed of the pre-
fent ftate o f the European fettlements in this country, and the degree
o f importance they are o f to the Spaniffi monarchy, which retains this
extent o f country under its authority by a force that, had we not been
eye-witnefles of its infignificance in many inftances, we ffiould hardly
have given credit to the poffibility of fo fmall a body o f men keeping in
awe, and under fubjeftion, the natives of this country, without reforting
to harffi or unjuftifiable meafures. The number of their forces, between
port St. Francifco and St. Diego, including both eftabliffiments, and
occupying an extent in one line of upwards of 420 nautical miles, does
not amount to three hundred, officers included; and from St. Diego fouth-
ward, to Loretto, not above one hundred more, exclufive of the garrifon
and folders refiding at that port. Thefe are all that are employed for thé
proteftion of the millions.' Thofe of the Dominican order, to the fouth-
ward of St. Diego, are fixteen in number, each o f which is guarded by
five foldiers only. O f the Francifcan order, to the northward o f St.
Diego, there are thirteen; fome guarded by five, whilft others have eight,
ten, or twelve foldiers for their proteftion, in thofe fixations where the
Indians ‘are more numerous, and likely to prove troublefome. This
feems to be more apprehended at La Soledad and at St. Antonio than at
any other of the eftabliffiments. The Prefidio of St. Diego and S'? Barbara
are each garrifoned by a company of fixty men; out o f which number
guards are afforded to the, miffions o f the fame names. The garrifon o f
Monterrey generally, I believe, cónfifts of a. company o f fixty or eighty
men, and that o f St. Francifco of thirty-fix men only. Thefe foldiers
3 S
49.9
are