The main buildings of the mission are two stories in height,
with wide corridors in front and rear. The walls are massive, and, if
protected from the winter rains, will stand for ages. But if exposed to
the storms by the decay of the projecting roofs, or by leaks in the
main roof, they will soon crumble, or sink into shapeless heaps of mud.
I passed through extensive warehouses and immense rooms, once occupied
for the manufacture of woollen blankets and other articles, with the
rude machinery still standing in them, but unemployed. Filth and
desolation have taken the place of cleanliness and busy life. The
granary was very capacious, and its dimensions were an evidence of the
exuberant fertility of the soil, when properly cultivated under the
superintendence of the _padres_. The calaboose is a miserable dark room
of two apartments, one with a small loop-hole in the wall, the other a
dungeon without light or ventilation. The stocks, and several other
inventions for the punishment of offenders, are still standing in this
prison. I requested permission to examine the interior of the church,
but it was locked up, and no person in the mission was in possession of
the key.
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