Many horses gave out as usual, and were left, from
inability to travel. Our _caballada_ is diminishing rapidly. Distance
10 miles.
_December 10_.--Our march has been on the main beaten trail, dry and
hard, and over a comparatively level country. We passed the mission of
San Miguel about three o'clock, and encamped in a grove of large oak
timber, three or four miles south of it. This mission is situated on
the upper waters of the Salinas, in an extensive plain. Under the
administration of the _padres_ it was a wealthy establishment, and
manufactures of various kinds were carried on. They raised immense
numbers of sheep, the fleeces of which were manufactured by the Indians
into blankets and coarse cloths. Their granaries were filled with an
abundance of maize and frijoles, and their store-rooms with other
necessaries of life, from the ranchos belonging to the mission lands in
the vicinity. Now all the buildings, except the church and the
principal range of houses contiguous, have fallen into ruins, and an
Englishman, his wife, and one small child, with two or three Indian
servants, are the sole inhabitants.
Pages:
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166