The
Indian population inhabiting the region of the Great Salt Lake, Mary's
River, the oases of the Great Desert Basin, and the country bordering
the Rio Colorado and its tributaries, being spread over a vast extent
of territory, are scarcely seen, although the aggregate number is
considerable.
The Californians do not differ materially from the Mexicans, from whom
they are descended, in other provinces of that country. Physically and
intellectually, the men, probably, are superior to the same race
farther south, and inhabiting the countries contiguous to the city of
Mexico. The intermixture of blood with the Indian and negro races has
been less, although it is very perceptible.
The men, as a general fact, are well made, with pleasing sprightly
countenances, and possessing much grace and ease of manners, and
vivacity of conversation. But hitherto they have had little knowledge
of the world and of events, beyond what they have heard through Mexico,
and derived from the supercargoes of merchant-ships and whalemen
touching upon the coast. There are no public schools in the country--at
least I never heard of one.
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