view being only to render themselves terrible, that they may keep their enemies in awe. Some Indians have skirts of otters' skins. A great chief wore a skirt composed of a tanned skin of the elk, bordered by a fringe of beaks of birds, which, when dancing, imitated the noise of a bell; a common dress among the savages of Canada, and other nations in the eastern parts of America. The passion of these Indians for gaming is astonishing, and they pursue it with great avidity. The sort of play to which they are most devoted, is a certain game of chance; out of thirty pieces of wood, each distinctly marked like the French dice, they hide seven: each plays in succession, and he who guesses nearest to the whole number marked upon the seven is the winner of the stake, which is usually a hatchet or a piece of iron.
At length, after a very long run, on the 11th of September, at three in the afternoon, the navigators got sight of Fort Monterey, and two three-*masted vessels which lay in the road. The commander of these two ships having been informed, by the viceroy of Mexico, of the probable arrival of the two French frigates, sent them pilots in the course of the night. Loretto, the only presidency of Old California, is situated on the east coast of this peninsula and has a garrison of fifty-four troopers, who furnish detachments to fifteen missions; the duties of which are performed by Dominican friars. About four thousand Indians, converted and residing in these fifteen parishes, are the sole produce of the long labors of the different religious orders which have succeeded each other. A small navy was established by the Spanish government in this port, under the orders of the viceroy of Mexico, consisting of four corvettes of twelve guns, and one goletta. They are destined to supply with necessaries the presidencies of North California; and they are sometimes despatched as packet-boats to Manilla, when the orders of the court require the utmost expedition.
The company were received with all possible politeness and respect; the president of the missions, in his sacerdotal vestment, with the holy water in hand, waited to receive them at the entrance of the church, which was splendidly illuminated as on their highest festivals: he then conducted them to the foot of the high altar, where Te Deum was sung in thanksgivings for their arrival. Before they entered the church they passed a range of Indians: the parish church, though covered with straw, is neat, and decorated with paintings, copied from Italian originals. The Indians, as well as the missionaries, rise with the sun, and devote an hour to prayers and mass, during which time a species of boiled food is prepared for them: it consists of barley meal, the grain of which has been roasted previous to its being boiled. It is cooked in the centre of the square, in three large kettles. This repast is called atole by the Indians, who consider it as delicious: it is destitute of salt and butter, and must consequently be insipid. The women have little more to attend to than their housewifery, their children, and the roasting and grinding of several grains: the latter operation is long and laborious, as they employ no other means than that of crushing it in pieces with a cylinder upon a stone.
The Indians of the rancheries, or independent villages, are accustomed to paint their bodies red and black, when they are in mourning; but the missionaries have prohibited the former, though they tolerate the latter, these people being singularly attached to their friends. The ties of family are less regarded among them than those of friendship: the children show
