The Polynesian., 1841-11-13

aud with very little OF the appearance OF
the Spaniard about him. He is also very
indignant at the seizure Of the foreigners
and told Don Aguera the owner of the
barque which contained the prisoners, that
he hoped he would fall in with an Ameri-
can man of war, andbe hung at the yard
arm for prostituting his vessel for such
netar!ous purpose. On our arrival the
prisoners were removed from the ship and
confined in the Keeps of the Mission on
the hill, Jose Castro, who commands the
party which guards them having an idea
that we were following him for the pur-
pose of ehccting a rescne.
On the afternoon of our arrival, we took
a walk out to the Mission, which is a no.
BILE pile of buildings, and must have cost
much labor and money considering the
circumstances under which it was built,
in savage and unsettled country, where
all the materials were to be brought from
old Spain. A fine fountain plays in front
Of the building, the water which supplies
it being brought in aqueducts from the
mountains in the rear, and is collected
in six large reservoirs of solid Spanish ma
sonry. 1t is now fast going to ruin, and
only enough are kept full to supply the
mission and the fountain with water.-
The ancient looking building itself, with
lis domes and turrets, it's fountains and
gardens, seemed rough illustration of
Irving's description of the ancient Moor
ish edfices in Granada. We searched in
vain for some one who could let us into
the interior of the church, and at last
catching sight of al old Friar we request
ed him to allow us to enter; he replied
that the sexton had the key, and that the
sexton was gone away, so that we were
disappointed. Returning to the town we
met party of soldiers, escorting REIN
forcement of prisoners, who bad been
brought from San Pedro, seaport to lee
ward. These were to join the ship, which
sailed few. days after for San Bias with
her cargo of human beings.
We had numerous and unequivocal
tokens that our unexpected appearance
on this coast was any thing but welcome to
the "powers that be-" Going direct to
tnc Cdpltul vi McAICO, where Ion jose
Castro is bound, to represent the dreadful
revolution which he has aided to suppress,
and for which he expects to be rewarded,
it was evident to him that any falsehood
which he had prepared would be detected,
and he was we'll aware that the simple
truth will not be sufficient to Justify the
brutality with which their prisoners have
been treated. Castro openly threatened
that if his party fell in with us on the way,
we should never reach Mexico; but this
of course we knew to be mere braggard-
ism, but it sufficiently Showed us the ma
ture of their feeling towards US to put US
on our guard.
Sunday is here as in all Spanish coun-
tries, the great holiday, when the whole
population turn out in their best, to amuse
and exhibit themselves. Bull batting.
horse racing and cock fighting, is the or
der of the day, and the scene in st. Bar
bara is gay one. The Caljfornians may
almost be termed a nation Of horsemen,
and the dexterity displayed by them in all
equestrian exercises is astonishing. The
first thing learned by the children is to
throw the lasso they learn to ride al