The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-02-01

tant regions, published by La Perouse Vancouver,
| and more recently by two Spanish navigators, DE
| Gallano and Valdes. | have succeeded in pro-
curing, during my soiourn in Mexico the statisti-
cal tables formed in 1902 by the President Of the
| Missions of New California, Father Frmn La
| suen. 1t appears, from comparison which have
made with the official documents preserved in the
| archives of Mexico. that in 1776 there were but
eight villages in 1870, eleven while in 1902, the
| number had increased to eighteen The popula-
| ton of New California, counting the Indians
attached to the soil who commence to devote them
| selves to the cultivation of the earth, was, in
| 1890, 7,74S; in 1901, 1865; in 1902, Is ,562.
The number of inhabitants has according to
this, doubled in twelve years. Since the founda-
ton OF the missions, or from 1862 to 1902, thera
have been, according to the parochal registers,
53,1lI baptlsms, oOO9 marriages, and 1884 deaths
From this we cannot infer the proportion existing
between births and deaths, because adult Indians
receiving baptism ios neoftos) COMPOUNDED with
children.
The valuation of products of the soil, the es-
mate of crops, offers convincing proofs of the in
crease of the industry and prosperity Of New Cali
ornia. According to the tables published by NJ
(ialianO, the Indians in the whole province sowed
in 1871, S74 fanegas of wheat. which produced a
crop of 1877 fanegas. In 1902 the product had
doubled, the quantity of wheat soWn being 20S9
fanegas, and the crop $40 fanegas.
The number of cattle existing in 1902, was as
follows oxen, 81 1882; Sheep 10Y ,172 hogs, 1O4O
horses, 2lS7; mules, ST..
In the year 1871 there were in all the Indian vii
lagos but "a 1853 head of large cattle
This progress OF agriculture, these peaceable con-
quests of industry, are so much the interest
ing, the natives of this coast, very different from
those of Nootka and the Bay of Norfolk, were,
only thirty years ago. a nomade people, living by
fishing and hunting, and cultivating no kind of
vegetables. The Indians Of the bay of San Fran
cisco then as degraded as are now the inhabi-
tants of Van Dieman's Land 1t was only in the
channel Of Santa Barbara that in 1863 the abo-
regimes were found somewhat advanced in agrcul-
ture. They built large houses in pyramidal form,
which they joined together. Kind and hosptabe,
they offered TO the SKaniards vases of a curious
make. These baskets are covered inside with kind
of asphaltic preparation, which makes them mper-
vious to water and the fermented liquors which are
put in them.
The northern part of New California is inhabited
by two nations, the Rumsen and Escelen, who
speak languages entirely different and form the
population of the garrison and village of Monterey.
The population of New California would have in
creased much more rapidly, if for some centuries
the rules governing the Spanish establishments had
not been Numerically opposed to the true interests
of the metropolis and the colonies. According to
these laws, the soldiers stationed at Monterey are
not permitted to live outside of their quarters to
establish themselves colonists. The monks are
generally opposed to having whites for coonists,
because these, people UhO reason, would pro-
badly be subjected to blind an obedience as the
Indians. g 1t is very afflctng' says Spanish
navigator that the soldiers who pass laborious
and hazardous life, cannot, in their old age, fix
themselves IN the country, and become agricultu-
ralists." BY removing the shackles we
have referred to-, the missions of the Rio Negro,
San Francisco, and Monterey, would he peOpled by
a great number of whites But what a contrast do
the principles Of colonization adopted by the Span
iards present to those by which Great Britain has in
a few years created the villages on the eastern
coast of New Holland!
The Rumsen and Esceen Indians partake with
the Aztecs, the fondness for the warm bath. The
Temazcalli, which are still found in Mexico, and
OF which the Able Clavigero has given an exact
description. real vapor baths. The Aztec In
dian extends hmselfin heated oven, of which the
floor is constantly dampened with wafer The ma
tlves of New California, on the contrary take the
baths which the celebrated franklin recommended
baths of warm air. There is near every house a
little edifice built in the form of temazCaH. On
turning from work the Indians enter the oven, where
few moments before the fire has been extnguished.
They remain for quarter of an hour until they
become covered with perspiration, when they throw
themselves into a neighborng stream. This rapid
transition from heat to cold, this sudden suppression
of the cutaneous functions, which the European,
with reason, repeis, causes agreeable sensations to
the savage, who, above all things, enjoys what
strongly excltes him, or reacts powerfully upon his
nervous system.
The Indians inhabiting the villages of New Cali
fornia have for some years been engaged in the
manufacture of coarse woOlien fabrics. But their
principal pursuit and that which may become an
important branch of commerce, is the making of
leather from deer skin. = The Russian
and Spanish establishments being up to this time
the only European colonies which exist on the
northwest coast of America, it will be useful to
enumerae all the missions of New California which
have been founded, up to the commencement of the
year 1903. This detailed notice is the more inter-
IL ,l-l.4 r Il
States manifest the desire of movement towards
the west, to the coasts of the grand Ocean, opposite
to China, and which abound in otter and beaver.
The Missions of New California succeed each
other, from south to north, in the order here laid
down:
SAN DIEGo-A village founded in 1869, at ID
miles distant from the most northern of the Missions
of Old California. Population in 1902, 1850.
SAN LUIS RUY DE FRANCIA.-Founded in 1895
Population GOO
SAN JUAN CAPIsTRANo. - Founded in 1776.
Population 1000
SAN GABRlEL.-Founded in l77I. Population
1850.
SAN FERNANDo.-Founded in 1897. Population
600
SAN observation-disclosures in 1882. Pop
uIation $50.
SANTA BARBARA.-Founded in 1856. Popula
ton HOO
LA PURIsIMA CoNcEPcIoN.-Founded in 1887.
Population 1000.
SAN LUIS OBIsPo-Founded in 1772. Popula
ton 700.
SAN MIGUEL.-Founded in 1897. Population 600
STRAIGHTFORWARD in 1871. Population $40.
SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA.-Founded in l77l.
Population 1850.
SAN CARLOS DE MONTEREY Capital of New
California. Founded in ITO, at the foot of the
Cordillera of Santa Lucia, which is covered with
oaks and other trees. The village is Two leagues
distant from the garrison which bears the same
Il H. (ol Irl
ined the Bay of Monterey on the 18th of November.
1912, and on account of the beautiful pines which
cover the tops of the neghboring mountains, he
named it Ia Bahia de los Pnos, bay of the Pines)
Its present name given it 60 years later, in
honor of the Vceroy of Mexico, Gaspard de Zuniga.
some great maritime expeditions are due, and who
engaged Juan de Onate in the conquest of New
Mexico. The population of the village is 700.
SAN JUAN BAUTIsTA-Founded in 1897. Popu-