第108章 Irving’s Bonneville - Chapter 38(3)

Nothing, we are told, could exceed the implicit and affectionate devotion of the Indianconverts to the Jesuit fathers, and the Catholic faith was disseminated widely throughthe wilderness. The growing power and influence of the Jesuits in the New World atlength excited the jealousy of the Spanish government, and they were banished fromthe colonies. The governor, who arrived at California to expel them, and to take chargeof the country, expected to find a rich and powerful fraternity, with immense treasureshoarded in their missions, and an army of Indians ready to defend them. On thecontrary, he beheld a few venerable silverhaired priests coming humbly forward to meethim, followed by a throng of weeping, but submissive natives. The heart of thegovernor, it is said, was so touched by this unexpected sight, that he shed tears; but hehad to execute his orders. The Jesuits were accompanied to the place of theirembarkation by their simple and affectionate parishioners, who took leave of them withtears and sobs. Many of the latter abandoned their heriditary abodes, and wandered offto join their southern brethren, so that but a remnant remained in the peninsula. TheFranciscans immediately succeeded the Jesuits, and subsequently the Dominicans; butthe latter managed their affairs ill. But two of the missionary establishments are atpresent occupied by priests; the rest are all in ruins, excepting one, which remains amonument of the former power and prosperity of the order. This is a noble edifice, oncethe seat of the chief of the resident Jesuits. It is situated in a beautiful valley, about halfway between the Gulf of California and the broad ocean, the peninsula being hereabout sixty miles wide. The edifice is of hewn stone, one story high, two hundred andten feet in front, and about fifty-five feet deep. The walls are six feet thick, and sixteenfeet high, with a vaulted roof of stone, about two feet and a half in thickness. It is nowabandoned and desolate; the beautiful valley is without an inhabitant-- not a humanbeing resides within thirty miles of the place!

In approaching this deserted mission-house from the south, the traveller passes overthe mountain of San Juan, supposed to be the highest peak in the Californias. Fromthis lofty eminence, a vast and magnificent prospect unfolds itself; the great Gulf ofCalifornia, with the dark blue sea beyond, studded with islands; and in anotherdirection, the immense lava plain of San Gabriel. The splendor of the climate gives anItalian effect to the immense prospect. The sky is of a deep blue color, and the sunsetsare often magnificent beyond description. Such is a slight and imperfect sketch of thisremarkable peninsula.

Upper California extends from latitude 31° 10' to 42° on the Pacific, andinland, to the

great chain of snow-capped mountains which divide it from the sand plains of theinterior. There are about twenty-one missions in this province, most of which wereestablished about fifty years since, and are generally under the care of the Franciscans.