r on. Indeed I know of many wonderful birds' skins, dressed
with the feathers on, that are still in perfect preservation. As workers
in leather they have never been surpassed. Many saddles, bridles, etc.,
were needed for Mission use, and as the ranches grew in numbers, they
created a large market. It must be remembered that horseback riding was
the chief method of travel in California for over a hundred years. Their
carved leather work is still the wonder of the world. In the striking
character of their designs, in the remarkable adaptation of the design,
in its general shape and contour, to the peculiar form of the object to
be decorated,--a stirrup, a saddle, a belt, etc.,--and in the digital
and manual dexterity demanded by its execution, nothing is left to be
desired. Equally skilful were they in taking the horn of an ox or
mountain sheep, heating it, and then shaping it into a drinking-cup, a
spoon, or a ladle, and carving upon it designs that equal those found
upon the pottery of the ancient world.

Shoemaking was extensively carried on, for sale on the ranches and to
the trading-vessels. Tallow was tried out by the ton and run into
underground brick vaults, some of which would hold in one mass several
complete ship-loads. This was quarried out and then hauled to San Pedro,
or the nearest port, for shipment. Sometimes it was run into great bags
made of hides, that would hold from five hundred to a thousand pounds
each, and then shipped.

Many of the Indians became expert carpenters, and a few even might be
classed as fair cabinet-makers. There were wheelwrights and cart-makers
who made the "carretas" that are now the joy of the relic-hunter. These
were clumsy ox-carts, with wheels made of blocks, sawed or chopped off
from the end of a large round log; a big hole was then bored, chiseled,
or burned through its center, enabling it to turn on a rude wooden axle.
Soap or tallow was sometimes used as a lubricant. This was the only
wheeled conveyance in California as late as 1840. Other Indians did the
woodwork in buildings, made fences, etc. Some were carvers, and there
are not a few specimens of their work that will bear comparison with the
work of far more pretentious artisans.

Many of them became' blacksmiths and learned to work well in iron. In
the Coronel Collection in the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce are many
specimens of the ironwork of the San Fernando neophytes. The work of
this Mission was long and favo