r huts of willows,
tules, and mud.

The principal written source of authority for our knowledge of the
Indians at the time of the arrival of the Fathers is Fray Geronimo
Boscana's _Chinigchinich: A Historical Account, etc., of the Indians of
San Juan Capistrano_. There are many interesting things in this account,
some of importance, and others of very slight value. He insists that
there was a great difference in the intelligence of the natives north of
Santa Barbara and those to the south, in favor of the former. Of these
he says they "are much more industrious, and appear an entirely distinct
race. They formed, from shells, a kind of money, which passed current
among them, and they constructed out of logs very swift and excellent
canoes for fishing."

Of the character of his Indians he had a very poor idea. He compares
them to monkeys who imitate, and especially in their copying the ways of
the white men, "whom they respect as beings much superior to themselves;
but in so doing, they are careful to select vice in preference to
virtue. This is the result, undoubtedly, of their corrupt and natural
disposition."

Of the language of the California Indians, Boscana says there was great
diversity, finding a new dialect almost every fifteen to twenty leagues.

They were not remarkably industrious, yet the men made their home
utensils, bows and arrows, the several instruments used in making
baskets, and also constructed nets, spinning the thread from yucca
fibres, which they beat and prepared for that purpose. They also built
the houses.

The women gathered seeds, prepared them, and did the cooking, as well as
all the household duties. They made the baskets, all other utensils
being made by the men.

The dress of the men, when they dressed at all, consisted of the skins
of animals thrown over the shoulders, leaving the rest of the body
exposed, but the women wore a cloak and dress of twisted rabbit-skins. I
have found these same rabbit-skin dresses in use by Mohave and Yumas
within the past three or four years.

The youths were required to keep away from the fire, in order that they
might learn to suffer with bravery and courage. They were forbidden also
to eat certain kinds of foods, to teach them to bear deprivation and to
learn to control their appetites. In addition to these there were
certain ceremonies, which included fasting, abstinence from drinking,
and the production of hallucinations by means of a vegetable