military, or the support of the monks. Still their loyalty remained
unshaken; they implicitly obeyed even that command of the King which
closed their ports against all foreign vessels; and as the republicans
were considered as foreigners, and no ships arrived from Spain, the
missions, as well as the Presidios, soon began to suffer the greatest
scarcity of many necessaries which the country did not produce. The
soldiery, even to the commander himself, were in rags, without pay, and
deriving a mendicant subsistence from the monks. The want which pressed
most heavily on the latter was that of the implements of agriculture and
other labour; having, with true Spanish indolence, forborne any attempt
to manufacture them in the country. The very source of all their
acquisitions was thus threatened with extinction; yet still they adhered
to their King, with a fidelity truly honourable had it been more
disinterested:--but what could they expect from a change of government,
except the limitations of their hitherto unbounded power?

In the discontent of the soldiers, however, smouldered a spark,
dangerous to the power of the monks, which was suddenly blown into a
flame by a circumstance that occurred a few years before our arrival.

The only pleasure for which the baptized Indians had ever been indebted
to the monks was the possession of such baubles as our sailors use in
traffic with the South Sea islanders. These things of course could no
longer be obtained, and their loss was regarded by the new Christians as
a heavy misfortune. Their despair at length broke out into insurrection:
they burst their prisons, and attacked the dwellings of the monks, but
retired before the fire of musketry. The military, with very little loss
on their side, defeated great numbers of the natives, and brought them
again into their previous subjection.

A new light dawned on the minds of the dragoons. What would have become
of the monks without their valiant support? Elated by victory, and
disregarding all the protestations of the ghostly fathers, whose
feebleness and helplessness were now apparent, they declared themselves
the first class in the country, and independent of Spain, which for so
many years had abandoned them to their fate.

Similar causes produced similar effects in Old California, and each
country now forms a separate republic.

Spain might with ease have retained these fertile provinces under
allegiance. Had their fidelity receive