. I gave the signal;
all my men sprang up in their saddles, and the gallant little band,
after having rode twice round the council lodge, galloped away into the
prairie.

Two days after us, another party was to start for the country of the
Arrapahoes, with the view of effecting a reconciliation between our two
tribes.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

At this time, the generally bright prospects of California were clouding
over. Great changes had taken place in the Mexican government, new
individuals had sprung into power, and their followers were recompensed
with dignities and offices. But, as these offices had been already
filled by others, it was necessary to remove the latter, and,
consequently, the government had made itself more enemies.

Such was the case in California; but that the reader may understand the
events which are to follow, it is necessary to draw a brief sketch of
the country. I have already said that California embraces four hundred
miles of sea-coast upon the Pacific Ocean. On the east, it is bounded
by the Californian gulf, forming, in fact, a long peninsula. The only
way of arriving at it by land, from the interior of Mexico, is to travel
many hundred miles north, across the wild deserts of Sonora, and through
tribes of Indians which, from the earliest records down to our days,
have always been hostile to the Spaniards, and, of course, to the
Mexicans. Yet far as California is--too far indeed for the government
of Mexico to sufficiently protect it, either from Indian inroads or from
the depredations of pirates, by which, indeed, the coast has much
suffered--it does not prevent the Mexican Government from exacting taxes
from the various settlements--taxes enormous in themselves, and so
onerous, that they will ever prevent these countries from becoming what
they ought to be, under a better government.

The most northerly establishment of Mexico on the Pacific Ocean is San
Francisco; the next, Monterey; then comes San Barbara, St. Luis Obispo,
Buona Ventura, and, finally, St. Diego; besides these sea-ports, are
many cities in the interior, such as St. Juan Campestrano, Los Angelos,
the largest town in California, and San Gabriel. Disturbances, arising
from the ignorance and venality of the Mexican dominion, very often
happen in these regions; new individuals are continually appointed to
rule them; and these individuals are generally men of broken fortunes
and desperate characters, whose extortion