bia, said to belong to General Washington, of the American
States, commanded by John Kendrick, which sailed from Boston in
September, 1787, bound on a voyage of discovery to the Russian
establishments on the northern coast of this peninsula, you will cause
the said vessel to be examined with caution and delicacy, using for
this purpose a small boat which you have in your possession."

Afterwards another enemy, almost as dangerous as the Yankee, appeared
in the shape of Russians from Alaska. They brought down a colony of
Kodiak Indians, or Aleuts, and established themselves at Fort Ross,
north of San Francisco. The Spaniards then founded the missions of San
Rafael and Solano in front of the Russians, to head them off, as the
priest makes the sign of the cross to ward off Satan. Trading with the
Russians was forbidden, but, nevertheless, the Russian vessels, on one
pretext or another, made repeated visits to the Bay of San Francisco.
The Spaniards had no boats in the bay, and could not prevent the
ingress of the Russian and American traders. One of the singular facts
in connection with the missions is that the Padres made no use of the
sea, and the missions usually kept no boats at all, and so the Spanish
officials were forced to receive in friendliness many encroachments
which they were powerless to prevent.

In 1842, as the seals grew scarce around Bodegas Head, the Russians, to
the great satisfaction of the Spaniards, disappeared as suddenly as
they came. The joy of the missions was short-lived, for seven years
later gold was discovered, California was ceded to the United States,
and the most remarkable invasion known in history followed. Over the
mountains, across the plains, by the Isthmus, and by the Horn they
came, that wonderful procession which Bret Harte has made so familiar
to us--Truthful James, Tennessee's Partner, Jack Hamlin, John Oakhurst,
Flynn of Virginia, Abner Dean of Angels, Brown of Calaveras, Yuba Bill,
Sandy McGee, the Scheezicks, the Man of No Account, and all the rest.
And the California of the gambler and the gold-seeker succeeds the
California of the Padre.

Numerous causes had meanwhile contributed to the decline of the Spanish
missions. They had been supported at first by a Pious Fund, obtained
by subscriptions in Mexico and Spain. After the separation of these
two countries, this fund was lost, its interest being regularly
embezzled by Mexican officials, and, finally, the principal