California.--Pearl Fisheries.--Missions.--Indian Marriages.--Villages.--Precious Metals.--The Conquest of California compared with that of Mexico.--Upper California under the Spaniards.--Mexican Conquest of California in 1825.--The March.--The Conquest.--California under the Mexicans.--American Conquest.--Sinews of foreign Wars.--A Protestant and religious War.--Early Settlers compared.--Mexico in the Heyday of Prosperity.--Rich Costume of the Women.--Superstitious Worship.--When I first saw California.--Lawyers without Laws.--A primitive Court.--A Territorial Judge in San Francisco.--Mistaken Philanthropy.--Mexican Side of the Picture.--Great Alms.--City of Mexico overwhelmed by a Water-spout.--The Superiority of Californians.
I can not enter the valley of Mexico, and there discuss the various subjects that present themselves, without first gathering from California the data that will elucidate the condition of a country abounding in precious metals.
There is a striking dissimilarity between the two Californias. The American State of California is as celebrated for its fertility as for its mineral wealth. Peninsular California, on the other hand, is not distinguished for its minerals, nor remarkable for its fertility. With the sea washing it on either side, it is a country of drought and barrenness. It is like a neutral ground between the two rainy seasons. To the north of it, the winter is the season of abundant rains, with dry summers. To the south of it, the summer rains are heavy and continuous, without any showers in winter. Thus, lying between the opposite climates, it rarely enjoys the refreshing rains of either. Its back-bone is not a continuation of the rich Sierra Nevada, but of the coast range, which is poor in minerals. The Mexican estimates set down the population as amounting to 12,000,[26] but an American, who has carefully examined the country, going down the whole length of the peninsula on the one side, and returning by the other, fixes it at 4000. The inhabitants are an imbecile race of mixed bloods and Indians, dwelling in the few small villages which the country contains, and upon the ranchos and haciendas.
Cattle thrive where water is to be found, and many of the natives are excellent herdsmen. Fish are abundant, but the Californians lack the necessary energy to become successful fishermen upon a large scale. The pearl fisheries have for centuries brought strangers to this shore of the Gulf, and many of the inhabitants have served as divers with success. The production of pearls in the Sea of Cortéz, or Gulf of California, has been so great during the last three centuries, that Mexico has become the greatest country for pearls yet known. Every female above the rank of a peasant must have at least one pearl to ornament the pin that fastens her shawl or mantilla upon the top of her head. Most of these pearls are of small value, on account of their imperfection in shape or color; but their abundance is one of the first things that strike a stranger on entering Mexico. With a change of fashions, the foreign demand for pearls fell off so much that, for the last half century, these fisheries have been almost discontinued; but with the reviving demand for pearls, the fisheries have again risen to importance. For a more detailed account of these pearl-fisheries, I must refer to the following note.[27]