THE

CHAPTER IX.

REBELLION.

HE late expedition and voyage in search of a port had shown that the northern parts of the peninsula were more plentifully watered and therefore less barren than the southern, and that the natives of those regions were more peaceable and tractable than the Guaycuros and other tribes of the south. The latter, who were known under the general name of Pericùes, were almost constantly at war with one another; and they carried on their mutual hostilities in the most treacherous and barbarous manner. Of these the Coras, who ranged from La Paz southward to Cape San Lucas and who in the time of Atondo were supposed to be cowardly and spiritless, now proved themselves quite as warlike as their old enemies, the Guaycuros, and continually raided upon them and the inhabitants of the neighboring islands of San Jose, Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo. On the other hand the Guaycuros, who were west of La Paz, and the islanders raided on the Coras; and the Uchities, who ranged north of La Paz, attacked and were attacked in return sometimes by one and sometimes by another. One depredation brought on a second and a third; those who were robbed at one time became the robbers on the next occasion; and, when one or two had been killed, nothing would satisfy the vengeance of the survivors but the blood of many. Thus a system of petty warfare or rather of pillage, rapine and murder prevailed throughout the southern part of the peninsula, against which the mission of La Paz alone could not make head. It was therefore deemed necessary to found other missions, one

between the Uchities and the Guaycuros and one or more among the Coras. The former was founded by Father Guillen in 1721 at a place about forty leagues south of Loreto and was called that of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur. Upon its foundation the old establishment of San Juan Bautista de Malibat ó Ligui, the fund for which had failed, was abandoned. During the same year also was founded by Father Ignacio Maria Napoli, to the south of La Paz and a little less than half way between it and Cape San Lucas, the mission of Santiago de los Coras. Both these missions, like most of the others in Lower California, were endowed by the munificent Marques de Villa Puente. The history of their beginnings was much the same as that of the other missions, with the exception that, on account of the hostilities among the surrounding tribes, there was more difficulty in securing a settlement; and, as was proved in the sequel, the troubles that disturbed their commencement were but the earnest of widespread disaffection and disorder among the natives, which in the course of a few years involved the new establishments and in fact all the work of the fathers in the southern part of the peninsula in common destruction.

While these southern missions were struggling with the warring tribes, Father Juan Bautista Luyando arrived from Mexico. He appears to have been possessed of a fortune, which he resolved to devote to the endowment of a mission and had come over to become its founder. Being referred to the extreme north as the most promising field for his labor, he set out in the beginning of 1728 with nine soldiers from Loreto and proceeded to a spot in the mountains nearly as far north as the parallel of Cerros Island, which had been selected by Father Sistiaga on his journey of exploration for a port. There Father Luyando founded the mission of San Ignacio and before the end of the year he had his church nearly finished. The natives of that part of the country were known by the general name of Cochimies; they were more active and intelligent than the southern Indians and assisted with alacrity in erecting the new buildings and establishing

the settlement. The country in the neighborhood was suitable for agricultural purposes; and large fields were planted in maize and wheat. The very first year there was a consid erable harvest, and in four years the yield was about two thousand bushels. Luyando also planted five hundred vines, also olives, fig trees and sugar cane, and started the breeding of horses, cattle and sheep. In the meanwhile, however, after all the soldiers but two had returned to Loreto a wild tribe of the north attacked the settlement and murdered several of the catechumens. Luyando at first tried to pacify the assailants with presents; but he soon found that this was the worst plan of pacification that could be adopted; for the marauders, considering such conduct as an indication of fear, became bolder and began ranging the country in predatory bands, spreading terror and consternation on every side. The danger became so imminent that Luyando deemed it prudent to withdraw with his two soldiers to Guadalupe, where he took counsel of Father Sistiaga, who had had more experience of the natives and knew better how to manage them. Sistiaga promptly determined that no time was to be lost, not even to send to Loreto for more soldiers. He immediately summoned all the Indians of his neighborhood upon whom he could rely and armed them as well as he could with pikes, at the ends of which the soldiers fastened knives. He then told them to make as much noise in their war-like preparations as possible, for the purpose not only of encouraging their friends but of striking terror into the enemy; and, as he rightly judged, the fame of his fierce little army preceded him to San Ignacio and produced a considerable effect before he arrived. Upon mustering his forces he found he had seven hundred men. From these he chose three hundred and fifty; and, putting himself and Luyando at their head, he marched for the seat of war.

The Indians had no idea of discipline; they were accustomed to march in small bands under the leadership of separate chiefs; but, upon approaching San Ignacio, Sistiaga acquainted them with the necessity of acting in concert and

under one command. At his directions two captains were appointed; one chosen by himself, the other by the Indians; and both these were to act under his general orders. The preliminaries being satisfactorily arranged, the army again took up its march; and, learning that the enemy lay camped about a spring near the base of a mountain, it proceeded under the generalship of Father Sistiaga and the leadership of his captains to surround the place in the night time, and then began closing in on all sides. At sunrise, the various companies at a concerted signal raised the war-whoop and rushed in upon the unsuspecting marauders, who, finding themselves surprised, threw down their arms. A few managed to escape; but thirty-four were made prisoners without the spilling of blood. After securing them Sistiaga caused the country to be scoured for other parties; but so great was the terror, which his little army with its noisy preparations and the success of its first assault had occasioned, that not another enemy was to be found. He therefore led his victorious troops back to San Ignacio, which they entered with their prisoners in a kind of triumph. The next day the entire people were assembled and the prisoners brought to trial before the soldiers and head men of the various rancherias as judges; and, being convicted of capital crimes, they were sentenced to removal to Loreto to be dealt with as might be there determined. No sooner was sentence passed than the prisoners exhibited the greatest dejection, while the catechumens, imagining they would have the pleasure of killing their enemies and thus glutting their vengeance, began dancing for joy; but the fathers reproved their exultations and took occasion to instruct them in the duties of mercy and forgiveness. The next day the court sat again; and, at the request of the fathers, the judges were induced to commute the sentence that had been pronounced to a certain number of lashes. The execution commenced with the principal offender, when the fathers again interceded; and the rest, after being deprived of their weapons, were pardoned and released. This lenity was so unexpected to them that they immediately desired bap

tism in testimony of their gratitude; and, when this was refused, they desired their children to be baptized. Their wish in this regard was shortly afterwards complied with, except in the case of the principal offender, who however returned a few days subsequently with his little son in his arms and with tears begged that his child might be received, even though he himself should be put to death. His contrition was to all appearance so sincere that the child was immediately baptized and the parent then went cheerfully away to rejoin his countrymen. In a few months the adults themselves gathered around the missions and, after proper instructions, all were received into the church; and peace reigned throughout the northern settlements.

It was very different with the establishments in the south. There the disturbances among the hostile tribes and especially among the Coras grew more and more serious. Besides the missions of La Paz and Santiago already mentioned, two others had been established among that turbulent people; one called that of San Jose del Cabo at Cape San Lucas in 1730 by Father Nicolas Tamaral, and the other that of Santa Rosa a year or two later by Father Sigismundo Taraval at the bay of Las Palmas on the gulf shore to the north of San Lucas. The former was endowed by the Marques de Villa Puente, who seemed never to weary in his benefactions to the country, and the latter by his sister-in-law, Doña Rosa de la Peña, from whom it received its name. Father Tamaral was the same who had founded the mission of La Purisima Concepcion in the north. Father Taraval was a young man, only thirty years of age, who had but recently arrived from Spain. Being highly educated and fond of learning, he devoted much time to collecting materials for a history of the Jesuit settlements in the peninsula; and it is to his labors, incorporated into the work of the historian Venegas, that the world is indebted for most of the particulars which have been preserved. But the establishment of the new missions was still insufficient to restrain the natives: on the contrary it seems rather to have heightened the general discontent and precipitated the impending catastrophe.