The Californians admit of a plurality of wives, who provide for the family, and procure a sufficient quantity of fruits from the woods to keep their husbands in good humour; for if once they are discarded' no other man will take them.Adultery is accounted a capital crime, except at the festivals and wrestling matches among the ranchieras, when it is the privilege of the victors. Among the Cochines of the north, how-ever, scarcely any such excesses are known, and a missionary, speaking of his district, says, that amidst all the freedoms of these Indians, debauchery and illegal amours are very rarely seen. The manner of negociating marriages in the nation of Loretto, which inhabits the middle part of California, is to present the bride with a batea or jug, her acceptance of it denotes her consent; and on her presenting the man with a net for his head, the marriage is confirmed. In the other nations the agreement is concluded at an entertainment to which the lover invites the wholeranchiera; but after all this solemnity of contract, the slightest motive sometimes annuls it. The time of gathering the pitahayas is the vintage of the Californians, and they celebrate it with particular mirth and rejoicings. "The three pitahaya months," says Salva Tierra, re semble the carnival in some parts of Europe, when the men are, in a great measure, stupefied or mad. At this time the whole nation give themselves up to feastings, dancings, and buffooneries; in which whole nights are frequently spent. The actors are chosen for their talents of imitation, and, for the most part, acquit themselves tolerably well. As practice naturally produces perfection, their excellence in dancing is not to be wondered at, it being their principal occupation in time of peace. They dance at their weddings; on any good success in hunting or fishing; at the birth of a child; at a plentiful harvest; at a victory over their enemies; and on every other occasion to which they annex any idea of importance. To these festivities the ranchieras usually invite one another, and likewise send challenges for wrestling, leaping, running, and other trials of strength and agility; to which whole weeks and months are sometimes devoted. The chief characteristics of the Californians are want of reflection, inconstancy, abhorrence of labour, an inordinate love of pleasure; and in short, a total want of every thing which renders man inventive, tractable, and useful to himself and society. It is in vain to represent to them any future advantages which will result from their making such and such exertions; the relation of means and ends being beyond the reach of their faculties; nor have they the least idea of pursuing such intentions as will procure some future good, or avert impending evil. Their will is proportionate to their faculties; and all their passions move in a very confined sphere. Equally free from avarice and ambition they seem to have no care beyond that of procuring food for the present day, and enjoying their most favourite amusements. The hatred and revenge of these people are excited by the slightest causes; but they are easily appeased, and even without any satisfaction, if they meet with opposition; for although they appear extremely proud of their courage, it may be said with truth, that they have not the least notion of true bravery. The most trivial circumstance is sometimes sufficient to daunt them, and when once they begin to yield, their fear induces them to stoop to the basest indignities. But if they happen to gain an advantage, or their enemies become disheartened, they behave in the most haughty and overbearing manner. It is but justice however, to observe, that the Californians have few of those bad dispositions for which many of the other American Indians are infamous. No strong li quors are used among them; and it is only on their public festivals that they intoxicate themselves with the smoke of wild tobacco; quarrels are rarely known among them, their malice and rage being reserved for their enemies; and so far are they from harshness or cruelty, that nothing can exceed their gentleness and peaceable disposition. All authors agree that hitherto no idolatry has been found among the Californians; for when the missionaries first went among them, they neither worshipped creatures nor images, nor did their external performances show the least knowledge of God; yet it is mentioned as a remarkable fact, that they had not only some idea of the nature of God, but also some faint glimmerings of the Trinity, the eternal existence of Christ, and other articles of the Christian religion, though mixed with a great number of absurdities; so that some writers have been induced to suppose that they originally descended from some nation which had received the truths of the Gospel. They affirm, that there resides in Heaven a powerful being, called Niparaya, who created the earth and the sea, who supplies all creatures with food, and can do whatever he pleases, but is never seen, because he has not a body like man. This Niparaya has a wife called Anayicoyondi, who, like himself, has no body; and he has likewise three sons, one of whom, named Quaayayp has been with the southern Indians and instructed them. He was very powerful, and had a great number of men; for he went into the earth, and brought people from thence. At length, the Indians, through hatred, killed him, and at the same time put a wreath of thorns about his head; but though he is dead, he still remains very beautiful and without any corruption, and although, as being dead, he does not speak, he has a bird that speaks for him.-They likewise assert, that in Heaven there are many more inhabitants than on earth, and that formerly there were great wars in that place: A person of eminent power called Wac Tuparan rose up against the Supreme Lord Niparaya, and being joined by numerous adherents, dared to stand an engagement with him; but Niparaya immediately stripped the rebellious chief of all his power, hurled him and his followers into a vast cave under the earth; and created the whales in the sea, to be as guards, that the offenders might never quit the place of their confinement.-They add, that Niparaya does not like that people should fight, and that those who die by a spear or an arrow do not go to Heaven: but, on the contrary, Wac Tuparan wishes that all people were continually fighting, because all who are killed in battle go to his cave. The tenets of the Loretto nation are as follow: They say, that in the north part of Heaven resides Gumongo, "the lord of spirits," who in former ages sent down another spirit named Guyiaguai, to visit the earth: that he was no |