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formed, warlike and industrious cultivators of the soil. Had they chosen
to attack the hunters, it would have gone ill with the whites, but the
latter showed commendable prudence which might have served as a model to
the hundreds who came after them, when they gained the good will of the
red men.

Extricating themselves from the dangerous stretch of country, the
trappers turned westward until they reached the mission of San Gabriel,
one of those extensive establishments formed by the Roman Catholic
clergy a hundred years ago. There were over a score, San Diego being the
oldest. Each mission had its priests, a few Spanish or Mexican soldiers,
and scores, hundreds and sometimes thousands of Indian converts who
received a scant support and some religious instruction.

The Mission of San Gabriel was by no means the largest in California,
and yet at the time of Carson's visit it owned 70,000 head of cattle,
200 horses, 3,000 mares, hundreds of mules, oxen and sheep, while the
vineyards produced 600 barrels of wine every year.

Those old sovereigns of the soil dispensed hospitality without stint to
all who knocked at their gates. When the trappers caught sight of the
Mission, as they rode out from the wilderness, they knew what awaited
them in the way of entertainment. They were treated right royally, but
remained only one day.

Not far away they reached another Mission of less extent than the
former, but, without halt, they pressed steadily forward toward the
Sacramento River. The character of the section changed altogether. It
was exceedingly fertile and game was so abundant that they feasted to
their heart's content. When fully rested, they proceeded to the San
Joaquin river down which they began trapping.

While thus employed, they were surprised to discover signs of another
trapping party near them. They wondered where they came from and it
did not take them long to learn that their neighbors were a company of
trappers belonging to the Hudson Bay Company--that enormous corporation,
founded two centuries before, whose agents and employees tramp over
British America, far to the northward of the frozen circle, and until a
recent date hunted through Oregon.

The two parties were rivals in business, but they showed excellent
sense by meeting on good terms and treating each other as friends. They
trapped near each other until they came to the Sacramento once more,
when they parted company. The Hudson Bay trappers star