but admire the zeal
and devotion of the men who endured the hardships of the life they
must have led so long ago. The church windows were very high from the
ground, as the natives were not to be trusted, and the fathers might
be surprised at any moment during the service and shot at. They had
often to take refuge there from further attacks in early times. We
were told that the building, which was built, as all were at that
time, of sun-dried bricks and mud, was renewed since only in roof
and seats. The original doors were preserved and shown us in a room.
They were made very substantially, with iron bolts and bands and big
locks, but now crumbling with age. The pictures of saints on the
walls were painted in oil, and very poor specimens of art, I should
say. They were old, and were sent from Spain. Although twenty-five
cents was asked for admission we were asked to contribute to a fund
for the restoration of the building, and many small coins were given
by our party, and, when it is remembered that these excursions are
daily, the year around, it must be an expensive job keeping the old
building in repair. It looked as if twenty dollars would have covered
the cost of any repairs made in a year, and it looked to me a case of
graft on someone's part. There is another church, founded at the same
time, in Los Angeles, and I produce all I could decipher of an
ancient inscription I copied from the front: "Los ---- de Esta
Parroquia A La Reina de Los Angelus" (built 1814). These missions are
planted at stated distances from San Diego to San Francisco, and all
by that pioneer of Roman Catholicism, Junipera Serra. There is a
statue to him in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in the attitude of
exhortation, leaning forward with arms extended upward. I visited
three of the missions, and they are all about the same. There is
great food for contemplation in visiting these relics of the past.
To think of the conditions as existing then and now.

We were photographed in front of the mission, after which we left for
Long Beach and spent the balance of the afternoon. The beach was
covered with bathers--men, women and children--and although the surf
rolled high on the sands the bathers ran in and met the rollers,
which completely buried them. They then emerged laughing, and waited
for the next wave. There was quite a small town on the sands where
there were shows of all kinds and booths for getting money by many
ways in profusion.

At