in the interior, such as St. Juan Campestrano, Los Angelos, the
largest town in California, and San Gabriel. Disturbances, arising from
the ignorance and venality of the Mexican dominion, very often happen
in these regions; new individuals are continually appointed to rule
them; and these individuals are generally men of broken fortunes and
desperate characters, whose extortions become so intolerable that, at
last, the Californians, in spite of their lazy dispositions, rise upon
their petty tyrants. Such was now the case at Monterey. A new governor
had arrived; the old General Morreno had, under false pre-texts, been
dismissed, and recalled to the central department, to answer to many
charges preferred against him.

The new governor, a libertine of the lowest class of the people, half
monk and half soldier, who had carved his way through the world by
murder, rapine, and abject submission to his superiors, soon began to
stretch an iron hand over the townspeople. The Montereyans will bear
much, yet under their apparent docility and moral apathy there lurks a
fire which, once excited, pours forth flames of destruction. Moreover,
the foreigners established in Monterey had, for a long time, enjoyed
privileges which they were not willing to relinquish; and as they were,
generally speaking, wealthy, they enjoyed a certain degree of influence
over the lower classes of the Mexicans.

Immediately after the first extortion of the new governor, the
population rose _en masse_, and disarmed the garrison. The presidio was
occupied by the insurgents, and the tyrant was happy to escape on board
an English vessel, bound to Acapulco.

However, on this occasion the Montereyans did not break their fealty to
the Mexican government; they wanted justice, and they took it into their
own hands. One of the most affluent citizens was unanimously selected
governor _pro tempore,_ till another should arrive, and they returned to
their usual pleasures and apathy, just as if nothing extraordinary had
happened. The name of the governor thus driven away was Fonseca. Knowing
well that success alone could have justified his conduct, he did not
attempt to return to Mexico, but meeting with some pirates, at that time
ravaging the coasts in the neighbourhood of Guatimala, he joined them,
and, excited by revenge and cupidity, he conceived the idea of
conquering California for himself. He succeeded in enlisting into his
service some 150 vagabonds from all par