re-establishing the mission; and the buildings which presently arose
from the ruins were a great improvement upon those which had been
destroyed.

Before these alarming events at the mother-mission broke in upon his
regular work, the president had resolved upon yet another settlement
(not included in the still uncompleted plan), for which he had selected
a point on the coast some twenty-six leagues north of San Diego, and
which was to be dedicated to San Juan Capistrano. A beginning had indeed
been made there, not by Junipero in person, but by fathers delegated by
him for the purpose; but when news of the murder of Father Jayme reached
them, they had hastily buried bells, chasubles and supplies, and hurried
south. As soon as ever he felt it wise to leave San Diego Junipero
himself now repaired to the abandoned site; and there, on the 1st of
November, 1776, the bells were dug up and hung, mass said, and the
mission established. It is curious to remember that while the
padre-presidente was thus immersed in apostolic labors on the far
Pacific coast, on the other side of the North American continent events
of a very different character were shaking the whole civilized world.

Though the establishment of San Juan Capistrano is naturally mentioned
in this place, partly because of the abortive start made there a year
before, and partly because its actual foundation constituted the next
noteworthy incident in Junipero's career, this mission is, in strict
chronological order, not the sixth, but the seventh on our list. For
some three weeks before its dedication, and without the knowledge of the
president himself, though in full accordance with his designs, the cross
had been planted at a point many leagues northward beyond San Carlos,
and destined presently to be the most important on the coast. It will be
remembered that when Portolà's party made their first futile search for