The best account left us of the mission establishment in its palmy days
is that given by De Mofras in his careful record of travel and
exploration along the Pacific Coast; and often quoted as this has been,
we still cannot do better here than to translate some portions of it
anew. The observant Frenchman wrote with his eye mainly upon what was
perhaps the most completely typical of all the missions - that of San
Luis Rey. But his description, though containing a number of merely
local particulars, was intended to be general; and for this reason may
the more properly be reproduced in this place.

"The edifice," he wrote, "is quadrilateral, and about one hundred and
fifty metres long in front. The church occupies one of the wings. The
façade is ornamented with a gallery [or arcade]. The building, a single
storey in height, is generally raised some feet above the ground. The
interior forms a court, adorned with flowers and planted with trees.
Opening on the gallery which runs round it are the rooms of the monks,
majordomos, and travelers, as well as the workshops, schoolrooms, and
storehouses. Hospitals for men and women are situated in the quietest
parts of the mission, where also are placed the schoolrooms. The young
Indian girls occupy apartments called the monastery (el moujerìo), and
they themselves are styled nuns (las moujas) . . . Placed under the care
of trustworthy Indian women, they are there taught to spin wool, flax,
and cotton, and do no leave their seclusion till they are old enough to
be married. The Indian children attend the same school as the children
of the white colonists. A certain number of them, chosen from those who
exhibit most intelligence, are taught music - plain-chant, violin,
flute, horn, violincello, and other instruments. Those who distinguish
themselves in the carpenter's shop, at the forge, or in the field, are
termed alcaldes, or chiefs, and given charge of a band of workmen. The
management of each mission is composed of two monks; the elder looks