Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Old Mission Stories of California by Charles Franklin Carter
page 24 of 141 (17%)
twenty miles east from Mission San Luis Rey, of which mission it was an
asistencia, or branch, and twenty-four miles from Oceanside, the nearest
point on the coast. The village stands in a valley which is completely
surrounded by mountains, high and low, far and near, uniting with it in
a succession of beautiful pictures around the entire horizon. To the
east, the mountains pile themselves up into huge masses, their tips
hidden frequently by clouds, and by the fogs of early morning; toward
the west, they fall away into low-lying hills, allowing the sea-breeze
of every warm afternoon to sweep the village over them, and through the
gap of the San Luis Rey River and Valley. At all times of the year the
color and light and shade in every part of the valley are most lovely,
delighting the artist's eye with a whole gamut of a‘rial perspective;
but it is in the spring that the hillsides and valley put on their most
gorgeous robes, from the lightest tints of yellow and green, down
through every hue and tone of red, blue and purple, soft and brilliant,
pricked out here and there with spots of intense, flaming yellow and
orange, or deepest crimson. Such color scenes are not common even in
California; but on account of its comparative inaccessibility, few
people visit Pala, and the village has been left much to itself in these
latter days of American life in the state. The Indians live the life of
the poorest class of Mexicans, dwell in adobe huts, and pursue an
agricultural occupation.

During the last week of May, 1895, I passed two days in this interesting
place, exploring the remains of the asistencia, and sketching the unique
bell-tower and near-by mission houses. I was an object of interest to
all who saw me, but was not favored with much company until the second
afternoon, when, after I had passed an hour or so in the campo santo, an
old Indian slowly appeared and greeted me. He must have been nearly
eighty years old, and he was obliged to use a cane to assist his slow
DigitalOcean Referral Badge