sheets of coarse cotton grown and woven at the southern missions, and
blankets, coarse but warm, made by the Indians from the wool of the
mission sheep.

Dinner at the padre's table we find most enjoyable. There is beef and
chicken, the frijole, or red bean of Spain, and other vegetables
prepared in a tasty manner peculiar to Spanish cooking, so we do not
doubt that the cook has been taught his trade by the padre himself. The
Indian boys who wait on the table also show careful training, performing
their duties quickly and quietly. Here we can find for bread the
tortilla,--still the food of the Indian and Mexican people of
California. It is a thin cake made of meal or flour and water, and baked
without grease on a hot stone or griddle. Wines made at the mission, the
favorite chocolate, thick and sweet, and some fruit from the padre's
garden complete the meal.

Dinner over, we visit the church and admire the striking contrast
between the red tiles of the roof and the creamy white of the walls. All
the buildings are made of bricks molded from a clay called adobe and
dried slowly in the sun. Each brick is twelve inches square by four
inches thick, and the walls are laid two or three bricks deep, those of
the church itself being nearly four feet in thickness. It seems almost
impossible that so large and well made a building could have been
constructed by untrained workmen. Next to the church are the rooms of
the padres, then the dining room and the quarters of the mission guard,
which consists apparently of but two men, the rest being at the
presidio, several miles away. Adjoining these are the storehouses and
shops of the Indian workmen, all of which open on the great courtyard.

In the courtyard is a busy scene. Blacksmiths with hammer and anvil make