us.

And soon after having greeted us one ran [off] and soon returned bringing upon some green herbs with all neatness a good piece of fish roasted, which, when the Señor Governor and I tried it, did not not taste very well to us. And we proceeded, and at the same time he presented in a xicara [basket] to us—one of those [baskets] which they make of grasses, and that here they call "Coras”. -a great portion of powders which at first sight looked to me like dark earth, and the gentile seeing that we did not appreciate them, took a pinch of them, and he put them near our noses, that we should smell them; and its fragrance was so agreeable, and afterwards its taste, that it seemed like nothing but a mixture of spices ground. It turned out that we sprinkled the roasted fish with the powder, and it seemed as if we were eating it with clove and pepper. In a short while more and more gentile men, Women and children Gathered about us, until [it became such] a great number that I did not count it. Their affability now declined to familiarity, for if in sign of affection we put our hands on their heads or shoulder, they did the same to us, and if they saw us seated, there they sat close to us, and always with the mania that we should give them everything they saw, without stopping at little things. They begged my habit from me, from the Governor his leather jacket, waistcoat, breeches, and all he had on, and thus to the rest. Even they bothered me enough to give them my spectacles. And because for one whose actions it seemed to me signified that I lend them to him to see what it was, and I took them off, God knows what it cost me to recover them again, because he fled with them. At last after a thousand difficulties I recovered them after they had been in the hands of the Women who hankered for them. Only things of food they did not wish. In the afternoon two Gentiles were seen coming anew in the distance, and that one of them had on a blue cotton. And as it was a new thing until here, because we had not seen even a thread of clothing, we waited his arrival with anxiety, as by the sign we all guessed he was bearer of good news. So it was, because they told us that they came from San Diego, where that clothing had been given to them, and that although they had spent two days on the road, it was because they had been detained in fishing. They gave us news of everything, although much of that which they told us seemed to us incredible, such as that there were two boats there, and so many Padres. And that which pleased us most was their saying that they had met the Sergeant with his Companion on the road, who, as I have said, went on ahead exploring sites and watering places, for the regulation of the Day's Journeys, and that since yesterday he would already be in San Diego. And thus it was.

On the 28th we were detained for a rest for the beasts, and that day in the middle of the morning they advised us that they saw many people on horseback coming, and in a short while the said Sergeant arrived with ten soldiers more, of those of the first division of the Expedition, that by order of the Señor Captain Rivera came from the post of San Diego, to meet the Señor Governor and his suite, with fresh beasts, and letters that from the two Padres Fray Juan Crespi and Fray Fernando Parron came to me. We rejoiced, and we heard all that had passed on the boats, and the reason why they were both there, and the 4 Padres, and the rest that there was about everything; these news livening in us, as in all, desires for our arrival.

On the 29th early in the morning, the Governor with his servant and eight Soldiers advanced ahead of us to arrive the same day at the Port of San Diego; and thus it was. I said Mass, and those who remained heard it as so festal a day, and plenty of Gentiles saw it with much attention. In the afternoon the Day's Journey of two hours and a half was made, now

with Conductors from San Diego, all along the Shore of the Sea, and only the trouble of several Barrancas, like those of the preceding [Day's Journey] although there were not so many. And we passed near a Rancheria of Gentiles that is on a beautiful Mesa that looks like an Island, as where the Sea does not bathe it, a barranca surrounds it. As soon as the Gentiles saw us, they came to us begging us that we should go to stop on said Mesa near their huts, but its seemed to us better to take a place on the other side of the barranca, where there is another plain, with plenty of room. And there they all came to visit us with much joyousness, and no molestation; and among them was he of the [blue] cotton of the preceding stopping place; and he told us that there was his House, and that he had passed on ahead only to give us the News. But now he went as naked as all. Inside of the barranca near the rancheria, the place has a medium pool of water, sweet and good, from which they drink; and although our animals could drink in it, we did not let them (since they had drank that day) so as not to defile the watering place for the poor Gentiles, On both sides, as well of our camp as that of the Indians, high hills surround the place; and thus it cannot be more than it is, and I called it Carcel de San Pedro [Prison of Saint Pedro], whose feast we celebrated.

On the 30th we set out in the morning, and the first thing was to cross the barranca, and surmount the opposite hill; and after a little of climbings and descents, a most long tract was discovered to us, of coast-plain that we had to follow, keeping all the hills to the right. And along it [the coast] was all this Day's Journey, that lasted four hours and a half; but there were (and there are) so many barrancas that we had to pass, without being able to elude nor go around the head of even one, since their direction was from the mountains, that although I passed all of them praying, and trying to do acts of conformity, etc., my heart came to be compressed much, seeing in each one the danger, and that at times on coming out of one it was to [cross] soon without rest another. And once, asking the Conductors, they responded that there still lacked many; and it was thus true, as the result proved. But, like things of this world, they came to an end; and at a little more than three hours of walking we arrived at a rancheria very populous with gentiles. And although on account of being so tired, we were inclined to stop, we were informed by the Sergeant that they were insolent, and that for the interest they had in the clothing in which they saw them dressed, they provoked him and his Companion, Cota, with women, that they should sleep there; and because they resisted, they saw themselves in great danger, and it was necessary for them to give them the clothes that they had loose, such as serviettes, handkerchiefs, etc. For this reason. and so that we might arrive better rested at San Diego the day following, we passed on ahead with the intention of arriving at another rancheria, distant some leagues, where there was sufficient water, although very inferior in quantity and quality to that which we left with those troublous [people]. But as it was all level, and the conductors now knew by the wind where the Port was, we took a straight cut, leaving on the right hand the traveled road. And in a little more than an hour we found that besides there being fine pasture land, there ran a beautiful brook of good water, and there we stopped, without reaching the following rancheria. This place neither the Sergeant, who [now] traveled the road the third time, nor others who with this [trip] counted the fifth [time], had seen, and we liked it very much. I say the fifth, because some Soldiers had gone twice from the Real of San Diego for mescales to medicate the sick.

[End of Fr. Serra's Diary of the journey from Loreto to San Diego.]

E

A CONTRADICTION IN POLICY.

By A. J. LAMOUREUX.

IGHTY-ONE years ago the editor of the North American Review declared: "We have no concern with South America; we have no sympathy, we can have no well founded political sympathy with them." This was in 1821, two years before President Monroe made his famous declaration of policy. It should not be presumed that Editor Everett did not fairly represent the great majority of our people, nor that he was really hostile to the aspirations of the Spanish-American colonies. There had never been any very friendly relations between the American and Spanish colonists. They were suspicious of each other, they had been rivals in the race for transatlantic possessions, and they had inherited a strong dislike for one another. In our own struggle for independence they were passive spectators, and we were indebted to them neither for assistance, nor sympathy.

With our independence won, we had a multitude of problems to solve, and history shows how many were the difficulties that surrounded and obstructed their solution. We had no time for the troubles of our neighbors, and especially for those with whom we had never been on intimate terms. It was strictly true that we had "no concern with South America," and equally true that we had "no well founded political sympathy with them." Our people were, for the most part, farmers, traders, artizans, shopkeepers, and of other similar occupations; and among them there were but very few who had the time, education and taste for international political speculation. Today one may hear discussed at the humblest fireside the latest Belgrade scandal, the last riot in Moscow, the progress in diplomatic negotiations at Pekin, and the latest revolutionary outbreak in South America; then, the world was infinitely narrower and the subjects of discussion rarely came from beyond the sea. The day of newspapers, telegraphic news, steamship lines, railroads, cheap and quick postal service, and modern service had not yet come; there was nothing in the life our forefathers led to stimulate their curiosity in regard to neighbors whose religion they hated and feared, and whose character they disliked and despised. Rebels though we were, we were thoroughly and intensely English in those days, and the Englishman hated the Spaniard with all the vigor of his strong nature. Independence had given us a new political organization, but it left us as individuals just where it found us. And for more than half a century

*Mr. Lamoureux is one of the most competent and reliable living authorities touching the eastern slope of South America.-ED

we changed so little in character that the average citizen of 1821 was hardly different from his predecessor of 1774.

The changes which have made the average American what he now is have come upon us since then, and they have sprung from our unprecedented immigration, from the extraordinary facilities for communication that we have enjoyed, from education and invention, and from that unparalleled opportunity for commercial and industrial development afforded by the unrestricted movement of men and merchandise between the States forming our enormous territory.

The promulgation of the Monroe doctrine in 1823 introduced a new factor into our national life, but it did not change our character. Through the influence of some of our political leaders, encouraged by England herself, we declared ourselves opposed to the extension of European despotism on this continent. But even then we were as a people profoundly indifferent to the situation in South America. President Monroe himself had declared that it was "the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves "—that is, Spain and her revolted colonies-" in the hope that other powers will pursue the same course." Mr. Webster thought that the measure of our interposition should depend on the distance from our shores of the State threatened, "the distance of the scene of action diminishing our apprehension of danger, and diminishing also our means of effectual interposition." The liberties of the South Americans, or their protection against European aggression were of less importance in his eyes than the protection of our own territory against the neighborhood of a hostile European power, Like many other statesmen of his time, Mr. Webster evidently looked upon the Monroe Doctrine as a policy for our own protection, rather than for the protection of the new

Spanish-American republics. We were then comparatively

weak, and we still dreamed of old-world aggression. When the Panama congress of 1826 was under discussion in Congress, the lower house adopted a resolution declaring against our interference in South American affairs, even to protect them against European agression, while a Senate committee at the same time reported against association with the South American republics "for the discussion of common plans in any way affecting European interests." We had declared our policy, but the spirit of indifference still possessed us and we were not at all inclined to act upon it unless our own national existence were threatened.

To day the situation has very materially changed. We no longer dream of European subjugation, and we fear no power

on earth.

Our scorn of danger from abroad is perhaps becoming a source of national weakness. We have no fear of invasion, and the acquisition of territory in our vicinity by any European power no longer alarms us. We have therefore reconstructed the Monroe Doctrine on other lines, so that where we were once concerned for our own safety, we are now chiefly concerned for the safety of our neighbors. We have become altruistic in theory, and we have so cultivated the idea that we are so that we are unconscious of our own egoism. The independence of the Latin-American republics, and the exclusion of every European power from acquiring territory on the continent, are now the cardinal principles of the Monroe Doctrine. It matters not that many European powers are now far more liberal and enjoy a far greater measure of self-government than the great majority of these American republics; the policy is to cover the whole continent with our protecting shield and to prevent Europe from gaining another foot of territory on it. This self-assumed duty (for we have never been asked to assume such a responsibility by a single one of the republics in question) naturally carries with it a supervision of the affairs of our neighbors, which implies almost the relationship of a sovereign state to a dependency. We do not claim this, but the position taken by Secretary Olney in the Venezuela case really implies as much.

And just here comes in the contradiction which is the subject of these comments. Although we have extended the scope of the Monroe Doctrine, and our press and politicians are assuming for us the privileges of overlord on this hemisphere, we are still at heart as indifferent toward South America as in the early years of the past century. We permit ourselves to be put in the position of a suzerain, and are pleased to feel that we are really the dominant power on two continents, and at the same time we take the responsibility so lightly that we often send inferior men to represent us, and we take no pains to obtain full and accurate information of their affairs. We send a minister to the most important legation in South America who was considered incompetent for the Chinese mission, and we send another to the most polished capital on that continent who makes himself ridiculous by his ignorance of social amenities and his disregard of polite usages. If we are to supervise wisely and opportunely the affairs of our South American neighbors, then we must know them intimately and be fully informed in regard to them. And yet, we are not only inadequately and incorrectly informed, but we show no desire to obtain better information. It is apparently the situation of 1821 repeated, with the difference that there is now a necessity for us really to have some concern with South America.

After a residence of many years on the eastern coast of South America, an American journalist recently came home with the idea that there would be a demand for his knowledge and experience, but he was mistaken. He has found that a specialist in South American affairs has no occupation whatever in the United States. In London his position would be secure and influential, for there they take a live interest in South America.