penalties.
Upon the assertion of M. Duflot de Mofras mainly rests the discovery of gold at San Isidro, in San Diego county by a man from Guanajuato about 1828. " A San Isidro," he says in the first volume of his Ex- ploration du Territoire de V Oregon, des Californies, et de la Mer VermeiUe, Paris, 1844, "h, quatorze lieues dans Test de San Diego, on trouve des mines d'or et d'ar- gent qui furent exploitees il y a quinze ans par un homme de Guanajuato."
Padre Viader, a priest at Mission Santa Clara, is said to have possessed the gift of prophecy. Two years before it occurred, he foretold the drought of 1829, and advised the people to prepare for it, and plant double the usual area. He likewise predicted the discovery of gold in California, and the transfer of that land to another nationality. This reminds one of the many signs and omens pointing to the fall of Monteruma, and the Mexican conquest, which oc- cured during the century precedmg that event.
Another prophet, who died in 1830, was Padre Magin Catala, of this same mission. Among other things he predicted that great riches would be found in the north, and that people would flock thither in great numbers. It is safe to affirm that among peo- ple of extraordinary piety no important event ever happens but that after the occurrence many persons can be found who said that it would be so.
And now for the statement of a savage among others who testify. Puleule, a Yuba, swore, as soon as he had acquired that civilized accomplishment, that when he was a boy, say in 1830, he had often amused himself by picking from the gravel large pieces of gold and throwing them into the water.
Manuel Victoria writing;; the Mmistro de Relaciones says in 1831 that there are no mines of any value m California ; that the pagans know of none ; and that it is the opinion of experts that there are no minerals in the country.
The unreliable editor of T/ie Natural Wealth of Call-
