At first, force
was required to obtain proselytes, but cunning was found to succeed
better; and, by allowing the superstitions of the Indians to be mixed up
with the rites of the Church, a sort of half-breed religion became
general, upon the principle, I presume, that half a loaf is better than
no bread. The anomalous consequences of this policy are to be seen in
the Indian ceremonies even to this day.
To afford adequate protection to the Roman Catholic missionaries,
settlements were established, which still bear the name of missions.
They are very numerous throughout California, and there are several in
Texas. The Alamo, at San Antonio, was one of great importance; there
were others of less consideration in the neighbourhood; as the missions
of Conception, of San Juan, San Jose, and La Espada. All these edifices
are most substantially built; the walls are of great thickness, and from
their form and arrangement they could be converted into frontier
fortresses. They had generally, though not always, a church at the side
of the square, formed by the high walls, through which there was but one
entrance. In the interior they had a large granary, and the outside
wall formed the back to a range of buildings, in which the missionaries
and their converts resided.
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