The Spanish in the Southwest . e Missions of Alta California irons for runaways; imprisonments were common. Nota day passed without some punishments, and usually therewere many. The whippings had at first been only a fewlashes; but as years passed, the floggings became very severe. More cruelwhips were used; men,and in some caseswomen also, werewhipped in public, andtheir cries and screams,together with the sightof their sufferings, wak-ened fear and hatredamong their fellows. Itis probable that, by see-ing the whip used everyday, the missionarieshad become hardenedwithout knowing it, andincre
The Spanish in the Southwest . e Missions of Alta California irons for runaways; imprisonments were common. Nota day passed without some punishments, and usually therewere many. The whippings had at first been only a fewlashes; but as years passed, the floggings became very severe. More cruelwhips were used; men,and in some caseswomen also, werewhipped in public, andtheir cries and screams,together with the sightof their sufferings, wak-ened fear and hatredamong their fellows. Itis probable that, by see-ing the whip used everyday, the missionarieshad become hardenedwithout knowing it, andincreased the number oflashes without realizinghow much they werealso increasing the suf-ferings of those pun-ished. The Indians, under this harsh treatment, grewsullen, restless, and dangerous. Runaways were so fre-quent that it became a common practice to send out hunt-ing parties to bring them back. These were usually ofsoldiers, but trusted Indians were also used to hunt out thefugitives. Punishments for runaways were made more. A wood carrier The Slavery of the Missions 159 and more severe, but still the more savage as well as themore intelligent Indians would take the risks rather thanendure life at the missions. Some of the less daring spiritsvented their hatred in attempts to poison the priests orset fire to the mission buildings. Every offense of thiskind tightened the bonds of the Indians and widened thebreach between them and the white people. The missionswere not succeeding in educating citizens, but they werestirring up the spirit of opposition and revenge. These conditions became a scandal to the church, deeplyregretted by all priests and laymen who had the bestinterests of the missions at heart. As De Neve, one ofthe early governors of the province, said, such treatmentcould not elevate the Indians, could not educate theirmanliness. From 1794 to 1800, the governor of the Cali-fornias was Borica, a high-principled man, determined inhis efforts to better affairs in the
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