A few inches
of cold steel has been the punishment of many an unwary man, who has
been guilty, perhaps, of nothing more than indiscretion of manner. The
difficulties of the attempt are numerous, and the consequences of
discovery fatal. With the unmarried women, too, great watchfulness
is used. The main object of the parents is to marry their daughters
well, and to this, the slightest slip would be fatal. The sharp eyes
of a duena, and the cold steel of a father or brother, are a
protection which the characters of most of them- men and women-
render by no means useless; for the very men who would lay down their
lives to avenge the dishonor of their own family, would risk the same
lives to complete the dishonor of another.
Of the poor Indians, very little care is taken. The priests, indeed,
at the missions, are said to keep them very strictly, and some rules
are usually made by the alcaldes to punish their misconduct; but it
all amounts to but little. Indeed, to show the entire want of any
sense of morality or domestic duty among them, I have frequently known
an Indian to bring his wife, to whom he was lawfully married in the
church, down to the beach, and carry her back again, dividing with her
the money which she had got from the sailors.
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