wilderone
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A colorful excerpt re mission life:
From Journey of the Flame:
"The Jesuits began by founding Missions, and learning Indian languages that souls might be saved. Here in this place where we stand, our greatest
man, Padre Ugarte, taught classes of Indians in a brush jacal. Being ignorant heathen, his pupils at first laughed at him, and then deliebrately
taught him obscene words for such holy things as God, the Trinity, and everything needed in saying Mass.
Then, when Padre Ugarte thought he had learned enough of their language to serve Mass in their dialect, the whole sacred place was filled with Indian
cackling. Not understanding why they laughed, he asked an Indian child the meaning of a sentence he had used, and found it foul beyond belief. Again
the padre said Mass, and the Indiada for miles around came to laugh at this holy man's filthy tongue. The padre used the worst of these words as if
in good faith, and an Indian chief standing just below the alter laughed as a mule brays. The enormously strong Ugarte, leaning downward, seized that
chief by his long hair, and swinging him lengthwise about his head, explained to all his congregation how the brute he now punished had deceived him."
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bajalera
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Pardon my snoopiness, Wilderone, but I've got a long-standing interest in Journey of the Flame. Did you read all the way through this book? Do you
like it more for its history, or for the plot?
bajalera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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wilderone
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I'm currently on page 175 - about 3/4 through it. I'm enjoying the manner of story-telling - a unique turn of a phrase, using formal or curious
wording (probably due to translation). I also am trying to glean clues to places that I might want to explore myself - like the description of the
cave near Loreto which supposedly has "vast stone heads having two great tusks growing out of their mouths". I wonder if these are mammoth fossils
(?). Also, generally, the description of life and customs as they were during those times. He goes into a lot of detail about how to handle cattle,
burros, etc., and of course, the historical anecdotes embellish what prior understanding I had. For instance, it was my understanding that the pearls
of Baja (in La Paz or wherever) were not of good quality, and when the Spaniards came searching for wealth from pearls, they were disappointed. But
this book seems to imply that there were a great quantity of quality pearls. Also, some of the old legends and Don Juan's understanding of legends -
like he believed the legends of the pearl divers were regularly eaten by manta rays and cuttlefish, and were caught by giant mollusks. The whole thing
is really fascinating.
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bajalera
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The prose isn't a translation. The author (Walter or Charles Nordhoff, I forget which and don't have my copy with me), is said to have been the
grandfather of the Nordhoff who co-authored Mutiny on the Bounty. The book, as you suspected, includes practically ever Baja legend ever told,
although footnotes with dates give the impression that it's factual.
I've never heard any criticism of Gulf pearls--the Spanish accounts I've read say there were great quantities of fine ones (which didn't get
completely depleted by over-harvesting--I bought several in La Paz in the 1960s). The diver getting trapped by a giant clam is quite a stretch,
though. Those aren't native to this side of the Pacific--and wouldn't have interested pearl divers, anyway, since giant clams don't have shiny nacre.
Enjoy your read!
bajalera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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