Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/243

Rh San Diego on March 7th, 8th, and 13th; and it was probably at these meetings that Juan Bandini opened the batteries of his wrathful eloquence on the leaders of the northern movement, uttering some truths, but trusting largely to personal abuse to maintain his position.

The 14th of March Echeandía made a formal reply from San Luis Rey to Zamorano's communication of February 12th. He accused the latter of having violated his personal pledges of neutrality, at the instigation of Rafael Gomez and his own personal ambition. He alluded to the facts that Victoria had recognized him as his successor in command, and that the officials at San Diego in recent meetings had utterly refused to recognize Zamorano as comandante general. Still Echeandía proposed a truce under conditions, which being observed, he would not use force to maintain his rights. Evidently nobody in California was thirsting for blood. The conditions were that Zamorano should leave commercial and other communication free between different parts of the territory, withdraw his forces from Santa Bárbara, leave the diputacion and ayuntamientos free to act as they might deem best in civil affairs, and leave also the comisario and the former comandantes of Santa Bárbara and San Francisco free in the exercise of their duties. On these conditions, by taking the oath prescribed in the constitution, he might regard himself as comandante general of the north until the decision from Mexico; but as Ibarra was intriguing with Los Angeles, Zamorano must decide very promptly, or he would begin hostile operations and make real the