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Rh of destitution among the troops came in frequently, especially from the south. Figueroa, even, could not feed and clothe troops to their satisfaction with fine words and loyal purposes. As of old, the missions were often called upon for supplies.

Let us turn backward to 1833, and southward to the capital of the republic, where Californian affairs were attracting more attention perhaps than ever before. This was largely due to the influence of José María Padrés, whose schemes of a few years before are fresh in the mind of the reader, and were by no means abandoned when their author was sent out of the country by Victoria in 1831. He left behind a party of ardent supporters in the far north, and went away vowing to return with full powers to carry out his proposed reforms. Of his influence and actions during 1832, and of his relations with Congressman Carrillo, nothing is known; but, not being politically in sympathy with the administration, he probably kept somewhat quiet in public and awaited his time. Privately, however, he was loud and enthusiastic in his praises of California, and labored earnestly to interest his friends in that country as a field for colonization. Many were led to regard his plans with favor, the most prominent of the number being José María Híjar, a gentleman of property, influence, and reputation. By the spring of 1833, the two had devised a project of taking a colony to California, and had made some progress toward its realization.

Now fortune began to smile on the empresarios most remarkably. In April Valentin Gomez Farías, a warm personal and political friend of Padrés, and perhaps already interested in his scheme, was elected vice-president, and became acting president on the retirement of Santa Anna. Soon, perhaps in June, there came the news that Figueroa was ill and desired to be relieved of office, which would throw the military command into the hands of Padrés himself, he