Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/66

48 came, in September 1829, against the sending of any but 'useful' convicts, since California had no jails, and the local government could be responsible neither for the safety of the criminals nor for the morals of the community thus exposed to contamination. Of course this had no effect; and in February 1830 the María Ester brought up about eighty of the unwelcome colonists from Acapulco to San Diego. Captain Holmes was not allowed to land them in the governor's absence, and went on to Santa Bárbara in March. A sergeant and twelve soldiers were in charge of the convicts.

How to dispose of the new-comers was a question of much perplexity. Nobody wanted anything to do with them; and a month passed before any decision was reached, perhaps before they were landed at all; and then, late in April, thirty of the worst of them, and probably many more, were sent over to Santa Cruz Island with a supply of cattle and fish-hooks to get a living as best as they could; while the rest were set to work for private employers in the region of Santa Bárbara and Los Angeles. Protests were