• Californian Trails : Intimate Guide to the Old Missions.
By Trowbridge Hall (Macmillan. 26s. net).—This charming book, which is illustrated with many excellent photographs, gives a popular account of the old Spanish missions, whose churches and convents add so much to the picturesqueness of mcdem Califor- nia. The author follows the old carnal() real, or royal road, that linked up the twenty-one missions from San Diego de Alcala in the south—founded in 1760—to San Francisco Solano, which was founded in 1823. The pious Franciscans who penetrated among the wild Indians suffered many hardships, but they deserve to be remembered with respect. It may be mentioned that the first discovery of gold was made by one of their Indian converts, in a valley near San Fernando. The missionaries tried to keep the discovery secret, so that their charges might be left undisturbed. But prospectors were soon on the spot, and, as the author says, " left their imprints in such local names as
Swell-head Diggings,' Shirt-tail Canyon,' and Hell's Hol- low,' " which mark the abrupt commencement of a new era in Californian history.
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