They followed for some leagues a river, when suddenly its waters disappeared.

They apparently sank beneath the surface of the quicksands.

Still there were indications which enabled them to follow the course of the river, until finally it rose again above the surface, and in the open air flowed on to the ocean.
At length they reached the celebrated Catholic Mission of San Gabriel, near the Pacific coast.

The Mission was then in a flourishing condition.
The statistics, published in 1829, indicate a degree of prosperity which seems almost incredible.

More than a thousand Indians were attached to the Mission, and were laboring in its widely-extended fields, tending its herds and cultivating the soil.