The Indians constructed the buildings, planted and cultivated the fruit trees and vineyards, tended the cattle, made pottery, wove cloths and performed, in fact, all the manual labor that was necessarily required in an extensive colony. In return, they received food, clothing and lodging, were instructed in the Church doctrines and observances, and were taught dancing and music and occasionally the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. Their life was a regular routine, and though material comfort was generally in evidence, still the Indian neophytes were never allowed to act on their own initiative. Beyond their existence from day to day, they received no pecuniary reward for their labors, any more than if they had been slaves.[156] The Indians of the missions were generally tractable, but occasionally the desire for their former life of freedom brought reaction and rebellions; or, incited and aided by the wild tribes, they rose and destroyed the missions. The revolt of the Pima in 1750 is a case in point.[157] The “alcaldes,” or local officials to whom the king had entrusted the protection of the Indians, instead of protecting them, preyed upon them for their own profit. These men, like many of the colonists themselves, were often of an inferior class, and too far from the central government to feel any special fear at disobeying the laws that the home government might make with regard to the natives. Accordingly the Indians were often induced to run into debt, and had in consequence to mortgage or sell whatever property they possessed. They thus became subject to whatever impositions the officials chose to put upon them.[158] In 1792, Fray Juan Agustin de Morfi complained to the viceroy of New Spain that from each pueblo in their respective jurisdictions, the “alcaldes” in Texas were accustomed to levy weekly contributions of produce; that they required the Indians to perform free labor upon their estates; that they demanded heavy tolls from each pueblo at harvest time; that the Indian women were forced to grind the “alcaldes’” grain; that some officials required tithes of fleeces and compelled the Indians to weave them; and that the Indians had to serve as mule drivers and care for the animals of the “alcaldes.”[159] The attitude of the “alcaldes” toward the Indians, furthermore, was repeated by the officials of the “presidios,” or frontier posts.[160] The same method of obtaining cheap labor was followed by the colonists. Frequent raids were made upon the “rancherías,” or Indian settlements, to secure agricultural workers, herdsmen and domestic servants. Children were usually in demand, but adults also were taken. The practice continued, indeed, until late in the eighteenth century.[161] CHAPTER III +Enslavement by the French+