He and the monks whom he took with him learned the language of the Indians, and went among them not as conquerors but as Christian teachers. Their gentle manners and endless patience won the friendship of the Indians in time and changed the land of constant warfare into one of peace. They led the natives to destroy their idols and to give up cannibalism. The mission established among them and kept up by the monks who were attracted to it was only one of a great number which sprang up on the mainland. THE WORK OF THE MISSIONS. Influenced by the work of Las Casas against Indian slavery and for Indian missions, the Spaniards bent their efforts to preserve and Christianize the natives wherever they came upon them in America. Catholic priests gathered the Indians into permanent villages, which were called missions. Within about one hundred years after the death of Columbus, or by 1600, there were more then 5,000,000 Indians in such villages under Spanish rule. Priests taught them to build better houses, checked their native vices, and suppressed heathen practices. Every mission became a little industrial school for children and parents alike, where all might learn the simpler arts and trades and the customs and language of their teachers. Each Indian cultivated his own plot of land and worked two hours a day on the farm belonging to the village. The produce of the village farm supported the church. The monks or friars who had charge of the mission cared for the poor, taught in the schools, preserved the peace and order of the village, and looked after the religious welfare of all. [Illustration: RUINS OF A SPANISH MISSION HOUSE] Gradually Spanish emigrants settled in the mission stations, and planters established farms around them, and they became Spanish villages in every respect like those in the islands or in the Old World, except that many inhabitants in the towns on the mainland were Indians. The emigrants freely intermarried with the Indians and a mixed race took the place of the old inhabitants. The customs, language, religion, and rule of Spain prevailed in this New Spain, though in some ways the new civilization was not so good as that of the Old World. QUESTIONS 1. In what ways did the Aztecs resemble the Europeans? How did they differ from them? Why were the Spaniards particularly anxious to conquer Mexico? 2. Why did many of the Mexicans refuse to fight the Spaniards? How many soldiers and Indian allies did Cortes lose in one battle? How long did it take Cortes to conquer Mexico? 3. What other Indian people was conquered a few years later? By whom? What seemed to be the main object of these conquerors, Cortes and Pizarro, in their expeditions?