The bishop declared that the Indians in the pueblos, who numbered around 250, suffered from a lack of discipline. It was a rare day when one did not see a male or female Indian stretched out drunk in the street (Martinez Tejada, 1735). They argued craftily that drunkenness was no sin for Indians, for "if it were a bad thing to get drunk the King would not give them aguardiente" (Rodriguez, 1736). The peninsular friars feared to correct them, said the bishop, "because here there is a great facility to swear to whatever is wanted." As a result, "these miserable natives are as heathen as if they had not been born in a land of Catholics." The pueblos of Indians were neither missions nor doctrinas-not missions because there were no conversions, and not doctrinas because the creole friars refused to present themselves for examination (Martinez Tejada, 1736a). (Bushnell SS)