California — 04 - Ch. 9-11

CHAPTER IX.

Two horses stray away How orders were enforced at the diggings Sunday work Nature of the soil Inconveniences even in gold getting Dinner and rest A strike for higher wages A walk through the diggings Sleeping and smoking Indians and finery Californians and Yankee Runaway sailors and stray negroes A native born Kentuckian "That's a fact" A chapel at the diggings A supper with an appetite.

The morning broke brilliantly, and the first thing we discovered on rising was, that two of the horses had broken their fastenings during the night, and strayed.

As we could not afford to lose the animals, José and Horry were despatched lo look after them, and they grumbled not a little at being thus sent off from the scene of golden operations;

but Bradley, producing a rifle, swore that he would shoot them both unless they obeyed orders; so, after a little altercation, away they went.

Breakfast was soon despatched, and the question as to the day's operations asked.

Don Luis was the only one who, on the score of its being Sunday, would not go to the diggings.

He had no objection to amuse himself on Sunday, but he would not work.

To get over the difficulty, we agreed to go upon the principle of every man keeping his own findings, our bonds of unity as a party to extend merely to mutual protection and defence.

Leaving Don Luis, then, smoking in the tent, we proceeded to work, and found that the great majority of the gold-finders appeared to entertain our opinions, or at all events to imitate our practice, as to labouring on the Sunday.

I had now leisure more particularly to remark the nature of the soil in which the gold was found.

The dust is found amid the shingle actually below water, but the most convenient way of proceeding is to take the soil from that portion of the bed which has been overflowed but is now dry.

It is principally of a gravelly nature, full of small stones, composed, as far as I could make out, of a species of jasper and milky quality, mingled with fragments of slate and splinters of basalt.

The general opinion is, that the gold has been washed down from the hills.

I worked hard, as indeed we all did, the whole morning.

The toil is very severe, the constant stooping pressing, of course, upon the spinal column, whilst the constant immersion of the hands in water causes the skin to excoriate and become exceedingly painful.

But these inconveniences are slight when compared to the great gain by which one is recompensed for them.

At twelve o'clock, our usual primitive dinner hour, we met at the tents, tolerably well tired with our exertions.

No dinner, however, was prepared, both José and Horry being still absent in pursuit of the strayed horses.

We had, therefore, to resort to some of our jerked beef, which, with biscuits and coffee, formed our fare.

After dinner, we determined to rest until the next day.

The fact is, that the human frame will not stand, and was never intended to stand, a course of incessant toil; indeed, I believe that in civilized--that is to say, in industrious--communities, the Sabbath, bringing round as it does a stated remission from labour, is an institution physically necessary.

We therefore passed some time in conversation, which was interrupted by the arrival of José and Horry with the strayed horses.

Horry demanded an immediate increase of wages, threatening to leave us and set to work on his own account if we refused.

Bradley tried to talk big and bully him, but in vain.

José had a sort of fear of Don Luis--who in return looked on his servant as his slave--so he said nothing.

We could see, however, that they had evidently been in communication with the diggers around, and so we gave in.

Later in the afternoon I started with Malcolm and McPhail for a walk through the diggings.

We found comparatively a small proportion of the people who had commenced work in the morning still at their pans.

Numbers were lying asleep under the trees, or in the shade of their tents and wagons.

Others sat smoking and chatting in circles upon the grass, mending their clothes or performing other little domestic duties at the same time.

It was really a motley scene.

Indians strutted by in all the pride of gaudy calico, the manners of the savage concealed beneath the dress of the civilized man.

Muscular sun-burnt fellows, whose fine forms and swarthy faces pronounced that Spanish blood ran through their veins, gossiped away with sallow hatchet-faced Yankees, smart men at a bargain, and always on the lookout for squalls.

Here, and there one spied out the flannel shirt and coarse canvas trousers of a seaman--a runaway, in all probability, from a South Sea whaler; while one or two stray negroes chattered with all the volubility of their race, shaking their woolly heads and showing their white teeth.

I got into conversation with one tall American; he was a native-born Kentuckian, and full of the bantam sort of consequence of his race.

He predicted wonderful things from the discovery of the mineral treasures of California, observing that it would make a monetary revolution all over the world, and that nothing similar, at least to so great an extent, was ever known in history.

"Look around!

for, stranger," said he to me, "I guess you don't realise such a scene every day, and that's a fact.

There's gold to be had for the picking of it up, and by all who choose to come and work.

I reckon old John Bull will scrunch up his fingers in his empty pockets when he comes to hear of it.

It's a most everlasting wonderful thing, and that's a fact, that beats Joe Dunkin's goose-pie and apple sarse."

Farther on we came upon a tremendous-looking tent, formed by two or three tents being flung into one, which, on examination, we found was doing duty as a chapel.

A missionary, from one of the New England States, as I hear, was holding forth to a pretty large congregation.

The place was very hot and chokey, and I only stayed long enough to hear that the discourse abounded in the cloudy metaphors and vague technicalities of Calvinistic theology.

The remainder of the afternoon I have been devoting to writing my journal, which I here break off to commence a hearty good supper, in revenge for the scrambling sort of dinner one has had to-day.

The beef doesn't look roasted as they would put it on the table at the Clarendon, or at Astor House even; but none of those who sit down to the Clarendon table, at any rate, have such an appetite as I now have, far away beyond care and civilisation, in the gold-gathering region of California.

CHAPTER X.

Digging and washing, with a few reflections A cradle in contemplation Scales to sell, but none to lend Stack of gold weighed More arrivals Two newcomers Mr. Biggs and Mr. Lacosse Good order prevails at the mines Timber bought for the cradles The cradles made The cradles worked The result of the first day's trial.

_June 5th_.

--We have laboured hard all day, digging and washing, and with good success.

I begin to hope now that I have really laid the foundation of a fortune, and I thank God for it.

I have been kicked tolerably well about the world, and the proverb, that a "rolling stone gathers no moss," has, I am sure, been abundantly proved by my case.

Now, however, I have a grand chance, and I am resolved that all that industry and perseverance can do shall be done to improve it.

Before starling for work this morning, it was agreed that José should act as cook for the day; it being stipulated that he was to have the afternoon to himself for digging.

Horry was left in charge of the horses.

I worked hard, keeping near Bradley, and conversing with him as I shovelled the gravel into the pail, and stirred it about in the clear pools.

We had very fair success, but still we could not but think that this was a poor way of proceeding; besides, I didn't like the back-breaking work of stooping all day.

I therefore proposed that we should endeavour to knock up a cradle.

The expense for wood would certainly be great, but it would be better to incur it than keep to the present rude and toilsome plan of operation.

We proposed the plan to our comrades at dinner-time, and it was, on the whole, well received.

Malcolm and McPhail entered into the notion, and we determined to try whether we could not put forth sufficient carpentering ability to carry it out.

The next day was fixed upon for commencing the work.

After dinner we returned to our shovels and pails.

In the evening we were anxious to know how much gold we had realised by our labours up to the present time; and, accordingly, I set off to borrow a pair of scales.

After entering several tents in vain, I was directed to the Yankee who had the materials for a store, and whose name was Hiram Ensloe.

He had several pairs to sell, but none to lend.

I asked his prices, and now had, for the first time, a real example of the effects of plenty of gold and scarcity of goods.

For a small pair of ordinary brass scales, with a set of troy weights, I paid, on behalf of the party, fifteen dollars, the seller consoling me by the information that in his opinion, if the gold-hunters continued to pour in for a fortnight longer, I would not have got the article for three times the amount.

Furnished with my purchase, I returned to the tent, and the stock of gold dust realised by each man was weighed, and computed at the current rate in which the mercantile transactions of this little colony are reckoned--namely, fourteen dollars each ounce of gold dust.

We found that McPhail and Malcolm had been, upon the whole, the most successful, each having obtained nearly two ounces of pure gold dust, valued at twenty-eight dollars.

I myself had about twenty-three dollars' worth, and Bradley had twenty-five dollars' worth.

An amount which, considerable though it was, we hope greatly to increase as soon as we get our cradle into operation.

During the day, there were numerous arrivals from Sutter's Fort; and in my opinion, these diggings will soon be overcrowded.

Two of the new-comers were known to Bradley--one, a Mr. Biggs, a shipping agent from San Francisco; the other, Mr. Lacosse, a French Canadian, who has recently settled in California.

They accepted our offer for them to join our party.

If this influx of people continues, I think the Yankee with the store will do better than any one; and keeping a shanty will be a far more profitable speculation than handling a shovel or working a cradle.

What surprises me is, that in this remote spot, so distant from anything that can be called Law, so much tranquillity prevails under the circumstances.

One hears of no deeds of violence, or even dishonesty.

In fact, theft would hardly pay.

The risk would be more than the advantage; for if any one was detected plundering, he would soon have a rifle-bullet put through him.

One thing in favour of good order is, that here there is no unequal distribution of property--no favoured classes.

Every man who has a spade or a trowel, and hands to use them, is upon an equality, and can make a fortune with a rapidity hitherto almost unknown in the history of the world.

_Sunday, June 11th_.

--Nearly a week has elapsed since I last opened my diary.

On Tuesday, we set to work upon our cradle.

We resolved upon the construction of two; and, for this purpose, went down to the store in a body, to see about the boards.

We found the timber extravagantly dear, being asked forty dollars a-hundred.

After some bargaining, we obtained sufficient for our purpose, at the rate of thirty-five dollars.

The next question was, as to whether we should hire a carpenter.

We were told there were one or two in the diggings who might be hired, though at a very extravagant rate.

Accordingly, Bradley and I proceeded to see one of these gentlemen, and found him washing away with a hollow log and a willow-branch sieve.

He offered to help us at the rate of thirty-five dollars a-day, we finding provisions and tools, and could not be brought to charge less.

We thought this by far too extravagant, and left him, determined to undertake the work ourselves.

Meantime, Horry had brought down two of our horses with him to the store.

We loaded them immediately with boards, and returned to our tent.

After breakfast, which consisted of coffee without milk, flour cakes, and strips of dried beef, roasted on the embers, we set to work.

We had a sufficient number of axes and a good stout saw, one large plane, and a few strong chisels, with plenty of nails.

As may be expected, we proved to be very awkward carpenters.

Mr. Lacosse was perhaps the handiest, and Malcolm not much inferior to him, until the latter unfortunately received a severe cut with a chisel, extending in a transverse line along the joint of the forefinger of the left hand.

I

strapped up the wound, but the rough work soon tore away the diaculum: no bad consequences, however, ensued.

The wound, in spite of the hard treatment which it received, closed and healed by the first intention--proving the healthy habit of body engendered by temperance and constant exercise in the open air.

In building our cradles, or "gold canoes," as the Indians called them, we found that to mortice the planks into each other was a feat of carpentering far above our skill, particularly as we had no mortice chisels.

We were therefore obliged to adopt the ruder experiment of making the boards overlap each other by about an inch, nailing them firmly together in that position.

As, however, the inequality of surface at the bottom of the cradle, produced by the mode of building, would have materially impeded our operations, we strained some pieces of tarred canvas, which we fortunately possessed amongst our tent cloths, over the bottoms, thus rendering the surface even, and suited to our purpose.

By the time we had got so far with our undertaking, we fell sufficiently tired to give over work for the night.

We had laboured unceasingly at them, pausing only to swallow a hasty meal, and stuck by our hammers and chisels till dusk.

We were up early the next morning, and toiled away to get the cradles completed, as we were constantly seeing proofs of the great advantages of these machines.

We fixed a wicker sieve over the head, by means of a couple of transverse bars, and then set about to construct the working Apparatus, which we had all along feared would put our mechanical skill to rather a severe test; but we found it easier than we had anticipated, and before sundown the rockers were fixed on both cradles, which, to all intents and purposes, were now ready for use.

The work was rather rough, but it was firm and strong.

So fearful were we first of all that our cradles might be removed or tampered with in the night, that I jocularly proposed two of us should give up the shelter of the tent, and, like pretty little children, sleep in our cradles till the morning.

The next day we set to work with them with the utmost eagerness, having first dragged the lumbering machines to a likely spot in the vicinity of the water.

The labour was hard enough, but nothing compared to the old plan of pot-washing, while it saved the hands from the injury inflicted by continual dabbling in sand and water.

We took the different departments of labour by turns, and found that the change, by bringing into play different sets of muscles, greatly relieved us, and enabled us to keep the stones rolling with great energy.

In the evening, with the help of our newly purchased scales, we tested our gains.

The cradle which was worked by Don Luis, Malcolm, and myself, for it was so near the water that three hands were sufficient, had realised six ounces of gold dust; the other, attended to by Bradley, McPhail, Biggs, and Lacosse, had nearly as much.

During the day there was another considerable influx of people to the diggings; the banks of the river are therefore getting more and more crowded, and we hear that the price of every article of subsistence is rising in the same proportion.

CHAPTER XI.

The proceedings of the week Visit from Mr. Larkin What will the Government do?

What "enough" is San Francisco Houses and ships deserted A captain and ship without a crew A ship without a crew or captain Wages, newspapers, and shovels The Attorney-General to the King of the Sandwich Islands Something for the lawyers Gold-diggers by moonlight Mr. Larkin's departure Provisions run short Seek a supply at Salter's Good luck Diggings' law Provisions arrive A wagon wanted Arrival of Californians and their families Gay dresses and coquettish manners Fandangos El Jarabe The waltz Lookers-on and dancers Coffee, and something stronger No more Sunday work José and the saints The Virgin Mary cheated Contemplated migration.

_June 18th, Sunday_.

--The proceedings of the past week have been but a repetition of those of the week previous, the amount of gold dust realised being rather greater, and amounting on an average to very nearly sixteen ounces per day.

Cradles are now in use everywhere around us; nevertheless, the numbers who stand in the water washing with tin or wooden bowls do not appear to be diminished.

On the evening of Thursday we were visited by a gentleman from Monterey, a Mr. Larkin, who, I believe, is connected with the States Government, and who has arrived in the diggings with the view of making a report to the authorities at Washington.

Don Luis immediately recognised him, and invited him to spend the evening and night in our tent.

We were very anxious to hear the news from the coast, and Mr. Larkin in turn was very anxious to pick up all the information he could get respecting the diggings.

Don Luis says he is a man of large fortune, so his tour is purely one of inspection, and not with any eye to business.

We made him as comfortable as we could; Lacosse exerted himself in the manufacture of the coffee in honour of our guest, and we had several hours of interesting conversation.

Mr. Larkin said he had no idea what steps the Government at Washington would take with reference to the "placer."

"It can't matter much to you, gentlemen," observed he, "for although there can be no doubt of its being upon public territory, still, before any instructions can be received from Washington, the great body of the diggers and washers here will be enriched to their heart's content, if a man ever does feel contented with any amount of wealth."

--"Your observation," exclaimed Malcolm, "puts me in mind of a story which my father used to tell of a farmer, a friend of his, who once took his rent, the odd money short, to an old miserly landlord rolling in wealth.

He was asked by him why he had not brought the full amount.

'Why,' replied the farmer, 'I thought you had enough.'

--'Enough!'

said the miser; 'do you know what _enough_ is?

I'll tell you--Enough is _something more_ than a man hath!'

" Mr. Larkin then spoke of the effects of the "mineral yellow fever," as he called it, having been most extraordinary in San Francisco.

When he left that town, he said more than two-thirds of the houses were deserted.

We were not surprised at this, as we knew the people who were continually arriving here must have come from somewhere.

Nearly all the ships in the harbour too had lost a great part of their crews by desertion.

A barque called the Amity had only six men left when Mr. Larkin started from the port.

On board another ship from the Sandwich Islands the captain was left actually and literally alone.

On the road Mr. Larkin fell in with another captain who had started off for the gold region with every man of his crew, leaving his ship unprotected in port.

On Mr. Larkin remonstrating with him on the flagrancy of his conduct, he merely replied, "Oh, I warrant me her cables and anchors are strong enough to last till we get back."

Mr. Larkin told us what we were fully prepared to hear, namely, that wages and salaries of all classes have risen immensely; clerks, he said, were getting from nine hundred to twelve hundred dollars, instead of from four hundred to five hundred and fifty dollars, with their board.

Both the _Star_ and _Californian_ newspapers, he said, had stopped.

Thinking to surprise us, he told us that shovels which used to be one dollar were selling in San Francisco, when he left, for five and six dollars each.

Bradley replied that he thought this was a very reasonable figure, for he had heard thirty dollars offered for a spade that very day.

"Do you know, by-the-by," said Mr. Larkin, "who I saw here to-day, up to his knees in water, washing away in a tin pan?

Why, a lawyer who was the Attorney-General to the King of the Sandwich Islands, not eighteen months ago."

--"I guess," said Bradley, "he finds gold-washing more profitable than Sandwich Island law; but he's not the only one of his brethren that is of much the same spirit; there's lots of lawyers in these diggings.

Well!

they are better employed now than ever they were in their lives.

They're money-getting rascals all the world over; but here they do have to _work_ for it, that's one comfort."

Before turning in, we took a stroll through the camp with Mr. Larkin.

It was a bright moonlight night, and some of the more eager diggers were still at work.

These were the new-comers, probably, who were too much excited to sleep without trying their hands at washing the golden gravel.

Mr. Larkin left us the following day.

_June 23rd, Friday_.

--The last entry in my diary seems to have been written last Sunday.

Next day we began to find the provisions running short.

A consultation was accordingly held upon the subject.

It was quite out of the question to buy provisions in the diggings.

Work as one might, the day's living of any man with a respectable appetite--and one seems always to feel hungry here--would pretty well absorb the day's labour.

We therefore determined to dispatch Bradley and José back to Sutter's Fort for a supply, it being stipulated that Bradley should share in the gold we might find during their absence.

This arrangement being duly concluded, they started off the following morning on horseback, driving before them the two beasts we purchased at Sutter's. We instructed Bradley, if possible, to buy a light wagon, in which to store the provisions he was to bring back.

The two extra horses would be able to draw it, and such a vehicle would be useful in many respects.

He took with him two hundred and fifty dollars' worth of gold, so as to be in sufficient funds, in case the sum demanded should be an over-exorbitant one.

They departed on Tuesday, and we continued our labours.

Towards the afternoon of that day, I had a piece of great good luck.

I was digging up the earth to throw into the cradle, when I turned up a lump of ore about the size of a small walnut, which I knew at once was a piece of gold.

It weighed two ounces and three-quarters.

This, by the law of the diggings--for it is curious how soon a set of rude regulations sprung into existence, which everybody seemed to abide by--belonged to myself and not to the party, it being found before the earth was thrown into the cradle, and being over half an ounce in weight.

Higher up the Sacramento, and particularly on Bear River, one of its tributaries, these lumps and flakes were said to be frequently met with; but at the Mormon digging they are very rare.

On Thursday, about sundown, we were delighted to see the approach of Bradley with a well-loaded wagon of light but strong construction.

He had just arrived in time, for our larder was almost exhausted.

We were prepared, however, to have stood out another day or two on short rations, rather than pay the prices asked at the shanties.

Bradley gave us a short account of the expedition.

They reached Sutter's in safety, and found the Fort as busy as though it was tenanted by a swarm of bees.

A sort of hotel had at last been opened, and the landlord was driving a roaring trade.

The emigrants were pouring in, purchasing shovels, trowels, pans, and whatever else they wanted, at high prices.

Profitable as was the washing business, Bradley said he suspected the storekeepers at the Fort were clearing more by their branch of the enterprise than if they had their hands in the pan themselves.

He found Captain Sutter well and hearty, and, the morning after his arrival, consulted him about a wagon.

The Captain, however, had none he felt inclined to sell, nor was there such a thing to be got in the fort.

After some consideration, however, Captain Sutter said that Mr. Sinclair, whose rancho was about three miles off, on the opposite bank of the river, might be able to accommodate him.

Accordingly, Bradley made the best of his way there, but found Mr. Sinclair indisposed to trade.

At length, after a good deal of persuasion, Bradley succeeded in hiring a wagon and a wagoner of him for a week.

The vehicle was got across the river that night.

In the morning he started it off well laden with provisions, and arrived here without any accident the same evening.

We were now well victualled for a month, but were puzzled how to stow away our large stock of provisions, and only accomplished it satisfactorily by giving up the tent for this purpose.

This compelled us all to sleep in the open air; but as yet the nights are very mild and pleasant.

Among the fresh arrivals at the diggings the native Californians have begun to appear in tolerable numbers.

Many of these people have brought their wives, who are attended usually by Indian girls.

The graceful Spanish costume of the new-comers adds quite a feature to the busy scene around.

There, working amidst the sallow Yankees, with their wide white trousers and straw hats, and the half-naked Indian, may be seen the native-born Californian, with his dusky visage and lustrous black eye, clad in the universal short tight jacket with its lace adornments, and velvet breeches, with a silk sash fastened round his waist, splashing away with his gay deerskin botas in the mudded water.

The appearance of the women is graceful and coquettish.

Their petticoats, short enough, to display in most instances a well-turned ankle, are richly laced and embroidered, and striped and flounced with gaudy colours, of which scarlet seems to have the preference.

Their tresses hang in luxuriant plaits down their backs: and in all the little accessories of dress, such as ear-rings, necklaces, etc. , the costume is very rich.

Its distinguishing, feature, however, is the reboso, a sort of scarf, generally made of cotton, which answers to the mantilla of Old Spain.

It is worn in many different and very graceful fashions--sometimes twined round the waist and shoulders; at others, hanging in pretty festoons about the figure, but always disposed with that indescribable degree of coquettish grace which Spanish women have been for ages, allowed to possess in the management of the fan and the mantilla.

Since these arrivals almost every evening a fandango is got up on the green, before some of the tents.

The term fandango, though originally signifying a peculiar kind of dance, seems to be used here for an evening's dancing entertainment, in which many different _pas_ are introduced.

I was present at a fandango a few nights ago where a couple of performers were dancing "el jarabe," which seemed to consist chiefly of a series of monotonous toe and heel movements on the ground.

The motions of the foot were, however, wonderfully rapid, and always in exact time to the music.

But at these entertainments the waltz seems to be the standing dish.

It is danced with numerous very intricate figures, to which, however, all the Californians appear quite _au fait_.

Men and women alike waltz beautifully, with an easy, graceful, swinging motion.

It is quite a treat, after a hard day's work, to go at nightfall to one of these fandangos.

The merry notes of the guitar and the violin announce them to all comers; and a motley enough looking crowd, every member of which is puffing away at a cigar, forms are applauding circle round the dancers, who smoke like the rest.

One cannot help being struck by the picturesque costumes and graceful motions of the performers, who appear to dance not only with their legs, but with all their hearts and souls.

Lacosse is a particular admirer of these fandangos, and he very frequently takes a part in them himself.

During the interval between the dances, coffee is consumed by the senoras, and coffee with something, stronger by the senors; so that, as the, night advances, the merriment gets, if not "fast and furious," at least animated and imposing.

_25th June, Sunday_.

--We have all of us, given over working on Sundays, as we found the toil on six successive days quite hard enough.

Last week we had rather indifferent success, having realized only nineteen ounces of gold, barely three ounces a man.

The dust is weighed out and distributed every evening, and each man carries his portion about his person.

José, who has amassed a tolerable quantity by working in his spare time, is constantly feeling to see whether his stock is safe.

He weighs it two or three times a-day, to ascertain, I suppose, whether it exhausts itself by insensible perspiration, or other means, and invokes, by turns, every saint in the calendar--his patron-saint, Joseph, in particular--and all his old heathenish spirits, to keep his treasure safe.

In accordance with a vow he made before he started from Monterey, he has set apart one-fourth of his treasure for the Big Woman, as he calls the Virgin Mary--in contradistinction to the Great Spirit, I imagine; but I fancy her stock of gold decreases every day, and that José doesn't play her fair.

We had a great deal of serious conversation this afternoon upon the propriety of moving farther up the river, and trying some of the higher washings; for our last week's labour was a terribly poor yield.

We remembered Captain Sutter's account of how Mr. Marshall had first discovered the gold in the vicinity of his mill, and how plentiful it seemed to lie there.

Besides, the diggings are getting overcrowded; the consequence of which is, that we have had several of our pans and baskets stolen.

We therefore decided that, if we could sell our cradles to advantage--and there is some likelihood of this, for there is not a carpenter left all through these diggings to make others for the constant new-comers--to move higher up the Fork, and try our fortune at a less crowded spot.

There is one thing that I think I shall regret leaving myself, and that is, the fandango and the two or three pretty senoritas one has been in the habit of meeting at it almost every night.