Gerstäcker's travels. Rio de Janeiro - Buenos Ayres - Ride through the Pampas - Winter journey across the Cordilleras - Chili -Valparaiso - California and the gold fields

^^m0

GERSTACKER'S TRAYELS.

RIO DE JANEIEO-BUENOS AYRES-RIDE THROUGH THE PAMPAS-
WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS fHE CORDILLERAS -CHILI -VALPARAISO
CALIFORNIA AIJD Trffe GOLD FIELDS.

€rattslntti frnm tljt cSrrman

FREDERICK GERSTACKER.

|*0nl)on:

T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER EOW;

AND EDIMBURQH.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

The Passage Out— On Board the Talisman, In tlie >^'««!r^Arcli 18, IMO 9

cuxrTV.h r r.'
Kio de Janeiro, If

CIIAPT r HI
Sail flrom Rio de Janeiro to Bncnos Ayres, 27

CHApt: i 1
HncBos Ayres and iti EnTlrona, 31

CHAI' :

liide over the Pampas, ....^...j. . 63

rUAPTKll VI.
ThePamitaa, 73

( ■ u A trr . ; \ ] r .

A Winter Journey acroiathc Cur .:'c:.u,... r^ 96

uriAl'TEi: vfii.
Valparaiso, 116

CHAPTER IX.
A Stroll through the Streets of th© Town 120

CHAPTER X.
A Nli^t In the Cemetery at Valparaiso, - 180

CHAPTER XI.
San Francisco in the Autumn of 1S49, 188

M'^83138G

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.

Pugs

A. Trip to the Californian Diggings during the Rainy Season, 146

CHAPTER XIII.
Drawbaclcs, 166

CHAPTER XIV.
Return to Sacramento City, 172

CHAPTER XV.
Mission Dolores, 184

CHAPTER XVI.
A Digger's Life, 200

CHAPTER XVII.
Murphy's New Diggings, 222

CHAPTER XVIIL
The Mosquito Gulch, 242

CHAPTER XIX.
Departure from the Diggings— Stocltton — San Francisco 2C,l

CHAPTER XX.
Conclusion, 277

GEHSTICKER'S TRAVELS

CHAPTER I.

THE PASSAGE OUT — ON BOARD THE TALISMAN, IN THE WESER,
MARCH 18, 1849.

Our passengers for California (for the Talisman is bound directly
for San Francisco) form together a most remarkable and really
interesting group. They are nearly all of them young men, -who
proceed to that adventurous life of the newly discovered El Dorado,
with as bright and golden dreams as ever beguiled any alchymist
in his gloomy cell. Not one woman nor child is among them ;
most of them, especially the steerage passengers, come on board
armed to the teeth, many of them in a sufficiently ludicrous
manner. Thus, yesterday one came from the steamboat to the
Talisman with a gun, a spade, and a cotton umbrella. " I dare-
say you intend to get out the gold with this spade ?" a sailor
asked him. " Well, you do not wish me to scratch it out with
my hands?" answered the man quite seriously. Most of them
carry spades with them; besides which, lots of old sabres, pistols,
daggers, guns, and other arms, make their appearance, as if an
arsenal had been plundered, or as if an armoury of military an-
tiquities were to be furnished.

One character I must not pass over in silence, who, not only
among us, but in the whole of Bremen, has created considerable
sensation. He is a cutler from Magdeburg, called on board only
" the giant;" and he is likewise going to emigrate to California.

^0 THE PASSAGE OUT.

Let the reader imagine to himself an Herculean figxire of colossal
frame, with a curled beard, ruddy cheeks, and bright good-tem-
pered looking eyes, only a little too portly ; a man, therefore, who
would have been conspicuous by his size alone, but who attracted
still greater notice by his dress and accoutrements: a green
blouse, light trousers, and a gray wide-awake; round the body, a
white leathern belt five inches broad, from which were dangling
a huge broadsword dragging noisily on the pavement, and besides
it, a cutlass; and, moreover, a clasp-knife about eighteen inches
long; and as if this were not enough, there were sticking in it
pistols and a dagger, the handle of which served as a pocket
pistol. The wild and ludicrous effect of his appearance was still
further heightened by the companions of our hero. These were
three diminutive individuals, here called " the satellites," who sport
round their huge leader as the pilot-fish does round the shark.
These three little fellows likewise wear green blouses, wide-
awakes, and white belts; they look exactly like young giants,
only, that instead of the broadsword, very short knives or cut-
lasses adorned their sides. I have not seen anything half so odd
for many years.

Emigration seems this year to go on at a greater rate than
ever. Bremen is literally swarming with emigrants from all parts
of Germany, and every train brings new masses, for the convey-
ance of which express trains are often required. The steamboats
of the Weser, in their regular journeys, are no longer sufficient to
carry all the passengers to their ships and to the other harbours;
so that even the steam-tugs are employed for passenger traffic, a
thing which had not been necessary in any preceding year.

Our ship, the Talisman, is a stout barque of 180 tons, and is
said to be a good sailer. The captain, still a young man, sails
for the first time as actual commander of a vessel. The supercargo
has seen long service at sea; the cabin passengers seem nearly all
to belong to the educated classes; there is, therefore, every prospect
(wind and weather permitting) of an agreeable and quick passage.

The emigrants to California seem, howeyer, to have crowded

THE PASSAGE OUT. 11

in only since this vessel was fitted out for sea ; so that part of
her cargo is to be left behind. The firm Heydorn & Co., who
propose to send several other ships after the Talisman, intend to
establish a branch business in San Francisco under the name of
Pajeken, Frisius, & Co. Mr. Clement Pajeken goes out with the
Talisman, and Mr. Frisius as supercargo with the Gesina.

Last evening the new German war-steamer Britannia, anchored
not far from us, near Brake. With pride and joy I saw the black,
red, and golden flag hoisted on board of her. May it triumph
over all its enemies at home and abroad I

At last came the cheerful news that we should set sail, or if
not favoured by the wind, at least float down with the ebb towards
the mouth of the Weser.

On the same evening we scudded down the river. But alas!
we had again to cast anchor for the night, and the wind played
us the same trick the next day. *

Reports of renewed hostilities with Denmark gave us pretty
good reason for apprehending an interruption of our journey,
unless we should succeed in reaching the channel before the ces-
sation of the truce. As our fleet was at that time only in its
cradle (I did not then imagine that on my return I should already
find it in its shroud), the Danish cruisers might have caused us a
very ugly disappointment.

After our leaving the Weser, the wind became fresher and
more favourable, and we ran before it at the rate of about seven
or eight knots an hour. It was on Thursday, at seven o'clock
in the evening, that we entered the German Ocean ; on Friday
evening at dusk we already saw the lights of Dover, and on
the 25th reached the mouth of the British Channel. The same
kind breeze carried us to the latitude of the Island of Madeira,
which, however, we did not get a sight of. Here we fell in with
the north-eastern trade wind, which promised us a quick passage
to the nearest place of our destination, or at least was calculated
speedily to bring us to the equator. Our voyage offered very
little interesting matter. On the 13th of April we came in sight

12 THE PASSAGE OUT.

of the rugged, sterile, treeless hills of one of the Cape de Verde
Islands ; it was San Nieolao. On the next morning we passed
the lofty volcano of the Island of Fogo, the slopes of which were
beautifully lit up by the rising sun. It is a bare colossal cone,
without the least vegetation; we were able to descry only one
human dwelling at the foot of the mountain. We now briskly
advanced towards the equator, and on the loth of April, according
to old usage, the visit of the sea-god Neptune was announced by
his noble spouse Amphitrite, who came on deck in company of
" Neptune's barber," as was written on the back of this wor-
shipful personage. They inquired of the captain at what time
Neptune might himself make his appearance, to ask for his due;
and they were appointed for that day week, when we expected to
be very near the line. On the 22d of April, being pretty nearly
under the equator, Neptune, accompanied by his spouse and his
barber, made his appearance on deck, and was kindly received
by the captain. The god (who, we may remark by the way,
looked somewhat shabby) first addressed the captain in the
English tongue, as being most familiar to him; and then turned
to the passengers who were standing round in somewhat anxious
expectation.

The whole ceremony is so well known, that it need not be de-
scribed, and constitutes a good-humoured joke, in which no one
of the passengers should refuse to bear a part, unless he be
really ill.

It consists simply in a pail of sea- water being poured over one;
dispensation from the application of marine soap, or black tar, is
granted in consideration of a voluntary contribution, which in our
ship was from two dollars to a third of a dollar downwards, and
a moderate addition to this will secure exemption from the whole.
In the midst of all the riotous mirth of the passengers, there
was one person who would not take the least share in it : he
even avoided the spots where merry people were assembled ; and
generally sat down in some lonely corner, occupied only with his
own melancholy thoughts. The man was home- sick. I had

THE PASSAGE OUT. 13

noticed him for some time, but I thought that he was perhaps still
suffering from the consequences of sea-sickness, which had very
severely affected him. One day, however, he came to me with
tears in his eyes, and begged me to use my influence to induce
the captain to send him back to Germany with the first ship he
might fall in with. He said that he had acted like a heedless
fool ; that he had left behind a wife and three children, whose
remembrance now was breaking his heart; that he could weep tears
of blood, thinking of the farewell of his family, when his little
ones had clung to his neck, entreating him not to go from them.
He now saw that he had been wrong, very wrong; and should his
little capital which he had spent for his journey be lost altogether,
he would rather spend the last penny to return; and then, in his
fatherland among his own, work day and night to repair the loss.
I said everything in my power that might console the poor fellow,
and he at last got calmer. When, some days after, we fell in with
a homeward bound ship, he no longer alluded to his former inten-
tion of returning ; and even at Rio, on my questioning him about
the matter, he answered, that he was determined to carry out his
original plan of going to California. But when afterwards, in the
same place, he saw more homeward bound ships, and even spoke
to people who rejoiced in the expectation of soon being back
among their own people ; his home-sickness seemed to have
upturned with double force, and foiled all his other determinations.
He took his "traps" from the Talisman, and removed them on
board of a ship which was chartered for Bremen.

After our having passed the line, a fresh breeze sprung up, and
in the afternoon a sail appeared in sight. It was the English
frigate Agincourt, Captain Nisbett, now used as a packet-boat
between Calcutta and London. She sailed close by us, and to the
delight of all, sent a boat alongside of us. Happy were those who
had letters ready for such an emergency.

The Agincourt had sailed from Calcutta on the 27th of January,
and was now seven days on her way from St. Helena, under a
south-easterly trade wind.

14 THE PASSAGE OUT.

She had on board many German passengers from the Cape of
Good Hope, who applied to us through a second mate — a very-
agreeable young man, who came on board of our ship — for German
newspapers. Captain Meyer sent to them a whole parcel, and
I should like to have witnessed the eager joy with which they
pounced upon them on the return of the boat.

Although we had a long calm, during which sharks generally
like to show themselves, we caught the first of them only on the
25th. He was a fellow of about five feet long ; and so ravenous,
that, having once fallen off the hook when already half out of
the water, he yet returned to the charge with perfect frenzy,
swallowed the hook, and was hauled on board. He was received
by the cheers of all the bystanders ; whom, however, he kept at a
respectful distance, by furiously lashing about him in all direc-
tions. In the evening I had a portion of his tail, as the best part
of the fish, fried for supper ; and it was really luscious, especially
when eaten cold with pepper and vinegar. In the second degree
of southern latitude we fell in with the due south-east trade wind,
which carried us full sail over to the coast of Brazil. Only in the
latitude of Cape Frio the monotony of our sea life was some-
what broken. A very violent pampero, a gale of which I shall
have to say more hereafter, generally rages on the Plate River,
but had gone a little beyond its usual bounds, blowing here with
such terrible fury, that several ships were said to have been
wrecked on the coast, and a Portuguese man-of-war lost its three
masts close to the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. We got our full
share of it, and had several days to struggle against the gale;
without, however, any worse havoc than that of being soundly
shaken, and experiencing some return of sea- sickness.

On the 11th of May, in the morning, after having during the
night looked out in vain for the light which is indicated there on
the charts, we descried Cape Frio ; and keeping constantly in
sight of the picturesque hills of the Brazilian coast, sailed south-
ward towards the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. The wind was
favourable, and the hills on the coast are so prominent and sharply

THE PASSAGE OUT. 15

delineated, that it is scarcely possible to pass by the harbour,
especially in clear weather. Yet our captain, notwithstanding the
warning of his old helmsman, contrived to miss the well-known
landmark. Before dusk I was aloft with the captain, who
pointed out to me a small islet before us, which he described to
me as lying just opposite the harbour of Rio. When, however,
in the evening, just after dark, we were sitting at tea, the helms-
man entered to report that on our starboard, just abreast of us, the
fire of Raza, which is placed immediately below the entrance of
the harbour, was coming in sight ; whereupon our captain, with
some consternation, ran on deck.

It was, indeed, as the helmsman had said ; and although we at
once turned the ship round, we had the current and the Avind
against us, and we were obliged to cruise until the next evening
— full twenty-four hours — before we at last entered the harbour.

On the 12th of May, in the afternoon, the whole of the magni-
ficent panorama which encircles one of the finest harbours in the
world, was opening before us, and we were able to distinguish the
" sugar loaf," which forms an excellent landmark on the left
bank of the entrance.

After having sailed close by the small islands Baya and Maya
(Papa and Mamma), we reached, just after sunset, the spot from
which, had it been daylight, we might have sun-eyed all that
surprises and delights the eye in this new world.

In the tropics, however, sunset is almost instantaneously followed
by the blackest night ; and when we were hailed, or rather — for
the voice sounded as if it came from the world below — roared at,
from the fort of Santa Cruz, deep darkness lay on the sea, whilst
innumerable lights betrayed the neighbourhood of a populous town
and of a busy harbour.

After our supercargo— who was conversant with the Portuguese
language — had had for some time with the commander of the port
an exchange of " unintelligible roars," as Boz so cleverly calls it ;
— indeed, I am firmly convinced, that neither understood a word of
what the other said; — our vessel glided alongside many other crafts

16 RIO DE JANEIRO.

which were anchored there, passing one of the ships so closely
that we might have thrown a cap on board of it. A few words
which were exchanged between us gave intelligence that it was
a countryman of ours — the Hamburgh brig Mercks, Captain
Valentin; and a thundering cheer saluted our fellow- Germans.
Immediately after which, we also dropped our anchor.

Until then an apprehension had been expressed on board, lest
the passengers of foreign ships would not be allowed to land with-
out a passport, signed by the Brazilian consul in Germany; but
fortunately this fear proved groundless, for when, on the next
morning, the so-called visitation-boat came on board, we received
permission to land in as great numbers as we liked.

The reader may imagine that we were not long in making use
of it. On the morning of the 13th of May, in the most brilliant
sunshine, we rowed towards the friendly shore.

CHAPTER II.

mo DE JANEIRO,

The town itself, like so many other things in this world, loses
considerably on closer acquaintance. The streets, with a few ex-
ceptions only, are narrow and dirty, and the crowds of slaves, with
all the innumerable shades of colours, on whom the eye alights
everywhere, make by far too painful an impression on the Euro-
pean, to allow him to enjoy the sublime beauties of the country,
which besides, for the most part, are hidden from the view in the
close, narrow streets.

In the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, all sorts of vessels were
crowding ; yet, whatever had been my preconceived ideas of the
numbers emigrating to California, I should never have believed
that such a multitude of emigrant ships could have been bound for
those golden shores, as had touched and continued to touch at this
eeaport.

EIO DE JANEIRO. 17

American vessels especially were mustering very strong, and
the inhabitants of the to\NTi were so used to find in every stranger
a candidate for California, that the niggers would hail every
strange-looking man, even from a distance, as a Californian, in
which they are very rarely mistaken.

Wherever we went, we were pursued by the shout. Oho ! oho !
Californians ; and I was particularly amused by one of our fellow-
passengers, who firmly believed himself to be most unexception-
ably dressed in the fashion of the country — a dark dress coat and
white trousers — and who therefore thought that he owed that
salutation wholly and exclusively to his hat, which was somewhat
damaged by the salt water. Determining, therefore, to buy at
any rate a new " tile of the true Brazilian fashion," he soon after
left us to carry out his laudable design. The purchase was made
indeed, and a first-rate article procured ; but what was his dismay
when, having scarcely turned the next corner, he was again saluted
with the awful words, " Oho ! oho ! Californian I Oho 1 Califor-
nian." Since that time, our friend has stoutly stuck to it, that the
niggers, who principally indulged in that shout, were a barbarous
race, who most nchly deserved their bondage. For the same
evening a bull-fight was announced, with a great amount of pufl^
and promise ; and as I heard that this sort of sport was more and
more falling into disuse, so that it is now of rather rare occurrence,
I was determined to go and see it.

A bull-fight in Brazil would at any time have possessed great
power of attraction. It was, therefore, with most anxious expec-
tation that, in the company of some fellow-passengers of the
Talisman, I repaired to the scene of action.

We found a pretty spacious arena, surrounded by a tier of boxes,
before which open benches were placed, the whole, however,
roughly constructed of timber, and just sufficiently white-washed
to have one's coat and trousers soiled.

Large square screens of pasteboard, with rudely-painted figures,
were placed in opposite comers of the arena, behind which, as
I afterwards found, the bull-fighters, in cases of danger, retired j

18 RIO DE JANEIRO.

there was also a broad ledge running along the enclosure, on which
the champions might jump when hard pressed by the bull. A
couple of rather dull clowns were indispensable here, as elsewhere :
one of them, who, as is the fashion in North America, was painted
black, amused the public during the intervals by " comic negro
dances ;" the other afforded great amusement, if not to others, at
least to himself, for no one else seemed to laugh at him.

The principal characters of the arena were two persons, a very
handsome young man in old Spanish costume, who was mounted
on a small spirited horse, and who seemed to have the manage-
ment of the whole ; and by his side another horseman, who, how-
ever, was much more like a Prussian cuirassier of tj^ Seven Years'
War, than a Spanish bull-fighter. «

He wore a three-cornered hat, and at his side a huge broad-
sword; but his most remarkable feature was his marvellous resem-
blance to Napoleon {the real one, not the other), which at once
struck every one of us. He was the principal antagonist of the
baited animal, and earned the greatest share of applause. Besides
the champions on foot, who, like German peasant boys, were
dressed in yellow breeches and red waistcoats, a character was
strutting about the arena who attracted so much the greater at-
tention, as it was announced in the play-bill in " capital letters."
This personage (do not be horrified, gentle reader !) was no less a
person than " el Diabo." The gentleman in question is usually
represented to have a decided preference for black ; here, however,
he was dressed in yellow and red, with long horns, and a still
longer draggling tail. To judge from his airs, one might have
thought that he was burning with valorous desire to challenge the
bull ; but when afterwards the signal was given, he modestly slunk
behind the bar, where he played the part of a quiet observer.

The Spanish knight at last having given the signal for begin-
ning, a negro opened, from within the arena, " one of the gates ;"
and then, with the quickness of lightning, retreated to his seat.
His haste, however, seemed to have been rather superfluous, for
the first bull, who soon after appeared at the entrance, looked

RIO DE JANEIRO. 19

harmless enough. After having shown himself, at first, quit^ be-
wildered at the unexpected presence of so large a company, he
ran as quickly as his legs would carry him, for the opposite gate.

With this, however, the audience were no ways contented ; a
wild noise of whistling and drumming saluted the poor beast on
every side, and a couple of men jumping down into the arena, and
approaching it with pieces of red cloth, tried to teaze and goad
it. Their first efi'orts were entirely fruitless ; the bull seemed
resolved to take offence at nothing : with which view he only
offered a most commendable passive resistance. AVhen Napoleon,
indeed, charged him with a wooden lance, pricking him in the
neck, and leaving behind in it a dart wrapped round with flut-
tering paper ; the temper of the poor beast seemed somewhat
ruffled, and he really made some faint attacks. He may have
been a very estimable animal in every other respect, but he had
no vocation for the arena ; and when at last the door was opened
for his egress, he was followed by hisses and groans, such as one
hears at a first representation of some wretched comedy, and
nothing was wanting to make the thing complete but the rotten
oranges.

The second bull " was a cow," but a spirited, bold little thing,
who fiercely took her stand against the first foe who opposed her
in the arena, and, the very contrary of her quiet predecessor,
seemed decidedly bent upon mischief.

1 must, however, observe here, that the Brazilian bull-fight
does by no means aim at death and bloodshed, like that of " Old
Spain." The bulls, therefore, have their horns encased in large
wooden sheaths, and covered by buttons at the tips, so that they
are unable to wound a horse or horseman ; in return for which
civility, it is only fair that the animal should not be killed at the
conclusion. It is therefore only driven out of the arena by the
champion ; or, to heighten the pleasure, caught, and kicked out.

The cow had already got some of the paper- covered darts, and
Napoleon now charged against it to finish the combat; but he
found here a much more active and clever antagonist than her

20 EIO DE JANEIRO.

dull predecessor had been, and one timid movement of his horse
brought the latter so near to his horned enemy, that he could not
escape from her reach by a sudden side-leap. The cow attacked
the horse below, on the belly ; and had her horns been in their
natural condition, she would have ripped it up : thus, however,
the blunt tips, although pushed forward with great spirit and fury,
met with too hard an obstacle, at which the right horn of the poor
beast broke close to the skull ; so that only the bloody inner core
remained, with which, however, she undauntedly continued the
combat, fiercely making head against her aggressors, who were
always renewing the attack, but who never made a fair stand. It
was a disgusting sight, and I was right glad when the poor cow
was at last taken away to make room for another more vigorous
combatant.

An interval which now followed, was filled up by some very
insipid dances of the pseudo nigger, until at last the third bull
made his appearance. This was a young, fiery, black fellow, with
a large hump-back, and a pair of dark savage eyes. Nor did his
conduct, which indeed was very brave, give the lie to his looks ;
but the thing was becoming tedious, as it was all the same " bait-
ing and pursuing ;" when suddenly one of the champions on foot
gave to the combat quite an unexpected turn. He opposed the
bull with paper- covered darts, just as had been done before ; but
instead of throwing them at the neck of the animal, and at the
same time speedily jumping aside, he bravely met the attack,
caught with his arms the lowered head of the beast, as it was rush-
ing against him, and tried to press it down by the weight of his
body. His comrades of course hastened to his succour, throwing
themselves likewise on the common enemy ; but the latter, notwith-
standing every opposition, dragged his bold foe with him to the
fence of the arena, against which he pressed him with all the might
of his huge bulk. But the fighter was so adroit as to keep between
the horns ; and now the first onset being over, the four champions
at last got the upper hand, and dragged the feebly-resisting bull
Away, amidst the thundering applause of the spectators. The

RIO DE JANEIRO. 21

man, indeed, this time got off glibly enough ; he only walked a
little lame, and soon after left the scene of the fight. But if the
horn of the bull had broken, as that of the cow did before, the
beast must have crushed him to death against the boards of the
enclosure ; so that, at any rate, there is some risk in this profession.

The sun was near setting ; after which, in the tropics, darkness
immediately sets in : the bull-fight, therefore, was at any rate ap-
proaching its end, and yet one distinguished personage had not as
yet taken the least share in the fight. " 0 Diabo ! 0 Diabo !"
a cry now arose, first from one corner of the amphitheatre, and
then, amidst a deafening noise of whistling, stamping with feet,
beating with fists and canes against the benches, on all sides :
" 0 Diabo I 0 Diabo I " The Spanish knight galloped towards
the place where Diabo waa still sitting in silent contemplation ;
but the latter, not waiting for his approach, bobbed down behind
the boards of the enclosure, and got out of sight, to escape from
any unpleasant discussion.

This would not, however, satisfy the excited spectators; the
noise grew more outrageous : they would have, and must have
Diabo; and thus the Spaniard was obliged to ride to and fro,
until at last Diabo, amidst laughter and hissing, made his appear-
ance, and sulkily and slowly descended into the arena, where he
reluctantly lounged towards the bull, which in the meanwhile had
been goaded into even greater fury.

The beast scarcely got sight of the strange figure clad in such
glaring colours, when it entirely neglected its other enemy, and,
without further warning, lowering its horns, charged against the
(not a little frightened) new comer. Poor Diabo must have had
a foreboding of the impending disaster, for he scarcely made any
attempt to escape from the threatening danger. In the next
moment the bull had taken him up on his horns, flung him to the
ground, and was only prevented by the other champions, who now
came to the rescue, from doing any further harm to the vanquished
Prince of Darkness. The luckless Diabo lowered his tail and his
horns, and amidst the loud railing and cheers of the spectators.

22 EIO DE JANEIRO.

limping, and only casting a last, timid look towards his ferocious
antagonist, retired to his safe bench outside the enclosing bar.
It was now nearly dark; yet the excited public was still asking
for a prolongation of the combat, and for new exertions of the
already exhausted animal, until at last it most resolutely refused
to contribute any longer to the pleasure of the greedy multitude.
It rolled down bellowing on the ground ; and when, being loath
to witness any longer the cruel sport, we left the theatre, there
were still five or six men baiting in the dusk the poor tormented
creature, which they in vain tried to rouse.

This was a Sunday amusement of the Brazilians, at which a
goodly number of ladies also were present.

On the next evening I paid a visit to the theatre, which has
for patron St. Januarius. The large and principal theatre of the
town is at present unoccupied; that to which I went is a small,
comfortable building with two tiers, with the closely curtained
iTnperial box in the centre. The whole arrangements, however,
are in the European fashion ; only that, in consideration of the hot
climate, the boxes are not furnished with benches, but with cane-
bottomed chairs.

There is, however, one peculiarity to be recorded of this Bra-
zilian theatre, which gave occasion to some of our fellow-passen-
gers acting a part in a little " intermezzo" which was performed,
not on the stage, but in the house itself. I went to the pit with
three of them, two young commercial gentlemen from Bremen,
and one of those never-failing travelling wine-merchants. No
sooner had we entered the house, than all eyes were fixed upon us.
Notwithstanding the strictest scrutiny with which I now surveyed
my own attire and that of ray companions, I was unable to discover
anything extraordinary in myself, or either of them, that might
have so suddenly drawn upon us the attention of the whole public.
We, therefore, sat ourselves quietly down on the benches, hoping
that the audience v/ould find something else to attract their par-
ticular notice, when, all at once, a most respectable-looking door-
keeper approached us, and, amidst the grins of all the company

BIO DE JANEIRO. 23

around, addressed my three friends, to whom, as they remained
quite passive to his Portuguese address, he notified by signs and
sundry manipulations, that with their light-coloured coats they
might certainly have been admitted, but that remain they could
not in such attire under any circumstances. I now looked round
me, and indeed saw that all the natives, without exception, were
dressed in dark upper garments. In the meanwhile the gesticula-
tions of the old man became more and more impatient and demon-
strative; the public in the tiers seemed highly to relish the
scene; and the three poor fellows — I myself quite accidentally
wore a dark coat — had no other choice but to leave the house,
which they did, with the wine-merchant at their head, the band
having all the time continued to play.

The " bill of fare" consisted of detached acts of tragedies and
comedies, two of which I endured. It was, however, nothing but
dialogue, with which the public seemed rather bored. Every now
and then the servant announced a stranger, or brought in a letter,
which, generally running through four pages, was read aloud.
Applause I heard bestowed only upon one of the actors, who
seemed to be a great favourite, and to whom they gave three
rounds running.

Next morning I determined to take a trip into the country, for
which purpose I rode out with some friends. The Brazilian
horses are small, active animals, and, at least as far as my experi-
ence went, mostly go at an ambling pace or a gallop. The planters
living in the country, and the merchants who come to town in the
morning and leave again in the evening, very generally ride
mules, likewise of smaller breed than I have found in the United
States; and although this mode of travelling is slower than on
horseback, yet it is safer and much more comfortable.

The environs of Rio are indeed like Paradise; the calm bay,
with its forests of masts, and its multitude of boats gliding to and
fro with the swiftness of an arrow; the lovely gardens, with
orange, banana, palm, and coffee-trees, and an immense variety
of flowering shrubs ; the picturesque mountains, and rocky peaks

24 EIO DE JANEIRO.

which tower above one another; the peculiar costume and gay-
dresses of natives and slaves ; the negroes going to market ; the
drovers and salesmen: all this, with its ever changing and fanci-
ful sights, make a singular and scarcely ever to be forgotten im-
pression upon the stranger. The contrast of everything that we
see here to w^hat we are used to at home, is too marked to be lost
sight of for a moment. One feels that he is in a foreign and a
tropical country ; and every step, every turn of the road, every
person that we meet with, offer new and interesting matter to the
more and more excited mind, as well as to the eye, when with
ever renewed eagerness it wanders over the delightful scene.

But unfortunately I was not able to tarry long in this beautiful
country; a new plan had only, during the last days on board,
dimly risen before my mind, and taken such hold of me, that I
detennined, cost what it would, to carry it out.

On board the Talisman I met with a young Italian, born of Eng-
lish parents, who very likely, more from boast than with serious
intention, had laid a wager of one against twenty, that he would
execute the overland journey across South America. I had myself
frequently pondered before on the same idea ; the then existing Ger-
man Imperial Ministry had granted to me travelling money, on the
condition of my visiting certain countries, among which were the
states of the Plate River; and although I was quite determined
to see them at any rate on my return by the Cape of Good Hope,
yet there intervened between this idea and its execution a long
period of time, and an interval of space comprising no less than
the circuit of the whole world.

I therefore thought it best at least to make, during my stay at
Rio, every inquiry concerning this journey overland, and then, as
a prudent man, to form my plans accordingly.

At Rio, however, we heard, to our surprise, such dismal news
concerning the Argentine Republic, through which my route across
the pampas lay; and such horrible tales were told of the then
rebelling Indians and of the Cordilleras, which we would have to
pass in the midst of winter, that my companion gave up the thing

RIO DE JANEIRO. 25

in despair, and paid bis forfeit. I, on the contrary, although
until then I had been rather wav^ering in my resolution, was the
more urged on by this no way encouraging information. In
North America already, I had learned by experience what grossly
exaggerated reports were sometimes afloat concerning distant
tracts, and that many things look quite commonplace on the spot
itself, which at a distance were dressed out with all the fanciful
marvels of invention.

At the same time I relied on my lucky star, which had so often
helped me on before ; and the upshot of all was, that I took my
passage in a small German schooner sailing under the Argentine
flag, which happened to lie in the harbour, bound to Buenos Ayres,
In this craft I started on the 16th of May for the Argentine
republic.

In the states of the Plate River, and the wide pampas of South
America, I learned and saw more than I should have done on a
ship crammed full of passengers ; and as to the dangers, I had too
good a stock of recklessness and love of adventure, to think of
them before they presented themselves before me. To all those,
however, who may be desirous of taking the same route after me,
I should give the well-meant advice — to get their papers ready in
good time, lest in the critical moment they should be stopped by
some paltry trifle.

Not only are you obliged to have your passport signed by the
Buenos Ayres consul, and to have the permission of the police
recorded in it, for leaving the harbour in a different ship than that
in which you have arrived ; but you want also a special permit
for removing passenger goods from one ship to another ; and if a
gun happens to be amongst the luggage, delays and costs increase
ad infinitum; for, unless you find other means to escape from all the
trammels of the custom regulations, you are compelled first to land
it, then to pay an ad valorem duty on it of forty per cent. ; after
which it only may be removed to the newly engaged ship. Even
this, however, is not possible after two o'clock in the afternoon ;
and the whole of that as well as the following day are lost, as the

26 RIO DE JANEIRO.

ship can sail only "with the land breeze, winch blows until about
ten o'clock.

I, for my own part, owe it to the unbounded kindness of the
vice-consul at Rio de Janeiro (M. Heymann), that I was at all
enabled to fulfil all the required formalities, and to get the neces-
sary papers for leaving the Talisman and embarking on board of
the San Martin. Yet a considerable part of my short stay at Rio
was most sadly embittered by all these tedious and annoying pro-
ceedings. At Rio, our captain of the Talisman had once more a
quarrel with his passengers, first about their supplies, and then
in consequence of his bullying conduct ; besides which, he was soon
on bad terms wdth the captains of all the German ships in the
harbour : this, however, merely on account of one of his usual
braggadocios.

In order to be able to boast of a somewhat shorter passage, he
deducted two days, stating forty- seven instead of forty- nine. But
in doing so, he had quite forgotten the Danish blockade ; for had
his statement been true, we must have sailed on the 26th instead
of the 24th of March, and at Rio they knew no better than that,
on the former day, the blockade of the Weser and of the Elbe
had been put in force again. Captain Meyer, therefore, in his
dilemma spun a long yarn, how he had slipped through the
Danish cruisers, of course mightily boasting of his own smartness
and cuiming; but, by this new lie, he unexpectedly stirred up even
a worse hornet's nest against him, as in this way he very sorety
touched the interests of many captains of vessels, who were
anxiously waiting at Rio for freight, and who were kept back by
the uncertain news concerning the Danish blockade. But if the
thing really was as Captain Meyer represented it to be, the
question was settled. The Weser and Elbe w^ere in this case
bloclcaded ; and the merchants of Rio could not venture for the
moment to send any cargoes to those places.

It could not be expected that, with so many passengers, the
exact day of our departure should have been long kept a secret.
Old Captain Valentin got it out accidentally of one of the passen-

SAIL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS AYRES. 27

gers; and now the storm broke out. I had myself too much to do
with my own aft'airs to care about the matter, and only heard that
their quarrel ran high.

The Talisman had to remain at least a full week at the harbour;
and as the San Martin sailed at once, I had a hope of reaching
Buenos Ayres before my old ship even left harbour.

At that town I might then stay for some weeks; and thus hoped
to arrive at Valparaiso, on the Pacific, before the Talisman was
able to accomplish the tedious voyage round Cape Horn. In case,
however, anything happened to me, or that I should be detained
on my road, the supercargo, as well as the captain of the Talisman,
promised faithfully to deposit my luggage at the house of Messrs.
Lampe, MUller, and Fehrmann; and I might then afterwards follow
to San Francisco in another ship of Messrs Heydorn.

CHAPTER III.

SAIL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS ATRES.

I AT last happily escaped from all the formalities of the police
and custom regulations of Rio de Janeiro; as to my musket rifle,
I had to smuggle it on board of the San Martin. I embarked on
the 16th May in this small schooner to Buenos Ayres; and dur-
ing the first few days, the wind seemed pretty willing to favour
our short passage. The voyage, under propitious circumstances,
may easily be made in five days. In this expectation, however,
if we ever entertained it, we were sadly disappointed, as the wind
very soon veered round against us; and on the 21st, a pampero
lashed the sea into mountains of waves, on which our little nut-
shell of a vessel was most unmercifully tossed about.

The pampero is a gale returning at pretty regular intervals,
and also in a regular course. It has its name from the pampas
over which it sweeps from the west and south-west. Its first
signs generally manifest themselves by a brisk wind from the

28 SAIL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS AYRES.

north, which more and more veers to the west; but it has scarcely-
got into that quarter, when a splashing rain begins to fall, accom-
panied by a squall, as the first onset of the pampero. Yet the
real pampero sets in so suddenly and violently, and such is its
fury, that many a vessel whose captain did not notice these signs,
or did not know them, has lost its top-masts before the sails could
be taken in ; and many have gone down at once.

After having spent its fury in this direction, the gale generally
veers round to the south, the south-east, east, and north-east;
and then begins to blow less violently. Yet, so suddenly does it
change, that sometimes, within five minutes from due north, it
turns into a most violent south-wester, in which quarter it is most
dangerous to the ships.

An old American, who afterwards became our pilot, told me,
that, in his experience, the pampero veered round the compass
three times in twenty-four hours. The sea after these gales runs
very high, which makes the abode in a small schooner anything
but agreeable. On the third day only the waves generally subside.

Such a pampero chased us on the 21st, 22d, and 23d ; and we
had the comfortable prospect of having the same thing over again
in a very short time ; as the pampero about this season usually
returns with every change of the moon. On the 25th the wind
improved ; and on the 26th we came in sight of the northern shore
of the Plate River.

On the 27th, we entered its mouth, near the Lobos Island,
(Seal's Island), which certainly is not misnamed. We saw crowds
of seals in the water, which was now perfectly smooth, as the
wind had subsided into a dead calm ; and our captain assured me,
that he would lower the boat if I could hit one of them from on
board. . The opportunity was very tempting ; I loaded my gun,
and two seals which, one after the other, approached the schooner
within about forty yards, showing their rough astonished faces
above the water, had to pay with their lives for their curiosity.
The small boat was now speedily lowered ; but, before we could
reach their carcasses, they had sunk.

SAIL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS AYRES. 29

I shot six more, most of them in the head, without, however,
being able to get one of them on board ; the seventh at last I hit
in the neck, not to kill it outright, because, in that case, they im-
mediately sank ; and, whilst our boat slipped close to the wounded
and half- stunned animal, which was floundering and splashing in
the water, the sailor at the bow threw the harpoon at it at the
very moment it was about to sink. But it was just as if he had
thrown the weapon against a woolsack : it rebounded from the soft,
elastic, but tough skin ; and had not the seal risen once more to
the surface of its own accord, we should have lost it likewise. As
it was, however, the steersman luckily caught it by one of its pad-
dles, and we hauled it on board. It was a fine fellow indeed, with
a capital skin. During the whole afternoon there had not been
the slightest breeze ; and the sea, or rather the month of the Plate
River, which is here so wide as to be like a sea, was as smooth as
a mirror. Only towards evening, a very, very gentle breath of
air spnmg tip. The quarter from which it blew, and also the
manner in which it so suddenly veered round, seemed so suspicious
to our captain, that he immediately roared out to us through the
speaking trumpet to come on board. His experience in these
treacherous waters had correctly guided him. The storm rose again
very high, and we were once more tossed about as before.

During the war between Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, when
Rosas kept the town of Monte Video blockaded on the land side,
no provisions, and, worst of all, no meat could be conveyed to it
from the interior of the country ; in consequence of which, numer-
ous vessels had been engaged in carrying cattle from Rio Grande,
in Brazil, to Monte Video. The San Martin had likewise been
employed for this purpose, before she was sailing under the Argen-
tine flag. Those small schooners, when taken aback by the pam-
pero, were often obliged to throw their cattle overboard ; and as,
even during their successful journeys, some beasts generally died,
the mouth of the river was constantly floating with their carcasses.
This now attracted immense flocks of sea-birds, albatrosses, Cape
pigeons, and many different sorts of great and small gulls ; so that

30 SAIL FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS AYRES.

sometimes they swept in thousands over the foaming waves, and
continually wheeled screeching round the ship.

On the second day of the gale we met with a very strange spec-
tacle, which I shall never forget as long as I live. The sea ran very
high, lashed by a furious western gale ; and our small but heavily
laden schooner was groaning and toiling along, when the call of a
sailor who was standing on the forecastle attracted our attention.
The man looked as pale as death, pointing ahead. There we saw
floating on the waves a large wooden cross, which must hav(
been washed from the land ; and just now the billows had raiser
it, so that it was standing nearly upright before the bow of tht
vessel : in the next moment it disappeared. The waves carried it
either under the ship or alongside of it, without our perceiving it ;
and a few seconds after it rose again upright astern.

The superstitious might have been excused for taking this as an
ill omen ; and besides, the Plate River, of which there are only
very imperfect charts, is, with its flat shores and dangerous sand-
banks, a very ugly water, which has cost the lives of many a poor
crew. We, however, very little heeded the " omen," as the liver
of the seal was just served up, and the smell of the fresh meat
was too savoury to allow any other thought (and, least of all,
melancholy ones) to disturb us.

On the other day the gale, indeed, subsided; but the wind,
instead of changing for the south (as is pretty generally the case
after a pampero), veered round to the north, casting us into a bay,
which, on its north side, was bounded by land, and from which,
having wind and current against us, we were not able to get out
for several days. At last, on the sixteenth day after we sailed
from Rio de Janeiro, we reached the Punto del Indio, on the right
bank of the Plate River, opposite which there is a floating light,
having on board pilots for the entering ships. We took one here,
an old American, who, if you may believe his assertion, knew the
river thoroughly, and promised speedily to take us to Buenos
Ayres.

Supported by a brisk south-easter, which sprung up the same

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 31

afternoon, we sailed before the wind, up the broad river, which
even there begins to look yellow and muddy.

As mentioned before, the navigation of the Plate River is more
perilous than any other in the world : there is nowhere a landmark
to guide the vessel ; the current also, owing to the breadth and
the many shoals of the river, is uncertain, but not the less strong;
and the only possible manner of navigating the vessel is by con-
stantly taking the soundings.

In this way we went on during the whole night ; and, in the
dark, it was certainly no pleasant feeling to know that there were
shoals, to the right and left of us, which, with the least neglect,
might cause the destruction of the ship and the crew.

We, however, passed speedily and safely through all these dan-
gers ; and, in the morning, at two o'clock, we were off the outer
roadstead of Buenos Ayres, and soon after cast anchor in the offing.

CHAPTER IV.

BUENOS ATRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

The roadstead of Buenos Ayres is by no means favourably situ-
ated ; for in the inner, small craft only, which do not draw more
than eight feet, can cast anchor ; whilst the outer is at least four
English miles distant from the shore ; so that, in a brisk south-
easter, as we unfortunately happened to have, the vessel might
as well stay in the deep sea. There is another inconvenience in
such a wind : the sea runs likewise against the low rocky shore,
with a surf which renders it impossible for most of the boats to
land. Even in calm weather, boats of any size must be unloaded
by carts, specially kept for the purpose, which drive out to them
in the water.

In this way we lay for a whole day in the roadstead, with the
distant town in view, and without being able to land ; and, on the
second day, the gale was blowing just as high. The captain was

32 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

afi-aid lest the salt, of which his cargo consisted, should fall in
price (which happened on that very morning, whereas the day
before he would have earned an excellent freight). He would
not, therefore, allow himself to be kept back by any consideration ;
whilst the pilot, who was regaling himself with a bottle of extrait-
d-absynthe, which I had brought with me from Rio, and which
was not yet much broken into, declared that the captain might,
if so disposed, go on land in such a sea — he himself, however,
would remain on board. I, of course, made common cause with
the captain, as I was heartily tired of being tossed about on board.

When the pilot saw that we were really in earnest, he was
ashamed to remain behind alone. The large boat was lowered in
the meanwhile, and the things put in it ; after which, driven by a
favourable wind, we shot as swift as an arrow over the foaming
billows, towards the capital of the Argentine republic, Buenos
Ayres, where, contrary to expectation, we arrived in tolerably dry
condition.

The view of the town had, until now, been kept from me by the
broad sail, as I was sitting in the stern of the boat ; but when on
landing, this screen was withdrawn, it was as if a curtain fell, to
let me enjoy with well- calculated effect the view which suddenly
burst upon me. It reminded one of those wonderful changes of
scene in the " Arabian Nights," and I looked about me as in a
dream. The shore was crowding with strange fanciful figures.
Dusky faces, with marked features, stared at us from beneath
black hats and red caps ; and wherever the eyes turned, they met
gay, glaring, and for the most part, bright scarlet hues. The
costume of the men, at the same time, was such as to show to best
advantage the picturesque combination of the colour. The head ^^
was mostly covered by a red cap, boldly stuck on one side. The
poncho, or mantle (a square piece of stuff, with a slit in the
middle, through which the head is put), drops in picturesque folds
all round the body, being generally looped up by a button or a
hook above the right arm, which thus is able freely to move.
The thighs are encased in white drawers with long fringes, be-

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 33

tween which a gay-coloured cloth is girded round the loins ; the
calves and legs are mostly encased in untanned skins of cows and
horses ; concerning the dressing of which I shall have more to say
hereafter. Thus rigged out, the " gaucho" hangs on to his horse ;
and supporting himself in the small narrow stirrup, with the two
first toes of each foot peeping out in front of his rough boot, and
his left hand lazily resting on the lasso, which is fastened behind
to the saddle, he looks peevishly with his dark piercing eyes on
the stranger, then turns round on his saddle, and races at a furious
gallop along the shore.

Innumerable boats sail from the land, or between the small
craft anchoring in the roadstead; huge two- wheeled carts are
everywhere driving in the shallow water of the coast, to take the
cargoes and men from the vessels, which draw too much water to
touch the shore, especially with the sea running high. A number
of the wildest and oddest-looking soldiers I ever saw in the whole
of my life, are lazily lounging about before the residence of the
Port Captain. Close to them, a gang of drunken sailors, who came
on shore four days ago from a man-of-war in the offing, and whom
the repeated entreaties and threats of their officers have not as yet
been able to get back on board, are singing and rioting.

Scarcely less interesting is the scenerj', which, although want-
ing in natural beauty, exhibits many striking peculiarities. The
country, like all the shore of the Plate River from its mouth up
to here, is flat, with only a few hills, and with a most scanty
growth of trees ; but the architecture of the town, the low houses
and flat roofs, the grated windows, and the dark red colour of the
bricks, impart to the whole place such a striking character, that
no one who has once seen it will ever forget it.

The men also, in the better quarters of the town, who are dressed
in the European fashion, have a distinctive mark, which at once
strikes the stranger, and attracts his full attention. Bright scarlet
takes a prominent place in their dress, and serves to mark them
as citizens of the Argentine republic. In obedience to the laws
of Governor Rosas, those free republicans are obliged to wear

34 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

a bright scarlet waistcoat — the material, however, being optional
— a red band round the hat, and in a button-hole a long ribbon
of the same colour, on which is printed, in black letters, the motto
of the republic: "Viva la Confederacion Argentina, mueran los
salvajos, asquerosos, immundos Unitarios."* This motto is met
with everywhere : not a document is made out which is not headed
by it ; no passport is signed, scarcely any advertisement in a
newspaper inserted without it, so that in every copy it occurs in
innumerable repetitions ; it is found on the sign-boards, even above
the stage of the theatre ; on the whole, at every place where a
public placard or announcement is written, painted, or printed ; even
the watchman shouts it during the night, and it may certainly be
necessary, not to allow a people such as that of the Argentine re-
public to forget even for one moment under whose power they
now are. Formerly they had, in this respect, a very indifferent
memory, and it may scarcely be a fiction that, at the time when
the revolution was still in its hey-day, the citizens, on awaking in
the morning, would ask each other, " I wonder who is governor
to-day ?" Now this is changed, and the Argentines know for
once what is their form of government at least.

Yet, notwithstanding the governor of the young republic is for
the present strong and securely settled ;-[• the state itself may be
said to be still in its infancy. During the continualwars with
the neighbouring state of Monte Video, it was able only slowly to
develope itself; the traffic on the river was checked by the
blockade of the English and the French ; and the citizens, instead
of giving themselves up to the useful and remunerative avocations
of trade and agriculture, had to follow the profession of arms.
The people of the interior, also, were still too fierce and unruly ;
and submitted only most reluctantly, and after an obstinate resist-

* " Long live the Argentine Eepublic ; death to the savage, unclean, cowardly
Unitarios,"

•f I wrote this three years ago, when Rosas still held the helm of the govern-
ment wdth a strong hand ; and it is my opinion that he would have held it still,
if he had contented himself with governing his own republic ; but Monte Video
first became a thorn in his side, and then a nail for the coffin oi his dictatorship.

BUENOS AYKES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 35

ance, to the severe rule which sets bounds to their lawless state.
Even the savage tribes of the Indians of the pampas, by their
cruelty and their reckless inroads, deterred the industrious peasants
from proceeding or spreading further inland. Now, however, th«
worst crisis seems past, and the Argentine republic is likely soon to
reach that prosperity, which its favourable situation and its healthy
climate make it capable of.

Everything is as yet only in its infancy: none of all the manu-
facture articles here in use are produced in the country itself;
even the gaucho is dependent on the foreigner for his most simple
wants. His ponchos are woven in Europe, where also his large
iron spurs are cast; the smallest articles of his clothing, except
his boots, are brought from beyond the seas ; and even some of his
own produce has first to be sent in its raw state to distant lands in
order to be converted into articles for his use. To these belong
especially wool and horse-hair, which the upholsterers, on account
of the deamess of the work here, cause to be curled in Germany
or England before using it in their business.

The progress also of agriculture is impeded by the want of
labourers, owing to which wages are high beyond any proportion.
Farther inland, the people confine themselves to cattle breeding,
not being able to aftord the expenses (which in a country of such
a scanty growth of wood cannot but be very considerable) for the
fences and the drainage of the land to be thrown into cultivation.
The exports of the country likewise afford a proof of the low state
of its agriculture and home manufacture. Raw produce only — skins,
wool, tallow, hair, and such like — are exported from here, just as
they are from the west coast of Africa; and yet the country pos-
sesses ample resources, that must one day make it one of the most
flourishing on the face of the earth.

One may imagine, that in this way much could not have been
done as yet for the improvement of the country itself. The har-
bour is still in want of a good lighthouse, as also of a pier or jetty,
that the boats may be enabled to land, and to be lightened, with-
out being endangered by the surf, or, during the prevalence of the

36 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

south-east wind, being dashed to pieces. Even the river Itself,
with its frequent and dangerous shoals, requires, in many places,
lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. The streets of the town, also,
are badly lighted, and worse paved, or rather not paved at all.
During rainy weather most of them are mere quagmires, and the
uncouth carts from the interior of the country contribute to keep
them in this condition.

But a state cannot at once be made perfect; it has to be
developed by degrees; and if the Argentine republic only be
granted some time for rest, so as to be able to recover from all its
wars and toils, it cannot but make rapid progress, with such
resources at its command.

Governor Rosas seems to be made to keep under the ener-
getic, unruly, and, it may be said also, bloodthirsty race of the
gauchos, from which he himself is sprung, and whose good quali-
ties, as well as vices, are his own. Notwithstanding all the
intrigues and open attacks of his antagonists, he has been able
until now to maintain himself in his place as governor of the
republic. He has several times chastised the Indians, and driven
them back within their own boundaries ; so that the country and
its traffic, owing to his exertions, enjoyed greater security than
they ever did before. Besides this, a truce is now concluded for
six months with Monte Video ; which, as people here hope and
wish, will most likely end in a friendly compromise.*

The name of Buenos Ayres (healthy climate) is a sort of
guarantee for the climate of the country. The town itself is by
no means insignificant, for it contains upwards of eighty thousand
inhabitants ; and the houses, although low, are entirely built of
stone, so that conflagrations occur very rarely.

All these remarks, of course, are the result of later observations,

* Recent events have shown that those hopes and wishes were not to be
fulfilled : a new war has disturbed the country ; Rosas is driven into exile ;
and the only question now is, whether the new government, which certainly
is not wanting in good will to protect its own interests, will also possess the
necessary energy to carry out its own views, and to ensure the obedience of the
gauchos-

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 37

as, during the first days of my stay in Buenos Ayres, I had
scarcely time to think of anything but of finding lodgings, and
ascertaining what the people would say of my plan of travel-
ling across the country to Valparaiso.

There was no difficulty as to the former of these two points;
for I found, at a reasonable price, bed and board at an English
house, which was generally resorted to by German and Danish
captains, of whom there were at that time considerable numbers
in Buenos Ayres. So much the more melancholy, however,
was the aspect of the second point. The people to whom I put
the question, whether at the present season I might undertake
the journey through the pampas, simply answered, it was impos-
sible; as the Indians of the pampas had just revolted against
Rosas, and were in all directions scouring the plains, in gangs of
from two to three hundred men. If I were taken by them, which
in the present state of affairs was almost inevitable, I might ex-
pect no mercy; as it was a fixed law with them, to carry off young
girls and women, and to cut off the heads of the men. If, however,
contrary to our expectations, I should really arrive at Mendoza, I
should at any rate be obliged to stop there, as I should reach the
Cordilleras in the midst of winter (July), when they were com-
pletely blocked up by snow ; any attempt to cross them at such a
season, were shere madness : it would, therefore, be much better for
me to take a passage in one of the ships which were then sailing
for Valparaiso ; which would take me, if I remember right, for
one hundred dollars.

Had I been told so only by two, or ten, or even twenty
people, I might have consoled myself with the chance of others
taking a different view in the matter ; but as such a wonderful
unanimity of opinion was expressed against it, I began to think
that I was planning a mad undertaking, from which I should at last
be obliged to desist, unless I entertained a wanton wish to have
my head cut off.

The American consul (a Mr. J. Graham of Ohio), who was
exceedingly kind to me, was at great pains to procure more certain,

38 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

or rather more cheering information concerning the journey; fori
had told him that I required nothing more than to find one man
of trustworthy experience in the whole town, who would allow the
journey to be barely possible. At last we found out an old
Spaniard (I have forgotten his name), who had lived for many
years in Mendoza. On being first questioned, he likewise an-
swered in the negative. At last, however, shrugging his shoul-
ders, he gave his opinion, that it might be just possible ; but I
must indeed be very fortunate if I succeeded.

Very fortunate I always was ; the matter, therefore, was settled,
and I felt as if a burden was taken off my mind.

I was now anxious, above all things, to make the best use of
my short stay in Buenos Ayres, and to ascertain as much as pos-
sible all the particulars bearing on the question of emigration to
that country. Being commissioned by the then Ministry of the
German Empire to obtain the fullest information on this point, I
tried to ascertain directly from the President of the Republic,
whether he would favour the immigration of Germans ; and I
made several short excursions in the neighbourhood of the town
to see the farms and plantations, and to hear something concern-
ing the manner of their cultivation and their progress.

Buenos Ayres is built along the river in large streets, intersect-
ing each other at right angles. It occupies a considerable sur-
face ; and might contain double the number of its inhabitants, but
for its being built in the Spanish fashion, with low houses and large
court-yards.

The dress of the inhabitants is a strange mixture of French,
Spanish, and Indian; the better classes, as also the strangers,
wear the French costume — the Argentines with the patriotic addi-
tion of the scarlet waistcoat and the red hatband ; they, however,
use also the poncho.

The gaucho and peon (servant), even most of the soldiers, at
least all the cavalry, wear this poncho ; and underneath, instead
of the trousers, the so-called " cheripa " — a piece of cloth similar
to the poncho, which is sewn fast to the girdle behind, and, being

BUENOS AYRES AXD ITS ENVIRONS. 39

drawn round between the loins, is stuck into the girdle in front.
The legs of the men of the lower classes are encased in pieces of
untanned skin, stripped off the legs of young horses and bullocks
just before being transferred to the human limbs. The hair is
shaved off with their sharp knives, and the skin kept pliant by
means of oil.

The dress of the fair sex is, for the most part, Spanish. The
mantilla at least makes them look like Spanish women, although
they would, in elegance of dress, be scarcely inferior to the French
ladies.

As to the amusements of the town, I am not able to say much
about them, as my stay was too short; yet what I know of it shall
not be withheld from the reader.^

Buenos Ayres has two theatres, which are said to be very well
frequented. The Victoria Theatre, as I was told, possessed a very
fair opera ; at the other, tragedies and comedies are performed,
without, however, tricks of sleight of hand and feats of rope- dancing
being excluded from its precincts.

But even during the dramatic amusements, the Argentines are
not spared the exhibition of the motto of the republic. Before
the opening of each piece — opera, tragedy, or comedy — whether
its scene be laid in Asia, Africa, or Europe, the curtain is raised
previous to the real beginning ; the whole of the performers are
then discovered standing on the stage, with the principal charac-
ters in front, and the chorus behind, all in full costume. The
principal characters now call out, with a loud voice : " Viva la
Confederacion Argentina."

Chorus: "Viva."

Principal characters again : " Mueran los salvajos Unitarios."

Chorus : " Mueran."

The curtain then drops ; and, after a brief interval, the piece is
allowed to begin.

Buenos Ayres boasts (or at least then boasted) of a puppet-
show, with the same terrible motto over its coarsely-painted cur-
tain ; the puppets also are paraded in the same manner before the

40 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

beginning of the performance, during which ceremony the man-
agers shout from behind the scene, "Viva la Confederacion Argen-
tina, mueran los salvajos Unitarios."

There is a reading club in the town, where English, German,
and French newspapers are kept. In Buenos Ay res itself four
newspapers are published — three Spanish, and one English (the
British Packet) ; yet, strange to say, not one of them is devoted
to local matters. The list of German papers is very incomplete.
That of the English papers comprises, besides the different maga-
zines and reviews. The Times — Morning Chronicle — Illustrated
London News — London Price Current — Lloyd's List — Spectator
— Gore's General Advertiser — Examiner — Liverpool Mercury —
Liverpool Albion, and Liverpool Times.

During one of the first days after my arrival, I made a short
excursion to the neighbourhood of the town, to pay a visit to some
Germans who were said to be settled thereabout ; as I wished to
see with my own eyes those South American farms, of which I
had heard so much, and of which I had not as yet been able to
form a clear idea.

My companion was a little German peasant. Nothing could be
more ludicrous than to see him perched on his colossal horse ; and
several times, as he was trotting along, I was really afraid lest the
action of his steed would shake him to pieces. Yet he fully made
up for his comical looks by being thoroughly acquainted with the
neighbourhood ; and he brought me to some of his acquaintances,
with whom, eighteen or twenty years before, he had come across
the sea, and who were now, most of them, in excellent circum-
stances.

The environs of Buenos Ayres, if we except the broad fine
river with its forest of masts, have very little that is picturesque
about them.

Nature, however, is beautiful even in this form ; and there are
many peculiarities calculated to rivet the eye of a European.
Among these, are the fences of the gardens and small fields near
the town, which, on account of the great scarcity oi timber, mostly

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 41

consist of the closely-planted aloe and cactus. The aloes espe-
cially present a most beautiful view, with their giant, fleshy leaves,
and their flower stalks, rising often to a height of twenty- four feet
(unfortunately not in blossom just now) ; and so closely are they
crowded, that a horse or a bullock could scarcely venture to pass
through them, and a man would be obliged to cut his way across
them by means of a knife or hatchet. Such a forcible entrance,
however, would make its perpetrator liable to the punishment of
death ; and the laws are not to be trifled with here.

We were riding between such gardens and hedges ; but the eye
in vain sought for a tree of any size which might have broken the
monotony of the endless plain; only small shrubs, osiers,, and
brushwood, presented themselves to the eye — the flower- stalks of
the aloes overtopping all the rest.

In the German, whose place we wished to visit before all the
others, we found a friendly, obliging man, who readily showed us
over his farm.

All that he had cultivated seemed to thrive very well indeed.
The fields and plantations of wood were closely fenced in with
aloe, and perfectly safe against the inroads of tame and wild ani-
mals : he had excellent horses ; a very good stock of cattle, which
of course were put out to graze in the plain ; and the neighbour-
hood of the town enabled him to turn such property to good
account, even by the sale of milk and butter.

The man had become a true American farmer, and would have
been quite at home among the agriculturists of the United States.
He abused the Germans with might and main, saying: "How
much better it would be if they would stay at home, and not come
to South America. Work they would not ; and the South Ame-
ricans did not want any more idle lookers-on, as they had enough
of them already."

He employed a number of Spaniards on his farm ; some were
clearing ditches, by the side of which the hedges of aloe and
cactus are planted here; others pricked out from the close rows of
the latter, young suckers, with which to make new fences; others,

42 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

again, cut down the stems of young peach-trees, tyeing them up in
bundles for sale in the town : for so poor is this part of the world
in wood, that the greater part of the fuel is furnished by the
peach-trees, which are grown for this purpose. Nowhere, how-
ever, did he employ Germans, assuring us that when he did get
one of them, he was only the more confirmed in his opinion, that
they were not worth their keep ; as, in the first place, they were
idle ; and as, moreover, they asked twice and even three times as
great wages as he gave to the most industrious Spaniard.

I could not, of course, decide how far the man was right; at
any rate, however, his complaint, although true in some particular
cases, must have been exaggerated on the whole. People who
never liked work at home, and who emigrate to foreign parts with
the most extravagant expectations, will of course be inclined to be
idle there also; and even those who are accustomed to work,
entertain some lurking hope, that in a foreign country their arms
and hands might get an easier task than they had in the old
country : they are therefore not very agreeably surprised, when
reality teaches them a different lesson, habitual idlers, of course,
will follow their old courses ; but the others resume their old
habits, and become good workmen and labourers.

We afterwards visited some of the farms, where, however, we
did not see the owners themselves, until at last we arrived at a
strange- looking antique building; which, as my companion told
me, had in times of old been a church and a convent, but which
was important and interesting to Germans in another respect, as
it had served for some time as a residence for the emigrants whom
Rosas had then invited over. These German labourers, as I was
told, arrived at a period when the governor, in the midst of
political excitement, could not possibly procure a settlement and
employment for them ; yet my old companion could not sufficiently
extol the kindness and consideration with which the governor
treated the Germans. Not only was the old convent assigned to
ihem as their abode, with the requisite allowance of provisions
for their wives and children ; but the men got, besides, excellent

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 43

wages paid to them, without their being required to do any work
at all.

" Those were times," the old fellow cried out, reining in his
horse, lest he might, by mistake, bite off his own tongue during
the hard trot. " Those were times ; every day our good dinner,
three times as good as we had in Germany; and wages four times
as much as we could have had there, and nothing at all to do :
this lasted many months, during which we were able thoroughly
to recover from the long voyage; and when afterwards we were
put to work, it was easy enough to shirk it, but the wages still
ran on."

Rosas seemed to keep just now equally useless tenants in the
old building ; a number of the empty cells being occupied by a
host of the Indians of the pampas, who had been conquered and
made prisoners by him, and who now received hospitable quarters
and support at his hands.

I will not take upon myself to decide, whether it was his own
peaceful temper that prompted him thus kindly to treat those
hostile and bloodthirsty tribes, which had ever been his enemies ;
but it would certainly have been bad policy, unnecessarily to
irritate and goad into retaliation those revengeful hordes, to
which the whole interior of the country was exposed. Their
captivity was, therefore, soothed by every possible clemency and
forbearance ; and they were moving about apparently quite free,
although confined within certain bounds. Another but much
more numerous camp of Indians of the same tribe was quite close
to the town ; and they also were restricted to a prescribed area.

Those whom I saw at the convent were not very tall, but a
well-knit and wiry race, not unlike the North American Indians,
especially in hair and complexion; the different families waiting
for their meals, were squatted round their fires lit in the spacious
court-yards. The men would often get up, and, wrapped in their
blankets, stalk gravely about in the cloisters ; whilst the women
were feeding the small scanty fires, in order that the meat, which
was hung close to them, might not at least be quite raw.

44 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

Their rooms, if a sort of open stables may be so called, likewise
exhibited a wild enough appearance. The couches, mostly made
of bamboo sticks, were somewhat raised above the ground (a
luxury which they did not enjoy in their native homes) ; a couple
of blankets and home-woven ponchos and cheripas formed the
whole of the furniture of the room, being used at the same time
as tables and chairs. It is true I might have added to the list a
few horse skulls, which seemed to do duty as easy-chairs for the
heads of the families.

The whole building presented a dismal and wild aspect. Not
one window could boast of a whole sash ; the doors were some of
them hanging only on one hinge, dangling and clattering to and fro
with every draught of air ; the wood- work of many had been used
by the Indians as fuel.

Even the old chapel seemed not to have been spared by the
waste of time, and the still more wasteful hands of man. The walls,
stripped of their former decoration, stood cold and bare; only here
and there, in a corner, were hanging some old dilapidated orna-
ments, which it may not have been worth while for the people to
fetch down from their somewhat inconvenient height. In a broken
niche there was a stone statue, so sadly disfigured that one could
not have said whether it was that of a saint or an Idol. The altar
alone had been respected ; even its old richl}^ embroidered cover
was still hanging down in front, although in rags and weather-
beaten.

I was a long time wandering about in the strange old building;
so long, that my little companion at last got heartily tired of it,
asking me, what in all the world one could see in these wretched
holes, through which the wind was blowing now from all quarters?
As I had not the least hope of being able to make him understand
it, I yielded to his remonstrance and rode off with him.

On our way back, I visited the Quinta, or summer palace of the
governor, which is always open to strangers. It is situated about
one hour's ride from the town, most pleasantly close to the river;
and the eye is there for the first time cheered again by green

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 45

shady trees, planted in thick masses about the low villa, which is
surrounded by colonnades. It must be a delightful residence,
especially in summer. Only the background of mountains is
wanting; all is flat, and one feels sometimes a wish to rise high
above the plain, and with a freer breath to survey the vast,
beautiful, although still wild country.

The place round the Quinta is very well kept, and the care with
which the smallest plants are tended, strikes one with so much
the greater pleasure on seeing the ^ild figures of the men, who
here with so gentle a hand operate on the trees and flowers.

Among the curiosities of the Quinta, there is an American brig,
which, being once driven by a violent south-easter on shore, has
been purchased by Rosa. Now she stands high and dry, in the
midst of a girdle of willows, above which the two bare masts
tower aloft. Tlie inside is, however, very elegantly fitted up as a
large saloon, and a convenient staircase leads up to her deck.

The wonders treasured up in this brig formerly comprised
among them, as I was told, a barrel organ, which Rosas bought from
some itinerant Gennan or Bohemian musician. The Spaniards,
however, who visited the brig and played the organ, are said
to have first turned it in the correct manner, but afterwards
to have tried whether they could not train the instrument to
'*make music" backwards; which had the eflect of making the
organ stick fast altogether, moving neither way, so that at last it
bad to be removed as useless.

This vessel, as well as the Quinta, is most hospitably thrown
open to strangers; and even the soldiers on guard there, who act
as guides to the visitors, are most strictly enjoined not to accept
any present that may be offered to them.

I was particularly pleased to see that the governor, in the estab-
lishment of his summer residence, disdaining everything foreign
and strange, has gathered here, and is keeping, the native wild
animals of his own country. Thus there are, in a large space
surrounded by a low iron railing, a number of the South American
ostriches or cassowaries. In one of the small buildings there is

46 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

lying, chained by very slight fetters, a magnificent Argentine
spotted leopard, very like the Asiatic, only a little smaller ; and
in a cage not far off, a jaguar or American tiger. The leopard
has his teeth filed off, and his claws closely clipped ; so that if he
broke from his chain, he would at worst be able only to hug a
man to death. Even the distant Cordilleras have sent their tribute
to this small menagerie, in the shape of three lamas and guanacas.

On our ride home, we stopped somewhat longer at the barracks,
which are close below the Quinta. They are merely small cabins,
built in a cluster, which form a permanent camp, inhabited by
the soldiers and their families. The whole, indeed, has much
more an Indian than a civilized appearance; and the soldiers who
are here encamped, and are living quite in the Indian manner,
should certainly be reckoned rather among the savage than among
civilized natives. The appearance of a great part of the soldiers
is quite in keeping with their character, for they look strange and
wild, rough and ragged — rather like a band of robbers than a
decent army. I am indeed no admirer of the system of pipeclay,
and the plainer the accoutrement of the soldier, the better I like
it ; but certainly they might have pantaloons with both legs of
the same colour; and if they cannot possibly afford a shoe on their
left foot, they ought at least to do like their neighbours, leaving the
right one also behind. They are, however, said to be brave fel-
lows, and to have fought well in the former wars. I was told that
they stand like walls, if you can but keep them from running
away.

The regular Argentine cavalry, on the other hand, have a much
more picturesque appearance. The dark blue ponchos, edged
with white and lined with scarlet; the pointed caps, of equal
length, the tops tucked down and fastened in front, look right
well. Besides this, they wear a cheripa, also blue, trimmed with
white lace and white fringed leggings.

A division of the regular infantry has also rather a striking
appearance, being entirely dressed in the national colour, scarlet ;
pointed caps of that hue, worn in the same manner as by the

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 47

cavalry ; scarlet ponchos, edged all round with white ; and cheri-
pas of the same colours, with white fringed leggings.

Speaking of the military, I must mention here a very strange
law. In former times, when the militia was not called out in a
mass, and had frequently to drill in the town, it often happened
that strangers, who were not bound to military service, and were
not therefore obliged to take a part in these military exercises, used
to laugh and make fun at the somewhat odd appearance of these
untutored defenders of the country.

Whether for this reason, or for the ostensible one, " that strangers,
during the time which Argentine citizens were obliged to sacrifice
for the benefit of the state, should not alone earn money, whereby
the others would incur a double loss," a law was issued, and
remains still in force, that, during the hours of drill, no civilian,
under pain of being arrested, shall show himself in the streets.

All the shops are closed, and people are even forbidden to stay
during that time on their flat roofs. So strictly is this law enforced,
that, when the troops are manoeuvring in the country, no one
dare intrude. No traveller is pennitted at such an hour to pro-
ceed on the road which might lead past the troops, and even the
herdsmen are obliged to retreat to their homes. The only excep-
tion is made in favour of the flocks of sheep, with which a shepherd
is always allowed to remain.

On my return from this small trip, which scarcely led me beyond
the outlying parts of the town and the hedges of the nearest fields,
I received an invitation from the consul of Bremen to visit his
estancia, about nine English miles distant from the city.

These estancias cannot be called settlements or farms ; they
merely comprise a certain number of buildings, with several en-
closed fields to keep cattle in, and the inhabitants do not make
the slightest attempt to grow breadstuffs or vegetables.

Meat is their staff of life; the South American, indeed, eats
" meat with meat," and he obtains from the animals which he kills
the supplies for nearly all the ordinary wants of life.

These places in the interior of the country have not the com-

48 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

fortable and homely appearance of an European farm, whose
inhabitants principally live on vegetable produce. Death and
decomposition show here and everywhere the rude trade of the
cattle-breeder. Wherever the eye turns, especially in the neigh-
bourhood of the houses, there are traces of killed or dead animals
— skins, skulls, entrails, horns, hoofs, claws, bones, and stains of
blood ; thousands of carrion crows, birds of prey, and rooks, swarm
round these places, and the nose has literally first to get accus-
tomed to the loathsome effluvia of fresh and stale meat and blood.

The otherwise peaceful and not properly carnivorous domestic
animals likewise learn to accommodate themselves to necessity;
they completely change their nature: fowls, geese, and even
turkeys, are fed exclusively on meat, and the pigs are fattened on
it. Everywhere fresh skins are lying stretched out, or are hung
up for drying ; and especially in the neighbourhood of the town,
where the great saladeros, or slaughter-houses, are, the eye meets
on all sides the disgusting spectacle of decomposition. Walls,
six or eight feet high, are erected, of skulls of bullocks, the horns
being symmetrically dovetailed into each other ; even the hollows
of the roads are filled up with bones. Thus, for instance, I saw
a spot where thousands of innocent sheep's heads are pressed into
the service of changing a colossal quagmire into a practicable
high road. It is, therefore, no wonder that the inhabitants of this
country, living on flesh and nothing but flesh, continually engaged
in slaughtering, and everywhere surrounded with blood and
decomposition, have themselves grown savage and bloodthirsty;
and that too often they give proof that they hold the life of a man
in little higher estimation than that of a bullock or a horse.
Living exclusively on animal food, must necessarily tend to make
man ferocious ; and the hand once used to the knife, becomes too
familiar with it, not to misuse it sometimes, or at least to play
with it " in want of any better occupation."

A much more cheerful aspect is presented by the large meadows,
which are bounded only by the horizon, and on which numerous
flocks of cattle, sheep, and horses, are grazing, partly in compact

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 49

masses, and partly scattered over the plain. Every other spot is
teeming with wild- fowl ; not only birds of prey, but likewise wild
ducks, geese, swans, herons, flamingoes, &c., are seen sweeping
through the air, or are standing in the marshy pools of the steppe.
The chase of the water- fowl here is indeed immensely productive ;
and I have never seen anything like it, even in Louisiana, where
wild ducks and snipes greatly abound. Once only we went out
with our guns, rather to see the different sorts of birds than to
shoot many of them ; but I really found my highest expectations
surpassed.

The game which we saw in the course of about half a day, com-
prised swans, wild geese, many sorts of ducks, and divers ; two
species of flamingo, one pink, which looked particularly beautiful
when rising with outspread wings, and another larger one, of
somewhat darker hue, intermingled with pure black; immense
numbers of pewits, which are likewise, although very rarely,
killed here, as domestic poultry abound ; they therefore become
very tame. Snipes, in flocks of eighty or ninety head ; sand-
pipers ; a sort of water-turkey, as large as the common species,
but not eatable ; another bird, of the size of a black-cock, or
perhaps a little larger, the flesh of which is said to be as tender
as that of the pheasant ; and, moreover, innumerable tribes of birds
of prey, carrion kites, gulls, small owls, herons, and storks, all
fly within easy reach of the sportsman.

There is, besides, an animal found in vast numbers, greatly
resembling the German marmot, but in size and habit very like
the badger. It lives in burrows in the steppes, from which it
comes forth in the evening. A young man from Bremen, of the
name of Caesar, who was my kind cicerone through these parts,
shot one of these animals, that I might have a nearer inspection
of it. There are thousands of them in the large meadows, and I
firmly believe that, especially in moonlight nights, one might shoot
as many as he had charges of powder and shot.

The waters here swarm with a particular sort of otter, the chase

of which is very productive ; so much so, that Rosas has issued a
D

50 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS;

law, to reserve it for his soldiers against their return from the war
with Monte Video. The killing of ostriches and cassowaries is
likewise forbidden under severe penalties, as these birds are in
danger of being extirpated quickly.

It was most interesting to me to find in the estancia, a German
who managed it, and who was himself the owner of another not
very far off. He happened even to be a Saxon, like myself, and
he confirmed the truth of many things which I had heard in my
former visit to the country ; besides giving me much useful and
excellent information. His name was Papsdorf ; he was perfectly
naturalized, had married a native; and his sons, dressed in cheripa
and poncho, were, like true gauchos, hanging to their horses, as
expert in throwing the lasso as any other of the wild children of
the steppes.

What I heard about the state of the country in general, and
about these estancias in particular, may be stated as follows : —

Property, as I was assured on all sides, is perfectly safe here,
punishment of death being denounced against the offenders, even in
cases of trifling trespass ; but it would certainly be saying too much,
did I assert that the real character of the people themselves was
completely kept in check by this stern legislation. The Argentine
gaucho is very ready to use his knife ; and although he is strictly
forbidden to wear it in the town, murders occur with painful fre-
quency, even in the streets. It is, however, to be observed, that,
almost in every instance, they originate in quarrels ; and besides
this, the worst people are said here, as in other countries, to be
located in the capital itself. Far inland, the Indians indeed very
oft«n threaten detached estancias, attacking and murdering the
inhabitants ; but as there is still plenty of land to be had in the
close vicinity of the town, there is no need for the emigrant to
venture out so far ; and in the neighbouring provinces, he has
nothing to fear from the native Indians of the pampas.

This country, indeed, offers to the German emigrant every ad-
vantage to be looked for in any part of the world. The climate
leaves nothing to be desired. Maladies certainly occur ; but they

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 51

are said to be by no means of a virulent nature. The soil, unlike
most of the North American prairies, is excellent almost everywhere
in the pampas, and yields capital crops, even with the very primi-
tive manner of cultivation here in use. The principal pursuit of the
people of the country, as is proved also by the export of its pro-
duce, as skins, meat, tallow, &c., is cattle-breeding ; and one may
form a tolerably correct notion of the immense mass of cattle kept
here, and of the facility with which it may be reared, from a list
of the different prices. The calculation is made in Spanish dollars.

Of cattle, as the staple article, a fat bullock of two and a half
years old, costs about two and a half dollars ; and one of three
years, about two and two-thirds dollars ; a heifer, from two to two
and three- fourths dollars; for a tame milch-cow, with calf, as much
as five dollars are paid.

If, however, you buy a drove of cattle in the lump, as is gene-
rally done on first settling, you pay an average price of about from
three-fourths to one dollar pec head. The purchaser then, accord-
ing to the capital he has to expend, rides through a herd to sepa-
rate a number of beasts from the main herd. These beasts are
counted, the calves not being reckoned as heads of cattle, but
thrown into the bargain. Of horses, a trained saddle-horse gene-
rally costs from five to five and a half dollars ; an unbroken geld-
ing only the half of this. The price of a stallion is, at the most,
one dollar ; of a mare, from three-fourths to one dollar. Mares
are, however, not used as saddle-horses. Shpep vary most widely
in price ; for there are here the so-called fine merino sheep, which
fetch as much as six dollars a-piece. This is, however, considered
by the agriculturists here as quite an enormous price, paid only
for animals of extraordinary beauty. The average price for good
sheep is about one-third of a dollar a-head ; but if you purchase
them far inland, you pay for the common sort in the flock, about
one and a half to two pesos a-piece (a pesos is about threepence
English). Sheep-skins also cost, the whole dozen, only from one
to two dollars. The pig is almost the dearest animal in this coun-
try, fetching five, and when fat, as much as ten dollars.

52 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

The price of the skins is, of course, in proportion. Ox hides,
the pasado (35 lbs.), from two to two and one-ninth dollars a-head,
weighing from 20 lbs. to 26 lbs. (the weights here are lighter by
8 per cent, than those of the ZoUverein). Horse hides cost from
one to one and a fourth dollars. The price of wool, on the other
hand, varies. The " aroba" of 25 lbs. fetches from one to three and
a fourth dollars. Good merino wool often costs five dollars the
aroba. Indeed, there is not much capital required here to start in
business as a cattle-breeder or sheep-farmer. If larger quantities
are bought, the animals may be had even cheaper. Thus, for in-
stance, a settler farther inland paid for a flock of 5000 sheep
about half a peso, that is to say, about one penny-farthing, a-
piece.

The price of land, however, has already risen, at least in com-
parison to what it was before ; yet it is still reasonable enough to
offer the greatest advantages to the emigrant. The land is cal-
culated here by varas, the varas being equal to two and seven-tenths
feet, Rhenish measure. The government sells the land in strips,
of the length of one and a half leguas (a legua being equal to
6000 varas) in length, and of one vara in breadth, at from one
to one and three-fourths dollars per strip. In the neighbourhood
of towns, the prices are of course somewhat higher ; but it is no-
where lower than one dollar per vara, unless you purchase it from
a private owner.

Corn is at present exceedingly cheap here, as are also vegetables,
the second potato crop being ripe just now. On the whole, a
settler may establish himself with very little difficulty; and all the
Germans living here are unanimous in their opinion, that there
is no better place for their poor countrymen than South America,
where industry and thrift are sure to meet with their reward.

The government, although having very little inclination to
favour the English and French, is very well inclined towards
German emigration. Foreigners are generally very well pro-
tected here, by a special law of the governor ; and it certainly
speaks well for the people, however unfavourably they have been

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 53

represented in other respects, that,. during the blocliade of the
Plate River by the English, the latter, as well as the French,
were allowed to reside here quite unmolested.

On my return to Buenos Ayres, I heard that, in a short time,
the Argentine correo, or courier, was really going to start from
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza. He had at first been disposed to put
ofif his journey, on account of the outbreak of an insurrection
among the Indians. But he had now determined to attempt it,
and I was told that the company of an armed man would certainly
be acceptable to him. Through the kind mediation of an Ameri-
can merchant, Mr. Hutton — for I was not then myself sufficiently
conversant with the Spanish language — I soon came to terms with
the correo, who bound himself to let me have horses and victuals,
that is, meat, and to defray every other expense of the road as far
as Mendoza, a small town at the foot of the Cordilleras, for four
uncias, or sixty-four Spanish dollars ; yet he told me, at the same
time, quite frankly, that if he saw the Indians coming from the
south, he intended to fly as fast as his horse would carry him north-
ward to the mountains ; and if I were not able then to follow, or if
by any mischance I remained behind on the road, this would be no
fault of his, nor would he make himself answerable for it. Having
been prepared far all these objections, I struck my bargain with
him, and our departure was fixed for the 17th June. In this way,
I also gained time to get better acquainted with Buenos Ayres.

I was particularly charged by the Ministry of Commerce of the
German Empire, to report, to the best of my ability, concerning
the countries which I should find suited for emigration ; and also
to notice the position and the prospects of the Germans who were
already settled in the new country. Now, as to the prospects of
the Germans in the estates of the Plate River, it seemed to me
the safest plan to apply to Rosas himself, as the governor, or
rather dictator, of the country. The American consul, however,
assured me that Rosas only very rarely received even an ambas-
sador, and that the audiences were generally given by Donna
Manuelita, the dargbter of the dreaded gaucho chief.

54 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

A considerable difficulty now presented itself to me. I had
left the Talisman, just as I intended to mount my horse to cross
the pampas ; the only suit which I had with me consisting of a
riding jacket of the coarsest light grey woollen stuff, trousers of
the same, large jack-boots, and a black broad-brimmed felt hat.
Could I in this guise make my appearance before Donna Manuelita,
the first lady of the Argentine republic ? The American consul
answered the question in the affirmative. Donna Manuelita being
a young lady as amiable as sensible, Mr. Graham assured me that
I should not only be received, but be well received ; and, true to
his word, he himself introduced me one evening to her.

The gaucho soldiers who were standing sentinel in the gate-
way and the passages, opened their eyes wide, when, dressed in
this fashion, and in light grey, which is otherwise forbidden here,
I stepped through the halls of their master ; yet they allowed us
to pass unmolested, and we soon after entered the audience cham-
ber.

The drawing-room was furnished entirely in the European
fashion ; the floor covered with a very elegant and gay- coloured
carpet ; the lofty ceiling alone exhibiting an Argentine badge, the
black and red colours (meaning victory or death) of the federa-
tion. We had arrived a little too soon ; the servants were only
just now lighting the candles, and I made use of the interval,
closely to scrutinize everything about me, and then to ruminate
whether my jack-boots were not the first of their sort which had
ever trodden on this costly carpet. Yet I had not much time left
for indulging in these meditations, as the door suddenly flew open,
and in walked the " Grandees of the Empire," for anything that I
knew of them, all of them being strangers to me. They were, at
any rate, very elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen ; the ladies
in the most stylish French costume ; the gentlemen, without ex-
ception, in dark blue dress coats — the bright blue colour being the
badge of the Unitarios — with scarlet waistcoats and hat-bands, anp
all of them wearing in their button-holes the scarlet silk ribbon,
with the awful motto, " Mueran los salvajos Unitarios I" printed

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 55

on it in black. The eyes of all were fixed on me with a curiosity
which I could easily pardon ; and they seemed, with a scarcely
disguised surprise, inclined to ask each other, "What is that
fellow doing here in this sanctuary?" But, before the American
consul was able to apologize for intrusion, Donna Manuelita her-
self made her appearance ; and, having been apprized in a few
words by Mr. Graham of my intention, and not even listening to
the excuses which he deemed right to offer concerning my strange
toilet, bade me welcome in the most friendly manner.

Donna Manuelita, as Mr. Graham had told me, indeed under-
stood English ; yet as she did not, perhaps, speak that language
fluently enough, and was, therefore, disinclined to converse in it,
and as I was similarly situated with regard to French, there re-
mained no other remedy but to communicate in the Spanish
tongue, Mr. Graham kindly acting as interpreter. The Donna
promised to speak to her father about the emigration business,
as to how far he would favour German settlers, and to let me
know the result before my leaving Buenos Ayres.

In the meanwhile, a pretty numerous company had arrived, and
I soon was engaged in conversation with two Argentine young
ladies, one of whom spoke English very fluently ; the other had
made some progress in German, so as to be able to understand
me, and also to express herself with tolerable distinctness. In
this way I passed a couple of very pleasant hours in the most
agreeable company ; but I could not help several times quietly
chuckling within myself at the thought, what the bedizened host
of courtiers at home would say, if any one were to conceive the
bold idea of making his appearance among them in such a costume.

In Buenos Ayres, there now exists a German Protestant con-
gregation, whose pastor and head is the Reverend A. L. Siegel.
This congregation, according to its fundamental statutes, forms a
branch of the United Evangelical Church of Prussia, to which it
has attached itself since 1845. The Prussian rubric and liturgy
is the law for its discipline and rites ; and the consistory of the
province of Brandenburg is to decide, in the last instance, every

56 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

question of doctrine, public worship, and discipline, in as far as
they do not come under the jurisdiction of the secular power. The
consistory of the province of Brandenburg has the right of appoint-
ing the pastors of the congregation. In the case of a vacancy,
the congregation is to apply to that consistory for its new pastor;
and is not allowed, without the consent of that supreme board, to
dismiss the minister after he has once been appointed to it.

Among the Germans in Buenos Ayres, the captains of ships,
though only birds of passage, play a very prominent part ; and
they may be seen especially on afternoons, in all their glory,
trotting in company of their English, American, and Danish col-
leagues, through the streets of the town, and then in full career
galloping through the flat country beyond.

Sailors generally have an uncommon liking for horses, a feel-
ing which is by no means reciprocated by the animals themselves,
nor by the livery stable-keepers, as sailors and even captains, with
of course some exceptions, know just as little how to mount as how
to groom a horse. Jack thinks it a very great feat if he has suc-
ceeded in keeping " on board." As to a good seat, that is alto-
gether out of the question ; poor fellow, he jumps on the saddle
like a pea in a drum, jerking the sharp bridle merely to keep his
balance, and throwing in the whole weight of his body when he
wants the animal to walk slowly or to stop. The horses are
thereby galled and jaded ; and the stable-keepers here, nearly all
of them English and Americans, have such a quick eye in dis-
cerning the character of their customers, that people who have the
least sailor-like appearance about them, may safely depend upon
getting for their money only the most miserable and worn-out
steeds.

It therefore often happens that such a poor "horse marine,"
even without having unfairly used his beast, sees it suddenly fall
and breathe its last ; after which he has the pleasure, not only of
returning to town on foot, but also of carrying back the saddle
and bridle.

He is then rather surprised to find, that little, or even nothing

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 57

at all, is charged for the fallen horse ; whence a report seems to
have spread, that it is sufficient at Buenos Ayres to bring back,
of a hired horse, the bridle and saddle, the rest being of no value.
But the fact is, that the captains and sailors, in most cases, get
such villanous horses, that the stable-keepers are truly ashamed
of asking money from customers, who have thus saved them the
trouble of sending the beasts to the knacker.

Those who hire a good horse, may depend upon it, that they
will have to pay dearly enough for any injury that may have
happened to the animal ; at least according to the standard at
Buenos Ayres, where the best horses are very cheap indeed.

During my stay at Buenos Ayres, I had heard so much of the
slaughter-houses of that town, which has such an important
traffic in meat and skins, that I could not but feel induced to
go and see those places for once myself These slaughter-houses,
or rather slaughter-yards, are nearly all of them lying near the
so-called Boca, about half a league from the town; and one
morning, before breakfast, I rode out, in company with a young
German, to witness the slaughtering of the cattle.

Our road led almost entirely along the banks of the river, where
I was particularly disgusted with the sight of the carcasses of
cattle and horses washed on shore. .The stench became so awful
in some places, that I was compelled to hold my breath. On one
spot we were even obliged to leap over three horses, or rather
over their remains, which were lying there in a heap. German
horses could never have been brought to pass over such an
obstacle ; yet the Buenos Ayres horses did not care in the least,
and scarcely bestowed a look upon their dead friends. After
galloping along for a quarter of an hour, we at last reached the
shores of the Boca; where I could not, at first, make out the
nature of some white objects, which in many places were lining
the banks of the river like a dam. But, on approaching nearer,
I perceived, to my utmost astonishment, that those white masses
were nothing more nor less than bullocks' skulls, the horns of
which everywhere stuck out from the soil which was thrown over

58 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

them. The flat open buildings of the slaughter-yards were lying
on the other side of the Boca; and we had to ride somewhat
farther up the small river, and there to cross a wooden bridge,
after which we stepped on '' bloody soil."

In the nearest slaughter-yards they were not working, but only
clearing, so that the premises looked comparatively clean; and
whilst slowly riding through them, we saw the heaps of salted
hides lying in the different sheds. But I was particularly anxious
to see the actual slaughtering itself; and fortunately we met,
in the very first yard, a German, who directed us to a place
where the murderous work was just then going on. Even from
a distance we heard the shouts and yells of the drovers ; and on
approaching nearer, we saw three horsemen galloping into an
enclosure somewhat removed from the scene of action, to fetch
from thence a batch of doomed animals. One of them was a
particularly striking figure. A slim-built but vigorous old man,
of about fifty-six to sixty years of age, wiry and sun-burnt, but
with such a gallows physiognomy as I never saw on any man
before or since. He seemed to be the leader of the others, and
grown old in blood and murder. Thus the men must have looked,
whom Rosas formerly charged with the execution of his orders
of blood; and who fetched their victims out from the circle of
their families, and then cut their throats. He was dressed en-
tirely in the costume of the gauchos, with a red and blue poncho,
and a cheripa of the same colours, and the usual boots of horses'
skin. His lasso was tied behind to his saddle, for without the
lasso no gaucho ever rides one step ; and when his poncho
sometimes, during his quick ride, was fluttering in the air, it
showed the handle of a long knife, stuck obliquely behind in his
girdle. His grey whiskers and beard covered his cheeks and his
chin in wild uncombed curls, and his shaggy eyebrows, likewise
grey, were dismally beetling over his eyes. I could not at first
turn my eyes from the hoary gaucho ; and, had T still entertained
any doubt concerning his character, the next moment would have
dispelled it.

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 59

Three enclosures were placed close to each other, the largest
being farthest off from that in which the real slaughtering was
performed ; the next was only half the size of the first ; and after
it, followed the third, which was still smaller, and capable of
holding only about forty or fifty head of cattle. Into the first
the beasts were driven immediately fi*om the pampas; in the
second they were sorted, and those intended for the knife set
apart ; the latter were then driven into the third yard, and there
slaughtered.

Those three horsemen now galloped into the second enclosure,
where still about thirty beasts were waiting for their doom ; and
from thence they drove them, with shouts and yells, into the last
enclosure, the gates of which had in the meantime been opened
by some boys. All this went on very well at first, for the young
cattle were frightened by the wild noise, and by the cunningly
uplifted hands of the men, in which they always thought they
saw the dreaded lasso : thus they ran speedily before their pur-
suers ; but they were no sooner met by the smell of the reeking
blood of their comrades, who had gone before them to the last
enclosure, than they tried as quickly to retrace their steps, rush-
ing headlong round against their drivers. But it was too late :
the men, pushing against them with the full weight of their
horses, pressed them towards the slaughter-yard; so that there
was no escape for them ; and the small trembling herd, cowed and
half stunned, turned round once more with their heads high in
the air, to enter the ghastly precincts. Their movement was not,
however, quick enough for the drivers, who goaded their own
horses, with spur and whip, to charge against the young bullocks,
which they punished dreadfully with the heavy iron ring of their
revencas ; * and the old gaucho at last, with grievous oaths, drew
his knife and plunged it five or six times — in order not to damage
the hide — beneath the tail into the entrails of the hindmost oxen.
These wounds would, no doubt, have proved fatal; but that did not

* This term will be explained hereafter.

60 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

matter here, as the animals were to he slaughtered immediately
after. I am convinced that the ruffian would have stuck his
knife, with just as little compunction, into the body of a man.

When the last of the terrified and bleeding animals had entered
the slaughter-yard, the fellow, laughing, replaced his long knife
under his poncho, and, followed by his mates, galloped outside of
the enclosure, round to the other side of the yard. There he
alighted, took up from the ground a long thick rope manufactured
from raw skin, and tied it to the ring of the girth of his saddle.
His example was followed by the two others, who took up the same
rope. He then, looking back into the yard, rose high in the
stirrups. I soon found out the meaning of all these preparations.

That rope of leather was a long and strong lasso, the loop of
which was slung over a pulley. The slaughterer, standing in the
enclosure of the yard, held it in his hand; and after having several
times brandished it above his head, threw it with nearly unerring
aim round the horns of the animals. As soon as the horsemen saw
that the lasso was flung, they set spur to their horses, and then
began to pull ; by means of which movement they brought the cap-
tive bullock first on his knees, and then to the ground altogether,
dragging him at the same time close to the spot where the man
was standing who had thrown the lasso. The latter had, in the
meanwhile, grasped a long knife, the sharp blade of which he
stuck into the neck of the animal, close beside the horns, so that
it fell dead ; after which, again seizing the lasso, he rose to make
a new throw.

In the enclosure, close to where the killed animal was lying, a
trap-door opened, and a truck, upon which the bullock had been
dragged before by the tightening of the lasso, now slipped through
underneath and ran along the sheds on iron rails ; at the extremity
of which, six men stood ready to lift the carcass from the small low
carriage, immediately to skin and to dress it. The truck, without
stopping ran back to its former place; the lasso, seeking for another
victim, flew whizzing through the air ; down fell the bullock, and
was dragged towards its executioner: again did the truck run to and

BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS. 61

fro on the blood-stained rails ; and the moment after, a third fell;
and so on, until the last had been captured and killed.

I now went to the butchers' yard ; and the sight which here pre-
sented itself was shocking beyond description. The place was
kept as clean as was possible under the circumstances. Yet the
blood flowed down in streams, into wooden gutters made for that
purpose ; and some men were especially appointed to scoop out,
with broad wooden shovels, the coagulating blood, to keep a free
passage for the fresh streams which Were always pouring after it.
The shed under which the people were working was high and spa^
cious ; and the rails ran along it to its farthest extremity. Here,
people were engaged in skinning the animals which had been
brought in last; others were cutting off the rounds and other
joints ; and others again carried, or rather threw, the meat to the
place where it was to be packed : all of them with bare feet, wad-
ing in blood and covered with it all over. Between them lay the
skulls and bones, strewed about in wild confusion; the entrails,
which were afterwards loaded upon waggons and carried off; and
beyond — I am still disgusted only to think of it — the unborn calves
were lying, in a heap of perhaps thirty or forty ; near which, boys
standing up to their shoulders in blood, were engaged in stripping
off the skin of the largest and most matured ones, and in dragging
all the others, and those which they had done already, by their
hind legs to a cart which was placed there for that purpose.

A fellow in a red poncho — and what a villanously blackguard
look he had — had been prowling about for some time among the
heap of calves, and seemed to examine them with a scrutinizing
glance. At last, he seized one of the largest by the hind legs ;
pulled forth from under his poncho an old bloody sack ; put the
thing into it ; and then, without any one noticing him, sneaked
away from the yard. Could the man have picked out his dinner
from such a heap ? I really shuddered at the mere idea. The
sight was now quite enough for me : had I stayed longer, I think
I should have been disgusted with animal food for the remainder
of my days.

62 BUENOS AYRES AND ITS ENVIRONS.

Our horses werfe tied up close to all the bloodshed and noise; yet
they were as quiet as if they had been in a paddock on the fresh
turf. We untied their bridles ; mounted again ; and immediately
after, as is the fashion with all the people in the Argentine re-
public, rode off at a smart gallop, over the narrow bridge of the
Boca, and down the banks of the Plate Kiver, towards Buenos
Ayres.

It was certainly interesting to me to have seen these slaughter-
yards, from which immense supplies of flesh and skins are sent to
all parts of the world ; but for the whole of two days, I was unable
to eat a bit of meat, as I could not help thinking of the man with
the red poncho and the calf.

During the last days which I passed at Buenos Ayres, news
arrived of new outrages of the Indians. They were said to have
murdered a family near the Rio Quarto; and attacked another,
who had saved themselves only by speedy flight, until the military
were called from a small and not very distant town, to advance
against these wild sons of the steppe. Detached troops of soldiers
dared not, however, venture far from their strongholds ; for the
Indians were brave and dreaded warriors, and by no means con-
temptible foes. Such reports are, however, mostly exaggerated ;
and, at any rate, they were no longer able to change my reso-
lution.

The time of my departure was approaching, and I was delighted
at the prospect of plunging at once into the new mode of life ; for
here, at Buenos Ayres, everything seemed calculated to depress
my spirits. New reports of Indian atrocity were daily pouring in ;
and even intelligence was said to have been brought from Men-
doza, that no such tremendous mass of snow had fallen in the
mountains for many years as during this winter.

But a truce to all thoughts which might trouble o^annoy me.
Just now the correo sends a horse to fetch me for a new journey ;
and the only feeling uppermost in my mind is, the consciousness
of entering upon a new and active, although dangerous life. A
ride through the pampas, with a change of horses every four or

RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS. 63

six leagues, sweeping at a brisk gallop through the wide steppes ;
thus on to Mendoza, to the foot of the Cordilleras ; and then, in
the midst of winter, across the snow-covered mountains, through
Chili, to my nearest goal, Valparaiso — what should I have cared
for the rest I

CHAPTER V.

RIDE OYBR THE PAMPAS.

On the 17th of June, in the morning, the correo, as mentioned
before, sent a horse by a couple of young Argentine lads, to con-
vey myself and luggage to his house ; so that, in the course of
the day, we might start from thence. I had, on the previous day,
procured an Argentine saddle (nearly similar to the so-called
Spanish saddle), along with a bridle and saddle-bag ; and thus,
with my arms, poncho, a blanket, and a couple of clean shirts, I
was completely outfitted for a ride of — never mind if it made —
four weeks.

I was, during all these preparations, highly amused by my
host, an Englishman, Mr. Davis, who had taken it into his head
that I had decided on the overland journey only to get the more
speedily to California ; and who, during the whole of my stay at
his house, took the utmost pains in representing to me that El
Dorado under the most dreadful aspect Even on the morning of
my departure, he could not forbear giving me a little bit of his
mind, and telling me that it was " sheer insanity, for the sake of
vile gold, to risk my neck in such a mad ride." He was, how-
ever, one of the most capital and funny fellows I had fallen in with
for a long time; and we had cracked many a good joke together;
only the conversation dared not turn on California, for that was
no joke with him. He wished me every blessing at parting;
among others, " that the Califomian savages might not be long
about torturing me, but rather kill me outright at once."

The correo lived at the extreme end of the town; and Buenos

64 RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS.

Ayres is built with an immense profusion of space: so we trotted
on at a brisk rate; but, whereas I expected to see the old fellow
waiting for me full of impatience, and then immediately to set
spurs to our horses and to gallop off, I, on the contrary, found
him busily engaged — in doing nothing; and instead of loading
the sumpter horse with the different packages which were still
lying about in wild confusion on the ground, he sat quietly in
the midst of them, sipping his " match" with an air as if he had
no intention to start this week, nor the next either. The whole
of his family aided him most faithfully in this laborious task : his
wife crouching in one corner by the side of a brasier on which a
small iron boiler was placed ; and his son, a lad of about eighteen
years, leaning on the bed and strumming the guitar.

No sooner had I set my foot on the threshold, than the old lady
come to meet me with the favourite match tube. I will acquaint
the reader at once with this truly national enjoyment of the South
Americans ; so that it may not, in the sequel, come as unawares on
him as it did on me.

The match is a sort of tea, said to be prepared from the small
branches and leaves of a tree indigenous in Brazil and Paraguay,
It looks like greenish powder, with little bits of branches and
wood in it, and is drunk in decoction. The manner, however, in
which they drink it, is the most characteristic feature of the
beverage. The match is first put into a calabash, especially kept
for the purpose, of about the size of a large apple; the boiling
water is then poured on it. But as, by draining a cup, the drinker
would get the dust into his throat, they use a small tin tube of
sheet-iron called a bombilla, which at its lower extremity ends in
a flattened ball pierced with small holes as a strainer. Through
this tube, about six or seven inches long, they suck in the boiling
draught, the temperature of which, of course, rapidly communicates
itself to the iron; so that one who is not used to it, never fails to
burn his lips. This happened to me; yet the most unfortunate
circumstance connected with this match, is the purely democratical
principle on which it is drunk. In all the families there is gene-

EIDE OVEK THE PAMPAS. 65

rally only one calabash and one bombilla, which is handed round
to all the company; so that each puts the same tube into his
mouth, sucks it, and then offers it to his neighbour. I have, iu
the course of my life, seen a thing or two which I would sooner
put to my mouth ; but to refuse it would be a breach of hospitality
not only displeasing, but even insulting, to the kind host ; and the
stranger will accordingly show greater wisdom in repressing his
disgust, and sacrificing the skin of his lips on the shrine of polite-
ness, rather than give offence to those who indeed only offer him
the best that they themselves enjoy.

The packages were much more speedily arranged than I ex-
pected; the animals waiting before the door were saddled, and in
about half an hour we at last mounted on their backs. Through
the populous streets, which were choked by the large carts of the
country, we rode at a moderate trot; but no sooner had we emerged
into the open country, than the horses of themselves fell into a
smart canter, not even excepting the sumpter, which carried a
burden of at least 250 lbs. I thought this at the time a very ex-
traordinary feat.

Our small band consisted of four horses and three persons : first,
the so-called postillion, who had buckled a large and heavy valise
behind him on his saddle, and who was leading the sumpter horse
by a long cord; then the latter animal itself, with four packages
carefully sewn up in untanned skins, and tied fast to its back, in
a pack-saddle covered with matting; then the correo, in a blue
poncho, with unblackened high riding-boots, in which his long
knife was sticking, the handle peeping out at the top ; with huge
spurs, a round felt hat, and a strong whip in his hand, which
was exclusively intended for the benefit of the sumpter horse.
The rear was brought up by myself, in a grey woollen blouse, black
broad-brimmed felt hat, large travelling jack-boots, with a knife,
after the Argentine fashion, sticking in one of them ; the musket
rifle strapped to the side, pistols in my girdle, and colossal spurs
on my heels; and the poncho, as also the blanket, tied fast on
the horse, behind the saddle.

66 RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS.

The postillion wore the costume of the country. Poncho and
cheripa, with a red cloth round his head, and his legs encased in
untanned horses' skin, from which the two first toes of each foot
were peeping out, just fitting into the small stirrup, which was
scarcely two inches broad. From the wrist of the right hand the
revenca was dangling, the whip of these tribes, made of a strap
of untanned skin, about one inch and a half broad, but narrowing
towards the end, and fastened at the top to a large iron ring. It
is a peculiarity of the horsemen of this country, that their spurs,
when sitting on horseback, are hanging downwards nearly at right
angles from their heels. These people, therefore, when oif their
horses, are most awkward walkers, balancing themselves on tiptoe,
with the immense irons clattering and dragging behind; but let
the gaucho put his hand on the mane of his horse, and he is quite
a different being ; and, when once in the saddle on the back of
the snorting animal, man and horse seem to be united into one
creature, with fire in its veins.

There is a very good reason for this mode of wearing the spurs.
The gaucho very frequently, and in the pampas almost exclu-
sively, rides wild horses ; and to have a firm seat, without being
exposed to the danger of unintentionally touching it with the
sharp rowels if the animal should shy, or leap sideways, or other-
wise indulge in freaks and capers, they are hanging down far
enough to leave the heel free : yet they are always ready for use
whenever there is an occasion ; in which case the rider needs only
to bend his foot a little.

In this order of procession, we were pushing on. The first sta-
tion was seven leagues off,* and there the horses were changed.
Mid- day was in the meanwhile approaching, and we had some-
thing to eat.

This was the first real native dwelling which I entered ; a
email, wretched cabin, built of mud and thatched with reeds. A
table and a couple of chairs, covered with hides, were all its fur-

* A league is somewhat more than three English miles.

RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS. 67

niture ; the table-cloth had evidently done duty for weeks ; the
forks were filthy ; knives were not offered, as it is quite understood
that every one carries his own with him ; and the gauchos have
them sixteen or eighteen inches long.

The youngest child had to stand by my side on a stool : we
were all eating from one dish ; the child was awfully dirty ; and
his nose — " well, don't mention it," as the Yankees say. I seve-
ral times was nearly choking with the morsel in my throat ; yet,
notwithstanding all that, I could not be angry with the child,
he was such a dear, chubby, dark-eyed boy. And I again and
again remembered my own, whom I had left at home. The little
fellow had such bonnie dimples in his checks, and such dark curly
hair. I only wish he had not kept his spoon so long under his
nose I

The repast did not last long ; fresh horses were brought ; and,
soon after, we galloped again briskly and speedily towards the
second station. Here we intended to take up our quarters for this
night The correo, I must observe, is the regular post which, in
the Argentine republic, circulates through the different provinces.
The correo of Buenos Ayres to Mendoza, passing through the
provinces of Buenos Ayres, Santa F6, Cordova, San Luis, and
Mendoza, traverses the republic from east to west, waits at Men-
doza for the correo from Chili — (which, however, in winter is a
very uncertain aFair, as that correo very often is not able to cross
the snowed Cordilleras ; in which case the postal communication
remains interrupted often for three or four months)— and then
returns to Buenos Ayres.

My European notions had induced me to form a very different
idea of these stations from what they really were. The term
" station" is indeed applied to them only by courtesy. The tra-
veller finds nothing but the roof, with, according to circumstances,
walls of clay or wicker work, and a low frame, with a cow's skin
spread over it, on which he may lay down his saddle and horse-
cloth, and afterwards himself. Farther west, the luxury of such
a bed is dispensed with altogether, and the traveller has nothing

68 RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS.

to lie upon but a raised shelf of clay, or the floor. One luxury,
however, remains — the fleas.

The saddle is the gaucho's bed, and to this couch, with the
addition of our ponchos and blankets, we too were restricted.

The house where we passed the night, was just as filthy as that
where we had dined ; so also were its inhabitants ; and the mateh-
tubes, likewise, were equally hot. The small cabin lay quietly
and solitarily in the wide desolate steppe, not a field nor garden
near it, not even an enclosure to put the horses in ; only a couple
of pickets stuck in the ground, with straps of ox- hide stretched
between them, answered this purpose. I can bear a good deal of
inconvenience, and I never grumble at scanty diet or a hard
couch ; yet this disgusting filth everywhere was loathsome, and,
notwithstanding a very healthy and keen appetite, I threw myself
dovv'n on my blanket, without having tasted a morsel of food.

All these little miseries were forgotten next morning, in the
bracing fresh air, with a blue cloudless sky over our heads, and the
plain, with its soft green turf, about us, on which numerous flocks
were grazing here and there.

It was, indeed, a delightful sight. The horses were brought,
the packages and our saddles put on them ; and we flew at a gal-
lop, through the midst of the bright landscape, which was changing
like a moving panorama. Wherever the eye turned, there was
life ; and the air, as well as the meadows, was teeming with a
crowd of brilliant and blitheful creatures.

Hosts of pewits swept screeching over our heads, or sat close
to the road, or by the side of the pools, scarcely turning their
heads to look at the passing horsemen ; storks were gravely stalk-
ing to and fro ; a species of small owls, scarcely bigger than star-
lings, were crouching near their burrows, or started up on the
wing with a shrill screech, to come down again ten yards off ;
long chains of wild ducks were sailing through the air, or swim-
ming on the nearest sheets of water, and large, stately, water-
turkeys made themselves heard from the high reeds of the marshy
grounds.

RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS. 69

It was, indeed, a delicious morning, and my heart swelled
within me at the sight of such a beautiful and enchanting scene.
There is only one drawback to this feeling of pleasure and
delight — the many carcasses which are lying about everywhere,
often in the middle of the road, or on the meadows themselves ;
sometimes only skeletons, in other places half-devoured beasts;
and now and then fresh bodies, just beginning to be eaten into by
the innumerable carrion birds which are swarming about them.
The horses themselves are so much used to it, that, without ever
shying, they quietly pass by the dead carcasses, and even the
cattle graze at a small distance from the remains of their departed
friends.

That evening, it was the 18th of Jime, we reached our quarters
rather late ; and as I had not had anything the whole day but a
little milk, my rebelling stomach forced me to take a share in the
general supper. Our soup and meat was served in a wooden
basin, which still wore unmistakeable traces of former repasts ;
my old correo had some bread with him, and we consumed our
frugal fare with dirty spoons, which I was not even allowed to
wipe, unless I wished to give offence to our host. On subsequent
occasions, however, I devised an expedient to get out of this
dilemma. Whenever I had a spoon that was too dirty, I dropt it
on the floor, as if by mistake : this gave me then an indisputable
right to wipe the dirt off; and I thought I might answer before
my conscience for taking more from it than I had added to it.
The country people of the Argentine republic, live generally,
and almost exclusively, on meat ; and, for luxury, on a particular
sort of pumpkin, which is grown here, and which, indeed, is very
pleasant to eat, but might, and indeed ought to be, more exten-
sively cultivated.

As to bread, they scarcely know what it is ; and, at any rate,
have not got it ; and even where Indian corn is grown, they do
not bake the nutritious and wholesome "maize bread," as the
North American backwoodsman does in the most wretched shanty.
Just as the South Sea Islander lives on his bread-fruit, which he

70 RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS.

has for the trouble of gathering ; the South American lives on
flesh, for which he likewise has only to raise his hand, as it abounds
in such plenty about him; and, indeed, he scarcely knows or
desires anything else.

I was firmly determined, this evening, not to burn my lips
again with that confounded match. I therefore asked the correo,
who had undertaken the whole commissariat, for some tea or
coffee, both of which we carried with us. He made tea, and I
had, during the last days, been so completely weaned from every
sort of enjoyment, that I already began to look forward to that
very thin potation as a real feast, until the people about me taught
me better.

The tea was just made, and I already felt a sort of malignant
pleasure at seeing the others restricted to their match ; and after
having let the cup cool a little, I was going to raise it in a similar
manner to my lips, when a general laughter, accompanied by a
loud cry of surprise, seemed to intimate that something extra-
ordinary had happened ; or that, at the very least, I was on the
point of drinking poison.

Frightened out of my wits, I stopped short, looking astonished
at the people about me ; they, however, gave me to understand, as
well as they were able, by words and signs (for my progress in
Spanish was still very imperfect), that I had just been going to
commit a horrid deed, drinking my tea with my lips from the
cup. They, therefore, categorically offered to me one of those
abominable iron tubes, and evidently expected me to sip my tea
through it as they did their match. I, indeed, wished to protest
against it ; but was outvoted amidst the most terrific noise and
clatter, and at last obliged to give in to the majority — the reader
may well imagine with what feelings.

Bodily tired by the unwonted ly long ride, and mentally only too
much excited, perhaps also with a slight touch of home-sickness,
which so readily creeps on the worn-out traveller in the dark and
quiet of the evening ; I at last threw myself down on my hard
couch, and, although I did not fall asleep at once, yet I dreamed,

RIDE OVER THE PAMPAS. 71

whilst still awake, of so many things that might cheer, but that
at such a distance do but sadden, the heart. My reveries were
soon dispelled by the natives — I mean the native fleas, real
miniature kangaroos — ^which suddenly pounced with the keenest
zest on the luckless stranger. If it could be a comfort for me to
know that my old correo likewise tossed himself to and fro on his
clay mattress, 1 certainly enjoyed that comfort. At last I fell
asleep, and when I awoke next morning, the sun was already
standing high in the heavens ; and the horses without were just
being driven into a place, enclosed with ropes, which serves in-
stead of a court-yard, where the young people, armed with their
lasso, caught those intended for use, and then drove the others
back to pasture. After having started at rather a late hour, we
made only four short stages on that day, in course of which no-
thing worth recounting happened.

On the 20th we reached the small town, called, after the river
on which it was situated, Arrecifes ; where I met with a North
American, one of the very few persons on the whole road between
Buenos Ayres and Mendoza who spoke English. He had been
in the country for many years ; was married to a most agreeable
young Spanish woman ; had settled here ; and, if I am not mis-
taken, was serving in the Argentine militia. Ho received me
most kindly, and I passed a very pleasant hour in his company.

This day I had, for the first time, to make the experience of the
utter want of consideration with which the South Americans work
their horses, without minding in the least whether the poor beast
perishes on the road or not. We had a stage of eight leagues,
the whole of which we rode at a full gallop ; the sumpter horse, of
course, being obliged to follow at the same rapid pace. I thought
this at the time very cruel, and I pitied the poor beast with all
my heart; but my compassion availed not, as I was obliged
to keep up with the correo, and, therefore, dared not spare my
own horse, however willingly I would have done so. At Fonte
Zuelas, a small settlement where we changed horses, we scarcely
rested for half an hour; and from thence we urged the animals to

72 KIDE OVER THE PAMPAS.

the same speed again, as tlie old fellow wished to reach the next
station that evening.

We were, therefore, scarcely seated in the saddle, when, as
usual, the word of command, "gallop," was given! The correo
cut with his long whip over the buttocks of the sumpter horse ;
and "fly away over the pampas," was once more the order of the
day.

I had got that evening a most wretched horse, which was always
stumbling ; so that I was obliged to proceed very cautiously.
This availed, however, only for some little time : whilst we were
sweeping at a flying pace over a large and somewhat damp and
soft meadow, my steed trod into one of those burrows which were
to be met with all over the plain, and was not able to regain its
legs again. It tumbled down, and I fell with it, but was fortunate
enough in being able quickly to draw my leg from under its
heavy bulk; luckily, neither of us seemed to have taken any
harm : scarcely a minute after, I was again sitting in the saddle ;
and, if until then I had really spared my beast, henceforth, at
least, I was no longer at liberty to be merciful. The correo, who
did not even perceive my mishap, or, if he perceived it, did not
care a pin for it, had, in the meanwhile, got a considerable start,
whilst the day was waning fast ; and I had no other choice but to
apply my whip and spurs to the jaded animal, in order to get up
with our pitiless leader. With nightfall, the fog which had for
some time spread over the pampas, became at last so dense, that
I could scarcely see the ground before me ; yet I now heard, at
no great distance before me, the three other horses, which before
had been considerably ahead, and which I had almost despaired
of reaching again ; and ere we arrived at the small cabin in which
we were to pass the night, T had again come up with them.

It was already late when we turned in, and I need not say that
I slept fast and sound without rocking.

%

THE PAMPAS. 73.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PAMPAS.

On the 21st we entered the province of Santa Fe; and what in
Buenos Ayrcs had perhaps been scarcely more than a vague
report, that " the Indians of the pampas had again risen, f«id
were threatening the settlements of the Argentines," was here fully
confirmed. The people scarcely spoke of ought but the Indians,
who were said to have " attacked a troop of soldiers and several
people besides, and to have killed them." It was very unpleasant
also to hear that they were roving about, only rarely in small
bands of eight and twelve, but mostly in larger ones, of from fifty
to a hundred and more ; and what could we three men — two being
armed only with knives — have done against such superior num-
bers ? The only chance of safety in such a case (as our old leader
assured us) was speedy flight towards the north. Flying flocks
and startled game, were said to be the first and pretty sure signs
of the dreaded arrival of the Indians ; and then all would hinge
upon the question. Who had the best and quickest horses — the
Indians or ourselves ?

The Arroyo de Pavon, a small shallow river, forms the boundary
between Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe ; and, in more than one re-
spect, we should be made aware of the difference between the two
districts. In the first place — which, however, was no business of
mine, as the correo had to manage all the financial affairs — the
Buenos Ayres paper dollars (the so-called pesos), about three-
pence in value each, were no longer current in Santa Fe ; where-
as, in Buenos Ayres, they were at that time even preferred to
silver. Henceforth, therefore, the correo had to pay for everything
in hard cash. Yet, more than this, it was here only that we first
^ reached the really wild country of the steppes, the scene of the
most frequent Indian forays ; and, indeed, the small rivulet which
separated the provinces, was also drawing a line between two dif-

74 THE PAMPAS.

t. •

ferent kinds of vegetation. The whole face of the ^pampas, as if
suddenly cut off by the small river, assumed a much more wintry
aspect than it had borne up to this point. The country which we
left behind us had been a vast uninterrupted plain, nearly as green
as our meadows in May, with rich clover and fresh grass, in which
the well-fed cattle were pasturing in immense herds. Here, how-
ever, the cattle became more rare, the flocks smaller ; the green
turf was covered with a sort of grey furze ; and on the next day,
this change became even more striking, as the face of the country
itself was more undulating, and, with its long grey slopes, tired
the eyes of the traveller.

This evening we rode until late, in order to get over as much
ground as possible in the district which was most threatened by
the Indians. Even at nightfall, we once more changed our horses ;
a thing which seemed quite repugnant to the nature of my old
correo, who generally, in the evening, made himself comfortable
as soon as it was anywise possible. If there was anything that
could startle him from his phlegm, it was the magic word, " Los
Indios ;" and whenever he heard that, he was sure not to leave
until he had heard all about it that might possibly have any
reference to his present journey.

It was already quite dark when we arrived at another small
river, with muddy banks, through which we were not able, in the
dusk, to find the ford. We rode several times to and fro, near a
bend of the river, where the correo supposed it to be, until, after
some time, I found a spot at which the old tracks of some horses'
feet were discernible, leading down to the water. Thither I rode;
yet the other two would not follow ; so that at last, tired of the
long search, I determined to try the passage. Little was want-
ing but that I should have dearl)^ paid for the attempt; for I had
just only time to lift my musket-rifle over my head, to preserve
it from wet, so quickly did my horse sink in mud and water; and
it was fortunate that I had got such a spirited and vigorous ani-
mal; for the one which I had before it would never have been able
to extricate itself from the sticky mud. Growing obstinate, I now

THE PAMPAS. 75

tried the river a second time, somewhat lower down, where I found
the water somewhat deeper, but with a hard bottom ; and here I
forded, followed by the correo and the postilion.

The rivers of these steppes are not very deep ; but their muddy
banks very often prove troublesome, and even dangerous, to the
traveller : in the wet season, they are said to be swelled to such
a height as to render the fording almost impossible. Boats, or
any sort of ferry, I have not seen in any of the rivers along the
whole course of my route.

On the morning of the 22d, the plain was covered with such a
thick fog, that my old correo would not start on any condition.
Just about that place, there seemed to be a sort of "change of
track" of the much dreaded Indians, who had before that shown
themselves in great numbers thereabout ; and not only were we
liable to the danger of losing our way and missing the next sta-
tion, which, in such weather, we could not have seen even at twenty
yards distant; but there was, in this case, also a chance of our rush-
ing into the jaws of the lion, if a troop of Indians should here be
roaming about in the neighbourhood.

At last the fog dispersed, and the view of the plain was no
longer obstructed, a circumstance of which the correo made his
very best use, keenly scanning the horizon for several minutes.
I, too, made my pocket telescope do the same duty ; and we found
that, as far as we could see to the south, the few herds still in
sight were quietly grazing, without any sign of being startled.
Our beasts, which bad long been saddled and packed, were now
brought out. " Vamos" was the cry; and scarcely touched by
the spurs, our nags flew over the steppe.

We had proceeded only a few leagues from the place, when the
whole appearance of the plain considerably changed. There was
no longer the rich pasture of clover for the cattle, its place being
taken by high rye-grass, which was already turning yellow; and
when we briskly ascended a small slope, a stag was startled from
his lair, and ran away, with his branching antlers high in the air.
. Yesterday we had not seen one head of larger game, although

76 THE PAMPAS.

there were plenty of ducks and other water-fowl ; and to-day our
eyes everywhere met with grazing or flying stags, which seemed
to have chosen the higher country for their pasture-ground. It
was a sight to gladden the heart of the sportsman, for whom,
however, a new surprise was in store soon after.

We might have ridden for about an hour or less, when I descried
before us a crowd of very strangely moving figures. " What is
this ?" I exclaimed. The postilion laughed, and pointing towards
the living mass, answered: "Avestruz" (ostriches). They were
the first wild ones which I had seen, though I had found them
tame here and there at the settlements. I was almost prompted
to put the spurs to my horse, and chase the wild, strange flock ;
but they flew with the swiftness of an arrow down southward ; and
my companion cast by far too suspicious glances towards that
point of the compass, for me to venture a run in that direction.
Besides this, we had lost much time in the morning, which it was
necessary, first of all, to make up for. Afterwards, we saw an-
other flock, but at a greater distance than the first. The game in
the steppe are exceedingly shy ; let not, therefore, the European
sportsman imagine it easy to kill much, notwithstanding the very
great quantity.

The gaucho has no fire-arms, but only the lasso and the bolas ;
and with these he is obliged to catch his game. The bolas, which
the Indian of the pampas uses also as a weapon of war, is a very
formidable instrument ; with it not unfrequently, even the bones
of a strong horse are broken. It consists of three stones, of
two to two and a half inches in diameter, tightly sewed up in ox-
skin (sometimes, also, of smaller pieces of lead) each of which is
fastened to a strap of untanned skin, about five feet long. These
three straps are fastened together in one centre. In using the
bolas, the gaucho seizes one of the balls, flourishes the two others
in a circle over his head, and then flings them before him, with
a particular bend of the arm. On being thrown, the heavy
weights fly asunder, so as to form a triangle of about eight feet in
diameter, which is wheeling around its own axis ; as soon as one

THE PAMPAS. 77.

of the stones, or the strap to which it is fastened, hits an object,
thereby meeting with resistance, the other two balls, forcibly con-
tinuing the rotatory motion, envelope and closely entwine what thus
comes in their way, and strike their victim with fatal effect. I have
seen horses, hit in this way, fall down as if struck by lightning.

On the 23d, we halted at a small to\^^l, Cruz Alta. A town, in
the European meaning of the word, we must not certainly expect
here. They are mere clusters of mud cabins, which look as if
they must necessarily melt away in the first smart shower of rain.
As to the inhabitants, I am really at a loss how to correctly pour-
tray them, without running counter to the good opinion they have
of themselves, and yet without flattering them. The young people
are, nearly all of them, vigorous, and even interesting figures, who,
in the picturesque costume of the country — only that they wear, in
too many cases, those abominable European black silk hats, with
their ponchos and cheripas — look even more picturesque and strik-
ing. But alas I I cannot say so much in praise of the fair sex. I
should be sorry to wrong the ladies of the pampas ; but what I
have hitherto seen of them, with very few exceptions, is little cal-
culated to imbue me with a favourable opinion of them. Unclean-
nes3, and disgusting habits at and after their meals, are certainly
not qualities to captivate the heart of a European. I must not,
however, leave unmentioned a circumstance which satisfactorily
accounted for the absence of young and pretty women. All the
young girls had, on account of the Indian hostilities, been removed
for safety to fortresses, or, at least, to places guarded by the mili-
tary.

Had they been present, the houses would, no doubt, have pre-
sented a more cleanly, or, at any rate, a more cheerful aspect. Yet
the men and the old women remained the same, and a warm bath
and a few cakes of sand-soap would have done all the good in the
world to every one of them.

In such small towns, one may enjoy the luxury of a chair and
a bench ; whereas, in the common cabins of the gaucho, the visitor
has to sit on the floor ; or, by a lucky chance, on horses' skulls.

78 THE PAMPAS.

brought in for the purpose, which then compose the whole furni-
ture of such a dwelling.

Their cookery itself is by no means inviting. The pampas
are so destitute of wood, that it is not to be thought of as fuel ; the
principal material, therefore, used as such, is the cow-dung, round
which bones are laid, to keep it together, in a heap. The latter,
indeed, do not burn — they only serve to concentrate the heat;
but they smell : and on this material, with its loathsome effluvia,
another bone, with some flesh on it, is laid, and broiled ; and if the
gaucho is particularly kindly disposed towards you, he takes the
bone for you from the fire, knocks the cinders off on his leg, tears
off a morsel with his own teeth, to see whether it is well done;
and you, as a polite gentleman, say, with a sickly smile : " Muchas
gracias Senor ;" and being, indeed, as hungry as the most wretched
cur, make your meal of it.

The conversation here, as everywhere, hinged on the Indians
and their dreaded attacks ; and my somewhat talkative old com-
panion told the attentive and anxiously listening town's-people all
the terrible and awful reports which he had heard inland about the
savage, bloodthirsty, tribes of the pampas ; and every word of
which, I am sure, he stoutly believed himself. I found, however,
only too soon, that those reports might not be exaggerated altoge-
ther; for, at the next place we reached, the women with their
children had fled to the nearest small towns, and the men remain-
ing behind kept watch near their flocks, and had horses ready
saddled, in order to be able, as soon as the bloodthirsty Indians
arrived, to escape, as they said, " from certain death." AVe there-
fore stopped, on account of the thick fog, again until eleven o'clock
in the morning, before the correo gave the signal for starting.
When at last, after having made about ten English miles, the
sun already standing in the zenith, we were galloping along the
steppes ; I suddenly descried, with no little astonishment, at a
distance, an object, which evidently moved straightway towards us,
but which, at first, we could not make out or guess what it was.
It might be a small compact troop of Indians ; but the nearer the

THE PAMPAS. 79

strange object approached, the more it seemed to me as if I had
at one time or other seen something like it. From the depths
of my memory, rose the vague image of those old yellow stage
coaches which used to drive at a snail's pace on the roads in
Germany, before the introduction of steam ; and here, before me,
was the identical lumbering vehicle, in all its yellow beauty, not,
however, moving at the old German rate, but drawn by six gallop-
ing horses.

The horses, which were all put to the coach by means of straps
fastened to the saddle-girth, had no other harness than a bridle
and saddle, and each was ridden by a wild gaucho, with his long
spurs and the broad heavy revenca. The whole machine was so
strange and old-fashioned, that it was quite in character when the
wrinkled face of what evidently could not be anything else in the
world but a pedagogue, adorned with an immense pair of spec-
tacles, looked out from the coach window, and questioned the correo
about the reports concerning the Indians. The old fellow, indeed,
was a living gazette of horrors, and told the schoolmaster and
the eagerly listening gauchos the most dismal news ; after which
he turned round and galloped off.

In the meanwhile, I had found out that a young lad, of about
fourteen years, was sitting in the coach, who spoke English ; and I
was, of course, anxious to hear what he might be able to tell me
about the snow of the Cordilleras. He at first would not listen to
any question of mine ; on the contrary, plying me with counter
questions, as to whether all those tales of horror were true which
the correo just before told to his professor. I at once apprized
him that there was not one word of truth in all the story, and
that the road was as safe as Buenos Ayres itself. " But how about
the Cordilleras?"

" 0, the road is quite easy," he answered ; " that is to say,
in summer, when the snow is melted."

" In summer! but I will and must cross now."

"Now!" The little fellow laughed. "Nonsense," he said.
" Now ! I cannot even get a letter from Valparaiso ; it is two

80 THE PAMPAS.

months since I liave heard from my father, who is living there ;
the Cordilleras are blocked up."

The gauchos, who, with more curiosity than patience, had
listened to our foreign lingo, now put their spurs into the sides of
their spirited horses ; which at once started off through the whirl-
ing sand with their unwieldy castle on wheels. It took me an
hour's hard ride to come up again with the correo, during which
the blocked-up Cordilleras were constantly before my mind.
The cabins at which we now arrived afforded nearly all of
them proofs of the neighbourhood of the Indians. In one of
them we found a young lad, whose father had, a short time
before, been overtaken and murdered by them ; only rarely we
found an old woman keeping house, that is to say, boiling the
match. Nearly everywhere, the women had fled to the nearest
fortified places ; not only for their own safety, but also in order
that the anxiety about them might not be a hindrance to the courage
of the men, if danger should in reality approach.

Yet not the Indians alone are dangerous to the wayfarer in the
vast steppes; the gauchos themselves, according to all accounts,
are a very wild and bloodthirsty set ; and many a murder in the
face of the day, as also many an assassination, is committed in con-
sequence of quarrels, and still oftener in gratification of revenge
and covetousness. It makes a very melancholy impression on the
travellers, to see near the road-side the many rude crosses (mere
pieces of wood tied crossways by means of straps of untanned
leather) marking the place at which a stranger or a native was
murdered. Not a day passed on which I did not see two, three,
or even more of these memento mori ; and it needed not the addi-
tional danger of an inroad of savage hordes — which might, indeed,
happen at any moment — to fill the traveller with an uncomfortable
feeling of insecurity.

On the 25th, we made twenty-two leagues, and again took up
our quarters at a solitary house ; which, however, like all the other
estancias, had its own particular name. Here filth was again
paramount : as our supper was served up in a dirty wooden basin,

THE PAMPAS. 81

the woman put under it a rag, not even spread out, but like a
crumpled pocket-handkerchief, and bearing the abundant traces
of sundry greasy feasts, intermingled with stains of soot. I was
so disgusted, as scarcely to be able to force down a few mouthfuls.
The master of the house sat by, dipping every now and then with
his fingers — which, for several months at least, had seen no water —
into our basin, to fetch out the different morsels of meat ; and — but
I will not shock the reader with a repetition of all the disgusting
details I had to see there. Filth reached its highest pitch just in
that province, for the women would pick the vermin from eacn
other's heads, and transfer them to their o\\ti mouths ; after which
they offered to me the match- tube, still fresh from their sweet lips,
I can indeed bear much, but that was rather too strong for me. It
must, however, be said, in justification of the pampas, that this
latter abominable custom is said to be peculiar to the province of
Santa Fe, whose inhabitants are even nicknamed for it by the
other Argentines.

On the 26th, the first mountains came in sight. On the right,
in the distant blue horizon, the chain of the Cordova hills was
spreading ; and we now took our direction to its extreme point.
The night we passed in a small town on the banks of the Rio
Quarto, and I had looked forward with pleasure to reaching that
place, having been told that I should find an Englishman there.
This person, however, unfortunately happened to be at Cordova ;
but, to make up for this disappointment, I had the agreeable sur-
prise of being informed that a German had been living for many
years in the place, a hatter, in very good circumstances. They
immediately sent some one belonging to the house to him, who had
to invite him to come to the " Post Hotel," as a countryman of his
had just arrived from Germany ; yet I waited in vain the whole
evening, until it was too late for me to go and look out for hira
myself. Tired as I was by the long ride, I was by no means
anxious to stroll about ; and as, moreover, the correo had told me
that we were not to start too early the next morning, I put off
my visit until the following day.

82 THE PAMPAS.

At the same time as ourselves, another correo had arrived,
coming from Mendoza, and bound for Cordova. Among his other
packages, there were four small hampers, containing each a game-
cock, which he hoped to dispose of at a very considerable price at
Cordova. The gauchos are passionately fond of cock-fighting, a
sport in wliich they seem to delight, because blood is shed at it ;
and the two correos, indeed, forgot the Indians in the first moment
of meeting, in their eagerness to discuss and extol the different
virtues and qualities of the cocks.

After this, the subject of the Indians was of course introduced ;
when the young correo told my old one, that the "pampas"
had only lately surprised Desaguadero, where they had not
found any of the men, but only one old woman. They, how-
ever, seemed to have conducted themselves tolerably well ; or, at
least, not to have stolen more than what they just wanted for their
own use.

This was by no means cheering news for us, as Desaguadero
was lying directly in our way ; on the other hand, we had also the
example of the coach which had passed us so recently, and which
had got safely through all the dangers. Why should not we, too,
speculate on our luck}^ star ?

In the evening, I wrote for some time at my diary; after which
I threw myself, tired and wearied, on my blanket, to get as much
sleep as the few hours and the numerous fleas would allow me.
Yet I had to wait for that happy result somewhat longer : the
correos had such an immense deal to say to each other, and so many
glasses to, drink together, that it several times appeared as if they
could not get, by any possible chance, to the end of it that even-
ing ; and then the cocks had to be put up for the night, in a way
that they might recover the fatigues of the journey, without being
able to get at each other.

The Cordova correo seemed to have some experience in this
matter ; for he tied up the four cocks severally in the four different
corners of the room, by one leg, leaving them thus to pass the
night as well as they were able. One of them was fastened close

THE PAMPAS. 83

by the spot where I was lying ; or, it should rather be said, that
it was impossible to be in the room without being near one of them.

At last it was quiet. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep in a
trice. I have not the least idea what o'clock it was then. I only
know that I seemed to have just fallen into a doze, when I was
awakened by a sound which, startled as I was from my sleep, I at
first took for nothing less than the war-whoop of the Indians. It
was a minute or so before I remembered that it was only my
neighbour, that blessed cock, who, in heralding the dawning morn,
developed a strength of voice which would have done honour to
the lungs of an ostrich. Before, however, I had time to turn my
wrath against him alone, he was answered, first from the second,
then from the third and fourth comers, with shrill, challenging
tones, like those of the trumpet; and then the cocks continued
executing a quartetto, which could never have been equalled in
the annals of music ; and there I lay in the midst of it, wanting
to sleep.

To get the confounded birds quiet, was not to be thought of; and
after some vain attempts, I had to content myself to poke the
nearest of the chanticleers, as often as he opened his beak, with ray
ramrod, which I had drajwn for the purpose. This did not, how-
ever, prevent him from making a new attempt the very next
moment ; and I was fully occupied for at least an hour. It must
have been a very ludicrous sight, if any one could but have seen it.

Daylight now appeared, and I felt as if all my limbs had been
on the rack ; yet I scarcely waited for the sun to rise, before I set.
out with one of the young lads of the inn, to go in search of my
countryman ; and after having passed through a couple of narrow
streets and the market-place, I soon arrived at the house.

Had I had ten miles to march, it woujd not have been too dear
a price paid for seeing this man. He was a shrivelled little fellow,
with a thin, melancholy face, and languid light-blue eyes ; he
wore an old silk hat — a screw, as the sailors call it — and a very
dirty red poncho ; instead of trousers, he had, like the Argentines,
a cheripa, with not even drawers under it, so that his bare, thin

84 TUE PAMPAS.

legs were peeping out, as with gentle reproach ; and his feet, like-
wise bare, were sticking in a pair of worn-out shoes of ox-leather.
The man, whose name was Hiiter, was born near Mentz ; having
originally been a stone-mason, he was not able to carry on his
business in the pampas, where there are no stones, except a few
pebbles now and then in the rivers. He had, therefore, taken up
the trade of a hat-maker, and, of course, taken a wife unto him-
self.

The lady presented him with an untold number of children, and
brought to him a small chandler's shop, with which he seemed to
combine, as a branch business, a sort of eating-house ; for whilst
I was there, a few soldiers came in, and ate some slices of sausage
and bread at the counter. In the course of the seventeen years
which he had lived in the country, he had become as dirty as the
natives. His house really looked awful, with every due allowance
for the early hour of the morning at which I visited him.

Although, however, after so long a stay on the pampas of South
America, he had become quite nationalized, he did not seem so
well pleased with the country as might be supposed. To hear
him talk, it seemed his fondest wish to return once to Germany.
Yet, to do this, money was required, hard cash ; and there were
immense difficulties here to earn it. Yet, whatever he said on
that subject, it did not seem to me that he was really longing to
return to Germany in particular ; all that he wanted was to leave
South America. Unfortunately, I could not chat with him as
long as I might have wished, for the correo was already prepared
for starting, and so we took leave of each other.

Our ride on the 27th led, during nearly the whole day, through
a dismal solitude ; the grass of the steppes was everywhere yellow
and withered, and winter had evidently set in here. There were
not even any wild beasts to be seen in this desolate place, where,
indeed, nature seemed as dead ; and a dreadfully long stage, be-
sides, jaded our poor animals to such a degree, that they were very
near sinking under the fatigue.

At last we reached the first rocky clift j yet the only change

THE PAMPAS. 85

seemed to be from a sandy to a stony desert. But when we had
got clear of them, we suddenly found ourselves in a valley, thrown
as by enchantment into this dreary wilderness ; trees in blossom,
a soft green turf, and life and animation everywhere ; a number of
domestic animals, turkeys, fowls, even tame ostriches : it was as
lovely a little spot as any in the whole world.

From thence our journey, with fresh horses, led for a consider-
able distance through shady ravines, overgrown with reed-grass
and underwood, and a cool rivulet was following our path. Against
this rivulet I have, however, to inform : at the time, I rode beside
it without thinking of any harm ; but since I have seen the Cali-
fornian mountains, I am convinced that it contains gold, for even
then I was struck with the large, beautiful snow-white blocks of
quartz which lay scattered on its banks ; and, as I knew after-
wards, the Carolina gold mines are not far off. I am perfectly
satisfied now, that gold may and will also be washed there as it
is in California.

Our way, on the 28th, was through a desolate steppe. The
correo, however, had heard, at Achiras, such terrible stories about
the Indians, who, a short time before, had really ventured them-
selves close to the vicinity of that garrison town, that he deter-
mined to evade his usual stage. AVe therefore saw, during the
whole day, no trodden path ; but pushed on through the sterile,
desolate pampas. Only in the background, the El Morro — not a
very lofty mountain — rose in sight; and when at last we came
near, it lay before us as rugged and barren as all the former ones.
No house was to be seen at its foot; no fence; at one point only —
and it seemed as if our way was just lying in that direction —
there stood a solitary low tree. On our right, in the distant
horizon, several mountain summits stood boldly out from the flat
country, of which the correo told me that they contained the
Carolina gold mines. " If," he added, " we had got in the way
of the Indians, we should have turned off northward through
those hills; for they do not dare to go so far in that direction.
But it is better as it is: we have a shorter road, and also saved

86 THE PAMPAS. ^

money, as there Is no post by that road, and we should have been
obliged to buy our horses."

In the meanwhile, we had approached the mountain, and sud-
denly found ourselves before a small cabin, which, being built of
stones taken from the rock, did not in the least contrast against
the background, not even by its thatch, which was composed of
weather- bleached reeds. Close before the door, even throwing its
shade on the very threshold, there stood a huge old fig-tree; and
a small fence, raised half of stone and half of wood and brambles,
was the whole complement of this small settlement. Yet the
space before the cabin was cleanly swept ; and its inside, although
containing only the most indispensable furniture, was kept in such
a tidy, neat, and comfortable state, that, after all the filth and dirt
which I had seen until now, the small space of scarcely five yards
square appeared to me like a palace; and that I relished the simple
draught of milk, which the people offered me, as heartily as I ever
did anything in my life.

A young married couple, with their old mother, were the
inmates of this peaceable and cheerful place ; and even the matron
in this isolated spot was far more neatly dressed than I had ever
seen a young girl in this country. This made so much the more
pleasing an impression, as the uncleanliness of the women espe-
cially had, until now, most painfully excited my disgust.

Riding along the foot of the mountain, we reached, after a short
stage, one of the usual small towns, which was full of soldiers.
They had everywhere built small cabins, In many Instances not
even protected from rain ; and in the midst of these inhospitable
rocks, there was much life and bustle. Wherever the eye turned,
flocks of spirited pampas ponies were pasturing, attended by small
and rather savage-looking boys, as they had always to be kept in
readiness for immediate use; and on all sides we saw watch-fires,
surrounded with groups which would have done honour to any
gipsy encampment, and whole hosts of girls and women, who
either were looking after the household affairs within the cabin, or
scouring and washing at the banks of a small brook.

THE PAMPAS. 87

We got here three fresh horses, two of which proved good
enough ; the third, however, which unfortunately fell to my lot,
could not be brought to stir after the third league. Had the
Indians surprised us that day, I should simply have had to give
myself up for lost, for the correo would have cared very little for
me indeed. But, as at last the horse came to a dead stand, after
the old fellow had been wondering for half an hour at the uncom-
mon activity of my whip, he very likely began to believe that it
was not the fault of the horse, but mine ; and he came back, gave
me his horse, and got into my saddle to try his fortune. Yet,
although, what I had not wished to do, he stuck his sharp, terrible
spurs deep into the flanks of the poor beast, so that his yellow
leather boots were bespattered all over with blood ; it was not
able to move a step. He therefore sent the postilion, who had
before been most innocently assailed with the vilest abuse on the
score of the useless animal, about half a mile farther north, to
where eight or nine other horses were quietly grazing. As good
luck would have it, the lad succeeded in approaching the unsus-
pecting steeds to within a lasso throw : with his heavy valise, on
the croup of his own horse, he would never have been able to pur-
sue them ; but when the noose was once whirling round his head,
it was too late for the victim to fly. He caught one of the most
vigorous of the flock; a splendid small stallion, which, after a
struggle of a few moments, submitted to its fate, at least so as to
allow the three of us to place the saddle on its back, and then to
let me mount it. , Yet it scarcely felt at liberty to raise its head,
when it again began to rear, and immediately after to plunge ;
until, keeping my seat, I succeeded, by means of spurs and revenca,
in subduing it so far, that it directed its zeal into a better channel,
flying along with me, as if we were to reach Mendoza that very
evening. My two companions were left far behind, and for a long
time were not able to come up with me. That evening, I was to
see also a sample of the Argentine sport of hunting the partridge,
of which I certainly had no idea before. A covey of the small
birds of the steppes started close before us, and one of them sepa-

88 THE PAMPAS.

rating from the others, descended about a hundred paces from us,
at a spot which was marked by a few short tufts of grass. The
old correo rnade me a sign to follow him at some distance ; and
brandishing the long but short-handled whip like a lasso round
the head, he avoided the place where the partridge had alighted,
galloping round it in a wide circle, which he more and more
narrowed while continually brandishing the whip, and keeping his
eye on the bird ; which, deprived of cover, and cowed by the whiz-
zing whip-cord, was crouching on the short grass of the turf, until
the horse itself was close to it, and the heavy whip- handle hit the
poor little trembling creature with a smart and sure blow. With-
out alighting, the correo then took up the still fluttering bird from
the ground, merely stooping down, but remaining with his right
foot in the stirrup ; after which, he again raced away over the
steppes, at the same furious rate as before.

It was rather late when we reached the Rio Quinto, where we
put up for the night at somewhat cleanlier quarters than we had
had until now. Next morning, at starting, our postilion, as
the people had done several times before, took a thin slice of raw
beef, and laid it (why should I not tell it to the reader, as I was
obliged to eat it ?) under his own seat on the saddle : it is true, he
first spread over it, for the sake of cleanliness^ an old untanned
sheep-skin, which perhaps had for years served as a saddle-cloth ;
yet even this gradually shifted ; after which, the cheripa of the
postilion remained its only somewhat doubtful cover. " I could
not have eaten a morsel of this," I hear you exclaim. Well, my
dear reader, when one has galloped sixty or eighty English miles,
the stomach craves for food in some shape or other ; and if you then
cannot get anything else, you will be at last reconciled even to
such meat.

In the afternoon, we met a Mendoza caravan, which was bound
for Buenos Ayres. Some thirty large waggons were lumbering
close behind one another, by the side of which the guards and
escort were walking, with their long lances on their shoulders ;
the drivers of the oxen, sometimes with a loaded gun by their side,

THE PAMPAS. 89

were seated in the front part of the waggons, looking sleepily at the
cattle. These waggons are poised on two immense wheels, some-
times of the height of ten feet. They are otherwise lightly built ;
and although the frame is constructed of hard wood, the sides con-
sist of plaited reeds only, and the top is covered with skins. These
high wheels may be useful, even indispensable, in the pampas,
the soil of which, in many places, is very marshy. Six or eight
oxen are generally harnessed to one vehicle, in pairs, each pair
having a double yoke, consisting of one piece, fastened to their
necks.

The manner in which they drive their cattle is very ingenious,
and quite adapted to the general laziness of the southrons. The
long whip of the Hottentot would be much too troublesome to them ;
for which reason they have, in its stead, a very long pole of Bra-
zilian bamboo, measuring, at its root, four inches and upwards
in diameter. As this pole would likewise be too troublesome to
handle, it is suspended in front by another pole, and, with a dart
fastened at its point : the driver is thus able easily to goad the fore
most animals of the team; whilst another steel dart is hanging down,
just at the spot where, by pressing down the pole, the carter may
touch with it the second pair of the team. For the animals near-
est to the waggon, there is a weaker and shorter pole lying by his
side, which is more conveniently handled.

The waggons carry, in such caravans, the produce of Mendoza,
which is the granary of the Argentine republic, to the capital.
The principal goods are flour and wine, besides dried fruit, raisins,
&c. ; underneath the waggon, where the high wheels leave con-
siderable space, they carry through the pampas their firewood ;
and behind, a tall peculiar jug is fastened, in which they keep
their drinking-water, taking it from one river to the other,
through the brackish plains, which were now lying before us, and
also sometimes even farther. If they are threatened by Indians —
for they are sometimes several months on their road — they quickly
form a square, into the middle of which they drive their cattle,
defending themselves from the cars, as they have always fire-arms

90 THE PAMPAS.

with them. This mode of entrenchment, especially with their
great number, is almost always sufficient ; and before the savages
are able to gather in great masses, and to become really danger-
ous to them, it is easy for the travellers to reach one of the small
towns scattered all over the pampas, and to obtain the assistance
of the military. Of course they made very anxious inquiries
about the Indians, and my old correo, to comfort them, told the
most awful tales.

Our next stage was San Luis, the capital of the province of the
same name, where I hoped to find Germans ; yet, unfortunately, I
was disappointed. We reached the place in the afternoon ; and
just when we emerged from the low^ plain, and were galloping on
the narrow ridge on which San Luis is situated, I saw afar, in the
blue horizon, an immense chain of mountains. It was the Cor-
dilleras, which, however, must have been distant at least a hun-
dred and fifty miles.

San Luis has, of late, suffered much by an earthquake, and a
number of houses were rent from top to bottom : yet this seems
very nearly the only stir which sometimes occurs in that little
town ; as otherwise the streets were completely desolate, and the
few men whom we chanced to meet, looked quite astonished at
the strangers. In San Luis there is neither a German nor Eng-
lishman (except one very old Briton, who was said to have lived
in the country for upwards of forty years). There are some
French and Italians, who, as much as I could gather from them,
have very strong intentions to emigrate to California. A lake
of not very considerable extent is said to exist in the neighbour-
hood of San Luis, with such a powerful whirlpool in its centre,
that no boat must venture to cross it :. so at least I was told; yet,
unfortunately, I heard of it too late to be able to visit the lake
myself.

The correo received from the governor of San Luis a piece of
information, which not a little dismayed, but at the same time
astonished him. After having delivered his despatches, and
joined us at the small house where we had taken up our quarters,

THE PAMPAS. 91

he congratulated me and himself for having luckily escaped from
considerable danger. The governor — as the correo told me —
had, scarcely an hour before, received intelligence that the savages,
at the very hour when we were riding towards the El Morro,
crossed the same plain in a troop of about two hundred men, in
the direction of the mountains to the north, which the correo had
at that time considered as so safe. They were even said to be
now scouring those mountains, led by white men. People at San
Luis supposed them to be Unitario refugees, who wanted to
waylay the correo, as he was known, in times of Indian disturb-
ances, usually to follow the northern road; and they would not
have made a despicable capture, as, in the heavy valise which the
postilion had buckled to his saddle, he carried, besides the des-
patches, a considerable quantity of Spanish gold.

Had we fallen into their hands, they could not, if there were
really white men among them, have spared our lives, without
exposing themselves to the danger of being betrayed, and of
having the whole of the Argentine military force on their heels.
We, therefore, owed our escape only to our having kept the
nearest and roost common road; and I only hope and pray, that
they may have spared the small peaceful cabin at the foot of the
mountain. From San Luis, however, cavalry were despatched in
all haste, if possible to cut them off from their own people, or, at
any rate, to drive them away from the neighbourhood of the settle-
ments.

The road of San Luis led through nothing but low brambles,
and the country about seemed arid and desolate. It was dread-
fully sandy, and we galloped during the whole day enveloped in
an immense cloud of dust.

On the following day, the surrounding country became even
more dreary and desolate, a real desert of furze, low myrtles, and
sand ; no cool shady oasis offering to man or beast its refreshing
hospitality. During the whole stage of more than twelve leagues,
we did not see a living creature, except once a sparrow, and some
time after a carrion kite; and the latter swept so quickly and

92 THE PAMPAS.

hungrily over the dry shrubs, as if he were seeking the other,
and could not find him. In the evening, however, we received,
in the shape of a water-melon, at least some sort of compensation
for our long and fatiguing ride, and for the incalculable quanti-
ties of dust which we had swallowed, not even having the comfort
of a hearty draught of water; as all the springs which we found
here were brackish, and near the small pools which we met with
now and then, there was quite a crust of salt-petre covering the
banks. The melon, therefore, was doubly grateful to our inward
man ; and I slept calmly and sweetly, without once awaking the
whole night, the first in the course of which we were not tor-
tured by fleas.

On that day we made two stages, one of thirteen, the other of
sixteen leagues; that is to say, more than ten German miles with
one horse, almost all the way at a gallop. I was only astonished
that the sumpter horse stood it. On the following day, however,
we had to make the experience that all sumpter horses have not
such giant strength. We passed through just as desolate a
desert as the day before, only that the road lay along the banks
of a river, which at least gave us the cheering prospect of water.
We wished to make a stage of about ten leagues ; but the sump-
ter horse, whose raw back, covered with blood and suppuration,
had, from the first starting, bent under the new burden, was not
able long to bear up with the torment. As there is no pasture
there, the poor animals are worn out with starvation even without
working; it was therefore no- wonder that our sumpter horse was
completely broken down when we were only half-way on our
stage. Indeed, now its burden was taken from it and loaded on
one of the stronger beasts ; itself was to carry the postilion only ;
yet it was even too weak for that, and we were obliged to leave it
behind, together with its rider, at a spot where it would not even
find one blade of grass to feed on. The poor postilion had not a
morsel of bread, nor any cover besides his thin poncho, to pass
the night in the open air. Yet the correo had not the least
compassion either on him or the horse. The one was, indeed, only

THE PAMPAS. 93

a beast, and the other only a peon, a serf whom the South Ame-
rican scarcely holds in higher estimation than he does the cattle.
On the 23d of July, we reached, late in the evening, after a
long journey, which had been dreadfully fatiguing for the horses,
the small toAvn of "Pescara 6rodeo Chacon," the last stage
before Mendoza, from which it is distant about twenty-three
leagues. I grew, indeed, more and more curious to see the latter
town, as everything that I had until now met with in the country
was sure to have been brought from Mendoza. Even the bread
came from thence, and a very fine-flavoured and strong wine,
grown at Mendoza, was drunk in the country. The road led
through a much more cheerful neighbourhood, and the horses
were kept in enclosed pastures which afforded them most nutri-
tious food. We might, therefore, rely on getting well-fed and
vigorous animals. Next morning, to reach Mendoza in good
time, we started two hours before the dawn of day. It was
pitch dark, and the road showed very feeble and indistinct traces
among the low shrubs ; yet the postilion, a peon from the settle-
ment itself, who might have been supposed to know the where-
abouts here, was riding ahead to keep the horses in the right
track. This went on very glibly for about half an hour ; when
suddenly I perceived, from the carry of the clouds, which I had
been observing in want of better employment, that we were
changing our direction to the north. Immediately after, the
postilion declared that he had lost his way; and when, turning to
the right, we found it again, he, without further ado, turned his
horse round to the east, from whence we had come. Nor would
the two men believe me that they had taken a wrong direction,
until I got off my horse, struck a light, and proved to them by
the compass that we were facing the east. We therefore turned
round once more, and followed from thence, with greater atten-
tion, the feeble and scarcely distinguishable track, until the sun
shone upon our road, bearing me fully out in my assertion.

From the place where we had passed the night, the first ten
leagues still led us through a sandy country, overgrown with

94 THE PAMPAS.

brambles, low myrtle, and other small shrubs. Soon, however,
high avenues of poplar trees, which rose from the distant plain,
announced the neighbourhood of numerous settlements; and we
now reached a succession of plantations, most pleasantly relieved
by orchards, fields, meadows, and vineyards. Whole flights of
wild parrots swept screeching from one field to the other; hosts of
turtle-doves sat cooing in fig and peach-trees ; and well-fed cattle
everywhere bore testimony to the bliss of well-regulated industry.

After having changed horses, we rode along a sort of avenue or
broad high road, which was leading to a small hill, from which a
prospect on the low land must open before us. We had excellent
spirited horses, which carried us on at a tremendous pace on the
level road. Now we reached the first open spot : a plain, covered
with dwellings and plantations, extended before us as far as the
eye could reach ; and yonder ! — T reined in my horse, almost
frightened. But how should I attempt to describe with words
what, in the first moment, seemed to me rather the vision of a
dream than reality — a sight which richly indemnified me for all
the toils and troubles I had undergone !

As far as my eye could range the horizon to the right and
the left, the blue ridge of hills extended, which I had recognised
at a distance as the Cordilleras; but on its top lay that strange
cloudy stratum which I had at first mistaken for a mass of fog,
and which now stood out as a mass of rocks, with snow- covered
cliffs, over which a heavy mist was hovering; and, towering above
all this, high above the clouds, glittered the gigantic ice-bound
peaks and summits; the heavens resting, as it were, on their
battlements.

My companions had, in the meanwhile, gained a considerable
start, and I had to think how I should again overtake them.
Putting, therefore, the spurs into my horse, I rode along on the
gently sloping undulating plain, which extended towards Mendoza.
The nearer we approached the town, the more animated became
the scenery; and we met with numerous caravans of mules, as
also single horsemen, conveying and escorting the produce of

THE PAMPAS. 95

their farms to the town, or transporting larger quantities of wine,
flour, dried fruit, oranges, spirits, &c., to the interior of the
country. Looking on the vast cuhivated plain, dotted everywhere
with comfortable farm-houses and small villas, one could under-
stand why Mendoza was called the granary and storehouse of the
whole Argentine republic ; and it might have been fondly hoped
that, in such a paradise, man could not but live in happiness and
innocence.

" Companero," my old courier, who now rode close by mj
side, suddenly said to me, pointing aloft with his right hand,
" Just look there V* I looked, and again I reined in my horse —
this time, however, not from astonishment, but from a feeling of
dismay and horror; for, close by the road was a long thick pole
stuck in the ground, slanting somewhat towards the highway, and
from its top the bearded blanched face of a human head, with
wildly dishevelled black hair, presented itself to our dismayed
glance.

" A robber and assassin, who had killed a whole family." Thus
ran the tale of the correo. " It was just on this spot that he and
his mates, favoured by the marsh, perpetrated most of the outrages
against the travellers. The governor caused his head to be exhi-
bited here, since which time there have not been many similar
attacks heard of in this part of the country; his arms, hands, and
legs, are likewise gibbeted in other places." My pleasure was
very much spoiled by this ghastly sight. Murder everywhere
meets us in the whole of the republic; and those numbers of
crosses, the dumb accusers of shed blood, which I had daily fallen
in with on my road, now appeared to me like the bloody traces of a
deed of horror, which I had pursued as far as here, and the end of
which I had now reached.

In the afternoon, about two o'clock, we rode into the broad
cheerful streets of Mendoza. The town is entirely built in the
old Spanish fashion, with low, flat-roofed houses, but much more
cleanly than Buenos Ayres; and every house seemed to me like
that of a friend, after having passed through the pampas and their

96 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

terrors. Here I might rest from all the toils of the road, and it
was even promised that I should find some countrymen in this
agreeable little mountain town.

CHAPTER VII.

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

The intelligence, which I here gathered on the spot concerning
the Cordilleras and the winter journey across them, was almost
as discouraging and full of horrors as that given to me at Rio
de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres : only that the people here were
unanimous in stating that the Cordilleras were by no means closed,
and that the passage might be attempted, and even effected, any
day; but that, if the traveller were overtaken by a snow-storm
on his road, he was lost, and might deem himself fortunate to be
only frozen to death, and not starved.

I had tarried eight days at Mendoza, looking out for a guide to
conduct me across the Cordilleras ; whilst everybody advised me
rather to wait until the correo of St. Jago came over, with whom
I might go, not only more cheaply, but likewise more safely.
Yet I felt as if I could no longer rest in the Argentine republic.
I longed to rejoin my vessel ; and I had heard so much of the
"terrible dangers" of the mountains, of being frozen to death, of
being blinded, and killed, that I became at last quite tired of it,
and indifferent to the most awful representations.

One thing, indeed, frightened me a little at first — the madly
extravagant charge demanded by the first guide whom I met with,
namely, three hundred dollars ; and then I should have to cross
the mountains on foot. Yet he said, that, at the present time,
the journey was fraught with so many difficulties and dangers,
that he — the good man at once abating one-third of his de-
mand— could not possibly do it for less than two hundred dollars.
Even this went sadly beyond the length of my purse, and I had

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 97

to look out elsewhere. In this way, however, time was lost ; and
unless I wished to loiter about for a week longer, I was obliged
to agree to the somewhat more moderate but still heavy conditions
of another guide, who asked only five uncias (about eighty-five
Spanish dollars), besides his victuals, which was an affair of about
five dollars more, as the traveller has to provide for the perilous
eventuality of a snow-storm. The man, besides, pleaded, that five
uncias was a very moderate price, at any rate in this season, when
he had to risk his life ; and that it was only fair he should be paid
for the venture. The price of uncias was very different at Men-
doza from what it was at Buenos Ayres, where the Argentine,
Chili, and Mexican doubloon were worth sixteen dollars ; whilst
at Mendoza the Argentine and Mexican were current at seventeen,
and the Chili at eighteen dollars.

After having once settled with my guide, I busied myself in
procuring the necessary provisions, which consisted principally of
dried meat, called charque, which the Argentines prepare for the
purpose. This dried meat, in itself firm and hard, is beaten with
hammers, until it looks like thick pasteboard, and is just as easy
to masticate; after which it is screwed into small parcels, forming
at last a stone-like and heavy mass, the flakes of which splinter
off like those of mica; and there is, indeed, in this manner, a not
inconsiderable amount of nutriment compressed into a very small
compass. A countryman of mine, a Mr. Rhode, or, as the
Spaniards called him, Don Carlos, having kindly procured some
flour, we hired a girl who was expert in baking, and who made
it into a kind of hard but excellent biscuit. These, with some
onions, red pepper, a small box of roasted and ground coffee, and
an iron boiler, completed our travelling culinary preparations.

So much had been said of the dazzling snow of the Cordilleras,
and of people having become blind by it, that Don Carlos — how
Schiller's ideal poetry was changed by the application of this
name into prose reality! — insisted upon furnishing me with a pair
of green spectacles; even the guide assured me that I should have
some use tor them, for he had made the journey several times,

98 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

■without being able to accustom himself to the dazzling snow. T
shook my head, remembering our German snow-fields ; but put
the spectacles in my pocket, considering that the natives must
know their country better than myself.

Before leaving this really " red republic," I had to experience
the fact, that the Argentine state is ruled by the police. Although
my passport was vised at Buenos Ayres for Valparaiso, I was
obliged to take here a new one for that town, and — passports being
dearer at Mendoza than horses — to pay for it five and a quarter
Spanish dollars. When I protested against it, referring to my
passport already vised for Valparaiso, the employes of the police
coolly remarked, " that they had nothing whatever to do with
Buenos Ayres" (the capital of the Argentine republic!) ; and as I
was not able to contest this rather startling assertion, they de-
manded payment in the current coin of the country.

I was very much amused with the transaction at the police
office, which I too was not allowed to enter without a scarlet hat-
band, and a ribbon of the same colour in my button-hole. My
"permit" at leave the Argentine republic was signed in five
different rooms, by five different people ; it was like an album,
and four times was emblazoned on it the motto of the Argentine
republic, " Viva la Confederacion Argentina^ mueran los salvajos
Unitarios."

But it is time to start for Valparaiso, otherwise I shall lose my
ship, which, perhaps, is there already in the harbour, and which
wdll not wait for me; but after having, with all possible speed,
taken in water and provisions, will sail, as fast as wind and tide
will carry her, to San Francisco. Off, then, across the Cordil-
leras !

On Wednesday, 11th July 1849, we at last set out for the
next stage, only one league distant, in company with two Ger-
mans whose acquaintance I had made at Mendoza. The guides
generally do so, in order to be at once clear of the town next
morning, and to be able to start by dawn of day. Here we
drank a couple of flasks of the delicious wine of the country, as a

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 99

parting cup ; and when my two friends had returned home, I laid
myself down on my blanket, to get a couple of hours' rest from
the short night. The first halt passed quietly without any inci-
dent worth noticing : we slept outside the house without any fire,
although it was rather cold ; yet I was only too happy at least
to have proceeded so far towards my destination, and I enjoyed a
sound sleep.

The moon shone bright and clear in the heavens when, on
Thursday morning, we sprang into our saddles. Our small cara-
van was composed of my guide, a native of Chili, in a green poncho,
otherwise forbidden in the Argentine republic; two ^^ peons," or
servants, one of whom was to carry my luggage, and the other
provisions and some coals ; and, lastly, myself. The morning
was fresh and delightful; on our left were the noble mountains,
behind which, from a distance, the white snowy summits met the
eye; and on our right stretched the plain, which, to speak the
truth, was not very picturesque. At last the sun rose in the east,
casting its golden rays on the snow-fields of the Cordilleras,
which then began to glisten as if on fire, with a rose-coloured
halo rising from them into the sky ; the birds were chaunting
their morning hymn, the dew glittered like diamonds on the leaves,
and the delightful morning imparted new vigour to our horses,
which were briskly galloping on. Even my companions, whose
looks were by no means very gentle and prepossessing, began to
sing and to whistle, and seemed likewise to enjoy the enchanting
scenery.

On the right hand, close to the road, there stood an isolated
cabin, and a tall willow tree before it ; thither our guides sud-
denly turned off, stopped before the tree, and muttered a prayer.
I looked at them in surprise ; but when they had finished, one
of the peons at once grinned at me, and pointed up to the tree,
saying," una bota" (a boot). I looked, and saw, nailed on one
of the branches, a human leg cut off at the knee, belonging to
the same criminal whose skull had before that grinned at me
from the pole. With horror I turned away from the half-decom-

100 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

posed and half-dried limb, put my spurs to my horse, and gal-
loped off, followed by the laughter of the others.

Thus my morning was again spoiled, and I was very glad
when we approached the mountains, where new objects could not
but suggest new thoughts. The most effectual means to direct
my mind, was the game which abounded even at a small distance
from the town ; we saw many guanacas, the lamas of the Cordil-
leras, and also some ostriches ; which, however, were very shy,
and used to run off as soon as they got sight of the horses.

Besides this, I found great amusement in observing my com-
panions, especially the two peons who were carrying my luggage.

The Chilenese vaquiano showed no marked characteristics : he
was of sturdy, thick- set frame, wrapped in his green poncho,
trimmed with a gay border; his low forehead, covered with a
broad-brimmed straw hat, and his rather dull face looking list-
lessly, now over his right, and then over his left shoulder, whilst
he was riding ahead of us. The two peons, on the other hand,
reminded me very forcibly of two " stage brigands." One of
them, a dry, droll fellow, but with a gallows physiognomy, if
there ever was one, only rarely allowed his face to relax into a
smile ; whilst the other, a smaller and younger lad, was con-
stantly on the roar at the stories told by his comrade. The
former was an Argentine, and the second a Chilenese; both, how-
ever, wore the Argentine costume, with the large knife stuck in
the girdle, of which, I have not the least doubt, they would, on a
fitting occasion, have made very fitting use.

All four of us were mounted ; this time, however, not on horses,
but on mules. Thirteen leagues from Mendoza, we first met with
the last slopes of the Cordilleras ; yet no tree cheered the eye : low
bushes only were growing in the valleys ; and on the declivities,
goats, and sometimes also cows and mules, were browsing on the
scanty herbage. Water, however, seemed particularly rare in
this neighbourhood; and we really had some difficulty in finding,
in the evening, a convenient place for encamping. It was already
dark when we reached a rather steep wall of rocks, under the

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 101

shelter of which we were ahle to light a fire and to broil a piece
of guanaca flesh ; without, however, a sufficient store of wood for
keeping up a fire during the whole night. After having finished
our meal, we were obliged to let it go out ; and wrapping our-
selves up in our blankets, and each using his saddle as a pillow,
we betook ourselves to rest, as well as we could under such cir-
cumstances. The evening before, it had not been very cold, and
I was still used to the warm nights of Mendoza. I therefore took
no particular care in arranging my couch according to the strict
rules of mountain and forest life ; but just threw myself down on
one blanket, and covered myself with the other. For this I
paid a heavy penalty: I was shivering all night, which I did
not know at first how to account for, until next morning I found
the water in the tin cup by my side frozen.

The first sign of our having entered the mountain regions made
itself observable here, and we soon found more of them. The
brook, along the banks of which we had to ascend, was every-
where covered with ice ; so that my mule, on several precipitous
places, lost its footing, and threatened to fall, but was every time
goaded into new exertions by the mere shout of the guides, " 0
mula I 0 mula 1 "

We ascended, or rather climbed, higher and higher, until we
reached the summits of the first range of hills, covered with thin
snow. These hills are not yet the Cordilleras proper, but are
called the Piojos of the Cordilleras. Here I found, in the snow,
the tracks of guanacas, and of the puma, or American lion, which
seems to be fond of ranging the mountains.

On the highest crest of these hills, a panorama suddenly opened
before us, which I shall never forget as long as I live : at our
feet lay the valley, from which the Cordilleras rose in steep,
sharply- defined declivity ; the colossal heights enveloped in the
white glittering raiments of snow, and towering into the clouda
with their immoveable peaked crowns. Over this magnificently
grand winter-landscape, the sky expanded in a serene blue vault ;
yet the wind swept with icy coldness over the crest of the hill on

102 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

which we were standing. We now rode down hill again, and,
leaving the first snow behind us, we soon descended into a sunny,
smiling valley, where green shrubs of myrtle, for some time at
least, replaced the naked, barren rocks. The sun shone here
with congenial warmth; and following, during the last hour, the
course of a small river, we reached, about evening, a house where
the mules, which, during the last days, had to content themselves
with very short commons, found excellent pasture, and ourselves
a capital glass of Mendoza.

This was the house farthest west in the Argentine republic ;
and here we supplied ourselves, for a farewell cup, with a couple
of horns full of that wine, which we hung over the neck of the
horse before the saddle. This way of carrying liquids is as
original as it is practical. A pair of common bullock's horns,
of course as large as can be procured, are evenly sawed through
at the roots;, a wooden bottom is firmly set in, and fastened with
pitch; then the hard pointed top is perforated, and a stopper put
in, and the flask is complete. Two such flasks are tied together
with a short strap of undressed skin, which here, to all intents
and purposes, supplies the place of string; and in this way they
are hung over the saddle. From Buenos Ayres already I had
taken a couple of such twin bottles, only smaller ones, filled with
canna (the first runnings of rum, and one of the lightest and most
pleasant spirits); and the old correo, who likewise seemed not
particularly fond of the water of the steppes, was a very frequent
customer of the delicious tap. He had bound it — of course merely
to oblige me — on his own horse; and he would have liked it even
better, had not that stupid cork always made such a squeaking noise
whenever he fell a little in the rear to look after his saddle or har-
ness. I found afterwards that he approved of this canna even better
than of match, which he generally seemed to drink only from polite-
ness. Speaking of match, I am thankful to say that I had taken
leave of it, as in these parts wine was the general beverage; and
my lips were only now covering with a new skin, after having
been sore for several weeks. Next morning, Sunday, the 14th of

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 103

July, we set out early, in the direction of the entrance of the
Cordilleras, by a small valley which the Tucunjado had broken
through the rocks. We kept on the left side of this mountain
torrent; and I saw with amazement, that the traces of the river,
which at present was so low, rose to a height of thirty, and even
forty feet, bearing testimony to the terrible floods with which it
had swamped the nearest low lands.

The mountains, indeed, presented here a wonderful sight. The
compact mass of the Cordilleras lay before us, rising, as it were,
perpendicularly on high, overtopped by peaked snow-covered
summits. Yet it did not look as if the snow had fallen down
upon these mountains, but the whole of the upper part seemed to
consist of snow and ice, glittering and beaming in the bright
sunlight; and in some places only, where the precipice was so
scarped and smooth that not a flake could have adhered to it, the
old mountain showed its bare limbs, marking thereby the immense
layers of the snow which had been blown into its peaks, filling
ravines within which there would have been room for other
mountains.

In the beginning, the road was tolerable; stony and steep
enough, but broad and not dangerous. The farther we proceeded,
the heavier became our ascent, the mountains more and more
closing in on both sides ; so that our path, which suddenly became
quite narrow, began to wind along the brink of steep precipices;
and the mules had no longer any choice of road, but were confined
to a very small track. We frequently passed spots where, on our
left hand, the valley lay many hundred feet below us ; and on our
right, the rugged rock hemmed us in with an insurmountable
barrier. Yet, so many new objects engaged my attention, that at
first I scarcely took any notice of the road.

Here I saw the first condor, and for the first time I formed
some idea of the immensity of these mountains, when the colossal
bird, which had passed us so close that I could hear the sharp
flap of its wings, flew over towards the opposite slope, which I
had thought only two hundred yards distant, and gradually looked

104 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

smaller and smaller, until it dwindled to the size of a young raven,
without having reached its goal.

That night we passed on the confines of the snow region; and
as we had no fuel to make up a good fire, we found it tolerably
cold; but being accustomed to rough it in the open air, I arranged
my couch, with the help of my blankets and saddle, so well, that
I slept warm and comfortable until the next morning ; and the
guide, who had so often before passed the Cordilleras, most flatter-
ingly remarked, " that if I did not know anything else, I certainly
knew how to make my bed."

Our animals fared very badly. Not a blade of grass grew here
with which they might have refreshed themselves. Only here
and there, patches of yellow, straw-like brambles luxuriated, in
spots where, perhaps years before, the dung of mules had accumu-
lated. To get a draught of water, they had to scramble down
several hundred feet on a slope covered with rolling stones ; then
quench their thirst, at the risk of their lives, at the bottom of the
ravine ; and afterwards, tired as they were, climb up again, with
not one mouthful for their supper. When I expressed my com-
passion for them, the guide coolly observed: "0, it is to-day,
only the first evening. They do not mind it yet; but if it lasts
much longer, they certainly become much distressed. However,
they are tough beasts, and will put up with an immense deal of
fatigue."

Having now fairly entered the snow region, we made, on Sunday
the 15th of July, only a very short stage ; for the peons, instead
of completing their preparations at Mendoza, had neglected every-
thing, and now wasted a whole day in making charcoal, and in
getting their snow-shoes ready. Let not, however, the reader
mistake those for the contrivances in use in North America.
Here, on the Cordilleras, the legs are merely wrapt closely round
with a soft sheep's skin, to which is added a thick sole of bullock's
skin ; which, as the result proved, is most admirably adapted to
the climate and the circumstances. We had waited a considerable
time for our guide at the hill where we were encamped, and where

A WINTER JOUENEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 105

we manufactured our charcoal ; yet he had fallen in the rear about
an hour ago. At last he came, carrying under his poncho some-
thing which seemed rather heavy and bulky. At first I thought
it was coals ; but he opened his poncho, and showed to me an
immense quantity of most excellent raisins. "When 1 inquired
where he had got them, he pointed with a laugh to a rock not
far distant, and likewise covered with snow. I went to see this
wonder of vegetation in the midst of these dreary wastes of snow;
but I found no vines, as I had been innocent enough to expect:
only some twenty chests with raisins, which a party of travellers
had been obliged to leave behind here, to save the men and mules.

Not far from this spot, as my guide told me, there was a house
at the so-called Punta del Vaca, where we were to pass that night.
When, however, we reached it, about one hour before sunset, I
was sorely disappointed; for we found only a small, low, double
cabin, roughly built of stones, and covered with branches and
earth, with an opening in front. All round, the deep snow was
lying ; nor was there any wood to light a fire, the whole amount
of available fuel consisting in a few coals, left behind here by
former travellers.

On the next morning, we were early prepared for setting out;
but, to my great astonishment, the guide did not at all look as if
he intended to set his foot on the snow ; and, indeed, he had no
such intention. He now told me that he would return here with
the mules ; and that I and the peons were to proceed on our way
without him. On the other side of the Cordilleras, I should be
supplied by his father, who was living there, with new horses,
which would carry me to Valparaiso.

I spoke too little Spanish to make any serious opposition ; and,
to tell the truth, I did not care much what he did, provided that
he fulfilled his engagement on the other side of the Cordilleras.
After having, therefore, completed all my precautionary measures
against the snow, I started with the two peons, to get as speedily
as possible over our difficult, and, in case of a snow-storm, also
really dangerous journey.

106 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

For it must be said, tbat there was no end to the terrible tales
of accidents, which were said to have happened during the winter
journeys across the Cordilleras, and of numbers of persons blinded
by the snow, or frozen to death. One story I heard, of a whole
body of conquered troops having fled, during the Argentine wars,
into the mountains, in order to escape to Chili ; which, in the small
scattered stone houses, had miserably perished with hunger and
frost. Yet, notwithstanding all these discouraging tales, we
pushed on, and soon found that they must have been grossly
exaggerated. I was heading the procession, the servants follow-
ing; for, being loaded with my saddle and provisions, they found
it easier to avail themselves of the path trodden by me. Yet,
although the deep snow would not allow any great speed, we
advanced briskly enough ; and if ever we wished to rest, we sat
comfortably down on the snow, or on a rock from which the snow
had been drifted. For this purpose, the travellers wear a sheep-
skin girded round their waist, and hanging down behind ; so that
they may sit down on it, without fear of catching cold on the damp
and frozen ground.

From morning to evening we had, indeed, made only four
leagues, yet we were as much exhausted as if it had been six-
teen ; and, indeed, wading through the deep snow is exceedingly
toilsome, especially where there is no firm footing. In the even-
ing, we turned in at a so-called casucha. These are small, simple
cabins, built of bricks, with vaulted roofs, offering to the wayfarer
a shelter in case of a snow-storm. For this purpose they are
raised on a pediment of about ten or twelve feet high, which is
ascended by a flight of steps. This prevents them from being
choked up with the drifting snow. The only accommodation
which they have to boast of consists in the four bare walls; water
is near at hand, but every one is obliged to bring his own fuel, if
he wants a fire. It not unfrequently happens that, in a very
severe snow-storm, travellers are weather-bound in them for a
fortnight, or even a month; and many have thus perished with
cold and hunger. Yet without thero the traveller would be lost,

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 107

to a certainty, as the dreadful snow-drifts would soon cover and
destroy him. In the territory of the Argentine republic, the
intervals between these casuchas is rather too great; so that any
one who is surprised by a snow-storm between them, may be very
thankful if he escapes with his life.

We found some coals in this casucha, so that we had not at
once to break into our small store ; and we procured some boiling
water for tea, and for a charque-soup. The culinary preparations
were certainly not very enticing. The charque, or dried meat,
was 80 hard beaten, and so tough, that it had to be pounded be-
tween two stones, and then dissolved in hot water, to be eatable
at all. At this stage of the preparations, the flesh was put in a
cow-horn; some chopped onions, salt, and red pepper put to it; and
then the boiling water poured over the mixture, which by this
process is instantaneously changed into soup. The reader must,
however, bear in mind that these operations were performed by
one of the peons ; both of whom, as far as they could help it,
would never put a drop of water to their hands. This hydro-
phobia went 80 far, that they were quite astounded when they saw
me performing my ablutions even in the regions of snow ; and
when, afterwards, they told their friends that the stranger had
washed himself on the road, their story was scarcely credited.

On Wednesday, 18th July, we arrived at the last summit
which we had to cross. It was a delightful feeling when the
eye could, for the first time, freely range the west ; no other moun-
tain intercepting the view, and the horizon being bordered only
by the vague and indefinite line drawn by the Pacific Ocean.
Close by our left rose the Tupuugado, the highest summit of the
southern Cordilleras, to a height of 5000 or 6000 feet above us ;
the pass where we crossed was said to be 13,000, the Tupungado
more than 18,000 feet, above the level of the sea.

I wrapt the woollen blanket, which I wore, closer around me,
as the wind was blowing very hard from the sea ; and I threw
myself on a huge piece of rock, my eyes wandering, not over the
mountains of Chili, not over the noble panorama of the summits

108 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

towering around and below me; no, but over the vast desert
which stretched east of the mountains towards the Atlantic ; for
there, far away, I left my home, and left the sea which surrounds
it ; and now, when should I see all that again?

When I rose again, a stately condor, as if belonging to the
place, was hovering above me, at a distance of a stone-throw,
lashing the air with his immense wings ; but when he saw that
the body which he had espied w^as still alive and stirring, he slowly
sailed after the setting sun. It would have seemed like murder
to me to have shot him.

The sinking sun also reminded me that I had to think of
quarters for the night, down between the peaked snow-covered
summits, which were rising from the precipitous ravine. The
two lads, with the luggage, had, for some time, disappeared behind
the salient rocks of the downward path ; and I still stood alone,
and had at last forcibly to tear myself away from a spot on which
I should have liked to pass a whole day. This spot, however, is
very rarely without its perils ; and I heard afterwards that I had
been very fortunate in hitting on such a calm day. A furious gale
is generally blowing here above ; and in summer especially, the
travellers sometimes bless their stars after having cleared the few
steps which lead over this last summit. On the top there is not
a flake of snow, the wind sweeping the place very clean ; but a
few yards lower down, the snow begins again in such masses, that
the next casucha was buried in it to the very threshold.

He who knows what it is to descend, in a state of exhaustion,
a steep mountain, may form an idea of what I felt, when, after
having, with immense fatigue and difficulty, toiled up the Cordil-
leras, I had now to toil my way downwards. My limbs, indeed,
were nearly paralysed ; and I was several times obliged to throw
myself down on the snow, only to recruit my strength a little. At
the same time, I felt dizzy and sick, and was seriously afraid of
being ill. The peons did not care a straw whether I remained
lying in the snow, or followed them : if, therefore, I did not wish to
pass the night alone, and, to a certainty, be frozen to death, I

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 109

had to exert my last remaining strength; in which effort I was
supported by the hope of soon reaching the casucha, which was
only one league distant ; and of refreshing myself there with a
cup of hot tea.

We reached the casucha about nightfall; but, ye gods, what an
abode that was I It looked as if it had been used for shelter by
men and beasts indiscriminately, and close before the door there
lay the carcass of a mule, half-eaten by the birds of prey, and in a
state of advanced putrefaction. Yet there remained no other choice
but to put up here, as there was no water near the next casucha,
which, besides, was one league distant (and the melted snow is
dreadfully unpalatable for making tea) ; and to go beyond that to
the second casucha was quite out of the question.

Thoroughly disgusted, I arranged my couch in the farthest
comer, from whence I called out to the peons to light a fire, and
to put the boiler on ; but the rascals, in order not to be obliged
to carry the coal up hill, had burnt it all during the last night ;
and now we lay here, in the midst of the snow, without one spark
of fi»-e. There was nothing for us but the cold bare walls, and
the putrid mule close before the door. It was a hard blow ; yet it
could not be changed on any condition. I therefore chewed a hard
crust of bread, crammed a small piece of the dried meat down my
throat, took a dram of bitters, which I owed to the care of the
Italian apothecary at Mendoza, and which I fortunately had still
about me ; and then, tired to death, and wrapt up in my blankets,
I lay down to sleep, or at least to rest.

We set out, before sunrise, in complete darkness, for to-day I
was driven onwards with an impulse which I could not myself quite
account for. The loathsome condition of our quarters might have
had much to do with this restlessness. But I felt that I should
never be at ease until I arrived at Valparaiso, and there, at least,
obtained sure intelligence concerning my ship.

For three hours our path lay over the most dangerous spots.
Once I had, for the length of a quarter of a mile, to cut, with
my heavy cutlass, the crust of the frozen snow; merely to gain.

110 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

step by step, a footing along a declivity sloping at an angle of
about sixty degrees. The peons then followed my tracks, slowly
and cautiously ; one false step, one slip, would have hurled us
down into the blue abyss ; and there, hundreds of feet below,
buried us in the drifted snow-dust. After three hours, we reached
another casucha, in a very picturesque situation; and from thence
the road began to improve ; at least there were no longer any spots
where our lives were endangered.

At the next casucha we found a small drove of mules, with the
master of which I immediately closed a bargain for one of the
beasts, as far as the place where I might get fresh horses. As I
was now mounted, and had no more need of provisions, I took the
whole burden from the two peons, so that they were able to keep
pace with the mule. We, however, stopped for about half an hour,
to have, before starting, at least a cup of hot coffee; and then,
following the course of the " Puente," we pushed on for the flat
country. The road was still difficult, even for mules, and we had
often to alight and to lead our beasts by the bridle.

I was now in Chili, the warmer climate of which already mani-
fested itself in the more luxuriant growth of the shrubs and trees ;
the scenery, however, was still wintry.

Towards evening we halted, for a short time, at a pleasant spot
surrounded and overhung with trees. Here we were once more in
a region Inhabited by man; and the small house, the owner of
which forced from the arid soil only a scanty livelihood, appeared
to me as if it were situated In a real paradise. Here I had, for
the first time, a truly Chllenese repast. My peon. Indeed, offered
to me again one of his notable soups, in the cow-horn, which
had never once been cleansed. Yet I declined the dainty, with
many thanks, preferring the indeed not as luscious, but so much
the more cleanly dish of the Chllenese, which simply consisted of
wheaten flour and water, made, in a clean cup of horn, into a thin
pulp. Whether It was my ravenous appetite, or that my taste had
been spoiled in the pampas, I emptied two large cups of this mess
with Intense relisL An excellent onion, with some red pepper,

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. Ill

completed the meal ; after which, perfectly satisfied, I laid myself
down on the grass under a tree, a luxury after which I had not a
little longed during the last week.

The Chilenese is much more civilized than the Argentine, which
is clearly proved even by his food, which is not purely animal, as
on the other side of the Cordilleras ; and the agriculturist, who
obtains his own wants from the soil, has always the advantage
over the mere cattle-breeder.

We were still in the midst of the wildest mountains; for, although
we had left the snow region, yet we saw, close above us, on the
steep rugged slopes, immense masses of snow, which often, by the
avalanches, choked the road even in our path down here. The
scenery, however, assumed quite a peculiar character, owfng to the
huge cactus plants which luxuriantly grew wherever a patch of
fertile ground had gathered ; and of which I saw, from my rest-
ing-place, several, which must have been at least eighteen feet
high, with considerable expanse of leaves.

We set out again, at nightfall, over a most dangerous road, in
complete darkness. Yet the exertions of the last days had so
completely blunted me for impressions which, under any other
circumstances, would have kept my nerves in a state of feverish
excitement, that I at last began to doze in the saddle, and, between
waking and dreaming, drowsily looked at the abyss on one
side, and the steep cliff on the other, without thinking of any
danger ; and when at last, about eleven o'clock, we reached a
spot where the mules got something to eat, I just glided from
the saddle, spread my blankets on the very spot where I stood,
and, in one moment after, began to dream of home, and happi-
ness, and peace.

On the next morning, we again started before sunrise : the
night had been very frosty, and I had suffered much from
the cold ; nor had we any breakfast. The wind swept chilling
through the ravine, and I wrapt myself closely up in my poncho.
Whilst the stars grew pale in the east, and the fresh breath of
morning came down from the mountain summits, I again sat in

112 A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

my saddle, with half- shut eyelids, and tried, as much as possible,
to forget the world without; for the dream of last uight had been
too delicious for me not to wish to prolong it.

Dogs were barking, and children's voices reached my ear ;
I raised my head, and looked about me in amazement: was I
awake, or still dreaming ? Yesterday morning I had still been
up to my girdle in snow, climbing over icy precipices, where the
monotonous waste of snow and rock was not relieved by trees or
shrubs ; and now ? —

Before me, between green bushes, lay a peaceful, cleanly cabin;
and close by it, the dark foliage of the orange-trees, with the
apples of the Hesperides, in full autumnal magnificence ; monthly
roses in bud and bloom ; and peach-trees up to their tops covered
with their delicate blossom : the grim winter had vanished as by
enchantment ; it dawned like spring in my heart ; and, as the
congenial rays of the sun rose above the mountains, I shook off
weakness and exhaustion, and felt as if new-bom.

A wide valley opened before us, in which every inch of fertile
ground seemed cultivated; and numerous processions of mules
which met us, bore testimony to the active traffic of the country.
Everywhere, orange, peach, and apple-trees in blossom, with trim
and tidy houses in their shade ; the gardens and fields enclosed
with walls or hedges ; and excellent aqueducts leading the water
from the hills for the irrigation of the dry soil.

About noon, we at last reached a small towni, Santa Rosa ; in
which we found out the house where, according to my contract
with the guide whom I had engaged at Mendoza, I was to get
fresh horses to Valparaiso. I delivered the letter of the guide,
fastened, instead of sealing-wax, with bread-crumbs kneaded; and
it was very good fun to see one-half of the family busying them-
selves in deciphering it, while the others were standing by, most
curiously surveying me from head to foot.

With the help of the verbal statement of my peon, they at last
made out what they had to do in the whole affair; and the son of
the house, the brother of my former guide, declared himself ready

A WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 113

to accompany me to Valparaiso the next morning. This was not,
however, what I wished: we were to start at once, for I did not
feel that I could rest until I knew what had become of my ship.
I therefore declared to the man, that, if he did not immediately
procure me a horse, as he was bound by the contract to do, I
should myself hire another in the town, and ride alone to Val-
paraiso; after which, he might see when he would get his five
uncias. This argument was quite irresistible. Had he had his
money, he would have been only too happy to get rid of me; thus,
however, the cash was still in my pocket, which put the case on
quite a different footing. He at once made preparations to pro-
cure a horse for me. In the meanwhile, the dinner was served
up, consisting of fresh eggs and a stew of dried peaches, which I
relished not a little ; and about two o'clock in the afternoon we
set out again, the guide promising me that I should arrive at
Valparaiso in good time next evening.

On the same evening, we passed through the small, pleasant
town of San Felipe, with broad regular streets, and gardens en-
closed with stone walls ; surrounded everywhere with groves of
orange-trees, and with hedges in blossom : there were even, before
the door of the Government House, what I should not have ex-
pected in this latitude — two stately palms, which gave to the whole
scenery a sunny, tropical character.

The people likewise exhibited marked peculiarities, very distinct
from the neighbouring Argentine republic. They also wear the
poncho; but it is shorter, lighter, and not of the sanguinary hue
of the Argentine one : the people mostly ride at a gallop, as the
Argentines do ; but theirs is not such a neck or nothing pace
as on the other side of the Cordilleras, where the horseman does
not care a straw whether the horse falls down dead as soon as it
has carried him to his journey's end. The Chilenese farmers very
frequently trot, which, in the Argentine republic, I only saw at the
capital itself, where galloping was forbidden.

That night we slept in a small hut close by the road — what a
difference I The cabin had every appearance of poverty ; but, never-

1 14 A. WINTER JOURNEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS.

theless, it was tidily and neatly kept, and its inmates were obliging,
and even cordial.

On the next morning we started before daybreak; and after
having ridden for a few hours, we entered a valley, where soon
a pretty large town came in sight. All around, the fields were
cultivated most carefully, the roads in excellent repair, and the
town itself, Guillotea, seemed very busy and stirring.

We stopped before a " pulperia "* to refresh ourselves and the
animals ; and I revelled in delicious olives, very sweet bread, and
excellent grapes and oranges. They also sold a sort of must ; but
it looked muddy, and tasted villanously : on the whole, the wine
of Chili bears no comparison with that of Mendoza ; of which, there-
fore, great quantities are imported. On leaving, I wanted to take
with me oranges and grapes for half a real (about 3d.); but I
could not carry them all, and had to leave half of my purchase
behind, so great was the quantity.

My new guide having stinted the forage for his horses, we had
to pay for his avarice by our very slow progress. Towards sun-
set he declared, that it was not possible for us to proceed any
farther, and that he intended to pass the night where we now were ;
I, on the other hand, told him, that in this case I should march on
foot on the same evening to the harbour, which was about five
leagues distant ; and as, according to the contract, he was bound
to convey me thither on horseback, he at last gave in, although with
a good deal of grumbling.

It seemed as if the journey would never end; it was already
nine o'clock, and we had not as yet reached the town. We pushed
on over undulating ground, crossing a succession of hills, every-
one of which, we hoped, was the last ; yet, whenever we thought
that now we must emerge into the open country, another hill lay
before us, exactly resembling the one which we had just been two
hours in getting over. At last we reached a windmill, and I
could not help thinking, that by day there must be a view here of

* This term will be explained farther on.

A WINTER JOUfiXEY ACROSS THE CORDILLERAS. 115

the sea; but the night was darker than it had been for along time,
and I am also quite satisfied that it was only the instinct of the
horses that kept us safe on our road.

Now a very bright light came in sight ; it was, as my guide told
me, the beacon of the harbour : we must have been, therefore, very
near to the sea; but in vain I exerted my eyes: not even the lights
of Valparaiso were recognisable; and yet we could have been only
a very short distance from them. The never-ending hills inter-
cepted the view; and thick masses of shrubs and trees, of which
we, however, could now distinguish only the dark outlines, screened
the town from us, when we descended the last hill, and reached
the sandy bed of a shallow river, in which we had to seek a path
to cross to the opposite side.

My companion himself seemed not to know the ford very well,
as he missed it twice ; we got into deep water, and the splashing
of the stream and the roar of the surf, which we could hear as dis-
tinctly as if we were quite close to it, were certainly not calculated
to put us in a very cheerful mood.

At last we reached the first houses ; but most of the doors were
already shut: the people were going to bed. It was night; and
as our horses now, even with the best will, could not proceed any
farther; and as, moreover, on that evening, I could not possibly
transact any more business, I yielded to the urgent ad\nce of my
guide, to pass the night at a house which he knew — a " pul-
peria;" that is to say, a house of call, combining the characters
of an inn and of a chandler's shop.

116 VALPARAISO.

CHAPTER VIII.

VALPARAISO.

My first evening at Valparaiso was far from promising to be
agreeable. The small pulperia at which we had put up, lay very
nearly at the eastern extremity of the town; which, to judge from
the mean look of the houses, was evidently one of its poorest
quarters. Yet I had not been much pampered during my over-
land journey; and quietly throwing my saddle down in a corner,
and myself and the blanket on it, I waited until Donna Beatrice
— 0! what a profanation of a romantic name! — would have
completed her preparations for satisfying the cravings of our
stomachs. First of all, I asked for some wine; but I got again
that horrid must, and put my glass down in despair.

The pulperia was a sort of small chandler's shop, where the
neighbours might buy tallow candles, sugar, eggs, soap, wicks,
and coals, even in the smallest quantities. In front, however,
there was a table with some benches ; and a row of flasks on a
shelf, which, on their tickets, announced themselves as containing
the most comprehensive variety of agua ardiente.

What I, however, cared more for than eating, was to find out
if the Talisman had sailed. My first request, therefore, was for
a newspaper. Unfortunately, there seemed none to be had in
the house; and, at such a time of the night, it was not practicable
to rouse the neighbours. I now addressed my questions to the
master of the house, and to several of the guests. None had any
news to give. One, one only, thought that he had heard the
name — that the ship was lying in the harbour; but that was all.

Donna Beatrice, in the meantime, busied herself about the fire-
place; first producing a whole lot of eggs, and then a frying-pan;
which latter she turned towards the light, in order to see in what
condition it was. As far as I could judge of it, it was rather a
melancholy one; but the Donna dropped the clout — with which,

VALPARAISO. 117

very likely, she had at first intended to wipe it — saying, " It
would be a pity — there is still fat in it;" and then, with a very
praiseworthy thrlftiness, she broke the eggs which were destined
for us, on this antediluvian stratum of grease.

Yet I was as hungry as a wolf; and had, before this, arrived at
the fixed resolution, not to be deterred any more by anything:
and, at any rate, it could never have been worse than the cow-hom
soup of my guide over the Cordilleras.

Next morning, I was up before daylight ; and went down to
the harbour. There were many vessels there; none of which,
however, had their sails up; nor was there a breeze stirring. If
the Talisman was still among them, she could not escape me. It
was too early an hour; besides, it was Sunday morning. Being
therefore unable to meet any one who might give me any infor-
mation, I had no other resource left, but to walk about on the
pier. How I felt, is more than the reader can imagine, as he
cannot possibly form an idea of the wretched dilapidation of my
dress; a detailed description of which, the dictates of propriety
and delicacy forbid me to give here.

A rather long Argentine poncho, of which scarlet was the pre-
vailing colour, covered most of my deficiencies ; and, indeed, it
looked wild enough. Add to this, the red handkerchief, which
the Argentines wear to keep the dust off; the old broad-brimmed,
weather-beaten felt hat, and my own sun-burnt face; with a beard
and hair which had not been under the hands of a barber for weeks.
"What wonder, then, that a few people, who gradually appeared
in the streets, stared, with considerable surprise, at the strange
figure which stalked about in such guise on a Sunday morning.

But as, fortunately, I could not stare at myself as they did, I soon
forgot my very unfashionable appearance, for the anxious desire
to get information about my ship. At first, none of the passers-
by could tell me ought about it; but at last I met the host of the
Star Hotel, at which most of the passengers of the Talisman had
put up. " And when did she leave?" I asked the man, with
breathless anxiety.

118 VALPARAISO.

*' Yesterday afternoon, at five o'clock, you might have still been
able to get on board," he answered, scanning me from head to
foot; whilst his astonished looks seemed to ask the question, " But
where In the world are you come from ?" As a sort of consola-
tion, I was told that she had very nearly cast anchor once more;
as, until five o'clock in the afternoon, she had had to struggle
against a high north wind, and to tack in order to get out of the
harbour.

But never mind — It could not be helped ; and so nothing was
left for me but to fetch my luggage at once.

Yet here was a new difficulty : it was Sunday morning. I had,
therefore, to call at the gentlemen of the firm with which my lug-
gage was deposited, at their own private lodgings ; and could I
go in this attire? and yet, how could I go in another ?

Whilst in a fit of despair, and, worse than that, of the most
ravenous hunger, I was standing in the street, beating off a num-
ber of curs which were barking at my red poncho, my glance fell
on a small sign-board which hung over a half-open door; and on
which, besides a Spanish inscription, an unmistakeable Mtut^ci)tv
^f5)uf)mac]^cr (German shoemaker) was emblazoned.

This was, indeed, a glimpse of good luck ; for, at this early hour,
I should not have been allowed to make a polite call anywhere ;
and the German shoemaker, at any rate, was sufficiently acquainted
with the place to give me the direction of Messrs. Lampe, Muller,
and Fehrmann ; and, first of all, of some house where I might get
a decent meal.

The little shoemaker, who was engaged in making his toilet for
the day, was a very droll fellow. He was just tying his cravat;
in which weighty occupation he gravely continued, after having
kindly bid me to sit down on his three-legged stool. At the
same time, I had to tell him my story ; and he jumped up with
both legs when he heard that I had come direct across the Cordil-
leras. I thereby won his heart ; and he only regretted, as, with
the most professional interest, he scrutinized my boots, that, in
all probability, he had nothing ready to suit my feet.

VALPARAISO. 119

" If you only had a pair of decent boots," he patronizingly said,
" the rest would matter but little ; but certainly yours are in a
shocking condition." It is true, he had not seen the rest.

At first I looked at him with some surprise; as, until then, I
had, from reasons of delicacy, forborne mentioning the sad state of
my garments ; but I forgot that it was Sunday, and that my little
shoemaker, if, in going to breakfast, he had to cross the streets
with me, would very likely have been ashamed of being seen in
8uch company. But if I had been decently shod, the rest would
have been no affair of his.

My new friend now also told me the story of his life; as it
would, at least, be half an hour longer before we could get anything
to eat. He had come to Chili a few years before, and was very
comfortable here, for the town of Valparaiso (Vale of Paradise),
indeed, was a paradise for a shoemaker. He who came here a
poor journeyman, was set up in business for himself, with plenty
of customers. " And," he said, " when Sunday comes round, I
have in my pocket not a few paltry groschen, but a handful of
Spanish dollars; and I am dressing as genteelly as any other
senor.

Among these conversations, he had at last completed his toilet;
and, the time for brciikfast being arrived, we went together to an
American boarding-house ; where, for a moderate price, we were
very well served indeed. To me at least, who had not for a long
time tasted anything like it, this simple meal appeared like a
Lucullian banquet: the only drawback being, that, in the first
place, I dared not put off my poncho; and secondly, that I was
not yet quite at home again as to the use of knives and forks,
especially of the latter. Somehow or other, the fingers of my left
hand would interfere with the viands, and my little shoemaker
several times shook his head most portentously.

After breakfast, the shoemaker showed me the way to Mr.
Fehrmann. This gentleman at first looked at me with consider-
able astonishment, having, at first sight, scarcely expected that I
should address him in German; yet his astonishment even in-

/

120 A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN.

creased when I spoke to him about my trunk, which was to have
been here deposited for me. He immediately called one of his
young men, and inquired of him: none, however, knew anything
of it ; and the most unpleasant uncertainty was bursting upon me,
that the Talisman, contrary to ray agreement with the captain
and supercargo, had taken with her all my effects — linen, clothes,
bed, books ; in short, all that T called mine in this world — all that
I now needed, not only to cut a decent figure in Valparaiso, but also
to be enabled to proceed on a decent sea voyage : all was now under
weigh to California ; and I sat here, as bare and destitute as any
man in the world could wish to be. Yet, although the thing was
indeed no joking matter, I could not help laughing on suddenly
seeing myself in a scrape of such gigantic dimensions. Mr.
Fehrmann, to whom I mentioned my name, and to whom I gave
a brief outline of my case, joined in my laughter; but, at the same
time, with the frankest hospitality, offered to receive me in his house
until the arrival of the next ship of the same owner, the "Reform,"
which was daily expected. I accepted the offer in the same
spirit as it was made; and was received, not only in the house,
but in the family of Mr. Fehrmann, with a cordiality which I shall
never forget as long as I live.

CHAPTER IX.

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN.

With the dawn of day, the streets begin to show signs of life;
the country people come to the market, partly with their lumber-
ing ox-carts, partly with horses and mules laden with packages
and panniers. The costume of the country people is very striking ;
a short poncho, mostly blue, with embroidered edges, and a low
broad-brimmed hat, somewhat turned up at the side. The singu-
larity of their appearance is increased by the accoutrement of the
horses, with high saddles of five or six sheep-skins piled one above

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN. 121

tii» otber, with large hanging down spurs, and stirrups like un-
couth blocks of wood; to which may be added, the skins of wine
lying across the croup of the horse, and the colossal drinking-horns
which hang down on both sides.

It is still cool and shady, and the orange-trees, laden with fruit,
peep silently over the garden walls, shaking the dew on the pavement.
You wonder at the singular laying out of the sides of the streets;
stones and bones forming crosses and stars, the whiteness of the
bones contrasting very neatly against the grey ground of the
pavement. What a singular idea, to pave the streets with bones I
Indeed, it is singular: you will, however, be struck with even
greater amazement, when you hear that they are human bones.
These stars and crosses are the waist and ankle bones of the tyrants
and foes who were slain when Chili shook off the Spanish yoke ;
and such was then their hatred against their former severe masters,
that the conquerors would not even content themselves with extir-
pating them from the face of the earth: no, they wished to keep
somewhat of them above ground, which they might trample upon.
AVould that all too severe rulers might take a warning from
it I The exasperation at that time is said to have been terrible
indeed; and even now the South Americans do not want to be
called Spaniards : " We do not speak Spanish," they say, " we
speak Castilian.'^

We emerge from the town in the suburbs, where the gardens
begin; and here we have occasion to admire that most graceful of
all pine-trees — the Norfolk fir — which was imported from the
island of that name on the coast of Australia, the well-known
penal settlement for British criminals. This tree seems to be a
great favourite here; and a young specimen of it, about ten or
twelve feet high, is said to be worth sometimes as much as eight
or more uncias of gold. Another plant, which is by no means
rare in Europe — the camelia — seems likewise to fetch a great price
here : the ladies pay for a single flower, which they generally
wear for ornament in their hair, two or three dollars; a fine plant,
in bloom, is sold at eighty or ninety dollars.

122 A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN.

Where the houses end, a gang of convicts, in chains, sweep the
roads : they are fettered, on their hands and feet, with a thin
chain, and guarded by soldiers. Many physiognomies may be
observed among them, in which the thought of future crimes is most
unmistakeably expressed ; but, by the side of those hardened ruffians,
there is also many a wealthy "guasso" (farmer), who, forgetting,
in a quarrel with his neighbour, the new customs, and only re-
membering the old ones, took up his knife, and who has now to
pay the penalty of his bad memory with fourteen days' labour in
chains. The law refused to acknowledge any difference; and the
rough iron contrasts in a very melancholy manner with the blue
poncho, the white linen, and the embroidered sleeve of the prisoner;
whose hand now carries the broom to sweep the streets of the
town, through which, otherwise, he would have gaily galloped
along on his spirited steed. He proudly meets the glance of the
passer-by, and laughs when looking at his chain : as he knows
that the hour of his release must soon strike, and that he will then
be as respected as before ; for the punishment will not have dis-
graced him.

The law seems to be very liberal in awarding this punishment;
and even foreigners are not unfrequently to be found amongst
the convicts; the Germans alone having, until now, to boast that
none of their countrymen have worn those iron bracelets.

The police alone, and the physicians, are allowed to gallop through
the streets of the town; any one else, who would attempt it, is
immediately stopped by the myrmidons of the law, who are sta-
tioned nearly at every corner, and who unceremoniously take him
to the magistrate, where he has to pay a fine. This law has been
a very great grievance to one class of men at Valparaiso — the
" Californians " — who touch here for two or three weeks, and who,
in order to stretch their limbs, which have become fidgety after
their long passage, immediately get a horse to be off for the moun-
tains. But as they have no fancy whatever for a slow progress,
of which they have had enough on board of ship, they are con-
stantly at daggers drawn with the policemen; quarrelling with

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN. 123

whom, they, however, always get the worst ; besides which, they
have to pay fines, or, at any rate, the costs.

However early one may pass through the streets of Valparaiso,
one is sure to hear music; the sounds of the guitar, almost in every
instance, as an accompaniment of a song. The Chilenese are ex-
ceedingly merry and sociable, which accounts for their passionate
love of music. I do not think that there is one house in Chili in
which there is not at least some one who plays the guitar; and
music and dancing are their principal amusements. A novelty
delights them just as much as it does mortals in other parts of
the world ; and thus, some years ago, a poor German tramp, with a
barrel organ, found Valparaiso a real gold mine. It was the first
instrument of the kind which reached that town, the first perhaps
which had ever been heard on the shores of the Pacific ; and when,
on the first morning, he, in his usual professional way, began to
perambulate the streets, grinding off his six tunes, he was most
agreeably surprised, on being called into the very first house, to play
his sublime music before a very wealthy family; who rewarded
the distinguished virtuoso with three or four Spanish dollars, in-
stead of the few pence with which we benighted Europeans would
(perhaps) have acknowledged his transcendent merits. The man
thought he was in a dream ; and yet it was only the beginning of
what was in store for him. Wherever he turned the handle of his
organ, he was taken into the houses ; and he returned home on the
first evening with a load of dollars, such as he never before had seen
together in one heap. The second day was even more remunerat-
ing than the first. The barrel organ was the talk of the whole
town ; and there was not a man in greater request than the artist^
who, after some months, had indeed made a "fortune." His in-
strument now began to lose the charm of novelty, and his earn-
ings sank from their fabulous height: people began to see that
any one might turn the handle. But he had, in the mean-
while, sufficiently feathered his nest; and, soon after, left the organ
to a countryman of his, to return to his old home as a " rich
man."

124 A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OP THE TOWN.

The most lively quarter of the town, in its very heart, is the
landing-place from the harbour; which is now even more animated
than usual, owing to the many emigrant ships touching here.
Here is a capital row going on between the sailors of yon Eng-
lish man-of-war, who have had "just a little " too much grog,
and the Chilenese; but our attention is attracted by a more inter-
esting spectacle — a military band passing by, and marching down
the street towards the lighthouse ; where, to-day, a sort of prelude,
or rather a rehearsal, of the September festivals on the anniver-
sary of the emancipation from the Spanish yoke, is to take place.
Everybody crowded there ; and the strangers, after having just
landed, have, of course, nothing better to do than to follow the
general example.

The blue, red, and white flag of Chili, with the two guanacas,
is gaily fluttering in the wind; and the militia soldiers, in their
white dress, march after the sounds of excellent military music,
with their artillery, up the winding paths of the hill, partly
accompanied, and partly followed, by a numerous crowd of curious
spectators. On the top of the hill, booths and tents are put up, in
expectation of the merry guests; beer and wine, agua ardiente,
lemonade, and also fruit, eatables, and " dolces," are everywhere
offered for sale. In the meanwhile, the militia is manoeuvring to
the sound of their martial band ; and the crowds , of spectators
partly gather round the tents to refresh themselves after the hot
up-hill work, or encamp in gay groups on the green slopes.

Through the thickest of these groups, into the tents and booths,
the guassos gallop with their horses : here, laughing and chatting
with a picked-up friend ; and there, taking from another a glass,
and gallantly drinking to the health of the nearest ladies. The
horses are used to this sort of thing, and press their intelligent
heads, as if in play, between the thickest groups of men, steadily
advancing without treading on any one's toes.

Processions of ladies and gentlemen — the latter almost all of them
in elegant English riding-habits, but some of them also in the cos-
tume of the " guasso senoritas," with the usual gowns, and a short

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OP THE TOWN. 125

embroidered poncho, In many cases accompanied by English naval
officers — now gallop up the hill, and along the broad, smooth
road towards the lighthouse; or stop near the artillery, whose
manoeuvres are executed with considerable quickness and pre-
cision, although the guns are drawn only by men.

One part of Valparaiso, built on the slopes of the ravines of the
hills, is particularly frequented by the sailors, who have there
their houses for merry-making and dancing. I would not, how-
ever, advise any one to go there after dark, as there are not seldom
scenes of blood enacted there.

The large French vessel Edouard, coming, I think, from Havre,
had arrived here a short time before me ; and quarrels which had
arisen during the journey between the captain and the passengers,
seemed likely to lead to a protracted stay at Valparaiso. Among
the passengers, was the old blind poet Arago, on his way to Cali-
fornia, where the French intended to establish a sort of joint-stock
company. He had written a little vaudeville, which was to be
performed that evening. Its scene was laid at Valparaiso, and
the principal characters were to be French emigrants going to
California. The Edouard carried out, as passengers, some actors
who were to make their first appearance in it.

There was one serious drawback: the French did not speak
Spanish, and the other Chilenese actors did not speak French ; and
thus the strange plan was devised, of making every one speak his
own language, and performing the short piece half in French half
in Spanish. Both parties having previously learnt their parts, they
perfectly understood what they were saying to each other ; and,
to me, it was interesting enough to witness such a thing. The
French, of whom great numbers are settled at Valparaiso, and of
whom several hundreds besides had arrived in the Edouard and
some other emigrant ships, seemed to consider the affair as a sort
of national triumph; and at the conclusion of the small, one act
vaudeville, the plot of which was very simple indeed, the old blind
poet was called for with rapturous applause.

He was sitting in the comer box on the left hand of the first

1*26 A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN.

tier near the stage, between two ladies dressed in white, with
whom, at the thundering call, he rose from his seat; holding, from
the box, a short harangue to the public, in which he thanked them,
in a few kind words, for the cordial reception given him. The
whole went off very prettily, but there was a little too much play
with the play.

The theatre of Valparaiso is spacious, and a very respectable
building ; the band was at that time excellent, and some operas
which I saw there gave me perfect satisfaction. The first tenor
especially, had a very fine voice, and enjoyed great popularity ;
also the acting of the Chilenese ladies and gentlemen was easy
and natural.

After the theatre, I walked, with some ships' captains who wished
to return on board, towards the pier-head, when we were greeted
from a distance by well-known sounds: it was German music, from
Flotow's opera Martha, played somewhere in the streets by wind
instruments. Taking the next turning, we soon came up with
the band of the militia, who were serenading one of the officers.
A great number of gay lanterns surrounded the band, and a crowd
had assembled, which followed the musicians as they moved on to
the quarters of another of their officers.

The boat which waited for the captains having left with them,
I was going to return alone, when, somewhere farther on in the
street, where the market was held by day, I again heard loud
merry music. As I was once out on the ramble, I sauntered
towards the spot, to see what was going on there at so late an hour.
But the door was closed, and the curtains drawn before the windows :
the house evidently a private dwelling ; and thus I was already
going away without having gratified my curiosity, when the door
opened, and two men came out from the gaily illuminated room,
where merry songs mingled with the loud strains of guitars ;
a third, who had let them out, was just going to close the
door again, when, seeing me, he, in the most obliging manner,
urged me to enter. No refusal was accepted: I was compelled
to follow him, and soon after found myself in a low but well lit

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN. 127

1"oom ; in which, just coming out of the dark street, I was not at
first able to take a survey until my eyes were used to the dazzling
light.

It was, on the whole, a rather poor apartment, with whitewashed
walls, only decorated in many places with small pictures of saints
in glaring colours. The tables and chairs were roughly made of
wood, and a large four-post bed, which stood in a corner, and,
indeed, nearly filled a fourth part of the whole room, was hung
with coarse cotton curtains. These were, however, drawn back,
to offer the bed as a seat to the guests ; and, indeed, every nook and
comer seemed made use of to afford accommodation to the specta-
tors and dancers. The former sat on the window-sills, tables, and
chairs; whilst for the latter, only a very small space was left, in
which, at least as long as I was present, they executed the Chile-
nese national dance. Agua ardiente and "dulces" were con-
tinually handed round, and the spirits partaken of by men and
women; whilst all of them, with scarcely any exception, bating only
the dancers, were smoking their cigarillos. Having once got over
the first surprise, and lighted my paper cigarette, I cast a glance
or. an object which, indeed, I had seen on first entering, but which,
in the general bustle, I had not noticed so much as it deserved.
This was a sort of stage, about seven feet high, round which the
musicians were sitting or standing, and which seemed literally
covered from top to bottom with flowers, lights, and statuettes of
saints. The strangest ornament on it was, however, a waxen doll,
of most excellent workmanship, representing an infant; which, in a
little sliow- white frock, with closed eyes, and its delicate pale cheeks
lightly tinged by a rosy hue, was sitting in a baby chair, com-
pletely surrounded by flowers. The doll was, indeed, so like nature,
that at first I took it for a real child, from which I was scarcely
able to turn my eyes; and the illusion was so much the stronger,
as, just below it, a beautiful, pale young woman was standing with
tears in her eyes, who might have passed as its mother. In this
respect I was likewise mistaken, for, just at this moment, one of the
men stepped up to her with a laugh, to invite her for a dance; and

128 A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN.

she not only followed him, but also, after a few minutes, was the
merriest of the whole crowd.

But is it possible that it should not be a real child? No artist
could have moulded that form so exactly like nature. Now one
of the candles just close by its little head went out, and the cheek
turned towards it thereby lost its rosy tinge. My neighbours
must have at last noticed the attention with which I observed that
child, or figure, whatever it might have been; and one of them
told me, as far as I could make it out, that it was the youngest
child of that young woman with the pale face, who was dancing so
merrily; indeed, the whole festivity was in honour of the little
departed angel. I incredulously shook my head ; but my neighbour,
to convince me, took me by the arm, and led me to the stage, by
the side of which he made me step on a chair, to touch the tiny
hands of the baby.

It was a corpse; and the mother, when she saw that I had
doubted it, and that I was now convinced of the truth, left the
side of her partner, and came up and smiled at me, telling me
that this had been her child, but that it was now a little angel in
heaven. Here the guitars struck up in wild strains, and she was
obliged to return to the dance. I left the house quite bewildered,
and wondering whether all that I had seen could be reality; but
the riddle was afterwards solved to me.

"When, in Chili, a little child of less than four years dies, the
people believe that it goes straightway to heaven, there to become
an angel ; and the mother becomes prouder of it than if it had
grown up in health and vigour. The corpse of the infant is then
exhibited in the way I had witnessed, and very often the people
dance and drink round it until the body shows signs of decom-
position. The mother, however intense may be the grief of her
heart, is obliged to laugh and to be merry, even to dance and sing;
it would be considered selfish were she to think of her own feelings
where the happiness of her child is concerned. Poor mother!

As I got out into the open air again, and slowly walked on
through the now desolate and forsaken streets, I passed, at about

A STROLL THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN. 129

twenty yards from the house, the dusky figure of a man who was
sitting on the threshold of one of the buildings. I did not take
any notice of him, for the streets are perfectly safe at Valparaiso ;
but when I had proceeded some six or eight yards further, he
gave a long-drawn shrill whistle, so that I stopped, surprised, and
looked round. At the nearest corner a horse stood tied up, yet I
did not see any one with it; and when I had passed, the same shrill
whistle again was heard behind me. In this way I was signalized
through the whole town. Little pleased as I was at the time, I
could not but acknowledge, when the thing was explained to me,
that the police of Valparaiso is deserving of the very high charac-
ter which it bears.

Let any one walk the streets at a late hour : as soon as that
first signal is given, the police know that some one, who, about
this time of night, ought to be in bed, is still roaming abroad. If
the rambler then intends no farther mischief, he is only whistled to
his own house door, and there the matter rests; but suppose he
has had any felonious intention, he would have quietly to abandon
it, for the policeman to whom his approach is signalized is on the
look-out for him ; and if he should not make his appearance at the
" beat" where he is expected, he may be sure that the eye of the
watchman is fixed on him, and that it will be difficult for him to
elude the attention of these guardians of order.

Speaking of the police, I am reminded of the Chilenese cale-
bouse, or the public prison, which I had occasion to visit. An ac-
quaintance of mine, a captain of a German ship, who had the
whole of his crew put up at that place, invited me one day to drive
there with him. The arrangement of this penitentiary was indeed
as singular as it was practical. The different prisoners were not
confined in a fixed prison, but in a sort of large van, similar to
those which are used by travelling menageries. All round the
spacious court-yard such carriages were standing: large boxes,
strongly secured with iron, and fitted up in front and back with
strong iron gratings; the oddest groups being exposed to view
in them, lying and squatting in their moveable cells like so many

130 A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO.

wild beasts. The captain had the whole of his crew, ten he.ids of
cattle (as he called them), confined in such an omnibus, for having
refused to go on with him to California, because they could not
agree with the first mate. He asked them now if they had
changed their minds, and whether they would sail with him; but,
after having a short time consulted together, they simply answered,
No. He then gave them to understand that, willing or not willing,
sail with him they must : the only difference was, whether they
would go with him of their own accord, or be driven by the police
to the ship ; to which they replied, that a drive would be much
more comfortable than a walk, and that they greatly preferred the
former.

They were really afterwards conveyed in the police van to the
landing-place, and there led by the police on board, as soon as
the ship was ready to sail. It is true that, immediately on their
arrival at San Francisco, they all ran away ; but the captain had
known that beforehand, and he at least had his will.

CHAPTER X.

A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO.

" Have you been up to the pavilion of the cemetery?" one of my
Valparaiso friends asked me, as, one morning, whilst we were
walking to and fro on the pier head, I alluded to the de-
lightful prospect which we enjoyed even here on the low sea-
shore.

" Not yet?" he replied to my answer, which was in the nega-
tive; "well, it will never do to miss that: there are also some
monuments there, of Italian workmanship, beautifully carved in
Carrara marble."

The monuments had no attraction for me, but I like to walk
among graves. We set out at once, and, after having slowly
ascended the steep path, which leads zig-zag up the hill, we

A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO. 131

at last reached a long and narrow, but pleasing edifice, which con-
tained the quarters of the sexton, and also the chapel and oratories.

From thence we emerged into an open, sweet spot, the burial-
ground of the Roman Catholics. My guide had, indeed, told me
the truth; the monument of the Waddington family alone would
make it worth one's while to visit the place. It is a plain die of
Carrara marble, with a sarcophagus on it, against which the figure
of a young weeping girl is leaning. So wonderful is the execu-
tion, that her breast seems to heave in the agony of her sorrow,
and the delicate folds of her garment to flutter in the wind. There
are some monuments of greater pretensions in the centre; but I
always returned to this, and was never tired looking at the lovely
and affecting figure.

Just behind another splendid mausoleum, there was a strange,
tower-like building, with an iron grating vaulting over it, similar
to a bird-cage ; the whole, however, being very high, and having
neither entrance or stairs. My guide explained to me that this
was a charnel-house, into which the old bones were thrown.
" Do you empty the graves?" I asked.

" The graves, as well as the pit yonder, which we will visit after-
wards. Now, however, let ns first enjoy the prospect from the
pavilion."

Leaving the charnel-house on the right, we passed through a
small room to the balcony of the pavilion, which, being built
close to the slope, commanded the view of the whole harbour, to
the Pacific on one side, and on the other to the snow-capped Cor-
dilleras. The prospect from this point was certainly delightful ;
and I could not for a long time turn my eyes away from the
enchanting panorama.

I do not know how long I should have stood there, had not my
guide pointed out to me that we had something else to see here,
which I ought by no means to miss — the pit.

"What pit?"

" The pit in which the poor of Valparaiso are put," he answered;
and went back with me, through the same ante-room, towards a

132 A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO.

mound of earth thrown up on the right. I followed him, and soon
after stood on the edge of a large hole, about ten feet deep, sixteen
or eighteen feet long, and, probably, ten feet broad, which at the
first glance seemed empty.

"Here they stow away the poor," my friend said to me.

" I daresay you are admiring the catacombs here, gentlemen,"
said, in the genuine New England nasal twang, an American, who
had joined us unobserved. " Indeed, they have here, at Valpa-
raiso, a very kind-hearted fashion of getting their dead, I must
not say under, but in the ground ; for certainly one could not call
it putting under ground, whilst the arms and legs are still sticking
out."

" Then these are really corpses which are lying down there,
without a coffin, and scarcely covered with a handful of earth?"
I asked with an involuntary shudder.

" Just lean over a little here ; do you see the elbow in the
corner yonder? that's a woman thrown in yesterday."

" Thrown in?" I called out, "from above?"

" Ha-ha- ha, stranger, you are very green yet," the Yankee said,
evidently amused at my innocence; " they don't use much ceremony
here with the cast-off cases of immortal souls."

" Now let us visit also the Protestant cemetery," said my friend.

" It is just opposite, and very plain ; but if it has not to boast
of such beautiful monuments, it will not disgust you either, by a
pit like this."

I followed him, scarcely knowing what I did ; for, I must con-
fess, the loathsomeness of the grave which I had just now seen
had made an impression upon me which I could not so easily
shake off, and I was truly glad when we left the place.

Close to the Roman Catholic Cemetery, and separated from it
only by a carriage road, but, like it, enclosed with a high wall, is the
Protestant Cemetery of Valparaiso ; a proof certainly of most praise-
worthy toleration in the present government, if we consider that, not
so very long ago, the Inquisition still held sway on the shores of the
Pacific. It, indeed, lacked the magnificent prospect of the other

A NIGIIT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO. 133

churchyard and the gorgeous monuments ; but, on the other hand,
poor and rich were peacefully lying, side by side, in their quiet
graves. Simple stones or crosses were set up at the head of the
departed ones, whose surviving friends were able to visit the last
resting-place of their beloved dead without shudder or disgust.

Many sailors especially seemed to lie buried there, and their
epitaphs seemed to prove that Jack's humour follows him even
beyond the grave. Thus the tombstone of Isaac Tickell, of Her
Britannic Majesty's ship President, bore the following inscrip-
tion:—

" Shipmates all, my cruise is up,

My body's moor'd at rest ;

My soul is — where ? aloft, of course,

Rejoicing with the blest."

That of another ran thus : —

" The commodore short warning gave,
For me to anchor ship ;
My moorings hard and fast are laid.
Till signal's made to trip."

We at last left the cemetery, to descend again into the town.
Yet I could not forget the pit with its corpses, which, thrown
about in wild confusion, and scarcely covered with a handful of
dust, were lying there exposed to the action of sun and rain ; and,
notwithstanding the shudder which I felt on seeing it the first time,
a strange fascination had taken hold of me, making me repeat my
visit on the next day; and again and again, sometimes even
twice a-day, so that at last the corpses in the pit appeared to me
like old acquaintances, whose faces only I could not quite remem-
ber. The boy there in the corner, with his leg protruding from
the soil ; the black corpse by his side ; the brown skull, which so
fixedly and gloomily stared up to the blue sky — had got company
on the second day ; for there lay a pair of feet, which I did not yet
know, with red stockings peeping out from split shoes — the man
was no longer troubled with corns; and that gown which was
shining forth from under the sand, must likewise have been intro-
duced only during the last night, as I had been here late on the
previous evening without remarking it

134 A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO.

I was sorry for one thing, the corpses lay so cold and lonely in
their wretched tomb, without one token of love, without one flower.
On the next morning, therefore, I gathered a huge nosegay of
wild flowers, and strewed them over the poor, deserted, and forgot-
ten dead in their desolate pit.

I now conceived a real desire to see a funeral, which still in-
creased, when I heard that the}^ buried all their dead at midnight.
I was told that I needed only to repair one night to the cemetery,
just about twelve o'clock, and I should not have to wait in vain,
as there was scarcely one night during which they did not bury at
least one corpse. I went, and was disappointed the first night,
sitting, until nearly one o'clock, on the steep slope close to the
wall.

The second night I was more successful. When the quarter to
twelve struck, I was already sitting in the same spot as yesterday.
The moon shed her placid light on the ravine before me, one slope
of which is covered by the burial-ground, and the other by the
small buildings of the suburb. I heard the watchmen in the
town giving their whistle, and crying out the hour and state of the
weather, when, almost in the same moment, a boat bore off from
one of the ships in the dark bay, and six small but sharply- defined
lights were glimmering on the nearly black surface, and quickly
glided towards the shore ; which they had no sooner touched, than
the lights presented themselves in the street, marching through the
narrow dark lane that leads directly from the strand to the
burial-ground, and is therefore called Cemetery Lane. They soon
reached the top of the hill where I was ; and I could now distin-
guish the coffin, which four sailors, alternately relieved by other
four, carried, suspended between two oars, to its last resting-place.
The gate of the Protestant cemetery was still closed, and a mid-
shipman, who accompanied the corpse, first knocked gently, and
then mor^ and more roughly, at the closed gate. The noise
sounded most dismally in the still night; yet it awakened the
sleepy sexton. He opened the gate, and the sailors entered the
Protestant churchyard, through which they slowly stepped to the

A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO. 135

chapel; and, after having read the service for the burial of the
dead over their departed shipmate, they quietly and solemnly
committed him to mother earth, his last narrow sleeping-chamber
having been prepared for him beforehand.

My attention was soon called off from this scene, as I heard
from the valley below a strange confused noise ; and, stepping to
the edge of the hill, outside the churchyard, I saw a long proces-
sion of brilliant lanterns — perhaps several hundreds of them —
and a mass of men, who, quickly moving up the hill, approached
with snatches of a monotonous hum. I could understand nothing
except the words Santa Maria and Josfe ; the people being nearly
out of breath on reaching the top of the hill, so that their utter-
ance had become an unintelligible groan.

Three coflSns succeeded each other, surrounded by a crowd and
a real sea of light ; however, I soon found out that the lanterns
attended only in honour of the second coffin, which contained the
corpse of a man of high station. The other two were merely
coffin chests ; that is to say, shells used for carrying the body to
the grave, into which their contents are then emptied. The
aristocratical corpse was at once taken to the chapel, and there
deposited until to-morrow, when the solemn funeral service could
be performed over it. The relations and friends of this man, after
having delivered the coffin into the hands of the priest, imme-
diately returned to the town ; but the peons or servants, who had
followed the procession partly from attachment and partly from
curiosity, accompanied also the two other corpses to their last
resting-place — the pit.

To get " a good place," I had preceded them, and taken my
position at the extremity of the huge common grave before the
lanterns approached. The two coffin chests — one of them covered
with black cloth, the other without any covering whatever — were
carried to the brink of the pit, and then the cover taken from the
first. The corpse, which was enveloped in a black shroud, was
taken out by three of the by-standing peons ; two others descended
by a ladder into the grave, to receive the body below : a sufficient

136 A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO.

number of men being present, there was no need to fling the
corpses down. Yet the regard shown to the new-comers did not
extend to the old inhabitants of this dismal dwelling, who were
most unmercifully trampled upon by the peons. They had now
got one of the bodies down the ladder; it had its arms crossed
over the breast, and was already rigid and stiff. The two men
who were below laid it down orderly, and with its limbs stretched
out close to the side of the ditch; after which, according to custom,
they took off the black shroud from his pale face. It was a noble
bearded countenance; and the moon shone brightly on the quiet
features, which were no longer ruffled by any earthly pain.

The lid was now taken from the second shell, which, as far as
I was able to gather from the conversation of my neighbours,
contained the corpse of a man who, on that very evening, had
been found murdered in one of the dissolute quarters of the town.
The body still retained its full pliancy — perhaps even its warmth;
and it seemed difficult to get him out of the shell. When the
men raised the corpse under its loosely-hanging arms, the corner
of the old poncho — which, until then, had covered its head — was
put aside ; and it ran through me like a stab, when my eyes met
the dull stare of the still open eyes of the dead man. The pale
blood-stained features were convulsed, as In anguish or anger; and
the uncertain light of the moon, penetrating through the changing
shades of a thin mist which was sweeping over the slope, imparted
to the physiognomy a strange and awful expression of life. In
the same moment, the heavy body slipped from the shifting ground,
and fell with arms extended forward, as if trying to guard against
the fall, on the unsuspecting peon below; and then lay quiet and
motionless on the man with the red stockings. The two peons,
however, quickly set him right again, laying him close by the
side of the last comer ; which being done, they ascended the ladder
again, and threw from above some spadesful of earth on the two
corpses. The bodies shook at every throw; and the moon now
shone full and bright on the two human faces, until at last they
were buried in the sand.

A NIGHT IN THE CEMETERY AT VALPARAISO. 187

The funeral was over ; the people put by the spades and shells
again in the small comer room of the pavilion, whither I followed
them. I then stepped out into the balcony. The whole appeared
to me a terrible dream ; my head burned as in a fever j and I
trembled in all my limbs. I have, indeed, no weak nerves, and
I have many times looked death in the face; but this ghastly
scene — this putting away the dead, for burial you cannot certainly
call it — this callousness in the presence of the dead — this mono-
tonous muttering of prayers, as if in mockery of the departed;
was indescribably painful to my feelings.

The same strange fascination which had brought me here now
led me back once more to the open grave; and I sat down on the
mound of earth quietly, as if I were afraid to disturb those who
were slumbering there below. I almost felt as if I belonged to
them, and as if I must remain with them, and watch over their
dismal resting-place. I do not know how long I sat there. At
last — it must have been very near morning — I tore myself away,
and slowly descended to the town, where, in the short slumbers I
was still able to catch, I dreamt that 1 was lying in the pit, and
that I could not get warm among my cold neighbours and bed-
fellows.

I repeated these visits to the dead, until at last the Reform
arrived, in which I embarked for California; and, on the 13th of
September, in the afternoon, at two o'clock, we entered the noble
bay of San Francisco.

13"8 . SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849.

CHAPTER XI.

SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849.

With the entry into the golden gates of California, a new period
of life began for me; the sea lay behind, and the new wonderful
land, with its golden dreams, before me.

The " Golden Gate" is indeed a magnificent entrance for such
a beautiful bay as that of San Francisco. On both sides, steep
rugged cliffs rise high, as if torn asunder by the fury of the sea
which is lashing them ; and for leagues you pass through a strait
lined by precipitously sloping hills, and which, near the bluff
point on which the flourishing town of Sausilida is built, turns to
the north, where it forms several other bays, and in its last recess
receives the two rivers of Sacramento and San Joaquin.

Towards evening, a fresh breeze carried us farther into the bay
with tolerable speed, considering our having the tide against us.
The farther we advanced, the greater number of tents, often
picturesquely enough ensconced in the smaller glens, came in
sight. Passing through the rows of bare and stony hills, we
approached the town itself, and, on the slope on the right, single
small wooden buildings became visible.

" But one does not yet see any one digging," a voice called
down from the forecastle, where most of the steerage, and also
many of the cabin passengers had collected. " Zounds ! there is
still plenty of room on shore."

"There, behind, some are washing," another called out in high
glee. " They are down in the gully before us ; some are really
washing." Others took up the triumphant cry; and the good
people, in their joy, seemed to forget the whole surrounding scenery,
until we came nearer the place where some had been said to wash;
when the bright vision dissolved into bullocks.

And there, on the right, more and more wooden buildings.
That was Stin Francisco ; and the masts on the left side of the

SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849. J 39

harbour! But what a little place! — (the hills still concealed from
us the other part of it.) More came in sight with every cable
length; and now, now the immense number of ships lying at
anchor there, spread before us like a thick impenetrable forest of
masts. The eye had, indeed, no time to survey all the new and
attractive objects.

Of the greatest interest in the beginning were the ships to me.
I could already make out two German flags. Close by lay one
of Hamburg ; and farther on, two of Bremen, on the foremast of
which a. small pennon was fluttering with a large H (Heydorn).
That was the Talisman, on board of which all my goods and
chattels ought to be; and immediately after. Captain Meyer came
in his jolly-boat to show us the place where we might find a
mooring. Five minutes after, the heavy anchor was fast in the
bottom, and we were on Califomian soil.

And California? — I really don't know where to begin — as if old
{aicj tales, with their fabulous treasures, had been called into life
again. Thus the whole waved and rolled round us ; and nothing
was wanting, but that an indefinite number of genii had been
walking to and fro on the shore, with golden vessels full of
diamonds. The people would speak of gold as if it were but
common dust; and the prices asked for everything proved to us
only too soon that it was no dream, but dry, prosy reality which
surrounded us. Merely for the boat which took us to the shore
we had to pay one dollar each ; and when we had touched the
land, the reality became again fabulous in this town of San Fran-
cisco, which seemed to be raised from the ground as by magic.

Fremont Hotel, an insignificant house of two stories, about as
large as a modest country parsonage, rose like a palace from
amidst the small low wood cabins and tents, which respected those
places only where real streets were laid out; and everywhere else
were pitched in wild confusion, promiscuously turning their fronts
towards any point of the compass, just as the whim of the moment
suggested it to the architect. The fine weather — as it rarely or
never rains in summer — ^had encouraged the people to make use

140 SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1819.

of every possible material, caring rather to get an inclosure than
to be under a roof; and fearing less to be exposed to the weather
than to the eyes of the neighbours and passers-by. Houses, if
we may call them by this name, were raised of the thinnest spars,
covered with gay thin cotton; but if the piece with blue flowers
had not been sufficient, a red chequered strip was patched to it by
means of large stitches, to fill up the space; after which a yellow
pattern followed, which, having been procured in a larger quantity,
completed the wall, the back, and the roof.

Near many a tent, a sign-board, larger than the dwelling and
the store, and perhaps imported from the United States, was stick-
ing in the ground; and cotton and linen-built hotels everywhere
invited the stranger to satisfy his hunger " at a fair price."

Strange as the houses might appear to us on our first entering
the town, we almost forgot them for the men, some of whom were
loitering about in the streets without any seeming occupation,
and others were hard at work, as if they might have gained by
it, in a few hours, an independent existence. After having got a
nearer insight into their doings, I found that they might be
divided into three distinct classes.

The first class consists of the people who are settled here, nearly
all of them merchants ; for man has not yet time here for manu-
facturing goods — everything is imported ready made; and who
would sit down and work, however well paid, whilst in the mines
he finds the lumps of gold quite ready for barter ? The merchants
go after their business, walking quickly, without conversing with
any of the others. They know the life as it is here, and have no
need to make inquiries; but their time is gold, and that is the
reason of their walking on so quickly and never stopping.

The second class is that of the new arrivals. They have not
yet got their things in order, nor appointed day and hour for their
departure for the diggings ; and now, to make use of the little
time that is left them, they roam about the streets of the town,
and wonder at what they see, and also laugh at the strange objects
they meet with.

SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849. 141

The third is the working class, although very different from
what we at home call by that name; and it might be subdivided
into three kinds — voluntary, involuntary, and exceedingly aston-
ished workers.

The voluntary are those who at once made the best of existing
circumstances, and who put off their coats, tuck up their sleeves,
and briskly set to work, either on their own account or for others.

The involuntary are those who are obliged to work because no
one else will do it for them ; and they cannot afford the money to
pay, for a single errand, a sum which, at home, they would not
have earned in a whole month. These people are distinguished
by their awkwardness; and, in the midst of their hard toil, you will
see them still sporting the dress coat and kid gloves, and wiping
the sweat off their brow with fine cambric handkerchiefs.

The third subdivision comprises people having just disembarked
with their luggage, and being suddenly thrown into a state of
things which they certainly had never dreamed of. There they
stand on the shore with their portmanteaus, their trunks, and
their hat-boxes by their side, and no one minding them or their
luggage; so that at last, to their great surprise, they are obliged
to put a hand to it, and drag their heavy things along. They
will stop after every twenty yards, and ask every one whom they
meet, how much he will take to carry their luggage to a hotel ;
and if a man who just looks like a workman at home, saucily
answers, " Do it yourself, don't you see that we others are also
working;" they are quite amazed, and stare at the man in a state
of complete bewilderment.

At the diggings, there are said to be now (autumn 1849) about
70,000 men working; the number of the inhabitants of San
Francisco amounting to about 25,000. It is, however, exceedingly
difficult to guess at the population of a town whose inhabitants
are constantly on the move, not the thirtieth part of them having
any fixed abode. As far as I could judge — and what I afterwards
heard seemed to confinn my opinion — the merchants, who, at that
period, sent goods to this place, had made very unsuccessful specu-

142 SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849.

lations, unless they happened to hit upon very popular articles,
or on such as were in great request for the moment. Heaps
of goods were lying, unsold and without any shelter, about the
streets; and had not the freight from here been so enormously
dear, one might have done brilliant business by buying up goods
here and taking them back to Germany. I once went to one of
the sales which were held amongst those scattered goods in the
open air, and I saw a whole load of Chinese tea, which had been
just landed, and which was now sold at about five cents per pound.
Other articles were given away in the same manner; you might
have bought there goods at any price.

Timber for building houses brought at that time an enormous
price ; planks had been sold as high as three hundred dollars per
hundred feet ; houses were dear in proportion, and scarcely to be
got ; everybody had sent for them, and were now waiting for their
f arrival. Rents were, of course, at the same extravagant rate. A
single parlour in a good quarter of the town, was paid for with
two hundred dollars and upwards per month; the apartments being,
in many cases, only four posts with pieces of cotton stretched as
walls between; yet it mattered not how the thing looked: the
question was, only to get a place where people might sell their
goods, and such a place was to be procured at any price.

A new branch of industry was, the taking charge of the luggage
of those who were going to the diggings ; and who would not go
there? The average rent for a middle-sized trunk was one dollar;
for a larger trunk, or chest, even two dollars per month.

The reckless manner in which goods were in general treated,
may be seen from the following example. At first, linen was very
scarce; but as every ship brought loads of it, the price of it soon
was below even prime cost, work at the same time at an enormous
price, and washing consequently very dear. Heaps of shirts and
trousers, worn often only one week, but otherwise quite whole,
were lying about the streets. People wore a shirt until it was
dirty, then threw it away, and bought new ones at eight dollars
per dozen.

SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849. l4§

The same happened to the merchants, who had brought here
fine shirts for their own use, and who now saw that they would
do much better to buy cheaper ones, than to pay an extravagant
price for washing. Yet they did not wish to cast them away
either: when, therefore, they had been able to collect a quantity
of foul linen, they sent it off by a ship bound for China, to have
it washed at a ridiculously cheap price in the Celestial Empire.
For the freight, they had little or nothing to pay, and they got
their shirts back in about seven or eight months. And we
civilized Europeans often grumble when our washerwoman lives
at the other end of the town — ridiculous !

A sad sight are the many gambling-houses here. There are
about five hundred gambling-tables in the town; in some of the
larger hells, often six or eight in one room. For the present, they
pay a heavy tax to government; but the thing will not end well;
and unless the public authorities take the matter in hand to put
down this evil, the citizens, as has several times been done in the
mines, will club together and form themselves into a Court of
Regulators; making short work with the gamblers.

Many interesting scenes may be witnessed in those hells. Thus,
a few days ago, a Mexican (the Spaniards, in general, distinguish
themselves by their coolness at play) went up to a table, and,
without saying a word, staked a rather heavy purse on a card; the
keeper of the table cut; the stranger has won; and the "banquier,"
who thought to have lost only dollars, became pale as death when,
on opening the purse, he found doubloons. He had not even
money enough on his table; but his neighbours at once assisted
him : the Mexican was paid, took his two money bags with him,
(the gain of one minute amounted to about six thousand dollars)
and went out as calm and unconcerned as he had entered. All
are, however, not so successful; and hundreds and hundreds lose,
in these infamous hells, within a few short hours, all that, in the
sweat of their brow, they had collected for months.

It is very extraordinary that, notwithstanding the numbers of
emigrants who have arrived of late, work is still at such an enor-

1 44 SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849.

mous price; general labour is very readily paid for with six dol-
lars per day; cabinetmakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths, earn
ten, twelve, and sixteen dollars daily; waiters receive from a
hundred to a hundred and fifty dollars per month: commercial
clerks only, are disappointed in their expectations; as the brisk
competition and the fabulous house-rents compel the merchants to
practise as much economy as possible. Most of the young men,
therefore, soon start for the diggings, or carry on business on their
own account by buying and selling by retail, with by no means
inconsiderable profits.

Most interesting is the medley of nations who have crowded
together here; there are, especially, a great number of Chinese,
who have established several eating-houses, which belong to the
best of the town. They are odd fellows, but very industrious and
bustling, and show a good deal of cleverness in everything they
apply themselves to. They are dressed in the costume of their
own country; their tails, however, they wear laid round their
head, and fastened as our women have them; and this, as well as
their general dress, makes them appear so much like females, that
I have several times looked after their feet. The fair ladies of
China, however, seem all to have remained in their own country;
until now, at least, I was never able to get sight of any one of
them.

As to my own things, they were still all right on board the
Talisman; that is to say, as much as remained of them: for all
that had not been locked up, seemed to have, in the meanwhile,
found favour in the eyes of some kind soul or other. The captain
had put, at Valparaiso, another passenger in my place, without
taking any care of my loose property which was lying about; so
that the stranger (an American gambler, who, as I heard, fleeced
the German passengers between Valparaiso and San Francisco in
a most unmerciful manner) was at full liberty to help himself as
he pleased. Yet I must not complain much, for Captain Meyer
afterwards dealt with the whole of the ship in the very same
manner.

SAN FRANCISCO IN THE AUTUMN OF 1849. 145

After having deposited the few traps which remained to me, at
the place of business of the new firm, Pajeken, Frisius, & Co., I
took up my quarters, previous to starting for the diggings, at the
house of Dr. Precht, who had established here a small surgery,
and who began to exercise the art of healing in good earnest. The
only business to which I had to attend for the next day, was to
write some letters and to arrange the few things which I should
want for my journey.

Many things seem very singular to the stranger who roams
about the streets during the night ; precaution against theft seems
nowhere to be taken, and the security of property is, indeed, very
remarkable. The goods, which all of them remain lying un-
guarded in the streets, are never touched ; and the most portable
trifles are often for hours exposed on the strand, or before some
house door, without any one ever thinking of committing any de-
predation. The merchants, who, in their small and expensive
tenements, are very badly off for room, leave their merchandise
before the houses ; and even hampers of wine are scarcely ever in
danger of being unlawfully appropriated. It is true that the
penalty against theft is very severe, the offenders being flogged ;
or also, in more serious cases, hanged. At the diggings, where
they have lynch law, even the most trifling offence of pilfering is
punished with the loss of ears. The Indians are said to be little
dangerous now. The safety of the person within the town is like-
wise perfect ; arms are seen in the streets only with new-comers ;
with this exception, no one wears either pistol or dagger, at least
not openly. At the diggings also, murder is said to have be-
come of late quite an unheard of thing. The diggers, unless in-
tending to go far inland, do not even arm themselves. Provisions
and implements are likewise said to be as cheap in the mountains
as they are here ; and the immense traffic between the harbour
and the interior country would make us expect as much.

These are, however, only the momentary impressions ot the
new countr}^, and of the life in it, which I have here once more
unfolded before the reader, in order to enable him to follow up the

146 A TRIP TO THE CALIFOENTAN DIGGINGS

rapid and almost magical development of tlie country. They are
meant only as a sketch of San Francisco, not of California ; yet
these impressions crowded upon me in quick succession, and it
was impossible to me to hit at the truth in the thousand different
reports and descriptions with which I was overwhelmed on all
sides.

CHAPTEE XII.

A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS DURING THE RAINY SEASON.

On the 1 9th of October we started from San Francisco, that is
to say, we made our bargain at an office which undertakes to con-
vey travellers to Sacramento city ; and after having paid twelve
dollars per head for our passage (as deck passengers of course),
we were directed to get to the shore about two o'clock, where a
boat of the schooner Pomona was to carry us on board. Our
small band consisted of two young commercial clerks, a sailor, an
apothecary, two Berlin Jews, and myself; most of us, particularly
the two sons of Israel, being armed in a very effective style. As
to luggage, my advice had been followed, to take as little as pos-
sible ; only some linen and a woollen blanket for each, besides
the necessary ammunition and thie indispensable kitchen utensils.
Nor had we omitted a couple of pans for gold washing ; pickaxes
and mattocks we intended to procure on the spot, as, otherwise, the
transport increases the price of such heavy articles beyond any
proportion.

As the clock struck two — Germans are generally punctual —
we stood waiting for the boat on shore, and had, for two tedious
hours, an opportunity to observe the bustle and stir of this port,
which had suddenly been converted, as by magic, into the em-
porium of the world. Everywhere people came up the steep
shore, panting under their heavy loads : they were the passengers
of several American ships which had just arrived ; tired to death.

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 147

they went to and fro, and I heard some of them callmg out to
each other, with a wistful shake of the head, Is this California ?

A small steamer likewise had just landed, bringing people back
from the diggings ; two waggons were stopping below, in each of
which a couple of invalids were lying, who, supported by their
comrades, were conveyed up to the town.

"You are for the diggings?" I was asked, by an old sun-burnt
American, who, sauntering past, stopped short and surveyed our
little caravan with a sort of half- suppressed sneer, for which, it is
true, he had very good reasons. " Yes, we are," we tartly an^
swered ; but the man was not so easily put down. " A wink is
as good as a nod to a blind horse," he continued, in a somewhat
off-hand way ; "if you will listen to good advice, you will stay
during the rainy season, which may begin within a fortnight, at
San Francisco ; if you go to the mountains to wash, it might very
easily happen that you would be washed ; do yOu guess ?" The
good man, alas, spoke to the wind ; indeed, his advice was a little
too late. I pointed out to him that we had already struck our
bargain for the passage to Sacramento city, and even paid our
fare, so that we were now obliged to take our chance. " Paid
already ?" he said ; " and, I dare say, as deck passengers ?" I
merely nodded ; but the old fellow, without making any farther
reply, plunged his hands as deeply as possible into his breeches
pockets, turned round on his heel, and, whistling with the full
power of his lungs, stalked off along the street.

I did not like the manoeuvre at all. The smart Yankee had
evidently seen a good deal of California ; but at this moment the
boat arrived which was to take us in, and we had no time to in-
dulge in reflections. The schooner was mooring between the
other ships, and very closely hemmed in by them ; but, ye gods I
what a sight presented itself to us on board ; there was not a spot
where to put one's foot ; everywhere sacks of flour, casks, boards,
and planks, and men, who stood closely packed between this
chaos of merchandise, and seemed to look with great disgust at
our arrival as a fresh nuisance. There was, however, no time for

148 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

reflection ; we quickly jumped on board, stowed our little luggage
away, and tried then to establish ourselves as well as circumstances
would admit of. We did not weigh anchor until sunset, and the
schooner, one of the largest which navigated the Sacramento,
began slowly to move along. Our joy was not destined to be of
long duration : owing to bad management, she swerved from her '
course, and immediately ran foul of a brig. Her sail was com-
pletely split ; and before she got clear and her canvass could have
been mended, the night was so far advanced, that to start before
to-morrow was entirely out of the question. A very cheerful be-
ginning of our journey ! Night closed in, cold and damp, and the
stay on deck was, indeed, truly melancholy. In addition to this,
I was very lightly clothed ; and after having had to run about
from morning to evening, I shivered with cold, deriving little
consolation from my blanket, with which I lay covered on a couple
of flour sacks and the ledges of some chests.

About noon of the next day, we indeed set sail, but made only
little way to the small town of Benitia, which is situated in the
bay ; and, on the day after, we even stuck fast, as that wretched
schooner drew ten feet water, and we were now told that some of
the most shallow spots in the Sacramento were only eight feet
<deep. We were, indeed. In a most lamentable plight. Strong and
healthy as I had been until then, the miserable stay on board —
very good accommodation for deck passengers had been promised
to us on shore, with the most earnest assurances — brought on a
very violent dysentery, suffering under which, I was haunted by
the idea, which until then I had taken great care to ward off,
what a terrible fate It would be to fall ill here in a strange country,
out in the distant mountains, surrounded by none but diggers, to
whom mammon is everything and man nothing.

On Monday the 2 2d, we lighted the schooner on a small flat
boat, and then sailed towards the small town of New York, opposite
Benitia, in order there to cast anchor for the night. The captain
of the Pomona, named Peterson, was one of the worst specimens
of the low and vulgar Yankee, who never opened his mouth with-

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 149

out uttering some vile and disgusting imprecation, but who was
immediately cowed as soon as any one firmly stood up against him.
Most of his time he raved about the deck, blaspheming and heaping
the filthiest abuse on his mate, who was just as quiet as the captain
was brutal and ferocious. Both of them, however, were equally
innocent of any knowledge of seamanship : they had accepted the
situation merely because they were enormously paid for it ; and
unless a lucky chance helped them up the Sacramento, there was
no possibility of their reaching the end of their voyage. At first
we were angry at the uncouth, brutal fellow, but at last we made
sport of him ; and all his bullying, shouts, and commands were
generally accompanied by the derisive laughter of the passengers.

But we found it no longer a laughing matter, when, on casting
anchor oflf New York, five days after our departure from San
Francisco, we had made no more way than a boat worked by
oars might have done in twelve hours ; and when the lighterman,
which had before eased us of part of our freight, returned, and
wanted to put all the cargo back on board our vessel. The
schooner was thereby at all events again brought to draw her ten
feet ; and how should we get over the other shoals ?

We Germans at first refused to allow the goods to be taken on
board again ; but as we saw that the others did not mind it, and
that, at any rate, they would not support us, we determined to let
them shift for themselves, and assured the captain that we would
not offer the least opposition to his loading the vessel as heavily
as he liked, on condition of his releasing us from our contract by
paying back part of the passage- money. To this proposal he
most readily agreed : five of the twelve dollars which we had paid
as our fare to Sacramento city, were refunded to each of us ; and
we now hired the jolly-boat of the " Sabine," an American vessel,
which was idly mooring there, and whose captain himself under-
took to convey us to Sacramento for ten dollars per head.

The Sabine was one of that numerous class of American vessels
which were considered to have earned their price of purchase by
barely reaching San Francisco. All that was made by them be-

150 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

sides, would then be as mucli profit. Nearly in all the towns of
the eastern states, companies had been formed, of people, acquaint-
ances and strangers, clubbing together for the purchase of old and
new ships, which were to carry them to San Francisco. Two
hundred persons generally formed into one company, each paying
his share of the purchase money, which gave him the right of a
passage, the company making arrangements, as cheaply as pos-
sible, with regard to the provisions. All the other expenses were
defrayed by the freight, which sometimes was taken to the general
account, and sometimes also let to individuals at current prices.
Anything that floated on the water, and had rudder and sail ;
the most worn-out and weather-beaten craft, were pressed into
this service. Many of these fragile barks, unable with their
rotten hulks to struggle against the fury of the winds and the
waves, went down with their luckless passengers, thousands of
whom found a grave in the deep, even before having rounded
Cape Horn ; but many also, to the amazement of their sellers,
reached the end of their voyage, where, abandoned by their owners
and their crews, they were lying on the strand, like the bodies of
the slain on the battle-field.

The Sabine had been purchased at New York by such a com-
pany ; and the captain, a jolly, fat little fellow, with good-natured
blue eyes and a fine head of blond hair, who worked the boat
himself, soon told "us the whole of h«r story. The owners and
passengers of the vessel had taken with them the greater part of
their provisions, to go on a reconnoitring expedition to the moun-
tains : if they there went on well, or if they should want the re-
mainder, they would come and fetch them ; and he had bound him-
self to remain on board with three of his crew. These, however,
having likewise run away, the vessel, during his absence, lay there
without a soul to guard her. He was himself most heartily tired
of this dull life, and longingly waited for the time when the re-
mainder of the stores would be fetched, as he would then, like the
rest, make haste for the diggings.

Before entering the Sacramento river, we had the satisfaction

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 151

of passing the Pomona, which stuck fast like a tree on the sand
of the bar ; the passengers standing on the deck, and looking,
not without envy, at our small fast boat, as it swiftly glided by.
The captain was of course abusing the mate, and the last that we
heard from him was a roar to take down " that blessed mainsail,"
accompanied by a most comprehensive form of anathema, which
he generously addressed to all of us then and there present.

In the evening we encamped on shore, some way up the river,
in the neighbourhood of some Indian wigwams ; and the following
afternoon, about three, we came in sight of Suttersville, probably
four miles below Sacramento city. The river has here consider-
able breadth, and being less endangered by " snags" (trunks of
trees thrown into the water) than the great rivers of the Atlantic
states, is sure to become, some time or other, a very important high-
way for the navigation of these parts. Even larger vessels — barks,
brigs, and ships — go already as far up as Sacramento city : and we
met several small steamers, which, laden with passengers, made
the journey from that place to San Francisco in thirty-six hours.

A few snags would, however, now and then rise above the
water ; and we had just passed one, when another suspicious, dark-
looking object in the midst of the river attracted our attention.
The captain then said that, of late, several barrels, filled with the
best brandy, had been picked up just hereabout ; and that the
thing in front looked much rather like a brandy keg than a snag.
I do not know why, at the first sight of it, I could not help remem-
bering an incident which happened to me on the Rio Roxo, in
North America ; where, gliding down the river in a canoe, I des-
cried the corpse of a murdered man, which, quietly and dismally,
was carried along by the rapid, with its pierced back rising above
the surface. Having this thought on my mind, I kept a sharp
look-out on what was said to be a brandy keg, and I shuddered
as also this time I saw a dead body before me. My cry startled
the captain at the helm, who allowed the boat swiftly to run past ;
but immediately after turned her bow round towards the corpse,
and stopped, irresolute as to what be was to do in the case.

152 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

The law requires every one who finds a dead body, immediately
to give Information of the fact. If I am not mistaken, a small
reward may be claimed by the Informant ; but as there are a great
many Irksome formalities to be gone through, and we were not
even provided with a rope which we might have slung round the
body, we let It float quietly down the river, and resolved to give
information in the small town of Suttersville, which Is about half
a mile English higher up the river ; but we also pointed It out to
another boat which we met ; and we reached Sacramento city
about four in the afternoon.

This thriving place, called a city only by courtesy, cannot be
seen at all from the river, notwithstanding the flat banks, as the
trees on the shore have been left standing ; yet we beheld a great
many vessels of every description, exclusively American ones, as
no other flag is admitted ; and there were also plenty of tents and
small wooden dwellings, the former in great majority, scattered over
a wide open space which extended before our eyes. Everywhere
carriages with newly arrived emigrants were stopping near them,
and groups of men lay on the ground ; even women were bustling
to and fro — a sight very rarely met with In California, and which
gave to the scene a domestic, comfortable aspect.

The places under the trees being all of them occupied, we had
to choose rather an open spot for our encampment ; and I wrapped
myself closely up In my blanket, by no means easy concerning
the state of my health. My dysentery became more and more
violent, and I was so faint as to be scarcely able to keep on my
legs ; but, on the other hand, I knew too well that this was neither
the place nor the time for being sick, and thus, according to the
general experience, that, If people must do a thing, they will do it,
I got also through this difficulty.

We did not, however, wish by any means to remain longer at
Sacramento city than was absolutely necessary in order to pro-
cure what was needful for our journey, and, first of all, a mule for
carrying the provisions and part of our luggage. I went, there-
fore, on the next morning, with one of our companions, to that part

DURING THE RAINT SEASON. 153

of the town where, as we had been told, a sale of all sorts of
thiugs, but especially of horses and mules, took place every morn-
ing after ten. We did not, however, buy a beast on that day, as
the prices were too high, and we hoped to meet with a better bar-
gain on the day following. And we really got a very good mule
for 75 dollars. Yet it was too late to set out that day : we, there-
fore, employed the remaining time in making all the other neces-
sary preparations, buying provisions and a pack-saddle, and get-
ting ready as well as we could to start early the next morning.

On Sunday, the 27th, we at last set out, forming a very strange-
looking procession, with the rather heavily laden mule in our
middle. It was our intention to seek the northernmost diggings ;
and in choosing our way, we relied, perhaps too incautiously, on
the directions of some Germans settled there for several years,
who had assured us that, first of all, we should have to go over to
" Suttersmill," from which it would be easy for us to reach all the
other diggings. Thither, then, we directed our course ; and, after
a march of scarcely an hour, we passed the famous place, which is
80 well known to newspaper readers as Sutter's Fort.

It is very different now to what it was only a year ago, when it
formed, as it were, a sort of centre of north Californian civilization,
and when Indian hordes were encamped round to barter with the
" pale faces." Captain Sutter has even entirely given up the place,
and let it to other people ; only the name has remained, and the
centre is formed, as usual in civilized California, by a bar.

Our road, after having passed the fort, led up the banks of the
American Fork, a large fine river. Close to the shore only there
were trees and shrubs, the rest being a desolate, dusty, and sandy
plain, scorched by the fierce rays of the sun, with but a few oaks
scattered here and there. Not being in good walking trim, we
felt very tired at the end of our first day's march, although it had
been a very short one; I, in particular, was completely knocked
up, being still very weak. Yet I had pretty well recovered from
my attack; having followed the advice of an old American, who
prescribed a strong dose of sweet oil and opium for me. The

154 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

former article I bought at Sacramento, at the rate of three dollars
a bottle; the other, I carried with me: and already, after the
second dose, I was completely cured. We encamped close to the
banks of the river ; and slept sweetly among the howl of the
numerous small prairie wolves, which, several times during the
night, approached very near where we were lying.

On the next morning, rather early, we reached the '^ Ten Mile
House," at a distance of ten miles from Sacramento, whence it has
its name; and here, to our not very agreeable surprise, we were
told, that, if we were really bound for the northern diggings, we had
taken a wrong road. If we adhered to our first plan, of visiting
the northern mines, nothing remained for us but to return by the
way we had come, and to cross the American Fork about a mile
on this side of Sutter's Fort, from whence we might then take the
correct course. Thus we were, on the evening of this day again,
within two miles and a half from Sacramento, encamped under a
shady oak on the other side of the Fork.

On this day, already one of our companions became faithless to
us. He was one of the two young clerks, who at first had made
a great boast of his strength and power of endurance ; but it
seemed that the heat and toil of the day had been too much for
him ; and as he heard that the next day would even be more
fatiguing, owing to the want of water, he deemed it best to take
French leave, falling in the rear behind the first bush ; after which
be was seen no more.

I must, however, give here to the reader a description of our
small band — a stranger medley of people than had ever left even
San Francisco. There had been seven of us before our friend left
us. Of the remaining six, I have, first of all, to mention two
brothers, whom I shall call Leopold and Philip Meyer ; the forme.
a commercial clerk, and the latter a locksmith — Israelites, from
Berlin. The elder Meyer, Leopold, wore a short jacket, rather
tight trousers, high jack-boots, and a bluelsh-grey cap; which cos-
tume was completed by a short hanger, which, however, seemed
rather intended to be ornamental than useful. Over his right

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 155

shoulder he had slung a large double bag, stuffed with all sorts of
articles of dress and of stores; and as one of the frying-pans on
the back of our surapter had continually knocked, with a disagree-
able noise, against the cauldron, he snatched it up, and carried it
in his hand ; so that, in combination with his hanger, it rather
looked like a shield than like a peaceable kitchen utensil.

The younger Meyer wore a sort of grey traveller's cap, with a
double peak, folding up in front and behind; a leathern girdle,
with a pistol in it; a powder flask; a German single-barrelled
rifle; a double bag, of white tick; his trousers were tucked up;
his coat he had laid on the mule's back, preferring to walk in his
shirt sleeves.

The third was a small apothecary, named Kunitz, with a green
square Polish cap trimmed with fur; very red beard; small black
knapsack on his back, which contained, besides the kitchen uten-
sils, all that he possessed in this world ; a brown short coat, grey
summer trousers, boots, and a large cudgel in his hand.

HUhne, the fourth of our companions, was a powerful young
fellow, of about twenty years of age; with a green hunter's cap,
and yellow woollen blouse; trousers of the same colour, and boots;
on his shoulders he carried a white double bag, a roUed-up blanket,
and a rifle gun.

The fifth was a young sailor ; who, after having run away from
the Reform, had joined us at San Francisco; a quiet, good-tem-
pered lad, whom I soon began to like. He was, of course, dressed
as a seaman, with white ducks, a woollen shirt, and a blue cap ;
shoes and stockings ; a double-barrelled gun slung over his back,
and a powder-flask by his side. Luggage he had none, except one
blanket and a couple of shirts ; as, in his flight, he had been obliged
to leave everything on board.

I myself wore a grey Glengary cap, my old American leathern
hunting shirt, grey trousers, and high jack-boots; a game-bag;
cutlass, and my rifle gun ; as also a small sandwich case, contain-
ing some medicines, slung over my shoulder.

Such were our outward men; and, xmtil then, we had marched

156 A TKIP TO TUB CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

on, briskly and in good spirits, through the dust and the heat of
the road; but, in the course of the last days, the elder of the two
brothers Meyer had been attacked by a violent toothache ; against
which even my creosote was of no avail. It at last ended in a
swollen cheek, such as I never saw before or since : it looked like
a whole dozen of cheeks laid one upon another, like pancakes ; and
I should never have thought the human face capable of being
expanded to such a degree.

Toothache is a very whimsical complaint; and whoever has
suffered with it, especially in several teeth, is well aware how dif-
ferent the remedies are by which it may be cured, or at least miti-
gated. Some apply cold water to stifle the pain; whilst the same
remedy would drive others mad. With most persons salt increases
the pain; but I saw, only lately, a patient filling his hollow tooth
with a dose of it, and thereby assuaging the agony. Many are
compelled to keep their head upright; whereas others enforce a
short respite of their sufferings by stooping forward, or even by
standing on their head.

Such a stubborn tooth was that of Meyer; even the most agoniz-
ing pain would cease after his having stood for half a minute on
his head ; and sorry as all of us were for his distress, yet he often
exhibited postures and grimaces too ludicrous not to excite our
merriment.

We were just marching through one of the Indian villages with
which this neighbourhood abounds, when Meyer was suddenly
seized with one of his violent attacks. Without thinking where
he was, he instinctively, resorted to the only remedy which he
knew to be of any avail against his insidious foe, by executing the
following tableau vivant. He at oncS supported himself with both
hands on the ground, lowering his head as much as he could ; and,
at the same time, partly for the sake of equilibrium and partly to
get the upper part of his body lower down to the ground, raising
his right leg high aloft. As he performed this attitude, his cap
fell from his head, his load glided from his shoulders, and only
the hanger, the hilt of which was sticking fast in the folds of his

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 157

blouse, rose straight and stiff; enhancing thereby the ludicrous-
ness of the whole figure.

The amazement of the Indians may be imagined. In the first
moment, a couple of women, who were sitting on the ground not
far off, shelling acorns, jumped up and quickly slipped away into
their huts ; and the men, who gravely and solemnly reposed on
the vaulted roofs of their cabins, likewise started up, and looked
with wonderment, and even consternation, at the stranger who pre-
sented himself to them in such an odd, and, for ought that they
knew, hostile position. And, indeed, his red and distended face,
which peeped out between his arms, close to the ground, was by
no means calculated to dispel their suspicions. Only when we
were no longer able, notwithstanding our sympathy with the poor
fellow, to suppress our laughter, they seemed to enter into the
fun of the thing; and, whether they thought that Meyer was per-
forming, these antics solely for their own special amusement, or
whether they were really tickled by his attitudes, they burst into
a horse-laugh; and the women peeped out in silent astonishment
from their cavern-like dwellings. Meyer now, indeed, got up,
but by no means in a mood to fall in with any exhibition of
humour. He only turned round towards the uproarious savages;
and after having darted a wrathful look at them, he sorrowfully
continued his journey.

On the same evening we crossed the Feather River by the
lower ford, and encamped on the opposite bank. The river was
here of considerable breadth, yet we were still able to wade through
it. During night it rained again, and the sky began to lower; yet
the sun rose bright enough ; only the colouring and the shape of
the single clouds became more and more suspicious.

We had on that day a march of thirty miles ; as we did not
find any flowing water, and only very little wood, all the way.
At nine o'clock the sky darkened, and at half- past ten it began to
rain — at first slightly, and then gradually more and more heavily.
To stop for a rest was entirely out of the question ; there was not
even one tree in the whole wide plain under which we might have

158 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

found shelter. Forward, was therefore the order of the day; and
in the evening, just about dusk, we at last reached the " Bute
Creek," and the Rancho, or, as the Americans call it, the Range,
of a certain Niels. Even if our travelling chest had been in a
better condition than it really was — the six of us possessing, be-
sides the provisions, which might last about ten days, a joint stock
of four dollars — we could not have found quarters within the very
limited premises of the people in the Rancho. All had sought
shelter from the rain in- doors ; only the forepart of an old block-
house, with a roof of reeds, was but partly occupied by another
set of travellers, just as wet as ourselves. And there we sought
refuge; only too happy to have found, for the night at least, some
sort of shelter, without being altogether exposed to the torrents of
rain lashed by the gusts of wind. At the fire of the Americans
we were at least able to boil some coffee, and to cook something
for supper. And we slept during the night, although not dry;
for our blankets were saturated with the rain, which also now
came down through the light roof; yet at least somewhat pro-
tected from the weather.

The next morning it looked much more cheerful; but the small
river, the so-called Bute Creek, was so much swollen during the
night, that, to cross it, we should have been obliged to swini. We
were therefore ourselves glad to have an excuse for resting one
day, to dry our blankets and clothes.

On Sunday, the 4th of November, we intended to start with the
dawn of day ; but here our mule played us a trick : when, in the
morning, we wanted to harness and pack it, it was gone. We
now set out in different directions, and I at last found it about
one mile from our encampment; but only when the day was
already too much advanced to think of starting. Thus we were
obliged to pass a third night in these by no means agreeable
quarters, during which the rain again began to fall in torrents ;
so that, unless we wished to be soaked at the very outset, we
could not think of taking our departure until the next morning.

Our provisions already began to dwindle most alarmingly; our

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 159

stock of salt was quite exhausted, and we had to buy several
pounds of it at half a dollar per pound. On the whole, the diggings
price began here, and gave us an idea of the expense which we
should be put to in the mountains for our provisions. Flour,
when we arrived at Niels', was fifty cents the pound ; as on that
day the rain made the roads impracticable, the price at once
increased by fifty per cent. Fresh beef was fifty, pork seventy-
five cents the pound. Besides this, nothing was to be got, except
brandy at three dollars the bottle, or fifty cents the glass.

Here we also met a great number of people from the different
diggings, who, like us, had been surprised by the rain on their
road, and were now waiting for better weather. The information
which we gathered from them, concerning the place where we had
intended to go, was so discouraging, that we at once gave up the
idea of continuing our journey in that direction. On the other
hand, the Feather River was very strongly recommended, even by
people who were themselves working there, and whose advice,
therefore, was thoroughly disinterested : we should be there high
enough in the mountains; and yet, if we-were not successful, we
still remained within reach of the civilized world. *

To get to the higher branches of the Feather River — near the
main stream, which traverses the flat country, there are no diggings,
but only in the mountains — we had to retrace part of our way
towards a small settlement, known by the name of Long's Store.
From thence we were to ascend along the banks of the river as
far as we liked, and might settle wherever we found a place that
suited us. Yet the rain continued unabated all Monday and
Tuesday, and only on the afternoon of Wednesday the weather
sufficiently cleared up for us to think of departure.

But now, first of all, our mule, whose four legs had been tethered
before it was turned out to graze, was to be sought and caught ;
and, lest we might lose too much time in doing it, our party
divided in different directions to look after it. Niels' Range was
situated in a small grove of very fine oaks, surrounded by a
beautiful glade, on which all the beasts were mostly grazing; so

160 A TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

that it was scarcely possible to miss the place. It was not long
before I found the mule and brought it back to the camp ; some
time after, the others also returned ; only the younger Meyer
was still missing, who, as well as his brother, had always had
a particular knack of losing his way in a most extraordinary
manner. As, at last, darkness set in without his making his
appearance, we several times fired our pistols, and shouted, and
gave other noisy signals. Yet all was in vain : he came not; and,
notwithstanding the very trifling distance, we could not but sur-
mise that he had found it possible again to go astray.

And such was really the case: next morning, before dawn,
he made his appearance, wet through, tired to death, and half-
starved with hunger and cold. Yet he had, last night, not gone
farther than half a mile ; but, unable to find his way back, had got
into marshy ground, and passed the whole night running round a
tree, as the only dry spot, to keep himself at least a little warm.
In the morning, some drovers who chanced to pass there had put
him right.

On Wednesday morning, when the rain was still pouring, and
the way seemed almost impassable, two waggons with emigrants
came along the road, having crossed the Rocky Mountains from
the United States. Owing to an accident which had happened to
their cattle, these poor people had fallen in the rear of the cara-
van with which they had started from Missouri, and had evidently
suffered great distress on their journey. I particularly pitied the
poor children (the mother lay sick in the waggon), who, wet to
the skin in their thin worn-out dresses, shivering with cold, had
to wade through mud and water behind the vehicle, as the two
last remaining bullocks were scarcely able to drag the waggon
with its load along.

The man who drove the waggon made the bullocks stop near
our encampment, to go to the nearest house, in order there to
inquire about the way, but very likely also to get (never mind the
price) a glass of brandy, for he looked cold and uncomfortable
enough ; and the little ones came to our fire to warm themselves.

DUEING THE RAINY SEASON. 161

They were a boy of about eleven, a girl of nine, and another of per-
haps seven years ; and as, fortunately, we had boiling water at the
fire, I in all haste made a cup of cofiee for them, from which they
seemed to thaw a little.

As I expressed my pity on their distressed state, an American,
who had likewise approached the fire, expressed himself, that this
was by no means anything unusual for these children, who had
scarcely fared better at home, where, in weather just as bad, and
over roads not much better, they had often four or five miles to
walk to school.

" But in the evening, when we came home, mother put warm
and dry clothes on us;" the youngest child, the little girl, sud-
denly interrupted him ; " and near the fireplace was a warm meal
and hot coffee for us."

At the remembrance of the comfort and peace left behind, and
perhaps also of the school itself, the poor little thing had a couple
of glistening tears starting into its large dark eyes ; but they did
not fall, as the child bravely swallowed her sorrow, and only hung
her little head, whilst stretching out her cold wet hands before the
blazing fire. *

And for vile gold alone the man had left his home: not a
country where he had to toil from day to day for a scanty liveli-
hood, as is the hard lot of the poor workman in the over-popu-
lated European states; but a free, happy fatherland, which, if he
only chose honestly to exert himself, oftered to him everything in
abundance ; and now he had to bear, with his family, with a wife
and children, fatigues under which thousands of men had suc-
cumbed. If the mother, who was now lying ill in the waggon,
should die, how could he ever again look his children in the
face I

On Thursday morning, the weather having in the meanwhile
cleared up, we started about ten o'clock. The way from here
through the plain, back to the Feather River, was awful: the
rain having not only filled all the hollows, so that several times
we had to wade up to the girdle in water ; but also the places

L

162 A TRIP TO THE CALIPORNIAN DIGGINGS

which were not under water, were swamped with a sticky mud,
which we could scarcely get off from our boots. We spent the
greater part of the day in getting over eight miles, and reached,
in the evening, the so-called " Dry River," which, however, at
present was anything but dry.

Having heard already, at Niel's Range, that, not far from our
encampment, there were great numbers of antelopes, I set out
before morning, with the young sailor, in the direction of the
mountains, as much for the useful purpose of filling our larder, as
for the pleasure of the sport. We, indeed, found whole herds of
these elegant animals; but neither my companion nor myself got a
shot at them, the only game I laid low being a prairie wolf.

As, owing to the deplorable condition of the roads, which made
it all but impossible for provision waggons to get up to the
mountains, every necessary of life was rapidly rising in price ; we
looked — not without alarm — on our stock of money, which now,
after the purchase of some salt and fresh meat, had been reduced
to two dollars and a half for six men ; and yet there was every
reason to fear that the dearth would still increase, as the rainy
season had set in much earlier than usual.

At nightfall we reached Long's Store, or, at least, the Feather
River opposite that place. What, until then, I had imagined to
be only a single shop, was in reality a little town, built of canvass,
on a hill. Wherever the eye wandered, on all the slopes and
in all the ravines close to the edge of the river, tents were pitched,
from which, right and left, the camp fires were blazing forth. It
was a splendid sight, which we enjoj^ed so much the more, as here
for the first time we really approached the Californian diggings,
and were near the long yearned-for fountainhead of Mammon's
pet metal.

Our companions, who were by no means very expert in gipsy-
ing, had picked out the steepest spot on the whole shore. All
our provisions were lying at the bottom of a small ravine, which,
if any heavy rain fell, could not but be swamped; and, to crown
our misfortune, the whole stock of firewood for the night consisted

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 163

of a couple of green branches. In the meanwhile, it had become
pitch dark; and as, in the neighbourhood of such a considerable
encampment, the nearest and most handy wood was, of course,
already taken away, we made no attempt to search in the dark for
any more fuel. Thus, it took us about an hour before we had got
our scanty supper ready, but only two minutes to eat it; after
which, we rolled ourselves up in our blankets, eveiy one selecting
for himself as level a place as he could find anywhere about the
hill; for, as to lying down where the brothers Meyer and Kunitz
had first intended to pitch our camp, that was an absolute impos-
sibility. Scarcely had we retired to rest, when the sluices of
heaven again opened. The green wood, of course, would not
light under such circumstances; we therefore could not, next
morning, even think of boiling our coffee. Wet to the skin,
with empty stomachs, shivering and peevish, we set out on our
road. This was our first night and morning at the diggings.

Our next look-out was how to get over the water; we bad heard
before that there was a ferry on the Feather River, which we now
set out to seek. The ferry-boat, however, consisted, simply and
primitively, in the well caulked and pitched body of an old car-
riage; in which, at the most^ four of us, and those only with great
danger, could cross: we were therefore obliged to divide our
forces. The first batch having crossed, I drove the mule into the
water, which, of its own accord, swam over very deftly; after
which we others followed ; but we were very nearly wrecked, for
we had scarcely reached the middle of the river, when our crazy
vessel sprung a leak. It filled so quickly, that, with great diffi-
culty, we contrived to return to the shore which we had just left.
Here we baled the water out, and after having found the havoc,
stopped up the hole; but our Charon assured us that, had our
" clipper" been one minute longer in the water, we must have
sunk.

Our second attempt to cross having been more successful, we
paid our ferryman the very reasonable price of a quarter of a
dollar per head, and now, once more in our lives, kept, ^'- e pluri-

164 A. TRIP TO THE CALIFORNIAN DIGGINGS

lus umim,'' one dollar as the joint property of six men. A very
promising prospect indeed I But we were now at the diggings,
and we had provisions for some days more: what reason had
we for despairing beforehand of our good luck?

The rain, in the meanwhile, continued to pour down with un-
abated force; and we climbed — not, indeed, in the very best of
humours — up the steep banks of the river, on which several tents
were sticking, just as if they had been glued to it. We had not,
however, until now, seen any one at work in the river ; the rain
seemed to have driven all to their tents. At the top of the hill
we found an old Pennsylvanian, who at once addressed us as Ger-
mans, and gave us some rather interesting information concerning
the diggings. Most of the diggers, he said, had left on account
of the rainy season ; those only had remained who had sufficient
provisions for getting through the winter. Here, on the Feather
River, was one of the best places, and he was able quite easily
to wash one ounce a- day.

He showed us some gold dust which his daughter, a girl of
about fourteen years, had washed the day before in about three
hours ; it might be worth, probably, six or eight dollars. He
intended likewise to go somewhat higher up the river, until he
found good timber for building a house; but as the roads were
completely swamped by the rain, he waited for some better wea-
ther. He advised us to do the same. About twelve or sixteen
miles higher up, there was a kind of cedar or arbor vitse, the
timber of which was easy to. cut and split, and very well adapted
for building-purposes. " And gold?" we asked. " Plenty of it,
if you only know how to find the right places," was his answer.
As, above all things, we longed for the shelter of a roof, under
which we might at least sleep dry; and as our pretensions had
already sunk considerably, we were not long before we fell in with
the views of our experienced adviser.

On that day the rain scarcely ceased, and we had, about mid-
day, to make a fire in the midst of its pelting torrents, only to get
some warm morsel. In the evening we reached another place

DURING THE RAINY SEASON. 165

where gold was washed. These places are generally called after
the person who has first established near it a shop, or so-called
store; and here also there were about fifty tents, scattered in
picturesque confusion on the slopes of the hills. Down near the
river, on a so-called bar — that is to say, on a spot which the river
only reached at high water — a number of men were engaged in
gold washing, which I here saw for the first time.

An American here came to us, and what he told us was con-
firmed by several others: namely, that, on account of the late
rains, we should not be able to pass the mountain roads, especially
with our heavy-laden mule; and that therefore we had better stop
here. He also offered to buy of us our mule, although, as he
said, he had no particular use for it. But I had not been so long
among Yankees to so little purpose, as not to know what to make
of this friendly advice. I thanked the good man for his dis-
interested sympathy, but, at the same time, took good care to
inquire of another, who did 720^ wish to buy a mule, for the right
way ; after which we proceeded, by roads which certainly were
muddy and very slipper}^, but practicable, towards the upper dis-
trict of the Feather River. The home of the cedar was the goal
of our journey, and, before evening closed in, we saw its high
majestic stems covering the slopes of the hills. We encamped
on the banks of the Feather River; and on the next morning,
marching some miles higher up the river, we looked out for a
suitable spot where to build our humble cabin.

166 DRAWBACKS.

CHAPTER XIII.

DRAWBACKS.

I WILL now introduce the reader into the midst of the so-called
diggings, and he may then judge for himself whether he would
like a life such as that which we led there.

This part of the Feather River, according to all appearances,
has been but little rummaged by diggers: there are vast tracts
scarcely ever touched by pickaxe or mattock ; but, on the other
hand, the place being very much out of the way, provisions can-
not so easily be conveyed there as to the others. Nor was it
long before we became acquainted with the true digging prices of
every necessary of life.

Here it soon became evident that we were in a country where
there was an abundance of timber. Not one tent was pitched;
everywhere the diggers lived in small block houses covered with
good planks, or were busily engaged in erecting them. We saw,
as yet, no one occupying himself with gold washing. However,
we found there a place which seemed to us particularly fitted to
settle on, especially as, at a distance of about half a mile, a provision
store was said to be in course of erection. Immediately on our
getting down into the valley, we inquired after the price of pro-
visions at a small store, which had for some time been established
there. The price of wheaten flour was three quarters of a dollar
per pound, and one dollar for a pound of salt pork. They had
also just killed a bullock; and charged half a dollar per pound
for meat with bones, and three quarters of a dollar for steak.
Beside this, and salt at one dollar per pound, they had nothing
whatever in their shop, and did not even care much to sell what
they had. The nearest store had not yet any provisions, but
expected them as soon as the weather would permit their being
conveyed.

Our first look-out was to get a so-called cradle for gold wash-

DRAWBACKS. 167

ing, for, to do the work with a pan is by far too troublesome and
tedious an operation. Chance favoured us in this respect; as,
during a short excursion which some of us made up the river, we
fell in with a Norwegian and an American, who were returning
to Sacramento city, and who expressed themselves willing to
exchange their cradle, which was in tolerable condition — as also
some provisions, a cauldron, a mattock, a pickaxe, a washing-pail,
and a crowbar — for our mule. Now, as we were arrived at our
destination, the animal would have only given us the trouble of
watching it, and might perhaps after all have run away (a trick
which it really played to the Norwegian on the second day):
we therefore readily agreed to the bargain, and received for it —
reckoning according to diggings prices — about seventy dollars
value. The two people had also to teach us the use of the
cradle, and therefore washed, in our presence, a small quantity of
earth which had been previously collected.

On this day we were full of cheerful hopes, and built the most
magnificent castles in the air: we had seen, with our own eyes,
gold obtained ; w*e had overcome immense difficulties to reach this
place ; and there seemed now to be a prospect of arriving, if only
a little favoured by fortune, at a happy result. Yet the next day,
already, was destined to lower our expectations, and to damp our
perhaps somewhat too sanguine hopes; so that some of our plans
were considerably shaken.

The first warning of impending calamities was given us, by the
reduced state of our stock of provisions: the young man who
generally acted as our cook, suddenly intimated to us that a new
supply was to be procured without delay, if we did not wish, one
fine morning, to be without breakfast; 'and the prices which we
here had to pay, indeed justified such an apprehension. The
weather had, during the night, changed considerably for the worse;
and at nine o'clock rain began to fall, which at first was but very
slight, but which became more and more heavy during the day.
What if it were the real beginning of the rainy season?

On our entering this valley, we had spent our last dollar for

168 DRAWBACKS.

some fresh meat; the flour which we had got in exchange for the
mule, was likewise soon despatched. We had therefore, first of
all things, to think of earning money in order to provide for our
wants.

We, therefore, lost no time in beginning our operations, at the
spot where the people who sold us the machine had already
dug up the ground. At the same time, however, it was also
necessary that a shelter should be procured, without which, if the
weather continued as wretched as it was then, we should have had
to look forward to a most miserable existence ; even disease must
have been the necessary consequence of such a life. Yet I was
the only one, of all the six, expert in the use of the hatchet; and
therefore the carpenter-work — which was certainly more suited to
my taste than digging — fell naturally to my lot.

I have here to mention an incident, which was not particularly
calculated to afford me great pleasure. We had, until then,
heard so much of the security of property in California, that we
never thought of guarding against thieves. But, just about the
Feather River, a host of Indians were swarming; and one morn-
ing I found, to my dismay, that my rifle gun, which I had missed
on the evening before, but which I then thought mislaid in the
dark, and besides, one of our small hatchets, were gone, very
likely by the agency of one of those copper-coloured rogues.
There was no possibility of following his track through the stony
hills; yet, for all that, I did not give up the rifle as lost, and I
cherished a hope, that I should one day meet the thief in the
mountains, when certainly he would have to expect little mercy.

On that evening the gold washers returned from their " placer,"
which was but little distafit from our camp, wet to the skin and
very tired; and they brought home so little gold, that it scarcely
sufficed to buy a couple of pounds of meal. With that little,
however, one of us had immediately to set out to fetch some
wheaten flour, the price of which, in consequence of the rain of
to-day, had already risen to one dollar per pound, whilst salt
pork was now one dollar and a quarter.

DRAWBACKS. 169

On the following day, the 15th of November, the same thing
was repeated, only in a worse form. The washers had found
nothing, or at least only a few dollars' worth; the gusts of rain
had continued with scarcely any interruption, and the price of
flour, and also that of salt pork, had again advanced one quarter of
a dollar. My carpenter- work was going on just as unsuccess-
fully; the first tree which I had felled being full of knots within,
and, therefore, unfit to be split in planks; so that I had to cut
down a second. Yet we were still wanting the most indispensable
instrument for splitting thin planks, a so-called "froe;" and
although I had wasted two afternoons in looking out for one
amongst the neighbours, I had not succeeded, and only got the
promise that, on the next day, I should for a short time have the
loan of one of those instruments, which was just then in use.

Friday morning, the rain having all the time continued to pour
down in torrents, I really got the tool, and had the young sailor
to assist me, in order to have the sooner done with it. But
we had scarcely split twenty or thirty planks, when an American
came up to us and told us that the " froe" was his property, and
net that of the people from whom I had borrowed it; and that he
wanted it very badly himself, as he was expecting, to-morrow
morning, his mother and sister, for whom he had still to prepare
a shelter. Against this nothing could be said, and the man,
besides, was only claiming his own ; but it was a sad blow to us,
to remain exposed to the full force of these swamping rains, with-
out one dry spot on which to stretch and warm our weary limbs.
Our stock of provisions, likewise, got very low; and, to increase
only a little our scanty rations of bread, we mixed the flour with
the red and well-flavoured berries growing there. If the gold
washers did not bring home to-day a respectable picking, we
should be in a very sad plight.

As, without the instrument, which was promised to me only for
the second day, I could do no carpenter- work, I determined for once
to go and dig myself near the river; possibly I might stumble on
a good place, which would put an end to all our difficulties. Yet

1 70 DRAWBACKS.

this hope also remained unfulfilled; in vain I worked for two
hours under a pelting shower : my companion and I, indeed, hit
upon a layer of boulders at about two and a half feet below the
surface; but the gold presented itself here so sparingly, so thinly
scattered, and in such tiny scales, that it would never have repaid
the trouble of the work, even if the rain had not compelled us to
desist. We were just squatting down near the fire in our wet
blankets, when the others also returned, and brought back, as the
only fruit of a day's labour, about two dollars worth of gold. In
this way we could not live any longer; we could not remain here
without provisions. The one of our fellow- diggers whom we had'
sent to the store, returned with a small quantity of flour, and
assured us that the dealer had seemed scarcely inclined to let him
have the little which remained to him at one and a half dollar
per pound; other provisions could not be procured in the present
state of the roads : what should we do?

The answer to the question was soon found, as, for three days
already, several Americans had shown us practically what was
to be done under such circumstances : They packed up their traps
on their backs; took the pickaxe and mattock in their hands, and
left, as speedily as they could, a spot where, as they said, a famine
must necessarily set in, if all of them were to remain. On the
same evening I had a conversation with an old American, who
likewise was going to leave the Feather River, and who assured
me that there were only two. classes of people in this part of the
countiy : those who had a sufficient store of provisions and a good
waterproof house to get through the rainy season ; and those who
had no provisions, and who were obliged to leave, as in a very
short time it would be entirely impossible to buy any ; and even
if any one would give him some on credit, with the condition of
paying them again in a certain time in kind, he would not, as
an honest man, accept it, as he was quite sure he would not be
able to keep his word.

Thus it was clear, that, even with a stock of provisions, a
longer stay at the diggings, through the rainy season, would at

DRAWBACKS. 171

all events be unprofitable ; and who would have led the life of a
dog in the mountains for nothing? But the retreat was much more
easily to be resolved on than executed: to walk back through all
the mire and the swampy grounds, through swollen rivers and
inundated plains, was indeed no trifle ; and as to building a canoe,
in which to follow the course of the river, we had, in the first
place, no provisions to live upon during the time of its construction ;
and, moreover, the stream was so rapid, and the small brook so
completely studded with rocks, that, even if we had had a canoe,
there was but a very poor chance of our getting on safely.

And should I leave my rifle gun behind ? for, if I had once left
this neighbourhood, every hope of getting it again was lost I Yet
I had troubles enough for the moment, without this additional
care; and I resolved, at last, to spend one day in ranging about
the mountains for game. If there was any, we might very
well live on it ; if there was none, the sooner we were off the
better.

I borrowed a rifle of young Meyer, and the very first day when
the weather was at all fair, I went out into the mountains. I will
not here tire the patience of the reader with a description of a
most uninteresting and useless chase, nor are words sufficient to
give him an idea of the sublime beauty of the scenery; the only
remarkable incident was, a little adventure with some Indians
whom I had espied from a distance, and with one of whom I
thought I perceived my darling rifle. I waylaid them ; but when
they were brought to bay, I found out that it was a fowling-piece,
which the copper- coloured thief must have stolen from some other
luckless digger.

When, after dusk, I arrived, tired and hungry, at the encamp-
ment, after having had nothing to eat during the whole day, except
the red mountain berries growing in the woods, I met with a very
agreeable surprise: against a tree, where I laid down my blanket,
I saw my rifle gun leaning; and I now heard that a young
American had brought it in that morning. He had taken it from
an Indian, who came to sell it at the encampments. The red-

172 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

skinned rogue had not been able to fire it off, because be did not
know bow to move tbe somewbat rusty guard.

My companions were in very low spirits, and, indeed, a more
melancboly pligbt tban ours could scarcely be imagined : if we
remained here, starvation; if we returned, a most dreadful marcb;
and yet the latter alternative seemed to us preferable. Our deter-
mination was therefore speedily taken, and the very next morn-
ing appointed for our departure.

CHAPTEH XIV.

RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

On the 18th of November, the morning being rather fair, we set
out, laden with all sorts of washing, cooking, and other utensils;
and on the same evening we fell in with a dealer, who bought from
us our mattocks, pickaxes, hatchets, pans, and everj^thing else that
we could dispense with. He, indeed, paid us a very small price ;
but it was at least ready money, and we thus not only filled our
exchequer again, but also were relieved of a considerable burden.

That night, however, we had once more to taste the full measure
of the joy of a digger's life. At about ten o'clock it began to
rain ; and as it did not cease once during the whole night, we were
of course wet to the skin. On the next morning we had to get up
amidst a deluge of rain, and to cook our breakfast, to pack, and
start, under the pitiless showers, which continued the whole of the
first six miles.

At night we encamped on comparatively dry ground, in the
neighbourhood of Long's Store ; but a real shelter we did not find
until the following evening, in the shape of a sort of mud cabin
close to the banks of the Feather River, and inhabited by a German,
Charles Rother. Our host had lived for several years in Cali-
fornia, and made a considerable fortune during the latter years.
Yet he was living in as miserable a hovel as the poorest Spaniard:

RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 173

he was, however, a bachelor, which may be pleaded in his excuse.
We made our supper of some ship's biscuit and salt pork, sold to
us by Mr. Rother at one dollar per pound ; which, just coming
from the mountains, we looked upon as a very reasonable price.
"We also enjoyed, that night, a luxury which we had not known for
a very long time ; yet the reader must not think of truffles and
champagne, nor of a soft couch, or warm comfortable clothing : it
was only the happiness, whilst we lay on the floor, wrapped up in
our blankets, to hear the rain pattering against the roof, whilst we
were ourselves, for once, sheltered from it. This was, indeed, a de-
lightful feeling ; but we had to make up for it on the following day.

We set out early in the morning, having been told that we
should ha^e to cross over a river very likely swollen at present
with the rain ; and that the sooner we did it the better it would
be, as, of course, the water was continually rising.

After a march of about an hour, we reached the spot, but looked
in vain for the trunk of a fallen tree, on which, as we had been
told, we might cross dry. There was, indeed, an oak lying in
the middle, from one islet of the swollen river to the other; but to
reach even that, we had to wade up to the girdle in the cold water,
tlie rain pouring down all the while. Heavily laden as we were,
we climbed with difficulty over the fallen tree, and now we thought
we had got over the worst. But it was still to come, as the
further branch of the inundation, even deeper and more rapid, was
still between us and the higher shore opposite. On the islet we
also found some Americans, who, like us, had got over the first
part of the crossing, and who were now equally at a loss what
to do.

There was no other alternative but to build a raft ; we, there-
fore, in the absence of serviceable trees, dragged old drifted stems
to the edge of the water, bound them together by means of thin
ropes, for which we ransacked all our pockets; and then tried to
pack all our things on the raft. It was dreadful work, to stand
for hours up to the middle in the cold water ; and the brothers
Meyer, who were shivering with cold, stood by without being

174 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

able to offer us any help. The young sailor, who showed himself
particularly active, had complained since morning of headache,
and, indeed, looked pale and worn out ; we did not, however, take
any particular notice of it, as, under our circumstances, a little
indisposition seemed by no means an extraordinary occurrence.

Our attempt failed, and we had to return on that evening once
more to Charles Rother. Our whole supper consisted of a little
piece of bacon and a ship biscuit; and, squatting with eleven
other strangers round a smouldering fire, as there was no sort of
fuel to be had, we tried in vain to dry our clothes at least a
little.

On the next morning, we therefore set out in wet clothes, and
passed the Feather River, where an enterprising Yankee had just
arrived with a provision boat, and asked two dollars a-head for
taking us over. This fare, which he earned in ten minutes, was
indeed enormous; yet we had no choice but to pay him twelve
dollars for the six of us.

On our reaching the shore, the consequences of our toil and
fatigue already manifested themselves : the young sailor had be-
come much worse, his feet were swollen, and he complained of
faintness and fever ; all of us were likewise more or less aftected
by the over-exertion. Yet, notwithstanding my own weak state,
I was obliged, when, about mid- day, the poor fellow was not able
to get on any farther, to ease him of his luggage and to lead him
by the arm. Thus we got on a little, although very slowly.

On Friday, the 23d of November, we reached Sutter's Farm, the
first really cultivated and farm-like place which, until then, I had
met with in California. I had a great wish to speak to Captain
Sutter himself, for whom I had brought a chest with books from
a friend in Germany ; but as I knew that he resided here only on
rare occasions, I scarcely hoped to find him here. It was there-
fore a most agreeable surprise when I heard, from a German who
was working there, that the gentleman just happened to be pre-
sent, but that he was going to leave in the afternoon. The cap-
tain received me in the most friendly manner. Unfortunately, I

RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 175

could enjoy his company only a very short time, as we were obliged
to push on as speedily as possible ; but our invalid got so much
worse, as to oblige us to carry him. It being therefore impossi-
ble for me to accept the captain's hospitable invitation, he loaded
us with provisions for our further journey, and told me that he
would soon himself be at San Francisco, where I might meet him
again.

In the meanwhile, another of our companions, the younger
Meyer, had fallen ill, fainting away in the court-yard of Sutter's
Farm ; yet he soon recovered, and we set out about two in the
afternoon, toiling on, step by step. But we were most fortunately
overtaken by a cart belonging to a German, which, as it was re-
turning empty to the little town of Vernon, took in our poor sailor
as far as to the place where we intended to encamp that evening.

During half the night we were kept awake by the prairie
wolves, who gave us a most magnificent serenade. They are very
annoying by their dismal howl, which sometimes sounds like a
succession of the most unearthly yells ; but there is no instance on
record of their having attacked man, even where they are collected
in large numbers.

Next morning we proceeded to Vernon. The distance was but
very small ; but our sailor, with his sore and swollen feet, kept us
a long time on the road. We reached the town about noon, and
now it became evident that he was utterly unable to march on.
We, therefore, gladly availed ourselves of a boat, in which he
could travel the short distance from Vernon to Sacramento city
for five dollars. The elder Meyer likewise took his passage in
that vessel, so that our band was reduced to four persons ; but
being all of us in tolerably good health, we got on quickly enough.

We reached, with three dollars in our common travelling chest,
Sacramento city, on Monday, November 26th. From the bustling
place, as which we had known the " city" a few weeks before, it
was now changed into a mere shadow of its former self. At that
time, any unemployed person had only to show himself, to be
applied to by a dozen persons with inquiries as to whether ho

176 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

wanted work, and what business he was fit for ? Now, it was
just the reverse. When a schooner arrived with provisions, which
scarcely happened twice a- week, ten or twenty people would run
down, and go on board to ask the captain for work ; but they
generally returned disappointed : there was nothing for them to
do, the captain having already, during the journey, promised his
few passengers, to give to them the job of unloading his vessel.
Sales were going on everywhere, at which the goods were dis-
posed of at ridiculously low prices — a very melancholy prospect
for us, who were compelled, under the present circumstances, to
look out for whatever work we could get.

Our invalid we found put up at a German boarding-house.
His health was not improved, his gums were swollen, and unmis-
takeable symptoms of scurvy were making their appearance. The
host seemed but little inclined to keep a sick guest ; and besides
paying a very heavy price, w<3 had to beg hard of him not to turn
the poor fellow out. The charge for board and lodging per day
was three and a half dollars, for which we had to sleep on the
ground on our own blankets. Dinner, a very simple meal in-
deed, was, by itself, one and a fourth dollars.

There was certainly some excuse for the landlord's testiness.
The whole of his hotel consisted in a tent divided by a curtain of
cotton into two halves, one of which was taken up by the " bar,"
and the back part serving as dining-room ; where likewise, behind
a sort of screen, a number of berths were put up, just as on board
ship. Thus it was impossible to separate an invalid from the
rest ; and the healthy guests had too much to do with their own
affairs, to trouble themselves about a person who was nothing to
them.

Here, in Sacramento, our company was dissolved. The pros-
pects of being able to do anything in common were too bad ; and
the majority did not care to work for a sick companion, whom they
selfishly looked upon but as a stranger. The two brothers from
Berlin, therefore, contracted with the captain of the San Francisco
steamer, promising to pay him on their arrival, as they had friends

RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 177

and relations, perhaps also some merchandise, there. Our little
apothecary ran about the whole town, looking out for work ; and
we, Hlihne and myself, did the same, as well to keep our invalid
in board and lodging, as also to pay the few dollars which he had
got in arrear during his short stay. We had ourselves dined
several times at the table d'hote, to feed once more on something
besides flour and bacon ; and that had cost a heap of money, which
had still to be earned. But how to earn it ? that was the question.
We ran a whole day from schooner to schooner, inquiring at every
place where there seemed to be a chance of getting work of any
description ; we even went down to the neighbouring small town
of Suttersville, but all in vain.

Now we had heard already, at Sacramento, that, at a very short
distance down the river, a German, or rather a Dutchman, of the
name of Schwartz, was living, who owned a considerable tract of
land, on which he caused timber to be felled. The people who
gave us this information told us that it was very likely we should
get work there. Not to lose any chance, Hlihne and I set out
for this place, which we reached about dusk. Although being
possessed of very large property in land and stock, Mr. Schwartz
was an oddity such as I had, until then, never met with anywhere.
He was living in as miserable a cabin as I had ever seen even in that
country, and we found him surrounded with a large array of bottles
containing a most villanoua " schnaps," which he seemed greatly
to relish, and which he hospitably offered to us likewise. The
language which he spoke, indeed, belonged to no country exclu-
sively ; when I heard him first I was quite bewildered, and only
after a little while, when the ear got more accustomed to it, I
found out that the man was speaking German; but had I not
known English and some Dutch, T should never have guessed it.
HUhne thought he was talking Indian. His language was a
lingo which Mr. Schwartz had got up for his own use, and which
was perfectly adapted to his peculiar circumstances. Living be-
tween Americans and Germans, and having, for the most part, one
or two Dutchmen in his house, he would have been obliged to

1 78 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

speak to each in their particular language; but having now mixed
up the three into one, this hotch-potch served him equally well
with the natives of the three nations, as the German, the Dutchman,
and the Englishman, might each find as many words of his own
language in it as would enable him to guess what the old man
meant.

On the same evening an Englishman, who had business with
Mr. Schwartz, had come down from the diggings; and I was
greatly amused hearing the conversation between the two. Schwartz
began to speak his usual gibberish, and the Englishman seemed
to understand him a little, but soon begged him to speak English,
as he himself was not very well up to Dutch. Mr. Schwartz,
who, in the meanwhile, had progressed in his cups, stared at
him quite amazed, for he thought he had spoken English, and
was quite at a loss what the good man meant. At the same time, ,
his head was in such a state of muddle, that his notions began to
be indistinct as to whether his guest was English or Dutch, and
so he spoke that dialect of his mixture in which Dutch words
prevailed, until the Englishman, with perfect resignation, requested
him rather to speak "i)wic/i" again, as, after all, he understood
that best.

On that evening nothing was to be done with Mr. Schwartz.
My companion and I got accommodation for the night, on the
floor of a cabin in the course of construction, where at least we
lay dry, whilst without the rain poured down in torrents. Next
morning we tried to converse with Mr. Schwartz, that is to say,
as far as he was himself again, about work ; but the result was,
an answer in the negative.

, After having passed Suttersville, we heard in the woods every-
where the clang of the axe, and now and then the crashing noise
of some old oak falling to the ground. This caused us to halt,
and, striking into the forest, we soon arrived in the midst of the
woodcutters. Strange to say, they were most of them people who were
trading on their own account, cutting down as much as they liked of
" Uncle Sam's" oaks, which they then sold to any one who would

KETUEN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 179

bid for tlie wood at a price which just paid for their work. Some
of them, however, carried on business on a larger scale, hiring
others for a certain number of cords, for which they had them-
selves contracted. These men, of course, paid somewhat less than
one might get by cutting the wood and trading at one's own risk.

In the town, which was about two miles off, such a cord of wood
(eight feet long, four feet deep, and four feet high) was sold at the
pretty nearly fixed price of fifteen dollars ; but, as eight dollars
were to be paid for the carriage, there remained about seven dol-
lars profit for the cutter — a very remunerating price, when it is
considered that any man who is at all up to the work may easily
cut a cord a-day. The contractors, however, used to pay, to those
to whom they sub- let the work, only five and a half or six dollars
per cord. We also heard that there was an easy sale for the
wood; it therefore seemed best to begin at once in good earnest.
• We found, on that very day, an Englishman who offered to buy
two or three cords from us as soon as we should have cut them ;
for which purpose he also lent us an axe, a very great help for
beginning, as axes, and especially their handles, were very dear;
and as we did not possess one farthing beyond what we absolutely
needed for our daily subsistence. Even to get the second axe, I
had to pledge my rifle gun at an ironmonger's shop, and on Thurs-
day, November 29th, we briskly set out for the forest.

The first day we did not indeed get on very well, as our limbs
were still stiff from the long and fatiguing march; and bad and
scanty food had certainly not been calculated to make them more
pliant and vigorous. Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, we
managed already on the second day so well, that my companion
and I, within twelve hours, were able to cut and set up a cord and a
half of wood; and we now began to earn money instead of running
deeper into debt.

But who were the owTiers of the land on which the wood was
cut? No one seemed quite to know that; but every one tried, in
the meanwhile, to get as much out of it as possible. There were,
indeed, some people at Sacramento who, asserting a righfr to the

1 80 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

land, caused written placards to be stuck to the trees in the wood;
in which the cutters were warned of the consequences. Yet those
traders " on their own account" very coolly cut down the trees,
putting the placard, as if in derision, on the top of their cords.
Everywhere squatters were, besides, settling in the woods, who
now intended to make good a claim to the soil itself, by which all
prior claims of others would have become null and void.

For this purpose a meeting of the squatters was appointed by
placards, against the "unlawful" claims of the landowners; and,
on the evening named in the advertisement, an immense crowd of
men assembled on the shore of the Sacramento, opposite the City
Hotel, round the tribune decorated with the American flag, and
a huge camp-fire, which was then nearly ten feet high ; where,
among loud cheering and shouts of hurras, the resolution was
passed, that the claims of Sutter and other landowners were un-
just and void; that every citizen of the United States had a right
to settle as a squatter wherever he liked ; and that they did not
intend to give up one tittle of it. There were some, indeed, who
stood up in favour of the landowners ; but the squatters were in
a majority, and, listening to no reason, carried their resolution —
of course only in the meeting.

At these meetings, the immature and unpractical character of
such "public excitements" manifests itself in all its perverseness
and absurdity. The people had, indeed, not the least claim on
the property of their neighbours. Robbery would have been
rather an obnoxious term ; but, instead of calling the thing by its
right name, all the sophistry and humbug of American popular
oratory was displayed with which one is regaled ad nauseam in
the United States, especially at the elections. Boys, still fresh .
from school, ascended the tribune, where they spouted a wild far-
rago, with nothing in it but " The glorious flag," and, " How
valorously their fathers had fought for it." The " glorious flag"
got that evening about thirty repetitions of three, and sometimes
also, according to circumstances, of three times three cheers; and,
of course, all the half-drunken loafers who were loitering about the

BETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 181

fire, and who, of the whole speech, did not catch anything but the
grand clap-trap phrases, roared, maddened with enthusiasm and
whisky, to applaud the ragamuffin who was at such pains to prove
the honour of the flag, in order so much the more conveniently
to shelter under it his own roguery and theirs. There are, indeed,
ragamuffins in every nation I

But whilst we were cutting wood in the forest, it was necessary
for us to get a shelter for the night, and protection from the rain.
As we could not yet afford to buy a tent, we dug, on the some-
what sloping bank of the Sacramento, some feet deep into the
ground ; so that, on the back of our little tenement, we left
a hearth of about two and a half feet high; before which we
pitched our hut by poles covered with faggots, and over them a
layer of about six inches of earth. Over the chimney we placed an
empty flour barrel — of course without top or bottom. Before the
entrance we hung a sheet of oiled cloth ; and, spreading our blan-
kets right and left within, on couches of wild thyme, we had
excellent warm and dry quarters. Indeed, this miserable hole,
which, in Germany, would have been deemed too damp even for
a dog, seemed to us a true palace ; and I remember very well the
moment when one evening, whilst we were sitting over our fire,
watching the progress of our culinary operations, and the rain
began to fall without ; we brought the whisky bottle out in honour
of the occasion, and — so selfish is man — I should have truly re-
joiced if it had rained through the whole night; and yet there
were so many poor fellows lying outside without shelter!

The provision now we always fetched in certain quantities,
getting them cheaper this way; so that our maintenance did not
cost us more than about a dollar a-day for each. AVith this we
lived, according to our then notions, quite luxuriously indeed.
We had ship biscuits, coffee, bacon, and Chilenese dry beans, in
abundance; and we could even afford fresh meat once a-day.
What more could we wish for?

Our invalid was, in the meanwhile, evidently recovering; owing
to the influence of rest and better food. Yet his condition seemed

182 RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY.

to me still to require great care ; and I wished, therefore, to con-
sult a doctor. The first to whom I applied, Dr. Irmler, a Ger-
man, declared that he could not do anything for him without being
paid; but if the young man, whom he declared to be not so very
ill, would assist him in the construction of his dwelling, which he
was building of wicker-work, he would give him medicine which
otherwise would cost four dollars ; " at any rate," Dr. Irmler
added, *' he must come to me, or he goes the way of all flesh.'*
Very kind of a countryman that ! After this, I sent the young
fellow with a letter to Dr. White, an American physician ; yet I
do not know whether he went with it, as he always objected to
have anything to do with the Faculty; and at last he declared
that it was no longer necessary, and that he felt so much better as
not to require any physic at all.

Close to the German Tent-Hotel, which I have described before,
three other Germans, fellow-passengers of mine in the Reform,
had pitched their own little tent. They were three young fellows,
all of them musical, and not used to hard work ; so that they had
no other means of making a living but by engaging as musicians
in one of the hells. One of them was an excellent flute player;
the other two played the guitar. But it mattered not whether their
style of performance was first-rate or execrable, provided that they
made a noise to attract the curious. And as, in many parts of the
town, there were whole streets of such hells, the partition walls
of which were only formed of thin planks or curtains of cotton,
and in each of them a band was playing; the reader may imagine
how deafening the noise must have been at times.

Our invalid, in the meanwhile, again caused us some anxiety.
The landlord declared that he would have him no longer on any
condition ; as he was keeping out the healthy men, who were bet-
ter customers. Of course, he was not allowed to drink spirits ;
which yielded a greater profit to the host. I now ran about to all
the other taverns of the town, and received everywhere the same
answer. One American gambling-house ofi*ered to let him have,
for twenty-one dollars a- week, a sleeping place on the floor j but

RETURN TO SACRAMENTO CITY. 183

there was there such a tremendous row -with drums and ti-umpets,
that he would not have stood it for twenty-four hours. The three
young German musicians, who knew him, as they had come in his
ship, at last agreed to take him into their tent ; and as this was
close to the hotel, we contracted with the hostess to let him have
the most suitable food ; as, for instance, stewed fruit and such like.
Thus he had at least a shelter; but it is true that, in this wild
sort of life, which was scarcely endurable for a man of good health,
he was deprived of nearly every one of those comforts which are
requisite for an invalid. We were not in a condition to do more
for him ; and as I intended soon to go down to San Francisco, I
hoped to obtain there admission for him into an hospital, where he
would have better nursing, and, most important of all, proper
medical advice.

Up to Monday, the 10th of September, HUhne and I had paid
oflf all our own debts, and those of our sick companion ; and as we
had thus provided for him, at least for the moment, I deter-
mined to return to San Francisco ; whilst IlUhne and Kunitz went
into partnership as confectioners, and quartered themselves in our
hut out in the forest, where Kunitz manufactured the goods, which
Iliihne hawked about the neighbourhood.

On Tuesday, the 1 1 th of December, I embarked for San Fran-
cisco in the "Senator," the largest steamer which, until then,
bad navngated the Sacramento. To defray the fare of twenty-
five dollars, I had to sell my water-boots ; a new pair of which,
at that time, fetched, at Sacramento, as much as forty-eight
dollars.

184 . MISSION DOLORES.

CHAPTER XV.

MISSION DOLORES.

I DID not stay longer at San Francisco than I needed to don clean
and warm clothes, and to transact some indispensable business ;
after which I set out for the Mission Dolores, where I intended, at
all events, to pass some weeks.

This mission, which, during the last weeks, had considerably
increased in importance, and which may be expected to have
grown into a town before a year is over, is situated about three
miles from San Francisco. The building, a large square struc-
ture of sun-dried bricks, enclosing a wide court- yard, has under-
gone the most extraordinary change to which any habitation could
ever be subjected. If any of the old priests who are buried close to
the gray walls, could suddenly rise from his narrow damp grave,
and see the change which a few months have effected here, he
would wring his skeleton hands in dismay.

One wing of it was formerly taken up by the rather spacious
church ; and to the priest an unlimited number of rooms were
allotted ; whilst idle Spaniards and baptized Indians quartered
themselves in the other desolate, musty apartments, many of
which had neither doors nor windows. Some rooms were also used
as stables ; and the whole was quite in keeping with the wild
character of the inhabitants of this wild country.

At present the church maintains its old place, the Spaniards
being still in a majority, and too much attached to their religion
not to defend their sanctuary with all the stubbornness of the
national character. The priest's habitation, on the other hand,
has been considerably curtailed, and more and more encroached
upon by Yankee intruders. The mission had now, however,
received the addition of a brewery, two taverns, a dancing-
room, a saloon for drinking and gambling, a number of private
lodgings, an hospital, with quarters for a physician; and also

MISSION DOLORES. 185

of private apartments, occupied by some young girls, natives of
Mexico.

The brewery belonged to friends of mine, the brothers Von
Witzleben, who had settled here and taken up the business of
another German, who had unsuccessfully made the attempt, in
former times, to accustom the Spaniards to beer-drinking. There
were now very brisk orders coming in from San Francisco and
Sacramento; and the enterprise promised to thrive well, under
the superintendence of a real Bavarian brewer from Mildenberg.
The brewery, however, sold its beer only in casks, or in bottles
by the dozen, which had the effect, that nearly every week new
drinking booths and tents, kept partly by French and Spaniards,
and partly by Americans and Germans, spining up near the
Mission. Within the building Itself, where, in the course of the
winter, even two taverns were established, there was very regu-
larly every Saturday evening, and very often also on some other
week-day, " Fandango ;" whilst on Sundays there was an influx
of a gay crowd from San Francisco.

Only a few Indians have remained behind here. They arc
still loitering about the place, one-half of their time in a state of
drunkenness, and the other half basking idly in the sun ; and only
sometimes, in order to get money for fuddling themselves again,
they run errands in search of stray horses, or do a job as cattle
drivers.

The costume of the California men is really picturesque. A
woollen poncho, much larger than the Argentine, and woven in a
very elegantly coloured pattern. Is wrapt round their shoulders, in
the fashion in which Spanish women wear their shawls, so that
one comer of it hangs over the left; shoulder. This garment is
called serapCy and has been introduced from Mexico. On their
heads they wear a broad-brimmed hat, covered with oil-cloth. The
legs are encased in snow-white drawers, over which they put
breeches of velvet or cloth, slashed up to the hip-bone, often em-
broidered and garnished with silver buttons ; whilst at the top
they are girded by a long scarf of crimson silk. On horseback —

186 MISSION DOLORES.

and they are nearly always on horseback — they wrap round the
lower part of the legs a piece of tanned leather, which is fastened
below the knee with small silver buckles, and in which also the
long knife is sticking. Large spurs, yet not so colossal as the
Argentine, complete their costume.

The harness is something similar to the Mexican ; but the
Californian horsemen differ from those of the southern countries
of America, by carrying no whip : at least I have never seen any
with them. The lasso they use with the same skill as the Ar-
gentines; only there is this difference between the Argentine
gear and the Californian, that the noose of the latter does not run
in a metal ring, but in a leathern loop.

On the very first day of my residence at the Mission, I received
the intelligence, which, indeed, was to me very saddening, of the
death of our companion in the diggings, the poor young sailor,
who had died on board a schooner which was to have conveyed
him from Sacramento to San Francisco. I was the more deeply
grieved at not having been able to be with him in his last mo-
ments, as I had really conceived a very great regard for him on
account of his quiet, steady conduct. This was another victim of
the diggings. Alas ! how many have preceded, and how many
will follow him.

Messrs. Witzleben's residence was very romantically situated ;
yet this, and the fact of its having a tolerably good roof, were the
only things that might be said in its praise ; for although its
situation and appearance might have warmed our imagination,
our bodies certainly never derived the same advantage from it :
the wind whistled everywhere through a number of broken panes,
and through the dilapidated doors; and it took some time to
plaster the ceiling with pieces of old cotton rags provided for the
purpose, and wall up all the unnecessary windows and doors.
There was, likewise, no stove in the whole wide and dreary apart-
ment ; and the small scanty hearth on which our meals were
cooked, gave, even in its most favourable moments, not more heat
than was absolutely necessary to get a small iron pot to boil.

MISSION DOLORES. 187

Against this latter evil, however, we found a remedy : I kindled,
on the very first evening, in the midst of the floor (which was
nothing more nor less than the bare ground), a large fire, around
which all of us comfortably sat down.

The main labours here consisted not only in the brewing of the
beer, but also in procuring the wood from the neighbouring bush,
and the execution of the town orders, which was generally effected
by water, at that time, the most convenient high road. The
younger Witzleben and I mostly undertook this part of the busi-
ness, and it happened very often that, with the ebbing, we stuck
fast on the tough mud of the bay, until the rising tide released
us from a situation which was anything but agreeable. The
entrance into the creek near the Mission was not particularly in-
teresting, for it consisted in a very narrow channel, without the
least landmark on the shore, except a few thin poles, which, of
course, could not be seen in a dark foggy night. But I at last
grew so familiar even with the indistinct features of the landscape,
and the few objects which could guide me, that I have often found
my way in the darkest night.

Our dwelling, which was, however, put in somewhat better
repair in the course of the winter, lay at a short distance from
the Mission, in an old house, likewise built of sun-dried bricks.
For myself I had succeeded in getting, within the Mission, a
small room, which had not been used perhaps for many years,
and in which I might sometimes write for an hour without being
disturbed. It was the oddest study which a man might imagine,
gloomy and dismal, like a dungeon of the Inquisition. The
window, which, in its old disjointed frame, hung awry on one
side, was of course protected by strong iron bars ; the walls were
covered with a coating of dark grey from the smoke of the small
narrow chimney; and a later hand, perhaps that of an Indian,
had tried to represent on one of them the outlines of a large ship,
in which the artist seems to have had very confused ideas with
regard to the number of masts ; so that the whole resembled rather
a comb turned upside down than a ship, of which it had nothing

188 MISSION DOLORES.

but the flag. On the opposite wall an old wooden cross was sus-
pended over two gigantic rusty nails; and two old-fashioned,
heavy chairs of carved wood, which may at some remote period
have boasted leathern- cushioned seats, were standing in different
comers, with their broken backs clapped over their front legs.
The furniture of the room was completed by a large iron pot,
which I was barely able to move ; and by the fragment of an
old iron lance, which in former times seemed to have been used
as a poker. The floor was no other but mother earth. In this
splendid apartment I established mj^self, and to make it habitable
I got a half-rotten bench from the brewery for a seat, and an
empty wine chest for a table ; and thus I contrived there to dream
many a weary hour away.

In the course of the winter we went several times shooting in the
neighbourhood. One evening we lost our way, and were already
preparing to pass the night in the open air, when at once a small
light broke through the darkness, towards which we determined,
without delay, to direct our steps. Even from a distance we heard
merry songs and laughter ; and when at last we approached the
place, it was a small low cabin, from which the ray of a light broke
forth, and where the single voice of a man was alternating with
the chorus of three other men's voices. I knocked twice at the
door, and at last battered against it, before they heard me ; but
then everything was at once suddenly quiet and silent. As the
people within seemed to expect another challenge, I knocked
once more.

" Halloa! who's without?" a gruff voice called from within in
the English language.

"Strangers," was my answer.

"I be blow'd if T ain't of the same purswation," the voice within
grumbled again ; but immediately after the door was opened, and
an old fellow, who would have been known at first sight as a
sailor, even if dressed as a monk, opened the door as far as he
could, allowing the rays of the light to fall full upon me, as I was
standing there with my gun in my hand and my blanket on my

MISSION DOLORES. 189

back. But he had scarcely heard that we were three Germans,
and in some sort neighbours of his, when he most kindly and
hospitably invited us to come in, and introduced us to his com-
panions.

He was an old English sailor, who had long served in a man-of-
war, and had now settled here as the farm-steward of a Califomian
lady, to whom the whole tract of country hereabout belonged,
and whose cattle he superintended. He shared his hut for this
night with a young Chilenese, a sort of under-steward of his,
who assisted him with his superior skill of throwing the lasso;
and, besides, with two Americans, who had entered the creek in
a boat, and who, like us, had been driven by stress of weather to
seek shelter.

" But, my boys," said the old fellow, after the first exchange
of salutations in his homely and hospitable way, " you should
have come a little sooner, as there is not a morsel or drop left
now, and I am confoundedly sorry not to have any supper to offer
you; but we will see to-morrow morning whether we cannot
shoot a wild bull, and then we shall have plenty of meat."

Fortunately we were able to supply the deficiency ourselves,
for we had a bottle of real cognac, and bread and meat with us ;
and no sooner had Jack got sight of the brandy, than he burst
out into a triumphant shout. Already a little excited by another
bottle, which had been emptied just before, he was most com-
fortably set a-going by the new one; so that the whole evening
he continued in the highest glee, spinning his yams, and sing-
ing ballads and sailors' ditties.

It might be about midnight that we rolled ourselves up in our
blankets, in berths which were, quite in a seaman-like fashion,
ranged against the walls.

Next morning. Jack called us at dawn of day, telling us that
a wild bull was very near the house, and asking us to shoot the
beast if we had any desire for a meat breakfast. If we had ? —
good heavens I I was as hungry as any man could wish to be ;
and, besides, burning with eagerness to send a ball through the

190 MISSION DOLORES.

monster. Whilst I got ready, Jack told us, in the most comical
expressions, that he had once got up at night to look after the
weather, when, all at once, not three yards behind him, he had
heard the deep lowing of a bull, who had come down in the night,
near his house. " And now," he said, "the beast knew him, and
did the same thing over and over again, to spite him ; and he
(Jack) owed it as a duty to his health and constitution to have
the brute killed."

I offered to rid him of his tormentor, with a view to which I,
as quickly and quietly as possible, crept up a low slope ; and
scarcely saw the white back of the bull, when, taking up my rifle,
I jumped forward another step, so that the animal offered a fair
aim ; after which I fired.

At this moment only the bull got sight of me ; but although
he seemed inclined, at the first glance of the ball, to charge against
me, he felt distressed, and turned to flight, in which my second
ball overtook him. He was, however, only killed by a third,
which entered, through the eye, into the brain; but then he
unfortunately fell into a small narrow ravine, where we had hard
work for at least half an hour to get the heavy carcass round ; so
that we were enabled to open it, and take out the liver for our
breakfast.

It was about this period, that a Spanish doctor, whom I had
known in Buenos Ayres, and who had come some months before
me to California, wished to establish an hospital within the build-
ing of the Mission. The only room in which there was sufficient
space for a number of beds, lay just above the boilers of the
brewery, and close by the malt and barley lofts. Here about
fifteen or twenty beds, furnished with mattresses and blankets,
were placed ; and a few days after the first patients arrived, who
were brought out to the Mission on litters. If ever I have seen
anything melancholy in my life, it was this hospital ; established
in a loft, the roof of which was not even able to keep out the rain,
and through which the wind swept freely by a hundred holes
and chinks. Even clean bed-clothes were more than the patients

MISSION DOLORES. 191

could hope for ; and also the mattresses and blankets, after some
time, became disgustingly filthy. Another discomfort of this
place, was the smoke and steam from the brewery, which every
precaution on our side tried in vain to shut out. Some patients,
indeed, left the hospital as convalescent, or at least in a condition
to seek for another place where they might try their chance of
recovery ; but many, alas I very many, were carried down past
my study, over the same narrow steep stairs over which they had
been carried up, only cold and stiff now, and completely cured of
their ailments.

But, whilst in one wing of the old dreary building sickness
and misery were reigning, and death looked down through the
broken tiles, numbering his victims ; there was, in the other, so
much the more mirth and gaiety ; and once or twice every week
the lively tune of the fandango summoned the ever dance-loving
sons and daughters of the grave old descendants of the Spanish
race to a dance; besides which, however, they had also other
parties within their own families ; for without dancing they could
not live.

This Califomian fandango— at least as much as I have seen
of it — always exhibits the same rather monotonous and cold, but
not the less graceful step; the ladies especially, with downcast eyes,
put down their feet so cautiously and carefully, as if they were tread-
ing their way between eggs. Just the reverse of our balls, the
musicians and spectators only seem to get excited ; and especially
when some of the young pretty girls were dancing alone within
the closed circle, I have seen the young Spaniards quite beyond
themselves with delight ; when, as a very remarkable, but also
very practical token of their uncontrollable enthusiasm, they
threw money down before the feet of the young lady, mostly
dollars, and not very rarely even gold, especially the rich kar-
cheros (farmers). It is a rule, that the fair young dancer is
afterwards bound to gather and pick up the money with her own
hands, during which operation the picking up of every piece is
accompanied by a separate round of applause.

192 MISSION DOLORES,

The music they got sometimes from San Francisco; but at
other times it consisted only of guitars, which accompanied the
dance, and were relieved by the vocal performance of the players.
At these concerts, a Californian — the brother of one of our neigh-
bours, for which reason we generally called him the brother-in-
law — was particularly distinguished ; for he had, indeed, the
shrillest voice I ever heard ; and when, after the third or fourth
glass of agua ardiente, it was once sufficiently primed, its inde-
structible powers would last for the whole night. These singers,
if they can be called so, are, at the same time, improvisatores ; and
if they combine with their musical powers the talent of singing
the praise of the dancing young ladies, and of cleverly mixing
up with it some private hints and scandal, they may depend upon
earning rich laurels from their hearers.

They have other remarkable customs at this fandango. Thus,
for instance, at certain periods — I think between Shrove Tuesday
and Easter — the breaking of eggs plays a very prominent part at
these gay meetings.

I was standing one evening in the circle round the dancers,
looking at the fandango of two young girls, who indeed were
executing their movements with much gracefulness and activity ;
whilst the "brother-in-law" had nearly worn out his iron lungs
in singing their praise, and enumerating the host of their ad-
mirers ; when suddenly a young Spaniard quickly stretched out
his hand towards one of the young girls, who was dancing past,
and pressed against her head something which I could not see,
but which I heard break. The senorita seemed by no means
put out by it; only when feeling the touch, she, without stop-
ping in her dance, inclined her head slightly on one side, and
made the broken something, whatever it may have been, slowly
glide down from her smooth, neatly parted hair; then wiped
her head with her handkerchief, and skipped, with a sweet
smile, over to the other side of the ring. I was, however, not
a little surprised, when, on a close inspection of the corpus
delicti^ I found that it was nothing more nor less than a raw

MISSION DOLORES. 193

egg — a very strange manner of showing one's delicate attention
to a lady.

These eggs are more frequently shells, filled with Eau de Cologne
and other scents ; and that young girl took her revenge with one
of the latter description. The dance was not yet over, and two
other young ladies were just stepping up for a new fandango,
when I felt a slight touch of my arm, and turning round, saw that
young senorita, who cautiously motioned to me to let her pass.
As I moved gently aside, and she glided along behind me, the
young Spaniard suddenly uttered a loud scream; for his fair
enemy had already squashed the ^^^ on his head ; and as he was
quickly turning round towards her, the Eau de Cologne ran down
in such copious streams into his eyes, that he shrieked, very likely
much more from pain than from pleasure ; besides which he had
the gratification of being heartily laughed at by the bystanders.

Another joke, which is likewise meant as a sort of gallantry to
the ladies, and which also brings them in some money, is the so-
called cap-stealing. Whilst the young girl is dancing, one of the
In'standers will take the cap or hat from the head of some of the
^^allants, and quickly put it on that of the dancing senorita, who,
thus bonneted, quietly finishes her fandango; after which she
takes the head gear of the stranger away to her seat, where she
keeps it on her lap, until the owner redeems it, and that with
liard cash — a dollar being the least coin which may be used on
such an occasion.

In the brewery, a young Dutch sailor was engaged ; who, on
such evenings, used to make merry by likewise going to the fan-
dango, if not as a dancer, at least as a spectator. His cap was
one day in this way taken from him ; and he had the prospect of
paying the usual ransom. Now, Wilhem was by no means stingy,
especially when his pleasure was concerned ; but when there was
nothing to be gained, except to be laughed at, the matter seemed
to him past a joke. He besides considered, that the cap was very
old, and at the most worth a dollar ; for which price he might
buy in the town a new Chinese one. He therefore determined,

N

194 MISSION DOLORES.

as he privately told me, rather to leave the "old tile" behind.
But he would have had to pay for it very dearly, as this would
have passed as quite an unpardonable offence to the lady, who then,
of course, would have had to remain sitting for the whole evening,
with the "old tile" on her lap; and scarcely did the company
remark what he seemed to intend, when the young people began
so roughly to assail him on all sides, that the poor lad afterwards
assured me, he was heartily glad, after paying his dollar, to put
on his cap outside the door.

Easter was, in the meanwhile, approaching ; and all sorts of
preparations at the Mission, especially a thorough cleaning and
ventilating of the church, seemed to betoken that some extraordi-
nary event was going to happen. Good Friday passed over very
quietly, except that the bells were not allowed to be rung, instead
of which, small boys, with a sort of castanets, were sent through
the streets, to call the faithful to church. But the next morning
already changed the aspect of the place. Even at the dawn of
day, I heard music and noise ; and an old Californian settler, who
had just come in, informed me, on my question, that "to-day the
resurrection of the Lord was to be celebrated, and Judas Iscariot
to be duly chastised."

The day itself, at all events, seemed to be kept as a great
festival. Even the Indians seemed to feel its influence ; for — a
thing which was certainly very extraordinary — they were for once
seen cleanly washed ; and wore, all of them, garlands of the blue
water lilies, which grow thereabout in great abundance; and
which, indeed, became their black, glossy hair, and their copper-
coloured faces very well.

Thus ornamented, they formed a sort of procession, and an old
Indian preceded them, cruelly ill-using a fiddle. This procession
moved towards the church, and as I followed it I heard that there
was even more gaiety within than without. A crowd of people
thronged about the doors, and from the body of the church the
most lively music for dancing was heard. I therefore hastened
my steps to arrive there before the procession of the Indians, who

" MISSION DOLORES. 195

would have certainly taken up the whole room ; and I entered
the church just in time to witness the conclusion of a real fan-
dango, which, to the music of violins and clarionets, was executed
by a set of young men and girls within the sacred building itself.

Yet the change from dancing and gaiety to devotion was as
quick as lightning. The violins were still playing ; the head of
the Indian procession was just entering the church ; and the grin
with which they looked at the extraordinary'' proceedings betrayed
how much they relished this new state of things, when, at a signal
from the priest, the music stopped, a small clear bell began to
tinkle, and all dropped on their knees in silent prayer.

The service lasted about an hour longer ; but whilst there was
still prayer and silence within, at once a shot was fired outside,
close before the door. I at first thought this was an accident ;
but I was soon undeceived, by a running fire which immediately
followed, and which became the signal for the men quietly to
leave the church.

There was great noise and bustle without. Before the church
gate, a whole crowd of Califomians were blazing away, to the
great delight of the Indians ; who bobbed their heads at every
report with pistols, muskets, fowling-pieces, revolvers, and what-
ever else in the shape of fire-arms they had been able to get hold
of. Their guns were, of course, only loaded with blank car-
tridge ; but I could not at first make out why they were levelling
them at the building opposite, which was about sixty yards ofi^,
until, on a more accurate survey, I recognised the object against
which their harmless artillery had been directed.

On a cart stood a horrible figure, as large as life, and dressed
up in ordinary clothes, over which several cloaks and dressing-
gowns were fastened. The clothes seemed to me old acquaint-
ances; and when I examined the puppet more attentively, I
really found that it was clothed in the trousers of the brewer, and
in a dressing-gown of one Von Witzleben. Besides this, the figure
wore a very swaggering, but somewhat worn-out black silk hat;
a stiff black stock, and, besides, one of my neckerchiefs ; an old

196 MISSION DOLORES.

cloak, which evidently was likewise of European origin; and
boots of summer stuff, which, however, must have been rather
an uncomfortable wear, as they were both for the right foot.

The thing was meant to represent Judas Iscariot ; yet what I
was most interested in, was to know what in all the world they
had made such a use of our clothes for ; and I afterwards heard,
that it could not have been an indifferent matter to the Californian
youth, if such a traitor had worn the garments of good Catholic
Christians on his unholy body ; for which reason they had pro-
cured apparel belonging to heretics, or at least to foreigners.

There appeared now another personage on the scene, perhaps
even more interesting than Judas — namely, the Indian Valentine,
the best horse-breaker and thrower of the lasso in the whole
country ; who, on that very morning, had set out with a party of
his tribe to catch a lot of wild mares for to-day's solemnity. He
was one of the handsomest Indians I have ever seen in California,
as well of the southern as of the northern tribes. He stands
about five feet six inches, and is well-built. His costume exhibited
no particular characteristics ; it was the usual Californian dress,
but suited him remarkably well. The broad-brimmed hat, covered
with oil- cloth, was fastened below the chin by means of a dark-
coloured ribbon; a short blue jacket, fitted closely round his
waist ; his legs were encased in blue Mexican trousers, slashed
on the side seams, under which he wore white drawers ; and he
was also rigged out for the day with a pair of fine patent leather
boots.

After having first thrown the steed on the ground by means of
the lasso, and then blindfolded her, he buckled a strap round her
waist, which caused the fiery animal first to bound with a shriek
of terror ; after which she threw herself down, trying, by rolling
herself about and kicking, to get rid of what she mistook for a
burden imposed upon her. Yet all her efforts were in vain.
Judas Iscariot was cleverly put on her back, notwithstanding all
her furious plunging and rearing ; and soon the mare, with the
new but decently dressed Mazeppa, ran off like an arrow down

MISSION DOLORES. 197

the street, and in the direction of the mountains, among the
triumphant yells of the multitude, and pursued by the Spaniards,
who were now nearly all of them mounted.

The puppet hung to the back of the snorting animal like a
mad hobgoblin, nodding its head and flinging its arms in the
most comical manner, whilst the other horsemen who were racing
after it might aptly have been compared to the spectral followers
of the wild hunter. The object of this mad pursuit was to cut off
the poor animal from its retreat to the mountains, in order that
the ladies, watching the sport from the verandah, might not so
soon be deprived of their amusement. Valentine distinguished
himself here as well by his nimbleness as by the cruelty with
which, catching the mare by the tail, he threw her over, and
brought her forcibly back to the place from which she had started.
At last the poor tortured animal, completely worn out by her
fright, as well as by the unwonted exertion, was no longer able
to keep up. She fell, and neither blows nor other ill-usage made
any impression on her.

This case having been foreseen, the puppet was taken off her
back, and placed on that of another animal ; which, however, was
much less fieiy, and therefore afforded less sport; and as the
public had already had fun enough with the first, the ladies re-
tired, and the men now drove the mare back into the mountains,
very much to their own amusement, but not at all to that of the
poor beast. In the evening there was a fandango, and the festival
was concluded by a lively Spanish dance.

Valentine also seemed to have made an extraordinary sacrifice
in honour of the day, having for once remained sober until even-
ing. As soon, however, as he had finished his part in the public
exhibition, he did his best to make up for lost time, and now
revelled in the full enjoyment of brandy and its happy conse-
quences. He lay outside the ball-room, on his back, under a
waggon, putting both his feet firmly against the axle-tree of the
fore wheels, whilst his feet were resting on a bullock's yoke,
which had accidentally been stowed away there. By his left

198 MISSION DOLORES.

side lay an empty brandy bottle, and in his right hand he held
another, which was still half full, but from which he seemed to
spill more than he drank :

" Dice que me quieres, Caramba,"

he was stammering with a heavy tongue, trying at the same time
to throw a glance at his bottle, and all the time foaming at the
mouth : —

" Dice que me quieres, Caramba,
Con el corazon —

Dice que — huzza! cavallita — huzza! carajo
Huzza ! huzza ! — guardase^huzza ! —

and his wild shouts were suddenly ending in an unarticulated
yell, followed in its turn by an angry speech, which, with great
volubility, he uttered in the Indian language. He then wanted
once more to put the bottle to his mouth, but was not able to do
so ; and whilst the strong brandy was running over his neck and
face he closed his glassy eyes, and soon fell into a dead sleep.

Drunkenness, in general, is a vice for which the Indians have
to thank the Christians; and one's heart aches sometimes at the
sight of the noble vigorous figures who, degraded to a brutal state
by the vile liquor, are rolling in the mud, and slowly but surely
going to destruction. The few Indians who still lingered about
the mission were all professing Christianity, and the women, at
least, conducted themselves quite properly, washing and doing
needle- work for the Spaniards, in whose families they were some-
times received as inmates. Yet there were still some small bands
of them roaming about, encamping in the open air, and living, as
they had done of old, on meat which they either got themselves
or begged from the Spaniards. But the more civilized of them
were mostly living in houses, and wore decent (and in winter
also) warm clothing, and spoke the Spanish language.

One family of them had for some months lived quite in our
neighbourhood; and they one day buried a child, behind which
they marched in procession to church, to have it interred in the
churchyard of the Christians. The little corpse, which was cleanly

MISSION DOLORES. 199

washed, and dressed in its best clothes, but also decked out w ith a
profusion of tinsel, gay papers, and all sorts of gaudy shreds,
looked affecting enough in its little coffin ; but the romance was
dispelled when one heard that the little boy of eight years old
had died from excessive indulgence in brandy. The father, im-
mediately after the burial, tried to derive his consolation from
the same source : the mother, on the contrary, sat down by the
side of the grave, and began her heart-rending lamentations,
which were calculated to make a most painful impression on any
one not used to them. These loud wailings at the loss of the dead
seem to be peculiar to all the tribes of Indians in the world, only
that some of them indulge in these dismal lamentations of their
grief with more violence than others, and even with a fanaticism
bordering on madness.

In the church I saw also about that time the marriage of a
young girl of the Mission with a Californian from Los Angelos.
There is here a strange custom, according to which the young
couple during the ceremony, and whilst they are still kneeling
before the altar, are tied together with ropes, and covered over
with a large cloth.

Only a short time ago a wedding took place between a North
American and a Californian girl. On the whole, the Californians
will not have anything to say to the North Americans, their
conquerors, against whom they entertain a well disguised, but so
much the more deadly, hatred. Even during my short residence
at the mission, several murders were committed on the road from
thence to San Francisco. The victims were found pierced with
many stabs, as if immolated by the most deadly hatred. At the
diggings, also, a great number of unfortunate men were sacrificed
to the same national animosity. This feeling was in many cases
shared by the fair sex, and in several of the ball-rooms North
Americans looked in vain among the beautiful daughters of the
land for a partner in the dance ; the ladies turned a deaf ear to
every invitation coming from a Yankee, and the cheers of the
bystanding Californians of course were not calculated to console

200

the rejected swain for his disappointment. Time will certainly
abate somewhat of this animosity, but it will never be entirely
extinguished. *

CHAPTEK XVI.

A digger's life.

I HAD fallen in at San Francisco with an old fellow-traveller
from the Talisman, a certain Bohm, who told me a great deal of a
place where he had himself worked with great success, and to
which he intended to return. He urged me to accompany him,
and as it was a matter of perfect indifference to me where I should
turn my steps, as all depended on the favour of chance, I deter-
mined to start with hira for " Murphy's New Diggings," as the
place was called.

Here I must not forget to give the reader an account of a cer-
tain old acquaintance whom I met again in spring at San Fran-
cisco— the giant. He was now, indeed, a very dilapidated
specimen of a giant. I scarcely knew him when I met him in
the street. Emaciated and haggard, with hollow cheeks, pale
face, and sunken eyes, he crawled slowly to and fro on the muddy
path, whilst his huge bones seemed to rattle in his skin. He still
wore the same dress as of old ; but wind and weather had by no
means improved it. His old grey felt hat, which formerly had
shaded his good-natured face, was now hanging limp and soft
round his haggard physiognomy, his green coat had become
threadbare and shabby ; and of his lower man scarcely anything
was distinguishable, owing to the thick crust of mud which
covered him. He indeed wore the old broad belt, and as many
arms in it as before, even more of them, but quite in a different
style : his mighty broadsword was gone, but around his old belt
several braces of pistols, knives, and daggers, were dangling by
the side of more peaceful implements — fire-tongs, balances, and

201

fire-shovels. The man seemed to have been converted into an
ambulating ironmonger's shop, and waylaid all those in whom he
expected to find customers. On recognising me he stopped,
looked at me with a melancholy face, and said, " Well, here we
are now in California — a very nice place, isn't it?" Had he
filled a whole book with complaints he could not have expressed
his sorrow more effectively.

The story of his sufferings was soon told. At the diggings he
seemed to have been completely unsuccessful : the work there had
not been at all to his liking. " If people," he said, " would dig
at this rate at home, in the province of Magdeburg, they would
certainly find gold." lie had also a swollen knee, for which
he did not wish to consult a physician, as he was afraid of the
expense. He, however, confessed to me that he was by no means
now in distress, but that he was trying quietly to dispose here, in
detail, of the goods he had brought with him ; and as soon as he
had hoarded as much money as he possessed on his arrival— -for
he would not be a loser through California — he would immediately
return to Magdeburg.

A few days after I saw him at his " home," a small tent some
distance out of the town, which, when sitting in it, he nearly
filled. AVhilst I was conversing with him, a few Germans came
to buy some trifles of him; on which, without moving from his
seat, he simply stretched out his arm to the remotest corner of
the tent, and produced the required article.

His " satellites," as he told me, had separated from him, and
were in all probability " puddling gold somewhere in the moun-
tains."

On the 8th of April, it being a truly magnificent morning, we
arrived, precisely at ten o'clock, on board of the small steamer
William Robinson. I had got enough of a journey in a sailing
vessel last time, and took good care not to repeat the attempt.
The AVilliam Robinson was bound for Stockton, on the San
Joaquin.

It is a very remarkable change, which a few years only have

202 A digger's life.

brought about in this remote part of the world. Three years ago,
scarcely a single sail disturbed the solitude of the quiet bay : now,
hundreds of vessels are mooring there on their anchors, and the
clear waters are furrowed in all directions by swift steamers and
sailing boats. On the banks, towns are springing up, as it were,
over night, and the clatter of steam engines is heard already in
places where, a few months before, the Indian tracked the stag
and the grizzly bear. Indeed, never has a country developed
itself more rapidly and forcibly than California, yet for this very
reason its position is as unnatural as exceptional. The American,
who loves gain for its own sake, may feel at home in such a con-
tinual hurry and bustle, but it is otherwise with the German,
whose character is more quiet, and I should say more natural.
He cares less for the gain itself than for the enjoyment it would
procure ; and it is to be foreseen that of all countrymen who flock
there, a very few only will ever consider it as their second father-
land.

The William Robinson was a new boat, expressly built for the
Stockton line. The fare to that small, but very thriving town, a
journey of about sixteen hours, was twenty-five dollars; besides
which, you had to pay for your victuals, and no place to sleep
upon but the dirty floor of the deck, on which a certain well-
known American habit had left only too many unmistakeable
traces. The journey from Stockton to San Francisco, on the
other hand, costs thirt}'- dollars, very likely on the supposition
that people coming from the diggings must be possessed of more
money than those who go out there. The William Robinson,
however, was rather a slow boat, and it took us full twenty-four
hours to steam to Stockton; yet she was much better fitted up
inside than many others ; and we not only found very good eating
and drinking, but also very pleasant company, so that after all
the journey did not seem to us too long.

On the next morning at about one o'clock, we entered the San
Joaquin; but at the break of day, on looking back, we could
scarcely believe that we had made more than five miles from the

A digger's life. 203

bay, the intricate windings of the river rendering the illusion very
excusable. At ten o'clock in the morning we arrived at the small
tent-built town of Stockton, after having seen it before us for at
least three hours. AVe at once landed our luggage, and refreshed
ourselves at a German hotel, the best in the town, which a certain
Mr. Weber kept, under the proud title of " Stockton Restaurant."

My companion now first of all looked out for a carrier to convey
his goods to the mountains. Nor had he to search long; for just
as difficult to be got and expensive as the freight had been during
the rainy season, so abundant and proportionately cheap was it
now. He contracted for nine cents a pound as far as Murphy's
Diggings, a distance of about eighty to eighty-five miles.

On Wednesday, about evening, we set out with two waggons,
each drawn by four yokes of oxen. Some Americans accom-
panied us, who likewise had goods with them ; but we stuck fast
in the very first slew (a sort of stagnant pool) near the Joaquin,
80 badly that all the eight yokes of oxen were not able to extricate
the second waggon from the mud, and we had to unload half of its
freight before we got off. This was, however, the worst spot on
our road, for after that we encountered no more difficulty the rest
of the way to the diggings.

In the evening we encamped at about one mile and a half from
Stockton, close to the road; and here I also made myself better
acquainted with our travelling companions. They were — a lad of
eighteen or nineteen years, who kept a stall at one of the diggings,
whither he was returning with new goods ; and a very odd old
fellow with white hair, who called himself Hillman — which, how-
ever, as I afterwards learned, was only a translation of his original
German name, " Bergmann." He had on one of the waggons a
quicksilver machine with him, to carry on the gold-washing busi-
ness on a larger scale; for which purpose he had hired two young
Americans, besides whom he had with him Jeremy Livingston,
commonly called Jemmy, a very droll little fellow, a native of
the Emerald Isle, whom one could not help liking. AVe were all
of us walking on foot by the side of the waggons; only Mr. Hill-

204

man had bought for himself at Stockton a mule, on which, with a
huge brown silk umbrella spread out, he rode during the greater
part of our journey — sometimes only, when he happened to be
tired of riding, he made Jemmy relieve him.

Bohm and I had already prepared our sleeping- place under one
of the trees. Mr. Hillman, however, who had a very large tent
with him, would not allow ns to pass the night in the heavy dew,
whilst he was lying under cover.

On the second day, nothing happened worthy of record, except
that we overtook a party of Americans, likewise sticking in the
mud, whom we rescued from their unpleasant position; after
which we continued our journey in their company. On Friday
the 12th of April, we reached, in the afternoon, the Calaveres,
where we were obliged to unload our waggons and to take them
to pieces, in order to convey them and their load over the heavy
swollen river. After this the country became more hilly and
prairie-like. Large undulating plains were rising before us, only
thinly interspersed with knolls of trees ; and the back ground was
formed by steep woody hills, the lowest spurs of the mountain
range which we now approached.

Nature seemed to have adorned herself to-day in her finest
garments to receive us; for the gorgeousness of the flowers, which
covered the ground as far as the eye could reach, is beyond any
description. The ground looked like one gay carpet; and the
flowers were growing so close that one could not walk along with-
out crushing twenty or thirty at every step. Some species of
them breathed forth the most delicious scents, whose fragrance
was wafted towards us by the cool breeze of the evening. I
gathered a large nosegay of the sweetest and most beautifjl ones,
which that night I used for my pillow.

None of us were unmoved at this charming scene; and more
than once one or other was heard to exclaim, " What would one
^■ive to be able now to send such a nosegay to one's friends at
home."

Even old Hillman was moved, but in his own particular fashion.

205

He stopped several times, looking with folded arms at the delight-
ful scene, and at last said : " What a glorious country ! what
flowers ! If I had that garden at three leagues from New York,
I would make my twenty dollars from it every day."

He had shown himself in a new character before. When near
the ferry, he suddenly came forth with a whole armful of razor
strops, the excellence of which he trumpeted forth with such
volubility of tongue, that the people generally forgot the strops,
and only minded the " fanny old man," who made them laugh so
much. He then asked one of the bystanders for a pocket-knife,
with which he executed the most marvellous evolutions, striking
against the iron of the cart-wheel and against the stones, and
sticking it into the ground ; after which he began to whet it on
his " patent strop," telling all the while funny stories and anec-
dotes ; then, without any warning, he seized one of those nearest
to him by the hand, and using saliva instead of lather, began to
shave the arm of his unfortunate and much astonished victim,
after having unceremoniously tucked up his sleeve.

On Saturday the 18th, we journeyed during nearly the whole
day through one uninterrupted flower-garden. The country be-
came more and more hilly; and shady groves, intersected by
clear bubbling brooks, relieved the monotony of the plains through
which we passed.

On the following day we reached the first diggings, and, after
dinner, made a trial with our pan at a place which had been
worked before. We indeed found some fine gold, in sufficiently
rich quantity to make Mr. Hillman think seriously of establishing
his quicksilver machine here, and at once going to work. This
would not have been so bad for him, but the people whom he had
with him did not seem particularly to like it; and so, after a short
debate, he marched along with us.

On Monday, I left the waggons, going with my rifle into the
mountains, where I found some stags, but they were so shy that
I was not able to get a shot at any of them, especially as I was
keeping straight on my way without following up their tracks.

206 A digger's life.

Only late in the evening I overtook the waggons again at the
so-called Angel's Creek or Camp, where, as I learned, old Hill-
man, after having made the necessary inquiries, had determined
to establish himself. It seemed to he, or rather to have been, as
the whole surface was said to be worked already, a very important
gold field. A number of tents were pitched between the hills;
the soil of the broad bed of the river was everywhere turned up ;
and the many lights shining down from the hills afforded proof of
the crowds of diggers who were trying their fortunes here.

Next morning, I walked out alone to roam for some time about
the hills; and, keeping on the left, where I was to find again the
path to Murphy's Diggings, I reached the small mountain stream,
which, at some places between rugged crags, and at others through
fruitful valleys, rushes down from Murphy's to Angel's. People
were working here everywhere; and even Chinese, of whom we
had seen several tents in Angel's Camp, were sitting at their
cradles washing gold to their hearts' content.

Following the path, which rose by a steep ascent from the
river, I at last arrived about mid-day at the so-called " Murphy's
Flat ;" but only close to the place itself I was enabled to get a
view of it, and now was really astonished at finding, so high up
in the mountains, a large woody plain, in the midst of which a
small town arose. A broad street of large store tents extended
along the middle of the flat. Not only the necessary provisions
and unnecessary drinks might be had in these shops, but also real
articles of luxury, at which the natives, who in general felt sorely
puzzled at these strange things, were quite bewildered with aston-
ishment. The main street being thus solely occupied by the
different stores and shops, a mass of small blockhouses and tents
lay hehiud them, scattered as far as the next range of hills,
imparting to the whole landscape a most original and picturesque
appearance. The stately pines and leafy oaks — the green under-
wood, from which the white and blue tops of the tents were
peeping forth — the high and finely-wooded mountains, with the
pure blue sky above them — the busy life on all sides — with the

A digger's life. 207

flag of the United States fluttering from the tents, made an
impression upon me which I shall never attempt to describe.

" Here you will remain," was my first thought, " if anything
is to be made in these valleys;" and I could have hardly chosen
for my abode a more beautiful spot in the whole world.

Murphy's Flat — on account of its supposed mineral wealth
called Rich Murphy — is a sort of plain, through which a river,
coming down from the higher mountains, must have flowed per-
haps in antediluvian ages, to deposit here its gold. The Rich Flat
itself is about two hundred yards broad and four hundred yards
long — at least that part of it which had been dug until now; for
the whole flat is certainly three leagues in circumference, and the
small brook bends now at about that distance towards the ravine
which leads down to Angel's. In this plain there is a small
knoll of pines and oaks, where, I was told, the first Americans
who came up here found a Mexican and his wife in a small hole
like a well. This couple had already dug up from between the
roots of the pine trees an enormous sum — it is said 18,000 dol-
lars in nuggets ; but as soon as the Americans showed an inten-
tion of contesting the place with them, the two original successful
diggers readily left the place, in order to put their treasure in
safety.

The first Americans likewise raised here a great quantity of
gold; and now diggers crowded from all sides to the spot which
seemed so promising. Yet the rainy season setting in very early,
interrupted the work ; and nothing could be done at that season
but to mark out the "placers" which were to be worked during
the summer, or rather autumn. In order, however, to prevent the
abuse which speculators might by chance practise with regard to
the marking out the placers, the American diggers who were then
on the spot called a meeting, in which it was resolved that no one
should have a larger placer — and only one on his name — than
sixteen feet long and eight feet broad, with a space of two and a
half feet around it for throwing up the soil. It was, moreover,
resolved, that such a claim might be registered for a fee of two

208 A digger's life.

dollars with the Alcalde, in which case it should be valid until
the 8th of August, and no longer.

Not only the flat, but also the small tributaries of the main
creek, have had in their time much gold, and partly have it still,
but to find it in the beds, which are furrowed everywhere, is a very
difficult task, which a new comer must be very successful to
perform. Indeed, the banks of the rivulets in some places are
entirely untouched, containing rich layers of the precious metal;
but the pickaxe and mattock have first to do their work, and ten
or twelve feet of soil are sometimes to be removed, without the
digger finding one cent worth of gold, so that at last he is obliged
to leave the place to try another, and that perhaps with no better
luck. Formerly, when the gold-fields were not yet burrowed by
the thousands of diggers, the finding of the treasure was, of course,
much easier than it is now. Those times, however, are past,* and
who now comes here in the hope of earning, with little trouble,
not merely a living, but at once a fortune, is sure to be soon
undeceived.

Notwithstanding all this, it was the current opinion, and, espe-
cially at San Francisco, the never-failing answer to questions as
to the earning in the diggings, " about an ounce a day;" and the
people said this as quietly as if sixteen dollars per diem was
nothing extraordinary. But the digger will find only too soon
that this ounce was but an ideal vision, even half an ounce being
considered a very excellent day's earning. At an average, I am
firmly convinced that the gain of the great mass of the diggers
falls short of three dollars per day; whilst many have even spent
the money they brought with them, and are glad to be able to
return to Stockton or San Francisco, there to seek for work, per-
haps with just as little success.

Even those who really find gold, and are able to save more or
less considerable sums, are heard to say: "As soon as I have
made some money, I will make haste to be off, and never shall I
then set my foot again on Californian ground."

I will not, however, deny, that many have made their fortunes

A digger's life. 209

here, and that in all likelihood many will again; but it is as if
one took a ticket in a large lottery, with this difference only, that
in a common raffle one may quietly wait for a blank with one's
hands in one's pockets, whilst a man here, to gain a loss, has to
toil in the sweat of his brow.

It may be interesting for future times to preserve a list of the
prices which were then current in the diggings, ^vhere everything
is now changing so rapidly that the events of to-day will, in four
weeks hence, already belong to the history of the past.

A cradle, from sixteen dollars to thirty-two or forty; second-
hand ones may sometimes be bought at eight or ten dollars;
mattocks, from three to five dollars ; pickaxes, from five to seven
dollars ; crowbars, according to size, from five to eight dollars ;
knives with wooden handles, for the use of the diggers, fifty to
seventy-five cents; wooden pails, two dollars; tin ditto, four
dollars; pans for gold washing, four dollars.

Victuals: — Flour, twenty dollars per hundred pounds; fresh
meat, hind quarters, thirty-seven and a half cents; fore quarter,
twenty-five cents per pound; salt bacon, forty to fifty cents per
pound; dried fruit, fifty to seventy-five cents per pound; pota-
toes, fifty cents per pound; vermicelli, fifty cents per pound;
salt mackerel, thirty cents each; white ship biscuit, twenty-five
to thirty cents per pound ; f^ esh bread, a loaf of about one and a
half pound, fifty cents; butter, fifteen cents per pound; chocolate,
one dollar per pound; pickles, two dollars per quart bottle; tea,
one and a half to two dollars per pound; coffee, sixty-two and a
half cents per pound; sugar, fifty cents per pound.

Drinks : — Red wine, one and a half to two dollars per bottle ;
brandy, one to two dollars; whisky, one and a half dollars;
arrack, one and a half dollars per bottle ; gin, one and a half
dollars ; Port, two dollars ; Madeira, two dollars per bottle.

A single dram, which formerly was everywhere in the diggings
sold for fifty cents, is now only twenty-five — a pretty good price
yet for one mouthful of brandy or whisky.

All those who do not wish to provide their food themselves,

210 A digger's life.

may board here, as at any other town. They get three meals of
meat, dried fruit, pickles, butter, cheese, &c. ; coffee, and some-
times even potatoes (a certain Frenchman gives, in the evening,
instead of tea, half a bottle of red wine) : the price for this is six-
teen dollars per week. Those who provide their own food may
very well do the same with six or seven dollars.

Clothing is by far less expensive than it was formerly; nay, it
is even proportionably cheap now. A pair of trousers cost from
two to four dollars ; a pair of shoes, fi-om three to five ; a shirt,
one and a half dollars ; straw hats, the same. All these articles,
however, of course, are only of ordinaiy and plain material.

As to animals, a very good horse may be bought from eighty-
two to a hundred and fifty dollars ; mules, at about the same
price ; donkeys, for carrying loads, from sixty to eighty dollars
each. •

The first days at Murphy's Diggings we employed in pitching
a tent, as well to get shelter during the nights, which were still
grim cold, as also to stow away and pile up Bohm's goods. It
was not very difficult to effect this, young stems of trees being
left in the neighbourhood, which might be used as props. A
small tent was sold to us, and another we put together of canvass
which we had brought with us ; and thus our Californian home
was established.

According to our first intentions, my companion, who could not
hope to sell anything during the day, was to shut up his shop
until evening, and we would work together the whole of the day ;
but already, after the first day, I found that I could not but be a loser
in such an arrangement, as Bohm could not be got to work in the
morning, and likewise ceased working early in the evening;
whereas, on the other hand, we were to divide the proceeds in
equal shares. To remedy this, there was nothing left but that I
should likewise become a partner in his store ; to which 1 agreed
only very reluctantly, with a sort of presentiment of future cala-
mities. Bohm thenceforward worked only one other half day
with me ; after which he at one time had a sore foot, at another

211

a sore hand, and at last assured me that he was seriously indis-
posed. I continued, in the meanwhile, digging, although with
very little success, in tha ravines ; at the same time also, the few
goods which Bohm had brought with him had considerably
dwindled, the stock having from the first been a very poor one.
One of us, therefore, was to go to San Francisco in order to make
new purchases ; and as my partner was still ailing, the journey
fell to my lot.

On the morning of the 29th of April I set out with rather a
small capital, and, taking the nearest way, travelled about thirty
or forty miles through the wood ; after which I followed the high
road again as far as Stockton.

About twelve miles from Murphy's, I reached the famous
diggings of San Antonio. Some American companies have un-
dertaken grand works there, turning oft', by means of a broad
and deep canal, the mountain stream, which is a river of no in-
considerable size, in order to work its bed during summer, which
in this manner was laid dry.

Rising from this gulch or ravine, I reached, after about half a
mile's walk, a placer which seemed to have been turned to con-
siderable account. Five negroes were at work here, and had dug
the deepest hole which I ever saw at the diggings. It was at
least thirty-six feet deep, and sunk into the slope like a shaft.
They told me that thpir work had been by no means fruitless :
only the day before, the five of them had found four hundred and
eighty dollars within a very narrow space, and their daily earn-
ings must, according to what they assured me, have amounted for
each to upwards of an ounce per day. But this was the only re-
munerating placer hereabout ; the others were said to be not above
the common average.

The night I passed in the open air, and on the next morning,
about thirty-four m.ilcs from Murphy's, I reached the high road,
by which I was able to proceed more quickly. From my night's
encampment I had to walk about fifty-three miles to Stockton ;
but I set out at a very early hour, and being in very good trim.

212

resolved to try whether I should not be able to reach Stockton
on the following mornmg about seven; the hour at which the
steamer generally used to start. To effect this, I had not much
time to lose ; but as I carried nothing but my blanket and my
gun, I speedily got over one mile after the other.

The country near the road between Stockton and the diggings
is likewise rapidly covering with settlements; everywhere new
tents are rising, hostelries where the traveller may put up for the
night. Wells also are sunk, as the water is said to be very
scarce there in summer, and everything shows signs of a very
considerable future traffic.

At the Calaveres a small tribe of Indians was encamped, among
whom, by-the-by, I saw for the first time a crippled savage.
When I sat down with them, they crowded round me and asked
for presents. They seemed, however, to be very good-natured
people, and I readily gave them some trifles which I had brought
with me for such emergencies. Yet I thereby only made bad
worse, for the more I gave the more they wanted ; and at last I
resolved to play them a little trick in order to get rid of them
without their remarking it. I cautiously strewed a small rope of
powder, so thin that it could not by SiUj possibility do harm, and
then took out a burning lens which I had with me. At first I
threw the burning point upon the brown hands of some of them,
which already inspired them with considerable mistrust. They
first looked with the utmost astonishment at the lens, and then at
their hands, which they most anxiously rubbed ; and some of the
women, with their children, withdrew to a respectful distance.
But when I directed the lens on the po'vvder, and the flash hissed
up to the feet of one of the men, it was as if a thunderbolt had
suddenly alighted among them. The}' dispersed in all directions,
and no coaxing nor friendly signs could induce them to return to
within a distance of less than twenty yards. I had completely
forfeited their confidence, and was at last obliged to proceed on
my road without having propitiated or even appeased them.

Soon after having crossed the Calaveres, I met upon the road

I

A. DIGGER S LIFE. 213

several wag-^ons with new arrlvers. The people themselves were
mostly dawdling along, ahead of the ox-carts, except one, a young
Frenchman, who had placed himself before a tied-up milch cow,
and now played, on a cornet 5,-piston, the Marseillaise into the
ears of the dismayed animal. Such processions are very fre-
quently met with on the road. I was also going quietly to pass
by this one, when a man who, on account of the dust, had covered
his head with his handkerchief, so that I was not able to descry
his features, suddenly stopped and called out after me, " Well, I
am sure I have seen you somewhere."

I quickly turned round, and could not help bursting out into
loud laughter, when, in the dust-covered, heated, and fatigued
figure, I recognised my jolly old landlord of Buenos Ayres, Mr.
Davies, who at that time told me all those awful stories about
California, and warned me not to rush headlong into the jaws of
destruction. And now I met him, panting in the sweat of his
brow, after a most dangerous passage round Cape Horn, and
entering upon a life of the most dreadful toils and privations.
Unfortunately, we had not much time to stop; but I made the
best of the few moments to punish him for his fonner scorn and
ridicule, by representing to him, in a rapid sketch, the life at the
diggings in such appalling colours, that his face grew longer and
longer; and only when I saw him fairly driven into a gentle
state of petrified despair, I smilingly wished him good speed, and
comfortably proceeded on my road to Stockton.

I walked briskly on until dusk, taking, about noon, some bread
and milk — a small tumblerful for twenty-five cents; and just when
the stars began to glitter, I arrived at a small blockhouse, where I
found the people at their supper. I was now about fifteen miles
from Stockton ; but I could not, for the moment, proceed much farther,
as it grew pitch dark, and the moon did not rise before eleven.
I therefore determined to share in the repast (paying one and a
half dollars for some tough beefsteak and a cup of thin coffee), to
sleep for a few hours, and, as soon as the moon rose, to continue
my journey. This plan I carried out so far, as at least to throw

£14 A DIGGER S LIFE.

myself down on the ground in a corner ; but the young fellows
of the house had got some bottles of whisky, and kept up such an
uproar until midnight, that sleep was out of the question. About
midnight, therefore, I arose, rolled up my blanket — my little
account I had paid on the evening before — and walked rapidly
along the road in the brightest moonshine.

Yet I still met with a small adventure. It might have been
about two o'clock, when I turned into a narrow path striking out
of the high road. But I soon saw that what I took for a short
cut was leading me too far to the left ; besides which, the wet
grass completely soaked my leggings. I therefore turned again
to the right, to regain the high road, when I suddenly saw some-
thing moving under a large oak which was standing in my way.
Fixing my eyes upon the spot, I descried a man who was sud-
denly gliding behind the trunk of the tree, whilst another went
up to a mule — which was grazing close by, and whose fore-legs
■were tethered together — and invited me, in Spanish, to approach
and see how strangely the animal had been entangled. I had,
in the meanwhile, cocked my rifle ; and leaving the oak about
thirty yards to the left, I slowly passed with a "no quieroJ^
From their pronunciation, they seemed to me Argentines ; and I
had already experienced, in their own country, what they were
capable of. In the broad moonlight, in open field, out of the
reach of the lasso, I had nothing to fear from them, especially
when they had once seen that I carried fire-arms.

Several murders had of late been committed on this very road;
and the boasted honesty of California is sadly at a discount. Tools,
which one is obliged to leave at the placers, and horses and mules,
are stolen almost every day; and the Indians have to bear the
blame of many a thing which white rogues have perpetrated in
their name. If they catch a thief, he certainly is treated very
roughly; but in this wild country it is very easy to escape.

Those fellows, however, when they saw that I wished to have
nothing to do with them, allowed me quietly to pursue my way;
and soon after sunrise I arrived at Stockton, after having marched

A. DIGGfeR*S LIFE. 215

daring the last twenty-four hours about fifty-three English miles.
When already in sight of the town, I shot a large brown wolf,
who, about thirty yards a-head of me, was going to cross the
road, but who, as soon as he descried me, had suddenly stopped
in the middle of it.

My exertions, however, were doomed to be fruitless, as on that
morning no steam-boat left for San Francisco. Yet I did not
regret this, as I thus gained time to spend a whole day at Stockton,
where I roamed about from morning to evening, now stopping at
one of the droves of mules, whicli were being laden by industrious
Mexicans with provisions for the diggings, and then dropping'
into one of the numerous gambling-houses, where play was nearly
always going on, and by which a good deal of money was brought
into circulation. Many of these hells having been only just esta*
blished, were but scantily furnished, their bare wooden walls being
merely covered with a sort of coarse cotton, which was intended
to give them a somewhat comfortable appearance. Nearly all of
them had lots of pictures hung up round the walls; some of them
prints of a most lascivious character, others lithographs represent-
ing Napoleon's battles or Ferdinand Cortcz's conquests, and scenes
from Paul and Virginia. There was some sort of music in every
one of them.

In one establishment, the walls, covered with blue cotton, were
decorated by the tasteful owner with half a dozen coloured prints,
every one of them showing the same fascinating object, in the
shape of a very slim and angular young lady, with an immensely
high coiffure and large puffy sleeves, who was turning her body
to the right, and her head over her left shoulder, with such a
decided twist, that it looked as if she wore her head on her back.
Six copies of this model of female beauty in one destitute room
made a very singular impression.

On my entering the apartment, the two principals looked round
towards me, with some latent hope of finding a customer; and as
I could not refrain from the malicious pleasure of confirming the
rogues in their illusion, I walked slowly and gravely round the

216 A digger's life.

room, stopping before each of the six pictures, and looking at it
with an air of the profoundest abstraction. A little negro, whose
duty it was to play the accordion in this distinguished saloon,
now began unmercifully to torture his instrument; but neither his
music, nor the active shuffling of the cards, nor the attractions of
the six model ladies, were able to tempt me to play; and when,
during my exit, I turned round to have a last view of the gamblers,
and of the " darling 'ittle nigger boy," all the four of us had our
heads twisted over our shoulders, just as the lady of the pic-
tures.

I slept that night at the " Stockton Restaurant;" not, however,
in a bed, for which there was neither room nor occasion, but in
my own blanket in a corner. My things were still lying on a
table, when one of the partners of the firm to which the house
belonged came up to me, and civilly said: "Would you oblige
me by taking your rifle from the table, as this gentleman is to
sleep on it." As I looked about for " the gentleman," I saw
that he slept already standing, even before Ij'ing down on the
table. He was a tall square figure; and notwithvStanding the
warm weather, was buttoned up in a blue pilot coat. He carried a
blanket under one arm and his boots under the other, and seemed
not quite to know whether he would wait until his bed was made, or
whether he would rather at once drop down where he stood. The
host, misconstruing my surprise as a desire to have the table for
myself, stated by way of apology that the gentleman had slept on
it for the last seven nights; and I had scarcely time to put my
rifle in a corner, and to lay my blanket, powder-flask, and knife
on a chair, when the tall gentleman — who must have seen all my
preparations through his eyelids, as he did not open them for one
moment — lay stretched at his full length, snoring, on the table.
As to myself, I passed the night on the floor.

On the next morning, the steamer El Dorado, a very good boat,
started for San Francisco, where we arrived before dusk. I slept
that night at the house of Dr. Precht, my former fellow-traveller,
which he had a short time before built for himself. The high

A digger's life. 217

prices of California had made his fortune; he was in very good
practice, and had splendid prospects before him.

We had sat up in very merry company until late, so that next
morning, as the day was scarcely dawning, I was still soundly
asleep, when a wild and strange shout reached my ear. I started
up, and whilst from my window I was able to recognize the glare
of fire — which, blazing and corruscating, forced its ten-ible path
over the buildings — I could not in my first bewilderment recollect
where or in what part of the world I was. This did not, however,
last long; together with sleep, I shook oflf my dreams, threw
myself into my clothes, and after a few minutes was with Dr.
Precht down in the street.

It was but a short distance to the spot where the fire had broken
out; and already all the gambling-houses near the public square
were burning from top to bottom, whilst the flames, with vehement
fury, extended farther and farther. For one moment, I surveyed
from tlie middle of the square the terribly beautiful spectacle, but
only for one moment, for I should, indeed, have deemed it wicked
to stand idle, where hundreds of men were losing all that they
had in the world, whilst I was able to help them in saving at
least part of it.

A European, used to our strong stone buildings, can scarcely
form an idea of the furious rapidity with which the fire spread in
the light wooden houses, which are thoroughly dried by the sun
already. In a large booth containing a store, in which I first
assisted in removing the goods, I saw the flame striking in with
a point like a tongue, of about eight or nine inches long, when
the whole ceiling of the dreadfully heated room, as if struck by
lightning, at once blazed up, and all ihe people who were still
within rushed with wild haste towards the door. I had myself
the upper part of my hands, with which I held a package on my
shoulders, singed in a few seconds.

The fire continued raging until about ten or eleven o'clock,
before it could be fairly got under, which had at last to be done
by demolishing the intervening houses. The loss in goods was

218 A digger's life.

enormous, as immense heaps of things had been dragged into the
middle of the market-place, where people thought them safe; but
the flames sought their prey even beyond, and all those goods
were consumed. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the fire was
not yet quite subdued; without, however, any farther danger, it
was smouldering below the heaps of rubbish, and even during the
night it often rose in columns over the ruins of the fallen houses.
But on that very afternoon the carpenters already were again
busy between the still glowing beams to raise the framework of a
new gambling-house, cooling the spot w^here it was to stand with
water; and working on so actively during the night, that next
morning a new hell, with an awning of canvass and a boarded
floor, and richly provided with gambling and drinking tables,
stood ready to receive new victims.

Over against Dr. Precht's house there was a small w^ooden
building belonging to a Frenchman, who had here a shop of
Italian wares. It was necessary to pull this house down, in order
to check the progress of the fire. The poor Frenchman had only
just arrived on the spot; and, after having opened the door, he
did not know in his fright what to save first. In the meanwhile,
we had already cut through the two corner posts ; and a cable, at
which three hundred men were pulling, was twined round the
little cabin: yet I still heard the poor fellow bustling within.
Twice I ran to the door, calling out to him to take care, as other-
wise the house would immediately come down on his head. He
was not to be moved; rushing franticall}'- to and fro within, with
both his arms full of boxes and bottles, he seemed to have
entirely lost his head. Then the flame seized also this building;
and now there w^as no help for it — it must come down. It fell
with a crash; and the Frenchman, like a stone squeezed from a
ripe plum, darted out through the door with such a start that he
threw down all those who were standing in his way.

The flames had now no longer any power ; and the fire was got
under here, as in all the other places. When the small cabin was
burnt down to the ground, the poor Frenchman sat melancholy

A digger's life. 210

between his tin boxes, full of roasted sardines, and preserved
meats and fruits, which were now rather " overdone."

My purchases had been very much delayed by the fire ; not-
withstanding which, I succeeded in getting off from San Francisco
on the following Wednesday ; embarking with my goods on the
small steamer, *' Captain Sutter," for Stockton. The boat being
crammed full of passengers, we had a very disagreeable, although
rather quick passage, reaching Stockton on the next morning.
The freight, owing to the good weather, and the improved state
of the roads, had become so much cheaper, that I was able to
contract for sevenpence the pound to Murphy's Diggings.

The roads were now excellent. All the marshy grounds were
dry ; and the beasts were proceeding at a good pace under their
burden; which certainly was not very heavy. Thus we ap-
proached again the Calaveres ; when, before crossing this river,
we met an empty ox-cart, which was slowly rolling on through
the clouds of dust. Some people coming from the diggings were
perched on it ; but only when I was quite close to them, I was
able to distinguish, under the really disfiguring mass of dust, my
two former fellow-travellers, Mr. Hillman and his faithful hench-
man, Jeremy Livingston. Mr. Ilillman looked pale and despond-
ing; Jemmy, on the other hand, so much the merrier, as the
hard work of the diggings lay now behind him ; and he was, as
he expressed it, going to live again amongst Christians. Poor
Hillman ! his rosy visions had not been realized. lie had been
obliged to sell everything — his quicksilver machine and provisions,
his tent and mule ; and of all his goods and chattels, at least as
far as I could see, nothing had remained to him but his brown
umbrella and Jeremy Livingston.

On the following day, May 10, I left the waggon; and, with
only a blanket on my back, I struck into the wood, taking a
shorter cut to Murphy's. In the evening, I shot two wood pigeons ;
and encamped before a good fire, near a clear spring. On the
morning after, I hit a stag ; but he got off, running down one of
the steep ravines ; and although it was evident, from the heavy

220 A digger's life.

track of blood, that he could not get much farther, yet the direc-
tion which he took was so much out of my way, that I Avas obliged
to give up the pursuit. One hour later, I met another hunter, to
whom I gave accurate directions as to where he might find the
bloody track ; and, as I heard in the sequel, he recovered the
dead game.

I brought to the diggings the news of the last fire at San Fran-
cisco, as also that of a law which had, a few days before, been
passed by the Californian legislature ; a law which not only
created the greatest excitement in the whole of the interior of the
country ; but also, in some places, led to bloody consequences. '

According to this enactment, all the foreigners — that is to say,
all those who were not citizens of the United States of North
America — if they wished to work at the diggings, be it for them-
selves or for others, had to pay a tax of twenty dollars per month.

At an earlier period, and in a better season, the people might
have perhaps been able to pay from their earnings such a heavy
tax ; but under the present circumstances, at least three-fourths
of the diggers would have been utterly unable to raise it ; and
the excitement caused by this demand was beyond description.

Especially in Murphy's New Diggings, the greater part of the
diggers consisted of Frenchmen — the majority of them being
Basques. The Germans mustered in less numbers; nor were
there many Spaniards ; as in former times, already the Mexicans
had been driven away from thence. On the other hand, Sonora,
about twenty English miles off, M^as crowded with Mexicans,
Chilenese, and other natives of South America; and the whole
country, as far as one could hear, was in a state of the most
violent fermentation.

*' We will pay no taxes," said the Germans ; " and why should
we ? " " Just let them come and collect them I " cried the French-
men; and the Mexicans and Chilenese, who were never very
friendly disposed towards the Yankees, purchased everything they
could get in the shape of arms, and seemed quite seriously intent
upon putting themselves in a state of defence.

A digger's life. 221

The Americans themselves considered the tax as too high ; but
quietly stated their opinion, that the decree, having once passed
into a law, was to be kept and enforced, until the legislature
would take better advice to reconsider and change it. Thus the
sensible Americans talked ; but there were other wild, hairbrained
fellows, who did not look beyond the tip of their own nose, and
who cared for nothing but their own paltry interest. They were
at once all fire and flame ; and would brag that the law was not
strict enough by far; and that the foreigners, without further
ceremony, ought to be expelled the country altogether.

Thus the 20th of May arrived ; and the report suddenly spread
in the camp, that a revolution had broken out at the diggings of
Sonora; that the sheriflf was stabbed, some Frenchmen and a
German put in prison; in short, everything thrown into the
greatest confusion. A letter from that place, addressed to the
French at Murphy's, called upon the latter quickly to come to
the assistance of their comrades ; at the same time assuring them,
that similar summonses had been sent to all the other neighbour-
ing places ; in fact, that the whole country was rising.

The effect which this letter, combined with the verbal reports of
the bearers, had upon the excitable French exceeds belief. From
that moment, nothing was seen but warlike preparations. Almost
all the French had guns ; but a great part of them had still to
procure powder, shot, and percussion-caps, pistols, knives, <S:c. ;
and among these arrangements the evening closed in.

The Americans remained quiet spectators until the French,
after dusk, had collected at a short distance from the camp, to
start for the place which they thought to be threatened. When
the small, otherwise so bustling, town of tents, seemed completely
deserted ; and only here and there, one or other of the French,
with his gun and his blanket on his back, ran down the broad
and only street, soon after to disappear in the dark ; some of the
younger Americans made the proposition to barricade the place,
to declare it an American camp, and not to allow any of those
who had left to return to it. The sensible people again carried

222 murphy's new diggings.

the day ; and it was at last resolved, quietly to wait for the result
of this mad step, and then to act as circumstances might require.

Yet the affair turned out to be a mere hoax. The letter, indeed,
was genuine; but the writer of it must have been drunk; and
afterwards had very nearly to pay for it with his life; as the
French, quite seriously, wanted to hang him. Neither the French,
nor any foreigner, had had their rights encroached upon; the
Spaniards only had had a procession, and hoisted the Chile-
nese flag, which had no other consequence but tliat the North
Americans in Sonora, marching out with beat of drum, pulled
down the flag again.

The French returned to Murphy's somewhat ashamed of them-
selves, and singly, at night, in the same manner as they had set
out. There the matter rested; the French apologizing in a
memorial to the Alcalde, and the Americans censuring the step
at a meeting which was held soon after; so that everything
seemed forgotten. But it had created a great deal of ill feeling
between the foreigners and the Yankees ; at the same time, how-
ever, it had also taught the latter what they had to expect if they
pushed matters too far — a desperate resistance.

It was interesting at that time to see how, in twenty-four hours
after, from all the neighbouring diggings, some armed French-
men, most of them on foot, were coming in to take a share in the
expected contest ; whilst the Mexicans ran away in all directions.

CHAPTER XVII.

murphy's new diggings.

The life of the digger is quite of its own kind : he cannot even be
said to lead the life of a nomad; for even the nomad, before wan-
dering any further, will rest for a short while on the spot where
he finds food for himself and pasture for his cattle; whereas the
digger, at the first news of some rich places found in the neigh-

murphy's new diggings. 223

bourhood, at once packs up his tools and his blanket, and removes
througk mountains and valleys to the new El Dorado, which,
alas! only too often disappoints him just as badly as the one
which he has left.

Thus, I had scarcely returned to Murphy's Diggings, when a
vague report spread that a fabulously rich place had been found
in the neighbourhood; and some diggers, as mostly happens under
such circumstances, lest any one might follow their track, left their
present diggings under cover of the night, and marched further into
the mountains. Such a thing, however, generally remains a secret
only for a few days, and every one at our diggings soon knew that
the new rich gold field was distant about ten miles, at Carson's
Creek, whither the people now set out in crowds, to have each
their share in the rich harvest of treasure.

My partner thought himself too weak to undertake such a
march and the work connected with it. I, on the other hand,
partly to try my luck, and partly from curiosity, went over with
some Germans, and arrived about mid-day.

On our road already we found that report had by no means told
false; everywhere small bands were journeying towards the game
goal as ourselves. The places where small stores or drlnking-
tents had stood were now abandoned, and only the bare tent-poles,
which were left behind, still marked the spots. Waggons, laden
with all sorts of provisions and goods, were covering the roads;
and when at last we arrived at our journey's end, the mountains
and valleys about us offered one of the most animated and inter-
esting sights which can be imagined.

The place was literally swarming with men; and whilst, from
all the hills, partly single wayfarers and partly small caravans
were pouring into the principal valley, hundreds of diggers who
had arrived there before were most busily engaged in marking
out places of from about twelve to sixteen feet ; and as the real
flat — where alone they had dug until then — was already com-
pletely occupied, the placers were now extended to the slopes of
the neighbouring hills. The people who claimed such doubtful

224 mukphy's new diggings.

spots took very good care not to dig at once deep into the ground,
being pretty sure that they would have first to work to a depth of
twenty or thirty feet, through a soil as hard as stone. They
therefore quietly waited to see, before beginning their own task,
how the shafts would bear which were really dug here and there
in the neighbourhood.

We likewise bespoke for ourselves a place, which, indeed, had
been touched before, but which was not, as is customary in the
mines, marked with a left-behind tool; and we dug on that very
evening about four feet into the hard soil; after which we chose
among the neighbouring trees a place for our encampment, settling
down as well as we could do in a hurry. There was a very
melancholy drawback — the want of good drinking water; and
even for cooking, we had to use a muddy slop, which was rising
from a couple of small hollows not larger than a pot or cauldron,
where not only all the donkeys and mules quenched their thii-st,
but also the whole neighbourhood used to scour their kitchen
utensils, as well as to perform their own ablutions.

Some of the holes in the river bed had already shown themselves
very productive — some even very rich; and as several of them
happened to be dug out by " foreigners," it may easily be imagined
how much the covetousness and envy of the Americans was excited
by their good luck. Here, therefore, means were to be devised
how to obtain possession of these placers in a manner which would
at once make the affair an American cause, and, at the same time,
protect the individuals from the revenge of those who were to be
deprived of their lots.

For this purpose, a meeting was called on the same evening, at
which T, of course, was likewise present; and if ever in my life I
have seen anything wild — and I have seen many specimens of the
kind — it was this assemblage. One fellow especially, with red
hair and a freckled face, but, besides, with an unmistak cable
gallows physiognomy, really reached the climax of what could
ever be done in that line. The good people soon agreed, that tlie
next morning they would drive every man jack of the foreigners

225

to the devil. Only a few minor points remained still to be settled.
One of them, for instance, moved a resolution in remembrance of
the last "Spanish Rising" — the same which we at Murphy's called
the "French Revolution" — in which the Chilenese were said to
have bragged that they would give the Yankees twenty days for
leaving the diggings — to give to all the foreigners, by a placard
to be stuck up next morning, twenty minutes for doing the same.
This mad resolution did not certainly pass, owing to some of the more
sensible Americans — of whom there seemed, however, but a few to
have been present that evening — having objected against it ; that
indeed they had no power whatever to enforce such a law; and that
they would only make themselves ridiculous if afterwards it were
not obeyed. The meeting at last resolved to extend the twenty
minutes to twenty-four hours. This was finally adhered to; and
the placard, written in the English and Spanish languages, was
really stuck up next morning at a great many places — without,
however, any farther result than that some bands of the always
very easily frightened Mexicans really packed up their traps and
took their departure. All the other foreigners quietly remained
where they were; and the committee, expressly appointed last
evening for the carrying out of the law, were wise enough not to
notice it.

Another feature in this meeting was likewise comical, but withal
very characteristic. After having agreed that the strangers were
to be expelled, and the good placers to be declared American pro-
perty, people did not quite know what had best to be done with
the booty. At first it was proposed to draw lots for the holes;
others moved for a simple sale by auction ; and still others for a
lottery. But what was then to be done with the money which
was made by it ? Spent it must be. One proposal was to this
effect: To elect a committee of five men, who were to lay out the
money for charitable purposes in Carson's Flat. But within
eight days, perhaps, there would not remain one of all these men
in the neighbourhood; and who would then want the charity?
Another proposal was even more admirable. An old man, with

226 murphy's new diggings.

green spectacles and a dangerously sharp nose, wanted to invest
the proceeds in building a court-house and a prison at Carson's,
in the midst of these wild mountains, a piece of folly which he
defended with all that flight of energetic oratory which is only
heard in its full beauty where humbug is most transcendant.

But as, after long debate, not one sensible proposal was made
as to what should be done with the money, it was at last deter-
mined to give up the lottery as well as the auction, and to leave
the good placers to those who, after the expulsion of the foreigners,
would first jump into them. But as the foreigners remained on
the spot, the only result of that "red-hot meeting" was, as men-
tioned before, the departure of some fifty Mexicans, whose places
were again mostly taken by other foreigners.

On the next morning, we briskly applied ourselves to our work,
and found in the dry soil some very nice nuggets, among others
two of twenty-one and twenty- three dollars' worth; yet the gold
lay too scattered to pay for the work which was required to get it
out. Besides this, owing to the entire absence of good drinking
water in the dreadful heat, and with very severe labour, we led
such a miserable life that we at last determined to return to
Murphy's, and rather to earn less there than to endure here any
longer a thoroughly irksome existence.

The working of the Californian diggings had acquired quite a
different character from that which it assumed at the first discovery
of the gold. Indeed, the people were still working in the rivers
and ravines, but the gold lying on the surface had vanished.
Whilst, at the earlier periods, the deepest hole was only about
seven feet deep, there were now shafts of twenty or thirty feet,
and the people burrowed still deeper into the ground. At that
time, indeed, the workmen were able to earn as many ounces as
they now with great difficulty collected dollars; for, in the first
place, the holes being not yet exhausted, they could begin wher-
ever they liked ; when they had once found a productive spot they
might follow the vein of the metal as far as they deemed fit,
whilst now, at every newly discovered placer, thousands immedi-

227

ately crowded thither, and marked out the adjoining placers for
themselves, which the first comers, although they might have
been there for months, were not allowed to touch; so that they,
in their turn, were to seek anew for some other productive place
for weeks, or even for months.

In the small gullies it was, of course, the easiest sort of labour
to wash the sand of the brooks, which was also the most expedi-
tious mode; but after a short time, almost all the larger brooks
were done with in this manner. Indeed, the least quantity of
the metal was lying in the narrow bed, a great part of the rest
was still buried in the old beds and banks of the river, dating
from ages anterior to those terrible volcanic revolutions, with
which this country has been visited. At the first discovery of
the gold, this fact had either not been suspected, or the people did
not heed it, as at that time the precious metal might be raised by
easier means than the tedious operation of digging. Now, how-
ever, the diggers were reduced almost exclusively to those banks;
and in most cases, they might deem themselves lucky if they only
earned their day's wages, although these wages were, indeed, more
considerabc in California than in our own country.

A new feature at the diggings, were the works in the " Flats,"
that is to say, in such places where the river, or even smaller
brooks, describe a sort of arc round a large flat place, which, in
all probability, had formerly been intersected by the river. But
the holes to be dug in such places, required to be very deep to be
remunerating; and how scanty the results were in most of the
places of this description, we had, alas! to experience only too
forcibly at Murphy's New Diggings.

This extensive flat, where a hundred and seventy-six men
worked for nearly a whole week, to dig an immense canal for
draining the water rushing in from the springs, yielded only in
one tract, comprising twenty to twenty-five holes out of eight
hundred, a rich harvest of gold ; the rest were either unproduc-
tive altogether, or paid only for part of the work bestowed upon
them.

228 murphy's new diggings.

The works in the gullies were still the best, also for this
reason, that they required the least outlay ; so that the diggers
had not to risk their money besides their work. Thus we were
obliged in the Flat to have a pump that we bought at a sale,
quite a common wooden one, for ninety dollars, which everybody
considered exceedingly reasonable.

I had, in the meanwhile, separated myself from my partner,
after having at least given security to all those who had, on my
account, supplied to our firm goods on credit. How right I was
in acting thus, he very soon showed b}' his own conduct; as he
ran away from the mines, and, after having paid his debts neither
at Stockton, nor at San Francisco, absconded from California
altogether. I was myself a considerable loser by his dishonesty,
which served me quite right; being taught better by my own
experience in North America. I had warned others against
entering into such partnerships, and now I fell into the same
fault.

Very glad not to have any more to do with the fellow, I joined
some other Germans, whom I had known before as steady and
honest people; and now went on washing gold like the others.
But if I was unsuccessful in this business, I found so much the
richer a reward, in the experience which I thus acquired of men
and their doings. Instead of those substantial dreams, in which
our forefathers pictured to themselves a country where roast
pigeons flew into your mouth, and where sucking pigs, done to a
nicety, ran about with knife and fork sticking in their backs
entreating you to eat them, 1 had found here a country which
was an El Dorado, if for no one else, most assuredly so for the
literary man, who is hunting after characters.

Strange to say, I made the richest harvest of that kind amongst
the Germans ; most of whom might have most felicitously figured
in the most effective novel; but the first rank among all, is due
to a small Alsatian tailor, called Johnny, or also Napoleon, who
sometimes made me laugh until I cried. The little fellow had
some very strong suspicion — a thing which has since then

murphy's new diggings. 22^

happened to other tailoring gentlemen besides himself— that he
bore some resemblance to Napoleon ; he even wore his old felt hat
turned up in a similar manner, and would sometimes stand for a
quarter of an hour together, with his arms akimbo, and with
contracted eye-brows. He, at the same time, was the most
dissolute good-for-nothing little scamp in the world, as long as he
had money enough in his pocket to make merry with ; but when
it was gone, he would work with pickaxe and mattock with as
much briskness and alacrity as if he were handling only his needle
and shears ; and as long as the fit lasted, he would not even take
time to mend his only pair of inexpressibles.

Deserters from the Mexican war mustered very strong on all
sides: nearly all the volunteers who, previous to the discovery of
the gold, had been sent here from the United States, and who,
after the discovery, had volunteered to run away ; might certainly
have been found at the diggings.

Another class was formed by Germans come over from the
United States : a great part of whom, as they had learned to do
already on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, took a pride in
herding with the Yankee's, after having discarded their own
nationality altogether. But having known this rabble *\n the
States themselves, and conceived for them the most heartfelt and
sovereign contempt, I took very good care, not to have anything
whatever to say to them.

My curiosity was most of all excited by a man whom I met one
fine morning between the tents, carrying, like the common work-
men, a pickaxe, a mattock, and a pan; but, on the other hand,
wearing a black dress coat, kid gloves, a silk hat, and patent
leather boots — very unlike the common workmen. I am gene-
rally loath to stop in the street, to look after any one, especially
on account of his dress; but in this case I could not help looking
after the man, as long as I was still able to recognise him
between the tents and bushes.

*' Such a swallow-tailed coat, indeed, does one's aching eyes
good here in the mountains," at last an old Irishman said ; who,

230 murphy's new diggings.

during all this while, had stood by my side. " I wonder how that
gentleman will look after eight days?"

My thoughts were about running in the same direction ; and I
now began to inquire who in the world the man could be, as I,
indeed, felt interested in him. On that same evening I learned
that he was a lawyer, who had come to the diggings with the
firm conviction, that with a common tin pan, and a bread
knife, he Avould be able, in kid gloves, to scoop out from the
chinks and clefts of the rocks, as much gold as would suffice to
keep him ever afterwards — if not extravagantly, at least decently.
After having, for three days, walked about the mountains, in the
same attire as he Avas now, and scratched the dry stones, but,
of course, fouuJ nothing; and now, being too proud to allow him-
self to be fed by others ; and therefore, unless he wished to starve,
being placed in the necessity of earning money, he went to work
with pickaxe and mattock.

I lost sight of the man for a fortnight. He had gone a little
way down the creek, there to try his luck in company of a friend ;
but, ye gods! how he looked when he first made his appearance
again at Murphy's, being compelled to do so to buy provisions.
He seemed to be ashamed of his guise, and yet the poor fellow
very likely had no other clothes, for he came to the encampment at
the dawn of day when the tents were not yet open. I was myself
early that morning, going out shooting, otherwise I should not
have seen him. The black dress-coat, not being made to stand
such work, was torn everywhere, imder the arms, and at the
elbows, behind in the back, and at the skirts, where, very likely,
he had been caught by the thorny brambles; the gloves were only
existing on the back of his hand, yet he had put them on with
great nicety, and even tried to blacken his boots, although they
were burst at the sides, and the leather, being thoroughly soaked
with rain, did not take the blacking. Even his trowsers were, in
several places, mended with grey worsted, and the man himself
looked pale and miserable.

As I heard afterwards, he earned at the diggings not even

murphy's new diggings. 231

money enough to pay for his journey back, and he walked to
Stockton, and from thence, by Pueblo San Jose, round the whole
bay to San Francisco, where, perhaps, some of his old friends
were still living.

Besides him, another individual was walking about in kid
gloves but without dress coat, and also with a verj rueful face;
and just this face seemed so well known to me, tbat I racked my
brains in vain, for a fortnight, to remember where I had seen him
before. I heard that he was a Spaniard, or rather a Chilenese,
who every night would tie thick woollen kerchiefs round his neck.
This was all the information I could get for some time, until one
day I accidentally heard that he was no less a personage than the
first tenor of the Valparaiso theatre, who there so much pleased
me, and who now with regret, and with a terrible cold in his
head, looked back to those happy days. He is said afterwards to
have expressed himself, that, at the diggings he had found the
worst engagement he had ever had.

Yet that period was not only rich in characters but also in acts ;
and sometimes very tragical acts. Thus there happened at
Murphy's, at that time, a strange case, which created a very
strong sensation, and which caused a great deal of ill-feeling
between the white men and the Indians.

An East Indian, a native of the neighbourhood of Bombay,
came one day to Douglas's Flat, close to Murphy's Digging, rush-
ing into a tent, and summoning, in very broken English, the
Americans to his help, saying that the Indians had attacked him,
and robbed him of 1900 dollars' worth of gold dust. The Ame-
ricans at once snatched up their rifles to meet the Indians; the
latter took to flight, and the others followed them into the moun-
tains, where the savages at last made a stand, responding to the
shots of their pursuers, with arrows, pistols, and muskets. In the
meanwhile, some of the Americans may have recollected that they
had proceeded a little too rashly in the affair, they, therefore,
arrested the Mohammedan, whom, for more than one reason, they
began to suspect, and conducted hira to Murphy's. Indians then

232 murphy's new diggings.

came to our camp, and more and more evidence was brought forth
that the East Indian had told a lie ; and that he not only had
not possessed 1900 dollars, but had not even a cent. Indians
and white men now guarded the Mohammedan; and a deputation
went to the Indian village, there to inquire into the havock that
had been done. On reaching the huts, we found them deserted ;
part of them burned to the ground; provisions and blankets
scorched and strewed about; the red faces themselves had fled to
the mountains. Our Indian guides, armed partly with guns, and
partly with bows and arrows — we ourselves not even carrying our
knives — soon set us on the right track; their shrill shouts were
answered on different sides, down from cliffs and out from ravines;
and everywhere armed warriors joined our procession, or ran a- head
of us along the slopes of the hills.

On the highest summit of the mountain, the remainder of the
tribe were assembled, the women with their luggage, and the
men with arms in their hands; the former ready every moment
to take to flight, the men to cover their retreat. How fiercely
and threatening those dark eyes glistened at me, when, as the
first white man, after the combat, I stepped before them ! And
yet they had reason enough to be angry. Supported by two
friends, and stretching out one arm against the nearest tree, a
poor fellow of an Indian stood; and in his back, on the left side
of the dorsal spine, about half-way between the hip and the
shoulder, a small hole showed w^here the deadly ball had entered.
We had a surgeon with us, who examined his wound, but the
ball was within the body; and even if the poor wretch could have
been saved, the skill of our leech was not sufficient to deal with
such a critical case. We were obliged to leave the wounded man
to his fate ; and even whilst we were descending the steep moun-
tain, the lamentation of his mother rose to the blue heaven, calling
for revenge against the murderers.

On the next morning, a public assize was held. The East
Indian was, or at least shammed to be, quite ignorant of the
English language; of Spanish he likewise only spoke a few words;

233

80 that it was impossible to make liim understand only the charge;
and as to French, Dutch, or any other language, they were
entirely unknown to him. Thus he merely chattered away in
his own native dialect; and in vain did the court look out for an
interpreter. The evidence against him was, however, consider-
ably strong; and in compliance with the recently passed laws,
which placed the Indians under the protection of the United States,
the court felt in duty bound to award punishment to any one who
caused the death of an Indian. The Bombay man consequently
was, after a very interesting trial, condemned to receive twenty -
five lashes.

The following day (the 4th July) was the anniversary of the
declaration of independence of the United States, the greatest
political festival of the North Americans, yet the sentence was
nevertheless executed on that day. The first thirteen lashes
were given by the American sheriff — the others by an Indian;
and it was a strange but picturesque spectacle, on the fine sunny
day, to see, under the waving American flag, the wretched isolated
Mohammedan, wl^o, conducted by a gang of white men and Indians
to the cattle-yard of the butcher, was there tied to a post and
flogged, surrounded in a wide circle by Yankees, French, Ger-
mans, Spaniards, Mexicans, and men of other nations; and whilst
the copper-coloured Indians, in their fanciful attire, climbed on
the fence, and half-triumphantly and half-anxlously looked at the
infliction of chastisement, the Mohammedan in vain invoked his
Allah. Even after having received his punishment, and satisfied
the behests of the law, the sheriff had to keep him under strong
guard, as the Indians threatened that, wherever he might turn,
they would waylay and murder him.

But there was at that time other blood shed besides Indian; in
fact, never had so many murders been heard of before.

The diggings proved less productive than many had expected
in their golden dreams ; and a vile rabble of ragamuffins, who had
come over with a fixed determination to find gold at whatever
price, and wherever it might be, very soon arrived at the conclu-

234

sion that hard work, which did not even always prove successful,
was not the most expeditious, nor even surest road to wealth. To
thh class belonged, in the first and foremost place, the gamblers
who, mounted on a mule, and carrying only a scrape and a poncho
buckled to the back of the saddle, with a bowie knife and two
revolvers in their girdles, galloped from digging to digging, like
carrion crows that will assemble wherever there is a carcass.

These people never worked ; and wherever they did not succeed
in gaining money by false play, for which purpose they all carried
with them false cards manufactured in the United States : too often
only the knife and the pistol had to do the work; and scarcely
any of these gentry left the mines as poor as they had come to them.

Besides these, crowds of Mexicans, driven away from every
place, were swarming in the mountains. Many of these hot-
blooded sons of the south were, by the unmerited ill-treatment of
brutal Yankees, goaded into such a pitch of despair and revenge-
fulness, that, even ordinarily only too ready with the knife, they
in many cases shed blood for the mere gratification of seeing it
flow; not, however, but that they also stripped their victims. All
parts of the world had sent their contingent of criminals ; and it
may easily be imagined that ruffians who had, even in civilized
states, carried on the trade of murder, would not at once be
changed into honest men here in the wild mountains, where in
every tent they were sure to find an easy and sometimes rich
victim. Robbery and murder at last became so frequent about
these diggings, and especially in the neighbourhood of Soriora,
that the fiightened diggers at last could not but imagine that
they were surrounded by organized gangs of robbers lurking for
their prey.

In all sorts of places, as also in their own tents, diggers were
found in the morning killed with their short crow-bars, which
were lying about. Thus, one day two Mexicans were found in
the morning, close to Murphy's camp, lying in the grass, with
broken skulls; and their clothes, being cut open, showed only too
plainly that their murderers had looked out for their gold bags

murphy's new diggings. 235

and had found them. Others were attacked and murdered on the
high roads, or from behind bushes, without the murderers being
detected in one single instance.

As among the victims there were Also some Americans, the
Yankees, always ready to improve on such an occasion, affected
to impute the guilt to the foreigners, and especially to the English
who came over from Australia. Many even wanted to look upon
the matter as a conspiracy of the foreigners against the Americans.
Others, again, laid it exclusively on the Mexicans, traces having
been found with many of the murdered people of the crime having
been perpetrated by individuals of that nation.

But, however that might be, the murderers lived in the midst of
the diggings, a fact, bloody proofs of which were found nearly
every morning; and in Sonora at last a great meeting was con-
vened to devise means how to prevent these crimes, and how to
find out the murderers, or to expel them from the diggings.

The resolutions passed in this meeting were as follows : —

" Whereas it appears that the lives and the property of American
citizens are at present endangered by the hands of marauders of
every climate, every description, and every creed on the face of
the earth, and that scarcely a day passes on which the most
shocking murders and robberies are not coming to light; and as,
at the same time, we have the peons (bondsmen or slaves) of
Mexico, the renegadoes of South America, and the transports of
the British realm, among us, we resolve:

1 . " That all strangers in Tuolumne county — except persons
carrying on a regular trade, or of well-known respectable charac-
ter— shall be required to leave, within fifteen days, the confines of
the said county, unless receiving within that term a ticket of loca-
tion from the authorities to be elected.

2. " That these authorities shall consist of a committee of three
men, to be elected by the American citizens of each camp or each
mine.

3. " That all good citizens of this county shall form a general
committee to carry out the object of this meeting.

236 murphy's new diggings.

4. " That all strangers of this county shall be required to give
up their fire-arms or other deadly weapons to the chosen men of
each camp or each digging, alwaj's excepting those who have
received permission to keep them. The chosen men shall then
give to the strangers a w^ritten receipt; and every good citizen
shall have the right of disarming any stranger.

5. " That the chosen men of each camp and each digging shall
exactly fulfil the duties intrusted to them.

6. " That five hundred copies of these resolutions shall forthwith
be printed in the English and Spanish languages, and circulated
all through the country.

7. " That the chosen men of every camp and digging shall receive
subscriptions for defraying the expenses of publication, and send
in the money thus collected to the proprietors and editors of the
Sonora Herald."

As soon as these resolutions were published, crowds left the
camp at Sonora to go to other diggings; many of them, proceed-
ing in regular gangs, were disarmed by the Americans, and some
individuals were arrested on suspicion and put on their trial ; yet,
as there was not the least thing brought home to them — some one
or other of the real murderers perhaps sat in judgment on them —
they were set at liberty again.

Near Angel's Camp only they caught a murderer, and he was
an American. He was hanged, and his accomplice in the murder,
a Mexican, was shot whilst trying to escape from his pursuers.

There were strange doings at that time in the diggings, which,
of course, did not lose in the telling. If ten murders had been
committed, report spoke of thirty; there was no isolated tent in
which one victim at least was not said to have been slaughtered.
At the same time, numbers of people were seen walking about,
bristling with knives and pistols, according to their own version,
merely for the protection of their own precious lives ; and this was
the period when the newspapers especially raised a tremendous
outcry about the dangers threatening the lives of American citi-
zens, unless the most expeditious measures were taken against all

237

foreigners of every description. This state of things, however,
lasted only a short time; after three weeks, already, murders were
heard of only rarely, and the foreigners remained where they had
been until now.

About that time, we four Germans, who worked together, were
one night quietly and comfortably asleep in our tent ; close by us
there was another smaller one, likewise belonging to two country-
men of ours, natives of Altona; one of them, a young man of the
name of Starke, who had formerly served as a volunteer in Mexico,
and the other a cabin-boy, run away from some Hamburgh vessel.
The latter was likewise lying on his mattress, and we had heard
him for some time snoring most lustily, when suddenly a voice
was heard outside the tent; and Starke, whose tongue, however,
seemed to be rather heavy, called out :

" Wilhem, as sure as you are an honest burgher of Altona,
murder is going on down there; they are stabbing and shooting
all the Germans."

" But, Starke," Wilhem said soothingly, " it must be midnight;
go to bed, that's much more sensible than to rouse the people at
night when they are tired and worn out."

*' No, Wilhem, as you are a true burgher of Altona, come out
and help, or all Germans will be murdered; and now he told in a
rather confused style, at the same time addressing his speech like-
wise to us, that a party of Irish were standing in a tent below,
armed with pistols, and keeping the Germans at bay under the
table.

" Well, Starke," Wilhem exclaimed, " it is a very rascally
job, and I should be tremendously glad to go with you; but I
have sprained my leg this evening, and I can't set my foot on the
ground."

We four in our tent felt quite satisfied that Starke was half
drunk, but we also knew that he would not have told a downright
lie; and that, at all events, something must be the matter. We,
therefore, determined to go down and see what it was. I had put
up my rifle in the camp ior safety, as we were very often obliged

238 murphy's new diggings.

to leave tbe tent alone; yet I could very easily get it, if I should
have any use for it below. There was, at any rate, some row
there, as even on our hill we were able to hear a wild noise and
volleys of abuse resounding through the night.

In a few minutes we were below, and found that the noise pro-
ceeded from an Irishman, a journeyman baker, who was standing
in the middle of the street with a large saddle-pistol, vowing, with
grievous oaths, that he w^ould not go to bed before he had shot
one of the " Dutchmen." I now first of all went up to him by
myself, and as I thought him to be completely drunk, tried to
induce him to turn in; but he held, with a very shaky hand, his
loaded pistol so close to my nose, and began to inveigh so fiercely
against the Germans, that at last my anger also was roused, and
fetching my gun from a neighbouring tent, I called out to the Irish-
man, who was about fifteen paces distant, to make haste to be off,
or to shoot, and take his chance of what would follow.

Nor did he wait to be told so a second time. In the bright
light of the moon I could see him quickly raise his arm, and in
the next minute the shot resounded through the whole camp. At
the same moment, I had also levelled my gun, but just when I
was going to fire it off, I saw that he was standing before a tent,
so that my ball might have struck some innocent person. I there-
fore sprang across to the other side of the street to get a free aim
at him; on seeing which, the ruffian in all haste crept into one of
the tents. I remained on the spot for about an hour, with the
fixed determination to shoot the fellow down as soon as he made
his appearance again; but he came no more, and next morning
he had vanished, without leaving a trace behind him, and was
never seen again at Murphy's or at any other digging. At
Carson's Flat only he was said to have presented himself after a
few days, and collected money for his principal, with which he
absconded.

When, on the next morning, I sought for the place where the
ball which he meant for me had taken effect, I found that the
fellow's pistol had been loaded with buck-shot, seven of which

murphy's new diggings. 239

had penetrated the canvass of Bohra's tent, by the side of which
I had stood.

Stouteuburgh, where we had pitched our tent— called after a
certain Staudenburg, a German, who had set up the first store
there — although consisting only of tents, had, during the course
of the summer, been raised to the rank of a real town, where an
alcalde, a sheriff, and a constable were duly elected. The whole
town comprised about fifty tents, two or three block-houses, and
a house built of planks; yet it already boasted nearly as many
" bars" as tents, besides three American and four French dining-
rooms, two doctors' shops, at least twenty gambling- tables and a
skittle ground, where you might have three throws for the reason-
able price of a quarter dollar.

Among the real improvements of the little place might be
reckoned a post-office, newly established at the diggings; a man,
appointed for the purpose, going once a month to Francisco to
fetch the letters that might be lying there, for which purpose he
was instructed with the names of all those individuals at the
diggings who expected any. This system was afterwards made
still more useful, as, by the same way, gold could be sent to San
Francisco. It is true that the respectable character of the carrier
was the only security for its due delivery.

The postal administration at San Francisco was, however, at.
that time, in the saddest confusion ; which, of course, also reacted
on the post of the diggings. The letter delivery at the post-office
of San Francisco was the very paragon of irregularity. There
were, indeed, letter-boxes for the several firms, but not in sufficient
numbers: and those who were not so fortunate as to obtain one of
the first boxes (at four dollars per month) were now obliged to take
their stand with the general and very numerous crowd of the
public before the two windows of the post-office, and to wait, often
for hours, for their turn. There were only two divisions, one from A
to K, and the other from L to Z, where the people might inquire
for their letters. Now, the reader may imagine how tedious a
proceeding the delivery was, when he is told, that for every single

240

name the clerk had to look over at least twenty, but sometimes
over forty or fifty letters, the names of which began with the same
initial. If every time a list of the letters had been made out, the
distribution would have been much more simplified. This was
not, however, done; and the authorities of the post-office did not
grow tired of provoking the ire of the public.

It was a very interesting sight to behold the waiting crowd in
bad weather, arrayed in two rows of the oddest and wildest
medley — here a dress coat, next to it a blouse, but all of them
soaked to the skin. There they were, slowly, alas! very slowly
moving, step by step, towards the windows from which the expected
solace was to be dispensed : and fortunate were those who received
any letter at all ; for how many stood for five or six hours in this
way in the mud above their ancles, and exposed to all the stress
of the weather, and j^et, when they had reached the goal, all
their hopes were crushed by the melancholy answer, " None for
you, sir."

As everything else in California, this inconvenience at once
became an object of speculation. Idlers, who did not know how
to kill their time, would place themselves early in the morning
near the post-office, plying for purchasers — that is to say, for per-
sons who were too late, and who would buy their places, in order
not to have to wait for hours ; and it has happened, especially in
very bad weather, that such fellows received two, three, or even
four dollars for a place close to the window.

Every individual was allowed only to ask for one name. If
there were two hundred persons waiting — and very often there
were more of them — and if at last, after long trouble, one had
made one's way up to the window, one had, in order to inquire
for a second letter, even in the same category, to begin again at
the bottom ; and all the others were watching with great jealousy
that this order was kept.

The abuse which was carried on with regard to the letters for
the diggings was even worse. Any man, whether being com-
missioned for it or not, would go to the post-office, and there give

murphy's kew diggings. 241

in a list of names which he wished for certain diggings. Among
these there were so and so, many different individuals of the name
of John Smith, George ^liller, Frederic Schultze,* or similar
equally comprehensive patronymics; and with the parcel, for
which he had to pay the postage, he went back to the mountains.
There he got for every letter which he brought one dollar, in
addition to the postage, those only remaining in his hand which
would not tally with the Christian names. Had these stray
letters been returned to San Francisco, they might still have
reached their address ; but, after having been hawked about for
some time in the diggings, they generally suffered the fate of
waste paper; whilst those for whom they were intended were per-
haps anxiously waiting for news from home.

This postal system, especially the transmission of gold, was, in
the course of the summer, very sadly disturbed, as the so-called
post contractor — a man who was generally considered as most
honourable, and who had already conveyed several thousand dol-
lars' worth of gold to San Francisco, one day, when he had a
larger amount to carry than usual — I think it was four thousand
dollars — absconded, and was never heard of again.

We had now for some time worked on the Flat, not only at a
considerable expense, and without any return whatever, but also,
besides, spending part of what we had earned before in the ravines.
Being fully convinced, therefore, that at Murphy's Rich Diggings
there would not be any pickings for us, we determined to move to
other gold fields farther to the north.

In this determination we were still more confirmed by some of
our neighbours, who had likewise made up their minds to leave
Murphy's. They told us, that from reports received of Macalome,
they knew a good place, of which they spoke in a very mysterious
manner; and, although they invited us to go with them, they
strictly enjoined us not to say ought about it to any one. But, as
was the case with all those " good places," every one thought he

*' At the last census, there were returned in Berlin not less than twenty-four
thousand persons bearing this name. — Tkakslatob.

242 THE MOS'qUITO GDLCS.

had hit upon the very best ; yet when matters were brought to
the test of experience, the result generally clashed with the
expectation.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

Onn next, and for the present, common goal, was the Macalome,
a little river flowing north of the Calaveres, into the San Joaquin,
which, at any rate, is one of the best spoken of, of all the aurifer-
ous rivers of California ; as on its banks, and on those of the Stani-
laus, are the richest diggings that have, at least until now, been
discovered.

The journey ofiiired little novelty to the digger, who was used
to such scenes ; although the newly arrived European might have
found the road wild and picturesque enough. We were, I think,
eight or nine of us, all Germans, leaving our old diggings in
search of a new El Dorado ; and proceeding briskly and merrily
through the green shady woods, climbing steep hills, and leisurely
winding our way through well watered valleys ; where certainly
the ruthless hand of the greedy digger had not improved the
formerly solitary beauty of nature.

The beasts of burden, laden with our tents, blankets, and tools
— provisions are about this season (August) everywhere too cheap
to think of encumbering one's self with them — we ourselves loiter-
ing after them, with our guns slung on our backs ; and only two
of us mounted, who had hurt their legs — one of them by the fall
of his mule, and the other by I don't know what : thus we
travelled along; and laughter, merry songs, and conversation
relieved the monotony of the rather fatiguing journey.

The costume of the digger is very simple, A straw hat, a
woollen shirt, linen trowsers, rarely stockings, but sometimes on
one foot or the other a woollen sock; and shoes, the right of

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 249

which — the unmistakeable characteristic of a digger — 18, in every
instance, trodden out of shape. When travellers have no beasts
of burden with them, the mattock not unfrequently serves as a
walking stick ; we, however, having loaded all our tools on the
mules, were walking quite unencumbered — fortunately for us, as
the weather was very hot and sultry.

On the second evening, we found in a valley of the Calaveres,
several branches of which we had already crossed, very excellent
drinking water, near which we pitched our camp. We were ap-
proaching the end of our journey ; and our fellow-travellers began
to hold secret consultations, very likely being afraid lest we should
encroach upon their " good place." They, therefore, at the last
quarters for the night, on the banks of the Calaveres, pretended
to stop where they were ; and made one of their former companions,
a German storekeeper, who had come up with them only the
day before, ride in advance. Of course we three immediately
saddled our beasts likewise, and rode on ; but I felt really pro-
voked that they should have thought us so stupid, as to hope that
they should be able to keep secret from us a place towards which
they were journeying with mules and sumpter horses ; and I
allowed my two companions alone to pursue the road which we
had, until now, intended to go, whilst myself followed the track
of those two mysterious travellers.

Not one of us thought of interfering with their placers, — there
was room enough at the diggings for all ; but we wished at least
to shame them. It was not even difficult to find the tracks of the
mules, as one of them had the hoof of one of its forelegs shaped
in a very extraordinary way. At noon already I arrived at a
pla(je where they had halted ; and one of them, on whom I may
have come rather unawares, whilst he was standing on a slope
before hm tent, suddenly rushed back, and showed his face no
more.

I knew now all that I wanted to know ; but I had in this way
been led to a mountain stream, to which we had never intended
to go ; where, however, I found some of my former fcllow-passen-

244 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

gers of the "Talisman," who urged me most pressingly to come
to their neighbourhood ; as not only many Germans were work-
ing there, but also excellent business was being done; and I
determined to follow their advice, which I had thus accidentally
obtained.

On that day, something happened to me, which I had not had
to complain of for some time, and which, indeed, ought not to be
expected from my weather-beaten frame — I fainted. When I felt
the swoon coming on, I had just time to stagger to the shadow of
a tree, after which I lost all consciousness ; and when I recovered
again, I was lying in the sun, so that the fit must have lasted for
a considerable time.

I have had these fits before, after violent exertion ; yet lucidly
I never suffered any evil consequences from them, nor did they
leave the least weakness behind ; and when I had recovered my
senses, I got up again, as if nothing had happened, and quietly
proceeded on my road. That night I went as far as Macalome
Hill, another gold field, and slept there. On the next morning, I
looked out for my two companions ; who, on account of the many
stories of murders which were circulating in that neighbourhood,
had become rather anxious about me.

The Macalome, as to scenery, is one of the most picturesque
mountain streams of California. Its clear waters, in some places
between the broad slopes of stately mountains, and in others between
steep, craggy banks, and then again through somewhat larger
plains, but always rapid and noisy, irush down to the Joaquin ;
and there only, in the marshy and reedy grounds, it loses its
lively and pleasant aspect. Noble pines, firs, cedars, and oaks,
cover the slopes on it banks ; and deeply cut gullies mark the
spots where the diggers, in the shade of yew, wild cherry trees,
and the mountain ash, rock their gold cradles, and dig and hack
in the sweat of their brow. Near the river itself — which is one of
the richest that has, until now, been heard of — the diggers are like-
wise at full work ; the middle Bar especially, is the scene of very
great activity.

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 245

Tt has received its name from being placed between two other
Bars, higher up, and lower down ; and it will not be out of place
here to remark, that a bar, in digger's language, means a bank of
sand or gravel in the middle of the river. The Middle Bar is
said to have contained, and still to contain, much gold ; on account
of which, about the end of the summer, when the water is lowest,
a great number of people congregate together. Shops of all sorts
were established; at the same time, of course, also a drinking
tent, besides billiard-tables, and even a piano, — the latter on the
premises of a German, who, several years before, had come with
the volunteers to California. As a matter of course, there were
plenty of gambling tents besides ; and with them, all the concomi-
tant evils of drunkenness, murder, and bloodshed. Here and
there, also, a senorita might be seen wriggling about in her silk
and finery between the tents, or flirting at the drinking booth with
the gamblers and loafers — a most distinguished species of the
genus vagabond — and graciously condescending to allow herself
to be treated to sweets and champaign.

At all the diggings together, I have seen no place more roman-
tically situated than this Middle Bar. The dwellings consisted,
as in all the other diggings, of tents ; which formed regular streets,
and which reached down very close to the river ; but the streets
were not open or exposed to the rays of the sun, but all of them
closely covered with green foliage, and likewise on the back,
and on the sides, the tents were connected with each other by the
green walls of overhanging bushes ; so that the whole encamp-
ment formed one contiguous bower, which, from the neighbour-
hood of the river, and the breeze — to which, on all sides, £ceQ
passage is left — afforded a very cool and pleasant residence.

Money, or rather gold — for silver coin is so scarce at the
diggings that even quarter or eighth dollars are weighed before
changing hands — seemed to circulate rather freely. The store
and innkeepers did a good deal of business, and in the evening
the gambling-tables were fully occupied. With the exception of
some individuals who were rummaging the banks of the river,

246 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

most of the operations were here carried on by companies, who in
several places turned off the waters of the river by dams in order
to work its bdd. The yield in such case was generally very rich;
but such enterprizes also required enormous expense and work,
and the risk was out of all proportion to the outlay.

From the Middle Bar we went down the river, and afterwards
up its southern arm to the sources of the Rich Gulch, formerly one
of the richest mountain streams of California, and beyond it, to the
Mosquito Gulch, about seven miles from the Rich Gulch Flat, and
one mile at most from the southern arm of the Macalome, into
which its gushing waters rush down between steep banks.

The name of the Mosquito Gulch was not very inviting; yet I
soon found that, like Schiller's Mary Stuart, it was " better than
its fame." The Germans who so named it had never seen any
place really pestered with that plague; and the few buzzing insects,
which were flying out here and there between the shady bushes on
the banks of a beautiful mountain stream, appeared to them fully
as bad as those myriads of bloodsuckers on the banks of the Mis-
sissippi and Orinoco.

The scenery of our camp and of the surrounding country was
charming. Our camp was the highest between the low land and
the snow region, yet we were certainly far enough from the latter
not to think of fetching from thence " ice for cooling our drink,"
as has been literally stated in the report of Mr. Thomas Butler
King, the commissary sent by the government of the United States
to California. It is, indeed, quite wonderful what reports have
been circulated about this blessed California; catchpenny publi-
cations have had a good share in it. Every one who has once
set foot in the country undertakes to write long reports about it;
for which purpose he, of course, questions the people who come
back from the diggings to town, who then, faithful to diggers'
fashion, think it excellent sport to give him as many lies for his
money as he may wish in a long summer's day. Such tales are
then printed, and on their authority thousands leave their country.

On the crest of the ridge of hills, which, at the same time,

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 247

formed the right bank of the Mosquito Gulch, and their colossal
fir trees and shady oaks, four tents were pitched, exclusively
inhabited by Germans, who besides, with a few exceptions, were
all of them fellow-passengers in the Talisman and the Krform.
The bank sloped down in steep descent to the clear mountain
Stream, which rushed along between a species of wild cherry trees,
ashes, yews, and hazel bushes, with gigantic cedars and all sorts
of tall pine trees towering above the low underwood. Indeed, the
whole green landscape, with the white tents in the middle, formed
a most enchanting panorama.

Among the shrubs at the Musquito Gulch, I found a species of
wild coffee, with a black fruit like a cherry, and double kernels
exactly like that of the coflfee. To be quite sure, we afterwards
dried a small quantity of them, which we roasted and ground, and
the beverage obtained from them certainly resembled in flavour as
nearly as possible its Arabian original. The shrub, which occurs
also at the other diggings, is very diflferent in leaf from real coffee,
the similarity being confined only to the fruit, which grows on the
branches just in the same manner as that of the coffee plant, and
idso in its raw state has the same taste.

The Musquito Gulch had been regularly worked only for a few
weeks, and the Germans had already taken out many a fine nugget;
but the operations were difficult, inasmuch as you had to hit exactly
the place where the gold lay deposited, otherwise you might dig
a very deep hole in vain. People generally found, however, either
a great deal or nothing at all ; and as until then we had been
remarkably unlucky in our digging, we were consistent also in
this place, finding nothing at all, or at least no more than barely
sufficed to pay for our keep. We knew, however, for certain,
that the gulch in several places was very rich in gold ; and in such
a case it is, at any rate, better to hold out, as in the long ran one
is generally sure to hit once upon some productive place, perse-
verance doing for one what chance does for others.

It was very strange that just the richest places were discovere^d
by accident, and that fortune has generally favoured the greatest

248 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

scamps among the diggers, just as if she knew that these worthy-
favourites of hers would scatter her gifts as speedily as possible
to become her slaves again.

Thus the most productive gulch on the Macalome was discovered
in the following way :

A son of the Emerald Isle having once been particularly lucky
all day, was, of course, very anxious that evening to reduce, by
means of sundry whisky toddies, his purse to its original state,
in which he completely succeeded; so much so, that about mid-
night he was most delightfully off his legs, only retaining just
consciousness enough to know that the place where he then was
was not his own home, and that perchance it might be time now to
return. Suiting the action to his thoughts, he set out at once; but
if, in doing so, he had any intention to seek for his bed, he very
sadly missed his object, as immediately on leaving the drinking
booth, he followed a path leading in the opposite direction of his
tent, and staggered into the thickest of the wood.

The host saw that the man would not reach his home; but as
it was no matter of his where the poor fellow passed his night, he
did not interfere with him, being only too glad to have got rid of
him. Boniface, therefore, quite unconcernedly and comfortably
shut himself in, in his tent.

Paddy, in the meanwhile, reeled quite happy and triumphant
towards the Steep Gulch, which was not verj^ far off, and where
he contrived to lose his footing on one of the most abrupt spots,
and to tumble down into the ravine. That he happily reached
the bottom of it, was a fact of which he was aware only the next
morning, as there is every probability that he fell asleep already
during his descent, and that he never awoke before the sun shone
into the gulch, which happened about ten o'clock.

The warm rays at last revived him; and as, very naturally, he
felt as if all the bones in his body were broken, and his head was
even more muddled than usual, he remained lying on the same
spot, and, like that countryman of his, put the question to himself,
*' Where did I leave myself yesterday?" Of course, he had not

TBE MOSQUITO GULCH. 249

the least idea of his whereabouts; hut the only thing that troubled
him was the uncertainty how far he might be from the nearest
drinking booth, as his throat was completely parched after having
lain dry for so many hours.

Whilst he was thus stretching his limbs and lolling about, he
began to beguile his time by scraping and digging with his knife
into the soil, as far as he could reach without rising from the
ground, and had in this manner scooped out a hole about four or
five inches deep, when some shining object met his eye.

"Gold, I declare!" he called out, at once recovering all his
activity and his wits; and quite comfortably he got out a nugget
of about four ounces.

Perfectly sobered, he knew very well how to make the best of
his find. Keeping the place as well as his earnings secret from
every one, he raised in a very short time five or six thousand
dollars* worth of gold, with which he went to San Francisco;
from whence, after having gambled away every cent, he returned
to the diggings, where, in the meanwhile, his good place had been
discovered and worked by others.

Such a piece of good luck did not, however, fall* to our lot, as
we had to work hard for every cent which we earned.

After our having settled for good at the Mosquito Gulch, one
of us was to return to Murphy's to lead back the horse, which he
had only hired for the transport of our luggage. He was, at the
same time, also to buy at Murphy's, if an opportunity should pre-
sent itself, a donkey; these being, at all events, the most suitable
beasts for diggers in the mountains, as they will get pasture even
on the poorest slopes, and never stray from the places where they
are put up, as mules and horses almost always do.

This errand having been entrusted to me, I encamped on the
first evening among some fellow Germans, near a small rivulet
which flows into the Calaveres. These people had settled here
for the purpose of washing gold, but they tried, at the same time,
to make money by other means ; with which view, they cut now at
the favourable season a large quantity of hay, to sell it during the

250 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

winter. Indeed, this was not very easily done in these wild tracks,
and a great part of their stacks were consumed by the fires of the
Indians, who, at the very time of haymaking, set fire to the neigh-
bouring wood, to gather their usual harvest of roasted locusts.
On the second evening I reached Murphy's, just in the right
time for two reasons. In the first place, I was just able to save
part of some property belonging to me, as my former partner,
who was still in my debt, had already made preparation to leave
the diggings, succeeding after all in cheating me, as he had done
the others ; and secondly, I had an opportunity to witness one of
the thousand humbugs which are daily in various ways enacted
at the diggings, but of which I had never seen such a mad and
yet artful example.

As has been told before, a great many storekeepers, with goods
and provisions, had crowded to Murphy's Flat, with the hope of
making there a rich harvest. Thus at last a little town was
formed, and every day new consignments of drinkables, clothing,
provisions, tools, tobacco, &c., arrived. Yet all these hopes were
sadly disappointed, owing to the unproductiveness of the Flat;
and the diggers themselves — many of them without having touched
their " claims" — began to leave a place where they were not even
able to make a day's wages, as it was called. The departure was
a very easy step for the diggers, who might quite easily carry
all their goods and chattels on the back of a horse or mule, or even
on their own; but if this " exodus" continued, what would become
of the storekeepers? Who would buy of them their merchandise;
which had, with so much trouble and such considerable expense,
been conveyed to the mountains? Means had, therefore, to be
devised to keep the people here, at least for some time longer,
and the most simple and natural expedient was, to send brilliant
reports about the diggings to San Francisco.

These flaming accounts did not, indeed, fully answer their pur-
pose, as not only Murphy's, but other mines also were trumpeted
forth in a similar manner. Yet they had at least this effect, that
the new comers, quite bewildered by this concert of puffing, were

THE MOSQUITO GULCn. 251

induced to believe the lies of one digging merely because they
were countenanced by the lies of another.

There was another person besides interested in the longer stay
of the diggers at Murphy's — the alcalde, or justice of the peace,
at that time a certain Major Wyatt, who at Murphy's, without
reckoning other diggings, for the registration of the so-called
claims — for each of which he got two dollars — had raised a con-
siderable sum; and who was too much pleased with this happy
state of things as that he should have so easily given up such a
lucrative sort of business. He had, therefore, himself sent plenty
of reports to San Francisco ; but, as they would not take any
longer, he devised another expedient.

Close behind the tents of Murphy's, there was a large and
scarcely explored track of land, of which the inhabitants of
Stoutenburgh evidently had but a poor opinion, otherwise they
would have a long time ago attacked it themselves. Hero, all at
once, a couple of deep holes were dug, and, at the same time,
vague reports circulated through the town that fabulous wealth
had been found in them. Now, all the placers were at once
bespoken — that is to say, the "claims" were marked out; only
the registering would not so quickly go down with the people.
The justice of the peace, therefore, tried a different game, buying
from a gambler — at least report said so— a nugget of about sixty
dollars* worth, which he begrimed with the red soil of the new
flat, and which he at first privately, and at last quite publicly
exhibited, telling the bystanders that the people who were work-
ing there had only lately found this piece in the gravel, pretty
near the surface. He showed me the nugget himself, when we
were standing together near the hole, in which the diggers were
burrowing below.

Some now took the bait, at least registering the nearest placers ;
but, on the whole, the people had been too often taken in ; and
some stronger attraction was to be set at work, if they were not
to fall off altogether. The trick had been too transparent. The
four men who had worked in the hole from which the sixty dollar

252 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

nugget was said to have been taken, found nothing whatever, and
gave up the place in despair ; nor did the man of whom the jus-
tice had bought the nugget feel bound to keep the secret.

Some stronger, and, indeed, never before heard of attraction,
was now brought on the tapis, and in a manner one would hardly
think possible in this enlightened age of ours.

When the diggers were leaving the camp in crowds, and the
store-keepers were in the greatest danger of being left in the
lurch with their goods, an ingenious person, of the name of
Fletcher, pretended to have invented a goldometer; that is to
say, an instrument with which he said he could discover the veins
of gold, even at the surface of the soil. In proof of his being
serious, he offered a wager of one hundred dollars that he would
find, with this machine, a bagful of gold, which some one might
hide in an acre of land.

This Fletcher now pointed out a place between two small, and
at present dry, rivulets, between which he said the vein of gold
was meandering. Here he marked ten or twelve holes, not for-
getting to keep one for himself; which, however, very prudently,
he did not work. Whilst the neighbouring ones were eagerly
bespoken by others, he quietly looked on ; telling them they should
confidently dig here, being sure to find gold, and plenty of it.

The place was the very spot where, in the spring, I had made
a little garden for salad, radishes, &c. The dry season, and the
straying donkeys had, however, for some time done away with
the produce ; and nothing was left but the fence of thorns, which
the diggers, in their high pitched expectations of wealth, had
soon pulled down and burnt. They also asked me not to let so
good an opportunity slip ; but I bluntly declared to them, that
after having lent myself to many foolish tricks before, I found it
high time to be wise, at least for once.

Reason, however, was thrown away on these people. Being
once attacked with the gold fever, they would not allow themselves
to be deterred by anything ; and in the whole of my life, I have
seen no set of people work more industriously than those poor

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 253

deluded Murphyites ; all of whom now thought themselves to
have seized fortune by the forelock, and were resolved not to let
it go on any condition.

On the same day, after having bought at Murphy's a donkey
with pack-saddle, for three and a half ounces of gold, I went over
to the Calaveres, there to examine a small brook, which was said
to contain plenty of the precious metal ; and having found there
but very little, returned to Murphy's only after four days. Up
to that time, the Fletcherians, as they were now called, had dug
to a depth of about sixteen feet, without meeting with a particle
of gold. Still this mad piece of folly had not yet reached its
highest pitch ; six weeks afterwards, I heard the final result of
this audacious imposition. After having gone to a depth of
twenty-five feet, without any return for their trouble, the work-
men at last began to entertain doubts about the wisdom of their
undertaking. A new and stronger dose of humbug, therefore,
became necessary ; and was, indeed, administered to them with a
most liberal hand.

It sounds like fable, but it is fact ; Fletcher had a man mes-
merised, who delivered to the anxious bystanders the oracular
decision, that they had to dig to the depth of thirty-five feet ;
there they would indeed have ten feet of water, but they would
find twenty-five pounds troy weight of gold.

They could not have desired any more welcome information.
They therefore attacked with new zeal the ditches, which already
had been nearly deserted ; ajid they dug not only to thirty-five,
but even to forty feet, until they were obliged to give it up on
account of the water ; yet they had not found the least trace of
gold.

Fletcher, of course, did not wait for the end. There is no
doubt but that he had been bribed and set on by the storekeepers,
to whom this respite afforded a longer sale for their provisions ;
and before the bubble completely burst, he made off, in order to
escape from any unpleasant explanations. But as soon as the
deception had been clearly made out, "Murphy's Rich Diggings"

254 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS

were completely done for. It is true, at that very time, the most
magnificent accounts from thence were put in the newspapers, as
a forlorn hope of those who were interested in the matter ; but
the bait took no longer. Although some were really decoyed by
these reports, to migrate towards Murphy's, yet they heard on
the road what the true state of the affair was ; and when I was
there for the last time, in the beginning of October, the place
looked quite deserted and desolate. The tents of the diggers had,
for the most part, disappeared ; the booths of the stores and inn-
keepers were partly emptied, and their canvass hanging in rags
about the frame work ; the skittle-yard was full of bundles of hay ;
the flat itself, which a few months ago had been the scene of so
much life and activity, now lay dug up and waste ; and even the
gamblers, those vultures of the digging j^ who will immediately
assemble where prey is to be found, had dispersed in all directions.

But a truce to Murphy's Diggings : I gained my object, in as
fjir as I procured a capital donkey ; whom, in honour of our new-
chosen gulch, I called Mosquito; and on whose back I very snugly,
and also with comparative quickness, returned to the Macalome.

At the Calaveres, I again stopped with the Germans, and there
passed the night. There were here also several new arrivers —
some of them even having left Germany only recently; and when,
in the course of conversation, my name happened to be mentioned,
one of the men who sported a long and bushy beard, and whose
face I had tried for some time in vain to remember, came up to
me, inquiring whether I was Mr. Gi,erstacker of Leipzic ? I said
I was ; on which he began to shake his head, and at first reso-
lutely refused to believe it ; for I wore the true digger's costume,
with which' any tailor and shoemaker in this unrom antic world
would decidedly have found fault. He was not, however, himself
in a much better trim ; and I was not less astonished when he
made himself known to me as the builder and master-bricklayer

E. of Leipzic. When, on leaving next morning, I offered to

him the usual digger's compliment, " I wish you much luck in
the diggings," he said that he wished something much better —

STOCKTON. 555

never to have seen California. He had, indeed, got tired of it
very soon.

That night the cayotas, or small prairie wolves, were howling
round the tents in a really frightful manner; and, the next morn-
ing, there was a tremendous row in the camp. The donkeys —
that is to say, Mosquito, with a couple of his grey friends whom
he had there fallen in with; Mosquito himself boasting a very fine
dark-brown coat — had broken into the tent of one of the Germans,
and there appropriated to their own immediate use a small sack
of flour; another, with dried apples; and, besides, some trifling
matter of sugar. The damage was estimated at about five dollars,
and the owner insisted on compensation ; but as he had no proof,
and as Mosquito persisted in obstinately refiising to criminate him-
self, nothing could be done in the afiair.

On Sunday, the 25th August, I reached the Mosquito Gulch
again. My partners had not been very successful in the mean-
while, and we worked the next week likewise without scarcely
any return ; but, on the other hand, the stay there was, in every
other respect, as delightful as it can only be in the mountains'
most beautiful scenery ; the neighbours, with but few exceptions,
being Germans, and among them very nice people (although, in
every other respect, the company was promiscuous) ; the provisions
cheap enough, and of good quality, to be had at a distance of about
five miles, from whence we fetched it every week with our beasts
— what more could we have wished for ?

The reader will agree with me that the company was promis-
cuous, when he hears of what elements it was composed. One
tent contained a young commercial clerk, a tinsmith, and an agri-
cultural labourer ; the second, an ironmonger and a joiner ; the
third, a coachman and another German, who had lived for some
time in North America as a drover; the fourth, a journeyman
mason, a piano-forte-maker, and a literary man. To all these
were added afterwards a certain Count B and another clerk.

During the day all of us were working in diiferent spots, each
tr)'ing his fortune wherever he hoped to find most ; but, in the

256 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

evening, we settled down in friendly conversation round a large
fire, which was kept by each of the tents in turn. Of course, we
were obliged here, in the mountains, to bake our own bread,
which was done before every tent once or twice a- week, so that a
good fire was necessary even for this purpose ; and, on returning
from our day's work, each of us brought some dry wood to keep
up a blaze, which served us in lieu of lights. The evening thus
passed gaily away with playing cards, telling stories, and singing ;
and there was not a merrier set in all the diggings than our com-
pany on the summit of the Macalome Mountains.

Nor was there any want of odd characters, either among our-
selves or among the neighbouring tents ; and I was particularly
amused with a Pole, otherwise a rather disagreeable fellow, who
always called himself the " poor man," and who would never
cease lamenting that " a poor man like himself" was once for all
destined neither to have nor to find anything in this world. All
such speeches he would generally conclude with a rueful face and
a melancholy wind-up — " Well, let it be so ; the stars have once
set their faces against me, hang it!" The agricultural labourer
had come likewise in the Reform, without a penny in his pocket.
At San Francisco, he was at first obliged to chop and dig with the
labourers, paid by the town at five dollars a-day, until he had
saved enough to pay his passage to the diggings. After having
arrived there, however, he literally fell from one good place into
another, and thus having quickly acquired a small capital — a
thing, even the idea of which was new to him — he seemed to be-
lieve it altogether impossible that he should ever see the end of
his gold. Whenever, of an evening, he felt particularly merry,
which happened pretty frequently, he would let champaign flow
in streams ; and yet it was scarcely two months since the time
when the lad was only too happy to get meat twice a- week.

One of the commercial clerks, Meyer — of course, there were not
less than five of that name in the neighbourhood — must have expe-
rienced many vicissitudes of fortune. He had come over from
Australia; and relied on the old diggers' saw, that " fortune smiled

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 257

more sweetly on the scamps." He threw away his money in the
most reckless manner; but, as he always worked in company with
the labourer just alluded to, he always found new supplies. Notwith-
standing his extravagance he saved a sum of about one thousand
dollars, with which, about the middle of September, he left the dig-
gings in order to embark for Chilli. There was one great danger for
him — he was fond of play ; we, therefore, repeatedly warned him
not to allow himself to be enticed into one of those hells at San
Francisco ; but he laughed, and assured us, that, " if he once
made up his mind not to play, they would be no temptation for
him ; and that, besides, he had once before been fleeced by the
gamblers, and a burnt child, as every one knew, was afraid of
the fire." lie carried his gold about him, packed together in
small leather bags of two hundred dollars each.

A ridiculous incident was told us about this time, which hap-
pened at Macalome Ilill, and which is only too characteristic of the
majority of our dear countrymen. Three G ermans had dug there for
-everal weeks without even making sufficient to live upon. Their
clothes were torn ; and they did not possess the means of buying
new. Borrow they would not, as it was too uncertain whether they
would ever be able to repay ; and they were too honest to cheat.
Whilst being in this plight, they received an offer from an Ame-
rican Company, which worked with several quicksilver machines,
and which proposed to engage them, giving them regular work at
five dollars per day. Living frugally, they could do with eight
or nine dollars a-week, so that a handsome sum remained to them.

One of them spoke a little English, and was therefore to act as
negotiator; but it was made an indispensable condition by his
friends, that a contract should be drawn up between themselves
and their employers. In vain other Germans, who were better
acquainted with the country, represented to them that a contract
would be of little or no use whatever. But they could not be dis-
suaded. The old leaven of hereditary pedantry was still too strong
in them; and they would have best liked a regular German notary
to draw out for them a document in the old approved Chancery style.

R

255 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

But as this, of course, could not be done, and as they were not
themselves sufficiently conversant with English to write it, they
went to the Yankee manager, asking him to draw up such a con-
tract himself. He wished at first to dissuade them from it, telling
them that, if they liked, they might have their money every week,
or even every day, if they wished. But it was of no avail ; a
contract they would have; and the American wrote them one,
which was couched in about the following terms : —

" The undersigned Bernhardt, Ludwig, and Christoph, engage
herewith to work for three months at the quicksilver machine of
the American " Rover Company;" for which they will each re-
ceive five dollars per day, without board; rainy days excepted.

" Macalome, the —ili of 1850."

This document the American gave, with a laugh, to the three
honest Prussians (for that was the country which they boasted as
their fatherland). They perused it with great attention, one
translating the contents to the others ; after which they called some
others who were to sign as witnesses; and then put their own
names, in large German characters, at the foot of it. And now,
when the American had taken the contract and put it into his own
pocket, they were quite happy and satisfied. On the next morn-
ing they set out most cheerfully; and one of them gave vent to
their common conviction, expressing himself to the eff'ect, " that
the work was twice as comfortable and safe when the workman
had his secui'ity in black and white; it was, indeed, a great thing
to have everything in writing."

There were also some scattered tribes of the Indians in the
neighbourhood; but they were perfectly harmless, and only some-
times came to the tents to beg for bread.

In the beginning of September, an accident happened to me
which might have crippled me for life, and even as it was proved
serious enough. One evening — it was the 9th of September — on
coming from the work we found no firewood ready, and whilst my
only remaining tent-fellow (the other had left us a few days be-

THE MOSQUITO GULCH. 259

fore) was preparing supper, I, although being thoroughly tired by
the hard day's work, took up the axe to cut some. A half-withered
tree was standing not far from our tent, and I began to fell it ;
but, after some strokes, the axe rebounded from a hard knot in
the wood, and entered with the sharp edge, and with its full
weight, into the instep of my right foot. As there is sometimes
luck in ill luck, the cut of the axe, although it touched the bone,
had neither separated a tendon nor a vein ; but I dared not even
think of working, and had, for a whole fortnight, to lie quiet in
one place. After that period, I again went down to work in the
gulch — it is true, for the first week, on crutches, which were simply
cut from the bush ; and from that time my foot evidently improved ;
but it was a long time before the wound was completely healed.

But, under these circumstances, I also found out what it was to
have a friend in the mountains, where almost every one selfishly
cares for his own interest only. I shall never forget the friendly
care which Haye, my faithful tent-companion, took of me. He
cooked, baked, washed, and worked, in the meanwhile, for both of
us, never tired, and always cheerful ; and even insisted on sharing
with me the earnings of all the time during which I was unable to
assist. This, indeed, was diggers' custom ; and had he been in my
situation, I should been quite ready to act in the same manner.
But all people do not act similarly; and it has happened more than
once, that unprincipled men have most heartlessly deserted even
their best friends, just when their help was most required.

From that time it seemed as if the ill luck, which until then had
pursued us, was taking a turn. "We found at the placers which
we now worked a considerable harvest of gold ; and we might
now calculate, that, after deducting the expense of living, which
amounted to about twenty-six dollars per week for both, the
weekly earnings of each of us was not less than fifty dollars; and
thus at length I had at least a hope to gain, until the 1st of No-
vember— which I had fixed as the last term of my stay at the
diggings — money enough to go elsewhere; and more than this I
did' not expect from California.

260 THE MOSQUITO GULCH.

That term, however, was gradually approaching; and I began
to make my preparations, when, one fine afternoon, a young Hol-

steiner, Count B , whom I have spoken of before, came up to

us, bringing friendly remembrances from Meyer, and telling us
that the latter had won at San Francisco, at the gambling-table,
about one thousand dollars in addition to his gold, and had gone
with it to Chili. I answered him, that Meyer rather deserved one
thousand lashes for having gambled again, as he might just as well
have lost all that he had; but the others would not believe the
story at all, and expressed an opinion, that he had not even left
California. The Holsteiner now referred to a friend of his, who
would follow him in a few minutes, and who would be able to con-
firm his statement ; and whilst he was still speaking, whom should
we see before us but Meyer himself, who, in an apple- green pilot
coat, with a few woollen blankets of the same colour on his back,
stepped, laughing and singing, out of the thicket. He had lost all
his money to the last cent, and had even been obliged to borrow
the needful to pay for his journey to the diggings. It is true he
affected to laugh at what he called his misfortune, and to be any-
thing but sorry for having to work during the winter at the dig-
gings again ; but his pensive mood, so diff'erent from his former bear-
ing, showed very plainly the real state of his feelings. But the past
could not be undone; and so he was now obliged, at the approach
of winter, without money, and without a stock of provisions, to be-
gin work anew. Indeed, he consoled himself, saying, with a laugh,
" That fortune had, at the diggings, been most favourable to those
who had most recklessly squandered her gifts." But although
there was some truth in the remark, it seemed no longer to apply
to his case ; when I left the diggings, he had not yet been able to
earn as much as would pay for his Aveekly board.

I have not, however, told this instance, as being of rare occur-
rence; on the contrary, similar cases happen here only too often.
Strange to say, they who have fared worst at the gambling- table
are generally most eager to return to it, thinking that, in this
way, they will be able to force their luck, whereas they have not

DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS. 261

even a fair chance, owing to the nature of the game itself; whilst, on
the other hand, the experience, and almost in every case, the false
and fraudulent play of the head keeper of the booth, is against them.

CHAPTER XIX.

DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS— STOCKTON— SAN FRANCISCO.

On the last day of October, as I had resolved when removing to
the Mosquito Gulch, I ceased working; and made over my not
yet finished placer to other Germans. Our donkey we had sold the
week before, so that there were only a few things which I still might
call my ovvti at the diggings, and these I packed up on the morning
of the Ist of November ; after which I left the Mosquito Gulch and
the gold fields altogether. But it is strange how completely habit
is able to take hold of our hearts. For many months I had yearned
for this moment of departure. As long as I had been at the dig-
gings, I had had nothing bat toil and privation, in the midst of
which I was often only kept up by the hope of soon collecting the
money which I wanted to leave the country ; the last long weeks
I had passed on my hard couch — the bare ground, with a blanket
on it — sighing for the time when I should be able to follow the
setting sun to the west, like a lame bird of passage, which is kept
back on a strange shore; and now, when I had attained my object,
and when I was preparing at last to leave the mountains, a feeling
came over me, as if I was shaking hands with a dear friend whom
I was to see no more. Yet it quickly passed, like a fleecy cloud
before the sun ; and, no sooner had I the tents behind me, than it
fell, like a heavy load, from my heart. One thought was now
uppermost in my mind, " I am free, and at liberty again to plunge
into the wide, wide world, and across the sea homeward."

Haye, my partner, had left me about a fortnight before, to work
during the rainy season for a fellow passenger of the Talisman, a
Mr. Kohlberg, who had a shop at the Rich Gulch. He got there

262 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS

a hundred dollars per month ; and being on very friendly terms
with his principal, he had a very pleasant life of it. At all events,
a living was secured to him for the winter. But any one who has
once tasted the free, and quite independent life of the diggings —
a true vagabond existence, barring the hard work — will find it
exceedingly difficult again to accommodate himself to any other ;
and pleasantly situated as Haye was there, he seemed not at all
disinclined to return to his work at the diggings. I slept that
night at Kohlberg's store ; and when, on the next afternoon, the
expected mules arrived, I went " on board of one of them," after
having taken an affectionate leave of my very good and faithful
friend, Haye ; and rode, on the broad Mexican pack-saddle, down
towards the low country.

Let not the reader imagine that a ride on such a pack-saddle is
a pleasure. These saddles only serve to have the baggage strapped
on them ; they are without stirrups; besides which, they stand out
too far on both sides to admit of anything like a firm seat. If to
this, you add the amenities of an obstinate mule without a bridle,
you may understand, that, under such circumstances, the pleasure
of the journey depends much more on the mercy of your long-eared
steed, than on your own good temper and horsemanship. The
beast which I bestrode threw me twice, to the great amusement of
the Mexican drivers, who were sitting quite snugly in their ordi-
nary saddles; but as the animals (with the exception of such little
tricks) are patient enough, and of very little height, such a tumble
is of little consequence ; and the best thing is, to pick one's self
up, and to share in the laughter.

My fellow travellers from the mountains, were two Americans
and a Hungarian. The two Americans, being brothers, intended
to remain at San Francisco, and to look out for work during the
winter ; the Hungarian was for going home ; and whenever our
mules were obliging enough to keep together, we beguiled our
time by telling each other the history of our adventures at the
gold fields.

At the Calaveres, where we had a short rest, I fell in again

STOCKTON. 263

with that small tribe of Indians with whom I had had some inter-
course before, and distributed among them some trifles, for which
I had no longer any use, but which were of value to them.

Men, women, and children, were all the while standing round
me, telling to each other, in their own language, some story, which
must have been exceedingly interesting to them, as they were
nodding and gesticulating in the most animated manner; they
also, as I observed with great astonishment, would every now and
then point to my right waistcoat pocket. At first, I did not know
at all what they meant, and at last fumbled In that pocket, to find
out whether there was anything In it that attracted their attention;
yet no sooner had I put my hand In It, when suddenly all of them,
among screams and laughter, flew away in all directions, as if a
thunderbolt had fallen amongst them. Now I remembered that I
had formerly carried my burning-glass in that very pocket ; and
this the poor fellows had not yet forgotten.

Here we heard, however, the very unwelcome news, that the
cholera was raging most fiercely at Sacramento and San Fran-
cisco, and even at Stockton. It was, indeed, a very uncomfortable
feeling, thus to move from the healthy mountains Into towns visited
by that plague. But there was no help for It ; and, trusting to
these reports being as exaggerated as such reports generally are,
we quietly proceeded on our road.

I was struck with the number of houses and tents which every-
where had sprung up on the roadside. We scarcely now travelled
a mile without finding a rancho or a drinking booth. On the
crossing of the Calaveres, where formerly only one rather spacious
tent had stood, there was now a large two-storeyed house ; and at
the " Double Springs," the seat of the District Court, a regular
little town began to form. Along the banks of the Calaveres, all
the land seemed to have been taken possession of ; for everywhere
the bright roofs of newly-raised blockhouses, or the dazzling white
canvass of primitive tents, were shining forth from the autumnal
foliage of the trees which lined the shores of the river. Whether
the land will be fit for agricultural purposes, time alone can show.

264 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS-.

The drought in summer is almost too great ; but, at any rate, vege-
table produce may be raised ; and cattle breeding will, at all events,
be profitable enough to yield a high interest on the capital invested
here.

On Monday, the 4th of November, we at last reached Stockton,
in the evening ; and here also I was astonished at the rapid in-
crease of the town, which had really grown to more than twice its
former size. Our inquiries about the cholera were answered by
the consolatory intelligence, that the epidemic had attacked and
carried off only a few Mexicans ; and our minds being thus set at
ease, we gave ourselves up to the enjoyment — if enjoyment it
might be called — of safely rambling through the town.

Improvements were visible on all sides. The town was enlarged
by a better sort of buildings ; and the marshy pool, in which we
had stuck fast on our first journey to the diggings, was now crossed
by a broad wooden bridge. Even a theatre was built, at about
five hundred yards from the town ; a stately, three- storey ed struc-
ture. In fact, everything showed the rising prosperity of the place;
for, whilst this theatre and a circus were catering for the amuse-
ment of the people, trade and commerce seemed by no means less
flourishing. And to mention also the dark side, it must be stated,
that the hells, likewise, were fitted up in a much more brilliant
manner than they had been before. Their bands, above all, had
been increased by many new artists ; some of whom were very
odd specimens of their kind indeed. Yet the more extravagant
the description of noise was which they made, and the stranger
the musicians themselves looked, the better it was liked by the
keepers of these gambling booths ; for the very class of people
who would allow themselves to be attracted by this sort of music,
was the more highly pleased the queerer the execution. Thus it
happened, that, just about that time, a certain virtuoso did truly
brilliant business, taking gold by ounces, whilst at home he would
have been very content with pence — the man " vot plays many
hinstruments," with the half moon and bells on his head, pandean
pipes before his mouth, and triangle, cymbals, a drum, and lots of

STOCKTON. 265

other noisy pieces of wood and metal on his knees, elbows, and
heels. He always drew a large audience, consisting especially
of American backwoodsmen, who would crowd around him, and
burst out into the highest glee as soon as he began to shake with
all his limbs. It was, indeed, good fun to watch these uncouth
" forest roses," screaming with joy like children when they dis-
covered about him a new instrument which they had not noticed
before. He must have attracted a good many customers into the
gambling-house where he principally stayed.

In other respects, and especially with regard to the administra-
tion of the laws, I heard the very worst accounts from the mouths
of different people. A certain justice of the peace, by name of Rey-
nolds, seems, with impunity, to have considered the law, to all in-
tents and purposes, as a milch cow, which was bound not only to
supply him with his daily ration of milk, butter, and cheese, but
which also, during the short time in which he enjoyed her posses-
sion, should yield a sufficient stock to keep him for the time of his
natural life. He committed the most glaring acts of injustice,
extorting money in the most unblushing manner, with no appeal
against his decision (except in very important cases) ; and carrying
matters to such outrageous lengths, that the inhabitants of Stock-
ton at last took the law into their own hands, and drove him out.
Some very interesting cases occurred, and rather amusing ones,
only that they were certainly no joke for those who had to suffer
by them.

Thus it happened, that from the Stockton Restaurant which a
German kept in partnership with an Alsatian, some garbage was
thrown to an open place near their house. This indeed was con-
trary to police regulations, and as it had been seen by a constable,
who reported the case, the States Attorney lodged a complaint
against the firm. So far all was quite right, and Mr. Weber, one
of the partners, was condemned to pay the fine of twenty-five
dollars, and costs, which latter included an item of twenty-five
dollars for the States Attorney. Mr. Weber being quite aware
that there was no help against it, paid the money down ; but soon

266 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS —

after he received an additional demand from the States Attorney,
who claimed a second paymant of twenty -five dollars, alleging
that as the business had two owners, each of them was to pay the
same smn. Ridiculous as this mode of arguing was, Weber, who
had had some experience of the manner in which justice was admi-
nistered at Stockton, would, by no means, trust the simple merits of
his cause. He, therefore, consulted a friend of his, a lawyer, who,
although himself laughing at the absurdity of the demand, gave
his advice, that he had better pay it, unless he wished to expose
himself to further disagreeables. The only thing that he could do,
the lawyer said, was once more to apply at the sitting to the judge
himself; and to ask him, whether he was bound to pay such an
unfair demand, which had been superadded after the decision of
the court. Weber did so, and the judge, after a short considera-
tion, answered with great unction, that he was indeed bound to
pay the demand ; " but your honour," Weber retorted, " if a
similar case had affected a joint company of, let us say, a thousand
members, as ours is one of two partners : would the whole thou-
sand have likewise been liable to pay twenty-five dollars each to
the States Attorney ? "

" Without the least doubt," Judge Reynolds replied, knitting
his brows, and fixing a stern look on him ; and Weber, who saw
well that after such a decision he would not be able to do anything
against the tribunal, from which there was, in this case, no ap-
peal, and that, perhaps, he would only have to pay tenfold in
costs; sent to the States Attorney the additional twenty-five
dollars. Had they been fifty, he would have had to pay them
just the same.

The administration of justice in California, on the whole, is
certainly as yet in a very bad state ; at the diggings it is abso-
lutely impossible to keep up the laws. Let the Americans brag
in their meetings as much as they like, that they are able, even in
the most remote mountains, to make the law respected; it is not
true. The alcaldes standing alone without support, are afraid of
the herd of abandoned profligates and gamblers, the scum of the

SAN FRANCISCO. 267

United States, who club together like a dung heap; and however
strongly the justices may deny it, they allow their judgment to
be biassed by that fear. Foreigners will, under such circum-
stances, always be in disadvantage, and many a sad scene will
result from it.

At San Francisco, things may have already been put on a
better footing; but money is there also very powerful, and a poor
fellow is, in most cases, deterred even by the enormous expense,
from vindicating his right. All the men in public offices here,
are come to California for the sole purpose of earning money, and
most of them, unfortunately, are determined to gain their end at
any condition.

The communication of Stockton with San Francisco, seemed
considerably improved. Formerly there were not more than
three small steamers running between San Francisco and the
principal town of the Southern diggings; and now a considerable
number of large boats, very comfortably fitted up, had entirely
taken the place of the smaller ones, which, therefore, were em-
ployed only for the navigation higher up the rivers. The price
also was lowered; for, whereas the spring before, with by far less
comfort and no bed, I had paid thirty dollars from Stockton to
San Francisco ; I now took my passage in the cabin, with a good,
or at least, tolerable bed, for fifteen dollars. Indeed, California
was turning over a new leaf.

On Wednesday the 16th of November, in the morning, before
the break of day, we anchored near one of the newly built wharfs
of San Francisco; and at sunrise I walked into the town, followed
by a negro who carried my luggage. The blackey, to my great
surprise, offered on his own accord his services as porter; but,
being made a little distrustful with regard to the high prices, and
remembering the anecdote of the man to whom a stranger offered
four dollars, if he would carry his trunk to the next hotel, and
who coolly took from his own pocket four dollars, which he gave
to the stranger with the polite request, that he would do the job
himself; I first of all asked the dusky son of Africa what was his

268 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS —

fare ? " Quarter dollar, sir," was his modest, answer, with which
demand I readily complied. The price of work, therefore, which
formerly was very often not to be got for any money, was now
reduced to twenty-five cents ; and many a poor fellow, who, before
starting from Europe, had calculated, " well, if it won't do in any
other way, I shall carry trunks for four dollars a job," might now
be sorely disappointed in his expectations!

After having descended from the jetty which ran out to the
distance of half a mile into the sea, I could not help stopping, to
gaze at the change which a few months had worked in the aspect
of San Francisco. I had left a city of tents and wooden houses,
with marshy streets, in which men were drowned and mules
perished; and after five months, I found a town which might
have justly been classed with the larger cities of Europe. The
majority were still wooden houses, but they were now built in a
better and more elegant style; the tents had disappeared altogether,
and a great number of brick houses had been erected. Nay,
one front of the public square — unfortunately the seat of those
sinks of Californian iniquity, the gambling- houses — consisted of
nothing but substantially built houses w^ith several storeys,
and iron balconies, and shutters. But, what more than any-
thing gave to the town a comfortable and cleanty appearance, was
the condition of the streets; not only the footpaths but even the
carriage-roads, being completely paved with a flooring of strong
planks, and lined with gutters, so that, in the heaviest rain, the
San Franciscans might now walk from one end of their city to
the other, over comparatively dry and clean ground. It was
hoped by many, that these wooden thoroughfares, instead of in-
creasing the danger of fire, would rather diminish it, as, at any
rate, they allowed a quick and unimpeded passage to the engines,
which formerly, only too frequently, stuck fast in the mud.

The improved feeling of security also had prompted the trades
people to bestow greater care on the decoration of their shops, which
likewise imparted to the streets a more cheerful aspect. The trading
community was, however, composed of too motley elements to

SAN FRANCISCO. 269

have allowed this pleasing change at once to become the general
rule. The tastefully decorated shops nearly all of them belonged
to Frenchmen ; otherwise the town, notwithstanding its odd mixture
of nationalities and styles of architectm-e, exhibited, on the main,
a preponderance of North American character; and there was
scarcely anything left to remind one that it had once been a
Spanish place. Spanish shops had almost entirely disappeared;
only very rarely one met with a Spanish inscription, except the
" compra ora^^ which, in most of the shops, by the side of " gold
dust bought," kept the attention of the stranger alive to the fact
of his residing not only in a commercial place but also in a gold
land.

Even the Chinese, although many of them were still scattered
through the town, were now less to be met with. Some time
before, when the reception of California into the Union was cele-
brated at San Francisco by sundry public dinners and a festive
procession, they formed in it a section of their own, which was
picturesque enough, as they walked along, preceded by a flag,
on which they wished to tell other nations that they were the
"China boys." But just in the same way as they hid their long pig-
tails beneath the European caps, they also now hid their own selves
within their houses, and only rarely showed themselves in public.

Speaking of that festivity, I may mention a very remarkable
incident connected with it. The great Californian flag was carried
by three men, as it would happen, all three of them from the
Mission Dolores. They were two Germans, one of them Her-
mann, whom I think I have mentioned before, and the other,
known at the mission under the single name of Heinrich, and
keeping there a public- house half Irish and half German; and,
besides them, an American of the name of Laners or Landers.
The festival being over, the trio, of course, made merry for the
evening with the others, after which they went home to their
several quarters, situated in three difterent corners of the mission,
and, strange to say, all three of them died, on the same night, of
the cholera, which just then was raging with the most intense fury.

270 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS —

To return, however, to the subject of San Francisco, the French
and Germans formed now, after the Americans, the most important
part of the population. The French had almost exclusively en-
grossed the numerous eating and confectionary shops, whilst the
German Israelites occupied all the ready-made clothes shops,
with scarcely an exception, throughout the whole of San Fran-
cisco. It is, indeed, as if our German " old clo's" had covered
all the known coasts of the globe with their "emporiums."
Wherever I have been, I have found it so ; first, there is the sea,
then the strand, then some narrow thoroughfare, and then, imme-
diately, an uninterrupted row of clothes shops, with nothing but
firms like " Kauffmann, Levi, and Co.;" " Rosenberger and
Feigenlaub; " "Ilerz, Lowenhaupt and Son;" " Meyer, Schwerin,
and Gutmuth," &c., &c.

This is, however, only one class by itself, which has little in-
tercourse with the others. But there are, besides, some very
important German firms ; and among the German merchants, as
well as among our countrymen in general, there are a great many
very nice and respectable people. I have been received by them
in the kindest manner, and certainly, as often as I remember all
the difficulties and toils I had to go through in California, I shall
always couple with this cheerless remembrance the more pleasing
one of the many happy hours passed in the company of my Cali-
fornian friends and countrymen.

I have also some words to say about the amusements of San
Francisco. It will not take up much space, for, with the excep-
tion of hells, the town at that time had very few places of public
resort. The existing establishments of this description, were by
no means called into life by the wants of the public, but they were
nearly all of them, ephemeral speculations; the managers of which,
merely cared to make by them, in all haste, as much money as
they could, without ever caring whether the public were satisfied
or disappointed.

Along with other sorts of enthusiasm, the " Jenny Lind " ex-
citement had been imported from the United States to California.

SAN FRANCISCO. 271

Already a small steamer, "Jenny Lind," was running in the
bay; soon after a " Jenny Lind Restaurant " sprang up, and, woe
to me, from admiration for the Swedish nightingale I once went
to dine there ; and it afterwards cost me an additional dollar to
recover, at another dining-house, from the consequences of my
rash experiment.

Of course there was also the " Jenny Lind Theatre," and thither
I bent my steps one evening, as it would not do to have been in
California, without having seen a Californian play-house. After pay-
ing, with an heroic contempt of death, my two dollars for admittance,
I was ushered into a long hall, lit up by two chandeliers, where
1 had to take my seat on a wooden form, in front of a red curtain.
At the extremity opposite the entrance, the orchestra was placed;
on the right and left there were a couple of most hideously painted
figures, concerning which I had some vague impression, that the
artist had possibly intended them to represent Apollo and the
Muse of Tragedy ; but I could not, for all the world, make out
which was which. The lighting was good, and, as was after-
wards proved, only too good.

The bill of fare comprised : "The Merchant of Venice," four acts ;
after which Madam Van Gulpen Cersinsky was to sing an air
from the Figlia di Regimento — " Salut h. la France;" to be con-
cluded by a one-act farce, " The Spectral Bridegroom." Mana-
gers were a Mr. Stark, and a Mrs. Risby; the former being
trumpeted forth in his own playbill — contrary to what we are
accustomed to in Germany — as " Mr. Stark, in his great charac-
ter as Shylock."

The orchestra played some very nice pieces very cleverly — it
was, indeed, composed for the greater part of Germans — and the
curtain was at last drawn up. My gentle reader, I have never
in my life written an article on actors and acting, nor will I start
as a critic here in California; let me only say so much, that two
acts of the Merchant of Venice were quite enough for me, and
that I was very glad to escape from the infliction of the rest. Oh
Magnus, poor old Magnus, of all theatrical managers in this sub-

272 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS —

lunary world, the most ill-treated and knocked about by Fate I
how often did I make sport of thy booth of dramatic entertain-
ment at Dresden; and yet, the second seats there cost only one
groat, and here I had to pay two dollars; and, in which of the
two establishments did I get most fun for my money?

The whole concern appeared to me like a puppet-show; just
such side scenes, and just the same style of dress (except in the
case of the ladies) ; and I was quite glad, when at last I was in
the open air again. The door-keeper must have been a man who
knew the human heart, or at least, who saw what was going on
within mine, for he would not give me a return check. Mr.
Stark, as manager, had also the lion's share ; for having played
Shylock to-day, he figured again on the playbill, for the next
evening, as Hamlet.

There was another theatre here, said to be a little better, but I
gave it up ; and against the circus, I was warned by some friends, so
that I did not go there either. Besides these expensive theatrical
entertainments there were some cheaper ones in the so-called
Cafes Chantants^ which were kept especially by Frenchmen.
These cafe's were common drinking rooms, but they exhibited in
the back-part a sort of stage and a piano. In the evening some
unfortunate virtuoso, hired for the purpose, sat down and executed,
what a clever French writer gives as a general definition of music,
"a noise that is not disagreeable;" and noise certainly it must
have been, to drown the loud laughter and riotous conversation of
the guests in the saloon, who did not in the least care whether
their din and clatter interfered with the music or not.

In the Cafe Chantant, where I several times drank a glass of
never-to-be-forgotten detestable punch, I saw generally a very
stout gentleman, in a black dress coat and white kid gloves, come
forth; who, with a very powerful, and rich voice, would sing a
French song, in which the man at the piano accompanied him.
At least, I must suppose so, for he was continually beating the
keys, and seemed at the same time to express very deep feeling
by means of shrugging his shoulders ; but, alas ! hear of it any-

SAN FRANCISCO. 278

thing I could not. After this, a very thin lady made her appear-
ance, and executed, in all probability, a comic song; for she had
a sheet of music in her hand, was smiling all over and continu-
ally opening her mouth, and twice or three times she closed her
eyes ; all of it, however, at least as it appeared to me, without
uttering a sound.

The strength of the virtuosos of this cafe comprised, besides, a
young gentleman of about twenty years of age, likewise in a black
dress coat and white kid gloves; to which are to be added, a very
stiff white hankerchief, with very long and sharply-pointed shirt
collar, a very white waistcoat, and very blond hair. I thought
at first, that he was intended for some comic person, but he evi-
dently was more for ornament than for use; chiming in with the
thin lady for the burden of the Marseillaise, conversing with her
during the intervals, and knocking the chairs over as he made
his exit.

The Yankees, by-the-by, called these cafes " Shang-tangs," pre-
tending that their name was Chinese.

The staple places of amusement at San Francisco, are still the
gambling- houses, which are most luxuriously fitted up. The
largest and the most frequented are situated in the best quarter of
the town, in the " Square ;" and, although having been burnt
down two or three times, they are too remunerating a speculation
to be left resting in the ashes for more than one hour; and they
will so long fleece greenhorns and reckless scamps, and enrich
their false playing keepers, until the people themselves will one
day rise and overturn the whole game, with a " check-mate." At
that time they were most flourishing, and all that may be done by
the help of art to allure victims, was pressed into the service of
these hells.

The most magnificent of all, as well within as without, was the
El Dorado; which, before the fire, was still kept in a tent. The
ground floor contained the gigantic saloon, with tables for various
sort of games : Monte, a Spanish game, at least, being generally
played with Spanish cards, but otherwise very like our Lansque-

274 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS —

net; Pharo, Vingt un, Roulette, dice; in short, every known
contrivance for gaining and losing was to be seen there. Below
the saloon in the cellars, there were four elegant alleys of Ameri-
can bowls (generally played as a game of hazard), which were
scarcely ever empty during the whole day ; and in the first storey
there were in front the billiard rooms, and in the back a shooting
gallery, where people shoot at a target with percussion pistols and
balls; a very nice variety of well-meant devices to get the money
out of people's pockets as pleasantly as possible.

In the more refined gambling saloons there were two different
buffets, one of them a bar for wine and spirits, the other a counter
for coffee, chocolate, tea, and sweetmeats ; behind the former there
were men, whilst the latter was always kept by a handsome lady,
in a black silk gown.

The gambling-tables in these saloons were likewise kept not
only by men, but also sometimes by women, who, it is true
mostly belong to the lowest class of Spanish females. I, how-
ever, chanced one day to enter a house in the lower part of the
town, where a very pretty little French woman was sitting behind
the dice-table, with a large pile of silver coin before her. She
was very briskly engaged in the game; and, chattering away all
the while in her funny broken English, she swept in the most
agreeable and unconcerned manner the dollars and ounces of the
lost stakes.

I was highly amused with a Yankee, who, whilst casting dice
with her, would ogle her in the most languishing style, without
her taking the least notice of him, beyond sweeping after every
throw his stake with a "lost, sir!" At length, after having
sacrificed the last ounce, he pulled out his watch — gone ! An-
other watch — gone, like the first! A third watch, same fate as
before. Still one more ! — the man must have had all his pockets
fall of watches : for, wherever he put his hand, another came forth ;
— the little French woman laughed — the last ticker also was lost.
He now drew a ring from his finger.

" Comhien?" was the laconic question.

SAN FRANCISCO. 275

" Tres ounces V replied the scared Yankee.

^^ 0 no! no! no!" the lady said with a laugh, " Una watchj
pas plus!" This time the Yankee won, and she pushed towards
him one of the watches, without honouring it with a look ; but,
with the next throw he again got rid of it, and afterwards of the
ring also. Whether from his inexhaustible pockets any more
trinkets were produced, I cannot say, for I left the house.

A few days before my arrival at San Francisco, California, in
order not to be behind-hand with the United States in any branch
of their admirable institutions, had opened its list of blown up
steamers ; and, indeed, at once, by a most awful explosion. The
numerous accidents of that sort, which on the Mississippi serve to
keep nervous passengers in a continual state of beneficial excite-
ment, had not, until then, been imitated on the side of the
Pacific ; until the Sagamore, a boat plying between Stockton and
San Francisco, made the beginning, with a terrible catastrophe.
How many lives were lost, cannot be computed with anything
like exactness; as on these boats there are no lists of passengers
kept, except that the names of those persons are marked down,
who have paid their fare ; but the Sagamore had only just pushed
off from the shore, so that scarcely ten passengers, on the whole,
had their names taken by the book-keeper. The lacerated bodies
floating in the bay, are said to have presented a most ghastly
sight, as they were picked up together with the wounded and
living, by boats which had hurried to the spot. Several days
after the accident, parts of human bodies were washed on shore,
and the loss of life must have been appalling.

Some of the passengers of this ill-fated vessel were the victims
of a chain of calamitous disasters ; such as no writer of novels
would venture to introduce into his story, lest he should be accused
of the most unnatural exaggeration. A few days before the Saga-
more blew up, another steamer whose name I have forgotten, had
just left one of the wharfs with passengers for the diggings ; but,
owing to the bungling management of her helmsman, she, still in
the bay, fell foul of another vessel and went down. A few of the

276 DEPARTURE FROM THE DIGGINGS.

passengers only were drowned, nearly all of them being saved by
the otber steamer, which took them back to San Francisco, from
whence they sailed again by the next boat, the Sagamore. At the
explosion very few passengers got off quite unhurt ; most of them
were killed, but many also were severely wounded and conveyed
to the town-hospital. But the unfortunate sufferers were not yet
at the end of their calamities. In the same night, a fire broke
out in that hospital, and the whole building was burned to the
ground ; the patients lying sick in it, were immediately dragged
into the street, and none are said to have perished in the fire ; but
several of them died from the fright and the excitement ; and the
remainder became a prey to the cholera, which just at that time
was at its height.

The number of steamboats had wonderfully increased. The
autumn before, only a few small steamers were running to Sacra-
mento, Stockton, and Pueblo San Jos^; now, there were twenty-
eight steamers employed for the traffic of the bay alone, and the
most magnificent boats carried the mails between Panama and the
" Queen of the West."

In spirit of enterprise the Americans certainly surpass every
other people of the world. Many incredulous persons laughed, when,
last year, the Yankees paid large sums for places which were lying
several hundred feet out in the sea, and which then, were not
above water even in the lowest ebb; now, however, at several
hundred feet even beyond those very places, large buildings are
erected, and near the piers running along them, the largest ships
are moored. They are certainly not built in a very substantial
manner; and the long piers may suffer serious havoc from any
violent gale, especially if some heavy vessels should happen to
knock against them.

This want of substantiality is, however, on the whole, the fault
of nearly all the American structures. On the other hand, they
generally make up their shortcomings by the mass of their enter-
prise ; and where a German would ponder for years, and theoreti-
cally calculate the chances and the cost of success, the Yankee at

CONCLUSION. 277

once begins by the execution. He succeeds in most cases, and if
he does not, why, it has only been a trial, and the next attempt,
very likely more successful, will repay the lost expenses of the
first.

CHAPTER XX.

CONCLUSION.

And what sort of country is California? Is it worth one's while
to go there ? Will it fulfil even in part the expectations we enter-
tain of it? Should the reader be inclined to ask such questions,
whilst the gold fields, in the dazzling light of the setting sun,
appear to his eager eye as a lovely paradise; the Californian
himself, with a very comprehensive phrase would answer him,
" Quten sabe^" " Who knows ;" yet I will communicate to you my
plain opinion on the matter, as briefly and distinctly as possible.

The gold fields of California will remain unexhausted for many,
many years to come ; for after a short time, when provisions and
labour have become cheaper in the mountains, the work will be
resumed at many places, which are now considered as completely
finished, and they will then, still yield a considerable profit. Real
mining operations have not yet been carried on at all, unless the
crushing and grinding of the quartz, which has been begun in some
places, and which, in some instances, has yielded considerable
profits, be called so. At present the professional miner cannot
do more there, than any other ; but in future years a wide field
will be opened to him, and then we shall also hear of rich mines,
discovered in the bowels of the mountains.

The time when, in a few days, weeks, or months, a fortune could
be made, is, with a few exceptions, over with the diggings ; but I
do not know whether they have not thereby rather gained than
lost. The people will have to accustom themselves to begin their
work with more moderate expectations ; besides which, every
necessary of life may be procured now at a cheaper rate, of

278 CONCLUSION.

much better quality, and in greater variety. The emigrant should
therefore leave all golden dreams behind him, and look upon
California, merely as a country, in which, if one wishes to dig
for gold, he must be prepared for the very hardest work, when, it
is true, a better day's wages may be expected than anywhere else.

He, also, who intends to work, not at the gold fields, but in the
towns, may consider that the time is past when there was a
regular scramble for workmen; and he should not be at once
discouraged, if, on his stepping on shore, no gentlemen in black
dress coats come to meet him, begging him as a favour to go and
earn in the very first week, so and so many hundred dollars.
Such a state of things does not exist any longer : he who now
wishes to get on, must not be loath to put a shoulder to the wheel
and to be patient ; but with industry and perseverance, he may
attain his object more speedily in California than anywhere else.
Yet, after all, if in such a case I had my choice, California would
be the last country of all those I have ever seen, where I should
take up my abode, unless I was quite a young man, and had to
consider, from the very first, my residence as only temporary.

The settler here misses, above all, those pleasures of society to
which he has been accustomed in his old home. Let no one say
that this is a point of no importance, and that it would be easy for
him to do without those enjoyments : take them away from the
life of a man, take from him domestic happiness, and the quiet
charms and comforts of a cheerful fireside ; and throw him into a
career where money, and money again, is the only object and
beacon of his thoughts ; and he must necessarily at last become a
mere animated machine. An agreeable social life can never be
made, but it must grow spontaneously and naturally by the
presence of woman. In this respect, alas! California exhibits the
most melancholy spectacle ; all the other countries have sent there
the sweepings of their streets, and the mischief done by the hells,
ia completed by the reckless profligacy of those abandoned crea-
tures.

There are, indeed, some settlers who have sent for their families

CONCLUSION. 279

after them, yet their number is very small. And why so ? because
of a thousand now living here, in California, for the sole purpose
of earning money, there are not ten who really intend to make
California their permanent abode. All of them have come only to
make a fortune, and having made it, to return as quickly as
possible to the United States, or wherever else they may have
come from. Even of the few who, having their wives and children
with them, are now forming the most agreeable family circles, not
the twentieth part have any thought of ending their days in Cali-
fornia.

Farming and horticulture, and especially the latter, promise to
be carried on with greater care and activity ; and means will here
and there be found, by artificial irrigation to make up for the
scarcity of rain during summer. But even those who lay out, and
cultivate farms, do not intend to keep them ; it is not a home which
they establish for themselves, but it is merely a temporary place
of business for making money ; and owing to this cause, that sweet
chann will ever be wanting here, which, in every other country,
is the blessed attribute of the quiet, humble, self- contented, country
life. This may possibly be changed in future years, but it has
invariably been so to the present day, and I repeat it, I should
never choose California as a permanent abode.

The country is, indeed, of much greater interest to the merchant,
and in general to the man of business ; and I can quite imagine,
that with those who have once formed mercantile connexions and
entered into commercial speculations, it must possess a fascination
which it is not so easy to resist, and which, not rarely, carries a
man to sudden wealth, or to bankruptcy. Yet, this is especially
owing to the general tone of the commerce here, and to the manner
in which commercial operations are carried on ; for, as at the
diggings and the hells, thus mercantile speculation also, is here
only a game of hazard, in which the bold gambler stakes his all,
to win all, or to lose all. With the impossibility of insurance,
everything, indeed, had continually to be risked on one or two
cards ; business of slow and sure profit was not to be thought o^

280 CONCLUSION.

where money paid from six to seventeen per cent, interest per
month, and where the frequent fires, and the very uncertain mode
in which business was conducted, put everything like security out
of the question. Smartness, therefore, in the Yankee meaning
of the word, is much more in its place in California, than those
steady qualities and virtues which elsewhere make the mercantile
man.

Yet, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, a great number of
most respectable firms, of all nations, doing as solid business as
anywhere in the world, have settled here; whose possessors,
however, will enjoy the fruits of their Californian industry in
their own fatherland.

Such is California, at least as much as I have known of it, — a
country whose civilization, like its towns and houses, has sprung
up in a night, like a mushroom. Later accounts from San Fran-
cisco sound as miraculous as the first. A little more than a
twelvemonth after my departure, I received from a friend at San
Francisco the following letter : —

"The fire, on the night of the 3d of May (1851), literally
changed the whole town into a heap of ashes. It broke out about
eleven o'clock at night, near the American hotel in the Square,
and swept the city from thence down to the water, and up to
Dupont Street, on the one side, to Clark's Point on the other.
This terrible extent of the conflagration could only be accounted
for by the gale which raged during that frightful night, and which
changed its direction every hour.

" I never saw anything more awful ; and yet four weeks after,
there was scarcely a trace to be discovered of the calamity. The
houses rose from the ground as by enchantment ; so that, on the
22d of June, we were again able to have the regular June fire ;
which, however, was not so terrible as the first, although two fine
churches and the court-house were destroyed by it.

" As to our other improvements, — we have received from New
York a very ingeniously contrived steam-engine, which has been
at work now for eight or nine months. It clears away all the

CONCLUSION. 281

sand-hills in the direction of the Mission, removing the sand to
the sea, on trucks running on rails, which are laid along the most
populous streets and piers, without the traffic being thereby inter-
rupted for one moment. In this way, the whole of Sansome, the
whole of Battery, and part of Front Streets (which, until now,
had been standing upon the bay on piles, and were connected by
wooden piers), are filled up; and so are also those which run
parallel with Commercial Street; so that we may expect with
certainty, within six or eight months, to see the bay filled up
from Rincon's to Clark's Point.

" In Sansome Street, where, a few months ago only, large ships
used to discharge their cargo, there is now a colossal brick play-
house ; which, according to contract, had to be built and fitted up
within thirty days from the laying of the foundation-stone. On
the thirty-second day, a performance was given in it; and the
interior was very tastefully decorated. Such is California.

" About one hundred and four steamers, including the sea boats,
are now furrowing our bay. For more than six months, the fare
to Sacramento by steamboat — which ten months ago, was still
twenty to fifty dollars — has been only one dollar, and for the last
month, fifty cents. Yet the most remarkable thing of all, and
what, at any rate, will interest you most, is our Vigilance Com-
mittee, of which I am a member, and concerning which you may
have read an account in the newspapers. I will, however, say
something more about it.

" Shortly after the fire in May, the audacity of the ruffians
of all nations who were assembled at San Francisco, and the ne-
glectfulness and corruption of our city authorities, had risen to
such a pitch, that the better part of the public, and of the citizens,
began to find the state of things perfectly intolerable ; and at last
the question was put — * Shall the power henceforth be in the
hands of a rabble of thieves and incendiaries, or in those of honest
people?'

" Under the direction of the first merchants and bankers of the
town — such as Brannan, Argenti, James King, Macandray, and

282 CONCLUSION.

others — a Vigilance Committee was formed, the object of which
was —

" ' To support the authorities in keeping up the law ; and to
condemn and punish the criminals, in cases when the legitimate
authorities are too weak, or too negligent to do it themselves.'

" In a short time the Society mustered more than eight hun-
dred members ; who every week held two public meetings, at a
place hired for the purpose. Members only were admitted. Anj^
respectable man might become a member — lawyers alone heing
excluded. By subscribing the bye-laws of the Society, every
member bound himself for the next fifty years ; during all this
period, no one will be allowed to resign. And likewise every
one pledges himself, with his life and property, to stand one for
all, and all for one.

"Companies were now established, each of twenty men with
a captain. Guards were mounted, patrols sent round, houses
searched by day and night, arrests made, trials held, and other
acts performed, merely in right of our self-constituted authority,
without consulting any tribunal, or giving account to any one.
All ill- reputed vagabonds, especially a number of former convicts,
who had come over from Sidney, received from us a written notice
to leave the town within ten days. Many obeyed; those who
did not, were arrested, put in chains, and closely guarded ; and
as soon as a sufficient number of them were collected, we char-
tered a ship, with which we sent them, willy nilly, out of the
country.

" By means of patrolling, and searching houses, we discovered
regular thieves' dens ; one, among others, on Angel Island, where
we found quantities of stolen goods ; nor was it long before we
had caught a whole mass of felons, whom we confined at the house
where we held our meetings, and where cells were fitted up for
the reception of the prisoners, each of them affording accommoda-
tion for four or five men. During the day, one company, and
during the night, two, were on guard.

"An executive committee superintended the trial of the prisoners ;

CON'CLUSION. 283

after which a general committee, to whom the protocol of the trial
was transmitted, pronounced the prisoners ' guilty ' or ' not guilty,'
and fixed the amount of punishment.

" Our first act of carrying the penal law into execution, was ia
the case of a certain Jenkins, who one evening was caught in the
act of robbery and house-breaking. As during the trial, several
other crimes were brought home to the prisoner, he was unani-
mously condemned to the gallows. One hour more was then granted
to him, to make his peace with God, after which he was, at one
o'clock in the morning, hanged in the large square.

" The police wanted to rescue him from the hands of the Com-
mittee, but they were repelled by our revolvers.

" Six weeks after, we hung a certain Stuart ; who, after a trial
of nearly four weeks, had been found guilty of several murders
and robberies, which he himself confessed. This execution took
place at two o'clock in the afternoon, in the presence of more than
15,000 people, on Market Street pier.

"About four or five hundred members, walking arm in arm, in
files which took up the whole breadth of the pier, and armed with
loaded revolvers, accompanied the culprit on his last dismal jour-
ney ; nor did the public authorities succeed in breaking our ranks,
before the prisoner was launched into eternity. Then only wo
made room for the coroner.

"It ought to be stated, that we had the sympathies of the
whole population with us ; which went so far, that at the double
stroke of the alarm-bell — which was the signal to the members that
a trial for life and death was about to be proceeded with — all the
carters drove with their waggons, at full gallop, to the office of the
Committee, where they formed a strong rampart of waggons ; which
made a rescue of the prisoner by the authorities completely impossible.

"We had, besides, sent deputations to almost all the other
towns of the country there, to organize branch committees, which
was of very great service ; as in this way the fugitive criminals
might, after their escape from San Francisco, be caught at the
diggings, and there put out of harm's way.

284 CONCLUSION.

" Stuart's information set us on the track of two other mis-
creants, Whittaker and Mackenzie. The trial, and the examina-
tion of witnesses in their cases again lasted more than four weeks.
In the meanwhile, as had been done before on Stuart's behalf, a
habeas corpus was presented to us by the sheriff, which an advo-
cate had obtained from the tribunal ; and by virtue of which, both
culprits were claimed. This injunction had to be respected, unless
we intended to come to an open rupture with the public authorities,
and mutinously to resist the law^ ; which, until then, we had in
every case, scrupulously and successfully avoided. But we had
been informed in time of this intended step. We therefore made
our prisoners, for a whole day, take an airing, under a strong
guard, in the country about San Francisco.

" When the sheriff came, he was by no means refused admit-
tance ; but no one professed to know anything about the prisoners.
After having searched the cells, he therefore took his departure,
with his habeas corpus^ without being able to effect anything.

" At last, after a long trial, in which very ugly things came to
light, both the prisoners were condemned to the gallows ; when,
just on the day before that appointed for the execution, the
Governor, Mr. M'Dougall, asked for permission to see the com-
mittee-rooms. Having been shown over them, he spoke in high
terms of the institution, observing that he fully acknowledged its
usefulness ; and that, in his private capacity, he would do every-
thing to further its objects. But at two o'clock in the morning,
the single hearted old man sent the sheriff, with an armed troop,
to surprise the guard in the committee-rooms, which, as the ser-
vice had of late been exceedingly arduous, unfortunately happened
to consist only of six or eight men ; and the two prisoners were con-
ducted to the new district prison, which w^as strongly built of stone-

" In that very night, the alarm-bell summoned the Committee;
and the excitement running very high, they were very near
passing the resolution of storming the district prison at once, and
by force of arras; but fortunately the cool heads were in the
majority, and the meeting was adjourned.

CONCLUSION. 285

" This happened on a Thursday ; but, in the meanwhile, quite
quietly, a company of volunteers was formed, consisting exclu-
sively of members of the Committee, with a view to get hold
of the prisoners again, by any means, whether by stratagem or
by force. Stratagem was to be employed first, and that in such
a manner that, in case of a failure, nothing might transpire
of it.

" On Sunday, in the forenoon, between ten and eleven, whilst
divine ser\'ice was going on in the district prison, those twenty
volunteers, all of them secretly but strongly armed, gathered,
according to previous appointment, at intervals, in groups of three
and four, round the prison ; placing themselves in such a way,
that they were able to observe each others secret signals. The
principal difficulty was the attempt of the leader to get, with four
or five of his men, into the chapel ; if this succeeded, the first
were to keep the door open, and give the others a signal to ap-
proach. If the entrance was not effected, nothing remained but
quietly to depart again.

" The leader now knocked at the door, which was opened a very
little way. They would allow him to enter, but not his com-
panions. During this short parley, carried on in an undertone,
the others pushed the door a little more open ; after which they
suddenly pointed their pistols at the breast of the man who kept
the door, and summoned the rest of the conspirators.

" The two culprits were luckily seized — Mackenzie by a Ger-
man, Von K., who had a severe struggle with the strong fellow ;
after which they were conveyed to the committee-rooms in a
carriage, which had been kept ready for the purpose. Only two
shots were fired, by which, however, no one was wounded.

" As soon as the prisoners were forced into the carriage, the
alarm-bell summoned all the members together. These hastened
to the spot from all sides ; and an hour after, the two culprits were
hung before the committee-rooms in Battery Street, in the pre-
sence of a vast concourse of people. Thereupon the assembled
crowd gave us three times three cheers, and then asked to see the

286 CONCLUSION.

splendid banner presented to us a few weeks before, by the ladies
of Trinity parish ; after which they quietly dispersed.

" Since that time, we have had almost perfect tranquility and
security. The worst of the judges, being afraid of the Committee,
voluntarily laid down their offices, and have been replaced by
better ones.

" We were all of us well aware of the illegal character of our
proceedings, which, indeed, rendered us liable to severe punish-
ment ; yet what we did was prompted by necessity, and approved
of by seven-eighths of the whole population of the country."

But a truce to California. I was delighted that at last the
time was come when I should continue my journe}'^; for which
purpose I had but to look out for a ship bound westward. As
this could not be a very difficult matter, I was enabled to bestow,
first of all, some attention on my outward man.

My appearance was wild enough to frighten any one. Coming
direct from the diggings to San Francisco, I still sported the
"original costume" of the mountains, which I had worn while at
work, — an old straw hat, which, as it were from sheer obliging
disposition, still kept together in two places; a grey woollen
blouse, patched and torn all over ; and shoes, so completely trod-
den out of shape, that for the last fortnight I had walked on the
side of the soles. In no other country in the world would an
individual, thus attired, have been allowed to sit down to dinner
in the cabin of a steamboat, with elegantly dressed gentlemen,
and even some ladies ; but here, every day, numbers of such figures
come from the mountains ; and, not only is there no notice taken
of their dilapidated appearance, but on the contrary, people gene-
rally treat them with marked respect ; as one cannot know whether
they have not some very decent bags of gold hidden under their
rough digger's blouse. These savage figures were the more fre-
quently to be. met with on board the steamboats, as the prices of
articles of clothing, at Stockton and Sacramento, were nearly as
high as at the diggings ; so that people going direct to San Fran-
cisco, preferred making their purchases in the capital, where every-

CONCLUSION. 287

thing was sold much cheaper. I had also my trunk and a chest,
with part of my wardrobe, still waiting for me at the Mission.

But the Mission Dolores had, in the meanwhile, undergone
very considerable changes. The brewery existed no longer, and
the firm had dispersed in different directions. What formerly
was the dwelling-house, was now divided in two halves, one of
them being converted into a tavern, the other into a baker's shop,
and both of them kept by Germans. My trunk and chest were,
it is true, safe in the former, yet they were all that I should find
again of my luggage. In the chest there were left an old rusty
harpoon, one of my Argentine spurs, and a couple of Spanish and
French books. The trunk contained an old coat, a pair of braces,
a pair of socks, and a few more trifles of the same description.

After this agreeable surprise, I went back to San Francisco,
where I bought clothes, linen, and boots and shoes, with which I
filled my trunk; and then I looked out for a ship, which would
touch at one of the South Sea Islands. I should have preferred
Otaheite, but not one was ready to start for that place; on the
other hand, there were plenty of vessels advertised for the Sand-
wich Islands, with cabin fare from fifty to seventy-five dollars.

I contracted for my passage at the former rate in the barque
Magnolia, sent ray trunk on board, despatched my letters to Ger-
many, as the mail steamer was to start the next day, and then
went once more to the ship agent to pay for my passage, and to
ascertain the exact time for going on board, when I received the
pleasing intelligence that the captain of the ship had changed his
mind, and, being bound for Manilla, would touch neither at the
Sandwich Islands nor at any other group in the Pacific. As to
my luggage, the owners promised to have it brought back on
shore.

This was true Califomian fashion. The ship had been regu-
larly advertised during a whole week for freight and passage, and
now it changed its course. The promise with regard to my trunk
did not appear to me so safe and comfortable either. What did
the captain care whether I had it or not? And if he did not him-

288 CONCLUSION.

self come to town again on other business, he would certainly
never lower a boat merely for the sake of my luggage.

An old captain, to whom I spoke about it, gave me the frlenc'
advice to take a boat myself, and sail out as quick as possible,
ever I wished to see my trunk again. I accordingly went dowi
on the same evening to the Strand, took a boat, and told the
waterman to take me to the place where I knew the Magnolia
was moored. On arriving there — and I had marked the place
well enough, it being near an American war corvette — the reader
may imagine my astonishment, as I found not a vestige of the
Magnolia. I lost no time in rowing alongside one of the nearest
vessels; and, inquiring after her, was answered that she had set
sail in the course of the afternoon.

I had now to promise the boatman five dollars if he would
overtake her; for, when we had proceeded a little farther, we
really saw far a-head a barque, which was slowly running down
the bay before a slight but favourable breeze. The man now
plied the oars with might and main. The evening was fast
closing in, and we had but little time to spare. After three quar-
ters of an hour, we at last overtook the ship, whence I, without
ceremony, took my trunk away with me; but, on our reaching the
shore again, it was pitch dark, and now, as I could not find a
porter, and had no wish to pay three dollars for a conveyance, I
had the pleasure of carrying my luggage on my own shoulders
for the -distance of about an English mile, to the store of Messrs.
Esche and Wapler, by whom I was very kindly received.

As a little diversion, and to have a sample of everything, I got
some little business with the worshipful Californian police. It
concerned a debt of thirty-nine dollars which Bohm, my former
partner, had bound himself in writing as well as by word of honour
to discharge, whilst the credit had been allowed to him for my
sake. But as the fellow had neither shown his face at Stockton
nor at San Francisco, but had very likely absconded on board a
ship bound for Europe or North America, I had no choice but to
pay the sum from my own pocket.

(

CONCLUSION. 289

In the meanwhile I had looked out for another ship, and at last

took my passage on board the Jane Remorino, a barque bound

" r Manilla, which intended to touch for water and provisions at

onolulu, in Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands. My fare as far

as Honolulu was fifty dollars.

On Sunday the 17th of November, I went on board with the
supercargo of the vessel, a very agreeable old gentleman, Mr.
Landerer, a native of Switzerland, and already in my thoughts
bade farewell to California. This was, however, rather prema-
ture, for, on the 19th, in the morning, a gale arose, which even
in our moorings exposed us to the danger of falling foul of the
ships near us. As, however, the wind abated in the evening,
the captain determined to avail himself of the tide, which was
favourable to us, and to try to get clear of the ships.

The barque was all but new, only two years old, and built at
Malta; the captain, a native of Spain, from Gibraltar, of the name
of Kemorino, the ship being called after a sister of his. The
vessel was built of excellent timber, and very nicely fitted up
inside; only the rigging was somewhat seedy, and she had a good
many ropes and cables of untanned leather, which are frequently
used on Spanish vessels.

In sailing down the bay, we ran close by an old English brig,
whose captain, with his cook and a large Newfoundland dog,
formed the whole crew for the time being. He was standing on
the forecastle, to catch the cable which was thrown from our ship
to the vessels on both sides, in order to steer clear of them ; yet
he had no sooner touched it when he held it up in surprise, exa-
mined it for a moment, and then called out with truly comical
astonishment, " leather, by Jove."

At last we dropt anchor pretty safely just below the small
island Yerba Buena. The gale lasted until the 21st; and whils(
it was at its height, the mail steamer from the United States
entered by the " Golden Gate," and ran past us.

As the captain had now once more to go on shore for letters
and newspapers, I accompanied him. We got the New York

290 CONCLUSION.

papers up to the 12tli of October: letters, however, were not yet
delivered; and as the weather was clearing up, and the captain
had resolved to sail under any condition at the dawn of next
morning, I had to leave California with the stanch conviction
that behind those implacable windows of the post-office there
were letters for me from home which I was not to receive now.

On the next evening a slight and favourable breeze sprang up.
On the given signal, the pilot came on board; the anchors were
heaved, and in company with five other vessels, which, having
been quicker in availing themselves of the ebbing tide, had got a
little a-head of us, we approached the "Golden Gate" of Cali-
fornia, which we passed an hour after.

Farewell, California! The rough singing shouts of the sailors
in the rigging sounded to me like the bells of my distant home.
Farewell, California ! In the gathering night, the rugged
scraggy cliffs of the coast had soon vanished from our sight, and
only the white spray of the sea, as it dashed against the shore,
still sparkled through the darkness, half threatening and half
greeting.

4-

THE END.

IDINBtrRGH: PRINTED BT T. NELSON AND SO^JS.

>fQ.

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN DEPT.

BECDLD IIAR297L:1PM01

IiOV-^J3I2.-^^

?i?:ejJMWi^^-2-73Tr

f AM#_^

--"0059^^99^

AUTODISCaRC JIJL26M

LD2lA-50m-2,'71
(P200isl0)476 — A-32

General Library .
University of Calif ornii
Berkeley

fl^

I MP.

H

U. C. BERKELEY UBRAR|ES

^

cD^7a^7bt.l

*H|

:^:Aii[X«r5