University of California • Berkeley
From the Collection of
JOSEPH Z. TODD
Gift of
Hatherly B. Todd
THE
LAND OF GOLD.
REALITY VERSOS FICTION.
BY
HINTON R. HELPER
BALTIMORE:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR
BY HENRY TAYLOR, SUN IRON BUILDING.
1855.
Entered according to Act of Congress* in the year 1855, by
HINTON B. HELPER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the
District of Maryland.
SHERWOOD & Co., PRINTERS,
BALTIMOUE.
TO THE
HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD,
OF NORTH CAROLINA,
m m^rtMlg grtiratelr,
BY HIS
SINCERE FRIEND AND ADMIRER,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
PREVIOUS to my departure for California, near
and dear friends extracted from me a promise
to communicate by letter, upon every conve
nient occasion, such intelligence as would give
them a distinct idea of the truthfulness or false
hood of the many glowing descriptions and re
puted vast wealth of California. In accordance
with this promise, I collected, from the best and
most reliable sources, all that I deemed worthy
of record touching the past of the modern El
Dorado, relying upon my own powers of observa
tion to depicture its present condition and its
future prospects.
This correspondence was never intended for
the public eye, for the simple reason that the
matter therein is set forth in a very plain man
ner, with more regard to truth than elegance of
diction. Indeed, how could it be otherwise? I
have only described those things which came
immediately under my own observation, and, be
side this, I make no pretensions to extensive
scholastic attainments, nor do I claim to be an
adept in the art of book-making.
VI PREFACE.
A weary and rather unprofitable sojourn of
three years in various parts of California, af
forded me ample time and opportunity to become
too thoroughly conversant with its rottenness
and its corruption, its squalor and its misery,
its crime and its shame, its gold and its dross.
Simply and truthfully I gave the history of my
experience to friends at home, who, after my
return, suggested that profit might be derived
from giving these letters to the world in narra
tive form, and urged me so strenuously, that I at
length acceded to their wishes, but not without
much reluctance, being doubtful as to the recep
tion of a book from one so incapable as myself
of producing any thing more than a plain " un
varnished tale."
In order to present a more complete picture
of California, I have added two chapters, that
describing the route through Nicaragua, and the
general resume at the close of my volume. All
that I solicit for this, my first offering, is a
liberal and candid examination ; not of a part,
but of the whole — not a cursory, but a consider
ate reading. H B H
SALISBURY, North Carolina,, 1855.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
Introductory Remarks — Erroneous opinions respecting Cali
fornia — Sterility of the Soil — The Seasons — Destitution of
Mechanical and Manufacturing Resources — Dependence
upon Importations for the Conveniences and Necessaries of
Life — No Inducement to become Permanent Residents of the
country 13
CHAPTER II.
THE BALANCE SHEET.
California statistically considered — Cost of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo — Price of Passage and Services of Im
migrants — Total Yield of the Mines — Amount of Property
destroyed by Fires, Freshets and Inundations— List of
Sailing Vessels and Steamers Wrecked upon the coast -
Public Debt of the State— Debts of San Francisco, Sacra
mento and Marysville — Loss of Life by violent measures —
Extract from the Louisville Journal 23
CHAPTER III.
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
Extraordinary Depravity and Corruption — Reasons assigned
for the laxity of Morals — Much of the Degeneracy and Dis
sipation attributable to the absence of female society. — The
Case of an English gentleman — His Story — General Re
marks concerning the different classes of Women 36
Vlii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
SAN FRANCISCO.
Importance of San Francisco — The Golden Gate — The Har
bor — Long Wharf— A Motley Crowd — The Shipping —
Names of Vessels — Vagrant Boys — Commercial Street —
Wooden Tenements — The Jews — Fire-proof brick and
stone structures — Montgomery street — Menial Employ
ments — Professional Men washing dishes, waiting upon
the table, and peddling shrimps and tomcods— Lawyers
and Land Titles — Grog Shops and Tippling Houses — Bill
of Fare of a California Groggery 45
CHAPTER V.
SAN FRANCISCO — CONTINUED.
Clay street — Gazing in Ladies' Faces — The Gambling Houses
— Heterogeneous Assemblage of Blacklegs — The Plaza —
The City Hall — A Case of Bribery and Corruption — French
Restaurants — Flour and other Provisions — Frauds and
Adulterations G9
CHAPTER VI.
SAN FRANCISCO CONCLUDED.
A Pistol Gallery — Doctor Natchez — Population of the City-
Filling in the Bay— Lack of Vegetation — Yearning for the
society of Trees 81
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
National habits and traits of Chinese Character — Their
Dress — The number of Chinese in California — How they
employ their time — 'Their arrogance and presumption —
Manner of Eating — Singularity of their names — Is the
Chinese Immigration desirable? 86
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER VIII.
CURSORY VIEWS.
The Pacific Side of the Continent much Inferior to the Atlan
tic Side — Poverty and Suffering in California — Rash and
mistaken ideas of the country — A few very Fertile Valleys
— Value of the Precious Metals to the country in which
they are found — The Climate 97
. CHAPTER IX.
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
Manner of Spending the Sabbath — Mixture and Dissimilarity
of the Population — Dance Houses — Mexican Women — In
fluence of Female Society upon the Community — Churches
in San Francisco , 109
CHAPTER X.
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
Advertisement announcing the Sport — Mission Dolores — An
old Catholic Church — Preparation for the Fight — The
Audience — The Attack — Progress of the Conflict — The
Finale 116
CHAPTER XI.
SACRAMENTO.
City and Valley of Sacramento — The Legislature — Shabby
Hotels — Teamsters and Muleteers — Excess of Merchants —
Continual Depression in Business — Perfidy and Dishonesty
of Consignees — .California Conflagrations — The Three Cent
Philosopher..,. , ».i •« 131
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTEK XII.
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
Trip to the Mines — Modus Operandi of Single-handed Min
ing — Names of Bars — Mining Laws — More Gentility and
Nobleness of Soul among the Miners than any other Class
of People in California — 'The case of a Highwayman' — De
scription of a Miner's Tent — His Diet and Cooking Uten
sils — Toilsomeness of Mining — Proceeds of three months'
labor 14T
CHAPTEK XIII.
STOCKTON AND SONOBA.
Situation of Stockton — The San Joaquin Valley — Trip to
Sonora — -The best Hotel in the Place — A Lunatic — A Gam
bling Prodigy — Shooting Affair — A case of Lynch Law —
Description of Sonora — Land Speculators — Ephemeral
Cities — Excitability of the Californians — The Beard — A
good old Man — His Story 161
CHAPTER XIV.
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN,
Embarkation from New York— A Terrible Storm — Loss of
Masts and narrow escape from Shipwreck — Wreck of a
Swedish Brig— An unfortunate Little Bird — Patagonia
and Cape Horn — Stoppage at Valparaiso — Earthquakes —
Appearance of the City — A Delectable Garden — Two Cath
olic Priests — Beauty of Ocean Scenery in the Pacific — The
St. Felix Islands — Arrival in San Francisco 1ST
CHAPTER XV.
VOYAGE FROM -CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
Departure from San Francisco — Matters and Things aboard
the Steamer — The Passengers — A Hoax — Arrival at San
CONTENTS. XI
Juan del Sur — Novel Mode of Debarkation — Ludicrous
Scenes — Trip across the Country — The Weather — Virgin
Bay — Lake Nicaragua — The San Juan River — Bad Man
agement and shabby Treatment on the Isthmus — Negro
Slavery and Central America — San Juan del Norte, alias
Greytown 209
CHAPTER XVI.
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
Projected Voyage to Australia abandoned — Trip to the Mines
in Tuolumne county — My quaint Friend and Companion,
Mr. Shad Back — Operations in Columbia — The Result 225
CHAPTER XVII.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
Disordered State of Society — Atrocious and barefaced Crimes
— Organization of Vigilance Committees — Salutary effect of
their Proceedings — Defence of their Motives and Actions —
A case of Lynch Law in Sacramento 237
CHAPTER XVIII.
BODEGA .
Trip to Bodega on a Mischievous and Refractory Mule —
A Chinese Encampment — Description of the country in the
vicinity of Bodega— The Village of Petaluma— Cruel Treat
ment of an Indian Boy — Serious Consequences result from
the villainous Pranks of his Muleship — Ben. an eccentric
old Negro 254
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
Indolence and Insignificance of the Digger Indians — What
they eat — Means of obtaining the Necessaries of Life — Their
Habits and Peculiarities — An Incident at a Slaughter-
Xll CONTENTS.
house — The Negroes in California — The case of a New
Orleans Sea-captain and his Slave Joe — A North Car
olinian and his two Negroes 268
CHAPTER XX.
ARE YOU GOING T'O CALIFORNIA?
Resume of the preceding chapters — Arguments in favor of
the Atlantic and Pacific Railway — Advantages of the
Southern Route — Abstract of the Report of the Secretary
of War on the several Pacific Railroad Explorations — Ex
tracts from Letters — Conclusion 280
V'THE LAND OF GOLD. •
CHAPTER I.
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
AN intelligent and patriotic curiosity will find
the history of few countries more interesting
than that of California — which has at length re
alized those dreams of El Dorado that beguiled
so many an early adventurer from the comforts
and bliss of his fireside, to delude and destroy
him. The marshes of the Orinoco, the Keys of
Florida, and the hills of Mexico cover the bones
of many of these original speculators in the
minerals of the Western World. They sought
wealth, and found graves. How many of the
modern devotees of Mammon have done better
in our newly opened land of gold ?
To explain the causes of the frequent disap
pointment of these cherished hopes ; to determine
the true value of this modern El Dorado ; to ex
hibit the prominent features of California and
2
14 CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
its principal cities, particularly San Francisco,
and thus to enable those who still encourage
golden dreams to form a proper estimate of their
chances of success,, without submitting to the
painful teachings of experience — these have been
the motives which have actuated the author of
the present work.
The less to weary the reader, the book has
been broken up into chapters, in which the au
thor proposes to discourse familiarly upon what
he has seen and felt, as he would in a friendly
letter, rather than to write a formal essay or
treatise upon California. In pursuing this plan,
it is his intention to confine himself exclusively
to facts, and to describe those facts as clearly as
possible, so as to leave no ground for a conjec
tural filling up of those outlines which his negli
gence may have left vague and indistinct.
In this country, where almost every event
that occurs is as momentous and unaccountable
as the wonderful exploits of Habib's and Alad
din's genii, to deal with any thing aside from
actual matters of fact, is at once as silly and
profitless a business as that of whistling against
the winds. Yet, in nine-tenths of the descrip
tions of life and times in California, truth and
facts have been set aside, and the writers, in
stead of confining themselves to a faithful de
lineation of that which actually exists, have made
astonishing and unwarranted drafts upon their
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED. 15
imaginations. Instead of detailing facts, they
have written fictions ; instead of making a true
record, they have interwoven falsehoods with the
very web of their story. They have chronicled
dreams instead of realities, and have registered
vagaries as actual events and undeniable cer
tainties. But they have themselves been de
ceived. They have been duped in listening to the
delusive whispers of mischievous sirens, whose
flattering suggestions and plausible stories have
had such a magical influence upon their excited
minds, that they have become accustomed to
consider every thought of wealth that occurs to
them a veritable mountain of gold ; — that is to
say, they have, by some strange hallucination,
been converted to the belief that whatever Cali
fornia ought to be for their own particular ends
and interests, it really is. In the night-time
they have arranged and matured prodigious
plans of profit, and although many days have
dawned upon them since, that time has yet to
come which shall reveal to them the utter noth
ingness of their nocturnal reveries. But the day
will come, and it is fast approaching, when the
spell must be broken. The iron utensils, which
have been transmuted into golden urns and pal
aces night after night, shall once and for ever
resume their true quality at the approach of
day. The spell-bound shall be freed ! The reverie
shall be dissipated, the false wealth analyzed,
16 CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
and resolved into its component parts ; and when
these things are done, California will be seen in
its true light. Then the eyes of the people will
he opened. The golden haze which has hung
over this land of romantic hopes and deadly dis
appointments will then he rolled away, and the
clear, naked sunlight of Truth will shine upon
this ugly cheat, revealing it in all its naked de
formity to the eyes of the abused and misin
formed public. Then, and not till then, will the
full extent of popular delusion on this topic be
known, and this mighty genie collapse into its
original caldron.
The truth is, California has been much over
rated and much overdone. She has been pressed
beyond her limits and capacities. Her mana
gers have been rash, prodigal and incompetent,
and they have embarrassed her beyond hope of
relief — though, it must be acknowledged, her
condition was never very hopeful, but, on the
contrary, I may say with the poet, she was only
" half made up." It is plain to be seen that she
was never finished. She has never paid for her
self. An overwhelming public debt now rests
upon her shoulders, and she has nothing to show
for it. She is bankrupt. Her resources are being
rapidly exhausted, and there is but lank promise
in the future. Her spacious harbors and geo
graphical position are her true wealth ; her gold
fields and arid hills are her poverty. But com-
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
modious and safe as are her harbors when once
entered, they are not the easiest nor safest of
access in the world, as I shall hereafter prove by
statistics of vessels wrecked upon this coast
within the last six years. And, before I finish,
I shall offer other statistical information of in
terest and importance relative to the State at
large, in substantiation as well of what I have
already said as of that which I have yet to say.
I may remark here that, my curiosity having
led me to collect and prepare these statistics
with no little care and attention, and at no
trifling sacrifice of time and means, they may
be relied upon as correct.
A residence of nearly three years, during which
time I have traveled over a wide extent of those
parts of the State which are most highly esteemed
for agriculture and minerals, has, I claim, en
abled me to arrive at a pretty accurate estimate
of her character and capacities ; and I have no
hesitation in avowing it as my candid opinion
(and I have not been a very inattentive observer)
that, balancing resource against defect, and com
paring territory with territory, California is the
poorest State in the Union. She has little to
recommend her except her fascinating metal, the
acquisition of which, however, in its first or
natural state, seems always to require a greater
sacrifice of moral and physical wealth than a
single exchange of it afterwards can possibly
2*
18 CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
restore. I know it has been published to the
world that this country possesses extraordinary
agricultural abilities ; but this is an assertion
wholly gratuitous, and not susceptible of demon
stration. Taken altogether, it is no such thing.
Some of her valleys are, indeed, exceedingly fer
tile ; but, when we compare their superficies with
the area of the State, we find they are but as
oases in a desert. I seriously believe that a fair
and thorough trial will show that she has more
than three times as much sterile land, in propor
tion to her territory, than any of her sister States.
On an average, a square rood of Carolina earth
contains as much fertilizing nutriment as an acre
of California soil. Comparatively speaking, she
has neither season nor soil.
No rain falls between the first of April and
the middle of November, in consequence of which
the earth becomes so dry and hard that nothing
will grow ; and the small amount of grass, weeds,
or other vegetation that may have shot up in the
spring, is parched by the scorching sun until it
is rendered as easy of ignition as prepared fuel.
The valleys above mentioned are the only spots
exempt from this curse. On the other hand, from
the first of December to the last of March it rains,
as a general thing, so copiously and incessantly,
that all out-door avocations must be suspended ;
and as there is no mechanical or in-door labor,
either of use or profit, to be performed, the people
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED. 19
are subjected to the disagreeable and expensive
task of idling away their time in hotels and res
taurants, at the rate of from two to three dollars
per day for hoard alone, other expenses being in
the same ratio. More of the disadvantages of
this unfortunate inconsistency of the seasons,
and of the paucity of resources of employment
here, will be noticed as we proceed. As for the
valleys we have spoken of, they will afford a suf
ficient supply of breadstuffs to support sparse
settlements, but the average or general surface
of the country is incapable of sustaining a dense
population.
If we inquire after the manufacturing and me
chanical resources of the State, we will find that
she has none whatever ; in this respect she is as
destitute as the aboriginal settlements of America.
Nor can she establish, encourage or maintain
these arts, for the reason that she would be under
the necessity of importing, not only the ma
chinery and raw materials, but also the fuel.
She could not, therefore, compete with neighbor
ing States, which have at least some of these in
dispensable requisites. Nor has she any advan
tages or facilities for either water or steam power.
How, then, can she obtain a reputation for man
ufactures and mechanism, having neither the
material to work, nor the force or means to work
with ? She has neither cotton nor flax, coal nor
timber. She is rich in nothing, and poor in
20 CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
every thing. She has to import every thing she
uses, but has nothing to export, except her gold,
which, instead of being a blessing to her, is a
curse. Even the ground she cultivates she has
to inclose with imported fencing wire, not having
timber suitable for railing or paling purposes.
That which is esteemed her chief treasure, de
pendence and commodity, gold, seems to be the
least subservient to her advancement and pros
perity; for, comparatively speaking, she sends
it all away, and retains none for home use
or convenience; and thus it is that she has,
in a measure, been a benefit to others, while she
has blindly and foolishly impoverished herself.
In this she has acted upon the principle of the
cobbler, whose shoes are ever tattered, and of
the blacksmith, whose horses always go unshod.
But this profuse exportation of gold is signifi
cant of another important fact, while at the
same time it demonstrates what I have said
above. It shows conclusively that there is no
inducement to invest capital permanently in this
country, either in the prosecution of business or
in the establishment of homes or residences.
Immigrants find neither beauty nor gain to hold
them here ; and I feel warranted in venturing
the assertion that not more than ten per cent, of
the population are satisfied to remain. Of the
other ninety per cent., the bodies only subsist
here — their hearts abide in better climes; and
CALIFORNIA UNVEILED. 21
they are anxiously waiting and wishing for the
time when they shall have an opportunity of
releasing themselves from the golden fetters
which detain them, and escaping from a country
which, with all its wealth, is to them a dreary
prison. Only a small minority of the few who
are lucky enough, by fair means or foul, to ac
cumulate fortune or competence, are induced
to identify their lives and interests with the
country.
But the women are almost unanimous in their
determination not to make California any thing
more than a temporary residence ; and they have
good reasons for this resolution. Besides the
social depravity to which I shall presently allude,
and which is sufficient to shock the sensibilities
of any man of ordinary morality, there are hosts
of minor annoyances, resulting from the climate
and the geographical position of the country,
that inflict peculiar pain upon female sensi
bilities. The mud, which is often knee-deep,
keeps them imprisoned all the winter ; while, in
summer, the dust, as fine as flour and as abun
dant as earth itself,, stifles the inhabitants, fills
the houses, penetrates into every nook and cor
ner, finds its way even into the inner drawers
and chests, soils the wardrobe, spoils the furni
ture, and sullies every thing. Besides, Califor
nia is especially infested with vermin. Fleas,
ants, and all sorts of creeping things are as
22 CALIFORNIA UNVEILED.
ubiquitous as those that tormented Pharaoh and
his people, and quite as annoying. No house is
free from them, no one can escape the perpetual
martyrdom of their stings, or the annoyance of
their presence. As the ladies are the special
sufferers from these abominable little nuisances,
their unanimous dislike of the country is not at
all to be wondered at. In proof of this una
nimity, I can only offer the fact that, in conver
sation with quite a number of women who have
resided in this State, I have yet to meet with
one who is willing to make it her permanent
abode.
We have alluded to the winds, because they
really are a peculiar feature in the meteorology
of this State. In the summer time they blow
with peculiar violence, arid facilitate the spread
of the great fires from which California has
suffered so much.
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 23
CHAPTEE II.
THE BALANCE-SHEET.
LET us now take a glance at the pros and cons
of California in statistical form. I have said
that the State is bankrupt, that she has never
returned an equivalent for the labor and money
invested in her, and that she has been repre
sented to be a great deal more than she is in
reality — all of which I now reiterate, and shall
endeavor to demonstrate. To make out a per
fect and complete account-current, or balance-
sheet, exhibiting the State's entire gains and
losses of time, labor, life, money, etc., would
require such a profound knowledge of financial
affairs, and of political economy, that it would
puzzle Adam Smith himself; we will not, there
fore, attempt accuracy or exactness, but, having
sufficient data to sustain us in our position, we
will proceed to make it known.
Without charging California with any of the
enormous expenses of the Mexican war, or the
check given to the increase of population which
that war occasioned, we will simply make her
debtor for the amount of purchase-money that
was paid for her, and for the various sums it has
24 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
cost to control, manage and maintain her since.
And, to avoid that complication and multiplicity
of entries that would inevitably result from an
introduction of all the individuals, parties or
countries that have had dealings with the State,
and as a matter of convenience, we will assume
that there shall be but two parties recognized in
the transaction, one of debit and one of credit —
California and the United States. This will be
treating the subject as a matter of dollars and
cents, and will enable us to see how much has
been made or lost, as the case may be, out of
this Eureka venture or speculation.
In the first place, then, California is debtor to
the United States for her quota of the amount of
purchase-money paid to Mexico for herself and for
New Mexico, including contingent fund absorbed
by Mexican claimants, as per agreement at the
treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, $10,000,000. In
the next place, let us see how much she is in
debted to the United States for labor. At the
present time, her population is estimated at
about two hundred and fifty thousand. It is but
little greater now than it was in 1849. In '51
and '52 it was larger than it was or has been at
any preceding or subsequent period. It would
probably be fair to estimate the average popula
tion at two hundred and fifty thousand for the
last six years ; of this number, it is supposed
that from thirty to thirty-five thousand are
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 25
women and children, who have become residents
of the State within the last three or four years.
Admitting, then, that there are thirty-five thou
sand women and children, and deducting this
number from two hundred and fifty thousand,
we have a balance of two hundred and fifteen
thousand men, whose service for six years, at
say $225 per annum for each man, amounts to
$290,230,000. The outfits and passage of these
men — to say nothing of the women and children
— cost, at the lowest calculation, $200 per head ;
so we find that the expense of transporting the ac
tual laborers alone has been at least $43,000,000.
We may afford to let this latter amount rest as
it is ; but when we take into consideration the
fact that the steamers are continually crowded
with persons returning from California, and that
their places are filled by new emigrants, who
have to purchase new passage-tickets and new
outfits, it is quite obvious that the figures ex
press much less than the real amount. The
above sums added together constitute the United
States' charge against California. We will add
them together, and then compare the total sum
with the amount of gold that has been produced
in California.
Original cost of the country $10,000,000
Labor ..290,230,000
Outfits and transportation 43,000,000
Grand total $3433 130,000
3
26 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
Thus we see California is debtor to the United
States three hundred and forty-three millions
two hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Now
let us examine the account which California
brings as an offset to this amount. The entire
yield of the mines up to the present time, Janu
ary, 1855, has been about two hundred and forty-
five millions of dollars. And this is all. We
cannot credit her with any thing else that would
not be equipoised or balanced by the capital,
whether owned or borrowed, brought hither from
various parts of the world, and invested in busi
ness and improvements, and about which no
thing has been said in the bill of charges. Here,
then, is the sum and substance of the whole
matter :
The United States account against California. ..$343,230,000
California's account against the United States. . 245,000,000
Deficit $98, 230,000
And now let us see how much money has been
lost in and about California by casualties, acci
dents and mismanagement. The reader shall
judge whether any part of the amount should be
charged to the State. As for us, we shall simply
feel it our duty to furnish the statistics. In re
gard to the expenses of Fremont's Battalion, of
the Army of Occupation in '4*7 and '48, and of
the wars since waged against the Indians —
amounting in all to several millions of dollars,
we will say nothing.
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 2 7
In the annexed table is an account of the va
rious fires that have occurred throughout the
State. It will he perceived that the date of oc
currence arid amount of property destroyed are
hoth given.
FIRES IN CALIFORNIA.
Fire in San Francisco, December 24, 1849 $1,000,000
" " May 4, 1850 3,500,000
" " June 14, 1850 , 3,000,000
" " September 17, 1850 450,000
" " December 14, 1850 1,000,000
" " May 3, 1851 12,000,000
" " June 22, 1851 3,000,000
" " November 9, 1852 125,000
" " Sundry fires in 1853 265,000
Fire in Sacramento, November 2, 1852 10,000,000
" Sonora, June 18, 1852 2,500,000
" " October 14, 1853 300,000
" u November 2, 1853 50,000
" Stockton, May 6, 1851 3,000,000
" Mary sville, August 30, 1851 500,000
" " September 10, 1851 80,000
" " November 7, 1852 150,000
" Shasta, February 8, 1853 ." 225,000
" Nevada, March 10, 1851 200,000
" Weaverville, March 7, 1853 125,000
Sundry fires in different parts of the State, dates unob
tainable '. 4,400,000
$45,870,000
Freshets and inundations, in the Sacramento and San
Joaquin valleys, have swept off or destroyed one
• million five hundred thousand dollars worth of
property within the last six years $1,500,000
-$2,300,000
28 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
The following sailing vessels and steamers
have been wrecked upon the coast within the
same period :
SAILING VESSELS — SOME WITH CARGOES.
Ship Tonquin — December, 1849
" Crownprincessen — February, 1850 ,
" Utica— July, 1850 ,
" Somerset — December, 1850
11 Oxford— July, 1852 ,
" Aberdeen— July, 1853
" Carrier Pigeon — June, 1853
" Eclipse— October, 1853
" Jenny Lind — December, 1853 ,
" San Francisco — February, 1854 ,
STEAMERS.
Commodore Preble — May 3, 1850 $ 50,000
Union— July 5, 1851 150,000
Chesapeake — October, 1851 50,000
Sea Gull — January 26, 1852 50,000
Gen. Warren — January 31, 1852 50, 000
North America — February 2 7, 1852 150,000
Pioneer— August IT, 1852 250,000
City of Pittsburg— October 24, 1852 250,000
Independence — February 16, 1853 70, 000
Tennessee — March 6, 1853 300,000
S. S. Lewis— April 9, 1853 150,000
Washington — 1853 40,000
Commodore Stockton — 1852 60,000
Winfield Scott— December 2, 1853 290,000
Sundry steamers and sailers, the names of which have
been misplaced 850,000
$2,760,000
The present public debt of the State — entailed upon the
people by one of the most imbecile and dissolute
legislatures that were ever assembled in an enlight
ened country — is three millions of dollars $3,000,000
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 29
The debts of the three principal cities are as follows :
The total amount of the indebtedness of San Fran
cisco is $3, 342, 000. The debt of the city of Sacra
mento amounts to $1,500,000. The entire debt of
the city of Marys ville amounts to over $70,000.. .$4,912,000
Total $60, 342, 000
RECAPITULATION.
Fires $45, 870, 000
Freshets 1, 500, 000
Shipping 5,060,000
State debt 3,000,000
City debt 4,912,000
$60,342,000
These figures show the amount of property
that has been destroyed, or the amount of losses
that have been sustained in California, by acci
dents, mishaps and mismanagement, within the
last six years. I will, moreover, give a list of
lives lost by violent measures during the same
period :
Murders 4, 200
Suicides 1,400
Insanity, (produced by disappointment and misfortune).. . 1,700
Wrecked and perished on the way per sailing vessels and
steamers 2,200
Killed by Indians and died of starvation per overland route, 1,600
Perished in the mines and mountains of the State for want
of medical attention and food, and by the hands of the
Indians 5,300
Total 16,400
It may be urged that the State ought not to be
held accountable for any number of these sixteen
3*
30 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
thousand four hundred unfortunates, who, for the
lack of law and order in a majority of the cases,
lost their lives by violent means. We leave the
question entirely with the reader. It may also
be urged that the State ought not to be charged
with any part of the extraordinary losses by fire
and shipwreck, notwithstanding foreign capital
ists were the principal sufferers in both cases.
This question we also submit to the decision of
the reader.
But I deem it unnecessary to dwell on this part
of my subject. In presenting the foregoing cal
culations, it has been my aim to show that Cali
fornia is a country of unparalleled casualties and
catastrophes, and to direct attention to the im
mense losses which have been sustained in open
ing its mines of wealth., A large number of
people, it seems, have got fnto the habit of esti
mating the gains without taking into considera
tion the cost or losses at all; and there are those,
no doubt, who will attempt to find fault with the
account which I have drawn up between Califor
nia and the United States. Though that account
is in the main correct, I admit that slight errors
may here and there exist ; for, as I remarked at
the outset, the debits and credits are so numerous,
and of such an intricate nature, that it would be
impossible to arrive at the exact amounts without
the greatest research and elaboration. If I have
succeeded in undeceiving those who have hereto-
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 31
fore regarded California as an unincumbered
God-send, my object has been attained. I have
endeavored to show that, though there has been
a great deal of gold obtained in the country, it is
not all clear gain, and that notwithstanding there
are large deposits of pure metal, there are also
huge masses of dross. Shallow enthusiasts have
asserted that the United States would have be
come bankrupt two or three years ago, had it not
been for the discovery of gold in California. A
more preposterous opinion was never entertained.
Equally as much wisdom might be found in the
assertion that Great Britain would have been sold
by the sheriff, if gold had not been discovered in
Australia. As a further proof of the beggarly
condition of the country, it may not be amiss to
remark that, during the last session of Congress,
the general government appropriated upwards of
four millions of dollars for the relief and benefit
of California ; and her senators and representa
tives are still clamoring for additional favors.
For the benefit of the reader, and in confirma
tion of statements made in this chapter relative
to the past and present of California, I give the
following extract from the Louisville Journal, to
which my attention has been called since the
foregoing calculations and statistics were pre
pared.
32 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
COST OF CALIFORNIA GOLD.
" For the information of those persons who be
lieve that the United States thus far have been
benefited by the discovery of gold in California,
we propose to submit a few remarks and calcula
tions.
"After the close of the Mexican war and the
cession by treaty to us of Upper California, the
world was astonished by the announcement, to
ward the close of 1848 or the beginning of 1849,
that immense deposits of gold had been discov
ered in that country. As soon as the truth of
this report was established, vast numbers of per
sons, young and old, flocked to that country.
There was a perfect stampede of people from
every State in the Union. Property was sacri
ficed to raise money with which to reach this El
dorado, where fortunes for all were supposed to
be awaiting the mere effort to gather them. The
first injurious effect on the country was the sud
den withdrawal of so much labor from the chan
nels of production ; it was mainly, too, that de
scription most needed here — that is, agricultural
labor.
" We are not in possession of the statistics re
quisite to determine with exactness the number
of persons who have been taken from the old
States and have gone to California. The popu
lation of that State now exceeds two hundred
thousand. But as there is a constant stream of
THE BALANCE-SHEET. 33
people always in transitu, either going to or
leaving that country, the number of people with
drawn from the business of productive labor
largely exceeds the population of that State. It
is not our purpose to over-estimate the amount
of labor that has been withdrawn from the old
States, but we feel satisfied that it will be under
rather than over the mark to say that from 1849
to 1854, each year inclusive, there has been an
average of 150,000 persons who have been during
that time either in California or on their way
going or returning. The time is six years for
150,000 persons, or one year for 900,000 persons.
"Now, if we estimate the average value of this
labor at $25 per month each, or $300 per year,
we have ($270,000,000) two hundred and seventy
millions of dollars as the value of the labor taken
from the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains
and placed on its western side. In addition to
this, it cost on an average $200 per head as the
expenses of the removal from one country to the
other. This makes ($180,000,000) one hundred
and eighty millions of dollars as the cost of re
moval. The sums together make the sum total
of ($450,000,000) four hundred and fifty millions
of dollars drained from the eastern side of the
United States. To ascertain the amount of the
gold obtained from that country, we propose to
take the gold coinage of the mint. This coinage
was in —
34 THE BALANCE-SHEET.
1849 $9,00*7, 761
1850 31,981,738
1851 62,614,492
1852 $56,846,187
1853 46,998,945
1854, estimated.... 42,000,000
Total coinage , $249, 349, 123
"As these figures make the sum total of all the
gold coined at the mint, and a portion of it is
known to have been obtained from other sources
than California, the credit will rather be in ex
cess than too small ; but still we propose to add
to this amount twenty millions more as an al
lowance for unminted gold sold to workers in
jewelry and plate and which has been consumed
in the arts. The statement will then stand thus:
CALIFORNIA, Dr.
To labor and outfits $450, 000, 000
Credit by product of gold coin and nature 269,349,223
Dr. balance $180,650,877
" This slioivs that there is a balance due us in
lost labor and capital of over one hundred and
eighty millions of dollars.
" So far as California is concerned, it is proba
ble that this deficiency is replaced there by the
value of property, real and personal, which the
labor taken from this region of country has pro
duced there.
" The injurious effect of this vast emigration
has been felt in the undue stimulus it has given
to the prices of produce, induced by diminished
production and increased demand.
THE BALANCE-SHEET, 35
" Another bad effect of this gold crop has been
the influence it has exerted in stimulating ex
cessive importations of foreign goods. In the
last six years the imports will exceed the exports
three hundred and three millions of dollars.
Commencing in 1849 with an import trade of
only seven millions of nominal balance against
this country, it rapidly increased, until, in each
of the past two years, it has exceeded sixty mil
lions of dollars."
36 SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA,
CHAPTEE III.
SOCIETY IK CALIFORNIA.
HAVING looked into the financial condition of
California, let us now briefly consider the moral
and religious state of its society. We know that
We are undertaking an ungrateful and painful
task — that we shall awaken the animosity of
those who have an interest in enticing settlers
to this golden region— that we shall provoke
contradiction, and prohahly excite controversy ;
but we beseech Heaven to pardon us for speaking
the truth, and challenge our antagonists to dis
prove our statements.
We cannot, indeed, pretend to disclose all the
terrible iniquity of that society in the compass
of a single chapter — the theme is too extensive,
the facts too revolting. It requires space to un
fold the scroll which records such damning facts
—it needs time for the mind to become suffi
ciently reconciled to the hideous details, to be
able to listen to them without impatience or dis
gust. We can, at present, do no more than open
the way for a fuller exposition of the subject in
subsequent chapters. Suffice it to say that we
know of no country in which there is so much
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA. 37
corruption, villainy, outlawry, intemperance,
licentiousness, and every variety of crime, folly
and meanness. Words fail us to express the
shameful depravity and unexampled turpitude
of California society.
How much of this is attributable to the metal
which attracts the population, we leave others
to determine. One thing, however, is certain ;
mining districts do not generally enjoy a very
enviable reputation in any part of the world.
Gold, especially, is thought to be so easily acces
sible, and the return of the miner's labor is so
immediately visible, that it has ever attracted
the most unthrifty and dissolute. Men who
could not be induced to work at any thing else,
will spend days and weeks delving for the pre--
cious bane, hoping against hope, and laboring
with an eager energy which nothing else can
excite, and almost any thing else would more
surely reward. Hence, the immediate neighbor
hood of a gold-mine is too liable to be a sink for
all the idleness and depravity of the surrounding
country. How these evils are multiplied by the
absence of individual proprietorship in the land,
and by the remoteness of a mining district from
the beneficial restraints of public opinion, any
one who gives a moment's consideration to the
subject will perceive.
The exclusive devotion of labor to this one
pursuit is another cause of increased laxity of
4
38 SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
morals. In the Atlantic States, gold-mining is
only a branch of industry, and not a very im
portant one, compared with the other pursuits
of the population ; but in California it is the
chief and almost the only occupation of the in
habitants of the mining districts; so that while,
in the former place, the general virtue of the
people keeps in check the particular vices of the
miner, in the latter, the good intentions of the
few are overruled and stifled by the vices of the
many.
We must not, however, commit the mistake of
supposing that all the depravity of California is
attributable to the nature of its industrial pur
suits. This is but one of the elements which
assist in producing the deplorable state of affairs
under consideration. There are others which
spring from the character of the people, and the
circumstances which have brought them to
gether.
It must be borne in mind that all the adven
turers to this country have come for the express
purpose of making money, and that to this end
every other consideration is sacrificed. They
have come to " put money in their purses," and
as a large majority of them are of a class who are
rarely troubled by any qualms of conscience, they
are determined to do it at all hazards. Mammon
is their god, and they will worship him.
If it be deemed desirable to make further in-
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA. 39
quiries into this state of things, it is only neces
sary to philosophize a little upon the physical
structure of society. A single glance at it will
suffice to convince the most superficial observer
that its ingredients cannot be compounded into
a harmonious, perfect and complete whole. Will
a panther from America, a bear from Europe, a
tiger from Asia, and a lion from Africa, organize
in peace and good feeling around the body of a
fresh slain deer ? If not, will the Americans,
English, French, Germans, Chinese, Indians,
Negroes, and half-breeds, greet each other cor
dially over a gold mine ? These are problems
which those who have leisure may solve as their
reason dictates. In the present case, it is more
my province to relate the condition of things,
than to account for their existence; yet, in pre
paring statements upon a variety of intricate
subjects, owing sometimes to the difficulty of
making one's self understood, it is both consist
ent and proper that, now and then, a few re
marks in the way of explanation should be
given.
Another very important cause of this wild
excitement, degeneracy, dissipation, and deplo
rable condition of affairs, may be found in the
disproportion of the sexes — in the scarcity of wo
men. At present, there is only about one woman
to every ten or twelve men, and the result is what
might be expected. The women are persecuted
40 SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
by the insulting attentions of the men, and too
often fall victims to the arts of their seducers,
Nowhere is the sanctity of the domestic hearth
so ruthlessly violated as in California. For proof
of this, we need look no further than the records
of the courts of San Francisco, which show that,
in the course of a single week, no less than ten
divorces had been granted, while, during the
same time, only two marriages had been solem
nized !
Not long since, an English gentleman, of
whom myself and others had purchased some
real estate in this city, came to me, requesting
that, inasmuch as his wife had left him the day
before, we would not let her have any money on
his account. After finishing his business in
structions, he gave us the following history.
Listen to it. Said he: " Four years ago, myself
and wife, and six other men with their wives,
came together in one vessel to this country.
Shortly after our arrival, family feuds and jeal
ousies became rife in the domestic circle of one
of the parties. The man and his wife sepa
rated. Soon their example was followed by an
other couple, and another, and so on, until all
the marriage ties of our company were broken,
except those that happily existed between my
self and wife. Left alone thus, and having been
true to each other so long, and through so many
opposing circumstances, I cherished the hope
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA. 41
that we might remain together, and be true to
the end. But, alas! my fond thoughts and anti
cipations have proved a sickly dream. My hopes
have been blasted, my happiness wrecked, and
my children disgraced and deserted. My wife,
whom I loved arid held dearer than all else on
earth, the partner of my life, has been basely
seduced. The last link that bound the remnant
of our seven families together has been severed,
and the consequence is, we are a disbanded and
disreputable people. Cursed be the day and the
incentive that started me to this damnable coun
try!" These were his own words, almost ver
batim ; and he uttered them as if partly speaking
to himself, and partly addressing me.
The total disregard of the marriage tie by the
majority of the men of California puts the hus
band, who is foolish enough to take his wife
with him to that country, in a painful and em
barrassing position. Should the wife be pretty,
she is the more liable to the persecution of atten
tions which will shock her if she be virtuous,
and flatter her into sin if she is not. She is sur
rounded at once by hosts of men, who spare
neither money, time, nor art to win her affec
tions from her husband. What wonder if they
often succeed ?
Female virtue or chastity, in the conventional
sense of the word, is known to every one, who is
familiar with the internal history of society, to
4*
42 SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
be a very complex idea. There are women who
are chaste only for want of the opportunity to be
otherwise. There are others who are kept chaste
by the force of public opinion, the dread of ex
posure, and the general fear of consequences ;
while a third class preserve their persons un
tainted by an innate purity of soul, which shrinks
instinctively from all indelicacy, and feels con
taminated by an unclean thought, and degraded
by a lustful look. It is not our business to in
quire into the relative proportion of women em
braced in these three classes. It is enough to
know that they exist, to appreciate the effect
which the society of California will exert upon
them.
As for the first class, it is not necessary to
speak of them. They fulfil their shameful des
tiny every where, and California only ripens
their depravity a little earlier. It is the second
class who suffer chiefly from the peculiar moral
atmosphere of the land of gold. In the Atlantic
States, hedged in by a healthy public opinion,
guarded by jealous laws, flattered into chastity
by the respectful attentions which that virtue
ever commands, they might retain to their dy
ing day that physical purity which satisfies the
great majority of husbands. In California, how
ever, these restraints are all removed. Public
opinion arrays itself on the side of vice ; the
laws are powerless to punish the sins of impu-
SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA. 43
rity ; and all the attentions the women receive
are based upon the hope of their ultimate fall.
How are such women to resist? Cut loose at
once from all those restraints which. kept them
in the right way, will they not dart off into the
devious paths of error and of sin ? It is impos
sible that it should he otherwise ; and the man
who would keep faithful to himself a wife of this
type in California, must have wealth enough to
gratify her most extravagant whims, time to
devote exclusively to watching her, eyes keener
than those of Argus, and cunning sharper than
that of Yidocq.
The third class — of whom, I regret to say, I
have met with but few in the Eureka State —
have also peculiar trials to undergo. Society in
that country is a reproduction, on a large scale,
of the morals of the courts of Charles II of
England and Louis XV of France. Vice only is
esteemed and lauded, virtue is treated as an idle
dream, an insulting pretence of superiority, or a
stupid folly beneath the notice of men of sense.
People do not believe in it — they scorn it, they
insult it; they consider it a mere avaricious at
tempt to dispose of venal charms above their
market value, so that the chaste woman has not
only to suffer the persecution of insulting pro
posals, but the doubt of that virtue which repels
her pursuers, and the sneers and scandal of a
depraved and debased community.
44 SOCIETY IN CALIFORNIA.
Many women, of conceded respectability in
California, seem to have come out there for the
exclusive purpose of selling their charms to the
highest bidder. Others, of more honest hearts,
have fallen victims to the peculiar seductions of
the place, but I must be allowed to pay a tribute
to the sex, even in this its degenerate condition.
Paradoxical as the statement may sound, it is
rigorously true that these very women have im
proved the morals of the community. Any one
who, like myself, has had the opportunity of
seeing California before and after the advent of
these women, must have been struck with the
decided improvement in society since their arri
val. They have undoubtedly banished much
barbarism, softened many hard hearts, and given
a gentleness to the men which they did not pos
sess before. What, then, might we not expect
from an influx of the chaste wives and tender
mothers that bless our other seaboard ?
SAN FRANCISCO. 45
CHAPTEK IV.
SAN FRANCISCO.
WE will now pay our respects to the occidental
metropolis of the United States, sometimes hon
ored with the title of the Queen City of the Pa
cific.
It has not been more truthfully remarked that
Paris is France, than that San Francisco is Cali
fornia. This is the grand mart in which all the
travel, news, capital, business, and, in fact, every
species of interest or employment that belongs
to the State is concentrated — the nucleus around
which every plan and project must first be de
veloped before it can receive life, vigor, system
and order. It is the fountain-head of all the
tributaries of trade and traffic that flow through
the State — the great trestle-board or chart of
operations to which all the journeymen repair
for designs and instructions to pursue their la
bors. It is the supreme tribunal and regulator
of affairs — the heart, the life, and the stay of the
State. Contrary to the general rule, in this case
the city supports the country, instead of the
country nurturing and sustaining the city ; and
this will continue to be the case so long as the
46 SAN FRANCISCO.
country is under the necessity of importing what
ever she requires for use. Until she becomes the
producer of the bulk or major part of that which
she consumes, San Francisco will retain this as
cendency. Every important movement, whether
of a public, private, political or commercial char
acter, receives its impetus from this point ; and
owing to its advantageous geographical position,
and the facilities and accommodation offered for
shipping, I think it may be safely said that San
Francisco will be a great city, although Califor
nia can never become a great State.
In order to particularize a little, and to furnish
the reader with a more systematic idea of the
city, we will imagine ourselves in a vessel, some
distance at sea, approaching the coast of Califor
nia in about the lat. of 37° 45' N. and Ion. 122°
25' W. This will bring us to the Golden Grate,
the entrance to the harbor. This entrance is a
narrow outlet, through which at least seven-
eighths of the entire waters of the State find
their way into the Pacific ocean. It can be so
thoroughly fortified that no maritime expedition
could ever force its way through it.
Passing through the Gate, we enter the bay,
and find it to be one of the largest and finest in
the world, dotted with several small islands, and
abounding in excellent fish of every variety.
Soon we arrive at Long Wharf; the steamer is
run alongside, and we are in the Eldorado of
SAN FRANCISCO. 47
modern times. Around us we beliold an innu
merable crowd of eager lookers-on, who have come
down from the city to meet their wives, lovers,
fathers, mothers, sisters, or brothers, as the case
may be. The crowd is probably one of the most
motley and heterogeneous that ever occupied
space. It is composed of specimens of humanity
from almost every clime and nation upon the hab
itable globe. Citizens from every State in the
Union, North and South, Americans, French,
English, Irish, Scotch, Germans, Dutch, Danes,
Swedes, Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Kus-
sians, Poles, Greeks, Chinese, Japanese, Hindoos,
Sandwich Islanders, New Zealanders, Indians,
Africans, and hybrids — all stand before us. We
see all grades and conditions, all ages and sexes,
all colors and costumes, in short, a complete hu
man menag erie.
By the sides of the wharves, and anchored in
different parts of the commodious and noble bay,
we see magnificent ships, barks and brigs from
every nation of commercial note. But of all
these majestic palaces of the deep, none are equal
in beauty of design and finish, in grace, sym
metry and elegance, or in excellence of quality,
to our own American clippers. Thinking that it
might be of interest to some of my readers,, as a
specimen of American marine or naval nomen
clature, I have taken the pains to collect a ma
jority of the names of these oaken chariots of old
48
SAN FRANCISCO.
Neptune that have from time to time entered the
Golden Gate, freighted with merchandise from
Atlantic ports. Some of the names are truly ap
propriate and poetic. Ten of them, as will he
seen, have, as a prefix, the word " Golden." I
have arranged them in the subjoined list in al
phabetical order :
Flying Eagle,
Flying Fish,
Game Cock,
Gazelle,
Gem of the Ocean,
Golden Age,
Golden City,
Golden Eagle,
Golden Fleece,
Golden Gate,
Golden Light,
Antelope,
Archer,
Atalanta,
Aurora,
Bald Eagle,
Belle of Baltimore,
Celestial,
Challenge,
Champion,
Climax,
Comet,
Contest,
Courser,
Dancing Feather,
Dashing Wave,
Dauntless,
Defiance,
Don Quixotte,
Eclipse,
Empress of the Seas,
Eureka,
Fearless,
Flying Arrow,
Flying Childers,
Flying Cloud,
Flying Dragon,
Flying Dutchman,
Golden Eacer,
Golden Eule,
Golden State,
Golden West,
Gray Eagle,
Gray Feather,
Gray Hound,
Herald of the Morning,
Highflyer,
Hornet,
Honqua,
Hurricane,
Ino,
Invincible,
John Gilpin,
King Fisher,
SAN FRANCISCO.
49
Mystery,
Sirocco,
National Eagle,
Skylark,
Neptune's Car,
Snowsquall,
Northern Crown,
Southern Cross,
Ocean Pearl,
Spitfire,
Ocean Spray,
Stag Hound,
Olive Branch,
Storm King,
Onward,
Sun Beam,
Oriental,
Surprise,
Orion,
Sword Fish,
Pampero,
Siren,
Peerless,
Tarn O'Shanter.,
Phantom,
Telegraph,
Queen of Clippers,
Tinqua,
Queen of the Pacific,
Tornado,
Queen of the Seas,
Trade Wind,
Rattler,
Typhoon,
Raven,
Viking,
Red Rover,
Water witch,
Reindeer,
Western Star,
Ring Leader,
Westward Ho !
Rip Van Winkle,
West Wind,
Rover's Bride,
Whirlwind,
Sea Serpent,
White Squall,
Seaman's Bride,
White Swallow,
Shooting Star,
Wide Awake,
Simoon,
Wild Duck,
Light Foot,
Wild Pigeon,
Living Age,
Wild Ranger,
Mandarin,
Winged Racer,
Matchless,
Wings of the Morning,
Messenger,
Witch of the Wave,
Meteor,
Witchcraft,
Monsoon, .
Wizard,
Morning Light,
Zoe.
Mountain Wave,
5
50 SAN FRANCISCO.
Leaving the vicinity of the shipping, we wend
our way towards the heart of the city. As we
proceed, we observe many objects of interest that
deserve more attention than we can bestow upon
them at this time.
Degradation, profligacy and vice confront us
at every step. Men are passing to and fro with
haggard visages and heads declined, muttering
to themselves, and looking as hungry and fero
cious as the prowling beasts of an Asiatic jungle.
Before us on either side, we see a group of boys,
clad in slouched hats, dirty shirts, ragged pants,
and shabby shoes, without socks, who have no
regular business. Sometimes they sell newspa
pers in the morning, and in the middle of the
day engage in various occupations, as, for in
stance, in peddling fruits, nuts and toys. At
this time several of them seem to have met by
chance, and they have stopped to discuss the
times and the progress of events. If we were
near enough, we should probably hear the right
hand party criticising Madame Anna Thillon's
last performance of the opera of La Somnambula,
or of the Daughter of the Kegiment ; and those
on the left giving their opinions upon the merits
of Madame Anna Bishop's last oratorio or ballad
concert. After disposing of all the actors and
actresses in music, opera, pantomime, tragedy
and comedy, or, perhaps, after bragging of the
successes of certain amours or other youthful de-
SAN FRANCISCO. 51
pravities, they rally together, and entering the
nearest groggery, one calls for a brandy smash,
another for a whiskey punch, a third for a gin
cocktail, and so on, until all are served. Then,
bowing to each other, they drink to the pros
perity of Young America, to which school they
all belong ; and dashing their glasses upon the
counter with as hideous and vociferous anathe
mas as ever passed the lips of an East India
pirate, they separate, segar in mouth, and return
to their respective avocations. Not unfrequently
these vicious youths repeat their potations so
often that they become thoroughly inebriated,
and may be seen quarreling, fighting, and lying
about the streets like hardened and inveterate
topers.
The bales and stacks of hay and straw piled
upon some of the wharves, deserve a passing
glance, since they form the sleeping apartments
of dozens of penniless vagabonds who are always
wandering about the city in idleness and misery,
and have no other place to rest, no bed to sleep
upon, except these out-door packages of proven
der, into which they creep for shelter and slum
ber during the long hours of the night.
Continuing our perambulations in a westerly
direction, we find ourselves at the foot of Com
mercial street, which runs almost due east and
west through the centre of the city. This street
we will pass up, paying attention as we proceed
52 SAN FRANCISCO.
to some of the irregularities and peculiarities
which distinguish San Francisco from other
cities, and California from other countries. The
first houses we see are from one to two stories in (
height, and are built of red wood, a very light
combustible kind of timber that resembles the
spruce or cedar. Oregon produces nearly all the
building materials out of which these and most
other houses and tenements in California are
constructed ; and I have been credibly informed
that the red wood and fir trees in that territory
grow from two hundred and fifty to three hun
dred feet high, and proportionally thick. In
some of the remote and comparatively inaccessi
ble parts of California these varieties of timber
are also found, and are said to acquire the same
gigantic bulk.
Most of the buildings in this part of the street
are tenanted by those mysterious and avaricious
characters whose arrival in this, as well as in
other places, is always as inexplicable as that of
the flies in summer, and whose exit is equally as
unceremonious as that of the swallows in winter
— no one knowing whence they came or whither
they go — the Jews, those nomades of civilization.
These erratic and money-loving descendants of
the ancient biblical patriarchs seem to follow in
the wake of all adventurous Christians and gen
tiles who wear those convenient articles of appa
rel denominated ready-made clothes. Preferring
SAN FRANCISCO. 53
to travel the way after it is once opened, they
are seldom known as the pioneers of a new coun
try; and claiming to be conservative in their
principles and opposed to aggression, they pro
fess disinclination to encroach upon foreign ter
ritory ; but after the battles are fought with the
forest, the wild beasts, or the biped enemy, and
peace and security established, they are ever
ready to come in and partake of whatever ad
vantages may have been attained. So it has been
in California, so it is yet, and so it will always
be here and every where else, with these home
less and migratory people.
They do not employ any of their time or means
in advancing the permanent and substantial in
terests of the country. None of them engage in
any sort of manual labor, except, perhaps, that
which is of the most trivial and unmanly nature,
such, for instance, as the manufacturing of jew
elry and haberdashery. Mining, the cultivation
of the soil, in a word, any occupation that re
quires exposure to the weather, is too fatiguing
and intolerable for them. The law requiring
man to get bread by the sweat of his brow, is an
injunction with which they refuse to comply. It
is a tax they are unwilling to pay — an enigma
beyond their comprehension — they will not sweat.
Dealing in ready-made clothing appears to be
their peculiar forte; and this is about the only
thing they follow in San Francisco — as I think
54 SAN FRANCISCO.
it may be said to be their principal pursuit
wherever they go, when they have not the means
to set themselves up as pawn-brokers or note-
shavers.
We observe that they have presumptuously
usurped or occupied from four to six feet of the
way on either side of the street, by building lit
tle wooden racks and projections in front of their
stores, for the purpose of making a more con
spicuous display of their marketable vestments
in dry weather. In any other place than Cali
fornia such unjust appropriations of the streets
of a city would not be tolerated ; but here, where
usurpation, illegality and confusion reign su
preme, no attention is paid to it.
It has ever been the misfortune of the Jew to
undergo the scorn and contumely of self-styled
Christians, and indeed of all nations. Since the
destruction of his ancient capital by the Komans,
he has been an outcast in the world, the stand
ing butt of the Gentile's scoffs. California is no
exception to this general rule. But little respect
is shown him there; and he is continually jeered
by having applied to him such annoying epithets
as Christ-killer, ham-hater and anti-pork-eater.
But few of them have signs over their doors, as
most men have who transact business upon their
honor and reputation. Some of them buy and
sell under assumed names ; but in general their
business is anonymously conducted. Bidding
SAN FRANCISCO. 55
adieu to the cosmopolitan issue of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and leaving them in the peace
able possession and enjoyment of their " too or
tree towsand monnies," we will take a glance at
matters of more importance.
Higher up the street we come to a better class
of buildings than the miserable little shops we
have just left, and we get a fair view of the per
manent and attractive architecture of San Fran
cisco — the brick and stone structures. Many of
these buildings are beautifully designed and
symmetrically proportioned, and have fire-proof
walls varying from sixteen to twenty-four inches
in thickness. They are usually- from two to four
stories in height. One hotel is five stories high,
being the tallest house in the State.
Probably no city in this country can boast of
buildings so substantial and thoroughly fire
proof as those of San Francisco. Besides making
the walls very thick, every care is taken to have
the doors, window-shutters and roofs equally
stout and incombustible ; nor is this precaution
at all surprising, when it is remembered that
this city alone has lost more than twenty-five
millions of dollars by fire.
Owing to the unusual dryness of the weather,
the prevalence of winds in summer, and the in
adequate supply of water possessed by the city,
all combustible matter is rendered so inflamma
ble that it is quite impossible to keep it from
56 SAN FRANCISCO.
burning after fire is once communicated ; hence
the necessity of using brick and stone instead of
wood. The amount of money invested in this
durable kind of improvement, as will be seen by
reference to the following statistics which I bor
row from the Herald, is something over thirteen
and a half millions of dollars — the number of
buildings being six hundred and thirty-eight :
No. of buildings. Value.
Mason street 4 $ 35,000
Powell street 13 156,500
Stockton street 35. ... 423,500
Dupont street 37 .... 450,000
Kearny street ....23. ... 535,000
Montgomery street 55.... 3,500,000
Sansome street 46 .... 1, 036, 000
Battery street 63 1,106,000
Front street 39 61 2, 000
Davis street 3.... 85,000
Geary street 2.... 16,000
Slitter street 3 30, 000
Bush street 5 144,000
Pine street 9 144,500
California street 47 1,230,750
Sacramento street 52.... 778,000
Commercial street 21 462,000
Clay street 28.... 593,000
Merchant street 15.... 348,500
Washington street 37 * 608,500
Jackson street 19.... 308,000
Pacific street 7 167,000
Broadway 10 145,000
Vallejo street 3 .... 36, 000
Green street 2.... 16,000
Union street 6.... 92,000
Greenwich street 3.... 35,000
SAN FRANCISCO. . 57
Lombard street 2.... 12,000
Chestnut street. 2 20,000
Francisco street 1.... 36,000
Market street 2.... 40,000
First street 5 76,000
Brannan street 10. . . . 50,000
Third street 4.... 44,500
Miscellaneous 55. ... 307,000
Total 638 $13,618, 750
It is a remarkable fact, however, that less than
half of these improvements have been made with
California gold. Ask the proprietors where they
got the money which they have expended in the
erection of these buildings, and they will tell
you it came from the Atlantic States and from
Europe. Those who occupy them, the merchants
and business men from New York, London, Paris,
Hamburg, Bremen, and other places, will testify
to this fact. California gold is to the world much
what Southern cotton is to the North ; it is not
retained at home to supply the wants of the peo
ple, to afford them employment, to enrich or em
bellish the country, but is passed into distant
hands, and afterwards brought back at a pre
mium. Thus the producers are continually
drained, and the commonwealth necessarily im
poverished by this unthrifty management.
These buildings are erected upon the most eli
gible and convenient sites, and form what is
properly termed the business portion of the city
— covering, probably, about one-sixth of its su-
58 SAN FRANCISCO.
perficies. Almost all of the residences or private
dwellings are built of wood, and are very frail
and inelegant. It is trie intention, however, of
a large number of the citizens to take down the
wood and substitute brick or stone, as soon as
they get able, if that is ever to be the case.
To acquaint ourselves with the character of the
speculators and business men in San Francisco
would be a curious and interesting task. They are
certainly the shrewdest rascals in the world, and
a straight-forward, honest man, who acts upon
principle and adheres to a legitimate system of
dealing, can no more cope with them than he can
fly. But notwithstanding their shrewdness, and
I might say, in some instances, their excellent
business qualifications, they exhibit less method
and system in their transactions than any class
of traders I ever saw. Whatever they do is done
in a helter-skelter, topsy-turvy sort of way, as
if they had just fallen out of their element, and
were scrambling to get back again. They never
take time to do a thing well, but are always going
and coming, or bustling about in such a manner,
that one would suppose they were making pre
parations for some calamitous emergency, rather
than attending to the every day routine of an
established occupation.
This restless disposition is characteristic of the
inhabitants of every part of the State ; the mind
seems all the time to be intently engagec1 upon
SAN FRANCISCO. 59
something in another place, and the body is
always pushing forward to overtake it.
Pursuing this digression a little further, it
may he remarked of San Francisco that, al
though she is indebted to California for her ex
istence, she is no longer dependent upon the State
for her support. San Francisco can now claim
to he as much the city of the Pacific, or of the
world, as of California. The commercial advan
tages she enjoys, her inviting harbor and central
position, are far superior in importance to any
benefit she is likely to receive from the interior.
The profits she will gain from the whale-fishing
fleet of the North Pacific, and from her trade
with the islands of the South Pacific, with China,
Oregon and Russian America, will place her in
a more prominent and enviable position than it
is possible for the State ever to attain.
Eeturning to our subject, we find ourselves as
far advanced on our way as Montgomery street.
The course of this street lies north and south
through the middle of the most beautiful and
wealthy part of the city ; it is, therefore, both the
Broadway and the Wall street of San Francisco.
Every phase and trait of life and character is
cognizable here. The dramatist who would study
human nature here, would have an opportunity
of striking out something new, instead of re
peating the old creations of his predecessors, for
surely never was there so varied a page spread
out before the eyes of man.
60 SAN FRANCISCO.
While in this vicinity, we may observe men,
who in the Atlantic States bore unblemished rep
utations for probity and honor, sinking into the
lowest depths of shame and degradation. Others,
whose moral characters are unobjectionable, have
been pecuniarily unfortunate, and are driven to
the necessity of engaging in the most menial
and humiliating employments. Among the lat
ter class, I might mention lawyers, who, to save
themselves from the severe pangs of actual want,
have been compelled to fish around the wharves
for crabs, and to enlist themselves in the petty
traffic of shrimps and tomcods. Ministers and
physicians fare no better. In a certain hotel in
this city, not long since, a lawyer was employed
as a regular runner ; in another, adjacent to it,
a physician was engaged to pare potatoes and
wash dishes ; while in a neighboring restaurant,
a preacher was hired to wait upon the customers
and clean off the tables. Now, does not every
reasonable man know that these professional men
did not voluntarily follow these inferior pursuits?
It was not a matter of choice with them.- They
could not help themselves ; they were out of mo
ney, out of employment, destitute of friends, and
were compelled to take advantage of the first op
portunity that offered of earning their daily bread.
Half the lowest and most servile situations or
offices in this and other cities in the State are
filled, often without any orther remuneration,
SAN FRANCISCO. 61
than board and lodging, by these unlucky and
depressed adventurers,
New as the country is, the dandy, that exquis
ite flower of a finished civilization, is not un
known. He may be seen at any time sunning his
external splendor on the side-walk,, and scorning
his more useful eotemporaries as loftily as though
he were promenading Broadway or the Champs
Elysees.
Together with bankers, stock-jobbers, and
other moneyed men, we observe that the stu
dents or disciples of Blackstone, Coke and Story
have selected this street for their offices. Con
sidering the heterogeneous composition of society
in this country, the loose and unsystematic trans
actions of every-day business, and the unsettled
state of public affairs, it will be readily perceived
that there is an incessant clashing of feeling and
interest, and that the result is a great deal of
strife and litigation. Disputes and difficulties
relative to real property, and spurious or imagi
nary claims, keep the court dockets continually
crowded ; and the lawyers have rich and abun
dant opportunities for the exercise of their foren
sic abilities.
For the first two or three years after the set
tlement of California by the Americans, all
attempts to organize or establish the civil law
proved fruitless ; and during this anarchical pe
riod no redress could be had, except by an appeal
6
62 SAN FRANCISCO.
to lynch-law, in which case death was sure to Ice
the fate of the criminal. Then the country had
no practitioners of law, except those whose tal
ents ranked far "below mediocrity; "but now the
San Francisco bar can boast of some of the most
profound and eminent jurists in the Union. It
is probable that they have been more fortunate
in accumulating wealth, than any other class of
men. Much of their business has been of such
a nature that they could mould it almost exclu
sively to their own interest, provided they felt
inclined to take such an advantage of their cli
ents ; and every body knows it would* be a very
unlawful thing in a lawyer to neglect himself.
They are the largest owners of real estate in the
city, and there is no species of property that
yields so great a profit as this., if properly man
aged.
Land titles are now as much contested as they
ever were, there being in some instances as many
as half a dozen claimants to a single lot. The
squatters cause most of these troubles. Gener
ally poor, and homeless, they settle upon any
vacant or unoccupied piece of ground that suits
them; and as there is a numerous body linked
together for mutual support and protection, it is
an extremely difficult matter for the half-sus
tained civil authorities to remove them If the
law were sufficiently forcible — if there were any
such thing in California as sovereign law, these
SAN FRANCISCO. 63
intruders would be brought to justice, and in
stead of the broils and butchery now so common
all over the country, peace, safety and good order
would exist. But as it is, no dependence can be
placed upon the administration of justice ; and
unless a man takes the law in his own hands,
and defends his person and property vi et armis,
he must tamely submit to whatever injury or in
dignity is offered him. Sometimes several squat
ters settle indiscriminately upon a single claim ;
and in these cases, feuds, animosities and conten
tions are sure to follow; but the difficulties are
soon arranged by a recourse to weapons, it being
generally conceded that he is the rightful owner
or claimant, who happens to possess the largest
bowie-knife and the truest aim with rifle or re
volver.
The grog-shops or tippling-houses constitute
the last but not the least prominent feature of
Montgomery street that we will notice at the
present time. The devil has certainly met with
more than usual success in establishing so many
of these, his recruiting officers, in this region ;
for we cannot visit any part of the state or city
without finding them always at our elbow. San
Francisco might allot one to every street corner
in the city, or in other words, four to every in
tersection of the streets, and still her number
would not be exhausted. It is astonishing what
an amount of time, labor and money is misspent
64 SAN FKANCISCO.
in tins nefarious traffic. Out of the two hundred
and fifty thousand inhabitants in California, from
twelve to fifteen thousand are exclusively en
gaged in this diabolical, but lucrative business ;
and, what is worse than all, nearly one-fourth of
the bars are attended by young females, of the
most dissolute and abandoned character, who
use every device to entice and mislead the youth
ful and unsuspecting. Women being somewhat
of a novelty here, their saloons are always
thronged with customers, many being induced
to patronize them merely for the sake of looking
at them. What a base prostitution of their des
tiny and mission ! Woman has come here, not
only to pander to man's vitiated appetites, but
also to create and foster in him unholier desires,
and, if possible, to lead him further astray than
he would have gone without her.
Lest we should fall in love with one of these
sirens, we will not go near them, but will enter
one of the saloons kept by a biped of our own
sex. Across the street is a large and fashionable
one; called the Blue Wing,
6e Where politicians most do congregate,
To let their tongues tang arguments of State."
Adding ourselves to the number of its inmates,
we find the governor of the State seated by
a table, surrounded by judges of the supreme
and superior courts, sipping sherry cobblers,
smoking segars, and reveling in all the delights
SAN FRANCISCO. 65
of an anticipated debauch. Another group of
less distinction in public affairs, but better known
to the proprietor because of their more frequent
and protracted visits, occupy a second table in
the back part of the room, where they are play
ing cards and carousing over a general assort
ment of distilled, fermented and malt liquors.
The proprietor himself is a red-nosed, jolly fel
low, of burgomaster proportions, generally in a
good humor, who treats his victim-patrons with
the utmost courtesy and politeness. He is every
man's man, and always has a smile and a smart
saying prepared for the entertainment of the by
standers. His two clerks, for he is unable to
wait upon all his customers himself, are equally
urbane in their deportment, and may be found
at their posts from six o'clock in the morning till
twelve o'clock at night, ready to flavor and tinc
ture mixed drinks, to prepare hot punches, and
to deal out low anecdote to vulgar idlers. On
the shelves and counters are dozens of labeled
decanters and bottles, filled with the choicest
liquors and artificial beverages that the world
produces ; other articles of similar use and
value are also kept for sale, and stored away in
their appropriate places. As a minute survey of
the bill of fare may not be uninteresting^ I here
with present it : —
6*
66
SAN FRANCISCO.
BILL OF FARE OF A CALIFORNIA GROGGERY.
Bowie Knives
Scotch AJe,
English Porter,
American Brandy,
Irish Whiskey,
Holland Gin,
Jamaica Rum,
French Claret,
Spanish Sack,
German Hockamore,
Persian Sherbet,
Portuguese Port,
Brazilian Arrack,
Swiss Absynthe,
East India Acids,
Spirit Stews and Toddies,
Lager Beer,
New Cider,
Soda Waters,
Mineral Drinks,
Ginger Pop,
Usquebaugh,
Sangaree,
Perkin,
Mead,
Metheglin,
Eggnog,
Capilliare,
Kirschwassen,
Cognac,
Rhenish Wine,
Sauterne,
Malaga,
Muscatel,
and Pistols.
Burgundy,
Haut Bersa3,
Champagne,
Maraschino,
Tafia,
Negus,
Tog,
Shambro,
Fisca,
Virginia,
Knickerbocker,
Snifter,
Exchange,
Poker,
Agent,
Floater,
IOU,
Smasher,
Curacoa,
Ratafia,
Tokay,
Calcavalla,
Alcohol,
Cordials,
Syrups,
Stingo,
Hot Grog,
Mint Juleps,
Gin Sling,
Brick Tops
Sherry Cobblers,
Queen Charlottes>
Mountaineers,
SAN FRANCISCO. 67
Brandy Smashes, Flip Flap,
Whiskey Punch, One-eyed Joe,
Cherry Bounce, Cooler,
Shamperone, Cocktails,
Drizzles, Tom and Jerry,
Our Own, Moral Suasion,
Eed Light, Jewett's Fancy,
Hairs, Ne Plus Ultra,
Horns, Citronella Jam,
Whistler, Silver Spout,
White Lion, Veto,
Settler, Deacon,
Peach and Honey, Ching Ching,
Whiskey Skin, Sergeant,
Old Sea Dog, Stone Wall,
Peg and Whistle, Rooster Tail,
Eye Opener, Vox Populi,
Apple Dam, Tug and Try,
Segars and Tobacco.
The annual consumption of beer, wines and
liquors in this State exceeds five millions of gal
lons, a vast deal of which is retailed at extraordi
narily remunerative rates. All of the first class
establishments, I mean those that deal in good
qualities, charge twenty-five cents for every drink
or dram they sell ; but an adulterated article, of
which there is always an abundant supply in
market, can be procured at about one half that
price. In some of the most popular and respect
able saloons, genuine articles are always kept on
hand for the benefit and accommodation of those
who are willing to pay for a delicious (?) draught.
I may not be a competent judge, but this much
68 SAN FRANCISCO.
I will say, that I have seen purer liquors, better
segars, finer tobacco, truer guns and pistols,
larger dirks and bowie knives, and prettier
courtezans here, than in any other place I have
ever visited ; and it is my unbiased opinion
that California can and does furnish the best
bad things that are obtainable in America.
SAN FRANCISCO. 69
CHAPTER Y.
SAN FRANCISCO — CONTINUED.
WE will now look into Clay street, which
intersects Montgomery, and runs parallel with
Commercial. Next to Montgomery, this is the
most fashionable street in the city ; the large
establishments where retailers deal in ladies'
and gentlemen's dress goods being situated upon
it. The side-walks are narrow, and generally
crowded to such an excess as to render it really
difficult and tiresome to travel them. To the
ladies, shopping on this street is especially an
noying and tedious ; for they are designedly
balked or hindered in their course by a set of
well-dressed vagabonds, who promenade the
trestoir from morning to night for the sole pur
pose of staring in their faces.
The following little circumstance, which oc
curred here about a year ago, will show that,
however culpable it may be in those who make
a regular business of gazing intently in ladies'
faces, the act is sometimes induced by a natural
and inoffensive regard for the opposite sex. A
very clever married lady, whose notions and
ideas of things were somewhat akin to those of
SAN FRANCISCO.
the Merry Wives of Windsor, espied a gentle
man gazing very earnestly in her face, when she
turned to him, notwithstanding they were both
on the street, and asked, " Why do you stare at
me so hard, sir ? Have I done you any injury ?"
" Oh ! no, madam," replied he ; "I assure you
you have not harmed me in the least. But par
don me ; I have been in the mines for the last
two years, and it has been so long since I saw a
lady, that I must own my admiration of you has
compelled me to be somewhat rude in my scru
tiny of your charms." The lady was satisfied
with the complimentary explanation, and since
that time has been more resigned to her fate,
and better contented to endure the steady stare
of the public.
The gambling-houses cannot be overlooked in
a true sketch of life in San Francisco. One of
the largest and most frequented of these, called
the Diana, stands a few doors above us. The
building extends, through the entire block, from
Clay to Commercial street, and has a front pro
portionate to its depth. The doors, which lead
into it from either street, are kept wide open
from nine in the morning till twelve at night,
during which time the hall or saloon is gener
ally filled to overflowing with lazy men, of lit
tle principle, whose chief employment consists
in devising some sinister plans of procuring a
livelihood without work. On one side is a bar,
SAN FRANCISCO. 71
attended by a lady, assisted by three young white
men and two negroes. This is largely patronized
by the occhpants of the saloon — one-fifth of them
drinking because they have been lucky, and the
other four-fifths drinking because they have been
unlucky. Around the walls are suspended showy
paintings and engravings, some of them of the
size of life, representing nude women in every
imaginable posture of obscenity and indecency.
Seated around numerous tables, covered with
cloth or velvet, and finished expressly for gam
bling purposes, are some rare specimens of
greedy speculators in the folly of their fellow-
men. The proprietor of the house rents his
tables to professional gamblers at a stipulated
sum per month, with the condition that he is to
receive a certain per centage on the net proceeds
of their swindling operations. Usually, two
gamblers form a copartnership, hire one table,
and station themselves opposite each other, so
that each can understand every manoeuvre and
secret sign of the other ; and when a good oppor
tunity for cheating or defrauding presents itself
to one of them, the other is always prepared to
divert the attention of the audience or of the in
terested party from his partner's motions. Every
possible variety of gaming that can be accom
plished by cards and dice is practiced here ; and
every false and dishonest trick is resorted to
(often with more than anticipated success) to
72 SAN FRANCISCO.
fleece ignorant men of their purses. Lying on
the top of each table is a pile of gold and silver
coin, denominated the bank, the size arid amount
of which, as a matter of course, depend alto
gether upon the wealth of the proprietors. I
have said "the bank" is composed of gold and
silver coin ; it must be one or other, or both of
these metals in some shape — whether in dust,
ingots, bullion, or coin ; for these constitute the
sole recognized currency of the State, there being
no paper money or bank-notes in circulation.
At one of the tables we observe two proprie
tors, as before described. One of them is a lank,
cadaverous fellow, with a repulsive expression of
low cunning, full of hypocrisy and deceit, taci
turn in disposition, unengaging in manners, who
was formerly a Baptist preacher in Connecticut.
The other has a vinous, fat, and jolly counte
nance, is open-faced, enjoys a joke, is lively,
laughs at his partner for being so melancholy,
is affable and courteous to strangers, talks a
great deal, as might be expected, since, before
he came to California, he was considered one of
the most promising young lawyers in Mississippi.
The proprietors of another table are two old
gentlemen of " three score years and ten," whose
white hairs and wrinkled brows would seem to
belong to a more honorable station in life than
that assigned them by destiny. A third table is
used by a couple of Spaniards, whose scowling
SAN FKANCISCO. "73
brows and treacherous eyes indicate that they
are better qualified for the transaction of in
famous and atrocious deeds, than for fair dealing
or magnanimous behaviour. A Jew and Jewess
have command of the fourth table ; the fifth is
under the direction and management of a French
gentleman and lady ; a young American girl and
her paramour have charge of the sixth ; while
the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and so on, are
presided over by sundry sorts of wicked spirits,
unworthy of being named. Octogenarians, youth
ful and middle-aged men, married and unmarried
women, boys and girls, white and black, brown
and copper-colored, the quarrelsome and the
peaceable, all associate together ; and, at times,
as might be expected, fight, maim, and kill each
other with the same indifference with which
people generally pursue their daily occupations.
I neglected to mention before, that, in some
conspicuous point of the principal houses of this
character, there is generally erected a stage or
platform, upon which a company of musicians
perform at intervals of a quarter of an hour.
This they are employed to do for the purpose of
enticing unsuspecting strangers and passers-by.
Like those engaged in the liquor traffic, these
gamblers are a public nuisance,, a burden upon
society. They do no sort of profitable manual or
mental labor ; yet the community grants them a
license to abuse the public, and to debase them-
74 SAN FRANCISCO.
selves. Their occupation being a discreditable
and dishonorable one, it robs them of that degree
of happiness and respectability which naturally
belongs to every industrious and upright man.
Like a deadly contagion, they blast and destroy
all with whom they come in contact.
Thousands of these swindlers live by their ex-
pertness in gambling and tricks of legerdemain.
Dissipated, reckless, and restless, they rove from
place to place, rarely acquiring decent habits or
becoming permanent citizens. They are, never
theless, great lovers and admirers of women ;
and most of them make it a special branch of
their business to cultivate a due share of female
acquaintance. But we will now bid adieu to the
blacklegs, and return again to the street, merely
stopping a minute or two, as we pass out, to
listen to the enchanting strains of " Katy Dar
ling," or " Lilly Dale," played by the brass band
in attendance.
What is here called the plaza, or park, which
occupies one square between Washington, Clay,
Kearney and Brenham streets, now lies before
us ; but as it is nothing more nor less than a
cow-pen, inclosed with unplaned plank, we will
say but little about it. In the middle is planted
a tall liberty-poll, near which is erected a rude
rostrum for lynch-lawyers and noisy politicians.
If there is a tree, or a bush, or a shrub, or a sprig
of grass, or any thing else in or about it that is
SAN FRANCISCO. 5
green, or that bears the slightest similitude to
vegetation, nobody has ever yet seen it ; and, as
a pleasure-ground, it is used only by the four-
footed denizens of the city. On the east side of
this delectable public square is the California
Exchange, before the steps of which are stationed
from fifteen to twenty French peasants, who pur
sue no business save that of blacking boots.
Most of them have acquired or adopted this or
namental occupation since they left La Belle
France.
A few doors above the Exchange stands the
City Hall, which was formerly the Jenny Lind
Theatre — a very neat stone structure, but wholly
unsuited for the purpose to which it is now ap
plied. The parties who built it for a theatre
soon ascertained that it was a bad speculation,
and became considerably involved in debt ; and,
to save themselves, and make the best of a bad
bargain, they bribed a majority of the aldermen
to purchase it for a City Hall, at several thou
sand dollars above the original cost.
In this way a monstrous swindle was perpe
trated upon the community, by fraudulently ap
propriating the public money to the use and
benefit of private individuals. But the fraud
could not be remedied ; the city officers had been
elected as the representatives of the citizens,
whose rights and powers had been vested in
them, and if they were so base as to prove recre-
76 SAN FRANCISCO.
ant to their trust, the penalty had to be paid by
their constituents. They consummated their cor
rupt bargain for the theatre, the properties were
removed, and, after the expenditure of much
time, labor, and money, in making alterations
and additions, the building was converted into
what now stands before us — the City Hall of
San Francisco. The principals in this iniquitous
transaction enriched themselves and their accom
plices at the expense of the city treasury, suffer
ing nothing except the denunciations and execra
tions of an abused and outraged public. This is
a fair sample of the disposition that is made of
the public funds throughout the State. Sheriffs,
treasurers, and tax-collectors, in the majority of
cases, are expected to decamp with all the money
in their hands, or to embezzle a part of it ; and
it has passed into a proverb, that no honest man
can be elected to a city, county, or state office in
California.
Were we to remain an hour or two in this
vicinity, we should probably see a police officer
rolling " a perpetual hymn to the Deity" on a
wheelbarrow — for that, we believe, is Poe's eu
phemism for a woman. Intoxication is quite
common among the ladies of this particular sec
tion of San. Francisco, and the wheelbarrow, or
some other vehicle, must be employed to convey
them to the station-house, on account of the total
failure of their natural organs of locomotion.
On the north side of the Plaza are some of the
SAN FRANCISCO. 77
best French, eating-houses in the State. One of
them, the Cafe du Commerce, which, translated
into English, means Commercial Coffee-house, is
quite famous for its choice gastronomy. A better
dinner can be procured here than in an American
house, because the French are better cooks,
cleaner in their culinary arrangements and pre
parations, more polite and attentive to their
guests, and less accustomed to adulterating their
provisions. Dinner, without wine, costs two
dollars for each person ; but with it, from three
to five dollars, according to quality and quantity
consumed. The stranger cannot promise himself
any thing very sumptuous or delicious in the
way of eatables, even in the first-class hotels.
He can get good wines and liquors, prime cigars
and tobacco, and other accessory articles of su
perior quality ; but the fare at best is very in
different.
All the more substantial articles of food, such
as flour, meal, beef, pork, and butter, are im
ported from Europe or brought from the Atlantic
States. As these provisions are sent around by
Cape Horn, they must pass twice through the
tropics before they arrive in San Francisco ; con
sequently, most of them become more or less sour,
musty, or rancid, which, as we all know, renders
them not only repugnant to the palate, but also
injurious to health. But, notwithstanding their
transportation of from seventeen to twenty thou-
7*
78 SAN FRANCISCO.
sand miles upon the Atlantic and Pacific oceans,
old or fresh, sound or unsound, they must be
sold, served up, cooked, eaten. They cannot be
wasted or thrown away, for that would be a
losing business, and people did not come to Cali
fornia to lose money, but to make it ; nor does
it matter to them whether they make it by the
sale of sweet flour or by the vending of putrid
meats.
Sour flour is sold at reduced prices to the
bakers, who mix it with a larger quantity — say
twice as much — of that which is sweet; then it
is manufactured into bread, delivered to the res
taurants, and devoured by the populace. The
flour put up by the Gallego and Haxall mills, of
.Richmond, Virginia, receives less damage in its
transit through the torrid zone than any other —
at least, this is. the reputation it enjoys in Cali
fornia, those brands being more highly prized
and more eagerly sought after by bakers and
consumers. Next to the Richmond, the Freder-
icksburg and Georgetown flour is most in de
mand. How it is that the flour manufactured in
the localities just named, or in the vicinity of
those localities, retains its pure and primitive
qualities better and longer than that produced
at the North, which, with few exceptions, spoils
on the way, I am unable to say — unless, perhaps,
the latitude or climate imparts to it a healthier
condition or a preservative principle.
SAN FRANCISCO. T9
Within the last one or two years, considerable
quantities of the cerealia have been cultivated
in the low lands and valleys of this State, and a
few flouring mills have been erected, which are
now in operation ; but the proprietors mix their
grists so much with rye and barley, that the flour
is less marketable than it would be if it was
ground out of genuine wheat. To give character
to their spurious compound, they practice a
double imposition, by packing it in empty Gal-
lego and Haxall barrels, which are clandestinely
purchased and kept in readiness for the purpose.
Thus they steal the reputation of the Virginia
brands; and, by placing their falsely-labeled,
inferior flour in the hands of their rascally
agents, they succeed in effecting large sales of it
to those who are not particular in their exam
inations. Though the fraud is easily detected
when the barrels are opened, there is no chance
of obtaining redress ; for, in most cases, these
deceptions are carried out in such an indirect or
complicated way, through factors and agents,
that it is too difficult a matter to trace them to
their source. If, however, the guilty parties are
discovered, it amounts to nothing ; because here,,
where the laws are so loosely and imperfectly
administered, where all strong persons do as they
please, and weak ones must do as they can, it
costs more to adjust a wrong than it does to
endure it.
80 SAN FKANCTSCO.
This system of cheating and adulteration is
carried out in all ramifications of business ; and
if a man is not continually upon the alert, he is
sure to suffer the penalty of his negligence, by
having a worse thing than he bargained for
thrust upon him, and that, too, without redress.
To return from our digression : although the
French are somewhat more philosophic and sci
entific in their preparation of viands, we perceive
no material difference between their mode of liv
ing and our own. They eat more slowly, are
more graceful in their deportment at table, and
seem to enjoy their meals as a feast, rather than
to devour them as a necessary repast. Wine is
their principal drink, morning, noon and night ;
and dinner to them, without it, would be as in
sipid and unpalatable as breakfast to our Amer
ican grand-mothers without coffee. After the
main part of the meal is finished, it is customary
with them to sip a small cup of strong coffee, as
a sort of accompaniment to their dessert. This,
however, they do not flavor with cream, as we
do, but use Cognac, burnt with sugar, instead.
It is an unusual thing for them to drink water
at any time, except when mixed with wine. I
have the pleasure of the acquaintance of a very
worthy and estimable French gentleman, who
assured me that he had taken but one drink of
crude water in four years, " and then," he added,
" it make me sick."
SAN FRANCISCO. 81
CHAPTEK VI.
SAN FRANCISCO — CONCLUDED.
AFTER a night's lodging in one of the human-
stables of San Francisco, called here, for polite
ness' sake, hotels, we feel sufficiently refreshed
to continue our reconnoissance of the city. It
will probably be as well for us to retrace our
steps to the south side of the Plaza, where we
re-enter Clay street, and ascend the long, high
hill that forms the western boundary of the city.
Before proceeding far, we come to a pistol gal
lery, on the left, owned and conducted by one
Dr. Natchez, a short, thick-set " son of thunder,"
who keeps on hand the best assortment of duel
ing apparatus that the world affords. The pro
prietor's real cognomen is, I think, Brown, Smith
or Jones ; but every body calls him Natchez, be
cause he came from the town of that name in
Mississippi. He knows all about guns, pistols,
and ammunition ; is an excellent shot — can hit
a bull's eye or a man's eye every time he pulls a
trigger ; and never fails to vindicate his honor
when it is assailed. In the opinion of the duel
ist, he is emphatically an honor-saving man ;
and in matters of personal difficulty and dis-
82 SAN FRANCISCO.
pute, there is no one so capable of giving suit
able advice, or so well prepared to supply the
necessary instruments of polite slaughter, as Dr.
Natchez.
Among the fiery spirits of this Western Me
tropolis, the slightest affront, even though it
may be purely accidental, is considered a wound
to dignity curable only by an application of
Colt's revolver to the breast of the transgressor ;
and as Dr. Natchez enjoys the reputation of pre
paring the best remedies for wounded honor, all
those afflicted with the disorder apply to him for
relief. Laying before him their ailments and
grievances, he will at once say the cause must be
removed; the offending party is waited upon
with a challenge, which is accepted ; and the
Doctor, with commendable impartiality, super
intends the preparation of the weapons for both
parties.
Passing on towards the summit of the hill
before us, we soon arrive at an elevation from
which we have a clear and uninterrupted view
of the whole city, which contains, it is supposed,
from forty-five to fifty thousand inhabitants —
about one-fifth of the entire population of the
State. The original water-boundary of the city,
on the east, was in the form of a crescent ; but,
the bay being shallow in this particular part, its
shape has been changed, by filling it in with
sand from the adjacent hills. Owing to the
SAN FRANCISCO. 83
steep declivities of the original site of the city,
this encroachment was demanded and effected
by those engaged in commercial pursuits, who
wanted level ground. The land thus made,
being the most eligibly situated and convenient
to the wharves, is far more valuable than that
of natural formation. At first, however, heavy
losses were sustained, in consequence of the in
secure foundations of most of the buildings, some
of which gave way entirely, and had to be re
constructed. Now, however, they understand it
better, and take special care to pile and plank
the foundation thoroughly before the superstruc
ture is erected.
The process of filling up these water-lots was
very irregular ; and, as the work advanced,
several ponds of water, which afterwards became
stagnant, were cut off by these means from the
ocean. In other places, the tide receded from
the shallow parts of the bay, and from the sur
face thus left bare, as well as from the ponds last
mentioned, there arose large quantities of highly
offensive and almost suffocating gas, which ob
literated all the painted signs in the immediate
vicinity. Strange to say, the effluvium exhaled
from these foul ponds and marshy places did not
produce disease. The wind blew it off or coun
teracted its insalubrious effects.
Viewing tho city from our present elevated
position, we look in vain for any verdure. In-
84 SAN FKANOISCO.
deed, there is not a shade-tree in San Francisco.
Nor, if we search the outskirts of the city, can
we find either trees, coppice, vegetation, or any
green thing whereon to feast the eyes. The
earth all around us is as sterile and unproduc
tive as a public highway. We feel a void, as
though a friend were absent. Nature wears a
repulsive and haggard expression. Oh ! how
few there are amongst us who duly appreciate
trees, those noble earth-fingers that point to
heaven and uplift the mind to God ! According
to my judgment, there is a greater combination
of the beautiful and the useful in a forest oak or
hickory, than in all the gay exotics which are so
carefully reared by the florist. I entertain no
doubt that a large, luxuriant elm would attract
more attention in San Francisco than a men
agerie or circus ; and it is a wonder that some
ingenious and speculative Yankee has not, ere
this, manufactured one out of soft pine and dyed
muslin for public exhibition. As an instance of
the feeling that exists here on account of the lack
of trees, I may cite the exclamation of a distin
guished gentleman with whom I once had the
honor to dine. Said he, (his wife at the time
being in North Carolina,) " I long for the society
of trees almost as much as I do for that of my
wife; and if she and a big oak could now be
placed side by side within my reach, I scarcely
know which of the two I should embrace first!"
SAN FRANCISCO. 85
Many other natural and artificial deficiencies
and peculiarities, for which San Francisco is
famous, might, with propriety, he considered
before we quit our high retreat ; hut we will
now conclude our panoramic sketch, and de
scend into the more densely settled part of the
city.
86 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
THE national habits and traits of Chinese char
acter, to which they cling with uncompromising
tenacity in this country, are strikingly anoma
lous and distinct from those of all other nations.
There is a marked identity ahout their features,
person, manners and costume, so unmistakable
that it betrays their nationality in a moment. So
stereotyped are even the features and form of
this singular people, that we cannot fail in their
identity in the rudest cut that pretends to repre
sent them. Particular fashions and modes of
dress give them no concern whatever. One com
mon rule seems to guide them in all their per
sonal decorations. All their garments look as if
they were made after the same pattern, out of
the same material, and from the same piece of
cloth. In short, the similarity in their garb,
features, physical proportions and deportment
is so great that one Chinaman looks almost ex
actly like another, but very unlike anybody else.
Let us now place ourselves in front of one of
these xanthous children of the flowery land, and
survey him somewhat minutely. Every one is
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA. 8T
acquainted with his method of dressing his head,
which is closely shaven, except a small spot on.
the crown, about the size of the palm of the
hand. Into this slender lock of hair thus per
mitted to grow upon the apex of his cranium,
he interweaves long strands of sahle silk, which
form a cue that nearly reaches the ground. His
hat, which possesses a brim of enormous width,
is manufactured out of ratan or bamboo splints,
and has an indentation made in the top expressly
for the accommodation of his cue. He very sel
dom, however, wears this appendage tucked up
in his hat, but generally allows it to trail about
his back and legs, as young girls sometimes do
ribbons. This pig-tail he loves as he does his
life ; and he would as willingly have his right
arm amputated as part with it. Notwithstanding
he carries it behind him, it is his character — the
badge of his respectability ; and Boodh or Josh
alone could prevail upon him to cut it off. His
coat, which is fashioned very much like a pea-
jacket, is made of crow-colored cotton cloth, of
flimsy texture, and buttons loosely around him
as low down as convenience will permit. His
pantaloons, the legs of which are a trifle smaller
than a medium-sized meal-bag, are composed of
the same stuif as his coat, and terminate at about
the middle of his shins. His shoes or sandals —
minus socks, for he never wears any — are hewn
out of solid wood, and taper towards the toe
88 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
nearly to a sharp point. As lie moves along be
fore us in these uncouth habiliments — his feet
inclosed in rude wooden shoes, his legs bare, his
breeches loosely flapping against his knees, his
skirtless, long-sleeved, big-bodied pea-jacket,
hanging in large folds around his waist, his
broad-brimmed chapeau rocking carelessly on
his head, and his cue suspended and gently
sweeping about his back — I can compare him to
nothing so appropriately as to a tadpole walking
upon stilts ! Ludicrous and absurd as this com
parison may appear to some, no one who has
seen him will say that it is incorrectly applied.
Such, then, is something of the outline of the
Chinaman ; and, with but few exceptions, may
be considered as illustrative of the entire race as
seen in California. The few exceptions are the
mandarins, who robe themselves in long figured
gowns, and some of the wealthier classes, who
wear silk and satin goods, instead of cotton
fabrics. But the description given above will
suit at least nine out of every ten.
According to the most reliable estimates, there
are at the present time about forty thousarul
Chinese in California ; and every vessel that
arrives from the Celestial Empire brings addi
tional immigrants. From a fourth to a fifth of
these reside in San Francisco; the balance are
scattered about over various parts of the State —
mostly in the mines. A few females — say one to
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA. 89
every twelve or fifteen males — are amoDg the
number ; among these good morals are unknown,
they have no regard whatever for chastity or
virtue. You would he puzzled to distinguish
the women from the men, so inconsiderable are
the differences in dress and figure. The only
apparent difference is, that they are of smaller
stature and have smoother features. They are
not generally neat in their outward habit ; but
on certain occasions, particularly on holidays,
the elite doff their every-day costume, equip
themselves in clean attire, and braid their hair
into a kind of crest, which, as it is worn upon
the head, bears a strong resemblance to the tuft
of feathers upon the noddle of a peacock. Those
who are from the extreme northern parts of the
Chinese empire, are the ugliest and most rugged
featured human beings I ever saw.
What the majority of them do for a liveli
hood is more than I can tell, as they have but
few visible occupations. The laundry business
affords those who live in San Francisco, and
other cities, the most steady and lucrative em
ployment; and in passing their premises, the
eye is often attracted to such " Celestial" signs
as the following : " Kum Kee. "Washer." " Ahi
Fe. Launder." " Wong Cho. Washing and
Ironing — $3 per Doz." Catching and drying
fish is another business in which they engage,
but do not carry it on extensively ; others are
8*
90 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
engaged in mercantile pursuits ; and here and
there you will find one in a public house, filling
the place of a cook or a waiter. But, though
most of them are held as mere slaves by their
wealthier countrymen, it goes desperately against
the grain with them to take the situation of ser
vants among white people, as they are consti
tutionally haughty and conceited, and believe
themselves to be superior to us in all respects.
So exalted an opinion have they of themselves
that they think they are the most central, civil
ized and enlightened people on earth, and that
they are the especial favorites of heaven — hence
they are sometimes called " Celestials." They
look upon us and all other white-skinned nations
as " outside barbarians/' and think we are un
duly presumptuous if we do not pay them hom
age ! Out of the cities, more of them are engaged
in mining than in any other occupation ; but, as
I intimated before, the majority of them lead a
very inactive and unproductive life. Much phys
ical exertion, however, is not required to secure
them a maintenance ; for their aliment, if pos
sible, costs them less than their dress, which is
by no means expensive. Indeed, so sparing are
they in their meals, that it is seldom they eat
any thing but boiled rice ; and even this, which
they bring with them from China, is very infe
rior to that raised in the Carolinas. It is an
amusing spectacle to see one of them feeding on
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA. 91
this grain. Holding a bowl of the rice in sucli
a manner that the nearer edge of it almost
touches his chin, and grasping two chopsticks,
about the shape and size of penholders, between
his ringers and thumb, he feeds himself with a
lively and dexterous motion of the hand, not very
unlike a musician playing upon a jewsharp, and
continues the feat without intermission until he
has finished. He seems to cram the food down
his throat with these chopsticks, rather than let
it undergo the usual process of mastication. The
ardor and haste with which he executes the per
formance, remind one of a provident farmer
when he pitches new-made sheaves of provender
into a hay-mow, just previous to a thunder-storm.
The Americans salute them all indiscrimi
nately by the easy and euphonious appellation
of " John," to which they reply as readily as if
they were addressed by their true names ; and
they return the compliment by applying the
same term to us, equally indiscriminately. A
great number of them think " John" is the only
name white people have ; and if they have occa
sion to speak to an American or European wo
man, they call her " John," too ! But their own
vernacular cognomens, like their language and
habits, sound certainly very odd to occidental
ears. The following may be taken as fair speci
mens : Kak Chow, Chum Fi, Yah Wah, Si Ta,
Horn Fong, Dack Mung, Gee Foo. They are de-
92 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
plorably addicted to wasting time in games of
chance ; and there are a dozen and a half gam
bling houses in San Francisco under their especial
control and direction. But neither Americans
nor Europeans participate in the sports or for
tunes of their tables ; they themselves are the
exclusive gamblers in these eighteen dens of ras
cality. Their money is chiefly composed of brass
and copper coins, stamped with the characters
of their alphabet. Hardened rice and stamped
slices of pasteboard are also current among them
as mediums of exchange.
Is this Chinese immigration desirable ? I
think not ; and, contrary to the expressed opin
ions of many of the public prints throughout
the country, contend that it ought not to be en
couraged. It is not desirable, because it is not
useful ; or, if useful at all, it is so only to them
selves — not to us. No reciprocal or mutual bene
fits are conferred. In what capacity do they con
tribute to the advancement of American interests?
Are they engaged in any thing that adds to the
general wealth and importance of the country ?
Will they discard their clannish prepossessions,
assimilate with us, buy of us, and respect us?
Are they not so full of duplicity, prevarica
tion and pagan prejudices, and so enervated
and lazy, that it is impossible for them to make
true or estimable citizens ? I wish their advo
cates would answer me these questions ; if they
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA. 93
will do it satisfactorily, I will interrogate them
no further. Under the existing laws of our gov
ernment, they, as well as all other foreigners,
are permitted to work the mines in California as
long as they please, and as much as they please,
without paying any thing for the privilege, ex
cept a small tax to the State. Even this has but
recently been imposed, and half the time is either
evaded or neglected. The general government,
though it has sacrificed so much blood and trea
sure in acquiring California, is now so liberal
that it refuses to enact a law imposing a tax
upon foreign miner's ; and, as a matter of course,
it receives no revenue whatever from this source.
But the Chinese are more objectionable than
other foreigners, because they refuse to have
dealing or intercourse with us ; consequently,
there is no chance of making any thing of them,
either in the way of trade or labor. They are
ready to take all they can get from us, but are
not willing to give any thing in return. They
did not aid in the acquisition or settlement of
California, and they do not intend to make it
their future home. They will not become per
manent citizens, nor identify their lives and in
terests with the country. They neither build
nor buy, nor invest capital in any way that con
duces to the advantage of any one but them
selves. They have thousands of good-for-nothing
gewgaws and worthless articles of virtu for sale,
94 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
and our people are foolish enough to buy them ;
but their knowledge of the laws of reciprocity is
so limited, that they never feel in any need of
American commodities.
Though they hold themselves aloof from us,
contemn and disdain us, they have guaranteed
to them the same privileges that we enjoy ; and
are allowed to exhaust the mines that should be
reserved for us and our posterity — that is, if
they are worth reserving at all. Their places
could and should be filled with worthier immi
grants — Europeans, who would take the oath of
allegiance to the country, work both for them
selves and for the commonwealth, fraternize with
us, and, finally^ become a part of us. All things
considered, I cannot perceive what more right or
business these semi-barbarians have in Califor
nia than flocks of blackbirds have in a wheat-
field ; for, as the birds carry off the wheat with
out leaving any thing of value behind, so do the
Confucians gather the gold, and take it away
with them to China, without compensation to
us who opened the way to it.
Still they are received with a flattering wel
come. They are taken by the hand with an ob
sequious grasp, as if their favor was earnestly
desired ; and the impression is at once made
upon their minds, that not only their own pre
sence, but also that of as many more of their
kindred as can be persuaded to come, is coveted
THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA. 95
by us. Their mining implements and boots (the
only articles of merchandise they purchase from
us) are sold to them at even less rates than to
our own countrymen, more from curiosity than
from any other cause. For some unaccountable
reason, they are treated with a degree of defer
ence and civility which is really surprising. To
humor their arrogance and presumption, I have
frequently seen Americans, in crowded places,
relinquish the side-walk to them, and betake
themselves to the middle of a rough and muddy
street. Moreover, they are petted as if they were
really what they preposterously fancy themselves
— the most elevated and exalted of the human
race.
But I am inclined to look upon them as an in
auspicious element of society — a seed of political
dissensions. They have neither the strength of
body nor the power of mind to cope with us in
the common affairs of life ; and as it seems to be
a universal law that the stronger shall rule the
weaker, it will be required of them, ere long, to
do one of two things, namely — either to succumb,
to serve us, or to quit the country. Which will
they do ? Our people will not always treat them
with undue complaisance. Their real merits and
demerits will be developed, and such stations
as their natural endowments qualify them to
fill will be assigned them. They must work for
themselves, or we will make them work for us.
96 THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA.
No inferior race of men can exist in these United
States without becoming subordinate to the will
of the Anglo-Americans, or foregoing many of
the necessaries and comforts of life. They must
either be our equals or our dependents. It is so
with the negroes in the South ; it is so with the
Irish in the North ; it was so with the Indians
in New England; and it will be so with the
Chinese in California. The Indians, it is true,
would not submit to be enslaved ; but they had
to suffer exile, hunger and death as a conse
quence of their intractability. Certain it is, that
the greater the diversity of colors and qualities
of men, the greater will be the strife and con
flict of feeling. One party will gain the as
cendency, and dominate over the other. Our
population was already too heterogeneous be
fore the Chinese came ; but now another ad
ventitious ingredient has been added; and I
should not wonder at all, if the copper of the
Pacific yet becomes as great a subject of dis
cord and dissension as the ebony of the Atlantic.
However, the discussion and consideration of
these matters more properly devolve upon our
public functionaries, who, I presume, if loyal to
their constituents and their country, will not
lightly regard them.
CURSORY VIEWS. 9*7
CHAPTER VIII.
CURSORY VIEWS.
CALIFORNIA "has features as distinct and pecu
liar as the Alps or the Andes. It cannot be mis
taken for any other country ; it is like no other
region on the face of the earth. Being new, and
in some respects untried, the most various con
jectures, and the most opposite opinions have
been expressed as to its future fortunes and ulti
mate destiny. A few who have been successful
in their schemes and undertakings, and whose
interests and existence are now blended with it,
flatter themselves that it is destined to become a
great and flourishing state ; while, on the other
hand, the great majority, who have been disap
pointed in all their expectations, and thwarted
in every attempt, pronounce it an unmitigated
cheat, and curse it bitterly as the cause of their
ruin. My own opinions are, I imagine, by this
time pretty well understood. I speak of the
country as I have seen it, not as a mere passing
traveler, but as an attentive observer. I emi
grated to it as much in search of adventure as of
profit ; and, during the three years of my resi
dence within its borders, have had ample oppor-
9
98 CURSORY VIEWS.
tunities to explore and scrutinize it as I desired.
I am fully satisfied with my information upon
this subject. I have seen all of it that is worth
seeing, and a great deal besides. I crave no
further knowledge of it than I now possess.
While there is any unoccupied land between
the British boundaries of Maine and the Mexi
can limits of Texas, between the Florida Keefs
and the Falls of St. Anthony, I would not advise
any person to emigrate to California for the pur
pose of bettering his worldly condition. I have,
indeed, no personal knowledge of the other divis
ions of land west of the Kocky Mountains ; yet
an acquaintance with gentlemen of character and
veracity who have visited those sections, justifies
the opinion that none of them abound in those
elements of exuberant and permanent greatness
so characteristic of the States east of the Kio
Grande and the Mississippi. Oregon and Wash
ington territories, Utah and New Mexico are tol
erable countries, and, in some respects, supe
rior to California ; but owing to the general in
feriority of their natural advantages, they can
never become as powerful or important States
as Louisiana or New York, Georgia or Illinois.
The Pacific side of the continent is, as a general
thing, far inferior to the Atlantic slope.
In my judgment, the present condition and
future prospects of California, so far from offer
ing inducements for additional immigration, ac-
CURSORY VIEWS. 99
tually portend much poverty and suffering. The
very fact that thousands of men, some of whom
have been in the country from three to four
years, are working for nothing but their board,
is of itself justifiable ground for this apprehen
sion. More than a dozen stout, sober, able-bodied
men, who asked nothing in compensation for
their services but food, have applied to me for
employment in a single day. I have elsewhere
remarked that many of the most menial and
humiliating situations about hotels, stores and
private residences are filled by these ill-fated
men, who, if they had the means, would be glad
to shake off the dust of California from their feet,
and return to the homes of their youth, where
peace, plenty and happiness are attainable by
all. Misery and despair go to bed with them at
night, rise with them in the morning and accom
pany them throughout the day ; they have been
grossly deceived; " hope told them a flattering
tale/' and broke her lying promise ; their hearts
are sick with unrelenting and consuming sor
rows. Strangers among strangers, they have no
friend to soothe or assist them in the hour of
misfortune; if they hunger, they must fast; if
sickness overtake them, death is their remedy.
Depressed in spirits, and driven to desperation
by bitter and repeated calamities, they betake
themselves to the bottle for solace, become insane
from extreme anxiety or over-activity of the
100 CURSORY VIEWS.
mind, or else, with bullet, knife, or poison, put
a summary end to their wretched lives. Such is
the history of many a man who has perished in
that land of gold.
They left their homes flushed with hope; those
near and dear to them imprinted the last kiss
upon their cheeks, and hade them adieu with
heavy hearts and tearful eyes, but found consola
tion in the hope that they would soon return.
Those who escaped the many dangers of the
various routes and reached their destination,
wrote back to their friends immediately upon
their arrival that all was well. The news was
received with ecstasy ; heaven was thanked for
their deliverance from the perils of the trip ; tlie
neighbors were informed of the health and safety
of the adventurers ; and for a few weeks all
things promised well. In a month or so another
letter was anxiously looked for, but did not make
its appearance ; then fears began to be enter
tained, and the unwelcome thought would occa
sionally flash through the mind that all was not
well. Nor was it. Month after month slowly
and gloomily passed away, without bringing any
tidings of the poor deluded wanderers ; and it
has now been so long since they were heard
from, that it is easier to reckon the time by years
than by months. Still their fate is wrapt in
mystery which is no more likely to be unraveled
than is the fate of the President and her crew.
CURSORY VIEWS. 101
All that can be concluded is, that they lie some
where within the confines of California, with no
monument to reveal the place of their final
slumher.
The immigration to California has been too
much like the rush of an excited and impatient
audience into a theatre, when it is known that a
favorite actor is about to perform. There has
been too much scrambling, too much crowding
and pushing. Every body has heard that gold
is scattered over her hills and mountains ; thou
sands covet it, and are foolish enough to suppose
that any body can get it. Without taking a
calm and deliberate view of the subject — with
out balancing both sides, or counting the cost,
they have suddenly abandoned their homes, and
rushed in disorder to the land over which hovered
their visions of wealth. They imagined that
they had discovered the secret of fortune, and,
in their enthusiasm, immediately set out to real
ize their dreams. They discovered, alas ! too
late, that their emigration was ill-timed and
unprofitable, that they had exchanged a good
situation for a bad one, and that immense sacri
fices must be made before they could replace
themselves in their former position.
"N"o country can ever become truly great, un
less it possesses abundant agricultural resources ;
and as California is deficient in this as well as
in other respects, it is absurd to suppose that she
9*
102 CURSOR Y VIEWS.
will attract attention longer than her mines pay
for working. The hanks of the rivers, and the
localities in the San Jose, Sacramento, and San
Joaquin valleys, form exceptions to this general
sterility. There the ground is low and moist,
or easily irrigated, the soil is extremely fertile,
and produces vegetahles, which, for size and
powers of multiplication, have prohahly never
"been equaled. These spots, however, are little
more, in comparison with the area of the State,
than are the roads of a county to the county it
self; and they cannot, therefore, he depended
upon to supply the wants and necessities of the
whole country, should it ever he thickly settled
throughout — an event which, for the very reason
I have mentioned ahove, I do not "believe will
ever take place. These valleys and the hanks of
the rivers seem to have hecome the receptacle of
nearly all the virtue of the surrounding surface
of the country. As a few specimens of the vege
table monstrosities, the productions of these fer
tile spots, that have come under my notice, I
may mention a beet that weighed forty-seven
pounds ; a cabbage, thirty-two pounds ; a tur
nip, twenty-six pounds ; an Irish potato, seven
pounds ; and a water-melon, sixty-four pounds.
Onions, lettuce, radishes, and other horticul
tural productions, also grow to an enormous
size. Irish potatoes, however, I believe, are the
most prolific crop that can be planted. Indian
CURSORY VIEWS. 103
corn is cultivated to but little if any advantage
All of the arable parts of the State are now set
tled ; and farmers who go thither hereafter will
either have to return, or abandon altogether the
idea of cultivating the soil ; for it will be impos
sible for them to make a subsistence out of the
sterile hills of the upland.
That millions of dollars worth of gold have
been taken from the mines, and that there is a
vast amount still remaining, no one pretends to
deny ; but then it does not exist in the quantity
that is generally supposed. There is nothing
more uncertain, as a business, than gold mining
in California. It is, indeed, like a lottery — more
blanks than prizes ; and as every man has to
take his chances, he must not feel too much dis
appointed if his luck leaves him with the majority.
A few make themselves independently rich, and
go home with flying colors ; but where one does
it, there are forty or fifty, at least, who, though
equally sober, industrious and deserving, do not
make more than their support, and very fre
quently not even that
Half the stories afloat concerning " wealthy
returned Californians" are exaggerated beyond
the power of toiiguo to describe. A case or two
in point : — A young man from the West, who
had been mining between two and three years,
and with whom I had become acquainted, started
home on a certain occasion, with about one liun-
104 CURSORY VIEWS.
dred and sixty dollars over and above his ex
penses* In speaking of his friends, I asked him
what he was going to tell them when he got
home. " Oh !" says he, " I shall not admit that
I have made so little ; for, if I do, they'll accuse
me of having been indolent, of gambling, of
drinking, or some other disreputable thing that
I have never been guilty of; so I'll give out that
I have made twelve or fifteen thousand dollars ;
and about the time I shall have got them all in
a good humor, I'll take an excursion down to
New Orleans, and thence to South America,
where I arn determined hereafter to seek my for
tune/' Thus, although he was honorable, and
not addicted to habits of dissipation, he had not
the nerve to tell the real truth of his own success.
This shows how easily these exaggerated rumors
are set agoing, and public ignorance imposed
upon. The further people live from California,
the more credulous are they of golden legends ;
and I am persuaded that the young man above
alluded to had no difficulty in making his neigh
bors in the West believe he was worth whatever
amount he chose to tell them he had made.
Extravagant as this story may sound, it is not
without a parallel. A man, who had accumu
lated from three to four thousand dollars, re
turned on a visit to his friends in the East ; and,
to test the credulity of the people, he put out the
report that he had made five hundred thousand
CURSORY VIEWS. 105
dollars. His story was received by the gaping
neighbors without a«doubt ; and all at once our
adventurer found himself the invited guest of
nabobs who never knew him before he went to
California, though they had seen him hundreds
of times. I cannot close these remarks without
offering a word of advice to the marriageable
ladies. If you seek a rich husband, do not form
a matrimonial alliance with an El Dorado Croe
sus ; for, in nine cases out of ten, a " wealthy
Californian" is a poor man.
Admitting all that is claimed for California
in regard to her mineral wealth, it affords no
reason why every body should rush thither ; nor
is it any argument that it will ever become the
land of promise which an enthusiastic imagina
tion may picture. It is already a pandemonium ;
arid it does not clearly appear how it can become
an elysium.
The benefit of mines of the precious metals to
the country in which they are found, is still an
open question. The weight of authority is against
them. The history of Mexico and Peru, in this
hemisphere, as well as the new chapter which
California is opening, cannot be quoted in their
favor. It seems to be decreed that, the more ob
lique the route by which gold is reached, the
greater is its value ; while the more directly it
is acquired, the more mischievous is it to the
morals and the material wealth of a nation. If,
106 CURSORY VIEWS.
as Joseph Bonaparte so happily remarked, "gold,
in its last analysis, is the sweat of the poor and
the hlood of the brave/' the more of these ingre
dients contribute to produce it, the richer is the
result. The concurrent testimony of all ages
proves that those nations who obtain their wealth
by the indirect methods of agriculture, manufac
tures and commerce, are more happy and more
prosperous than those who dig their treasures
directly from the earth. This result is partly
brought about by the great diversity of occupa
tions which spring up in such a state of society,
and give employment to all classes of the com
munity ; whereas, in a mining region, rich only
in the precious metals, the resources of labor are
fewer, and its tasks less diversified. The moral
effect of sudden riches must also be taken into
consideration. Few men can gaze undazzled at
the splendor of a large fortune ; and the more
rapidly they acquire it, the more likely are they
to grow dizzy in its contemplation. It seems to
require time for a man to become habituated to
the sight of wealth, in order to enable him to
enjoy it with ease or dignity.
We cannot, therefore, conclude that the mere
presence of gold is sufficient to advance Califor
nia to a high position among her sister common
wealths. She produces the circulating medium
of the country, it is true ; and the intrinsic value
of that medium causes the world to overlook the
CURSORY VIEWS.
cost of its acquisition. We have endeavored,
however, to set people right on that subject in
the chapter entitled " The Balance-sheet/' and
shall not repeat what was there said.
We will not urge any complaint against the
climate ; for, in this respect, all classes and con
ditions of men can he suited,, whether from the
"burning regions of Central Africa, or from the
snow-capped mountains of Russian America.
Along the southern line of the State it is oppress
ively hot, and, as a matter of course, is some
what enervating ; but in the north and north
east, among the mountains, it is extremely cold ;
and snow, to the depth of from two to ten feet,
is found there as late as August. Large quan
tities of this snow are brought down to the cities,
a distance of more than two hundred miles, by
teamsters, and sold as a substitute for ice. The
northern and southern sections of the State are,
as yet, but little inhabited or known, except by
the natives, who, like all other North American
Indians, are ignorant of any thing beyond the
limits of their own hunting-ground. In the
middle or central parts of the State, the climate,
as a general thing, is delightful, and, withal,
highly invigorating and salubrious. Around
San Francisco, particularly, during the winter
season, when it does not rain, the weather is un
usually mild and pleasant; and I have often
heard it compared to the climate of Italy. It is
108 CURSORY VIEWS.
not so agreeable in summer, because the dust
and winds prevail to such a degree, throughout
the dry season, as to become a source of extreme
discomfort, The main objection I have to the
California climate, as stated in a previous chap
ter, is the division of the seasons into six months
of dry weather, which burns and scorches the
earth so severely that nothing will vegetate ;
and six months of wet weather, during which
time the rain falls so hard and so fast, that it
is quite impossible to perform out-door labor.
These two seasons are general — that is, they
aifect the entire State ; but the temperature of
the atmosphere varies very much, according to
locality. In and about the latitude of San Fran
cisco, it is rarely ever too cold or too hot ; though
the weather frequently changes, three or four
times in a single day, from calm and warm to
boisterous and cool, and from boisterous and cool
to calm and warm again. In other places, where
the days are intolerably close and sultry, it is
necessary to have one or two blankets to sleep
under at night. The remarkable aridity and
unfruitfulness of the country at large, may be
ascribed to the protracted drought of the sum
mer, which begins in April, and lasts until
about the middle of November.
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA. 109
CHAPTER IX.
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
THE Sabbath in California is kept, when kept
at all, as a day of hilarity and bacchanalian
sports, rather than as a season of holy medita
tion or religious devotion. Horse-racing, cock-
fighting, cony-hunting, card-playing, theatrical
performances, and other elegant amusements are
freely engaged in on this day. If I remember
correctly, it was about two months after my
arrival in the land of gold and misery, that I
had the misfortune to become acquainted with a
renegade down-east Congregationalist preacher,
who invited me to accompany him, on the fol
lowing Sunday, in a deer-chase. Throughout the
country, and in the mines, shooting-matches and
bear-hunting afford pleasant pastimes ; gambling
is also practiced to a considerable extent, though
not so much as on other days. But we shall
probably learn more of the manner in which
Sunday is spent, if we confine our attention to
one of the larger cities, San Francisco, for ex
ample. Here regattas, duels and prize-fights are
favorite diversions ; and the Lord's day seldom
passes without witnessing one or the other, or
10
110 SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
both. Here, too, for a long time, gaming was
licensed on Sundays, as it is yet on week days ;
but recently the city fathers have passed an or
dinance prohibiting the desecration, and I be
lieve their example has been followed by three
or four of the other cities. There is no State law
upon the subject.
Connected with a tippling-house, on the corner
of Washington and Montgomery streets, there is
one of the finest billiard-saloons in the United
States. It is very large, and magnificently de
corated, has twelve tables, and is furnished, I am
informed, at a cost of twenty-five thousand dol
lars. To this place hundreds of infatuated men
betake themselves every Sunday; and it is an
unusual thing, at any time, to find one of the
tables unoccupied. Every day of the week, from
breakfast time in the morning till twelve o'clock
at night, this saloon, like many others of a like
kind, is thronged; but the crowds are particu
larly large on Sunday, because people have more
leisure on that day. Though, in this particular
place, they are not allowed to gamble publicly
on the Sabbath, they lose and win as much mo
ney in the way of secret wagers as they do openly
on any other day.
What can we expect but an abuse of the Sab
bath, when we take into account the contrariety
of characters, tastes, dispositions and religions
here huddled together? When we scrutinize
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA. Ill
society, we find that some of its members, the
Chinese and other pagans for instance, know
nothing at all of our system or division of time,
and that they are, therefore, absolutely ignorant
of the meaning of the word Sunday. There is no
unity of thought, feeling or sentiment here ; no
oneness of purpose, policy or action. There is
no common interest ; every man is for himself,
and himself alone. Society is composed of ele
ments too varied and dissimilar; — it is a hetero
geneous assemblage of rivals and competitors,
who know no sympathy, and recognize no prin
ciple, save that of personal profit and individual
emolument. Nearly all colors and qualities of
mankind are congregated here. The great hu
man family is, as it were, sampled and its speci
mens formed into one society, each communica
ting to the other his own peculiar habits, and
each contending for the same object — the acqui
sition of gold. It is manifest, therefore, that
there can be but little concert or harmony of ac
tion. Masquerade balls, cotillion parties and jig
dances fill up the list of Sunday diversions. On
Pacific street alone, the most notoriously profli
gate thoroughfare in the city, there are from
twelve to fifteen dance-houses, in which the
terpsichorean art is practiced every night du
ring the week, but usually with greater zest and
animation on Sunday nights. These fandangoes
a-re principally under the superintendence or
112 SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
management of Mexican girls, of whom there is
no small number in San Francisco and other
cities of the State. Before I ever saw any of the
Mexican ladies, I had heard the most glowing
descriptions of their ravishing beauty ; but I
must either discredit the accounts, or else con
clude that my ideas of female beauty are very
imperfect, for I have never yet beheld one of
them who, according to my standard of good
looks, was really beautiful. Their pumpkin
hues and slovenly deportment could never awa
ken any admiration in me, even in California.
Bonnets among them are quite unknown.
Half the time they go bare-headed through the
streets and to church, just as they do about their
premises ; but most of them have a long, narrow
shawl, which is sometimes worn over the head,
as well as the shoulders. This shawl is, in fact,
an almost indispensable article of apparel, espe
cially with the better classes, who never appear
in a public place, whether in winter or summer,
without it. They wrap it around their face, head
and shoulders so ingeniously that spectators can
not obtain a glimpse of any part of their features,
save the forehead, eyes and nose ; the mouth,
chin and cheeks are cautiously concealed. There
is a gross lack of consistency among these wo
men. Notwithstanding they engage in the low
est debaucheries throughout the week, they are
strict attendants of the Catholic church ; and
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA. 113
dozens of them may be seen any Sunday on their
way to matins, mass or vespers, clad in habili
ments of the greatest possible variety. If they
can only get one fine, fashionable garment they
think it makes amends for the bad material and
ill shape of all the others. Nor are they partic
ular to have their whole person clothed at the
same time. I don't think I have ever seen one
of them fully attired in my life ; something was
always wanting. Sometimes they may be seen
promenading the streets, robed in the richest
silks that were ever woven in Chinese looms, but
when you gaze down at their lower extremities
you discover them stockingless, their feet thrust
into a pair of coarse slippers, which expose
to view a pair of rusty heels that look as if no
ablution had been performed upon them for at
least three moons. The Mexicans, however, in
most cases, are fond of aquatic exercises ; and
they have several bathing establishments in San
Francisco, for the accommodation of the public,
(at one dollar per head for each bath,) as well as
for their own convenience and gratification. Un
less I have been misinformed, it is a custom with
the proprietors, when a gentleman retires to take
his bath, to dispatch a female servant to his
room to scour and scrub him off! As I resided
near an American bath-house, I always patron
ized it in preference, and did not acquaint my
self with Mexican usages in this respect.
10*
114 SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA.
Lately, however, women of pure and lofty
characters have emigrated to California, and?
since their arrival, there has been a gradual and
steady improvement of morals among the people,
and the Sabbath is now much better observed
than it used to be. Soon after their arrival,
schools and churches began to spring up, and
social circles were formed ; refinement dawned
upon a debauched and reckless community, de
corum took the place of obscenity; kind and
gentle words were heard to fall from the lips of
those who before had been accustomed to taint
every phrase with an oath ; and smiles displayed
themselves upon countenances to which they had
long been strangers. Woman accomplished all
this, and we should be ungrateful reprobates in
deed if we did not honor, esteem and love her
for it. Had I received no other benefit from my
trip to California than the knowledge I have
gained, inadequate as it may be, of woman's
many virtues and perfections, I should account
myself well repaid ; and I thank heaven that I
was induced to embark in an enterprise which
resulted in such a collateral remuneration. This
I am constrained to say, because I fear I should
never have had a full appreciation of her merits,
had I not witnessed her happy influence in this
benighted land. It was only after leaving a
home where her constant presence, her soothing
and animating society, appeared as a matter of
SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA. 115
course, and removing to a sphere where she had
a better opportunity of displaying her power,
that I could estimate her real worth.
" From woman's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire ;
They are the books, the arts, the academies,
That show, contain, and nourish all the world.
0, then,
For wisdom's sake, a word that all men love ;
Or for love's sake, a word that loves all men ;
Or for men's sake, the authors of these women ;
Or for women's sake, by whom we men are men,
Let us love women, and ourselves be true,
Or else we harm ourselves, and wrong them too."
With the generous assistance and co-operation
of the gentler sex, the various religious denomi
nations have succeeded in establishing for them
selves suitable places of worship in most of the
cities and larger towns throughout the State.
San Francisco now contains fourteen churches,
two of which are Presbyterian, two Congrega
tional, one Unitarian, three Methodist, two Bap
tist, two Episcopal, and two Koman Catholic.
The Swedenborgians, Universalists, Mormons,
and sundry minor sects occasionally hold service
in public halls ; and, if I recollect aright, the
Jews have two synagogues. There is also a pa
gan temple, where the Chinese pay their adora
tions to Boodh, or to some other imaginary deity,
whenever they experience a religious emotion.
116 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
CHAPTEK X,
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
IT was a beautiful Sabbath morning in Novem
ber, when the bells aroused me from a dreamy-
sleep ; but before arising from my couch, being
lazy and inclined to muse, I allowed my fancy
to recall my departure from Carolina with all
its attendant circumstances. The hour alone
would have suggested such meditations, for it
was on a dewy morning that I bade farewell to
the loved ones of my far-off home. I recalled
the yellow lustre of the sun pouring his floods of
golden light over the glistening tree-tops ; the
tender adieus, the streaming eyes, the murmured
blessing. I remembered the sadness of my heart
as I thought of the distance that would soon
separate me from the friends and companions of
my youth, and the high hopes which soothed
my pain.
As I was thus pondering I heard the sound of
drum, fife and clarionet ; and stepping to the
window to ascertain what was the meaning of
this Sunday music echoing through the streets
of San Francisco, I saw a tremendous grizzly
bear, caged, and drawn by four spirited horses
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 11T
through the various streets. Tacked to each side
of the cage were large posters, which read as
follows : —
FUN BREWING GREAT ATTRACTION.'
HARD FIGHTING TO BE DONE!
TWO BULLS AND ONE BEAR.'
The citizens of San Francisco and vicinity are respectfully
informed that at four o'clock this afternoon, Sunday, Nov.
14th, at Mission Dolores, a rich treat will loe prepared for
them, and that they will have an opportunity of enjoying a
fund of the raciest sport of the season. Two LARGE BULLS AND
A BEAR, all in prime condition for fighting , and under the man
agement of experienced Mexicans, will contribute to the amuse
ment of the audience.
Programme — In two Acts.
ACT I.
BULL AND BEAR — " HERCULES " AND " TROJAN,"
Will be conducted into the arena, and there chained together,
where they will fight until one kills the other.
JOSE IGNACIOJ 1
Pico GOMEZ, J
ACT II.
The great bull, " BEHEMOTH," will be let loose in the arena,
where he will be attacked by two of the most celebrated and ex
pert picadors of Mexico, and finally dispatched after the true
Spanish method.
Admittance $3 — Tickets for sale at the door.
JOAQUIN VATRETO,
JESUS ALVAREZ,
Mission Dolores, the place where these cruel
sports were held, is a small village about two
miles south-west of San Francisco, which was
j- Managers.
118 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
first settled by a couple of Koman Catholic priests
during the American Eevolution. It is con
tended by some that this was the first settlement
effected by white persons in Upper California.
The buildings are but one story in height, cov
ered with tiles, and are constructed of adobe or
sun-dried clay. With regard to the general as
pect of the place, it is distressingly shabby and
gloomy. For scores of years, the inhabitants,
who are a queer compound of Spanish and In
dian blood, have lived here in poverty, ignorance
and inactivity. But I am digressing. What
was I to do about the bull-fight ? I had never
witnessed such an exhibition, and consequently
had a great desire to see it. It was Sunday,
however, and how could I reconcile the instruc
tions of a pious mother with an inclination so
much at variance with the divine command ?
Well, without entering into any thing like a de
fence of my determination, suffice it to say that
I made up my mind to go, and went. Anxious,
however, to moderate or diminish the sin as
much as possible, I determined to hear a sermon
first, and go to the bull-fight afterwards. For
the sake of somewhat condensing the events of
the day, I concluded to leave the city immedi
ately, and repair to the Mission, there to attend
an antique Catholic chu*ch, which has been built
nearly three-quarters of a century.
Starting off with this view, I arrived within
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 119
hearing of the priests' voices about the time they
began to chant the service, and on entering the
rickety old church, much to my gratification, I
learned that it was an extraordinary occasion
with them, and that a deal of unusual display
might be expected. The rite or ceremony of
high mass was to be performed. Monks and
friars from the monasteries of Mexico were in
attendance ; and the church was thronged with
a large and heterogeneous crowd.
Four o'clock, the hour appointed for the fight
between the bear and the bull, having arrived,
a few taps by the drummer, and some popular
airs played by the other musicians, announced
that the amphitheatre, which fronted the church
and stood but a few yards from it, was open for
the reception of those who desired admission.
I made my way to the ticket-office, and handed
three dollars to the collector, who placed in my
hand a voucher, which gained me access to an
eligible seat within the inclosure. I found my
self among the first who entered ; and as it was
some time before the whole audience assembled,
I had ample opportunities to scan the characters
who composed it, and to examine the arrange
ment and disposition of things around me.
The seats were very properly elevated so high
above the arena that no danger was likely to re
sult from the furious animals ; and I suppose five
thousand persons could have been conveniently
120 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
accommodated, though only about three-fourths
of that number were present. Among the audi
tory, I noticed many Spanish maids and matrons,
who manifested as much enthusiasm and delight
in anticipation of what was to follow as the most
enthusiastic sportsman on the ground. Crying
children, too, in the arms of self-satisfied and
admiring mothers, were there, full of noise and
mischief, and a nuisance, as they always are, in
theatres and churches, to all sober-minded peo
ple. Of men, there were all sizes, colors and
classes, such as California, and California alone,
can bring together. There was but one, however,
who attracted my particular attention on this oc
casion. I had no recollection of having ever seen
him before that day. He sat a few feet from me
on my left. There was nothing uncommon about
his form or features. The expression of his coun
tenance was neither intellectual nor amiable.
His acquirements and attainments were doubtless
limited, for he demeaned himself rudely, and ex
hibited but little dignity of manner. It was the
strange metamorphosis he had undergone since
the morning which won for him my special ob
servation. Only four hours had elapsed since I
saw him officiating at the altar and feasting upon
a substance which he believed to be the actual flesh
and blood of Jesus Christ, who died more than
eighteen hundred years ago ! In the forenoon of
the Lord's day, he took upon himself the charac-
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 121
ter of God's vicegerent, invested himself with
sacerdotal robes, assumed a sanctified visage, and
discharged the sacred duties of his office. In
the afternoon of the same Sabbath, he doffed his
holy orders, sanctioned merciless diversions, min
gled on terms of equality with gamblers and des
perados, and held himself in readiness to exclaim
Bravo ! at the finale of a bull-fight.
By this time the whooping, shouting and stamp
ing of the spectators attested that they were ea
ger and restless to behold the brutal combat ; and
an overture by a full brass band, which had been
chartered for the occasion, gave them assurance
that their wishes would soon be complied with.
The music ceased; the trap-door of the bull's
cage was raised, and " Hercules," huge, brawny
and wild, leaped into the centre of the inclosed
arena, shaking his head, switching his tail, and
surveying the audience with a savage stare that
would have intimidated the stoutest hearts, had
he not been strongly barred below them. His
eyes glistened with defiance, and he seemed to
crave nothing so much as an enemy upon which
he might wreak his vengeance. He contorted
his body, lashed his back, snuffed, snorted,
pawed, bellowed, and otherwise behaved so fran
tically, that I was fearful he could not contain
himself until his antagonist was prepared. Just
then, two picadors — Mexicans on horseback —
entered the arena, with lassos in hand. Taurus
11
122 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
welcomed them with an attitude of attack, and
was about to rush upon one of their horses with
the force of a battering-ram, when, with most
commendable dexterity, the picador who was
farthest off lassoed him by the horns, and foiled
him in his mad design. As quick as thought,
the horseman from whom the bull's attention
had been diverted, threw his lasso around his
horns also ; and in this way they brought him
to a stand midway between them. A third per
son, a footman, now ran in, and seizing his tail,
twisted it until he fell flat on his side ; when,
by the help of an additional assistant, the end of
a long log-chain was fastened to his right hind-
leg. In this prostrated condition he was kept
until the other end of the chain was secured to
the left fore- leg of the bear, as we shall now
describe.
Running a pair of large clasping-tongs under
Bruin's trap-door, which was lifted just enough
for the purpose, they grasped his foot, pulled it
out, and held it firmly, while one of the party
bound the opposite end of the chain fast to his
leg with thongs. This done, they hoisted the
trap-door sufficiently high to admit of his egress,
when out stalked " Trojan," apparently too proud
and disdainful to vouchsafe a glance upon sur
rounding objects. He was a stalwart, lusty-
looking animal, the largest grizzly bear I had
ever seen, weighing full fourteen hundred pounds.
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 123
It was said that lie was an adept in conflicts
of this nature, as he then enjoyed the honorable
reputation of having delivered three bulls from
the vicissitudes of this life. It is probable, how
ever, that his previous victories had flushed and
inspired him with an unwarrantable degree of
confidence ; for he seemed to regard the bull
more as a thing to be despised than as an equal
or dangerous rival. Though he gave vent to a
few ferocious growls, it was evident that he felt
more inclination to resist an attack than to make
one. With the bull, the case was very dif
ferent ; he was of a pugnacious disposition, and
had become feverish for a foe. Now he had one.
An adversary of gigantic proportions and great
prowess stood before him ; and as soon as he
spied him, he moved backward, the entire length
of the chain, which jerked the bear's foot and
made him rend the air with a most fearful howl,
that served but the more to incense the bull.
Shaking his head maliciously, casting it down,
and throwing up his tail, he plunged at the bear
with a force and fury that were irresistible. The
collision was terrible, completely overthrowing
his ponderous enemy and laying him flat on his
back. Both were injured, but neither was con
quered ; both mutually recoiled to prepare again
to strike for victory. With eyes gleaming with
fire, and full of resolution, the bull strode proudly
over his prostrate enemy, and placed himself in
124 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
position to make a second attack. But now the
bear was prepared to receive him ; he had recov
ered his feet wild with rage, and he then appeared
to beckon to the bull to meet him without delay.
The bull needed no challenge ; he was, if possi
ble, more impetuous than the bear, and did not
lose any more time than it required to measure
the length of the chain. Again, with unabated
fierceness, he darted at the bear, and, as before,
struck him with an impetus that seemed to have
been borrowed from Jove's own thunderbolt ; as
he came in contact with the bear, that amiable
animal grappled him by the neck, and squeezed
him so hard that he could scarcely save himself
from suffocation. The bull now found himself
in a decidedly uncomfortable situation ; the bear
had him as he wanted him. Powerful as he was,
he could not break loose from Bruin. A vice
could not have held him more firmly. The
strong arms of the bear hugged him in a ruth
less and desperate embrace. It was a stirring
sight to see these infuriated and muscular an
tagonists struggling to take each other's life.
It was enough to make a heathen generalissimo
shudder to look at them. How ought it to have
been, then, with enlightened civilians ? This
question I shall not answer ; it was easy enough
to see how it was with the Spanish ladies — they
laughed, cheered, encored, clapped their hands,
waved their handkerchiefs, and made every other
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 125
sign which was characteristic of pleasure and
delight. The contending hrutes still strove to
gether. Hercules quaked under the torturing
hugs of Trojan. Trojan howled under the vio
lent and painful perforations of Hercules. But
the hear did not rely alone upon the efficacy of
his arms ; his massive jaws and formidable teeth
were brought into service, and with them he
inflicted deep wounds in his rival's flesh. He
seized the bull between the ears and nostrils, and
crushed the bones with such force that we could
distinctly hear them crack ! Nor were the stun
ning butts of the bull his only means of defence ;
his horns had been sharpened expressly for the
occasion, and with these he lacerated the bear
most frightfully. It was a mighty contest — a
desperate struggle for victory !
Finally, however, fatigued, exhausted, writh
ing with pain and weltering in sweat and gore,
they waived the quarrel and separated, as if by
mutual consent. Neither was subdued ; yet both
felt a desire to suspend, for a time at least, all
further hostilities. The bull, now exhausted and
panting, cas-t a pacific glance towards the bear,
and seemed to sue for an armistice ; the bear,
bleeding and languid after, his furious contest,
raised his eyes to the bull, and seemed to assent
to the proposition. But, alas ! man, cruel man,
more brutal than the brutes themselves, would
not permit them to carry out their pacific inten-
11*
126 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
tions. The two attendants or managers, Ignacio
and Gomez, stepped up behind them, goading
them with spears till they again rushed upon
each other, and fought with renewed desperation.
During this scuffle, the bull shattered the lower
jaw of the bear, and we could see the shivered
bones dangling from their bloody recesses ! Oh,
heaven ! what a horrible sight. How the blood
curdled in my veins. Pish ! what a timid fel
low I am, to allow myself to be agitated by such
a trifle as this ! Shall I tremble at what the la
dies applaud ? Forbid it, Mars ! I'll be as spir
ited as they. But, to wind up this part of our
story, neither the bear nor the bull could stand
any longer — their limbs refused to support their
bodies ; they had worried and lacerated each
other so much that their strength had completely
failed, and they dropped upon the earth, gasping
as if in the last agony. While in this helpless
condition the chain was removed from their feet,
horses were hitched to them, and they were
dragged without the arena, there to end their
miseries in death.
The second act of the afternoon's entertain
ment was now to be performed. It would be
unnecessary, and painful to the feelings of sensi
tive readers, to dwelllong upon this murderous
sport. It was a mere repetition, in another form,
of the disgusting horrors of that which preceded
it. Fully satiated with the barbarities I had
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 127
already witnessed, I am not sure that I should
have staid to see any more, had it not heen for
the peculiar sensations which the cognomen of
one of the actors awakened within me. By re
ference to the advertisement, it will he perceived
that the two managers of this part of the pro
ceedings were Joaquin Vatreto and Jesus Alva
rez. The latter name sounded strangely in my
ears. It occurred to me that it was peculiarly
out of place in its present connection. What!
Jesus at a hull-fight on Sunday, and not only
at it, hut one of the prime movers and ahettors
in it !
But now to the fight. All things heing ready,
the great hull, Behemoth, was freed from re
straint, and sprang with frantic hounds into the
midst of the arena. He hore a suitable appella
tion, for he was a monster in size and formidable
in courage. Two picadors, Joaquin Yatreto and
Jesus Alvarez, mounted on fiery steeds, with
swords in hand, now entered and confronted
him. Behemoth looked upon this sudden inva
sion as an intolerable insult. His territory was
already too limited for so powerful a monarch as
he considered himself, and he could not think of
dividing it with others. The sight of these un
ceremonious intruders inflamed him with such
rancor that he could no longer restrain himself;
hut lowering his head and tossing his tail aloft,
he rushed furiously at them. They evaded his
128 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
charge. The horses were well trained, and
seemed to enjoy the sport, and to pride them
selves upon their adroit manoeuvres. But both
they and their riders had enough to do to evade
the fury of the enraged brute. Each successive
bout became more animated and fierce. The
foiling of the bull's purposes only exasperated
him the more. There was not room enough in
his capacious body to contain his effervescing
wrath. The foam which he spurted from his
mouth and nose fell upon the earth like enor
mous flakes of snow. Faster and faster, and with
truer aim, he charged his foes. At last one of
the horses, in attempting to wheel or turn sud
denly round, stumbled, and the bull, taking ad
vantage of the event, gored him so desperately
in the abdomen that a part of his entrails pro
truded from the wounds and trailed almost upon
the ground ! This was truly a distressing scene.
I could have wept for the poor, innocent charger,
but in this case tears were of no avail.
One of the picadors now alighted, and engaged
the attention of the bull, while the other led the
two horses outside the inclosure. When this
was done, a man on foot, called a matador,
dressed in close-fitting, fantastic garments, with
a heavy sword in his right hand, and a small
red flag in his left, entered the arena and bowed
first to the bull and then to the audience. It
was now a matter of life and death between the
BEAR AND BULL FIGHT. 129
bull and the matador. One or the other, or
both, must die. If the bull did not kill the man,
the man would kill the bull ; if the man killed
the bull, the man was to live, but if the bull
killed the man, the bull was to die ; so that
death was sure to overtake the bull in any event.
The action commenced, and waxed hotter and
hotter every moment, and it was only by uncom
mon skill and agility that the matador could
shun the frenzied charges of the bull. Had it
not been for the flag which he carried in his
hand, and which enabled him to deceive his an
tagonist by seeming to hold it directly before
him, when in reality he inclined it to the right
or to the left, as his safety dictated, the bull
would unquestionably have dashed his brains
out, thrown him over his head, or gored him to
death. Nothing could have irritated or vexed
the bull more than did the sight of this red flag,
and he made all his assaults upon it, supposing,
no doubt, that he would strike the mischief be
hind it, but the agile matador always took spe
cial care to spring aside and save himself from
the deadly stroke. After tormenting, teasing
and chafing him for about a quarter of an hour
in this way, six keen javelins or darts, with min
iature flags attached, were handed to the mata
dor, who ventured to face the bull, and never
quit him until he had planted them all in his
shoulders, three in each. Stung to madness, the
130 BEAR AND BULL FIGHT.
animal reared, rolled and plunged in the most
frightful manner. Soon, however, he was on his
feet again, pursuing his persecutor with renewed
zeal.
The fates, however, were against him He
could not comprehend, and consequently could
not foil the crafty designs of his adversary, who
completely deceived him with the flag. Night
was now coming on,, and it being time to close
the performance, the matador, placing himself in
a pompous attitude near the south side of the
arena, challenged Behemoth to the last and de
cisive engagement by waving the flag briskly
before him. The bull, exasperated beyond de
scription, needed no additional incentive to urge
him to meet the enemy. With a force appar
ently equal to that of a rhinoceros, and with
the celerity of a reindeer, he rushed at the ma
tador, who, stepping just sufficiently to the left
to avoid him, thrust the sword into his breast up
to the hilt. The matador, leaving this sword
buried in the bull's body, now laid hold of an
other, which was on hand for the purpose, and
stabbed him three times in a more vital part,
when down he fell at his victor's feet, dead.
Then jumping upon the carcass of his slain rival,
the matador brandished his sword, doifed his
hat, bowed his compliments, and retired, amid
the deafening plaudits of a wolfish audience.
SACRAMENTO. 131
CHAPTEK XI.
SACRAMENTO.
SACRAMENTO is situated on the river and in the
heart of the valley of the same name, about one
hundred miles north-east of San Francisco. It
is the second city in the State in size, population
and commerce, and contains from eight to ten
thousand inhabitants — being nearly one fourth
as large as San Francisco. It bears to San
Francisco much the same relation that Colum
bia does to Charleston, or Albany to New York.
From two to six steamboats daily ply between
the two cities, conveying passengers and mer
chandise; and a vast deal of heavy freight is
shipped in sailing vessels, which usually make
the outward and return trip in a little over a
week. The banks of the river are very low, and
the current moves sluggishly towards the ocean.
Flood-tide ascends almost as high as this p]ace.
The country, for twenty-five miles on either side
of the river, is an unbroken plain, level as a
floor, and would be invaluable for agricultural
purposes were it not for the great freshets of the
winter and spring, and the incessant drought of
the summer and fall — two serious disadvantages
132 SACRAMENTO.
to the farmer. Sometimes the whole valley is
completely overflowed and remains under water
for two or three consecutive months, on which
occasions it presents the appearance of a vast
lake. Many new immigrants, who are ignorant
of the freaks of California seasons, arriving here
in the summer, settle in this valley, and thank
their stars that they were guided to an unclaimed
plat of so much promise. But when winter
comes and the windows of heaven are opened,
and the river rises, and the cattle are drowned
and the houses swept off, and they themselves
compelled to fly to the upland to save their Jives,
they hegin to discover the gloomy fact that they
have been caught in a snare.
The site of the city, so smooth and flat, would
be one of the most beautiful in the world, but
for the lack of sufficient elevation. For the first
two or three years after its settlement the in
habitants did nothing to protect it from the
floods, but afterwards, becoming tired of navi
gating the streets in scows and skiffs, and will
ing to retain some of their goods and chattels
about their premises, they built a temporary
levee, which has since kept them tolerably dry.
It is laid out with the most perfect regularity ;
its blocks and streets being as uniform and meth
odical as the squares of a chess-board. Those
streets which run from north to south have
alphabetical names, beginning with A, and end-
SACRAMENTO. 133
ing with Z. Only four of them, I, J, K and L, are
popular ; the others command no business what
ever, and but very few dwellings are situated on.
them. The cross-streets, or those which run from
east to west, are designated arithmetically, com
mencing with 1st and continuing on in regular
succession. Beyond *7th street, however, there
are no buildings of any importance.
At present the legislature meets in this place ;
but as that august body is possessed of a remark
ably roving disposition, having held its ses
sions at four different places within the last four
years, at an extra expense to the State of nearly
two hundred thousand dollars, it is yet uncer
tain whether this will be determined upon as the
permanent capital. There is no capitol or state-
house, nor is it likely that California will ever
be able to build one while its finances are so
recklessly managed. The receipts and expendi
tures of the State have, from the organization of
its government to the present time, been in
trusted to men who, to say nothing of their dis
honesty, were as ignorant of the uses of money as a
prodigal minor. Consequently they have entailed
a public debt upon the people of more than three
millions of dollars without effecting any general
improvements excepting a marine hospital. This
distinguished body, which now holds its deliber
ations in the court-house, contains some of the
most precious scamps that ever paid devotion to
12
134 SACRAMENTO.
the god of pelf; and, were it not that I have no
wish to deal in personalities, I could here men
tion names which are notoriously infamous all
over the Atlantic States. Are such men capable
of devising measures for the public weal, or fit
to enact laws for the commonwealth ? Whether
fit or unfit, they are about the only class of
persons who are intrusted with the functions of
legislation in this abominable land of concen
trated rascality. The people of California, as a
general thing, would as soon elect an honest,
upright man to office, as Italian banditti would
choose a moralist for their captain. No one here
can be successful unless he assimilates himself to
the people ; he must carouse with villains, attend
Sunday horse-races and bull-fights, and adapt
himself to every species of depravity and dissi
pation.
Thus must a man discipline himself before
he can receive the support and patronage of the
public. It matters not what his occupation may
be, whether merchant, mechanic, lawyer or doc
tor, he is sure to be ostracized, if he stands aloof
from the vices and follies of the populace. Of
course there are a few exceptions. Some men,
thank heaven, have an innate abhorrence of every
thing that savors of meanness or vulgarity, and
they have nerve enough to cling to their princi
ples at all times and in all places. No earthly
power, even if backed by reinforcements from the
SACRAMENTO. 135
infernal regions, could make them swerve from
their fidelity to truth and justice. They have
clearly defined ideas of right and wrong, and
regulate their lives and conduct accordingly.
They understand their duty, and endeavor to
perform it They see the evils of society, con
demn and eschew them. There are a few such
men in California, but they are discountenanced,
neglected, sneered at, and flouted with oppro
brious epithets. They are in bad odor ; the ma
jority is against them. The scoundrels are in
power, and they have wrecked the country. To
day the State is lawless, penniless and powerless.
Such is the effect of the union of two bad things
— a bad people and a bad country. It was ne
cessary in the first place, to give even a passable
character to the State, that the administration
of affairs should have been committed to men of
pre-eminent sagacity; but instead of pursuing
this policy, the common interests have been con
fided to political charlatans, whose actions in
every instance have been detrimental to the in
terests of the country. As a poor client suffers
in the hands of a pettifogger, or as a patient la
boring under an obscure and dangerous disease,
sinks under the treatment of a quack, so has this
poor, sick California suffered and sunk through
the agency of her knavish managers.
Leaving these wire-pulling senators and hire
ling assemblymen, let us take a short stroll
136 SACRAMENTO.
through one or two of the principal streets. We
shall not observe any thing either curious or
commendable in the styles of architecture. The
houses are low,, rarely exceeding two stories in
height, and are built mostly of wood in the very
cheapest manner. All the lumber used in their
construction was brought from Oregon, first to
San Francisco, and thence reshipped to this
place. Here and there stands a plain but un
commonly stout and substantial brick store. I
have never seen any buildings in the Atlantic
States equal, in durability and security against
fire, to the brick structures in California. They
must build them so, for reasons heretofore given.
Stone is not used at all ; there is none in the
vicinity.
As we wend our way through the town, we
pass dozens of miserable, filthy little hotels, in
any of which we can procure a bad meal for a
dollar. A palatable dinner in one of the more
respectable hotels will cost us twice that amount.
We shall be considerably amused at the queer
and unique canvas signs nailed over the doors
of some of the dirty little huts and shanties
around us. One of the taverns announces that
it has " Tip-top Accommodations for Man and
Beast;" at another we can find " Good Fare, and
Plenty of it ;" a third promises " Kest for the
Weary and Storage for Trunks ;" a fourth in
vites us to "Come in the Inn, and take a Bite;"
SACRAMENTO. 137
a fifth informs us that " Eating is done here ;"
a sixth assures us that " We have Kich Viands
and Mellow Drinks ;" while a seventh admon
ishes us to "Replenish the Stomach in our
House," A bar, at which all kinds of liquors,
raw and mixed, pure and sophisticated, are dealt
out, is attached to each of these establish ments ;
and it is generally a greater source of profit to
the proprietor than the table. Small straw cots,
with coarse blankets, which have never been
submitted to any cleansing process, are provided
for the guests to sleep on ; and when they retire,
they seldom remove any of their clothes, except
their coats, and sometimes not even those. In
the morning, when they rise to perform their
ablutions, a single wash-pan answers for all,, and
one towel, redolent of a week's wiping, serves
every guest.
More than two-thirds of the population of the
northern part of the State lay in their supplies
of provisions, clothing and mining implements
at this place ; and we shall notice several teams
and pack-trains in the streets, loading and pre
paring to start on their journey. Mules and
oxen are chiefly used, though for hauling short
distances over good roads horses are employed.
Some of the more remote mining districts, say
two hundred miles from this place, are so rugged
and mountainous that it is impossible to reach
them with wagons or other vehicles, and the
138 SACRAMENTO.
only means of transporting merchandise is upon
the backs of rnules. These hybrids, unamiable
as is their appearance, are truly valuable for
this purpose ; they carry ponderous burdens,
walk with ease upon the brink of a precipice,
and can be kept in good serviceable condition by
provender on which a horse would starve. After
making a few trips they become very tractable,
and it requires only four or five men to manage
fifty or sixty of them. The packers have but
little trouble with them, after strapping the
loads on their backs and starting them off. They
do not go abreast, but each follows closely be
hind another, Indian fashion ; and they will
travel patiently in this way from morning till
night, rarely ever attempting a stampede.
Between the petty merchants who sell goods
to those teamsters and muleteers, there is great
rivalry and competition. I call them petty mer
chants because there are so many more of them
than the business justifies or demands, that each
one secures but a small share of the custom ; and
they have to resort to the most contemptible de
vices to pay current expenses. Indeed I do not be
lieve half of them earn their support. The reader
may think this strange, and wonder why men
continue in an occupation which does not yield
them a maintenance. They do not continue in
it; their losses soon compel them to leave; but the
departure of one victim only opens the way for
SACRAMENTO. 139
the arrival of another. Their stands are imme*
diately occupied by novices who, after the lapse
of a few months, sink under the same fate that
overwhelmed their luckless predecessors. Such
is the routine of affairs all over the State. I
have never known the time here when business
was not clogged with double the number of tra
ders it required. Ever since San Francisco and
Sacramento were founded they have been over
whelmed with merchants, and this has been the
case with every other city and town of arty note
throughout the State. In commercial circles you
hear continual complaints of the dullness of the
times. The merchants are always grumbling
because they have nothing to do, and wondering
when their business will improve. They live on
the airy diet of hope ; their good time is ever
dancing before them, but never waits for them.
It entices them on and then eludes them, — they
reach after gold and find dross.
One reason why there is such an excess of
business men, is, because American and Eu
ropean strangers, who have been led into the
mistaken opinion that trading is profitable in
California, are continually arriving with heavy
stocks of goods, and opening new shops or going
into the old ones, just vacated by those who could
no longer sustain themselves under the pressure
of the times. In this way the humbug is eternally
nourished. As soon as one simpleton sacrifices
140 SACRAMENTO.
his effects and retires, " a sadder and a wiser
man/' another fool steps in and takes his place.
Question the New York, Baltimore and Boston
shippers concerning the result of their ventures,
and they will tell a doleful story. Ask the Liv
erpool, Bordeaux and Hamburg consignors to
show the account sales of their factors, and they
will anathematize the inquirer and California in
the same breath. Now and then, it is true, when
the markets are low, as they sometimes are, a
shipment turns out lucrative beyond anticipa
tion ; but when such a thing occurs it is a mere
matter of chance, and one gainful shipment oc
casions scores of unprofitable ones. Dependent
as the State is upon importations for all that she
consumes or requires for use, it must be expected
that the markets will be very fluctuating and
changeable, — at any rate, it is so. The price of
any article does not remain the same two weeks
at a time. There is almost always a superfluity
of merchandise in market ; the supply is gener
ally double the demand, and many things are
sold at less than prime cost. Yet, by the time
this merchandise falls into the hands of the ac
tual consumer, it usually costs him from one to
four hundred per cent, more than he would have
to pay for it in the Atlantic States. The con
signee will probably sell it to a speculator — the
speculator to a wholesale merchant — the whole
sale merchant to a jobber — the jobber to a re-
SACRAMENTO. 141
taller — the retailer to a muleteer, and the mule
teer to the final purchaser or consumer. Or the
importer may sell it to the city grocer, whose
onerous rent makes it necessary for him to re-sell
at an extraordinary advance on invoice rates to
defray expenses. Thus the charges accruing on
it, after its arrival, render it very costly.
I might cite instances of the perfidy and dis
honesty of California merchants ; hut it would
be like taking an inventory of the exact number
of blades of grass in a meadow in order to get at
the weeds by subtraction, — it would be easier to
reverse the task. It would require less time to
tell of those who have been true to their trusts.
I know one man in San Francisco who received
a consignment of nearly twelve thousand dollars
worth of merchandise from his brother in New
York. He placed it in an auction house — had
it sold for what it would bring — appropriated
the proceeds to his own use, and wrote back to
his brother that all the goods had been destroyed
by fire. His brother heard of his unfaithfulness,
came on to San Francisco and reasoned with
him ; but could neither bring him to terms nor
find law that would compel the performance of
a common obligation. The defrauded brother
returned home without recovering a cent of his
dues. Another New Yorker consigned twenty
thousand dollars worth of merchandise to two
different commission houses (ten thousand to
142 SACRAMENTO.
each,) with limited instructions — that is, not to
sell for less than a certain sum. The factors
received the goods, hurried them through the
market, put the funds in their pockets, and
wrote to the consignor, informing him that his
ventures had been consumed by fire, and sympa
thizing with him in his losses! Before long,
however, the shipper was made acquainted with
the villainy of his agents, and applied to the
courts for redress ; but this was only employing
a rogue to catch a rogue. After a deal of ex
pense and delay, the case was dismissed. A
whole cargo of wares and merchandise, valued
at a trifle less than three hundred thousand
dollars, was intrusted to another man, who dis
posed of it and absconded with the money.
But why detail these swindling transactions ?
Volumes upon volumes might be filled with ac
counts of the crimes and short-comings of this
wretched country ; but their perusal would only
be productive of abhorrence and disgust. If,
reader, you would know California, you must go
live there. It is impossible for me to give, or
for you to receive a correct impression of it on
paper, — like Thomas, the unbelieving disciple,
you must see and feel before you can be convinced.
On the night of the 2d of November, 1852, Sa
cramento was almost entirely destroyed by fire.
Twenty-two hundred buildings, with other prop
erty, valued at ten millions of dollars, were com-
SACRAMENTO. 143
pletely reduced to ashes. The wind was blowing
very hard at the time the fire commenced, and
the roaring of the flames, the rapidity with
which they spread, the explosions of gunpowder,
as house after house was blown up, formed a
scene rarely excelled in terrific grandeur. Men,
women and children ran to and fro in the great
est confusion, excited almost to frenzy, in the
effort to save their lives and effects. Within six
hours after the fire first broke out, more than
nine-tenths of the city were swept into oblivion,
and the people were left to sleep on the naked
earth without any shelter but the clothing they
had on. Happening, too, just at the commence
ment of the rainy season, this conflagration was
peculiarly disastrous, as thousands were deprived
not only of shelter, but also of the means of se
curing a comfortable living. Provisions at the
time were scarcer than I ever knew them before,
or have known them since ; and the extraordi
narily high prices which they commanded almost
precluded the poorer classes from buying or using
them at all. Flour sold at forty-two dollars per
barrel, pork at fifty-five, and other eatables in
about the same ratio. Farther in the interior
the times were still harder. In some of the dis
tant mining localities flour and pork sold as high
as three dollars per pound — equal to five hundred
and eighty-eight dollars per barrel; and could not
be had in sufficient quantities even at these rates.
144 SACRAMENTO.
Many then suffered the pangs of insatiable hun
ger; and I have seen children crying to their
parents for "bread, when there was none to give
them.
A California conflagration is a scene of the
most awful grandeur that the mind is capable
of conceiving. When fire is once communicated
to the buildings, especially if it be in the dry
season, when the winds rage and every thing is
crisped by the sun, it does not smoulder, but
blazing high in the air, and spreading far and
wide, it consumes every thing within its reach,
and leaves nothing behind but cinders and deso
lation. No one of the present day, out of Cali
fornia, has ever seen such pyramids of flame.
One of the most beautiful sights I ever beheld
was during a large fire in San Francisco. It .was
a moonless night, and there was nothing visible
in the dark concave of heaven, save a few twink
ling stars. Others were concealed by the de
tached masses of floating vapor which obscured
them. Soon after the conflagration commenced,
the brilliant illumination attracted large flocks
of brant from the neighboring marshes ; and as
they flew hither and thither, high over the flam
ing element, they shone and glistened as if they
had been winged balls of fire darting through
the air. Had their plumage been burnished
gold, they could not have been more radiant.
Before taking our final leave of Sacramento,
SACRAMENTO. 145
we must not fail to get a glimpse of tlie Three
Cent Philosopher, a Mormon polygamist, who
figures conspicuously in this city as an extor
tionate usurer. He was horn in the State of New
York, near the hallowed spot where Jo Smith
received his apostolic diploma. The Three Cent
Philosopher does not carry so small a purse as
his common appellation might seem to indicate ;
he is the wealthiest man in the place, and is as
tenacious of his property as of his life. It is sup
posed that he is worth very near half a million of
dollars. Though he "believes in polygamy, and
practices it, yet he never lives with more than
one spouse at a time ; to have them all around
him at once would he too expensive.
When his wife goes out shopping he gives her
fifty cents, and if she happens to bring hack one-
tenth of the amount, he takes it from her and
locks it up in his safe. When he travels on a
steamboat he always takes deck passage, and
carries food in his pockets to avoid the extra ex
pense of dining at the table. While passing
through the streets he keeps a vigilant lookout
for stray nails, old horse-shoes, pieces of bagging
and other refuse, which he picks up, lugs home
and deposits in his repository of odds and ends.
Instead of chairs, he sits on stools and boxes of
his own make ; and, in place of coffee, he drinks
parched barley tea or watered milk. His dispo
sition is quite as sweet as wormwood, and his
13
146 SACRAMENTO.
household is usually a scene of as much calm
and domestic bliss as a family of tomcats. He is
in the hahit of bickering with his family at least
once every day, and when he does so he rouses
the whole neighborhood with the noise of his
oaths and imprecations. In all probability he is
a lineal descendant of Ishmael, the son of Hagar,
for his hand is against every man and every
man's hand is against him. He is at enmity
with all the world and is despised by every body.
If his neighbor looks at him, he curses him, and
if an acquaintance says good-morning to him,,
he tells him to go to h — 11. He has never been
known to entertain a charitable thought towards
his fellow-men, nor to speak a good word con
cerning his nearest relations. To sum up all, he
is the extract of ill-breeding, the essence of vul
garity, and the quintessence of meanness.
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 14 7
GHAPTEK XII.
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
MY first experience in mining was obtained on
the banks of the Yuba river, a small tributary
of the Feather, which is itself a branch of the
Sacramento. Our party, in a stage-coach, left
Sacramento city early in the morning ; we trav
eled due north until late in the afternoon, when
we arrived at Marysville, a city containing eight
or nine thousand inhabitants, and situated at
the confluence of the Yuba and Feather rivers.
It was in July, and the roads were four to six
inches deep in dust, which seemed to be as fine as
bolted flour, and was so volatile that it rose in a
dense cloud as we passed through it. The heat
of the sun was oppressive in the extreme, and by
the time we got to the place mentioned above,
on** persons were so besmeared with dust and
derspiration that it was no easy matter for a
stranger to determine our natural color.
I could have made the trip by water, as there
is steamboat communication between Sacramento
and Marysville daily ; but having sailed up the
river as high as this place once before on a pleas
ure excursion, I preferred the land route for the
148 TUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
sake of seeing the country. I was disappointed,
however; for, as the distance between the two
cities is a mere continuation of the Sacramento
valley, I saw nothing materially diiferent from
the purlieus of the city I had left. The surface
of the valley is remarkably level, and is sparsely
timbered with scrubby oaks and other gnarled
trees of uncommon form. Nor is there any thing
of unusual interest to be seen in Marysville. Sa
cramento is its prototype, and it has been mod
eled after that city with scrupulous exactness.
I never saw two places more alike.
By means of the same conveyance that carried
us to Marysville, we resumed our northern jour
ney early in the morning of the succeeding day,
and by twelve o'clock we reached the place of
our destination. We were now on Long Bar, a
popular mining place, divided and watered by
the Yuba. Two miles beyond is Park's Bar,
which I had visited on a previous occasion ; but
this was the first time I had ever entered the
mines for the purpose of digging gold. Now,
however, I had come to try my luck, and to see
wh'at the gnomes and fairies would do for me.
Once fairly started in a miner's life, I could
not completely steel myself against the extrava
gant hopes which seemed to float in the very at
mosphere of the mines. Wild arid extravagant
fancies would in spite of me obtrude themselves
upon what I thought a well-balanced mind. Nor
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 149
were these reveries by any means unnatural, un-f
reasonable though they might be. Thousands of
miners have, from time to time, indulged hopes
equally impalpable and transitory. I was stand
ing over deposits of gold, and who could tell
how large they were, or how easily they might
be found? Who knew but that I should dig
from these hills more wealth than was ever locked
up in the vaults of the Rothschilds ?
I had supplied myself with abundance of pro
visions, a pair of good blankets, and every need
ful mining implement. Being in what is called
surface diggings, that is, on a spot where the gold
lies near the surface of the earth, I could per
form all the necessary manipulations myself. I
noticed that those around did not delve deeper
than from three to four feet in this place. It
did not pay to go lower; and whether it paid
to dig at all, will be seen hereafter. My im
plements consisted of a pick, a spade, a pan, a
bucket, a cradle and a wheelbarrow. The cradle,
though rudely made and of rude material, was a
very good one, and I have since regretted that I
did not keep it and bring it with me, as it would
have answered a domestic purpose quite as well
as a more costly one. The modus operandi of
single-handed mining may be described in a few
words. The earth is loosened with the pick,
thrown into the wheelbarrow with the spade,
rolled to the river, emptied into the cradle,
13*
150 YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
washed by pouring water over it from the buck
et, and carefully rocked until the gold is sepa
rated from the dirt. The clods of earth, during
this process of washing, slowly dissolve, or are
suspended in the water, whereupon the gold, (if
there is any,) being heaviest, sinks to the bottom.
All the contents of the cradle are then turned
out, except a thin layer at the bottom, which is
supposed to contain the precious metal. The
next and last process is to scoop this layer into
the pan, and wash and rewash it until the dirt
is entirely separated from the gold. A sieve, or
rather a piece of punctured or perforated sheet-
iron, which catches the larger stones and other
insoluble substances, is fixed about midway the
depth of the cradle. The gold is generally found
in small particles about the size of grains of
sand, sometimes not half so large, sometimes
much larger. The size of the grains, as well as
the quantity, depends very much upon the lo
cality. No lumps larger than a small pea were
obtained from this bar.
Fearing that I might make a fortune imme
diately, and return to the city without learning
how the gold gleaners live, I determined not to
commence operations until I had scrutinized the
whole bar, tents, miners, mining and all. In
deed it was necessary for me to converse with
some of the miners, in order to acquaint myself
with their laws respecting claims, dams and wa-
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 151
ter. All surface diggings, when marked out, or
laid off in small plats, are called bars ; and these
bars are known by distinctive names, as, for in
stance, Kocky Bar, Steep Bar, Sandy Bar, &c.
The name is not always derived from a peculiar
ity of the place. Frequently they are called by
the names of the men who first discovered gold
on them, as Brown's Bar, Hall's Bar, Drake's
Bar ; and sometimes they take their names from
an important event that occurred at or near them
at the time they were opened, as Highwayman's
Bar, Kioter's Bar, Murderer's Bar. Among the
more fanciful names that designate localities in
various parts of the mines are the following :
Whiskey Bar, Humbug Creek, One Horse Town,
Mississippi Quarters, Mad Ox Ravine, Mad Mule
Canon, Skunk Flat, Woodpecker Hill, Jesus Ma
ria, Yankee Jim's Diggings, Death Pass, Ignis
Fatuus Placer, Devil's Retreat, Bloody Bend,
Jackass Gulch, Hell's Half Acre.
Every Bar is governed by such laws as the
majority of the miners see fit to enact, not by
written or published documents, but by verbal
understanding. All the mines are public prop
erty, that is, they belong to the United States
government, which, in its suicidal liberality, ex
ercises comparatively no jurisdiction over them.
So far as the general government is concerned,
Chinese marauders and foreign cut-throats have
the same rights and privileges guaranteed to
152 YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
them, in this matter, as American citizens. Be
sides the enormous sums of money that the fed
eral government paid for California, it did a
great deal of hard fighting, and now has to keep
a body of troops stationed there to prevent the
Indians from desolating the country ; hut aliens,
who hear no part of the hurden, and who refuse
to become permanent settlers or citizens, are per
mitted, nay, encouraged, to come in on an equal
footing. No tax is levied upon them. They are
protected from the Indians by our soldiery, and
share all the benefits with the native citizens ;
yet they are not required to aid in defraying the
common expenses. It can hardly be doubted
that this is bad policy? Would it not be bad
management in a father, after having bought a
farm, to let strangers come in and carry off the
fruits of the soil, to the detriment and impoverish
ment of his own children ? If so, then our gov
ernment, as a general mother, is doubly culpable.
Almost every Bar is governed by a different
code of laws, and the sizes of the claims vary
according to locality. In one place a man may
hold twice, thrice, or even quadruple the num
ber of feet that are allowed him in another. One
fourth of an acre is an average-sized claim. The
discoverer of new diggings is awarded a double
or triple share, or only an equal part, as a ma
jority of those on the ground shall determine.
Two claims cannot be held by one person at the
YUBA — THE MTNEE'S TENT. 153
same time, except by purchase. If a man lets
his claim go unworked a certain number of days,
say five, eight or ten, he forfeits it, and any
other person is at liberty to take possession of it.
When a miner wishes to quit his claim only for
a few days, he stacks his tools upon it, notifies
two or three adjoining neighbors of his inten
tion, and goes where he pleases. If he returns
within the time prescribed by the laws of the
Bar, he is entitled to resume his claim ; but if
he is absent a day longer, it falls to the first
person, without a claim, who may happen to find
it. There is more real honesty and fairness
among the miners than any other class of people
in California. Taken as a body, they are a plain,
straight-forward, hard-working set of men, who
attend to their own business without meddling
in the affairs of others ; and I have found as
guileless hearts amongst them as ever throbbed
in mortal bosom. Genuine magnanimity or no
bleness of soul, when found at all in California,
must be sought among the miners — especially
among those who are farthest removed from the
contaminating influences of idlers and gamblers.
Drones and sluggards — things in the shape of
men, who are too lazy to work for an honest
living — are the chief authors of the horrible
crimes~that have rendered this country so odious
and despicable. They are the persons who are
always creating disturbances ; cheating, robbing
154 YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
and murdering ; and there is such a legion of
them that no place is exempt from their pres
ence. Wherever there is money they may be
seen skulking around it; and if they cannot filch
it from the rightful owner by intrigue or artifice,
they will do it by more violent measures. They
lurk behind the poor drudging miner, even in
the farthest gorges of the mountains, and there
butcher him, that they may avail themselves of
his hard-earned treasures. An incident of this
nature, which terminated most admirably, oc
curred near this place but a few days before my
arrival. A highwayman met a miner in an un
frequented place, and, with a cocked pistol point
ing towards him, demanded, "Your gold this
instant, sir, or your life!" "Hold! you shall
have it," exclaimed the miner, when quickly
thrusting his hand into his breast pocket, as if
feeling for his purse, he drew his own revolver
and shot the would-be assassin dead upon the spot.
While reconnoitering the bar, I made excuses
to call on several miners who happened to be in
their tents. As for the tents themselves, though
nearly all of the same size, they differ very much
in appearance and quality. A great many are
made of duck or white canvas; while others are
built of stunted saplings, which grow sparsely
throughout the mining region. Those construct
ed of the latter material are about the size and
shape of a common hog-pen, with a stick and
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 155
inud chimney, which very frequently has a head
less whiskey barrel stuck in the top for a funnel.
These are the hest and most comfortable domi-
cils about the mines ; and it is only when mi
ners, or a combination of miners, have large
claims, which afford them steady employment
for a considerable length of time, that they are
enabled to build them. There being no planks,
boards, slabs, nor other sawn or hewn timbers,
the poles are covered with brush or coarse cloth,
and sometimes with raw-hides. The ground is
the floor in all cases. No chimney nor whiskey-
barrel flue graces the gable-end of the canvas
tent ; it is merely a temporary shelter from the
scorching rays of the sun and the chilling dews
of the night. Until the miner is successful
enough to secure a good claim and build himself
a hovel, of course he is compelled to sleep under
the roof which canopied Adam and Eve, and he
must take his chances of the tarantula and of
the assassin.
The interior of the miner's tent corresponds to
its exterior. Spread upon the ground, on one
side, we see a pair of rumpled blankets, upon
which he sleeps. They are thoroughly saturated
with mud and dust, and have never been shaken,
switched nor sunned since their place was as
signed them. Scattered here and there, "about
the edges of the blankets, lie several of Paul de
Kock's and Eugene Sue's yellow-backed novels,
156 YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
whose soiled margins and dog-eared leaves give
evidence that they are not allowed to go unread.
Something less than half a dozen packs of cards
are within reach, while three or four old stumps
or chunks of wood, employed as substitutes for
chairs, occupy random positions ahout the floor.
In one corner is a keg of brandy or whiskey, and
in another the cooking apparatus and provisions.
As for tables, delft-ware, knives and forks, or
any thing of that kind, there are none. The
miner always carries his pistol and bowie knife
by his side day and night, and with the latter
weapon, aided by his fingers, he reduces his food
to convenient morsels.
His cooking utensils consist of a frying-pan
and a pot, neither of which, except in rare in
stances, is ever washed. The pot is mostly used
for boiling pork and beans, and the old scum
and scales that accumulate on the inside from
one ebullition serve as seasoning to the next.
Pork and beans are two of the principal articles
of diet with miners, partly because they are com
paratively cheaper than other provisions, and
partly on account of their being so nutritious
and wholesome. The beans, especially, are very
fine; they are imported from Chili, and are su
perior to any I ever saw in the Atlantic States.
By boiling as much at one time as the pot will
hold, the miner generally saves himself the
trouble of preparing these articles of food oftener
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 157"
than twice a week. When cooked to suit him,
he sets the pot on one side, leaving the contents
in it uncovered ; this is his pantry, and out of it
he makes his meals from time to time, until all
is consumed, when he replenishes it with a fresh
supply of the same kind. Flap-jacks are very
frequently used in lieu of bread. They are a
combination of flour and water, fried in such
grease as can be extracted from the pork ; or, if
the miner has no pork, he bakes them as he
would other thin cakes of dough. If he is not
too far removed from a depot of general provis
ions, he will probably keep a bottle of molasses,
which may be seen by the side of the frying-pan,
unstopped, and containing an amount of flies
and ants nearly equal to that of the saccharine
juice. These entrapped insects do not seem to
come within the scope of his observation, as he
never attempts to clear his bottle of them. He
is not very squeamish about his diet.
It is but seldom that the miner suspends labor
on Sunday if his claim is a rich one ; but if it is
poor, he usually lets it rest on that day, while
he does his washing and mending. I have al
ready said that he carries his bowie-knife and
revolver with him day and night. There is
scarcely an exception to this rule ; ninety-nine
out of every hundred are thus armed, and this
accounts for the fatal result of almost every al
tercation. No matter what it is that occasions
14
158 YTJBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
disputes between men, whether slight misunder
standings or grave difficulties, few words are
bandied before they appeal to their weapons,
and the life of one or the other is sure to be lost
in the fracas, — sometimes both are killed. This
barbarous practice of carrying deadly weapons
is not alone confined to the miners ; you rarely
find a merchant, mechanic, lawyer doctor, or
man of any other calling in California, who does
not keep them concealed about him. By a cal
culation, based upon fair estimates, I learn that
since California opened her mines to the world,
she has invested upwards of six millions of dol
lars in bowie-knives and pistols — pretty play
things to give to her children !
Having surveyed and examined the bar, and
all that pertained to it, to my satisfaction, I con
structed a small canvas tent, and the next day
began to search the earth in quest of gold.
Though I was not reared in idleness, this was
my first lesson in real hard labor. Here, in
the summer season, the thermometer ranging
from 90 to 105 degrees of Fahrenheit in the
shade, mining, when diligently and assiduously
prosecuted, is certainly the most toilsome em
ployment in the world. I imagine that the
tillage of sugar-fields is pastime compared with
it, and that the African slaves who gather coffee
in Brazil, have no adequate conception of hard-
work.
YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT. 159
For three months I applied myself to my tools
and claim with all the energy of my nature —
digging, shoveling and rocking, with the snarls
of grizzly bears to lull me to sleep at night, and
the howls of hungry wolves to regale my ears
at the break of day. With all this wear and
tear of body and mind, my account-current of
proceeds and expenditures stood, at the expira
tion of that time, giving myself no credit for
either loss of time or physical exhaustion, just
ninety-three and three-quarter cents — balance
on hand ! This was building a palace with a ven
geance ! A net profit of ninety-three and a quar
ter cents in three months, being " two and six
pence" per month, or a fraction over a cent a day.
Hope, however, did not forsake me, and besides
that, (shall I confess it ?) I felt a sort of malig
nant satisfaction that I was not alone in my dis
appointments. I found consolation in the mis
fortune of others ! When I looked around me,
and saw scores of dirty, hungry, ragged, long
haired miners, who had toiled and labored like
plantation negroes, on this and other bars, for
more than two years, and who could not com
mand as much as five dollars to save their lives,
it buoyed me up, and made me better satisfied
with my own ill-luck. The feeling that thus
manifested itself may have been worthy of cen
sure, but I am sure it was natural, for no ener
getic or enterprising man likes to see his neigh-
160 YUBA — THE MINER'S TENT.
bor out-do him, or surpass him in the acquisition
of wealth — especially if their chances and oppor
tunities have always been the same. If I had
not been unsuccessful myself, I should not have
chuckled over the corresponding misfortunes of
others ; but, to be candid, feeling that my devo
tion and application to business entitled me to a
reasonable share of prosperity, I had but little
sympathy for my fellow-miners, who, being no
more worthy of reward than myself, failed in
their efforts to excel me. I said I had but little
sympathy for them. I had some. It grieved me
to see so many stout, athletic men undergoing so
many privations and discomforts, wasting their
time in unprofitable schemes, only to be at last
subjected to the most galling disappointments.
The time had now come, however, for other
thoughts and considerations. A change of loca
tion seemed to be necessary. The profits of mi
ning did not warrant longer continuance at this
place. It occurred to me that the sum of ninety-
three and three-quarter cents was but indifferent
remuneration for three months' herculean labor.
I wished to have nothing to do with this lying
equivalent, so handing it over, with my compli
ments, to a poor, needy, hungry-looking neigh
bor, I shook the dust from my feet and departed,
after the manner of Lot when he left Sodom, not
deigning to look behind — not for fear, however,
of being turned into a pillar of gold.
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 161
CHAPTER XIII.
f~-<* "•...' ; >%i
STOCKTON AND SONORA.
I HAVE perambulated the streets of San Fran
cisco, Sacramento, Marysville and Stockton ; but
of all the California cities, after San Francisco,
Stockton is my choice. It is named in honor of
Commodore R. F. Stockton, and is situated on a
tributary of the San Joaquin river, which emp
ties into the Suisun Bay, opening into the Bay
of San Francisco. Being but a little over one
hundred miles to the east of San Francisco, it
enjoys the advantages of daily steamboat com
munication with that place ; but owing to the
narrow banks of the stream and the shallowness
of the water, the vessels are much smaller than
those employed upon the Sacramento. It con
tains from six to seven thousand inhabitants.
Though only the fourth city in the State in
population, it is the third in business. All the
residents of the southern mines draw their sup
plies from it ; and as it is blessed with a mild
climate, it is frequently resorted to by those who
seek pastime or recreation.
The San Joaquin valley, in^ie midst of which
this city is situated, would probably be the best
14*
162 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
agricultural land in the Sta^e, if the water could
be drained from it ; but in its present low and
boggy condition, it is utterly unfit for cultiva
tion. It takes its name from the low-banked
river which meanders through it, and is as level
as a garden. No vegetable production is found
upon it, except the tule, a tall, pithy species of
rush or calamus, which bears a more striking re
semblance to the flag than to any thing else of
Atlantic growth. This tule, which grows as
thick as it can stand, and from six to eight feet
in height, is an annual plant ; and in the fall of
the year, if fire be communicated to it during
the night, when there is a light breeze stirring,
it burns with an indescribable splendor. I have
said that this aquatic weed is the only natural
product of the valley ; this is true, as regards all
that part which is perfectly level, and which
presents the appearance of a vast meadow ; but
as we approach the Coast Kange on the south
west, or the Sierra Nevadas on the north-east, we
come to slightly elevated knolls, upon which we
find clumps of gnarled oaks. These trees all
lean towards the east, as if bowing their heads
in adoration, having grown in this reverential
posture while under the influence of the winds
from the west.
This valley affords another evidence of the un
favorable condition of the country. It shows
conclusively thaA'ven the most valuable parts
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 163
of the State are encumbered with insurmount
able impediments. The bottom lands, which
are mainly relied upon for agricultural purposes,
are too wet to till, and too low to drain ; while
the uplands are so dry and sterile that neither
grains, plants nor fruits can be raised upon them.
There is either too much moisture or none at all.
It is a land of mountains and mud-holes. Still,
there are some extensive plains and valleys which
might be successfully cultivated, if the seasons
were adapted to them ; but the absence of rain
during the summer renders them of little or no
value to the farmer. It is very probable, how
ever, that in the progress of time, as the other
members of the confederacy become burdened with
population, the more eligible parts of this State
will be settled and, by means of irrigation, made
tolerably productive ; but when California is thus
peopled and converted into a place of permanent
habitation, it will be by the force of destiny,
rather than by any attractions it can offer to im
migrants. They may make it their home as a
dernier resort, but they will not do it as a mat
ter of choice. So long as there is any unappro
priated territory in other parts of the Union,
California will not be in demand.
We shall find but few things deserving at
tention in the city of Stockton, having already
examined its archetypes,, San Francisco and Sac
ramento. It is due to this place to remark that,
164 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
notwithstanding all its Peter Funk and Cheap
John establishments, it sustains a better charac
ter than any other city in the State. Though it
has its share of groggeries and gambling -houses,
and is, in most respects, fitted out in true Cali
fornia style, it is not infested with so many
drones and desperadoes as are usually met with
in neighboring towns. I am well acquainted with
many of its citizens and know them to be esti
mable men — not too lazy to work, nor too sour
to laugh at a merry thing.
Sonora is an inland town, situated in the
midst of one of the richest mineral regions in
the southern part of the State. A stage-coach
affords the most convenient and expeditious
means of reaching this place, which lies about
fifty miles to the south-east. Starting early in
the morning,, we travel as fast as a dare-devil
driver can make four horses convey us — fre
quently meeting and overtaking numerous pack
trains, pedestrians and ox-teams, passing to and
fro between the mines and Stockton. A part of
the country over which our road leads us, is a
somewhat elevated plain, which, being entirely
destitute of trees and other vegetable products,
presents a most dreary and uninviting prospect.
We see nothing around us but the naked earth.
There is no accommodation for either bird or
beast — no resting-place for the one, nor food for
the other. The pack-trains, pedestrians and ox-
STOCKTON" AND SONORA. 165
teams, constitute the only animal life in view ;
and as we see them plodding along over this
barren waste, our memories are refreshed with
vivid recollections of those stories, which we
read in former days, of caravans crossing the
great desert of Sahara.
It is a fact worthy of being here recorded, as
illustrative of the success of the miners, that we
shall observe a larger number returning on foot
than we find going. I was amused one day,
while on my way to the regions of hidden treas
ure, when meeting a ragged, hairy, Esau-looking
pedestrian, he hailed me with " Hallo." " How
are you ?" answered I. " Which way ?" asked
he. " To the mines," replied I. " Well, my
friend," said he, "you will excuse me for speak
ing plainly : this is a free country and I presume
you are at liberty to go to the mines or to the
d — 1, just as you please ; but, mark my words,
if you are going to the mines to dig, I'll be d — d
if you don't rue the act." " May-be not," re
marked I. " Very well," he added, a you'll see.
By the time you delve and toil two long years,
under the broiling sun as I have done, and have
seen others do, without making a decent living,
you'll perceive the truth of what I tell you."
Steadily pursuing our course, about twelve
o'clock we came to the Stanislaus Kiver, a small
tributary stream of the San Joaquin. Here we
stop to change horses and get dinner, there
166 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
being a sort of bastard hotel near tbe brink of
the river. Numerous Indians^ naked and hun
gry, could be seen prowling about this place, or
seated in squads, partaking of a mess of worms,
young wasps, grasshoppers, or any other similar
dainty to which their good stars may lead them.
It was a long time before the savage creatures
would tolerate the presence of the white man
amongst them ; but they have been so repeatedly
routed in battle, that they have now given up
open hostility and are comparatively peaceable ;
still they secretly cherish the most implacable
enmity to our race, and improve every oppor
tunity to dispatch us when they can do so with
out being detected. They gain nothing, how
ever, by these covert misdeeds ; for our people,
understanding their insidious conduct, retaliate
by deliberately shooting them down whenever
they come in their way. What the white man's
life is valued at by the Indian, is probably not
known ; but the white man hurls the Indian
into eternity with as much nonchalance as
though he were a squirrel.
Having appeased our appetites and secured the
services of a fresh team, we cross the river and
resume our journey. As we advance towards the
place of our destination, the face of the country
changes, from level plains to rugged slopes and
woodlands. In the forenoon our road, though
disagreeably dusty, was both smooth and straight,
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 167
but now it winds over rocky glades, hills and
gullies ; and as the wheels of our vehicle mount
and descend the rough impediments, we are jar
red and shaken without mercy. Approaching
still nearer the end of our journey, we have to
contend with a more difficult and uneven surface ;
but being in charge of a very skillful driver,
we are drawn safely over every rock and crag.
Arriving in Sonora between sundown and
dark, we repair to a public house, and bespeak
supper and lodgings for the night. The best
hotel in the place is a one-story structure, built
of unhewn saplings, covered with canvas and
floored with dirt. It consists of one undivided
room, in which the tables, berths and benches
are all arranged. Here we sleep, eat and drink.
Four or five tiers of berths or bunks, one directly
above another, are built against the walls of the
cabin, by means of upright posts and cross-
pieces, fastened with thongs of raw-hide The
bedding is composed of a small straw mattress
about two feet wide, an uncased pillow stuffed
with the same material, and a single blanket.
When we creep into one of these nests, it is op
tional with us whether we unboot or uncoat our
selves ; but it would be looked upon as an act of
ill-breeding, even in California, to go to bed with
one's hat on. Having once resigned ourselves
into the arms of Morpheus, we are not likely to
be disturbed by the drunken yells and vocifera-
168 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
tions of night-brawlers, now that we have be
come accustomed to such things. The noisy
curses of the rabble will have no more effect
upon us than the roaring water-fall or the mill-
wheel has upon the miller. Night glides away,
morning dawns, and we rise from our bunks to
battle with another day. On the outside of the
tavern, whither we betake ourselves to wash, are
a tub of water, a basin and a towel, for all the
guests ; but as only one person can perform his
ablutions at a time, it will be necessary for us to
form ourselves in a line, and take our turn — the
first comers being entitled to the front places.
We are now ready to replenish the inner man.
The bar is convenient for those who wish to im
bibe. Breakfast is announced. We seat our
selves at the table. Before us is a reasonable
quantity of beans, pork and flapjacks, served up
in tin plates. Pea tea, which the landlord calls
coffee with a bold emphasis, is handed to us, and
we help ourselves to such other things as may
be within reach.
No matter what kinds or qualities of viands
are set before us, so that there be sufficient, for
our stomachs have become so well tempered by
this time that we feast upon them with as much
gusto as if we were dining in a French restaur
ant. Neither spices, sauces nor seasonings are
necessary to accommodate them to the palate.
Our appetites need no nursing. Honest hunger
STOCKTON AND BONORA. 169
disdains such dyspeptic accompaniments as the
contents of cruets and casters. The richest con
diments are the poorest provisions.
Our fast is hroken — we are satisfied. The pro
prietor of the hotel, with his two male assistants,
begins to clear off the table. Women have no
hand in these domestic affairs. There is not a
female about the establishment. All the guests,
owners and employees are men. The dishes are
washed, the blankets straightened in the berths;
and while the cook is preparing dinner, some of
the tavern-loungers seat themselves around the
table, to take a friendly game of euchre, whist,
seven-up, laugh-and-lay-down, old-maid, com
merce or matrimony, while others saunter off to
the gambling houses, of which there are about
half a dozen in the place, to play at roulette,
monte, faro, poker, twenty-one, all-fours or lans
quenet. Such is hotel life in California, espe
cially in the country towns and throughout the
mining region.
Frequently several of the guests are fuddled,
and as there are no partitions or apartments in
the building, by which one person or set of persons
may be separated from another, they are a most
prolific source of annoyance to their sober neigh
bors. I recollect one occasion particularly, when,
fatigued by a long day's journey, I stopped at
one of these mountain taverns in the hope of en
joying a comfortable night's rest. Soon after
15
170 STOCKTON AND SONQKA.
eating my supper, which consisted of the stan
dard dish, pork and beans, I crept into one of
the farthest bunks, annoyed by the blackguard
ism and segar fumes of a group of drunken card-
players, who occupied a table near the centre of
the room. These swaggering inebriates, noisy
as they were, did not prevent me from sleeping,
as I had become habituated to witnessing such
nocturnal carousals ; but towards midnight, in
came a wild, blustering lunatic, who had lost
his reason about a week before, yelling and
screaming as if a legion of fiends were after him.
He was bare-footed, bare-headed and bare-legged,
having no clothing upon his person, except a
shirt ; and I understood afterwards that he had
been roaming about the place four or five days
and nights in this condition. Making some in
quiry concerning his history, I learned that he
was a lawyer by profession, that he had formerly
figured as an able and influential member of the
Maine Legislature, and that, becoming embar
rassed in his financial affairs, he left his family
and emigrated hither in the hope of retrieving
his fortune. Shortly after his arrival, not find
ing employment for his talent as a counselor, he
determined to seek the favor of the mines ; but
his eiforts in that quarter proved unavailing.
For nearly a year he had toiled vigorously and
incessantly, but to no purpose. He could not
discover the hidden treasure which he sought.
STOCKTON AND SONORA.
Disappointed and chagrined at the result, he re
signed himself to the hottle. The remembrance
of his dependent and far distant family, coupled
with the mischievous influence of ardent spirits,
increased and sharpened his mental suffering ;
his mind began to vacillate — his reason lost its
equilibrium, and we now find him a raving
maniac. More than half naked, friendless and
forlorn, he wanders about the streets and through
the woods, day and night — a poor, miserable,
crazy vagabond. Why, it may be asked, was
there not some public provision made for the re
moval and security of this pitiable nuisance?
Simply because it was in California. Here, where
there is nothing as it should be, this unhappy
man was allowed to run at large. No one cared
for him. He was supposed to be harmless, and
was, therefore, permitted to live. If he had in
flicted any bodily injury upon any one, he would
probably have been shot or stabbed, and that
would have been the end of the drama. Cases of
this or a similar character are to be met with
almost every day. I only mention this as a sin
gle instance.
To give a faint idea of the precocity and way
wardness of youth in this country, I will relate
a bloody incident which occurred at another ho
tel, where I had put up for a night's lodging.
In this case the landlord, a short, lean Massa
chusetts Yankee, was married and had his fam-
1*72 STOCKTON AND SONOEA.
ily with. him. His eldest son, Ned, had not seen
his ninth year. Nevertheless, this hoy had
learned to gamhle. Whether his father or
mother had instructed him in the art, or whether
he had heen tutored hy the hlacklegs frequent
ing the hotel, I am unahle to say ; but it was
very evident that his parents cared very little
about the matter, for they permitted him to
play cards in their own house, and seemed to
pride themselves upon his proficiency. Indeed,
he was so dexterous in his manner of shuffling
and dealing, and so quick to perceive the course
and probable result of the game, that he was
known throughout the neighborhood as the gam
bling prodigy. It may be questioned whether
Hoyle himself was so conversant with diamonds,
hearts, clubs and spades at so early an age.
Supper was now over, and the tables were sur
rounded with players. Little Ned had his place
amongst them. I watched him more than an
hour. He handled the cards with so much grace,
skill and agility, and seemed to be so perfectly
familiar with every branch of the game, that I
could not withhold my admiration. As the night
advanced, the parties became involved in a quar
rel. Some one accused Ned of unfairness in
changing the position of certain cards. Violent
oaths and maledictions followed this accusation.
Inflamed with anger, and assuming a menacing
attitude, Ned denounced his accuser (a full grown
STOCKTON AND SONOEA.
man, three times as large and four times as old
as himself,) as " a pusillanimous liar and scoun
drel," and added, " G-d d— n you, I'll shoot
you I" By this time the excitement had reached
a high pitch. Things "began to wear an alarm
ing aspect. Several persons took sides in the
matter, some for Ned and some against him. A
general row seemed to be inevitable. Ned had
the largest number of friends ; but his enemies
were clamorous and obstinate in their assertions
that he had departed from the rules of the game,
and declared in positive terms that he was a dis
ciplined cheat.
Finally, however, Ned's friends took upon
themselves all the responsibility of his behaviour,
and the war of loud invectives and imprecations
was now waged more by the adherents of the
original disputants than by those disputants
themselves. The bandying of gross epithets at
tracted the attention of a large crowd. Serious
consequences were apprehended. The occasion
was pregnant with mischief. One of the despe
radoes jerked a bowie-knife from his pocket, and
was about to plunge it into the body of his an
tagonist, when another drew a revolver and shot
him. A few struggles — a few groans, and the
fallen man had ceased to live. But the injury
was not confined to him alone. As the ball
passed through the breast of the man at whom
it was aimed, it lodged in the shoulder of an in-
15*
174 STOCKTON AND SONOKA.
nocent spectator, inflicting a severe but not mor
tal wound. And now was enacted one of those
awful scenes of retribution for which California
is so notorious. The man who had just commit
ted the homicide was seized by the mob, and,
amid loud cries of " hang him ! hang him 1" led
out to a tree and there summarily executed ac
cording to the prompt sentence of the excited
multitude. It was a season of dreadful uproar
and commotion. The man who was shot had
not been dead half an hour before his murderer
was suspended by the neck between heaven and
earth. Thus we have seen the blood of two men
shed in the quarrel of a stripling, who had not
attained half the age of manhood, but who al
ready was a reckless and abandoned little gam
bler. If we deemed it necessary, we might cite
other instances of a similar character. Suffice it
to say that this boy, Ned, may be taken as a fail-
sample of the rising generation in California.
Of course, they are not all exactly like him, any
more than two persons are exactly alike any
where else ; but the same unlimited freedom is
extended to them all ; they are allowed to do
just as they please. What else can be expected?
Is it to be supposed that parents who put no re
straint upon themselves will govern their chil
dren with propriety ? If the father is an habit
ual gambler, drunkard and desperado, will not
the son be so too ?
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 115
The truth is, there is no attention paid to the
moral, mental or physical discipline of youth in
this country. They are left to their own will
and inclination, to grow up, like the plants and
weeds in a neglected garden, without culture or
training. Surrounded as they are with so many
examples of depravity, what sort of men and
women are they likely to he ? It is prohable
that the world has never reared such a horde of
accomplished scamps and vagabonds, male and
female, as will soon emerge from the adolescent
population of the Eureka State. The signs of
the times warrant this conclusion. How can it
be otherwise when they are familiar with every
vice, and strangers to every virtue ? It matters
not how strict or careful the parents themselves
may be, it is impossible for them to shield their
children from the baneful influences of the neigh
borhood ; and a man might as well think of
raising a healthy and stalwart family in the
midst of a malarious swamp, as to think of rear
ing decent sons and daughters in California. The
boys persuade themselves that they are men be
fore they are half matured ; and their superiors
are either too little concerned about it, or too
deeply engrossed in business to teach them bet
ter. As a consequence of this precocious manli
ness, they give themselves up to all the pernicious
habits and indulgences of older reprobates.
A few words now in regard to this town
176 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
nora. It is built upon the slope of a long hill,
and contains about four thousand inhabitants.
Only one street traverses it. Unlike most other
towns, its length is very much disproportioned
to its breadth. As well as I remember, it is
something over a mile long, and only about one
hundred yards wide; so that the single street
which passes through it affords an ample avenue
for the intercourse and business operations of the
people. The houses, or, more properly speaking,
the shanties, are built close together, and open
on the street, in city style. Indeed, it is here
called a city, and is governed by a mayor and
common council. In fact, every collection of
houses in this country, every hamlet, every vil
lage, every town, is called a city. No matter if
there be only half a dozen houses in a place, it is
termed a city, always taking the name of the lo
cality upon which it is built, as Collusi city,
Stanislaus city, Marin city. I have visited two
or three of these California " cities " that con
tained but a couple of frail tenements each, and
four or five old bachelor inhabitants.
Before it was ascertained which were the nat
ural or most suitable and convenient parts of the
State for city sites and trading posts, there was
a wonderful deal of finesse practiced by a set of
land-speculators. Scattering themselves over the
country, they laid claim to certain eligible plats,
which, according to their stories. Nature had
STOCKTON AND SONORA.
formed expressly for capitals and queen cities.
Large maps, margined with laudatory remarks,
setting forth the peerless advantages of this
place and that, were committed to oily-tongued
agents for general circulation. The people were
informed that such a place was destined to be
come a metropolis, that all the surrounding
mountains, hills, valleys and plains were bound
to become tributary to it, that the great system
and machinery of the world could not move on
harmoniously without it, and that those who se
cured the first choice of lots would at once be in
possession of a lordly fortune. This, as a mat
ter of course, was all sheer humbug ; neverthe
less, in California, where humbug mingles with
every transaction of life, and where people are
ever ready to lay hold of any scheme that prom
ises money, it had the desired effect.
Many persons had confidence in these projects,
and made investments in them. Besides several
individual cases of which I might speak, I am
acquainted with a company of men who laid out
more than one hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars in this questionable species of property ; —
to-day their investment is not worth two cents
on the dollar. It was perfectly amusing some
times to witness the working of these bastard
enterprises. The authors and agents of the plan,
having their topographic charts and every thing
in readiness, would bustle about among the peo-
178 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
pie, pointing out and explaining the favorable
and commanding situation of the place, assuring
them that the attention of the whole country
was now directed to it, and giving the most ex
aggerated accounts of the demand for lots. In
this way they would soon get up a great excite
ment, (it requires hut a small matter to excite the
people in California.) In a few instances, as many
as seventy or eighty persons have heen known to
purchase interests in one of these bubble cities,
and, laying aside all other business, flock to it
without delay. Three weeks afterwards, there
would probably be only one or two men on the
ground, and no marks or vestiges of a city, ex
cept, perhaps, a few deserted cloth tents. It
must be admitted that the projectors of these
ephemeral cities made money at the expense of
their victims.
The Americans were the principal operators
in these speculative movements ; but I know
several Germans, who, though proverbially cau
tious in the matter of dollars and cents, were
likewise drawn into them. In one particular
case, two worthy representatives of the Fader-
land bought four lots, each forty-five by one
hundred and thirty-seven feet, for thirteen thou
sand dollars, which they afterwards offered to me
at ninety-five per cent, discount! I would not
have taken the whole or any part of the plot at
the rate of six dollars an acre.
STOOKTON AND SONORA. 179
I have alluded, parenthetically, to the excita
bility of the Californians. This is a remarkable
trait in their character. The least thing of un
usual occurrence fires their fancy and sets them
in motion. If a terrier catches a rat, or if a big
turnip is brought to market, the people clus
ter together and scramble for a sight with as
much eagerness and impetuosity as a party of
children would scramble after a handful of
sweetmeats. If, in these hasty gatherings, one
man happens to tread on the toes of another, it
only requires one minute for the injured party
to shoot the offender, two minutes for some body
else to stab the shooter, and three minutes for
the whole crowd to hang the stabber.
While in and about Sonora, we may have an
opportunity of inspecting all the various systems
of mining that are carried on in California. The
whole earth, for some distance around, is liter
ally turned upside down, or inside out. On the
left, they are using the common single-hand
rocker ; on the right, sluicing ; and in another
place, sinking deep shafts. We shall here find
a great many Mexican miners, who make deep
pits and excavations in the hills, and who are
generally very successful in their operations.
These delving countrymen of Santa Anna seem
to have a peculiar tact for discovering the veins
of gold. But they do not confine themselves
much to surface diggings. They have a greater
180 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
propensity for holes. Sometimes they will go
forty or fifty feet into the earth without finding
an atom of the precious metal ; but it is very
seldom that they mistake their ground ; they
keep going, either in a perpendicular; horizontal
or meandering direction, until they strike the
ore. Except in working quartz veins, machinery
has heen hut little employed, as yet, in develop
ing the mineral resources of the State ; but I am
inclined to the opinion that it might be advan
tageously applied in gathering the gold in what
ever form it may exist.
A part of the preceding chapter was devoted
to observations upon the habits of life and per
sonal appearance of the miner ; but I neglected
to mention his peculiar characteristic or append
age : this is the long hair upon his head and
face. He neither shaves nor shears ; he has no
use for either razors or scissors. The tonsorial
art is, in his estimation, a most reprehensible
and unmanly innovation. Looking upon it as
one of the fashionable foibles of society, he disa
vows all connection with it. He believes that
Nature is not apt to make mistakes, that all
things were created about right, that hair was
placed upon man's head and face to harmonize
with the other organs of his body, that it has its
distinct and peculiar offices to perform, and that
if it is cut, the whole animal economy will be
more or less enervated. Such is something of
STOCKTON AND SONOKA.
181
the faith of the miner upon this interesting sub
ject, which has of late been such a theme of dis
cussion among the mustachioed and non-musta
chioed world.
I confess myself, in fact, a convert to his no
tions. To say that the whiskers or the hair
should never he trimmed, would he as much as
to say that the finger-nails should never be
pared ; while to say that the beard or the hair
should be cut close to the skin, would be the
same as saying that the finger-nails should be
pulled out by the roots. If we shave the chin
and the cheeks, why not the head, the hands and
the arms ? How comes it that hair is less tole
rable on the side of the face than on the back of
the hand? The Chinaman shaves his head all
over, except a small spot on the crown, about
twice the size of a dollar, and we laugh at him
for doing so; but may it not be questioned which
is the greater object of derision, a bald head or a
beardless face ? We are also in the habit of ridi
culing young ladies because they lace or compress
their waists, but would it not be equally becom
ing in them to sneer at us for disfiguring our
faces ? What would we think of the belles, if
they were to get in the habit of wearing false
whiskers ? Would we not characterize the in
troduction of such a fashion as a silly and
whimsical innovation ? But is it any more
ridiculous or censurable in a woman to make
16
182 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
her face masculine, than it is in a man to make
his feminine ?
That the beard is a protection against sore
throats, coughs, colds, asthma, and other ail
ments, every California miner will be willing to
testify. It is said that the English colliers, who
have long suffered from hemorrhage of the lungs,
have evaded the disease altogether by discontin
uing the use of the razor. Yet the newspapers
inform us that the clerks in the Bank of Eng
land are not allowed to wear mustachios, under
penalty of dismission.
As I have heretofore remarked, mining in Cal
ifornia is one of the most precarious of all occu
pations. Yet it is the country's only source of
wealth, and if the laborer fails in it, he cannot
betake himself to other pursuits. If he cannot
make money by digging, shoveling and rocking,
he cannot make it at all. Now and then, it is
true, the miner meets with unanticipated good
luck ; but when such a thing occurs it is blazoned
from Dan to Beersheba, whereas no mention is ever
made of the thousands of unfortunate, poverty-
stricken dupes, who, though equally industrious
and deserving, scarcely defray their expenses.
I may refer to the case of an old man, who,
for some time, was engaged in mining opera
tions at this place, and with whom I became
acquainted soon after my arrival here.. Sixty
years had left their traces upon his face, and his
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 183
snowy beard and silver locks increased his ven
erable air. For a man of his age, he was re
markably vigorous ; and as he was somewhat
above the usual height, and well proportioned,
with a kind heart that beamed through his in
telligent features, he must have been, in his
younger days, a noble specimen of a man. Even
at the time of which we speak, he was a fine
looking man, old in years but young in spirit,
whole-souled, free from every species of hypoc
risy, plain-spoken, full of courage and resolution,
yet sincere and guileless as a child. Though I
never saw him have on a clean shirt, though his
whole garb was besmeared with mud and soiled
with perspiration ; though his hoary locks hung
about his breast and shoulders in unrestrained
length and unlimited profusion ; and though he
was nothing now but a poor, penniless old mi
ner — yet, convinced that he had those excellent
qualities within, which constitute the great and
good man, I should have felt; proud to call him
father.
We will let this venerable sexagenarian tell
his own story. I indite his own words, as nearly
as I recollect them. Said he, during conversa
tion one evening, after we had both quit work,
" Some men would esteem themselves wealthy,
if they were worth as much money as I was de
prived of by bad legislation in Congress, a while
previous to my departure for this country. Soon
184 STOCKTON AND SONOBA.
after the enactment of the tariff law of 1842, one
of nay neighbors and myself invested eighty
thousand dollars in the manufacture of iron, in
the State of Pennsylvania. Our business suc
ceeded beyond our expectations ; and in order to
supply the increasing demands for our products,
we found it necessary to employ additional force
and capital, build new forges, and otherwise en
large the sphere of our operations. Every ex
amination of our affairs developed new evidences
of prosperity, and our hearts glowed with grati
tude to those sterling patriots and sagacious
statesmen, Clay, Webster and others, through
whose eloquent influence we were then harvest
ing the fruits of a protective tariff. But this
thriving state of things was not of long continu
ance. In 1846 the tariff act of '42 was repealed ;
and that repeal was the death-blow to our man
ufacturing interests. The duty on iron was re
duced so low that it was impossible for us to com
pete with the importations from Europe. We
became embarrassed, made an assignment, and
finally, by sacrificing every thing we had in the
shape of property, extricated ourselves from all
liabilities. After this stroke of misfortune, hav
ing a wife and three daughters, who were partly
dependent upon me for support, I concluded to
come to California, believing, from the flatter
ing accounts which I had seen published, that
money was more easily accumulated here than in
STOCKTON AND SONORA. 185
the Atlantic States. It is now almost two years
since I arrived in San Francisco. Going to the
northern mines first, I worked there something
over twelve months ; but finding it a difficult
matter to pay expenses, I came south, and set
tled at this place. I fear I have not bettered my
condition. During the last seven or eight
months I have labored faithfully upon this bar,
but have not been in possession of as much as
twenty-five dollars clear money at any one time.
I confess I am utterly disappointed in California.
It has been grossly, shamefully misrepresented.
I have tried it to my satisfaction. Now I would
be glad to return to my home in Pennsylvania,
but I have no means to convey me. And there
is my poor family, my beloved wife and daugh
ters — what will become of them ? May heaven
provide for them, for I am unable."
As the good old man uttered these last words,
the tears trickled down his cheeks, and he could
say no more. Had it not been that I disdained
to moisten California soil with such precious
drops, I believe my eyes would have rained too ;
for the clouds began to gather about them, and
I had to use no little precaution to keep them
dry. It was certainly no sign of a white-livered
man, to shed tears in a case of this kind ; on the
contrary, it was, at least in my opinion, a mark
of goodness ; and my estimation of the old gen
tleman was heightened, on account of the tender
16*
186 STOCKTON AND SONORA.
regard he manifested towards his family. He
had lately received a most soothing and affec
tionate letter from one of his daughters, urging
him by all means to return home on the first
opportunity, and promising to exert herself to
the utmost to make him happy. Handing the
letter to me, he remarked that I might read it if
I felt so disposed. A peculiar thrill electrified
my whole system as I laid hold of the delicately
penned missive. I was but little acquainted
with that kind of literature, yet there was a
charm about it, and I devoured its contents
with avidity. It was a rare souvenir — beau
tifully written, well worded, and faultless in
orthography.
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 187
CHAPTEK XIV.
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
AMONG our readers there may be some who
are contemplating a trip to California, and may
be hesitating between the two routes commonly
traveled. For their sakes, I have violated the
chronological order of my adventures, that I
might introduce a description of the outward
and return trip, in immediate juxtaposition for
the greater convenience of comparison.
From the pier of Wall street, New York, on
Friday, January 31st, seven passengers, myself
amongst the number, embarked for San Fran
cisco, on board the clipper ship Stag-Hound,
under command of Capt. Josiah Richardson.
The wind blowing from the north-east afforded
us a favorable opportunity for standing out from
land ; of this, however, we did not avail our
selves until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon ;
for, although our vessel was towed out early in
the morning, and every thing seemed to be in
readiness for our final departure, yet, through
some unavoidable delay, we were obliged to cast
anchor off Staten Island, where it became ne
cessary for us to remain until the time above
188 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
mentioned. We then weighed anchor, set sail,
and in a few minutes our noble ship was gliding
over the blue waves with swan-like grace.
It was truly a magnificent sight, as we headed
off so smoothly and so majestically from the
shore, and made our way out farther and far
ther upon the dark blue deep ; we spent the
greater part of the evening promenading the
quarter-deck, and admiring the enchanting scene.
But our reverie and conversation were not alto
gether undisturbed by melancholy thought. We
had just started upon a long, uncertain and
monotonous voyage. Old associations had been
broken up. We had bid adieu to our native
homes, our nearest relations and dearest friends,
probably for three or four years — possibly for
ever. All before us then was an unknown
world — an untrodden path, and phantom-faces
of doubt and fear would loom up from the ob
scurity of the future.
The next morning I began to feel symptoms
of that most intolerable of all sensations, sea
sickness. Of this malady I had some little
experience once before, while on my way from
Philadelphia to New York via Cape May ; but I
never entertained the least idea that it was half
so depressing as I now found it. For three
weeks and more I could scarcely eat a mouthful.
It really seemed to me at times that eating was
the most abominable occupation men could en-
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 189
gage in ; and when I looked upon dishes of
which I had often freely partaken before coming
on board the vessel, I either found it difficult to
reconcile myself to the opinion that I was not
dreaming, or came well nigh detesting myself
for having ever been addicted to so gross a
habit.
The monotony of our daiJy life was without
variety for the next four or five days. The
wind had been somewhat favorable, and we
were making good progress until the evening of
the fifth day, when suddenly the wind changed
and we shortly after found ourselves in the midst
of as nice a hurricane as ever sunk a ship or
leveled a forest. The wind howled and shrieked
in such a manner that I could compare it with
nothing earthly ; the sea, too, had assumed, by
this time, a most formidable appearance ; the
rain was falling in perfect torrents — the light
ning flashed incessantly, and such deafening
thunder-peals mortal man never heard before.
It appeared as if the elements, for the last five
days or so, had been nursing their wrath for
this particular occasion, and were determined
that we, poor devils of passengers, should be
made thoroughly acquainted with the comforts
of a crowded ship in a tornado at sea.
The poor affrighted passengers (myself among
the rest) despaired of the ship long before the
severest part of the tempest was felt, and prayers
190 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
and promises were offered up without stint for
our salvation, by many that never prayed before
and I suppose have never done so since. When
morning dawned it seemed as if the fury of the
storm increased — sea and sky were apparently
as one ; every thing, and every body appeared
helpless, hopeless, panic-stricken. Most of our
canvas had been taken in or closely furled, yet
the ship dashed along with the speed of a race
horse. Things that were not well secured rolled
about in the greatest disorder and confusion.
The heavy seas which she had already shipped,
and the still heavier ones she was then shipping,
increased, if possible, the consternation inspired
by the awful scene. In fact, things began to
wear such a threatening aspect, that a speedy
change of some sort was looked forward to with
the greatest anxiety, not only by the passengers,
but by the captain and crew, when, to complete
our terrors, topgallant-masts, royals, and main
top-mast, with their appendages, came down with
a crash that was heard above the howling of the
storm. By this time the day had been spent, and
night considerably advanced, — with fear and
trembling we retired to our state-rooms, doubt
ing whether we should ever be permitted to see
the light of another day. For myself, I suppose
I was quite as indifferent about the matter as
any one else; for, when a person gets to be as
much under the influence of nausea as I was at
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 191
the time, any change is desirable, even though
it carry him to the bottom of the deep. The
night passed, and we found that the storin was
beginning to abate, so that, in about forty-eight
hours thereafter, its violence had entirely ceased,
and fine weather attended us across the equator.
The loss of our masts, in this severe gale, at
once threw a damper on our high hopes of a
quick passage; but, fortunately for us, we had
extra masts on board; and, through the inde
fatigable exertions and perseverance of our vig
ilant captain, we succeeded in getting all the
wreck cleared away and jury-masts rigged. The
shattered timbers and torn sails opened an un
usually large field of labor for our carpenter and
sail-maker. We kept on our course, which had
been very nearly south-east ever since we started,
until we passed the Cape Verde Islands, about
four degrees to the west, when we steered due
south, and crossed the equator between twenty-
nine and thirty degrees west longitude.
The next interesting event that happened to
us occurred off the coast of Brazil, in latitude
22° 25'— longitude 38° 29', Sunday, March 2d. It
was about six o'clock in the morning, and I had
just left my state-room and gone on deck to take
a bath, when a sailor by my side, pointing over
the starboard bow, cried out, " Boat ahoy ! boat
ahoy ! with men in it." In an instant, as if by
electricity, the news was conveyed to every ear
192 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
on board, and, at the same time, the starboard
rail was lined fore and aft with anxious sailors
and half-dressed passengers. As we drew near
them, (they had been rowing towards us all the
while as hard as they could pull,) they com
menced waving their hands and handkerchiefs,
beckoning to us and calling out in an unintel
ligible language, as if imploring us to receive
them on board. At the time, the sea was run
ning moderately high, and we were gliding
along at the rate of five or six knots per hour,
so that in a few minutes we had them directly
astern of us ; but we were not so destitute of hu
manity as to pass them by and leave them to
certain death. Our sympathies were quickly
and enthusiastically aroused in their behalf, and
as soon as our captain could get his ship under
proper command, he hove her to and waited for
them to row along side. Pretty soon they came
close under the lee of our vessel, and their
weather-beaten features and nautical garb at
once gave evidence that they were not unac
quainted with the life of sea-faring men.
A rope was thrown to them and they were all
able to pull themselves on board by it, except
one, whom we afterwards ascertained to be their
captain, — he,'poor fellow, was so much exhausted
that he could not help himself, and we were
obliged to hoist him in. Their story was the
next thing to be learned ; for, as yet, not a word
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 193
they said had been understood. This difficulty-
was removed, however, as soon as we got our
men collected; for, among our polyglot assem
blage of men, representing nearly forty different
nations, we quickly found an interpreter in the
person of an old Swede, whose translation of
their story was, in substance, as follows : — They
were Swedes and belonged to the Kussian brig
Sylphide, which had been to Kio and taken in a
cargo of eighteen hundred and twenty-five bags
of coffee, with which they had set sail for Hel-
singfors, Finland, — when five days out from
Kio, a -severe storm, or rather squall, came upon
them, and so completely and suddenly wrecked
their vessel, that they had barely time to escape
in one of the little boats with their lives — not
even having an opportunity to procure so much
as a bottle of water or a mouthful of food. So
precipitate and unexpected was the calamity
which thus overtook them, that they had to quit
their brig without any preparation whatever,
and abandon their carpenter, who happened to
be in his berth sick at the time, to a watery
grave.
They had been out three days and nights in
this condition, with nothing to eat or drink, save
the legs of their captain's boots, which they said
they had been chewing to sustain life. Exposed
as they were to the burning rays of a tropical
sun, without any thing to eat or drink, it is not
IT
194 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
reasonable to suppose that they would have
lived more than three days longer at farthest, if
we had not picked them up, or if they had not
been otherwise providentially relieved. We re
ceived the captain in our own cabin, and at our
own table, and entertained him as hospitably
and agreeably in every way as it was possible
for us to do. His men went before the mast,
and proved a very acceptable addition to our
crew, especially in doubling Cape Horn, for they
could endure the cold much better than our own
seamen. That day, in commendation of the act
we had performed in the morning, our captain, —
who, by the by, was a very exemplary and de
vout scion of an orthodox Yankee house, — read,
during divine service, the parable of the Good
Samaritan.
About three o'clock in the afternoon of the
same day, a little circumstance came under my
observation, which, though it may seem quite a
trivial affair in the eyes of many, may neverthe
less serve to illustrate in some degree the bar
barity of man and his utter indifference in re
gard to the lives of inferior animals. The sub
ject of the incident was a small land bird, very
much resembling our hedge sparrow, which was
discovered resting upon one of the larboard
main braces. A gust or blast of wind had prob
ably driven it out to sea, and it could not find
its way back to the shore. It was so weak that
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 195
it could scarcely fly, and looked as if it was al
most dead. On seeing it, I ran below and got a
few crumbs of bread and strewed them along
over the life-boat nearest to it. But just at that
moment, the Swedish captain, who had now be
gun to resuscitate, came up on deck ; and spying
the distressed little wanderer, he walked up as
boldly and deliberately to the rope upon which
it was sitting, as if it had been some noxious in
truder, and shook it violently. Thus frightened,
the bird flew off some distance from the ship,
but soon returned and alighted in the very same
place ; again the captain shook the rope as he
had done at first, and again the bird did just as
it had done before, j This same thing was re
peated for the third time, when the wearied
little creature, apparently disgusted with the
brutality of the man, who but a few hours be
fore was himself in a forlorn and helpless condi
tion, dropped down upon the water, and was
seen no more.
Keeping along down the South American
coast, we passed between Patagonia and the
Falkland Islands ; and on the morning of the
21st of March were within twenty miles of Staten
Land. This was the first land we had seen since
leaving home, and we feasted our eyes upon it,
until our ship bore us so far distant that it had
dwindled down to a mere speck. When we
were near enough to Staten Land, I could see
196 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
with the aid of the captain's spy-glass nothing
but rugged and sterile mountains, the highest
peaks of which were covered with snow, and
presented quite a picturesque appearance. No
vegetation nor living thing of any kind could he
discerned. But a young Bostonian, whom we
afterwards saw in Valparaiso, told us he passed
so near the shore of some of the land lying at
the southern extremity of Patagonia, that he
could see the natives, who, he said, were a gi
gantic people, about eight feet high! He also
said they ran along on the shore abreast of his
vessel, whooping and yelling at him like a set
of ferocious savages. On Sunday following we
saw Cape Horn, the most notorious of all places
upon the high seas for rough weather and con
trary winds.
Up to this time we had been congratulating
ourselves upon the auspicious season in which
we had happened to reach the Cape, and upon
the quick run we were going to make around
it. Delightful weather and favorable winds had
cheered us since leaving the latitude of the La
Plata river, and we were in high hopes that we
had just hit upon the right time to sail safely
round the dangerous Cape in one or two days,
instead of being kept there six or eight weeks,
as is sometimes the case. But we were doomed
to sad disappointment. Towards night that
terror of all navigators, a downright Cape Horn
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 197
tempest, assailed us, and for seven successive
days and nights kept us almost completely sub
merged. During the whole of this time, the
wind, which was so intolerably cold and pierc
ing that it seemed to be charged with isicles,
blew right in our teeth, and brought hail, sleet,
rain or snow with it every hour. Owing to this
hard and continued blowing of the wind, the
size and power of the waves became perfectly ap
palling ; indeed they ran so heavy and so high
that each one looked like a little ocean of itself,
and frequently they would strike the ship with
such tremendous force that she quivered and
groaned as if she were going to pieces; in fact, I
often expected to see her shivered into frag
ments, and could hardly believe otherwise than
that we were all destined to become food for the
fierce monsters of the deep. We succeeded,
however, in getting fairly around the Cape,
much to the gratification of all, and especially
to the relief of our worn-out seamen, who had
been up working with all their might, day and
night, for a whole week.
While in the neighborhood of the Cape, we
saw great numbers of the albatross, gull, petrel,
and other birds ; by means of a fish-hook tied to
the end of a long line, and baited with a piece
of fat bacon, which we let out some eight or ten
rods from the stern of the vessel, we caught sev
eral of a species which the sailors called the
17*
198 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
Cape Hen. On measuring one of them from the
tip of its right wing to the tip of its left, I found
it to be seven feet across. The albatross is about
twice as large as the Cape Hen. Here, too,
while in this latitude, we had our fairest views
of the great Southern Cross and the Magellan
Clouds, constellations of as much notoriety in
the southern hemisphere, as the Pleiades and
Belt of Orion are in the northern.
It seems that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
are ever at war with each other off Cape Horn,
where their waters are continually coming into
mad collision, as if no friendship existed between
them. But we will now bid adieu to this aquatic
battle field, this bleak, dreary region of storms
and hurricanes, and look forward to a more con
genial clime.
Finding our water was now beginning to give
out, and that we should have to procure a fresh
supply before we could reach San Francisco, we
bent our course towards Valparaiso, upon the
coast of Chili, south of the city and harbor to
which we were then bound; and as we passed
along up the shore, we had a most magnificent
view, not only of its own long range of barren
hills, but also of the lofty and towering heights
of the Andes at the distance of one hundred and
forty-five miles in the interior. To add to the
grandeur of this spectacle on land, another now
presented itself on the ocean around us, in the
-J . , _--. .;'"..,
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 199
form of great whales — the first we had seen.
We saw many of these huge creatures that day
and the next ; one of them came within two or
three rods of the stern of the ship, and spouted
the water with a noise something like that of a
high pressure Mississippi steamboat.
We had scarcely dropped our anchor in the
harbor of Valparaiso before we were surrounded
with little boats filled with natives and foreign
ers, who had come out, as they said, to talk with
us and to see our ship. From these men we
learned that four days previously a severe earth
quake had been felt, and that all the houses in
the city had been more or less injured — a part of
the city completely destroyed, and some few per
sons killed. It was also reported by some of
them, that it had laid a great portion of San
tiago, the capital, in ruins ; but, as yet, no defi
nite news had been received from any of the in
land cities or towns ; and it was not positively
ascertained what amount of damage had been
sustained in any place, save only here. Late
that evening, about half an hour before sun
down, we passengers made our entrance into the
city ; but it was then too late in the day to see
or learn any thing of interest, so we returned
directly to our own quarters aboard the ship,
and waited in suspense for the coming morn.
Immediately after an early breakfast, Wednes
day morning, we put off in a small boat for the
200 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
shore, and were not a little surprised on arriv
ing there to find every thing so new and so dif
ferent from what we had supposed. Crowds of
the natives, dressed in their peculiar costume,
were collected upon the wharves, and were
making a great huhbub with their clamorous
tongues and noisy actions. They appeared to
be an inoffensive, simple-hearted sort of people ;
but they were inexcusably ignorant, and abom
inably filthy.
Scarcely had we been in the city half an hour
that morning, when I stepped into a barber
shop to have the superfluous hair removed from
my head and face. While in the very act of
shaving me, the barber very suddenly sprang
aghast from me towards the door ; and the first
thing I knew, the whole earth, houses and every
thing around me, were quivering in the most
terrific manner ; but, fortunately for the timid,
helpless creatures, the vacillation continued but
a few seconds, and no very serious consequences
resulted from it. Just at the moment the rum
bling and quaking commenced, I could not for
my life think what it was ; but the barber
seemed to understand it immediately, for he had
been the unwilling spectator of a much more de
structive earthquake only five days before ; and
consequently, he knew well enough what the
matter was. On retiring from the shop, just
as I entered the street, a similar shock was ex-
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 201
perienced, and instantaneously the whole popu
lation rushed headlong out of their houses into
the thoroughfares, apparently in the greatest
distress, and frightened half out of their wits.
I observed several of the women particularly,
who, upon running into the streets, immediately
placed themselves in an attitude of prayer, by
falling upon their knees, crossing their hands
upon their breasts, and casting their eyes to
wards heaven. There was something really
beautiful and touching in the unfeigned humil
ity with which these awe-struck mortals re
signed themselves to the will of Him who alone
is able to convulse worlds, or command tran
quillity throughout the universe.
Both of these tremors were slight, and nei
ther did much mischief. But the one that oc
curred four days previous to our arrival came
very near laying the whole city in ruins. The
custom house, churches, stores, and nearly all
the principal buildings were cracked so badly
that many of them were considered dangerous.
The people were engaged in pulling down some
entirely, and repairing others as best they could.
The ground was terribly rent in many places ;
and while on a stroll beyond the limits of the
city, I saw one crevasse which was about five
inches in width, and so long and so deep that I
could find neither end nor bottom to it. We re
mained in Valparaiso till the afternoon of Sat-
202 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
urday, but did not feel any other shock. For
myself, I was satisfied with what I saw then,
and having been since shaken by them two or
three times during my sojourn in California, I
hope I shall never feel another.
As for the city itself, we saw nothing that was
really beautiful about it. The majority of the
residences were built of mud and straw, and
covered with tiles ; and were, I think, upon the
whole, rather inferior to the negro huts upon a
southern plantation. The immense sterile hills
all round, about, and through the city, pre
sented quite a dreary and desolate appearance,
and prevented. us from seeing more than half the
number of its buildings at the same time. One
of the merchants, a New Orleans man, informed
me that the population was estimated at from
60,000 to 65,000. Speaking of this merchant re
minds me of a remarkable instance of stupidity
which came under my observation one morning
while visiting his store. He had just received
fifty barrels of pork, which the drayman had left
before his door, and which he wished to have
stowed in his cellar. His regular porter being
sick, he hired two doltish countrymen to per
form the job. It was stipulated that they should
receive a certain sum of money for removing the
pork from the street into the cellar ; and the
bargain being fairly understood on both sides,
they began to fulfil their part of the contract,
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 203
by lifting the barrels instead of rolling them.
We allowed them to pursue this toilsome system
of labor until they had finished about one fifth
of their task, when we interposed and explained
to them the easier method of accomplishing it.
It is a fact, according to their own confession,
that they had not sense enough to avail them
selves of the rotundity of the barrels.
Valparaiso surpasses San Francisco in the ab
ruptness of its surface and the barrenness of its
soil. There is no plant within sight of the
town, except here and there in the little vales
and hollows. The inhabitants have to bring all
their supplies from beyond the coast range, a
distance of nine or ten miles ; and as the hills
are so large and so steep that they cannot be trav
ersed with vehicles, every thing must be trans
ported upon the backs of mules. The interior
of Chili is represented to be a very beautiful and
productive country; and, to use the language
of her historian, "all the fruits of the earth
grow there in the greatest abundance." To
wards noon that day, we chartered some donkeys
and rode out about two miles, to a garden called
the Yale of Paradise, in the upper part of the
city. This was one of the most charming spots
I ever beheld, and, with the exception of two or
three other little places like it, the only level
and fertile piece of ground we saw during the
whole time we were there. Here, on the 9th of
204 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
April, we got apples, pears, peaches, pomegran
ates, pine apples, quinces, oranges, lemons, figs,
bananas, mangoes and melons, to our hearts'
content.
On Thursday, having wandered from my com
rades, I began to perambulate the streets alone,
determined to see and learn as much of the city
as practicable. At last I found I had wandered
very nearly to its northern outskirts, when I
came to a little winding path, which I fol
lowed up till it led me to the opened gate of a
beautiful, palisaded inclosure. Upon looking in
I observed a long, clean, level walk in the midst
of the most delectable garden I ever saw. All
the way overhead, from one end of the walk to
the other, there were large, luscious clusters of
grapes, hanging down in the richest profusion ;
while on either side there seemed to be an ac
tual rivalry in growth and luxuriance between
the various fruits and vegetables. About half
way up the walk, in a well shaded place, two
middle-aged men, dressed in long robes, and
with books in their hands, were sitting on a
bench, reading. Still I continued to stand at the
gate, admiring the fascinating scenery before
me, being seen by nobody, and seeing no one
myself, except the two gownsmen, whose atten
tion seemed to be wholly absorbed by their books.
To go in I feared would not only be an inter
ruption to the quietude and serenity which per-
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 205
vaded those elysian grounds, but also an intru
sion upon the privacy of gentlemen whom I
had no right to disturb. However, hoping to
frame a reasonable excuse by offering to pur
chase some fruit, I stepped in, and slowly ap
proaching the literary group, inquired, "Do
you speak English?" Scarcely had the words
fallen from my tongue, when the one who sat
farthest from me arose, and having replied in
the affirmative, extended his hand towards me in
a very cordial manner, and then asked me a long
question in Latin, not a word of which I under
stood except the termination, which was " St.
Patrick ?" Manifesting by my looks, as well as
I could, my ignorance of his ecclesiastical salu
tation, interrogation, or whatever it was, he im
mediately dropped his classical lore, and con
versed with me freely in English — both of as, in
the meantime, promenading up and down the
lovely arbor. From him I learned that the ad
joining buildings were occupied as a Koman
Catholic college, and that this garden was ex
clusively for the use and benefit of the priests,
of whom he was one, as well as a professor in the
institution. He informed me that it was the
largest and most popular college in Chili, and
that they had students from nearly all the re
publics and provinces of the continent. He him
self was a native of Belgium, but had emigrated
to South America as a missionary some fifteen
18
206 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
years prior to the time I saw him. The book
he then held in his hand was a Spanish history
of the United States; and as he asked me a great
many questions concerning our country, I in
ferred that he felt a good deal of interest in it.
Upon the whole, he appeared to he a very kind-
hearted and well-disposed man. Just before
leaving, he presented me with a mammoth bunch
of delicious grapes, and at parting, gave my
hand a courteous and sincere shake.
At this place we parted with the wrecked crew
we had picked up five weeks before, leaving
them in the hands of the Kussian consul. But
before bidding a final adieu to the captain, we
purchased a gold ring and inclosed it in a sym
pathizing epistle to his wife, condoling with her
in her husband's misfortunes. When we com
mitted the letter and little keepsake to his
charge, he seemed to be very much affected, arid
acknowledged himself under a thousand obliga
tions to us.
Little occurred on our passage from Valparaiso
to San Francisco worthy of note, except the my
riads of fish of various kinds which we saw be
tween the tropics, the sublime sunrises and
sunsets, the enchanting moonlight evenings,
and the phosphorescent phenomena of the ocean
at night. The Pacific far surpasses the Atlan
tic in beauty and diversity of ocean scenery.
Its gentle gales and placid waves inexpressibly
VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN. 20*7
charm the heart of the sailor. Almost every
species of fish, from the tiny pilchard to the
monstrous whale may he found in its waters ;
while countless numbers of aquatic birds, from
the diminutive petrel to the ponderous albatross,
swim lazily upon its bosom.
Six days after leaving Valparaiso we passed
within a short distance of the St. Felix Islands,
which rise alone out of the world of water. We
could see nothing that had life in it about them,
nor any thing that was inviting or pleasing to
the eye. On the morning of the 5th May, we
again crossed the equator, in longitude 114°.
This voyage afforded us an excellent oppor
tunity for reading ; but it may well be supposed
that, in traveling seventeen thousand miles upon
the water, we were sometimes overcome with
ennui. As a refuge from this monotony of " life
on the ocean wave," we betook ourselves to
games of euchre, whist, chess, backgammon and
solitaire. Our ship being very large, perfectly
new, beautifully and comfortably finished, and
furnished with the very best accommodations,
eatables and drinkables, we enjoyed ourselves
remarkably well, except while sea-sick, or when
dashed and beaten about by ill-bred storms and
hurricanes. As there were only six passengers
besides myself, we had abundance of room ; and
being together so long, and secluded from all
other society, we became as sociable and familiar
208 VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA VIA CAPE HORN.
as if we had all been members of the same house
hold. A very amiable and estimable young lady,
the sister of a passenger, and the only female on
board, contributed in an eminent degree to the
pleasure of the trip.
We arrived in San Francisco on the 25th of
May, having made the passage in one hundred
and thirteen days from New York. This was a
very quick run, considering the misfortunes we
met with off the Bermudas. If we had not been
dismasted, we would probably have reached our
destination twelve or fifteen days earlier. The
Flying Cloud, clipper-modeled, and built almost
exactly like the Stag Hound, ran from New York
to San Francisco in eighty-nine days, which is
the shortest voyage that has yet been made by a
sailing vessel between the two ports. Many of
the old-fashioned ships crawl along for seven or
eight months ; and I know one blunt, tub-like
carac which consumed three hundred and seventy
days in the passage.
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 209
CHAPTER XV.
• ' "^O"' '. •„ =.''/'
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
ABOUT six hundred homeward-bound passen
gers, myself included, left San Francisco on the
16th of March, in the splendid steamship Cortes,
under command of Captain Cropper. It being
our intention to reach the Caribbean sea by the
Nicaragua route, we bent our course towards San
Juan del Sur. Wind and wave both favored our
movements, and we made rapid progress. Stray
thoughts occupied my mind as my eyes rested
for the last time upon the barren hills of Cali
fornia. There I had witnessed many strange
sights and incidents. Should I ever see them
again ? Was it probable that I would stop to
renew my acquaintance with them while on my
way to Japan and China in 1875, by the great
Atlantic and Pacific railway ? My mind, how
ever, was occupied but a little while in the con
sideration of these matters. There was before
me a country which engendered a brighter train
of thoughts than that which I was leaving be
hind. I began to think of greeting the good
old folks at home; of joining long-parted hands,
and of roaming over the glades and glens which
first supported my tottering steps.
18*
210 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
Our gallant ship continued to glide bravely
on towards the place of her destination. Neither
accident nor rough weather happened to us, and
we should have enjoyed ourselves finely if there
had not been so many persons on board. The
crowd was too large for a pleasure party at sea.
There were too many mouths to feed, too many
berths to adjust, and too many complaints to be
heard. Somebody was always in the way of
somebody else. We were too much pent up.
There was an abundance of room all around us,
above and below us ; but it was not adapted to
our purposes. The Cortez was our only foot
hold; and it was necessary that we should cling
to her as the only means of reaching terra firma.
But I imagine those of us who had state-rooms
on the cabin-deck would not have felt any dis
position to murmur, if we had known how much
better we fared than the other passengers. Only
about one hundred and fifty enjoyed this advan
tage ; all the others were huddled together in
the steerage. Is it reasonable to suppose that
any considerable number of these four hundred
and fifty persons would have engaged such un
comfortable and unwholesome passage, if they
could have done better ? No. They could scarcely
have been hired to pass through the torrid zone
in the steerage, if they had possessed money
enough to pay for a cabin-passage. It is a
well-known fact that the steamers bring a much
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 211
larger number of steerage passengers from Cali
fornia than they take there. The majority of
those that go to California take passage in the
cabin ; but more than two-thirds of those who
return occupy the steerage. As a matter of
course, there was no communication between the
cabin and steerage passengers ; at least those in
the steerage were not allowed to come abaft the
ship ; but I do not think our privileges were cir
cumscribed in this respect, for I went forward of
the bulkhead several times, as did many others
who belonged in the cabin, and the officers said
nothing to us.
There was quite a medley of characters in the
cabin. Bishop Soule, of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, may be placed at the head. He
is a stout, fine-looking old gentleman, about
seventy years of age ; and I sincerely believe he
was the best man aboard the vessel. He had
been stirring up the sinners in California for
some time, and was now returning to his home
in Georgia. Next came the Kev. Dr. Boring and
three or four other clergymen, one of whom had
formerly been a missionary in Brazil. The Sec
retary of Utah Territory, a downright jolly fel
low, dressed in a suit of buckskin, and who,
while on the Isthmus, manifested a most ardent
passion for parrots, was also on board. Besides
these, there were eight colonels, seven majors,
five captains, three professors, six doctors, ten
212 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
quacks, five lawyers, eight pettifoggers, a score
of blacklegs, six or eight ladies, a dozen other
adult females, and fifteen or twenty children.
We also had the company of a Polish patriot,
who was on his way to the East to join the
Turkish army.
On the seventh or eighth day after our depart
ure from San Francisco, one of the passengers,
while taking spy-glass observations, espied a
motionless object at a great distance on the wa
ter — the sea at the time being perfectly calm
and smooth. The spy-glass passed rapidly from
hand to hand, and was kept almost constantly
leveled towards the object ; but nobody could
determine what it was. One man thought it a
ship in distress; another inclined to the opinion
that it was abandoned altogether ; while a third
sighingly expressed his conviction that it was
the decaying remnant of a melancholy wreck.
The captain, more dispassionate, experienced,,
and capable of forming a correct judgment, now
surveyed it carefully ; but it was so far off upon
the larboard quarter, that be acknowledged
himself unable to give any reliable information
concerning it. What then was to be done?
Should we stifle our curiosity and continue on
our course, or should we change and go to the
mysterious object ? Some favored one proposi
tion, and some the other. Considerable betting
had been going on as to the number of days we
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 213
would be occupied in making the passage, and
one half of those who had thus wagered their
money were opposed to losing the time which it
would require to make the examination. But
the motion to go being seconded and sanctioned
by a large majority of the passengers, the cap
tain immediately turned the prow of the steamer.
After sailing awhile on this new track, we
discovered a large flock of longipennate birds
flying around the wreck to which we were then
bound. This was an ominous sign. What were
these sea buzzards doing about a disabled ves
sel, if they were not feeding on the dead bodies of
seamen? But the rapid movement of the Cortez
assured us that our curiosity should soon be al
layed. With the aid of the spy-glass we could
now view the object distinctly ; and on approach
ing still nearer, we found it was nothing but an old
empty scow ! and that it was frequented by the
fowls of the sea merely because it afforded them
a place to rest and to roost. What a sore disap
pointment it was, not to find the carcasses of a
hundred starved sailors ! A day or two after
this, one of the steerage passengers died, an old
sail was wrapped around him, two pieces of pig-
iron were fastened to his feet, and he was cast
overboard.
Early in the morning of the thirteenth day of
our pilgrimage upon the water, we arrived at
San Juan del Sur, -a miserable, good-for-nothing
214 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICAEAGUA.
little town, situated on the western coast of Nic
aragua, near the eleventh parallel of north lati
tude. The harbor was as mean and ugly as the
town, being very small, shallow and inconveni
ent. There were no piers nor wharves, and we
had to cast anchor about one hundred and fifty
yards from the shore. Large yawls were then
prepared for us, and we were conveyed as near
terra firma as the depth of the harbor would al
low. But when the yawls struck bottom, I think
we were still from twenty-five to thirty yards
from the water's edge ; and there were no means
or facilities of reaching the shore, except by
wading, or by straddling the shoulders of the half-
breed, quarter-dressed natives, scores of whom,
in the hope of making a few shillings, were
standing waist-deep in the water all around us,
and begging us to take seats on their backs, a
request with which, after some deliberation, we
complied.
During this novel process of debarkation, I
witnessed some most ludicrous scenes. The Nic-
araguans, generally speaking, are much more
feeble, dwarfed, and effeminate than the people
of the United States. On an average, I should
think that one able-bodied Kentuckian would be
equal to four or five of these hybrid denizens of
the torrid zone. It will not, therefore, surprise
the reader when I tell him that the small man,
while carrying the large one. through the water,
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 215
being top-heavy, would sometimes drop his bur
den ! Nor was this all ; the ladies were yet be
hind, and they had to be brought ashore in the
same manner !
Among our passengers were two or three ole
aginous men, of Falstaff proportions ; one of
whom engaged a couple of the stoutest carriers
around the yawl to convey him to the shore.
Fixing himself upon their shoulders as well as
he could, he signified to them that he was ready,
and they made for land ; but before they had
proceeded half a dozen steps, he weighed them
down, and all three fell flat on their backs, in the
water ! This little mishap created a great deal
of merriment; and several others who had just
mounted and started, unable to restrain their
laughter, leaned back too far to give it vent, and
down they tumbled into the water likewise ! It
was necessary for the rider, or topmost man, to
keep himself in a quiet, perpendicular position ;
for if he leaned backward, or forward, or side-
way, he was sure to throw the carrier off his
equilibrium, in which case both of them would
fall down together.
The ladies had now arrived from the Cortez,
and were ready to disembark. There was but
one way for them to get ashore, and that has
already been explained. They, too, were com
pelled to straddle the shoulders of the natives ;
and when fairly mounted, give the signal of
216 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA. VIA NICARAGUA.
command, arid ride ahead boldly, like equestrian
amazons in a circus. It may here be remarked
that these men were nearly naked, there being
no apparel upon them except a kind of bandage
or wrapper around their loins. The manner of
mounting the carrier, whose head was almost on
a level with the rim of the yawl, was to place
the right limb over his right shoulder, and the
left over his left ; and when thus conveyed to
the shore, it was a very easy matter to part the
limbs from his shoulders, and slide down his
back. These, then, were the means and facilities
which were afforded for the disembarkation of
the ladies ; and I have thus dwelt upon the sub
ject for the purpose of informing my fair readers,
if I have any, what they may expect upon their
arrival at San Juan del Sur.
All the passengers and baggage were now
landed, and after a deal of vexation in securing
checks and transit tickets, we set forward across
the country in the direction of Virgin Bay, a
shabby village, situated about fifteen miles dis
tant, on Lake Nicaragua. We traveled this part
of the way on donkeys. The roads were in pretty
fair condition, and a few of the ladies, being well
skilled in horsemanship, rode sideways, but the
majority of them having but little knowledge of
equestrian exercises, rode like men. This was my
first entrance into the dismal glories of a tropical
forest. The trees pressed against each other for
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 21*7
room, and were clothed with the heaviest and
most luxuriant foliage I ever beheld, presenting
eveiy tint and shade of green. Coppice and
parasites filled up the interstices between them.
Myriads of gay-plumaged birds warbled upon
their branches. Ten thousand times ten thou
sand insects chirped beneath their limbs. Nim
ble monkeys ran up their trunks, and venomous
reptiles slept in their shadows.
To give an idea of the weather, I will simply
say that, if I intended to become a citizen of
Nicaragua, I should advocate the immediate con
struction of three public works, namely : a gov
ernment bellows, a state fan, and a great national
umbrella ! With the aid of these cooling ma
chines, I should think a person might manage to
keep passably comfortable; but without them,
the heat is almost intolerable. In our own coun
try, the people are apt to complain of the hot
days which dawn upon them in July and August,
but the caloric of the United States bears no more
comparison to that of Nicaragua than a frosty
morning in Carolina to a perpetual winter in
Greenland.
We rode on, however, in spite of the fiery heat
of the sun, and arrived at Virgin Bay in good
season for dinner. There were eight or ten dirty
little taverns in this despicable little town, and
as it was uncertain how long we should have to
wait for our baggage, which was still behind,
19
218 VOYAGE FROM NICARAGUA VIA CALIFORNIA.
and which was not expected before night, we
placed ourselves in charge of the landlords, who
were highly pleased to receive such a multitude
of guests. Ahout four o'clock in the afternoon,
I went down to the lake to bathe, having been pre
viously assured that the alligators did not fre
quent that sideofthebay,except during the night.
The scenery here was grand beyond description.
Lake Nicaragua itself may be justly termed an
inland sea. It is more than one hundred miles
long, and sixty miles in width. Mount Ometepe,
a dormant volcano, and by far the most beautiful
elevation I ever saw, rises up out of the midst of
this lake, in the form of a sugar-loaf, to the height
of seven thousand feet. At a rough guess, I
should say it was about fifty miles in circumfer
ence at the base, or rather at the surface of the
water.
A little before sunset, I returned to my hotel,
and took supper. I had, however, but little ap
petite for culinary preparations, for I had fed
myself on such a quantity of mangoes, oranges,
bananas, and other tropical fruits, that I was
quite surfeited. Forty or fifty hammocks were
suspended in the loft of the hotel, and these were
more attractive than any other part of the enter
tainment.
We sat up until nearly midnight, waiting for
our baggage, but it did not come ; and we were
then informed that it would not arrive before
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 219
morning. The sun arose and found us still sep
arated from our effects. Noon came and brought
the baggage with it. Thus you see we had suf
fered an unnecessary delay of twenty-four hours
at Virgin Bay. The steamer Ometepe was now
ready to receive us, and as we were all anxious
to reach home, we lost no time in going aboard.
From this place we sailed in a south-easterly
direction until breakfast hour next morning,
when we arrived at Fort San Carlos, where we
entered the San Juan river, which conveys the
waters of Lake Nicaragua into the Caribbean
Sea. There was nothing to be seen at San Car
los, except the dilapidated fort, and it was not
worth looking at. Here we had to leave the
Ometepe, and embark on a smaller boat, the river
being too shallow to float a vessel of deep draught.
Pursuing the current of the San Juan, we
passed the unworthy little village of Castillo,
and again changed boats, leaving one of sorry
dimensions behind, and taking passage in a
meaner one of less size, and now came the pecu
liar annoyance of the route. Owing to the shoals
and sand banks in the river, we had to change
ourselves and our baggage several times; and
every change we made was from bad to worse.
Those of us who had taken passage in the cabin,
though we had paid more than double the price
of steerage tickets, received no extra accommo
dation whatever. We were reduced to a level
220 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA
with the steerage passengers at San Juan del
Sur, and no manner of distinction was made be
tween us until we reached the opposite coast.
For three days and nights we were all crowded
together in utter disorder and confusion ; men,
women and children, white people and negroes,
decent men and blackguards — all fared alike.
The presence of the ladies did not seem to exer
cise any restraint upon the tongues of the vulgar.
I am sure I had never before been in the com
pany of a set of human beings who were capable
of giving utterance to such an incessant volley
of scurrilous and obscene language as I heard
while crossing the Isthmus.
There was not a mouthful of victuals prepared
for us on board of these miserable, rickety little
steamers ; nor was there any place to sleep, ex
cept on deck, among puddles of tobacco juice.
Occasionally we had an opportunity of buying
fruits and refreshments on the way ; and this
was the only method we had of procuring any
thing to eat. I do not think I slept two hours
out of the seventy-two which we occupied in
passing the two oceans. Indeed, the Transit
Company treated us very shabbily. We had
paid them their price, and they had promised us
better things. Sometimes, to save the steamer
from running aground, we had to debark, and
walk on the bank of the river. On one occasion
we were compelled to travel more than two miles
VOYAGE FKOM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 221
in this manner, before we could find water
deep enough to carry us aboard the boat. As
we neared the mouth of the river, we met and
overtook a great many adult natives, who were
in the same costume in which nature had
launched them into the world. They did not
seem to be conscious of any impropriety in thus
exposing their persons.
Nicaragua can never fulfil its destiny until it
introduces negro slavery. Nothing but slave la
bor can ever subdue its forests or cultivate its
untimbered lands. White men may live upon
its soil with an umbrella in one hand and a fan
in the other ; but they can never unfold or de
velop its resources. May we not safely conclude
that negro slavery will be introduced into this
country before the lapse of many years ? We
think so. The tendency of events fully warrants
this inference.
The time may come when negro slavery will
no longer be profitable in the United States ;
and it is also possible that the descendants
of Ham may finally work their way beyond
the present limits of our country. But if these
fated people ever do make their exodus from
the hands of their present owners, they will
find themselves journeying and toiling under
the control of new masters, in the fertile wilder
nesses and savannas nearer the equator. Lou
isiana and Texas may, at some future time —
19*
222 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
far in the future — find it to tbeir interest to
adopt the white slavery system of the North ;
but if negro slavery ever ceases to exist in the
United States, Mexico, Central America, and the
countries still further South, will have to become
its outlets and receptacles.
It would be no easy task to find a more feeble
and ineffective population than that which now
idles away a miserable existence in Nicaragua.
Nature is too bountiful to the inhabitants. It
supplies them with every necessary of life, and
consequently there is no incentive to exertion or
emulation. Countless fruits and nuts grow and
ripen spontaneously, and they have nothing to
do but to eat them. We did not pass a single
patch of ground under cultivation ; nor did I see
any improvement, except the despicable little
huts and shanties in which the people lived.
On the morning of the first da}^ of April, we
arrived at San Juan del Norte, alias Grey town,
which has recently handed its name down to his
tory, in connection with that of commander Hol-
lins, by whom, in compliance with instructions
from our government, it was bombarded a few
months ago. We did not go on shore, but I saw
enough of the place to convince me that it was
never worth half the paper which has been
spoiled by diplomatic notes concerning it. The
Americans call it Greytown, but the original
Spanish name is San Juan del Norte,, which;
VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA. 223
when Anglicized, means Saint John of the North.
As we have had a good deal to say respecting
San Juan del Sur, it may not be amiss to state
that the English of it is Saint John of the South.
Just before we left the mouth of the river, we
saw eight or ten full-grown alligators, basking
on an islet, thirty or forty yards from us. They
were all lying near each other, and did not seem
to be frightened at our appearance. I was well
pleased to have such a fair view of these amiable
lizards, but regretted my inability to secure one
for Barnum ! About three hundred of our pas
sengers waved us an adieu at Greytown, and
took passage in the steamer Daniel Webster for
New Orleans. The rest immediately set sail for
New York, in the steamer Star of the West.
We now found ourselves happily situated
where we had good order, good accommodations,
and good treatment — three good things which
many of us had not been accustomed to for three
long years. An air of propriety and fitness per
vaded the Star of the West fore and aft ; and we
felt as if we were emerging from a vile and de
based community, and entering upon the thresh
old of refined society. No incident worthy of
note occurred during this part of our voyage.
We were in hopes the captain would stop at
Kingston, Havana, or some other West India
port; but he had no occasion to do so. Passing
on between Cuba and Yucatan, we rounded the
224 VOYAGE FROM CALIFORNIA VIA NICARAGUA.
Florida Reefs, and then followed the G-ulf stream
until we reached the latitude of Cape Hatteras,
when we bore nearer the land, and ran into
the harbor of New York on Sunday, April 9th,
having had a passage of twenty-four days from
San Francisco.
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 225
CHAPTER XVI.
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
MORE than satisfied with the experience I had
acquired in mining operations in California, I
found much difficulty in deciding upon my fu
ture course. At one time I made up my mind
to try what the fickle jade fortune would do for
me in Australia, and even went so far as to en
gage a passage on board of a ship that would
sail for Sydney within a week. An acquaintance
and friend, to whom I imparted my intentions,
earnestly persuaded me to abandon my projected
voyage, and urged me to accompany him to Co
lumbia and take an interest in a very promising
mining adventure. My friend said " he felt
quite sure that we could make an ounce ($16) a
day each with the utmost ease, provided we were
favored with sufficient rain. And as the rainy
season was close at hand, he was fully satisfied
that we should have as plentiful a supply of wa
ter as our mining operations would require/' 1
had heard of these diggings frequently, and that
gold was found there in great abundance, but
as no stream watered these surface mines, they
could only be worked during the rainy season.
226 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
As my friend's story was corroborated by my
own knowledge of these things, I agreed without
much hesitation to abandon my voyage to Aus
tralia, and join him in this new mining ex
pedition — mentally resolving, however, that it
should be the last of my efforts to become sud
denly rich by delving for gold in the mines of
California.
We left San Francisco in the latter part of the
month of October, ran up the river San Joa-
quin to Stockton in a stern-wheel steamboat, so
crowded with passengers that berths were en
tirely out of the question, and so we were doomed
to get through the night as best we could. And
such a night ! It is my candid belief that for
some unknown reason this particular night lasted
as long as thirteen others combined together,
and that during its continuance, I visited the in
fernal regions, upon the pressing invitation of a
legion of fiends, all wearing Chinamen's hats
and long tails ; moreover, I solemnly assert that
almost every winged insect and other creeping
thing within a circuit of fifty leagues paid their
respects to us on board that miserable little steam
boat. I have a faint recollection of invoking the
aid of all the saints in the calendar for relief, but
they would not hear me, and so I e'en concluded
to imitate great Caesar's example at the base of
Pompey's statue, — wrap my head in my mantle,
and thus resign myself to inexorable fate. As
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 227
to my friend, I had lost sight of him almost as
soon as we entered the boat, and it was no small
gratification to think that remorse had caused
him to commit suicide, or some such thing. I
trusted he had leaped overboard from sheer com
punction of conscience for having deluded me
into this scrape, and hoped by drowning himself
to atone in some measure for his atrocious con
duct. Poor fellow ! I forgave him, and mentally
resolved to get up something pathetic in the
shape of an obituary notice, as thus : Departed
this life, on the evening of the 25th of October,
1853, by water, one Shad Back, (real name sup
posed to be Shadrach Bachus,) aged 34, or there
away. The immediate cause of his death was
remorse of conscience for having decoyed an un
suspecting and virtuous youth onboard of a poor
miserable craft crowded with passengers, without
berths, without seats, and swarming with ver
min of every description, including Chinamen.
It is supposed that, in a moment of despair, pro
duced by witnessing the distress of his victim,
he jumped into the river and was drowned. His
numerous friends cannot but bewail his untimely
end, although some are of the opinion that it
" sarved him right." Eequiescat in pace.
I thought I would add to this a verse or so
from some suitable ditty, but could hit upon
nothing that would reach the case better than a
portion of Gray's Elegy, beginning : " Here rests
228 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
his liead upon this lap of earth/' &c. Now as I
was not fully convinced that " his head did rest
upon this lap of earth." I deemed it "best to change
the text slightly to meet the melancholy occa
sion, and make it read thus:
There rests beneath the briny wave,
A youth to linen and to soap unknown j
Fair science frowned, but failed to save
This blessed youth, who then went down.
I confess my inability to state distinctly what
is meant by the last line ; it seemed to rhyme
with " unknown/' and as I never had been guilty
of an attempt of this kind before, I thought it
would do very well as a first effort in the line of
poetry. I may as well here explain also, that as
I intended to have the whole thing painted upon
a good sized shingle, and that nailed upon some
tree near the sea shore, I thought it would be a
good idea to have the hand with an extended
finger painted conspicuously on the shingle, to
serve as a pointer towards the ocean ; this would
sufficiently explain the meaning of " there rests "
and " briny wave."
Notwithstanding the bodily torments I under
went during that livelong night, with my head
wrapped in a mantle and all the rest of my per
son fairly given over to the tender mercies of
thousands of mosquitos, gnats, sand-flies, ants,
ticks, fleas and bed-bugs, I really experienced a
strong sensation of relief upon reflecting how
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 229
very handsomely I had disposed of my friend's
earthly affairs. At the same time I thought it
quite possible that my good intentions towards
his memory, coupled with the fact of my suffer
ings, and the pains and penalties I had under
gone and was still enduring, would in a measure
serve as a sort of atonement for my own sins of
omission and commission, beginning far back, at
a very early period of my life.
Morning dawned at last, and I was in the very
act of gathering the remainder of my person in
to an upright position, when I heard a voice,
proceeding from beneath an immense heap of
Chinamen, Irishmen, and niggers, calling me by
name, and entreating my assistance to get him
upon his legs. I seemed to know the voice very
well, but could not recall to mind the owner.
Deeming it, however, the duty of a good Chris
tian to help a distressed fellow-creature, I made
my way through the crowd to the spot whence
the voice issued, and there, to my intense grief
and astonishment, I beheld my friend Shad upon
his back, actively engaged in repelling, with
hands and feet, the united assaults of a strong
force, composed of three Irishmen and four Chi
nese fellows. I became convinced, the moment
I saw his position, that if he escaped hanging
for his misdemeanors in California, he would be
come a great general, and an ornament to the
military profession. I came to this conclusion
20
230 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
because, at the moment I saw him, he was pre
paring to repel the enemy in a most masterly
manner. The allies were en potence, and had
already attacked and dispersed Shad's advanced
guard, making prisoners of his outlying pickets
(his boots and hat) in a gallant manner. Then
with a determination to conquer or die, rushed
upon the main body. Here, after a most despe
rate struggle, during which many great deeds of
daring were exhibited, the enemy were repulsed
with immense loss. Much as I deprecate war in
any shape, yet I could not sufficiently admire
the calm and collected appearance of Shad, even
when in the heat of the melee. One particular
feat performed by one of Shad's feet, was observed
by me with much astonishment, and it seemed
to strike an Irishman very forcibly too, as he
honored the performance by immediate prostra
tion. The enemy had retired to a distance, and
no doubt held a council of war, and from the
disposition of his forces shortly after, I judged
his intention was to make a demonstration upon
Shad's front, and then attack him with his whole
concentrated force in the rear. My conjecture
proved correct. I saw in a moment that this
manoeuvre must prove successful, unless Shad
could strengthen his flanks, or form himself into
a hollow square. And here it soon became ap
parent how profoundly my friend had studied
the art of attack and defence. A pocket edition
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 231
of Vauban must have been his constant compan
ion, or he never could have assumed such a for
midable appearance as that which he now pre
sented. Like an able general, he had divined
the enemy's intentions, and to meet the emergen
cy, had disposed his person in such a manner
that he could swing himself around like a teeto
tum while lying upon his back, much the same
as a long eighteen upon a pivot. In this position,
or rather with this rotary motion, Shad was in
vulnerable. He presented a front in every direc
tion, and utterly defeated the enemy's most stren
uous efforts to capture him.
At this stage of the proceedings, I proposed
mediating between the high contending parties,
which proposal being acceded to, I forthwith de
cided the matter in difference, (of which I did
not understand one word,) by decreeing a forfeit
ure of Shad's boots,, the restoration of his hat,
and the payment by Shad for two gallons of red
eye to regale the company. This last decision
was received with marked respect by all but my
poor friend. It was also decreed that the cap
tured boots should belong hereafter to the most
devout of the belligerents. Thereupon they were
deposited at the feet of a boy from the sod, who,
since his prostration, had been seated on deck,
curved up in a manner quite curious to behold.
He resembled the capital letter GJ- as much as
any thing I could think of at the time. Peace
232 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
having been solemnly proclaimed, I had now an
opportunity of better observing my friend Back's
personal appearance. He had never been very
remarkable for great personal beauty at any pe
riod of his life, and as the late battle had not
left him wholly unscathed, it would have proved
a great hit indeed to an artist, if he could have
taken his likeness just then ! When we came
on board of this infernal boat, Mr. Shad Back
possessed a pair of bright blue eyes, which by
some uncommon process had been converted, du
ring the night, into a pair (or rather one and a
half) of dismal black ones ; his nose, always flat,
was now scarcely discernible at all — it had been
absolutely beaten into his face ; lips as thick
and black as those of a Loango negro, and without
a tooth in his head to save him from starvation.
The fact is, my friend Shad had received as severe
a mauling as one man could well stagger under ;
and although I pitied him truly and sincerely,
yet I could not help feeling a sort of disap
pointment at knowing he was not drowned or
dead in some way, and it is a great disappoint
ment to any one, after making extensive prepa
rations to mourn the fate of a man who he
hopes will commit suicide. After he has adjusted
his face and his garments to represent a decent
amount of grief, and above all, after he has com
posed his epitaph, including therein a scrap of
touching poetry, to find that he is not dead nor
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 233
drowned after all, I say again, is a disappoint
ment and a great shame.
But, supposing " all things are for the best,"
I swallowed my chagrin and a cup of (stewed
mud) coffee together, resolving to write no man's
epitaph until I had the sexton's certificate, or
officiated in person at the crowner's or coroner's
inquest
We landed in Stockton a little before noon of
the same day, and thence took passage in a lum
ber wagon for Columbia, in or near which place
the mines were situated. Columbia is in Tuo-
lumne county, near the base of the Sierra Neva
da, and contains about 2,000 inhabitants. Its
mines are said to be the richest in the State. As
we had come here for the express purpose of mak
ing a fortune without let or hindrance, and with
as little labor as possible, we went to work at
once, digging and toiling like men determined
to become millionaires within a week at the far
thest In a few days we had collected a large
mass of dirt together, and only waited for rain
to afford us an opportunity of testing its value.
But the rain would not come. Every morning,
for at least a month, Shad predicted rain in tor
rents, and got drunk without delay, in order, as
he said, to celebrate an event of so much conse
quence to our future fortunes. Sure enough, the
rain did come at last It continued to fall some
what briskly for about an hour, then it ceased for
20*
234 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
an hour or so. Again it fell for another hour,
and thus during the day we had rain and sun
shine alternating very systematically indeed, and
quite encouragingly.
The amount of water that had fallen barely
sufficed to wet the thirsty earth, and it would
therefore require just six such rainy days to give
us water sufficient to commence our washing op
erations. Mr. Back's extensive researches into
the science of astronomy enabled him to predict
an astonishing amount of wet weather ; at least
such, he said, was prognoxicated by the starring
ferment j that really the stars were looking so very
wet and uncomfortable, that he could not but pity
their condition, especially jolly old Aaron, with
the belt. Shad had drunk a more than ordinary
quantity of liquor that day, in commemoration,
I suppose, of the beginning of the rainy season.
We were now well into the month of Decem
ber. The rainy season usually commences about
the middle of November, and continues almost
without intermission until the latter part of
February. The year previous it had rained for
three months without cessation ; now we had no
rain. December passed away, and January had
come, still the drought continued. Men and
animals drooped, the earth had become baked,
not a shrub, not a leaf, no, not even a blade of
grass could be seen in any direction. A drier
season had never been known in that region.
MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE. 235
Shad had been sober for several days upon com
pulsion entirely. He could get no more liquor,
not because the fiery draught was scarce, but
for want of money to pay for it. My own funds
were out, gone to liquidate our daily expenses,
so that the prospect before us looked gloomy
enough. I think, had it been our good fortune
to have water, we should have made a very
handsome sum out of our large heap of dirt.
Without water, to separate the precious metal
from the dirt, we could do nothing. About the
20th of January it rained nearly all the morn
ing. "Hope told a flattering tale." Alas for
us poor devils, the rain ceased at noon ; this
same half a day's rain cost Shad the only shirt
he had for liquor. He said he felt morally cer
tain the rainy season had set in now, and that
he would have a regular jollification upon the
strength of it, if it cost him his shirt, and it did
cost him his shirt.
The season was now so far advanced that we
could no longer hope for continuous rain, if it
came at all ; so I resolved, though with reluc
tance and after much deliberation, to abandon
our pile of gold and make the best of my way
back to San Francisco. It was all well enough
that I should make a resolve of this description,
but the principal part of the affair would be to
carry it into effect. The primum mobile, the
sinews of ivar, the wherewith must first be found
236 MY LAST MINING ADVENTURE.
before I could budge an inch. It was next to
impossible to expect aid or counsel from poor
Shad. He, good, susceptible soul, had fallen a
willing victim to the artful blandishments of an
ancient squaw, not so much on account of her
great personal attractions as in consequence of
her valuable possessions, which consisted of a
dilapidated blanket and a keg of whiskey. I
was quite charmed with the appearance of the
squaw, she so strongly resembled a kangaroo;
indeed it was quite a treat to see the pair to
gether, it being problematical which was the
most hideous, or the most beastly. I found it
utterly useless to remonstrate with him ; in fact,
he never was in a fitting condition to under
stand me : so I made up my mind to leave him.
Through the kindness of a friend, which was
afterwards reciprocated, I was enabled to pay the
few debts I had contracted, and to leave Columbia
with a trifle of money, which, with economy,
enabled me to reach San Francisco in due time.
Thus terminated my last mining adventure in
the gold regions of California.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 23 7
•j&iJ
CHAPTER XVII.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
THE title of our chapter will bring up to the
minds of alJ who visited California, during its
early days, some startling recollections. The
Vigilance Committee was the institution of that
country, striking terror into all evil doers. Like
all energetic associations, it was capable of being
abused and sometimes ran into extremes, but its
worst enemies cannot deny that it was the only
thing which could suppress crime at the time it
was in power.
Great mistakes are made in regard to this or
ganization by most writers who have spoken of
it. They have committed the very common error
of judging of the institutions of one set of people
by the standard of another. They have applied
to California the same rule which would guide
them in their judgment of an Atlantic State. In
reality, however, there is no parallel between
the two. The latter is inhabited by a population
educated to regard the law as the paramount
authority. The lawless are in the minority
among them. Years of good government have
taught the criminal to look upon the public au-
238 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
thorities as his bitterest foes, and the honest
man to regard them as his friends and protectors.
In California, however, every thing was the
reverse of this. No sooner were her doors thrown
open and her treasures disclosed, than people
from every quarter of the glohe thronged to her
shores. Men of industrious hahits and adven
turous spirit went thither of course, as they al
ways hasten to every new field of enterprise.
The crowd of newcomers, however, was swelled
hy others of a far different character. Plunder
was of course to he had, and the swindlers and
desperadoes, who live by their wits, were quite
as eager to visit the new country as were the
honest miners who had come to wrench fortune
from the flinty bowels of the earth by their
brawny arms.
Villains from all parts of the world swarmed
upon the new soil. Cunning sharpers from New
England, desperate vagabonds from Texas, bogus
men from the north-west, and reckless plunderers
from the prairies hastened to California like crows
to a corn-field. Mexico sent thither her sly rob
bers, Chili and Peru furnished their secret assas
sins. The penal colonies of Great Britain vom
ited their refuse upon this unhappy land, and
even savage pirates from the Eastern Archipel
ago found their way to El Dorado. The terri
tory numbered among her inhabitants accom
plished thieves, burglars and cut-throats from
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 239
every civilized and barbarous country within
reach, men who had been familiar with courts
and jails, and all punishments short of death.
It may readily be understood what a state of
society existed there. The laws of the United
States were, by a figure of speech, said to be in
force over the new territory. Really, however,
they were as impotent as they are in a village of
Blackfeet among the Rocky Mountains. The of
ficers of the law were utterly powerless. Rarely
did they attempt to assert their authority, and
when they did make the effort, they signally
failed. The only law recognized there was that
of the strongest. The correct aim, the steady
hand, the strong arm were the only protectors
of a Californian in those days. He might as well
lean upon a wilted blade of grass as upon the
legal authorities.
This condition of affairs afforded a fine harvest
to the amiable gentlemen who had come hither
to practice their professions. Robberies and
murders became every-day occurrences, of no
more importance than an assault and battery on
election day. The most daring outrages were
every where committed with impunity. Unof
fending men were shot down and pillaged in
broad daylight ; shops were broken open ; haci
endas were stormed ; — in short, the country was
in a state of siege, and the blackguards were in
the ascendent.
240 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
At this critical period, some of the settlers for
tunately recollected a similar state of affairs in
the country between the Mississippi and the Al-
leghanies, and the sharp but effective remedy
which was then applied. They remembered how
organized bands of robbers had infested the
states and territories of the Mississippi Valley,
how judges and constables and sheriffs had been
connected with these infamous associations, how
justice was perpetually defrauded of her dues,
because juries composed of members of the same
villainous fraternity could easily be packed ;
and how, finally, the honest portion of the com
munity, exasperated bej^ond endurance by these
repeated villainies, took the law in their own
hands, and remorselessly hung and shot all the
desperadoes who fell into their power, with the
ultimate effect of restoring peace and good order.
The same evil demanded the same remedy.
The Vigilance Committee was organized. It was
composed of the best men in San Francisco, men
who would have been the most zealous support
ers of the law, had there .been any law to sup
port ; men of firmness and resolution who were
determined to have peace and security at all
hazards. It was not exactly a secret society, but
some sort of privacy was necessary to be ob
served. Were its agents generally known, not
only would they be marked out for the secret
vengeance of the vermin they were hunting down,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 241
but their vigilance would be more easily evaded,
and the operations of the committee crippled.
The most important question which occurred
to the committee, at its very formation, was the
disposition to be made of the criminals arrested
by its agents. They had no prisons at their
command, and had no time to devote to the te
dious formalities of law proceedings. Hopes,
however, were at their disposal, and even Cali
fornia had trees enough to answer their purposes,
except San Francisco, where the pulleys upon
hoisting beams which projected from the ware
houses afforded a very convenient substitute.
Their code, therefore, necessarily resembled
Draco's. For graver crimes they hung their
culprits, for minor offences they flogged them,
rode them on rails, tarred and feathered them,
and ordered them away from a settlement within
a given time under penalty of sharper punish
ment. Their threats were generally punctually
executed. Their principle was that of Mr. Car-
lyle — to get rid of rascality by exterminating the
rascals.
The results of the proceedings of this commit
tee were beneficial in the highest degree. Be
fore its establishment, it was dangerous to walk
the streets of San Francisco in broad daylight ;
after it had been in operation for a short time,
that city became as safe as any upon the other
sea-board. They retained their authority until
21
242 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
a State government had been formed, its officers
duly appointed, and its sovereignty proclaimed ;
after which, they laid it down. Whatever may
he thought of the organization, no one can ac
cuse it of intentional injustice. Hasty they may
occasionally have been, but deliberately wrong,
never. The best tribute that could be paid to
their honesty and efficiency was the general ap
prehension of the people on the occasion of the
charge just alluded to. They dreaded the estab
lishment of a government of law, and generally
preferred the irresponsible action of the commit
tee. It is also a well ascertained fact that Cali
fornia has never been so orderly as it was under
their rule. Immediately upon their resignation,
the rogues began to breathe more freely, and
crime to increase.
We have already said that this committee has
been harshly judged and unjustly condemned by
persons who were imperfectly or not at all ac
quainted with the facts in the case. These very
men, however, recognize the necessity and ac
knowledge the benefits of the Holy Vehm. They
can see plainly enough that the robber barons
" who spared not man in their anger nor woman
in their lust," who were a curse and a nuisance
to all honest people, needed to be struck sud
denly and without remedy by some invisible
hand, which they could neither escape by flight,
intimidate by threats, nor bribe with money.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 243
They cannot understand, however, that the ple
beian scoundrels of California required the same
sharp and summary punishments which were
needed for the rascally nohlemen of the dreaded
Red Land of Westphalia. It is very easy for
people who sit by their comfortable firesides and
look out upon well-fed policemen patrolling the
streets, conspicuous by their glittering star, to
descant upon the beauties of law and order. The
man, however, who has just been knocked down
and robbed in San Francisco by a vagabond who
cannot be brought to justice, has not so clear a
perception of the necessity of resorting to a tri
bunal which is powerless to punish, or of appeal
ing to a constable who is equally unable to pro
tect him from injury. These things have a rela
tive, not an actual value ; they are, or, perhaps
I ought to say, they were worthless in California.
A cockney traveler might as well take a London
policeman to Sebastopol to prevent the Cossacks
from taking liberties with his sacred person.
The main thing every where to be attained is
order, that honest men may do their work in
peace and quietness. If law gives them this,
well and good. Law must be supported. If law
is powerless, then the rifle, or the knife, or the
rope must take its place. In so unsettled a state
of society, as that which existed in California at
the time of which we are speaking, the first thing
is to strike terror into the ruffians. That must
244 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
be done, let the cost be what it may. After the
power of the honest man is established on a firm
basis, then it is time enough to organize courts
of law.
The quiet and honest settlers of California
were fully convinced of the necessity of this com
mittee, and zealously supported it. Indeed, the
committee rarely acted alone. Almost always
the citizens were called in, and had as much to
say as the members of this self-constituted tri
bunal upon the case in hand. They only took
the initiative ; they saw that the scoundrels did
not escape ; the public did the rest.
As for the thieves, robbers and rascals of every
grade, they entertained a wholesome terror of this
energetic organization. When one of them re
ceived his orders to quit a certain place, he did
not dare to disobey. He knew that unless he did
what he was commanded, his punishment was
inevitable. The committee was as inexorable as
destiny itself.
I have no time to go into the examination of
the arguments advanced against such an institu
tion as this. A glance at one or two must suffice.
It has been said that the committee was irre
sponsible, and that it is highly dangerous to en
trust the power of life and death to irresponsible
hands. In truth, however,, the Committee was
not irresponsible. It sprang from the people,
and though not formally elected by them, was
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 245
nevertheless tacitly acknowledged. All its power
resulted from the fact that it was a genuine
exponent of public opinion, a faithful executor
of the public will. The moment it failed fairly
to represent the people, that moment its days
were numbered. The members of the committee
knew perfectly well that the same fate which
they decreed to the culprits who fell into their
hands, awaited them, should they ever become
dangerous to the people.
Again, they have been accused of haste and
cruelty in their operations. We have already
said something on this head. Perhaps, however,
it may be well to speak more directly to this
charge. The necessity of punishment must be
granted. There is no other mode of preserving
order. Now, it must be remembered that Cali
fornia was then really in a state of anarchy,
though nominally under the government of the
United States. Every body did that which was
right in his own eyes, or rather what his incli
nation prompted him to attempt. The conse
quence was, as we have already said, that mur
ders and robberies were every-day occurrences.
Life and property were wholly unprotected. In
this state of affairs the vigilance committee took
the matter up, and determined to regulate affairs.
What were they to do with a criminal once
caught ? To take bail for him, and let him run
till a certain course of regular formalities could
21*
246 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
be gone through with ? That would have been
an extremely judicious proceeding. The escaped
scoundrel would have committed further depre
dations, and, in all probability, the most conspic
uous of the committee would have fallen victims
to his vengeance. It was necessary, therefore,
to try him at once, or else let him go scot-free.
The trial over, and conviction obtained, the sen
tence, whatever it might be, required to be im
mediately executed, because they had no place of
safe-keeping for him. If exile was decreed, he
was forthwith drummed out of the settlement;
if he was to be hung, the rope was immediately
provided. There was no help for it ; unless jus
tice were summary, it was null.
As for the charge of cruelty, it must be ac
knowledged that the code of the vigilance com
mittee was severe. They hung for many offences
which, in the Eastern States, can only deprive a
man of his -liberty. This also was a matter of
necessity. Such severity was requisite to strike
terror into the lawless vagabonds who infested the
newly settled country. Besides, it was doing no
more than was done in civilized, refined, enlight
ened England less than fifty years ago. Indeed,
the vigilance committee were more merciful than
the authorities of that realm, who hung a rogue
for stealing a hat. It was only when a robbery
was attended with circumstances of peculiar atro
city that they resorted to this extreme punishment.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 247
Allowance must also be made for the state of
feeling among the people in regard to capital
punishment. It did not inflict such a shock upon
them as it does on the inhabitants of an old, reg
ularly governed country. Life was held very
cheap there ; it was taken upon the slightest
provocation. Every man went armed, and wea
pons were resorted to at the commencement of a
fray. The dry goods man, who measured out
calico behind his counter, waited on his custom
ers with a pair of revolvers stuck in his belt.
The customers, wild, savage looking men, leaned
upon their rifles or played with their bowie-
knives while making their bargain. The pur
chase completed, the buyer threw down his
leathern bag of gold dust, the seller weighed
out the proper quantity and returned the rest.
Should a dispute arise, few words were inter
changed ; arms were immediately appealed to,
and the question was speedily settled. It is but
fair, however, to say that, during these early
days, the regular traders had but few difficulties
with the miners, arising from attempts to defraud.
Clearly, such a state of society cannot be judged
by the same rule which applies to a settled and
orderly community. A scene which I witnessed
at Sacramento will probably give my readers a
better idea of the mode of proceeding adopted
by the vigilance committee, than any lengthened
description of mere generalities.
248 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
A man who had recently returned from the
mines, and was on his way to his home on the
Atlantic coast, arrived in Sacramento one morn
ing, and put up at the Orleans hotel. He had
been quite successful in his labors, and brought
in a goodly quantity of gold dust, a portion of
which only he had deposited ; the rest he carried
about his person for current expenses. Elated
with his good fortune, he could not refrain from
boasting of his skill and judgment, and the ex
cellent results he had obtained. He exhibited
sundry little leather bags, and picked out nug
gets remarkable for size or for oddity of form,
which he exhibited freely to all the inmates of
the house. He had one irregular mass of gold,
which, to his fancy, resembled a race-horse.
Another jagged, shapeless lump, he conceived
to be a perfect likeness of Mr. Polk, whom he
greatly admired, and this he declared his inten
tion of having made into a breast-pin. He talked
largely of the great things he would do with his
money when he reached home, and, in the excess
of his liberality, ci treated the crowd " to innu
merable cock-tails and smashes.
Two men, who were unknown to the people of
the hotel, seemed particularly interested in the
history of his exploits, and professed to have ac
quired a high regard for him personally, during
their brief acquaintance. They swore he was a
trump, that such a good fellow deserved to make
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 249
money, and professed to rejoice in his success as
greatly as though it had been their own. They
too, they said, had just come in from the mines,
where they had made a few ounces, though noth
ing like what our friend had secured. They were
so exhilarated by his good fortune that they
vowed they would return and try their luck
again. They had come down with the intention
of going home, but they did not like to be beaten
by any one, so they would just " knock around "
the city a little, have some fun, and go back to
the mines the next day. Our friend was " such
a devilish good fellow," that they were proud to
have made his acquaintance, and would enjoy
their frolic ten-fold if they could only prevail
upon him to accompany them.
Their proposition was accepted-. Success and
" red-eye " had rendered him more than usually
confiding, and the three strolled away, amid the
laughter of the crowd, reeling, hiccoughing, and
swearing eternal friendship. They rambled oif
to a back street, engaged in the same interesting
conversation. Suddenly one of the companions
of our hero disengaged himself from his arm,
slipped behind him, and with a billet gave him a
tremendous blow upon the head, which knocked
him bleeding upon the pavement. He was
stunned only for a moment, and the blow seemed
to have sobered him. He began to struggle,
when his other newly found friend joined in the
250 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
assault. The two together belabored him severely
over the head till he lay senseless and motion
less upon the pavement. Thinking they had
quieted him for ever, they proceeded to rifle his
pockets, and soon stripped him of every thing
valuable he had about his person. They then
made off witn their booty.
Strange as it may sound to my reader, this
outrage was perpetrated about three o'clock on a
summer afternoon. Some persons in the neigh
borhood witnessed the whole affair, and imme
diately gave the alarm. The vigilance commit
tee, ever on the alert, were soon in pursuit, and
the scpundrels were captured a short distance
from the outskirts of the city. The news spread
with great rapidity, and soon a large crowd had
collected. When I reached the scene of action,
the members of the committee were escorting
the culprits to a little grove of stunted oaks which
stood upon the outskirts of the town. There was
an expression of calm determination on the faces
of the committee, of angry excitement on those
of the rest of the crowd. Furious cries of " hang
them 1" burst from the mob, but did not seem to
excite or ruffle the chief actors in this terrible
drama, who went about their duties with great
system and deliberation. As for the criminals
themselves, a more villainous pair of faces it was
never my fortune to look upon. Low brows,
heavy features, and cold steel-gray eyes,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 251
them the expression with which Cruikshanks has
pictured Sykes in his illustrations of Oliver Twist.
They were Australian convicts, brutal wretches,
whose hands were red with blood.
A jury was immediately ernpanneled by order
of the committee, one of whom acted as judge.
t( Fellow-citizens," said he, " these men have
been accused of perpetrating an atrocious crime
within the limits of this city. We are now ready
to give them a fair trial. Those gentlemen
who witnessed the outrage will now come forward
and give in their testimony !"
The culprits were made to confront the jury,
guarded by members of the Vigilance Committee.
Several citizens came forward and stated what
they had seen, and others from the hotel identi
fied the prisoners as the men who went off with
the unlucky miner. They also recognized the
bags and the nuggets which were taken from
them as the same which had been exhibited at
the hotel. As for the wounded man, he was too
badly hurt to testify.
The case was fairly made out against them,
the jury gave in their verdict, and the judge
formally inquired what the convicts ?iad to say
why sentence should not be pronounced upon
them. They muttered out a few unintelligible
words, when with a clear loud voice, he said :
"Prisoners, you have been found guilty of a
murderous assault and robbery. You have had
252 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
a fair trial, and the sentence of this court is that
you be forthwith hung by the neck till you are
dead! One hour will be granted for such re
ligious exercises as you may desire. If there is
any one present who is disposed to render these
men any religious service, he is requested to
come forward."
A man, who represented himself as a Method
ist preacher, now advanced to the miserable men,
said a few words to them in a low tone of voice,
and then knelt down to pray beside them. Du
ring this part of the ceremony, the crowd stood
silently by, and many took off their hats.
Presently the preacher rose and mingled with
the crowd. A man advanced to the culprits and
carefully pinioned their arms with a strong rope.
At this stage of the proceedings, they seemed to
be fully aroused to a sense of their danger. They
looked around and seemed to scrutinize every
face in the whole assembled multitude. Never
shall I forget that mute, appealing gaze. It was
useless ; not a face in the whole crowd wore an
aspect of mercy; but again arose the angry
shout : "Hang them ! hang them !" The judge
now called out, " G-entlemen I the hour is up !"
whereupon they were led to a tree and swung
off. A few struggles and all was over. The
crowd quietly dispersed ; the excitement sub
sided, and an hour afterwards no one would have
suspected that any thing unusual had happened.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 253
Such proceedings as these — the absolute and
inevitable certainty of punishment — produced
order throughout the State. Indeed, it was the
Vigilance Committee alone that ever has enforced
obedience to law. The State's Attorney of San.
Francisco states that in four years twelve hundred
murders had been perpetrated, and only one of the
criminals was convicted. What wonder if some
people still sigh for the days of the Vigilance
Committee ?
22
254 BODEGA,
CHAPTEE XYIII.
• sJ
BODEGA .
ONCE more in San Francisco, I made prepara
tions to return to the Atlantic States as rapidly
as my health and dilapidated means would per
mit. Before leaving this pseudo Eldorado for
ever and aye, I had a wish to see a celebrated
grazing district, famed for its vast herds of
horned cattle and wild horses ; and so, having
hired at an enormous price a sorry looking mule,
like the knight of La Mancha mounted upon
Kosinante, I sallied forth from San Francisco in
search of new adventures. I took the high road
along the hay towards Bodega, a small town sit
uated upon the Pacific coast, 60 miles north-east
from San Francisco. I had hardly cleared the
suburbs of the city, when my mule began to ex
hibit qualities very far from respectable ; as, for
example, he would stop suddenly, hold down his
head, plant his fore feet firmly, and reflect, I
suppose, upon the proper moment to pitch me
over his head. He had a very uncomfortable
way too of throwing up his head, and more than
once just grazed my nose ; then he was so play
ful ! jerking the bridle suddenly and casting
BODEGA. 255
his head round so as almost to reach my leg with
his teeth. And, moreover, I judged him to be
partial to botanical studies, from the fact of his
taking every opportunity of pushing his way
through the scrub bushes that lined the road, as
if he thought the occasion favorable to scrape me
off his back. I have never been very famous for
my skill in equitation, nor have I ever been too
anxious to intrust myself to the care and safe
keeping of other legs than my own, and I must
acknowledge that when I discovered the little
pleasing eccentricities already enumerated, I
thought it would be most prudent to return ;
and would have done so, only that the devilish
brute would not consent to take the back track ;
by which I mean that, when I attempted to turn
his head homeward, he commenced such a series
of circumgyratory evolutions that I remained
long in doubt as to which of my limbs would re
main unbroken when I did come to the ground,
a catastrophe by no means far distant if he con
tinued to spin around five minutes longer. I
clung to the pummel of the Spanish saddle, how
ever, with the gripe of a maniac, shouting wo !
with an unction and vigor that I am sure con
tributed as much as any thing else towards stop
ping the incarnate devil in his mad career. Any
person, to have seen my involuntary performances
on this trying occasion, would most assuredly
have pronounced me the best circus rider in the
256 BODEGA.
known world. I am favorably known at home as
an even tempered, nay, as a good tempered person ;
but I verily believe I lost my temper here on
this spot, not that I remember to have ever been
profane, but I am sure I consigned the wretch to
the safe-keeping of a nameless personage, with a
particular request regarding the future disposi
tion of his eyes and limbs. As I could do no
thing better, I let him have his own way, and for
the next hour or so we got along very well to
gether, and I really began to think well of his
muleship ; when suddenly, and as if by magic, I
found myself upon my back in the road, and the
precious villain prancing and curveting within
fifty feet of where I lay, as if in the very act of
rejoicing that he had thrown me there. I had
received a slight bruise upon one of my shoul
ders by the fall, a matter not deserving much
attention, and was considering the best method
of catching the atrocious robber, as he very de
liberately walked up to me, and adjusted his po
sition so that I could mount him again with
ease, which I did without delay. Shortly after,
we reached a Chinese encampment — all men, or
at least I supposed so. They looked exactly
alike in face and in dress. Two or three were
assembled around a fire, the rest were gambling ;
those by the fire were engaged in cooking rats
in an expeditious manner. I should think there
might have been about a bushel of these animals
BODEGA. 257
altogether, and they were laid with their skins
on, from time to time, upon a hed of hot emhers
to broil ; it was a very primitive way of replen
ishing the larder ! However, I did not dine with
the celestials ; I had an indistinct idea at the
moment that the moon's relatives were exceed
ingly respectable, only something the filthiest.
Without much further trouble or delay we ar
rived, towards midnight, at Bodega. My mule
behaved like a trump during the latter part of
the journey, but only after frolicking for about
three quarters of an hour up and down a small
stream upon our road, which his excellency in
sisted upon surveying, even from its source to its
mouth.
Bodega contains not more than four hundred
inhabitants, including " Digger " Indians, " nig
gers " and dogs, the last by far the most useful
and most decent of the concern. The people of
the town told me that the place was first settled
by the Kussians, but no vestiges remain of the
original settlers to denote who or what they were.
A very worthy man is the sole proprietor of the
town now — he is an American ; some years since
resided in Valparaiso, where he married several
bags of doubloons, a large lot of cattle, some fine
horses, and a Chilian lady ; removed to Califor
nia and became the possessor of the town of Bo
dega, and a very large portion of the surround
ing country. For my part, I could see nothing
22*
258 BODEGA.
very seductive in Bodega, nothing that could
keep me there a week. The country is almost
destitute of timber, with here and there a woody
knoll. The surface of the land is rolling, soil
good, and well adapted for farming purposes.
In fact, it is said to be the best grazing section
in the State of California. Dense fogs prevail
throughout the summer months ; from these the
earth receives a sufficient quantity of moisture
to answer all the purposes of rain. An abun
dant crop of grass is produced, upon which vast
herds of cattle and droves of horses are raised.
The horned cattle are slaughtered in immense
numbers, merely for their horns, hides and tallow.
Twelve miles south-east of Bodega is the little
village of Petaluma, situated upon the margin
of an extensive swamp or morass, through which
a small stream winds its way to the bay of San
Francisco. This morass is entirely overflowed
during the winter. In the summer it becomes
perfectly dry, and cracks open in every imagina
ble direction to the depth of twelve or fifteen
feet, the crevices varying from one to eight
inches in width. At an early period the Indians
captured entire herds of horned cattle in the
summer by driving them into this morass. If
an animal attempts to cross this fissured spot he
must assuredly break his legs. It is no uncom
mon occurrence daily to find three or four wild
horses, and as many more horned cattle, vainly
BODEGA. 259
struggling to extricate their fractured limbs from
the clefts and crevices in this death-dealing Gol
gotha. In this situation they are quickly dis
patched by the Indians and others living in the
vicinity, stripped of their hides, and the carcasses
left for the birds of prey. Owing to certain pre
servative properties in the atmosphere, animal
matter does not undergo decomposition in this
region with the same degree of rapidity that it
does in other sections of the Atlantic States in
the same parallels of latitude, and it is not un
usual to see the carcasses of slain animals upon
this very morass, a month or more after they
have fallen, in a good state of preservation, and
without emitting, in any great degree, an offen
sive odor.
Upon my return to Bodega, I witnessed the
punishment of an Indian boy for theft. This
was the case : The boy had stolen a trifling sum
from the house of an American, and being shortly
after detected with the money in his possession,
he was sentenced to expiate his offence in a very
novel manner ; and here I might with great pro
priety use the language of Lord Byron, the scene
reminded me so strongly of the main incidents
of his Mazeppa. A wild horse that had been
caught with the lasso only the day before, was
brought out, and the boy's person in an upright
position securely strapped to his back. The boy
thus bound, the horse was then freed from re-
260 BODEGA.
straint by the men that held him, and with a
cut from a whip, he bounded away with the
speed and swiftness of an arrow shot from a
bow. The race, however, was of short duration.
He had scarcely accomplished the third of a mile,
when he suddenly threw himself, and with fran
tic efforts endeavored to roll over and over, in
order to rid himself of his burden. In these
struggles, one of the boy's legs was literally
crushed into a bloody mass. The violent exer
tions of the animal had so far exhausted his
strength, that he was unable to rise. In this
condition, we had time to come up and liberate
the boy from his bonds, but not until the poor
creature had ceased to breathe. He was quite
dead, and another murder was to be added to the
long list of California crimes. Horror-sticken
and distressed at the scene of ruthless barbarity
I had just witnessed, I made my way out of the
village of Bodega, wondering if the good God
would permit such an unparalleled atrocity to
pass unpunished.
In returning, I took the road through the val
leys of Sonoma and Napa to Benicia ; feeling fa
tigued and somewhat indisposed upon reaching
the city of Benicia, I determined to rest there
a day or two. Benicia contains about 1500 in
habitants, is 40 miles north-east from San Fran
cisco, situated upon a branch of the Sacrameato
river. The city is regularly laid out on a gentle
BODEGA. 261
slope, rising from the water's edge to the hills in
the rear. Benicia is a port of entry, contains an
arsenal, a navy-yard, and extensive docks for
repairing and refitting steamers. Ships of the
largest class can come up to the wharves. It
has been proposed to establish the seat of govern
ment of the State here. It must be by no means
understood that I had traveled thus far upon my
return without trouble from the antics and ex
travagances of my mule, being somewhat upon
my guard, I more than once foiled him in his
design of getting me off his back. I have seen
vicious animals in my time, but never saw any
thing to equal the cunning and malice of this
one. It seemed as if he had been taught every
thing that was bad, and being naturally vicious,
had become by long practice more than a match
for man. Desirous of examining more closely
a singularly formed elevation some fifteen miles
from Benicia, known as Monte Diabolo, I set out
the third morning after my sojourn in Benicia
to visit this famous mountain. Mounted upon
my rascally mule, I had unfortunately suf
fered myself to be persuaded to wear a pair of
Spanish spurs, having been assured that the
fractious conduct of the mule heretofore was en
tirely owing to my not providing myself with
these persuaders at the commencement of my
journey. I had ridden barely the half of a mile,
when the accursed animal was seized with a
262 BODEGA.
fiend-like desire to break my neck and his own
too. With this commendable purpose in view,
he began by taking short leaps forward, 'back
ward and sideways, varied every now and then
by an effort to throw me over his head, by cast
ing his hind legs high into the air, or in endea
voring to force me off by standing almost up
right, and pawing the air with his fore feet. I
maintained my seat with difficulty during these
fiendish gambols, and plied him with the spurs.
This settled the matter at once, for no sooner did
I plunge the sharp rowels into his infernal sides,
than he stood for a moment, as if to gather
strength for a more mighty effort; then, drop
ping his head, he suddenly threw out his hind
feet with such violence as to eject me from his
back with an impetus that I am astonished did
not crush every bone in my body, and kill me
outright. As it was, my left leg only was broken.
The mule, demon as he was, seemed to exult in
his misdeeds, and to be well content with the
(to him) triumphant termination of the contest ;
at least I judged so, from his sounding the
trumpet of victory long and loud; he brayed
incessantly for an hour. M}^ leg was broken
just above the ankle, and whenever I moved gave
me exquisite pain. What to do I did not know ;
I could not move. I was somewhat comforted,
however, by reflecting that I should not lie in
this helpless condition long. I was on the high-
BODEGA. 263
way, and some traveler must pass soon. I shouted
with all the voice I had left ; pain and agony
had weakened me so much, that I feared death
would ensue before my situation could be known.
At length I attempted to drag myself upon my
hands and knees towards Benicia, then less than
a mile distant. In the effort, the agony I endured
caused me to faint. I know not how long I lay
in this death-like condition. When I again re
turned to consciousness, I found myself in bed,
with my broken limb confined between splints,
after having been properly set by a surgeon.
Many weary days and nights were passed upon
a bed of sickness. I received every attention
from the kind people into whose hands I had
fallen. These good Samaritans had found me
insensible by the wayside, my mule standing
within ten feet of me, very gravely contemplat
ing his handiwork, afterwards suffering himself
to be led back to Benicia, without making the
slightest demonstration of discontent. As soon
as my new friends discovered the cause of my
accident, it was proposed to shoot the mule forth
with. To this summary disposition of the ma
lignant brute I objected, not from any desire to
save his worthless carcass, but from a wish to
return him to his more worthless owner in San
Francisco, whom I had some hope the animal
would cripple for life upon some future day.
I therefore requested my friends to have him
264 BODEGA.
returned to his owner by the first opportunity
that offered.
My most constant attendant was an old negro
named Ben. A better nurse I could not have
had than this same old fellow. As he was quite
an original, I will describe him. Ben was about
four feet six inches in height, very thin and
very black; his grandfather must have been a
chimpanzee — I feel quite sure of that, because
his features were precisely those of an ancient
baboon ; his age might be about fifty or fifty-
five, and at an earlier day he may have had a
nose, I doubt it, though ; at any rate he had none
when I saw him. No ! not a bit. It had disap
peared altogether. The wool grew within an
inch of his eye-brows, and he had but one eye.
Ordinarily and for economy's sake, Ben was very
simply attired in canvas pantaloons and the
remnant of a red woolen shirt — disdaining hat
and shoes, except upon great occasions and State
celebrations ; then, indeed, Ben shone conspicu
ous in all the glory of an immensely high bell-
crowned white hat, with a narrow rim and a
broad green ribbon to match, a tall, stiff shirt
collar that reached his ears, a military stock,
tightly buckled around his neck, which effect
ually prevented the wearer from looking down
ward, a whitish looking something that had
been worn for at least seven years as an overcoat
by a tall, stout man, now served Ben in the
BODEGA. 265
capacity of a dress coat ; to be sure he had " cur
tailed its fair proportions" by cutting off one and
a half feet of the skirts, six inches of the sleeves
and a good large piece of the collar. It was a
nice garment. A pair of breeches so tight that
he slept in them upon occasions when he had
used much exercise, for the simple reason that
he could not get them oif without greatly en
dangering their respectable appearance; boots
large and somewhat dilapidated, of course the
legs of the tights could not be drawn over the
boots, therefore they were tucked inside. But
the crowning glory of the entire outer man was
a broad, shining, black leather belt, drawn so
tightly around his waist, that he breathed at
times short and sharp.
To Ben's many other great talents must be
added his very great proficiency in music. He
performed very spiritedly indeed upon the bass
drum, and when necessary, could do the jingling
upon the triangle. But his forte was the fife,
and it was a pleasing sight to see him upon a
gala day, rigged as described, lugging a huge
drum buckled to his breast bone, thrashing away
with both hands as if his life depended upon the
amount of confusion he created. Suddenly he
would cease, and drawing the fife from the depths
of his breeches pocket, would favor the procession
or company with an air from "Norma," or from
somewhere else. Heroic Ben ! can I ever forget
23
266 BODEGA.
the day when, attired in all his bravery, tall hat,
big coat, old boots, bright belt, long drum, short
fife and all, he hobbled past the house wherein I
lay, followed by all the boys, girls and dogs in
the place ? It was some saint's day, and the Mex
icans had hired Ben as chief musician to aid with
such music as he had on hand in doing proper
honor to his saintship ; and he did it, too, much
to the admiration of every one within hearing.
No ! I shall never forget that day ; I think the
sight hastened the recovery of my health and
strength.
At the end of five weeks, the doctor told me
I could travel without danger to my leg, pro
vided I was careful ; accordingly I took passage
on board of the steamer New World for San
Francisco, and, with Ben as my body-guard,
reached that city late in the evening of the same
day without any further accident. I immediately
put myself under the care of an able physician,
and in a very short time experienced no incon
venience from my now perfect leg. As to Ben, he
would not leave me, and in fact he made himself
so necessary to my comfort that I was quite loth
to part with him. He was a good servant, a good
nurse, and honest as far as circumstances would
permit ; but he would get liquor to drink some
how ; no matter in what shape it came, Ben must
have liquor ; buy, beg, borrow or steal, have it
he would. I have known him to drink the doc-
BODEGA. 267
tor's prescriptions, in consequence of their hav
ing a small quantity of brandy in them ; but for
this failing I think I should have brought him
back with me to the Atlantic States ; as it was, I
parted from him only upon the day that I sailed
for home.
268 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
OF all the aborigines that are known to trav
elers within the limits of the western continent,
the Digger Indians are certainly the most filthy
and abominable. A worse set of vagabonds can
not be found bearing the human form. They
come into the world and go from it to as little
purpose as other carnivorous animals. Their
chief characteristics are indolence and gluttony.
Partially wrapped in filthy rags, with their per
sons unwashed, hair uncombed and swarming
with vermin, they may be seen loitering about
the kitchens and slaughter-houses awaiting with
eager gaze to seize upon and devour like hungry
wolves such offal or garbage as may be thrown
to them from time to time. Grasshoppers, snails
and wasps are favorite delicacies with them, and
they have a peculiar relish for a certain little
animal, which the Bible tells us greatly afflicted
the Egyptians in the days of Pharaoh. The male
Digger never hunts — he is too lazy for this ; he
usually depends upon the exertions of his squaw
to provide something or other to satisfy the
cravings of hunger.
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES. 269
The term Digger has been applied to these
Indians in consequence of their method of pro
curing their food. The grasshopper or cricket of
California is one of their favorite messes. They
capture these insects by first digging a pit in the
ground, and then forming a wide circle round it
which is gradually narrowed. In this manner
they drive the insects to the pit and there cap
ture them. After having secured their prey, the
next thing is to prepare it for food. This is ac
complished either by baking the grasshoppers
in the fire or drying them in the sun, after
which the Diggers pulverize them. The epicures
among them crush service-berries into a jam and
thoroughly incorporate the pulverized insects
with the pulpy mass to which they have reduced
the fruit. Others mix their cricket meal with
parched sunflower seed, but this is an advance
in civilization and in the luxuries of the table,
which is made by very few of them. They ob
tain the young wasps by burning the grass,
which exposes the nests and enables them to
grub in the earth for this delicacy.
Acorns are also a favorite article of diet with
these wretched creatures. In California,, this
fruit is larger and more palatable than with us,
and it has the merit of being a cleaner kind of
food than that which usually satisfies the Dig
ger's hunger. Kude as these people are, they
have sense enough to observe that all years are
23*
2*70 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
not equally productive in these nuts, and fore
sight sufficient to lay in a good stock during the
plentiful years. They pound them up, mix them
with wild fruit, and make their meal into a sort
of bread. They are said to resort to a stratagem
to obtain the acorns in greater abundance. There
is a bird in California, called, from his habits,
the carpeuteir or carpenter. He busies himself
in making holes in the redwood trees and filling
them with acorns. When a Digger finds a tree
stocked in this manner, he kindles a fire at its
base, (so the story goes,) and keeps it up till the
tree falls, when he helps himself to the acorns.
Grass-seed constitutes another portion of their
diet, and this is gathered by the women, who use
for the purpose, two baskets, one shaped like a
shield, the other deep and provided with a han
dle. With the shield the top of the grass is
brushed and the seed shaken down into the deep
basket. This also is made into bread.
It is commonly supposed that these Indians
belong to a single tribe. This, however, I think
is doubtful. They are scattered over a wide ex
tent of country, being found far to the north,
among the Utahs. Those upon the frontier
usually call themselves Shoshonees or Snakes,
while some claim to be Utahs. Their skin is
nearly as dark as that of the negro. Indeed
they greatly resemble the African in color and
general appearance. They are distinguished
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
from him chiefly by their aquiline noses, their
long hair and their well-shaped feet. The south
ern Diggers have a lighter complexion, being
not so dark as a mulatto.
It is reported on good authority that Captain
Sutter, the first settler on the Sacramento, at
whose fort (the present site of Sacramento) gold
was first discovered, employed these people to
build his fort for him. He paid them in tin coin
of his own invention, upon which was stamped
the number of days the holder had worked. This
was taken at his "store" for articles of merchan
dise, such as dry goods, &c. He fed his field In
dians upon the offal of slaughtered animals and
the bran sifted from ground wheat. The latter
was boiled in large iron kettles ; and then placed
in wooden troughs from which they scooped it
out with their hands. They are said to have
eaten it, poor as it was, with great relish, and it
was no doubt more palatable and wholesome than
their customary diet.
These Indians are inveterate gamblers, and
when they have been so fortunate as to obtain
clothing, they are almost sure to gamble it away
before they stop. Their game is carried on as
follows. A number sit cross-legged on the ground
in a circle, and they are then divided into two
parties, each of which has two head players. A
ball is passed rapidly from hand to hand along
the whole of one party, while the other attempts
2*72 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
to guess in what hand it is. If successful, it
counts one for the guessing party towards the
game. If unsuccessful, it counts one in favor of
the opposite party. The count is kept with
sticks. All the while this is going on, they
grunt in chorus, swinging their bodies to keep
time with their grunts. The articles staked are
placed in the centre of the ring. When they
once get excited in play, they never stop so long
as they have any thing to stake. After getting
through with their money, their trinkets and
their provisions, they stake their clothes and
keep on gambling till they reduce themselves to
the costume of Adam.
The fate of these poor creatures is involved in
no uncertainty. They must melt away before
the white man like snow before a spring sun.
They are too indolent to work, too cowardly to
fight. When pinched by the severity of hunger,
and unable to procure their customary filthy
diet, they are driven to the settlements, where
they steal if they can, and do a little labor if
they must. No sooner, however, have they pro
cured the means of satisfying their immediate
wants, than they abandon the employment of
fered them and relapse into their customary in
dolent habits. Of course, it can only be while
labor is in such great demand as it now is, that
they can secure even this temporary employment.
When hands become abundant in that country,
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES. 273
the laboring white man, the Chinese or the ne
gro will monopolize all the work. The Indian
then will he confined to thieving for a livelihood,
and that is something which the Californians
will not permit. Some of these miserable people
have been cruelly butchered by the whites for
indulging their propensity to make free with
other people's property. They cannot fight for
their plunder, and consequently they must suffer
as patiently as they can whatever penalty is in
flicted. If the fierce warlike tribes of the north
could not oppose the march of civilization, how
easily will these poor weak children of the south
be crushed under its advancing wheels !
In Marysville, passing by one of the slaughter
houses, I saw a collection of about twenty of
these wretches waiting for the offal. They were
in the habit of presenting themselves regularly
every morning at the same place and at the
same hour to gather the refuse of the slaughter
ing establishment. The proprietors rather en
couraged these visitors than otherwise, for the
same reason that the turkey-buzzard's visits are
so acceptable to the denizens of most of our
southern cities — they serve the purpose of scav
engers so admirably. On this particular occa
sion, however, one of the proprietors seemed not
so well satisfied, from the fact of his having de
tected one or two of these " Diggers " in the very
act of stealing some choice pieces of beef. A
274 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
stalwart Tennesseean and his son were the pro
prietors. The father was a very stout man, and
more than a match for fifty of these poor misera
ble devils; fond of whiskey, an inveterate swearer,
and withal, when excited, as was then the case,
dangerous. As soon as the theft was discovered
the eldest Tennesseean seized a meat-axe, and
with a tremendous oath threatened to immolate
the entire tribe3 or, to use his own quaint but
profane language, to " populate hell three
deep with the damned thieving Digger Indians
in less than no time." This was said to his son,
a good natured young man who was using his
best endeavors to prevent his father from putting
his terrible threat into execution. Happily for
the Indians, they had sufficient time to get out
of reach of the enraged man, and make good
their escape with the stolen meat. The butcher's
scheme for populating the infernal regions was
to my mind quite original, to say the least of it,
and notwithstanding the impiety of the thing, I
could not refrain from laughing. It afterwards
became a matter of grave consideration how he
would accomplish an undertaking of this descrip
tion, without first having recourse to some actual
measurement, the better to determine the amount
of feet and inches required for each separate body.
I think he must have been something of a sur
veyor, and had already measured the area con
tained within the dominions of the evil one ; how
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES. 275
else could he name the precise depth of " Dig
gers " he intended to furnish ? Our worthy
butcher, it must be conceded, understood geome
try, as " three deep " distinctly implies length,
breadth and thickness. The only true difficulty
in the whole thing was the specified period of its
performance. I understand what is meant by
" no time " very well, but cannot say I am so
confident as to the meaning and intent of the
phrase " in less than no time/' I dare say though
some very short period of time is intended, and
if time and opportunity serves, upon some future
day I will make the inquiry of the Tennesseean
or his son (I should prefer the latter) what it
really means.
There are comparatively few negroes in this
new State. Most of those who are found here
have emigrated from the northern and eastern
States in the capacity of cooks and stewards of
vessels. They are in the same situation as their
brethren in New York and Massachusetts, slaves
to no single individual but to the entire com
munity. Like free negroes every where else,
they inhabit the worst parts of the towns in
California, and live commonly in characteristic
filth and degradation.
There are a few blacks from the South, and
these have been brought out here as slaves. It
is true that on their arrival here they have the
power of claiming their freedom ; but such is
2*76 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
their attachment to their masters that this is
rarely done. Instances have occurred in which
they have been enticed away by meddling aboli
tionists, but, disgusted with a freedom which was
of no value to them, they have been eager to re
turn again to their masters. Several cases of
this kind have come under my own observation.
I was personally acquainted with a New Or
leans sea-captain and ship-owner, who had a very
likely negro man named Joe. This slave had
acted as his special servant for many years, and
had made two or three voyages with him be
tween Shanghai and San Francisco. His con
duct was entirely unobjectionable, and his duties
were always promptly and efficiently discharged.
Indeed, the captain informed me that, though
he had reared Joe, he never had occasion to whip
him for any offence. Others had observed the
admirable traits of the negro, and several per
sons had attempted to buy him, offering extra
ordinary prices ; but his master, having the
highest appreciation of his qualities and a strong
personal attachment for him, positively refused
to part with him on any terms. At last, how
ever, Joe deserted the vessel. An abolitionist had
persuaded him to leave his master ; and a short
while thereafter he married a Mexican woman —
a sort of half-breed — and went off to the mines,
near Campo Seco. But he found his freedom un
profitable and troublesome. While in his legiti-
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES. 2*7*7
mate station lie had always had an easy time,
plenty of food and an abundance of clothing.
He had also accumulated two or three hundred
dollars, which had been given him by his mas
ter, and others, for extra services. Not long af
ter his marriage with the Mexican woman, his
money disappeared. He became penniless, rag
ged, dejected, and, as a last resort, determined to
return to San Francisco, beg his master's pardon,
and, if possible, reinstate himself in the favor of
one who had always been his friend. He did
return, presented himself as a suppliant before
his master, told him that he had been persuaded
to leave, that he was sorry for having done so,
and now wished to enter his service again, prom
ising unwavering faithfulness in the future.
The master regarded him with a steady gaze
until he had finished his story, and then, in a
distinct and dispassionate tone, said to him :
"You had no cause for leaving me; I had always
treated you well. Now you may go ; I don't
want you any longer." At the conclusion of
these words, the negro dropped in despair at his
master's feet, and wept like a child. Moved
by the sincerity of the negro's repentance, and
having duly considered the extenuating circum
stances of the case, the master overlooked his es
trangement, set him to work and never had the
least difficulty with him afterwards. Of his
Dulcina, whom it seems he had married in a La-
24
278 THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES.
guna dance-house, I know nothing, except the
information I gained from Joe himself, that she
left him as soon as his money was gone.
One more instance, and I have done with the
negroes. A gentleman and three of his slaves,
from the western part of North Carolina, had
been mining about two years, near Quartzburg,
in Mariposa county. Their efforts having been
crowned with success, the master concluded to
return home, and speaking to his slaves of his
intention, he told them that they were at liberty
to remain in California, where their freedom
would not be disturbed, and where they would
be entitled to the entire proceeds of their labor.
To this they replied that the abolitionists had
told them that long "before, and after detailing
several attempts to decoy them from their owner,
and signifying their unwillingness to remain in
California, they concluded by requesting their
master to take them with him. He consented,
paid their passage, and they all returned home
in the same vessel.
The applicability of slave labor to the soil of
Southern California is now becoming a theme of
discussion in that region, and it is probable
that the experiment will one day be tried. In
deed, the propriety of dividing the State into
Northern and Southern California has already
occupied the attention of the legislature; and
while it is generally admitted that the people
THE DIGGER INDIANS AND NEGROES. 279
are about equally divided upon the measure, it
is universally conceded that, in case of its adop
tion, the southern portion will establish the laws
and institutions of Virginia and Louisiana.
280 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
CHAPTEK XX.
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
IN the preceding chapters it has "been my
purpose to impart such information as would
lead my reader to a correct knowledge of the
present condition of things in California, and to
aid him in deciding whether he will emigrate to
that country, or content himself in the Atlantic
States. I have endeavored (in a very hrief and
feeble manner, it is true) to purge the films from
his eyes, that he might see the country in its
true light. I have told him of the distorted and
exaggerated stories which have been circulated
concerning it ; of its barren soil, and unfavora
ble seasons ; of the seeming incompleteness of
nature, and the paucity of resources of employ
ment therein ; of its scanty productions, and de
pendence upon importations for all kinds of pro
visions and merchandise ; of the expensiveness
of living, and the extraordinary obstacles which
lie in the way of prosecuting business with suc
cess; of the unprecedented number of mishaps
and accidents, and the losses and perils to be
apprehended from fire and water ; of the lack of
scenery, and the disagreeable consequences of
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 281
the weather ; of the inefficiency of the laws, and
the anarchical state of society ; of the breaches
of faith between man and wife— of the almost
utter disregard of the marriage relation, and the
unexampled debauchery and lewdness of the
community ; of the contrariety of opinions which
prevail, and the continual disputes and disturb
ances which arise in consequence of the hetero-
geneousness of the population ; of the servile
employments to which learned and professional
men have to resort for the means of subsistence,
and the thousands of penniless vagabonds who
wander about in misery and dejection ; of the
dissipated and desperate habits of the people,
and the astounding number of suicides and mur
ders ; of the incessant brawls and tumults, and
the popularity of dueling ; of the arbitrary do
ings of mobs, and the supremacy of lynch-law ;
of the general practice of carrying deadly wea
pons, and the contempt that is shown for human
life ; of the great difficulty of securing reliable
titles to landed property, and the fatal rencoun
ters with the squatters ; of the bacchanalian
riots by day, and the saturnalian revels at night ;
of the perfidy and delinquency of public func
tionaries, and the impossibility of electing aji
honest man to office ; of the sophistication of
provisions, and the filthy fare in hotels and res
taurants ; of the untrustworthy character of busi
ness men, and the frauds and stratagems prac-
24*
282 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
ticed in almost every transaction ; of the con
temning of religious sentiments, and the des
ecration of the Sabbath ; of the incendiaries in
the cities, and the banditti in the mountains ; of
the alarming depravity of the adolescent genera
tion — of the abominable dissoluteness of many
of the women — the infamous vices of the men,
and the flagitious crimes against nature. I have
spoken freely of all these things ; and now what
else shall I say ? Is it necessary that I should
defile still more paper with these detestable
truths ? Can any one be still in a state of inde
cision about going to California ? I am aware
that the public mind has been somewhat unde
cided upon this subject, and I have essayed to
give it the proper turn, or restore it to its accus
tomed equilibrium. I have spread before my
reader a combination of facts, and have related
events which occurred under my own observa
tion. There are scores of other topics which
might be brought in to give strength to my gen
eral argument ; but I dislike to tax the patience
of the reader with such a prolonged catalogue of
unwholesome realities.
It was my intention to dwell somewhat at
length upon a variety of subjects of interest,
but the space which I assigned to myself is al
ready nearly filled up, so that I find I shall be
compelled to abandon this design and bring
these desultory remarks to a close. It would,
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 283
however, be a neglect for which I would not
readily excuse myself, were I to pass over the
subject of the Pacific Railroad without note or
comment. It is agitating the public mind too
deeply, and it is too intimately connected not
only with the prosperity of our Pacific coast, but
also with that of the whole nation, to be lightly
regarded ; and as some point in California must
be its terminus, if common sense is to guide us in
selecting its course, a work on that country must
necessarily take it into account.
The necessity of this important national high
way is too strongly impressed upon the minds of
the thinking people of this nation, to be easily
lost sight of. Some erroneous opinions, however,
are entertained in regard to the objects of the
road by many who warmly advocate it. It is
supposed by a few that California is to contribute
some wonderful benefits to it, and some few even
go so far as to suppose that she can support it.
This is very absurd, as the previous chapters
have, we hope, clearly explained.
California certainly will contribute something
to the support of this great enterprise, but can
not, by any means, constitute the chief induce
ment to its construction. Her gold will of course
come more rapidly, readily and safely across the
continent than around Cape Horn. In this re
spect, the saving to the consignees on the Atlan
tic coast will be very great, and will be repre-
284 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
sented by three items : saving of time, saving in
the interest of money, and saving in consequence
of the diminution of the risks of transportation.
A glance at our table of casualties by sea, in a
former chapter, will show how great the last
named saving promises to be. That on the in
terest of money will also be great. It requires
about three weeks to send from California by the
shortest existing route to New Orleans, while, by
the railroad, that city will be but a few days'
distant from San Francisco or San Diego. Al
lowing a week to be occupied in the trip, the
saving in this item will amount to a half a
month, and as a million is often brought in a
single cargo, this is no trifle. At six per cent, per
annum, it would amount to twenty-five hundred
dollars on each shipment. The item of time will
be sufficiently appreciated by the mercantile
reader without comment from us.
These, however, are not the only benefits
which the road may expect to derive directly
from California. Much of the British commerce,
which now finds its way to that distant region
by the long routes, will go thither by the more
direct and expeditious way of the new road. A
way commerce will also inevitably spring up and
there will be a cordon of settlements and towns
stretching across a wilderness which years of or
dinary immigration would be required to fill up.
Branch roads would also soon start from the
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 285
main trunk to various important regions along
the route. The Santa Fe trade and the com
merce of the prairies generally would soon seek
this as its natural channel. The emigration to
California would also largely benefit the road.
This is likely to be large for some time to come,
and the return tide would also contribute to in
crease the pecuniary revenue of this great na
tional enterprise.
To California it would be of the greatest ser
vice, and the enlargement of the resources of
that State would of course increase those of the
improvement which causes the beneficial change.
The country would then be settled from the east
as well as from the west, and the gold of the
Sierra Nevada would speedily be brought into
market.
These advantages, considerable as they are,
really form but a very small portion of the in
ducements to the construction of this important
work. The great and important revenues of the
road will come from far beyond the limits of the
State. The enormous commerce of Eastern Asia
and its Archipelago, which has enriched every
nation that ever secured it, will then flow over
our country leaving its golden sands behind it.
China will send its teas, Amboyna its spices,
Java its tin, Japan its copper, through our do
minions. No commercial manoeuvring, no di
plomatic juggles can divert this mighty trade
286 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
from its natural course. There is a destiny in
commerce, as well as in other things, and fate
seems determined to pour the riches of the world
into our lap. If, in former times, the slow cara
vans which conveyed the treasures of the east to
western ports, left wealth behind them, wherever
their footprints were seen, though vexed by Tar
tar and by Arab plunderers, how much more
benefit is likely to be derived from a rapid and
safe transit through a civilized nation, ready,
eager and able to add their quota to the stream
of wealth ?
We must not forget, also, that this eastern
commerce is greater and more important than it
ever was. Our efforts have unsealed Japan, and
before long we shall be reaping the fruits of our
enterprise in that quarter. Australia, too, is
now ready to add her gold to a commerce already
immensely valuable. China must open her doors
still wider, for the world will knock loudly at
them. Nor is this all. The whole trade of the
western coast of South America must change its
course. A Pacific capital is destined to absorb
it. The whaling fleets of the Pacific will not
have the stormy passage around Cape Horn to
dread, but another New Bedford will look greas
ily upon the western ocean. The fur trade also
will change its course. Oregon will furnish it
with a port of departure, California with a per
mit of entry. Siberia itself may divide its trade
AKE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 287
between San Francisco and St. Petersburg. We
seem to be on the point of taking the position
which China has always claimed, and of becoming
the true centre of the world, at least so far as
commerce is concerned.
I believe it is now generally admitted that the
Southern route is the most practicable — that it
is the most level, the most fertile, the best wa
tered, the best timbered, and that the climate
through which it runs is the only one that is
favorable at all seasons of the year. I have con
versed with several gentlemen who passed over
the various routes on their way to California,
and they informed me that the mountainous
parts of the northern routes are usually blocked
up during the winter with immense drifts of
snow, which lie upon the ground to the depth of
from forty to fifty feet — sometimes much deeper.
Those who traveled over the northern routes
also complained of the scarcity of wood, water
and provisions, and represented the Indians as
being very hostile and treacherous ; while, in
most cases, those who traveled over the southern
route experienced no hindrance, difficulty or im
pediment whatever, having had pleasure, peace
and plenty all the way. But besides the advan
tages of climate, surface, soil, wood and water,
there are other considerations which weigh in
favor of the southern route. The distance is
much shorter, and the population is more friend-
288 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
ly, civilized and thrifty. It will bring us on
more intimate terms with the Mexicans, and they
will he induced to purchase larger quantities of
our manufactured and imported merchandise.
Every southern man should feel a lively inte
rest in this gigantic scheme, and enlist all his
energies in aid of its completion. It aifords one
of the finest opportunities that the South has
ever enjoyed for establishing her commercial in
dependence, for counterbalancing the increasing
commercial power of the North. In connection
with this subject, I may here present an extract
from a letter which I had the honor to receive,
not long since, from one of the most sagacious
and far-sighted patriots of the South. Speaking
of the great Atlantic and Pacific Kailway, among
other things, he says : " North Carolina should
not be an indifferent spectator of this noble en
terprise. The port of Beaufort, unrivaled for
health, possesses a depth of water sufficient for
all convenient purposes ; while the placid bosom
of its well-protected harbor, justly entitles it to
be styled the Pacific port of the Atlantic coast.
Pursue its degree of latitude westward across
the continent and the Pacific ocean, and you
will find that degree passing near Memphis,
Little Rock, Fulton, El Paso, and San Diego to
Shanghai, the last two being the nearest ports
of the two continents, in so low a latitude.
Bail ways are chartered from Beaufort westward,
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 289
and are constructed, or in progress of construc
tion, that will reach perhaps one third or half
way across the continent. May we not then hope,
ere long, to see them uniting the two oceans?"
Experienced navigators have said that, in con
sequence of the favorable course of the trade-
winds, the voyage can be accomplished between
San Diego and Shanghai in about eight days'
less time than it can be between San Francisco
and Shanghai ; and this is certainly a very strong
argument in favor of running the road directly
to San Diego — leaving San Francisco to the right.
Since the above was written, the following
abstract of the " Keport of the Secretary of War
on the several Pacific Kailroad Explorations"
has been published ; and as it more than sub
stantiates the correctness of my remarks, and
imbodies a great deal of valuable information
concerning the various routes, I hope the reader
will peruse it with due care and attention. I
here transcribe it, with brief comments, from the
columns of the Herald:
PACIFIC RAILROAD EXPLORATIONS.
The " Keport of the Secretary of War on the
several Pacific Railroad Explorations " is before
us. It is an interesting and instructive docu
ment, embracing a careful review of the capa
bilities and drawbacks of the following routes,
from the actual surveys :
25
290 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
FIRST — The extreme northern route, (Major
Stevens',) between the 47th and 49th parallels
of latitude, starting from St. Paul in Minnesota
territory, ajid striking the Pacific at Puget's
Sound, or the mouth of the Columbia, in Oregon.
This will require a road, allowing for ascent and
descent, of 2,207 miles. Estimated cost, $130,-
871,000. The impediments in this route are the
mountains to be tunneled, the numerous rivers to
be bridged, the scarcity of timber, the coldness
of the climate, and its proximity to the British
possessions.
SECOND — Koute of the forty-first parallel, (Mor
mon route,) commencing on the navigable waters
of the Missouri, or on the Platte river, and strik
ing thence over the Plains to the South Pass,
thence to the Great Salt Lake, thence across the
Great Basin to the Sierra Nevada chain, thence
over that chain, and down to the Sacramento
river, and down the same to Benicia, just above
San Francisco,, on the same harbor. Estimated
distance from Council Bluffs to Benicia, 2,031
miles; estimated cost, $116,095,000. Obstruc
tions same as in the first route, including wider
deserts and deeper and rougher mountain
gorges.
THIRD — Koute of the thirty-eighth parallel,
more familiarly known as Benton's great Central
route, pronounced utterly impracticable from its
mountain obstructions. Estimated length from
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 291
Westport to San Francisco, 2,080 miles. The
topographical engineers gave up all estimates
of the cost of a road by this route, in absolute
despair. r^'
FOURTH — Route of the thirty-fifth parallel —
(Senator Busk's route) — beginning at Fort Smith,
in Arkansas, thence westward to Albuquerque
on the Upper Bio Grande, thence across the
Bocky Mountains and the Colorado of the West
and great desert basin and its mountains, and
the lower end of the Sierra Nevada chain to San
Pedro, at the southern extremity of California,
on the Pacific. This route is about as bad as
Benton's, although the engineers think that 3,137
equated miles and $169,210,265 might, perhaps,
do the work.
FIFTH — Boute near the thirty-second parallel,
or the extreme southern route, via Texas, New
Mexico, El Paso and the Gila to the Pacific.
Estimated distance from Fulton in Arkansas, to
San Pedro on the Pacific, 1,618 miles — equated
length, allowingTor ascents and descents, 2,239
miles. Estimated cost, $68,970,000.
The advantages of this route are, that it is
practically a third shorter than any of the others
between the Mississippi and the Pacific — that it
goes by the flank of the Bocky Mountains and
the Sierra Nevada chain, instead of going over
or under them — that the route is over a region
of elevated table lands requiring little or no
292 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
grading — and that the soil is dry and free from
snow from one end to the other, except occa
sional light falls in New Mexico.
«. RECAPITULATION.
Distance of Ascents and Length of Comparative
ROUTES. Routes. Descents. Level Routes. Cost.
Extreme northern
Miles.
...1,864
2 032
Feet.
18,100
29,120
Miles.
2,207
2,583
$130,781,000
116,095,000
2 080
49,986
3,125
1 892
48,812
2,816
169,210,265
Extreme southern
...1,618
32,784
2,239
68,970,000
* The cost by this route is so great that the road is impracticable.
SUMMIT OF HIGHEST PASS.
Feet.
Extreme Northern route ") / 6,044
Tunnel at elevation of,/" "\ 5,219
Northern route 8, 373
Benton's route, \ f 10,032
Tunnel at elevation of, J " "\ 9,540
Albuquerque route 7,472
Extreme Southern route 5,717
These are the results of careful scientific ex
plorations, hy highly accomplished engineers, of
the several routes, from the extreme Northern to
the extreme Southern route ; and it is only ne
cessary to consult one of the latest maps of the
United States to see at a glance that the only
really available route is that of the extreme
South, via El Paso and the Gadsden country.
The estimated cost of a railroad (single track, we
suppose) hy this route is, in round numhers, $69,-
000,000, ahout half the estimate of the hest of the
other routes, to say nothing further of the sav
ing of a thousand miles or so in the important
matter of the distance to he traversed.
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 293
We consider this report conclusive as to the
best route for a Pacific Railroad — it is the ex
treme Southern route. A glance on any respect
able map of the United States, at "the several
routes indicated, will satisfy the reader of this
fact. The engineers of the army have only
made it more clear and satisfactory from their
actual surveys.
."^ ;'- ••':•' '&3frj$ .''/;. :--*.v^a^i-.
But I must return again to my theme — Cali
fornia ! I will now lay before the reader a few
extracts from letters which I have recently re
ceived from friends in the Pacific State, and it
will be seen how fully they corroborate my own
statement.
An editorial friend, writing to me from San
Francisco, says : — " Business all over California
remains in the same stagnant condition, and
every sign prognosticates a time of hardship and
suffering. A crisis, in my opinion, is approach
ing, which will drag down nine-tenths of the
business houses in the country. Money gets
more stringent every day, and every body seems
to be at a loss to know what to do. I must con
fess I see nothing promising in the future. It is
truly a dark day for California."
Another correspondent says — " There have
been an unusual number of murders, suicides,
duels and squatter riots within the last fortnight.
Heaven only knows what is to become of our
25*
294 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
people. The devil seems to have them all by the
nose, and there is no telling where his double-
tailed majesty means to lead them/' In another
letter, this same correspondent goes on to say —
"I have no encouraging news to send you by
this mail. Our markets continue distressingly
dull. A great many failures have taken place,
and others are anticipated. Indeed, these are
trying times with the mercantile portion of our
community. Every things wears a dull and un
promising aspect. Hundreds of mechanics and
laborers, many of whom are in a deplorably des
titute condition, are sauntering about the streets,
having nothing to do, and being unable to find
employment. And as a consequence of this un-
prosperous state of things, we have to contend
with many cases of despair and desperation.
Within the last week, four suicides, three mur
ders, numerous robberies and other crimes have
been committed in our city; and the accounts
from the up-country towns, and from the interior
of the State, convince us that there is less re
spect paid to the moral and civil laws in those
places, than there is in this. It is known that
there are now two large bands of highwaymen
prowling about the country ; and our cities are
filled with secret organizations for rapacity and
plunder/'
Again, another correspondent says — " Every
avenue to business is blocked up with a crowd
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 295
waiting for an opportunity. Scores of men of
almost every trade and profession are seeking
employment amongst us ; but there is no de
mand for their services. You have no idea of
the number of young men who are getting them
selves into a bad pickle by coming to this coun
try. California is indeed a mammoth lottery,
and the credulous world has been very impa
tient to secure tickets in it, refusing to believe
the fact that there are ninety-nine blanks to
every prize. Two earthquakes and several fires
have occurred since I wrote to you from Sacra
mento. The earthquakes were very slight, and
but little damage resulted from them ; but the
losses by fire have been immense. Enormous
sums of foreign capital are continually passing
between the Atlantic States and our city, in
search of profitable investment."
The following interesting letter, just received,
I give in full : —
WEAVERVILLE, Cal., May 7th, 1855.
My Dear Friend, — I owe you an amende for the
" long and silent lapse" that has lately occurred in our
correspondence — or rather in that part of it which ema
nates from me. A simple statement of the fact that I
have been constantly on the move for the past four
months is the best apology I have to offer in extenuation
of my fault.
Let us retrospect a little. I wrote you frequently
from Humboldt Bay, in answer to favors — my last letter
296 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
having been written the day previous to my leaving that
place. As I then intimated, the next day found me on
my way to the mines ; and the journey, rough as it was,
during the most inclement season of the year, and reach
ing to a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, I per
formed on foot ! You have a pretty good idea of the
mountains of this country, and can realize the amount of
fatigue and hardship attendant upon such a trip as mine.
Scarcely twenty-four hours passed that it did not either
rain, hail or snow, while we had not eren a tent to shel
ter us. Yet, with all this, I improved daily in health
and strength — weighing now ten pounds heavier than at
any time previous.
What is to be the result, pecuniarily, of this trip, is
yet to be answered. I have a mining claim, which, with
all my industry and economy, has only yielded me a liv
ing. It may improve — I may make a "strike" — but
this is mere speculation. Time alone can tell. I like
mining much — hard work though it be — and am resolved
to follow it as a business for the remnant of my days, or
until I have a competence. There is a charm — an inex
pressible something, inherent in the pursuit — which car
ries a man through the day's toil with unabated energy.
It is a feeling akin to that which leads men to the gaming
table, to wild speculations, or to hazardous undertakings ;
and each succeeding day finds a miner as eager as ever
to continue the search after the hidden treasure. The
gold has a different appearance, a greater intrinsic value
in his eyes, than that which is acquired in any other
way. He is the first to receive it from Nature's bank
of deposit, and it possesses a beauty that no coin can
equal.
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA ? 29*7
It is away up on the head waters of Trinity river, or
rather on one of its tributaries, that my cabin rears its
humble proportions. With no neighbors nearer than one
mile — the mountains rising high above and all around
me — encompassed by a forest of pine and spruce — in the
midst of wild beasts, wild cats, catamounts, grizzlies and
lions — I am leading a genuine backwoods life. It is
needless to say that its novelty charms me, and that I
glory in the most perfect independence. Nor is this all.
Flowers, beautiful, rich, rare, bedeck the mountain sides,
(for this is May, the month of flowers,) and I can gather
a bouquet that would shame those of civilized gardens.
Nature defies art, and Nature's gems stand proudly, un
rivaled and unappr cached. And yet this is not all.
There is a little bird who sits and warbles, almost all
day long, the sweetest melody I ever heard. Up in the
foliage of a huge pine, adjacent to my cabin, dwells
the pretty songster ; and I speak but the truth when I
say that beside him a canary would hang its head. My
wild-wood warbler reigns the king of songsters.
My furniture arrangements are not, as yet, finished.
I have neither table nor chairs. Supported at one end
by a sack of potatoes, at the other by my left hand, is the
board on which this sheet is laid, while your humble
friend sits on the ground, a la Turk, (or tailor,) and in
dites this "missel" to you. I am meek and lowly in
my pretensions now, Hinton, and my rough miner's suit
sits lightly on my frame. Adieu for the present. I
hare no envelopes, and must, therefore, close on this
page. Wishing you every success and happiness,
I remain your attached friend,
* * *
298 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
And now listen to what the District Attorney
for the county of San Francisco says. In a speech
which he delivered some time ago in a criminal
case in the city of San Francisco, he makes use
of the following language: — " Twelve hundred
murders have been committed in this city within
the last four years, and only one of the murder
ers has been convicted !" What a striking com
ment is this upon California justice ! Twelve
hundred murders in the city of San Francisco
alone, within the space of four years, and only
one conviction ! But it is unnecessary for me to
lengthen my remarks upon these subjects. If
additional evidences of the corruption and rot
tenness of affairs in California are required, all
that is necessary is to Jook into the papers that
come from that State, and the desired knowledge
will soon be obtained. Here, however, let me
simply say that it is impossible to get at the real,
naked facts from the California journals. Al
most every newspaper in the State is under the
control of interested parties, and they will not
allow the truth to be spoken when it conflicts
with their schemes and projects. Nevertheless,
enough may be learned from them to convince
any reasonable person of the correctness of my
description of California.
Thus, then, I have given a fair and truthful
statement of what I saw, and those who are not
yet convinced must go and test the matter for
ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA? 299
themselves. They will find what I have told
them to be true, and that there is more enormity
there than I have ventured to detail.
The absence of all social feeling, of refinement,
of the little elegancies of life, is painfully mani
fest. It would, of course, be absurd to expect in
a new country all the luxuries of an old civiliza
tion, but their absence constitutes no excuse for
the total want of even the decencies of life. Law
is a nullity, or at best a mere nominal thing ;
order does not exist except where the dread of
the bowie-knife or the revolver enforces it. Men
of notoriously bad character are intrusted with
the management of affairs, and are easily access
ible to bribery. Justice is proverbially venal,
legislation is utterly corrupt. Such a loose ad
ministration of public affairs would be produc
tive of bad results any where, but its influence
is especially malign in California, where so many
desperate men are to be found, determined, at
every hazard, to better their fortunes. Murder,
robbery and swindling are the methods by which
they aim to increase their income, the law be
ing powerless to check them.
We have called attention to the general bar
renness of the soil, and endeavored to impress
upon the reader's mind a conviction of the great
uncertainties of mining. What then remains to
attract the emigrant ? The feverish excitement
of speculation, which entices so many only to de-
300 ARE YOU GOING TO CALIFORNIA?
stroy them. In all countries, this is productive
of as much loss as gain, but in California, where
projects are pursued with a recklessness else
where unknown, the losses are on a gigantic
scale. Disappointments, therefore, have the keen
ness of those of the beaten gambler, to whom de
feat is irretrievable ruin. What wonder, then,
that suicides are so common in that unhappy
country ?
Of the condition of females in that State, it
is useless for me to speak. I have already said
enough on that subject, and it becomes every man
who thinks of emigrating thither, to ponder well
the risks to which he will subject the ladies of
his family. The enormities chargeable upon
California in this respect would be difficult to
parallel in any age of the world. They are of
so gross a nature that it is impossible even to
allude to them in a book which may be seen by
women.
And now, after having well considered all
these things, after having become thoroughly
acquainted with the facts I have been at the
pains to collect and record, I would again ask
my reader, Are you going to California ?
THE END.
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