YELLOW FEVER--A WOODEN HEAD--HARD TIMES--A GALE--WE SPRING A
LEAK--ACAPULCO--SMUGGLING--CHOLERA--CONCLUSION.
_Christmas, 1852._
“I’ll soon be back, boys,” was my last remark, it will be remembered, as
I parted from the Tuttletonians on the road; consequently, in the winter
of 1852 I found myself at the Island of St. Thomas, on my way back to
the scrofulous pigs, the Carpenter Judge, and Constable Rowe. I had made
up my mind that for the time being I would have no more to do with
quartz mining. I saw that there was much respecting it that would remain
enigmatical until the application of capital and science had produced
results; so as the English Mining Companies appeared to possess both
capital and science in abundance, I determined to wait and learn
something from their operations, and for that matter I am waiting still.
As my wife accompanied me I had made up my mind to jog on by easy
stages to San Francisco, and when arrived there, visit either Southern
California or the Great Salt Desert. Having had a rough passage out we
were resting for a few days at St. Thomas, when the yellow fever broke
out with great violence; soon the ships in harbour lost all their crews,
and the population ashore became panic-struck with the virulence and
suddenness of the disease. I was glad when the Company’s steamer, Dee,
arrived to take us on to Aspinwall; and as this ship was considered
healthy, we congratulated ourselves as we left the anchorage on having
left Yellow Jack behind us; but, unfortunately, we had embarked on board
the very ship that was doomed to suffer the most of all the steamers of
the mail line. We had scarcely been forty-eight hours out, when the
funeral service was read over nine of the ship’s crew; arriving next day
at Carthagena, we landed there about a dozen hopeless cases. The day
after, my servant died in great agony.
The features of the yellow fever, as then exemplified, were very
horrible. I shall not, therefore, describe them, but merely mention that
the disease commenced with a bleeding from the nose and gums, and this
hemorrhage in many cases could not be checked whilst life remained.
We had about twelve passengers on board, all English but one; five of
them were sturdy Cornish miners proceeding to California. The first
passenger attacked was Mr. Adams, an American, and as we were then in
sight of Aspinwall, we hoped to land in an hour or two, and fly from the
epidemic, which had not as yet appeared on the Isthmus. We left Mr.
Adams bleeding profusely from the nose, and we afterwards heard of his
death. There was a vague fear among us that we were not quite safe, so
we hurried on to Gorgona, which village we reached that night. The rain
descended without cessation, and we had arrived at the close of one of
the heaviest wet seasons that had been known for years. The roads were
described as being in many places impassable, and such mules as we could
hire were so worn out by the winter’s work that they could scarcely bear
our weight when we mounted. The luggage was charged at the rate of a
shilling a pound, and the muleteers would not engage to take it through
in safety. Much trouble there was, I believe, in starting from Gorgona
in the early morning; much falling of mules and immersion of riders in
thick ponds of mud, ere our party had proceeded a mile on the road. The
rain, I believe, fell as if it would blind one, and as the thunder
reverberated through the dark forest of palm trees, the lightning made
the darkness of the black covered road before us more horrible.
Had not the yellow fever been behind us, our party would, I believe,
have turned back to spare the women such a fearful trial. I say,
believe, for the night before I had been attacked by yellow fever, and
now as we stumbled and slid, and scrambled and swam through the red fat
mud, I knew nothing.
My head was of wood, as it were, or lead, and if any one had chopped it
off I should not have known it, but have gone on quite as comfortably. I
had but one fixed idea, and that was that I wanted water; sometimes I
got it, oftener it was not to be had, and I have no doubt that I
pondered dreamily over this circumstance as something remarkable.
Of course I tumbled off a great many times, but not so often as was
expected; a habit of riding enabled me to keep a certain kind of seat
even under such trying circumstances. I cared little for tumbling off,
but was roused to anger at being lifted on again; however, my wife did
the best she could for me, and by night-fall we arrived at a hut on the
side of the road to sleep. There was no Californian traffic on the road
at this period, and our party consisted but of three men and two women,
the Cornish miners having proceeded on foot the day previously. They
placed us in a small loft, through the chinks of which could be
perceived some half dozen ruffian-looking armed natives, who had
congregated below. I suppose they did not murder us because they thought
we had no money, otherwise they would have done so, unless they made an
exception in our favour over other unarmed passengers who got benighted
at these seasons. It rained still as we plodded on next day, and we
passed a slough where, a day or two before, a woman had fallen off her
mule and was suffocated before assistance reached her. My head was, if
possible, more wooden than ever, and I became much distressed at one
place where I lost my boots in the mud; for the moment I argued quite
reasonably on this subject, but soon becoming unmanned, I burst into
tears, and proceeded on my way, stolid, stupid, and bootless. Our party
arrived at Panama half dead with fatigue, draggled with mud, and
shivering in the torn clothes that for nearly sixty hours had been
drenched in rain. I was placed in bed; the other male passengers--all of
whom had arrived in good health--made themselves comfortable, and
thought no more of the Dee, or the rain, or the mud. In less than ten
days _they all died of yellow fever but one_, and I alone of those
attacked recovered.
Of the whole party a Mr. Mears alone, who was travelling with his wife,
escaped unharmed.
The hotel we had selected was undergoing a complete restoration, and was
very merry with the noise of whistling carpenters, who kept time with
their hammers.
The best accommodation we could procure was a small whitewashed room at
the furthest end of the courtyard; in this room were two small stretcher
beds, without mattresses or covering of any kind, and as times went, we
were fortunate in procuring these, for Panama was very full. There were
no servants in the hotel; there was seldom anything to eat, and when
there was, the cooks were drunk and mutinous and refused to cook. After
six o’clock the fires were put out, and the cooks went away altogether
until the next morning, when they would stroll in early or late, just as
suited them.
I was laid on a stretcher bed, and fortunately for me the doctor who
attended me was clever in his profession, and gave me no medicine. After
a day or two I commenced bleeding at the mouth as the others had done,
and a sad time my wife must have had, as she sat by my bedside and wiped
away the hot blood as drop by drop it trickled from my lips, watching me
die, as all thought then I should do.
During this time I felt no pain, and although I never lost my
consciousness, I was in that dreamy state in which I could embrace no
fixed idea; my reflective faculties were lost to me, I never thought
whether I was to get up again or die. I wished to be left alone in that
undisturbed enjoyment which one can fancy a dog feels as he lies in the
sun winking and blinking at humanity.
When at last I recovered and could sit up, I found that all my
companions of the Dee had died. I soon got ravenously hungry, and then
came the worst part, for I was restricted to a very small allowance of
food. I was so yellow that I became quite vain on the subject, and my
chief delight for a long time was to contemplate myself in the glass. It
is customary to say of a man with the jaundice, that he is as yellow as
an orange; an orange paled by my side, and my skin was of so bright a
hue, that to have given me a coat of gamboge would have been to paint
the lily.[33]
It seemed that we had brought the yellow fever with us to Panama, or
rather it appeared at the time of our arrival, and it was now spreading
with great rapidity. Cholera also broke out, and deaths from one or the
other of these causes became very numerous.
The people being panic-struck, a great rush was made for the Californian
boats, of which there happened, at this time, to be very few.
So soon as I was able to move, there was but one small screw steamer in
port, and as the place was daily becoming more unhealthy, I secured, by
great favour, a cabin in her.
Nothing could excuse the state in which this ship put to sea, not even
the panic; for she was not only ill-found in every respect, but was so
crowded with passengers, that it was not until it was ascertained that
there was scarcely standing-room for those on board that she tripped her
anchor.
I had secured a dog-hole of a cabin, and was no sooner on board than my
wife, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, was attacked by violent fever.
There were two young doctors on board, but both were attacked shortly
after we started. Then the epidemic (an aggravated intermittent fever)
broke out among the passengers, who--crowded in the hold as thick as
blacks in a slaver--gave way to fear, and could not be moved from the
lower deck, and so lay weltering in their filth.
During this time, I could get no medicine or attendance, and my wife was
in the last stage of prostration.
The epidemic raged, and from the scuttle-hole of our small cabin we
could hear the splash of the bodies as they were tossed overboard with
very little ceremony. There was little to eat on board but ham and
biscuit, and it was hard work to get enough of that. On the fifth day
out, there sprang up a gale, a heavy one too, for all it was the Pacific
Ocean. Our overladen screw steamer could make but five or six knots at
the best of times, but now she could make no headway against the storm,
and she pitched so heavily in the long seas with which we were met, that
she sprung a leak and made water fast.
When we commenced to work the pumps they were found to be useless, for
the coal had started and the pumps became choked. This new danger drove
the epidemic out of the passengers’ heads, and they at once proceeded to
throw overboard the cargo (and with it my luggage), and then they baled
by means of tubs and buckets.
For two days and nights we were in suspense as gang relieved gang at the
buckets, and the old “screw” pitched heavily in the trough of the sea.
All were black and filthy with the coal dust, which now mixed with the
water in the hold, and as they howled and shouted over the work, these
fellows looked like devils. They worked bravely though and coolly, and
when the carpenter hallooed from the hold, “Hurrah, lads, it’s gaining
on us;” there was no wincing on the part of those who worked, but a more
steady application to the bucket ropes and falls. Then the gale broke,
and as the ship became easier, the leak gave way before the exertions of
the coal-begrimed passengers; we steamed into Acapulco, still baling out
the black water from the hold, and felt ourselves safe, at least, from
shipwreck. A favourable change had taken place in my wife’s health, and
I determined on remaining at Acapulco, until I could procure a passage
in some safer and more commodious vessel.
I forbear to mention the name of this steamer, as the captain of her was
a good sailor, and behaved nobly, and it was no fault of his that the
agents at Panama had so cruelly risked the lives of so many people.
The British consul at Acapulco was kind enough to interest himself in
our behalf, and through his influence we procured a large room in the
house of a Mexican family of note. With the exception of a few chairs
there was no furniture in this room, but it was clean and well
ventilated, and “looked out” upon a court-yard of fragrant orange trees
which were now heavily laden with fruit.
Nor have the natives of Acapulco much need of furniture, for they seldom
live in their houses, preferring to hang their hammocks in the porch,
where they swing lazily to and fro, and enjoy the cool breeze. The
principal apartment is used occasionally as a reception room, but it is
not considered requisite to employ more decoration on this than other
parts of the house, which is a lamentable proof of the ignorance which
exists here of the usages of polite society in those countries of which
the inhabitants do not consider what is good enough for themselves good
enough for their visitors.
The Custom-house officers of Acapulco were very suspicious, and such of
my baggage as had not been thrown overboard was subjected to a very
severe scrutiny. There is a heavy duty on the exportation of specie and
playing cards in this part of Mexico, and the manufacture of the latter
is monopolised by the Government, and gives rise to a great deal of
smuggling. As many invalids had been landed at Acapulco from the
Californian steamers, and had there died, it was not unnatural that an
occasional victim should be enclosed in a shell, and be reshipped for
interment in another country. During a season in which Acapulco air
rather accelerated death than aided recovery, so large a quantity of
“remains” were hermetically sealed and addressed to distant friends,
that the commandant became suspicious, and insisted one day on opening a
coffin. No corpse was there, but in its place was the devil; that is to
say, as far as a good cargo of playing cards and doubloons can represent
that functionary! Since then the dead man who goes out is searched
equally with the live one who comes in.
There had been an earthquake at Acapulco immediately before our arrival,
and the best proof of the severity of the shock was in the fact that
numerous adobe buildings were lying crest-fallen on all sides. A Spanish
mud-built house has a strong constitution, and is built with a view to
earthquakes, but, like us poor mortals, it is built of dirt, and must
crumble to dirt again, as the Fates direct.
The mosquitos at Acapulco were as numerous as any I remember to have
seen, and, in certain constitutions, every bite produced a sore, which
was aggravated by the climate. We are accustomed to look jocularly on
the attacks of these, or any other hungry insects, but to an invalid
their bites are often productive of most serious consequences.
I was enabled at last to secure a passage in a large steamer, which
touched at Acapulco on her voyage to San Francisco. She was a
magnificent boat, but, having eight hundred passengers on board, it was
with difficulty we could procure accommodation. We secured, however, a
couple of sofas in the main saloon, and, two bags of bones as we were,
we managed to find either sofa much too big for us.
Asiatic cholera broke out on the day we left Acapulco, and I began to
think that we brought ill luck with our presence. It was sad to hear the
groans of the dying passengers in the cabins right and left, but perhaps
less so to us than to others, for we had seen so much sickness on our
voyage that we had come to look upon it in a stolid sort of way, and
were free from those fears and anxieties which the more robust about us
experienced. We arrived at San Francisco with a loss in one week of
fifty passengers, and if we did not thank God for his mercy in
preserving us we were surely the most ungrateful of his creatures.
I would gladly have been spared this record of a very miserable voyage,
and yet without it my narrative would have been incomplete, as
presenting but one side of the picture. At the same time I can assure
the reader that I have not described one half its horrors.
As we glide swiftly down the stream one day without a care, so, on the
next perhaps, with the pole to our breast, we must sturdily stem the
rushing current to arrive at our goal with a fainting frame and panting
heart, if God so wills; or otherwise, with broken oar and shattered
bark, meet our destruction in the cruel eddies of the swollen river.
* * * * *
During my absence the State of California had progressed in the
seven-leagued-boots manner which had characterised it from the first.
The vast blocks of brick houses that had risen on every side in San
Francisco looked so very new and red that, the streets being filled with
empty packing-cases, it seemed as if the city had been sent out
piecemeal, packed in shavings, and put together like a box of toys.
Let us take one final glimpse at this colony of six years’ growth.
The wharves of the city still grow, and the clipper ships appear to grow
proportionately; each “Flying Dragon,” “Flying Fish,” or “Flying Cloud,”
that arrives requires more room for her pinions than those that have
come before her.
Theatres have sprung up like mushrooms, and actors are so plentiful and
good that I think of the days of the little “Dramatic” and Mr. Warren’s
“last appearance but one” in fear and trembling, lest any one should
recognise that individual in me.--Concerts and Balls, Fancy fairs and
Picnics!--A planked road that leads to a sweet nook in the country,
where, in spring time, the hills are bright with wild flowers, and the
air fragrant with their odour.--A planked road that leads to the wild
and rugged cliffs outside the bay, where the rollers break in one
continued foam, as they lash themselves angrily against the massive wall
that dares to check their course; and where, in the midst of fog and
mist and the spray of struggling waters, sea lions live on lonely rocks,
barking joyfully as the heavy surge sweeps over their oily backs.--A
pleasant road that leads to a quiet lake, where you may dine at the
hotel and enjoy, as it may suit you, the fragrance of the flowers, or
the invigorating salt sea-air.--Horses and carriages; country villas and
country inns; libraries and debating societies; ladies in plenty,
children in plenty, and pleasant society, are here.--Steamers running to
the Sandwich Islands, steamers running to China, steamers running to
Panama and Australia, are here.--There are electric telegraphs
throughout the country, and soon they say there will be a railroad that
will connect San Francisco with the Atlantic States of America.
There is grain enough sown for the consumption of the country; there are
brick-fields, stone quarries, lime works, and saw mills enough to
supply fifty cities.
There are foundries, and steam flour-mills, ship-yards, and docks.
And in the mines:--where shall I stop if I begin to tell of the towns
and villages that have sprung up there, of the bridges and roads, the
aqueducts and tunnels, that meet one on every side?
And not least, the Press has taken a firm tone, and devotes itself to
the eradication of existing evils.
* * * * *
Again I am leaving San Francisco on a bright Sunday morning. As we glide
past the hills, the sound of bells from twenty churches is borne to us
over the calm bay; we can see artisans strolling in groups with their
families, and schools of children on their way to church, who merrily
wave us an adieu.
Soon the bells are heard no more, and now having passed the Heads, we
meet the fat fog which the sun has turned out of the bay.
As we plunge boldly into this, we say farewell to California.
APPENDIX.
EXTRACTS from a work by Dr. J. B. TRASK, (U. S.) on the Geology of
California.
SOILS OF THE VALLEY SANTA CLARA AND SHORES OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY.
The soils on the Bay San Francisco differ much on its eastern and
western sides; both borders of the bay present the tertiary series, but
both do not present the trapean rocks to the same degree of development;
this, then, of course, will cause a distinctive and marked difference in
the productive capabilities of either shore. It will be found in all the
soils which have been derived in whole, or in part, from rocks more
recent than the tertiary group, that a more extensive and varied
adaptation to agricultural purposes will be present; this will be
particularly manifest in those sections where the tertiaries, containing
organic remains, enter somewhat largely into the components of the soil
produced from such sources.
Under a proper course of treatment these lands will be made available
for the purposes of the agriculturist, and our already large domain of
arable lands thus much increased. The situation of these lands in the
interior is such that they may be easily reclaimed should they ever fall
within the jurisdiction of the State, which undoubtedly they will, under
the law regulating “saline lands.” In the counties of San Francisco,
Santa Clara, and Alameda, the wet land that may be made available by
drainage is about seventy square miles, exclusive of the “saline lands”
at the southern part of the county of Santa Clara.
Most of the valley sections of this range of country is arable land, and
that which is not can easily be made so when required; the agents for
bringing this about being found in the adjoining hills to the east. The
character of the soil and climate adapts it to all the productions of
temperate climates, and where local position modifies the climate of any
section, it is found capable of producing plants of the tropical
latitudes.
The extreme south-eastern part of this valley would be adapted to the
growth of foreign fruits and other products, but it must be beyond the
influence of the cold sea-wind that passes inland across the range of
lower hills which divides the Salinas, Pajaro, and Santa Clara valleys,
the effect of which would be to blight the fruit, though the plant or
tree might continue to thrive.
The low hills that flank the east side of the valley contain all the
elements required for the culture of tropical plants and fruits; the
climate and soil will be found adapted, and the only agent that appears
in the least to be wanting is water sufficient to supply the demands of
those plants. From the appearance of small lagoons and rivulets at
different elevations it is presumable that a sufficient quantity of this
agent may be found a short distance below the surface.
As a general rule the mountains lying upon the east border of the valley
Santa Clara are covered with a soil superior to that of the plains, and
of much greater depth. I have measured the depths of these soils in many
places, and where it is well developed have found it varying from four
to eleven feet for miles continuous: its extreme fertility produces
heavy crops of the native grains and grasses, which annually contribute
to its increase by their decomposition.
Although these lands are situated within the reach of the sea breeze
from the Bay of San Francisco, they are protected from its cold by the
slope of the hills and the modifications of its temperature acquired in
its passage down the bay before reaching the northern portion of the
valley. So much is the temperature increased that an addition of ten
degrees is often acquired in its transit from San Francisco to the head
of the valley, a distance little rising fifty miles. This increase of
temperature in the air is accompanied with an increase in its capacity
for moisture, hence it is usual to find a slight aqueous haze, which
results from the condensation of its moisture, hanging about this entire
range of hills during the summer months, and is usually seen early in
the morning.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE VALLEYS OF SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN.
These valleys form a “single geographical formation,” stretching from
the terminal spurs of the Cascade Mountains at the north to the junction
of the Sierra Nevada with the southern terminus of the Monte Diablo
range with the thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude. The length of
the valley is about three hundred and eighty miles in length on an air
line, with a breadth of fifty miles at its widest point.
The general appearance of the valley is that of an extended plain
composed of alluvium, and this opinion would obtain in the mind of any
person whose line of travel would lead him over the lower terraces of
the plain, or what is denominated its bottom lands. It is only by making
a transverse section of this plain that we should be able to arrive at
any correct conclusions of its structure and peculiarities of its
formation; by pursuing this course, very distinctive and marked features
are observable of different periods of elevation to which this portion
of the country has been subjected subsequent to its emergence above the
level of the sea.
The character of the soil in many parts of this valley will render it
of little importance as an agricultural district, unless water in ample
quantities for irrigation can be obtained. (These remarks apply
particularly to the upper terrace of the valley on each side of the
river.) And we hope that attention may be called to this very important
subject of making the extensive areas of the arid districts of the basin
available for market and agricultural purposes.
Experience has demonstrated the almost certainty of obtaining water, and
in sufficient quantities, for agricultural and other purposes, in all
valleys resting upon sedimentary formations, and having a basin-shaped
structure, and where the different beds have a degree of uniformity or
regularity in their position, and are of a texture that will admit the
free percolation of water through the superior beds, and sufficiently
firm to prevent its escape in those below.
These conditions are all fulfilled in the basin of the Sacramento, and
from the united testimony of different observers, we have ample evidence
that the sedimentary formations of one side are the same as those upon
the other, with the exception, perhaps, of the conglomerate.
The report, after classifying the rocks of the coast, mountains, &c.,
goes on to describe their order and more recent volcanic rocks. In
relation to the discovery of coal, the author says:--
From a careful examination of this part of the country, with this object
in view, I feel no hesitation in saying that coal will not be found in
any part of the coast mountains south of the thirty-fifth parallel of
north latitude; what there may be north of this point, I know nothing,
having never visited it.
It is not unfrequent, in passing over the country, to hear of beds of
mineral coal; during the past season I have visited four such
localities, and, as was anticipated, each of them proved to be merely
small beds of lignite, and two of them hardly deserving that name. One
of these deposits proved to be but a bed of leaves, having a thickness
of about three inches, resting upon a tertiary sandstone containing
marine shells, and covered with twelve feet of a sandy alluvium. This is
one of those coal beds which has figured so largely in the public prints
of the State during the past year, and has induced several gentlemen to
pay the locality a visit, and to return as deeply disappointed as their
previous anticipations were elevated.
The report of coal veins in the Coast Mountains must be received with
many grains of allowance, and, at the best, none but tertiary deposits
will be found, and these, even should they exist, would be capable of
supplying but a limited demand, and that usually of an inferior
quality.[34]
MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE COAST MOUNTAINS.
The minerals of these mountains are widely dispersed throughout their
entire extent; they consist principally of copper, iron, lead, silver,
gold, nickel, and antimony, with agates, chalcedony, and many others,
too numerous to mention here.
SILVER.--In the county of Monterey this metal occurs in the form of
argentiferous galena (or lead and silver), and this mineral is found in
the primitive and transition limestone abounding in this section; it is
found in small veins and disseminated; the range in which it occurs
extends from the Gabilan peak to the Chapedero on the south, a distance
of twelve miles inclusive.
IRON.--This metal is found in almost every variety of form, from one end
of the Coast Mountains to the other; the prevailing mineral, however, is
the peroxide and protoxide of this metal; the latter is often found in
the form of hydrate, and when occurring in proximity to serpentine
rocks, often found to be more or less auriferous. This mineral is
largely developed in some parts of the auriferous district of Mariposa
County, and forms one of the most valuable receptacles of gold among the
gold-bearing rocks of that section.
SULPHATE OF IRON.--This article, known in commerce under the name of
“copperas,” is found native in large quantities near the town of Santa
Cruz. Its principle had occurred a short distance west of the house of
Mr. Medor, in a gulch running from the mountains through the low hills
to the coast. I followed the course of the ravine from where it enters
the high hill near the crossing of the road north-west of the town to
near the sea. The average depth of its banks varies from fifteen to
thirty feet, its length from the hill to the coast being about two
miles.
MAGNETIC IRON.--At the distance of two miles north-west of the above
locality, an extensive bed of magnetic iron occurs, running down to the
coast, at which point it crops out and exhibits a depth of several feet.
GYPSUM.--Sulphate of lime is reported to abound in the northern part of
Santa Cruz, and in the vicinity of the Palo de los Yeska, some six miles
from the mission. It was frequently spoken of by the inhabitants of this
place, but I was unable to learn its precise locality.
CINNABAR is also reported to exist in this locality.
NICKEL.--The ores of this metal are found from Contra Costa on the
north, to the utmost southern limit reached in the Coast Mountains. It
occurs in the primitive rocks, associated with chronic iron in almost
every case where the latter may be obtained. It appears as a bright
green mineral on the fractured surface of the other ores, and is known
in technical language as “nickel green.” The scarcity of this metal
renders the discovery of its ores in this country an object of some
importance, and its wide distribution leads to the belief that it exists
in sufficient quantities to warrant investment for its extraction from
other ores, at no distant day. It is extensively used in the
manufacture of German silver for wares and household utensils.
GOLD.--This metal has been found in the Coast Mountains, from the county
San Francisco on the north to Luis Obispo on the south. The slates and
serpentine formations which have been previously noticed in this report,
are found to be receptacles of gold here as in the Sierra Nevada; the
rocks are extensive in the Coast Mountains, often comprising an entire
ridge for miles; they are usually flanked by the granite. During the
past summer, the placers in the county Santa Cruz were much worked; the
gold found there was principally on the San Lorenzo and its tributaries;
it was fine, and much resembled that found in the Coyote Hill, near
Nevada; under the glass it had all the appearance of having suffered but
little from attrition by water, the surface of the grains being rough,
as though just detached from their original matrix. The slates and
serpentine rocks occur on both sides of this creek, with small veins of
quartz running through them; and, from what we know of auriferous
districts of this and other countries, the presumption is that gold in
_situ_ exists here almost to a certainty.
On the upper portions of the Carmello, in the county of Monterey, gold
is also found, in the immediate vicinity of the rancho Tulecita. Farther
to the south-east, near the head waters of the creek, it is also found
on the tributaries of the main stream that flow from the western ridge
of these mountains. On the Francisquito, a tributary of the Carmello,
coming from the south-west, and twelve miles from the coast, it is also
found near the house of Barondo. Three or four Mexicans were working
with the battea at the time I passed that ranche. The serpentine rocks
are largely developed on the east flanks of the granite ridges, and from
their course they may be considered as forming the northern part of a
series which occurs at the Mission San Antonio, fifty miles south.
The district of country in the Coast Mountains in which the auriferous
deposits are now known to occur, is about eighty miles in length, and
thus far is confined to the counties of Santa Clara, Monterey, and the
north part of Luis Obispo. This is a material addition to the already
known area in which this metal is found, and its location in what has
heretofore been considered the agricultural districts of the State, will
in time exert a beneficial influence in the permanent settlement of
those sections.
ANTIMONY.--The common sulphuret of this metal is very abundant in the
Monte Diablo range; at Mount Oso it is found in large masses, also at
various other points throughout these mountains; it occurs in
considerable quantities in some parts of the county of Santa Barbara.
This mineral is deserving of attention, as it often contains a notable
quantity of silver, though as yet no specimens which have been found in
this country contain a large per centage of this metal.
BITUMEN.--Bituminous springs abound through the Coast Mountains, and in
some places is much used in the construction of buildings and walks in
front of buildings; for the latter purpose it is admirably adapted in
situations where the sun will not have too powerful an effect upon it,
as in such cases it is apt to become soft. In the counties of Santa
Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, several of these springs occur, and
further south, are found more abundant. Information has been received of
an extensive deposit of bitumen in Contra Costa, some six miles from the
shores of the bay, but at what point I have as yet been unable to learn.
This article has been used of late in the manufacture of gas, for
illumination, and it possesses some advantages over the common oil or
resin gas in general use; a sufficient quantity for the illumination of
the country may be easily obtained, and at low rates, when required for
this purpose.
PLACER MINING.
The writer enters into a long treatise on this branch of mining, and
represents its progress as being very extensive during the last two
years.
It is now ascertained to a certainty that the placer ranges extend to
the east, within ten or fifteen miles of the “summit ridge,” so called,
of the Sierra Nevada; and the condition in which it is found at these
points is similar in all respects to that in the older or more western
sections, with, perhaps, one exception, and that the relative age of
both. There are evidences which clearly indicate a deposit of gold older
than the diluvial drift of the lower or western diggings, (which latter
is often confounded with the drift deposits of the tertiary periods in
this country,) the character of which differs in almost every respect
from any other deposit yet observed in this country, except in this
particular range.
Its direction has been traced for about seventy miles, and is found to
extend through the counties of Butte, the eastern part of Yuba, Sierra
Nevada, Placer and El Dorado; it appears to have an average breadth of
about four miles, with an elevation of four thousand feet above the sea
for the greatest part of its length.
QUARTZ MINING.
After a few preliminary remarks upon the permanency of the gold mines of
this State, the author proceeds to an elaborate consideration of the
geological position which the quartz veins hold to the rocks with which
they are connected. Under the head of “Character and positions of the
older veins below the surface,” he concludes thus:--
From what testimony we have in our possession relative to these veins,
it seems but reasonable to conclude that their integrity is perfect, or
as nearly so as can be reasonably expected considering the short period
which has been employed in developing their true character, and that the
confidence which they formerly possessed was well grounded; all
subsequent examinations have only tended to confirm this belief in the
minds of those who have carefully and diligently studied this subject.
The present condition of our gold mines, their flourishing state and
prospective value, based on facts as now developed, most clearly
indicate their importance as an industrial pursuit, and one destined ere
long to form one of the leading interests in the economy of the State;
and as such it would seem that all prudent measures to develop farther
their extent and value, and place them upon that footing before the
world which that value and importance demand, should be used; either
through the State or general government, and through them promote such
measures as will prove an inducement to more extensive and permanent
operations than has yet been done.
In concluding this part of the report, and in connection with the
magnitude and importance of perhaps a somewhat exciting principle in
relation to it, I would beg leave to call your attention to a point on
which there has heretofore existed much diversity of opinion, which not
unfrequently has engendered angry discussion and belligerent feeling in
a large proportion of our mining population. The experience of the last
three years has elucidated the fact most clearly that the two mining
interests of this State cannot be governed by the same rule of law in
all cases, and prove alike advantageous to both; it is therefore
suggested whether some method more congenial to this interest may not be
adopted, that will favour the occupancy and improvement of the metallic
veins of this State, giving at the same time the widest scope and
protection to all at present engaged, and those who may wish hereafter
to enter upon those pursuits.
* * * * *
The mines of this State are of a character and value which, if placed
in a proper position, will invite investment from abroad to an amount
little less than twenty millions of dollars within the next eight years.
This presumption is founded on the fact that more than one-sixth of that
amount is at the present time in active operation in this country, and
its largest proportion has been derived from American sources during a
portion of that period when public confidence had been shaken in regard
to their value. Negotiations are now pending which involve nearly one
million more of capital investment in this branch of mining, nearly one
half of which is in the cities of Boston and New York.
Considering the disadvantages that now surround them, as shown from the
facts relating thereto, they can but be regarded as the prolific sources
of wealth in this country; and every inducement consistent with the
liberal policy adopted in the government of the placers, is equally
applicable, and should be extended to them.
Dr. Trask concludes his very able report by briefly reviewing the
operations of the following mines, viz.: Lafayette and Helvetia, Gold
Hill, Osborne Hill, Wyoming, Gold Tunnel, Illinois, Jones and Davis
Mine, Calaveras county; Spring Hill, Amadore Company, Ranchoree,
Keystone, and Eureka Mine, Calaveras County, all of which he represents
in a prosperous condition.
THE END.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Captain J. B. Frisbie.
[2] From Vacca or Vaca--cow.
[3] Sun-dried brick.
[4] Lasso.
[5] I am supposing the case of an unarmed person suddenly meeting a
she-bear, a not unusual occurrence in California.
[6] Query:--(Printer’s Devil.)
[7] As it would be inferred from this that champagne must have been
cheap, I may mention that at this period the prices ranged from 2_l._
to 4_l._ the bottle, and the quality was execrable.
[8] This fact alone proves the truth of my remarks.
[9] The intelligent reader will observe that this was not the same
house that was thrown overboard.
[10] In which it will be observed they were more merciful than I was;
but the “coyote” comes under the head of vermin.
[11] “Drinks” are not necessarily composed of intoxicating liquors: on
the contrary, the principal ingredients are ice, syrup, and herbs. I
mention this, because _we_ mean by a man who “drinks,” a drunkard, or
the next thing to it.
[12] Looking, in fact, for new diggings.
[13] Deposits of Gold.
[14] Scalp.
[15] Gold washers.
[16] But when a couple of Chinamen make a demand for sam-schou, then
the bar-keeper is puzzled.
[17] The reader will observe, if he pleases, that in erecting this
hotel I had no view to becoming its landlord: had I taken any situation
in it, it would have been in the capacity of “boots,” which berth a
“handy young man” can turn to better account in this country than even
the head cook. That a cook’s situation, with or without tea and sugar
is lucrative, the following anecdote will attest:--In ’49 the captain
of a merchant brig at San Francisco having engaged a crew, regardless
of expense, in lieu of that which had run away, regardless of their
contracts and arrears of pay, found himself still in want of a cook.
Meeting a negro on the beach he offered him the situation, and to the
enquiry of the latter respecting salary, the captain said he could
give but two pounds a day. Having cocked his hat, folded his arms and
adjusted his legs as niggers do, this fellow laughed musically and
said, “dat if de capten wish to hire heseff out for five pounds a day
to fill dat occupation, jes walk up to the restaurant and he would set
him to work _immediently_.”
[18] In Mexico.
[19] Independent of the probability of there having been more than one
formation.--See Appendix.
[20] Obsolete term revived.
[21] A converted Budhist will address his prayers to our God if he
thinks he can obtain any temporal benefit by so doing; but if not he
would be just as likely to pray to Budha or to the devil.--Baker’s
“Rifle and Hound in Ceylon,” page 85.
[22] If the reader will refer to the “Times” of the 29th of September,
1854, he will perceive that a liberal collection was made at St.
James’s, Piccadilly, for the Borneo Mission. In the same journal, three
days earlier, the police magistrates express their regret that want of
funds compels them to deny assistance to surviving sufferers from the
cholera! All have, of course, a right to do as they like with their
money; but after the hat had passed round at St. James’s, I should
have liked to have seen its liberal contents transferred at once to
Bermondsey instead of to Kuchin. And for this reason, that I know, from
personal experience, that my old friends the Dyaks are as fat and sleek
a people as any in the world, well fed, well housed, and free from
disease, whilst the stomachs of those at Spitalfields, charitable sir,
are aching with the hunger that drives man to _crime_!
[23] Rich deposits were discovered, but I am not aware of the value of
the quartz generally at Carson’s Creek.
[24] Our object was still only to experimentalise.
[25] The reader will perceive the bitter irony conveyed in this
expression as contrasted with the complimentary one of “some pumpkins.”
[26] The best use to which an India-rubber sheet can be put, is to
protect during the day that part of the ground on which you sleep at
night.
[27] Since this was written, an election has taken place, calculated to
give satisfaction to the Reform Party.
[28] A little paper called the “Sun” deserves great credit for the
courage with which it has attacked existing abuses!
[29] I beg to forestall the remark that may here be applied to me, that
I am myself a _know nothing_, and defend the sect from fellow-feeling.
[30] Air-boats with life lines and floats suspended from their gunwales.
[31] As this goes to press I add a few extracts from a report in the
“Times” of December 8, 1854, of the loss of the troop ship “Charlotte”
and 117 lives in Algoa Bay, September 20th:--
“*** On the life-boat coming alongside it was found that every one on
board was completely _paralysed_, or overcome by the calamity. ***
Three separate times the life-boat pulled alongside, but there was no
one in a position even to cast a line to it. *** A great number _threw
themselves overboard_. Some were fortunate enough to reach the shore,
but the majority were drowned.”
This ship was apparently in a position favourable for the preservation
of life, had _confidence_ existed.
[32] These remarks were written previous to the loss of the “Arctic.”
[33] I trust the reader will understand that if I omit to write
seriously of my feelings on recovery from a death-bed, it is because I
consider a work like this no place for them.
[34] Extensive fields of good serviceable coal have been discovered in
Southern Oregon.--AUTHOR.
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
that encirled them => that encircled them {pg 98}
must be re-remembered=> must be remembered {pg 175}
thet he was induced=> that he was induced {pg 204}
It is generallly inferred=> It is generally inferred {pg 276}
the valley is is about=> the valley is about {pg 435}
I shall speak by and and bye=> I shall speak by and bye {pg 68}