The proceedings of the week
Visit from Mr. Larkin
What will the Government do?
What "enough" is
San Francisco
Houses and ships deserted
A captain and ship without a crew
A ship without a crew or captain
Wages, newspapers, and shovels
The Attorney-General to the King of the Sandwich Islands
Something for the lawyers
Gold-diggers by moonlight
Mr. Larkin's departure
Provisions run short
Seek a supply at Salter's
Good luck
Diggings' law
Provisions arrive
A wagon wanted
Arrival of Californians and their families
Gay dresses and coquettish manners
Fandangos
El Jarabe
The waltz
Lookers-on and dancers
Coffee, and something stronger
No more Sunday work
José and the saints
The Virgin Mary cheated
Contemplated migration.
_June 18th, Sunday_.--The proceedings of the past week have been but a
repetition of those of the week previous, the amount of gold dust
realised being rather greater, and amounting on an average to very
nearly sixteen ounces per day. Cradles are now in use everywhere around
us; nevertheless, the numbers who stand in the water washing with tin
or wooden bowls do not appear to be diminished.
On the evening of Thursday we were visited by a gentleman from
Monterey, a Mr. Larkin, who, I believe, is connected with the States
Government, and who has arrived in the diggings with the view of making
a report to the authorities at Washington. Don Luis immediately
recognised him, and invited him to spend the evening and night in our
tent. We were very anxious to hear the news from the coast, and Mr.
Larkin in turn was very anxious to pick up all the information he could
get respecting the diggings. Don Luis says he is a man of large
fortune, so his tour is purely one of inspection, and not with any eye
to business. We made him as comfortable as we could; Lacosse exerted
himself in the manufacture of the coffee in honour of our guest, and we
had several hours of interesting conversation.
Mr. Larkin said he had no idea what steps the Government at Washington
would take with reference to the "placer." "It can't matter much to
you, gentlemen," observed he, "for although there can be no doubt of
its being upon public territory, still, before any instructions can be
received from Washington, the great body of the diggers and washers
here will be enriched to their heart's content, if a man ever does feel
contented with any amount of wealth."--"Your observation," exclaimed
Malcolm, "puts me in mind of a story which my father used to tell of a
farmer, a friend of his, who once took his rent, the odd money short,
to an old miserly landlord rolling in wealth. He was asked by him why
he had not brought the full amount. 'Why,' replied the farmer, 'I
thought you had enough.'--'Enough!' said the miser; 'do you know what
_enough_ is? I'll tell you--Enough is _something more_ than a man
hath!'"
Mr. Larkin then spoke of the effects of the "mineral yellow fever," as
he called it, having been most extraordinary in San Francisco. When he
left that town, he said more than two-thirds of the houses were
deserted. We were not surprised at this, as we knew the people who were
continually arriving here must have come from somewhere. Nearly all the
ships in the harbour too had lost a great part of their crews by
desertion. A barque called the Amity had only six men left when Mr.
Larkin started from the port. On board another ship from the Sandwich
Islands the captain was left actually and literally alone. On the road
Mr. Larkin fell in with another captain who had started off for the
gold region with every man of his crew, leaving his ship unprotected in
port. On Mr. Larkin remonstrating with him on the flagrancy of his
conduct, he merely replied, "Oh, I warrant me her cables and anchors
are strong enough to last till we get back." Mr. Larkin told us what we
were fully prepared to hear, namely, that wages and salaries of all
classes have risen immensely; clerks, he said, were getting from nine
hundred to twelve hundred dollars, instead of from four hundred to five
hundred and fifty dollars, with their board. Both the _Star_ and
_Californian_ newspapers, he said, had stopped. Thinking to surprise
us, he told us that shovels which used to be one dollar were selling in
San Francisco, when he left, for five and six dollars each. Bradley
replied that he thought this was a very reasonable figure, for he had
heard thirty dollars offered for a spade that very day.
"Do you know, by-the-by," said Mr. Larkin, "who I saw here to-day, up
to his knees in water, washing away in a tin pan? Why, a lawyer who was
the Attorney-General to the King of the Sandwich Islands, not eighteen
months ago."--"I guess," said Bradley, "he finds gold-washing more
profitable than Sandwich Island law; but he's not the only one of his
brethren that is of much the same spirit; there's lots of lawyers in
these diggings. Well! they are better employed now than ever they were
in their lives. They're money-getting rascals all the world over; but
here they do have to _work_ for it, that's one comfort." Before turning
in, we took a stroll through the camp with Mr. Larkin. It was a bright
moonlight night, and some of the more eager diggers were still at work.
These were the new-comers, probably, who were too much excited to sleep
without trying their hands at washing the golden gravel. Mr. Larkin
left us the following day.
_June 23rd, Friday_.--The last entry in my diary seems to have been
written last Sunday. Next day we began to find the provisions running
short. A consultation was accordingly held upon the subject. It was
quite out of the question to buy provisions in the diggings. Work as
one might, the day's living of any man with a respectable appetite--and
one seems always to feel hungry here--would pretty well absorb the
day's labour. We therefore determined to dispatch Bradley and José back
to Sutter's Fort for a supply, it being stipulated that Bradley should
share in the gold we might find during their absence. This arrangement
being duly concluded, they started off the following morning on
horseback, driving before them the two beasts we purchased at Sutter's.
We instructed Bradley, if possible, to buy a light wagon, in which to
store the provisions he was to bring back. The two extra horses would
be able to draw it, and such a vehicle would be useful in many
respects. He took with him two hundred and fifty dollars' worth of
gold, so as to be in sufficient funds, in case the sum demanded should
be an over-exorbitant one.
They departed on Tuesday, and we continued our labours. Towards the
afternoon of that day, I had a piece of great good luck. I was digging
up the earth to throw into the cradle, when I turned up a lump of ore
about the size of a small walnut, which I knew at once was a piece of
gold. It weighed two ounces and three-quarters. This, by the law of the
diggings--for it is curious how soon a set of rude regulations sprung
into existence, which everybody seemed to abide by--belonged to myself
and not to the party, it being found before the earth was thrown into
the cradle, and being over half an ounce in weight. Higher up the
Sacramento, and particularly on Bear River, one of its tributaries,
these lumps and flakes were said to be frequently met with; but at the
Mormon digging they are very rare.
On Thursday, about sundown, we were delighted to see the approach of
Bradley with a well-loaded wagon of light but strong construction. He
had just arrived in time, for our larder was almost exhausted. We were
prepared, however, to have stood out another day or two on short
rations, rather than pay the prices asked at the shanties. Bradley gave
us a short account of the expedition. They reached Sutter's in safety,
and found the Fort as busy as though it was tenanted by a swarm of
bees. A sort of hotel had at last been opened, and the landlord was
driving a roaring trade. The emigrants were pouring in, purchasing
shovels, trowels, pans, and whatever else they wanted, at high prices.
Profitable as was the washing business, Bradley said he suspected the
storekeepers at the Fort were clearing more by their branch of the
enterprise than if they had their hands in the pan themselves. He found
Captain Sutter well and hearty, and, the morning after his arrival,
consulted him about a wagon. The Captain, however, had none he felt
inclined to sell, nor was there such a thing to be got in the fort.
After some consideration, however, Captain Sutter said that Mr.
Sinclair, whose rancho was about three miles off, on the opposite bank
of the river, might be able to accommodate him. Accordingly, Bradley
made the best of his way there, but found Mr. Sinclair indisposed to
trade. At length, after a good deal of persuasion, Bradley succeeded in
hiring a wagon and a wagoner of him for a week. The vehicle was got
across the river that night. In the morning he started it off well
laden with provisions, and arrived here without any accident the same
evening. We were now well victualled for a month, but were puzzled how
to stow away our large stock of provisions, and only accomplished it
satisfactorily by giving up the tent for this purpose. This compelled
us all to sleep in the open air; but as yet the nights are very mild
and pleasant.
Among the fresh arrivals at the diggings the native Californians have
begun to appear in tolerable numbers. Many of these people have brought
their wives, who are attended usually by Indian girls. The graceful
Spanish costume of the new-comers adds quite a feature to the busy
scene around. There, working amidst the sallow Yankees, with their wide
white trousers and straw hats, and the half-naked Indian, may be seen
the native-born Californian, with his dusky visage and lustrous black
eye, clad in the universal short tight jacket with its lace adornments,
and velvet breeches, with a silk sash fastened round his waist,
splashing away with his gay deerskin botas in the mudded water. The
appearance of the women is graceful and coquettish. Their petticoats,
short enough, to display in most instances a well-turned ankle, are
richly laced and embroidered, and striped and flounced with gaudy
colours, of which scarlet seems to have the preference. Their tresses
hang in luxuriant plaits down their backs: and in all the little
accessories of dress, such as ear-rings, necklaces, etc., the costume
is very rich. Its distinguishing, feature, however, is the reboso, a
sort of scarf, generally made of cotton, which answers to the mantilla
of Old Spain. It is worn in many different and very graceful
fashions--sometimes twined round the waist and shoulders; at others,
hanging in pretty festoons about the figure, but always disposed with
that indescribable degree of coquettish grace which Spanish women have
been for ages, allowed to possess in the management of the fan and the
mantilla. Since these arrivals almost every evening a fandango is got
up on the green, before some of the tents. The term fandango, though
originally signifying a peculiar kind of dance, seems to be used here
for an evening's dancing entertainment, in which many different _pas_
are introduced. I was present at a fandango a few nights ago where a
couple of performers were dancing "el jarabe," which seemed to consist
chiefly of a series of monotonous toe and heel movements on the ground.
The motions of the foot were, however, wonderfully rapid, and always in
exact time to the music. But at these entertainments the waltz seems to
be the standing dish. It is danced with numerous very intricate
figures, to which, however, all the Californians appear quite _au
fait_. Men and women alike waltz beautifully, with an easy, graceful,
swinging motion.
It is quite a treat, after a hard day's work, to go at nightfall to one
of these fandangos. The merry notes of the guitar and the violin
announce them to all comers; and a motley enough looking crowd, every
member of which is puffing away at a cigar, forms are applauding circle
round the dancers, who smoke like the rest. One cannot help being
struck by the picturesque costumes and graceful motions of the
performers, who appear to dance not only with their legs, but with all
their hearts and souls. Lacosse is a particular admirer of these
fandangos, and he very frequently takes a part in them himself. During
the interval between the dances, coffee is consumed by the senoras, and
coffee with something, stronger by the senors; so that, as the, night
advances, the merriment gets, if not "fast and furious," at least
animated and imposing.
_25th June, Sunday_.--We have all of us, given over working on Sundays,
as we found the toil on six successive days quite hard enough. Last
week we had rather indifferent success, having realized only nineteen
ounces of gold, barely three ounces a man. The dust is weighed out and
distributed every evening, and each man carries his portion about his
person. José, who has amassed a tolerable quantity by working in his
spare time, is constantly feeling to see whether his stock is safe. He
weighs it two or three times a-day, to ascertain, I suppose, whether it
exhausts itself by insensible perspiration, or other means, and
invokes, by turns, every saint in the calendar--his patron-saint,
Joseph, in particular--and all his old heathenish spirits, to keep his
treasure safe. In accordance with a vow he made before he started from
Monterey, he has set apart one-fourth of his treasure for the Big
Woman, as he calls the Virgin Mary--in contradistinction to the Great
Spirit, I imagine; but I fancy her stock of gold decreases every day,
and that José doesn't play her fair.
We had a great deal of serious conversation this afternoon upon the
propriety of moving farther up the river, and trying some of the higher
washings; for our last week's labour was a terribly poor yield. We
remembered Captain Sutter's account of how Mr. Marshall had first
discovered the gold in the vicinity of his mill, and how plentiful it
seemed to lie there. Besides, the diggings are getting overcrowded; the
consequence of which is, that we have had several of our pans and
baskets stolen. We therefore decided that, if we could sell our cradles
to advantage--and there is some likelihood of this, for there is not a
carpenter left all through these diggings to make others for the
constant new-comers--to move higher up the Fork, and try our fortune at
a less crowded spot. There is one thing that I think I shall regret
leaving myself, and that is, the fandango and the two or three pretty
senoritas one has been in the habit of meeting at it almost every
night.