On arriving in California, the gold hunters, if we may be pardoned the
expression, first touch the shore at San Francisco.--There they look
for information how and what are the means to get the precious pelf in
large quantities, that they may not stay in the country too long; if
they happen to have a letter to some one in the place, or if they meet
an old friend, they put a thousand questions to him faster than he is
able to answer them, evidently hurried by anxiety to lose no time and
opportunity. Then they will tell him about their plans, how they are
going to proceed in the business, what excellent machinery they bring
from New York or some other place, to work with, and so forth. The
Americans, and particularly those that call themselves, or are called,
Yankees _par excellence_, have the reputation of putting many questions
to people they happen to fall in with; but on this occasion, they are
more, even than Yankees, in pouring upon the stranger they meet, their
interrogatories. Now, we propose here to benefit both parties, the
_annoying_ and _annoyed_--we use the expression not to disguise the
truth in obscure words as it is really the plain fact--and anticipate
all such questions by suitable information, upon which they can put
at least some reliance, as we are neither a merchant, a trader, or
speculator in land or mines.
Neither San Francisco, the city of Sacramento nor Stockton are the
places where reliable information is to be expected by one who proposes
to go to the mines, as these places may be compared to the famous
Dyonius’ ear, where the gentlest whisper is re-echoed a thousand times.
Interest and ignorance frequently conspire in circulating extraordinary
stories of success, on very slender foundation, for some never have
been in the mines at all, and have not the slightest idea of them,
crediting everything they hear; others have _their_ posts established
on some particular spot, where, of course, the mines _must be very
rich_. The trading portion of the inhabitants of these places see gold
brought in in large quantities, but they never trouble themselves with
how much labor it is got out, who has failed and who has succeeded; in
fine, they hear only of constant success. The fact is, that while there
are many who succeed, there are others who scarcely pay their expenses.
This should not be withheld from the knowledge of a new comer, since
in case of failure in his mining expectations, he will be somewhat
prepared for such an event, and will be able to make the best of it.
The new comer, on preparing himself to start for the mines, first
should know what he wants for his expedition. Many start lumbered
with baggage, imagining that they cannot and must not forego the
indispensable comforts of life. All baggage is a burden and heavy
expense to the miner; the cost and sometimes the difficulty of
transportation forbid any such commodities; and besides, it will
always impede his free movement, if he should want to go from place to
place. He should have absolutely nothing more than what he can carry
on a beast, if he be able to have one; or if not, what he can shoulder
himself. The less one brings to the mines, the better prospects of
success he may have, and the more he is loaded with goods, the more
probably he will lose. This is the secret why all hard working men
who are inured to hard labor and strangers to enervating comforts,
such as sailors and mechanics, generally do very well. The miner
needs good, stout and warm clothing, just enough in quantity for a
change for the sake of cleanliness--a pair of stout boots or shoes,
or both, two good blankets to sleep comfortable, warm and dry; his
mining tools consisting of a pick-axe, spade, spade, crowbar, a tin
pan to wash gold in, a good sheath knife, iron spoon and a trowel. The
pick-axe and crowbar should be of a convenient size for handling, and
well steeled on the ends. A washing machine is used when there are
two or more working in partnership. All the machines that have been
brought here from the States are absolutely useless; they have proved
profitable only to the venders there. The simple machine which here
is in common use consists of three light boards three feet long and
about ten inches high, put together in the shape of a cradle with two
rockers underneath; the bottom board is made a little narrower; the
sides on the upper edge from the middle backwards, are bevelled off two
or three inches, and the same is done forwards so that the board, when
looked upon from the side, presents an irregular hexagon; at the head
part of the machine, on the upper edges of the boards, rests a box
of boards, called a sieve or riddle, from three to five inches high,
with a tin or sheet-iron perforated bottom; it is fixed, sometimes,
in a manner to be taken out when necessary, sometimes on hinges to be
thrown backwards when it is necessary to throw away the washed stones.
The head part of the machine is well boarded; at the opposite extremity
a board is likewise placed, the upper half of which is cut out in the
shape of a cresent, leaving about three or four inches at the bottom of
it; this opening serves for a passage of dirt, stones and water that
are thrown in at the head into the sieve. It has also one or two bars
or cleets across the bottom board at the distance of a foot each, and
about three inches high. The perforations of the sieve or riddle are
sometimes triangular, whose base and sides are about an inch, sometimes
they are circular, of the diameter of about three-quarters of an inch.
Under the riddle, in the interior of the machine, a board inclined
diagonally and backwards is fixed, leaving however a sufficient space
at the lower edge of it for the passage of the stones, dirt and water;
it is called by the miners an apron or screen; the object of it is to
throw back the water that it may cover the whole bottom equally and run
an even current. In the bottom board, about the centre of it, there is
a hole an inch in diameter, made back and close to the first and second
cleet, if there be but two of them, which is well stopped and opened
only when it becomes necessary to take out the residue, dirt and gold,
to separate the latter from the former by washing it in a tin pan,
which should be of the size of milk pans used in the States. The tin
pans are to be got at San Francisco at from three to four dollars, or
in the mines at the trading posts for the double amount. The machines
can be got at these posts by paying from two to four ounces; but it is
so easily made that any one himself can make it and save the money.
If put together by means of screws rather than nails, it could be
taken apart and conveniently carried about when necessary. The machine
requires also a piece of strong wood of from two to three feet long,
to be firmly fixed to both sides across the box to be used as a handle
for rocking. To work these machines, in some places, as on the banks
of rivers, two persons only are required; while in dry diggings where
water and gold dirt are not so conveniently situated, it requires
three or four persons to do the same work; one to work the machine,
another to dip and throw water on it, a third to carry dirt, and the
fourth to dig it; or two to dig and carry, and two to wash dirt.
However, according to circumstances these partnerships are formed, it
can only be said that there is no occasion for more than four persons
in a company, and frequently three or two do better than four. For
protection and occasional service that one may require from another,
it is always better to be in partnership with a suitable person or
persons: in messing, for instance, it is better to have several in a
mess for the sake of occupying the same tent, and having less cooking
to do, as in such cases this is done by turns. The small machines have
thus far been the best machines in use, and under the circumstances of
pressing necessities of miners, in which they had their origin, nothing
better or more convenient could have been got up; but they cannot be
said to be the result of a scientific investigation and extensive
experience. Recently, a very great improvement has been introduced
into the method of washing placer gold. This improvement is the “Burke
Rocker,” as improved by Jackson, and which is now generally used in
Virginia for washing gold in similar deposites to those of California;
it is there no longer an experiment as it has been used in those mines
for thirty years past, after an examination of all the processes for
washing gold both in Europe and America. This rocker has been found to
be perfectly applicable to the soil here, as two of them have been in
a successful operation on Mormon Island for some time past under the
immediate superintendence of Mr. Jackson himself. It is destined to
effect great changes in the process of washing gold in this country,
and particularly when the miner that now works independently and alone
will find his labor very hard and not paying him sufficiently, since
this machine being worked with mercury, saves the most minute particles
of gold that escape the eye, and thus gives in aggregate a greater
result than can be sometimes obtained by washing large pieces alone. It
requires five persons only to work one of these rockers; their great
excellence can be summed up in a very few words: by the use of one
about four times the quantity of earth may be washed by each man daily,
and probably from two-fifths to three-fifths more gold is obtained from
any given quantity washed. They will be doubtless ere long used with
great success in going over the field already washed by the present
imperfect method; as the bars and banks of rivers and the earth in
“dry diggings,” for certain it is that the amount of fine gold dust
inevitably lost by the smaller machines is greater than all that is
saved ordinarily.
This machine is a simple trough about nine feet long with a bottom
made of cast iron plates perforated throughout, the size of the holes
increasing gradually as they descend towards the lower end; beneath
these plates there are draws in which mercury is put; the dirt, as
the machine keeps rocking slowly, is carried along the plates by the
water thrown from above by a pump and washed down, gold together with
finer particles of dirt descend into the draws to be amalgamated with
mercury. The produce of such a washing is then put into a retort to
separate the gold from the mercury. In the process of separation of the
former from the latter, about two per cent. only of mercury is lost.
These two kinds of machines are the only ones which we can recommend
from our own observation; they are well adapted for these mines at
least, and they can be easily procured here. Numerous inventions for
this purpose were brought from the States, and none of them answered
the sanguine expectations of their owners; they are not worth here even
the cost of the materials they are made of.
The provisions used by the miners consist of mess pork, bacon, hams,
jerked beef, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, beans, rice and
dried apples, fresh beef and mutton whenever they can get it, which is
sometimes the case, and deer meat when they can kill it. As much as
one can, for the sake of his health, he should abstain from using much
salted provisions in the mines, and to counteract their bad effect on
the system, it is advisable to use vegetable acids, like lemon juice,
which in the mines is sold bottled up; citric acid, which is more easy
to carry, or even tartaric acid, dried apples, and other dried fruit
serve the same purpose. In using these acids it is better to use them
with water alone without sugar; just making it acid enough to suit
the individual taste. Dried apples made into apple sauce with sugar
are agreeable to take, and are calculated to keep the bowels open, an
important consideration for the miner. If one should be attacked with
diarrhœa or dysentery of course he should abstain from them. One of the
articles equally important as others we have not yet mentioned; we mean
saleratus. In making camp bread it is necessary to use it to make the
bread lighter. The prices at which provisions can be bought at present
in San Francisco are the following:
Mess Pork, per bbl. $28.00
Bacon, per lb. 28
Hams, do. 35
Sausages, do. 40
Flour, per bbl. 12.00
Sugar, per lb. 15
Tea, do. 1.00
Coffee, do. 12 1-2
Chocolate, do. 40
Beans, per bu. 1.50
Rice, per lb. 10
Dried Apples, do. 25
Jerked Beef, do. 25
Lemon Juice, per bottle, 1,00
Salæratus, per lb. 1,00
Vinegar, per gal. 1,00
As the miner proceeds on his route and farther from San Francisco,
he will find, as a general rule, that traders expect to make each a
hundred per cent. profit upon the original price they paid. In this way
it happens that in the remotest points of the mines he will have to pay
three or even four hundred per cent. upon San Francisco prices. One
of the chief reasons for this is the high charges for transportation
of goods. However, competition has already effected some changes in
these matters, and ere long may effect more. Notwithstanding these
high prices, it may be sometimes more convenient for the miner to buy
his provisions at the nearest point where he intends to work, or is
working, than to carry them along with him all the way; here we cannot
give him any advice as to what would be the best course; he must
determine himself according to the circumstances he may be in, and the
means he may command.
The last, although not of the least important articles for a miner,
are arms. One need not be armed cap-a-pie in the mines, but a good
rifle may be frequently useful to keep the evil minded at a respectable
distance; or when in the woods, or far away in the mountains, an Indian
may be in his way, or the grisly bear, and then a fire-arm may be
sometimes necessary. Colt’s pistols are very convenient weapons. It
is hardly necessary to say that he needs a few cooking utensils, with
which he should be provided. A small hatchet may be equally necessary.
In conclusion, we would say to the miner in one word, take no more with
you than you absolutely need, that you may move lightly; as it may be
sometimes necessary for you to go on foot. Thus equipped in all the
necessaries, the miner will start on board of a lanch, where he has to
pay from 14 to 16 dollars passage money, and if he have much baggage,
from 2 to 3 dollars per hundred weight freight, bound to the city of
Sacramento, or to Stockton, according to his fancy. He is to provide
himself with provisions for the trip, which may last from three to
seven or eight days. Taking the Mokelamy river as dividing the gold
region into the northern and southern portion, the miner is to start
accordingly--for the Sacramento city when he wishes to go northward,
or for Stockton on the San Joaquin, if he go southward. It may be
expected from us that we should give particular advice to the miner
where it is best for him to go to dig. Now, it is impossible so to do
conscienciously; the whole extent of the mining district is crowded
with people, consequently for the very crowd, those spots that were
good for a few, now are not so when there are many, as the subdivisions
of the produce must be greater, and less must fall to the share of
each. We may say in general terms, that farther south from the Touolomy
to the San Joaquin, the diggers were not so numerous as elsewhere,
consequently there is yet a better chance there than on other points.
West of the Sacramento, some two hundred miles from the city of
Sacramento, about the Trinity river, there are yet virgin ravines and
streams, as very few have ventured so far.
On the Feather river and the Yuba, there were very good diggings;
crowds of people, whites and Indians, have worked there for these two
seasons; however, by going farther up these rivers some untouched
spots may be found. We will remark here once for all, that the higher
you go up the rivers the greater difficulties you will meet in getting
over the ground, as they are more inaccessible; at the same time mules
and horses are needed to carry you and your provisions, and you may
also lack grass for your animals. But to know how far one may go up
the rivers of the gold region, he must exercise his judgment, and he
may depend on this fact, that there is no gold at the heads of these
rivers, as we have examined them, and they all spring in the Sierra
Nevada; as soon as you see the oak and red soil disappear from the
hills surrounding them, you need not go beyond this line farther than
from five to ten miles to convince yourself there is no gold there.
The Bear Creek was not very rich in the precious metal, and now may
be less so as it has been worked. On these rivers people generally
were making an ounce per day, some much more; but how long it may
continue so we are not able to say. These rivers being accessible for a
considerable distance to waggons, diggers crowded there, as provisions
were cheaper there than anywhere else. These rivers have their forks,
or in other words, tributaries of more or less importance. Below the
mouth of these forks it is well to look for deposits of gold in the
main streams. The Bear Creek has a tributary called the North Fork, in
extent probably from forty to fifty miles. The Yuba has two forks on
the north bank of some importance. The distance from the Bear Creek
to the Yuba in some places hardly can be more than ten miles. The
general course of the Bear Creek is West by North nearly; it meets the
Feather river about ten miles below the Yuba, which likewise mingles
its waters with the latter. The Feather river, which heads far at the
North, taking almost a parallel course with the Sacramento, runs on in
a South-Westerly direction, and having thus accumulated its waters is
lost in the last mentioned majestic stream some distance below.
From the city of Sacramento, the miner has two routes before him,
from which to select--he may start for the upper tributaries of the
Sacramento, viz: for the town of Vernon, at the mouth of the Feather
river, then up to the mouth of the Bear Creek, and farther up to the
mouth of the Yuba, or to any of these points, direct from the city of
Sacramento. Another route is for the American river, which has three
tributaries, known as the North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork.
Waggons go up to the North Fork for seventy miles. The Middle Fork is
inaccessible to waggons--it empties itself into the North Fork about
ten or twelve miles above the South Fork, and the latter joins the
former at the distance of about thirty miles from Sacramento City. At
this junction there is on the South Fork an island called Notoma, or
more commonly Mormon island, from the fact that a company of Mormons
were the first to dig here. The diggings have proved very good; one
could average an ounce per day. There is a company of miners who dammed
or rather turned the current of the river for a short space, and now
are reaping abundant fruits of their labor; they are getting out from
$1500 to $2,000 per week, working with mercury in the Virginia rocker.
It is a trading post, where many traders are established; a stage from
Sacramento City stops here on its way to Sutter’s Mill. Going to the
Middle Fork one must pass the South Fork at the point where is now
quite a settlement, known as Sutter’s Mill or Columa, a corruption,
probably, of _Columba_. The distance from Sacramento City to this
town is 45 miles of tolerably good waggon road. There is no lack of
traders; there is a Saw-Mill and a Post-Office. From this point the
miner has to start with pack-animals if he wish to go up any of the
rivers. The points known on the Middle Fork where a good many miners
have been engaged are the Spanish Bar, higher up Ford’s or Middle Bar,
farther up the Big Bar, and still farther up Rector’s Bar; the first
15 miles distant from Columa, and the last about thirty miles. The
hills bordering on all the streams in the gold region are difficult
of descent generally speaking, and they are so at these points also.
In our opinion, the South Fork, is or was one of the richest portions
of the gold region, its dry diggings proved very profitable to almost
all the miners that have been engaged in them. Every river has its
dry diggings, as it means washing in the ravines neighboring upon
rivers, and which have small streams that are sufficient to afford
water for washing gold. The dry diggings on the right bank of the
South Fork, known as Kelsey’s Diggings, and on the left as the Old Dry
Diggings were very rich. Last winter a good many Oregon people built
log houses in both of those diggings, and passed the winter digging,
when the weather permitted; the fruits of their labor were abundant,
and most of them have left their places with bags full of the precious
pelf.--Although they have done their work pretty thoroughly, yet there
may be some places found that may pay. The South Fork has a tributary
known as Weber’s Creek, on which a good deal of gold has been dug out;
it has a small settlement of log houses in the neighborhood of the
settlement just spoken of, on the left bank of the Fork. The distance
from these trading posts to Sutter’s Mill is about twelve miles. There
is a direct waggon road from Sacramento City to these diggings.
To go from Sacramento City to the Mokelamy, the miner has to pass the
Consumnes at Dailor’s farm, about eighteen miles from the above place,
and then farther south, the Dry Creek, from which the first trading
post at the Mokelamy diggings may be about 30 miles distant. The
Mokelamy diggings are distant from Sacramento City about from 50 to
60 miles--a waggon road leads to them. The Consumnes has not been dug
much, but the Dry Creek had a very good reputation among the miners.
The banks and dry diggings of the Mokelamy have been rich in gold, and
may be so still; some diggers passed last winter there, and were not
sorry for so doing. This summer there have been many digging, but their
labors have been disturbed by hostile Indians. We think there may be
yet rich diggings there.
Supposing our miner to have arrived at Stockton and he proposes to go
to the Mokelamy, he would have to cross the Calaveras at the distance
of about 15 miles, and strike the Mokelamy diggings 70 miles distant
from the above mentioned town. If he should like to go South, he would
find diggings on the Stanislaus, about 40 miles distant from Stockton;
then he might pass on to those of the Touolomy, 20 miles distant from
the latter, and farther on he would meet at the distance of 30 miles
with those of the stream _La Merced_, then at the distance of about 20
miles he would come to the stream _Mariposa_. In a direct line from
Stockton to the Mariposa it may be from 80 to 90 miles. Throughout the
gold region waggon tracks and trails are well worn out at present; at
convenient distances on the roads, there are trading posts established
where can be had water and pasture for animals, and where one can
stop. At Sacramento City or Stockton teamsters are to be found who know
all those routes, and take up miners’ baggage to any place they like,
if it be accessible to waggons. It would be impossible to describe
the routes particularly, considering that they go mostly through an
uninhabited country; the only sure way to learn the direction of the
place one intends going to, is to enquire at the place he starts from.
We can do here no more than give general directions on the subject.
In the Southern portion of the mining district, Indians are somewhat
numerous, and it is well to be on one’s guard, as they, if they do
no other harm, are apt to steal your horses. There is a difficulty
in keeping horses throughout the mining district, on account of the
trouble of taking care of them, or of the danger of losing them, and
which difficulty increases as the season advances, for then grass grows
scanty. In the neighborhood of nearly all the diggings there are men
who make it their business to take charge of miners’ animals, at the
rate of from twenty to thirty dollars per month. Whatever may be the
trouble of keeping a horse in the mines, yet it is a great convenience,
as one is enabled to move about freely whenever he wants. The prices of
horses and mules in the city of Sacramento and Stockton and throughout
the mines, are fluctuating; they are according to season, demand
and supply of the animals. In the commencement of the spring, when
miners were starting for the hills, horses were selling at from two
to three hundred dollars apiece; towards the fall, good horses could
be got for one hundred and fifty, and mules from fifty to one hundred
and fifty dollars; however, next season we believe the animals will
be cheaper than the last, as there has been a large number of them
introduced by the immigrants from the States and from Mexico. The rate
of transportation by waggons varies, of course, according to distances;
but it ranges from twelve to twenty, and sometimes even thirty dollars
per hundred weight. The season and quantity of teamsters regulate these
matters somewhat. In hireing a man to drive a team, one must pay him
from two to three hundred dollars per month, as every one expects that
in whatever business he engages, his chances to make money should be
as good as those of the miner, and that is the principal reason why
wages of all kinds are so high in this country; but they are beginning
to come down a little. Sometimes it is necessary to pay a man for his
day’s work an ounce _per diem_.
Now, we will suppose an inexperienced miner is arrived at the place
of his selection in the mining district; we will suppose him also to
have started for the mines in company with one who has had already some
experience in the handling of the pick-axe, shovel and pan; for he must
have a week or so of apprenticeship in order to be _au fait_ with the
practical part of the business.
On arriving at any spot containing gold deposites, the first step to be
taken is to examine the general appearance of the country. The hills
should be covered with brick-red soil--this should be a prevailing
feature in them, although there may be now and then an exception
to some portions of them; slate rock should be found, of whatever
description, if not on the surface, at least on digging a few feet;
but a general rule, when there is any below the surface, some of it
will be seen above it in one direction or another. Likewise quartz
should be found scattered about on the ground; quartz is a milk-white
opaque stone, of considerable hardness; on these occasions it is
generally veined with red streaks of more or less intensity of color.
The presence of these three signs jointly is sufficient to authorize
one to look for gold by digging in some convenient spot, but any of
them singly is of no validity in this respect. And if by digging and
washing the dirt one finds as a residue black scaly sand--which is
magnetic iron, and which, if one were not able to distinguish by the
eye, could prove it by the magnet--he can safely expect to find some
gold there on some spot or other. The absence of this sand as a residue
after washing, is a positive proof that it is vain to look for gold in
that region. In digging for gold, besides studying the above mentioned
signs, it is necessary to observe and study the currents of water, be
it in ravines or dry diggings or along the banks of rivers. Water is
perpetually changing its current, consequently before striking a spot
with a pick-axe, it is well to consider whether the spot be an ancient
bed of the river or brook, or not; whether there be any obstacle in the
way of the current that would cause a deposite of gold to take place
either before or behind it, for it is only in such places that we can
expect to meet with success. Examine also the rock over which, at
some season, water passes, and then by breaking it up you may discover
a deposite of gold called, by miners, a pocket; such deposites are
frequently found on ledges of slate rock in rivers or small streams. On
opening a hole in search of gold, the top dirt is thrown away, and each
successive layer of earth is examined to ascertain in which portion
of it the gold is found, and thus the careful miner proceeds till he
comes to the _rocky_ bottom; he never should be satisfied with his
work till he does come to a rock, which he should nicely scrape, sweep
and collect, then wash the dirt and decide accordingly; if the rock be
slate rock, he should split it and break it up, and then wash it, as
it is in the cracks and pockets of this rock that gold is frequently
found in considerable pieces. A layer of clay, like a rock, equally
serves as a barrier to gold; it arrests it on its surface. This work,
particularly, should be done carefully when the miner is, as it is
called technically, _prospecting_, when he looks for places where he
would work, as in so doing he at once gets familiar with the character
of the earth in that region, and will know in what portion of it he
should look for gold. It is considered by the miners at present, that
if from a panfull of dirt they are able to get a quantity of gold
equal in value to fifty cents, they are satisfied with the result, and
consider that they can make a little more than an ounce per day with
a pan only. However, as the mines will be getting daily more and more
worked out, they will have to be content with much less. But as yet, if
they get only twelve and a half cents of gold from a pan of dirt, they
do not think it is worth the trouble of getting it.
As a general rule, it is a practice among the miners to leave each
digger a sufficient space for a hole, upon which nobody has a right
to encroach; from four to ten feet they allow among themselves to be
sufficient for each, according as they may be more or less numerous
and as digging may be more or less rich. A tool left in the hole in
which a miner is working, is a sign that it is not abandoned yet, and
that nobody has a right to intrude there, and this regulation, which
is adopted by silent consent of all, is generally complied with. It is
very seldom that any disputes about one’s rights occur; and if they
do, they are easily settled among themselves. In fact, as a general
rule, miners heretofore have been law-abiding people; some excesses
now and then may occur, but seldom of much importance, and if any of
them should commit murder or theft, justice is no where so prompt and
efficacious as among them. At different points of the mining district
there have been persons executed for murder and robbery, by the
stringent code of Judge Lynch, but under the superintendence of juries
and judges selected for the occasion. At present, by order of the
Governor of California, a sort of jurisdiction has been established at
different mining points by elections held for the purpose; but as the
mining population is constantly fluctuating, such arrangements cannot
be permanent, of course.
The time for mining in dry diggings commences about the end of March
and lasts till July, at which time water gets very scarce, and
consequently digging becomes unprofitable, or even impossible. Some dig
on the banks of rivers even in the spring when there is much water, but
it is not a very profitable operation. The time when the rivers begin
to fall by degrees is the month of June, and they continue falling
till the next spring, when the melting snow again replenishes them; In
August the snow from the mountains where they head, disappearing, they
do not receive any new supplies, while the scorching sun keeps wasting
them all the time, and in winter where it snows but does not rain they
continue rather low; thus in winter time they are at their lowest
ebb.--From the middle of September till the end of November is the best
season for mining on the banks of rivers, as it is then that the lowest
bars are uncovered, and even sometimes one may work in the very bed of
the river itself. This is the time at which in many places, the current
of a river may be turned aside with great facility. In so doing, miners
should not rush blindly into the work without examining attending
circumstances; dams have been made where there was not gold enough to
pay one man’s day’s work. It is first necessary to see whether the
hills in the neighborhood warrant the supposition that there must be
gold in the river in that particular spot; then it is important to
see where the current of the river would be most likely to make such
a deposite; this being investigated properly, there will be a better
chance for the company of miners to reap a plentiful harvest, should
they determine upon the work.
The months of July, August and part of September are sickly in the
mines, and particularly on the Feather river and the Yuba. The
sickness is owing to the extreme heat and carelessness on the part of
the miners; some of them work in the hottest hours of the day, and
sometimes not protecting sufficiently their head and body from the
scorching rays. Fevers, diarrhœa and dysentery are the complaints
commonly met with--occasionally scurvy shows itself; it is more apt to
happen in winter time. But, however, whenever it occurs, it is owing
entirely to the carelessness of the patient; a sufficient attention to
the use of vegetable acids, as we have already mentioned, would prevent
such occurrences.
To guard one’s self against diarrhœa or dysentery, in consequence of
cold, one should sleep under sufficient covering, and if not under a
tent, he should wrap his head into a silk handkerchief on going to bed;
in this way he will do much to prevent it, and particularly if he be of
regular habits. But should one be taken with it, a very simple remedy,
at the command of every miner, if resorted to without delay, may cut it
short at once; if it be slight, let him take a cupfull of lye, which he
can make from the ashes of his own fire by throwing a handfull of them
into a tea cup of warm water, let it settle and then take it; this is
to be repeated two or three times during the day; at the same time he
should be careful to be warmly clothed. If this remedy should not check
the disease the same day, then next morning he may take a tea cupfull
of rice and burn it as coffee is burnt, after which it must be boiled
with no more water than is necessary to make it very soft and of the
consistency of a pudding. This rice, thus prepared, is to be divided
into three doses and taken morning, noon and night. At the same time,
an hour after taking the rice, a good tea-cup full of oak bark tea,
without any sugar, is to be taken twice a day. We can assure our reader
that this simple treatment in our hands never failed in either of the
above complaints. And to avoid constipation after this complaint, which
is apt to follow, and which may equally become uncomfortable, a _small_
quantity of dry fruit, such as prunes or dried apples, taken along with
some farinaceous substance, may restore the bowels to their natural
condition.
With these precautions, and with ordinary prudence, one is not in
danger of being afflicted with any of those complaints very seriously
It is frequently necessary to work in water; for that purpose, high
legged water-proof boots are useful; or if one works bare-foot he
should avoid to feel much cold in them, and on concluding his work,
he should dry them and put on shoes or boots. Some miners spend the
winter in the mines, and there is no doubt they are in the end better
paid for their labor than the rest who work in the usual season, for
they work more at their leisure, in a spot they have marked before for
a rich one, and their work is carried on with abundance of water, and
at a time when there are no people to crowd them. Oregon men have done
so last winter at the old dry diggings on the South Fork, and they have
not regretted it. But there are inconveniences that but few will bear
with. He who proposes to spend the winter in the mines should start in
the end of September, and while waggon roads keep good, provide himself
with a log house and sufficient provisions to last him till the middle
of April next, as he must expect to be unable to move from his spot all
that time, as roads are impassable for beast or man. That whole region
almost becomes a mire--the soil is so loose and saturated with water.
At this season he should particularly guard himself against scurvy;
he should daily make use of some acid in some shape or other, such as
dried fruit, lemon juice or citric acid; tea made of fir leaves is
very beneficial and far preferable, for health’s sake, to common tea.
He should use pork rather as a lard necessary in his cooking than as
a meat, and depend more on good dried beef, as commonly made in the
country, which may be rendered very palatable by soking it first and
then pounding before cooking it. Towards the middle of November winter
begins to set in, and while it snows in the mountains it rains in the
settlements; the rains are less frequent, and commence later as we go
farther South; they seem, however, to be sufficient for the necessities
of the country as a general rule.
Before we take leave of the miner, we will give him one more piece of
advice which is none the less important for being the last. On his
return from the mines, should he be so fortunate as to have a large
amount of gold to send over to the States by drafts, he should enquire
if the man who sells him the draft has the power of attorney from the
man he draws upon, which should be exhibited to him, thus satisfied, he
can with greater security trust his money.