CHAPTER XXIV.

YELLOW FEVER—A WOODEN HEAD—HARD TIMES—A GALE—WE SPRING A LEAK—ACAPULCO—SMUGGLING—CHOLERA—CONCLUSION.

Christmas, 1852.

â€œIâ€™llsoon be back, boys,â€� 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 hadmade 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 Companyâ€™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 shipâ€™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 winterâ€™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 palmtrees, 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. Theyplaced 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 daysthey 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 oâ€™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 passengersâ€™ 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 â€œscrewâ€� 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 andcoolly, and when the carpenter hallooed from the hold, â€œHurrah, lads, itâ€™s gaining on us;â€� 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 wifeâ€™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 â€œlooked outâ€� 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 â€œremainsâ€� werehermetically 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 rushingcurrent 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 yearsâ€™ growth.

The wharves of the city still grow, and the clipper ships appear to grow proportionately; each â€œFlying Dragon,â€� â€œFlying Fish,â€� or â€œFlying Cloud,â€� 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 â€œDramaticâ€� and Mr. Warrenâ€™s â€œlast appearance but oneâ€� 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.

Extractsfrom a work by Dr.J. B. Trask, (U. S.) on the Geology of California.

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 â€œsaline lands.â€� In the counties of San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Alameda, the wet land thatmay be made available by drainage is about seventy square miles, exclusive of the â€œsaline landsâ€� 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 protectedfrom 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.

* * * * *

These valleys form a â€œsingle geographical formation,â€� 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 willrender 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]

* * * * *

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 foundto 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 â€œcopperas,â€� 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.

Cinnabaris 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 â€œnickel green.â€� 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 isextensively 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 insituexists 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 theauriferous 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.

* * * * *

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 â€œsummit ridge,â€� 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.

* * * * *

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 â€œCharacter and positions of the older veins below the surface,â€� 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 expectedconsidering 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:—(Printerâ€™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 2l.to 4l.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 â€œcoyoteâ€� comes under the head of vermin.[11]â€œDrinksâ€� are not necessarily composed of intoxicating liquors: on the contrary, the principal ingredients are ice, syrup, and herbs. I mention this, becausewemean by a man who â€œdrinks,â€� 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 â€œboots,â€� which berth a â€œhandy young manâ€� can turn to better account in this country than even the head cook. That a cookâ€™s situation, with or without tea and sugar is lucrative, the following anecdote will attest:—In â€™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, â€œdat 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 workimmediently.â€�[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.—Bakerâ€™s â€œRifle and Hound in Ceylon,â€� page 85.[22]If the reader will refer to the â€œTimesâ€� of the 29th of September, 1854, he will perceive that a liberal collection was made at St. Jamesâ€™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. Jamesâ€™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 tocrime![23]Rich deposits were discovered, but I am not aware of the value of the quartz generally at Carsonâ€™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 â€œsome pumpkins.â€�[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 â€œSunâ€� 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 aknow 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 â€œTimesâ€� of December 8, 1854, of the loss of the troop ship â€œCharlotteâ€� and 117 lives in Algoa Bay, September 20th:—â€œ*** On the life-boat coming alongside it was found that every one on board was completelyparalysed, 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 numberthrew themselves overboard. Some were fortunate enough to reach the shore, but the majority were drowned.â€�This ship was apparently in a position favourable for the preservation of life, hadconfidenceexisted.[32]These remarks were written previous to the loss of the â€œArctic.â€�[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.

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:—(Printerâ€™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 2l.to 4l.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 â€œcoyoteâ€� comes under the head of vermin.

[11]â€œDrinksâ€� are not necessarily composed of intoxicating liquors: on the contrary, the principal ingredients are ice, syrup, and herbs. I mention this, becausewemean by a man who â€œdrinks,â€� 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 â€œboots,â€� which berth a â€œhandy young manâ€� can turn to better account in this country than even the head cook. That a cookâ€™s situation, with or without tea and sugar is lucrative, the following anecdote will attest:—In â€™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, â€œdat 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 workimmediently.â€�

[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.—Bakerâ€™s â€œRifle and Hound in Ceylon,â€� page 85.

[22]If the reader will refer to the â€œTimesâ€� of the 29th of September, 1854, he will perceive that a liberal collection was made at St. Jamesâ€™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. Jamesâ€™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 tocrime!

[23]Rich deposits were discovered, but I am not aware of the value of the quartz generally at Carsonâ€™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 â€œsome pumpkins.â€�

[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 â€œSunâ€� 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 aknow 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 â€œTimesâ€� of December 8, 1854, of the loss of the troop ship â€œCharlotteâ€� and 117 lives in Algoa Bay, September 20th:—â€œ*** On the life-boat coming alongside it was found that every one on board was completelyparalysed, 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 numberthrew themselves overboard. Some were fortunate enough to reach the shore, but the majority were drowned.â€�This ship was apparently in a position favourable for the preservation of life, hadconfidenceexisted.

â€œ*** On the life-boat coming alongside it was found that every one on board was completelyparalysed, 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 numberthrew themselves overboard. Some were fortunate enough to reach the shore, but the majority were drowned.â€�

This ship was apparently in a position favourable for the preservation of life, hadconfidenceexisted.

[32]These remarks were written previous to the loss of the â€œArctic.â€�

[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.

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}

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