, ^OFCAllFOff^ ^OF ^TilllNVyil^ "^^AWlMNnJUV^ '^J'/JAHVHfllTlV^ "^OAH^ 4 -"^-^ '^ ^OFCAUFORi^ ^OFCAIIFO/?^ ^\V\EUNIVER5y^ ^lOS, ^ g -n «— I Q U_ ^Aojnv3jo'^ ^/^UDKvsov^^ ^AaaA i>;lOSJ \El)NIVERJ//v ^i5l30NVSO\^ ^lOSANCElfj-^ o ^ 3 ■^/sa3AiNnjy\^ ^lUBRARYO^. ^^lUBRARY, ^^OJITVJJO'^ '^^OJIlVJJi AWEUNIVERy/A ^I^^UOKVSOl^ ^lOSANCEli-x^ o v/xaaAiNOiwv ^OFCAllFOft^ ^OFCAIIFO/ '>&A«v8aii-^'^ ^'^o\mw^^: ^m\moA ^lUBRARYO/. § 1 \r^ ^ ^*tfOJIlV>JO^ ^^OJITVDJO'i^ \V\EUNIVtWA aVIOSANCFU 9.089,731 „ in 1870 were ^ol.lSO, tilo The greater excess of arrivals over departures in the one year, joined to the larger business transactions that took place in the like respective times, leads me to think that San Francisco has rather lost than gained in popu- lation for the last three years. In ])r()portiou to her loss, however, has been the gain of the interior towns; many of which, owing to the increased facilities afforded by the opening up of raih-oads, have suddenly sprung up 22 SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORXIA. to be of some importance ; but on tliis subject I shall speak more fully when I come to the system of railroads that interlace California. TJie plan of San Francisco was laid out by an Irish engineer called Jasper O'Farrell and an American of the name of Hoadley. At that time nothing but the north side of the town was inhabited. It was the nearest to the Golden Gate. It was the quarter where the wharves were, at which all the ships discharged their cargoes. The ware- houses for the storage of goods, such as they were, all clustered together at that corner. These men, to whom was entrusted the arrangement of the streets of a future great city, had no ken to pierce beyond the actual present, and made their plans regardless either of traffic or popu- lation. Every street is too narrow, with the exception of those that the exigency of the case caused to be subse- quently enlarged; and the consequence has been, that some streets are almost abandoned, others are inconveniently crowded, Avhilst the principal thoroughfare had to be made nearly double its width by buying the property on one side, and tearing it down to make way for the pavement. Again, the arrangement of streets running parallel and at right angles to one another was insisted on. Tiiis is all very well upon a plane surface, but San Francisco rejoices in beautiful little hills, one of which, Telegraph Hill, is, as its name imports, the beacon of the city. It stands like a sentinel at one corner, and the first good dwelling-houses were built on its sheltered sides. But no advantage was to be taken of the natural undulations of the land, no beautiful terraces were to be laid out, with the streets winding around the hills in gradual approach to their sununits, no amphitheatre with its long sweep of dwelling-houses looking over the moving waters. Nothing of the sort ; the streets must all go in straight lines from north to south and from east to west ; the plan SAN FRAXCISCO. TELEGRAPH HILL. 2:3 of the city looked like a check-duster ; and that which might have been made as picturesque as Verona was rendered as uninteresting as Mannlicini. The northern and north-western part of San Francisco is bordered on each side by deep Avater. The steep bluff called Telegraph Hill, before-mentioned, is only adapted for dwelling-houses, and as such Avas used in the early days. This arbitrary adoption of straight streets drove the property owners into the plains that run southward, or left them the alternative to live perched on a rock, with a precipice in front of their houses made by the grading of the street. Nay, even that ])oor privilege Avas at length denied them. They Avere obliged by enact- ment to bring their lots to the established grade, as Avell as to pay j^^'o rata for Avliat Avas termed the im])roveinents of the streets by cutting away the hill. This cutting aAvay of Telegraph Hill — this * whittling,' if I may so term it, of the face of nature — has gone on till now the poor maimed elevation is reduced to a point, like a l)adly scraped slate-pencil, great quarries and scars all round ; streets that arrive frum tlie south and stop abruptly at a Avail of rock that neither man nor beast can scale ; the prosecution of the Avork of levelling stopped on account of the enormous expense, Avhich neither the corporation nor the property owners Avill incur. There it stands, a monument of the folly of attempting to do that at San Francisco Avhich is so successful and con- venient at Chicago, and a Avarning to those avIio attempt to improve natural scenery. From the base of Telegraph Hill, and of course having imaginary lines running straight over it, lead in parallel lines the tAVO principal streets of San Francisco, namely, Montgomery and Kearney Streets. The former, at this present time the principal business street, although being rapidly superseded by Cahfornia Street Avhich crosses it 24 Sl.\ .MONTHS l.\ CAI-IFOIIMA. about midway ; tlic latter beinf,^ the thorouf^hfarc where the best shops are situated. For years Montgomery Street kept its supremacy over all. The banks, the hotels, the shops, the theatres, the restaurants, the clu]).s, all lined its sides. Its thoroughfares were crowded ; the rents were four times that of houses or buildings in any other street, until at length it fell from its greatness. An important move was decided upon. It Avas determined to widen Kearney Street its entire length, and thus relieve ^Montgomery Street of the discomfort of over-crowding. Some two or three millions of dollars had tO be expended, so an act of legislature was obtained, and a committee api)ointed to assess what those whose property was to be taken should receive, and how much those on the other side of the street whoderivec. the benefit should pay; for, be it understood, only one side of the street was pulled down to widen it. In a year's time, after the adjustment was made, the new side of Kearney Street Avas a line of the finest build- ings in the city, the whole laid with wooden blocks and a broad pavement of asphalt. The shops, or stores as they are called here, are as magnificent as in European capitals ; they are brilliantly lighted at night, and the whole thorouii'hfare is crowded in the evening. Mont- gomery Street was found too narrow, and the northern half of it, that is, from Telegraph Hill to California Street, gradually fell away from its pristine superiority. The shops began to be ' To Let ; ' or, if a new tenant came, it was for an inferior genre of business Avhich evidently paid less rent. The bankers and property owners struggled as long as they could against the tide of emigration southward ; but the majority have gone with the stream, more especially as the lately established joint-stock banks flourish in all the pomp and vanity of plate-glass in the new quartier. But Montgomery Street, on the other side of California SAX FKANCISCO, ITS STREETS AND BUIIJ)INGS. L'o Street, presents quite a different appearance. Here are the irreat hotels, as the Occidental, the Lick House, the Cojiniopolitan, the Russ House, and the Grand Hotel, all of them coverinji; acres of ground, and around them are clustered some of the best shops in San Francisco. Here are the silversmiths, some of the principal haber- dashers, tailors ; the traffic being drawn away by its prosperous neighbour, this part of the street is most agreeable to stroll in, especially as the entree to the com- mon hall of the hotels is open to all, and they are always full of people and newspapers from many parts of the world. Here too are the bars, which are quite an American institution, and in some of the hotels fitted up with great expense and luxury ; although, as in some steamboats, they sacrifice the machinery to the upholstery, so here occasion- ally you meet with some where the stuff they give you to drink is not so rich as the goblet that contains it. California Street, which I have already referred to, is the street of wealth. Here are the large banks and incor- porated bodies, the richest merchants and the gaudiest in- surance offices, for even here they use the meretricious at- traction of fiorid architecture. Here also is the Exchange, a very handsome building, and the Stock Exchange, which, true to its traditions, is a brawling assemblage in a large room up a court. Here also are the two principal clubs, the Union, composed chiefly of gentlemen in busi- ness ; the other, the Pacific, of lawyers and professional men. The one is liepublican in politics, the other Demo- cratic, with a lingering perfume of Secession about its walls. Higher up the street are the Roman Catholic and I'rotestant cathedrals; whilst standing aloof from the two, like a schism, is the Independent or Calvinist church, lieyond this the street is steep and sandy, although there are some <«;ood houses commaiidiu'; fine views. These three are the principal streets of what I will 26 SIX MONTHS IX rALTFORNIA. call old San Francisco. Formerly, Avhen you left them, you found yourself wandering among sandhills, coming upon scattered houses whose proplietic owners Avere waiting patiently until the city came to them. The city did come at last, the belt of sand that blocked the southern part of the town was removed, and jMarket Street was opened. This is the finest street, and destined to be the most important in San Francisco. It is ninety feet wide and five miles long, running in a straight line, on a dead level from the water's edge, to a spur of the coast range of mountains. A street railroad runs nearly its entire length. At the end nearest the city magnificent erections are in course of construction, or are already finished, and good houses line at intervals its entire length. The only objection to it are the blasts of wind that pour daily along its wide straio-ht avenue, bring-injT clouds of dust in their train. The history of the Market Street Railroad, as it was called, the first street railroad built in San Francisco, and its effects upon property may not be uninteresting as a phase of California fortunes. In 1851 a French mer- chant, whom I will call jNIonsieur P., who had, up to that time, not been very fortunate in his business, went to Paris to make arrang-ements with his creditors. He left San Francisco at the time of its greatest excitement, when building was going on as rapidly as labour and capital would allow — when the harbour was full of ships and the mines full of their sailors — when gold flowed in from the interior, and flooded out eastward — when interest was from six to ten per cent, per month, and the capitalists were literally coining money, for the scarcity of coin caused many of the banks to issue gold pieces of the nominal value of five and ten dollars. ]Monsieur P. saw the savings of his countrymen invested at home and re- ceiving a yearly interest only equal to that paid monthly STORY OF MONSIEUR P. 27 in California. He Avas a man of extraordinary activity, both mentally and bodily, and published everywhere in France that he was going back to the land of gold, and would invest any moneys entrusted to him, giving dividends at certain periods. The people, especially the middle and lower classes, ever eager to increase their incomes, sub- scribed to the new scheme; not at first to any great extent; but when, at the end of the year, dividends to the amount of twenty -five per cent, had been paid, the success of the scheme was assured. Those who had hitherto been re- luctant were now eager, the timid became bold, and the scoffers the most ardent subscribers. The office in Paris was besieged by crowds of small shopkeepers with their earnings, by the workpeople with their savings, but above all by the demi-monde as well as the monde not even demi, who went into the scheme with all the eager- ness of a Avoman and the persistence of a gambler. So it happened that, in the year of grace 1853, Monsieur P. found himself at the head of between seven and eight millions of dollars, owning some of the finest property in the city, bringing in enormous rents, and also having bought by the acre almost all the unimproved land lying south and southwest of the city. His foresight was re- markable; he knew that San Francisco must stretch out in that direction, his only error being as to the time it would take. I may as Avell remark, en passant, that he had j)reviously offered to buy the whole of Telegraph Hill, ])rovidcd the city government would allow him to change the streets and lay out that portion of the town according to his fancy. The city refused, and then he saw that the north was doomed, and he began \o look southward. liut, like many a great genius, he had gone too far. NotAvithstanding the accumulation of his capital, lor he had been receiving fifty per cent, and paying only twenty-five per annum, he had overtasked himself. The 28 SIX MONTHS JN CAMFORMA. (lark (lays of 1850-7 came. Other ca[)ital had flowed into tlie country, and many other building.s had gone up. T!ic ominous words to a landhjrd, ' To Let^ began to show themselves too often. Tenants refused any longer to pay the exorbitant rents with which they had been burdened. For the past three years all branches of commerce were overdone, and real estate went d(>wn like a shot. The hun- dreds and hundreds of thousands invested in outside lands brought in nothing but expense; the immense mining ditches, in which jNIonsieur P. was largely interested, were (I do not mean the l)un) a continual drain; litigation for disputed titles to, or obtaining United States patents for, Spanish grants of property, cost enormous sums, so the consequence was there was no dividend. In vain was the state of tlie matter laid before the depositors ; it was no use assuring them that the affairs would more than right themselves ; the fact of no dividend, joined to the mistrust of California prevailing all over Europe, created a panic, and they clamoured for their capital. Little by little the fine city property melted away, partly through mortgages, but chiefly by sales, the largest pur- chaser being the San Francisco agent of a great Parisian banker. All was sacrificed to satisfy the creditors, until at length nothing available was left. Then it was that Monsieur P. did the only thing that lay in his power. To use a Californian phrase, ' he shut down on his liabilities ; ' that is to say, he refused to pay any more, either principal or interest, until he chobo. Everything tangible here was made over to other names, and Monsieur P. sat down with his faith in the future unabated. Xaturally, the people on the other side were furious, the more so that, as long as Monsieur P. re- mained away fi-om France, they were utterly powerless. Commissions were sent out, powers of attorney the most stringent were forwarded, but all to no purpose. Mon- STORY OF MONSIEUR P. 29 sleur P., meanwhile, was not wanting money personally. He had been one of the earliest founders of the San Fran- cisco Gas Works, and they were yielding an enormous income, so that he could continue to live in his wonted luxury. As I said, Market Street was opened ; for nearly half its length it ran throu2;h immense tracts belonixino- to Monsieur P., but a Avaste of sand lay between them and the city. His fertile brain suggested tlio only way of making them immediately available, and that Avas by building a railroad. With his usual energy he set to work, interested other energetic men with himself, obtained an act of the legislature, and in a short time a line drawn by steam-power was running through his property. This ])ro[)crty increased a thousand-fold, and that which had been bought for two and a half to five dollars an acre, sold for two and three hundred dollars the lot of twenty feet by a hundred. INIonsicur P. organised the system of homesteads, whereby, by the payment of a monthly sum, a poor man can acquire a lot. It is true he pays dear for the convenience, but it is a convenience nevertheless. To-day many streets are running parallel with iMarket Street, all going through the estate, four of them having horse cars. A large town has sprung up and Monsieur P. is again a millionaire. I understand that through his agents he has bought up the greater part of his indebtedness, at a comparatively small percentage, and devotes a large portion of his income to a liquidation of the rest, so that he will soon be free from debt with an immense fortune. He is an exceedingly liberal gentleman, with the finest gallery of paintings in San Francisco. The whole of the town south of IMarket Street is one entire plain, in the centre of which rises a large sugar bakery, built by an Englishman of the name of Gordon. He had established a manufactory on a small scale, but 30 SIX MOXTIIS JX CALIFORNIA. not bcinjj satisfied with its workini:;, lie made an extended tour in Europe, visiting the various refineries. The managers of all are exceedingly jealous of strangers, so that Mr. G. had great diflSculty in obtaining admission, and when in, could not even make a scratch with his pencil. He retained everything in his head, however, till he got to his hotel, when all was written down. In this manner he constructed these large works, which turn out as good sugar as any in the world. The raAv material comes almost from just outside the doors of California, namely, the Sandwich Islands and Manilla. An immensely high chimney close by, belching slowly forth a dense yellow smoke that one is convinced is poisonous, belongs to the reducing and smelting works of Messrs. Hewston & Co. They treat the ores and do the assaying for all the great banks, as well as being engaged by the Mint itself. The California Mint is a mean little building in a dirty little street, but a large handsome edifice is rising up out- side the town. The theatres of San Francisco are very good, con- sidering the youth of the city and its distance from any other. There are only two that can have any pretensions to rank as ' Theatre Royal ' — the Califoi'nian and the Me- tropolitan. The first is the most fashionable, but the acoustic arrangements are defective, and the interior is the most extraordinary thing I ever saw. The boxes, that is, the private boxes, are like martlets' nests in the rock, and open on the walls in all directions without the least regard to regularity. Then there is a kind of im- mense basket or corbeille, that is fastened against the wall ; in fact there are two, one on each side of the house ; these are called family boxes and hold about twelve. They are generally filled with the elite of the society ; and when I saAv, as I once did, two mothers with their brood of daughters occupying them, and the male scions at SAN FKANCISCO, ITS THEATRES, 81 the back, I thought of the ' Old woman uho lived in a shoe.' Generally these are filled with a mixed assem- blage of proprieties, that gave me an idea of a special jury in their box. The pit and dress circle melt gra- dually into one another. There is a slight line of demarcation, like the one popularly supposed to be the exclusive property of the town of 13erwick-ujion-Tweed; but as the price of entry is the same to each, the choice remains with the payer. Generally a man choses one when with ladies, and the other when alone. Above that are strange pigeon holes Avhere humble gentility hears nothing, but exults in semi-Avorldlincss of privacy. In the middle is a sea of gallery. On each side of the pro- scenium are two immense mirrors, slightly inclining to the audience, and absorbing them all, as it were, in their reflec- tion. The company is excellent, as good a stock com- pany as any in London ; and, Avhen a stray star comes over the rail, they get up plays very creditably. The Metropolitan, although the oldest theatre in San Francisco, is the best constructed ; but it is at the wrong end of the town, and only let to wandering troupes. They had good French Opera BoufFe when I was there ; but the theatre w'as dirty, and looked as though it didn't pay the proprietors, which I believe is the case. The other theatres are minor, being of the nigo-er minstrel and melodeon order, where bad jokes, sono-s and dances, none of them over-refined nor chaste, are nightly retailed to crowds of men. The places are redo- lent of bad cigars, stale pipes, staler coats, and unwashed mankind. The Chinese theatre is unique. The dresses are of barbaric splendour, the music is still more barbarous, being discordant even to a sense of pain; the i)lot is incomprehensible, but the attention of the audience is intense. .'}2 SIX ^[OXTn.S IX CAMIY)RXIA. The number of rliurclics in San Francisco implies cither jircat devotion, or immense neces^sity for prayer. In an area of a ((uarter of a mile square I counted nine churches, all of different denominations or schisms. There was Trinity with its Low Church tenets ; St. James, strong in vestments and chaunted service ; the synagogue El Emanuel, the new tlcwish branch that would fain, for convenience and gain, change the Sabbath to Sunday. It is the most beautifully finished temple inside in this place. Near is the temple of the old Jews. Then Dr. Stone's new church, strong in its Calvinism, built of the English patent artificial stone, and a very pretty church it is, with strange xVmex'ican devices of roof architecture, self-supporting. There are two Swedenborgian taber- nacles, and one coloured church as it is called, the tint referring of course to the worshippers. The same pre- vails to a less extent all over the city. The Catholics, of course, are everywhere and very rich ; fat lands have descended to them from the Spaniards and Mexicans ; fat revenues flow to them now from the Irish. I think that one reason of the number of churches is this, the richness of the land. There are hardly any poor, nume- rically speaking, and consequently the ministers of every denomination flocked here. Their congregations sub- scribed, built them churches, endowed them with annual stipends, and the profession prospered exceedingly. Then was seen the evil of voluntary election by the congrega- tion, for partisanship arose, from partisanship sprang dis- cord and canvassing as at a political strife. Finally, the defeated party marched off with their champion, built him a new church, and the old story began again. Many j)eople are so rich and proud that they can afford the luxurv of having a church under their control like a pocket borough. As for the parson, unless he is very superior, he is quite secondary ; it is the vestry which SAX FRANCISCO, ITS MANUFACTORIES. 33 rules the religion and consciences of the congregation, because, like that disciple of old, it holds the bag, and the poor incumbent is dependent on its contents. Talfe the Swedenborgians for example. There are very few of that sect here, nevertheless there are two chapels, and that only because three or four magnates could not agree upon some mysterious, inscrutable point of doctrine with the minister (who, by the way, formerly kept a beer-shop), so a pretty little wooden structure was run up close by the other, Avhcre doubtless Swedenborg is properly inter- preted. When the coloured people bought the land for their church, a very rich Secessionist, whose house was immediately opposite, offered them a large premium on their purchase if they would cede the land to him. With an independence amounting to impertinence they refused, whereupon he sold his fine property for less than its value and migrated. I can almost understand it, for the nigorers make a most infernal row at their devotions. A section of the eastern front of the city is almost entirely devoted to iron foundries. It is curious to walk among them and note the various implements and ma- chinery used in gold mining. Here the visitors see ponderous machines for crushing quartz ; there again the more delicate amalgamator for thoroughly mixing the pulp or ground quartz with quicksilver. Of this latter the machines are most numerous, and every foundry has the exclusive manufacture of one or more patents for that purpose. So far as I can learn, not one had arrived at the solution of the great problem. How to extract all the gold? First of all, the quartz should be reduced to an impalpable powder, and then thoroughly mixed with the quicksilver. Eveiy one will tell you that he has arrived at that desideratum, but his neighbour will pro- bably tell you the truth about him. There are other factories in San Francisco, but the D U SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORNIA. liigli price of labour forbids the majority of them being carried on successfully. A cotton mill was attempted at Oakland -wliicli made a good article of common cloth, but is now closed, as it did not pay. There is, however, an extensive woollen factory which makes the finest and softest blankets I ever saw. These mills were founded by a Scotchman named McLennan, in 1859, on a small scale, and have grown with the city and ^vith the popu- larity of the goods they ])roduce, until now three hundred horse-power engines, Avorking night and day, are not sufficient to execute all their orders. From four to five hundred hands are employed, more than one-half of whom are white men, women, and boys, the rest China- men. Without these latter the mills would come to a stand-still ; an argument, I think, against those who cry out against the employment of Mongolian labour; for were these Chinese not working, two or three hun- dred whites would be thrown out, and a large sum of money, which is weekly paid out as wages to be spent among the shopkeepers, would be diverted to pay for imported goods. I saw some tweeds and plaids quite as good as any Scotch at this establishment, and they knit stockings, waistcoats, &c. there also by machinery. There are about a dozen large breweries here, which make what they call Lager beer, a horrible frothy washy beverage, much liked by the Germans, and also by the lower classes, on account of its being so cheap. The brewers are almost entirely Germans and have all made small fortunes. On the whole there is very little beer drank in comparison with England, and you rarely see it at the dinner table, very unlike China and India. Bitter beer is unknown, and some Bass that I called for one day was sweet, strong, and ropy. We arrived at length at Omalia, the capital of the state of Nebraska, which is an uninteresting towa, OilAHA. 35 notwithstanding the boasting assertions of George Francis Train, who having bought a tract of land there some years ago, Avhich he prudently recorded in his wife's name, has ever since been asserting that he possesses a second Eden. Here we came across the first real Indians I had ever seen. They were of the tribe of the Pawnees, dirty, frightful, and repulsive — long black hair, small cruel eyes, immensely broad noses, greasy skins, and a general hang-dog look. Where is the red man of the forest, the noble Indian of Fenimore Cooper's novels ? It is true that the natives who hang around the railway stations or western settlements are the most degraded of their race ; whiskey and indolence follow in the train of civilisation. 36 SIX MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. SALT LAKE CITY. On arriving at Ogden, you change trains to proceed to Salt Lake City. The scenery to the city of the Saints is very mid and barren ; and no wonder that the Mormons, in choosing this spot, considered themselves safe from any inquisitorial traveller ; and how little did Brigham Young think that, in electing this spot as a resting-place for his people, in a few years he should draw down the strong arm of the law, and be forced to obey and observe the rules and restraints of a country he affected to despise ! What a shadow has now been cast over the dreams of this arch humbug ! How great are the mighty fallen ! His hold on his ignorant followers is fast passing away, and in a few years this impostor and his benighted fol- lowers will be a thing of the past. What is termed ' Salt Lake City ' is nothing but some few streets of wooden houses, two or three hotels, the tabernacle, and the residence of Brigham Young, re- markable only for the picturesque manner in which the o-rounds around the residence are laid out. Being curious to observe how the Mormons concluded their religious services, and happening to be there on the Sabbath, I attended the tabernacle — a very large edifice resembling a gigantic egg in form, the interior very gloomy, with wooden benches ; and, in front of the organ, three rows of benches where the apostles sit. The o-reat feature of this buildius; is the ease with which a very large congregation can make its exit. The organ, a remarkably fine-toned instrument, is the largest in the States. SALT LAKE CITY. OGDEX. TREASLUE CITY. 37 The sermon was preached by an individual •who evi- dently had received little or no education, and whose principal topic from beginning to end was abuse of every other sect but his own. The ' blessing ' was bestowed by John Young, eldest son of Brigham, an oleaginous- looking subject, who seemed to thrive much on the crea- ture comforts of this Avorld. So many works have been written on the Mormons, particularly by that able writer Ilepworth Dixon, that it would be inflicting a thankless office on those who may be led to read these pages. In a short time Salt Lake City will become a very prosperous place, as many mines have been lately discovered. This district bids fair to become the centre of extensive mining operations, and is already drawing the attention of speculators from the Western country. At Ogden the beautiful scenery begins. We ai'e now 880 miles from San Francisco. The train rushes along by promontory Toano, and stops rather longer than usual at Elko, tliis being the station whence the stages depart for, or bring passengers from, the famous mining district of White Pine. The White Pine Mines were discovered in 1866, and the following year a rush of miners from all parts of California and Nevada was made to this new Eldorado. Treasure City, as the principal town of the new district was called, sprang up like magic. It mattered not that the transportation of goods and materials for building was exorbitantly high, that the road lay over a treeless desert, that the toAvn was at the top of an almost inaccessible mountain, that there was no water, that the wind generally blew like a hurri- cane ; these were disregarded in view of the fact that the mines were there. The Eberhardt, now the property of an English company, looked down from its peak upon the town. The Hidden Treasure, the Aurora, and a host 38 SIX MONTHS IN CALIPORXIA. of other mines were above, around, and l>clow ; and ten thousand people flocked to this inhospitable country. In vain were they warned that it was too early ; that the snow covered the ground so thickly that prospecting was a matter of impossibility; everyone thought that the warning arose from an interested motive, and from a desire of the informant to secure the choicest claims. The consequence was, extreme misery and suffering among those who had not money enough to pay the exorbitant charges of the so-called hotels. "With the arrival of spring the multitude dispersed all over the mountains, and, as is universally the case, the majority of the prospectors were disappointed. The mines were there, but the expenses of working them were enormous. The ore proved to be more rebellious than was expected ; there was a great deal of what is called base metal met with, so that the multitvide of fortune hunters melted away like the snow from the mountains. This is the history of all mining excitements in California ; and one remarkable circum- stance attending such life is this, that men will leave good paying claims, and go hundreds of miles away in the chance of finding something better. It is the passion of gambling engendered by the search for gold. Each man thinks that he is to be the lucky one. Such was the case with White Pine. The Eberhardt Mine was supposed to be worth millions, the ledge or vein with its various spurs and divergencies could be traced in all directions, why should not another claim prove equally rich, and so Treasure Hill was honeycombed, but, as I said before, with disappointment to many. After leaving Elko we arrive at the Palisades, a most beautiful part of the road, and one which presented im- mense engineering difficulties. ' The Palisades ' is an immense wall of rock, perpendicular in many places, and the train goes winding in and about pi'ccipices, by the JOUEXEY THKOUGII THE MINING COUNTRY. 39 sides of canons through tunnels cut In the soHd rock, until at length Avhat is called the top of the Palisades is reached, 575 miles from San Francisco, and at an altitude of 4,800 feet above the level of the sea. The scenery somewhat reminded me of Matlock on a larger scale, but without the luxuriant green that gives the charm to our Derbyshire hills. We have been descending all the time since leaving Independence, and now rush on past Battle Mountain, where the stages connect for Austin the centre of the Humboldt district silver mines, past the sink of the Carson river, which there disappears perhaps to emerge on the other side of the Sierra Nevada ; thence, still descending, until White Plains is reached, 3,900 feet above the sea. All this while we have been driving by the force of gravitation, brakes down and engine scream- ing as it turns the sharp curves. For hours, whenever a bend in the road rendered it practicable, we had seen the summits of the Sierra Xevadas covered with per- petual snow and standing in sharp outline against the sky. Now we found ourselves among the foothills of this range and began to ascend. Reno was the first sta- tion of importance that we reached. From this point of the line the stage-road for the mines of Virginia City takes its departure. I shall have occasion to describe Washoe and the Comstock lode in another portion of this book treating of the mines of California and Nevada. 40 SIX MONTHS IN C.VLIFORNIA. CALIFORNIA. I NOW come to the more serious task of describing the Golden State, its climate, geology, zoology, &c., as well as its mining, agricultural, and other industries. I believe that many travellers content themselves with a hurried visit to the wonders and beauties of this distant reo;ion: at the same time I cannot but tliink, that a detail of its resources may prove interesting. First then the climate of California ; and, for the pur- pose of properly comprehending that, the reader must discard from his mind any idea of uniformity of climate and regularity of seasons, such as he is accustomed to witness in Europe. On looking at a map of California it will be noticed, as I have before observed, that its greatest area is enclosed by the Sierra Xevada mountains on the east and the coast range on the west, and that these ranges unite or nearly so north and south. The extreme length of California from north to south is about 700 miles, extending from latitude 32° 45' to 42° north, with an averao-e breadth of 180 miles. Now the area enclosed by the ranges of mountains is more than 500 miles in length, and embraces almost the whole wealth, both mineral and agricultural, of the state. Consequently, my remarks will more directly apply to this portion of California, and I beg attention to the following facts before I describe the variety of its climate. It is known that the currents of air under which the earth passes in its diurnal revolutions, follow the line of CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 41 tlie sun's o-reatest attraction. These currents of air are drawn towards this line from great distances on each side of it, and as the earth revolves from west to east they blow from north-east and south-east, meeting on, and of course causing a calm at, the line. Thus when the sun is over the equator in the month of March, these currents of air blow from some distance north of the tropic of Cancer and south of the tropic of Capricorn, in an oblique direction towards this line of the sun's greatest attraction, and form Avhat are known as the NE. and SE. trade "winds. As the earth in its path round the sun gradually brings the line of attraction north in summer, these currents of air are carried with it ; so that, about the middle of May, the cun-ent from the NE. extends as fiir as the 38th or 39tli degree of north latitude, and by June 20, the period of the sun's greatest inclination, it extends to the northern part of California and the southern section of Oregon. These north-east winds, in their progress across the continent towards the Pacific Ocean, pass over the snow- capped ridges of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and are of course deprived of all their moisture by the low temperature of those regions of eternal snow ; consequently no moisture can be precipitated from them in the form of dew or rain in a higher temperature than that to which they have been subjected, for necessarily no condensation can by any possibility take place. They therefore pass over the hills and plains of California, where the temperature is very high in summer, in a very dry state ; and, so far from being charged with moisture, they absorb, like a sponge, all that the atmos^jhere and surface of the earth can yield, until both become appa- rently perfectly dry. Thus is the dry season produced in California, which continues sometunes until after the sun repasses the 42 SIX MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. equator in September, when about the middle of No- vember, the climate being relieved from these north-east currents of air, the south-west winds set in from the ocean charged Avith moisture, the rains commence^ and continue to fall at intervals from about the middle of November until the middle of April. I have said from November to April, taking the average rainfall for fifteen years as my guide ; but in many instances it rains as early as September and as late as May, although more fre- quently in September than in October ; on the whole, the rainy season may be said to be from November to April inclusive. Again ; there is an extensive ocean current of cold water which flows along the coast of California, from the North Pacific or perhaps Arctic Ocean. I have heard it stated that it flows from the coasts of China and Japan northward to the peninsula of Kamtschatka, and, making a circuit to the eastward, strikes the coast of America in about 41° or 42°. Be that as it may, it does flow along the coast, bearing with it a cold current of air, which appears in the form of fog when it comes in contact with a higher temperature. Indeed oiF the coast the course of the current can be followed by the bank of fog that hangs over it. This current passes south, and is lost in the tropics. Towards midday the vast dry surface of the interior becomes greatly heated, causing an undercurrent of cool air to rush about that time from the ocean, bringing with it the dense fog caused by the meeting of the before- mentioned hot dry NE. wind and that accompanying the cold northern current. "When the equilibrium is restored the wind, ceases. Thus for six months, in San Francisco, there is a warm, sometimes burning, morning ; and a cold, windy, drizzly afternoon, followed by a clear starlight nischt. CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 43 This is one phase of California climate in San Fran- cisco. San Francisco may be said to be situated on the western side of the coast range, so that the NE. trades seldom reach the city ; but if, as is sometimes the case towards the time of either of the equinoxes, the north wind should come creeping along from tlie shores of the bay, or the east Avind escape through some gorge of the hills, then it is that the San Franciscan experiences what is felt during the greater part of the year in the interior ; unaccustomed to the hot, dry, parching air, with neither dress nor house fitted to live in, he goes about panting and complaining ; and the newspapers chronicle the hottest day of the season, with the thermometer at the usual rate in Marysville or Sacramento. This is another and brief phase of San Francisco cli- mate. The third phase begins about the middle of September. The daily fogs no longer sweep over the city ; the Avind blows fitfully from all quarters, and not, as for the last six months, uniformly from the west. Frequently in the morning it is easterly, whilst from force of habit appa- rently it veers to the Avest in the afternoon. Clouds gather in the south ; it is generally cloudy in early morn- ing, contrary to the other season. The air becomes A'cry soft and balmy, the dews lie longer on the ground and the springs of water increase in volume. At length the AA'ind begins to bloAV in gusts from the south-west laden Avith moisture, and finally down comes the Avclcomc rain. Every])ody is glad ; almost everybody is uncomfortable, for they are so little habituated to getting Avet. The dust of the streets turns to mud, the dried planking of the pavements SAvells and starts from its confines, the shrunken roofs leak, workmen are busy making houses tight for the Avinter, and umbrellas are brought out from their concealment. The greatest number of rainy days the Avind is SAY. The heaviest rain comes from the SE. 44 SIX MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. The •winter season Is the most dclif^htful in San Fran- cisco. It rarely happens that ice forms, or even snow falls. Occasionally snow remains for a few days on the peak of Monte Diablo, or on the coast range on the other side of the bay ; but, owing to the proximity of the ocean and the prevailing southerly Avinds, winter has no terrors, and the fine days, whereof there are many, are most enjoy- able. Many families connected with San Francisco go there from New York during the winter to escape their own terrible climate. In the interior it is very different. From the beginning of May to the end of October, in most years, the sun rises without a cloud and sets without a shade over his disc. During the entire day he blazes overhead ; there is not a breath of wind to temper his rays, nor a drop of rain to moisten the parched earth. Near the Sierras a most welcome breeze does come down every evening ; such is the case at Sacramento, which is near the mountains ; but quite in the interior, as at Marysville or Oroville, Stockton, and Millerton, the only solace is the absence of the sun. This continued dry cloudless weather is very wearying, but, strange to say, the regular inhabitants soon get acclimated, and work at noonday as though in a more temperate clime. This is fortunate, as almost all the mines are in this region. It will be understood that the coast gets the rain earlier than the interior, and the coast ranfje absorbs the rain clouds until it crets so saturated that it can hold them no longer, when they spread over the thirsty interior. At length clouds begin to bank up in the south, and there is a brilliant sunset. That luminary rises with veiled face, and at length the gates of heaven are opened and down comes the rain in sheets. The first rain generally lasts three days at intervals until December or January, when it is of longer duration. Now it is that wet diggings are abandoned and the dry gulches and hill- CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 45 side claims are worked. No heed whatever is paid to the driving rain, for the golden opportunity must be seized ere it flies away, so ditches and dams and reservoirs are hastily constructed, and no effort spared to coax the water to remain as long and make itself as useful as possible. This is applicable to the southern and the lower part of the northern mines ; but all along the foothills of the Sierras and in the counties of Del Norte and Klamath, Trinity, Shasta, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, &c., the ice king reigns supreme ; the snow lies from ten to fifteen feet thick, and drifts to great depths, covering the tops of the miners' camps in many instances. Some of the most hardy miners lay in a stock of provisions, keep the snow clear in front of their log-houses, and wait the melting of the snows, which is their golden opportunity ; others, perhaps more prosperous, hibernate in the towns, generally in San Francisco. Spring is the season of gladness for all, unless it has been a dry season, and then every class suffers ; but if the earth has been properly soaked and the average rain has fiillen, then the streams are full and the Sierra Nevadas have a wealth of moisture stored up in their snoAvs that will not fiiil until June or July. Then it is that the farmer and the miner are most active, the land is gi'een with pasturage and brilliant with flowers of many hues. Even at the end of the year, if the winter has been pro- pitious, the cattle thrive, for the wild oats that grow above a man's head dry in the hot sun, and afford excellent pasturage, whilst the beasts grow fat on the oil of the ripe seeds of the many grasses and herbs that abound ; so that what to a stranger appears a barren waste is some- times the most nourishing for cattle ; but, without the winter's rain, not a blade appears and the animals perish by thousands. Another apparent anomaly is, that the first rains nearly starve the cattle. The moment they 48 SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORNIA. fall, the seeds are loosened from the grasses, drop to the ground, and rot or germinate ; the young grass derives no nutrition, and the herds become as lean as skeletons. The climate of the extreme south of California, such as Los Angeles, San Diego, &c., is semi-tropical ; there are no severe winters, though it suffers sometimes from extreme drought, and occasional frosts nip the more tender productions of that part of the country. A third and intermediate climate is that enjoyed by the narrow strip between the coast range and the Pacific, and that of the different valleys running from the bay to that ocean. I can liken it to nothing better than the climate of Devonshire. The sea fogs that strike the sum- mits of the hills keep the air moist, whilst the reflection of the sun's rays warms it ; innumerable streams trickle do^vn to the plains, keeping them always green; and, with the ex- ception of occasional thick and stormy weather, this limited section enjoys the most charming climate of all the state. The averao;e range of the thermometer in San Francisco is from 50° to 70°, but on extraordinary occasions has fallen from 85° to 46°, and that in twelve hours. Tliis was owing to the violent restoration of the equilibrium, the reasons for which have been already given. When the thermometer at San Francisco is 70° it is 86° at Sacra- mento and 106° at Millertou, at the head of the valley of the San Joaquim. One extraordinary fact connected with the rainfall in California is, that whereas the rain comes up from the south, it is invariably first heard of in the north. Thus the inhabitant of San Francisco, when the telegraph informs him that it is raining in Portland, Oregon, or up at Shasta, may look for it in a day or two at his city. Thunderstorms are of very I'are occurrence, and lightning only plays its harmless sheet fires occasionally about the horizon, or round the peak of !i\Ioute Diablo. CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 47 The shortest day of the year at San Francisco is about nine hours and a half from sunrise to sunset, and fourteen and three-quarters is the duration of the longest, but twilight gives about two hours' extra light to each end. California is subject to mild shocks of earthquakes, which many weak people seem to connect with its climate, and are apt to say on the occurrence of a hot day, ' We are sure to have an earthquake.' Now I have con- versed with many well-observant people on the subject, and not one of them had noticed any rise in the tempera- ture of the air, either before or after the occurrence. I should rather conclude, dare I hazard an opinion on a subject so very little understood, that as all the shakes that have happened in the neighbourhood of San Francisco have followed the line of the coast range, their cause may be traced to electro-magnetism rather than atmospheric influences. There have been some sharp shocks in Cali- fornia since its occupation by the Americans, but none so severe as in the time of the Spanish rule, Avhen some of the fine old Mission churches were overthrown; not that I mean to infer that the change of government has changed the Plutonic forces, nor that the American is exempt from the ills that afflicted the Castilian. The climate of California may be summed up as one of contrast ; and now that the railroad shortens distance, you can leave the burning Stockton plains in the morn- ing, and dine amidst the eternal winter of the Sierras on the same day ; or leave the orange groves of Los Angeles, and sleep with the bracing air of tlie Pacific pouring along the Golden Gate through your chamber windows. Her climate is like the fortune of many of her children ; one-half of their California life tliey bask in the full sunshine of prosierity, and the other they battle against the blasts and storms of adversity. 48 .SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORNIA. THE GEOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA. To TREAT the subject-matter of this chapter in a purely scientific manner -would take a volume, and at the same time would require more scientific knowledge and re- search than I either possess, or have given to the suljject. I merely present a slight sketch of the general geological features of the country, a sort of reminiscence of an ac- quaintance, not the biography of an intimate relation. To all foreigners the word California signifies gold, and, as it was for many years the sole, and still remains the principal, staple commodity, so will my remarks be chiefly directed to that precious metal. California may be said to possess four great mineral belts. The Copper bearing, the Gravel belt, the Slate belt, and the Granite belt, the three latter are gold bearing, each of them having their respective elevations one above the other. The copper belt is found at a slight elevation above the level of the sea, and ore has been worked in Crescent City in the north ; at Grizzly Flat in El Dorado County ; in Shasta County ; in Nevada County ; in Xapa County ; at Copperopolis, and at San Diego. The only mines, however, that attained any im- portance were those of Copperopolis, where the famous Union mine is situated ; hence its somewhat composite name. The amount of ore exported in 1862 was 3,660 tons ; in 1863, 5,553 tons ; in 1865, 17,787 tons ; in 1866, 19,813 tons ; and then prices fell so low in Europe, on ac- count of Australian and Chilian copper, that, in tlie first half of 1867, only 3,452 tons were shipped, after which GEOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA. 49 copper milling drooped, and now has entirely ceased. The ore that was exported contained about 14 per cent, of metal on an average. The richer ore, some of it containing a very high per centage of copper, was reduced in California, and preparations were making to erect works at or near Copperopolis, on a very large scale, when the crisis came. Still there are many who foretell the day Avlien copper mining will be a great Californian industry, particularly if, as in some cases, the more precious metala of silver and gold are found in connection Avith the copper. For example near Sweetland, in Nevada county, the gold is so much mixed with the copper that it is a question whether the mine is a poor gold or a rich copper one. The dust is worth eleven dollars an ounce. Sulphuret of copper, or copper pyrites, is found in almost all the gold-bearing quartz lodes throughout the country, and some fine speci- mens of malachite have been obtained near Los Angeles. The auriferous Gravel belt is of much greater impor- tance. It was in it that the first discoveries of gold were made. It was the only one Avorked for years, and the only one supposed to be worth working. To-day we know that there are two distinct gravel beds in California, the old and the new ; the neiv beds comprising those surface dio-frij^SS all over the state, whose boulders are rounded and pebbles polished by existing streams, and whose gold has been brought down within a comparatively recent epoch ; the old exists far below the surface, and has formed the beds of miy-hticr rivers than now flow alonir the great basin. They tell the story of young earth ere the Sierras were formed, and their water-worn rocks speak of the rolling of mighty waters that have passed away for ever. But of these further on. Let us return to the new gravel belt. This belt, as a general rule, is found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from two to three thousand feet above the level of the soa; and at this E 50 SIX MONTHS L\ CALU'OKMA. elevation crold is founfl almost everywhere. The floods of winter have not only carried it down the gulches, but sown it broadcast over the land. But, before I go any further, let me premise that gold of this nature, * placer gold/ as it is called, is now generally supposed to have formed part of the mother vein, and to have been disin- tegrated from it by the action of the elements, or other natural force. This gold, in many instances, is extremely fine, and consequently easily gathered up by clay or mixed with sand ; hence it arises that, in almost any part of the Placer district, the ' colour ' can be found, though not in sufficient quantity to make the working of it profitable. Deep gullies and ravines seam the faces of the mountains. These gulches cut throufrh the matrix. Their beds are dry in summer, but when the winter rains come, or the snow melts, they are filled with a turbid roaring stream brlnojing: doAvn rocks and trees and all kinds of abrasive matters. The sides of the gulches are torn away, and the whole debris is strewn over the gentler slopes of the hills below. But in these lower ranges exist rivers which cross these diluvial deposits in all directions, and gather the richest of the precious stores so rudely torn from the mountains. Thus arose tAvo separate deposits ; the one on the numerous table-lands of the foot-hills, which go by the name of ' Flats,' as Shaw's Flat, Brown's Flat, &c., Avhere the gold is fine and universally diffused ; or those of rivers and creeks, where the gold is coarse, and found generally below the gravel, such as the mines of the north fork of the American, the Middle Yuba, Wood's Creek, Mormon Gulch, &c., all famous for their placer wealth. As may be supposed, the flat and river diggings are the easiest to be worked, as well as the numerous jjulches running from these table lands. Perhaps the richest creek in all California has been Wood's Creek in Tuolumne county. It is only ten miles long ; from the earliest mining GEOLOGY OF CALIFORXIA. 51 (lays it has been worked over and over again, and to-day is being still worked with success. The liistory of mining on this creek, which is the history of mining on every creek in California, will be told under the head of mininj?. The coarse gold being so much heavier than any other body that was carried along with it, naturally fell into the first cavity whose sides were steep enough to allow it to rest there under the rush of waters, eventually being covered over with lighter stones, sand, and mud, so that, on the subsidence of the waters, all that had to be done was to remove the upper diluvium and arrive at the precious metal. But these gravel deposits are of various natures. Sometimes they are of many strata one above another, each strata of a different composition from any other, and the whole from fifty to three hundred feet thick, with gold in every one of them. Sometimes they are so strongly cemented with clay as to form a solid con- glomerate, and again they are as loose as a sea-beach. Again, auriferous gravel is found mixed with decayed quartz, as though the vein had been brought bodily down and buried, where it gradually rotted. And again, frag- ments of petrified trees and great boulders are found, with stones of all shapes and sizes, but all water-worn. The common term for the gold found in these river beds, creeks, and gravel deposits is ' placer gold,' or ' gold dust,' and is both fine and coarse. The diffei'ent varieties of fine are scale, grain, shot, flour, and wire gold, which speak for themselves. The scale gold is sometimes called float gold, and, from the nature of its formation, is more generally diffiiscd than any other. The Avire gold sometimes assumes fantastic, even beautiful forms. I have seen it twisted together like a tangled skein of silk, and at other times standing out of a flat surface like the fronds of moss. 52 SIX MOXTTIS IN CALIFORXIA. The miners have christened coarse gold after their most familiar objects, such as buckshot, pea, bean, mocassin, cucumber seed, pumpkin seed, and some others, but these are the most common. It is strange how common it is to find gold like the sole of the foot, the mocassin. All those of the form of pea, bean, shot, &c. are gold that has been carried some distance, or been washed by suc- cessive floods, whereas the wire and float have but lately been torn from their parents. There is no rule about the locale of these various sorts. They may be found to- gether or separately, or side by side, or one shape on one bank of a river and another on the opposite bank. Gold takes strange shapes sometimes, especially in the larger unclassified nuggets. One specimen I saw had precisely the form of a head of maize, or Indian corn, only each grain was crystallised gold. Such specimens are exceed- ingly rare ; indeed, crystals of gold either singly or in groups are scarce. When found the crystal forms an octohedron. When the lump of gold has its edges sharp and rough, look out for the mother lode close by, especially if it be a small gulch. Coarse gold runs in pieces of the value of from half a crown to twenty pounds. Above that amount they become cur ion. The largest nugget found in California weighed one hundred and ninety-five pounds troy, which has been beaten by Australia. One day in the town of Sonora, in the Southern mines, after a very heavy rain and freshet, a man was leading his mule cart up the steep principal street, when his foot struck upon a large stone ; he stooped down to remove it, and found it was a solid lump of gold, about twenty-five pounds weight, which had been exposed by the storm, and many hundreds of people had passed over it daily. An amusing circumstance connected with the lucky discovery was that, upon its being made known, the whole of that portion of the town, including QUALITIES OF GOLD. 63 the street, was staked off for mining claims in less than an hour, for miners' law rules pre-eminent. Coarse gold is never found in quartz, although large gold boulders have sometimes a considerable quantity of quartz mixed with them ; but why the gold in quartz, which is supposed to have furnished the coarse gold, should itself be so almost infinitesimally fine, has never been determined. Gold varies in fineness from 500 to 990. The average is 875 to 880. For gold is never found perfectly pure ; it is always alloyed with silver, and sometimes Avith copper and lead. The figure 1000, therefore, is used to denote pure gold ; but supposing a specimen or bar contains one- fourth of silver, then it is only 975 ; and one-half baser metal, then it only ranks as 500 fine. Gold 500 fine fetches proportionably a higher price than gold 990 fine (which has only ten per cent, of base metal), on account of the value of the silver, &c. that goes with it. As a general rule the gold of the north is finer than the gold of the south of California. In Placer county, for example, the gold ranges from about 860 to 930, whilst Kern river and Mono gold is only about 600, and that of Walker river, high up in the mountains, is only 560. The most uniform richness of gold has been found at Columbia in Tuolumne county ; it ranged from 930 to 970. I shall have occasion to speak of this town in connection Avith mining. The wiry gold is universally poor in quality running in the neighbourhood of 750. A substance valuable in itself yet depreciating gold is often found with it, and that is iridium. In the north especially it is so abundant in some districts, that gold is there worth from a dollar to a dollar and a half less than other dust in consequence. The gold of i\Iariposa county, although it is perhaps the richest county in the aggregate, on account of gold being diffused all over it, is poor and wiry, and, even when coarse, the quality does not exceed r,4 SIX MONTHS IN CALIFORNIA. 820. Tlio average is 7G0. In most cases gold taken from quartz lias more alloy than placer gold. A fcAV words about the old gravel beds which are of comparatively recent discovery. In bygone ages, which may be almost termed pre-scientific, four (at least) great rivers traversed the then ])ortion of the globe now known as California. Their direction was from north-west to south-east; they were from a hundred to five hundred feet wide. Immense rocks obstructed their flow, and huge boulders strewed their bottom. To-day the moun- tains of the Sierras cover them, and they are only partially exposed where the later rivers and the rents, caused by subterranean forces, have worn deep ravines, or opened wide crevices. AVherever such an occurrence has taken place, the river or ravine has proved to be extremely rich, and portions of the bed of the old river have always been found above the point of intersection. In one river a portion has taken the name of 'The Blue Lead.' It was first discovered in Sierra county, underlying every other strata, and walled in by steep banks of hard bed rock, exactly like the banks of rivers and ravines as we find them existing at the present time. This bed rock is water-Avorn like that of any other river, and rounded quartz and other pebbles are mixed with the blue clay. Petrified trees and Avood are likewise found. As is the case in the rivers of the present day, the fine gold is washed to the banks, whilst the coarse lies in mid stream, or w^hat Avas mid stream. This river has been traced for more than twenty miles, and the history of its Avorking Avill appear under the proper head. At present I can only say that, could faith exercise her power and cast the mountains to the bottom of the sea, there Avould be laid bare an Eldorado Avhich Avould shame California, and the relics of a past world that Avould be the delight of geologists. In other parts more particularly, as at pre- SUBTERRAXEAX RIVERS. 55 sent known, at or rather below the junction of the north and middle forks of the American river, this subterranean channel has spread out to a large area, which is being rapidly developed by means of shafts being sunk and drift-ways run. AVherever the old bed has been found the prospectors have found gold ; it is estimated that there is work enough there for ten thousand men for a hundred years to come, and that every man can get rich on the produce of his labour. Looking at all this, one is irresistibly led to exclaim. Where did the gold come from ? And is this underlying strata of stones and clay the lowest of its kind ? And where is the mother vein that filled these buried crevices ; and whence came this blue pipe clay, even now sometimes found soft, though in most cases indurated as hard as stone under tons of superlying gravel ? The elevation that furnished these rounded and polished boulders may have been in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and the water that flowed over them may have had its source where the streams now run eastward. No one can tell ; but mankind here is exceedingly in- quisitive in the shape of tunnels and drifts, which, like so many spectrums, pry into the interior and discover the hidden secrets of the earth. It is very likely that the course of one of these sub- terranean rivers lies under or near to the tovni of Sacra- mento, because on an attempt being made to bore an artesian well for public use at that place, the workmen were obliged to desist on account of arriving at a stratum of boulders which the borers were unable to pass through. At Stockton, however, they were more successful, and, after going down a thousand feet, obtained a flow of water which rose eleven feet above the surface, and yielded sixty thousand gallons of water daily. A like attempt was made in San Francisco, but it was abandoned, although there are two natural artesian springs in the CO SIX MONTHS l.V CAMFOJiXIA. city, one of tlicm discovered bubbling up below the level of former Ingh water now covered with buildings. The various strata passed through when boring in Stockton were red and blue clay, mica, sand, gravel with traces of gold, this latter at a depth of a hundred feet, green stone, quicksand fifteen feet thick, very coarse sand at a depth of three hundred and forty feet, and here the workmen came upon the stump of a red Avood tree besides striking water. All the way down was but a repetition of this one stratum following another, of more or less thickness, and still they ended in sand. The boi'e in San Francisco came to an interminable stratum of sandstone ; and it was the opinion of geologists, that it would be useless to go deeper, as that formation is often many thousand feet in thickness ; nor is it likely that the gravel and boulder beds in the neighbourhood of Sacramento will ever be laid bare, seeing that they are three hundred and fifty feet below the level of the sea. Another speculative question now arises. Where did these rivers find their outlet ? It could not be at the borders of the now Pacific. We know that there are o;reat fresh water rivers runninjr in, not into but far out at sea, and we are told of fresh water bubbling up in mid ocean. May not these lately developed mysteries throw some light on their presence ? But I have no right to digress. The next auriferous belt in point of elevation is the Slate belt. AVhen I say in point of elevation, I mean that the slate formation is found higher than the gravel, although at the same time it likewise underlies it, fre- quently composing the bed-rock of the gravel placer diggings, and sometimes cutting them in half, as has been found by going through the supposed bed-rock, when the gravel has been found lying under it. Rich quartz veins traverse the slate belt in all directions, and nothino- can be more diversified than the dip or inclination of the slate GEOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA. 67 beds themselves. Sometimes the strata are vertical, at right angles -with the sky ; again they will form a succes- sion of angles ; then again they will form a chaos of angles, crossing and recrossing one another and broken, or by way of change presenting a smooth lateral unbroken surface. The last, grandest, most extensive, and least known is the Granite belt. Far up in the eternal snows and down to the foiindations of the mighty hills is granite, ever granite. On the slopes of the Sierras the granite is intertwined with veins of gold-bearing quartz. It is supposed that the mother lode is there. It is the theory of the day that from that source flowed all the gold that is found in the rivers and streams and gullies and pockets and table-lands of the lower country. The quantity is inexhaustible, and the supply goes on day after day, as time slowly loosens the precious metal from its bonds of adamant. The veins in the granite are hardly as yet worked. There is enough Avork in the quartz mines, of the gravel and slate formation, to employ the present thousands of workmen for many years yet to come, and population is so scarce and labour so dear, that to-day the mountain mines are not worked to advantage. And yet there are mines in the Alpine district on the confines of the state of Nevada, where you can see the gold sparkle in the crop[)ings of the vein as it bursts out of the earth — hard and stubborn rock, however, to crush, as befits the rugged aspect of nature around. I have not seen a more bleak and wild country in all California than this. Constantly enveloped in clouds, with a cold wind whistling about your ears and chilling you to the very marrow, with no shrub but the ashy-coloured sage brush, with no tree whatsoever, with precipices for roads and boulders for j)avcincnt, the mine ought to be rich to repay life up there. And yet miners do live there and are hapny. 68 SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORNIA. THE GEYSERS. At seven o'clock in the morninjr I left San Francisco in the most convenient ferry steamer I have yet met with in the United States. The boat was originally con- structed for the passenger trade between this place and Sacramento, but the railway has changed all that ; and now the whole of the inside of the vessel is, as it were, scooped out, and one spacious carpeted saloon formed, "\vith seats and plate-glass windows all around. One can either promenade as at a conversazione, or sit and enjoy the lovely scenery. For it is lovely as we skirt close to the shores of Angel Island, covered with wild flowers, which, as is generally the case in California, grow in patches all of one species. For example one sees acres of the yellow lupin, then again a tract covered solely with the gentle blue nemophila, or the orange of the escholtzia, which is popularly called the California poppy, so common in this country is it. Our way lies across the bays of San Pablo and Suisun until we come to a halt at the town of Vallejo, called after a Spanish general of that name, who had immense possessions in land and herds prior to the American possession of California. Vallejo is a thorough mushroom town, or rather a suc- cession of mushroom towns. For a brief period in the early days of California it was the capital, and the legis- lative wisdom met there in conclave; and hotels, bar- rooms, and money abounded, for those were the days of 'the session of a thousand drinks.' But the capital was removed just when the hall destined for the deliberations JOURXEY TO THE GEYSERS. VALLEJO, 59 of the senate and assembly was half finished, and It re- mained for years a melancholy instance of the vanity of human hopes, being finally broken up for building purposes. Vallejo rose again as the port of outlet for a large grain district ; and San Francisco capitalists, after having first bought half the town for a mere song, erected elevators there, and loaded their grain ships direct at the wharf. During the war Vallejo gained in importance also, for the naval dockyard of Mare Island is only separated from it by a strip of water about a mile wide. The town finally made its great spring when it became the terminus of the Californih, Pacific Railroad, which, becoming incorporated with the Great Central, and the line going direct to Sacramento, Vallejo became virtually the terminus be- tween New York and San Francisco for passenger travel. The line, however, will be extended to Sancelito, a point on the opposite side of the Golden Gate from San Fran- cisco, and distant from it about three miles, and then Vallejo will droop once more. Vallejo is a pretty little town covering a conically- shaped hill, with a church at the top having a high spire, which makes it quite a landmark. The houses are mostly painted white, and have pretty little gardens. The only drawback to the place is the total absence of trees. This is being remedied by planting, so that the next generation may reap the benefit. From Vallejo I pi-oceeded by rail along the beautiful Napa valley. After leaving the small hills that skirt the bay, the road appears to be a perfect level ; there are no cuttings, no embankments, no tunnel ; a level tract of rich lands stretches on each hand, broken now and then by clumps of oaks. In the distance, and as if guarding the head of the valley, towers u}) the beautiful Mount St. Helena. Level as the road a])pcars to the traveller, it gradually ascends until, at an elevation of three hundred 60 SIX MONTHS IX CAMKORXIA. I'cct, the walls of the valley contraet, and the line winds its way along the sinuosities of the level ground, something after the fashion of a river, until Calistogais reached, and there this branch of the railroad ends. Calistoga is one of the watering-places of California. It is situated in a circular basin of about a mile in diameter. The hills that surround it arc covered with trees and vegetation. The bottom of the basin may be called a thin crust of earth covering a boiling lake, as if to keep it hot. Hot springs rise in all directions. Wherever the ground is penetrated hot water is found. There are also salses, or mud springs. The extinct crater of St. Helena forms one of the walls of the basin, and there is little doubt that the two have subterranean con- nection. About six years ago this spot was in all its savage wildness, but having come into the possession of a well-known San Francisco capitalist named Brannan, that gentleman determined to develop the natural re- sources of the place, and has laid out more than a hundred thousand dollars for that purpose. He began by building a colony of cottages round the rim of the basin. Fancy a cottage ornce with a deep balcony, a drawing-room extending along the entire front, sub- divided by bedrooms in the rear. Fancy also every one of these cottages being precisely alike, so much so that they might have been cast in the same mould. Each cottaije has a small garden in front, containinij a date palm and a Monterey cypress. Attached to each is a small summer house of lattice-work with a little round table in it and other conveniences, each the facsimile of its neighbour. There cannot be any bickerings or jealousy among the guests, for thei'e is no difterence even in the chairs, the only inconvenience that might arise being that some belated or bemused visitor might find it dithcult to decide upon his own particular domicile. To CALISTOGA. 61 obviate any such mistakes in the daytime, each house possesses either a classical or historical name, which is legibly painted over the porch, such as Neptune, Wash- ington, Helena, Ralston, &c. The grounds are very prettily laid out, INlr. Brannan having endeavoured to plant them with every known species of Californian tree. There is the home garden, and the outer drive around two pretty little hills which look artificial, they are so round and smooth. They are named respectively Mounts Washington and Lincoln, and winding walks lead up to their tops. A large swimming bath is at the end of the garden through which tepid Avater is constantly flowing ; and leading out of it is a skating sink, the inside walls of which are painted with scenes from the Arctic regions, sleighing, &c. When the hotel and the cottages are full the smooth floor is covered with beds for the bachelors ; indeed, it is one of the airiest, nicest ])laces to sleep in at Calistoga, where the thermometer stands at 90° in the shade. Of the Springs themselves I can only say that their name is legion, and they run about everywhere asking one to test their medicinal qualities. Directly in front of the hotel is a reservoir of cold water full of gold fish. Immediately by its side is an artesian well, which has been bored to the depth of more than a hundred feet. The water from this is of the temperature of 175°, and of course visitors amuse themselves by boiling eggs in it. It is likely, however, to be filled up with broken glass, as when a bottle is let down at the end of a long string with a Aveight to go far down the water (a study in natural history performed by the majority of the guests), it generally happens that only the neck of the bottle returns. The next spring avc come to is of pure soft hot Avater, and is used exclusively for the laundry Avhich is built over it. Linen Avashcd in it becomes very Avhite, and the hot Avater is ever ready Avithout fire or expense. 62 SIX MONTHS IX CALIFORMA. The great fun is tlie swimming bath before mentioned, Avherc the young ladies take lessons, and one hears a confused noise of splasli, scream, and lauglitcr. A very serious-looking atiiiir next claims our attention. AVe enter a small house, in one corner of which is something like a sentry-box, and in this sentry-box an iron chair. Ideas of punishment or im[)risonment for the season present them- selves to the mind, particularly as there is a square hole at the side where the incarcerated one might receive his daily rations. A trap-door is opened, and the mystery is ex- plained. It is the vapour bath, temperature 195°. The victim sits on that iron chair doing penance in a white sheet, the door is closed upon him, and the hole at the side enables him to put out his head and gasp for life. When he is sufficiently stuve the bolts are drawn, and what remains of the man staggers forth into the sunshine. It is a splendid cure, however, for rheumatism. A line of the regular hot baths comes next in order, temperature 90°, the water strongly impregnated Avith iron. About a hundred yards farther on is a little building which covers the sulphur bath, the most popular of all. The water is only moderately warm, but has a tendency to soften the skin as well as to open the pores to such an extent, that the bather on emerging, especially if the day be warm, cannot dry himself so great is the perspiration. The greater part of the water has the common chalybeate taste with the usual salutary effects. For my part I think that half the cure of the invalids that flock to the Springs arises from good air, cheerful society, good fare, and absence for the time being of the anxieties of daily life. He who brings his skeleton with him instead of locking it up in his safe, may drink a whole mineral spring, sit an entire day in the sentry-box, and sweat for a week in the sulphur bath, but he will ever remain in a state of biliary torpor. The air is so pure, the scenery is so lovely. CALISTOGA. 63 the ramble through the woods, where the wild flowers are in such lavish profusion, is so beneficial, that it is not astonishing the dwellers in cities exult like escaped prisoners when they come to Calistoga. In front of the hotel is a large grotto, composed entirely of the petrified trunks of trees. There is a forest of such about four miles from the hotel. There are various orders of trees, including the pine, the mansanita, the oak, and others : some are prostrate, some upright, but there they are stone witnesses of a past action of nature. My theory is that the forest was covered in past ages with a stream of silicious mud flowing from St. Helena, which mud penetrated into and petrified these trees. Sub- sequently the action of time and the elements wore away the surrounding mud leaving the trees standing. Earth- quakes and storms have thrown down some, and parasites wind round the upright stems of others. The fact that the trees were petrified ere they fell is proved by the cir- cumstance that those which are prostrate are fractured as stone pillars would be under similar conditions, not crushed or split like ordinary trees. Between five or six miles I'rom Calistoga are the AVhite Sulphur Springs, another favourite resort for Californians. I Avas strongly recom- mended to make the ascent of Mount St. Helena and enjoy the view at sunrise, but I confess that I shunned the fatigue. I was told that the panorama is superb, with the whole valley at one's feet, and the bay of San Francisco like a lake of silver in the distance. During the season there is splendid shooting in the neighbourhood of Calistoga. Since the warfare carried