Yank suggested to him that as it was getting late he had better go home and feed his pigs.
“Yes, sah! yes, sah! I is gwine, sah.” But as he was about to leave, some one asked him to tell the boys how his company sailed up the Sacramento river in ’49, as they had never heard the facts related.
“Well” Julius replied, “de fac’ am, sah, dat before de Lord, I is unwillin’ to gib de gemmen a girafic scription ob dat wonderful currence, sah.”
When asked for his reason, he replied: “Dat it might hab de tendency, sah, to frow some ’spicion upon de veracitude ob de honest Forty-niners, sah.”
But upon being assured that the veracitude of the Forty-niners was never doubted, he related that the company he was with numbered sixteen altogether, and they left San Francisco in a large yawl boat for Sacramento City about the middle of July ’49, and after pulling for about two days in the hot sun, in the evening they made the boat fast to a bush on the bank of the Sacramento River for the night.
“Well, gemmen,” he continued, “we soon found dat we had jes’ gone an’ tied up ’mongst de biggest an’ de awfulest lot of skeeters dat you eber see in all your born days. Why, sah, we couldn’t cook nuffin, kase jes’ the minit we went to open de tater sack, dem skeeters would jes’ light on it, an’ fly away wid ebery bless’d one ob ’em. Oh, I tells you, gemmen, dem was a powerful breed ob skeeters an’ no mistake, regular Forty-niners, suah.”
Some one enquired how they managed to cook?
He replied, “we cooked nuffin, an’ eat nuffin, kase jes’ de minit we went to put de food in our moufs, dem savage reptiles would jes’ swoop down wid dere long bills an’ grab it right away from us. Well, sah, so we jes’ takes our sail an’ kivered ober the boat, an’ all hands turned in ter sleep fo’ the night. But, gemmen, when we come fo’ to turn out in de mornin’, an’ look out the tent we was jes’ de most astonished set ob individuals, sah, dat you eber seen, kase we foun’ dat we had gone an’ sailed up dat riber in the night sah; clar up to Sacramento City fo’ suah; but how in de name ob de Lord we hed got up dar, was de mos’ ’stonishing subjec’ for ’cussion sah.