Captain Pike, as we christened him, had full control of his craft, being captain, cook, and all hands; running into port and camping when and wherever he pleased. He was a tall, powerful man, and carried an ox gad, which was about twelve feet in length, and large in proportion, to which was attached a lash made of raw-hide, long and large enough for a ship’s back-stay. With this he would urge
his cattle forward by whacking it over their backs occasionally when they were very tired; but, in general, this was unnecessary, for the crack of it, which made a report like a gun, was a sufficient inducement for them to hurry up. This rare breed of bullwhackers has now become almost entirely extinct in California. More gentle, as well as more humane, means of driving cattle have been introduced from the far east, and it may not be out of place here to illustrate this by an incident which occurred only a few months later.
A bullwhacker, with his four yoke of cattle, was driving up over the hill from Hangtown, on his way to Sacramento City. The hill was long and in some places quite steep, and the road was very crooked, winding among and around the trees. On the side of the hill was a log cabin in which were living a company of miners from the State of Vermont. The ox driver stopped in front of the cabin for a rest, and the Vermonters laughed at and ridiculed his method of driving cattle with such a monster whip, used in such a cruel manner; but Pike said that:
“Them air cattle couldn’t be driv any other way.”
One of the boys, however, made a bet with him that he would, by the use of a little switch only, sit in the empty wagon and drive his team to the top of the hill, without accident or running against the trees. Pike accepted the bet, and with the rest of them got into the wagon.
The Yank, as Pike called him, cut a light switch, and after getting the oxen well started under way, took his seat upon the front of the wagon, and in that manner drove them to the top of the hill without any trouble whatever, to the great astonishment of the bullwhacker, as well as to the cattle too, no doubt.
“Well,” says Pike, “if that don’t beat anything I ever heerd tell on. I hev seen um drive a heap of cattle in old Missouri, but never seen it done with a little baby gad like that before. Blamed if I don’t try it myself; you Yanks beat thunder.”
I have neglected to mention that, before leaving Sacramento for the mines, many who had been up there were now returning on their way home again, if they could get there, being disappointed in their expectations, and declaring that it was all a fraud, but little gold being found anyhow, and then only, as one of them told me confidentially, after you had to dig away down in the hard ground three or four feet to find it. This, of course, was not very encouraging news for men who had sailed around Cape Horn, and then to find that it was all a fraud; but we started on, however, as before stated, for the mines.