“You see ’twas down in Calevaras, along in the spring of 51. I took my gun one day, and went out a few miles among the hills on a hunt; well I come across a deep ravine that looked as though it might be tolerable rich: it never had been prospected much anyway, and I concluded to do a little panning jest for fun; there were some boys livin’ about two miles from this ravine that I knew, so I went over to their cabin, and borrowed a pick, pan and shovel, and I tell you that I struck it rich; I found the gravel about four feet deep to the bed rock, and I got as much as ten dollars to a pan. After panning out about $75, I filled up the hole again, covered it over with brush, so as to make it look jest natural like, and started for home.
“When I took home ther borrowed tools, the boys wanted to know if I found anything over in that ravine where I was prospecting? I said no, nothing much; but they kinder suspicioned from my looks that I had found good prospects; I hurried home, and made up my mind to git my tools, mining notice and everything ready, and start out early in the morning before daylight for my rich ravine.
“Well I was on the way out thar about daylight the next morning, and went around another way, so them chaps that I borrowed ther tools from wouldn’t see me.
“When I had got almost to ther ravine, in crossing over a hill, I jest ran a-foul of a big skunk right in ther trail, I tried to git around him, but he walked right up towards me, so I threw down my tools, picked up some rocks, and went for him; but, somehow or other, I couldn’t hit him, and he jest kept on drivin’ me back down ther hill, but I picked up a big club and laid him out cold, after foolin’ away more’n an hour trying to kill ther odoriferous cuss; then I took up my tools and hurried over ther hill down into my rich ravine.
“But I tell you, boys, jest as soon as I come in sight of it I was mad clean through, now you bet, for right down thar on my rich claim, and hard at work, was them chaps that I hed borrowed ther tools of; they had got ahead of me, while I was foolin’ with that skunk, and hed taken up the whole ravine.
“I tried to reason with ther fellers, told them that I hed sunk a hole thar the day before, and had therefore a right to it; they wanted me to jest show them where I had sunk a prospect hole, so I went to ther pile of brush, and says I ‘right thar,’ they said thet no hole had ever been dug thar at all, so I jest kicked away ther brush to show ’em, and I’ll be dolgerned, if thar wasn’t a slate ledge right under it; them boys had moved that brush either to the right, or a leetle to the left, so I couldn’t tell whar ther spot was myself, and thet’s how I got skunked out of a rich claim.”
“There,” says Tennessee, “now I have found out ther reason why we never could get old Boozer to play a game of euchre with us, he was afraid of getting skunked again.”
“Well, now, old pard,” replied Boozer, “I reckon yer hev struck it right squar on ther head, don’t want any more of the animile in mine. Why, boys, I hev been studyin’ gee-ology and gee-ography for nigh forty years, jest to see if I couldn’t find some country whar they don’t raise skunks, and as soon as I can find one I’m jest agoin’ to emigrate thar, you bet.”
Another miner now explained how it was that he and three others who owned a valuable mine up in Nevada County lost it. He explained that it was an hydraulic mine, and they had used all their means, as well as more than two years of hard work, to get started in working it, when up come the officers and forbid them running their tailings into the creek, and he continued by saying: