Close upon this disaster there arrived a batch of letters for me. My friend in San Francisco had died, and letters from home rendered my return to England necessary. To return again, though—and to Tuttle-town—on that point I was determined, “wind and weather permitting,â€� as we say afloat.
I sold my steam-engine to some wretched favourites of fortune, who took it to a gulch and made money there and then. I sold Mainspring, and Tiger, and Bevis, with grief. I might have given them away, but I know that a man will often give more care and kindness to the animal he has paid for, than to that he gets for nothing! and many a one who cares little for the comfort of a horse, is mightily particular in respect of the hundred guineas the animal is worth!
The tools and houses I left with Rowe, Barnes, and Thomas. The Mexicans I discharged, and presented them with the bullock hides, and frying-pan, so that they were not altogether homeless; then I bade farewell to my mining village, but not yet to the Virginia men, the carpenter Judge or constable Rowe, for these good fellows accompanied me for the first thirty miles of my journey. Then we parted, and I firmly believe with equal regret on either side—why not? there had never been an unkind word between us in a year of mountain life, and as I reiterated at the last, “I’ll soon be back, boys!â€� they knew full well that my resolution would be upheld by the memory of kindnesses received from them.
Again I plod down on the “Old Soldier,� who has seen the last of Choctaw, although he does not know it. Is it a wonder that I was sorrowful when I left behind me so much that had contributed to render my life happy? But I should have been more so had I known then that I had seen the last of Tuttle Town and its inhabitants!
CHAPTER XXI.
ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS—GOLD COUNTRIES—SELF-DOCTORING—ADVICE CONTINUED—I ARRIVE AT STOCKTON.
January, 1852.
We know that the militia of the United States is very numerous, inasmuch as it consists of every man capable of bearing arms; but it certainly would appear that all the officers have emigrated to California, so universal are the military titles there. Now as I proceed to Stockton I meet here and there old mining acquaintances working at the gulches that I have to cross. I am startled by a voice from a deep hole with, “How are you, Captain?â€� (I rank as Captain in California, being nothing; if I was a real Captain I should of course be a General there). I turn then and at once recognise a familiar face, spite of the mud with which it is plastered. “Ah, Colonel,â€� I reply, “what luck? How does the gulch pay?â€� “Pison bad,â€� replies the soldier, and as I depart he shouts, “You’ll see the judge at Cock-a-doodle Creek, and the Major with him, working on shares, and they’re the two meanest,â€�—the rest is lost to me, as the Colonel again disappears in his subterranean coyote digging.
Further on I encounter the Judge and Major at work at a “long tom� and “How are you, Captain?� I am asked again. “Did you see the Colonel?� says the Judge, I answer in the affirmative. “He’s considerable of a snake,� says the Major. “He’s nothing shorter,� adds the Judge. “He’s small potatoes[25] any how,� remarks the Major. I back these opinions being out of shot of the Colonel’s revolver. “Will you trade that horse?� asks the Judge. “He’s not for sale,� I answer, and ride off. He was for sale though, but not to carry gravel from the hill side for Judges and Majors to make money from, whilst the “Old Soldier� picked a scanty subsistence from the brushwood on the mountains. When I leave these worthies behind me, I have seen the last of the diggings.
I have written favourably, it will be perceived, as regards the reward held out by the gold-fields of California, to those who having arrived there have seized properly the advantages that surrounded them, and I have no hesitation in saying, that to the industrious, healthy, and temperate man, a comfortable livelihood is certain; beyond this much will depend upon his energy and ability, and as regards grand results, I may add speculative feeling. I find it impossible to place in proper shape any remarks that could be adapted to the intending emigrant, but I will attempt to lay down a few broad facts that will apply equally to all gold countries.