Certain merchant vessels, which do not carry “an experienced surgeon,â€� are supplied with medicine-chests and an accompanying book of reference. It is related that one tarry fellow once applied to his captain for relief; his complaint was “that he had something on his stomach.â€� Under these circumstances the skipper turned over his pharmacopÅ“ia, and at once prescribed two teaspoonfuls of No. 15 (the drugs being numerically arranged); on an inspection of the “chestâ€� it was found that No. 15 had “given out,â€� and for the moment it seemed that Jack was likely to die from want of medical assistance; but the skipper had a forethought. There was plenty of No. 8—plenty of No. 7; seven and eight make fifteen, says the captain, and Jack, to whom this calculation seemed quite natural, took two teaspoonfuls of the joint mixture, and with so much benefit as this, that whatever was “on his stomachâ€� came up with a rapidity that would have astonished the Royal College of Surgeons. Although the intelligent emigrant would not make so great a blunder as this, he might make a greater, and kill himself, even whilst strictly following out his medicine book. For self-doctoring becomes a mania, and, as with some men, you must keep the bottle away if you would have them sober, so with others, you must deprive them of calomel and opium if you would have them healthy. I have met many infatuated fellows, who, on the first symptom of fever, have salivated themselves, from an inherent faith in the efficacy of mercury; and to see a man in the rainy season in a canvass tent, lying on a damp floor and in damp blankets, bolting calomel pills, is a sight that soon becomes very sad, and yet is very common. American emigrants are very prone to carry with them a preparation of mercury, called “blue mass;â€� fortunately for them there is more clay and rubbish than anything else in the composition. I shall carry with me, when I next start for a region where doctors are not, half a gallon of castor-oil in a tin bottle, a few trifles for the cure of wounds, mustard, and quinine; if the emigrant can afford it, this latter should always form part of his stock.
As regards castor-oil, I can only say that it was the sole medicine I took when attacked by malignant yellow fever, and that I was the only survivor of the passengers of the steamer “Dee� that were attacked.
When first arrived at his new home the emigrant should avoid exposure to the mid-day sun, or night air; but if he be a digger in the gold-fields, let him make this rule, that so soon as he feels the first symptom of illness, he will lay by for twenty-four hours. Premonitory fever can be arrested very easily by rest and quiet, but in nearly every instance it is aggravated to a dangerous pitch, by a feeling of pride that will not allow a man to surrender; and the fear of the jeers of his healthier companions will often cause a man to continue work, when prudence would dictate an opposite course. When headache and sickness attack you, then you may give in. A dose of medicine and a little rest will restore you, and shortly you will become acclimated; but if you fight against feverish symptoms, you may recover, but will probably be a wreck for life. There is an inclination to bathe when fever first appears; avoid that. I became very ill from bathing in the Chagres river one evening, to relieve, as I thought, the headache consequent on exposure to the heat, and Barnes nearly succumbed to a fever produced by the same cause; and although they are not mentioned in this narrative in their proper places, several cases of intermittent fever have from time to time appeared among my party, otherwise I should not presume to lay down any rule for the guidance of others; nor would I now, but that I have seen so many lose their lives from a want of the most ordinary precaution. I would advise the emigrant to the gold-fields to encumber himself as little as possible with what is called an “outfit.� Flannel clothing, thick socks, and the best highlows that can be made for money, he should select with care. Let him take also good blankets. There is no better protection for a man in wet seasons than a blanket with a hole cut in the middle for his head to come through: the body is free, the perspiration is unconfined, and you can’t wear the blanket out. India-rubber I cannot recommend; it is, I believe, more productive of ague than anything else, for it confines the perspiration, and subjects the wearer to a sudden check, when it is removed. An India-rubber counter-pane is useful, but should be placed over, not under, for it absorbs the moisture at all seasons, and makes a point of sending the rheumatism into your back if you lie on it.[26] An India-rubber cap, with a curtain to protect the neck, is very useful in rainy weather, but should be lined with flannel or felt. (See sketch on page 95.) If you intend to dig, have one or two pickaxes and crowbars made under your own supervision; exported tools are too often made of very inferior iron, and it is money well spent to pay something over the market price for a pickaxe that won’t turn its nose up at you the instant you drive it into the hill-side.
After one of the San Francisco fires an intelligent blacksmith bought up a quantity of “burnt-out� gun-barrels; these were filled up to give weight, and the breach of each was fashioned to the shape of a crowbar. These instruments sold very well, but if ever there is a calendar of saints in California, that enterprising blacksmith will not be one of them! or if he is, he will have been sworn at more than a saint by right should be.
I have said all that occurs to me would be of service to the emigrant: it is little enough, and may have been said before; but if it only corroborates the experience of others, it answers fully the end I have in view. And I have no hesitation in submitting these remarks, for the great advantage of one man falling into a pit is that he can show thousands how to avoid it. I have plunged headlong into many such holes, and as I would myself avoid them for the future, so I would that others should. And although in the form that this is published it will not probably meet the eye of the poor man, still if those who through the journals they conduct so bravely cheer and assist the emigrant, see anything in these remarks that may save him from unnecessary expense or sickness, they will, I know, too gladly in their own way extend the aid which I intend. Above all, I would that the emigrant who has a little money should be impressed with the necessity of carrying as much of his fund out with him as he can. The best ten pounds a poor man can spend is that which enables him on his arrival in a new country to look about him for a day or two before he begins his work.
When I arrived at Stockton, I found the streets of that city so cut up by the traffic of the winter, that in many parts of the public thoroughfare there were mud holes that it was necessary to avoid. The spectators on the pathway became quite interested as I plunged through the main street on the Old Soldier, and one would have thought that I was a steamboat on the point of explosion by the crowd that followed my movements. I was already deep over my saddle-girths, but the Old Soldier, maddened by the jeers of the inhabitants, made short work of it, and landed at last, “blown,� on comparatively dry ground. It appeared afterwards that I had entered Stockton by a street that had for the last month been considered impassable, and was so to any but a high-couraged animal; but as the Old Soldier’s feet were nearly as large as soup-plates, he had an advantage over most beasts in getting through dirt.
I slept that night in a Stockton Hotel, and waking at dawn, I started out of bed and raised a shout; it was but the force of habit; but although the Tuttle-tonian pigs were nearly a degree of longitude away, I had mechanically armed myself with the water-jug before I remembered the fact.
The next morning I started for San Francisco in a very small steamboat, and seeing the San Joaquin river for the first time by daylight, I observed that it was very ugly; it only required alligators to make it perfect in this respect. There was but one wheel to our boat, and that was astern, and as the accommodation part of the vessel was built to a great height, it was something like a small wheelbarrow with a large trunk on it, going the wrong way. We passed Benicia with a fair tide, and after stemming a stiff breeze, of which the Old Soldier got the full benefit, as he was in the stem of the boat, and formed a temporary figure-head, we arrived at San Francisco about dusk. I was fortunate in getting a kind master for the old horse, and I have seen him since, fatter than ever he was with me, carrying vegetables about the town with no more pride than if he was a common animal.
CHAPTER XXII.
ELECTIONS—EXECUTIONS—REFORMS—EXILES—“KNOW NOTHINGSâ€�—TESTIMONIALS—SPEAKING TRUMPETS—OCEAN STEAMERS—LIFE-BUOYS—AIR-BOATS—CONFIDENCE NECESSARY—FITTING A RAFT—A SUGGESTION.