Still they are received with a flattering welcome. They are taken by the hand with an obsequious grasp, as if their favor was earnestly desired; and the impression is at once made upon their minds, that not only their own presence, but also that of as many more of their kindred as can be persuaded to come, is coveted by us. Their mining implements and boots (the only articles of merchandise they purchase from us) are sold to them at even less rates than to our own countrymen, more from curiosity than from any other cause. For some unaccountable reason, they are treated with a degree of deference and civility which is really surprising. To humor their arrogance and presumption, I have frequently seen Americans, in crowded places, relinquish the side-walk to them, and betake themselves to the middle of a rough and muddy street. Moreover, they are petted as if they were really what they preposterously fancy themselves—the most elevated and exalted of the human race.
But I am inclined to look upon them as an inauspicious element of society—a seed of political dissensions. They have neither the strength of body nor the power of mind to cope with us in the common affairs of life; and as it seems to be a universal law that the stronger shall rule the weaker, it will be required of them, ere long, to do one of two things, namely—either to succumb, to serve us, or to quit the country. Which will they do? Our people will not always treat them with undue complaisance. Their real merits and demerits will be developed, and such stations as their natural endowments qualify them to fill will be assigned them. They must work for themselves, or we will make them work for us. No inferior race of men can exist in these United States without becoming subordinate to the will of the Anglo-Americans, or foregoing many of the necessaries and comforts of life. They must either be our equals or our dependents. It is so with the negroes in the South; it is so with the Irish in the North; it was so with the Indians in New England; and it will be so with the Chinese in California. The Indians, it is true, would not submit to be enslaved; but they had to suffer exile, hunger and death as a consequence of their intractability. Certain it is, that the greater the diversity of colors and qualities of men, the greater will be the strife and conflict of feeling. One party will gain the ascendency, and dominate over the other. Our population was already too heterogeneous before the Chinese came; but now another adventitious ingredient has been added; and I should not wonder at all, if the copper of the Pacific yet becomes as great a subject of discord and dissension as the ebony of the Atlantic. However, the discussion and consideration of these matters more properly devolve upon our public functionaries, who, I presume, if loyal to their constituents and their country, will not lightly regard them.
CHAPTER VIII.
CURSORY VIEWS.
California has features as distinct and peculiar as the Alps or the Andes. It cannot be mistaken for any other country; it is like no other region on the face of the earth. Being new, and in some respects untried, the most various conjectures, and the most opposite opinions have been expressed as to its future fortunes and ultimate destiny. A few who have been successful in their schemes and undertakings, and whose interests and existence are now blended with it, flatter themselves that it is destined to become a great and flourishing state; while, on the other hand, the great majority, who have been disappointed in all their expectations, and thwarted in every attempt, pronounce it an unmitigated cheat, and curse it bitterly as the cause of their ruin. My own opinions are, I imagine, by this time pretty well understood. I speak of the country as I have seen it, not as a mere passing traveler, but as an attentive observer. I emigrated to it as much in search of adventure as of profit; and, during the three years of my residence within its borders, have had ample opportunities to explore and scrutinize it as I desired. I am fully satisfied with my information upon this subject. I have seen all of it that is worth seeing, and a great deal besides. I crave no further knowledge of it than I now possess.
While there is any unoccupied land between the British boundaries of Maine and the Mexican limits of Texas, between the Florida Reefs and the Falls of St. Anthony, I would not advise any person to emigrate to California for the purpose of bettering his worldly condition. I have, indeed, no personal knowledge of the other divisions of land west of the Rocky Mountains; yet an acquaintance with gentlemen of character and veracity who have visited those sections, justifies the opinion that none of them abound in those elements of exuberant and permanent greatness so characteristic of the States east of the Rio Grande and the Mississippi. Oregon and Washington territories, Utah and New Mexico are tolerable countries, and, in some respects, superior to California; but owing to the general inferiority of their natural advantages, they can never become as powerful or important States as Louisiana or New York, Georgia or Illinois. The Pacific side of the continent is, as a general thing, far inferior to the Atlantic slope.
In my judgment, the present condition and future prospects of California, so far from offering inducements for additional immigration, actually portend much poverty and suffering. The very fact that thousands of men, some of whom have been in the country from three to four years, are working for nothing but their board, is of itself justifiable ground for this apprehension. More than a dozen stout, sober, able-bodied men, who asked nothing in compensation for their services but food, have applied to me for employment in a single day. I have elsewhere remarked that many of the most menial and humiliating situations about hotels, stores and private residences are filled by these ill-fated men, who, if they had the means, would be glad to shake off the dust of California from their feet, and return to the homes of their youth, where peace, plenty and happiness are attainable by all. Misery and despair go to bed with them at night, rise with them in the morning and accompany them throughout the day; they have been grossly deceived; “hope told them a flattering tale,� and broke her lying promise; their hearts are sick with unrelenting and consuming sorrows. Strangers among strangers, they have no friend to soothe or assist them in the hour of misfortune; if they hunger, they must fast; if sickness overtake them, death is their remedy. Depressed in spirits, and driven to desperation by bitter and repeated calamities, they betake themselves to the bottle for solace, become insane from extreme anxiety or over-activity of the mind, or else, with bullet, knife, or poison, put a summary end to their wretched lives. Such is the history of many a man who has perished in that land of gold.
They left their homes flushed with hope; those near and dear to them imprinted the last kiss upon their cheeks, and bade them adieu with heavy hearts and tearful eyes, but found consolation in the hope that they would soon return. Those who escaped the many dangers of the various routes and reached their destination, wrote back to their friends immediately upon their arrival that all was well. The news was received with ecstasy; heaven was thanked for their deliverance from the perils of the trip; the neighbors were informed of the health and safety of the adventurers; and for a few weeks all things promised well. In a month or so another letter was anxiously looked for, but did not make its appearance; then fears began to be entertained, and the unwelcome thought would occasionally flash through the mind that all was not well. Nor was it. Month after month slowly and gloomily passed away, without bringing any tidings of the poor deluded wanderers; and it has now been so long since they were heard from, that it is easier to reckon the time by years than by months. Still their fate is wrapt in mystery which is no more likely to be unraveled than is the fate of the President and her crew. All that can be concluded is, that they lie some where within the confines of California, with no monument to reveal the place of their final slumber.
The immigration to California has been too much like the rush of an excited and impatient audience into a theatre, when it is known that a favorite actor is about to perform. There has been too much scrambling, too much crowding and pushing. Every body has heard that gold is scattered over her hills and mountains; thousands covet it, and are foolish enough to suppose that any body can get it. Without taking a calm and deliberate view of the subject—without balancing both sides, or counting the cost, they have suddenly abandoned their homes, and rushed in disorder to the land over which hovered their visions of wealth. They imagined that they had discovered the secret of fortune, and, in their enthusiasm, immediately set out to realize their dreams. They discovered, alas! too late, that their emigration was ill-timed and unprofitable, that they had exchanged a good situation for a bad one, and that immense sacrifices must be made before they could replace themselves in their former position.
No country can ever become truly great, unless it possesses abundant agricultural resources; and as California is deficient in this as well as in other respects, it is absurd to suppose that she will attract attention longer than her mines pay for working. The banks of the rivers, and the localities in the San Jose, Sacramento, and San Joaquin valleys, form exceptions to this general sterility. There the ground is low and moist, or easily irrigated, the soil is extremely fertile, and produces vegetables, which, for size and powers of multiplication, have probably never been equaled. These spots, however, are little more, in comparison with the area of the State, than are the roads of a county to the county itself; and they cannot, therefore, be depended upon to supply the wants and necessities of the whole country, should it ever be thickly settled throughout—an event which, for the very reason I have mentioned above, I do not believe will ever take place. These valleys and the banks of the rivers seem to have become the receptacle of nearly all the virtue of the surrounding surface of the country. As a few specimens of the vegetable monstrosities, the productions of these fertile spots, that have come under my notice, I may mention a beet that weighed forty-seven pounds; a cabbage, thirty-two pounds; a turnip, twenty-six pounds; an Irish potato, seven pounds; and a water-melon, sixty-four pounds. Onions, lettuce, radishes, and other horticultural productions, also grow to an enormous size. Irish potatoes, however, I believe, are the most prolific crop that can be planted. Indian corn is cultivated to but little if any advantage. All of the arable parts of the State are now settled; and farmers who go thither hereafter will either have to return, or abandon altogether the idea of cultivating the soil; for it will be impossible for them to make a subsistence out of the sterile hills of the upland.
That millions of dollars worth of gold have been taken from the mines, and that there is a vast amount still remaining, no one pretends to deny; but then it does not exist in the quantity that is generally supposed. There is nothing more uncertain, as a business, than gold mining in California. It is, indeed, like a lottery—more blanks than prizes; and as every man has to take his chances, he must not feel too much disappointed if his luck leaves him with the majority. A few make themselves independently rich, and go home with flying colors; but where one does it, there are forty or fifty, at least, who, though equally sober, industrious and deserving, do not make more than their support, and very frequently not even that.