GOLD WASHING IN THE CALIFORNIA MINES.
THE AUTHOR’S FIRST GOLD MINING.
My first experience with a rocker was not of an agreeable character. Accompanied by a friend, I went to a locality where it was reported that a miner a few days before had obtained eight hundred dollars in a single day. We were willing to begin at that rate, though we were confident we should make a thousand a day before the end of the week. We carried our tools to the spot, and having placed our rocker, began work. I worked the machine, and Harry, as I will call my friend, supplied it with earth. I placed the machine by the side of the stream where I could easily dip out the water, and told Harry to begin.
For about an hour the machine did very lively work. Whenever I lagged, Harry would remind me of the eight hundred dollar man. Then I would give an extra flourish to the tin dipper, and pile on an extra quart of water. I kept Harry busy bringing earth, and he kept me busy washing it away. At the end of an hour or so we thought we would see how things were getting on.
I raised the lid, examined the riffles, and not a particle of gold was to be seen. The result was not encouraging, and I told Harry we had better move a little way down the stream, and try it again. We did so.
This time Harry took the rocker, and I went into the shovelling business. We made things lively for another hour. Harry was sure we were right this time, as the earth was of a different color, and the water, as it ran from the machine, was so yellow, that it certainly must be tinged with gold. What we most feared was to lose the big nuggets that might roll out from the rocker, and so we examined every stone with all the care of a geological student; but somehow there was not a nugget among the whole lot, and after a while we thought the nugget business was played out.
When we had been in this new place an hour, we concluded to adjourn for dinner. Harry wanted to look into the rocker, but I told him our appetites might be better if we waited until after dinner for the examination. Our dinner was a very plain one, consisting of a piece of bread that might have been sold for a brick, and a slice of pork that had probably come down from the Silurian period.
We were temperate in drinking; that is to say, we drank nothing but water, and it may be proper to add, that we had nothing but water to drink. During the meal we consoled and congratulated ourselves upon being in the eight hundred dollar region. We had counted in the morning upon making at least that sum, but now we were willing to put up with four or five hundred. Our air castles were reasonably gorgeous, though somehow the pains in our backs and legs, diminished their brilliancy.
When our meal was finished, we raised the lid and began examining the rocker. This time there was something in the riffles, and we exulted. Close examination, however, showed that there was nothing there except black sand, a few small pebbles, and three or four particles of gold, each about as large as a pin’s head. We changed our base of operations, and moved again to a new spot.