A TRIP BY RAIL FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE TO SACRAMENTO.

[From William Fraser Rae's Westward By Rail: The New Route To The East, D. Appleton & Co., New York: 1871 (Trip made in 1869)]

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XIV.

THE GREAT SALT LAKE TO THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.

TO ENTER the cars of the Union Pacific Railway after having paid a visit to Salt Lake City is like setting foot on one's native soil after sojourning among a strange people in a foreign land. The habits and modes of thought of the Mormons and the social atmosphere in which they live are alien to the visitor who has neither special sympathy with their creed, nor is predisposed to admire their customs. Seated in the cars again, he feels himself free to speak his mind without dread of being misunderstood and without danger of giving offence.

After leaving Uintah and proceeding Westward, Corinne is the next station of note. Passengers bound for the Territory of Montana, which lies to the north of Utah, leave the train here and take the stage coach.

Montana has the reputation of being a second California. Although a Mormon town and almost exclusively subjected to Mormon influences, yet in Corinne a most vigorous and un-

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relenting warfare against the Saints is waged by Mr. J. H. Beadle, the editor of the Utah Daily Reporter. In Salt Lake City this could not be done. The Mormon leaders would soon find means for silencing a declared foe to their system and scoffer at their pretensions. Certainly they would be justified in protesting against the virulent language of their critic. In a leading article, the Mormons in authority are likened to men 'who would rob their grandmothers of their spectacles and sell their frames for silver.' The principal Saints whom the mass of the ignorant people of Utah almost worship, are represented as 'a lot of New England Yankees out on a speculation with not the least speck of moral or honest sentiment in their whole composition. They are out here lording it over a lot of foreign converts who are here made peasants and slaves to these Yankee masters. With such men to obtain absolute sway over an ignorant and bigoted people, can we expect any-thing else than that these leaders should, be what they are—crafty swindlers and licentious monsters?'

When the editor leaves Corinne for other parts of the settlement he does so at the risk of his life. He has more than once experienced harsh treatment at the hands of exasperated Mormons. It is possible that his voice will one day be silenced by

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such irresistible and congenial Mormon arguments as bullets from a revolver or blows from a club.

After passing Corinne, around which the country is fertile and well-cultivated, the line runs through a barren tract, skirts the shore of the Great Salt Lake, and ascends the side of Promontory Mountain. The gradients here are very steep, and the cuttings in the rock must have been made with much expenditure of toil and money. Two trestle bridges are crossed, a sharp curve is rounded, and the station of Promontory is reached. This is the Western terminus of the Union Pacific, and the Eastern terminus of the Central Pacific Railway. Here it was that the ceremony of uniting the two sides of the Continent by rail was performed on the 10th of May, 1869. The point of junction was then the subject of controversy, and has not yet been finally settled. The present arrangement is the result of a compromise. The two companies in their anxiety to earn as much as possible of the Government subsidy, carried their respective lines as far as an hundred miles to the east and west of Promontory, These unfinished roadways are still to be seen side by side with the completed line. As one result of the disagreement, there are few through trains. In general the passengers have to change carriages, secure fresh sleeping berths, and

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get their luggage moved from one train to the other. Two hours are allowed for this, as well as for taking a meal. There is usually ample time to stroll through the town and see the sights. The town is built partly of canvas and partly of wood, and has but one street. The signs are hardly in keeping with the structures to which they are attached. Over a shanty is painted in large letters, 'Pacific Hotel,' and over a tent, 'Club House.'  One of the wooden dwellings attracts notice on account of the neatly arranged muslin curtains within the window. Unlike the others, it has no sign-board to indicate its purpose, but a glance through the open door satisfies the curiosity of the passer-by. He sees two or three smiling females ready to extend welcomes to whoever will enter in. This is characteristic of all these rude settlements in the wild Western country. In a canvas town, the abode of women with few scruples to overcome and no characters to lose is as distinguishable, and as much a thing of course, as the gambling hell and the drinking saloon. Of drinking saloons there are many at Promontory ; but there is only one gambling hell as far as I could learn. This one is quite enough for the place. In its way the hell is unique. The object of its keepers is to entice the passengers halting here to try their luck. With

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this view agents are sent to the neighbouring stations, where they take their places in the cars, and enter into conversation with the occupants. Of course, as soon as the train stops at Promontory these agents lead the way to the gaming table. Nor have they far to go. It is in the open air, within a few yards of the line. The game played is three card Monte. It is as simple as thimblerig. Three cards are laid out in line with their faces downwards. Let it be supposed that these are a Jack, a King, and a Queen, the denomination of the cards making no difference—the dealer will then challenge any one to point out one of them, say the Jack. A stake of a twenty dollar gold piece depends on the event. In front of the card-dealer is a pile of these gold pieces. He addresses the on-lookers as follows :—'Gentlemen, you have your eyes against my hand. You see how I place the cards,' moving the three backwards and forwards, and then laying them in a row. 'Now I will bet any one of you that he does not point out the Jack ; if he does so at the first chance he wins his money, if he fails he loses it.' One of the bystanders inquires if he will bet without touching the cards, to which the reply is, 'Certainly, sir ; I will bet anything, from 20 to 100 dollars, that you do not point out the Jack.' The speaker steps for-

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ward eagerly and excitedly, places a 20 dollar gold piece on the table, and points to a card, which, when reversed, is seen to be the right one. He gets his 20 dollars, which he clutches, and then makes off rapidly, as if surprised and delighted at his good fortune, carrying off, also, the winning card in the excitement of the moment. The card-dealer calls upon him to return the 'ticket,' adding, ' By golly, Sir, you have beaten me this time, but you are as welcome to the money as if you had worked hard for it.' This is repeated several times, the keeper of the table invariably losing. Indeed the game seems absurdly easy, as there is always a small black speck on the back of the winning card, and every onlooker thinks it a certainty to point out this card. At last, after the dealer had lost repeatedly, a man came out of the tent behind the table saying, ' Come now, partner, you had better stop; this won't do.' To which he replies, 'By golly I will play till I lose every cent I have in the world. I must win nine times out of ten, and I am ready to bet any gentleman 100 dollars that he does not point out the right card this time.' The truth is the men who had staked and won were what we call confederates, and what are here called 'cappers.' They certainly played their parts exceedingly well, and would have imposed on any

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other set of spectators than one composed of old Californians, who are too knowing birds to be caught by the chaff of cardsharpers. They are well acquainted with the trick of the game. I saw a poor German baker, destitute of experience and endowed with but little sense, dispossessed in a few minutes of all that he had in his pockets. The trick consists in being able to deceive the spectator by shifting the small black speck on the back of the cards in such a way as to make him point to the wrong one. When the betting is real the 'Bank' never loses. I have been told that the winnings on some days are as high as 1,700 dollars. It is the passengers who alone become dupes, and the emigrant trains yield the most plentiful harvest.

A 'capper' with whom I conversed supplied me with what he deemed a defence of the 'institution.' This 'capper' strongly urged me to try my luck. I thanked him for his recommendation and expressed my deep regret at my inability to contribute an adequate amount to the gains of the Bank. I told him that I should not forget his advice, if at any future time I might be possessed of more money than I could easily squander, and that, rather than get rid of it all by throwing it out of the window, I should reserve a portion wherewith to visit Promontory station and lose the remainder

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at three card Monte. Thereupon he changed his tone, and said that the keepers of the table had been harshly treated by the press, had been called robbers and other hard names, whereas they were honest, straightforward men who laboured hard in order to earn their living. He added that the play was perfectly fair to those who took part in it. This was perfectly true if fairness consisted in uniform winning on the one side, and uniform losing on the other. He told me, moreover, that many emigrants had come to Promontory, had lost all they had, and had been kindly treated by these calumniated hell keepers. Their charity, he said with an accent of candour and an air of kindliness which would have done credit to the most practised adept in professional philanthropy, was conspicuously displayed towards those whom they had beggared, for they gave them a sum sufficient to pay their journey to their destination, or to keep them during the journey. I modify while translating his language, which was rather highly seasoned with vigorous and sonorous expletives. Although the small population of this place is composed for the most part of roughs and gamblers, with the admixture of a female element quite as obnoxious, yet the peace is tolerably well kept on account of the awe felt for the railway officials. It

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is tacitly understood that open lawlessness or any serious disturbance would end in the clean sweep of the whole nest of scoundrels. If those who had the power were at once to begin the cleansing process, they would do a service to all travellers over this railway.

'Pullman's palace cars' do not form part of the ordinary trains on the Central Pacific Railway. That company has what it calls 'silver palace cars,' of which the name is the best part. They are very inferior when compared with those of the Pullman Company. Besides, the system of management is far less perfect. In Pullman's cars there is a conductor whose duty it is to see that the passengers are properly cared for, and under him are coloured servants, one being attached to each car. The Central Pacific Company's cars are in charge of a coloured man, who also acts as attendant. This double part is generally done badly. The opinion prevailed throughout the train that at least one of these coloured gentlemen would suffer rough usage some day at the hands of exasperated passengers. His insolence and inattention were unbearable, He was certainly the wrong man for the place. The conductors of Pullman's cars are patterns of good officials. They are handsomely paid. They hold office on the condition that

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no complaint is preferred against them, instant dismissal being the consequence of any well-founded charge. It is this, among other things, which has rendered Pullman's Car Company a splendid commercial success.

If the cars of the Californian Company are inferior to those of its rival, the Californians are entitled to a large share of the praise due to those who constructed this railway. A few words may fitly be expended in stating what they did. Several years ago, when Sacramento was a much smaller place than it now is, some of its most intelligent residents convinced themselves of the feasibility of carrying a line of rail across the lofty and snow-capped Sierra Nevadas. At their own expense they had a survey made. A route was fixed upon, plans were drawn up, and the details of the project elaborated. Throughout the state of California the scheme became so popular, that to be a 'railroad man' was one of the best claims wherewith to secure the votes of electors. A state charter was formally obtained, and the promoters went to Washington to urge the measure upon Congress. This was in 1862, when the nation was alive to the necessity of facilitating intercourse with the Pacific States, in order that the perils to which the Union was then exposed might not be rendered

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more formidable in character or more extended in range. The desire of California to have the railway constructed was thus in unison with the heart-felt aspirations of the Eastern States. Accordingly, the assent of Congress was given to the proposed scheme, and the pecuniary aid of the Government pledged to carry it into effect. However, forty miles had to be completed before any money could be claimed from the Government, and these forty miles ran up the steep slopes of mountains so lofty as apparently to defy the science of the most skilful and sanguine engineer. Yet the formidable obstacles were vanquished one after another, and the prophets who predicted failure, and the cynics who styled the scheme a swindle, were put to open shame. The Californians allege that, while their section of the line presented the largest number of engineering problems to solve, it is far the better of the two. They might add that had they not had the advantage of the cheap and efficient labour of Chinamen it would still have been a grand project, or else but slowly advancing towards completion.

Meantime the train has been careering over the Central Pacific Railway, and along the shore of the Great Salt Lake, thus affording to the passengers a splendid view of that magnificent sheet of water, as well as of the bold mountain peaks which

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encompass it. The prospect is one to be enjoyed and remembered. But it is the only glimpse of scenery, worthy of special note, on which the eye rests with pleasure.  We are still within the Territory of Utah. Promontory Point, where the junction was formally made between the railways of which the starting points were Sacramento and Omaha, is in that Territory. The Mormons constructed more than an hundred miles of the railway, and Brigham Young is said to have enriched himself by the way in which he manipulated the contracts. Yet, on the memorable day when the line was finally completed and officially opened, the very existence of the citizens of Utah was unrecognised, if not forgotten. The Governor of Arizona was present and brought with him a silver spike as the contribution of the dwellers in his remote Territory. The State of Nevada. also sent a silver spike, fashioned by the hands of one hundred citizens. Some munificent citizens of San Francisco contributed two golden spikes, as an offering on behalf of the State of California, while the last tie or sleeper was a beautiful piece of Californian laurel. The ceremony of driving the last spike was marked by an incident to which a parallel will be sought in vain among the many extraordinary feats of modern times. The hammer with which the

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blows were given was connected to a wire in direct communication with the principal telegraph offices throughout the Union. Thus the instant that the work was consummated the result was simultaneously saluted on the shores of two great Oceans and throughout the wide expanse of a vast continent by the roar of cannon and the ringing of bells.*

Several miles westward of Promontory station, the line traverses what, properly speaking, is the Great American Desert. This is supposed to be the bed of an inland sea. In barrenness it rivals the Desert of Sahara; in desolation and dreariness it cannot be surpassed. A coating of alkali dust gives to it the appearance of a snow-covered plain. But snow is far less intolerable than the alkali. Where it abounds nothing of service to man or beast can live. Shoe-leather is burned by it as by quicklime. The minute particles which float in the air irritate the throat and lungs as keenly as the

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* Lest any curious traveller should waste his time in seeking for the precious spikes and the valuable sleeper, I may state that they were removed almost as soon as laid, and that pieces of ordinary wood and iron were substituted for them. But these, however, did not long remain intact. The hoarders of relics hacked the sleeper into splinters in the course of a few minutes, and attacked the last rail with a vigour which had the effect of rendering it worthless. The sleeper had to be renewed three times and the rail once in the course of a week. Even then, credulous visitors were still busied in cutting mementoes of the 'last tie.'

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steel dust which cuts short the lives of Sheffield needle-grinders. Long before Elko is reached, a station 200 miles distant from Promontory, the passengers in the train fervently pray to be delivered from this corrosive and ubiquitous alkali dust.

Soon after the opening of the railway, a party, of which ex-Senator Ben Wade was one, made this journey. Complaints were rife about the discomforts experienced on this section of the line. Wishing to make the best of what could not be remedied, the Mark Tapley of the party remarked that with plenty of water to lay the dust and congenial companions, the Great American desert would be, not only endurable, but delightful. Whereupon the ex-Senator observed:—'With plenty of water and good society, Hell would not be a bad place to live in.'

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XV.

THE HUMBOLDT RIVER AND PLAINS.

AFTER passing through the Great American Desert the sight of a running river and luxuriant vegetation is most enjoyable. The stream which freshens and fertilises this region is the Humboldt, having its source in the mountains of that name, and flowing westwards for about two hundred and fifty miles. Along the banks of the river Humboldt is a thick fringe composed of willow trees and a variety of shrubs. It is characteristic of this part of the country that as soon as the land is irrigated almost any plant or vegetable can be grown upon it. The climate is genial. If it were not for the lack of rain millions of acres might be at once brought under cultivation. Hence the extreme value of the tract adjacent to a stream of water large enough to supply all that is required for the purposes of irrigation. When the emigrants formerly traversed this route, they timed their halting places so as to be within easy reach of a river. In many places there are numerous pools of water ; but for the

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most part these are so strongly impregnated with alkali as to be even more undrinkable than sea water. The alkali water burns the tongue, inflames the throat, irritates the stomach. Those who essay it will agree with the American writer who says :--'Taste it at the first opportunity, and you will wish that the first opportunity had come last, or that it never had arrived.' An animal will die of thirst sooner than drink a drop of it. Yet men have been known to struggle against an impending death from thirst and exhaustion by painfully swallowing small portions of this bitter water. Happily these trials are no longer among the dangers which beset the traveller across the Great American Desert and the Humboldt Plains. The railway has changed all that. Where there is no drinking water on the spot, it is brought by train. In several places tanks have been erected for containing a supply of water sufficient to meet all ordinary wants.

In the midst of the Humboldt Plains is the town of Elko, at which the train makes a long stoppage. This is one of the mushroom towns which abound to the west of the Rocky Mountains. It contains three thousand inhabitants. What Sacramento and San Francisco were twenty years ago, Elko is said to be at the present moment. It is laid out in streets, and these streets are lined with shops and

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dwellings. As names, Commercial-street, Main-street, Railroad-street sound well, while First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Streets convey the notion of an American city of size and importance. But it is one thing to read of those streets, and another and very different thing to walk in them. They are as much entitled to the appellation of streets as are the spaces between the booths of a country fair. Nor are the shops, houses, and public offices at all more imposing than the booths erected in a night for the business of a day. The thorough-fares are neither paved nor macadamised. They are as primitive in character as the pathways between the tents on Wimbledon Common when the Volunteers are encamped there. The foot passenger walks among alkali, and as he moves along he raises a cloud of dust which whitens and damages his clothes, and excoriates his nostrils. Over the fronts of shops constructed of wood, canvas, or a combination of both, are signs intimating that everything the pedestrian wants is to be had within. If he enters one of these pretentious 'stores' he will find that with money, and plenty of it, he has at his command whatever he can desire, from a box of pills to a bottle of champagne, and from a cigar to a pot of blacking.

On the outside of some huts is a board with the inscription that a lawyer or a

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doctor may be consulted within. One of these huts has these words painted above the door in large black letters :—'Office of the Elko Independent.' A newspaper office in such a locality specially attracts the attention of anyone to whom newspaper-offices are places of personal interest. I regret that the time at my disposal was insufficient to visit this home of journalism in what was little better than a wilderness. I was fortunate enough, however, to succeed in procuring a copy of the Elko Independent. It is published twice a week ; is printed on good paper ; its leading articles are quite as well written as those which grace the columns of an English provincial newspaper, while its advertisements are fraught with instruction of a new and curious kind. That the price of a copy should have been one shilling surprised me less than the fact that the journal was published at all, and was supported by the small population of this primitive town.

One of the advertisements was very noteworthy. It was worded as follows :—'Ung Gen, Chinese Doctor, Silver-street, between Fourth and Fifth, Elko, will attend professionally to all who may require his services. Having been engaged in a steady practice for several years, he is prepared to cure all diseases that may come to his notice.' This was not, as sceptical readers may suppose, an adver-

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tising trick. Chinese doctors are not shams here, but living realities, and, in their own way, useful members of society. In some parts of the Union mock Indians impose on the credulous, and deceive the unwary. At Saratoga, for example, the Indian camp is inhabited by persons bearing strong physical resemblances to Irishmen of pure blood and obstreperous patriotism. Around Niagara Falls the Indians have a very theatrical appearance. Their names and dresses alone recall the wild aborigines of America. But the Chinese in these parts of the American continent are genuine natives of the Flowery Land. They have been the chief constructors of the Pacific Railway. They are the most docile and trustworthy of servants. Along the line I saw squads of them at work. At this place they are so common as to attract no notice. Many of them were making their way through the crowd on the platform of the station. Four or five women and a few children were the momentary objects of interest, for Chinawomen are but seldom seen in public. Not less curious than the advertisement of the Chinese doctor, whose 'steady practice for several years' had prepared him 'to cure all diseases,' was that of a firm of druggists. This firm intimated not only that it was ready to supply all drugs and to prepare all prescriptions, but also

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that it had on hand 'a large stock of paints, oils, window-glass, castor oil; also a large assortment of fishing lines and hooks of all kinds.' Another announcement may be repeated for the benefit of future visitors to Elko. In it the keeper of the 'White Pine Saloon' informs his patrons that 'The most delicate fancy drinks are compounded by skilful mixologists in a style that captivates the public and makes them happy.' Turning from the advertising to the leader columns of the Elko Independent, I find that the Democratic party is honoured with its support, and that the Chinese are the objects of its aversion. A proposition for excluding Chinese labour, without openly persecuting Chinamen, deserves mention on account of the malicious ingenuity which inspired it. The writer points out that it is characteristic of the Chinese to desire that their remains should be interred among the graves of their ancestors, and that to be buried in a foreign land is repugnant alike to their religious sentiments and patriotic feelings. Taking advantage of this, it is proposed to make it a penal offence 'to disturb the remains of the dead after burial, and to attempt to carry away from our shores the mortal remains of one of that people, and the good work of excluding them is accomplished.'

From conversations with fellow-travellers I learned

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that the aversion to the Chinamen is very general on the Pacific slope of the continent. The Chinese I saw along the line appeared to be hard-working and good-tempered beings, ready to interchange words with whoever would converse with them in the broken English which they understand, and delighted when a passenger who had lived in China gave utterance to a word or phrase in their native tongue. One or two Chinamen entered the train here. Among them was a merchant who had amassed a fortune, who spoke English fluently, and who conversed intelligently on most subjects. He was not allowed a seat in the best cars, but was condemned to occupy a place in the emigrants' cars. All his money could not conquer the prejudice against his tribe. Though the negroes have been emancipated, yet the spirit of caste still works mischief in America. Indeed, as an American writer has forcibly remarked : 'The spirit of "Native Americanism" is but a thinly disguised aristocracy of birth.'  Perhaps no two persons in the motley group on the platform at Elko station were more helpless and misplaced than a Frenchman and his wife. They were evidently very poor, were miserably clad and dirty, and downcast in spirit. They hardly knew a word of English, and those about them were ignorant of French. Their desire was to

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get to the silver mines in as cheap a way as possible, being under the delusion that if they once reached the mines their fortunes were as good as made. This was the second French couple I met in this far away region. The other wretched pair had taken up their abode in Salt Lake City, with a view to deal in furs. Both had been from ten to fifteen years in America, and the husband alone could make himself imperfectly understood. His wife spoke French only. They uttered warm expressions of satisfaction when they found one with whom they could converse in their own language. Unfortunately the pleasure was not reciprocal, seeing that this unhappy couple took advantage of the opportunity to pour forth a long and by no means interesting account of their sufferings and their disappointments. The couple at Elko thought less about telling their story than about finding a team of mules wherewith to start for the silver yielding region. They were clearly directed whither to go, but when last I saw them as the train moved off, they were walking in the wrong direction in a state of hopeless bewilderment.

What gives importance to this place is the fact that the road to the White Pine mining district branches off at Elko. This district is about 125 miles south of Elko, and is almost due east of

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Virginia City, where the excitement with regard to silver mining in Nevada first broke out, and attracted general notice. The reputation of White Pine had been achieved in a very short time.  In February, 1869, the population of the district was reckoned at four hundred people ; five months later it had increased to twenty thousand. The dominant topic in every conversation is the silver mines of this State. Let me pause in the description of my journey to furnish a brief account of the silver mines of Nevada.

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XVI.

THE STATE OF NEVADA AND ITS SILVER TREASURES.

PRIOR TO 1861, what is now known as the State of Nevada formed part of the Territory of Utah. The Mormons were in the minority and the Gentiles were dissatisfied with their own condition. Having resolved upon separating themselves from the Mormons, the Gentiles met together, passed resolutions, and formed a territorial organization. Congress approving of their conduct, gave validity to the arrangements they had made. The President appointed a Governor over the new Territory. The numbers of the citizens rapidly increased : their ambition prompted them to desire admission into the Union and, on Congress giving the necessary consent, the semi-independence and the valuable privileges accorded to a State became, in 1864, the portion of Nevada.

As early as 1859 discoveries of silver in Nevada had attracted the notice of adventurous miners in all parts of the West. Ten years had then elapsed since the gold excitement in California startled and fascinated the world. The Californian quartz mines

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were as rich as ever, but the individual miner found great difficulty in getting a return for his labour equal to that which he could easily command before the watercourses had been rifled of nuggets and all the gold dust had been sifted from the sand and gravel. To these disappointed and desponding miners the news that silver was even more abundant in Nevada than gold had ever been in California was received with great joy, and an immediate rush was made to the new Potosi. The yield of the great Comstock lode was such as to verify to the letter the most highflown statements, and to gratify the most sanguine hopes. Virginia City, in Western Nevada, was built within easy reach of this lode and the whole district was honey-combed with mines. The estimated value of the gold and silver obtained in this district during ten years is twenty millions sterling. Sixteen millions of dollars are believed to be the gross annual yield. The sum is enormous, yet the proportion of actual gain is very small. The net profit is understood to be not greater than half a million of dollars. Worse than the insignificance of the return is the prospect that, unless a desperate experiment prove successful, these mines will have to be abandoned altogether. To avert this calamity a tunnel is now being driven into Mount Davidson with a view to intersect the great

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Comstock lode at the depth of 2,000 feet. The distance to be driven is four miles. Mr. Sutro is the projector of the tunnel, and it has been named after him. Opinions are divided as to the merits of the enterprise. Its very magnitude is regarded by some as an insuperable bar to its success, while more daring and confident spirits predict the brilliant triumph of the gigantic undertaking. It is not necessary to be a practical miner, an experienced engineer, or a volunteer prophet to state that the Sutro tunnel will either beggar its promoters, or else be the means of converting each of them into a Croesus.

To the east of Virginia City another district rich in silver deposits attracted miners in 1862. This is called the Reese River district. The mines in it do not yield large quantities of ore, but the ore found in them is of a superior class. Austin City is the chief town of this locality. But the spot which at present surpasses all others, which has been more than a nine days wonder, and the theatre of an excitement which tends to increase rather than abate, which has been the haven of miners disgusted with the reality elsewhere, and is one of the most notable among the many rich repositories of silver treasure in the State of Nevada, bears the name of White Pine.

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This district which lies due east of Virginia City was first 'prospected' by some adventurous miners who left Austin City in the spring of 1865 with the design of carefully exploring untrodden wilds in the hope of making their fortunes. With such men the old saw, that the sea contains as good fish as have been taken out of it, is at once an article of faith and a stimulus to action. While thoroughly coinciding in the spirit of the saying they have materially altered its wording. Instead of sea, they read stream or flat or mountain slope, and for fish, they substitute the words golden dust or auriferous quartz, chloride of silver or argentiferous stone. A pickaxe is their 'open sesame.' Wherever their keen and skilled vision detects traces of mineral, there the rending blow is struck and the stone detached to be tested by a rude chemistry, or subjected to the rapid and decisive scrutiny of eyes quick to discern and admire the true ore and trained to reject the dross.

During many months of hard toil continued with indomitable vigour, and of trying privation borne with unflinching spirit, did they prosecute their search. Spring melted into summer and summer faded into autumn before the prize was won. They then satisfied themselves that what is now known as Treasure Hill contained incalculable stores of precious minerals. On the

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10th of October they assembled together, made speeches and passed resolutions whereof the gist is contained in the mining records of the locality. The entry runs as follows : 'A company of miners met on the above day for the purpose of forming a district. Motion made and carried that this district be known as White Pine District—bounded on the north by the Red Hills, and running thence south to a point whence the mountains run into a foot-hill, thence east twelve miles, thence north, and thence west to the place of beginning.' The district thus mapped out had no attraction of scenery or site to recommend it. The trees which grow in the valleys or on the mountain sides are few in number and small in size. Desolation and sterility dominate the landscape. Nor is the absence of beauty compensated for by balmy winds and genial skies. All the year round the air is chilly, while, during the long months of winter, storms rage with incredible fury. The blast sweeps along charged with snow, and dust, and gravel. Those who suffer this ordeal are justified in believing that the demons of the storm have chosen as their appropriate home the bleak and barren mountains of Nevada. A name originally given to a thick white mass of cold vapour which sometimes veils the mountain tops and sometimes fills the valleys is employed to characterize these

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terrible storms. Tell a miner acquainted with White Pine that you have had to face the Pogo-nip and he will at once know that all your powers of endurance have been .put to the test. The strength of the fascination produced by the silver deposits at White Pine is measured by the fact that the miners persevere in extracting the valued metal despite the terrors and the trials of the Po-go-nip.

Hamilton City, Shermantown, and Treasure City, are the principal centres of business in the district of White Pine. Many other names of cities might be mentioned, but the 'cities' themselves are names and nothing more. They are glibly uttered by speculators : they figure in books and maps ; but the greenhorn will search for them in vain. A new-comer desiring to learn some particulars about a city, questioned a miner who, on the strength of a month's residence in the neighbourhood, had a claim to the title of one of the oldest inhabitants, and received the reply that the city 'was about as large as New York, but was not built up yet.'  Those which have been ' built up' are mere aggregates of miserable shanties and primitive tents. To construct a wooden dwelling is nearly as expensive here as it is to erect a marble palace elsewhere. Treasure City, perched up near

NEVADA AND ITS SILVER TREASURES. 211

the summit of Treasure Hill at an elevation of nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, is in close proximity to one of the richest of the White Pine mines. This is the Eberhardt, which is to White Pine what the famous Gould and Curry is to Virginia City. Not till the spring of 1868 was it vigorously worked and since then the returns have been prodigious. Its value has been rated at millions : at one time a purchaser acquired it for twenty-five dollars. A trustworthy writer has given the following sketch of the appearance of the mine underground :--'At the door a pack train of Mexican mules are being loaded with the precious ore for the mill two miles to the south-west, and two thousand feet lower down. In the shed men are busy at a great pile of brown, blue, red, green and black rock, breaking it to pieces and sorting it, the richest being thrown aside for the crucible, and the rest going into the sacks to be packed away to the mill. There is a princely fortune in this pile of ore, which to the uninitiated eye is but a heap of broken rock fit only for building walls or macadamizing public streets. Over one of the hoisting shafts there is a large wooden bucket with a rope and rude windlass such as you might see on the prospecting shaft of the poorest miner. It has served for hoisting all this wealth to the surface. In this

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bucket we descended into the mine. A long, narrow chamber, with dull, dark walls, and a few men at work with pick and gad, were all that the first glance revealed, and there was a momentary feeling of disappointment. A closer inspection showed that the walls, the ceiling, the floor, were silver; even the very dust on the floor was silver. This lump will yield five dollars a pound, this six, this seven, this eight, and this, which will flatten like lead under the hammer, is worth within a fraction of ten dollars a pound. They tell us that there is a million dollars worth of silver piled up before our eyes in this gloomy cavern, and such is indeed the fact.' *  Keystone, Aurora, and Virginia, are the names of other productive mines. It is dangerous, however, to speak eulogistically of any mine, for before the ink is dry in which the words are written the mine's reputation may have been blasted beyond redemption. To-day its richness is the theme of every tongue and the envy of all who have no share in it, while to-morrow hardly a soul will deign to notice the concern which, in the slang of the locality, is 'played out' or 'busted.' Not only are the blanks more numerous than the prizes in the great lottery of silver mining, but the prizes often become converted into blanks. The miner makes what he calls

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* Mr. A. S. Evans, in Overland Monthly for March, 1869, p. 279.

NEVADA AND ITS SILVER TREASURES 213

'a strike;' he has found the hidden treasure ; his fortune, he now thinks, is made. Suddenly he discovers that the ore is 'refractory ' and will not pay to work, or the lode which sparkled with metal first becomes 'disordered' and then disappears. Moderate success will not suffice to enable him to live easily and accumulate wealth. He may work for others and receive 1l. daily ; but this barely enables him to subsist. In the early days of mining here, the prices of the commonest articles were exorbitant, while the sums charged for others were Prohibitory. Rich men could alone afford to be ill, and all who fell ill were not rich. A doctor's fee would have ransomed a captive out of the hands of blood-thirsty Greek brigands. Laudanum sold at 05s. a drop. A single pill cost 2l. For extracting a tooth 101. were charged. Even the trivial luxury of a cup of tea could not be enjoyed for less than 1l., while the man who wished to eat an egg had to pay 15s. for the treat. Competition has now lowered prices, but there are several things which still command comparatively high sums. There is no water in Treasure City; every drop consumed there has to be brought in barrels up the steep mountain side, and a gallon costs as much as a gallon of wine on the Rhine or the Rhone. There is little wood in this district: a bundle of sticks costs one Pound

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sterling. When these things are duly considered, it will not seem strange that the profits of those who work what are reputed to be the richest mines should be neither great nor lasting.

Although thousands will waste their substance and their strength in developing the silver mines of Nevada, yet the returns from these mines will probably suffice to double or quadruple the silver bullion of the world. That State has already produced as much silver as all the mines of Peru. What has been done within the brief space of a few years is but a trifle compared with what may hereafter be accomplished. There are numerous mountain slopes and Canyons yet untested in which many an Eberhardt mine may be discovered, or another Comstock lode laid bare. Nor of adventurers willing to risk all on the venture is there any lack. Perhaps the capitalist who is not addicted to speculations which differ in name only from staking money on the chance of a dice-box, on the roll of a ball, or on the colour of a card drawn at random from a pack, will act wisely if he watch rather than aid in the development of the Nevada mines. Those who are on the spot may effect a profitable investment : those who are at a distance must trust to the representations of others ; must rely upon the reports of assayers ; must believe that the specimens

NEVADA AND ITS SILVER TREASURES. 215

shown to them really represent the character of the mines which they are asked to purchase. The following story, despite its exaggeration, is fraught with a useful moral. When new discoveries were being made daily, the first duty was to get the specimens assayed. If the result were encouraging the claim would at once command a high price. One of these assays was too satisfactory. According to the assayer's report the proportion of silver in the stone was rather more per ton than if the whole had been solid silver, while it was added that gold to the value of 39 dollars was also contained in it. 'Considering that the specimen assayed was a fragment of a grindstone, the effort of the assayer was terrific.'

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XVII.

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS.

FOR 200 miles to the west of Elko the scenery continued to be monotonous, consisting of wide barren plains bordered by mountain slopes. The Humboldt river, with its banks fringed with shrubs and plants, and the land for some distance on either side affording grazing ground for herds of cattle, alone gave a slight variety to the scene. Now and then a prairie wolf slunk aside as the passing train startled it from its lair. More than one rude monument was pointed out to me as indicating the spot where a foul murder had been perpetrated or a bloody combat had been waged. It was in this locality that the Indians made a savage onslaught on those engaged in constructing the line, murdering, scalping, and plundering several white men. Some Indians were among the passengers by this train. I was told that they are carried gratis. In return they sometimes help to heap wood on the tender at the appointed stopping-places. They were Shoshones, and were said to be very peaceable. With

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 217

their vermilion-stained cheeks, their lank black hair, their low foreheads, prominent noses, and sensual mouths, and an expression akin to the expression of a brute rather than that of a human being, they were as unprepossessing looking mortals as ever were seen in reality, while the very reverse of the Indians depicted in works of fiction. Indeed, the contrast was equivalent to a revolution between the doings of Eagle Eye, Little Hawk, South West Wind, and other warriors, now that they heaved billets of wood on the tender and when they scoured these plains with a view to achieve some deed of daring, and with a dislike deemed insuperable to perform anything that was simply useful. None of them had any scruples about asking and accepting alms. The squaws, who were far more hideous than the men, and the children, who were both ugly and naked, pestered the passengers for money or eatables. It was the rare exception for them to have anything to sell.

An American train resembles a steamer in this, that all the passengers are thrown together in a way which is impossible when they are cooped up in compartments as on an English railway. Every carriage communicates in such a way that it is possible at any moment to enjoy a welcome change by walking from end to end of the train. In my

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car there were several Californians on their way home after a visit to their native places in the Eastern States. One of them had several bottles of choice old Bourbon whisky with him, and he was persistent in asking his acquaintances to 'take a drink.' The whisky bottle was produced as early as six in the morning, and was passed from hand to hand at short intervals till the hour came for going to bed. The number of drinks must not be taken as a criterion of the extent of drunkenness. A sip of liquor constitutes a drink. It is the form rather than the effect which seems to give pleasure. The Westerners and Californians hold that, not to drink at all is the mark of a milksop, while to drink too much demonstrates a fool. One passenger could hold his own with most men of his years in drinking, smoking, shooting, and driving a bargain. He told some stories, which I should hardly have credited had they not been confirmed by independent and impartial testimony. He was thirty years old, and had seen more of life in all its aspects than many bold adventurers of double his age. More than one fortune he had made and squandered. He was now bound for California, with 150 dollars in his pocket, determined to enrich himself again. Everything by turns he had essayed ; among others, the business of an auctioneer in Salt Lake City.

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 219

During four years he had driven a roaring trade among the Mormons by selling to them at high prices the second-hand and old-fashioned silks and satins disdained by the fashionable world elsewhere. Although a Gentile, he yet had succeeded in gaining the good graces and pocketing the spare cash of the Mormons. Judicious bribery and judicious reticence had commended him to the leaders among the Saints. Yet, while keeping his mouth shut, he did not shut his eyes also. Many examples of Mormon cruelty and tyranny had been witnessed by him, and these he detailed in a way which chilled the listener's blood. Another American, who had come from a two months' residence at Salt Lake City, was brimful of stories similar in kind. To their tales I attributed the greater credit, because they tallied in the main with what I had learned from personal observation of the practical working of Mormonism in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. It is noteworthy that no American who has visited Utah is a defender of the system in operation there. They all regard the Mormons as unworthy and dangerous citizens. The opinion seems universal that Congress must speedily legislate for Mormonism, not as a peculiar system of religion, but as a permanent conspiracy against equality and the impartial administration of justice.

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Towards morning there was a commotion among the passengers. A sudden shock roused all from their slumbers. Many were greatly frightened, but no one was seriously hurt. A severe shaking was the only result of what proved to be a collision with a herd of cattle. The engine and tender had been thrown off the rails. Two oxen were crushed to death. Fortunately, the ground on either side was level ; had the accident taken place farther on, where the embankment was very steep, the consequences might have been disastrous. As it was, a detention of eight hours between Wadsworth and Clarks' Station and the loss of breakfast were the only sufferings to be borne. Before many minutes had elapsed energetic steps were taken to replace the engine on the rails. The necessary appliances were at hand, and were put to their respective uses. This was not the only proof of the completeness of the arrangements for such a contingency. A telegraph clerk was in the train, and he had an instrument for tapping the wires. In the course of a few minutes the requisite connections were made, and messages were telegraphed to the stations East and West.

An hour did not pass away before two locomotives were on the spot. What was still more important, the passage of trains over the line was stopped. As the line is a single one, the

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 221

timely warning thus given by telegraph doubtless helped to avert the danger of other collisions. Some passengers were indisposed to forego their breakfasts without an effort to provide a substitute. There was plenty of beef alongside the line, and the sage-brush could be used for fuel. What more natural then, they argued, than to light a fire and cook a steak ? The sage-brush was soon in a blaze, but the meat could not be procured with equal rapidity. Cutting through an ox hide and carving out a steak with a pen-knife was a task which baffled the passenger who made the attempt. While the ineffectual endeavour was being made, the fire threatened to produce serious consequences. The flames rushed along in the direction of the telegraph posts and the cars. A German gentleman of greater pluck than prudence had ignited the sage-brush, and he became ludicrously alarmed at the results of his act. He rushed about in frantic consternation, making energetic attempts to stamp out the flames. His vigour in undoing the mischief he had caused, led to the scorching and permanent injury of his boots and trousers.

Eight hours after the collision had occurred, the engine was replaced on the rails and the train was put in motion again. Not long afterwards the base of the Sierra Nevada range was reached, and the

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wearying sight of plains covered with alkali and sage-brush was exchanged for picturesque views of mountain slopes, adorned with branching pine trees, and diversified with foaming torrents. This was a gratifying relief, as well as a fascinating prospect. An anecdote is told of a lumber-man, who journeyed from his native State of Maine to seek his fortune in the State of California. He was extremely taciturn and depressed in spirits during the journey across the plains. When these mountains came in sight, and his eyes rested upon the familiar pine trees, he gazed earnestly for a moment, then, rising to his feet, exclaimed, 'Thank God, I smell pitch once more' ; and then, sinking back into his seat, he wept for joy.

Reno is the last halting place of importance during the Westward journey through the State of Nevada. It is within a few miles of Virginia City, the headquarters of the miners who work the numerous silver and gold mines in this district. Here, as at other similar places, a large number of passengers left the train and a new set entered it. The amount of the local passenger traffic was far in excess of my expectations. Indeed, the proportion of through passengers is very small when compared with the number journeying from one intermediate station to another. Near Boca, which is 127 miles

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 223

distant from Sacramento, the line crosses the boundary that separates the State of Nevada from the State of California. The Californians rejoiced when the train entered their State, and spoke with pleasure about soon basking in the sunshine which has made the Pacific slope a modern Garden of Eden. The ascent now becomes very steep, and two engines are employed to drag the train. At short intervals there are strong wooden sheds of about a thousand feet long, erected to guard the line against destruction from what we call avalanches, and what here are called 'snow slides.'  Indeed, these sheds are very much like tunnels. They have been constructed at a vast expense, and in a solid manner. It has yet to be seen how far they will subserve their purpose. They have the drawback of interrupting the view of some of the most romantic scenery on the line. The glimpses one gets are just sufficient to tantalise and not prolonged enough to satisfy. The view of Donner Lake is the most charming of them all. This lake is picturesquely situated in a gorge of the Sierras. It was once the theatre of a terrible tragedy. An emigrant party, travelling to California in 1846, was overtaken by the snow within eight miles of Donner Lake. The party, which was composed of men, women, and children, numbered eighty in all.

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They were blocked in by snow drifts and were compelled to encamp and wait for the return of spring. Long before the winter was over and gone, their stock of provisions was exhausted, the cattle had all been killed and eaten and even the hides had been devoured by the half famished party. Then came the bitter struggle between absolute starvation and a resort to cannibalism. The desire to live triumphed over every other consideration and the bodies of the dead became the sustenance of the survivors. While this horrible tragedy was being enacted, an event happened which has given rise to much speculation among the believers in supernatural occurrences. A hunter named Blount living in California beheld in a dream the situation and condition of the suffering party. The impression made on him was so intense that he mentioned the circumstance to other hunters who were well acquainted with the region around Donner Lake. They told him that his description tallied with the reality. This intelligence had the effect of making him resolve upon doing what he could to rescue the snow-bound emigrants. Being joined by others he went to their rescue and had the satisfaction of saving nearly thirty out of the eighty. The survivors were frostbitten and crippled ; but their physical condition was less deplor- 

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 225

able than their mental state. They had lived upon human flesh till they acquired a liking for it. One of them was detected smeared with blood and furtively roasting a woman's arm, after the supply of other food was ample. Such a story furnishes confirmation of the saying that truth outstrips fiction. It is more puzzling and revolting than any which the modern writer of sensational novels has yet produced for the gratification of depraved tastes.

Summit Station, though the highest point on this line, is not so high as Sherman Station on the Union Pacific. It is 7,042 feet above the level of the sea. This represents not the altitude of the Sierra Nevada range, but only the elevation of this mountain pass. Above the station the peaks of the mountains tower cloudwards. The scene is one of unprecedented grandeur. Owing to the delay caused by the accident I have described, the speed of the train had been increased. The engine-driver had been running extra risks in order, as the Americans phrase it, to 'make time,' so as to arrive 'on time.' The descent was thus made with exceptional rapidity. From Summit Station to Sacramento the distance is 105 miles. Between these places the descent from a height nearly half as great as that of Mont Blanc to fifty-six feet above the sea level has

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to be made. The velocity with which the train rushed down this incline, and the suddenness with which it wheeled round the curves, produced a sensation which cannot be reproduced in words. The line is carried along the edge of declivities stretching downwards for two or three thousand feet, and in some parts on a narrow ledge which had been excavated from the mountain side by men swung from the upper parts in baskets. The speed under these circumstances seemed terrific. The axle-boxes smoked with the friction, and the odour of burning wood pervaded the cars. The wheels were nearly red hot. In the darkness of the night they resembled discs of flame. Glad though all were to reach Sacramento, not a few were specially thankful to have reached it with whole limbs and unbruised bodies.

The charm of the last few hours is indescribable. It owed its effect to the striking contrast between the experience of the past and the pleasure of the moment. To nothing can it so aptly be compared as to that impressive passage in the inspired vision of the great Italian poet which tells how, after having painfully traversed the circles of Hell, he at last entered the 'dolorous realm' ribbed in ever-lasting ice, then issuing forth through an outlet, he returned to the 'bright world,' beheld the beauteous

ACROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS. 227

sights of Heaven, and saw the stars again.'  But a few hours ago we were passing through a region in which desolation reigned supreme ; a region of sage-brush and alkali dust, of bitter water and unkindly skies. Still more recently the icy winds of the snow-crowned Sierras had chilled us to the bone. The transition was sudden and the transformation magical. The sun descended in a flood of glory towards the Pacific Ocean, while the train was spinning down the ringing grooves of the mountains. The canopy of azure overhead, unflecked by a cloud and spangled with myriads of brilliant stars, surpassed in loveliness the brightest and most serene sky which ever enchanted the dweller on the luxuriant shores of the blue Mediterranean. No Italian air was ever more balmy, nor evening breeze through vineyard or olive grove more grateful to the senses than the soft wind which, tempered by the coolness of the distant ocean and odorous with the rich perfumes of the neighbouring plains, now fanned our cheeks and gave a fresh zest to life. The journey is not yet over. San Francisco is still upwards of a hundred miles to the west. But the Rocky Mountains, the American Desert, and the

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* 'Tanto eh' io vidi delle cose belle,

Che porta it Ciel, per un pertugio tondo:

E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.'

Inferno, canto xxxiv. lines 137-9.

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Sierra Nevadas are far behind us and a new country is before our eyes. That the Golden State is one of extraordinary richness is well known to every traveller. To some, however, as to me, it may have been a matter for rejoicing to discover that California is also a land teeming with unexpected natural beauties and rare natural delights.

229

XVIII.

THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLDEN STATE.

THE passengers by the train in which I journeyed across the continent of America 'missed connections' at Sacramento. This is the American way of stating that the train which arrived did not correspond with that which departed. The accident which I have described was the cause of this. Had the train been punctual the passengers need not have rested for the night at Sacramento, as they might have continued their journey without pause till San Francisco was reached. However, they had no choice. For better or worse a night had to be passed at Sacramento, the capital of the State of California, and 125 miles distant from the chief and most notable city on the Pacific Coast. For my own, part I had intended to stop here on the way Westward, in order to see something of the most remarkable among the cities of California.

My first personal experience of a Californian hotel was partly a severe trial and partly a new

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pleasure. The trial consisted in the demands made upon me by hospitable acquaintances ; the pleasure in practically learning how persistent and expansive was Californian good-fellowship. I accompanied my travelling acquaintances to the hotel for which they vouched. One of them had been a member of the Legislature of California, and was consequently well acquainted with Sacramento, the seat of  'the legislature of a thousand drinks.' A few minutes after my companions and myself had inscribed our names in the hotel-register it was proposed that we should 'take a drink.' This proposition was received with general approval. As a stranger, I could neither object with good reason nor retire with courtesy. The 'drink' was duly enjoyed by the several members of the party. Hardly was the libation at an end than the friend of one of those present made his appearance. After a hearty greeting to his friend, the ceremony of introducing those who were strangers to him was performed with the accustomed solemnities. Then followed the invitation, 'Let us take a drink.' Again were healths pledged and glasses emptied at the hotel bar. The gratification was slightly diminished this time, seeing that the night was advancing, and the hour for supper was nigh. But remonstrance was useless, and would have been regarded as unsocial.

THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLDEN STATE. 231.

Under these circumstances cheerful submission is more commendable and wise than flat refusal and unmannerly opposition. But a third and greater trial was at hand. Fresh introductions were made, and new invitations to take a drink were proffered. With as good a grace as I could command, I submitted to an ordeal which was now becoming serious and unpleasant. Happily, the end to the trying and novel Welcome had arrived. Each one was now permitted to go his own way and make his own arrangements.

In no respect was my experience exceptional. The custom of the country is to drink as often as possible. The bar-keepers ingeniously speculate on this predilection of their fellow-citizens. It is common to find a 'free lunch' and a free supper provided in the more important Californian bar-rooms. Any one may walk in and take luncheon or supper gratis. He has several courses from which to choose, or he may take a portion of each. Soup, fish, made-dishes, joints, and vegetables, are on the bill of fare of a 'free lunch.' At the free supper the variety is equally great. In both cases the viands are good in quality, are well cooked, and are served by attentive waiters. Although no charge is made, yet it is understood that every one who partakes of either meal must take a drink

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afterwards. He need not take more than one, nor pay more for this than a quarter of a dollar—that is, one shilling. This is the price charged for all drinks, from a glass of lemonade to a glass of champagne. The most common drink is 'whisky straight,' in other words, raw whisky. Each person helps himself from a bottle presented to him. Not merely is the quantity taken very trifling, seldom exceeding the contents of a liqueur glass, but a small tumblerful of iced water is always handed by the bar-keeper along with the bottle and glass, and is generally sent after the whisky by the drinker. It is the small portion taken and this subsequent draught of water which enables the operation to be repeated very frequently without inebriety being produced. Probably the climate has something to do with the result. This is the general belief.

Whatever be the explanation, I entertain no doubt as to the fact that in California there is less drunkenness in proportion to the amount of drinking than in any other State in the Union, or in any place of corresponding size and population in the world.

As a city, Sacramento is less remarkable for what it is than for what it has survived. The conduct of the inhabitants of Salt Lake City is often cited as illustrative of an energy almost miraculous, of a

THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLDEN STATE. 233

faith almost unparalleled. But the trials of the Saints, though grievous, and their triumphs, though meritorious and laudable, have neither surpassed, nor do they merit more eulogy than those of the inhabitants of Sacramento. More than once fires and floods have destroyed their city and impoverished them.

Yet the citizens never lost heart along with their fortunes. They re-built their ruined dwellings ; the devastated streets they re-made. On each occasion their city became more beautiful in appearance and more commodious in fact. At present the entire city is in process of transformation. All previous efforts having proved futile to protect the locality from inundation when the rains flooded the surrounding plains and the snow melted in the distant mountains, a new and more venturesome course was resolved upon, and has since been pursued. The expenditure of capital upon embankments was suspended, and the elevation of the city to a height ten feet above its original level was begun. The immediate result is neither picturesque in appearance, nor agreeable in reality. Some of the streets have been entirely raised to the projected level.

Others are in course of being elevated to a corresponding height. For these reasons. a walk along the pavement, if prolonged for some distance, means the ascent and descent of sudden

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slopes. I have used the word pavement, but this is a misnomer here, there being nothing which precisely tallies with the word as used by us. In this case the American term 'side-walk ' is at once applicable and correct. That part of the street which would be covered with paving-stones in an English city or town is often composed of wooden planking in the towns and cities of America. In the Far West, where wood is often cheaper than stone, wood naturally gets the preference. When the rain does not fall, and where snow is unknown, this wooden pavement is unobjectionable. In Sacramento it is employed under the most favourable conditions. A projecting roof springing from the sides of the houses overshadows and shelters the pavement. Thus a sort of arcade is formed, an arcade quite as effective, and far less gloomy, than the arcades which are peculiar to Turin and Bayonne.

Although I have said so much about wooden pavement, I am yet far from wishing it to be supposed that Sacramento is chiefly a city filled with unsubstantial and temporary wooden structures. Some of the houses and shops are built of wood, but the majority of the shops and dwellings are constructed of brick, or stone, or iron. Many of the more recent erections are both ornamental and solid in appearance and character. The number of

THE CAPITAL OP THE GOLDEN STATE. 235

buildings now being erected affords unmistakeable evidence that Sacramento is a prosperous and rising city. To it, more than to almost any other Californian city, the opening of the Pacific Railway has imparted a new and a vigorous life. It was here that the first advocates of this railway dwelt, and planned, and toiled.

Their energy materially helped to arouse their countrymen to energetic efforts in furtherance of the grand and ambitious project. At the period of my visit a banquet was held to celebrate the successful completion of the scheme. The speakers on that occasion had no hesitation in appropriating to themselves, their fellow-citizens, their city, and their State, the major share of the credit for what had been accomplished. A. few short extracts from the speeches delivered on this occasion may not only prove interesting, but will serve the purpose of showing the style of Californian oratory, and displaying the tone which the citizens of Sacramento adopt when their own affairs and those of other persons are under discussion. In response to the toast, 'California, a young giant refreshed with new wine,' Lieutenant-Governor Holden said, 'Suffice it for me to say that our skies vie in beauty with those of far-famed Italy ; our valleys surpass in richness the famous Valley of the Nile ; our plains in productiveness the sunny plains

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of France ; our Sierra Nevadas, for beauty and grandeur of scenery, surpass those of the mountains of Switzerland. Who would not be a Californian ? Why, sir, we have the bravest men, the handsomest women, and the fattest babies of any place under the canopy of heaven.'  A passage in another speech I copy in order to show that the bravest men may blunder when indulging in the luxury of quotation after dinner. The toast proposed was the health of Admiral Farragut. The speaker, a Mr. Curtis, told his audience that the admiral was well qualified for practically inculcating the lesson first imparted to England by the gallant Perry, who, on the North-Western Lakes, met the enemy and taught them another motto than the one they had so long cherished that :

'Britannia needs no bulwarks

To frown along the steep;

Her love is on the mountain wave,

Her march is o'er the deep.' *

This original and novel version of an old song was accepted by the company as correct, and was not

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* It may be useful to give, as a contrast to the version of Mr. Curtis, the original by Thomas Campbell:

'Britannia needs no bulwarks,

No towers along the steep ;

Her march is o'er the mountain-waves,

Her home is on the deep.'

THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLDEN STATE. 237

rejected by the newspapers as inaccurate. Indeed, the State Capital Reporter, in which I read these speeches, headed the report with an introduction wherein the ability which its reporters had displayed in furnishing a trustworthy version of the several speeches was singled out for special commendation. The last extract I shall give relates to a topic in which the speaker was more at home :

Mr. Chairman,—It is not necessary that anyone should speak for Sacramento. I am no speaker, but Sacramento requires no speaker. There was a time, in the long ago of her history, when every son of Sacramento was required to work, and act, and speak for her. But, thank God, that day has gone by ; the wheel of time rolled on with a velocity that amazed and entranced, while it cheered and gladdened. The devastation of fire and flood swept over her, but she arose, Phoenix-like, from her ashes, and the heart of every Sacramentan wells up with joy and gladness at the brilliant prospect of her future. The beautiful City of the Plains, nestling in her grandeur in the bosom of the valley, coquetting with the mountains and smiling on the sea, robed in Republican simplicity, modest and unpretending, constantly growing in wealth and importance, cultivating a pure and enlightened Christian civilization, has attained a proud position

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among the cities of the Union. With her elements of greatness and grandeur, her gallant sons, her working men, her cosy cottages, her stately mansions, her happy homes, her lovely daughters, her comely matrons, her churches and public schools, her looms and anvils, her mechanics and artizans, all speak in eloquent and thrilling tones of her present importance and future greatness. Her swift coursers of internal trade, whizzing through valley and canyon, over hill-top and mountain, rousing dreamy nature, and awakening glad echoes all over the land ; all—all attest her enterprise, and proclaim her the Queen of the Golden State.' This luxuriant rhetoric is temptingly open to criticism ; but to criticise is not my business at present.

Yet I may note in passing that the ridicule which it was thought had sufficed to finally extinguish the Phoenix, has simply had the effect of compelling that miraculous bird to migrate to the Pacific Slope, there to prove serviceable to orators who use metaphor to conceal their lack of wit. Certainly, nothing that I have yet said, or may hereafter say, in praise of Sacramento will be thought worthy of attention alongside of this glowing picture. While it was still vividly imprinted on my mind, it was a shock to read on a placard in the streets 'We should all vote against Negro and Chinese suffrage.'

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These words do not represent the utterances of a knot of foolish and shortsighted politicians ; if that were the case it would be unfair to cite them. Unhappily, they express the opinions of the majority in this State; they form the watchword of the political party which has won the victory at the polls. In this city the Chinese constitute a considerable proportion of the inhabitants. They are the most hard working among the labourers who earn their daily bread by their daily toil. They are to be seen in every street bearing heavy burdens suspended from the two ends of a pole, which rests on one of their shoulders. They act as waiters ; they are the most conscientious of shoe-blacks. Sign-boards over small shops announce that within Hung Lee or Sam Wah does washing and ironing, and repairs clothes with neatness. Through the open doors or windows these Chinamen may be seen scrubbing, starching, and ironing linen with a care and industry which not even a Parisian blanchisseuse could surpass. To all appearance their services are indispensable. That they should be obnoxious to those who cannot labour as cheaply is not surprising. The Irishman detests the competition of cheap negro labour; the negro is jealous of the Chinaman; if the energy of monkeys could be utilized, all of them would probably unite

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in denouncing the unfairness of employing labour which required no direct monetary compensation. But the validity of the reason for persons of higher position regarding Chinamen with intense aversion is not so easily discovered. As members of the community, the Chinese are acknowledged to be remarkably sober, singularly industrious, exceptionally quiet in demeanour, strict observers of the law. They do what they are commanded ; they refrain from what is forbidden. It is indisputable that their labour is a great boon to the entire community. It is not so clear that the Democratic party will succeed in their one-eyed policy of keeping the Chinese in perpetual subjection, and treating them as social and political Pariahs.

Although no longer as busy a city as it was when the gold fever was at its height, Sacramento is still, and must continue to be, a place of great commercial importance. The Pacific Railway has been a great boon to it. As the western terminus of the Central Pacific it enjoys special advantages. The manufactories and machine shops of the company are situated here. Several hundred men are employed in constructing cars, in putting together and repairing locomotives. Other industries are successfully carried on. Three flour mills, capable of supplying 1,200 barrels of flour daily, are at

THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLDEN STATE. 241

work within the city's bounds. A woollen mill is being erected, and a company has been constituted for manufacturing sugar from beet-root. Among other strange notices, I remarked a sign-board with the inscription, 'Coal and Ice Depot.' Excepting for cooking purposes coal is not in great demand, while the consumption of ice is very large. As the climate is mild a supply of ice cannot be procured in the vicinity at any season of the year ; consequently, the ice used must be brought from the mountain lakes, many miles away. Of churches and of both public and private schools, there are as many as the most exacting could desire. Notwithstanding the partiality of the Californians for drinks, they profess to be as proud of the character of a church-going people, and wish to be thought quite as desirous that their children should be educated as are the natives of New England itself. The press of Sacramento is a recognised power throughout the State whereof it is the capital. One newspaper, the Sacramento Daily Union, is extremely well conducted. It aspires to be independent of party, making the interests of the community at large and of the country as a whole the objects of its especial care. I understand that its circulation extends far beyond the limits of the city, and that its opinions exercise great weight throughout California. There

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are, of course, the usual party organs and, like purely party organs in America, they are both rabid and indiscriminate upholders of their respective sides. As the seat of the State Legislature, this city has an element of importance in addition to those I have named. A new State House has just been completed. This is built on the conventional pattern of American Capitols. It has been decorated in a style of great splendour.

After all that I have said about this city, it may be a surprise to read that the number of its inhabitants does not exceed between twenty-five and thirty thousand. It is the more noteworthy, then, that it should merit so much attention. A glance at the spacious streets stretching away on all sides for long distances leads the beholder to suppose that, as the area of the city is large, the number of its citizens must be large also. The majority of the houses have gardens attached to them. Rows of stately trees line many of the streets. The vegetation is on a scale of tropical richness. The weeds appear to be shrubs, and the shrubs resemble small trees. Other pests besides weeds abound here in rank profusion. The mosquito curtains which closely surround the beds are significant tokens of the prevalence of a form of insect life with which most persons would gladly dispense.

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When it is considered that not many years ago Sacramento was the haunt of the most reckless and depraved of the earth ; the temporary home of men who came to dig for gold, and who lavished the gold of which they became possessed in riotous living and in the vilest profligacy, the marvel is to find how thorough has been the change, how complete the purification. The streets of Sacramento are as quiet at night as the streets of Boston. A Maine Liquor Law is unknown, drinking customs are in the ascendant, yet drunkenness is not the vice of the majority. Whereas formerly every man carried a revolver, and used it on the smallest provocation, or even out of mere wantonness of brutality, it is now the exception to go armed, and the rare exception to hear of dastardly murders having been committed either in passion or cold blood. At night the streets are ablaze with gas and guarded by vigilant policemen. The peace is strictly preserved, and the lawless stand in terror of the judges. One relic of the olden times still survives. Gaming, the miner's favourite pastime, flourishes in defiance of the law, or, perhaps, with the connivance of the authorities. It is true that the gaming hells are not places of resort into which the stranger is allured by publicity, or which the passer by, if uninitiated, can detect without diffi-

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culty. A thin veil of mystery surrounds them. But the secret is one which everybody can fathom at the cost of a drink. All the bar-keepers can point out where the hells are situated, and can generally tell, moreover, which of them is honestly conducted, and which is a den of sharpers. Nor is the entrance into any one of them attended with much trouble. The Cerberus at the door is easily propitiated. The game played is 'Faro,' a game which was the delight of English gamesters a century ago. In the United States the operation of staking one's money in a gaming hell is called 'Fighting the Tiger.' I witnessed the ceremony for the first time at Sacramento. Though the name of the game played is different, yet the result is identical with that which follows when money is staked at Baden-Baden or Homburg. As I was informed that the same spectacle of 'Fighting the Tiger' might be witnessed on a grander scale at San Francisco, I shall defer my account of the exhibition till after visiting the chief and the most renowned among Californian cities.