May 7th.—On Friday we dined at the
house of Don Luis Palo, a Californian gentleman of
agreeable manners, whose father held office here under
the Spanish government previous to the Mexican Revolution.
I believe it is Don Luis’s intention shortly
to return to Spain. He is unmarried, and his
two sisters are the handsomest women I have yet seen
in this country; their beauty is quite of the Spanish
style. A dinner in California seems to be always
the same—first soup and then beef, dressed
in various ways, and seasoned with chillies, fowls,
rice, and beans, with a full allowance of pepper and
garlic to each dish.
On Saturday we set out on our return, and after two
days’ hard riding reached San Francisco to-day
at 4, P.M.
An arrival at San Francisco from the gold
district
Captain Fulsom intends visiting the mine
The first Alcalde and others examine the
gold
Parties made up for the diggings
Newspaper reports
The Government officers propose taking
possession of the mine
The Author and his friends decide to visit
the Sacramento Valley
A horse is bought
Increase of the gold excitement
Work-people strike work and prepare to
move off
Lawyers, storekeepers, and others follow
their example
The Author’s journey delayed
Ten dollars a day for a negro waiter
Waiting for a saddler
Don Luis Palo arrives from Monterey on
his way to the mines
The report of the Government taking possession
of the mines
contradicted
Desertion of part of the Monterey garrison
Rumoured extent of the mines
The Author and his friends agree to go
in company
Return of McPhail
Preparations for the journey
“Gone to the diggings.”
May 8th.—Captain Fulsom called at
Sweeting’s to-day. He had seen a man this
morning who reported that he had just come from a river
called the American Fork, about one hundred miles
in the interior, where he had been gold-washing.
Captain Fulsom saw the gold he had with him; it was
about twenty-three ounces weight, and in small flakes.
The man stated that he was eight days getting it,
but Captain Fulsom hardly believed this. He says
that he saw some of this gold a few weeks since, and
thought it was only “mica,” but good judges
have pronounced it to be genuine metal. He talks,
however, of paying a visit to the place where it is
reported to come from. After he was gone Bradley
stated that the Sacramento settlements, which Malcolm
wished to visit, were in the neighbourhood of the
American Fork, and that we might go there together;
he thought the distance was only one hundred and twenty
miles.
