The prevalence of sickness at the mines has sent a
few people back here; but, with the commencement of
the rainy season, I anticipate that there will be
plenty of labour in the market, and that its value
will become correspondingly depreciated. In the
meantime, the general aspect of the town is forlorn
and deserted; stores are shut, houses blocked up,
and in the harbour ships ride solitary and defenceless.
Letter from the Author to his Brother in England.
MONTEREY, October 11th, 1848.
DEAR GEORGE,—I take advantage of the departure
of a courier sent by Colonel Mason, the United States
Governor of California, to Washington, with dispatches,
to let you know what I have been about during the
five months which have elapsed since I last wrote you.
Long before you receive this you will have heard in
England of the extraordinary occurrences which have
taken plate out here. My last letter, which I
hope you received, told you of the failure of the
emigration scheme to Oregon, and of my intention of
leaving that barren desert-like place, the first possible
opportunity. A friend of mine, of whom I have
before spoken to you, namely, Mr. Malcolm, a Scotchman,
and a thorough practical agriculturist, was anxious
to shift his quarters to California, the soil of which
country was represented by every one who had visited
it as of extraordinary fertility. We had heard
of the war that was going on between the United States
and Mexico having extended itself to that country,
and Mr. Malcolm prevailed on me to accompany him to
San Francisco, where he thought I might manage to
obtain an appointment in the United States army.
We made the voyage together, and the accompanying
diary—of which more by-and-by—commences
with an account of our first setting out.
But to return to California. I assure you it
is hardly possible for any accounts of the gold mines,
and of what I may call gold gravel and sand, to be
exaggerated. The El Dorado of the early voyagers
to America has really been discovered; and what its
consequences may be, not only upon this continent,
but upon the world, wiser heads—heads more
versed than mine is in monetary science—must
tell. There is much speculation here as to the
effects which the late wonderful discovery will produce
in the States and the old country. Of course we
expect to be inundated with emigrants, coming, I suppose,
from every part of the world, and truly, for all I
can tell, there will be gold enough for all.
And now, the first question you will ask me is, whether
I have made my fortune? I reply, my old bad luck
has not forsaken me. I always seem to come in
for monkey’s allowance—more kicks
than halfpence. Three months ago I thought my
fortune was made, and that I might come home a South
American nabob. Nothing of the kind. Here
I was, almost on the spot, when the first news of
the gold was received. I have worked hard, and
