the negro as I saw him at
Anticosti, crouching beast-like on the earth, and while he patted the
ground with his hand, throwing a stealthy, terrified glance on every
side to see that he was not observed. That he fancied himself in the
act of concealing the gold for which he had bartered his very blood,
the gesture indicated plainly enough; and in the same attitude my fancy
would depict him so powerfully, so truthfully, too, that when I awoke,
I had but to close my eyes again, and the vision would come back with
every color and adjunct of reality.

My preoccupation of mind could not have escaped the shrewd observation
of companions, had not the unexpected discovery of gold in the sands
of the river effectually turned every thought into another and more
interesting channel. At first it was mere dust was detected; but, later
on, small misshapen pieces of dusky yellow were picked up, which showed
the gold in its most valuable form, in combination with quartz rock.

Up to the moment of that discovery, all was lassitude and indifference.
A few only gave themselves the trouble to wet their feet, the greater
number sitting lazily down upon the river's bank, and gazing on the
"washers" with a contemptuous negligence. The failures they experienced,
even their humble successes, were met with sneers and laughter; till at
last Hermose held up aloft a little spicula of gold about the thickness
of a pencil. No sooner had the brilliant lustre caught their eyes, than,
like hounds at the sight of the stag, they sprung to their feet and
dashed into the stream.

What a sudden change came over the scene! Instead of the silence of
that dark river, through whose dull current three or four figures waded
noiselessly, while in lazy indolence their companions lay smoking or
sleeping near, now, in an instant, the whole picture became animated.
With plashing water and wild shouts of various import, the deep glen
resounded, as upwards of thirty men descended into the river; and while
some examined the bed of the stream with the "barretas," others dived
beneath the water to explore it with their hands, and bring up mingled
masses of earth and dust, over which they bent with earnest gaze for
many minutes together.

Then what cries of joy or disappointment broke forth at every instant!
There seemed at once to come over that hardened, time-worn group of men
all the changing fickleness of childhood,--the wayward vacillations of
hope and despair, brig