cans in the majority; but, with
them, Englishmen and Frenchmen and Germans and Italians, plus an
admixture of Chinamen and Kanakas; also an undesirable element of
deserters from ships and convicts escaped from Australia. To keep them
in some sort of order, rough justice was the rule. Mayors and sheriffs
had arbitrary powers, and did not hesitate to employ them. Judge Lynch
was supreme; and a length of hemp dangling from a branch was part of
the equipment of every camp.

With a full knowledge of all these possible drawbacks, Lola Montez
looked upon Grass Valley and saw that it was good. Perhaps the Bret
Harte atmosphere appealed to her. At any rate, she decided to settle
down there temporarily; and, with this end in view, she persuaded Hull
to buy a six-roomed cottage just above Marysville.

When Lola Montez--for all that she had a wedding-ring on her finger,
she still stuck to the name--arrived there with her new husband, the
conditions of life in Grass Valley were a little primitive. A
telegraph service did not exist; and letters were collected and
delivered irregularly. Transport with the outer world was by stage
coach and mule and pony express. Whisky had to come round by Cape
Horn; sugar from China; and meat and vegetables from Australia. The
fact was, the early settlers were much too busily employed extracting
nuggets and gold dust to concern themselves with the production of any
other commodity.

Mrs. Dora Knapp, a neighbour of Lola Montez in Grass Valley at this
period, has contributed some reminiscences of her life there:

"We, who knew of her gay career among the royalty and
nabobs, were astonished that she should have gone to the
camp. She frequently had letters from titled gentlemen in
Europe, begging her to come back and live on their rich
bounty. It was simply because she was weary of splendour and
fast living that the Countess turned with such fondness to
life in a mining camp."

To Patrick Hull, however, the attractions of the district were not so
obvious. Ink was in his blood. He wanted to get back to his editorial
desk, preferring the throbbing of printing presses to the rattle of
spades and picks and the clanking of drills. Nor did "love in a
cottage" appeal to him. When Lola refused to give up Grass Valley, he
developed a fit of sulks and turned to the whisky bottle for
consolation.

Under the circumstances, matrimonial bliss was impossible. Such a life
was