good for the company he was among. We
encamped by ourselves, we knew not whom we must trust. After this our
travelling party broke up. My companions from the ship and I were to
work together. We fixed on a spot, and erected our rude hut; then we
bought a rocker and shovel, pick-axe and spade, with two tin pans, and
set to work. I dug out the earth, another carried it, and a third
washed it in the rocker. Our success was tolerable; but it was many
days before we got enough to pay for the articles we had purchased, and
our provisions. In the meantime, what scenes of wretchedness, misery,
dissipation, and violence, did I behold! In every direction men were
dying of fever and dysentery. At night the gambling booths were filled
with those who rapidly got rid of the earnings of many days. I was
witness, too, of an encounter between two large parties of diggers. One
party had encroached on the ground prepared by the other, and refused to
quit it. Bowie-knives, and pick-axes, and hatchets, rifles and pistols,
were instantly brought into play. A sanguinary encounter ensued.
Numbers fell on both sides; at last one party turned and fled. I
visited the scene of the strife soon after. A dozen or more human
beings lay on the ground dead, or dying--arms cut off--pierced through
and through with knives--skulls fractured with spades and pick-axes, and
many shot to death. The dying had been left to die alone without aid or
pity, while their companions returned to their gold digging. Often and
often I sickened at the sights I beheld, but still I continued at the
work. I was compelled to continue at it. I had given up everything for
it. I was like a slave chained to it by the leg. Gladly would I have
gone back to my steady occupation and quiet life, surrounded by those I
respected and loved. I have only partly described the hardships we
endured. We had famine, and cold, and rain. Often we were without
fuel, our clothing was ragged and insufficient, and sickness in every
form came among us. Besides desperate quarrels among the diggers, the
Indians came down upon us--fierce, sanguinary warriors, eager for our
scalps. Their vengeance had been excited by aggressions made on them by
the whites. We could scarcely leave the camp without risking an attack
from them. Many diggers became their victims. Such was our life for
months. At length my companions and I, by unexpected good fortune,
saved a sufficient amount of gol