." They have
been described as moon-faced, bland, bullet-headed men, with walrus
moustaches, and fatuous, placid smiles. Value meant nothing to them.
They only knew the difference between having money and having no money.
They carried two or three gold watches at the end of long home-made
chains of gold nuggets fastened together with links of copper wire. The
chains were sometimes looped about their necks, their shoulders, and
waists, and even hung down in long festoons. When two or three such
Dutch Charleys inhabited one camp, they became deadly rivals in this
childlike display, parading slowly up and down the street, casting
malevolent glances at each other as they passed. Shoals of
phrenologists, fortune-tellers, and the like, generally drunken old
reprobates on their last legs, plied their trades. One artist, giving
out under the physical labor of mining, built up a remarkably profitable
trade in sketching portraits. Incidentally he had to pay two dollars
and a half for every piece of paper! John Kelly, a wandering minstrel
with a violin, became celebrated among the camps, and was greeted with
enthusiasm wherever he appeared. He probably made more with his fiddle
than he could have made with his shovel. The influence of the "forty-two
caliber whiskey" was dire, and towards the end of Sunday the sports
became pretty rough.

This day was also considered the time for the trial of any cases that
had arisen during the week. The miners elected one of their number to
act as presiding judge in a "miners' meeting." Justice was dealt out by
this man, either on his own authority with the approval of the crowd, or
by popular vote. Disputes about property were adjudicated as well as
offenses against the criminal code. Thus a body of precedent was slowly
built up. A new case before the _alcalde_ of Hangtown was often decided
on the basis of the procedure at Grub Gulch. The decisions were
characterized by direct common sense. It would be most interesting to
give adequate examples here, but space forbids. Suffice it to say that a
Mexican horse-thief was convicted and severely flogged; and then a
collection was taken up for him on the ground that he was on the whole
unfortunate. A thief apprehended on a steamboat was punished by a heavy
fine for the benefit of a sick man on board.

Sunday evening usually ended by a dance. As women were entirely lacking
at first, a proportion of the men was told off to represent the fair
sex. At on