OCR Text |
Show 50 PERSONAL ADVENTURES Doctor Dan's party had also detertnined on stopping a short time, I found myself in the soeiety of some agreeable companions. The evening after our arrival, Halliday and I went out for a walk ; and as he wished to write a letter, but lacked the necessary materials, he asked the owner of one of the bulrush huts if be could give hin1 a sheet of paper. " I can sell you one," was the laconic rejoinder; which offer Halliday readily accepting, we entered the establishment. It was a groggery of the lo,vest description, and at the counter stood two miners, drinking brandy. An elderly female was in attendance, who served us with the sheet of paper, and received from Halliday, in return, a small piece of gold of the value of a shilling. By espe· cial permission, my companion wrote his letter on the counter, owing to an extra exercise of generosity on the part of the landlady, the u e of pen and ink for the purpose. As the air was intensely keen, we ventured upon a glass of the liquor, for which we paid very IN CALIFORNIA. 51 liberally in gold-dust. It was of execrable quality, and comparable only to vitriol in its effects on the stomach. Hearing a commotion outside, we proceeded to ascertain its cause, and discovered a tall mountaineer complaining of a loss he had just sustained. He had encamped in a field, at about a mile frotn Mr. Weaver's trading-store ; and, being alone, had left the place for about a quarter of an hour, to look after his horses. He had about nine pounds' weight of gold tied up in a leathern bag, which he left in his tent, and which, on hi return, he discovered had been stolen during his brief absence. l-Ie came to offer the half of it to anybody who should enable him to recover the bag. He was an Oregon tnan, and had a wife and large fan1ily depending upon the product of his labour at the n1ines, so that his case was a very hard one. He never got back a grain of the gold ; the thief, whoever he was, getting clear away with it, and avoiding deteetion. Another Oregon man, and a sailor, his com- . D2 |