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Show 236 PERSONAL ADVENTURES speedily as possible; although I felt the loss of his services to be one not easily repaired. Amongst the casual residents at the Buckland was a man of very rough appearance, who had corne down from the mines, intending to take the steamer, and return to the United States in a few days. l-Ie slept near my corner, and used to watch me at my work, but without offering any remark. The evening before the vessel was to start, he occupied himself ar· ranging the contents of his trunk, on which he slept. I had finished work for th~ day, and was seated on my blankets, enjoying the fumes of a cigar, when, observing him take out two leathern bags, such as the miners usually carry their gold in, and inferring from this circum· stance that he had been unusually fortunatesince he was returning home-I ventured to open a conversation with him. " I suppose you made a good find of it," said I, laughing, as I addressed him, and pointing to the leathern bags. " Well, pretty good, I calc'late, '' he an· swered; and, as he spoke, he turned out the IN CALIFORNIA. contents of the bags into a tin pan, and pouring them into another, which he took out of his chest, began to blow the dust away, at the same time shifting the gold out of one pan into the other, as I had seen the miners do. "How much have you got?" asked I. "Well, now, guess. Can't you guess?" "I'm no judge. lVIy experience that 'vay has been too limited." "Well, I reckon there's four thousand dollars here, good 'veight; and that's a fact." "Is that all you brought away?" "All ! I suppose it is ; and no such easy work to get that, I tell you." " Why didn't you stay and make fifty thousand, since you were so successful?" ''Why didn't I? Yes! why didn't I? Why, because it was such tarnation hard work. I 'most busted myself, as it was. If you knowed how hard I worked to get them 'are four thousand dollars, I'm darn'd if you'd ax why I didn't stay longer." "Most of the miners that leave the ' diggins' do so because they can't find enough to satisfy |