mory "Tearsoul," "Leilie," and "Lile Katie."

Mrs. B., who is as small as "the Indiana girl" is large (indeed, I have
been confidently informed that she weighs but sixty-eight pounds),
keeps, with her husband, the "Miners' Home." (Mem.--The lady tends
bar.) _Voila_, my dear, the female population of my new home. Splendid
material for social parties this winter, are they not?

LETTER _the_ THIRD

[_The_ PIONEER, _April_, 1854]

LIFE _and_ FORTUNE _at the_ BAR-DIGGINGS

SYNOPSIS

Flashy shops and showy houses of San Francisco. Rich Bar charmingly
fresh and original. A diminutive valley. Rio de las Plumas, or Feather
River. Rich Bar, the Barra Rica of the Spaniards. An acknowledgment of
"a most humiliating consciousness of geological deficiencies". Palatial
splendor of the Empire Hotel. Round tents, square tents, plank hovels,
log cabins, etc. "Local habitations" formed of pine boughs, and
covered with old calico shirts. The "office" of Dr. C. excites the
risibilities of the author. One of the "finders" of Rich Bar. Had not
spoken to a woman for two years. Honors the occasion by an "investment"
in champagne. The author assists in drinking to the honor of her
arrival at the Bar. Nothing done in California without the sanctifying
influence of the "spirit". History of the discovery of gold at Rich
Bar. Thirty-three pounds of gold in eight hours. Fifteen hundred
dollars from a panful of "dirt". Five hundred miners arrive at Rich Bar
in about a week. Smith Bar, Indian Bar, Missouri Bar, and other bars.
Miners extremely fortunate. Absolute wealth in a few weeks. Drunken
gamblers in less than a year. Suffering for necessaries of life. A mild
winter. A stormy spring. Impassable trails. No pack-mule trains arrive.
Miners pack flour on their backs for over forty miles. Flour at over
three dollars a pound. Subsistence on feed-barley. A voracious miner.
An abundance stored.

Letter _the_ Third

LIFE _and_ FORTUNE _at the_ BAR-DIGGINGS

RICH BAR, EAST BRANCH _of the_ NORTH FORK _of_ FEATHER RIVER,

_September_ 20, 1851.

I intend, to-day, dear M., to be as disagreeably statistical and as
praiseworthily matter-of-factish as the most dogged utilitarian could
desire. I shall give you a full, true, and particular account of the
discovery, rise, and progress of this place, with a religious adherence
to _dates_ which will rather astonish your unmathematical mind. But let
me first describe the spot as it looked t