er
from the springs (the greatest obstacle which the miner has to contend
with in this vicinity) rushes in so fast that it is impossible to work
in them, or to contrive any machinery to keep it out, and for that
reason, only, men have been compelled to abandon places where they were
at the very time taking out hundreds of dollars a day. If a fortunate
or an unfortunate (which shall I call him?) _does_ happen to make a big
strike, he is almost sure to fall into the hands of the professed
gamblers, who soon relieve him of all care of it. They have not
troubled the Bar much during the winter, but as the spring opens they
flock in like ominous birds of prey. Last week one left here, after a
stay of four days, with over a thousand dollars of the hard-earned gold
of the miners. But enough of these best-beloved of Beelzebub, so
infinitely worse than the robber or murderer; for surely, it would be
kinder to take a man's life than to poison him with the fatal passion
for gambling.

Perhaps you would like to know what class of men is most numerous in
the mines. As well as I can judge, there are upon this river as many
foreigners as Americans. The former, with a few exceptions, are
extremely ignorant and degraded, though we have the pleasure of being
acquainted with three or four Spaniards of the highest education and
accomplishments. Of the Americans, the majority are of the better class
of mechanics. Next to these, in number, are the sailors and the
farmers. There are a few merchants and steamboat-clerks, three or four
physicians, and one lawyer. We have no ministers, though fourteen miles
from here there is a rancho kept by a man of distinguished appearance,
an accomplished monte-dealer and horse-jockey, who is _said_ to have
been, in the States, a preacher of the Gospel. I know not if this be
true, but, at any rate, such things are not uncommon in California.

I have spun this letter out until my head aches dreadfully. How
tiresome it is to write _sensible_(?) things! But I have one comfort:
though my epistle may not be interesting, you will not deny, my dear
M., that I have achieved my ambition of making it both commonplace and
utilitarian.

LETTER _the_ SIXTEENTH

[_The_ PIONEER, _June_, 1855]

BIRTH--STABBING--FOREIGNERS OUSTED--REVELS

SYNOPSIS

California mountain flora. A youthful Kanaka mother. Her feat of
pedestrianism. Stabbing of a Spaniard by an American. The result of a
request to pay a debt. Noth