ently penetrating the
heart. He was recognised by some of the miners--natives of the
country--as one of the disbanded soldiers of the late Californian army,
by name Tomas Maria Carillo; a man of the very worst character, who had
connected himself with a small band of depredators, whose occupation
was to lie in wait at convenient spots along the roads in the
neighbourhood of the sea' coast, and from thence to pounce upon and
plunder any unfortunate merchant or ranchero that might be passing
unprotected that way. The gang had now evidently abandoned the coast to
try their fortune in the neighbourhood of the mines, and, judging from
the accounts which one of the miners gave of the number of robberies
that had recently taken place about there, their mission had been
eminently successful.

"Our first care," continued Don Luis, "was to see to poor Malcolm, and
our next object was to go in pursuit of the ruffians. On intimating as
much to our new friends, to our surprise they declined to render us any
assistance. Their curiosity, which it seems was the only motive that
brought them towards us, had been satisfied, and I felt disgusted at
the brutality of their conduct when they coolly turned their horses'
heads round, and left us alone with our dying friend, not deigning
further to notice our appeals to them for assistance. No, they must set
to work again, digging and washing, and we might thank ourselves that
their coming up had saved _our_ lives; this was the burthen of their
reply. In their eager pursuit of gold, they had not a moment to spare
for the commonest offices of Christian charity. At length," said Don
Luis, "in answer to my passionate expostulations, backed by the offer
of any reward they might demand--which offer alone gave force to my
words--two of them consented to return in about an hour with a litter
to convey Malcolm to their camp.

"The litter they brought was formed of branches of trees tied together,
and covered thickly over with blankets. On this Malcolm was slowly
borne down the hill-side, until a rude shanty was reached. He was
carried inside, and we were fortunate enough to meet with a kind
Californian woman, who promised to attend on him while we returned here
for your assistance."

In reply to my inquiries, Don Luis said that he thought there were no
bones broken, but poor Malcolm was dreadfully bruised, and his flesh in
parts much lacerated. He feared, however, that he had experienced some
sever