n in the morning, in hopes, I
suppose, that it had bred overnight.

Certainly the storekeeper's statement as to the influx of miners was
justified. They came every day, in droves. We began to feel quite like
old-timers, and looked with infinite scorn on these greenhorns. They
were worse than we had been; for I have seen them trying to work in the
moonlight! The diggings were actually getting crowded.

It was no longer feasible to dig wherever we pleased to do so. We held
many miners' meetings, adopting regulations. A claim was to be fifteen
feet square; work must begin on it within ten days; and so forth. Each
of the five members of our party staked out two claims each, on which we
worked in turn. All the old-timers respected these regulations, but some
of the newcomers seemed inclined to dispute them; so that many meetings
and much wrangling ensued. The truth of the matter was that none of us
had the slightest permanent interest in the place. We intended merely to
make our piles and to decamp. Each was for himself. Therefore there was
no solidarity. We regulated only when we were actually forced to it; so
that with what we called "private affairs" we declined to interfere. A
man could commit any crime in the decalogue if so it pleased him. His
victims must protect themselves. Such things as horse stealing, grand
larceny, claim jumping, and mining regulations we dealt with; but other
things were not our affair. We were too busy, and too slightly
interested in what little public welfare a temporary mining camp might
have. Even when, in a few cases, turbulence resulted in shooting, we
rarely punished; although, strangely enough, our innate Anglo-Saxon
feeling for the formality of government always resulted in a Sunday
"inquest." We deliberated solemnly. The verdict was almost invariably
"justifiable self-defence," which was probably near enough, for most of
these killings were the result of quarrels. Murders for the purpose of
robbery, later so frequent, were as yet almost unknown. Twice, however,
and in both instances the prisoner was one of the gamblers, we
pronounced judgment. One of these men was banished, and the other
hanged. All in all a very fair semblance of order was kept; but I cannot
help now but feel that our early shirking of responsibility--which was
typical of all California--made necessary later great upheavals of
popular justice.

About this time, also, the first of the overland wagon trains began to