The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith by Land and Sea

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

  RICHFIELD, THE CAPITAL OF CARIBOO--THE DIGGINGS--HABAKKUK SETS UP ASTORE--ENGAGES PETER FOR A TIME--ARRIVE AT VICTORIA--LORD MILTON AND DRCHEADLE.

  The city of Richfield has been built, and furnished, and supplied withprovisions and liquors at the expense of a large amount of animal life;for the sides of the road were literally strewed with the bodies andbones of the animals which had died on the way. We put up at an innwhere the object seemed to be to give us the worst possible food andaccommodation at the greatest possible charge. Already, Richfieldboasts of numerous hotels, and stores, and shops of every description,and dwelling-houses of a somewhat rough character. Coin is scarce, butgold is plentiful; so people carry gold dust about in little bags, andweigh out what they require for payment of goods received. I hadfancied that gold-digging was rather clean and pleasant work, and thatall a man had to do was to walk about for a few hours in the day with ageologist's hammer to fill his wallet with nuggets. My visit to Cariboodispelled this notion. There are possibly harder and more dirtyemployments; but gold-digging is a very dirty and hard one. In thefirst place, shafts have to be dug forty or fifty feet deep to thelodes, where the pay dirt is found. In galleries leading from theseshafts the earth is dug out and put into baskets, which are hoisted outby a windlass and turned into large troughs, through which a stream ofwater is made to pass, with a succession of sieves, through which thegold dust falls. This is one of the most simple and easy of theprocesses employed. Water has often to be brought from great distances;deep trenches have to be dug, and the diggers have to work up to theirmiddle in icy-cold water, with their heads exposed to the hot sun, downin deep holes in the beds of streams, or by the sides of streams, dayafter day, sometimes finding nothing, at other times only enough toenable them to procure food and lodging for the time. Others, again,have been fortunate, and have worked claims from which they haveextracted many thousand pounds worth of gold in a few weeks. The latterhave been mostly men who have had their wits about them, and who havepurchased claims which they had good reason to believe would pay.

  Such was the case with our friend Habakkuk Gaby. The day after ourarrival, we saw him wheeling a barrow about, up and down hill, stockedwith a variety of small wares such as he well knew miners would value.Whether he sold or not, he stopped and had a talk with all he met,picking up a little bit of information from one and a little bit fromanother. His former experience in California enabled him to askquestions likely to procure what he required. For several days hepatiently continued at this occupation. At last, one evening, Trevorand I received a visit from him.

  He told us that he had bought a claim which he guessed would pay; thathe had engaged Stalker and the rest of our men for the summer; and askedif I would allow Peter to remain with him, promising to make the lad'sfortune, and to bring him down safely with him to Victoria at the end ofthe season, in time for him to leave the country with us. As Peterexpressed a strong wish to remain and try his fortune at gold-digging, Idid not oppose him; indeed, I could manage to do without the lad, and Iwished him to employ himself in whatever was most likely to conduce tohis success in life. Trevor and I tried our hands at gold-digging for afortnight, at the end of which time we had had quite enough of it.After paying the owners of the claim the rent agreed on, we pocketedsome few pounds apiece; but we were nearly knocked up with the hardwork.

  Before leaving Richfield, we paid a visit to Mr Gaby. We found him ina most flourishing condition. At one end of his claim was a store, ofrough materials. On the front was an imposing board with "Gaby and Co."painted in large letters on it, and underneath, "Everything sold here."He welcomed us warmly, and pressed us to come in and liquor.

  "I don't much like this work," he said; "but I'll make it pay while I amat it. We shall meet again before many months are over."

  We found Peter serving in the store. He said that he took his turn withanother lad at mining, and liked his occupation. His master treated himwell. He got two dollars a day and everything found him, so that he didvery well.

  The next day we bade farewell to Cariboo, and tramped it on foot fourdays to the town of Quesnelle, on the banks of the Frazer. Here wefound a steam-boat going down the Frazer to a place called Cedar Creek,where the navigation of the river becomes impracticable for four hundredmiles to the town of Tale, from which place to New Westminster andVictoria steamers run constantly up and down the Frazer.

  By far the most uncomfortable part of our journey was that performed inthe stage between Cedar Creek and Yale. Our feet were cribbed, cramped,and confined, and we had just cause to apprehend a capsize over theterrific precipices along which part of the road lay, into the foamingwaters of the Frazer.

  Victoria is already a wonderful place, considering when it had itsbeginning--full of hotels, large stores, churches, dwelling-houses, andplaces of amusement, including a theatre, where stars of the firstmagnitude occasionally shine forth. We travelled all over the provinceof British Columbia and through Vancouver Island; made a visit toNassaimo, the Newcastle of the North Pacific, and became more than everconvinced that what is chiefly required to place those colonies amongthe most flourishing and valuable of the possessions of Great Britain isthe opening up of a road and the erection of post-houses along the lineof country we had travelled from Lake Superior, _via_ the Red Riversettlement and the Fertile Belts.

  Of course, we gained great credit for the successful accomplishment ofour voyage down the Frazer; but I consider that we were far eclipsed bythe journey performed by Lord Milton and Dr Cheadle across the RockyMountains, by Jasper House and the Bete Jaune Cache down the Thompsonand Kamloops. We had the pleasure of meeting at Victoria a veryintelligent gentleman, who accompanied them from Edmonton; and from himwe learned the particulars of their journey. The party consisted ofhimself, Lord Milton, Dr Cheadle, and an Indian hunter from theAssiniboine River, with his squaw and their son, a big strong boy. Theyhad also several hones and a fair amount of provisions and stores.

  "Ah, sir, it was very fortunate for those young men that they had mewith them, or they would inevitably have perished. The countess wouldhave had to mourn her son and his friend, the gallant Cheadle," heobserved, as he was introduced to us as the companion of thosepersevering travellers. "Yes, sir, I say it, fearless of contradiction,had it not been for my courage and perseverance they would never haveaccomplished the journey. I saw that, when I offered to accompany them;and if they did not know their true interest, I did. Why, thatAssiniboine fellow would have murdered them to a certainty, but I kepthim in awe by my eye--he was afraid of me, if he did not love me. LordMilton is brave, but he wants that discretion and judgment which Ipossess; while Dr Cheadle is really a fine fellow, and would have madea capital backwoodsman. We had good horses; and as I am a judge ofhorse-flesh, I have a right to say so, and we got on very well till webegan to cross the rivers. Some of the streams were fearfully rapid,and it was very evident that my companions were scarcely up to theirwork. I used, generally, to plunge in with my horse, and, leading theway, call them to follow. This they did, and I was always ready on thetop of the banks to help them out. We had frequently to constructrafts, when I invariably set to work to cut down the trees and to carrythem to the river's brink. Sometimes, when I could not carry a log bymyself, I had to call on one of them to help me; but I did so only inthe last extremity. You see, Lord Milton was a delicately-nurturedyoung man, and I wished to save him as much as I could. I do not doubtthat if he writes a book he will bear witness to the truth of myassertions. The Assiniboine was of a good deal of use, considering thathe had only one hand, and his wife and boy were active too; but theycould not possibly have got on without me. On one occasion, while I wasasleep (or it would not have happened), the forest caught fire. Ijumped up, and with a thick stick I always carried, so effectuallyattacked the flames that I put the fire out and saved the horses and ourproperty.

  "On another occasion, when all the rest of the party had gone outhunti
ng, and, being disabled, I had remained in charge of the camp, Isaw a huge bear approaching. I had no gun; but, sallying out with mystick, I put it to flight, and saved the camp from being plundered,which it would inevitably have been, of our most valuable property.

  "Our first important raft adventure was in crossing the Canoe River, atributary of the Columbia. A raft had been constructed. We embarked onit. The current was very strong. I warned my companions. They weredeaf to my cautions. I saw that they were not up to navigating a raft.Suddenly, our raft was whirled round in a rapid current, which bore usto seeming destruction. A huge pine tree lay with its branchesrecumbent on the water. I shouted to my friends to hold on; but it wasof no use. Dr Cheadle leaped on shore, followed by the Assiniboine andhis boy. I sat firmly at my post; Lord Milton and Mrs Assiniboine hungon to the branch of the tree, like Absolom, only it was with their handsinstead of the hair of their heads. To stop the raft was impossible;but to guide it towards the shore was practicable. I sat, therefore,calmly waiting an opportunity of steering my eccentric-moving barktowards a wished-for haven. This, with the assistance, I must own it,of the Assiniboine, I was enabled shortly to do. Lord Milton and MrsAssiniboine were, meantime, very nearly carried away by the roaringflood. Dr Cheadle and I, at the risk of our lives, hastened to theirassistance; and I must do the young nobleman the justice to say that herefused to be helped till we had got the woman out of her perilousposition. I look upon that as true gallantry; and I told him that Ishould consider it a pleasing duty to narrate the circumstance wheneverI gave an account of our adventures. However, Dr Cheadle, consideringthat he was in by far the most dangerous position, got him out at once,and, with the aid of my handkerchief, I helped out the dark-skinnedlady.

  "That was only one of the many fearful dangers we ran. As I beforeremarked, it was very much owing to my forethought that things were notworse. I used to rouse the young men up every morning, or I do not knowhow long they would have indulged in their downy slumbers; not that theywere very downy, by-the-bye, considering that spruce-fir-tops formed themost luxurious bed we had for many a day. They were also improvident,and had a knack of leaving their things behind them, insomuch that, inspite of all I could do, we had only one small axe left with which tocut our way through a dense forest. We supplied ourselves with a secondaxe belonging to a dead Indian found in the woods. By-the-bye, myfriends were very much puzzled to find that the said dead man had nohead, and that it could not have been taken by a human being, as hewould have carried off the poor man's property; or by a wild beast, asit would have upset the body, which was found in a sitting position. Itwas close to our camp; and the fact was, that I had, not five minutesbefore, found the body, and lifted the head, which had fallen to theground, with the end of a stick, and hid it in a bush hard by. Havingcrossed the mountains and found that we could not push overland toCariboo, we turned our faces northward, to proceed down the ThompsonRiver to Kamloops.

  "None of our party were skilful boatmen. I do not myself profess tohave any extensive knowledge of navigation; so my young friends wouldnot venture to go down the Frazer in canoes, which, in my opinion, theymight have done with ease. They chose to stick to terra-firma, and, inconsequence, they very nearly stuck fast. First, they lost one of theirhorses, laden with numerous valuables--nearly all their tobacco and teaand sugar; and the other poor beasts were so completely knocked up thatit was difficult to drive them. Now they went one way, then another;now they tumbled down precipices or got jammed between trunks of trees;then they fell into the river and began swimming away, and theAssiniboine had to plunge in and fish them out. This continued weekafter week. We were like babes in the wood, lost in that fearfulforest, cutting our way through it; often making good three or fourmiles in the day, our provisions running shorter and shorter, till wewere reduced to live one day on a skunk, a creature I thought no humanbeing could have eaten. I own that I could not. Sometimes precipicesfaced us, and sometimes steep hills, which it took us hours to get roundor climb up. At last we had to kill a horse, my little pet Blackie,which, owing to my careful and judicious driving, was in bettercondition than any other of the lot. The young men had expended nearlyall their powder; and, at the best of times, rarely killed more than afew birds in the course of the day. We found horse-flesh tolerablypalatable; but, by the time we had begun to eat Blackie, we were notvery particular. However, he was only the first horse we ate--we had tokill another before long--and it seemed probable that we should have toeat up our whole stud before we could reach Kamloops. Several times wediscussed the question as to whether we should kill all our horses andtramp through on foot, or build rafts and descend the river. I urged myyoung friends to persevere. They took my advice, with happy results,for, in a short time, we entered an open country, and met some natives,not handsome, but kind-hearted people. They knew of Kamloops; theycould guide us there; and did so. We were hospitably received.

  "Our troubles were over; but I must say that I hope I may never spendanother eleven weeks such as we went through since we started on ourjourney over the mountains. I entertained a different opinion of theAssiniboine to that held by my companions, and I believe that had it notbeen that I kept my eye on the man he would quietly have murdered usall; but he was afraid of me--that is the fact. He behaved bravely onone occasion, certainly, when he plunged into a river and dragged outour horse, Bucephalus, that, with another, Gisquakarn, had fallen in.The latter was swept away with our stock of tea and tobacco, salt andclothes, and several important documents belonging to me. Had myfriends taken my advice, they would have divided these articles amongthe various animals. Possibly they will do so another time. LordMilton and Dr Cheadle talked of giving an account of their adventuresto the world. If they do, unless their memories altogether fail them,they will corroborate all I have said."

  The fine island of which Victoria is the rising capital, with apopulation of some seven or eight thousand inhabitants, came intopossession by the British Oregon treaty, which determined the boundarybetween British North America and the United States. Vancouver Islandis by far the longest on the west coast of America; and the coast-lineis broken into fine natural harbours, which will afford protection toships in all weathers. Coal of excellent quality is found at Nanaimo,and copper and iron ores: the latter, found nowhere else on the NorthPacific coast, are plentiful. Fish of the most valuable kinds,including the viviparous species, are abundant; as are also the elk,deer, grouse, snipe, etc, by way of game; and for fur-bearing creatures,the beaver, the racoon, and land-otter, are the chief wild animals.Indeed, considering all its natural advantages, and its vicinity to thegold-fields of British Columbia, Vancouver Island must soon take aprominent place among the colonies of Great Britain.

  Queen Charlotte Sound, which separates Vancouver Island from themainland, is scarcely ten miles wide in some places, and the Strait ofJuan de Fuca, which waters its shores as well as those of the territoryof Washington in the United States, is not more than eighteen mileswide. The island itself is 275 miles long, of an average breadth of 75miles, containing an area of 16,000 square miles, with a population of20,000, of which above one-half are Red Indians.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

  VOYAGE TO SAN FRANCISCO--THE CITY AND DIGGINGS--WE BOOK OUR PASSAGE FORHONOLULU--MARCUS WARNS ME OF DANGER, AND THE IDEA IS ABANDONED--WERETURN TO ENGLAND VIA NEW YORK--MARCUS SAILS FOR LIBERIA, AND WE SPENDCHRISTMAS WITH AUNT BECKY.

  I scarcely know why, but all of a sudden Trevor seized with a strongdesire to visit San Francisco; and as there is steam communicationbetween that city and Victoria, there was no difficulty in the way toprevent its being gratified. We had fixed the day for leaving Victoria,and were expecting Peter's return to my service, when Mr Habakkuk Gabywalked into the room. He was wonderfully improved for the better sincewe parted at Cariboo, as far as dress was concerned; indeed, his costumewas an indication of his very flourishing condition. "Well, I'vebrought back Peter to you; and I kalkilate the lad's worth a hundr
edgood dollars more than he was when you left him with me," he observed,after the usual salutations were over.

  I hoped that he had been successful in his speculations.

  "Yas, I guess I have," he answered, with a knowing wink; "I've had, too,enough of gold-digging, and I'm thinking of offering my services to thegovernor of one of these states as private secretary, or colonialsecretary--I'm in no ways particular,--just to help him to put things torights. I know how they ought to be--and that's not as they now are.If my offers are not accepted I shall go on to Californy and see what'sto be done there; but I guess there are too many full-blooded Yankeesthere for the place to suit me."

  Mr Gaby, finding that the Governor of Victoria did not place the sameestimate on his talents that he himself entertained, quitted theprovince in disgust, and was one of our fellow-passengers to SanFrancisco, the Queen of the Pacific, of which it is enough to say thatthe harbour is a magnificent one, as soon as the Golden Gate--the namegiven to the mouth of the river--is passed; and that the city is huge,composed of buildings of all sizes, from the imposing stone or brickedifice to the humble shanty. The hotels are numerous, and thejewellers' shops, especially, are as handsome as any in London or Paris,while the population is truly composed of the natives of all countriesin the world. We visited Sacramento and the diggings. The gold at thelatter is chiefly obtained by crushing quartz; and numerous companies,with powerful machinery, are engaged in the business.

  Cortez discovered California in 1537; yet, acclimatised as the Spaniardsthen were to the heat of the tropics, so oppressive did he find theclimate, that he named the country, _Caliente Fornalla_, "the fieryfurnace." The Spaniards made no attempt to search for its mineralwealth; and till the middle of the last century, when Californiabelonged to Mexico, and rumours reached Europe of its auriferous soil,its gold-fields were looked upon as fabulous. Some efforts were thenmade to discover the hidden treasure, but they all proved abortive, andthe pearl fishery was looked upon as the only valuable product of "asterile land of rocks and stunted bushes," as it is described in theearliest account of any value of the country and its inhabitants, thelatter then "but a step above the brute creation." This account waswritten in German, by a Jesuit, after his return to his native countryupon the suppression of his order by Pope Ganganelli, in July, 1773, andis full of curious information.

  Still, the tradition of its yielding gold was never obliterated; but itwas not till September, 1847, after its cession to the United States,that gold in any considerable quantity was discovered in California.The pioneers were a Captain Sutter and a Mr Marshall, two freesettlers, who at first attempted to keep the discovery a secret. It isbetween that period and the year 1850 that the following sketch of"Dangers of the Diggings" must be placed, after which it became asovereign State of the American Confederation, though murders and Lynchlaw prevailed even up to 1860.

  I give the story in the words of Habakkuk Gaby--half trapper and halfgold-digger, as we have seen him to be--as it is worth preserving, as acurious evidence of the rapid rise of San Francisco in the course ofless than a dozen years from a state of almost perfect anarchy to such aheight of civilisation and luxury as already to be regarded by many asall but the second city in the United States.

  "Well, Master Trevor," began Habakkuk one evening, as we were seatedtogether, comfortably discussing our wine and cigars, "I'm no waypartikler, but there _is_ a place I've no wish to go to, though I guessthat it ain't hotter nor worse than Californy was when I first got toit. Ay, long before I got there, I guessed what was to follow; for afull day's journey along the whole road was like a broker's shop--onlythe goods were all smashed and had nobody to look after them. First,there were pianoes, fiddles, guitars, and other gimcracks. Then, chestsof drawers, bedsteads, and boxes. Next, women's fine clothes, blessthem! and then bedding, pillows, and blankets. The useless first; then,step by step, one little comfort after 'tother. Then, sadder still,tents and cooking apparatus, skeletons of horses and oxen, broken-downwaggons. Now and then, a grave; but, saddest of all, casks of biscuitand crackers, of flour and preserved meats, and whitened human bones!

  "On, on! No time to bury the dead! Water, water! None to be had--notenough to cover the finger's tip to cool the parched tongue! Wholefamilies sank by the roadside and died of thirst. Perhaps one survived.It may be the father, whose thirst for gold had broken up a quiethome,--and all for greed had brought a fond wife and mother to perish onthese arid plains--every vestige of vegetation dried up by the scorchingsun--after seeing her little ones, one by one, droop and die away.Terrible such a fate! Welcome death! But death, in mockery, spares thethirsting wretch till madness supervenes, and suicide or murder endswhat greed for gold began.

  "No, Master Skipwith; 'tis only young and hale men, with no tie on earthto bind them, that should seek the diggings. Broken of heart, carelessof the world, I've seen others who have left behind all they loved andwere worth living for on the track to the gold-fields, labouring likemachines, never smiling, seldom speaking, scarcely knowing why they thustoiled and laboured; now, all they had once loved on earth had gone. Wecould tell the nature of the country by the sorts of articles left onthe road. Still worse, if anything, were the scenes which took place atthe diggings. Rheumatism and fever brought many to the grave. The poorwretches lay in their tents or lean-tos, with no one to attend them--noone to speak to them--till death put an end to their sufferings, orsometimes madness seized them, and they would rush out attacking allthey met, till they sank exhausted, or till they were knocked over bysome of their companions, as if they had been wild beasts. Not contentwith having sickness for their foe, the diggers quarrelled amongthemselves. One party had diverted a stream from the claim of another.The latter demanded compensation, which was refused, on which theyattacked the aggressors, killed several, and wounded many others. Iguess gold-hunting, in those days, was not the pleasantest ofoccupations," remarked Habakkuk, in conclusion.

  "The Ingins, too, was troublesome in these parts, I've heard say,"observed Stalker.

  "I guess they was," answered Mr Gaby. "Can't say, however, but whatour people--that is, the whites--often brought it on themselves byshooting a red man without provocation; making them work against theirwill, beating them when they wouldn't, and carrying off their squaws.Flesh and blood, whether it's red or black, or white, don't like thatsort of treatment.

  "One morning, two men were found speared in one of the out-huts of thecamp, and everything in it carried off. Though we didn't know much ofthe men, who they were or where they'd come from, they were whites, andthat made the diggers very exasperated with the murderers. Anexpedition was at once organised to follow and punish the Red-men. Wehad no lack of leaders. Two or three men who had spent all their liveson the prairies or in the backwoods, and were well accustomed to copewith Indians, and knew all their tricks and cunning ways, offered theirservices. One fine old fellow was chosen--a Scotchman, called DonaldMcDonald. I guess that in his country there are a good many of the samename, but I don't think many like him. He had lived all his life inthese ports; and what made him come to Californy I don't know, exceptthe love of adventure, for he had plenty of money. He stood six feetfour in his stockings, with a head of hair of a bright carrot-red, whichhung down all over his shoulders--a beard and moustache to match. Hisbrow, full of wrinkles, alone showed his age; for his eyes were brightand piercing, and his step as elastic as that of a young man. So as youseem pretty quiet with regard to the Ingins in these parts, I'll justtell you how they manage things in the south, where, somehow or other,the whites are pretty nearly always at war with them. We assembled atthe hut of the murdered men, that we might take our departure from it.There were numbers of footprints about the hut, but there had been nostruggle near it. The men had been surprised by the crafty Ingins whilethey were asleep, run through with spears, and afterwards stabbed.Everything in the hut had been carried off by the murderers, who took nopains to conceal their numbers, or the direction in which they had gon
e.There was a considerable number of them, and their track led towardsthe most mountainous and intricate path of the country, with numerousstreams intervening. `The varmints think by coming this way to baffleus; but we'll soon let them know that a keen pair of eyes is followingwhich has been accustomed for forty years or more to ferret them out, inspite of all their dodges,' remarked Donald. It was well for those whohad to accompany the old man to have a fast pair of legs.

  "We kept on at a rapid rate the greater part of the day, the footmarksbecoming more and more indistinct, from the nature of the ground, tillwe arrived at a mountain stream. As the traces were now totally lost,loud murmurs rose among our party.

  "`The savages have done us--depend on that,' cried several of them.

  "`I ken they must be very clever savages, then,' observed Donald, not alittle offended at the imputation thrown on his sagacity.

  "Donald continued walking up and down the stream for some time,carefully looking out for marks on the opposite side, for he well knewthat the Indians must here have entered the stream and gone up or downsome distance and then landed. No long time had passed before heshouted to us to follow him, and crossing the stream we came upon atrack which looked at first as if only one person had passed, but onfurther examination we perceived that the varmint had formed in Indianfile and trod in each other's footsteps. We followed for some littledistance, when the Ingins, little dreaming what sort of men would beafter them, and despising the White Faces' knowledge of their customs,broke off again, and walked along in a body, taking no pains to concealtheir movements. They even dropped some of the flour which they werecarrying off, and did not stop to hide the particles left on the ground.It was now getting dark, so we had to camp in a hollow, where we couldlight our fires without the danger of being seen by the Redskins, takingcare, however, to prevent them from blazing up.

  "As soon as we had camped, Donald went back to the river and quicklyreturned with a fat buck he had killed, and which he had watched for asit went to the stream to drink. We couldn't sleep much for talking ofthe fight to come off next day, and for all the brave things we weregoing to do. By daybreak next morning we were on foot and closelyfollowing the trail of our enemies. In three or four hours we reachedthe place where they had camped, and Donald told us that the varmintshad had a good supper on venison, and cakes made of the flour they hadstolen, and that there were about five-and-twenty warriors, allwell-armed with bows and arrows, and spears, and axes. We now pushed onmore rapidly than ever, eager to be up with them. They were alsomarching quickly to get back to their camp, where they had left theirsquaws and papooses. Our route lay over mountains and across valleys,with grand scenery on every side. Each mountain we climbed thefootprints of the Ingins became more and more distinct, till it wasclear that we were rapidly getting up with them. McDonald, like a goodgeneral, now sent out scouts to prevent our being taken by surprise. Wewere told to hold our tongues and to look to our arms. At length wereached the summit of a lofty ridge, below which lay a broad valley.

  "`They are there,' whispered McDonald; `and if you all keep silence,obey my orders, and behave like true men, we shall bag a round dozen ofthem.'

  "These Californian chaps were no way particular how they treated theRedskins. Going on a little further, we saw, far down below us in thevalley, a few wreaths of smoke curling up into the blue sky. They camefrom the fires of the Ingins. The order was now given to form in singlefile. Silently and cautiously we proceeded towards the encampment. Theslightest noise or want of care would alarm our enemies, and perhapsbring destruction on our own heads. I guess it weren't quite pleasantaltogether, for if they had found us out, the tables might have beenturned, and they would have killed us instead of our killing them.

  "We crept on till we got to a low ridge, when, peering through the thickbushes, we saw, about four hundred yards off, a large body of Inginsencamped, some forty men or more, and twenty or thirty women. One oldman, who seemed by his dress and position to be a chief, sat against atree with a group of warriors collected round him, evidently giving anaccount of their adventures. The latter were in their war-paint, withfeathers of different colours stuck in their hair, which was tied up inknots behind. They were as wild and fierce a set of fellows as I everset eyes on. Yet Donald afterwards said that they were as arrant a setof cowards as are to be met with; but he certainly seemed to hold theRedskins at a cheap rate. Slowly we crept closer and closer.Fortunately the Ingins were so engaged with their speeches and boastingof their brave deeds in murdering two unhappy men in their sleep, thattheir usually quick ears did not hear us. At a most critical moment,however, one of our party kicked his foot against a loose stone, whichrolled down the bank. Some of the Redskins started and looked up, butthey were so engaged in their occupations, some in speech-making, andothers in cooking, that, seeing nothing to alarm them, so thick were thebushes, they took no notice of what had occurred. We spread out in aline so as almost to surround them, and then crouching down, waited tillall the party were collected together round their evening meal. At asignal from McDonald we were to commence operations. We waited for itin breathless suspense. With a startling effect our first volleysounded through the calm evening air. The Ingin warriors sprang totheir feet; it was only to afford us a surer mark. On we sprang, andwhen within thirty yards, fired point-blank at the poor wretches. Fivefell where they stood, shot through the head, several more staggered onmortally wounded; the rest, uttering fearful yells, took to flight.When the smoke cleared off, we discovered that they had halted to seewho were their assailants.

  "`On, on, boys!' shouted Donald, discharging his pistol at the Redskinnearest to him and bringing him to the ground. Then flourishing hisformidable axe, he dashed on after the flying wretches.

  "Those who had been the worst wounded made their way to a stream, where,in spite of our approach, their faithful squaws joined them, and beganto bathe their wounds in the cool water. They knew that, however bad awound, if the inflammation can be kept down, a man's life may be saved.Many a poor fellow has died on the battle-field for want of cold water.`Let none of you hurt the women,' shouted Donald, who, rough as helooked, was humane and kind-hearted in his way, as well as brave. Someof our fellows were, however, no better than savages themselves. BeforeDonald could interfere they had brained four of the wounded men. One ofthe women tried to save her husband, but two of our party killing theman, hurled her with him into the stream. One of the Redskins, who,badly wounded, was trying to escape, dropped as if he had suddenlyfallen dead. His pursuer was about to knock out his brains, when theIngin sprang to his feet, and tried to seize the gun from hisassailant's hands. He would have succeeded had not one of our partycome up with a loaded pistol and shot the Redskin through the head.Donald insisted that the poor women who had so bravely remained by theirhusbands should be allowed to stay by them near the stream, greatly tothe disappointment of some of the Californians, who wanted to kill allthey could reach. Having collected all the articles which had beentaken from the hut, including the flour, and as much venison as we couldcarry, we beat a retreat up the hills again. There was little fear ofthe party we had dispersed attacking us, but they would very likelycollect their allies, and if we remained where we were, come down on usin overwhelming numbers. All the tribes in those parts have horses--mustangs they call them--so that they would have had no difficulty incollecting a large body of warriors in a short time, who, if they didnot destroy us, would greatly harass us in our marches. Darknesscompelled us to camp, and you may be sure we kept a sharp look-out allnight, but the varmints had had enough of us, and allowed it to passquietly.

  "The Ingins followed us, however, the next day, though we took adifferent route to avoid them; but they soon found that we were led by aleader who knew what he was about, and that they were likely to come offsecond best if they attacked us. We got back safe to the diggings, andI was not sorry either. I am a man of peace, and I don't like fightingof any sort, much less such murderous work as we
had been engaged in--such as shooting a dozen of our fellow-creatures at their supper. ThoseIngin murderers deserved punishment; there's no doubt about that; but Idid not fancy punishing them in that way."

  Habakkuk gave us several other anecdotes which he had heard of theredoubtable Scot, Donald McDonald. Among others I remember one whichamused us greatly.

  "Mr McDonald was very thick with the Redskins at all times, for he hada dark-red wife, and some light-red children, of whom he was very fond,and spent much of his time in the lodges of his wife's relations.Gambling was then, of course, one of their principal amusements,especially when visitors came in. One day an old chief, Slabface, wentinto his father-in-law's lodge, when he, with Donald and others, weresoon engaged in gambling. Donald suddenly detected some trick or other,and rushing out into the open air, seizing his gun as he went, declaredthat he would play no more, and would be revenged on the rascal who hadcheated him. Slabface followed, and asked him what he wanted.`Satisfaction,' shouted Donald. `You are a cheat, a rogue, and a liar,and you must fight me.'

  "`All in good time; but you are reputed to be a brave chief, and chiefsshould not put themselves into a passion,' answered Slabface, quitecoolly.

  "`I want none of your talk. I say again that you are a cheat and aliar!' exclaimed Donald, getting more and more angry. `Will you fightme like a man, I ask?'

  "`A wise man wouldn't get into so great a passion about so small athing,' said the Redskin, doing his utmost to exasperate Donald. `Ifyou wish it I'll fight to please you, though I think your proposal afoolish one. We will go into the wood and settle the matter.'

  "`Into the wood!' shouted Donald. `By no means. Here as we stand, faceto face, like men. Shall we fire together, or shall we draw for thefirst shot?'

  "`Why, now, indeed, I find that you are a far greater idiot than Isupposed,' exclaimed Slabface, in a tone of scorn. `Would any but afool let his enemy point the muzzle of his gun at him, if he could helpit? The Red-men are too wise to do such a thing. It is only foolishPale Faces that fight thus.'

  "`Why how, in the name of sense, do you want to fight?' exclaimedDonald. `I am inviting you to fight in the way all gentlemen fight inScotland.'

  "`That shows that the gentlemen are fools,' answered Slabface. `We willfight as all Indian warriors fight. We will go into the wood out therewith our guns. You shall get behind one tree, and I will get behindanother, and we will fire at each other as we can.'

  "`You are a coward, and afraid!' cried Donald, turning on his heel.

  "`I am not afraid, but I choose that way of fighting,' answered thechief, in the same calm tone as at first.

  "`Well, then, you shall have your own way,' exclaimed Donald, who wouldnot have yielded in any other matter of far less importance.

  "Slabface, who was a good shot, would too probably have killed ourfriend, had not a party of us, hearing what was taking place, hurried upand contrived to soothe his anger. Still, to make things sure, wecarried off both his arms and those of Slabface."

  Our friend Habakkuk's account gave us a pretty correct idea of the stateof affairs in the early days of the Californian diggings. Mattersimproved in Australia, though they were bad enough there at first, and Iam glad to say that they were conducted still better at Cariboo, and theother diggings of British Columbia.

  Trevor and I had soon seen enough of the Golden City and its motleysociety; the chief of which, a mere money aristocracy, was not at all toour taste. There is a considerable amount of trade between SanFrancisco and the Sandwich Islands, to which the diggers also oftenresort to recruit their health. Trevor, who had met Queen Emma at hisHigh Church cousin's rectory, near Portsmouth, a year ago, was soenthusiastic in her praise, that we determined to return to England bythe Panama route, spending some days at Honolulu on our way, and joiningthe steamer from New Zealand at Tahiti, which is in the direct line toPanama. We accordingly engaged a passage on board a brig, the _Banana_,bound on a trading voyage to those islands. As I was leaving the officeof the agent to whom the _Banana_ was consigned, I found a party ofseamen lounging about in front of the door, as seamen of all nations areaccustomed to do. These were a curiously mixed set; not only of allnations, but of all colours and tints. There were scarcely two alike.Among them were several negroes. I saw one of them, a fine sailor-likelooking fellow, start as he saw me. I looked again, and had littledoubt that the man I saw before me was the runaway slave, Marcus. Yet,though he eyed me as some of his companions were doing, not by anotherglance or sign did he seem to recognise me. He cast also the sameindifferent look at Peter and Ready. I stopped for a moment for Trevor,who wished to obtain some additional information about the brig, so thatI had time to examine the countenance of the black more narrowly. Everyfeature was that of the countenance of Marcus. So convinced was I ofthis, that I was on the point of going up to speak to him, when Ireflected that he might possibly have some good reason for notrecognising me, as it was not likely that he should have forgotten meand Peter, or the dog.

  As I walked on slowly, after Trevor rejoined me, I looked back and sawthe black enter the ship-agent's office. Again, looking back after sometime, I saw him following us at a distance, and evidently wishing thatit should not be seen that he was doing so. He watched us into ourhotel and then disappeared. Some stars of the first magnitude wereperforming at the opera-house, and we went to hear them. On our returnhome, as we had nearly reached our hotel and were passing a darkarchway, I felt my arm seized, and a voice whispered, "Stop!" I thoughtthat I was about to be robbed, and expected to have a knife stuck intome--so did Trevor--when the voice said:

  "I am a friend. Listen. You do not know me; but I know you, andremember that I owe you a deep debt of gratitude never fully to berepaid. I am Marcus--once a slave. I must be brief. You are about tosail in the _Banana_. A number of rich miners, and others, whose healthrequires recruiting, are about to proceed in her to the SandwichIslands. She has also, it is well-known, a rich freight. She has beenmarked for destruction. A band of desperate men on board a fast vesselpurpose following her. Two of them will be sent to ship on board aspart of the crew, so that she has not a chance of escape. Take myadvice; do not go by her; sacrifice your passage money. Any loss willbe better than venturing to sea in that craft. Farewell, Mr Skipwith.I must not detain you, nor must I stay longer here. I owe you much; Iam thankful that I have had again an opportunity of serving you. I haverun a great risk to do so, and would willingly run a greater. We maynever meet again; but believe that I earnestly desire your safety. Iwill not say I pray for it, for such a wretch as I am cannot pray. If Icould, my prayers would turn to curses. Farewell, farewell!"

  The last words were said in a tone of deep feeling. Even before I couldanswer, he had disappeared. I said nothing to Trevor before we got toour hotel. I then told him all I had heard, describing how I had metMarcus, and the opinion I had formed of him.

  Trevor looked serious for a few moments, and then he said--

  "I must see Marcus myself. Though I do not know him personally, whatyou have just told me, and what Dick wrote about this man, interests memuch, and if he is in trouble again, which I fear he must be, from thestealthy way in which he dodged you, let us try to get him out of it.Black skin or white skin, what does it matter? At bottom he is a noblefellow, and if you see nothing to object to the plan, he shall returnwith us to Old England; and when there, between us, we can manage to dosomething for him."

  Of course, I could have no objection, so Trevor set off in search of thefugitive. San Francisco is not the pleasantest place in the world forsuch a search. There are a good many persons there who have been drivenby their crimes out of society at home, and whose reckless way of livingat the diggings casts a suspicion upon them, so that folks generallyavoid that quarter of the city where they usually congregate, and whereI had met Marcus but a few hours before.

  I had been left to myself for more than three hours, and it was alreadygetting dark, yet Trevor did not return.
I therefore determined to goin search of him. I had just turned the corner of the street in whichwas the dark arch from which Marcus had emerged, when I saw Trevor andthe black approaching. Jack had succeeded in drawing Marcus away from alawless set of rascals, who were pirates of the worst class, by whom thelatter had recently been captured, and had had his life spared upontaking the usual oath to join the crew of his captors. He was closelywatched by them, so that Trevor could not get near him till the shadesof evening had fairly set in.

  Jack and Marcus were not long in bringing me to their way of thinking,that overland would be our safer way of reaching England; so wedetermined to lose our passage money, and on Marcus's account moreparticularly, to take the easiest and quickest route to New York. Peterwould not leave me, and is still a member of my household, dealing oftenin the marvellous, and frightening the maids in the kitchen with hisnarratives of shipwreck and crocodiles, of pirates and savages, and ofblood and murder.

  With our quitting San Francisco our perils and adventures came to anend, and we reached Liverpool in time to see Marcus on his way toLiberia, with letters of recommendation, before accepting dear AuntBecky's invitation to spend Christmas at Merton Lodge, and to spread outbefore her the trophies I had promised at starting, among which herdrawing-room exhibits, by way of hearth-rugs, two panther skins, and, inlarge glazed cases, a lot of stuffed birds and reptiles, including arattlesnake and a boa-constrictor.

  I need not say that Ready is a great favourite with all the household,and that with true canine sagacity he knows how to make the most of hispopularity. He seems to imply by his manner that the stuffed trophieswould scarcely have been where they are but for him, and his bright eyesexpress as plainly as tongue can do _Quorum pars magna fui_, wheneverTrevor and I have to narrate, for dear aunt's repeated gratification,how the living creatures themselves were captured and where they ranwild.

  THE END.