The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-28 00:00:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA

(concluded from the Times of Dee. 24)
_Victoria, Vancouver's Island, Oct. 26.
Fort tale is on the right bank of the Fraser.
We fou ad the place and its " surroundings," as an
Ameri( inn termed the neighbourhood, so filthy and
unsavoury—so exactly like its inhabitants, in short,
that vce could not pitch our tents in or near it ; so
we shot across the river, shook the dust of this
modcato Sodom from off our feet, and camped on a
cleari sandspit on the opposite side, away from the
ruffianism of the town—a fortunate choice in more
_ ways than one, but particularly happy in saving
the men from contamination.
We remained here from the 13th to the 20th of
Sept ember. During this period I visited Hill's
Bar, about 11 or 2 miles below Yale and on the op-
posit:. side of the river, three times, and will here
give such information as I picked up from the
miners. This Bar is one of the earliest worked,
and one of the most famous for its richness—the
bar of bars, the Ophir of Fraser's River. Mr.
HUI, the discoverer, left for California with his
pile" some time ago, having first sold out his
claims at good round prices, a practice which I
much deprecate, and which, if I were a lawgiver in
these -parts, I would put a stop to. A man who
sells a. claim sells "what isn't kis'n." The license
does not give the miner the fee of the land, but
merely the privilege of working it for gold, the
property of the Crown ; and when a miner aban-
dons his elaim it should be open to the next man
who comets and is ready to work it.
The first miner I met at Hill's Bar was a very
green miner—a young gentleman who came up
from San Frimeisco with me in June. His profes-
sion is that of a merchant, and he came to Vic-
toria to go into business. Finding things overdone
there, he resolved to turn miner, and came up to
Hill's Bar, bouo.ht a "claim" for 350 dols. ; and has
' been working it, with a partner, for nearly three
months. They employ five men to work with
them at wages ranging from 6 dols. to 8 dols. a
day each man. To show bath the division of labour
and the prospects of labouring men who may think
of coming out to this country, I will give a detail
of the labour and pay :—Two men shovelling, at
5 dollars a day ; three men rocking, one of them
at 6 dols., the second at 7 dols., the third at 8 dols.
a day. These were all good hands, experienced
• miners ; but the two who received the highest pay
- were choice hands. The earnings he gave me as
an ounce of gold a day to each man's work on an
average. On calling for details this -gentleman
said, his men would wash 1,000 buckets a day,
and that a bucket of " dirt" would produce Bc.
This would give 80 dols. as the earnings of the five
men ; just 16 dols. each man. But the " dirt" does
not always yield as much as Bc., although, on the
other hand, it sometimes yields more. He has had
as high as 33c. to the bucket, which would give to
five men washing 1,000 buckets an aggregate of
330 dols., or 66 dols. each a day—Xl3 sterling per
man per day. I cross-questioned my friend
strictly on this fact, but could not shake his
testimony, and he offered to show his books
in proof of his assertion. His character is a suffi-
cient voucher for any statement he makes. He is
very well known in San Francisco, where he long
held a situation of trust.
As a test of the value of this famous bar, I may
state that he knows of 1,000 dols. having been given
for one half of a claim of 25 feet wide, and of 1,200
dols. for one-third interest in another claim of the
same size, and of 1,000 dols. having been offered the
other day, and refused, for one half of a claim.
This gentlemen went back to San Francisco the
other day well satisfied with the result of his
mining adventure. His case proves two facts—that
a person of sedentary habits,- who never worked at
rude outdoor occupations, can improve his pecuniary
condition by taking a spell at mining, and that an
intelligent man can find efficient labour at high
prices to assist him in making his " pile."
I found an Englishman here whose story is in-
structive—George Cade, from Bethnal-green, Lon-
don. He had mined in California for three years
and upwards. Came up the river without money,
and worked at first on hire ; then took to construct-
ing rockers for the other miners, by which he saved
some money, as his outgoings were limited to the
cost of food, about 1 dol. a clay; no rent and no taxes
to pay. Finally, he bought a quarter interest in a
mining claim for 400 dols. The first week he worked
made 800 dols. to his own share, or " cheek," as he
put it, which made him free of debt and left some
encouragement over" I know the man of whom
he purchased. He bought Hill, the discoverer, out
for 1,400 dollars, including some debts on the claim,
which he assumed. The claim measures 25 feet,
being the usual size, running from the bank to the
water, and a small portion of an adjoining claim.
There are six men in " the company," four of
them hired at wages of 5 dols. a day each. In two
days last week they took out 800 dols. The average
of the week's earnings both Cade and his partner
returned at 4 lb. of gold amalgam a day, got out
the labour of all six. One pound of amalgam
they value roughly as worth 100 dols. This is evi-
dently a low estimate.
Some of the miners have carried a small stream
a distance of 11 mile, and sell the' water for sluic-
ing at 2 dols. Sc. an inch—that is to say, a super-
ficial inch of water on a vertical section. By means
of sluicing ground which will not pay by "rock-
ing," and which has been once " washed," will re-
munerate this outlay in water ; and I don't
reckon the charge high at the present high price
of labour.
'About the centre of the bar, which is con-
sidered its richest part, I met another miner from
San Francisco whom I knew. His story is, "three
weeks at work on his present claim, all of which
has been already washed by rocker, and which he
and his party are now sluicing, make 2 oz. a-day to
the hand." This is the average for the whole time
they have been at work.
Stories are told of enormous sums having been
realised on this bar ; but as these are " lucky
strikes," few and far between, and which would not
give a fair average of earnings, I shall not repeat
them. There are probably 400 men on the bar. I
counted 64 houses.
Many make as much as the earnings given above ;
probably one-half the number of miners; the other
half not so much. Several of the miners gave their
earnings at from 3 to 8 dols. a day.
The Commissioner who collects the licenses says
that everyman who chooses to work will make 5 dots.
a day at the lowest. He should be good authority
from his means of information.
At a point a short distance above Hill's Bar,
which had the fanciful name of " Shirt-tail Bend,"
to designate it, on a long pole, I found several
miners and three rockers at work, making 5 dols.
to G dols. a day each rocker.
_ I omitted to mention that most of the older
miners On Hill's Bar stated that for the last four
months it was common to get five and six ounces
of gold a day to each rocker. A rocker may require
two or three men to feed and work it, according to
the location.
At Hill's Bar I ascertained the important fact
that there are " dry diggings" inland " at the back
of the bar." This is on a plateau covered with
forest, elevated 30 feet above the level of the river.
" Close to the surface the ground prospected 12:
cents to the pan." The plateau is extensive, as I
found out by walking across a portion of it. It
extends from Hill's Bar to Yale, and opposite to
the latter place gold has recently been found on a

portion of this same plateau. The constable from
Fort Yale told me so, and his information is con-

firmed by Mr. Pemberton, the colonial surveyor,
who has just returned from Yale.
Opposite to Hill's Bar a good deal of mining is
carried on at the lower end of the bend or crescent

upon which Fort Yale stands. I did not visit this

spot, 'at which there are perhaps 250 miners.
Higher up come the Fort Yale diggings. I spoke
to many of the miners here—not less than 100,
certainly on several occasions—who gave their
earnings at every sum, from 2 dols. sc. (say 3s.
sterling) to two ounces (say £6 sterling) a man per
day. The most common return from sluicing was
one ounce a man per day. They are a lazy, coarse,
grumbling, good-for-nothing set. Hundreds squat
in tents, and do nothing but complain of the bad-
ness of the times, and lament the falling off in the
produce of the bar. It does not yield nearly so
much as it did at first, but it was very inefficiently
worked, and the sluices are half the time idle,
while the owners are drinking and gambling.
Many " loafers" hang about, ostensibly waiting the
fall of the river to " go up," but in reality on the
lookout for plunder. I never saw so many sinister
countenances collected in one place—ill-bred curs,
as cruel as they are di honest. Here is the nest
whence issues the wretch who will shoot an Indian
in the back when he finds one alone and unarmed,
and who is the first to run, even out of a crowd,
when he sights a bodyof Indians, armed or unarmed;
and here is the Alsatia to which the coward flees
for shelter.

We ascended the river for some miles beyond
Fort Yale, and found miners encamped arid at
work all along the left bank. Here we found the
largest sized scale gold yet seen—the " coarse
gold" so much prized by the miner, because he gets
more of it for the same amount of labour bestowed

on " fine gold," which does nOi weigh so much. l'he
" prospects" all along this, the first gorge of the
river, good, and expected to improve. In some
other letter I will copy my notes of this portion of
the river.

I must now hurry this tedious narrative to a
close.

On our return down the river we visited Texas
Bar (Sept. 21), which we romitted on our way up.
We found miners making 4 dols. a day and 8 dols.
to the rockereach. This is an extensive mining

settlement, log cabins aud other evidences of success
being abundant. I copy from my notebook :
" A gang at the upper end of bar make 5 and 6
dols. a day, working the third stratum of gravel
from the surface. The first stratum pa'd high, the
second stratum thrown aside for future sluicing, as
it only produced 3 dols. a day to the hand ; too poor
for rocking. This bar evidently rich, as proved by
the vast amount of digging clone. The auriferous
stratum runs back into the shore under a bed of
fine sand 10 feet thick. An extensive flat between
the river and the mountains. Miners say rich and
the sand easy of removal by sluicing. Gangs of six
men washed the surface gravel; gave 16 to 20 dols.
a day to the hand ; now washing the tailings' of
the same gravel, which yields 5 to 6 dols. a day to
the hand. A month's work averaged 16 to 20 dols.
a day, digging a gravel bed underneath a thin
ledge of rock easily penetrated."
This is the " bed rock" of the miner, to which it
is his aim always to dig down.
Contrary to the opinion of the gang alongside,
this gang think the auriferous stratum does not
extend more than 250 yards from the water's edge.
At this extreme point it pays 5 to 6 dols. a day to
the hand. This is one of the rich claims.
John Daly, from Cork, an old California miner,
has his wife with him, "the only leddy on the bar."
Worked for some time for the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany at Fort Hope, " then worked for others, car-
rying dirt at 6 dols. a day." The turning point of
John's fortune he dates as on the 17th of July.
Bought a claim of 25 feet frontage of another miner,
" an Irishman born in America !" for 32 dols. Sc.;
has since made 2 dols. sc. a day often ; calls his earn-
ings now 10 to 12 dols. a day. " Can you give me the
average, Mr. Daly ?" "Faith, I can ; 10 to 12 dollars;
an' ye can put it down and show it to the Governor
if ye like." Is building a to house, three
times too big for him and his " leddy ;" but why
shouldn't Paddy indulge his whim ? he's in luck,
is "making money, and manes to save it." This I
much doubt. " Likes the country, for it brought
him luck." This I don't doubt.
Next met three blackguards drunk in honour of
the Governor's visit, all hot-headed Yankees. One
was very high-spirited and independent; " wouldn't
uncover for the best man," &c. I pulled the fellow's
hat off with a jerk,- to try him. He looked very
sheepish, and, after a pauoc, drawled out, " Why—
then—you're—been—and—done it." How suddenly
the valour oozes out of these braggarts when they
are confronted with a little firmness. I look upon
every man who wears a revolver at his work as an
arrant coward. When the Governor came up (for
our little encounter was out of sight of the party),
the free citizen was disposed to be very obsequious
indeed.
These fellows had a rich claim, which yielded 100
dols. a week, and sometimes more to each of them;
£4O a week very ill bestowed. Another rich claim
sluiced by a stream of water, worked by 10 men,
five by day and five by night—make the ounce to
25 dols. a day to the hand. Much of the gold lost
from imperfection of sluice. This claim cost the
present owner, Wm. H. M‘Guire, 1,450 dols., hav-
ing brought out his former partners. Strange
arrangements the miners make. This claim had
been divided into single shares, half shares, 1-10ths,
and 1-20ths. It measures 250 feet in width, and
was originally located by 10 miners. All the ori-
ginal owners have left except M‘Guire. They all
carried money with them-30,000 dols. in gross—
and have all gone to the Atlantic States. The
claim was commenced to be worked on the 27th of
last May. They worked so irregularly (off and on)
and had so many interruptions that I could not fix
the period it took to make this money. Mr. Bauer-
man, the geologist of the Boundary Commission,
who is with us, examines the gold hereabbuts for
platina, of which he has collected some, taken out
of Thompson River gold.
Other miners on Texas bar gave me their returns
at 5 dots., 6 dols., and up to 10 dols. a-day. No
growlers here. All regret that the troops are not
left in the mines. The American miners have a
slavish fear of the Indians. Their pipes are always
groaning out the doleful tune, protection against
the red skins. We have met Russians, Swedes,
Danes, French, Norwegians, Austrians, and other
Germans, English, Scotch, and Irish, and other
nationalities besides, for aught I know ; but none
of these dreaded the Indians as did the Americans.
As for us, the Indians were, of course, our friends,
and hung about us, always ready to serve us. The
majority of the miners are not American.
Two hundred and fifty police stationsd at Fort
Hope, the same number at Yale, and 250 at Fort
Dallas, about 90 miles beyond Yale, with three or
four gun-boats for the river, would preserve per-
fect order and compel absolute obedience to the law.
Such is the opinion of an officer whom I consider
good authority. He would, when a proper system
is established, disarm the population. I would
agree with him were it not for the existence of the
Indians. They cannot be depended upon, and men
may require arms in self defence. As to the silly
argument, so fashionable in Downing-street and
St. Stephen's, that we must'nt do this, that, or the
other for fear it would be disliked by our neigh-
bours, I would have but one answer—" Let those
who dislike our laws keep away."
From Texas bar we slip down to Strawberry
Island, so-named for the very good reason that it is
covered with strawberry vines. This is the
" Sctlaheness" of the Indians, which I told you we
had passed without visiting on our way up on the
13th of September. The first gang we encountered
was composed of nine California miners, who had
" rocked" the shore to the tune of 9 dols. and 10
dols. a-man per day, and who are now busy making
a wheel to raise water for sluicing. They intend
to winter on the island. Nine of the handsomest
men I have seen. One half of them—no,-the nine
could not well be divided,—but five of them might
have stood for models for Hercules • all Ameri-
cans State of Maine.
A little below the Maine men, on the shore of
the island, came upon a huge water-wheel of 40 feet
diameter, for raising water for "hydraulic wash-
ing." The wheel is set upon a wooden flat, mov-
able, to be shoved out into the river as the water
falls. The wheel is, of course, under shot.
I asked Major Hawkins, who understands engi-
neering and mechanics, what he thought of the
wheel. The major thought it would fall to pieces
as soon as the water set it in motion. We now
meet the owner of this " wheel of fortune." He is
full of hope from the effects to be produced in the
island by this wheel; and told us that a man left
these diggings for California last Saturday with
2,000 dols.—a fact which adds new fervour to his
hopes.

The owner of the wheel is Mr. C. D. Burlinson, a
native of Ohio and citizen of California, where he
has been a trader and a publican, last at Amador.
He is so pleased with the country, and his own pros-
pects,-that he " shouldn't wonder a particle if he'd
become a British subject, and spend the balance of
his days here." And, in furtherance of this laud-
able intention, is about to send for his wife and
family. He has dug a hole or shaft to "prospect"
what is in the bowels of the island. The first four
feet of the shaft is sand, which produced no gold.
Then comes a " streak" of gravel, which appears of
great thickness, for four to five feet in depth of it is
already exposed without going through it. This
gravel has paid him 10 dols. to 12 dols. per day to
the hand, the dust very fine, the lower portion of
the stratum paying the best. His intention is to
" ground sluice" first, and then to wash down, after
making "a face," as far as the dirt will pay. To
carry out this intention is the object of the wheel.
He may fail at first, but that's nothing; he'll try
again, and succeed at last. These diggings of Mr.
Bnrlinson's, and of others on the island, are dry
diggings, of much importance in a miner's estima-
tion, because they are likely to endure after the
river, or wet diggings, become exhausted. We have
reason to expect that plenty such will be found.
One such was discovered lately on an elevated
fiat 50 feet above the river and 250 yards inland, on
the. right side, some miles above this island, and
close to our last night's encampment. Early this
morning 13 Scotchmen sent a deputation to Mr.
Douglas, with a "prospect" in a pan, for permis-
sion to work, and to appropriate the water of a
neighbouring stream for "sluicing." The thing
looked so feasible that the Governor granted both
requests, and promised that if they are successful
he would give them double allowance of ground in
reward for their discovery. I have lately had a
good account of the Scotchmen. The Governor
christened their claims " Prince Albert's Diggings."
I hope they will succeed. They have got a lucky
name, any way.
Back to Fort Hope for the night. The houses
have increased in our absence. Miners have also
multiplied near by. On our way down the river
found a large accession of miners, and the ground
actually worked greatly extended.
Camped (Sept. 22) nine miles below Fort Hope,
on a strip of 'rich bottom land covered with long
bunch grass, the soil well adapted for farming or
gardening. This is the first wet day we have had
since the 30th August. During that period we
have had two slight showers of short duration.
The weather was lovely the whole of the time. '
To-night wet feet, &c., but with a fire that would
have roasted 10 oxen, and in good humour with all
Ethe world and ourselves, we passed a night that an
mperor might have envied.
The English are great on climatology, and like
to discuss what they have very little off. Well, to
gratify such as are enthusiasts on the subject, I
will give the temperature of one of our days at
Fort Horte—.a place surriunded by mountains :
Sept. 11, by Fahrenheit's thermometer, in the
shale under a treee, noon, 82 deg. ; at 2 o'clock,
85 deg. 2 • 4, 81 deg. ; 6, 68 deg.; 8, 56 deg. ; 10,
53 deg. ; 12, 50 deg. The 12th.-2 a,m., 58 deg. ;