Litchfield enquirer., 1849-12-13

SMmany glowing asOounts. (says tn"
Spri keld Republican, Of the riches o.
Calis6tnis. and the opportunities it offers
for acquiring Sudden wealth. have beer
presented to the public. and their etFec'
has been so great i" inducing emigration >
that the darker and more honest size o.
the picture should occasional be shown.
The following is an extract from le;tc.
written BY one Of the members of the
Edward EFsrettTs company, dated Mac,
.slau1 River, Sept. F4th. lt benrs upon
its face theevidence Of honesty ana good
sense, and was never written b. home
sick craven=
II write you this from the soEl mines,
after six weeks residence here. The
company, as you are probably aware dis.
solved on the 29th OF llst month.
began to work fox myself FIVE weeks
ago, and have made in that time nea,l "
three hundred dollars. l worked tor
hard the first week. and made myself
sick, for about ten days; since then |
have been pretty well, until within day
or two, have had u touch OF the dysen-
terry. hoye it will not prove anything
serious, but it may. for a man is not Sc
cure i'm this climate There is scarcely ~
man Of Our company who has not been
sick and or his back, since our arrival
here: one has died; he WIS the young
est member except myse'f; he seemed
to think that he could die contented. if
he could see home once more. 1t was
impossible to- obtain coffin for him, so
we wrapped him in a blanket, and e.m
signed hm to the earth. Some are less
fortunate than he was in obsaining
Christian burial. lsaw orr poor fellows
bones whitening on the prairie, rs came
up here, and there are hund: eds who
sink into the grave, unknelled, uncotfin.
d and vnwept.
A great many in our company are re-
turning. ard | believe that more than
half Of our company would tWnif they
had the means. NJ. Lsais II. Lull, one
Of our company, and formerly Il lawyer
IN Boston, is very sick at this time, and
requires constant attention. have rea
sou TO hope that he viii! be up in few
days, however. The chances for maAing
money here are decreasing every day.
When ] first came here, man stood a
pretty good chance Of making AN ounce
day. but now q great many work hard,
and do not make haE an ounce. Our
food here for the most part is unhealthy,
and aaAr aaanRee 2of living also. The
thermometer here stands SOM, times as
high as lI2 deg ut noon. and below 50
deg. at night. so that it is almost in-
possible to keen warm. Weare obliged
10 sleep on the ground, that is rs hard As
IL rock SO that we do not arise very
much refreshed. have not had my
clothes of. except to wash myself, for
two months. AND do not expect to while
an, in California.
During the time I have been here, l
have suffered from Hunger, thirst, sick
ness. exposure, AMI fatigue. l think
some Of spending the winter in the MINES,
but il do shall have to undergo a
great many harsiships. After l.s rainy
season commencrs, the streams b come
impossible, 50 that / shah be Slut up III
the mountains for few months. II !
am sick, there will be but very little
hope for ne. and if my prov ;sio', ials |
shall starve. propose sending this with
Dryer, one our company. who leaves
IN the next STEAMER lie VIII be able to
inform you of our operations here. This
is the sixth letter | have written, and
nave received but one. would give its
weight in gold for letter. My thoughts
IRE Of nothing but home. AMI believe
me, the time when can see YOU aad
clasp your hand. once more. will lie the
happiest moment in the LIE Of "#@