The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-01-09
Cts from late
Publications.
y AaSAAGGVASA0s


Isl q Il ITsIN fEI Il Sold REGION,
q &. II ND Nd SCENES HE Way BY
syaI HgoDoRE n. 3JonNsoNs NewtYork:.a
sss he nutlior Of This volume left New.
Fork for Galitorniali sFebruaryslas,, tnk.
ing the fou,esby the Islllmus, and arrived
sat San Frahcisco earlyS iii April He
thenne sproeeededSupihe Sacramento, and
passed some time al the Mines; and he
sssshere gives The results ot his observations
sffin the aGold Regions" and "by. The way"
lie comfnencesh shis narrative Us the sicam-
& or leaves sNew.Y York, and describes with
( great fullness of sdetuil every incident by
s The Way; tliesoyage TO Chagses, with IFS
s many serioseomical scenes; the passage OF
the lslhmus, with its annoyances and
ptensures-5the grand and striking scene
ssssry along its roule, and lis cities and viii
lages, Wilhtheirtis.ory and condition; the
sail up the Pacific; the objects Of in,eres,
ssalong onfsW estern coast; The appearance
sof San Ffancisco-ails singular condition,
sssspitl,outa parallel in tho history Of any
city oftho world; the ascent Of the Sacra.
mento; his difficulties in getting to the
Mines, and the strange things there saw
and / rd;--aRd all in style SO spirited
! and graphic thatthe attention of the rea.
der is&attonce iastened,y and never flags
Esirom The commencement Of The volume to
s5sthe end.
4 !, Mr..Johnson's description OF his frs, cx.
4 perlbe2lnee b2l in gold, digging will be read with
u inte rests sE saE4 y : Fy--r
The sudden change from life of vigo.
ssro,is exercise to tic iunclivity OF the camp,
\ and the Influence Of food consisting Of
Rsshlt' provisions only, now began TO be fell
y by nfl While part remaiurd therefore in
:scharge Of the trading, we stouldered our
ssshosals, ba,ekels3and machine, and pro.
ceedeato The lower 6ar on the South Fork,
J 40, lo try our handsaa digging and washing
Sssont gold, The water was so high that
mot Il many miners We're employed Oh the
oars hercathough there were more on the
Middle md fNorll, Forks. The grca,
rnshtat thattme was to The diggings more
3asfecentlyidiscoyered on the S,anisluus and
Y sothcrtributarieso of the San joaquin, where
50 there We're about 5000 miners, beside
gtradcrs, etc. These discoveries had ex.
& cited much attention on account Of the
Large Jumps of gold found there, but tho
& mos, experienced miners were already
returning % The branches Of the Sucra-
Il mGnto.
ssssa Arriving on The bar, the scene prcsen.
4 ted tous was new indeed, and not more
.$extraordinary. than impressive. Some
with long handled shovels, delved among
Sselamps of1bushes. or by the side of large
rocks, never raising their eyes Tor an in !.
stant; others with pick and shovel worked
among stone end gravel. or with trowels
d searched Under banks and roots Of trees
where, if rewarded with small Jumps OF
Il gold, the eye shone brighter for an instant,
when tho senrch was Immediately and
. more ardenlly resumed. AT the edge Of
Mthe stream, or knee deep and waist deep
22in water, as cold us melted ice and snow
could make it, some were washing gold
with tin pans ortthe common cradle rock.
I er, while the rays Of the sun were pour
iggtlown on. their heads, with an iniensi.
tySeSceading anything we ever cxpcrcn-
ced at home, though it was but the mid
die OF April. a
SS The thirst for gold and the labor OF &C.
QUESTION oYerruled all else, and to,ally ab.
sorbed query faculty. Complete silence
relgned among the miners; they address
S'ed not a word TO each other, and seemed
avefse to a. conversation. All The sym
.pallilcs of our common humanity, all the
finer and nobler attributes of our nature
seemed lost, buried beneath the soil thew
sWere engerly delving, or swept away
with thefrushing waters tha, revealed the
shining treasure.
..eslEhis t.p1a 'er" or bar, is simpy.4,hc
higher The portion Of The sandy and rocky
bed of the stream; which, during the sea-
3 sons.sofhigh water, is covered with the
i rushing torrent, but was now partially or
entirely exposed. is covered with
large stones and rocks. or on tho smooth
sand with ciumps Of sunlcd bushes or
strces, Selecting spot, wo inquired of
those nearcs:whether any other "dggers"
Claimed "a prior possession, and such no,
being the case, we went 10 work. First
|. fixing our machine firmly the edge Of
the stream, we dug and carried down a
aplle OF the earth 10 be washed; and when
#suificient was collected, ono filled the
Rniachine with the eartl: and kept i, in mo.
stio'nn, whic.tllc other supplicdii with wa
ter. Getting but small quantity Of gold
! \ n that spot, VIC wadcd through little in
I let to another part Of the Jar near the
stream and our labors not being we'll re-
Wardcd here, We again we fixed upon tho
ssedge of a bank, where The ground had
h'cn broken by an old miner, but soon
deserted digging through abou, foot
OF and stones which we rcioiccd, VIC came
. 10 clay deposit mixed with sand; this
,aweFtiled the buckets with, and ea,ricd 10
the n1hchinc. The upper or sandy layer
iayer contains no gold, but II is caused by
It's SPECIFIC. gravity and the action OF the
water sili through this inlo the clay,
Where s',ll i is found until The blue clay or
grantitipl granite formation is reached, which in
these ,tsa d'sggigangs is generally three 10 four