The Sierra citizen., 1855-01-20
Written for the Sierra Citizen.
Letters from Major Downie.
NO. XIV.

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No. XIV.
There was one Kanaka in our prospect
Ing party, that I ought to make mention
Of, as being Of some note. He went by the
tafne'6f John Wilson. have since been
uniformed that he is now King of the Sand
'wich Islands, while on the South Fork he
was sort of captain over party, and
arbitrator in matters Of dispute. When
addressing US, he would strike his breast,
'and Say: "me prince in my country, me
great man, me very big man at home"
1 can only say, that the successor to
King Kamahamaha was not the only one
l have seen in California, who was q great
man at home, who after a residence of two
sor three years in the mines, found out
that he was not quite so tall as he thought
he was, especially after blasting rocks
about year without finding color.
went on prospecting tour, once
more, and as it was the last of the season,
Imay as well give you some idea of where
we went, and how we Jared. -Four of us
left Kauaka Flat with a donkey, packed
with couple Of weeks provisions, perfect
ly sure that we had the dead-wood that
time, and that if we could once get to the
mountain that looked like house-roof, at
the pass near the head-waters of the South
Yuba, we would get gold enough to load
down donkey. We shaped our course
east, sometimes lowering the jackass over
cliffs of rocks, but then he was not very
heavy, and four stout miners could pack
himself and load, which we had to do
more than once on that trip. We crossed
the North Yuba and went up the divide
until we came to the meadows, about
where Jacksons Ranch now is, and there
camped for the night.
The next morning we kept on until we
thought we were far enough east, and then
ascended hill to look about us, and then
we discovered the hill we were in quest of,
looking like the roof of a house; toward
that we set out on bee-line. We kept on
patiently, thinking we would soon be there,
but there was always some place ahead
that looked better than where we were.-
/ don't like to stop to moralize, but when
wading through the chapparal, I have
often compared its deceptive appearance
in the distance, to the journey of life, where
we are always looking ahead to some sun
ny spot beyond.
We tried hard to go up the mountain
against the buck-horn chapparal, but the
donkey stuck fast in the brush and was
sometimes clear out of sight; plying our
Ratchet briskly we soon extricated the
poor fellow, but then came another diff
Guilty. The rocks rose perpendicularly
above US; we could not 60 back, and to
make the matter worse, night came on
We unpacked the donkey, carried his load
spver the shelving rocks, and then roped
him up after. I do not wish you had
been there, but wish you. had seen US
two behind, and two before, hauling on the
ropes, but we got him up safe, and camped
that night without water, although we
could distinctly hear it running below.
need not tell you how tantalizing the
sound was. Privation was then but a
triAe, soon over. and soon forgotten by the
tgold-hunters.
We got to the foot Of the hill next day,
but did not find the gold lying round loose
on the top Of the ground. Camping there,
we built a ~rousing fire and cooked our
supper; among other things, some wild
onions, which grew in abundance among
the rocks Harry amused himself setting
hre to the moss on the sides of the trees,
and watching the blaze run up to the
top; sometimes rolling big rocks down the
mountain. This was favoorite amuse-
ment with prospectors when they could
find no gold, probably to crafty their de-
.structiveness. have sometimes seen four
or i've fellows working and prizing at a
big rock, with the most commendable in
dustry, and after it started, watching it
crashing down among the pines with as
much satisfaction as though they were
witnessing horse-race.
We began searching for gold on what
l have since found out to be the head ol
Canon Greek, running into the South
Yuba. There was plenty of slate and
quartz, and black sand, and I think there
i gold there, though We could find none
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