Though there was no
moon, I dared not venture within the lamp's rays, for her
sake; for my own, I was reckless now - I would have thanked
either of them to brain me with his hoe. But Arakeeta came
not.
In the day-time I roamed about the district, about the TARO
fields, in case she might be working there. Every evening
before sundown, many of the women and some of the well-to-do
men, and a few whites, used to ride on the plain that
stretches along the shore between the fringe of palm groves
and the mountain spurs. I had seen Arakeeta amongst them
before the LOOHOU feast. She had given this up now, and why?
Night after night I hovered about the hut. When she was in
the verandah I whispered her name. She started and peered
into the dark, hesitated, then fled. Again the same thing
happened. She had heard me, she knew that I was there, but
she came not; no, wiser than I, she came not. And though I
sighed:
What is worth
The rest of Heaven, the rest of earth?
the shrewd little wench doubtless told herself: 'A quiet
life, without the fear of the broomstick.'
Fred was impatient to be off, I had already trespassed too
long on the kind hospitality of General Miller, neither of us
had heard from England for more than a year, and the
opportunities of trading vessels to California seldom
offered. A rare chance came - a fast-sailing brig, the
'Corsair,' was to leave in a few days for San Francisco. The
captain was an Englishman, and had the repute of being a boon
companion and a good caterer. We - I, passively - settled to
go. Samson decided to remain. He wanted to visit Owyhee.
He came on board with us, however; and, with a parting bumper
of champagne, we said 'Good-bye.' That was the last I ever
saw of him. The hardships had broken him down. He died not
long after.
The light breeze carried us slowly away - for the first time
for many long months with our faces to the east. But it was
not 'merry' England that filled my juvenile fancies. I
leaned upon the taffrail and watched this lovely land of the
'flowery food' fade slowly from my sight. I had eaten of the
Lotus, and knew no wish but to linger on, to roam no more, to
return no more, to any home that was not Arakeeta's.
This sort of feeling is not very uncommon in early life. And
'out of sight, out of mind,' is also a known experience.
Long before we reached San Fr'isco I was again eager for
adventure.
How magnificent is the bay! One cannot see across it. How
impatient we were to land! Everything new. Bearded dirty
heterogeneous crowds busy in all directions, - some running
up wooden and zinc houses, some paving the streets with
planks, some housing over ships beached for temporary
dwellings. The sandy hills behind the infant town are being
levelled and the foreshore filled up. A 'water surface' of
forty feet square is worth 5,000 dollars. So that here and
there the shop-fronts are ships' broadsides. Already there
is a theatre. But the chief feature is the gambling saloons,
open night and day. These large rooms are always filled with
from 300 to 400 people of every description - from 'judges'
and 'colonels' (every man is one or the other, who is nothing
else) to Parisian cocottes, and escaped convicts of all
nationalities. At one end of the saloon is a bar, at the
other a band. Dozens of tables are ranged around. Monte,
faro, rouge-et-noir, are the games. A large proportion of
the players are diggers in shirt-sleeves and butcher-boots,
belts round their waists for bowie knife and 'five shooters,'
which have to be surrendered on admittance. They come with
their bags of nuggets or 'dust,' which is duly weighed,
stamped, and sealed by officials for the purpose.
1 have still several specimens of the precious metal which I
captured, varying in size from a grain of wheat to a mustard
seed.
The tables win enormously, and so do the ladies of pleasure;
but the winnings of these go back again to the tables. Four
times, while we were here, differences of opinion arose
concerning points of 'honour,' and were summarily decided by
revolvers. Two of the four were subsequently referred to
Judge 'Lynch.'
Wishing to see the 'diggings,' Fred and I went to Sacramento
- about 150 miles up the river of that name. This was but a
pocket edition of San Francisco, or scarcely that. We
therefore moved to Marysville, which, from its vicinity to
the various branches of the Sacramento river, was the chief
depot for the miners of the 'wet diggin's' in Northern
California. Here we were received by a Mr. Massett - a
curious specimen of the waifs and strays that turn up all
over the world in odd places, and whom one would be sure to
find in the moon if ever one went there. He owned a little
one-roomed cabin, over the door of which was painted 'Offices
of the Marysville Herald.' He was his own contributor and
'correspondent,' editor and printer, (the press was in a
corner of the room). Amongst other avocations he was a
concert-giver, a comic reader, a tragic actor, and an
auctioneer. He had the good temper and sanguine disposition
of a Mark Tapley. After the golden days of California he
spent his life wandering about the globe; giving
'entertainments' in China, Japan, India, Australia. Wherever
the English language is spoken, Stephen Massett had many
friends and no enemies.
Fred slept on the table, I under it, and next morning we
hired horses and started for the 'Forks of the Yuba.' A few
hours' ride brought us to the gold-hunters.
