him, which grew larger every moment, and
presented himself for new conquests to the officers
of the day and the president of the commission.
Notwithstanding the stimulus of patriotism and
champagne, the sack did not fare so well here
as before. But here several supplementary
wrinkles of humour were suggested by the
sack. Among others, a good woman, finding
a small island of a few rods square in the
swamp, had erected a bridge of one plank, and
established such a rate of toll that, to see
nothing there, cost the curiosity of some
hundreds a half-dollar each. Then the president
of the commission was invited to shake hands
with some hundreds of the company, who
bought the privilege at from fifty cents to a
double eagle (ten dollars) a piece, making his
hat his till, until it was literally half-full of
silver and gold. Carried thence to Sacramento,
the sack was sold again at a public lecture by
the Rev. Dr. Bellows, for several hundred dollars
and finally transported to San Francisco; it
added moderate gains to its enormous harvest
even in that comparatively staid community.
Six months later the sack, with its irrepressible
owner, arrived in New York, en route for the
great fair at St. Louis. He did not stop here,
and I believe the sum realised by the
subscription given in this odd way to the Sanitary
Fund, was not much short of forty thousand
dollars, or eight thousand pounds.

Closely allied to the spirit of gambling is the
reckless and mercurial temperament of the
Western man. When Sacramento was being
destroyed by fire, and many a man saw his
whole worldly substance going to ruin, some of
the merchants managed to save some champagne,
and, going outside the town, drank "Better
luck next time. This is a great country."
Next day a tavern-keeper had a space cleared
among the ruins, and over a little board shanty
hastily run up was this inscription: "LAFAYETTE
HOUSE. Drinks two bits. Who cares a darn for
a fire!"

What energy these people have! I know a
carpenter who arrived in a village one morning
with his wife and child and chest of tools, but
having no "lumber" (wood), he pawned most of
the tools to buy some. He then obtained the
privilege of building on a vacant lot, and
commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon. At
five o'clock the house was enclosed. At sunset
his family moved into the house; and in less
than an hour afterwards the good wife had
supper ready. The family slept in the house that
night.

Men who can work like that, believe in work,
and have no fear of "busting up." A young
English nobleman, heir of one of the richest
peers in England, while waiting at a remote
country station one day, entered into conversation
with one of the neighbouring settlers.

'Been in these parts consid'able, stranger?"

'Yes, for some length of time"

'How long have ye bin here?"

'A few weeks."

'What's yer bisuness?"

"I have no business."

"What are you travellin' for, then?"

"Only for my own pleasure."

"Don't yer do any bisuness? How do you
get yer livin', then?"

"It isn't necessary for me to work for my
support. My father is a man of property, and
gives me an allowance sufficient for my wants."

"But s'pose the old man should die?"

"In that case, I dare say he'd leave me
enough to live upon."

"But s'pose he should bust up?"

Here the conversation ended: his lordship
walking away, apparently struck by a new idea.

Travel is safe on most Far-Western roads,
where there are no hostile Indians about; yet,
partly through old habit, partly as a precaution
absolutely necessary in some places, nearly
everybody goes armed, and it is wonderful how
many pistols will flash out when a street fight
arises in any Western town, or even in San
Francisco itself. A San Franciscan, who is
justly proud of having helped to rear up so
polite a town in a comparatively short time, is
very jealous on this point. He continually
impresses on a stranger that "Nobody, sir, carries
weapons now-a-days." And he would perhaps
convince you of this abstract doctrine, did not
one of the chilly forenoon winds blow up
Montgomery-street and expose a neat "Colt" at the
waistband of his trousers. I saw a man kneeling
before me in a certain church in San
Francisco, and as his coat-tail divided, the
handle of a huge navy revolver showed itself.
The knowing men, however, carry "Derringer"
pistols in their coat-pockets. "You can always
know," a shrewd old miner explained to me,
"when a man has a pistol in his pocket, by the
way he sits down in a chair. If he plumps down,
he's safe; but if he sits down cautiously and
looks arter his coat-tails, he's on the shyot—
certain!" The same with a knife. Horsemen,
when travelling, carry it in the boot, and footmen
down the neck; hence a bowie-knife is
popularly known as a "Kansas neck-blister."

But as for the Far-Western rowdies, Montana
and Idaho territories are at present the only
regions in the North Pacific globe where they
have anything like full swing for their playfulness.
In Idaho region, I heard of a man who
came rushing down the one street of a mining
village on a Sunday morning. He had been
attracted by a noise, and came on shouting,
"What's the matter?" Presently his excitement
abated: "Oh! only a man shot! Why,
I tho'rt it wus a dorg fight!" In that locality
they used to ask at breakfast, in a careless,
unconcerned way, with their mouths full, "Who
was shot last night?" And they generally had
"a dead man to breakfast." Nevada has
become rather more peaceable since it was
elevated to the dignity of a state; but at one time,
and in some places yet, if one gentleman "riled"
another, it was the correct thing that the
gentleman who was vexed at him should ask
in a piquant tone whether he was "heeled"—
and if he replied, Yes, why then it was