LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ^£53iS» Shelf..S.S-2~f\3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. From '36 to '8y. IN TWO PARTS. REV. STEWART SHELDON TOPEKA, KANSAS: GEO. \V. CRANE & CO., PRINTERS AND BINDI 189O. co«« £>Xl2UO ■ SszA 3 Copyrighted. 1889, by Stewart Sheldon. PREFACE PART FIRST Shows something of school and college ways fifty and thirty years ago; of a voyage around Cape Horn; life in Val- paraiso, South America; adventures in California in '49 and '50; touring through Old Mexico; crossing the Gulf, and taking a boat up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cin- cinnati and Baltimore, and from there by rail to the old home of childhood days, in western New York. PART SECOND Gives incidents of missionary work in Missouri, Colorado and Dakota, with over two years' service in New England as Field Secretary of the American Congregational Union. DEDICATED MY CHILDREN AND OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE FAVORED WITH LIFE IN THIS PERIOD OF TIME, PROMISING GRANDER POSSIBILITIES FOR THE KING'S GLORY AND THE WEL- FARE OF MANKIND THAN THE WORLD HAS EVER BEFORE SEEN. CONTENTS. PART FIRST. CHAPTER L— School. The School — Employments — Punishments — Hanging — Daily Whipping — Hoeing Potatoes — Blood Blister — "I'll Kick You Blue" — Design of the School — Painted Face — Keeping the Fire — Story Tellers — Elm Stumps — Rattlesnake — Famous Hunter — Smelling his Breath — The Doctor — Liberty Pole — Jehu-like Drivers — Bees Stolen — Stolen Watermelons — Betsy Jane — The Deacon — Signing the Pledge — Silver Lake Snake — Queer Minister — His Tea Drinking — His Horse — Insane Alan. CHAPTER II.— College. Entering College — First Class Meeting — Ringing Off the Rust — Night Alarm — Law — Missing Bible — No Chalk — Black Cow — Bombard- ing the Juniors — Imagination — Little Cherub — Coasting. CHAPTER III.— Doubling the Cape. Doubling the Cape — Sea Sickness — A Change — Man Overboard — Por- poises and Flying Fish — First Whale — First Storm — Cape Verde Islands — Fairy - like — Sousing — Swells — The Equator — Neptune' s Children — Bathing — Unwelcome Visitor — Magellan Clouds — Fear- ful Storm — Sea Birds — Penguins — Icebergs — Kingfisher — Speaking a Ship — To New York — Variegated Waters — Twelve Days' Tempest — Missing Vessel — Thick Fog —Waterspout — Man-of-war — Beautiful Day — Herrings — Whales — land Breeze — The Andes — Oily Waters. CHAPTER IV.- Valley of Paradise. .Searching the Trunks — Strangeness — Earthquakes — Public Amusements — Keeping the Carnival — City of the Dead — The Mass — The Sab- bath — Princes and Beggars — Crime — Our School — Boys and Don- keys — Distinguished Himself — Dr. Trumbull — Saluting a Peon — Gift of Tongues — William Wheelwright — Earthquakes — God's Light Needed. 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V.— Golden Gate. Cross Captain-Gymnastic Birds— Clear Water- Peculiar Storm-Pecul- iarities—Gambling Houses — Preaching to the Gamblers — City Sur- veying—First Fire — Rebuilding — Swift Changes — Profane Man — Church Full of Men— Tom Hyer — Poisoned — A Felon — Off for the Mines — Mushroom Growth— The Outfit — Camping Grounds — Excite- ment of Mining— On a Gold Bed -Gold Hill -The Editor- Dealing with Criminals — Midnight Arousings — Dressed-up Indian — Preaching in the Mines — Surrounding Scenes— "I'd Like to Preach"— To the New Diggings— The Journey — Losing the Way — Meeting the Mail. CHAPTER VI.— Old Mexico. The Corn Cracker and the Fox — Elective Affinities — Lashed to the Deck — Burial at Sea— Land, ho!— Old Mexico — First Night — Death of the Doctor — Cholera — Sabbath Halt — Robbers — Hanging Man — Lasso Cavaliers — Pumpkin Raft — Mills' Horse — Halls of Monte- zuma— Pockets Picked — Mexican Churches — General Scott's Road — Fancy Mule. CHAPTER VII.— On the Gulf. On the Gulf of Mexico — Moonlight Sharking — Bay of Campeachy — Sport with the Porpoises — Steamer, ahoy!— Up the Mississippi— Sharpers — Home Surprise. PART SECOND. — Pioneer Missions. CHAPTER I. To the Sunny Southwest — Little Whittler — Ainsworth Brothers — Doing Pastoral Work — An Ex- Slaveholder— Lover of Flowers — Our Hired House — Freedmen — Caste — Identification Wanted. CHAPTER II. The Land of the Dakotas — Pleasant Greetings— Brule Valley— The Trio —Fire Fiend— Pillar to Post— Stormy Night — Results — Caught in a Whirlpool — God's Voice — Grand Jury — Santee Agency — Important Changes — Indian Chiefs — Cain's Wife — Marked Advances — Frost- bitten— Tragic Tumble — Free Pass — Magnificent Farm House — Translated Hat — Race with a Tin Pail. CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER III. The Angel of the Lord — Blizzards — Keeping Cool — Funeral Notice — Taken for a Stage Driver — Caught in the Dark — Lost on the Prairie — In the Old Barracks — Receiving New Members — Last Town West- ward — Sioux Indians — Church Gathered- — Tin Horn — Destroyer — Up the Vermillion. CHAPTER IV. Home Missionary Campaign — Cordial Welcome — Going West — "How Large a Town is Dakota ? " — Commendable Interest — What's a Dug- out ? — A Dialogue — Noble Example — Old Faneuil Hall — Centennial Exhibition — Montana Man — The Capitol Building — Other Visits — Moody and Sankey — Theological War Horse. CHAPTER V. Renewing the Buggy — Perils of Waters — Bloody Raiders — Results of the Trip — Just the Religion — Want the Gospel — Kind Hospitality — Perils of Mud — Diamonds — Specimens — Insane Man — Oaks from Acorns — The Lord's House — Revival — The Hopeless Case — Show- ing his Colors — Aged Convert — Honor from the Lord — Live Prayer Meeting — Enlarging the Church — Home Heathen — "A What!" He Answered — An Atheist's Death — Fatal Plunge — Belle of the Town ■ — Healer of Division. CHAPTER VI. Church Building Collection — Good Investment — Truth Wins its Way — Abusing the Tavern Keeper — New Light Obtained — Tongue Loosed — A Stigma — Tobacco — Superintendent and Cigar- — Reformer Re- formed — Moving Sermon — Dogs at Church — The Circus — Grand Kampeska Hotel — Grand Central — A Quarrel Settled — Storming the Fort. CHAPTER VII. Glorious Overrulings — The Church was Built — Sabbath School and Prayer Meeting — A Misunderstanding — Another Happy Ending — A Strange Medley — Weekly Pledges — Willing Hearts — Good Shot. CHAPTER VIII. The Little Boy's Prayer — Killed by his Own Son — Fairy Scenes — Sunday Ball Playing — Swift to Ruin — Satan's Emissary — Divine Providences — Scoffing Lawyer — Little Child's Funeral — Black Boy and White Stage Driver — Pappoose. CHAPTER IX. Wonder Land — Denver — Clear Creek Canon — Colorado Springs — Cluster of Marvels — Santa Pueblo — San Juan Regions — The Disturber Put Out — Church Organization — The Two Mourners- — Footing and Ford- S i i VTENTS, in g _Twin Lakes — Grand View— The Meeting — Diverse Convey- ances—Free Rule — Deserted Town— Wagon Wheel Gap — A Rocky Mountain Stager — Dead and Dive Timber — Immense Pines — Slum Ciullion. CHAPTER X. Picturesque View — Distances Deceptive— Bird's-eye View— Sand Moun- tains— Veta Pass — Soliloquy — Grand Canon — Sunshine— Funeral in lhe Mines— Touching Appeal — Gold Hill — Spirit of Union — In the Dance House — Colorado College — Gifts. CHAPTER XL The Major Domine—The Heroine — Remarkable Plistory — Gospel Tro- phies—Afraid of the Storms — Providential Delays— Sabbatarian — Faithful Witness— Service in the Grove — Shot Dead — Swift Ven- geance—Worse than Heathen — Brule Sioux. CHAPTER XII. Wonderful Railroad Building— A Nation Born in a Day — All Kinds— The famous Hunters— Young Plowmen — Hunting Chickens by Railroad — Another Little Boy's Prayer Answered — Christmas Present — Lost Book — Happy Overrulings — Church Building — Journeying under Difficulties— Prayer Answered — Hard to Get and Keep Men — Ask- ing Cod — Forward — March — Halt. CHAPTER XIII. Around the Circle — Hotel Tent — Steamer Ceneral Rucker— Soliloquy — ( 'rowning Glory. CHAPTER XIV. Destructive Ice Gorge — Brave Young Men — Fruits of Missions. CHAPTER XV. Black Hills— The Conveyance — Gumbo — Freighters— Villages and Cities — Dead wood — Rapid City — Living under the Ground — Road Agents — Rapid Growth — Summary. CHAPTER XVI. Welcome Home — Religion and Politics — Bible Verse — Santa Claris — Taken Away the Well — Baby's Angel — Samuel's Coat — Are You Coing to Heaven?— Climb Through — Real Good Meeting — New Dress Torn — Little Crumb— Tears with Joys. CHAPTER XVII. Unsurpassed Skill— The Old House — Roughing It — A Glimpse — Bushel of Peas — Kind Helpers — Unexpected Testimony — Some of the Re- turns—First Why? — Second Why ? — Professor Phelps — Professor II oppin — Professor Park— The Great Need. PART FIRST. CHAPTER I.— SCHOOL. The School — Employments — Punishments — Hanging — Daily Whipping — Hoeing Potatoes- — Blood Blister — "I'll Kick You Blue" — Design of the School — Painted Face — Keeping the Fire — Story Tellers — Elm Stumps — Rattlesnake — Famous Hunter — Smelling his Breath — The Doctor — Liberty Pole — Jehu-like Drivers — Bees Stolen — Stolen Watermelons — Betsy Jane — The Deacon — Signing the Pledge — Silver Lake Snake — Queer Minister — His Tea Drinking — His Horse — Insane Man. The school house was just at the bottom of a high bluff, on the grounds of an old ashery; directly in front of the door ran a little brook, all of which furnished rare facilities for coasting, digging in the dirt, and playing in the water. When the boys were not thus engaged, they were largely occupied, when out of doors, skating, snowballing, and sliding down hill in the winter, playing ball and goal in the summer, and when in the house, both summer and winter, they de- voted much of their time in cutting the desks to pieces with jack knives. These desks were wide inch planks, set up against the sides of the room, the seats in front being plain, common benches, so high that small children could not touch their feet to the floor. Among many punishments was the holding of the ruler in the middle of the room as a penalty for whispering, or sit- ting on what was called the dunce block, or stooping over ; sometimes a long row of boys thus arranged holding down the heads of nails in the floor, while the master would march io GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. along behind this file of upturned buttresses and hit every one a good, smart clip with the ruler. Another course with one of the teachers was to "hang the boys," as he called it, standing them on a table in the middle of the room, with one end of a string around the neck and the other fastened to a nail in the ceiling above, there always being sufficient slack in the string to prevent any injury. The whole thing, though really harmless, was quite a serious affair with the boys, the scare and disgrace connected with it being a pretty severe punishment. One boy used to get whipped about every day, and the rule was that when he was whipped at school he must be whipped at home, so that he got two scourgings a day, with but few exceptions. He had become so accustomed to the rod that he took it as a matter of course. His love of play was greater than his fear of the lash, as seen by his neglect of a task at potato hoeing, which his father, who was to be absent from home for three long days during one vacation, had left him to do. He went to the field and looked over it the first day, and said, "Well, now, I can hoe those potatoes in two days easy enough." So he went and played the first day. The next day he took an- other look, and said, "I can hoe them in one day," and he was off again for play. The third morning he went to the field and looked at it, and the task loomed up before him in fearful proportions. "There are three good days' work here," he said ; " I shall get a whipping the best that I can do," and so he went and played the third day. Another boy, who was so inoffensive that he never got whipped at home and only this once at school, was called up one day by the teacher, who, without asking any questions* applied about his waist most vigorously six or eight strokes with a whip which would have answered very well for an ox goad. His offense came from a large water blister on one of his fingers when, as he held it up between the finger and thumb of the other hand, he asked his neighbor to prick it. The teacher saw it and there was no escape. As the end of the whip chanced to hit one of his thumbs it drew a blood blister, and so he~had two blisters, besides what might have been termed a blistering all around. But he was determined not to cry. Not a whimper escaped him. When the whip- ping ceased, he took his seat, and that was the end of it, only he thought if he ever came to be a man he would whip him in return if possible, but he never had a good chance, and the teacher abandoned corporal punishment almost entirely, and became a very superior teacher, not being instructed, it is presumed after this, to make the fur fly. One of the small boys, who had been taught by the teacher not to strike back if struck by the larger boys, was one day hit by such a boy, when he burst out, "Now, Lon, don't you strike me, but if 3 ou do strike, I shan't strike back; I'll tell the school ma'am;" and now with a sudden turn of the mind, "but if you strike me again, I'll kick you blue, I will." Of course the ostensible design of the school was to teach the children, and reading, writing, spelling, geography and arithmetic had their places during the hours of school, but were so conducted as to be avoided if possible. My first day at school found one of the larger boys tardy at the afternoon recess, but when he made his appearance, he had painted on one side of his face in red, and the other in green, the head of a man, which some of the workmen in ,2 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. a wagon shop just above the school house had executed. A general commotion of course was produced among the pupils, when the following words passed between the teacher and the recreant youth: "Who painted your face in that style?" " Some men at the wagon shop." "Well, young man, go straight to the brook and wash your face, or I shall have something to say on this subject." "But," says the boy, "I can't wash it off; it's dried on." "Go immediately, sir, and wash your face." He went out, was gone some time, and returned with his face completely besmeared with a mixture of green and red paint. "Go back and wash your face," said the teacher. "I can't wash it off; it's dried on, I told you; I scrubbed it with a chip and it won't come off." "Mind me," was the reply; "go and wash your face, or I shall give you a good whipping." "It's of no use," muttered the fractious youth," as he strode toward the door ; " it won't come off." He returned, however, in about twenty minutes with a tolerably clean face. One of the duties of the boys before and after school hours, was that of replenishing the fire, when that import- ant element had gone out, which chanced to be very often. Lucifer matches had not then come into use, and the flint, steel, and punk were not very reliable. So, furnished with a curiously punctured, cone-like lantern of tin, a run to the nearebt neighbor was the only alternative. Though it fur- nished divers opportunities to take vengeance on bumble bees as they patronized the flowers of the big thistles in the corners of the high rail fences, and to frighten the frogs as they peered out of the edge of the water, or sunned them- selves on the snags of the old tree by which we had to pass, and sometimes gave us an extra chance to stone Mr. Snake, or analyze Mr. Angleworm, or give Mr. Chipmunk a chase, yet how vexing it was after all our painstaking to have some unpropitious puff from old Boreas steal around the corner just as we were about to enter the house and blow out the light, sending us back to try our luck once more. How carefully we would guard the blaze of the tallow dip in the curious tin lantern, as we approached the dangerous spot the second time, using hats, pinafores, and a double breastwork of two us, if there chanced to be two along, especially if some favorite play was likely to be interrupted by a longer delay. As a substitute for much of the light literature with which the leisure hours of school boys now-a-days are not a little occupied, we were furnished with several wonderful story tellers, to whose yarns we used to listen as to fairy tales, and which were a great relief from the dry tedium of the school room. "I was plowing one day," said one of these men, "in a field covered with elm stumps. I had fifty yoke of oxen hitched to my plow, and I never turned out for anything, but went right through the stumps, splitting them in two and tearing them up by the roots. Once I had my coat tails, standing out straight behind me we went so fast, cut off, as I tore through a tremendous stump, and it came together and snapped like a pistol. Twice I lost the soles of my boots, as my feet stuck out behind me like a flying jack. I 14 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. plowed a hundred acres of such land," he said. While we half doubted, we half believed, his stories, and thought certainly he was a wonderful man. Another used to tell about catching a rattlesnake that had fastened to his pants as he was mowing one day. "At first I thought it was a thistle," he said, "and I dragged it around for an hour or two. But when I saw what it was, I took it off, coiled it up, put it in my hat, and wore it on my head till noon. When I got to the house, as the family were all seated around the dinner table, I said to them, 'Look here,' and straightening out the snake, I bit it from head to tail, and that's what makes my teeth so good. They will never ache or decay after this, but will be just as sound as they now are, if I live to be a hundred 3' ears old." He was the most remarkable man that ever lived, in the estimation of the boys. Another time he said, "As I was out hunting I got after a flock of blackbirds, and as they were flying around a hay stack, I gave my gun a kind of swing, and as I fired it off at the same time, the shot went clear around the stack, and I caught them in my gun barrel, didn't lose one, and killed twelve dozen and fourteen birds." What was Nimrod to him in our estimation! Another one who opposed the teetotalism that prevailed in town said: "As they sold no liquor in Perry, I went down into Leicester to work in haying and harvesting, and when I came up .Saturday nights to spend the Sabbaths, the men would pay me twenty-five cents a piece to smell of my breath. I made more money in that way than I did in working." SCHOOL. 15 Hour after hour would they spin out to their youthful hearers those wonderful stories, and we would drink them in with the utmost avidity. On our way to and from school, we often fell in with the good doctor of the parish, who was a general favorite, espe- cially with the children. He would frequently give us rides, and we always learned something worth knowing in our pleasure trips with him. He was one of nature's noblemen. As a physician he ranked first. As a Christian he always honored his profession. Pre-eminently was he the friend of the poor, giving them his services in the majority of in- stances, and never making an account against any one for extracting teeth, which was no small task in those days, before dentistry had come to be a profession by itself. "I have taken out teeth enough," he said, "to amount to a thousand dollars at a shilling apiece, but as I think those who have the teeth pulled have the worst of it, I never charge any thing." Although he was a heavy, thick-set man, yet he was as spry as a cat. It was a pleasure to him and a good thing for certain young men, that he could take the conceit out of them so easily. At a time of some great political excitement, the boys had raised what they called the liberty pole. It was very high and tapering at the top. In the morning of a great political occasion, when the town was to be thronged with visitors and the people harangued by orators, they had put up their gay streamer, which floated proudly on the breeze, as the booming cannon gave forth its sounds and the tide of merry people poured into town. The liberty pole was the great center of attraction. All of a sudden, by some unpro- 1 6 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. pitious whiff of wind, this beautiful streamer had become en- tangled in the top of the pole. Every means to extricate it proved a failure. "What shall we do?" said the young men, the bloods of the town. The doctor came along. He saw their trepidation. "What shall we do, doctor?" said one and another. "Climb up and loosen it," said the doctor. "It can't be done," they all said. The only answer was, "You're a smart set of young men." Upon which, as the story goes, he pulled off his coat, vest and boots, and went up almost like a squirrel, unfastened the streamer, fixed everything all right, turned around and came down head first. At another time the doctor was returning from the raising of a large barn, about two miles from town. As he was driving leisurely along, the check rein down and in no espe- cial hurry, one of the Jehu-like drivers came up, drew a tight rein, snapped his whip and went by the doctor in a jiffy. At length another drove up and went past in a similar style. Then a third, and a fourth. "Those chaps need a lesson," said the doctor, and now's a good time for it." His horse was remarkable for speed if he desired it. He gave the word. The gay young men ahead saw him coming. "What," they cried out, "can his horse go so like the wind! We never saw him drive in that style." They put to the whip but in vain. One after another was soon left behind, and the doctor went sailing into town many rods in advance of them all. They looked blank enough when they next met him. At another time the doctor lost a hive of bees. He re- quested that nothing should be said about it and not a word was uttered by one of the family. He mistrusted the thief SCHOOL. 1 7 but kept quiet. One day he met him, and the man, thinking of course that the matter had been talked of in the commu- nity, said, "Well, doctor, have you found out yet who stole your bees?" "I've just found out. Now why did you do so mean a thing and injure yourself and me too?" The man was so completely taken aback that he owned up and made full restitution. On another occasion some of the roguish boys stole a large portion of his watermelons. He suspected the chaps, doc- tored the best of the melons that remained with a pretty strong but harmless infusion and was soon called to doctor the boys. "Ah," said the doctor, "I recognize these melons. Next time come "and ask for them and I'll give you some that won't make you sick. Here, take this medicine so and so; you'll soon be well, I'll call to-morrow." He called, but they had so improved that they did not wish to see him. To show the occasional excitement of people who called for his services, he once told the following story of a good neighbor who came for him one morning, and all out of breath rushed into the house exclaiming "O doctor! doctor, come quick, quick ! Betsy Jane's fallen up stairs and struck a knot hole in her eye and we're afraid she won't live from one end to 'tother!" evidently meaning, "down stairs" and "one minute to another," to say nothing of what the "knot hole in the eye" did mean. But the deacon no less than the doctor was a friend of the school house occupants, and when the teacher pronounced the ever welcome word "dismissed," as fast as young feet could scamper, we often made for his fields to get the tid bits of 2. 1 8 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. comfort that he was always ready to give. We loved to watch him at his work. He would lay the smoothest swath with his keen scythe, pitch on a load of hay in the quickest time, and do the most logging of any man in town. He was a radical by nature, believed in progress and practiced accord- ingly. When he went into that new country, he cut his way with an ax through the thick timber to reach the site of his homestead with a team, planted the dried-up apple seeds that he took with him and ate of his planting more than fifty years. He helped organize a church, for want of a better place, in a barn, and lived to see the stately meeting house and hundreds of church members. When almost every one drank whiskey, and the pulpit even was not always a stranger to the bottle, he said, "I'll sign the pledge, and no more of the wretched stuff shall be found on my premises. If I can't get men to work for me, then I'll do without them." But he had no trouble. He prosecuted the rumseller for selling without a license, made his town the banner temper- ance town of the State, and enabled the children of the school at ihe old ashery grounds to say, at the age of young manhood, "We have never yet seen an intoxicated man." In after years when the great Silver Lake snake excite- ment prevailed, he had to stand almost alone, as he had done for years before, on other questions of general interest. That there was something, or supposed to be something, he had no doubt, but that there was a great live serpent there, he did not believe. People came from long distances to see the creature. Editors and other prominent men from New York city, and Boston, and Philadelphia, and all over the school. 19 country came. An observatory was built near the lake, spy glasses of large magnifying power were obtained, a sailor with his regular Jack Tar suit was brought from New York, and with whaling boat and harpoon and various tackle, he sallied out after the monster on several occasions, came very near hitting him once or twice; the most reliable men in town had seen him at different times, seen him very distinctly; correspondents for the papers had seen him; flaming pieces had been published; sure enough, the great, famous, world- renowned sea serpent that had sometimes been seen in the middle of the Atlantic, and sometimes in the Indian Ocean, had got up, wonderful to tell, into Silver Lake, a little sheet of water three miles long and half a mile wide, in the town of Perry. Where was the inlet or the outlet ? On! on! on! It was the eighth marvel of the world. And yet the deacon was an unbeliever. Well, how did it turn out? Some young chaps wanted to make a little money, and so they got up a gutta percha snake, which they worked by means of ropes and wires, as they were concealed away in the brush, the headquarters of all this excitement. It was worse than the Cardiff giant, and turned out very much as the good deacon, the safe patron, and the true friend of the children thought it would. Strange to say, the pastor of the parish was just the reverse of the doctor and the deacon. We children dreaded to meet him, and when we saw him coming, we would run and jump over the fence or stone wall, and hide till he had gone past. When he came for a pastoral call, we would scud for the garret or the barn, and never show our heads 20 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. till he was well out of sight. He was supposed to he a man of great learning, a physician and a clergyman, but very eccentric, and in many things remarkably void of common sense. At every meal, two cups besides his own were turned from the boiling tea pot, his being served first, and always returned for a second cup by the time the other two were passed. How he did it unless he had a cast iron throat, no one seemed to know. But he invariably insisted on having his tea in just that way. As to his horse, he was what most people would have called a little stubborn, had they dared to apply that word to the minister. This animal was a little black French pony, and she was always running away with him, and yet he would not part with her. As he was driving her home from meeting one day, a small lad came along holding on to the tail of his cow as the quiet animal plodded on her way, and the little runaway started and landed the whole load in a muddy stream, piling them all together, with the wagon on top. The mud was so deep and soft, that they were almost liter- ally buried in it, and there they laid till parties from the house reached them, when they first lifted off the wagon, which was turned entirely over, and then pulled out the riders, and at length the horse. It was a wonderful escape, notwithstanding the soft place chosen for them, and yet he would not part with the brute. Shortly after this, as he had driven through the gate and was shutting it, the squealing of some pigs lying near started the nervous beast, and she soon broke from the wagon and ran with nostrils distended and head erect, till she reached a piece of timber about a SCHOOL. 2 1 mile distant, but still he would not part with her. Not long after this he was thrown from his wagon, and so injured that he died. But the insane man, who for a time had full sway, coming and going like a phantom, and doing a good many startling things, had quite a strong hold upon the youthful members of society. As we were returning from school, he would sometimes overtake us, riding his horse at full speed, when dismounting, he would insist upon two or three of us get- ting on, while he would walk and lead the horse. Now and then he would visit the school and give a pleasant address to the pupils, seasoning his talk with just enough sharp and witty sayings to provoke the smile of his hearers, and make them glad to have him come again. While at church one day, he left the gallery where he was sitting, and went down to the stove to warm himself. All of a sudden he darted up into the pulpit, and brushed the minister's notes out of the Bible, saying, "I want those," when he turned and rushed out of the house, got on to his horse, and was off in a hurry. At another time, coming to church late, he slipped in on the ladies' side up stairs, went to the back of the gallery and took his seat. The discourse that morning was benevolent in its character, and a collection had to be taken up. He had come prepared. So every few moments he would toss down toward the pulpit a silver dollar or a fifty cent piece. He had about twenty dollars in change which he proposed to give in that way. His idea was, as he afterwards said, to pay as he went along. On another occasion he went into the church at the village, took the Bible, got on to his horse, and rode through the 22 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. town, stripping out the leaves, and saying, " These leaves are for the healing of the nations, and I'll scatter them broadcast among the people that they may eat and not die." At still another time, when there was a meeting on a week day, he went into a store, took some weights from the coun- ter, and rode around the meeting house, throwing them against the building with all his might, and crying at the top of his voice, " I'll break the bars of death and hell." But with all his strange movements the children were somehow drawn towards him, and he always seemed to have some kind word for every one. CHAPTER II.— COLLEGE. Entering College — First Class Meeting — Ringing Ofi the Rust — Night Alarm — Law — Missing l!i!>le — No Chalk — Black Cow — Bombard- ing the Juniors — Imagination — Little Cherub — Coasting. Graduating from the school on the grounds of the old ashery, the academy found a few of the larger boys aspiring after the honors of college. Two or three years, and the imperfect mastering of a little Latin and Greek, and some other requirements of the catalogue, and after a journey of four days on the Erie canal and a trip of twelve miles by stage, we found ourselves in the presence of the faculty, running the gauntlet between Greek prosody, Latin conju- gation, a little history, and a few other requirements prepar- atory to entering college. One of the first meetings of the class for business, outside the regular routine of college duties, was to choose a leader, who was to carry the class club. This club was a large bat, about three times as large and heavy as that used by ball players, and muscular strength decided who should carry it, and in this respect be the class leader. The man who could hold it out at arms' length the longest, was the man for this. The successful aspirant died before the first year ended, and another man was chosen in his place. This club had been handed down from time immemorial, and belonged to the Freshman class. It was to be carried when the class went forth on any expedition of muscular strength, perhaps in 24 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. some contests with the Sophs., or some tilt with the Juniors, or some other knightly errand to which college boys used to be so liable forty years ago. At the close of the third term, came the first cemmence- ment, bringing graduation and diploma to the Seniors, and to the Freshmen a time for ringing off the rust and stepping up into the realms of the grandiloquent Sophs. This ring- ing off the rust consisted in getting access to the chapel bell, some time about midnight or later, and getting out of it all the noise possible, breaking down in the operation a few doors and smashing in a few windows, as a last valorous act, with the famous club, soon to be delivered up to the new class. The practice had become so obnoxious that the faculty determined to break it up, and declared themselves accordingly. This set some of the boys on their mettle. So with painted faces and disguises of various sort, they as- cended the narrow stairs leading to the steeple, blocked up the way behind them, and were soon in their strong castle, with the bell in full possession. Must lustily did they ring it, and beat it with bars of steel. They also took with them a small cannon, which they fired as rapidly as possible. Soon the faculty approached. Finding no way of access to the belfry, they began to march around the chapel, with the evident intention of keeping vigil that night, and bringing to justice the offenders. The boys saw it. A bad fix. What should be done ? Most of the students in the other classes, not far from two hundred in all, were out watching the movements, and of course pretty strongly in sympathy with the gay birds of the belfry. A dispatch was sent down by means of the bell rope, asking counsel of friends below, as. COLLEGE. 25 the faculty went their rounds wholly ignorant of the commu- nications between the upper and lower parts of the chapel. Word was sent up to the steeple prisoners, "Take the light- ning rod." And now, while the faculty were on the other side of the building, as they inarched around, a whistle from below would be given, and down would come some chap with palpitating heart and blistered hands, when he would scud for his room, wash his face, don his ordinary apparel, and in a moment or two be out in the crowd. Thus the famous fifteen escaped. They all descended un- harmed, with the exception of a few insignificant scratches received by their perilous journey over the thoroughfare of old Jupiter's thunderbolts. It was now two o'clock at night, and the boys had departed to their several rooms to sleep and dream over their last adventure. But what of the faculty? They still keep up their watch and march, waiting for the morning, and doubtless pondering the unpleasant task of send- ing adrift those disobedient captives up in the steeple, as they supposed. On being told, as the day began to dawn, that the bell ringers had escaped, and were in their beds dreaming of weary night vigils, the very unpleasant sensation came over them, "We're sold, we are," and changing their centrip- etal course, they formed eight centrifugal bodies, marching off to their respective domiciles just as the sun was rising. The next day was commencement, but not a word was said of last night, and from the appearance of faculty or Freshmen, no one would have known that there had been any such a thing as last night. But the rust was rung off, the class was considered as heroes above their predecessors, and the faculty were very thoughtfully saved the unpleasant 26 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. task of expelling twelve or fifteen boys, ready to run such fearful risks for the sake of carrying out the time-honored custom of ringing off the rust. But now and then the college bell was rung on other occa- sions out of time. The first college bell of the day was at eight o'clock in the morning. One bright moonlight night, the bell ringer suddenly awoke, bounded from his bed, and without looking at the clock rushed for the rope and rung away with all his might, supposing it was late. After the ringing was over, he thought he would just look at the time, and lo! it was one o'clock at night! The next day one of the recitations was in mental philosophy, when the president, just at the right time, called the bell ringer." "What's the next topic?" "Dreams," was the answer, responded to by a good, smart clap by the class, suggested by the alarm of the pre- vious night. It was a pleasant episode, enjoyed by both teacher and pupils. About the same time, the topic one day was law. It had been shown that custom sometimes makes law which is just as binding as any law. The professor had insisted upon this with considerable emphasis. At length he proceeded to an- other part of the topic, when the reverse is true, and to illus- trate, asked one of the boys, not remarkably bright: "For example, would it be right for you to go out under the woodshed and steal your neighbor's wood?" "Yes, sir," was the prompt reply; "it's the universal cus- tom." A good round of applause followed. The teacher appre- ciated the point, and enjoyed the joke with the class. COLLEGE. 27 On one occasion a few of the roguish boys, in a hurry to get to the post office, and hoping to shorten the evening chapel exercises, (the whole college meeting every morning and evening for prayers,) slipped into the chapel, removed the Bible from the desk, and put a Greek lexicon in its place. It was the president's turn to read that night. With usual dignity he moved to the pulpit, opened the dictionary (which in outside appearance was very much like the Bible), quickly mistrusted some game, and turned over leaf after leaf, till he seemed to reach the right place, when he repeated word for word the first chapter of John, closed the book, and made his prayer as usual. At another time, as the students were crowding into the chapel, the Bible was removed, and there was not time to procure another without delay. Professor M. was to offi- ciate. He walked up to the desk, and as if it had been the habit of his life, he very deliberately pulled out a Bible from his pocket, read the 119th Psalm, and made a prayer cor- respondingly long. It was another heading-off of mischief- makers, who could not understand how the professor should have had a Bible in his pocket for such an emergency. Another day one of the boys, thinking that he might be called on in mathematics, and not understanding the lesson, but wishing to have the teacher suppose he did, slipped into the recitation room just before the class was called, and removed the chalk from the blackboard. As he feared, he was the first to be called. A few questions were asked, and some- what ambiguous answers were given, when the professor said: "You may go to the blackboard and work out such a problem." 2b GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. As crank as a major he walked to the hoard, first looked at one end and then at the other, and as if disappointed in not finding any chalk, he replied, with great assurance: "Professor, there's no chalk here." Whereupon the professor questioned him a little farther: "You understand it, do you?" he said. " Yes, sir," was the prompt reply. "If you had some chalk you could work it out, could you? " "Yes, sir." " Very well," said the professor ; " as there 's no chalk at the board," (the young man was turning for his seat,) "you may take this." And he very deliberately pulled out a piece from his pocket. The boy was perfectly confounded; he could do nothing. But why in the world " Old Conic Sections," as the professor of mathematics was called, should carry chalk in his pocket, was a harder problem than the one he couldn't solve on the blackboard. One night a fearful racket was heard at the door of one of the tutors' second-story front room. This tutor was near- sighted, and rushed out, with lamp in hand, to see what was up, when he discovered a whole posse of chaps at the head of the stairs, where they seemed to be waiting for him. "Now I've got you!" he exclaimed, as he reached out to seize one by the collar. But he didn't quite get him, and he made another attempt, and finally followed him all the way down stairs, grabbing at the boys, but missing every time. They had got him far enough, and now they were off. COLLEGE. 20 He turned and went back to his room. As he opened the door, what should he meet but a large black cow staring him in the face ! She had been turned in there by a part of the same crowd that first made the racket at the head of the stairs, while the other part lured him below for the very purpose of slipping these hoofs and horns into his room. By this time no boy was to be seen, save as he might be in his room, apparently fast asleep. Foreign help had to be obtained in getting out this live stock, and the night was pretty much consumed in the operation. One warm summer day, an uneasy little fellow sat perched in the window at the time of recitation, throwing paper wads into the window of the Juniors' recitation room. The situa- tion was too good to be lost, and a young man, always ready for fun, arose, handkerchief up, as if bleeding at the nose, and asked to be excused, when he rushed up stairs just above the boy in the window, and splash, came a tub of water, giving the appearance of a drowned rat to him who was so zealously bombarding the Juniors. The professor himself could not maintain a smooth face, as the cheers followed and the pre- tended nose-bleed opened the door and took his seat in the class. It was soon over, and the lesson went on as usual. One day Mr. Z., as we will call him for convenience, now an eminent lawyer in one of our large cities, was thus beset: "What's the matter?" said his chum, as they were making their toilets in preparation for breakfast. "You look sick; I never saw you look so." "I guess it's all in your eye; I feel well enough," was the answer. Starting for breakfast, another salutation met him : 30 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. "Good morning, Z.! Blues, sick, eh?" "No; feel as well as I ever did." Approaching the gate, he was accosted in a similar strain by a third party. Half way to his boarding place, and as he was going in at the door, came a fourth and a fifth greeting of the same sort. "In all my born clays," said one, "I never saw Z. look so pale." "Don't he look like a ghost, John?" " So I think," said one and another. After breakfast, all the way to his room, the same cpieer greetings met him. He began to think he was sick. He went to the looking glass, and as he stood looking, he said to his room mate: "Chum, do I look sick? I don't know how many fellows have told me this morning that I don't look well." " That's what I thought." "Well, I don't feel first rate, that's a fact." He drew a long breath, shut up his book, and said: "I be- lieve I shan't go into the recitation this morning." "I wouldn't," said his chum, and before the eight o'clock bell rang he went to bed, and staid there all day. Now and then some one would come in, speak of his bad looks, and talk of sending for the doctor, until poor Z. was really sick. The game was successfully played. His imagination had worked to suit them. Towards night the parties to the secret rushed into his room pell mell, pulled him out of bed, told him what they had been at, declared that he never looked better, and marched him off to tea. They simply COLLEGE. 31 meant fun, but happily escaped what might have been a serious affair. About the close of the second year, a little blue-eyed cherub came to the home of one of the professors, and con- gratulations from the class must be given of course. A small cradle, a gay suit of clothes, a tiny pair of shoes, a rattle box, a tin whistle, a miniature drum, and other ap- propriate baby treasures, were gotten up, and a committee appointed to bear them to the recitation room, with gilt- edged note paper, excusing the professor from the recitation that day. He accepted the testimonials, and gracefully bore off to the better half of his lordship the trophies and the card, explain- ing the absence of the class at the hour of recitation. No black marks for that day. Not far from this time the joyful period had come when Old Tacitus was finished, and now what should be done with his venerable classic remains? It was thought that cremation would be the proper thing. After due preparations, a line of march was formed, and the slow, solemn step of the stately Juniors, with music of muffled drum and a plaintive air on the fife began, till the fated spot was reached. The bier, with Old Tacitus lying in calm repose, surrounded with a wreath from the prickly pear and the wild rose, was placed over the bundle of faggots, well seasoned with tar, asafcet- ida, pulverized rosin and pitch; a doleful song to the Latin muse given, with a regular break-down chorus, a grave ora- tion pronounced, and the match applied, when drum and fife and bier were consumed, together with the ancient hero of Latin lore. The sun was bright in mid heaven when the £2 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. ceremony occurred, and the merry whistle of the retiring mourners was only heard as they marched back to the recita- tion room, and disbanded for dinner. In the winter season, almost every boy had his little hand sled for riding down the hill between the college and the town. This hill was nearly a mile long, and starting at the top, only about a minute would intervene before the bottom was reached. It was exciting sport, twenty or thirty sleds, one after another, going with more than railroad speed, and com- pelling all teams to give the right of way or run the risk of a collision and a run away. At one time the boys got a farmer's large wood sled, and with twenty or thirty passen- gers, were accustomed to make the trip. This was so dan- gerous that the faculty interposed, and said: "No more of that style, boys." But one chap thought he would have just one more ride, and not being able to induce anyone to go with him, he con- cluded to go alone. When about half way down, he met a cow. In her slow movements to get out of the way, she was tripped up, and falling back upon the young man's lower ex- tremities, her feet in the air, his head bent back, and his hat gone, away they went to the bottom, a ludicrous sight, but not so funny for the boy, who was several weeks under med- ical treatment before he recovered from the contusions in- curred by this new style of coasting. CHAPTER III.— DOUBLING THE CAPE. Doubling the Cape — Sea Sickness — A Change — Man Overboard — Por- poises and Flying Fish — First Whale — First Storm — Cape Verde Islands — Fairy - like — Sousing — Swells — The Equator — Neptune's Children — Bathing — Unwelcome Visitor — Magellan Clouds — Fear- ful Storm — Sea Birds — Penguins — Icebergs — Kingfisher — Speaking a Ship — To New York — Variegated Waters — Twelve Days' Tempest — Missing Vessel — Thick Fog— Waterspout — Man-of-war — Beautiful Day — Herrings — Whales — Land Breeze — The Andes — Oily Waters. Out of college, and the boundless deep seemed to say, "Toss upon my old waves for a while and rejuvenate ex- hausted nature." Our vessel was a brig. Our captain was an experienced sailor, and the passengers the same in number that went into the ark. They seemed to be agreeable com- panions, and everything promised a pleasant voyage. Before morning, oh how sick! Well, why not as well die in this way as any? We kept looking to see if our very boots would be spewed out amid the terrible retchings. And then the stolid indifference of our sea-hardened companions, as if they rather enjoyed it, only intensified our misery. Strange, that men will laugh at one when seasick! But a few days, and all was changed. One bright morn- ing as we sat on deck drinking in the beauties that sur- rounded us, the captain came up and said, "Who wouldn't sell a farm and go to sea?" The air was so exhilarating and everything was so pleasant, that we all responded. Several vessels were in sight, and everything was most enchanting — 3 34 GLEANINGS BY THE WAV. and glorious. In a little while the brig was gliding along through immense quantities of sea weed — film}-, cylindrical, globular, and picturesque in the extreme. But suddenly the cry was heard, "A man overboard!" As quick as thought, almost, the shout of the captain fol- lowed: "Hard to port the helm! Cut away the tackle and lower a boat ! " In a moment the sails were flapping before the wind, and the first mate and one of the sailors were pulling to the rescue of the cabin boy, who had missed his hold while up in the rigging. He was sinking as they approached him, but, with the daring of a true sailor, the mate dived, seized him, and as he brought him up exclaimed, "Jist by the skin of your teeth you escaped, my little fellow." Soon after this a school of flying fish attracted attention as they sprung up and darted along very much like a flock of snow birds in the winter, and again plunged into the water. Following this a school of porpoises appeared. In high glee, and as if on a real holiday excursion, they went leaping and bounding along, making the sea foam with their wild pranks. There must have been a thousand acres of them, and ten thousand times ten thousand in numbers. As we were seated at the table during the first genuine storm thus far, the vessel gave a sudden lurch, and the dishes rattled at a fearful rate. One man's plate, with its contents, went across the table into the lap of a gentleman opposite. The soup distributed itself about in a very promiscuous man- ner. The roast pig bounced from the platter, and very naturally went rooting into the potatoes. The glassware clicked, and in several instances exhibited sad fractures. One DOUBLING THE CAPE. 35 man turned a cup of hot tea down his coat sleeve. Another turned one into his bosom. Another, losing his balance, went tumbling to the floor, his well-filled plate and coffee mug following. Just as we were retiring for the night, a heavy sea struck the vessel, and in a moment the water on the cabin floor was ankle deep. "Are we sinking?" asked one. "No," said an old salt, as he rushed into the stateroom pretty thoroughly drenched, "but my deadlight is stove in, and I've got a good salt water sousing." The captain was trying to close the cabin door and keep out the water, which was pouring in from the main deck. In a moment more, another sea struck aboard and took away the stairs from the upper to the main deck. The ladies were screaming with fear, the wind was whistling through the cordage, the commander was shouting his orders to the men. There was an occasional peal of thunder and a sharp flash of lightning, and to the inexperienced in this sort of life, it was a little fearful, surely. But one soon comes to understand the wonderful strength of a well-built vessel. She is like a duck on the water, rising and falling, leaping and bounding with the force of the winds and the waves. By morning it was pleasant again, and about noon some gallant tar at masthead cried out, " There she blows, there she blows!" • c Where away," asked the captain. "Three points on the starboard bow!" It was a whale. A jet of water, almost exactly like that represented by this creature in the pictures, was seen, and a noise was heard very much like the letting off of steam from 36 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. an engine. A few such puffs and she went down to come up again perhaps a mile away. We were now twenty-four clays at sea, and for the first time made land, as sailors call it. It looked like a great dark bank in the horizon. It was the Cape Verde Islands, on the coast of Africa, in the line of the trade winds. The next day we landed at a point called Bravo. The people, about 7,000 in number, were of Spanish descent, and but one grade above our Indians. They had accmired some considerable civiliza- tion, however, for they all knew how to smoke, and tobacco was what they most wanted. Even the women had pipes dangling at their necks, suspended by a string. Some of the small boys were entirely naked, and others had on only a sin- gle loose garment. The females had never before seen a white woman, and they crowded about our two ladies as if they thought them angelic beings. Some of the prominent ones insisted on kissing them, and they had to submit in spite of themselves. There was one bright-looking girl about ten years old, and Mrs. Whiting said she would like to take her. The father was called. He was a tall, athletic man, and could speak a little broken English. "Are you willing," said the captain, "that this good lady should take your child and make a pleasant home for her? Will you let her go?" Straightening himself up in all due dignity, his quick reply was: "If he be a boy he may go, but he be a girl and I no let him go." On this island we obtained almost all kinds of fresh fruit, melons, oranges, lemons, plantains, bananas, grapes, sweet potatoes and figs, besides fowls, pigs and goats. For a num- DOUBLING THE CAPE. 37 ber of days after this the weather was beautiful, and new life began to dawn. Dyspepsia, nervousness, pain in the side, and general prostration, were fast disappearing, and we were now gliding smoothly and quickly along by a gentle breeze in the trade winds, under full sails and square yards. From the cabin deck, as far as the eye could see with a spyglass, as it swept the horizon round and round, not a neighbor could be seen, and yet we were not alone on this mighty waste, for God was there, and His works of wonder and beauty were very marked. The sun was sinking to all appearance in the mighty expanse of waters. The western sky was diversi- fied with red, blue, yellow, black, purple and all shades of color. At a little distance was a cloud, tinged with the orange, resembling a vast field of ripening wheat gently sloping down to the water's edge, interspersed with clusters of trees and shrubbery. No poet, no painter could describe it. None but the great Father could draw such pictures of beauty. But this scene changed, and a few days after, as I sat on the deck, a heavy sea struck aboard and gave me a good sous- ing. I fled to the cabin, and as I was entering, my feet tripped and away I went, scooting into the pantry. It was laughable, but not very pleasant, to be the victim of the joke. But then, they all had their turn sooner or later. When this storm abated, for a whole day following, the mighty sea was moved with heavy swells. As far as the eye could reach in a parallel course, was seen a tremendous wave approaching. It looked dark and frowning. It towered up mountain high, and seemed like a thing of life moving through the water, and threatening destruction to all about 3 b GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. it. It would draw nearer and nearer, till it would reach the vessel, gently lift it like a bubble upon its huge back to the very crest, and then gently let it down and pass along, fol- lowed by another, and so on till night. It was power, grand- eur, and sublimity mingled with the awful! It gave new meaning to the Scripture, "They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths." "He lifteth up the waves." " The works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep." As we approached the equator, the heat was intense. The pitch fairly fried out of the pine knots of some boards on deck. There was no comfortable place, and nothing to do but to sweat and pant, and bear it as best we could. Directly over head was the great king of day, which was presently left to the north. We were now counted as the sons and daughters of Old Neptune. It was the custom of the sailors to subject all male passengers, on crossing the equator, to a certain process of shaving. Some one among the crew would so dress himself as to resemble the fabled god of the sea, with gray, flowing locks, silvery beard, and long, giant-like trident, having for soap a bucket of slush and tar, and a rusty iron hoop for razor. Rushing up over the bulwarks as if just from the sea, and giving expression as he worked to his quaint gut- tural utterances, he would wind up with sage advice to his new subjects, telling them of his home in the deep, when he would bow a good bye, and depart as if returning to the sea whence he seemed to come, to the great merriment of all concerned. Those who participated in this ceremony were regarded henceforth as the children of Neptune, DOUBLING THE CAPE. 39 When hindered by calms, as we sometimes were in this warm region, bathing was a favorite recreation, care being taken to have two or three boats alongside the brig, in case of an emergency. One day a large shark made his appear- ance, while a number of us were out for a swim, and as he was just rounding the stern of the vessel to join our com- pany, the alarm was given, and a more active set of chaps than we were for a few seconds is not often seen. It was a narrow escape from a worse fate than Jonah suf- fered, and a timely warning for the next adventure. "Captain," it was asked, as the brig approached the region of Cape Horn, "what are those airy objects up yonder?" "Those," he said, "are Magellan clouds, always to be seen over the Straits of Magellan, like the fixed stars." Not far from this time we encountered a fearful storm. It seemed as if our craft would turn over, now dipping the lower spars in the water on the one side and then on the other. The carpenter's tool chest, full of heavy tools, stationed at one side of the cabin, and surrounded in front and at the two ends with cleats, turned entirely over and rolled to the other side of the cabin. What new force to the words of the Psalmist: "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end." Was the Psalmist inspired in writing thus, or had he been around the Cape? When near the extreme point of the Cape, a happy greet- ing came to us from a large number of birds — the Molly hawk, cape pigeon, sea hen and albatross — the latter the largest of sea birds. By letting out from the stern of the Vessel a long line attached to a large hook baited with a 40 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. piece of oakum, one of them was soon a prisoner. He was a royal fellow, and measured from the tip of one wing to the other a little over twelve feet. Shortly after this a school of penguins appeared, high- headed, web-footed creatures, suddenly rising up on the crest of the wave. They are amphibious, using their wings to help them skip over the water and to run with greater speed when on land. They are said to exist in large num- bers on the Falkland Islands, where sailors often go to hunt them and gather their eggs. We tried to entice them with bait and hook, extending many fathoms out in the ves- sel's wake, but they were shy, and would not yield to our entreaties. When near the Cape, two icebergs gleamed in the dis- tance. On a near approach to them, they glistened in the sun as if set with diamonds, while they towered up a hun- dred feet above the water, and yet only about one-eighth of their bulk was in sight. It was amusing, while in this region, to watch a certain bird as it would skim along just over the surface of the water, till, seeing its prey beneath, in the form of small fish, it would dart like an arrow into the deep, and come up again to repeat the same movements, till its appetite was appeased. But one of the most joyful sounds that had been heard for many a day rang out loud and clear one morning from mast head : "Sail, ho!" "Where away?" asked the captain. "Two points on the weather bow," was the answer. The spyglass being ordered, brought to view a mere DOUBLING THE CAPE. 41 speck of something white at the farthest visible point. The like had not been seen for weeks, and we began to feel that we were not alone on this boundless expanse. We had neighbors. There were human beings on that craft. The question arose, "I wonder who they are?" Conjecture was vain. It was proposed to speak them. As the brig ap- proached within hearing distance, the captain said: "Who commands that ship?" "Captain Harding," was the answer. " Where from ? " "Hong Kong, China." "How long out?" "Two hundred and twenty-five days." "Where bound?" " To New York." Similar questions were asked the captain of the Lamar. Boats were lowered, letters were sent home, and we were parted again. No one can understand the interest attached to such conversations between different vessels till he has had occasion to try it, especially when for weeks he has been tossed and driven by the winds and waves, in sight of no craft but the one on which he is borne. At the extreme point of the Cape, in latitude 53 , atten- tion was called to the different colors of the water, the body of which was very dark, interspersed with blue, forming a striking and beautiful contrast. The weather was so change- able, that within twenty-four hours, there were often gales, calm, sun, clouds, comfortable warmth, and uncomfortable cold. It was the season of the year, however, when there were twenty hours of sun, by which we could see to read at 42 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. three o'clock in the morning, and at eleven o'clock at night. Soon after passing the Cape, we had a twelve-days tem- pest, giving us a very vivid realization of what doubling Cape Horn meant. The clouds looked dark and thick, the winds blew as if .Eolus had let loose all his forces, the breezes howled dolefully through the rigging, the sea broke over the vessel as if determined to force an entrance, the decks were covered with water, wave after wave dashed into the galley, quenched the fire, and set up a terrible clatter among the pots, kettles, and other cooking utensils. How convenient could we have gone back to the Darwinian oyster, and slept till the storm had spent its fury! But sleep was impossible. Our only hope was that to-morrow would bring a change for the better; but disappointment followed disap- pointment, till the Great Ruler of the sea spake, and the wind ceased. Then the clouds broke away. The long sober faces smiled once more. Sociability again reigned, and all were glad. But a few hours, and the sky was again covered with thick clouds. The rains poured down in tor- rents. The winds blew with more fury than ever. No progress was made for thirteen days, and when it did clear off, it was intensely frigid, and as difficult to keep warm as when at the equator to keep cool. In the morning of a very boisterous day, a vessel was observed near the Lamar, and bound the same way, to all appearances, but before noon nothing could be seen of her. When first noticed it was so very rough that she could he seen only as she rose upon the crest of the wave and the Lamar was on the top of another wave at the same time, DOUBLING THE CAPE. 43 though the two vessels were not more than half a mile apart. Could she have gone down while her neighbor escaped? Surely, " The lot is cast into lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." After getting around the Cape, we were enveloped in a thick fog for several days, under close-reefed topsails, and in a heavy current, drifting we knew not whither. When the sun again appeared we were in full sight of the coast of Patagonia, and with all haste the crew tacked ship and put to sea again. While seated against the hatchway to the cabin deck one afternoon, a water spout, not more than a quarter of a mile distant, appeared, a regular column of water, in the form of a mighty cylinder, forty or fifty feet in circumference. It was drawing up water to bear away to some other portion of the globe, or letting down water from an exhaustless reser- voir on high. The next object of interest was a man of war, an English vessel, to the windward. Indications were made for speaking her, but she paid no attention to our signal, but bore away in another direction, and was soon out of sight. The next day the sailing was beautiful, and the day the mildest of any for more than two months. In the afternoon there was a gentle shower, after which the sun appeared, and the heavens were spanned with a brilliant rainbow. The wind was pure and balmy, the atmosphere soft and mellow, and everything was most harmonious and lovely- In an hour or so we passed through a monstrous school of herrings. There were acres upon acres, and the water was covered with little ripples as they went on their way. We 44 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. fished them up by simply dropping a line over the sides of the vessel, and catching them on the hook, by the sides, or the gills, or the fins, or just as it happened. We put over a bucket attached to a rope, and dipped them up by the peck measure. But alas for the finny tribe. For they were fol- lowed by several whales, who approached with open mouth, and scooped them in without measure. If the supply was great, so was the demand, as seen by the fact that a hundred barrels of oil are often taken from a single one of these mighty leviathans. When within about a week of our destined harbor, some of the passengers thought they began to snuff the land breeze, though there was nothing that looked like land in sight. The big black dog of the brig, Tiger, trusty and true, confirmed this belief, for every now and then he would go to the windward, and with his head turned up, he would snuff and wag his tail, as if scenting something familiar. In a few days it was plain that he knew what he was about, for pres- ently the land of Valdivia appeared, on the southern coast of Chili. What a luxury it was to catch a faint glimpse of terra jirma, after being so long tossed upon the billowy deep, and rocked by the ocean wave. In a day or two more tne island of Mucha was seen, four hundred miles from Chili. How we enjoyed the sight! How we longed to set foot on the land once more! We lived in the joyful anticipation. But a calm of thirty-six hours hin- dered us. The days dragged heavily, and all agreed, with sailors, that a gale was preferable to a calm. There is some excitement about the former, but a dead monotony in the latter. DOUBLING THE CAPE. 45 At last the calm gave way. The wind sprung up. Un- der a pleasant breeze once more, and within fifteen miles from the shore, we could see, for the first time since leaving Bravo, the smoke curling up from the hills, an indication of human life, and a cheerful omen to tired, tempest-tossed mar- iners. One bright morning the everlasting-snow-clad tops of the Andes suddenly towered up so high as to be visible in the clear atmosphere more than a hundred miles. The thought of soon going ashore brought out the trunks, containing our land attire, so closely packed away, and so full of wrinkles, as we prepared to leave the vessel. But our attention was suddenly arrested by the water, which looked as if there might have been a thousand oil wells throwing up their greasy treasures, the mystery of which we left unsolved, and on the one hundred and four- teenth day after leaving Boston, we were in full sight of the city of Valparaiso, on the coast of Chili, south latitude 33 degrees. At ten o'clock, we cast anchor in the beautiful harbor of the Valley of Paradise, and went ashore. CHAPTER IV.— VALLEY OF PARADISE. Searching the Trunks -Strangeness -Earthquakes -Public Amusements — Keeping the Carnival — City of the Dead— The Mass— 1 he Sab- bath— Princes and Beggars — Crime — Our School — Boys and Don- keys—Distinguished Himself— Dr. Trumbull — Saluting a Peon- Gift of Tongues— William Wheelwright — Earthquakes — God's Light Needed. On leaving the brig, all trunks and parcels were placed upon the beach, and inspected by a public officer, lest some- thing should be smuggled into the country without paying the requisite duty. Everything seemed strange. The people jabbered their Spanish, and gave a peculiar shrug to their shoulders and grimace to their faces as they talked. Bareheaded women were seen in the street day and night, such a thing as a bon- net or hat being unknown to them. Most of the men wore the serape, a garment much like a shawl, with a hole in the center through which the head went, the whole thing mak- ing quite a display by its bright, gay colors, as they rushed along on their swift steeds. The hackmen always rode a horse and led the one attached to the vehicle. Different ranks of priests, some in black, some in gray, some in white, flowing robes, strolled about the streets and corners of the city. The Italian-like atmosphere, and the intensely blue sky, were agreeably noticeable. The earthquake shocks, of very frequent occurrence and a source of great terror to the people, were as ^agreeable. VALLEY OF PARADISE. 47 Every one rushed to the door at the rumbling noise, sound- ing like low, muttering thunder under the ground, making the earth tremble and the building creak as if everything was tottering over. On going to bed at night, it was a rule to place one's clothing so that he could seize it instantly and flee from the house, should there be a shock before day. The markets abounded in the most luxurious fruits of the tropics, especially choice grapes and figs. In our school yard were several orange trees, having on them at the same time all stages of growth, from the blossom to the ripe fruit. Public amusements — boat racing, horse racing, mas- querades, climbing greased poles, running races in sacks, and the like — were very common. Feast days and fast days were of almost weekly occurrence. At the keeping of the carnival, for three days in April, all vehicles were forbidden in the streets, and one was not even allowed to ride through on horseback. Business was prac- tically suspended, and the whole city was given up to the rites of the occasion. The people thronged the streets, go- ing from church to church, muttering their prayers as they went, kneeling by the way, before the churches, and in the churches, sprinkling themselves with holy water, bowing before altars, images, and the statues of saints. In one church were altars lighted with the most brilliant fires. In another, pictures of Christ as a youth, the mother of Jesus, angels and virgins, arrayed most gorgeously, and sparkling with costly brilliants. In another church was Christ crucified and nailed to the cross. The people would bow before these, and kiss the garments, feet and hands of some of them. 48 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. For two days and nights it continued thus, and the third day was noted for the burning of Judas, as they called it. About ten o'clock in the morning the signal was given, and the bells began to ring, guns were fired, horns blown, drums beaten. On this day the prohibition against drivers and riders was withdrawn, and carriages rattled through the streets, horseback riders darted hither and thither, and all was com- motion. On almost every corner and in every conspicuous place was an image of Judas, filled with brimstone and fire crackers. The match being applied, in every part of the city was the simultaneous snapping and cracking of these scarecrows, till they would be blown to pieces, when one man would catch hold of 'an arm, another of the head, and run, swinging them through the air and shouting, "Death to the traitor!" amid the most boisterous excitement. The evening and night were given to the opera, theater, masquerades, and various amusements and excesses, as ra- tional in proportion as the carnival. In one portion of the cemetery were the most beautiful and expensive monuments of Parian marble, where the rich were entombed, and in another portion a large hole was dug in the ground, where the poor were cast without shroud or coffin, exposed to the dogs, and dragged out by them some- times, so that one would now and then come upon the skulls of human beings as he traveled through the fields or forests. The mass, sometimes called the host, a company of church officials marching through the streets to perform some relig- ious rite, was a common spectacle. This mass consisted of twelve men, bearing large glass lanterns, always lighted, by day and night. They were preceded by a man tinkling a VALLEY OF PARADISE. 49 little bell, to warn the people of their approach, and followed by a priest robed in white, one man on either side, holding over him a large red umbrella, while twelve armed soldiers attended them, and the rabble, ragged and unwashed urchins, brought up the rear. It was expected that every one meet- ing the host, would stop, take off his hat, and if on horse- back dismount and uncover his head. These armed dignita- ries were detailed to enforce these regulations, should any one be inclined to disregard them. The Sabbath was a holiday, the military and fire com- panies almost always being on parade, the first hours of the day being given to some religious service, and the others to some public amusement. Men of princely estate on the one hand, and swarming beggars on the other, abounded. Sometimes one would meet beggars on horseback, and when told that they could not be very poor, being able to own a horse, they would reply, " Yes but we have to support ourselves and our horse too." Drunkenness, licentiousness, and crime in general, every- where abounded. Two well-fed, lazy soldiers would be kept guarding one prisoner, as he worked on the street, or on some public building. In our school were a hundred pupils, seventy day scholars and thirty boarders from abroad, some of them from over a thousand miles away. Most of the boarders were from the families of wealthy men, anxious to have their sons acquire the English language that they might do business with En- glish and American shipping houses. Some of the boys were half breeds, with a foreign father and a native mother, There were classes in Latin, algebra and geometry, looking —4 50 GLEANINGS BY THE- WAY. forward to college. All branches, including French, music and painting were taught in the school. At five o'clock in the morning, the schoolmaster must be up with the boys and take them out swimming, at Fisher- man's bay, a mile or so from the city. On our way, a spacious plateau, dotted here and there with the shanties of peons and their numerous dogs and donkeys, had to be crossed. The boys would sometimes mount these long-eared scape- graces and take a ride, when the dogs would bark and the old women would come out with their brooms and mops and pitch into the boys with a vengeance. It was amusing to see the little chaps plunge their heels into the sides of their borrowed steeds, to hasten their pace, and keep out of the way of their pursuers if possible, and then see them tumble neck and heels and scamper like good fellows when mop and broom from brawny arms, with up-rolled sleeves, were threatening to fall upon them. How the boys would laugh and the old women spit fire, and shake their fists at the young rogues. One of the boys of this school afterwards distinguished himself at the destruction of the cathedral in Santiago, the capital of Chili, when three thousand persons were burned to death. As the city authorities and firemen were panic stricken, and did not know what to do, he sprang to the res- cue, and saved many lives. His good generalship was after- wards acknowledged, and the leading papers of the country were loud in his praise. It is pleasant to think that the teachers of this young man may have contributed something to his noble bearing on this occasion. Rev. David Trumbull, D. D., since deceased, under the I r ALLE J ' OF PARADISE. 5 1 auspices of the Evangelical Christian Alliance, had formed a Congregational church at Valparaiso, composed principally of the better class of American, English and German resi- dents. They worshipped in a hall, not being allowed to build a chapel, have a bell, steeple, or anything that would attract attention. The good doctor also started a Protestant paper, printed in the Spanish language, advocating the meas- ures of the more progressive party of the country. While walking out one day in company with a young man just from the States, on his way to California, a native peon came along, a tall, raw-boned man, and my friend, who had hardly learned the common salutation of the day, the full extent of his Spanish, said: "Now I'm going to speak to him and see what he'll say." Whereupon he addressed him with all the assurance imaginable, "Como lo vos, Senor" (how do you do, sir); when he, to show the American that he understood his language also, responded in the same sang froid style, with a most fearful oath, the extent of his En- glish, of the meaning of which he was probably entirely ignorant. Here the two men confronted each other in blank stolidity, not able to carry the conversation any. further, and the Yankee, to say the least, quite willing to drop it where it was. It was curious to see the ease with which some foreigners in Valparaiso would carry on conversation in different lan- guages. The German seemed to carry off the palm. Here is one earnestly conversing on some topic with a fellow countryman, and presently a Frenchman steps up, and he talks French to him with apparently the same ease, till a Chilano approaches, and he rattles off the Spanish as if that 52 GLEAA r ING S BY THE IV A 1 '. was his native tongue, when an Englishman comes along, and you would say, "He's a Londoner, sure, by the way he spouts the Queen's dialect;" but no, he's a full-blooded Ger- man, and master of four languages surely; how many more you do not know. But especially was it amusing to hear the babble of tongues that prevailed at one boarding house, where many nationalities were represented. Spanish, French, German, American, Italian, and Irish, the latter of the most unadulterated sort, could be heard at the same time. Mr. Wm. Wheelwright, formerly of Newburyport, Mass., built the railroad now running between Valparaiso and San- tiago. He also devised a plan for watering the city, and started an English line of steamers between Chagres and Valparaiso. Applying to the United States for help to do the latter, he was denied, when he went to London, as I was told, laid the matter before Parliament, and received aid, making the enterprise one of large profit to the parties taking hold of it. The Chilanos regarded him as a great benefactor to their people, and afterward erected to his honor a famous statue in one of their plazas. Having just returned from a social gathering at his house one night, all hands were startled with the fearful shock of an earthquake, followed by a second shock, when uncon- sciously every one rushed out into the court yard. Our school boys were there almost as soon as any one, and look- ing into the street, that too was pretty well filled with people, as they had hurried from their sleeping rooms. On several oc- casions our pupils rushed from the school room pell mell, 3j£ they were startled by this unceasing source of fear. Aside from the single drawback of earthquakes, God ^he VALL EY ( >/■ P. I A\ I DISS. 53 given to the South Americans great blessings; a salubrious climate and a productive soil, yielding the choicest fruits of the earth, and abounding in rich minerals; and yet they can never rise to any degree of prosperity till they break off their shackles of superstition, and let a little of God's light into their souls. ta CI CHAPTER V. — GOLDEN GATE. Cross ( laptain-Gymnastic Birds-Clear Water -Peculiar Storm -Pec^- iarities-Gambling Houses -Preaching to the Gamblers -City Sur- veying-First Fire-Rebuilding-Swift Changes -Profane Man- Church Full of Men-Tom Hyer - Poisoned - A Felon -Off for he Mines — Mushroom Growth -The Outfit — Camping Grounds— Excite- ment of Mining-On a Gold Bed-Gold Hill-The Editor-Dealing with Criminals-Midnight Arousings - Dressed-up Indian -Preaching in the Mines-Surrounding Scenes -"I'd Like to Preach -To the New Diggings— The Journey — Losing the Way — Meeting the Mail. From the Valley of Paradise we sailed for the Golden Gate. Our captain was a Swede. Friend Sargent, after- wards Hon. A. A. Sargent, of California, and later United States minister to Berlin, since deceased, was supercargo. The sailors were few in number, and of different nationali- ties. Unfortunately Mr. Swede was not of the most agreeable disposition, and the passengers began to realize the force of the saying, that the master of a vessel on the land, and the same master at sea, may be two very different characters Before leaving port he may be wonderfully agreeable, but quite the reverse a little afterwards. A few days, as the case turned, brought a spirit of mutiny among the sailors. One of the men, a hale and robust Scotchman, refused to work only as his own personal safety required it, and the captain, armed with a revolver, was obliged to fill up the vacancy thus made. A poor Pata- gonian, unable to speak English but slightly, was three GOLD EX GATE. 55 times brutally sent reeling to the deck because of some slight offense not designed. We earnestly protested, but a volley of oaths was the only answer. Invested with a little brief authority, the captain of the Lyon was a conceited fool, and the passengers had to get along as best they could. The first thing that attracted notice was a flock of white birds, about the size of our pigeons. They took the name of gymnasts, coming apparently for the amusement of the passengers. They would fly side wise, and then backward, and then dive, and sail, and jump, and go straight up and fall like a dead weight, and turn completely over, and what not. A few days afterwards, as we were hindered by a calm, attention was called to the unusual clearness of the water. A heavy white weight was sunk to the depth of a hundred feet, and could be distinctly seen. Just eight weeks after leaving Valparaiso the equator was again crossed, and once more from the south came the beams of the king of day. It seemed almost like getting home. But a peculiar storm prevailed not far from this time. The sea was chopped up in the shape of cones, and their peaks were to be seen in almost every direction. About noon a tremendous sea struck aboard with a heavy crash, breaking through the skylight into the cabin, and making the brig quiver like a leaf. For a moment it seemed as if everything was breaking asunder, but she soon righted up, and a few days of the carpenter's work repaired all damages. Again the brig made land ten miles away, a small island. Presently the main land appeared. It was American soil, 56 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. and the next day we entered the bay of San Francisco, the mighty El Dorado of the world, inviting thither, through its yellow treasure, men from all climes and countries. Going ashore, the old stars and stripes were the signal of protection. The city, at this time of mushroom growth, with its tem- porary houses and canvas tents, looked like a vast military encampment. The population was an influx from nearly all the nations of the earth, and yet there was a remarkable freedom from crime, though everything was without lock or bar, and goods in abundance were exposed in the streets. The rogues had no way of concealing what their eyes might covet, any more than the honest men had of keeping it from them, and so every thing was safe for a time. The best houses in the city were used for gambling purposes. Liquor flowed as freely as the appetite demanded, and every one for a time was his own lawgiver touching many of the interests of society. Large fortunes were made in a few days by some men, and others would just as quickly lose all that they had, and try again, and sometimes succeed, and sometimes become still more involved. Fronting the prominent square of San Francisco, were three or four gambling halls — a hundred and fifty feet deep, by forty in width, perhaps. Each one of these places had a bar, an elevated platform for musicians, sofas, and arm chairs in abundance along the sides of the room, paintings on the walls to correspond with the place, a half dozen or so tables containing a bank of from a peck to a half bushel of money in silver and gold, surrounded by as many men as could crowd about them, busy in gaming day and night. Occasionally in the excitement, or from some actual or sup- GOLDEN GATE. 57 posed unfair playing, pistols would be drawn, and in several instances men were fatally shot, when for a brief moment, a little ripple, perchance, might be seen upon the surface life of these men, and again the tide would run on as if no such tragedy had happened. After a time the city authorities required the faro and monte men to close shop at twelve o'clock at night, and by and by to abstain from playing on the Sabbath. When thus com- pelled to rest from their illicit trade, they would sometimes gather into one room, and listen to a sermon from some preacher, always paying good attention, and generally taking up a collection for the minister at the close of the meeting, sometimes getting as much as fifty or a hundred dollars. Thus the Gospel was occasionally preached to men who sel- dom if ever entered a house of worship. In connection with a former teacher at the Valley of Para- dise, the winter was largely spent at the Golden Gate in sur- veying, laying out many of the lots of San Francisco, cutting through the brush, sighting the first chain, and sticking the first stakes that were made in preparation for that now won- derful city. At the time of the first great fire at San Francisco, while hundreds were fighting the devouring element as it swept along in its course, a man was seen on the corner where the fire began, with his measuring pole, kicking awaj the smoul- dering ruins, and laying out work for another building. Just eleven days from that time, and the burnt district of several acres was all built over, with transient buildings, to be sure, but teeming with life and unsurpassed activity. Within eight months there were two other large fires, and 5S GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. four sets of buildings — first, the rough frame covered with canvas; next, the light wood houses, made in the States, and sent around the Cape; next, the moderately good building, with some of the fixtures of a more advanced civilization; and next, the substantial brick and si one structure, that would answer for a city of fifty years' growth. One of the first ministers sent out to unfurl the banner of the cross among the gold seekers, was met before he left the vessel by a very profane man, who replied to the remark that a minister was on board: "A minister! where is he? He is just the man! I want to see him and give him the right hand of fellowship." As he crowded his way towards him, he said : " I understand you're a preacher," and with a start- ling oath said, "I'll give as much as any other man towards your support. Property is worth more under the Gospel, life is safer, community is happier — we can't do without it. I came from New England and know the worth of it." And he gave the minister $500 a year towards raising the requisite $5,000 for his support. One Sabbath afternoon, Tom Hyer, of pugilistic notoriety, being pretty well set up with liquor, got on a showy horse, and rode into the saloons and restaurants as if he were dicta- tor of the town. For a little while every one seemed to stand in awe of him. At length a small, compact man walked up to him and said, "Mr. Hyer, you're my prisoner. My duty as the sheriff of this county requires me to arrest you as a disturber of the peace. You will go with me." He made no resistance and was taken to the lockup. Some of the New York boys thought this rather summary treatment for their chieftain. Their pride was touched a little, and they GOLDEN GATE. 59 proposed to break him out, and had gathered to the number of two hundred or more for this purpose, when the mayor of the city made his appearance, and acting upon the force of the wise man's words, "A soft answer turneth away wrath," very soon quieted the turbulent crowd. "Gentlemen," he said, as he stood upon the balcony of the court house, "Mr. Hyer has been arrested for disturbing the peace, I regret to say. His case will come before the court the first thing to- morrow morning, and justice shall be done him, rest assured. And now, as peace-loving, law-abiding men, I trust that you will disperse and quietly retire to your several places." They saw the reasonableness of the appeal, and soon all left. The next morning, the prisoner having become sober, was led up into the court room, when the judge read to him the charge, and asked what he had to say for himself. " Nothing, your honor," was the brief reply. "I shall fine you fifty dollars," was the answer of the judge. Hyer immediately pulled out his pocket book, paid it, and walked out. While laying out city lots in San Francisco, poison from the oak shrub, which grew very abundantly in that region, opened to me the doors of the hospital for a time. With badly-swollen face, and itching most intense, my only comfort was in scratching. It seemed a favorable time for surgery, as no scalpel, or chloroform, or ether was needed, the finger nails being sufficient, and the removal of the flesh to the bone affording a real pleasure. Suffering thus for two weeks, the luxury of a good place to be sick in was wanting, my only bed being a large chest spliced out with a board, in a little room about ten by twelve feet, containing a cook stove and its furniture, a table, three or four chairs and other household 60 GL /■:. WINGS B J " THE WAY. goods. Even this could not be had till late in the evening, the other hours in the day being spent in sitting around, and walking about, and trying to find a little ease in some way, but being obliged to take it out mostly in scratching. In about three weeks the medicines mastered, and I was con- valescent, though several big scars abide as reminders of those weeks forlorn. After this, while in the mountains, I paid the doctor $30 for cutting open and doing up a felon on one of my fingers, but in spite of all attempts to the contrary, the bone of the first joint came out, and was left to bleach on the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The first of February found quite a party of us on the steamer Golden Gate bound for the gold diggings. On reaching Sacramento we took a small steamer for Marysville, and going ashore, in a small canvas house, the only one there, with no floor, and other things to correspond, a breakfast was obtained of shortcake and coffee, costing each man one dollar and fifty cents. Four months from this time the population numbered sev- eral thousand — a city, with its mayor and other officers. Taking what little outfit belonged to the party, about seventy- five pounds weight each, it was voted to start on foot for the mountains. Eighty miles, and a halt was made at Nevada City, then called Deer Creek, consisting of half a dozen log huts, and a population of perhaps a hundred men within a circuit of four or five miles. A few months, and this place counted its inhabitants by thousands. Here a week's work, at $10 a day to the man, occupied us, when the suggestion of forming another company prevailed, and new work was begun. GOLDEN GATE. 6 1 Our outfit consisted for each man, four in all, of a shovel,' pickaxe and tin pan, the articles costing the moderate sum of $32 — the shovel $16, and the pick and pan $S each. For two or three weeks the profits were about what they had been, $10 a day each — just about enough to pay expenses. Flour was $1.50 a pound. A miner's rocker, the original cost of which was perhaps $1, cost in the mines $25. For a very plain meal at a rancho or restaurant, $2 was the price. Lodging was cheap, the ground and all out doors constituting the bed room. After a little we found good paying dirt, and the first day two of us took out $200. At this time the third man, Grey, was up on the middle Yuba, fifty miles above, prospecting. He returned Saturday afternoon, before which we had taken out over $1,000. "Ten thousand wouldn't tempt me to part with a claim which I have made up on the Yuba," said Grey. "I think we shall make a big pile there. We'll hold on to this and work it till the river falls, so that we can go into that with advantage. " Alter this we counted up from day to day, $50, $75, $100, $175 and $200, as long as we held the claim. It was a good lead, and we should have kept it, for our aspirations for some- thing better ended in failure. But the excitement of gold digging! The feeling is all the time: The next blow may reveal a fortune! the next spade of earth may open the way to hundreds of thousands! It has been so with this man here, and that one up yonder, and scores of fortunate fellows! A few days after changing our camping grounds on one 62 GLEANINGS B 5 ' THE WA\ '. occasion, some young chaps from New York city, with their gold rings on, and their gold watch chains and white shirts, as usual, comparatively fresh from the city, struck down on the very spot where our old tent had been for six weeks, rooting up the very trees that had served as jambs to our fireplace, and though every one laughed at them for think- ing of rinding gold in such a place, it turned out $15 and $20 to the pan. Six weeks on a gold bed without knowing it! The scien- tific men would have said, "There's no gold there," but these greenhorns, smart enough in handling silks and satins, and waiting on ladies behind counters, but perfect novices with the spade and pick, blundered upon the right spot the first time trying, and made a fortune in a few days. It was won- derful how all the scientific theories explode with regard to the finding of gold. Just where the geologists would say, "This is not a gold-bearing region," it might be found in abundance. A hard-working man came along one day, and said: "I've been in the mines a year, and have only just made a living." When, to see how credulous he might be, the answer was: " There's plenty of gold all about here. I could go right up into that mountain and find it." "Do you think so?" he asked. "I know it." "Will you lend me a pan and shovel, that I may go and try it ? " "Oh, yes; glad to do so." And away he marched to look for gold on the top of a mountain. GOLDEN GATE. 63 "I'd as soon think of finding gold in a tree top," said the man who had sent him off on his fool's errand, as he sup- posed. But he presently returned with his pan of dirt, washed it out, and to the surprise of every one but himself, had a dollar's worth of gold to show. In less than forty-eight hours that mountain took the name of Gold Mountain, was all staked out with claims, was swarm- ing with men, and yielding its hundreds of thousands of dol- lars a day. It would be safe to say that millions were taken out of that mountain, and all discovered through a mere joke. It was interesting to see the different professions repre- sented in the mines — educated men, editors, doctors, lawyers — men of culture and high position at home. One day while lugging dirt, and looking much like a hod carrier, Mr. Hitchcock, an editor of a paper in Ogdensburg, New York, called out: " Sheldon, what would your folks think if they should see you just as you are now ? " "And what would the patrons of the editor think, if they should see him in his red shirt and slouch hat, plunging into the dirt and water in that style?" "A great country, this," he said, and away went the rocker washing out the little yellow particles that gave the snug sum of $50 at night. The method of dealing with criminals in the mines was somewhat peculiar. As an illustration : One day, when Grey was absent, a large muscular man came along, and after talk- ing a few moments, concluded to jump the lower end of the claim. Our protests were in vain. He simply laughed at us, saying: "I think you are pretty clever boys, and I guess 64 CLE A MINGS BY THE WAY. I'll work along side of you," which he did, with all the im- pudence immaginable, for two long days, sinking a good- sized shaft ten feet deep. When Grey came home, after hearing our story, he simply said: "I'll get him out," and buckling his pistol about him, he started for the place. Grey had been through the Mexican war, was a resolute chap, and knew just what to do. Marching straight up to the man, he said: "Did you know that you were on other men's property here?" "Well, the boys said so, but I thought they were clever boys, and I'd work here." "Well, sir," said Grey, putting his hand on his pistol, "Out of that hole, quick." And he got out quick, beyond a question. He began to think he had probably worked long enough by the side of the "clever boys." After apologizing and giving a very pitiable experience, Grey said: "Well, now; I'll tell you just what I had proposed to do, simply to say 'Get out' once, and if you didn't do it to blow your brains out; and I should have done it, and you'd have been a dead man if you had hesitated a moment." "But now," said Grey, "work away; you are welcome, under the circumstances, to all you can get. I'm ready to share my last dollar with a man that's in want, but I can't stand the grab game at all, at all. I'd rather give a man a hundred dollars than to have him try to cheat me out of a shilling, any time." This is a fair sample of the way they managed such matters in the mines, though the transgressor did not al- ways escape so fortunately. When a man was arrested for GOLDEN GATE. 65 stealing, or anything of that sort, a jury of twelve men be- ing selected, they would take their seats on the logs or the ground, listen to the case and pronounce their judgment, oc- cupying sometimes ten minutes and sometimes possibly half an hour, when the verdict would be acted upon without de- lay. A common penalty was to shave one-half of the head, give the offender a few vigorous lashes, and bid him leave the diggings and never return, under penalty of death. The peculiar situation of things necessitated this summary kind of action, as it afterwards gave rise to the vigilance commit- tee in San Francisco for a time. It was quite common in the mines to be aroused at mid- night or later by the discharge of firearms. Some party, perhaps late into camp, or startled by a bear or wolf try- ing to steal some miner's breakfast, or possibly some one ex- cited over the gaming stand, would fire off a pistol, which would be followed by another, and this by another, and so on, till for a mile around it would sound like a regular battle, and in quick, sharp succession, the flash of rifle and revolver would gleam through the darkness, when after a little, quiet would again prevail, and the whole camp, just now ablaze and noisy with arms, would once more hold in peaceful slumber its weary inhabitants. Some rude chaps one day dressed up a Digger Indian, who, having taken just enough fire water to make him feel nicely, went marching along through the principal street of the town; a tall, muscular fellow, his whole outfit consisting of a pair of shoes, a red shirt and a white, bell-top hat — a somewhat enlarged pattern of the Uncle- Sam style. Straight as an arrow he made his way from end of the village to the —5 66 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. other, attracting store and shop hands on every side, and making himself the most observed of all observers. It was a comical sight, and contributed forcibly to our gastric needs, as loud peals of laughter indicated. The high water of the mountain streams had subsided, and we were off for new developments on the river Yuba. We bought a span of mules and a horse, laid in provisions for the summer, got together what tools we needed, and packed them up to our new mountain home, selling the old claim that was yielding us such good returns for three hun- dred dollars, the buyers taking out that amount the first day. In getting to the Yuba, our way was over immense ranges which made common mountains look like little hills. The grizzly bears that were sometimes seen, the prairie wolves that would howl about the camp at night as if all bedlam was let loose, the swift antelope and the nimble deer, the im- mense trees three hundred feet high, furnishing material in a single trunk for twenty saw logs from three to six feet in diameter, the ten-mile stretch of snow from fifteen to twenty feet in depth, which had to be passed over in the month of May, and the large fields of white lilies, growing so high that they could be seen a long distance away, and easily picked on horseback, all had a novelty about them, to say the least. At one time, losing my way while plodding along through the woods in a well-beaten trail, just as the sun was setting, who should approach but a tall, bareheaded, barefooted In- dian, his weapon being a long, sword-like knife, and his salutation the peculiar "ugh," as he kept vigorously on his way. GOLDEN GATE. 67 An Indian camp not far ahead was suspected ; but no, in about half an hour the river was reached, and a company of miners found, who had come in the day before. Sharing their hospitality that night, drinking tea from one of their tin cups, sleeping on the ground under one of their blankets, the next morning, after breakfast, my march was again taken up, with a view of striking the river fifteen miles below, but owing to some deep canons, needing to take a round-about course for it. About noon, meeting two men, and asking them if they could tell me the direction to the "snow tent," a point on the way to Concord Bar, the place of destination, "Yes," they said, "but you're going right away from it; fol- low us, and we'll lead you to the very spot." " You're lost," said one of them, "but I defy all creation to lose me." But, notwithstanding, in less than twenty minutes it ap- peared that we had all turned about, and were following our steps backwards. As I saw this and protested, they gave a scornful laugh, till at last the young man that all creation couldn't lose suddenly halted, and said: "I remember pass- ing over this log, sure. Well, it's the first time I ever got lost." It was the middle of the afternoon, and which trail of the almost endless number that looked to every point of the com- pass was the right one, no one knew. In looking about to see if there was any familiar mark near that would serve as a guide, another lost party was found. If misery loves com- pany, the supply was ample, for here we were, nine men, and all wishing to go past the "snow tent," but not knowing which path to take. As the matches were being sought, with the thought of starting a fire and camping there that 68 GLEANINGS BY THE WAV. night, a cry was heard: "Hello, hello! I've found it, I've found it!" Some one recognized a peculiar tree which he had noticed before, and the march was again taken up, the "snow tent" reached, and Concord Bar found just before dark, two days' travel having been made, at least eighty miles, in what should have been done in forty miles. Soon after this, disposing of my mining interests, and tak- ing one of the mules, I started for Sacramento. On reach- ing the city, my custom of sleeping out of doors so long produced a decided aversion to the thought of taking quar- ters in a small room with a dozen men or more, the best accommodations to be had, and so lodgings were chosen on a partially-finished haystack, on the edge of the town, where a comfortable night was had, with plenty of good oxygen to sweeten sleep and recuperate exhausted nature. At another time, while coming through the woods, it was a most joyful surprise to the lone traveler to receive three letters from the postman, who had been to San Francisco for the mail. Slipping them into my pocket, and starting on my way, as one letter was opened it was found to be a year old. As another was opened, that, too, bore the date of twelve months ago. The third one was tried with no better results. Well, they were from home. They contained news and brought joy to the reader. They had journeyed to Valpa- raiso, South America, were forwarded to San Francisco, and brought up to the mines, wearing out a whole year before reaching me. The postage, forty cents a letter from the States to San Francisco, and two dollars from there to the GOLDEN GATE. 69 mines, seven dollars and twenty cents for the three, was a good round price, to be sure, but never was money for any- thing more cheerfully paid. CHAPTER VI. — OLD MEXICO. The Corn Cracker and the Fox — Elective Affinities — Lashed to the Deck — Burial at Sea — Land, ho! — Old Mexico — First Night — Death of the Doctor — Cholera — Sabbath Halt — Robbers — Hanging Man — Lasso Cavaliers — Pumpkin Raft — Mills' Horse — Halls of Monte- zuma — Pockets Picked — Mexican Churches — General Scott's Road — Fancy Mule. Again on the deep, bound for old Mexico. The first day a dispute arose between two men, one a down-easter, as he was called, a man from Maine, and the other a Kentuckian, a dispute on the everlasting question which, after so much excitement and blood, is hardly yet fully settled. The " Corn Cracker" threatened to whip the "Fox," pulling off his coat and showing fight, because the "peculiar institution" was assailed by the "Mudsill Yankee," as he was pleased to call him. A hundred and thirty passengers, from almost all portions of the land, constituted the company. They were mostly strangers to each other until this time. But they soon be- came acquainted touching the general outlines of character as exhibited in the mode of speech, look, ordinary bearing, and the like, and in a few days as many as a dozen knots of men grouped together in different places could be seen, each one suiting his taste in choosing his associates. This feature was noticeable from day to day. It was the great delight of some of these men to boast of their villainies — what smart lies they had told by which they cheated some one, what fights OLD MEXICO. 71 they got into, how drunk they were, and what they did while intoxicated. They gloried in their shame. It was a sad comment on the depravity of man when left to himself. Two of this company were terribly profane. For curiosity, I attempted to take down their words one day, and in a con- versation of just fifteen minutes, there were seventy-seven oaths of the most blasphemous character, while tbe appella- tions of "devil," "damn," "hell," and the like, were so fre- quent that my pencil could not move fast enough to enumer- ate them. Such was the general conversation of two men, representatives of multitudes in the world, spending then- lives cursing their maker and calling on God to damn them. But another storm was encountered, a reminder of Cape Horn, the memory of which could not be fully obliterated. At night it was so warm that we made the cabin deck our resting place, lashing ourselves down to keep from rolling off, sleeping some, and waking some, as we rocked upon the rough waves. After this there was a burial at sea of a man who six hours before was on deck, walking about, somewhat ill, but not alarmingly so. At five o'clock in the morning he was a corpse. At eight o'clock he was laid out upon a wide, long plank, with some bricks at his feet as weights for sinking the body, now in readiness for burial. A few short religious ser- vices, and the plank was raised to the top of the bulwarks, gently tipped on end, and the remains of poor Rice sunk to their watery grave. In less than a week there was another, once a Wall street broker, in New York city, but left to die friendless and alone, to be buried far at sea. Such is life — fearful, grand, joyful, sad! 72 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. In a few days after this, the glad sound came from mast head, "Land, ho!" It was the bay of Acapulco. The green grass and cocoanut trees lining the shore presented a pleasant greeting. Two steamers were lying at anchor, and several sail vessels. It was cheering to go ashore once more, and a pleasant change to spend a day or two in that genuine old Mexican city, with its low houses of adobe walls and tiled roofs. Consulting the American consul with reference to the overland route of six hundred miles through Mexico, " The country," he said, "is infested with robbers, and the way is dangerous, but you can go through. Arm well, show a bold front, and go ahead." About forty passengers, accordingly, divided up into small parties of eight or ten each, so as to get better accommoda- tions on the way, and started. The first night out, before getting into camp, a most fear- ful thunder storm, so peculiar to that country, necessitated a sudden halt. The rain poured down in torrents, and all the upper regions belched forth their hot thunderbolts. Peal on peal and flash on flash was the order of the night. It seemed as if the whole globe would rend asunder, and the sulphur- ous streams and tongues and chains of fire take vengeance on the inhabitants. It was terrific. The only thing to do was to tie up our animals and remain as passively as possible till daylight. Early the next morning, on reaching a small village, while breakfast was preparing, our coats, vests, blankets, and other wet clothes in abundance, were spread out to dry in the warm sun, and after replenishing the inner man with a good supply OLD MEXICO. 73 of chickens, chocolate, eggs and tortillas, our route was con- tinued, and the journey shortened fifty miles that day. The third day, and our physician died with the cholera. He was a dissipated young man, and bad whiskey killed him, using cholera as its weapon. A sickness of three hours, and the vital spark went out, and all that remained of poor Wells was left to rest in the soil of the ancient Montezumas. Every day revealed more and more cholera. No place was free from it. In one town of ten thousand people, twelve hundred had died in two weeks. When the first Saturday night came, the question arose, "How about to-morrow?" "Let's go on," said one and another, "and rest at Old Mexico." "No," was the answer; "let's rest here till Monday." Six agreed to remain. Two demurred, and went on, the dreams of the night giving them no better purpose. They were told that they missed it, but they thought not, and on they went. The rest of us spent the day quietly, resting ourselves and our beasts of burden. In the evening we went with our landlord to witness a religious ceremony among the natives. Nearly or quite the whole town was assembled. They formed themselves into a procession, the men having guns and sky rockets, and the women lighted candles and mirrors, wreaths of flowers and bows of silk. The children brought up the rear, and they made a line nearly half a mile in length, and as they began their march a gun was fired. A few moments, and a sky rocket was sent up. Presently they broke out into singing. Then they halted and knelt, and a priest offered prayer, and 74 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. was not forgetful of the benighted Americanos who were present. As the prayer ended, they started again. Another gun was fired, and several rockets went hissing into the air. In this manner, after marching half a mile or so, they returned, and the religious rite was ended. Now for a good, social time! The bottle was passed around and they all partook, soon became merry, dancing the fandango, gathering in groups to play cards, smoke, drink, and have a good time generally, as they seemed to think. Our landlord being asked the meaning of all this, said, that the cholera had been raging all about them. Every settlement for miles around had been afflicted, hundreds had died, but their town had fortunately escaped, and they had taken this way to express their gratitude to God ! But what of the two men who left on the Sabbath? Well, they lost their way, killed one of their mules, worth $100, lay out in the cold all one night, went without anything to eat for twenty-four hours, and reached the city of Mex- ico one day after those who rested on the Sabbath, fully per- suaded tnat they missed it, as they had been told. A day or two before reaching the city, seven men sprang up from ambush as we quietly rode along, and shouted out, "Your money! your money!" As quick as a flash some one said, "Robbers! robbers!" and out came a dozen good re- volvers. As these bandits saw this they quailed, and said they were not after our money — they were government officials, and must see and sign the passports of all who traveled that way. Seeing these, they claimed that the law forbade the carrying of arms through the country, and if OLD MEXICO. 75 these were surrendered it would be all right. To this every one most emphatically objected, and assured them that, a single insult more and they would learn the virtue of the little war dogs that confronted them. Understanding by this time that they had evidently encountered their match, as they gathered together to consult over the situation of things, we moved on, soon leaving them out of sight. No one was killed and no one robbed, thanks to providence and pistols. The only safe way to travel in that country in those days was, to remember the motto of old Cromwell, "Trust in God and keep your powder dry." The next day we passed a man hanging by the neck to the limb of a tree by the roadside. We afterwards found that he was a robber, who had been shot by the police and left there as a warning to others. While passing through the timber, attention was frequently called to men skulking and dodging from tree to tree, peek- ing out to see who we were, and how armed. As the route lay through a straight, smooth road one day, five men on high-fed steeds were noticed coming rapidly for- ward. All of a sudden they stopped, dismounted, tightened their saddle girths, fixed their pistols, arranged their lassos, and started forward, riding five abreast. They approached at full speed within a few rods of us, and finding that a warm reception threatened them, they took a trail leading into the brush, and were off in short order. Savage country, that, surely, and no wonder that such a people should be con- tinually involved in broils. Camping one night at a large river, we asked the natives if there was any way of getting over. 76 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. "Oh, yes," they said, "we have a boat; we'll take you over." In the morning, going down to the river, two men were observed coming from a little cluster of bushes with their boat, as they called it. Was there ever such another! It was a simple raft, ten feet by fifteen or so, made of reeds and large pumpkins. Was it possible to get over on that? "Oh, yes, we take people over every day, almost," they said. It was that or nothing, and so two of us at a time, with saddles and bridles, went aboard, and two of the natives, stripping themselves, went in, one on either side, and hold- ing on by one hand and paddling with the other, went across. The boat that was first seen on the beach had become quite stylish — a double side-wheel. "Isn't this 'some pumpkins?'" said John, as the raft floated down with the current and landed half a mile below, on the other side. Shouldering their reeds and pumpkins, and carrying them up about half a mile above where they wished to land on the other side, they plunged in again, and went back for another installment. Two by two, in this novel way, the river was crossed, when these natives drove in the animals, and hooting and yelling, swam them over. After paying them a good round price for this perilous ride, these boatmen returned, and we went forward. In a few days another stream had to be crossed. Each man, perched well up on the neck of his animal to keep out of the water as much as possible, dashed in and went through. OLD MEXICO. 77 It was a little hazardous, but the Lord's angels helped, and we were all safely landed on the other side. Here friend Mills' horse stopped, and absolutely refused to take another step. No whipping, or coaxing, or boosting, would do any good. The beast was tired out, to tell the truth, and lucky for his rider that he didn't stop in the middle of the stream, rather than where he did. Stripping off saddle and bridle, and leaving the used-up nag, poor Mills footed it into town, twelve miles, when he bought another animal, and went for- ward the next day. After reaching the city of Mexico, and resting a little, some of the lions of the ancient town claimed attention. To roam for a brief day in the halls of the Montezumas, was worth the while. The entrance to the place was a gateway, guarded by two soldiers. Observing the crowds passing in, and following suit, all of a sudden the drawn sabres of three armed dignitaries caused a ver} r hasty retreat of the Ameri- canos. "What does this mean?" was the audible exclamation, as a quick halt was made. We soon observed that every one touched his hat to these government officials as he went in. So taking a little circuit about the neighboring square, as the place of entrance was approached the second time, a low bow and a broad wave of the hand in the direction of the wide-rimmed sombrero, was sufficient. "Pass right in," they seemed to say, and in a mo- ment we found ourselves within the inclosures of those won- derful buildings, which have borne witness to such strange sights amid the revolutions of bygone years. While visiting the museum, one man had his pockets 7§ GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. picked by a set of rough fellows, whom he knew to he fol- lowing him up, but fortunately lost nothing but a red ban- danna, a pair of gloves, and a small coil of wrapping twine. The next attraction was a grand cathedral, said to contain millions of dollars' worth of gold, in statues and ornaments, and figures of the apostles and heroes of war. After this, at the invitation of the American minister, we visited a church of great magnificence, and rich in gold trimmings and figures of various devices. "It would be just as well to have your pistols along," re- marked this distinguished official on starting. " I never carry such things myself, but I like well enough to have them around." We followed his advice, though no one doubted that he was probably the best armed of any in the party, for every man carried his pistol in that country as much as he wore his hat. Leaving this ancient town, our route for three hundred miles was over the road through which General Scott marched his army during the Mexican War. Mazatlan, Chilpanzinga, Cuernavuca, Puebla and Jalapa, all had their objects of interest, and all called for a hasty looking over. But how strange it seemed to meet daily from six to a dozen stage coaches, each coach drawn by seven span of mules, and guarded by six cavaliers, heavily bearded and spurred, and almost literally covered over with weapons — a brace of re- volvers, a rifle, and an arrow-headed spear extending up from one of the stirrups. My faithful animal for six hundred miles was a cream- OLD MEXICO. 79 colored mule, a real racker, going with ease fifty miles a day, and with little fatigue to the rider, such was her gait. She was the only animal of the whole number, excepting one horse, that endured the journey without giving out, all the rest of the party having their second, two of them their third, and one his fourth. Could I have got the little beauty home, she would have had the fondest care till called to go where all good mules go; but forty bright silver dollars in hand, and she became the property of another man. CHAPTER VII.— ON THE GULF OF MEXICO. On the Gulf of Mexico — Moonlight Sharking — Bay of Campeachy — Sport with the Porpoises — Steamer, ahoy! — Up the Mississippi — Sharpers — Home Surprise. In crossing the Gulf of Mexico, some fifteen shipmates, to- gether with the crew, constituted the company. Two days out and a dead calm held the vessel, which in twenty-four hours had drifted back just one mile. Not a breath of wind was stirring, and the deck was so warm as to almost burn one's feet while walking across it in thin slippers. The per- spiration trickled down our faces, and dripped from our noses in little streams. As the sun was setting one day, the clouds were in such a position as to cause the rays of light in the water to appear like red balls of fire. There were over forty of them, and they looked very real. By the light of the moon, some one harpooned a large shark, and all hands rushed forward to participate in the sport. Even the captain's wife seized the great wet rope to help haul him on deck. But he was an unwilling captive. He caught the handle of the lance in his mouth, and swung it about with great violence, at the same time whipping the deck with his tail at a furious rate. A few blows with a handspike over his nose quieted him, and with an ax his head was soon chopped off, though he was wonderfully tenacious of life. One man took the jaws, another the back bone, ON THE GULF OF MEXICO. Si another a portion of the rough hide, and thus he was dis- tributed around. Two little pilot fishes, said to he constant attendants of the shark, adhered to his sides so closely as to be drawn aboard with him. In just nineteen days we made land again — the city of Campeachy. Being short of provisions, the captain entered the harbor, inquired the regulations of the port, and found, as the cholera had prevailed so extensively along the coast, a quarantine of forty days must be observed before we could land — rather poor encouragement for a company of hungry men, with their faces homeward, and eager to end their strife with the winds and the waves. After passing the night with such a prospect, the captain set out for the shore, was met by the harbor master, who received his message, and in a few hours returned with a quantity of provisions, and we were soon under way once more. The next day was the great day of sport with the por- poises. One was hit with the lance, when he jumped several feet into the air, and was off at full speed, leaping every few seconds entirely out of the water, with the blood spurting from his wounds. Presently another was hit, and just as he was being hauled upon the forecastle, he slipped from the iron barb and fell back into the water with a deep wound to show his comrades. A few moments, and another school appeared, and a third one was hit and raised a few feet, when the rope parted, and he swam off with the lance sticking in his back. It was quite an eventful day with the sea hogs. On the thirteenth day land was again made — a point called Raccoon Paw, extending into the sea, about three hundred — 6 62 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. miles from Mobile. The anchor was quickly cast, and the captain soon boarded a light vessel in quest of provisions, of which the ship was again short. Not succeeding, a small boat was rigged with sails and sent ashore, about twelve miles, in search of supplies. Soon after this a steamer from Galveston was seen in the distance, and answering the signal of distress, she came to the relief of the brig's passen- gers, took us on board, and in a day or two landed us in New Orleans, where we bade farewell to the sea. Our trip up the Mississippi river to Cincinnati consumed ten days. With good state rooms, elegant dining room and saloon, the best of living, and plenty of good reading and company, the charges were only twelve dollars, the cheapest kind of boarding, with sumptuous fare, and a thousand miles of travel thrown in. The first night, one of the company, a young man from Brooklyn, N. Y., got into conversation with two men of fine address, and very curious to learn something about California. They were especially interested in the gambling operations of that country. "What did you call the name of that game so much played there?" said one; "never heard of it before." The captain was interested in giving them a little instruc- tion on this important subject, and they led him on, so curious to learn, so charmed with his descriptions, till they gathered around a table, when the captain said, " This is the style of it," and he began to shuffle the cards and deal them out, 1o give them a practical demonstration of how to do it. They were delighted. At first they didn't exactly see into it, but they learned pretty fast, and before nine o'clock were hard at it. ON THE GULF OF MEXICO. S3 To add to the excitement they put down fifty cents apiece ; then a dollar, and so on. Of course the captain, understand- ing it so much better than they did, had the decided advan- tage, but they were willing to lose a few dollars for the sake of learning the game. The next morning the captain, on being quizzed, owned with a little chagrin that he lost $75 by the chaps. They were old hands at the business. It was their trade; just what they were there for. After playing this kind of a game till they were pretty thoroughly found out, they would get off at the next stopping place, and per- haps in half an hour would take another boat that might come along and practice the same thing upon another set of greenies. Thus they traveled up and down the river, having a good harvest in this way during the entire season of navi- gation. Reaching Cincinnati, and hastily visiting the big lions of that city, by another boat to Pittsburg, and by rail to Balti- more and New York, it was found that a little more than thirty thousand miles had helped feed the shuttle of the last nine hundred and fourteen days. As the last three months had borne no tidings of the way to friends at home, they were beginning to say, "He must have been shipwrecked, or have perished in some other way." On being told of Mexican guerrillas, and the cholera, and short supplies on shipboard, and crossing rivers on pumpkin rafts, and other kindred perils, the response was, "If we had known all that, we should have known you were dead." But God heard those daily prayers at home, and what power could prevail against them ? PART SECOND — PIONEER MISSIONS. CHAPTER I. To the Sunny Southwest — Little Whittler — Ainsworth Brothers — Doing Pastoral Work — An Ex-Slaveholder — Lover of Flowers — Our Hired House — Freedmen — Caste — Identification Wanted. When the war ended, the Southwest seemed to call for missionary work as never before. Thither we went. The first Sabbath service was held in the court house, and a small but appreciative audience was gathered. When the sermon was about half through, a little fellow on the front seat becoming uneasy, the father pulled out a pine stick and a jack knife, and the boy sat and whittled away as quietly as could be, piling up quite a little heap of shavings at his feet. It was a novel way of stilling children at church, but very effective, as the parents knew, and hence had come prepared. In this field were two brothers, wide awake, full of the genuine Western spirit and New England blood, as zealous for the moral well being of the community as they were for prosperity in business. Always ready for every good word and work, one of them was the Sabbath school superintend- ent, leader of the choir, organist, and manager of the finan- cial affairs of the society; cheerful, hearty, social, gaining the 86 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. esteem and commanding the respect of all who knew him. After closing up his business for the day, he would some- times start out to do pastoral work, as he called it. Know- ino- about what time different families were in the habit of retiring for the night, he would gauge his calls accordingly. He usually reached our house about nine o'clock, as we were generally up till ten, and leaving us he would go to the col- onel's, for they never went to bed, he used to say, till eleven, and after this he would make the miller a visit, for he kept up his grinding till twelve, when he would go home and re- tire, to be up again at five in the morning — four hours' sleep seeming to be sufficient for his mercurial temperament. It was almost a means of grace to shake hands with him, or to hear him laugh so freely and heartily. One member of the congregation had been a slaveholder, and mistrusting how the thing would turn, just as the war broke out, he slipped his slaves down into Kentucky and sold them for a good, round price, changed his politics, and com- ing back an avowed abolitionist, got himself nominated for office and served in the State Legislature several years. He was very kind to us, and uniformly at church on the Sab- bath. "I never did like slavery," he said, "but being born and brought up in it, I knew no other way." There might have been some truth in this, with a large mixture of human nature, which prompted him to sell his slaves and pocket the money, before he repudiated the sys- tem too severely. The people soon bought a small church, which had for- merly been used by the Southern Methodists. When they PIONEER MISSIONS. S7 made the purchase, on the backs of the seats were posted in large capitals, " No smoking allowed here." Chewing and snuffing were supposed to be admissible at all times and in all places. But we soon revolutionized things, and with nicely papered walls, new and painted seats, a modern pulpit, matting in the aisles and a good organ, we had a comfortable place of wor- ship. A stranger from the Atlantic coast looking in upon us, would have said: "I'm back in New England." In fact there was more intelligence and culture in the congregation than churches of twice that number can ordinarily boast. It is often thus at the front, and the more remote the point, the more likely is it to be thus. One of the deacons of this church, a warm-hearted man, at the close of every service, used to march straight to the pulpit, and sometimes into it to shake hands with me. He never failed. It was his way, and a good one, of bidding the preacher God speed. It seemed to be as natural to him as it proved to be helpful to me. Would that every church had such a deacon. Another man, a great lover of flowers, always brought to church a beautiful bouquet and placed it on the table in front of the pulpit. If he chanced to be late, as he sometimes did, it made no difference, he never took his seat till he had fixed his bouquet. Our dwelling house we rented of an ex-slaveholder, who received five times the rent he got before slavery was abolished; and so the day after election, on meeting him, I took special pains to congratulate him on the overwhelming defeat of his party, "Because it will increase the value of S8 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. your property so much," I said, "as it is now with the rent of your house, for example." He knew that such was the fact, but it made no difference; slavery was too precious to be givtn up for any such consideration. He submitted only because he must submit. It was interesting to see how the freed men appreciated their school privileges — eager to learn, from the little chil- dren to the grandparents. At a Sabbath school gathering one Sabbath afternoon, several aged men spoke, showing that they were men of no inferior endowments, but for seventy years the wheel had gone over them, and they were just permitted to see the dawn of a brighter day to their race. "My f adder," said one, "was my ole massa, and he used to say he was gwine to make suffin' ob me. So one day, when I'se about free year ole, a man what bought niggers he corned along, and he talked my fadder an awful long spell, and jist no time dis nigger was behind dat ole trader on his hoss, and dat's de last time dis chile seed my fadder. Well, he alius said he's gwine to make suffin' ob me, and I reckon he did, sure 'nuff ; he make 'bout free hunder dollah." In one of the schools? was a young girl about sixteen years of age, so nearly white that not one in a hundred would have supposed that she was other than pure Caucasian, but the least taint of negro blood in her veins was an everlasting ban upon her. And where was the help? Thank God, the ac- cursed institution is overthrown! Having occasion, while in this church, to visit Leaven- worth, and being short of money before returning, but fortunately having a check in my pocket, the first natural suggestion was to get it cashed at the bank, if possible. Ap- PIONEER MISSIONS. 89 proaching the counter, and handing it to the man, with the inquiry, "Can you cash this for me?" he replied: "Can you identify yourself?" "No, sir; I'm a stranger here. "Can't take it," was the short reply. Passing into another bank, as the same question was asked, the man took the check, read it very carefully, and asked : "Can you identify yourself ?" "I cannot; I'm a stranger here." " Can't take it," was the only satisfaction given, as he passed the paper back. What shall I do? How shall I get home? Well, there's another bank ; I'll try there. "Can you cash this for me?" I said, as I passed the check to one of the men. He looked at the paper, and then at me, and then at the paper again, and finally said: " Can you identify yourself ? " " I cannot." " Can't take it," was all the consolation I got. "But what shall I do?" I still said. "I'll try once more." So entering the fourth bank, with the feeling, "there's noth- ing like perseverance," I walked up to the counter as if it was the first trial I had made, presented the check, and said: "Can you cash this for me?" He looked at it, and out came the same old question, now for the fourth time, at four different banks: "Can you identify yourself ?" "No, sir; I'm a stranger here; live at ; have been down to Kansas City, and find I haven't money enough to