436 PROSPECT FOR THE FUTURE. [1841. 



countenance from the outset the system of monopoly which 

 proved so ruinous to the interests of Spain in Mexico and 

 Peru; to foster individual enterprise; and to open a more 

 direct communication with California, by a railroad across 

 the isthmus of Panama, as is now contemplated, or some 

 similar work. 



Since the foregoing account was written, the valleys of the 

 Sacramento and San Joaquin have been inundated with gold- 

 seekers ; some of whom were doomed to disappointment at 

 the outset, while others have been exceedingly fortunate, 

 though but a very few, perhaps none, have quite equalled 

 their expectations. Those who first arrived in the country, 

 with those on the spot at the time of the discovery, have been 

 the most successful. One placcra after another, literally 

 teeming with wealth, have been discovered; rich deposits of 

 the precious metal have been disclosed in every gulche and 

 canon; and the glowing statements of Sir Francis Drake, 

 hitherto so commonly discredited, seem to have been actually 

 verified.* Quite recently gold has been found in its matrix, 

 on the banks of the Mariposa, one of the tributaries of the 

 San Joaquin : here there has been a fine vein opened, which 

 has been traced for two leagues, and appears to have an aver- 

 age breadth of one hundred and fifty feet, and to dip only 

 about 20°; the metal occurs in strata of reddish quartz, and 

 eight ounces of pure gold are obtained from one hundred 

 pounds of rock. 



The extent of the mineral resources, and more particularly 

 of the gold deposits of California, is still a matter of conjec- 

 ture ; but then; is every reason to suppose that the time for 

 accumulating fortunes in a day has nearly gone by; and un- 

 less still greater discoveries should be made, at the close of 

 another mining season, with the vast a 1 lit ion which will nn- 



* "The country, too. if we can depend ujnm whal Sir Francis Drake or his 

 chaplain say is worth the seeking and the keeping— since they assert that the 



land is so rich in gold and silver that upon the slightest turning it up with a 

 spade or pick-axe, those rich metals plainly appear mixed with the mould." — 

 Pinkerton'ti Voyages vol. ii. p. 17"3. 



