Tour of the Gold-fields 225 



it of its coarse flavor, fried out the lard, and have 

 turned and re-turned the loin and hindlegs of our 

 hare. "Riley" safely tethered near us had an 

 equally good supper of the grass and flowers that 

 were to be his bed, and we spread our blankets 

 and went to sleep, or rather the other two have 

 done so, and I, writing by the firelight, shall soon 

 follow their example. 



April nth. Our road today was almost the 

 same that I had travelled with the company going 

 from Stockton to Chinese Camp or diggings, but 

 how changed the scene. The road then was soft 

 mud and mire for miles ; now it is as hard as brick, 

 and the hills then scarcely tinged with green by the 

 early sprouting vegetation are now fresh and 

 beautiful with every shade of green and brilliant 

 flowers of all colors. At every rise of ground we 

 paused and turned to look back at the range of the 

 Sierra Nevada softening and mellowing in the 

 hazy light of the sun, the brilliancy enhanced by 

 the deepening blue of the distant hills which form 

 the last outline on the eastern horizon. 



Here I tried my hand again at oil painting for 

 landscape, but can only blot in what will answer 

 hereafter to give me local color. After painting 

 about three hours we packed up and started again, 

 as there was no water near us, and took our direc- 

 tion westerly. We found the beds of the streams 

 that in January were beautiful little rivulets, now 



