56 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER VII. 



CONNECTED WITH MINING. 



THE adventures of the eager gold-seekers in the 

 region of their hopes, among the washings and the 

 diggings of the placers, cannot but be interesting. 

 The toil to which the men have to submit if they would 

 obtain any thing like a satisfaction to their desires, is 

 of a very irksome character. In the summer season, 

 the heat is intense, and the principal part of the labor 

 of washing and digging must be performed exposed to 

 the full blaze of the sun. In the " dry diggings," 

 the miners suffer greatly from the want of water. 

 Most of the provisions having to be transported from 

 the towns on the Sacramento and San Joaquin, soon 

 grow unwholesome from exposure to the sultry air of 

 the day and the damp air of the night. This diet, 

 conjointly with the exposure of the miners, tends to 

 produce intermittent fever and dysentery. The miners 

 generally reside in huts of a rude construction, or in 

 canvas tents, which afford but poor protection from 

 the changes of the weather. 



The most prominent man in the neighborhood of 

 the " diggins," is Captain Sutter, the Daniel Boone 

 of that part of the country. He was formerly an 

 officer in the Swiss guards of Charles X. of France. 

 After the revolution of 1830, in that country, he camo 

 to the United States. Emigrating to California, he 

 obtained a grant of land from the Mexican govern- 



