ON AMERICAN SOIL 201 



San Francisco, California, 

 the 31st of January, 1852. 



As there remain but a few more minutes until the 

 closing of the European mail, I shall make use of them 

 by adding a few more words to those, who I know, will 

 enjoy them. It is so difficult to tear one's self from a 

 letter, which is homeward bound, across the many thou- 

 sands of miles, that I cannot let go until "time sets my 

 nails afire" (German idiom). I am at this hour quite 

 determined to try my luck in the mines and shall leave 

 for the interior next Tuesday, the third of February, via 

 Benicia and Stockton, in order to continue along the 

 Stanislaus, a branch of the San Joaquin River, then pass- 

 ing Sonora City, enter the Sierra Nevada as far as I pos- 

 sibly can. In all probability I shall not return to civili- 

 zation very soon and, as 3 r ou will easily comprehend, pos- 

 tal facilities are absolutely unknown in those regions, 

 many of which have never been visited by a pale-face be- 

 fore. Of course, it remains an open question how soon 

 you will receive my next letter, while this one, I trust, 

 will keep you busy reading and re-reading for many 

 a day. Do not worry about me, dear parents, and do not 

 forget that California has ceased to be a nest of robbers 

 and highwaymen. The severe laws, which the miners 

 have enacted in their own behalf and for the preserva- 

 tion of order in their own camps, and which they exe- 

 cute with unrelenting vigor, frighten away criminals 

 from the most remote camps. Even the petty thief, if 

 caught in the act, is sent into eternity by the "rope- 

 route." As the miners— rough and ready— are in the 

 habit of doing those things quickly, we should not be sur- 

 prised that their method has a wholesome effect upon 

 the long-fingered gentry, most of whom are cowards by 

 nature, and the miner, though he generally carries a 

 warm, yea, philanthropically-disposed heart under a 

 rough exterior, cordially detests cowardice. 



The next Panama steamer is due since yesterday and 

 is expected to arrive ;it almost any moment. I await her 

 with impatience, hoping sincerely for long-missed news 



