272 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEX GATE 



blame me, if it took quite a few moments before I was 

 able to regain my equilibrium. 



I can very well imagine how the foreign newspapers 

 have exaggerated the state of cholera on this coast but 

 let me assure you that it was not half as bad as reported. 

 As you are aware, I was at the time at Long Bar, which 

 was one of the places that suffered the most. 



As for the assembling of ten thousand Indians, I as- 

 sure you that the story is a lie from beginning to end. 

 Some correspondent with an abundance of nerve and 

 imagination, has once more succeeded in forcing upon 

 your press, news, which happens not to be news at all. 

 But I wish we could find such a large number of red- 

 skins together in one lump, so as to have an opportunity 

 for a good cleaning up among those thievish vagabonds. 

 The worst and most blood-thirsty of these tribes are the 

 Blackfoot Indians, the Shoshones, the Arrapahoes, the 

 Snake Indians and kindred tribes, which are fortunately 

 on the other side of the Sierra Nevada; and the Shasta 

 Indians have too few warriors to become dangerous, 

 though they gladly embrace every opportunity for doing 

 mischief. As for the other Indians in California, they 

 are, as I said, in a former letter, less savage, though very 

 thievish and, if once in a while, here and there, a few of 

 them are ''hung up by the neck until they be dead," the 

 rest of them will keep quiet enough. Again it must be 

 borne in mind that our population has grown quite large 

 and consists mostly of young men, well able and accus- 

 tomed to bear arms; and besides, that those Indian tribes 

 beyond the mountains are almost constantly hostile to- 

 wards one another and that, even at best, each tribe could 

 but put a few warriors in the field. For these reasons 

 they will never be able to stem, or even temporarily hin- 

 der, the tide of progress in this glorious country. There 

 is not the least probability,— but supposing it should 

 happen— that the entire body of savages was to make a 

 combined attack upon California, it would only hasten 

 their extermination, which, to use a mild expression, I 

 should not consider undesirable— all the sentimental, 



