522 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



DQill. There had been a heavy flood, wliich had pv^- 

 viously retreated, and to his surprise Marshall found 

 the ground thickly strewn with a peculiar yellow dust. 

 He stooped down and gathered some of it, remarking 

 quietly, "Boys, I believe I have found a gold mine!'* 

 Then he began some simple tests upon the metal. 

 Gold must be heavy. He weighed it. That was all 

 right. Gold must be malleable. He bit and pounded 

 it, and it stood the test. Then he aj)plied aquafortis 

 to it, and it responded as it should. And so the truth 

 was known at last. It was gold, and the ground was 

 full of it. 



Marshall saddled his horse, and dashed over to con- 

 sult with Sutter, and together they agreed to keep the 

 matter quiet, and if possible to buy up the surrounding 

 land. But hov^ to buy it. That was the question ! 

 They leased it from its semi-barbaric owners, paying 

 for it in hats and trinkets, but that title seemed in- 

 secure. The Mexican government could no longer 

 give grants. The United States government was ap 

 pealed to in vain. The answer came that CaliforniL 

 was held as a conquered province, and no title deed 

 could be executed. 



And meantime the precious secret leaked out. Sut- 

 ter was impelled to write the wonderful news to friends 

 at a distance. All the men at the saw-mill knew of 

 the discovery. One of them, named Bennett, while in 

 a store near Monte del Diablo, pulled out of his pocket 

 a bag of gold dust, exclaiming, " I have something 

 here which will make this the greatest country in the 

 world." The same man took a specimen of the precious 

 metal and showed it at San Francisco. A few days 

 kiter an intoxicated Swede offered, at a store, to pay 



