[JP THE SACRAMENTO. 237 



After a mile or so our oldest and sedatest nag suddenly- 

 darted off in quite a surprising manner, considering his 

 looks and age. Instead of going after him,, Jake let him 

 run about seventy yards, and then presented his piece 

 and fired at the refractory steed. I never in all my life 

 saw a horse, old or young, kick so high — in fact he 

 almost turned a somersault. I expostulated with him, 

 as he seemed totally to disregard the fact that all my 

 blankets, clothes, &c., were packed on the animal, and in 

 case of " anything happening " to him, I of course 

 would have to pay about five times his full value. How- 

 ever, Jake declared that that was the only argument the 

 " aged ciiss " understood, so I suppose he had undergone 

 the operation before. 



Our first night it rained tremendously, a most unusual 

 occurrence at so early a part of ^the year, and con- 

 sequently we were completely soaked outside with rain, 

 and inside, I am bound to say, with Cutter whiskey, hot 

 and strong. Even Mr. Cutter could not damp the spirits 

 (that^s not a bad pun, really) of my juvenile and festive 

 friend ; and when I at length went to sleep he was still 

 "yer bet-ing^^ and "yer know-ing^^ about some chime- 

 rical " bar,^^ whose cruel and sanguinary end at Jake^s 

 hand (of course) I am sorry to say I never heard. I put 

 the bottle under my head that night, well out of his 

 reach. 



Next morning broke, as only a morning can break in 

 California — perfect. There must be something in the 

 parallels of Chile and California to account for the extra- 

 ordinary amount of electricity in the air, which seems to 

 make you want to jump up somewhere. We lit our 

 fire, and dried our clothes, blankets, &c., as well as 

 we could, and spread them out on the bushes to dry. 



