SOCIETY. 377 
ing the epithet with a blow; and the same custom justifies a 
man who is attacked with the fist, in defending himself with a 
pistol or knife. In the mining districts, many of the men are 
constantly armed, so that the weapons of death are rarely out 
of reach. The Californians are reckless of life; and the men, 
living alone, free from the influence of family and relatives, 
are dissipated, and when heated with liquor and excited by 
gambling, are easily provoked to settle every little quarrel 
with blood. The wild condition of affairs in the early times 
has been impressed upon our society, and we have not yet 
been able to reform it altogether. The multitude of people 
from the cotton states have introduced among us their views 
and practices in regard to the use of deadly weapons, and the 
leaven has attached itself to the mass. The majority may 
have different opinions, but one quarrelsome man can compel a 
dozen to carry arms for self-defence. Adultery is held by pub- 
lic opinion to be a justification of homicide, and this is a fruit- 
ful source of deadly quarrels. And then it is to be remem- 
bered, too, that many of the residents of California are men 
who have committed crimes in the Eastern states, in Australia 
and Europe, and have fle@*hither to escape punishment. Such 
persons, although they may form a small proportion of the 
population, contribute to give trouble. As compared with the 
total number of homicides, the assassinations for revenge, and 
the murders for money, are few. Previous to 1856, street 
fights were among the institutions of San Francisco. It would 
frequently be announced by conversation, or even by the news- 
papers in the morning, that a street fight might be expected that 
day between two men whose names were mentioned; and the 
curious would collect on Montgomery street, the main business 
street, to see the fun. The belligerents, armed each with a 
concealed revolver and a bowie-knife, would walk along the 
street, and on coming near each other would draw their re- 
volvers, and, with or without speaking, would commence firing, 
The fight would be strictly one of self-defence on both sides. 
In the use of deadly weapons, California resembles the Gulf 
1” 
. 
