AUBURN". 
77 
our efforts would be more liberally rewarded. We consequently 
filled a small camp-kettle with pork and hard bread, rolled up 
our blankets, to which we lashed our pick and shovel, and slung 
them over our shoulders. Our camp-kettle, coffee-pot, rifles, 
and tin-pans, in hand, we set out on our expedition. We first 
ascended the mountain, and when at the summit stopped to view 
the magnificent scenes around us; the heat was intense; the 
thermometer stood at 100° ; still we were looking upon a range 
of mountains shrouded in eternal winter. 
Our route lay over a succession of mountains, the peaks of 
which bore unmistakable signs of volcanic formation, being cov¬ 
ered with lava. Our journey was a most fatiguing one, and at 
noon, having gained an elevated point, we sat down to rest. I 
here noticed, for the first time, a phenomenon which is of frequent 
occurrence during the summer months. A heavy white cloud 
resembling a bank of snow rises from the Snowy Mountains 
(Sierra Nevada,) and after gaining a certain altitude passes 
off to the south, and is succeeded by another. After disposing 
of a certain quantity of hard bread and pork, and kissing our 
flask, we stretched ourselves out on the ground under the shade 
of a pine tree, and were soon in the embrace of Morpheus. 
In one hour we were again under way, and at 3 o’clock, p. M., 
arrived at the “ dry diggings,” (now Auburn.) This was a place 
of three tents, situated on the main road leading to the Oregon 
trail, which it intersects twenty miles above. These mines were 
not being worked to any extent, owing to the scarcity of water. 
There were a few, however, engaged in carrying dirt, a mile on 
their backs, and washing it at a puddle, in town. It was very 
uncertain business. The gold found here was in larger particles 
than in the river “diggings,” but there was a much greater un¬ 
certainty in obtaining it, some toiling for weeks without making 
a dollar, and sometimes finding pieces worth from $50 to $500. 
The gold has the appearance of having been thrown up in a 
molten state, perhaps during a volcanic eruption, and dropped 
into the earth. 
After an hour’s detention we were again under way, and after 
traveling sometime over mountains, changed our course, wish¬ 
ing to reach the river. After an hour of the most fatiguing 
effort we were on a brink, with the river beneath our feet, but 
