90 
CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED. 
tary would pour a bottle of brandy down the back of the lady’s 
neck. The ball lasted two days, at the end of which time the 
ground was surveyed into town-lots, and called Auburn. It has 
been spoken of in a former chapter. 
After waiting* an hour without discovering - any signs of life 
in the camp, the sun admonished me that I must move on. I 
pursued my lonely walk until 11 o’clock, P. M., when I reached 
the American river. I prepared myself and waded through, nnd 
in one hour was passing Sutter’s Fort. The dogs appeared 
to be on duty, and hailed me with such ferocity that I have no 
doubt they thought I meditated an attack. I hurried on, and 
at midnight reached Sacramento city. I found it impossible to 
get lodgings, and was obliged to seek shelter under some one of 
the large oaks in the suburbs of the town. Even here it was 
difficult to find a spot unoccupied. I found a place, however, 
by going some distance, and spread my blanket with a fair pros¬ 
pect of having the bed all to myself. It had been excessively 
hot during the day, but now a heavy dew had fallen, the air 
was cold, and after laying an hour found myself stiff and lame, 
and chilled to the very heart. I arose, but found it difficult to 
walk. I succeeded in reaching an unfinished house, into which 
I crawled, and spent the balance of the night in a vain effort to 
sleep. 
In the morning I took a survey of the town, purchased a 
horse, and prepared for another incursion into the interior. A 
friend wished to accompany me, and at 4 o’clock, p. M., we were 
under way. We crossed the river and took our course across 
the plain in the direction of the great bend of the American 
River. Late in the afternoon, as we were galloping along, we 
fell in with a pack of wolves (coyotas,) and as we were both 
well mounted we were fast overhauling them. They were crazy 
with fright, making two or three tremendous leaps, then turning 
to look at us, their alarm would increase and they would bound 
away. We were close upon them when my companion’s girth 
■ broke, and we were obliged to give up the chase. If they have 
ever come to the conclusion to stop, I am confident it was not in 
that immediate vicinity, for I never saw animals so frightened. 
What they were doing when we came upon them, I am unable 
to say. It has been suggested that they may have, been tuning 
