122 
CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED. 
could boast of baying secured, on tbe previous nigbt, what rain 
had fallen in its immediate vicinity; another with an India rubber 
'poncho and a hat that had been used both sides out, and, as if to 
assume a ferocious appearance, it had adopted the color of the 
grizzly bear. All hovering around the fire, some with pieces of 
port on the ends of sticks, others with something in a frying-pan, 
covered with a tin plate ; one is stirring flour and water together, 
while his companion is trying to turn the cakes; about every 
other one is disposed to go into the fire. 
A disease at this time manifested itself, the symptoms of which 
were of a peculiar nature. It was called the “land scurvy, 7 ’ 
and was caused by a want of proper vegetable diet. The blood 
of the system became thick and turgid, and diminished in quan¬ 
tity ; there was but little circulation at the extremities, or near 
the surface of the body, the fleshy parts becoming almost life¬ 
less ; the gums became black and not unfrequently the teeth 
would fall out, the gums having so entirely wasted away. The 
malady became fearfully prevalent, and no remedy could be ob¬ 
tained ; vegetables were not to had, there were none in the 
country. There had been a few, a very few, potatoes in the 
market, at prices varying from four shillings each to a dollar 
and a half per pound, but the supply was too scanty to arrest 
the disease, and many had become almost entirely disabled. 
On the 28th of October, a man from Illinois fell a victim 
to this dreadful malady, and on ihe 29th, it was our painful duty 
to bear him to that lonely hill and consign him to the tomb. A 
board was placed at his head, on which was cut his brief epitaph. 
What a strange commentary upon the vicissitudes of human 
life. He was once an infant, fondled and caressed by an affec¬ 
tionate mother, a youth counseled by a doting father, and em¬ 
braced and loved by sisters and brothers. He grew to manhood, 
pledged his hand and heart to the one he loved, combatted, 
perhaps, with adversity, and finally bade farewell to his own off¬ 
spring, to die a stranger in a strange land. 
