128 
CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED. 
were cold and stiff, and the thought of laying down for the night 
in the mud, was dreadful. There was no alternative, and we 
submitted with the best possible grace. 
The “tent” was kept by Mr. Wilkin (or Wilky,) assisted by 
liis amiable lady. They were from Scotland, having been in 
the United States about seven years, most of which time they 
had lived in their wagon or a tent; part of the time they had 
lived on the extreme frontier of Missouri, after which they 
crossed over to Salt Lake, then into Oregon, and finally down 
to California. They had spent the summer in the mines, and 
after the commencement of the rainy season had started for 
Sacramento City with a six-mule team. After much toil they 
reached this point when two of the mules were “mired,” the 
others strayed, leaving them no alternative but to remain for 
the winter. They constructed temporary accommodations for 
travelers, and since my return to New York I met them at the 
Irving House, and was happy to learn that they were most 
bountifully rewarded for their detention. We rose the next 
morning, had our bottles refilled, and, as we had no particular 
appetite for salt beef, we resolved to walk ten miles to breakfast. 
Our motive powers had rusted during the night, and we found 
it almost impossible to move, but our bottle, like quack medi¬ 
cines of the present day, was a universal panacea; we applied 
it in this case with success. We were soon making as good 
time as on the previous day, but it was soon apparent that Jones 
must either bend on “studding-sails,” or fall behind; he chose 
the latter alternative, and before 9 o’clock, A. M., he was “hull 
down.” We arrived at the “blue tent” at 10, A. M., and order¬ 
ed breakfast, but we had the consolation of learning from the 
worthy host that he had nothing to eat. This was just what we 
had had for supper the previous night, and informed him that 
we wished something a little better for breakfast. He had flour, 
which was full of worms, and we had icarm biscuit for breakfast. 
We were again under way, and soon came out upon an open 
plain which extended to the American Eiver, fifteen miles dis¬ 
tant. This plain, although quite elevated, was covered with „ 
“lagoons,” or small lakes, all swarming with wild geese, ducks 
and brant. A finer opportunity for a sportsman could not well 
be imagined, but to us the lakes afforded but little amusement; 
