The land of gold; or, Three years in CaliforniaColton, Walter
History
The land of gold; or, Three years in California
Colton, Walter
California -- Gold discoveries; California -- History -- 1846-1850
The emigrants to California are composed of two classes—those who come
to live by their wits, and those who come to accumulate by their work.
The wit capitalists will find dupes for a time—small fish in shallow
waters—but a huge roller will soon heave them all high and dry! This is
the last country to which a man should come, who is above or beneath the
exercise of his muscles. Every object he meets addresses him in the
admonitory language which gleams in the motto of the Arkansas
bowie-knife—“root, hog, or die.” But then he has this encouragement: he
can root almost anywhere, but _root_ he must. They who come relying on
their physical forces, and who are largely endowed with the organs of
perseverance, will succeed. But if they stay too long in San Francisco,
their enthusiasm will have an ague-fit, and their golden dream turn to
sleet and hail. They should hasten through and dash at once into their
scene of labor; nor should they expect success without corresponding
efforts; if fortune favors them to-day, she will disappoint them
to-morrow; her favors and frowns fall with marvellous caprice; the
digger must be above the one and independent of the other; he must rely
upon his own resources; and upon his fidelity to one unchanged and
unchangeable purpose. He comes here to get gold, not in pounds or
ounces, but in grains; his most instructive lesson will be by the side
of the ant-hill. There he sees a little industrious fellow, foregoing
the pastimes of other insects, and bringing another grain to his heap;
working on with right good heart through the day, and sometimes taking
advantage of the moon, and plying his task through the luminous night.
Let him watch that ant, and go and do likewise, if he would return from
California with a fortune. I don’t recommend him to come here and
convert himself into a pismire for gold; but if he _will_ come, the more
he has of the habits of that little groundling the better.
CALIFORNIA ON CHARACTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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