Out of many instances of the wonderful richness of these diggings it may be mentioned that Cunningham’s Claim yielded, on an average, nearly 2,000 dollars, or £400 a day, during the whole season; and another, Dillon’s Claim, gave the enormous amount of 102 lbs. of gold, or nearly £4,000 in one day. One hundred feet of the Cameron Claim, held in the name of another man, produced 120,000 dollars. The wealth thus rapidly obtained is generally dissipated almost as quickly. The lucky miner hastens down to Victoria or San Francisco, and sows his gold broadcast. No luxury is too costly for him, no extravagance too great for the magnitude of his ideas. His love of display leads him into a thousand follies, and he proclaims his disregard for money by numberless eccentricities. One man who, at the end of the season found himself possessed of 30,000 or 40,000 dollars, having filled his pockets with twenty-dollar gold pieces, on his arrival in Victoria proceeded to a “bar-room,” and treated “the crowd” to champagne. The company present being unable to consume all the bar-keeper’s stock, assistance was obtained from without, and the passers-by compelled to come in. Still the supply held out, and not another “drink” could any one swallow. In this emergency the ingenious giver of the treat ordered every glass belonging to the establishment to be brought out and filled. Then raising his stick, with one fell swoop he knocked the army of glasses off the counter. One hamper of champagne, however, yet remained, and, determined not to be beaten, he ordered it to be opened and placed upon the floor, and jumping in, stamped the bottles to pieces beneath his heavy boots, severely cutting his shins, it is said, in the operation. But although the champagne was at last finished, he had a handful of gold pieces to dispose of, and walking up to a large mirror, worth several hundred dollars, which adorned one end of the room, dashed a shower of heavy coins against it, and shivered it to pieces. The hero of this story returned to the mines in the following spring without a cent, and was working as a common labourer at the time of our visit. A freak of one of the most successful Californians may be appended as a companion to the story just related. When in the height of his glory he was in the habit of substituting champagne bottles--full ones, too--for the wooden pins in the bowling alley, smashing batch after batch with infinite satisfaction to himself, amid the applause of his companions and the “bar-keep.”