Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/324



shrined image  was  crowned  with  fidehty  and  noble purpose. And thus,  through  years  of  anxious  toil they held  to  their  hopes,  dreaming  at  night  horrible dreams of  staring  gold-diggings  up  to  their  neck  in glittering  mud,  their  heads  wreathed  in  rattlesnakes, gnawed by  wolves,  or  cut  off  for  foot-balls  by  the savages, all  the  while  not  knowing  whether  their  hus- bands were alive  or  not. Their existence  they  knew to be  a  living  death,  yet  they  worked  away,  sewing for the  tailor,  making  shirts,  giving  lessons  to  the neighbors' children,  or  even  working  out.

There were  others,  however,  who  took  a  more  free and fanciful  view  of  their  situation,  and  determined  to enjoy  and  make  the  best  of  it. These lived  on  the cliarity of  their  family  or  friends. It was  unsafe  to treat  them  with  coldness  or  neglect,  for  any  moment their husband  might  return  a  millionaire. Young and beautiful  and  abandoned  ! True, temporarily  and for her  own  benefit  abandoned ;  but  why  should  he think  more  of  gold  than  of  her? The first  taste  of wedlock  was  sweet;  by  it,  however,  the  appetite  was only whetted,  not  gratified. Former and  unsuccess- ful lovers were  now  remembered  and  smiled  upon,  and flirtation was  found  a  pleasing  way  to  shorten  the hours of  a  husband's  absence. Some returned  in  time to reclaim  their  wives  from  too  free  a  course  of  dissi- pation ; others  did  not.

Du Hailly  refers  to  the  English  custom  of  sending young women  out  to  India  to  get  married  there,  and says that  this  custom  finds  its  counterpart  in  Califor- nia in a  curious  prospectus  in  which  an  American woman, Mrs  Farnham,  offered  to  organize,  on  a  large scale, a  scheme  for  the  emigration  of  women  to  San Francisco. The highest  respectability  was  required, and no  emigrant  was  admitted  under  twenty-five  years of age. A ship  was  chartered  especially  for  their  use, and each  must  have  1200  francs. Small as  was  the amount required,  the  enterprise  was  not  a  success  ;  but this did  not  hinder  the  Californian  colonization  ag^ents