Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/437



are cut  amid  a  whiz  of  bullets  ;  the  distance  from  the wharf is  rapidly  increasnig,  and  so  are  their  aspira- tions ; but,  alas  ! one thing  has  been  left  out  of  account ; the non-consulted,  mistletoe  proves  in  this  instance  to be  a  treacherous  mud-bank,  and  hope,  their  Baldur, falls.

The first  roll-call  showed  over  thirty  missing  but this number  was  reduced  to  less  than  a  dozen  b}^  sub- sequent captures. Ten were  killed  and  thirty  wounded.

On receivino;  the  first  exao'fyerated  accounts,  the chief of  police  at  San  Francisco  obtained  full  powers from the  governor. He engaged  a  steamer,  and arrived on  the  spot  at  five  o'clock  the  following  morn- ing, with a  body  of  armed  citizens,  but  nothing  re- mained to be  done. The Sacramento  Rano-ers  were also turned  out  for  the  pursuit. A reward  of  fifty dollars was  offered  for  each  fug^itive.

On Saturday  April  2,  1864,  a  determined  attempt at flight  was  made  by  a  gang  composed  chiefly  of Mexicans,  under  the  leadership  of  Tom  King. One party, engaged  in  unloading,  broke  from  the  work during the  afternoon,  and  began  to  scale  the  wall. The guard  fired,  but  twenty-three  succeeded  in  gain- ing the brick -yard,  where  another  party  joined  them. The fugitives  armed  themselves  w^ith  stones  and bricks, and  attacked  station  4,  evidently  w^ith  a  view to capture  the  gun  and  turn  it  to  account. The four guards  at  this  point  found  that  the  guns  would not work,  spiked  it,  and  rushed  for  the  guard-house ; but only  two  reached  it,  for  the  next  moment  the convicts had  possession  of  the  place,  and  sent  the other two  whirling  over  the  embankment. The ad- vantage was momentary  onl}^;  the  gun  on  the  otlier side opened  fire,  and  the  guard  came  charging  on horse  and  foot. In twenty  minutes  the  captors of the  battery  surrendered  and  were  conducted  to their  cells,  with  a  loss  of  five  killed  and  a  number  of wounded.

Many   ingenious   individual   attempts   ha