Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/95



loose In  a  forest  would  root  up  ground  nuts. Some get eight  or  ten  ounces  a  day,  and  the  least  active  one or two. They make  most  who  employ  the  wild  In- dians to hunt  it  for  them. There is  one  man  who  has sixty Indians  in  his  employ ;  his  profits  are  a  dollar  a minute. The wild  Indians  know  nothing  of  its  value, and wonder  what  the  pale  faces  want  to  do  with  it; and they  will  give  an  ounce  of  it  for  the  same  weight of coined  silver,  or  a  thimbleful  of  glass  beads,  or  a glass  of  grog. And white  men  themselvos  often  give an ounce  of  it,  which  is  worth  at  our  mint  eighteen dollars or  more,  for  a  bottle  of  brandy,  a  bottle  of soda  powders,  or  a  plug  of  tobacco."

Then streams  began  to  form  in  every  quarter;  in- land streams and  ocean  currents,  social  tricklings  and oozings from  scattered  and  far  distant  homes,  gather- ing into rivulets,  and  expanding  into  human  rivers, increasing in  strength  and  volume  as  they  neared that worshipful  gold. Bands of  devotees  were  organ- ized for pilgrimages,  in  which  Christendom  and pagandom might  join  alike,  in  which  all  the  sons  of men  might  join  and  bow  before  one  common  shrine.

In vain  we  search  the  annals  of  mankind  for  a similar  flockino;. The nearest  akin  to  it  were  the Christian crusades  made  in  the  ninth  century,  and subsequently, for  the  recovery  from  profane  hands  of the  tomb  of  Christ — wild  fanaticism,  folly  incredible, yet under  providence  working  out  for  civilization  the grandest results,  bringing  together  antagonistic  socie- ties, forcing oppugnant  elements  to  coalesce,  and  melt- ing and moulding  humanity  into  more  useful  and comelier forms. But the  world  was  smaller  then than now,  and  although  the  numbers  were  large  they comprised comparatively  few  nationalities,  and  the  dis- tance travelled was  less. In the  nineteenth  century there were  cosmopolitan  crusades  for  gold  wherewith to make  rich  the  finder,  and  add  volume  to  the  world's circulatinsf  medium. Was the  gold  sous^ht  in  these modern pilgrimages   essential  to    human  well-being,