Page:History of California (Bancroft) volume 6.djvu/80



cisco commerce  had  been  chiefly  aflTected;  here  it  was government that  was  stricken. Mason's small  force was quickly  thinned ;  and  by  the  middle  of  July,  if  we may  believe  the  Reverend  Colton,  who  never  was. guilty of  spoiling  a  story  by  too  strict  adherence  to truth,  the  governor  and  general-in-chief  of  California was cooking  his  own  dinner.®

In a  proclamation  of  July  25th,  Colonel  Mason called on  the  people  to  assist  in  apprehending  deserters. He threatened  the  foothills  with  a  dragoon force; but  whence  were  to  come  the  dragoons? The officers were  as  eager  to  be  off  as  the  men ;  many  of them  obtained  leave  to  go,  and  liberal  furloughs  were granted to  the  soldiers,  for  those  who  could  not  obtain leave went  without  leave. As the  officers  who  re- mained could no  longer  afford  to  live  in  their  accus- tomed w^ay, a  cook's  wages  being  $300  a  month,  they were allowed  to  draw  rations  in  kind,  which  they  ex- changed for board  in  private  families.^     But  even

black, and  his  buckskins  reached  to  his  knees. ' The  man  had  a  bag  of  gold on his  back. The sight  of  its  contents  started  Gcu'son  on  his  way  at  once. In May Larkin  had  prophesiecl  that  by  June  the  town  would  be  M'ithout  inhabi- tants. June Ist  Mason  at  Monterey  wrote  Larkin  at  S.  F. :  *The  golden-yel- low fever has  not  yet,  I  believe,  assumed  here  its  worst  type,  though  the premonitory symptoms  are  beginning  to  exhibit  themselves,  and  doubtless the epidemic  will  pass  over  Monterey,  leaving  the  marks  of  its  ravages,  as  it has  done  at  S.  F.  and  elsewhere. Take care  you  don't  become  so  charged with its  malaria  as  to  inoculate  and  infect  us  all  when  you  return.'  Jackson McDuffoe, addressing  Larkin  on  the  same  date,  says:  'Monterey  is  very  dull, nothing doing,  the  gold  fever  is  beginning  to  take  a  decided  effect  here,  and  a large  party  will  leave  for  the  Sacramento  the  last  of  the  week. Shovels, spades, picks,  and  other  articles  wanted  by  these  wild  aclventurers  are  in great  demand.'  Schallenberger  on  the  8th  of  June  tells  Larkin  that  *a  great many are  leaving  Monterey. Times duller  than  when  you  left.*  In  Sept. there  was  not  a  doctor  in  the  town,  and  Mrs  Larkin  who  was  lying  ill  with fever had  to  do  without  medical  attendance.

^'Oen. Mason, Lieut  Lannian,  and  myself  form  a  mess. . .This  morning for the  fortieth  time  we  had  to  take  to  the  kitchen  and  cook  our  own  break- fast. A general  of  the  U.  S.  army,  the  commander  of  a  man-of-war,  and  the alcalde of  Monterey  in  a  smoking  kitchen  grinding  coffee,  toasting  a  herring, and peelins  onions ! ' Three  Years  in  Vol,,  247-8. *R6duit k  faire  lui-mdnie sa cuisine,  as  one  says  of  this  incident  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondea^  Feb. 1849.

'^'I of  course  could  not  escape  the  infection,'  says  Sherman,  Mem.,  i.  46, with our  own  eyes,  that  we  might  report  the  tnith  to  our  government. ' Swan relates an  anecdote  of  a  party  of  sailors,  including  the  master-at-arms,  belong- ing to the  Warretif  who  deserted  in  a  boat. They hid  themselves  in  th
 * and at  last  convinced  Colonel  Mason  that  it  was  our  duty  to  go  up  and  see