He then went to the fort,
told Captain Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep it secret
until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It, however, got
out and spread like magic. Remarkable success attended the labours of
the first explorers, and, in a few weeks, hundreds of men were drawn
thither. At the time of my visit, but little more than three months
after its first discovery, it was estimated that upwards of four
thousand people were employed. At the mill there is a fine deposit or
bank of gravel, which the people respect as the property of Captain
Sutter, though he pretends to no right to it, and would be perfectly
satisfied with the simple promise of a pre-emption on account of the
mill which he has built there at a considerable cost. Mr. Marshall was
living near the mill, and informed me that many persons were employed
above and below him; that they used the same machines as at the lower
washings, and that their success was about the same--ranging from one
to three ounces of gold per man daily. This gold, too, is in scales a
little coarser than those of the lower mines.
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