Every day was developing new and richer deposits; and
the only impression seemed to be, that the metal would be found in such
abundance as seriously to depreciate in value.
"On the 8th July I returned to the lower mines, and eventually to
Monterey, where I arrived on the 17th of July. Before leaving Sutter's,
I satisfied myself that gold existed in the bed of the Feather River,
in the Yubah and Bear, and in many of the small streams that lie
between the latter and the American fork; also, that it had been found
in the Consummes, to the south of the American fork. In each of these
streams the gold is found in small scales, whereas in the intervening
mountains it occurs in coarser lumps.
"Mr. Sinclair, whose rancho is three miles above Sutter's on the north
side of the American, employs about fifty Indians on the north fork,
not far from its junction with the main stream. He had been engaged
about five weeks when I saw him, and up to that time his Indians had
used simply closely-woven willow baskets. His net proceeds (which I
saw) were about 16,000 dollars' worth of gold. He showed me the
proceeds of his last week's work--14 lbs.
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