“Look at that! Right there in that red dirt! See it? See the specks3 of gold? And the streak4 of silver? That’s from the Uncle Abe. There’s a hundred thousand tons like that in sight! Right in sight, mind you! And when we get down on it and the ledge5 comes in solid, it will be the richest thing in the world! Look at the assay6! I don’t want you to believe me—look at the assay!”
Then he would get out a greasy7 sheet of paper which showed that the portion of rock assayed had given evidence of containing silver and gold in the proportion of so many hundreds or thousands of dollars to the ton.
I little knew, then, that the custom was to hunt out the richest piece of rock and get it assayed! Very often, that piece, the size of a filbert, was the only fragment in a ton that had a particle of metal in it—and yet the assay made it pretend to represent the average value of the ton of rubbish it came from!
On such a system of assaying as that, the Humboldt world had gone crazy. On the authority of such assays8 its newspaper correspondents were frothing about rock worth four and seven thousand dollars a ton!
And does the reader remember, a few pages back, the calculations, of a quoted correspondent, whereby the ore is to be mined and shipped all the way to England, the metals extracted, and the gold and silver contents received back by the miners as clear profit, the copper9, antimony and other things in the ore being sufficient to pay all the expenses incurred10? Everybody’s head was full of such “calculations” as those—such raving11 insanity12, rather. Few people took work into their calculations—or outlay13 of money either; except the work and expenditures14 of other people.
We never touched our tunnel or our shaft15 again. Why? Because we judged that we had learned the real secret of success in silver mining—which was, not to mine the silver ourselves by the sweat of our brows and the labor16 of our hands, but to sell the ledges17 to the dull slaves of toil18 and let them do the mining!
Before leaving Carson, the Secretary and I had purchased “feet” from various Esmeralda stragglers. We had expected immediate19 returns of bullion20, but were only afflicted21 with regular and constant “assessments22” instead—demands for money wherewith to develop the said mines. These assessments had grown so oppressive that it seemed necessary to look into the matter personally. Therefore I projected a pilgrimage to Carson and thence to Esmeralda. I bought a horse and started, in company with Mr. Ballou and a gentleman named Ollendorff, a Prussian—not the party who has inflicted23 so much suffering on the world with his wretched foreign grammars, with their interminable repetitions of questions which never have occurred and are never likely to occur in any conversation among human beings. We rode through a snow-storm for two or three days, and arrived at “Honey Lake Smith’s,” a sort of isolated24 inn on the Carson river. It was a two-story log house situated25 on a small knoll26 in the midst of the vast basin or desert through which the sickly Carson winds its melancholy27 way. Close to the house were the Overland stage stables, built of sun-dried bricks. There was not another building within several leagues of the place. Towards sunset about twenty hay-wagons28 arrived and camped around the house and all the teamsters came in to supper—a very, very rough set. There were one or two Overland stage drivers there, also, and half a dozen vagabonds and stragglers; consequently the house was well crowded.
We walked out, after supper, and visited a small Indian camp in the vicinity. The Indians were in a great hurry about something, and were packing up and getting away as fast as they could. In their broken English they said, “By’m-by, heap water!” and by the help of signs made us understand that in their opinion a flood was coming. The weather was perfectly29 clear, and this was not the rainy season. There was about a foot of water in the insignificant30 river—or maybe two feet; the stream was not wider than a back alley31 in a village, and its banks were scarcely higher than a man’s head.
So, where was the flood to come from? We canvassed32 the subject awhile and then concluded it was a ruse33, and that the Indians had some better reason for leaving in a hurry than fears of a flood in such an exceedingly dry time.
At seven in the evening we went to bed in the second story—with our clothes on, as usual, and all three in the same bed, for every available space on the floors, chairs, etc., was in request, and even then there was barely room for the housing of the inn’s guests. An hour later we were awakened34 by a great turmoil35, and springing out of bed we picked our way nimbly among the ranks of snoring teamsters on the floor and got to the front windows of the long room. A glance revealed a strange spectacle, under the moonlight. The crooked36 Carson was full to the brim, and its waters were raging and foaming37 in the wildest way—sweeping around the sharp bends at a furious speed, and bearing on their surface a chaos38 of logs, brush and all sorts of rubbish. A depression, where its bed had once been, in other times, was already filling, and in one or two places the water was beginning to wash over the main bank. Men were flying hither and thither39, bringing cattle and wagons close up to the house, for the spot of high ground on which it stood extended only some thirty feet in front and about a hundred in the rear. Close to the old river bed just spoken of, stood a little log stable, and in this our horses were lodged40.
While we looked, the waters increased so fast in this place that in a few minutes a torrent41 was roaring by the little stable and its margin42 encroaching steadily43 on the logs. We suddenly realized that this flood was not a mere44 holiday spectacle, but meant damage—and not only to the small log stable but to the Overland buildings close to the main river, for the waves had now come ashore45 and were creeping about the foundations and invading the great hay-corral adjoining. We ran down and joined the crowd of excited men and frightened animals. We waded46 knee-deep into the log stable, unfastened the horses and waded out almost waist-deep, so fast the waters increased. Then the crowd rushed in a body to the hay- corral and began to tumble down the huge stacks of baled hay and roll the bales up on the high ground by the house. Meantime it was discovered that Owens, an overland driver, was missing, and a man ran to the large stable, and wading47 in, boot-top deep, discovered him asleep in his bed, awoke him, and waded out again. But Owens was drowsy48 and resumed his nap; but only for a minute or two, for presently he turned in his bed, his hand dropped over the side and came in contact with the cold water! It was up level with the mattress49! He waded out, breast-deep, almost, and the next moment the sun-burned bricks melted down like sugar and the big building crumbled50 to a ruin and was washed away in a twinkling.
At eleven o’clock only the roof of the little log stable was out of water, and our inn was on an island in mid-ocean. As far as the eye could reach, in the moonlight, there was no desert visible, but only a level waste of shining water. The Indians were true prophets, but how did they get their information? I am not able to answer the question. We remained cooped up eight days and nights with that curious crew. Swearing, drinking and card playing were the order of the day, and occasionally a fight was thrown in for variety. Dirt and vermin—but let us forget those features; their profusion51 is simply inconceivable—it is better that they remain so.
There were two men——however, this chapter is long enough.
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1
waylaid
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| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dab
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| v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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3
specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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4
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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6
assay
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| n.试验，测定 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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8
assays
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| n.化验( assay的名词复数 )；试验；尝试；试金 | |
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9
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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11
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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12
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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13
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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14
expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费 | |
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15
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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16
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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17
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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bullion
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| n.金条，银条 | |
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21
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
assessments
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| n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价 | |
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23
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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27
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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28
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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29
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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31
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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32
canvassed
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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33
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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34
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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35
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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36
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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37
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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38
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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39
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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40
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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41
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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42
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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43
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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44
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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45
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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46
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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48
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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49
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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50
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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51
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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