given up all business on this coast. The agent of the Company still remained, with a single clerk; both of whom, with the officials, were ready to lend all assistance. The former sent at once to the "sartost" of Nelkan, ordering him to have deer and men ready to assist the party on its way to Ochotsk, where they at length arrived, as above stated.

Ochotsk is a place of which the glory has somewhat departed, owing principally to the establishment of the newer town of Nicolaiefski. It is said to have about 500 inhabitants-if you count the dogs, who outnumber the human part of the population. Its most interesting associations are those connected with the narrative of Bering's voyages.

The third, and last, journey undertaken in our service which I am enabled to record, is that made in 1865-6, by Messrs. MacCrea and Arnold, from the mouth of the Anadyr River to Anadyrsk and Ghijega. Some brief mention has been already made of the camp established at the Anadyr by the former gentleman.

After MacCrea and his party had erected temporary quarters at the mouth of the Anadyr, they began immediately to prepare for their exploration. About the 1st of November there was sufficient snow for sledging. Captain MacCrea hoped to set out soon after, and attempted to purchase reindeer for that purpose. The Tchuktchis have a superstition. about selling live reindeer, though they have no hesitation about killing them and selling their carcasses. Captain MacCrea was, at first, unable to purchase deer, but finally negotiated with one of the native chiefs for transportation to Anadyrsk by way of the Tchuktchi villages south of Anadyr Bay. After some delay, this personage took Captain MacCrea

CHAP. XXIII.] WANDERINGS AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS. 267

and Lieutenant Arnold to the great Deer Chief, who invited these gentlemen to join the Tchuktchis in a winter excursion to Anadyrsk. As there was no other way to make the journey they accepted the proposition, and, after some delay, moved away. The progress was slow,-about eight miles a day,the Tchuktchis having no particular appreciation of time, and not understanding how any one can ever be in a hurry. The journey occupied forty-two days, in addition to twenty-two consumed in reaching the Deer Chief's camp; making sixtyfour days that MacCrea and Arnold passed among the Tchuktchis. They were kindly treated, though the accommodations were not of the finest character, and the cuisine was not suited to civilized tastes. Added to the slow mode of travelling, the route was very circuitous, and thus the journey was made longer than it would otherwise have been.

There are two large villages, about twenty versts apart, and three smaller ones in the neighbourhood, all known by the name of Anadyrsk; the former being designated the Crepass (fortress), and the second, farther up the river, the Markova. When Captain MacCrea reached the Markova, he found there the other members of his party, who had been brought up from the mouth of the river by the direct route. From there MacCrea and Arnold proceeded to Ghijega. Above the Markova, the Anadyr is well wooded.

It will be remembered that Kennon and Dodd left Ghijega for Anadyrsk; and it was on this trip that the former discovered a river, named the Myan, which, rising in the mountains near the Penjinsk River, eventually forms one of the principal tributaries of the Anadyr. Mr. Bush, as before mentioned (p. 119), who also travelled from Ghijega to the mouth of the Anadyr, was enabled to make a longer direct

journey than any others of our explorers,-that from Nicolaiefski to Anadyr Bay. Later, in 1866-7, many of the gentlemen just mentioned, with others, went over various parts of the same country, but their journeys were made more with reference to the business of the Company, the transportation of goods, &c., than with a view to exploration.

I have simply recorded the outlines of these Asiatic journeys: it is for those engaged in them to give us a fuller narrative, or narratives; and I trust that some of them may yet do so.

CHAP. XXIV.]

CALIFORNIA OF TO-DAY.

269

CHAPTER XXIV.

CALIFORNIA.

California in 1849-To-day - Agricultural progress - Wine manufacture -Climate-Lower California-San Francisco- No paper moneyCoinage-Growth- General prosperity - Scarcity of labour-Hiring a domestic-Luxuries of the land-"The Mission"- Hotel carteHome for the Inebriates — Immigration desired - Newspapers - Chinese population "John's" status - John as a miner - Dead Chinamen Celestial entertainment - Merchant's pigtail.

TWENTY years ago, California, one of the richest and most fertile countries of the globe, was lying absolutely unheeded, with but a few indolent Spanish settlers, and a still smaller number of Americans, scattered at long intervals over its surface. Now it has a population of half a million, and the cry is "still they come.'

When the gold excitement* in 1849 broke out in full force, it called attention to the country; and thousands, drawn there by the universal magnet, remained to become prosperous and permanent settlers. There are few who know California who do not become warmly attached to it, and, in the country itself, it is a well-known and oft-remarked fact, that most of those who, after a lengthened sojourn, leave it for their old

*

It is well known that the first gold discovery of importance was made in 1848 by Marshall, a man in the employ of Captain Sutter, a Swiss who first settled there in 1839. But Californians usually date the rise of the country from 1849.

homes in other parts of the world, soon return to their "first love," finding no other like it.

An impression prevails in England that we know all about this happy land, because, in its early history, book after book issued from the press, telling of the gold, of the restless spirits who gathered from all points in its search, of the lawlessness that prevailed, and of the unheard-of prices of the necessaries of life. Some there were, too, who told us of the natural wonders of the country, of the geysers, of the grand Yosemite Valley, and the "big trees" of Calaveras and of Mariposa. All admitted it was a fruitful land, but we then heard little or nothing of the chances of its ever becoming a grand field for agriculture.

Yet, although at the present time, gold, silver, mercury, and coal all yield abundant returns, they are eclipsed by the more solid progress of the country in the cultivation of the soil. So much grain is raised, that not merely does it help to supply Europe, but it is forwarded even to the "Eastern" or Atlantic States, often via that expensive route the Isthmus of Panama. In the State statistics for 1866, the amount of wheat* grown is set down at 14,000,000 bushels, and of barley nearly as much. The wine manufacture is fast becoming a leading branch of industry; over 3,000,000 gallons is now the annual produce of California, and the quantity will largely increase. The culture of the vine and the art of wine-making are, of course, in their infancy in a country itself so young; but some of the wines

* "In California one seeding and one cultivation suffice for two crops. The ' volunteer' crop of the second year is, perhaps, one-fifth less in quantity, but it is all profit."-Overland Monthly,' San Francisco, August, 1868.