force to the American Fork, as is reported here, their journey will be
in vain.

Our trip has been delayed to-day, for the saddler cannot get our
equipments in readiness for at least forty-eight hours. He says that
directly he has finished the job he shall start off himself to the
diggings. I have bribed him with promises of greatly increased pay not
to disappoint us again. As it was, we were to pay him a very high
price, which he demanded on account of three of his men having left
him, and there being only himself and two workmen to attend to our
order.

I told Mr. Bradley of our misfortune. He promised to wait for us, but
recommended me to keep going in and out of the saddler's all day long,
in order to make sure that the man was at work, otherwise we might be
kept hanging about for a fortnight.

_May 20th_.--It requires a full amount of patience to stay quietly
watching the proceedings of an inattentive tradesman amid such a
whirlpool of excitement as is now in action. Sweeting tells me that his
negro waiter has demanded and receives ten dollars a-day. He is forced
to submit, for "helps" of all kinds are in great demand, and very
difficult to meet with. Several hundred people must have left here
during the last few days. Malcolm and I have our baggage all in
readiness to start on Monday.

_May 22nd_.--To-day all our arrangements have been changed; the saddler
did not keep his promise, and while Malcolm, Bradley, and myself were
venting our indignation against him, Don Luis Palo made his appearance.
The gold fever had spread to Monterey, and he had determined to be off