Before leaving Monterey I heard numerous rumors of irregularities and crimes among those working in the _placers_; but, on visiting the mining regions, I was agreeably surprised to learn that every thing was quite the reverse from what had been represented, and that order and regularity were preserved throughout almost the entire extent of the mineral districts. In each little settlement, or tented town, the miners have elected their local alcaldes and constables, whose judicial decisions and official acts are sustained by the people, and enforced with much regularity and energy. It is true, that in a few instances certain local questions have produced temporary excitements and difficulties, but none of these have been of a very important character, or led to serious results. Alcaldes have probably in some cases, and under peculiar circumstances, exercised judicial powers which were never conferred upon them by law; but the general result has been favorable to the preservation of order and the dispensation of justice.
The old _placers_ are still exceedingly productive, and new ones are almost daily discovered in the smaller streams running from the western slope of the Sierra Nevada into the great valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.
I am satisfied, however, from personal observation, that very exaggerated accounts have been sent to the United States respecting the ease with which the precious metal is extracted from the earth, and that many who come to this country with the expectation of acquiring sudden wealth, with little or no labor, will be sadly disappointed. It is true that the reward of labor in the mines is very high; but it should not be forgotten that gold _digging_ and gold washing in that climate require strong constitutions and great physical exertions, and very few need expect to acquire fortunes by working the _placers_, without severe labor and fixed habits of industry and temperance. The yield of different localities is, of course, very different, some of the _placers_ being exceedingly rich, while the product of others is scarcely sufficient to pay the expenses of working. But I think the general averages per diem, for those actually employed in washing for gold, will not vary much from an ounce or an ounce and a half per man; some make much more than that sum, while those who are less fortunate fall much short of it. The actual number of persons working the _placers_ will not vary much from ten thousand. The entire population now in the mining district is much greater than that number; but many are engaged in mercantile pursuits and in transporting goods and provisions, while others employ much of their time in "prospecting," or looking for newer and richer localities.