He was residing in the town of San
Francisco, in the month of February, when a Mr. Bennett, one of the
party employed at Marshall's mill, went down to that place with some of
the dust to have it tested; for it was still a matter of doubt whether
this yellow metal really was gold. Bennett told his errand to a friend
whom he met in San Francisco, and this friend introduced him to
Humphrey, who had been a gold-miner in Georgia, and was therefore
competent to pass an opinion.
Humphrey looked at the dust, pronounced it gold at the first glance, and
expressed a belief that the diggings must be rich. He made inquiries
about the place where the gold was found, and subsequent inquiries about
the trustworthiness of Mr. Bennett, and on March 7th he was at the mill.
He tried to induce several of his friends in San Francisco to go with
him; they all thought his expedition a foolish one, and he had to go
alone. He found that there was some talk about the gold, and persons
would occasionally go about looking for pieces of it; but no one was
engaged in mining, and the work of the mill was going on as usual.
Pages:
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434