To the Golden Goal, and other Sketches. By Dr. J.
E. Tucker. (Doxey, San Francisco.)—Dr. Tucker, who died in San Francisco In 1891, was in his youth one of the first gold-hunters in Cali- fornia. In 1848, that province had been just ceded to the United States by Mexico, and the news was spread abroad that gold bad been found there. A few days now suffice to take the traveller to the Pacific coast; then as many months were required. This was by the Cape Horn route; a shorter but much more risky way was by the Isthmus. This could be managed in sixty days. Dr. Tucker went round by the Horn, and in his first paper gives a very lively account of his experiences. "Searching for Gold Lake" is a romantic story of a treasure-hunt. Our author left a fairly profitable job of gold-washing—the results averaged an
ounce and a half daily per man—and still better prospects by the practice of his profession, to look for the precious metal in its original locale, the place from which the streams wash it down. Be found it, but nearly lost his life in doing so. Two of the papers describe experiences with Walker, a practical exponent of the Monroe doctrine in Nicaragua. This is a book full of vivid descriptions of adventurous life.
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