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Collection: Books and Periodicals
Three Years in California by John D. Borthwick (1857)(LoC) (423 pages)
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Page: of 423
60 MONTE.
well-shaven men, in stove-pipe hats and broadcloth;
but, however nearly a man might approach in appearance to the conventional idea of a gentleman, it is
not to be supposed, on that account, that he either
was, or got the credit of being, a bit better than his
neighbours. The man standing next him, in the
guise of a labouring man, was perhaps his superior in
wealth, character, and education. Appearances, at
least as far as dress was concerned, went for nothing
at all. A man was judged by the amount of money
in his purse, and frequently the man to be most
courted for his dollars was the most to be despised for
his looks.
One element of mixed crowds of people, in the
States and in this country, was very poorly represented. There were scarcely any of the lower order
of Irish; the cost of emigration to California was
at that time too great for the majority of that class,
although now the Irish population of San Francisco
is nearly equal in proportion to that in the large
cities of the Union.
The Spanish game of monte, which was introduced
into California by the crowds of Mexicans who came
there, was at this time the most popular game, and
was dealt almost exclusively by Mexicans. It is
played on a table about six feet by four, on each side
of which sits a dealer, and between them is the bank
of gold and silver coin, to the amount of five or ten
thousand dollars, piled up in rows covering a space of
a couple of square feet. The game is played with