Sutter disclosed his weakness in several ways. Al-
though enjoining secrecy upon all concerned, and show-
ing extreme fear lest the discovery should be known by
those about him, the inconstant Swiss could not him-
self resist the temptation of telling it to his friends at
a distance. Writing Vallejo the 10th of February,
he says: "I have made a discovery of a gold mine,
which, according to experiments we have made, is ex-
traordinarily rich."^ Moreover, not wholly satisfied
with his Indian title, Sutter determined to despatch a
Uiossenger to Monterey, for the purpose of further
securing the land to himself and Marshall through
Colonel R. B. Mason, chief representative of the
United States government in California. For this
mission was chosen Charles Bennett, one of Marshall's
associates, and standing next to him in intelligence
and ability at the saw-mill. The messenger was in-
structed to say nothing about the discovery of gold,
but to secure the land with mill, pasture, and mineral
privileges, giving as a reason for including the last
the appearance of lead and silver in the soil.* The
man, however, was too weak for the purpose. With
him in a buckskin bag he carried some six ounces of
the secret, which, by the time he reached Benicia,
became too heavy for him. There, in Pfister s store,
hearing it said that coal had been found nearTVIonte
del Diablo, and that in consequence Califoriilu vvuuld
assume no small importance in the eyes of her new
owners, Bennett could contain himself no longer.
- CoalI" he exclaimed; **I have something here which
will beat coal> and make this the greatest country in the world." Whereupon he produced his bag, and passed it around among his listeners.®
^ The accompliBhcd potentate writes every man in his own language, though his Spanish is not much better than his English. '* Y he hecho un descubri- niieuto de roina de oro, q* sigun hemos esperinientado es extraordinarimente rica.' ValUfo, Docs, MS., xiL 332.
'Thia on the authority of Bigler. Diary of a Mormon, MS., 66. Some ■ay that Bennett held contracts with Marshall under Sutter. Hunt's Mer, Slcig,, XX. 59; but for this there is no good authority. He set out for Monterey toward the middle of February.
' Several claim the honor of carrying the first gold beyond the precmcla ol
