Hunting after Gold.
[AIR—Combo.]

When I left old New York, to go hunting after gold,
Chunks bigger than my head I could pick up, I was told;
I stopped at Sacramento, on a d––l of expense,
And they sent me to the mountains, where I've not been sober since.

Chorus:
Tang de di, de ding, de dang;
de diddle al de da.

The first man I saw in the Sacramento Valley,
Was his Honor lying drunk, on a ten-pin alley,
With half a dozen more, some whose names I dare not call,
If you'd rolled for the center you'd been sure to got them all.
Tang de di, etc.

The people in the mountains, they were all on a bust,
They were going through at Monte, though they pungled down the dust.
I went into a temperance house to get a bit segar,
And there laid the landlord drunk behind the bar.
Tang de di, etc.

I went to eat some oysters, along with Captain Sutter,
And he reared up on the table, and sat down in the butter;
The Mayor and Recorder, they were both drunk as ever,
So the next day they sent me up fluming on the river.
Tang de di, etc.

The river of a sudden, then began to rise,
But the d––l was coming, which did me surprise;
'Twas a big pine log, coming neat as a pin,
Which stove both ends of my long tom in.
Tang de di, etc.

I looked up the river, and the next thing I saw,
Was a rocker and a pail floating down towards me,
And when they got abreast of me, says I,
"Old rocker, you've earned me a pile, good bye."
Tang de di, etc.

It seemed too bad, 'twas a d––l of a shame,
To work all summer, and then to lose a claim,
With a bully little pick, and a long handled shovel,
And a chance for the flume left to go to the d––l.
Tang de di, etc.

So those that had money, they were bound to have a spree,
But they that had'nt any, said, "You can't fool me;
We know where you're going, or at least we mistrust,
You are going to Nevada, to get on another 'bust.'"
Tang de di, etc.

I bucked awhile at Monte, at a half dollar bank,
And the dealer he got trusted for the whisky that I drank;
I drank 'till my throat got so sore I could'nt swallow,
So I tapp'd him on the Jack, and I won half a dollar.
Tang de di, etc.

I hav'nt had a cent since I failed on the river,
Nor I hav'nt had clothes enough my nakedness to cover;
These breeches I got trusted for, but now I cannot pay;
This is the only shirt I've had since the 23d of May.
Tang de di, etc.

My hair pulled like the d––l, I was troubled with the shorts,
So, without a cent of money, I went hunting after quartz;
And I found as rich a lead as ever had been seen,
But the d––l of it was, I had no machine.
Tang de di, etc.

The people were surprised; when we told them, how they laughed,
That a dozen of our company had gone to sink a shaft,
And we'd all make a pile, around the Horn have a sail,
Then the Sheriff took the dozen, who were digging, off to jail.
Tang de di, etc.

The stories they were going, going very fast indeed,
And the miners going faster, to stake off the lead;
Among the rest a coming, that was going to make a strike,
On a spike-tail mule, was a man from Pike.
Tang de di, etc.

The excitement died away, there was nothing in the lead,
So tho that bought an interest, among themelves agreed,
For the flour they had bought, and a little gnarly ham,
They would never pay a cent, for the lead war'nt worth a d––n.
Tang de di, etc.



Put's Original California Songster, pp. 23-25



Lyrics (no tune) in Dwyer & Lingenfelter, The Songs of the Gold Rush, pp. 60-61

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