Moberly, "History of Cariboo Wagon Road", continued
(Part 6 of 13)

I had now been at work some time, and by the terms of our charter there was a large amount of money overdue and but a very small sum had been paid by the government, which hampered me very much in carrying on the work in the most efficient manner, and necessarily caused heavy and unlooked for expenses being incurred. By borrowing considerable sums on my personal credit I managed to keep the work going on, and at the end of the third month after the charter was signed, the paid all the men in full. As soon as I paid these wages, a very large number of the men, entirely disregarding the terms of their contract with me to work for the whole season, and nearly all of them indebted for clothes and other necessaries I had furnished them with, when they were in destitute condition, left the work, and I lost the value of what I had advanced to them. This contemptible proceeding on the part of these men, which was brought about by the reports of fabulously rich deposits of gold having been discovered on Antler and other creeks in Cariboo, reduced the force of men needed to ensure the prosecution of the work in accordance with our contract with the Government, and compelled me to employ, much against my wishes, a large force of Chinese laborers. It will thus be seen that the bad faith and unscrupulous conduct of the white laborers was the cause of the employment of Chinese labor in constructing the Cariboo wagon road. All of the other contractors on the road experienced the same treatment from their white laborers that befell me.

I found all the Chinese employed worked most industriously and faithfully, and gave no trouble. I may here mention an amusing incident that occurred in connection with these Chinese. One day when I was on my way from Cook's ferry to Lytton I stopped at the large Chinese camp, when they told me they were anxious to celebrate some festival, and asked me to try and get them some live pigs when I was in Lytton. I found that the only pigs that had been brought so far into the interior were two small animals owned by a man who was mining on the opposite side of the Fraser River. He asked an exorbitant price, and if I remember correctly it was $200.00 each, so I did not buy them, and on my return to the Chinese camp told them the reason why. They were bound to have the pigs at any cost. I gave them an order to get the pigs, and as I was so pleased with the way they did their work, at the same time I gave them an order to get, at my expense, two kegs of the fiery whisky they drink, which cost me as much as the pigs cost them.

On the day they had the celebration I went to their camp and was at once surrounded by the Chinamen, who provided me with a meal which roast pork was the principal dish, which I enjoyed, but on the other hand, I had to take many drinks of the abominable whisky with which, in tin cups, they held all around and pressed upon me, and would take no refusal.