Note 16 — Chapter XI · HOW TO READ POETRY (continued 5)

In the “days of old, the days of gold, and the days of ’49,” water was brought from the Sierran heights in wooden viaducts, or “flumes,” to be used in the mines. The fifth stanza refers to the process of hydraulic mining, where the water, projected through huge nozzles (somewhat after the fashion used by fire-engines), washed down the mountain-sides into the sluice-boxes where the dirt was washed away and the gold retained. Now the flume’s waters are mainly diverted to purposes of irrigation.