Daughter Of Fortune

In April 1849, Tao Chi’en and a weakened Eliza disembark in San Francisco. Her disguise, wearing Tao’s clothing, gives Eliza “an unfamiliar freedom” (222). Unimpressed by the chaotic, overpriced tent city in what is called “Gold Mountain” by the Chinese, Tao wants to honor his ship contract and depart California. Eliza begs him to help her find Joaquín. Tao takes Eliza to Chinatown as his slow-witted, deaf-mute brother; then they visit Little Chile, where they discover that Joaquín may have traveled to Sacramento. Tao and Eliza learn about each other’s cultures as they eat food foreign to them.

The pair sail on a crowded vessel up the river to Sacramento. Some Chileans think that Joaquín went further inland. To earn money, Tao works as a physician in Sacramento’s Chinese section, where the pair build a shelter. On busy days, Eliza assists Tao, fascinated by his skill with Eastern medicine. Tao avidly learns about healing practices from a persecuted band of nomadic Native Americans, from Mexican ranchers (among whom Eliza enjoys the rare chance to speak with some women), and from another Chinese zhong yi.

As Eliza acquires her strength again, she becomes impatient to continue the quest for Joaquín. Tao secretly wants to settle in one place so the spirit of Lin can find him. Despite their cultural differences, Tao and Eliza share a sense of humor, and they sleep side by side at night. Neither Tao nor Eliza acknowledges their “chaste nocturnal embraces” during the day (242), unable to imagine the possibility of loving someone of a different race. Eliza starts a profitable business selling tasty empanadas (meat pies). Soon she saves enough to buy a horse, men’s clothing, and travel supplies, including a pistol and a rifle. Tao refuses to go in search of Eliza’s lover. Eliza cuts off her long braid and thickens her eyebrows with charcoal, disguising herself as a Chilean. She bids goodbye to Tao, telling him, “You are more than a friend, you are my brother” (246).

The day after Eliza sails for California, Captain John signs a contract to be captain of Paulina’s new steamship, the Fortuna. Paulina figured out that Californians need fresh produce, which Chileans grow in abundance. Paulina orders Captain John to sail south first to acquire glacier ice, which will preserve the produce from spoilage en route to California, where her husband will sell the cargo for a huge profit. When Captain John returns from the south to load the produce at Valparaíso, he learns the news from Rose and Jeremy of Eliza’s disappearance. The Sommerses cannot search for Mama Fresia since they never bothered to ask their servant’s last name. Rose discovers the identity of Joaquín and his theft. When Rose visits Joaquín’s mother to find out where Joaquín has gone, Rose becomes overwhelmed with compassion for Joaquín’s mother, Eliza, and herself. Rose pours out all of the secrets and losses from her affair with the Viennese tenor in her conversation with Joaquín’s mother. Convinced that Eliza followed Joaquín to California, Rose then prompts Captain John to investigate at the port. Captain John declares that he can easily find Eliza in California, if there are so few women there, when he sails the next day.

The fragile balance maintained between Jeremy, Rose, and Captain John seems broken when Rose reveals to Jeremy that Eliza is actually the daughter of Captain John and an unknown Chilean woman. Rose knitted the sweater that baby Eliza was wrapped in for Captain John. The impenetrable Jeremy dismisses the sweater as evidence for baby Eliza’s paternity. Jeremy asserts that the Chilean woman covered Eliza with Captain John’s sweater to pawn her off on the Sommerses.

In California, on the day she departs Sacramento, Eliza joins a group of Chilean tenderfoot miners who are headed to the placer deposits. Introducing herself as Elias Andieta, Eliza tells these gold seekers that she recently arrived from Chile in search of her older brother Joaquín. The self-absorbed miners take for granted that the trousered Eliza is an adolescent male. Lame horses, a hot climate, and cholera create hardship on their journey. Grateful for Tao Chi’en’s teachings, Eliza avoids drinking unboiled water. The fierce competition over mining claims erodes class prejudice, but not racial hatred, with the enterprising, numerous Chileans a favorite target of the Yankees. Eliza nostalgically recalls Tao Chi’en’s Sacramento shack instead of the Sommerses’ home, surprised at her alteration. At a store near the American River, Eliza excitedly hears the Mormon owner tell of a handsome young man named Joaquín who briefly stayed there to recover after a fight between Hispanics and Americans. Eliza believes she is finally on the trail of her lover.