Valley of the Salinas
  Californians wanting Yankee wives
  High waters
  Arrive at San Francisco.

We left Los Angeles late in the afternoon of the 29th of January, with
two Indian vaqueros, on miserable broken-down horses (the best we could
obtain), and encamped at the deserted rancho at the foot of Couenga
plain, where the treaty of peace had been concluded. After we had been
here some time, two Indians came to the house, who had been sent by the
proprietor of the rancho to herd the cattle. Having nothing to eat with
us, a tempting offer prevailed upon the Indians to milk one of the
cows; and we made our supper and our breakfast next morning on milk.
Both of our Indian vaqueros deserted in the night, carrying with them
sundry articles of clothing placed in their charge. A few days have
made a great change in the appearance of the country. The fresh grass
is now several inches in height, and many flowers are in bloom. The sky
is bright, and the temperature is delightful.

On the 30th of January, leaving the mission of San Fernando on our
right, at a distance of eight or ten miles, we followed the usually
travelled trail next to the hills, on the western side of the plain. As
we were passing near a rancho, a well-dressed Californian rode out to
us, and, after examining the horses of our miserable _caballada_,
politely claimed one of them as his property. He was told that the
horse was drawn from the public _caballada_, at Los Angeles, and could
not be given up. This seemed to satisfy him. After some further
conversation, he informed us, that he was Don Andres Pico, the late
leader and general of the Californians. The expression of his
countenance is intelligent and prepossessing, and his address and
manners courteous and pleasing. Shaking hands, and bidding us a very
earnest _adios_, he put spurs to his horse and galloped away.

We were soon after overtaken by a young Californian, who appeared at
first rather doubtful whether or not he should make our acquaintance.
The ice being broken, however, he became very loquacious and
communicative. He stated that he was returning to his home near Santa
Barbara, from the wars, in which he had been engaged against his will.
The language that he used was, that he, with many others of his
acquaintances, were forced to take up arms by the leading men of the
country. He was in the two battles of the 8th and 9th of January, below
Los Angeles; and he desired never to be in any more battles. He was
heartily rejoiced that there was peace, and hoped that there would
never be any more wars. He travelled along with us until afternoon,
when he fell behind, and we did not see him again until the next day.

After passing two or three deserted houses, we reached an inhabited
rancho, situated at the extremity of a valley, and near a narrow gorge
in the hills, about four o'clock, and, our jaded animals performing
duty with reluctance, we determined to halt for the night, if the
prospect of obtaining anything to eat (of which we stood in much need)
was flattering. Riding up to the house, a small adobe, with one room,
and a shed for a kitchen, the _ranchero_ and the _ranchera_ came out
and greeted us with a hearty "_Buenas tardes, Senores, paisanos
amigos_," shaking hands, and inviting us at the same time to alight and
remain for the night, which invitation we accepted. The kind-hearted
_ranchera_ immediately set about preparing supper for us. An Indian
_muchacha_ was seated at the _metate_ (hand-mill), which is one of the
most important articles of the Californian culinary apparatus. While
the _muchacha_ ground, or rather crushed, the wheat between the stones,
the _ranchera_, with a platter-shaped basket, cleansed it of dust,
chaff, and all impure particles, by tossing the grain in the basket.
The flour being manufactured and sifted through a _cedazo_, or coarse
sieve, the labour of kneading the dough was performed by the
_muchacha_. An iron plate was then placed over a rudely-constructed
furnace, and the dough, being beaten by hand into _tortillas_ (thin
cakes), was baked upon this. What would American housewives say to such
a system as this? The viands being prepared, they were set out upon a
small table, at which we were invited to seat ourselves. The meal
consisted of _tortillas_, stewed jerk beef, with _chile_ seasoning,
milk, and _quesadillas_, or cheesecakes, green and tough as leather.
However, our appetites were excellent, and we enjoyed the repast with a
high relish.

Our host and hostess were very inquisitive in regard to the news from
below, and as to what would be the effects of the conquest of the
country by the Americans. The man stated that he and all his family had
refused to join in the late insurrection. We told them that all was
peaceable now; that there would be no more wars in California; that we
were all Americans, all Californians--_hermanos, hermanas, amigos_.
They expressed their delight at this information by numerous
exclamations.

We asked the woman how much the dress which she wore, a miserable
calico, cost her? She answered, "Seis pesos" (six dollars). When we
told her that in a short time, under the American government, she could
purchase as good a one "_por un peso_," she threw up her hands in
astonishment, expressing by her features at the same time the most
unbounded delight. Her entire wardrobe was soon brought forth, and the
price paid for every article named. She then inquired what would be the
cost of similar clothing under the American government, which we told
her. As we replied, exclamation followed upon exclamation, expressive
of her surprise and pleasure, and the whole was concluded with "_Viva
los Americanos--viva los Americanos!_" I wore a large coarse woollen
pea-jacket, which the man was very desirous to obtain, offering for it
a fine horse. I declined the trade.

In the evening several of the brothers, sisters, and brothers and
sisters-in-law of the family collected, and the guitar and violin,
which were suspended from a beam in the house, were taken down, and we
were entertained by a concert of instrumental and vocal music. Most of
the tunes were such as are performed at fandangos. Some plaintive airs
were played and sung with much pathos and expression, the whole party
joining in the choruses. Although invited to occupy the only room in
the house, we declined it, and spread our blankets on the outside.

The next morning (January 31st), when we woke, the sun was shining
bright and warm, and the birds were singing gayly in the grove of
evergreen oaks near the house. Having made ready to resume our journey,
as delicately as possible we offered our kind hostess compensation for
the trouble we had given her, which she declined, saying, that although
they were not rich, they nevertheless had enough and to spare. We
however insisted, and she finally accepted, with the condition that we
would also accept of some of her _quesadillas_ and _tortillas_ to carry
along with us. The ranchero mounted his horse and rode with us about
three or four miles, to place us on the right trail, when, after
inviting us very earnestly to call and see him again, and bidding us an
affectionate _adios_, he galloped away.

Travelling over a hilly country, and passing the ruins of several
deserted ranchos, the grounds surrounding which were strewn with the
bones of slaughtered cattle, we reached, about five o'clock P.M., a
cluster of houses in the valley of Santa Clara River, ten miles east of
the mission of San Buenaventura. Here we stopped at the house of a man
named Sanchez. Our arrival was thought to be worthy of notice, and it
was accordingly celebrated in the evening by a fandango given at one of
the houses, to which we were invited. The company, to the number of
some thirty or forty persons, young and old, were assembled in the
largest room of the house, the floor being hard clay. The only
furniture contained in the room was a bed and some benches, upon which
the company seated themselves when not engaged in dancing.

Among the _senoritas_ assembled were two daughters of an American named
Chapman, who has been a resident of the country for many years. They
were fair-skinned, and might be called handsome. An elder and married
sister was also present. They called themselves Americans, although
they did not speak our language, and seemed to be more proud of their
American than their Spanish blood.

A singular custom prevails at these fandangos. It is this: during the
intervals between the waltzes, quadrilles, and other dances, when the
company is seated, a young lady takes the floor _solus_, and, after
showing off her graces for general observation a few minutes, she
approaches any gentleman she may select, and performs a variety of
pirouettes and other Terpsichorean movements before him for his
especial amusement and admiration, until he places on her head his hat
or cap, as the case may be, when she dances away with it. The hat or
cap has afterwards to be redeemed by some present, and this usually is
in money. Not dancing ourselves, we were favoured with numerous special
exhibitions of this kind, the cost of each of which was _un peso_. With
a long journey before us, and with purses in a nearly collapsed
condition, the drafts upon us became so frequent, that at an early
hour, under a plea of fatigue and want of rest, we thought it prudent
to beat a retreat, leaving our fair and partial _fandangueras_ to
bestow their favours upon others better able to bear them. The motions
of the Californian females of all classes in the dance are highly
graceful. The waltz is their favourite measure, and in this they appear
to excel as much as the men do in horsemanship. During the progress of
the dance, the males and females improvise doggerel rhymes
complimentary of the personal beauties and graces of those whom they
admire, or expressive of their love and devotion, which are chanted
with the music of the instruments, and the whole company join in the
general chorus at the end of each verse. The din of voices is sometimes
almost deafening.

Our host accompanied us to our lodgings on the opposite side of the
way. Beds were spread down under the small porch outside, and we laid
our bodies upon them, but not to sleep, for the noise of the fandango
dancers kept us awake until broad daylight, at which time it broke up.

Hiring fresh horses here, and a vaquero to drive our tired animals
after us, we started about 9 o'clock in the morning, and, passing
through San Buenaventura, reached Santa Barbara, 45 miles, a little
after two in the afternoon. We stopped at the house of Mr. Sparks, who
received us with genuine hospitality. Santa Barbara presented a more
lively appearance than when we passed here on our way down, most of its
population having returned to their homes. Procuring fresh but
miserably poor horses, we resumed our journey on the afternoon of the
2nd of February, and encamped at the rancho of Dr. Deu, situated on the
plain of Santa Barbara, near the sea shore. The soil of this plain is
of the most fertile composition. The fresh grass is now six or eight
inches high, and the varieties are numerous. Many of the early flowers
are in bloom. I noticed a large wheat field near the house, and its
appearance was such as to promise a rich harvest.

The rain fell heavily on the morning of the 3rd, but continuing our
journey we crossed the St. Ynes Mountain, and, passing the mission by
that name, reached the rancho of Mr. Faxon after dark, where we halted
for the night. Around the mission of St. Ynes I noticed, as we passed,
immense quantities of cattle bones thickly strewn in all directions.
Acres of ground were white with these remains of the immense herds
belonging to this mission in the days of its prosperity, slaughtered
for their hides and tallow. We met two or three elegantly dressed
Californians to-day, who accosted us with much civility and apparent
friendliness.

Mr. Faxon is an Englishman by birth, and has resided in California
about thirty years. He is married to a Californian lady, and has a
family of interesting and beautiful children. A large portion of the
land belonging to his rancho is admirably adapted to agriculture, and
he raises crops of corn and vegetables as well as wheat without
irrigation. He informed me that the yield of wheat on his rancho was
fully seventy bushels to the acre. Mr. F. showed me specimens of lead
ore from which he moulds his bullets, taken from an inexhaustible mine
in the Tular Valley, some fifty miles distant from this. It is
certainly the richest ore that I have ever seen, appearing almost like
the pure metal. He also showed me a caustic alkali, produced by burning
a plant or shrub which grows in great abundance in the Tular Valley.
This substance is used by him in the manufacture of soap.

About noon on the 4th, we halted at the rancho of Captain Dana, where
we procured fresh horses, leaving our wretchedly lean and tired
animals, and, proceeding on, stopped for the night at the rancho of Mr.
Branch, an intelligent American, originally from the state of New York,
who has been settled in the country a number of years. His rancho is
situated on what is called the _arroyo grande_, a small stream which
empties into the Pacific some two or three miles from the house. The
house is new, and constructed after American models of farm-houses,
with neat and comfortable apartments, chimneys and fireplaces. The
arable lands here are finely adapted to the culture of maize, wheat,
and potatoes.

Our horses straying, it was twelve o'clock on the 5th before we found
them. The rain had fallen steadily and heavily all night, and during
the forenoon, and was pouring down when we started. We passed through
the mission of San Luis Obispo just before sunset, intending to halt at
a rancho about three miles distant in a _canada_. But, the storm
increasing in strength, it became suddenly so dark in the
mountain-gorge, that we could not distinguish the trail, and, after
wandering about some time, vainly attempting to find the house, we were
compelled to bivouac, wet to our skins, without fire or shelter, and
the rain pouring down in torrents.

The next morning (Feb. 6.), in hunting up our loose horses, we
discovered the house about half a mile distant from our camp.
Continuing our journey, we halted about nine o'clock at a rancho near
the ruins of Santa Margarita. A solitary Indian was the only occupant
of the house, and only inhabitant of the place; and he could furnish us
with no food. Passing two or three other deserted ranches, we reached
the house of a Mexican about one o'clock, where we obtained a meal of
fried eggs and _tortillas_, after having been without food thirty
hours. Late in the afternoon we arrived at the mission of San Miguel,
now occupied by an Englishman named Reed, his _mestiza_ wife, and one
child, with two or three Indian vaqueros. Crossing the Salinas in the
morning (Feb. 7), we continued down its eastern side, and encamped in a
wide bottom under a large live oak. A _quesadilla_ was all we had to
eat. This was divided, one-half being reserved for breakfast. The fresh
vegetation has so much changed the face of the country on this river
since we passed along here in December, that I scarcely recognise it.
The grass is six or eight inches high in the bottom, the blades
standing so thick as to present a matted appearance, and the hills are
brilliant with flowers--pink, purple, blue, and yellow.

On the 8th we continued down the eastern bank of the Salinas, passing
through several large and fertile bottoms, and reaching the rancho of
San Lorenzo about twelve o'clock. This rancho, as we learned from the
proprietors, is owned by two bachelor brothers, one of whom told me
that he had not been off his lands but once or twice for several years.
Large herds of fat cattle and horses were grazing upon the luxuriant
grasses of the plain, and there were several extensive inclosures sowed
in wheat, which presented all the indications of an abundant harvest.
But, with all these natural resources surrounding him the elder brother
told us that he had nothing to eat in his house but fresh beef. A
quantity of the choice pieces of a fat beef was roasted by an Indian
boy, which we enjoyed with all the relish of hungry men. Our host, a
gentleman of intelligence and politeness, made apology after apology
for his rude style of living, a principal excuse being that he had no
wife. He inquired, with apparent earnestness, if we could not send him
two pretty accomplished and capable American women, whom they could
marry; and then they would build a fine house, have bread, butter,
cheese, and all the delicacies, luxuries, and elegancies of life in
abundance. He appeared to be well pleased with the conquest of the
country by the Americans, and desirous that they should not give it up.
When we resumed our journey in the afternoon, he rode with us four or
five miles to show us the way, and, on taking his leave, invited us to
return again, when he said he hoped his accommodations would be much
improved. Riding 15 miles, we halted at a tule-cabin, where we remained
until two o'clock in the morning, when, the moon shining brightly, we
mounted our horses, and continued our journey.

We reached the Monterey road just at daylight. My intention had been to
visit Monterey; but the Salinas being unfordable, and there being no
ferry, it was not possible to do it without swimming the river, which I
did not feel inclined to do. Monterey is situated on the bay by that
name, about 90 miles by water south of San Francisco. The bay affords a
good anchorage and landing in calm weather, being exposed only to the
northers, which blow violently. The town contains about 1500
inhabitants, and is rapidly increasing in wealth and population.
Arriving at the rancho of Don Joaquin Gomez, we found no one but a
_mestiza_ servant at home, and could obtain nothing to eat but a
_quesadilla_. All the streams, large and small, are much swollen by
late heavy rains, and the travelling is consequently very laborious and
difficult. Resting our horses a short time, we crossed the mountains,
and reached the mission of San Juan Bautista about noon.

At San Juan we met with Messrs. Grayson, Boggs, and a party of
volunteers returning from Monterey to San Francisco, having been
discharged since the suppression of the rebellion in this part of
California, headed by Francisco Sanchez. Here we learned, for the first
time, the arrival at Monterey of Commodore Shubrick in the ship
Independence, and of the Lexington with Captain Tomkins's company of
artillery, and freighted otherwise with munitions, stores, and tools
necessary to the erection and defence of durable fortifications at
Monterey and San Francisco.

Seven or eight miles beyond San Juan, we found that the waters of the
_arroyo_ had risen so as to inundate a wide valley which we were
compelled to cross. After making several ineffectual attempts to reach
the opposite side, wading through the water, and sometimes falling into
deep holes from which it was difficult for either men or horses to
extricate themselves, we encamped for the night on a small elevation in
the valley, entirely surrounded by water. Our condition was miserable
enough. Tired, wet, and hungry, we laid down for the night on the damp
ground.

The next day (Feb. 10), about eleven o'clock, we succeeded in finding a
ford across the valley and stream, and procured dinner at a
soap-factory on the opposite side, belonging to T.O. Larkin, Esq.
Continuing on, we encamped at a rancho occupied by an Englishman as
_mayor domo_. He was very glad to see us, and treated us with unbounded
hospitality, furnishing a superabundance of beef and _frijoles_ for our
consumption. On the 11th, about three P.M., we arrived at the Pueblo de
San José, and, finding there a launch employed by Messrs. Howard and
Mellus in collecting hides, bound for San Francisco, we embarked in
her, and on the morning of the 13th arrived at that place. We found
lying here the U.S. sloop Warren, and Lieutenant Radford politely
furnished us with a boat to land. In the afternoon the Cyane, Commander
Dupont, with Gen. Kearny on board, and the store-ship Erie, with Col.
Mason on board, arrived in the harbour. Col. Mason is from the United
States direct, via Panama, and brings late and interesting
intelligence.

The Cyane and Warren have just returned from a cruise on the southern
Pacific coast of Mexico. The town of Guymas had been taken by
bombardment. The Cyane had captured, during her cruize, fourteen
prizes, besides several guns at San Blas. The boats of the Warren,
under the command of Lieut. Radford, performed the gallant feat of
cutting out of the harbour of Mazatlan the Mexican schooner Malek
Abdel.

Landing in San Francisco, I found my wardrobe, which I had deposited in
the care of Capt. Leidesdorff, and the first time for nearly five
months dressed myself in a civilized costume. Having been during that
time almost constantly in motion, and exposed to many hardships and
privations, it was, as may be supposed, no small satisfaction to find
once more a place where I could repose for a short time at least.

CHAPTER XIV.

  Progress of the town of San Francisco
  Capt. Dupont
  Gen. Kearny
  The presidio
  Appointed Alcalde
  Gen. Kearny's proclamation
  Arrival of Col. Stevenson's regiment
  Horse-thief Indians
  Administration of justice in California
  Sale of lots in San Francisco.

Wherever the Anglo-Saxon race plant themselves, progress is certain to
be displayed in some form or other. Such is their "go-ahead" energy,
that things cannot stand still where they are, whatever may be the
circumstances surrounding them. Notwithstanding the wars and
insurrections, I found the town of San Francisco, on my arrival here,
visibly improved. An American population had flowed into it; lots,
which heretofore have been considered almost valueless, were selling at
high prices; new houses had been built, and were in progress; new
commercial houses had been established; hotels had been opened for the
accommodation of the travelling and business public; and the
publication of a newspaper had been commenced. The little village of
two hundred souls, when I arrived here in September last, is fast
becoming a town of importance. Ships freighted with full cargoes are
entering the port, and landing their merchandise to be disposed of at
wholesale and retail on shore, instead of the former mode of vending
them afloat in the harbour. There is a prevailing air of activity,
enterprise, and energy; and men, in view of the advantageous position
of the town for commerce, are making large calculations upon the
future; calculations which I believe will be fully realized.

On the 15th I dined on board the sloop-of-war Cyane, with Commander
Dupont, to whom I had the good fortune to be the bearer from home of a
letter of introduction. I say "good fortune," because I conceive it to
be one of the greatest of social blessings, as well as pleasures, to be
made acquainted with a truly upright and honourable man--one whose
integrity never bends to wrongful or pusillanimous expediency;--one
who, armed intellectually with the panoply of justice, has courage to
sustain it under any and all circumstances;--one whose ambition is, in
a public capacity, to serve his country, and not to serve himself;--one
who waits for his country to judge of his acts, and, if worthy, to
place the laurel wreath upon his head, disdaining a self-wrought and
self-assumed coronal. Capt. Dupont is a native of Delaware; and that
gallant and patriotic state should feel proud of such a son. He is one
of whom all men, on sea or on land, with whom his duties as an officer
or citizen of our republic brings him in contact, speak well; and whose
private virtues, as well as professional merits, are deserving of the
warmest admiration and the highest honours.

Although I have long known Gen. S.W. Kearny from reputation, and saw
him at Los Angeles, I was here introduced to him for the first time.
Gen. K. is a man rising fifty years of age. His height is about five
feet ten or eleven inches. His figure is all that is required by
symmetry. His features are regular, almost Grecian; his eye is blue,
and has an eagle-like expression, when excited by stern or angry
emotion; but, in ordinary social intercourse, the whole expression of
his countenance is mild and pleasing, and his manners and conversation
are unaffected, urbane, and conciliatory, without the slightest
exhibition of vanity or egotism. He appears the cool, brave, and
energetic soldier; the strict disciplinarian, without tyranny; the man,
in short, determined to perform his duty, in whatever situation he may
be placed, leaving consequences to follow in their natural course.
These, my first impressions, were fully confirmed by subsequent
intercourse, in situations and under circumstances which, by
experience, I have found an unfailing alembic for the trial of
character--a crucible wherein, if the metal be impure, the drossy
substances are sure to display themselves. It is not my province to
extol or pronounce judgment upon his acts; they are a part of the
military and civil history of our country, and as such will be
applauded or condemned, according to the estimate that may be placed
upon them. But I may be allowed to express the opinion, that no man,
placed under the same circumstances, ever aimed to perform his duty
with more uprightness and more fidelity to the interests and honour of
his country, or who, to shed lustre upon his country, ever braved
greater dangers, or endured more hardships and privations, and all
without vaunting his performances and sacrifices.

On the 16th, in company of Gen. Kearny, Capt. Turner, and Lieuts.
Warner and Hallock, of the U.S. Engineer Corps, I rode to the Presidio
of San Francisco, and the old fortification at the mouth of the bay.
The presidio is about three miles from the town, and consists of
several blocks of adobe buildings, covered with files. The walls of
most of the buildings are crumbling for the want of care in protecting
them from the annual rains; and without this care they will soon become
heaps of mud. The fort is erected upon a commanding position, about a
mile and a half from the entrance to the bay. Its walls are
substantially constructed of burnt brick, and are of sufficient
thickness and strength to resist heavy battering. There are nine or ten
embrasures. Like everything else in the country belonging to the
public, the fort is fast falling into ruins. There has been no garrison
here for several years; the guns are dismounted, and half decomposed by
long exposure to the weather, and from want of care. Some of them have
sunk into the ground.

On the 20th I was waited upon by Gen. Kearny, and requested to accept
the office of alcalde, or chief magistrate, of the district of San
Francisco. There being no opportunity of returning to the United States
immediately, I accepted of the proposed appointment, and on the 22d was
sworn into office, my predecessor, Lieut. W.A. Bartlett, of the navy,
being ordered to his ship by the commanding officer of the squadron.

The annual salute in celebration of the birthday of the immortal and
illustrious founder of our republic, required by law from all the ships
of the navy in commission, in whatever part of the world they may be at
the time, strikes us more forcibly when in a far-off country, as being
a beautiful and appropriate tribute to the unapproachable virtues and
heroism of that great benefactor of the human race, than when we are
nearer home, or upon our own soil. The U.S. ships in the harbour, at
twelve o'clock on the 22d, each fired a national salute; and the day
being calm and beautiful, the reports bounded from hill to hill, and
were echoed and re-echoed until the sound died away, apparently in the
distant gorges of the Sierra Nevada. This was a voice from the soul of
WASHINGTON, speaking in majestic and thunder-tones to the green and
flowery valley, the gentle hills and lofty mountains of California, and
consecrating them as the future abode of millions upon millions of the
sons of liberty. The merchant and whale ships lying at anchor, catching
the enthusiasm, joined in the salute; and for a time the harbour and
bay in front of the town were enveloped in clouds of gunpowder smoke.

General Kearny left San Francisco, in the frigate Savannah, Captain
Mervine, on the 23d, for Monterey, and soon after his arrival at that
place issued the following proclamation:--

  PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA.

  The President of the United States having instructed the undersigned
  to take charge of the civil government of California, he enters upon
  his duties with an ardent desire to promote, as far as he is able,
  the interests of the country and the welfare of its inhabitants.

  The undersigned has instructions from the President to respect and
  protect the religious institutions of California, and to see that
  the religious rights of the people are in the amplest manner
  preserved to them, the constitution of the United States allowing
  every man to worship his Creator in such a manner as his own
  conscience may dictate to him.

  The undersigned is also instructed to protect the persons and
  property of the quiet and peaceable inhabitants of the country
  against all or any of their enemies, whether from abroad or at home;
  and when he now assures the Californians that it will be his duty
  and his pleasure to comply with those instructions, he calls upon
  them all to exert themselves in preserving order and tranquillity,
  in promoting harmony and concord, and in maintaining the authority
  and efficiency of the laws.

  It is the wish and design of the United States to provide for
  California, with the least possible delay, a free government,
  similar to those in her other territories; and the people will soon
  be called upon to exercise their rights as freemen, in electing
  their own representatives, to make such laws as may be deemed best
  for their interest and welfare. But until this can be done, the laws
  now in existence, and not in conflict with the constitution of the
  United States, will be continued until changed by competent
  authority; and those persons who hold office will continue in the
  same for the present, provided they swear to support that
  constitution, and to faithfully perform their duty.

  The undersigned hereby absolves all the inhabitants of California
  from any further allegiance to the republic of Mexico, and will
  consider them as citizens of the United States; those who remain
  quiet and peaceable will be respected in their rights and protected
  in them. Should any take up arms against or oppose the government of
  this territory, or instigate others to do so, they will be
  considered as enemies, and treated accordingly.

  When Mexico forced a war upon the United States, time did not permit
  the latter to invite the Californians as friends to join her
  standard, but compelled her to take possession of the country to
  prevent any European power from seizing upon it, and, in doing so,
  some excesses and unauthorized acts were no doubt committed by
  persons employed in the service of the United States, by which a few
  of the inhabitants have met with a loss of property; such losses
  will be duly investigated, and those entitled to remuneration will
  receive it.

  California has for many years suffered greatly from domestic
  troubles; civil wars have been the poisoned fountains which have
  sent forth trouble and pestilence over her beautiful land. Now those
  fountains are dried up; the star-spangled banner floats over
  California, and as long as the sun continues to shine upon her, so
  long will it float there, over the natives of the land, as well as
  others who have found a home in her bosom; and under it agriculture
  must improve, and the arts and sciences flourish, as seed in a rich
  and fertile soil.

  The Americans and Californians are now but one people; let us
  cherish one wish, one hope, and let that be for the peace and quiet
  of our country. Let us, as a band of brothers, unite and emulate
  each other in our exertions to benefit and improve this our
  beautiful, and which soon must be our happy and prosperous, home.

  Done at Monterey, capital of California, this first day of March,
  A.D. 1847, and in the seventy-first year of independence of the
  United Suites.

  S.W. KEARNY
  Brig.-Gen., U.S.A., and Governor of California.

The proclamation of General Kearny gave great satisfaction to the
native as well as the emigrant population of the country. Several of
the alcaldes of the district of my jurisdiction, as well as private
individuals (natives of the country), expressed, by letter and orally,
their approbation of the sentiments of the proclamation in the warmest
terms. They said that they were heartily willing to become Americans
upon these terms, and hoped that there would be the least possible
delay in admitting them to the rights of American citizenship. There
was a general expectation among natives as well as foreigners, that a
representative form of territorial government would be immediately
established by General Kearny. Why this was not done, is explained by
the recent publication of General Scott's letter to General Kearny,
dated November 3rd, 1846, of which Colonel Mason was the bearer, he
having left the United States on the 7th November. In this letter
General Scott says:--

"As a guide to the civil governor of Upper California, in our hands,
see the letter of June 3rd (last), addressed to you by the Secretary of
War. You will not, however, formally declare the province to be
annexed. Permanent incorporation of the territory must depend on the
government of the United States.

"After occupying with our forces all necessary points in Upper
California, and establishing a temporary civil government therein, as
well as assuring yourself of its internal tranquillity, and the absence
of any danger of reconquest on the part of Mexico, you may charge
Colonel Mason, United States first dragoons, the bearer of this open
letter, or land officer next in rank to your own, with your several
duties, and return yourself, with a sufficient escort of troops, to St.
Louis, Missouri; but the body of the United States dragoons that
accompanied you to California will remain there until further orders."

The transport ships Thomas H. Perkins, Loo Choo, Susan Drew, and
Brutus, with Colonel Stevenson's regiment, arrived at San Francisco
during the months of March and April. These vessels were freighted with
a vast quantity of munitions, stores, tools, saw-mills, grist-mills,
etc., etc., to be employed in the fortification of the principal
harbours on the coast--San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego. The
regiment of Col. Stevenson was separated into different commands,
portions of it being stationed at San Francisco, Sonoma, Monterey,
Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles; and some companies employed against the
horse-thief Indians of the Sierra Nevada and the Tulares.

As good an account of these horse-thief Indians, and their
depredations, as I have seen, I find in the "California Star," of March
28th, 1847, written by a gentleman who has been a resident of
California for a number of years, and who has been a sufferer. It is
subjoined:--

"During the Spanish regime, such a thing as a horse-thief was unknown
in the country; but as soon as the Mexicans took possession, their
characteristic anarchy began to prevail, and the Indians to desert from
the missions. The first Indian horse-thief known in this part of the
country was a neophyte of the mission of Santa Clara, George, who
flourished about twenty years ago. He absconded from his mission to the
river of Stanislaus, of which he was a native. From thence he returned
to the settlements, and began to steal horses, which at that time were
very numerous. After pursuing his depredations for some time, he was at
last pursued and killed on his return from one of his forages. The
mission of Santa Clara has been, from that time to the present day, the
greatest nursery for horse thieves, as the Stanislaus river has been
and is their principal rendezvous. I have taken some pains to inquire
among some of the most intelligent and respectable of the native
inhabitants, as to the probable number of horses that have been stolen
between Monterey and San Francisco within the last twenty years, and
the result has been that more than one hundred thousand can be
distinctly enumerated, and that the total amount would probably be
double that number. Nearly all these horses have been eaten! From the
river of Stanislaus, as a central point, the evil has spread to the
north and south, and at present extends from the vicinity of the
Mickélemes River on the north, to the sources of the St. Joaquin on the
south. These Indians inhabit all the western declivity of the great
snowy mountains, within these limits, and have become so habituated to
living on horseflesh, that it is now with them the principal means of
subsistence.

"In past time they have been repeatedly pursued, and many of them
killed, and whole villages destroyed, but, so far from being deterred,
they are continually becoming more bold and daring in their robberies,
as horses become scarcer and more carefully guarded. About twenty
persons have been killed by them within the knowledge of the writer.
Among others, Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Wilson were killed by them not long
ago. Only about one month since, they shot and dangerously wounded four
persons employed on the farm of Mr. Weber, near the Pueblo of St.
Joseph, and at the same time stole the horses of the farm, and those
also from the farms of Captain Fisher and Mr. Burnal, in the same
vicinity; in all, about two hundred head. Within the last ten days
numerous parties of them have been committing depredations on many of
the farms in the jurisdiction of the Contra Costa, and scarcely a night
passes but we hear of their having stolen horses from some one. Three
days ago, a party of them were met by some young men who had been out
catching wild horses on the plains of the St. Joaquin, but as they were
mounted on tired animals, they were only able to recapture the stolen
horses, but could not overtake the thieves."

It has not been within the scope of my design, in writing out those
notes, to enter into the minute details of the conquest and occupation
of California by the forces of the United States. To do so would
require more space than I have allowed myself, and the matter would be
more voluminous than interesting or important. My intention has been to
give such a sketch of the military operations in California, during my
residence and travels in the country, as to afford to the reader a
general and correct idea of the events transpiring at the time. No
important circumstance, I think, has escaped my attention.

Among the officers of the army stationed at San Francisco, with whom I
became acquainted, were Major Hardie, in command of the troops, Captain
Folsom, acting quartermaster-general in California, and Lieutenant
Warner, of the engineer corps. Lieutenant Warner marched with General
Kearny from the United States, and was at the battle of San Pasqual. I
have seen the coat which he wore on that occasion, pierced in seven
different places by the lances of the enemy. He did not make this
exhibition himself; and I never heard him refer to the subject but
once, and then it was with the modesty of a veteran campaigner.

The corps of topographical engineers accompanying General Kearny, under
the command of Captain Emory, will, doubtless, furnish in their report
much interesting and valuable information. Mr. Stanley, the artist Of
the expedition, completed his sketches in oil, at San Francisco; and a
more truthful, interesting, and valuable series of paintings,
delineating mountain scenery, the floral exhibitions on the route, the
savage tribes between Santa Fe and California--combined with camp-life
and marches through the desert and wilderness--has never been, and
probably never will be, exhibited. Mr. Stanley informed me that he was
preparing a work on the savage tribes of North America and of the
islands of the Pacific, which, when completed on his plan, will be the
most comprehensive and descriptive of the subject of any that has been
published.

Legal proceedings are much less complex in California than in the
United States. There is no written statute law in the country. The only
law books I could find were a digested code entitled, "Laws of Spain
and the Indies," published in Spain about a hundred years ago, and a
small pamphlet defining the powers of various judicial officers,
emanating from the Mexican government since the revolution. A late
Mexican governor of California, on being required by a magistrate to
instruct him as to the manner in which he should administer the law
within his jurisdiction, replied, "_Administer it in accordance with
the principles of natural right and justice_," and this is the
foundation of Californian jurisprudence. The local _bandos_, or laws,
are enacted, adjudicated, and executed by the local magistrates, or
alcaldes. The alcalde has jurisdiction in all municipal matters, and in
cases for minor offences, and for debt in sums not over one hundred
dollars. In cases of heinous or capital offences, the alcalde has
simply an examining power, the testimony being taken down in writing,
and transmit-to the _juez de primera instancia_, or first judge of the
district, before whom the case is tried. Civil actions, for sums over
one hundred dollars, must also be tried before the _juez de primera
instancia_, and from him there is an appeal to the prefect, or the
governor of the province. The trial by _hombres buenos_, or good men,
is one of the established legal tribunals when either of the parties
demand it, and is similar to our trial by jury; the difference being in
the number, the _hombres buenos_ usually consisting of three or five,
as they may be ordered by the magistrate, or requested by the
litigants, and our jury of twelve. With honest and intelligent
magistrates, the system operates advantageously, as justice is speedy
and certain; but the reverse of this, with corrupt and ignorant
magistrates, too frequently in power, the consequences of the system
are as bad as can well be imagined.

The policy of the Mexican government has been to encourage in certain
localities the erection of pueblos, or towns, and for this purpose they
have made grants of land to the local authorities, or municipalities,
within certain defined limits, to be regranted upon application, in
lots of fifty or one hundred varass, as the case may be, to persons
declaring their intention to settle and to do business in the town. For
these grants to individuals a certain sum of money is paid, which goes
into the treasury of the municipality. The magistrates, however,
without special permission, have no power to grant lots of land within
a certain number of feet of or below high-water mark. The power is
reserved to be exercised by the governor of the province. It being
necessary for the convenient landing of ships, and for the discharging
and receiving of their cargoes, that the beach in front of the town of
San Francisco should be improved with wharfs, etc., etc., and that
titles should be granted to individuals who otherwise would make no
durable improvements. As magistrate of the town, in compliance with the
request of numerous citizens, I solicited from General Kearny, the
acting governor, a relinquishment, on the part of the general
government, of the beach lands in front of the town in favour of the
municipality, under certain conditions. This was granted by the
Governor, who issued a decree dated 10th March, permitting the sales by
auction of all such grounds adjacent to the water-side as might be
found adapted to commercial purposes, with the exception of such lots
as might be selected for the use of the United States government, by
its proper officers. The sales accordingly took place, the lots were
eagerly purchased, and the port has already become a place of
considerable commercial activity.

CHAPTER XV.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON THE COUNTRY.

  First settlement of the missionaries
  Population
  Characteristics of white population
  Employments
  Pleasures and amusements
  Position of women
  Soil
  Grasses
  Vegetable productions
  Agriculture
  Fruits
  Cattle
  Horses
  Wild animals
  Minerals
  Climate
  Flora
  Water-power
  Timber
  Religion.

It was during the month of November, 1602, the sun just retiring behind
the distant high land which forms the background of a spacious harbour
at the southernmost point of Alta California, that a small fleet of
vessels might have been seen directing their course as if in search of
a place of anchorage; their light sails drawn up, while the larger
ones, swelling now and then to the action of the breeze, bore them
majestically along, forcing their way through the immense and almost
impenetrable barrier of sea-weed, to a haven which, at the remote
period stated, was considered the unexplored region of the North. The
fleet referred to hauled their wind to the shore, and, passing a bluff
point of land on their left, soon came to anchor; but not until the
shades of night had cast a gloom over the scene so recently lighted up
with the gorgeous rays of a setting sun.

This was the commencement, or rather preliminary mark, of civilization
in this country, by the Spaniards, (if so it can be called,) and on the
following morning a detachment was landed, accompanied by a friar, to
make careful investigation of the long ridge of high land which serves
as a protection to the harbour from the heavy north-west gales. They
found, as reported, an abundance of small oak and other trees, together
with a great variety of useful and aromatic herbs; and from its summit
they beheld the extent and beauty of the port, reaching, as they said,
full three leagues from where the vessel lay at anchor. A large tent
was erected on the sandy beach, to answer the purposes of a church,
where the friar might perform mass, and by directions of the commanding
officers, the boats were drawn up for repairing, wells were dug,
parties were sent off to cut wood, while guards were placed at
convenient distances to give notice of the approach of any hostile
force. The latter precaution was hardly carried into effect, ere a
large body of naked Indians were seen moving along the shore, armed
with bows and arrows. A friar, protected by six soldiers, was
dispatched to meet them, who, making signs of peace by exhibiting a
white flag and throwing handfuls of sand high into the air, influenced
them to lay aside their arms, when, affectionately embracing them, the
good old friar distributed presents of beads and necklaces, with which
they eagerly adorned their persons. This manifestation of good feeling
induced them to draw near to where the commander had landed with his
men, but perceiving so large a number, they retreated to a neighbouring
knoll, and from thence sent forward to the Spaniards ten aged females,
who, possessing apparently so much affability, were presented
immediately with gifts, and instructed to go and inform their people of
the friendly disposition cherished for them by the white strangers.
This was sufficient to implant a free intercourse with the Indians, who
daily visited the Spaniards, and bartered off their skins and furs in
exchange for bread and trinkets. But at length the time arrived for the
fleet to depart, and they proceeded northward, visiting in their course
Monterey and Mendocino, where the same favourable result attended the
enterprise as at other places, and they returned in safety to New
Spain.

So successful had been the character of this expedition throughout the
entire period of its execution, that an enthusiasm prevailed in the
minds of the Spaniards, which could only be assuaged by an attempt to
conquer and christianize the inhabitants of that distant portion of the
American continent. Many were the fruitless results of the Spanish
adventurer--numerous were the statements of his toil and labour, till
at length a formidable attempt, under the patronage and direction of
Don Gaspar de Portala and Father Junipero Serra, successfully achieved
the desired object for which it was planned and executed.

At San Diego, where, a century and a half before, the primitive
navigators under Cortez communed with the rude and unsophisticated
native--there, where the zealous devotee erected his altar on the
burning sand, and with offerings of incense and prayer hallowed it to
God, as the birthplace of Christianity in that region--upon that
sainted spot commenced the spiritual conquest, the cross was erected,
and the holy missionaries who accompanied the expedition entered heart
and soul upon their religious duties. Successful in all they undertook,
their first establishment in a short time was completed, and drawing
around it the converted Indians in large numbers, the rude and
uncultivated fields gave place to agricultural improvement--the arts
and sciences gradually obtained foundation where before all was
darkness, and day after day hundreds were added to the folds of the
holy and apostolic church. Thus triumphantly proceeded the labours of
the Spanish conquerors! In course of time other institutions were
founded at Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco, where at each
place a military fortress was erected, which served for their
protection, and to keep in check such of the natives who were
disinclined to observe the regulations of the community.

The natives formed an ardent and almost adorable attachment for their
spiritual fathers, and were happy, quite happy, under their
jurisdiction. Ever ready to obey them, the labour in the field and
workshop met with ready compliance, and so prosperous were the
institutions that many of them became wealthy, in the increase of their
cattle and great abundance of their granaries. It was no unusual sight
to behold the plains for leagues literally spotted with bullocks, and
large fields of corn and wheat covering acres of ground. This state of
things continued until the period when Mexico underwent a change in its
political form of government, which so disheartened the feelings of the
loyal missionaries, that they became regardless of their
establishments, and suffered them to decline for want of attention to
their interests. At length, civil discord and anarchy among the
Californians prepared a more effective measure for their destruction,
and they were left to the superintendence of individuals who plundered
them of all that was desirable or capable of removal. Thus, the
government commenced the robbery, and its hirelings carried it out to
the letter, destroying and laying waste wherever they were placed. In
order to give the inhabitants a share of the spoils, some of them were
permitted to slaughter the cattle by contract, which was an equal
division of the proceeds, and the contractors were careful, when they
delivered one hide to a mission, to reserve _two_ for themselves, in
this way following up the example of their superiors.

This important revolution in the systematic order of the monastic
institutions took place in 1836, at which period the most important of
them possessed property, exclusive of their lands and tenements, to the
value of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. At the present day
they have but a little more than dilapidated walls and restricted
boundaries of territory. Notwithstanding this wanton devastation of
property, contrary to the opinion of many who were strongly in favour
of supporting these religious institutions, the result proved
beneficial to the country at large. Individual enterprise succeeded as
the lands became distributed, so that the Californian beheld himself no
longer dependent on the bounty of his spiritual directors, but, on the
contrary, he was enabled to give support to them, from the increase and
abundance of his own possessions.

Subsequent to the expulsion of the Mexicans, numbers of new farms were
created, and hundreds of Americans were scattered over the country.
Previous to 1830, the actual possessions of horned cattle by the
_rancheros_ did not exceed one hundred thousand; but in 1842, according
to a fair estimate, made by one on the spot, the number had increased
to four hundred thousand; so that the aggregate is equal to that held
by the missions when in their most flourishing condition. The present
number is not much, if any, short of one million.

Presuming a statistical knowledge of this country, before and after the
missionary institutions were secularized, may be interesting, I will
insert the following returns of 1831 and 1842, to contrast the same
with its present condition:--

1st. In 1832 the white population throughout Alta-California did not
exceed 4,500, while the Indians of the twenty-one missions amounted to
19,000; in 1842, the former had increased to 7,000, and the latter
decreased to about 5,000.

2nd. In the former year, the number of horned cattle, including
individual possessions, amounted to 500,000; in the latter, to 40,000.

3rd. At the same period, the number of sheep, goats, and pigs, was
321,000; at the latter, 32,000.

4th. In 1831 the number of horses, asses, mules, etc., was 64,000; in
1842 it was 30,000.

5th. The produce in corn, etc., had decreased in a much greater
proportion--that of seventy to four.

The amount of duties raised at the customhouse in Monterey, from 1839
to 1842, was as follows, viz.:--

  1839        85,613 dollars.
  1840        72,308 dollars
  1841       101,150 dollars
  1842        73,729 dollars.

The net amount of revenue seldom exceeding in any year eighty thousand
dollars; so that, when a deficiency took place, to supply the
expenditures of government, it had been usual to call upon the missions
for aid.

The value of the hides and tallow derived from the annual _matanzas_
may be estimated at 372,000 dollars. These two commodities, with the
exception of some beaver, sea-otter, and other furs, comprise the most
important part of the exportations, which in addition, would augment
the value of exports to 400,000 dollars.

The permanent population of that portion of Upper California situated
between the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific, I estimate at 25,000. Of
this number, 8,000 are Hispano-Americans, 5,000 foreigners, chiefly
from the United States, and 12,000 christianized Indians. There are
considerable numbers of wild or Gentile Indians, inhabiting the valley
of the San Joaquin and the gorges of the Sierra, not included in this
estimate. They are probably as numerous as the Christian Indians. The
Indian population inhabiting the region of the Great Salt Lake, Mary's
River, the oases of the Great Desert Basin, and the country bordering
the Rio Colorado and its tributaries, being spread over a vast extent
of territory, are scarcely seen, although the aggregate number is
considerable.

The Californians do not differ materially from the Mexicans, from whom
they are descended, in other provinces of that country. Physically and
intellectually, the men, probably, are superior to the same race
farther south, and inhabiting the countries contiguous to the city of
Mexico. The intermixture of blood with the Indian and negro races has
been less, although it is very perceptible.

The men, as a general fact, are well made, with pleasing sprightly
countenances, and possessing much grace and ease of manners, and
vivacity of conversation. But hitherto they have had little knowledge
of the world and of events, beyond what they have heard through Mexico,
and derived from the supercargoes of merchant-ships and whalemen
touching upon the coast. There are no public schools in the country--at
least I never heard of one. There are but few books. General Valléjo
has a library with many valuable books, and this is the only one I saw,
although there are others; but they are rare, and confined to a few
families.

The men are almost constantly on horseback, and as horsemen excel any I
have seen in other parts of the world. From the nature of their
pursuits and amusements, they have brought horsemanship to a perfection
challenging admiration and exciting astonishment. They are trained to
the horse and the use of the lasso (_riata_, as it is here called) from
their infancy. The first act of a child, when he is able to stand
alone, is to throw his toy lasso around the neck of a kitten; his next
feat is performed on the dog; his next upon a goat or calf; and so on,
until he mounts the horse, and demonstrates his skill upon horses and
cattle. The crowning feat of dexterity with the _riata_, and of
horsemanship, combined with daring courage, is the lassoing of the
grisly bear. This feat is performed frequently upon this large and
ferocious animal, but it is sometimes fatal to the performer and his
horse. Well drilled, with experienced military leaders, such as would
inspire them with confidence in their skill and prowess, the
Californians ought to be the finest cavalry in the world. The
Californian saddle is, I venture to assert, the best that has been
invented, for the horse and the rider. Seated in one of these, it is
scarcely possible to be unseated by any ordinary casualty. The
bridle-bit is clumsily made, but so constructed that the horse is
compelled to obey the rider upon the slightest intimation. The spurs
are of immense size, but they answer to an experienced horseman the
double purpose of exciting the horse, and of maintaining the rider in
his seat under difficult circumstances.

For the pleasures of the table they care but little. With his horse and
trappings, his sarape and blanket, a piece of beef and a _tortilla_,
the Californian is content, so far as his personal comforts are
concerned. But he is ardent in his pursuit of amusement and pleasure,
and these consist chiefly in the fandango, the game of monte,
horse-racing, and bull and bear-baiting. They gamble freely and
desperately, but pay their losses with the most strict punctuality, at
any and every sacrifice, and manifest but little concern about them.
They are obedient to their magistrates, and in all disputed cases
decided by them, acquiesce without uttering a word of complaint. They
have been accused of treachery and insincerity. Whatever may have been
the grounds for these accusations in particular instances, I know not;
but, judging from my own observation and experience, they are as free
from these qualities as our own people.

While the men are employed in attending to the herds of cattle and
horses, and engaged in their other amusements, the women (I speak of
the middle classes on the ranchos) superintend and perform most of the
drudgery appertaining to housekeeping, and the cultivation of the
gardens, from whence are drawn such vegetables as are consumed at the
table. These are few, consisting of _frijoles_, potatoes, onions, and
_chiles_. The assistants in these labours are the Indian men and women,
legally reduced to servitude.

The soil of that portion of California between the Sierra Nevada and
the Pacific will compare, in point of fertility, with any that I have
seen elsewhere. As I have already described such portions of it as have
come under my observation, it is unnecessary for me here to descend to
particulars. Wheat, barley, and other small grains, with hemp, flax,
and tobacco, can be produced in all the valleys, without irrigation. To
produce maize, potatoes, and other garden vegetables, irrigation is
necessary. Oats and mustard grow spontaneously, with such rankness as
to be considered nuisances upon the soil. I have forced my way through
thousands of acres of these, higher than my head when mounted on a
horse. The oats grow to the summits of the hills, but they are not here
so tall and rank as in the valleys.

The varieties of grasses are greater than on the Atlantic side of the
continent, and far more nutritious. I have seen seven different kinds
of clover, several of them in a dry state, depositing a seed upon the
ground so abundant as to cover it, which is lapped up by the cattle and
horses and other animals, as corn or oats, when threshed, would be with
us. All the grasses, and they cover the entire country, are heavily
seeded, and, when ripe, are as fattening to stock as the grains which
we feed to our beef, horses, and hogs. Hence it is unnecessary to the
sustenance or fattening of stock to raise corn for their consumption.

Agriculture is in its rudest state. The farming implements which have
been used by the Californians, with few exceptions, are the same as
were used three hundred years ago, when Mexico was conquered by Cortez.
A description of them would be tedious. The plough, however, which
merely scratches the ground, is the fork of a small tree. It is the
same pattern as the Roman plough, two thousand years ago. Other
agricultural implements are of the same description. The Americans, and
other foreigners, are, however, introducing the American plough, and
other American farming tools, the consequence of which has already
been, to some extent, to produce a revolution in agriculture. The crops
of wheat and barley, which I saw about the 1st of June, while passing
through the country on my journey to the United States, exceeded in
promise any which I have seen in the United States. It was reported to
me that Captain Sutter's crop of wheat, for 1847, would amount to
75,000 bushels.

The natural vegetable productions of California have been sufficiently
noticed in the course of this work, for the reader to form a correct
estimate of the capabilities of the soil and climate. It is supposed by
some, that cotton, sugar, and rice, could be produced here. I do not
doubt but there are portions of the country where these crops would
thrive; but I question whether, generally, they could be cultivated to
advantage. Nearly all the fruits of the temperate and tropical climates
are produced in perfection in California, as has before been stated.

The principal product of the country has been its cattle and horses.
The cattle are, I think, the largest and finest I ever saw, and the
beef is more delicious. There are immense herds of these, to which I
have previously referred; and their hides and tallow, when slaughtered,
have hitherto composed the principal exports from the country. If I
were to hazard an estimate of the number of hides annually exported, it
would be conjectural, and not worth much. I would suppose, however, at
this time (1847), that the number would not fall much short of 150,000,
and a corresponding number of arrobas (25 pounds) of tallow. The
average value of cattle is about five dollars per head.

The horses and mules are correspondingly numerous with the cattle; and
although the most of them are used in the country, considerable numbers
are driven to Sonora, New Mexico, and other southern provinces, and
some of them to the United States, for a market. They are smaller than
American horses, and I do not think them equal for continuous hard
service; but on short trips, for riding, their speed and endurance are
not often, if ever, equalled by our breed of horses. The value of good
horses is from ten to twenty-five dollars; of mares, five dollars. The
prices have, however, since the Americans came into the country, become
fluctuating, and the value of both horses and cattle is increasing
rapidly.

The wild animals of California are the wild-horse, the elk, the
black-tailed deer, antelope, grizly bear, all in large numbers. Added
to these are the beaver, otter, coyote, hare, squirrel, and the usual
variety of other small animals. There is not so great a variety of
small birds as I have seen elsewhere. I do not consider that the
country presents strong attractions for the ornithologist. But what is
wanting in variety is made up in numbers. The bays and indentations on
the coast, as well as the rivers and lakes interior, swarm with myriads
of wild geese, ducks, swans, and other water birds. The geese and ducks
are a mongrel race, their plumage being variegated, the same as our
barn-yard fowls. Some of the islands in the harbour, near San
Francisco, are white with the _guano_ deposited by these birds; and
boat-loads of eggs are taken from them. The pheasant and partridge are
abundant in the mountains.

In regard to the minerals of California, not much is yet known. It has
been the policy of the owners of land upon which there existed minerals
to conceal them as much as possible. A reason for this has been, that
the law of Mexico is such, that if one man discovers a mine of any kind
upon another man's land, and the proprietor does not work it, the
former may _denounce_ the mine, and take possession of it, and hold it
so long as he continues to work it. Hence the proprietors of land upon
which there are valuable mineral ores conceal their existence as much
as possible. While in California I saw quicksilver, silver, lead, and
iron ores, and the specimens were taken from mines said to be
inexhaustible. From good authority I learned the existence of gold and
copper mines, the metals being combined; and I saw specimens of coal
taken from two or three different points, but I do not know what the
indications were as to quality. Brimstone, saltpetre, muriate and
carbonate of soda, and bitumen, are abundant. There is little doubt
that California is as rich in minerals of all kinds as any portion of
Mexico.

I have taken much pains to describe to the reader, from day to day, and
at different points during my travels in California, the temperature
and weather. It is rarely so cold in the settled portions of California
as to congeal water. But twice only while here I saw ice, and then not
thicker than window-glass. I saw no snow resting upon the ground. The
annual rains commence in November, and continue, with intervals of
pleasant springlike weather, until May. From May to November, usually,
no rain falls. There are, however, exceptions. Rain sometimes falls in
August. The thermometer, at any season of the year, rarely sinks below
50° or rises above 80°. In certain positions on the coast, and
especially at San Francisco, the winds rise diurnally, and blowing
fresh upon the shore render the temperature cool in midsummer. In the
winter the wind blows from the land, and the temperature at these
points is warmer. These local peculiarities of climate are not
descriptive of the general climate of the interior.

For salubrity I do not think there is any climate in the world superior
to that of the coast of California. I was in the country nearly a year,
exposed much of the time to great hardships and privations, sleeping,
for the most part, in the open air, and I never felt while there the
first pang of disease, or the slightest indication of bad health. On
some portions of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, where
vegetation is rank, and decays in the autumn, the malaria produces
chills and fever, but generally the attacks are slight, and yield
easily to medicine. The atmosphere is so pure and preservative along
the coast, that I never saw putrified flesh, although I have seen, in
midsummer, dead carcasses lying exposed to the sun and weather for
months. They emitted no offensive smell. There is but little disease in
the country arising from the climate.

The botany and flora of California are rich, and will hereafter form a
fruitful field of discovery to the naturalist. There are numerous
plants reported to possess extraordinary medical virtues. The
"soap-plant" (_amole_) is one which appears to be among the most
serviceable. The root, which is the saponaceous portion of the plant,
resembles the onion, but possesses the quality of cleansing linen equal
to any "oleic soap" manufactured by my friends Cornwall and Brother, of
Louisville, Ky.

There is another plant in high estimation with the Californians, called
_canchalagua_, which is held by them as an antidote for all the
diseases to which they are subject, but in particular for cases of
fever and ague. For purifying the blood, and regulating the system, I
think it surpasses all the medicinal herbs that have been brought into
notice, and it must become, in time, one of the most important articles
in the practice of medicine. In the season for flowers, which is
generally during the months of May and June, its pretty pink-coloured
blossoms form a conspicuous display in the great variety which adorn
the fields of California.

The water-power in California is ample for any required mill purposes.
Timber for lumber is not so convenient as is desirable. There is,
however, a sufficiency of it, which, when improvements are made, will
be more accessible. The timber on the Sierra Nevada, the most
magnificent in the world, cannot be, at present, available. The
evergreen oak, that grows generally in the valleys, is not valuable,
except for fuel. But in the _canadas_ of the hills, and at several
places on the coast, particularly at Santa Cruz and Bodega, there is an
amount of pine and fir, adapted for lumber, that will not be consumed
for a long time.

The religion of the Californians is the Roman Catholic, and, like the
people of all Roman Catholic countries, they appear to be devotedly
attached to the forms of their religion. That there are some, I will
not say how many, paganish grafts upon the laws, formalities, and
ceremonies, as prescribed by the "Holy Church Universal" for its
government and observance, is undeniable, but these probably do not
materially affect the system. The females, I noticed, were nearly all
devoutly attached to their religious institutions. I have seen, on
festival or saint days, the entire floor of a church occupied by pious
women, with their children, kneeling in devout worship, and chanting
with much fervency some dismal hymn appertaining to the service. There
are but few of the Jesuit fathers who established the missions now
remaining in the country. The services are performed at several of the
churches that I visited, by native Indians, educated by the _padres_
previous to their expulsion by the Mexican government.

CHAPTER XVI.

OFFICIAL REPORT ON THE GOLD MINES.

The following is an official account of a visit paid to the gold region
in July by Colonel Mason, who had been appointed to the military
command in California, and made his report to the authorities at
Washington. It is dated from head-quarters at Monterey, August 17,
1848.

"Sir,--I have the honour to inform you that, accompanied by Lieut. W.T.
Sherman, 3rd Artillery, A.A.A. General, I started on the 12th of June
last to make a tour through the northern part of California. We reached
San Francisco on the 20th, and found that all, or nearly all, its male
inhabitants had gone to the mines. The town, which a few months before
was so busy and thriving, was then almost deserted. Along the whole
route mills were lying idle, fields of wheat were open to cattle and
horses, houses vacant, and farms going to waste.

"On the 5th we arrived in the neighbourhood of the mines, and proceeded
twenty-five miles up the American Fork, to a point on it now known as
the Lower Mines, or Mormon Diggings. The hill sides were thickly strewn
with canvas tents and bush-harbours; a store was erected, and several
boarding shanties in operation. The day was intensely hot, yet about
200 men were at work in the full glare of the sun, washing for
gold--some with tin pans, some with close woven Indian baskets, but the
greater part had a rude machine known as the cradle. This is on
rockers, six or eight feet long, open at the foot, and its head had a
coarse grate, or sieve; the bottom is rounded, with small cleets nailed
across. Four men are required to work this machine; one digs the ground
in the bank close by the stream; another carries it to the cradle, and
empties it on the grate; a third gives a violent rocking motion to the
machine, whilst a fourth dashes on water from the stream itself. The
sieve keeps the coarse stones from entering the cradle, the current of
water washes off the earthy matter, and the gravel is gradually carried
out at the foot of the machine, leaving the gold mixed with a heavy
fine black sand above the first cleets. The sand and gold mixed
together are then drawn off through auger holes into a pan below, are
dried in the sun, and afterwards separated by blowing off the sand. A
party of four men, thus employed at the Lower Mines, average 100
dollars a-day. The Indians, and those who have nothing but pans or
willow baskets, gradually wash out the earth, and separate the gravel
by hand, leaving nothing but the gold mixed with sand, which is
separated in the manner before described. The gold in the Lower Mines
is in fine bright scales, of which I send several specimens.

"As we ascended the south branch of the American fork, the country
became more broken and mountainous, and twenty-five miles below the
lower washings the hills rise to about 1000 feet above the level of the
Sacramento Plain. Here a species of pine occurs, which led to the
discovery of the gold. Captain Sutter, feeling the great want of
lumber, contracted in September last with a Mr. Marshall to build a
saw-mill at that place. It was erected in the course of the past winter
and spring--a dam and race constructed; but when the water was let on
the wheel, the tail race was found to be too narrow to permit the water
to escape with sufficient rapidity. Mr. Marshall, to save labour, let
the water directly into the race with a strong current, so as to wash
it wider and deeper. He effected his purpose, and a large bed of mud
and gravel was carried to the foot of the race. One day Mr. Marshall,
as he was walking down the race to this deposit of mud, observed some
glittering particles at its upper edge; he gathered a few, examined
them, and became satisfied of their value. He then went to the fort,
told Captain Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep it secret
until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It, however, got
out and spread like magic. Remarkable success attended the labours of
the first explorers, and, in a few weeks, hundreds of men were drawn
thither. At the time of my visit, but little more than three months
after its first discovery, it was estimated that upwards of four
thousand people were employed. At the mill there is a fine deposit or
bank of gravel, which the people respect as the property of Captain
Sutter, though he pretends to no right to it, and would be perfectly
satisfied with the simple promise of a pre-emption on account of the
mill which he has built there at a considerable cost. Mr. Marshall was
living near the mill, and informed me that many persons were employed
above and below him; that they used the same machines as at the lower
washings, and that their success was about the same--ranging from one
to three ounces of gold per man daily. This gold, too, is in scales a
little coarser than those of the lower mines. From the mill Mr.
Marshall guided me up the mountain on the opposite or north bank of the
south fork, where in the bed of small streams or ravines, now dry, a
great deal of coarse gold has been found. I there saw several parties
at work, all of whom were doing very well; a great many specimens were
shown me, some as heavy as four or five ounces in weight; and I send
three pieces, labelled No. 5, presented by a Mr. Spence. You will
perceive that some of the specimens accompanying this hold mechanically
pieces of quartz--that the surface is rough, and evidently moulded in
the crevice of a rock. This gold cannot have been carried far by water,
but must have remained near where it was first deposited from the rock
that once bound it. I inquired of many if they had encountered the
metal in its matrix, but in every instance they said they had not; but
that the gold was invariably mixed with wash-gravel, or lodged in the
crevices of other rocks. All bore testimony that they had found gold in
greater or less quantities in the numerous small gullies or ravines
that occur in that mountainous region. On the 7th of July I left the
mill, and crossed to a small stream emptying into the American fork,
three or four miles below the saw-mill. I struck the stream (now known
as Weber's Creek) at the washings of Sunol and Company. They had about
thirty Indians employed, whom they pay in merchandise. They were
getting gold of a character similar to that found in the main fork, and
doubtless in sufficient quantities to satisfy them. I send you a small
specimen, presented by this Company, of their gold. From this point we
proceeded up the stream about eight miles, where we found a great many
people and Indians, some engaged in the bed of the stream, and others
in the small side valleys that put into it. These latter are
exceedingly rich, two ounces being considered an ordinary yield for a
day's work. A small gutter, not more than 100 yards long by four feet
wide, and two or three deep, was pointed out to me as the one where two
men (W. Daly and Percy McCoon) had a short time before obtained. 17,000
dollars' worth of gold. Captain Weber informed me, that he knew that
these two men had employed four white men and about 100 Indians, and
that, at the end of one week's work, they paid off their party, and had
left 10,000 dollars' worth of this gold. Another small ravine was shown
me, from which had been taken upwards of 12,000 dollars' worth of gold.
Hundreds of similar ravines, to all appearances, are as yet untouched.
I could not have credited these reports had I not seen, in the
abundance of the precious metal, evidence of their truth. Mr. Neligh,
an agent of Commodore Stockton, had been at work about three weeks in
the neighbourhood, and showed me, in bags and bottles, 2000 dollars'
worth of gold; and Mr. Lyman, a gentleman of education, and worthy of
every credit, said he had been engaged with four others, with a
machine, on the American fork, just below Sutter's Mill, that they
worked eight days, and that his share was at the rate of fifty dollars
a-day, but hearing that others were doing better at Weber's Place, they
had removed there, and were then on the point of resuming operations.

"The country on either side of Weber's Creek is much broken up by
hills, and is intersected in every direction by small streams or
ravines which contain more or less gold. Those that have been worked
are barely scratched, and, although thousands of ounces have been
carried away, I do not consider that a serious impression has been made
upon the whole. Every day was developing new and richer deposits; and
the only impression seemed to be, that the metal would be found in such
abundance as seriously to depreciate in value.

"On the 8th July I returned to the lower mines, and eventually to
Monterey, where I arrived on the 17th of July. Before leaving Sutter's,
I satisfied myself that gold existed in the bed of the Feather River,
in the Yubah and Bear, and in many of the small streams that lie
between the latter and the American fork; also, that it had been found
in the Consummes, to the south of the American fork. In each of these
streams the gold is found in small scales, whereas in the intervening
mountains it occurs in coarser lumps.

"Mr. Sinclair, whose rancho is three miles above Sutter's on the north
side of the American, employs about fifty Indians on the north fork,
not far from its junction with the main stream. He had been engaged
about five weeks when I saw him, and up to that time his Indians had
used simply closely-woven willow baskets. His net proceeds (which I
saw) were about 16,000 dollars' worth of gold. He showed me the
proceeds of his last week's work--14 lbs. avoirdupois of clean-washed
gold.

"The principal store at Sutter's fort, that of Brannan and Co., had
received in payment for goods 36,000 dollars' worth of this gold from
the 1st of May to the 10th of July. Other merchants had also made
extensive sales. Large quantities of goods were daily sent forward to
the mines, as the Indians, heretofore so poor and degraded, have
suddenly become consumers of the luxuries of life. I before mentioned
that the greater part of the farmers and rancheros had abandoned their
fields to go to the mines. This is not the case with Captain Sutter,
who was carefully gathering his wheat, estimated at 40,000 bushels.
Flour is already worth, at Sutter's, 36 dollars a-barrel, and will soon
be 50. Unless large quantities of breadstuffs reach the country much
suffering will occur; but as each man is now able to pay a large price,
it is believed the merchants will bring from Chili and the Oregon a
plentiful supply for the coming winter.

"The most moderate estimate I could obtain from men acquainted with the
subject was, that upwards of 4,000 men were working in the gold
district, of whom more than one-half were Indians, and that from 30,000
to 50,000 dollars' worth of gold, if not more, were daily obtained. The
entire gold district, with very few exceptions of grants made some
years ago by the Mexican authorities, is on land belonging to the
United States. It was a matter of serious reflection to me, how I could
secure to the Government certain rents or fees for the privilege of
securing this gold; but upon considering the large extent of country,
the character of the people engaged, and the small scattered force at
my command, I resolved not to interfere, but permit all to work freely,
unless broils and crimes should call for interference.

"The discovery of these vast deposits of gold has entirely changed the
character of Upper California. Its people, before engaged in
cultivating their small patches of ground, and guarding their herds of
cattle and horses, have all gone to the mines, or are on their way
thither. Labourers of every trade have left their work-benches, and
tradesmen their shops; sailors desert their ships as fast as they
arrive on the coast; and several vessels have gone to sea with hardly
enough hands to spread a sail. Two or three are now at anchor in San
Francisco, with no crew on board. Many desertions, too, have taken
place from the garrisons within the influence of these mines;
twenty-six soldiers have deserted from the post of Sonoma, twenty-four
from that of San Francisco, and twenty-four from Monterey. I have no
hesitation now in saying, that there is more gold in the country
drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers than will pay the cost
of the present war with Mexico a hundred times over. No capital is
required to obtain this gold, as the labouring man wants nothing but
his pick and shovel and tin pan, with which to dig and wash the gravel,
and many frequently pick gold out of the crevices of rocks with their
knives, in pieces of from one to six ounces.

"Gold is also believed to exist on the eastern slope of the Sierra
Nevada; and, when at the mines, I was informed by an intelligent Mormon
that it had been found near the Great Salt Lake by some of his
fraternity. Nearly all the Mormons are leaving California to go to the
Salt Lake; and this they surely would not do unless they were sure of
finding gold there, in the same abundance as they now do on the
Sacramento.

"I have the honour to be,

"Your most obedient Servant,

"R.B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding.

"Brigadier-General R. Jones,
Adjutant-General, U.S.A., Washington, D.C."

CHAPTER XVII.

  Rate of Wages
  Mode of procuring the Gold
  Extent of Gold Region
  Price of Provisions.

It will be seen, from the later accounts that each new report continues
to realize the wildest expectation. The following letter dated
Monterey, November 16th, is highly interesting--

"We can now call ourselves citizens of the United States. We have now
only to go by law, as we formerly went by custom; that is, when
Congress gives us a government and code. The old foreign residents of
California, having done very well ten or twenty years without law, care
but very little whether Congress pays early or late attention to the
subject. Those who have emigrated from the Atlantic States within the
last three or four years deem the subject an important one; I only call
it difficult. The carrying out a code of laws, under existing
circumstances, is far from being an easy task. The general Government
may appoint governors, secretaries, and other public functionaries; and
judges, marshals, collectors, etc., may accept offices with salaries of
3000 or 4000 dollars per annum; but how they are to obtain their petty
officers, at half these sums, remains to be seen. The pay of a member
of Congress will be accepted here by those alone who do not know enough
to better themselves. Mechanics can now get 10 to 16 dollars per day;
labourers on the wharfs or elsewhere, 5 to 10 dollars; clerks and
storekeepers, 1000 to 3000 dollars per annum--some engage to keep store
during their pleasure at 8 dollars per day, or 1 lb. or 1-1/2 lb. of
gold per month; cooks and stewards, 60 to 100 dollars per month. In
fact, labour of every description commands exorbitant prices.

"The Sandwich Islands, Oregon, and Lower California are fast parting
with their inhabitants, all bound for this coast, and thence to the
great 'placer' of the Sacramento Valley, where the digging and washing
of one man that does not produce 100 troy ounces of gold, 23 carats,
from the size of a half spangle to one pound in a month, sets the
digger to 'prospecting,' that is, looking for better grounds. Your
'Paisano' can point out many a man who has, for fifteen to twenty days
in succession, bagged up five to ten ounces of gold a-day. Our placer,
or gold region, now extends over 300 or 400 miles of country, embracing
all the creeks and branches on the east side of the river Sacramento
and one side of the San Joaquin. In my travels I have, when resting
under a tree and grazing my horse, seen pieces of pure gold taken from
crevices of the rocks or slate where we were stopping. On one occasion,
nooning or refreshing on the side of a stream entirely unknown to
diggers or 'prospectors,' or rather, if known not attended to, one of
my companions, while rolling in the sand, said, 'Give me a tin pan; why
should we not be cooking in gold sand?' He took a pan, filled it with
sand, washed it out, and produced in five minutes two or three dollars'
worth of gold, merely saying, as he threw both pan and gold on the
sand, 'I thought so.' Perhaps it is fair that your readers should
learn, that, however plenty the Sacramento Valley may afford gold, the
obtaining of it has its disadvantages. From the 1st of July to the 1st
of October, more or less, one half of the people will have fever and
ague, or intermittent fever. In the winter, it is too cold to work in
the water. Some work in the sand by washing from the surface in a
wooden bowl, or tin pan; some gouge it out from the rocks or slate; the
more lazy ones roll about and pick up the large pieces, leaving the
small gold for the next emigration. The extent of the gold region on
the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers extends a distance of 800 miles
in length by 100 in width. It embraces not only gold, but quantities of
quicksilver in almost general abundance. It is estimated that a small
population actively engaged in mining operations in that region could
export 100,000,000 dollars in gold in every year, and that an increased
population might increase that amount to 300,000,000 dollars annually.
You may believe me when I say that for some time to come California
will export, yearly, nearly or quite 500,000 ounces of gold, 22 to 24
carats fine; some pieces of that will weigh 16 lbs., very many 1 lb.
Many men who began last June to dig gold with a capital of 50 dollars
can now show 5000 to 15,000 dollars. I saw a man to-day making
purchases of dry goods, etc., for his family, lay on the counter a bag
of raw hide, well sewed up, containing 109 ounces. I observed, 'That is
a good way to pack gold dust.' He very innocently replied, 'All the
bags I brought down are that way; I like the size!' Five such bags in
New York would bring nearly 10,000 dollars. This man left his family
last August. Three months' digging and washing, producing four or five
bags, of 100 ounces each, is better than being mate of a vessel at 40
dollars per month, as the man formerly was. His companion, a Mexican,
who camped and worked with him, only had two or three cow-hide bags of
gold. In this tough, but true, golden tale, you must not imagine that
all men are equally successful. There are some who have done better,
even to 4000 dollars in a month; many 1000 dollars during the summer;
and others, who refused to join a company of gold-washers who had a
cheap-made machine, and receive one ounce per day, that returned to the
settlement with not a vest pocket-full of gold. Some left with only
sufficient to pay for a horse and saddle, and pay the physician six
ounces of gold for one ounce of quinine, calomel, and jalap in
proportion. An ounce of gold for advice given, six ounces a visit,
brings the fever and ague to be rather an expensive companion. A 'well'
man has his proportionate heavy expenses also, to reduce his piles or
bags of gold. Dry beef in the settlements, at 4 cents per lb., at the
Placer, 1 to 2 dollars per lb.; salt beef and pork, 50 to 100 dollars
per barrel; flour, 30 to 75 dollars per barrel; coffee, sugar, and
rice, 50 cents to 1 dollar per lb. As washing is 50 cents to 1 dollar a
garment, many prefer throwing away their used-up clothes to paying the
washerwoman; that is, if they intend returning to the settlements soon,
where they can purchase more. As to shaving, I have never seen a man at
the Placer who had time to perform that operation. They do not work on
Sundays, only brush up the tent, blow out the emery or fine black sand
from the week's work. Horses that can travel only one day, and from
that to a week, are from 100 to 300 dollars. Freight charge by launch
owners for three days' run, 5 dollars per barrel. Wagoners charge 50 to
100 dollars per load, 20 to 50 miles, on good road. Corn, barley, peas,
and beans, 10 dollars a-bushel. Common pistols, any price; powder and
lead very dear. I know a physician who, in San Francisco, purchased a
common made gold-washer at 20 or 30 dollars, made of 70 or 80 feet of
boards. At a great expense he boated it up to the first landing on the
Sacramento, and there met a wagoner bound to one of the diggings with
an empty wagon, distant about 50 miles. The wagoner would not take up
the machine under 100 dollars. The doctor had to consent, and bided his
time. June passed over, rich in gold; all on that creek did wonders,
when the wagoner fell sick, called on his friend the doctor, whose tent
was in sight; the doctor came, but would not administer the first dose
under the old sum of 100 dollars, which was agreed to, under a proviso
that the following doses should be furnished more moderate. When a
man's time is worth 100 dollars a-day, to use a spade and tin pan,
neither doctors nor wagoners can think much of a pound of gold, and you
may suppose merchants, traders, and pedlars are not slow to make their
fortunes in these golden times. In San Francisco there is more
merchandize sold now, monthly, than before in a year. Vessels after
vessels arrive, land their cargoes, dispose of them, and bag up the
dust and lay up the vessel, as the crew are soon among the missing. The
cleanest clear out is where the captain follows the crew. There are
many vessels in San Francisco that cannot weigh anchor, even with the
assistance of three or four neighbouring vessels. Supercargoes must
land cargo on arriving, or have no crew to do it for them. Some vessels
continue to go to sea, with small crews, at 50 dollars per month for
green hands. Old hands are too wise for them, and prefer digging an
ounce or two a-day, and drinking hock and champagne at half an ounce
a-bottle, and eating bad sea bread at 1 dollar per pound. I have seen a
captain of a vessel, who, by his old contract in the port whence he
sailed, was getting 60 dollars per month, paying his cook 75 dollars,
and offering 100 dollars per month for a steward; his former crew, even
to his mates, having gone a 'prospecting.' Uncle Sam's ships suffer a
little the same way, although they offer from 200 to 500 dollars for
the apprehension of a deserter. The Ohio, however, laid in the port of
Monterey about a month, and lost only 20 or 30 men. Colonel Stevenson's
regiment is disbanded, 99 out of 100 of whom have also gone 'prospecting,'
including the colonel, who arrived in Monterey last month, from his
last post, and was met by his men at the edge of the town, to escort
and cheer him into the town. The captains, etc., have bought up
country carts and oxen, turned drivers, and gone to the Placer. Our
worthy governor, Colonel of the 1st Dragoons, etc., having plenty of
carts, wagons, horses, and mules, with a few regulars left, has also
gone, but under better advantages, for the second or third time, to see
the Placer and the country, and have justice done to his countrymen or
himself. Commodore Jones, lately arrived in Monterey, supposed it to be
the capital, head-quarters, etc., but found not even the Governor left.
Where head-quarters are may be uncertain, whether in Monterey, Sutter's
Fort, or in a four-mule wagon travelling over the gold region. Now,
whether headquarters are freighted with munitions of war, etc., or
whether the cargo consists of blankets, shirts, etc., to clothe the
suffering Indians, for the paltry consideration of gold, no one cares
or knows; but the principle should be, that, if privates can or will be
off making their thousands, those who are better able should not go
goldless."

The _Washington Union_ contains a letter from Lieutenant Larkin, dated
Monterey, November 16, received at the State Department, containing
further confirmation of the previous despatches, public and private,
and far outstripping all other news in its exciting character. The gold
was increasing in size and quality daily. Lumps were found weighing
from one to two pounds. Several had been heard of weighing as high as
16 pounds, and one 25 pounds. Many men, who were poor in June, were
worth 30,000 dollars, by digging and trading with the Indians. 100
dollars a-day is the average amount realized daily, from July to
October. Half the diggers were sick with fevers, though not many deaths
had occurred among them. The Indians would readily give an ounce of
gold for a common calico shirt; others were selling for ten dollars
each in specie. The gold region extends over a track of 300 miles, and
it was not known that it did not extend 1000. A letter from Commodore
Jones states that many of the petty officers and men had deserted and
gone in search of the gold. He adds, the Indians were selling gold at
50 cents the ounce. Many vessels were deserted by captain, cook, and
seamen. The ship _Isaac Walton_ offered discharged soldiers 50 dollars
per month to go to Callao, which was refused. She was supplied by
government sailors. All the naval vessels on the coast were short of
hands. Nearly the whole of the 3rd Artillery had deserted. Provisions
were scarce and high; board, 4 dollars a-day; washing, 6 dollars
a-dozen. Merchants' clerks get from 2000 to 3000 dollars a-year.

CHAPTER XVIII.

  Route by land
  Outfit, etc., and advice to intending Emigrants.

The route via Independence or St. Joseph, Mo., to Fort Laramie, South
Pass, Fort Hall, the Sink of Mary's River, etc., etc., the _old_ route.
Let no emigrant, carrying his family with him, deviate from it, or
imagine that he can find a better road. This road is the best that has
yet been discovered, and to the Bay of San Francisco and the Gold
Region it is much the shortest. The Indians, moreover, on this route,
have, up to the present time, been so friendly as to commit no acts of
hostility on the emigrants. The trail is plain and good where there are
no physical obstructions, and the emigrant, by taking this route, will
certainly reach his destination in good season and without disaster.
From our information we would most earnestly advise all emigrants to
take this trail, without deviation, if they would avoid the fatal
calamities which almost invariably have attended those who have
undertaken to explore new routes.

The lightest wagon that can be constructed, of sufficient strength to
carry 2500 pounds' weight, is the vehicle most desirable. No wagon
should be loaded over this weight, or if it is, it will be certain to
stall in the muddy sloughs and crossings on the prairie in the first
part of the journey. This wagon can be hauled by three or four yokes of
oxen or six mules. Oxen are usually employed by the emigrants for
hauling their wagons. They travel about 15 miles per day, and, all
things considered, are perhaps equal to mules for this service,
although they cannot travel so fast. They are, however, less expensive,
and there is not so much danger of their straying and of being stolen
by the Indians.

Pack-mules can only be employed by parties of men. It would be very
difficult to transport a party of women and children on pack-mules,
with the provisions, clothing, and other baggage necessary to their
comfort. A party of men, however, with pack-mules, can make the journey
in less time by one month than it can be done in wagons--carrying with
them, however, nothing more than their provisions, clothing, and
ammunition.

For parties of _men_ going out, it would be well to haul their wagons,
provisions, etc., as far as Fort Laramie, or Fort Hall, by mules,
carrying with them pack-saddles and _alforjases_, or large saddle-bags,
adapted to the pack-saddle, with ropes for packing, etc., when, if they
saw proper, they could dispose of their wagons for Indian ponies, and
pack into California, gaining perhaps two or three weeks' time.

The provisions actually necessary per man are as follows:--

  150 lbs. of flour.
  150  do.  bacon.
  25   do.  coffee.
  30   do.  sugar.

Added to these, the main items, there should be a small quantity of
rice, 50 or 75 lbs. of crackers, dried peaches, etc., and a keg of
lard, with salt, pepper, etc., and such other luxuries of light weight
as the person outfitting chooses to purchase. He will think of them
before he starts.

Every man should be provided with a good rifle, and, if convenient,
with a pair of pistols, five pounds of powder, and ten pounds of lead.
A revolving belt-pistol may be found useful.

With the wagon, there should be carried such carpenter's tools as a
hand-saw, auger, gimlet, chisel, shaving-knife, etc., an axe, hammer,
and hatchet. This last weapon every man should have in his belt, with a
hunter's or a bowie-knife.

From Independence to the first settlement in California, which is near
the _gold region_, it is about 2050 miles--to San Francisco, 2290
miles.

The accounts that have been received and published in regard to the
wealth and productiveness of the gold mines, and other mines in
California, are undoubtedly true. They are derived from the most
authentic and reliable sources, and from individuals whose veracity may
be undoubtingly believed.

When a young man arrives there, he must turn his attention to whatever
seems to promise the largest recompense for his labour. It is
impossible in the new state of things produced by the late discoveries,
and the influx of population, to foresee what this might be. The
country is rich in agricultural resources, as well as in the precious
metals, and, with proper enterprise and industry, he could scarcely
fail to do well.

Families, as well as parties going out, should carry with them good
tents, to be used after their arrival as houses. The influx of
population will probably be so great that it will be difficult, if not
impossible, to obtain other shelter for some time after their arrival.
The climate of the country, however, even in winter, is so mild that,
with good tents, comfort is attainable. They should be careful, also,
to carry as much _subsistence_ into the country as they can; as what
they purchase there, after their arrival, they will be compelled to pay
a high price for.

The shortest route to California is unquestionably by the West India
Mail Packets, which leave Southampton on the 17th of every month. The
point to which they take passengers is Chagres. This voyage is usually
accomplished in about 22 to 26 days. From thence passengers proceed
across the Isthmus, a distance of about 52 miles (say three or four
days' journey) to Panama, and thence 3500 miles by sea in the Pacific
to St. Francisco. From the vast number of eager emigrants that it is
expected will assemble at Panama, it is very probable that great delay
will be occasioned from there not being sufficient number of vessels to
convey them to their destination. Unless such adventurers are
abundantly supplied with money, they will not be able to live in the
hot desolation of the tropics, where life is but little valued, and
where death is even less regarded. The entire route by sea (round Cape
Horn) cannot be less than 18,500 miles, and generally occupies from
five to six months, yet this route is much cheaper, safer, and in the
end (from the delay that will occur at Panama) quite as _short_. This
route, particularly to parties from England, is universally allowed to
be the best many, dangers and difficulties that attend the route across
the Isthmus of Panama (not noticing the probable delay) will be
avoided, and many a one will bitterly regret that he was ever induced
to attempt (as he perceives ship after ship sailing gallantly on to
these favoured regions) what he considered a shorter route, from the
want of the means of transit, while he is himself compelled idly to
waste his time, a prey to pestilence and to the "hope deferred that
maketh the heart sick."

APPENDIX.

The following are letters addressed to the Government at Washington,
and other communications, all of which, it will be seen, are fully
confirmatory of the accounts given in the preceding pages; with other
details of interest relative to the state of the gold districts:

_Extract from a Letter from Mr. Larkin, United States Consul at
Monterey, to Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of State at Washington._

"San Francisco (Upper California), June 1, 1848.

"Sir: * * * I have to report to the State Department one of the most
astonishing excitements and state of affairs now existing in this
country, that, perhaps, has ever been brought to the notice of the
Government. On the American fork of the Sacramento and Feather River,
another branch of the same, and the adjoining lands, there has been
within the present year discovered a placer, a vast tract of land
containing gold, in small particles. This gold, thus far, has been
taken on the bank of the river, from the surface to eighteen inches in
depth, and is supposed deeper, and to extend over the country.

"On account of the inconvenience of washing, the people have, up to
this time, only gathered the metal on the banks, which is done simply
with a shovel, filling a shallow dish, bowl, basket, or tin pan, with a
quantity of black sand, similar to the class used on paper, and washing
out the sand by movement of the vessel. It is now two or three weeks
since the men employed in those washings have appeared in this town
with gold, to exchange for merchandise and provisions. I presume nearly
20,000 dollars of this gold has as yet been so exchanged. Some 200 or
300 men have remained up the river, or are gone to their homes, for the
purpose of returning to the Placer, and washing immediately with
shovels, picks, and baskets; many of them, for the first few weeks,
depending on borrowing from others. I have seen the written statement
of the work of one man for sixteen days, which averaged 25 dollars per
day; others have, with a shovel and pan, or wooden bowl, washed out 10
dollars to even 50 dollars in a day. There are now some men yet washing
who have 500 dollars to 1,000 dollars. As they have to stand two feet
deep in the river, they work but a few hours in the day, and not every
day in the week.

"A few men have been down in boats to this port, spending twenty to
thirty ounces of gold each--about 300 dollars. I am confident that this
town (San Francisco) has one-half of its tenements empty, locked up
with the furniture. The owners--storekeepers, lawyers, mechanics, and
labourers--all gone to the Sacramento with their families. Small
parties, of five to fifteen men, have sent to this town and offered
cooks ten to fifteen dollars per day for a few weeks. Mechanics and
teamsters, earning the year past five to eight dollars per day, have
struck and gone. Several U.S. volunteers have deserted. U.S. barque
Anita, belonging to the Army, now at anchor here, has but six men. One
Sandwich Island vessel in port lost all her men; and was obliged to
engaged another crew at 50 dollars for the run of fifteen days to the
Islands.

"One American captain having his men shipped on this coast in such a
manner that they could leave at any time, had them all on the eve of
quitting, when he agreed to continue their pay and food; leaving one on
board, he took a boat and carried them to the gold regions--furnishing
tools and giving his men one-third. They have been gone a week. Common
spades and shovels, one month ago worth 1 dollar, will now bring 10
dollars, at the gold regions. I am informed 50 dollars has been offered
for one. Should this gold continue as represented, this town and others
would be depopulated. Clerks' wages have risen from 600 dollars to 1000
per annum, and board; cooks, 25 dollars to 30 dollars per month. This
sum will not be any inducement a month longer, unless the fever and
ague appears among the washers. The _Californian_, printed here,
stopped this week. The _Star_ newspaper office, where the new laws of
Governor Mason, for this country, are printing, has but one man left. A
merchant, lately from China, has even lost his China servants. Should
the excitement continue through the year, and the whale-ships visit San
Francisco, I think they will lose most all their crews. How Col. Mason
can retain his men, unless he puts a force on the spot, I know not.

"I have seen several pounds of this gold, and consider it very pure,
worth in New York 17 dollars to 18 dollars per ounce; 14 dollars to 16
dollars, in merchandise, is paid for it here. What good or bad effect
this gold mania will have on California, I cannot foretell. It may end
this year; but I am informed that it will continue many years.
Mechanics now in this town are only wailing to finish some rude
machinery, to enable them to obtain the gold more expeditiously, and
free from working in the river. Up to this time, but few Californians
have gone to the mines, being afraid the Americans will soon have
trouble among themselves, and cause disturbance to all around. I have
seen some of the black sand, as taken from the bottom of the river (I
should think in the States it would bring 25 to 50 cents per pound),
containing many pieces of gold; they are from the size of the head of a
pin to the weight of the eighth of an ounce. I have seen some weighing
one-quarter of an ounce (4 dollars). Although my statements are almost
incredible, I believe I am within the statements believed by every one
here. Ten days back, the excitement had not reached Monterey. I shall,
within a few days, visit this gold mine, and will make another report
to you. Inclosed you will have a specimen.

"I have the honour to be, very respectfully,

"THOMAS O. LARKIN.

"P.S. This placer, or gold region, is situated on public land."

"_Mr. Larkin to Mr. Buchanan._

"Monterey, California, June 28, 1848.

"SIR: My last dispatch to the State Department was written in San
Francisco, the 1st of this month. In that I had the honour to give some
information respecting the new 'placer,' or gold regions lately
discovered on the branches of the Sacramento River. Since the writing
of that dispatch I have visited a part of the gold region, and found it
all I had heard, and much more than I anticipated. The part that I
visited was upon a fork of the American River, a branch of the
Sacramento, joining the main river at Sutter's Fort. The place in which
I found the people digging was about twenty-five miles from the fort by
land.

"I have reason to believe that gold will be found on many branches of
the Sacramento and the Joaquin rivers. People are already scattered
over one hundred miles of land, and it is supposed that the 'placer'
extends from river to river. At present the workmen are employed within
ten or twenty yards of the river, that they may be convenient to water.
On Feather river there are several branches upon which the people are
digging for gold. This is two or three days' ride from the place I
visited.

"At my camping place I found, on a surface of two or three miles on the
banks of the river, some fifty tents, mostly owned by Americans. These
had their families. There are no Californians who have taken their
families as yet to the gold regions; but few or none will ever do it;
some from New Mexico may do so next year, but no Californians.

"I was two nights at a tent occupied by eight Americans, viz., two
sailors, one clerk, two carpenters, and three daily workmen. These men
were in company; had two machines, each made from one hundred feet of
boards (worth there 150 dollars, in Monterey 15 dollars--being one
day's work), made similar to a child's cradle, ten feet long, without
the ends.

"The two evenings I saw these eight men bring to their tents the labour
of the day. I suppose they made each 50 dollars per day; their own
calculation was two pounds of gold a-day--four ounces to a man--64
dollars. I saw two brothers that worked together, and only worked by
washing the dirt in a tin pan, weigh the gold they obtained in one day;
the result was 7 dollars to one, 82 dollars to the other. There were
two reasons for this difference; one man worked less hours than the
other, and by chance had ground less impregnated with gold. I give this
statement as an extreme case. During my visit I was an interpreter for
a native of Monterey, who was purchasing a machine or canoe. I first
tried to purchase boards and hire a carpenter for him. There were but a
few hundred feet of boards to be had; for these the owner asked me 50
dollars per hundred (500 dollars per thousand), and a carpenter washing
gold dust demanded 50 dollars per day for working. I at last purchased
a log dug out, with a riddle and sieve made of willow boughs on it, for
120 dollars, payable in gold dust at 14 dollars per ounce. The owner
excused himself for the price, by saying he was two days making it, and
even then demanded the use of it until sunset. My Californian has told
me since, that himself, partner, and two Indians, obtained with this
canoe eight ounces the first and five ounces the second day.

"I am of the opinion that on the American fork, Feather River, and
Copimes River, there are near two thousand people, nine-tenths of them
foreigners. Perhaps there are one hundred families, who have their
teams, wagons, and tents. Many persons are waiting to see whether the
months of July and August will be sickly, before they leave their
present business to go to the 'Placer.' The discovery of this gold was
made by some Mormons, in January or February, who for a time kept it a
secret; the majority of those who are working there began in May. In
most every instance the men, after digging a few days, have been
compelled to leave for the purpose of returning home to see their
families, arrange their business, and purchase provisions. I feel
confident in saying there are fifty men in this 'Placer' who have on an
average 1,000 dollars each, obtained in May and June. I have not met
with any person who had been fully employed in washing gold one month;
most, however, appear to have averaged an ounce per day. I think there
must, by this time, be over 1,000 men at work upon the different
branches of the Sacramento; putting their gains at 10,000 dollars per
day, for six days in the week, appears to me not overrated.

"Should this news reach the emigration of California and Oregon, now on
the road, connected with the Indian wars, now impoverishing the latter
country, we should have a large addition to our population; and should
the richness of the gold region continue, our emigration in 1849 will
be many thousands, and in 1850 still more. If our countrymen in
California, as clerks, mechanics, and workmen, will forsake employment
at from 2 dollars to 6 dollars per day, how many more of the same class
in the Atlantic States, earning much less, will leave for this country
under such prospects? It is the opinion of many who have visited the
gold regions the past and present months, that the ground will afford
gold for many years, perhaps for a century. From my own examination of
the rivers and their banks, I am of opinion that, at least for a few
years, the golden products will equal the present year. However, as
neither men of science, nor the labourers now at work, have made any
explorations of consequence, it is a matter of impossibility to give
any opinion as to the extent and richness of this part of California.
Every Mexican who has seen the place says throughout their Republic
there has never been any 'placer like this one.'

"Could Mr. Polk and yourself see California as we now see it, you would
think that a few thousand people, on 100 miles square of the Sacramento
valley, would yearly turn out of this river the whole price our country
pays for the acquired territory. When I finished my first letter I
doubted my own writing, and, to be better satisfied, showed it to one
of the principal merchants of San Francisco, and to Captain Fulsom, of
the Quartermaster's Department, who decided at once I was far below the
reality. You certainly will suppose, from my two letters, that I am,
like others, led away by the excitement of the day. I think I am not.
In my last I inclosed a small sample of the gold dust, and I find my
only error was in putting a value to the sand. At that time I was not
aware how the gold was found; I now can describe the mode of collecting
it.

"A person without a machine, after digging off one or two feet of the
upper ground, near the water (in some cases they take the top earth),
throws into a tin pan or wooden bowl a shovel full of loose dirt and
stones; then placing the basin an inch or two under water, continues to
stir up the dirt with his hand in such a manner that the running water
will carry off the light earths, occasionally, with his hand, throwing
out the stones; after an operation of this kind for twenty or thirty
minutes, a spoonful of small black sand remains; this is on a
handkerchief or cloth dried in the sun, the emerge is blown off,
leaving the pure gold. I have the pleasure of inclosing a paper of this
sand and gold, which I from a bucket of dirt and stones, in
half-an-hour, standing at the edge of the water, washed out myself. The
value of it may be 2 dollars or 3 dollars.

"The size of the gold depends in some measure upon the river from which
it is taken; the banks of one river having larger grains of gold than
another. I presume more than one half of the gold put into pans or
machines is washed out and goes down the stream; this is of no
consequence to the washers, who care only for the present time. Some
have formed companies of four or five men, and have a rough-made
machine put together in a day, which worked to much advantage, yet many
prefer to work alone, with a wooden bowl or tin pan, worth fifteen or
twenty cents in the States, but eight to sixteen dollars at the gold
region. As the workmen continue, and materials can be obtained,
improvements will take place in the mode of obtaining gold; at present
it is obtained by standing in the water, and with much severe labour,
or such as is called here severe labour.

"How long this gathering of gold by the handful will continue here, or
the future effect it will have on California, I cannot say.
Three-fourths of the houses in the town on the bay of San Francisco are
deserted. Houses are sold at the price of the ground lots. The effects
are this week showing themselves in Monterey. Almost every house I had
hired out is given up. Every blacksmith, carpenter, and lawyer is
leaving; brick-yards, saw-mills and ranches are left perfectly alone. A
large number of the volunteers at San Francisco and Sonoma have
deserted; some have been retaken and brought back; public and private
vessels are losing their crews; my clerks have had 100 per cent.
advance offered them on their wages to accept employment. A complete
revolution in the ordinary state of affairs is taking place; both of
our newspapers are discontinued from want of workmen and the loss of
their agencies; the Alcaldes have left San Francisco, and I believe
Sonoma likewise; the former place has not a Justice of the Peace left.

"The second Alcalde of Monterey to-day joins the keepers of our
principal hotel, who have closed their office and house, and will leave
to-morrow for the golden rivers. I saw on the ground a lawyer who was
last year Attorney-General of the King of the Sandwich Islands, digging
and washing out his ounce and a half per day; near him can be found
most all his brethren of the long robe, working in the same occupation.

"To conclude; my letter is long, but I could not well describe what I
have seen in less words, and I now can believe that my account may be
doubted. If the affair proves a bubble, a mere excitement, I know not
how we can all be deceived, as we are situated. Governor Mason and his
staff have left Monterey to visit the place in question, and will, I
suppose, soon forward to his department his views and opinions on this
subject. Most of the land, where gold has been discovered, is public
land; there are on different rivers some private grants. I have three
such purchased in 1846 and 1847, but have not learned that any private
lands have produced gold, though they may hereafter do so. I have the
honour, dear sir, to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"THOMAS O. LARKIN."

DESERTION FROM THE SHIPS.--We collate from other sources several other
interesting letters and documents, and which will be found well worth
perusal.

"Monterey, Sept. 15, 1848.

"Messrs. Grinnell, Minturn, and Co.:

"Sirs--I embrace this opportunity to inform you of my new situation,
which is bad enough. All hands have left me but two; they will stay
till the cargo is landed and ballast in, then they will go. Both mates
will leave in a few days, and then I will have only the two boys, and I
am fearful that they will run. I have got all landed but 900 barrels;
on Monday I shall get off ballast if the weather is good. There's no
help to be got at any price. The store-ship that sailed from here ten
days ago took three of my men at 100 dollars per month; there is
nothing that anchors here but what loses their men. I have had a hard
time in landing the cargo; I go in the boat every load. If I can get it
on shore I shall save the freight. As for the ship she will lay here
for a long time, for there's not the least chance of getting a crew.
The coasters are giving 100 dollars per month. All the ships at San
Francisco have stripped and laid up. The Flora, of New London, is at
San Francisco; all left. You probably have heard of the situation of
things here. A sailor will be up at the mines for two months, work on
his own account, and come down with from two to three thousand dollars,
and those that go in parties do much better. I have been offered 20
dollars per day to go, by one of the first men here, and work one year.
It is impossible for me to give you any idea of the gold that is got
here. Yours respectfully,

"CHRISTOPHER ALLEN,
Captain of the ship Isaac Walton."

Another letter dated St. Francisco, September 1st, contains the
following:--

"A day or two ago the Flora, Captain Potter, of New London, anchored in
Whaleman's Harbour, on the opposite side of the Bay. Yesterday the
captain, fearing he would lose all his men, weighed anchor, intending
to go to sea. After getting under weigh, the crew, finding the ship was
heading out, refused to do duty, and the captain was forced to return
and anchor here. Last night nine of the crew gagged the watch, lowered
one of the boats, and rowed off. They have not been heard of since, and
are now probably half way to the gold region. The Flora is twenty-six
months out, with only 750 bbls. of oil. Every vessel that comes in here
now is sure to lose her crew, and this state of things must continue
until the squadron arrives, when, if the men-o'-war-men do not run off
too, merchant-men may retain their crews.

"The whale-ship Euphrates, of New Bedford, left here a few weeks since,
for the United States, to touch on the coast of Chili to recruit. The
Minerva, Captain Perry, of New Bedford, has abandoned the whaling
business, and is now on his way hence to Valparaiso for a cargo of
merchandise. Although two large ships, four barks, and eight or ten
brigs and schooners have arrived here since my return from the mineral
country, about four weeks since, with large cargoes of merchandise,
their entire invoices have been sold. Vessels are daily arriving from
the islands and ports upon the coast, laden with goods and passengers,
the latter destined for the gold-washings.

"Much sickness prevails among the gold-diggers; many have left the
ground sick, and many more have discontinued their labours for the
present, and gone into more healthy portions of the country, intending
to return after the sickly season has passed. From the best information
I can obtain, there are from two to three thousand persons at work at
the gold-washings with the same success as heretofore."

THE DIGGINGS.--Extract of a letter from Monterey, Aug. 29.

"At present the people are running over the country and picking it out
of the earth here and there, just as a thousand hogs, let loose in a
forest, would root up ground-nuts. Some get eight or ten ounces a-day,
and the least active one or two. They make the most who employ the wild
Indians to hunt it for them. There is one man who has sixty Indians in
his employ; his profits are a dollar a-minute. The wild Indians know
nothing of its value, and wonder what the pale-faces want to do with
it; they will give an ounce of it for the same weight of coined silver,
or a thimbleful of glass beads, or a glass of grog. And white men
themselves often give an ounce of it, which is worth at our mint 18
dollars, or more, for a bottle of brandy, a bottle of soda-powders, or
a plug of tobacco.

"As to the quantity which the diggers get, take a few facts as
evidence. I know seven men who worked seven weeks and two days, Sundays
excepted, on Feather River; they employed on an average fifty Indians,
and got out in these seven weeks and two days 275 pounds of pure gold.
I know the men, and have seen the gold, and know what they state to be
a fact--so stick a pin there. I know ten other men who worked ten days
in company, employed no Indians, and averaged in these ten days 1500
dollars each; so stick another pin there. I know another man who got
out of a basin in a rock, not larger than a wash-bowl, two pounds and a
half of gold in fifteen minutes; so stick another pin there! Not one of
these statements would I believe, did I not know the men personally,
and know them to be plain matter-of-fact men--men who open a vein of
gold just as coolly as you would a potato-hill."

ASSAY OF THE GOLD.--Lieutenant Loeser having arrived at Washington with
specimens of the gold from the diggings, the following account of its
quality appeared in the "Washington Union," the government organ:--

"Understanding last evening that the lieutenant had arrived in this
city, and had deposited in the War Office the precious specimens he had
brought with him, we called to see them, and to free our mind from all
hesitation as to the genuineness of the metal. We had seen doubts
expressed in some of our exchange papers; and we readily admit that the
accounts so nearly approached the miraculous, that we were relieved by
the evidence of our own senses on the subject. The specimens have all
the appearance of the native gold we had seen from the mines of North
Carolina and Virginia, and we are informed that the Secretary would
send the small chest, called a caddy, containing about 3,000 dollars'
worth of gold, in lumps and scales, to the mint, to be melted into
coins and bars. The specimens have come to Washington as they were
extracted from the materials of the placer. The heaviest piece brought
by Lieutenant Loeser weighs a little more than two ounces; but the
varied contents of the casket (as described in Colonel Mason's
schedule) will be sent off to-day, by special messenger, to the mint at
Philadelphia for assay, and early next week we hope to have the
pleasure of laying the result before our readers." The assay was
subsequently made, and the result officially announced. The gold is
declared to be from 3 to 8 per cent. purer than American standard gold
coin.

ANOTHER ASSAY.--The following is the report of an assay of Californian
gold dust, received by Mr. T.O. Larkin, United States consul at
Monterey.

"New York, Dec. 8, 1848.

"Sir,--I have assayed the portion of gold dust, or metal, from
California, which you sent me, and the result shows that it is fully
equal to any found in our Southern gold mines. I return you 10-3/4
grains out of the 12 which I have tested, the value of which is 45
cents. It is 21-1/2 carats fine--within half a carat of the quality of
English sovereigns or American eagles--and is almost ready to go to the
mint. The finest gold metal we get is from Africa, which is 22-1/2 to
23 carats fine. In Virginia we have mines where the quality of the gold
is much inferior--some of it so low as 19 carats--and in Georgia the
mines produce it nearly 22 carats fine. The gold of California, which I
have now assayed, is fully equal to that of any, and much superior to
some produced from the mines in our Southern States.

"JOHN WARWICK,
Smelter and refiner, 17, John-Street."

INCONVENIENCES OF TOO MUCH GOLD.--The following letter (January 12)
from Captain Fulsom, of the United States Service, writing from San
Francisco, confirms the fact of the difficulty of procuring servants,
or indeed manual assistance of any description:--

"All sorts of labour is got at enormous rates of compensation. Common
clerks and salesmen in the stores about town often receive as high as
2500 dollars and their board. The principal waiter in the hotel where I
board is paid 1700 dollars per year, and several others from 1200 to
1500 dollars! I fortunately have an Indian boy, or I should be forced
to clean my own boots, for I could not employ a good body servant for
the full amount of my salary as a government officer. I believe every
army officer in California, with one or two exceptions, would have
resigned last summer could they have done it, and been free at once to
commence for themselves. But the war was not then terminated, and no
one could hope to communicate with Washington correspondents, to get an
answer in less than six, and perhaps ten, months. For some time last
summer (August and July) the officers at Monterey were entirely without
servants; and the governor (Colonel Mason) actually took his turn in
cooking for his mess."

EFFECTS OF THIS DISCOVERY ON THE UNITED STATES.--The following remarks
upon the influence of this immense discovery, which appeared in a
popular New York journal on the 23rd January, proves the extent of