CALIFORNIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 290, 11 August 1855, Page 4

CALIFORNIA.

The reason, probably, why we hare so fewgood romances uow-a-days is that the realities of life have fairly outstripped the wildest dreams of fiction. No novelist can sit down in cold blood and invent incidents or conjure up spectacles so marvellous as any man can witness with his own eyes who will be at the pains of gbinir to and fro upon the earth's surface. The Arabian Nights Tales enchanted our youth, but Farrady and Stephenson would soon perform coiijur-.itions which would quickly put to shame the pale efforts of Arab legerdemain..- What is the City of the Genii to London by night, with its millions of lamps and its thousands of chariots ? Sindbab was a poor creature by the side of the master of the Marco Polo. People no longer draw upon their imaginations for the arid wonders of the equator, or the long-drawn torpor of the Polar night. We go and examine for ourselves into the marvels which the candid ignorance of former ages had connected with secondary enchantments. A lady sets out upon her travels, and travels round the world—no less. A discontented subaltern quits his regiment for the purpose of levying war upon the elephants of Southern Africa, and trying conclusions singlehanded with as many" lions as he can meet. Then, again, would we see human nature in its many phases as it can be seen, it will no longer suffice to sit dozing in an easy chair and to accept representations of life as ihey may be placed before us by the caprice of a popular author. With but little outlay of money, time, or labour, we may take a run through 'the tea districts of China, and amuse ourselves with the humors of the natives, catch the bushmen in theirholes, hold a palaver with the leading spirits of the Caffre tribes, try our hands at reindeersledgiiig with the Laps' near Hairfmerfest, discuss the question of polygamy with that pious Morm>n who lately favoured the world with his views upon the subject in his own back parlour, and in the presence of the three ladies concerned. Why enumerate the many things a man may do and the strange sights he may see if his feet are unfettered and his curiosity active? There is, however, one particular spot to which we would recommend auy wanderer to turn his steps who may wish to see human nature, as it were, inpuris, without the restraints of civili-

zation, but with all the facilities for sensual indulgence which the highest civilization can afford. Let any man who is interesttd in such "matters take a short run to California. The voyage is no great matter. It can be accomplished in six weeks or thereabouts. Let us say a month to the Isthmus, three hours from the Atlantic to the Pacific terminus, a fortnight's run up the coast, and a traveller would find himself in Sacramento, or free to. direct his wandering steps to that part of the country where gold is found, It is not, however, for the gold, and it is not for the picturesque beauties of the country that we recommend the trip ; it is because human nature might there he watched in its undress, as probably in no other spot upon earth. Talk not of savages; they aye everywhere a set of stupid, apathetic .dogs, alike with a difference, from the Esquimaux in his snow-hut to the negro of Central Africa, who, having gorged himself to repletion, and smeared his ebon paunch with copious palm .oil, snores,, odoriferous, under the shade of a single leaf of the Musa Sapientum. The real thing is to see civilized men turned savages, and that is the sight which California can show. As we read the accounts of the diggers who have returned to San Francisco for the purpose of squandering in a few hours' luxury the gold which they had collected at the hazard of their lives and with the toil of months, we are involuntarily reminded of the stories told of the last days of the Palais Royal, as it was when the author of Lacon made it his feverish home, Men stagger in flushed with success— men stagger out pale with despair. Either feeling is of equally short duration. The gains are soon scattered to the winds, the losses quickly repaired. And then what fantastic sights! Great hulking fellows finely plastered with yellow mud, hirsute and roaring, in fishermen's boots, with revolvers and bowie-knives stuck in their girdles, roll into splendid shops, and cast their massive frames into chairs of red Utrecht velvet, opposite magnificent mirrors, and desire to be "cut and curled" in the latest fashion. Then they get themselves-shampooed ; then they fall to drinking champagne out of their hats, if no more appropriate vessel be at hand. The same reckless spirit appears to actuate the whole community. A spirit of "keen competition" has for some time actuated the various companies which ply on the interior waters of California. " Some one to sit on the safetyvalve, and all hands to the pokers," has become the order of the day. As a natural consequence the steamer Pearl was blown to atoms but the_ other day by an explosion of her boiler between Marvsviile and Sacramento. There were 122 persons on board at the time ;of these 60 were killed-ov drowned, and 30 have been severely wounded. It can't be helped—the State must go ahead ! Then, again, San Francisco is a nice city—a very nice city, certainly ; but one in which it is not well to stroll after dark. Nor is it altogether" advisable, if you should be unfortunate enough to differ in opinion from any other gentleman during your sojourn in that town upon any point, theological, political, literary, or social, to express your dissent in any but the most guarded terms. The fact is, a Sau Franciscan never walks about without his revolver in his pocket, and with him it is not a word and a blow, but a shot, and no word. The consequence is, a.« per last advices, '' We have five cases of murder, besides 30 other cases of crime of a serious character, all committed within the last month in San Francisco." But, if the town is not withoutits excitements, neither is country life in California devoid of its more senate gratifications. What would the mild sportsman, who has confined himself to the murder of partridges amid Norfolk stubble, say to the " stalking of convicts?" It is a most" animating pastime. We read in our last accounts from this delightful region that a batch of prisoners who had escaped from the State gaol had plundered the countryside. A general battue was announced to come off. Several head were shot down, more wounded and some taken. Seven or eight escaped. " Now and again we see it announced that they leave their marks in several places. The other day a miner succeeded in killing one, and some one else succeeded in wounding another. The press speaks of the proceeding! as if it were relating, a bear-hunt." We are told that the month lies been prolific in the following crimes:—murders, duels-,*robberieSj burglaries, assaults with deadly weapons, larceny, rape, and other minor offences." Our correspondent admits thai Judge Lynch has been on

circuit a little more frequently of lute,.fov.during the month nine men—that is all—have been put to death by the people. One case only seems to strike upon his imagination as somewhat veinavkable, ami we will call attention to it in his own words :— " An American named Brown was found guilty, after a legal trial, of murder, and condemned to be hung on the same day with a Ciilif'H-nian, also legally condemned for another murder. Brown's execution was ordered by the Supreme Court of the (State to be stayed on an appeal, on the ground of a flaw in the indictment, which would probably s have given him a new trial. The people, however, determined that both criminals should have even-handed justice meted out to them, and. after .the Cali"fornian was executed by the constituted authorities a man broke open the prison and hanged Brown." The Mayor, after he had performed.his part at the legal execution of the Californian, resigued his office, to enable him' consistently to assist in his private capacity' in the Lynching of Brown. At the last accounts he was a candidate for his former office, with every prospect of success. No doubt Brown, was guilty, and, as Los Angelos has long been the scene of murders and other terrible crimes,'the people determined to make a salutary example by an act of stern impartiality. The three men hanged ;at Turner's ferry were guiliy of cattle-stealing—a crime, which has of late been carried to such an extent as to have required a striking example to put a stop td it. There are several horse-stealers in custody, who were rescued from mobs just as they were preparing to execute summary justice upon them. The incident of the Mayor who throws himself upon the constituency—just like Lord John after having accepted the Colonies—strikes one as peculiarly racy and illustrative of life in California. — Hid.