THE CERIS INDIANS. REPORTED CAPTIVITY OF A SPANISH LADY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 750, 14 January 1860, Page 3

THE CERIS INDIANS. REPORTED CAPTIVITY OF A SPANISH LADY.

At the present time, when a case of assumed captivity of white girls amongst the aborigines is under investigation, the following in reference to the Ceris Indians will be interesting. It occurs in the correspondence of the ' San Francisco Evening Bulletin' of Sept. 26. The writer dates from Senora:— ,The Ceris are now quiet and peaceful, and the highway as secure as any in California. Every mile or two we passed a long stage of mules or a string of heavy waggons bound to Guaymas. But it was not always so. Five years ago Senorita—— was one of the belles of Guaymas. : Young, 'beautiful, and witty, of good descent and well connected, life passed merrily along, and all her dreams of futurity were doubtless clothed in the roseate hues that gild the visions of youth. In an evil hour she left her home to pay a long-due visit to some friends in Hermossillo. On the road the escort was attacked and overpowered by a prowling band of Ceris, the men slain, and herself and a little boy carried into captivity. Long and unwearied was the search instituted by the bereaved family for the missing child; but all in vain. The haunts of the Ceris were ransacked without the slightest clue being discovered, and her relations were reluctantly forced to admit the conclusion that she had only been spared in the general massacre to be put to death with all the refinement of cruelty that only a savage mind can elaborate. Years passed on, the circumstance was almost forgotten in the whirl of political excitement. When the family reflected on,the lost one, it was as if the tomb had closed over her. Masses were said for the repose of her spirit, and Time, the healer, had cicatrized the wound her loss had caused in the bosoms of those to whom she had been near and dear.

The Ceris became reduced in numbers, and were compelled to obedience ; their stronghold, Tiburon, was thrown open to the curiosity of the traveller, and the mystery which once enveloped its fastnesses rudely dispelled. A month ago, a wandering fisherman, passing through one of the Ceri villages, was accosted by a young female, retaining yet in her squalor the traces of superior beauty, the wife of the principal chief, who addressing him in imperfect Spanish, inquired if he knew the family of-—, in Guaymas/ He replied in the affirmative, and, his curiosity excited by the questions she proposed concerning its members, he pressed inquiries in his turn, when she confessed she was the long-mourned uenorita. Her captors had concealed her deftly while search was going on, then tattoed her person, and the chief had chosen her for his consort. Two children were the fruit of this union, and, to the urging of the man that she would attempt to escape under his guidance, she replied that she had become reconciled to her fate, and had no desire to return to

tho place of her nativity to be an object for the pity or perhaps the jeers and scoffs of her former companions and rivals. Besides, any attempt at flight would, if unsuccessful, entail certain destruction on both. The boy was completely Indianized, and expressed himself perfectly delighted with his.present life and without the slightest desire to change it. The poor girl parted in tears from her compassionate countryman, who returned to Guaymas with the news. Immediately on receipt of the information, the brothers of tho young lady, well armed and provided, set out for the Ceri country, resolved to rescue their sister at all hazards. When I left Guaymas, they had not returned, nor had any advices been received as to how they had sped in their mission.

The Right of Appeal,—-The moment a man, finds that his act is not final, he is likely to become careless; and the mode in which grand juries perform their duties, compared with the mode in which petty juries perform them, is some proof of the proposition. It is certainly a matter for serious consideration whether a court of appeal on matters of fact would not materially diminish the care at present bestowed by juries in criminal trials; though it must be admitted that in civil cases no such result has followed. The question, however, now is, not whether an appeal as to matters of fact should be granted, but in what manner the appeal should be conducied. The truth is there is an appeal on matters of fact.' Late events have distinctly proved that no sooner has a man been convicted than the home secretary is called upon to review the decision of the judge and the jury, and that task the home secretary has undertaken. Unless the whole of our judicial system is a cumbrous absurdity^ that minister has no means of properly discharging the task imposed upon him. And the real question is, how should this grave defect be remedied ? It will not do to say that every man convicted of any crime should have an appeal, for such a thing would be impracticable. It will not do to say that an appeal shall be allowed where the judge and the jury, or either of them, express a doubt; for neither in the case of Palmer, nor in that of Dr. Smethurst, would the appeal have been granted. The person at present to be moved is the home secretary. The most convenient plan, therefore, is that this officer, upon the advice of three of the judges, should grant the prisoner leave to move for a new trial before all the judges. If permission were granted by the home secretary, upon the advice of the three judges, and that judgment were afterwards ratified by the twelve, the trial should take place. No doubt, in strict justice, society ought to possess the same right as the supposed criminal. It is quite true that many more criminals are unjustly acquitted than unjustly condemned. If a prisoner is entitled to a new trial, so is society, represented by the crown. But human nature is too weak for this. The maxim nemo bis vexari debet is too deeply fixed on men's minds. If a man were tried a second time he would be sure of an acquittal. But a second trial for a convicted man is a very different matter. The question is not mere matter of speculation. It is forced upon public attention. The right of appeal as to facts exists now. The solemn judgment of a judge and jury is liable to be reversed by the judgment of a single individual, acting upon principles which may be just or unjust, but which is totally undefined, and which ought, therefore, to be excluded from every judicial system.-— Daily News. Indiak Mutiny Medals.—We have.been favoured with a sight of one of the medals now in process of striking at the Mint, and intended as rewards for the valour displayed by our force in suppressing the sepoy insurrection in India. It is a fine work of art. The size of the new Indian medal is precisely ■ that of the well-known Crimean decoration, and, in fact, the obverse—the head of her Majesty, with the legend "Victoria Eegina"—seems to be the product of the identical die used for those too lavisly dispensed discs of silver. The reverse, however, presents a totally different device. The British lion, or a lion, is shown standing in all bis natural dignity beside an erect figure of Britannia, who, with an oval quartered shield on her left arm, and a reserve of wreaths in her left hand, is extending her right hand as if in the act of bestowing upon a ; brave, but, so far as the medal goes, invisible warrior, one of the leafy chaplets. The word "India" surmounts the head of Britannia, who it is really refreshing to see represented on her legs after so long a sitting on our expiring copper coinage, while the dates -1857-1858 placed before the frieze declare the period when the immortal deeds of arms for which the medals are to be awarded were performed. The material of which the medals are composed is fine silver, the weight of precisely one ounce, and the number to be produced, as we are informed, something like 100,000. May those for whom they are intended long survive to wear them, and, if need be; go forth to earn others in the Celestial Empire, where treachery, great as that of Hindostan, seems, to exist, and where prowess must again be displayed! Mr. L. C. Wyon designed, as his name under the frieze denotes, the reverse of the Indian medal, while the late W. Wyon was the artist for v the obverse.— Mechanics' Magazine. Railway Poverty.—This, in a few words, is the real secret of railway poverty. The companies are in debt; there are mortgages on their earnings, and as they are obliged to satisfy their creditors before reimbursing themselves, their divisible profits* dwindle down as we see. Otherwise, there is certainly nothing in the results of these enterprises of which any shareholder need complain. Working expenses are high, and, indeed rather on the increase, but they leave a fair balance nevertheless. In 1859 they averaged 49 per cent, of the receipts, so that more than sixpence out of every shilling taken at the counter was good for gain, although the outgoings were so comprehensively reckoned as to cover everything. The term "working expenses" includes an immense variety of charges. There is the maintenance of the way, comprising all kinds of repairs, &c, on the line itself, and forming about 16 per cent, of the gross demand. Then there is the rolling stock—carriages, trucks, locomotives, and !>o forth—standing for some 37 percent. Traffic charges count for 27 per cent.; miscellaneous, though including police, watchmen, and compensations, only 13 per cent., and rates and taxes, though a good deal grumbled at, only 7. Yet, alter all these charges have been provided for, there still remains £51 out of every £100 clear profit. What would that not pay per cent, if railway companies had never quarrelled and never borrowed, and if " railway capital" represented nothing more than the money fairly spent on the construction of the line! However, for these, as for other follies, there is no help now; we pnlyexplain the matter to show how the case really stands, and how small, comparatively speaking, is the margin for economy or improvement. It is just the counterpart of the national budget. We can pare and scrape here and there, but, the standing charges overpower all our little savings. All that railway companies can now do is to raise their dividends to a respectable figure. They cannot recover the prospects which were theirs at the beginning. The : visions of ten, twenty,: or thirty,per cent, were reasonable enough then j.they might but for mismanagement have been actually realised, but they are purely chimerical now. Still, an average dividend of five per cent., or so, cannot be out of reach, and with that shareholders would probably be satisfied, especially if the market value of shares bore a fair proportion to s the investment and its returns. The way to these desirable results is clear enough. Railway companies must not quarrel, or, at least, if they quarrel, they must not fight. They must look their affairs boldly in the face, and not be afraid of telling the truth when it happens to be disagreeable. The worst can be got over when it is known to be the worst; it is uncertainty which creates the great mischief of all. After this, and as regards the public, never was work easier than directors have now before theni. The response of the public to the slightest attention is instantaneous. The least increase, of accommodation multiplies traffic indefinitely. For the next two, months the whole kingdom will be astir, and if railway companies cannot so retrace their steps as to retrieve all their follies, they can, at any rate, turn-to their advantage a species of popular self-indulgence which fifty years ago would have been thought an incredible luxury, but which is now shown to be a safe and beneficial recreation.— Times.