CALIF0RNIAN EXTRACTS. LATEST FROM THE MINES.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 352, 8 September 1849, Page 3

CALIFORNIAN EXTRACTS. LATEST FROM THE MINES.

Extract from a letter dated — Sacramento City, April 14-, 1849 — " Squire Wheeler lias just come in with the news that Richard Johnson and a man named Wood, both of Oregon, with three others, have been killed by the Indians on the Middle Fork. Some men were also killed by the Indians on the Mokelumne, a few di\yß since. They have lately opened some very rict- and extensive new diy diggings, between Satter's mill and the North Fork. Lumps weighing four poanda each, are satd to have been found, but this is probably an exaggeration.' 1 Extract from a letter dated— Benicta,A.pril7, 1849.— Yubais en'ircly deierted. There may posfib y be five families on ths whole river. There it plenty o( g«ld there, but diggers became dissatisfied with twentyfive mid thii ty-two dollaf s per day. The greater number have gone south. Extract from a letter dated — Sasramento, March 21 , 1849 —In my letter to you I •T-nve you some information as to tlie best mining districts, and advised you, if you could get any good business b«low, to remain there. As you have done so, I will only give you mch information as may be useful to oHnrs. Th> Middle and North Forks are de ideJiy .richer in gold than other parts c,f the country, which hate yet been explored. The gold hat not, ii is said, been found there in so large pieces as in some other places, but in no other pan Ihs steady labour been bo tidily rewarded. The labourer upon these forki nuy too, at bis option, cross oter to Bear and Yub* rivers. The stores at the Saw Mill are abundantly supplied with everything necesiary for the miners' use and comfort, and the articles are sold so cheap that it is neediest for them to purchnse below and toil along the load wi'h their packs. The Saw Mill i« distant forty-one miles from butter's Fort, and the Middle Fork is'about fifteen milei beyond the Saw Mill contr&ry to the general opinion, the rivers ate not too high to allow the washers to work to advantage, and considerable quantities are daily being wdfched out on both the forks.

( Fi om the Alia California, May 1 ) In the failuie, from some unaccountable came, of our regular correspondence from the mines, we are compelled to make up an article from the meagre and unautbenticated particulars in geneial circulation. In most of the rivers where the process of gold digging is carried on, the waters are still too high to work profitably. In most of the dry diggings the searcher ii. well rewarded, though we have not ascertained any precise information as to the quantities extracted. We undentand that many of the new comers are sorely disappointed, and some from the Uniied States are about to return in the California. We believe their disappointment does not follow so mucli from any doubts they may have as to the existence of great quantities of the precious ore, us from the life of toil, exposure, t.nd privation, to which the gold hunter is subjected. The most reliable accounts state the' number of per aom actually engaged in the mines at about eight thousand ; and probably one-half of these are Americansi and an additional eighth Califonuans. The feeling it ■very general among the Americans and Californians foreigners should not be allowed to dig for gold. They think that they alone should be entitled to all the advantages of the mines, and they believe that »uch course would secure the permanent prosperity of the country, by preventing the mines from swallowing up Us whole productive induitiy.— Public meetings on the subject are talked of, and it i* proposed that memorials be sent to Congress, requesting a law granting permits to dig, and authorising such permits to be given, to none but American citizens. There has been considerable difficulty in different portions of the mines between the whites and Indiaai. It is impossible to say who were the aggressors in the first instance, but it is to doubt true tint the whites are becoming impressed with the belief that it will be absolutely necessary to exterminate the savages before they can labour much longer in the mines with security* Two weeks since we published an account of the murder of five Oregonians by the Indians on the -Middle Fork, and gave the names of two of the men killed. We h»ve siuce learned that the names of the other three were Robinson, Thompson, and English. On the receipt of this intelligence at the Saw Mill, a party of twenty-five Oregouians went in pursuit of the Indians, snd came upon & large rancheriaon Weber's Creek. A fight occurred, in which some fifteen or twenty Indians were killed, and fifty or sixty taken prisoners. The prisoners were driven down to Culloma, where nil but

seven were released.— About sundown the seven prisoner! made a concerted attempt at escape, when five of them were Bhot, and two succeeded in getting away. We hear a few complaints of sickness, but generally* we believe, the health of the minen ii good. Impkovement or the Country.— Within tho laat few months many new towns or sites for towns have been presented to the citizens of California for , the investment of capital, and the town of Benicia, in which the price of lots rail up from fifty to one thousand dollars each, during the month of March, has now more than one rival in its inarch of improyemeut and population. Among the conspicuous of the new towns or cities that are in progress between this | and the gold region, is one projected by Colonel J. D. i Stevenson, Dr. William C. Parker, George M'Dougal, and Samuel Norris, and if the site selected be worthy the efforts thoie gentlemen have made to develope its resources and eligible position for a great city, it will indeed be worthy the name they have given it, " New York of the Pacific." The point sp'ected is a beautiful plain, about thir'y-seven milei from the ocenn, through the B .y of San Francisco and the Straits of Carquinez, situated on the south side of the Bay of Suisun, and at its immediate junction with the River San Joaquin, and alio at or near the point where the Sacramento empties into ihe Bay of Suisun. The ground it an average of five feet above ths highest rise of the tide or river ever known at this point. Ie is laid to be a healthy point of land, and, what is by some considered of the utmost importance, the river water at this point is always sweet and pure. Within forty-eight hours after the purchase of this site was made, a contract was entered into between Colonel Siephenson and Captain Hammond of the U. S. A., one of the Board of U. S. Commissioners for surveying the rivers and harbours of the coast ; Lieut. W.T. Sherman. A. Adjt. General to this military division, and Lieut. James Blair of the Navy, who was one of the exploring expedition under Captain Wilkes, for a complete and perfect survey, and buoying out of the channel, together with sailing directions that would enable the largest class of vessels to navigate in safety the Bay of Suisun. The survey has been made, and a chart completed so j erfectly marked and buoyed, and the channel pointed out so cleai ly, that the most perfect stranger to the bay aud river will be enabled to navigaie a vessel from the entrance of the bay to the new city. The chart will he sent to the United Stages by the first steamer to be lithogiaphed, aud a sufficient number of copies sent here to furnish one to each vessel that will navigate tho hay for years to come. Thus has the enterprise of Colonel Stevenson and bis associates rendeied a more important service to California than the entire naval force of the country, which has been stationed here for tho two last yean. The new city is said to be conveniently laid out with broad streets (none less than 75 or more than 100 feel), and along the entire front on the water i uns a 1 00 feet street, or rather wharf, beyond which houses, or nny obstructions, are never to be erected ; and vessels can come immediately to this street, for a distance of two miles, and discharge their cargoes with but the aid of a bridge or stage, the length of a common plank. We understand that an arrangement h^l already been made for making this the depot of two steamers coming out to navigate the rivers Sacramento and San Joaquin, whiih will not come below this new city ; and that a large and powerful steam twg is to run daily between the ocean, San Francisco, and this New York. Arrangements hnv* also been made for the immediate erection of a large number of buildings, both for stores and dwellings, at this point. A liberal portion of the town plot will be laid out in public squares, and portions will be reserved for the sites of public buildings, school-houses, and chu chc*. We have deemed this extended notice of this new city a duty we owe the proprietors thereof, for the pains they have taken, and the exprnse they have incurred, in making an accurate survey of the Bay of Suisun, aud the various channel* leading from it to the rivers Sacramento and San Joaquin. They have thereby conferred a lasting benefit on the whole country, and deserves at least this public acknowledgment of their enterpiise. The Gold Excitement.— Last summer, when our town was deserted by all its male inhabitants— when more than one-half of its houses were tenantless— when the ordinary avoca'ions and amusements of the community were apparently at an end— and when nothing but the engrossing pursuit of goid was followed, we thought that such a scene of excitement would never be looked upon by other eyes. Yet if we can believe the newspaper accounts, the spirit which has been awakened in the United States by the intelligence of the great mineral wealth of this country, is even mcc frightful and epidemic in itß effects than it was in California. We weie prepared for a large emigration, but we were not prepared for such a sweeping wave of desire as seems to have rolled over the length and breadth of the Union— we had calculated upon an excitement, but we thought that the Mexican war and the presidential election would have exhausted for a time the mercuiial portion of our national character, and we rather feared that Anglo Saxon sturdincss would prove too much even for the gold mania. But no, the thirst for gold has rode the public mind like a gorgon or a nightmare. One impulse teems to have actuated the whole nation, and had the mines been within "a few minutes 1 wilk," of any railroad depot, there is not the slightest doubt that twenty out of the twenty-four millions of inhabitants would have been digging long ajo. Some weeks since we published a short list of vessels which were advertised for California. That, probably did not comprise one-half the real number. In every I part of the country— from New Orleans to Bangor— vessels are about to sail, and it is probable that two hundred vessels will reach thia port from the United States within the coming year. From England and the continent of Europe, also, vessels have already sailed, and many more are preparing to sail. From the islands of the Pacific, and from all her shores, the same intelligence reaches us, whilst the overland route is probably already alive with emigrants. This extraordinary excitement and emigration fills vi with an indefinable dread. Not that we doubt the inexhaustibility of the mines, but that we fear the suffering and disappointment which so many of this vast crowd must undergo. Gold digging, like every thing else, has its fortunate and unfortunate votaries, and like every other pursuit, it requires industry, prudence, good health, and energy. Thousands of those who come here will do well, but we cannot but believe that there will be hundreds who will hare abandoned comfortable homes to seek for gold in a land where privations only will be their reward. — Alta California, dpril 21. The Indian Troubles. — The difficulties with the I Indians are beginning to assume a more and more me Racing character, and sound policy would seem to dictate the propriety of sending bodies of troops into the 1 disturbed districts. The Indian trade, one of ths most lucrative in the country, is almost entirely broken up, I and many of our worthiest citizens will suffer largely I thereby. This state of affairs is deeply to be regretted ; and what is worse, it is believed generally, that it will, to a great extent, prevent the successful working of the mines the present season. In addition to other outrages, we learn verbally that a miner was stoned to death by the Indians on Weber's creek, on Tuesday, be 24tb April, and that * teamster was killed on Wed-

nosday night, the 25th ult., between the Culloma mill and Sacramento city. We could not learn the name* of either of the unfortunate men, but the information is so authentic lhat we rely upon it.— Alia California, May 9. Fatal Affray. — A quarrel took place at Carson's Creek, a tributary of the Stanislaus, about a week since, between Roderick M. Morrison anil Henry J. Fieund, in which the former was so budly wounded by a pistol shot, that he died in about four hours. Morrison was a prirate in Company C, of the Ist N. Y. Regiment, when he came to this country, and was afterward! promoted to a lieutenancy. Freund came out as a hospital steward in the detachment of recruits for the Bame regiment. Freund wa» tried for the murder, and acquitted on the ground of "justifiable homicide," it appearing that he acted in self-defence.— Alia California, May 9.