CALIFORNIA. (From the Sydney Herald, August 27, 1849.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 363, 6 October 1849, Page 3

CALIFORNIA. (From the Sydney Herald, August 27, 1849.)

Notwithstanding the numbers who have left the shores of Australia for California, the tendency to emigrate thither continue! unabated : another vesiel has just cleared out for San Francisco filled with passengers, and our advertiiing columns proclaim the departures of more. The receot accounts from Cali • forma direct Lave not damped the ardour of Ilicll ai were only waiting to decide' upon emigrating upon bearing the latest news. The fact that gold is undeniably found in large quintities, and that labour is remunerated on a most costly scale, are sufficient inducements to entice the idler aa well as the m«n of enterprise from the lets attractive colony of New South Wales. We liaye, from time to time, caiefu ly culled from the best lources we were able disinterest* d accounts of the gold country and " the diggings." We have placed before our readers eveiy bit of information which we could obtain about California from authentic sources ; but though many letters have recently arrived by the Despatch and the William Hill, our communication* latterly have not been so numerous as we might have expected, considering the interest which California has excited in this colony. To compensate for this we hive been favoured with

permisiion to publiih extract! from private letters, and we in erfc to-day some from the letter of a geutleman who left here in February lait, and arrived at San Franciico on the 7th of May. This letter bears date the 12th of May, and as it contains a graphic description of the country, though the writer had only been there a few days, we give hit account of the gold country in his own uords :—: — '• We made San Franciico on the 7th May, at ten o'clock, with a fine breeze. We entered the bay, and as it opened upon us, the fine expanse of waters ornamented with pretty round green islands, and generally elevated land, with small bays of the most sunny aspect, our golden hopei were highly stimulated. We brought up at the town, about ten or twelve milei up the bay, amidst a fleet of about seventy ihips, of all nation* and sizes. The town, from shipboard, has very much the appearance of Auckland when I was last there. The land is hilly and irregular, the houses of wood, and scattered streets running through a gorge here, and up the face of a hill there, and stopped by a high sandbank in another place. We very soon obtained information respecting the manners, customs, &c, and the abiorbing idea that possessed u« all, and led us to forsake for its acquirement all that are dear to us. Tue accounts we heard in Sydney are more than confirmed. The digging country or, mines, to reach which involves the necessity of proceeding up a river of about sixty miles, and then travelling by land seventy miles ; the expense of going is very great, but the merchants will assist decent people with loans. The work is very hard, there is some danger, and the privations are very great, hut at present they call it indifferent work procuring an ounce a day ; as the summer advances and the waters subside production is much greater. The mines are the destinatien of almost everybody, although situations are to be had here (if token for some time) at salaries needing from one hundred and fifty dollars per month upwards. Common men are paid here one hundred and fifty dollars per month as cooks. Common labourers get six dollars per day, but against this is to be placud the exorbitant prices of necessaries. Bieatl is one shilling per lt>., sugar one shilling per lb., tea six shillings per lb., bad beef sixpence por lb., picklei two dollars per bottle, ale and porter two dollars a bottle, liquors three dollars a bottle, and clothing 1 correspondingly high ; lodgings, where the commonest food is served, and they bleep higglety-pigglety with their own bed clothing on the floor or a loft, fourteen and sixteen dollars a week j one small room, 12 feet by 10, lets for sixty dollars a month ; the principal hotel, in an unfinished state, lets for 70,00.) dollars a year. Although goods are retailed at so enormous a rate, they fetch low prices by wholesale : in some instances not their cost price. The market is of so fluctuating a nature, arising from the occasional gluts, by the numbers of shipping arriving and the expecta ion of others, that a person could not discreetly advise on the most suitable merchandise. We have just received news from New York, that, in addition to the two large steamers at present traversing this ocean from Panama to California, several others are to be laid on ; and 150 sail of ships, of all sizes, will be here this summer, while tens of thousands of persons are preparing, and are on their way, to •migrate to this place ; and that the whole state of New York, Boston, and other places are on the gui vive (to the extinction of all other important subjects) about this El Dorado, 11 The duties on goods are very high— mercbandiie generally 30 and 40 per cent. ; spirits 100 per cent. ; wine, 50 per cent. There is no government here at present - Lynch law prevails ; and it is astonishing, in such a Babel, the paucity of crime and outrage." This statement confirms many of the accounts which we have aheady published, but the details which ara given will lead intending emigrants to reflect whether their pofci'ion Till be benefited when the cost of living in California is compared with the price of labour. And if, ai it is expected, g->ld digging be restricted by the American Government, the great influx of people expected, and who have probably ere this arrived in California, will have the effect of reducing the demand for labour from its present artificial price. JJut theie is another circumstance which may hare some weight in determining the fate of intending emiprants. It may be that there is little crime in San Francisco at present. It is certain that there is no protection to persons or property at the " diggings." And independently of the murdeis and robberies which have been committed upon the gold seekers, and where, in consequence of the absence of means to bring the offenders to justice, the perpetrators of crime remain unpunished, excepting where "Lynch law" has been put in force, the peueable occupation of golddigging is likely to be interrupted by an outbreak between the Mexicans and the peop'e of Oregon. The writer of the letter from which we have quoted, says— •' We have heard that the Mexicans are manifesting a spirit of revolt at the mines. There are great numbers there, as well as Chilians. The other day they erected their flag, and as soon as it was observod some Americans from Oregon desired them to haul it dawn. This demand being refused, the stout Oregonese, like as our HoD-hearted King served thecolounof Austria, tore down and trampled on the Mexican badge of dignity. Two of the Oregonese were immediately shot by the Mexicans. The Oregonese and Americans then mustering, attacked the Mexicans, killed twelve, and took one prisouer, whom they immediately hanged. The Chilians and Native Indians have sided with the Mexicans, we therefore expect that the peaceable avo* cations of gold digging will be for a short time varied with war. Mammon will be relieved by Marg— Pluto thinks the means are too procrastinating, and has therefore sent more auxilitries. It is expected that the Mexicans and alliei will Boon be subdued and driven away by the Americans and English combined, who will then have the fluid to themselves. Troops and volunteers ire going up." This prospect of war in the very centre of where the gold is found will not improve the condition of those who have had their hopes buoyed up with the idea of a speedy acquirement of wealth. Almost all the accounts of those actually employed at 'the diggings' are against the opinion that permanent success always attends their occupation. The unhealthy state of the country, the privations which gold diggers undergo, the exorbitant price of the commonest necessaries of life, the insecurity against the perpetrators of crime, and lastly, the probability of war, are circumstances which should be well couiidered before emigration is de ernained upon ; and though highly remunerative employment might be obtained at San Francisco when the Despatch and William Hill sailed from California, it should be borne in mind that the extensive emigration from the United States will have the effect of reducing the price of labour to something like an equitable standard. We wou'd alto remind those who are determined to proceed, th»t by leaving Sydney now they will arrive at San Fianeisco at the beginning of winter, which in that latitude is very severe.