STRAWS FROM THE GOLD COAST. (From a Correspondent of the Polynesian.) No. 11.
G >X1 — Mines down in the mouth— Backing out— Hone Sickness— Sober second thoughts — \\\s Lunps — Southern Diggings— lndian trou!>les — Ore^miian Li»ic — InJiin iim(]« — the Tailor makes the Man — Tticks of Trade—Price Ciureat— lloir to got Rich — The Liqun- Trade — E fleets in the Mountains — Liquor in High Life— Who's to blame? — A Tee totaller—Welcome Immigrants — ; y retired Fu.ctionarjr. San Francisco, June ?7, 1849. Dor Po'.,— About the gold — I promised to speak of tli at — the primuni mobi c— the grand attraction —the fnem of all enterprise— the life, and glory, and curse of California. How much do they get? Why, sooth to say, the mountain streams are now up, and have put a damper on the miners. Your sleek-haired, silk vested, soft, skinned, tight-booted New Yo kers are poor witcr dog*, and are mdlv tantalized to kt\ow tint ths lucre they covet lies a fathom or two deep, beneath the col 1 eddying torrent that rolls down from the melting snow-.. Many people are bitterly disappointed. Instead of floating into the gold region on a cloud, without effort, and filling a sack before breakfast with clean virgin metal, their blistered hands, fonio legs, and breaking backs, their lost horses, hard bed?, and rough fare convince them that something more is to be done to get gold than cry " Open, Seiame " One centlenian—a stout, muscular one, too — came down the othoi day with his fate set, like a rusty weathcicock, homewards. To fiy his own salt pork, sleep on a cold rock in the wild mountains, and dream of his sweet little wife and smiling bairns in the land of oysteis, fieih cod. and feather beds, was too overwhelming. All the gold of the Sierra would not tempt him to stay. Starvation on a potato, at home, were preferable to the most prosperous gold digging. Poor fellow ; the illusion was over-— the poetry of the thing had cuidlcd to sour pros- I—he1 — he wis home sick 1 and tli oilman Is of adventurers, before simmer is over, will heartily sympathise with linn. Many who hive been at the mines within tlie last two months have hardly paid expenses ; some hive icfurncd poorer than they went. Ewiy steamer henrvfoith will depart with some ofthe:e repentent wanderers. But some are more rucccjsful, and pound lumps, and larger, are occasionally picked up. One man, this c v inner, bought a hole that aiothcr had dv*, anil dug; out a^ ha supposed, and after bailing out tue wii'iu, cUi acted thnti'cn pounds in the fust twentyfour bovis; tins fact is well attested — enough to keep the lever i aging in the face of all obstacles. A gen tlemen from the islands brought down lately a beautiful specimen ot pure gold weighing eighteen ounces Troy. The hvgest piece I have se, n was one of pure metal eighty-one ounces in weuht, found at the Stu- | nislaus, and sold by Mr. Webber, in April, for 3000 dollars, or 37 dollan per ounce. It was sent to the Stnt'stwo months since. Another specimen from the StanM ius, of gold mingled with quartz — a splendid illustrative spoiimen— some four inches in diameter, and weiehing 6,J lbs. Tioy, fell into the hands ot Lieutenant Woolwatth, and has been sent borne- Other pieces, larger than those, huve been reported, but I have not seen them. The extent ol the explorations has not been very materially enlarged the present season. Some parties have been working on the Tuallomy, Merced, and other tnbu,..ries of the San Joaqmu, south of thf Stanislaus; but so far as 1 cm leain, hitherto with indifferent success, Otvin^ to the height of the streams. Tue Indians have proved troublesome in that vicinity, aud u is repoiteil that many foreigners have been Killed, among them I^r. Garner of Monteiey, with a party ofu ilt u dozen natives of the country. The Indiiu troubles at th.i North, near the AuieruauFork, >ou are already awaic of. Some fiery spirits irom Oregon, fresh from their Indian war of last year, firmly believe that an Indian is an Indian the word over, aui that they are co amisstouedj^wre divino, to
eMciminaU' evoiy re 1-skin theit nfla balls can rone' 1 u 'del the whole lieav,>ns. To tlii'" indKriinpinnlins hn'ici mn->t he alfiibiitPil,, in the in 'ii n, tin? hostile antud' of the übniigin"). Last season the Indians weic inoflv'nMve— even fricncllv. iWen passed with impunity, almost or entirely nuliarmi'il, through the wildest mountain fastnesses. I li.ive myself sp j nt di>s amnnu, them, wholly in rhe.ir power, without the clightpst apP'Hi Mri m of danger. With their fjooil will ihoir ttndv is of ronrse gone. They were, 1 iPt year, the best customers in the moun tain?. l'\>nd a* display r icy cig'ily exchanged thei.niiivc roimrnt, ivliHi consists! of st.uk nothing, for the gewgaws, trappings, and habiliments of civilized men and women ; and thu exeli uige th^y pud most roundly for in the yellow mclol tii^y Iml picked witli sticks from th° crevices of th? rocky ravines. It was an amusing sight to see i i inflhil sliirt, tilk vent ntul eiava', <ifiht roit, pants, an 1 hoofs, and undora broad brimmed fur ha f , <i stiff, tawny fallow, sti ut tm-r like n. turkey-cock, whom yesterday you had seen iv the easy uutlrcss of Father Adam. The simple creatures had not studied Numismatic? or Fininca, and in their ostirmtes of the relative valuo of things were not always as shicvd as a down e.isfer would be. Glass beads they paid an equivalent weight, in gold for. Blankets a hundred or two hundred dollars. Hum, find simil.ir things, at least all they were worth. The tricks of trade neic too dep for them When the seller, in weighing their goM, pinched the tun >ne of Hip lial.mrc ft 111I3' between his fingsrs, or Ist t'.ie opposite end of the beam rest ogaiiist his coalsleeve, or put in a two ounce weight, or even a ten ouioe weight, as was sometimes done for an ounce, t'ley did not comprehend the reason why it took go much of their dust to satisfy their creditor. Add to these hints of the modus operandi of thfi Indian trado, the monopolies of it in many ci^y virtued companies of tradeis, tlnnugh th? influence of quasi-harems, and donations of fat bepf or horse meat, and you will understand how men could at once mnke their tens of scores of thousands and unmake their hs^ltli— gain gold and disgrace at the operation. It is well that such clrmnei of getting rich are this season few Hut the Indian trnffi : is perhaps in a measure replaced by the mm nadir. It is understood that the luckiest mineis arc those that undermine at onrt*. the reason and purse of their customers. A Catholic padre sold had brandy last autumn, nt the Stanislaus v for 1G dolurs a > ottle. Many weak men have been swept by temptation into the gulf of ruin and death, i know of half a dozen wha want into the mines and dug, and boutrht, and drinkc.l till they dug their own graven, and bo'i^ht their death. wtrrunt, and dr<mk their deilh potion on the enchanted ground they were never to leave. Oli ! the curse of rum— the withering breath of intempennce in the territory ! A irorchinqr flame — poisonous, sulphurous, 6uffociiMn»— licking over the face of society, would be less horrid,— and when men wearing epaulettes, nnd guilt buttons with anchors and eagles on them, only add fuel to the flame, and mix egs-nog till the little hours of the clock look in nstnn - ishment on the revelry, what can we hope for uncommissioned citizens and t lie profanum vulgns in an atmosphere go alcoholic and infl itnable ? Lecturing is 4 danini.ig the Nile with bulrushes.' It wakes an earthquake's voice to pierce the stupified eardrum of tlis liqtioi loving public. One nobla example, thou^lip stands up like a lock amid the rushing waters, and the " Nile" feels the fame of the adimant if not of " bul' rushes." It honors man, and it honors cold water, thai a high military commander— beloved at home and abroad, ami with laurels on his brow, fresh gathered 111 Mexican b titles, adds fresher and more gloiious one* in this border fiold of moral peil, by suffering never a drop of the burning liquid to puss bit lips. The blight, ti'irheutny eye, nnd complexion fresh with 112..M1 and intelligence, are a ledure " by authority" that blossoming noses are slow to turn tip at. Diunkenness itself will never forget to dofTits hut to such a man. A ftw like examples, without a word 6aid, and the fashion of dr. nking would be limited to gimbliivj dens and pot houses. It is a matter of joy that of the thousands of newcomer*, a lar^e number are the staunch descendants of the old Puritans— hard-fisted, clear-headed, largehearted yoomen —holding industry to be a cardinal virtue, oider, a* " Heaven's first law," and education the priiniun mobile— aiming at a Bpare penny, indeed. " for a rainy day," or a charity, but not forgetting, 111 the msh for gain, to build the court room and the meeting house. Com? over here, my dear Pol., and shake hands wi'h half (he old friends ym ever knew " down cast " Every other ship will bung you a " lownoy" or a schoolmate. A dozen of my fellow " chips'' of the law nre about me already. Were ''wife and bairns" beie nlso, I should almost forget that I am not in New ICngliud. Sp 'eking of old afquiinfiinces, 11. M.'a ex-Attorney Gt-nuntl yi>u would find, not framing " Organic Law," bur retired from legal pwiclire, unheeded, and almost unh -aid of, in the golden fasrnessi"s of the Sieira— ~ wbe'hor in a golden pitfacc, it might ba impertinent to inquire, Aditu, my good fellow, for a week. Panorama.
"Tiiiiow Piivsk to in 1 ? D.gs." — This ad.i^c so common in eve v country, will not hold <;onil m tl>e cold'n land of Calilornh, Ih* fun of phys'eking the, d'»s wjulil Ijp toi (>\.|icnMVC, lint is, if all the ilcct'>is .110 as modei at, 1 in their charges ns one ol Ihe 'ritem 1/ u'hi> went thither f.o'n Sydney, and who jaJo.ntr from apiiearancos, we bhuuld sny is quite as fond of gold as hois of Silver. This gcutlem in being called upon Id attend a purntat llie mines, fur» niihed him wiih three omall jnlls, nn emetic, and a B)latiou of quinine, for which lie chirked only tho sinnll sum of one hmidtcJ dull> ts ' To another patient for about s'X-penny worth ol brimstone and his advice twelve dollais What a pntudihc for doctors the golden fields of California mibl be ! And yet who W!uld believe it the poor MeJicus could not help giumbling th it li 2 had ever L j ft Sydney [—People's Advocate.
Notice,— The undersigned (a committee appointed for the purpose) hereby notify to all sucli citizens as may feel an inters',! in ths establishment <>( ,in Episcopal Church in San Francisco, that a meeting will l>s held at the house of Mr. Merrill, on Sunday, the 'JiHli instant, immcdiircly nfter morning service for the purpose of adopting such measmes as shall be deemed expedient for that object. E. D. Ke^es. Joseph FJonsov, P 11. PeiihySan Francisco, July 21, 18 19.
The Gka.ni> Cu.ivoiivuu Lottery. —Tin first drawing of tins Lotteiy to')k p'nre yesterday afternoon at the Frem >nt Fam ly Hotel in this city. The hi^he^l piize, 300 d .liars, was drawn by ticket No. 107 ; 200 dollars, by N,>. l(i ; 100 dollins, by No. 15 ; 50 dollars, by No. IGO ; 2*> dollars, by No. 2 ; and 5 dollars prizes, by Nob. 10, 19, 28, 42, -18, 75, 117. 122 148, and 11)7. We hear thu fairness of the drawing spoken of in warm terms, and the pioinptness with which the payments me mule is generally appioved.
The Nktv lIoU'E of Commons.— The following 7eport with respect to the accommodation to be afforded by the new House of Commt na has just been p.inted :— Tlitre will be seats 20 inches wide for 462 members. No partition or elbows between the seats. No shelves below the seats, as they would inieifere with the yen iiation ; but presses, affording a closet under lock and key, for each member, are proposed to be niede in the private gallery between tin lefreshment room and the library. Each lobby will affuid accommodation, in divisions, for from 450 to 500 mimbeis There will be seats for the public in the strangers' gallery, 18 inches wide, for 96 perions, besides other accommodation for 54 persons, etilhr standing or seated, as may be determined. There will be scuts 20 inches wide, in the Speaker's and peer's galliry, for 52 persons. Seati for 28 officiil peisons attending the house, under the gallery, 18 inchei wide. Seats for 32 repoiteis, in a gallery at th<> baik of the Speaker's chair. Rewards for the Officers in the Punjaub. — A fuither supplement to the Gazette, dated Thursday, June the 7tb, besides a ho t of minor promotions, bestows the following honours on the gallant officers whose position has been inoit eminent iv the recent operations ; — Generals Sir Joseph Thackwell and Sir Walter Gilbert are made Knights Grand Cross of the Bath ; Colonels Dundas and Cmnpbel, of her Majesty's army, and Genetal Wi'l h, Colonel Cluap, and H- M. Elliott, E=q-, of the East India Company's service, are mack- Knights Commanders of the same bonouiablc order. A num 1 er of colonels ai d iieut.-eolonels of boih sei vices are appointed Companions of the Hath, besides a long list of piomotions by brevet. Lord Ellenbouoigh. — An Irish Counsellor, in a speach in court, thought proper «o FUppoae " an eagle soaring high above the mists ofenith, winging its daring flight against a mid. day sun, till the contemplation becomes two dazz'ing for humanity, and mortsl eye to gaze after it in vain." Here the orator filtered, and after a abortive attempt or two, sat down in confusion, " The next time, sir," said tl'e Judge (Lord Ellenboiough), •' you bring an eagle into court, I should recommend yeu to clip its wings-" A Sailor astonished.— A Bailor attempting to ki&s a lass he met on shore, she bustled up and declared he had insulted her; whereupon Jack exclaimed, "Well that beats all! I I aye been at tea twmty years, and never knew a salute called an insult afore!"
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New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 374, 14 November 1849, Page 3
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2,425STRAWS FROM THE GOLD COAST. (From a Correspondent of the Polynesian.) No. II. New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 374, 14 November 1849, Page 3
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