The New York Herald Newspaper, April 1, 1850, Page 2

FHE WONDER OF THE AGH. THE RICHES OF CALIFORNIA. or THE HOW, THOMAS BUTLER KING. Wasuixeton, March 22, 1950 Sm—In obedience to your instructions, dated the 3d of April last, 1 proceeded to California by way ot the Isthaivs of Panama, and arnved at San Fraa- eco on the fourth dey of June. The steamer in whieh i wook passage was the firet convey uence that reached Calitormia with intel hygence of the inauguration of President Taylor and the »promtment ot bis cabinet, and that Con- gress had failed to aid the executive in providing a@ goverpment for the people of that territory. ‘The greatest anxiety was naturally fett aad mani- ieated to ascestuin the cuuse of this neglect on the partot the government ot the United States, and What steos duty to themselves required them to tube, the panful and embarrassing position in which they were pluced, for their protection and welfare i A brief sketch of their condition will explain the cause of this avxety The discovery of the gold mines had attracted a very large number of citizens of the Uuited States to that terrory, who had never beew ned to any other than American law, adm: red by American courts. There they fouod tieir rights of property and person subject to the uncertatn, trequeptly most oppressive, operation of laws Written ip a lun, e¢ they did not understand, and teunded on yr Jes, lo many respects, new to the 1 aimed that the alealdes, or judges (mest of whom bad been appointed or elect- H ed before the unmigration hid commenced), were pot lawyers by educaticn or profession; and, Amencaaos, they were, of course, unacquaiate wih the lows of Mexico, or the principles of the e.vil law on which they are founded. As our own laws, except tor the colleetion of yevenne, the transmiseien of the mails, and estab: hy bment of port offices, bad not been extended over tterilory, the Jaws ol Mexico, as they existed at the corclusion of ihe tealy of Guadalupe Hidal- ge regulating the relanions of the inhabitants of Sali a with exch other, vecessurly remained in ing those laws, as far as I know or believe, tn the whole teriitory, except, perhaps, in the Governor’ office, ut Monterey The mogi-tutes, therefore, could not procure them, and the acminietiation ot justice was, neces fanly, as unequal and tlactuaung as the opiniwas of the judges were conflietiog and variable. Thete were no tee ilate costs, and eourequently, the n sons, in many Insts ners, were prac’ The greutest contusion prevailed respecting titles to property. and the decision of suits, involving the Most important rights, end very large sums of y, desended upou the dictam of the judge. The sale of the territory by Mexicoto the United Sistes had weceesurily cut off or dissolved the laws Tegulating the grautiog or precaring titles to land ; and, 08 cor own luod-laws had pot been extended ever it, the people were compelled to receive such tiles as were offered to them, without the means ©} sseerte ping Whether they were valid or not. _ Linganon was so expensive and preeari ipjuehce end oppression w tetber than resort to so un Towns end cities wer —many of them without charters or any legal nght to Orgupize municipal euthorities, or to tax prop. erty or the cit zens, tor the est blishment of police, the eiec ion of prisons, 0 viding way of those sbills to re st cruel € wing | to es 3 but that the people, iv forming a government for themeelver, have the right Ww do either. If Congress cnn rightfully do one, they cap certamly do the other This 18 the doctrine jut forth by Mr Cathoun, 19 his cele brated resolutions of 1847, utrodveed into | | | Ide means for the protection of lite and property which | are ro necessary in all civil commauities, and es- peeielly amovg a people mustly strangers to each ober Nearly one million and a half of dollars had been paid in'o the custom houses, as duties on im- ported goods, belore our revenue laws had been extended over the country; and the people com. planed bitterly that they were thus heavily taxed without being provided with a government for their protection, or laws which they could understand, or allowed the sight to be represented in the coun- eile OF Ihe nation. While arxiusly waiting the a oppressed wud embarrassed b: ate of affairs, and feeling the pressing nece: plying such remedies as were in their power,and circamstances s em d to jusofy, they resolved to substitute laws of their own for the existing system, and to extab- heh t ibunale for their proper and fatthful admiaise tration. In obedience, therefore, to the extraordinary exigencies of their condition, the people of the city ot San Francisco elected members to form a Le- gisleture, and clothed them with full powers to pass laws Thr commour.ities of Sonoma and of Sacramento Cuy tcllowed the example. ‘Thus were three legislative bodies organized ; st di tant being only one hundred an would have followed in other sec: erntory, bad they not been arrested by the formation of a State government. the Senate of the United States, among which 19 the following: * Resolved, That it 18 a fandameotal principle 1a our polities! creed; that a people in forming a con stitunon have the unconditional right to form sod adopt the government which they may think best calculated to secure their liberty, prosperity, aad happmers; and in contormity thereto, no ether condition is imposed by the Federal Constitanoa on a State, in order to be admitted into this Uaion, except that ite coustitution shall be ‘ republiein;” and that the imposition ot way other by Coogress: would not only be ia violation of the coastiturion, but in direct conflict with the principle oa which rests.”” , in bis annual message, dated Sth December, 1848, ure- the toliowiog language :— © The question is beleved to be rather abstract than pracocal, whether slavery ever ean or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory, even if it ware leit to the option of the sliveholding States themselves From the natore of the climate roductons, in much the larger portion of it, ertuin it could never exist; and in the re- moinder, the probabilities are it would not. burt, however this may be, the que my ine volving, ax it does, a principle of equality of nshts of the separate and several States, as equal co- perinere mm the confederacy, should not be disre- Bea laiers “ In organizing governments over these terrt- tories, no duty imposed on Congress by the Constt- tunon requires that they should legislate on the subject of slavery, while their power to do so 1s pot only seriously questioned, but denied, by many of the roundert expoanders of that instrument. ** Whether Congress ehall legislate or not, the people of the acquired territories, when assembled jo convention to form State constitutions, will pos. sees tbe sole und exclusive power to determine for themselves hether slavery shall or shall not exist | within thea baits,” The people of California, therefore, acting in contermuy with the views thus expressed, aod what seemed tobe the generally admitted opinion in the Sustes, had every reason to suppose, and did tuppose, that by forming a constitution for them- selves, and deciding this question in accordance with their own Views and interests, they would be | received with open arms by ail parties | dn tokong this step they proceeded with all the force 3* yet tnere was pots siogle volume cootatn- | | regularity which hus ever characterized the Ameri can people in diecharging the great and importan duties of seliegovernment. Ap already stated, | arrived at San Francisco on the morning ot the fourth ot June. ‘The steomer in which I was a passenger did not stop at Monterey ; I, therefore, did not see General Kiley, nor had I any communication with hm until about the middle of the mouth, when he came Son Francisco. A few daye atver my arrival, io proclamation calling a convention to forma Srare constitution, dated the third of June, was Teceived, The people acied in compliance with what they belheved to be the views of Congress, aud con- formably to the recommendations of the proclama- tion ; and proceeded, on the day appointed, te elect menibers 10 a convention for the purpose of forming aconstitution, to be regularly submitied to the people for their ratification or rejection, and, it ap- proved, to be presented to Congress, with @ prayer admiesion of California, as a Stale, into Jeion sire here to make a brief and emphatic reply to the varioug unjust and most extraordinary accu- sations and insinuations which have been made re- specting the movements of the people of California in forming their State government hed po tecret instructions, verbal or written, from the President, or any one elee, what to say to the people of Calitornia on the subject of slavery; | nor was it ever hinted or intimated to me that | was | expected to attempt to influence their action in the ion of Congress, | did While the people of Caltornia were looking to | Congress tora teriton { Was quite evicent that ruch wn organ yn Was daily be- eonung bes sued to their condition, which was entively ditlerent from thatof any ot the territe- dies edt Of which the new States of the Union had been formed. These territories had been at first slowly and eparecly peopled by a few hunters and farmers, Who penetrated the eroess, OF traversed the preities jo cearch of game or a new home; and, when thus gradually their populanioa warranted it, @ goverp me nt Was provided for them. They, how- ever, hrd no foreign commerce, nor any thing be= yond the ordinary porseits of agriculture and the vorious bronehes of bueinees whieh usually aecom- pny it, to induce imer'gration within their bo: ders. Beveral years were required to wive them sufficient population and weelth to place them im a coadition ¢, of epable them tw support, a State go- verpre pt. Not co with California. The discovery of the vast me'alle aod mineral wealth in her mountains had sheedy attiacted to ber, i the space of twelve , more than ove hundred thousand people; Bn extensiy the ports of d tala Hundreds ot veesels from the Atlantic ports of the Union, freighied with our masufactures a agricultural product>, aud filed with our fellow. citizens. had arrived, or were on their passage “Fou d Cape Horn; ec that in the month of Junge Just there were more than three verrels in the port of San Freneisce. _ Caltornia has a border on the Pacitic ef ten de- Btees ot latituce, ond several importaat harbors whch hove never been surveyed: voris there @ buoy, a bracon, « lighthouse, or a fortiication, on the whole const aico on the Pacifi*, Chili, and Aus- eee had sprung up with China, | undred sea-gowg | There are no docks for the repair of national or | Merceptile vererls nearer than New York, a die- tree of some twenty thousand miles round Cape orn All these things, together with the per regu- Jatic 08 of the gold region, the quicksilver mines, the survey peition of the pul lands, the adjustment the establishment of a ent end of mea Is, required the imme- hoep diute formation of a more perfect civil govern- ment then California then hed, and the fostering care of Cong tees and the Executive Cebfor had it were by magic, become r. h power. One short year commercial importance but litle at of the most powerful of the d poreed her mivority at a single bev justly be regarded as tuily enti- aled to teke ber place as an cqual among her sisters of the Union. When, therefore, the reality became known to the people of that Terntory that the government hee done nothing to relieve them trom the evile shiyhtest degree on that subject. That | never did, the people of Cahforpia will bear me witness. In that gle ad there was none of the machinery of party or of the prees; wnd it is even more absurd to tup) ore that any secret influences, for or against slavery, could have been used there, than it would be to believe that they could be successfully em- ployed in Marylend or Georgia. : | TV therefore ‘declare all assertions and imsinu- atons, that I wag secretly instructed to, or that 1 i wpy way attempt to influence the people of Calitornia to exclude elavery fiom their territory, to be wivhout foundation. The election of delegates to the convention pro- cerded regularly in pursuance of the proposed mde ot holdin it, and, a8 far as 1 am intormed, no questions were arked whether a candidate was a w hig or a democrat, or whether he was from the North er the South. The only object seemed to be, to find Cen ge men who were willing to muke the sacrifice of time which a proper die charge of their cuues would require. As soon atier my arrival at San Franciscp as the arrangements of General Smith would yermit, 1 proceeded with him to the interior of the country, for the purpote of examining the gold region, aud other miteresting sud important portions of it. I did not return until the 16th of August. The elec- tions had taken place when [ was in the mountains. 1 was taken ill op the 20th of that month, aud was confined to my bed aud my room more than two months. The convention met on the Ist of September. So it will be seen that 1 was not present where an election was held, nor had 1 seyihieg to do wy selecting or bringing out candidates; and my ill. nese is sufficient proof that 1 did not, and could Lot, hud | been disposed, exercise any influence in te convention, which was sitting one hundred and thirty miles from where | was. Some intimations or assertions, as | am inform. ed, have been threwn out that the South was not fouly represented im the convention. 1am told by two of the members of Congress elect trom Cali- fornia, who were members of the convention, that of the thirty-seven delegates desiguated in General Riley's proclamation, stateen were from slavehold- ing, ten from the non-slaveholding States, aud eleven were citizens of Califormia under the Meaicven government, and that ten of those eleven come trem districts below 36° 30’. So that there were in the convention tw of the thirty- seven members from the slavenolding Stite from places south of the Mi-sourt ¢ 1, ay peare, on the journal of the convention, that the elouse in the constituuion excluding slavery parsed wi 1 1 now procer sult of my ingni- ries, observat respecting the populetion, climate, soil, productions—the geaeral cheracter of grants of land from Mexico—the ex- tent aed condition of the public domain—the com- mercial resources and prospects—the mineral and metallic wealth of Calitornia. POPULATION. no hie Essay on New Spain, states the pper California, im 1802, to bave 14, Forbes, in his History of Uppe lished in London, in 139, F uverted Indians in the fore rto have been, mm IN3I. 15,653 Ot all other classes, at 4512 Bow He expresees the opinion that this number had | not varied much = 1835, and the probability is, aud emberreements under which they were suffer- | ing, end erring Bo probability of any change on the subject which divided C , the; 4, ‘with most unexampled unanimity and prompti- Tude, ihe only course which lay open to them-—the lnm diate formation of a State government. ‘They were induced to teke this etep not only for ‘the reason that it promised the most speedy reme- dy for present difficulties, but because the great and rapidly growing interests of the Territory de- mended it; and all reflecting men saw, ata glance, that it ought not to be any lovger, and could not under any circumstances, be much longer poet- ed They not only considered themselves beet q fied, but that they bad the nght to decide, far ae they were concerned, the embarrassing quee thon which was sheking the Union to ite centre, and bad thus far deprived them of a regularly or- ized civil goveroment. beheved that, in ey were not unmindful of the fast, that while Pp ttate men : cee te da ae reso to prohibi' slave’ 0 ‘itor the ind siwuge admitted that the Brates of the or Union had the right to jieh it at pleasure. On the other hand, Southern statesmen had al- ~~ Ay chase Ly 4 the Terntones, Deoanle they heve not the power American Ineurapes Company ct ol. va Canter, Bupreme Court Bepopts, O43. ny Be | | there wae very litle increase in the white popula- tion until the emigrants from the Unued States began to enter the country in 1838. : hey increased, from to year, eo that, in 1826, Colonel Fremont had litle difficulty in culling i id some five hundred hahtrog men. jore of the war with Mexico, it was sup- cluding discharged — rine, ¢xcluer Territory The imm in 1849, up to the Ist of January Inet, was es'ima- ted at eighty thousand ; of foreigners, twenty thou- sand ‘The population of California may, therefore, be — eet dol 115,000, at the commencement oft! It tee impossible to form anything like an accurate cetimate of the number of Lndians tn the Teriitory. Since the commence men apd age: Bed the discovery mouptaine, it numbers at the m the valleye near the const have very nweh dim piehed. In fact, the whole race seems to be rayully ice The remaoe of a voet number of villages in all the valleys of the Sierra Nevada, and among the foot-hills of thet range of mountains, show thet at no distant day there must bave been # numerous population, where there 1 not now an ladian to be seep. There are a few sull retained im the service of the old Celiformmne, but these do not smount to __ eg By . large ni re em in the ye about the head watere of the nd , along che weetern base of ah a of the Territory, imber of Americal last summer, 1 mpt- ‘, up the rivers in om oh st rove one oT tw rom a fry fiver” “Thay ose severe eta, ie, in tack ¢ ratte coming from ot returning to Or 5 tain Warner was ex he wes billed.” Juve quite evident that they are hoatile, and that y cvgbt to be chastised for the murdets already committed. ‘Loe small bands with whom I met, scattered through the lower porticas of the fuot-Rills of the Sierm, and in the valleys between them nod the covet, tee med to be almost the lowest grode of nue map beings. They hve chiefly on acorns, roots, i » ad the kerpel of the pipe barr—oceasion- al!y they eateh fieh end game. They use the bow end arrow, but are said to be too lazy and effet nate to rake sucerseful hunters. They do net ap pear to have the slightest mmchaation W caliivate the rer), nor de they even attempt it—us fur as 1 could obtain mformation—except: whee they are indvwed toenter the service of the white inhabit vots, They bave vever pretended to hold aoy in- terestio the soil, nor bave they beea treated by the Spopeh or American inmmugrants, 08 possessing eny. ‘The Mexican governmen’ never treated with tem fer the purchase ot land, or the relingnish- ment of any claim toat, whatever. They are lazy, ile to the Jast degree, and, albhough they are said to be willing to give their services to any one who will provide them with blankets, beef, and bread, itis with veh difficulty they can be made to per: form labor enongh to reward their employers tor there very limited means of conto Formetly, at the missions, those who were brought up and instructed by the priests, made dservants Many of these, now attached seem tobe fauthful and intelligent. But those who are at allia. a wild and mncultivated state, are most degraded objects of filth and idle- bess. It 18 possible that government might, by colleet- ing them together, teach them, in some degree, the arts and habits of eivilzation; but, if we may judge of the future from the past, they will disappear tro:n the face of the earth as the settlements of the whites extend over the country. A very consider- able military force will be necessary, however, to proteet the emigrants in the norhern and southern portions of the territory. CLIMATE. z T now come to consider the climate. The eli- aie of Culifornia is so remarkable in its periodical charges, end for the long continuance of the wet end Cry veasons, dividing, as they do, the yearinto abeut iwo equal parts, which have « most peeuliar iatuence on the labor applied to agriculture and the precucts af the soil, end, in fact, connect them trlves so loseparably with all the interests of the county, that gr mit proper briefly to mention the coures Which produce these changes, avd which, it willbe seen, as this report proceeds, must exercise a controlling influence on the commercial pros- penty and resources of the country It is a wellertablished theory, that the currents of wir under which the earth parses, in its diurnal revolutions, follow the line of the sun’s greatest at- trection. ‘These currents of air are drawn towards this line from great distances on each side of it; and es the earth revolves from west to east, they blow frem northeast and southeast, meeting, and of course causing a calm, on the line. ‘Thus, when the sun 1s directly, in common par- lance, over the equator, in the month of Mareh, these currents of air blow trom some distance north ot ibe opie of Cancer, and south of the tropic of Capricorn, in an oblique direction towards this line of the tun’s greatest attraction, and forming what are hacen us the northeast and southeast trade winds As the earth, in its path round the sun, gradually brings the line of, attraction north, in summer, there currents of air ere carried with it; so that about the middle of May the current from the northeast hes extended ag faras the 38th or 39%b degree of norih lattude, and, by the twentieth of June (the period of the sun’s greatest northern in- chuatiop), to the northern portions of California, und the southern section of Oregon. These northeast winds, in their progress across the continent, towards the Pacific ocean, pass over the snow-capped sidges of the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and are of course deprived of ali the moisture which can be extracted from them by the low temperature of those regions of eternal snow, and consequently no moisture can be precipitated from them, in the form of dew or rain, ip a higher temperature than that te which they have been subjected. They therefore pass over the hills and plains of California, where the \ mperature is very high in summer, m a very dry ttate; and so far from being charged with moist- ure, they absorb, like a sponge, all that the atmo- tphere and surfuce of the earth can yield, until both become, apparently, Sestectty dry. ‘ ‘This process commences, a8 I have said, when the line of the sun’s x) t attraction comes nonh in summer, bringing with it these vast at- mospberic movements, and on their approach pro- duce the dry seaepn im Califorma, which, gov- ered by there laws, continues until some ume after the suo repassee the equator in September, when, about the middle of November, the climate being relieved trom these northeast currenteof a the southwest winds set in the oce: charged with moisture—the rains commence and continue to tall, not —— as some persoas prevented, but with sufficient frequency to nate the period of their continuance, trom sbout he medieof November uatil the middle of May, in the lantude of San Francisco, as the wet eeaton. ht follews, as & matter of course, that the dry ecaeon Cemmences fret, and wmues longest io the southern porvione of the territory. and that the climate of the northern part is influenced, in @ much lees degree, by the causes which | have menuoned, than any other eection of the couutry. Consequently, we find that as low down as lantude 29 cey. rae are sufficiently frequent in summer to render irrigation quite unnecessary to the per- fect maturity of any crop which 1s suited to the toil end climate. ‘There is en extensive ocean current of cold wa- ter, which comes from the Northern regions of the Pacite, or, perhaps, from the Arciic, and flows along the Covet of Culforma. It comes charged with, and emits in its progress, air, Which appears in the form of tog when at comes in contact with a higher temperature on the Gultstreom of the Adantic exhales vapor part of its progress, a lower tempera- ture This current has not been surveyed, aod, therefore, 118 source, temperature, velocity, width, end course, bave not been accurately ascertained. It is believed by Lieutenant Maury, on woat he ders ecflicient evidence—and no higher en at this current comes from d Japan, flows northwardly amtechatha, and, making « eastward, strikes the American coast linde 41 or 42 deg. It passes theace od tinally loses iteelt in the tropics, thirty-niae, and west of the toot hills of the Nevada, the forests of Calitor- pia ate Linited to some ecattering groves of oak 10 the volleys and along the borders of the strea’ wud ot red wood on the ridges and in the gor —T the hills—sometimes extending into the plains. cme of the hills are covered with dwarf shrubs, which may be weed as fuel. With these exce tone, the whole territory presents a surface wit out Wees or ehrubbery. It ie covered, however, with verious species aa, and for many miles irc the coast with wild oats, which, 1 the vaileys, grow most lox ly. These grasses and oats meture end ripen early in the dry season, and soon ceere 10 — the sod from the scorching rays of meete, in a of Chin mer advances, the moisture the eeuth, to a considerable Cepth, soon becomes exhausted ; and the radiation fiom the extensive peaked plaine and hill- Ty great. The cold, di ‘currents of air from the northeast, alter paesing the Roehy mountains and the Sierra Ne wade, Cesouas vo the Paci orb morture the atmosphere, fom the lend. The cold ord that which accompanies tent from the northwest, vost benks of fog are @ ' rie ng, OF cutting, ven by the wind, bas a pet eficct on the human kin, much more uncomtor- teble than would be feltin the bumid of the Adentic, ata much lower temperature. Aa the eun rises from day to day, week after week,and month after month, clouded nees during the cry season, and pours down his unbroken ravs on the dry, unprotected eurface of the country, the heat becomes so much greater in lend than it is on the oceen, that en undercurrent | ot cold air, bringing the fog with it, rashes over the coest range of bills, and through their nume- rove passes, towards the interier. * Every day, as the Rest, jalead, attains a suffi- cient termpereture, the cold, dry wd from the ecren commences to blow. This is asually from eleven to one o'clock; and as the dey advances the | wind ineresses nnd continues to biow tll late at night. When the veeuvm is filled, or the equili- briom of the atmoephere restored, the wind ceuses; » perfeet calm prevails unl about the same hour the following day, when the same process com- mences ond progresee: before, and these pheno- tena are of daily occurrence, with few exceptions, ibrooghout the dry season. ‘ Three celd winds and fogs render the climate at Vreneseco, end all along the coast of Calitor except the extreme eoutl yoy of it, prow bebly more uncomfortable, to thoee not accus tomed to il, m summer than in winter. A few miles inlend, where the est of th modifies ond softens the wind from the ove climate is moderete and delighitul. The ne the middle of the day is not ro great as to retard labor, or render, exereiee in the open air uacom- | forteble, The nights are cool and pleasant. This | deverprion of climate prevails in all the valleys sleng the coast renge, end extends throughout the country, north and south, os far esetward as the | valley of the Seeramento and Sen Joaquin. In | thie voet pluin the eea-breeze loves ite influence, | and the degree of heat in the middle of the day, ig the evmmer months, is much grester than | i nom ghd for bed same lati- tudes. tis dry, however, an pably pot more oppressive. Cn the foothills ot tbe sierra Ne- | ad especial the deep ravines of the the thermemeter frequently ranges {1 110 veg. © 115 deg. nu the shade, during three or four beure of ine Cay, say trom ele woul three o'clock — 1p the evening, as the sun dechnes, the redienon of heat ceases. The cool, dry auno ephere trem the mounteins spreads over the whole country, apd renders the uights cool gud imvigo- rating. 1 i ve been kindly furnished by Surgeon Gene- rel Luweon, U. 5. Aimy, with thermometrical b> reivetions, taken at the folowing places im Cale fornia, vz: At Sap Franciveo, by Assistant Sur eeon W © Parker, tor six months, embracing the Vast quarter of 1847, and the first quarter wf 1848. The mouthly mean temperature was as follows: October, £7 cee; November, 49 deg ; December, LO cre; Jonuary, 49 deg.; February, 50 deg.; Mach, 81 ceg. At Movierey, in latitude 36 deg 38 min north, ono longitude 21 west, on the coast, about one Gegree avd a@ ball south ot San Francisco, by As- sistant Surgeon W.S King, for seven moaths, nm May to November tctasive, ‘The monthly Weak tempereture wasi— May, 56 deg; June, 59 59d wer, 58 ty # November, 56 dv, f vpelos, Jautude 34 deg. 7 m longi- Jib deg. Tin, by Assisiaut Sargeon jin. for ten mouths, from June, 1si7, 1848, inclusive. The moathly mean —June, 73 deg; July, 74 deg ; Sr ptember, 75 deg.; ber. 89 deg.; December, €0 deg ; Ja- pvory, C8 ceg ‘cbruary, deg.; March, 583 deg. y, F y, 6 M. 58 deg. “Lhie pleee is about forty mites from the coast. | At “an Diego, jatiude 32 deg. 45 min, longi- toce weet LI7 deg. lL min, by Assimtaut Surgeon J.D Summers, for the following three mouths ot 1849, viz:—July, monthly mean temperature, 71 deg ; August, 75 deg.; September, 70 deg. fs Ai Suttereville, on the Sacramentoriver, Intitade BB deg. 2mm. perth, longitude west 121 deg. 34 min., by Aesistent Surgeon R. Murray, tor the fole Jowing months of Isi0:—Joly, monthly mean tem perature, 7 3deg.; August, 70 deg ; September, 65 deg Oct ber, 65 deg. itee Observations show a remarkably hightem- perature ot Sun Frenecisco dunng the #1x mouths trom Oetober to Mareh inclusive ; @ variation of only eight degiees in the monthly mean, aod a mewn temperature for the six months of Sl degreesy At Monterey we find the meap monthly te apera- ture trom May to November, inclusive, varying only six Gegrees, and the mean temperature of the teven months to have been S8deg. It we take the three summer months, the mean heat was 60 deg. The mean of the three winter mouths was a litde over 49 deg. ; chowing @ mean diflerence, on that part of the coast, of ouly 11 deg. between sum- mer and winter. ‘The meon temperature of San Francisco, for the three winter monthe, was precisely the same as at Monierey—a litile over 49 deg. As there erties are only about one degree and a hait distant trom each other, and both situated near the ocean, the temperature at both, in summer, my very reasonably be supposed to be as nearly similar as the thermometer shows it to be in winter. The meen temperature of July, August and Sep- tember, ut San Diego, “oy 3 deg. 53 min. south of Monterey, was 72deg. The mean temperature of the ew: months at Monterey was a little over 59 deg , showing a mean diflerence of 13 deg This would seem to dicate that the cold ocean current 1s thrown off from the southern part of the coast by Pot Conception, and the islands south oti? ; und congequently its influence on the climate of San Diego is much less than at Monterey and Sen Francisco. ‘ At Los Angelos, 40 milee distant from the coast, the niean temperature of the three summer moaths war 74 Ceg ; of the three autumn months 67 deg. ; of the three winter months 57 @g. At Suttereville, about 130 miles from the ocean, and 4 deg. north of Los Angelos, the mean tem- perature ot August, September, and October, was (7 ceg. The mean temperatare ot the same menths at Monterey was 50 deg. ; showing a dif- ference of 8 deg between the sea coast and the in- terior, on nearly the same parallel of latitude. A much greater diflerence would undoubtedly appear if we hed observanon for the spring and summer months at Suttersville and the gold mines. These variations ia the climate ot California eccouut dor the various and conflicting opmons and statements respecting it. . : Abiranger arriving San Francisco in sum- mer, sey by the cold wind: pronou: ¢ chunate intolerable. A few mouths will modify, if not banish his dislike, and he will wreciate the beneticial effects of a cool, ig vephere. Those who approach Cal- fornia overland, through the passes of the moun- ine, find the heat of summer, in the middie of the say, premse than they have been accustomed to, and therefore many complain of it. Those who take up their residence in the valleys which are situated between the great plain of Sacramento and San Joaquin ana the coast range find the chmate, especially in the dry sea- fon, alibful and pleasant as 1 ible for any climate to be which porsesses sufhcient heat to mature the cereal grains and edible roots of the temperate sone. " mar The division of the year into two distinct sea- ecnr—dry end wet—impresees those who have been eecustomed to the variable climate of the Atlantic States, unfavorably. The dry appearance of the country in summer, and the difficulty of poring. about im winter, seem to se gp serious difficulties in the way of agneultural prosperity, while the meny and decided advaniages resulting irom the nuldvees of winter, and the bright, clear rather of summer, are not appreciated. These will appear, when Il come to speak of the produc- uone of Cahiornia. We ought not to be surprised at ne Clebke Woich the immigrants frequen'ly ex- press to the climate. [cis se unlike that trom which they come, that theyLeannot readily appre- ciate ite edventages, or become reconciled to its extremes of dry and wet. Ifa native of Cabiomia were to go to New Eng- Jond in winter, and see the gre rozen aud red with y the streems with tee, and find bomeelf ina te rature many degrees colder than he bod ever felt before, he would probably be us much eurprived that people could or would live in £0 inbotpitable @ region, y immigraot ever bes been at what be has » felt ia California Se much are our opinions influenced by early unpre the viciesitades of the seasons with which we are jomliar, love of couatry, home and kind) that we ought never to huzard a hasty opmen Whea we come in contact with circum: staners entirely diflereat from those to which we have all our lives been accustomed. SOIL. The valleys which are situated parallel to the coast range, end those which ex cnd eastwardly in ell directions emeong the hills, towarde the great = of the Sacramento, are of unsurpassed ferti- ny. hey have a deep black, ailaviel soil, which has the eppearsace of having bere deposited whea they were covered with water. This idea is ttiengthened by the foct that the rising grounds on the borders of these valleys, and many hills of mo- derate elevation, have a soil precisely like that of the adjoining plains. ‘ This voi! is ee porous, that it remains perfectly Dn by guilies, votwithstands ity of water which falle rn ¥ eteearon. The land in th: rrory on the Trinity r ders of Clear Lake, as faras it has been ex- raid to be remarkably fertile. valley of the Sacramento and San Joa- nin hus evidently been, at some remote penod, the bed of 6 leke; those rivers, which drain it, present the eppear ag cut their chan- nels through the elluviel depoeit utter it had formed. not possible that they siromental in formi the through which they . Their come from the extreme ends of the valley, north and south ; end, were it not for the supply of water recived from ‘he etreame which flow into them trom the Sierra Neveda, their beds would be al most, if pot quite, dry in the cummer months. The soil is very rich, and, with a proper eystem of Seeeee sud | embankment, would, undoubt iy, cape ot jucipg any except re § now caltivesed an the /atlamtie Statee ot ibe Union _ There ave many beautiful valleys aod rich hill- tides omong the toot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, which, when the profit of labor in mining shall be reduced . =< a ite Se io agri ture, will ably support a large population.— There 1s word we hee Heh belt of well umbered and mntry extending the whole length of the the Sierra Nevada,eome There ia no information reepecting the era slope of the er wy rapgeto enable us to form any jon of its general characteror soil. Some ot ley have been visited by miners, who repre« them as eqns! to any portion of the country to the weetward of it. ‘The preat valley of the Colorado, situated be. ween the Sierra Madre end the Sierra Nevada, 1s but Intle kno t is whabited by numerous tnber of savages, Who manifest the most deeided hoenlity towards the whites, and have nitherto prevented any explorations of their country, do mot permit emigrants to pase throng Therefore, perties from Senta Fe, on their 10, California, ere compelled to make @ eirenit of mara thoneend miles torhward to the Salt Lake, or about ihe came distance southward by. joute of the Gila. Although this valley is known, there are indications that itis fertile end valnable. Then of the river “Colorado” doneriptivg, of itp wetere) the we HA ine eared an those the Missouri or Red river, # paces of SE OES p, e knew flows through barren are r. ld i sible for a river to eok ie Then eh ia ean ates vhiel color its waters so deeply as to give it a name among thore who firet pm eed und have since viritied tts ehores. The probability, therefore, * thet this mver flowe through ao alluvial valley reat fernlty, which hes pever been ex; This cepjecture is strengtheued by the fact that the Indisns who inhabit it are hostile, and oppose, as far as they can, all persons who attempt 10 enter or explore it. This nas been theie uniform course ef conduct respecting all portioas of the ceptnent which have been fertile, abounding in geme und the spontaneous productions of the var _ As this valley is situated ia the direct route from Santa Fe Yo Cabfornia, ita thorough exploration becomes 4 Matter ot very great importance, expe- cially a8 118 tughly probable that the elevated re- gions to the verti of it, covered with scow during mort of the year, will force the line of the great peti maa railway to the Pacific through some por top ob Tt. The soil T have described, Sierra Nevada, und embracing the plan of the Sucromenro and San Joaquin, covers au area, as ly as | can estimate, of between fifty aud sixty thourand equere miles, and would, under a prop-r syrtean of cultivation, be capable of supporting a population equal to that of Ohio or New York at the present time. VRODUCT® OF CALIFORNIA. Previous tothe treaty of peace with Mexico, and the discovery of gold, the expormble products of ituated west of the the country cousisted almost exclusively of hides and tallow. The Californians were a pastoral people, and paid much more attention to the me ale es horses and cattle than the culuvation of the woul, Wheat, barley, maize, beane, and edible roots were Culuvated ip sufficient quantity for home con- sumption, but, x8 faras I am-infprmed, not for eaportution, Atthat time a full grown ox, steer, or cow Was worth about two dollars, Beef cattle, delivered on the navigable waters of the bay of San Francisco, are now worth from $20 to $30 per heud; horses, formerly worth from $5 to $10, are pow valued at $60 to $150 The destruction of cattle for their hides end tallow has vow eotireiv ceared, im cousequence of the demand for beef. This demand wallof course increase with the pepu- tation; and it Would seem that, in a very lew years, there will be none to supply the market. If we estimate the number of catile now in Cali- forma at 500,000 herd, which is believed to be ebour the nsumber—end the population at 120,000, forthe year 1850—a low estimate—and suppose it to increese one bundred thousand per anoum, there will be in the territory or State, in 1854, five hundred end twenty thousand people It we acopt the estimate ot those well acquaiated with the demand, of belf a beef, on an average, to each inhabitant, it a there will be # con- sumption, in 1850, of 60,000 head; in 1861, of 110,00; in 1852, of 160,000; m 1853, of 210,000; in Ie54, of 200,000, making an aggregate of 800 000, which would ebrorb all the present etock, with its Lutural increase. ‘This i8 a very important matter, as connected with the emount of supply which that country will ulumately require,from the Atlintic States ot the Union. ‘There is no other country on earth which has, or will ever possess, ihe means of supplying 50 gieat a demand. : It is now a well-established fact among the emi- grents to California,! that oxen possess greater powers of endurance than mules or horses; that they wall pesform the distance with loaded wagaa 1p fees time, ond come in at the end of the jouraey in better condition, — | Cows are now driven in considerable numbers from Missourl, and the time cannot be far distant when cattle from the Western States will be driven saoaaily by tens of thousands to supply this new marke'. It Califormia increases im population as fast as the most moderate estimate would lead us to be- lhheve, it willnot be five years before she will re- quire more than one hundred thousand head of beef cattle per enpum, from some quarter, to supply the wants of her people. id It must not be supposed that salt provisions may tupply this vaet demand. Those who have at- tempted to live on such tood, dusing the dry sea- sop, bave been attacked with seurvy and other culwneous diseases, of which many have died. There 1s vo climate in the world where fresh meat and vegetables are more essential to human health. Ju tact they are indispensable. I must not be inferred that cattle driven across the plaivs avd mountains, trom the western States, will be fit for beef on their arrwal in California — But one winterand epring on the luxuriant pastures ot that county will put tem in a condition which woe render them acceptable in any Atlantic market. ‘These grazing grounds are extensive enough to svpport five tunes as many catde as may be annu- 3 required; therefore, there will be no scarcity of food for them. lam acquainted with a drover who left Califor. De censber Inet, with the intention of bringing thousand sheep from New Mexico. This shows that the flecks and herds, east of the Rocky mountains, are looked to already as the source fiom which the markets gn the Pacific are to be supolied. x The climate and sol of California are well suited to the growth of wheat, barley, rye and oats. The temperature along the coast 1s too cool for the sue- cessful culture of maize, asa field crop. The fact that oats, the specirs which is cultivated im the Atlenuc States, are annually selt-sowed and pro- duced on all the plains and hi'ls along the coast,and as fer land as the sea breeze has « marked infla- ence on the climate, 18 sufficient proof that all the cereol graine may be successfully cultivated with- out the aid of irngation. a It is quite true shat thie auxiliary was extensively employed atthe missions,and undoubtedly increas ed the product of all crops to which it was apphed, as it will ip any country on earth if skiltully used. ‘Thee does not prove, however, that it was essen- ully necessary to the production of an ample _re- wed tothe husbandman. The experience of all the old inhabitants 18 sufficient evidence of this. It their impe ct mode of culture secured satis- factory re it Is TeasOnable to presume that a more pert tem would produce much greater feeulis. ‘There is abuydant evidence to prove neh alluvial valleys, wheat and barley ixty bushels, from — and cultivated in the Atlantic e produced in great perfection. Ia ail cys cnet of the coast range of bills, the eh- sutheenty warm to avatare crops of Ia- dian corn, nee, and probubly tobacco. The cultivation of the grape has attracted mach attention at the missions, amoog the residents of tewos, and the rural population, and been attended with much succers, wherever it has been at- tempted. The ery reason secures the fruit from thore disearrs which are so fatal m the Atiaatic States, and it attains very great pe 0a. 2 ‘The wire made trom it 18 of excellent quality, viry paletabie, and can be juced 10 any quan tity. The grapes are delicious, and prodaced with very little labor. When taken from the vines in bunches, and suspended in a dry room, by the siems, they become partially dry, retain their flav d remain several weeks, perhaps mont out decay. A ‘ars, and peaches are cultivated with facility. od there 1 no reason to doubt that all the fruits of ee States can be produced ia reat plent} ection. os »: ee ore very luxuriant and nutritious, efi rding excellent pasture. The oats, which spring up the w length of the sea-coast, and from forty to eixty miles inland, render the cultivation of that crop entirely es and yield a very great = ef nutritiove for cattle, # ‘The dry season matures. and, | may these grasses andjoats, wo tha! they remain in ence] eat state ares during the eum- mer and autumn, efford an w supply of forege. While the whole surface of the couatry appears parched, and vegetation destroyed, the nu- merous flocks and which roam over it, con- tipue in excellent condition. é Alt h the mildnees of the winter months and the ferulity of the soil seeure to California very de- cided agriculture! advantages, it is admitted that irrigation would be of very great importance, poten mae Benes nad &, Fag gent of EF jvantity end verie! juripg t iter part dy eearen. Itahould thereiore be ¢ c Jet government, in the survey and di of the public lands, as far as practi: . The farmer derives some very important from the dry reason. His crops in harvest time are bever injured by rain; he can with perfect dence permit them to remain in efter they have been gathered mey require; he hae no fears ied by we {ot entavoreble weather that mary who bave long ‘o climete, prefer it to the changeable of the Rocky mountains. Ase already stated, south of latitude 39 deg., of the Sierra New it imited the valiey: J of red- gorges fe ah hae ended Me to jo whether the soil et ere ae wo be prow ot foret ors dry eeaeon te rotra sh luxuriant sda, berome and Sy. The romaine, tnd iro a7 a the dry euros fo Sia ‘almost isu lecis, apd #8 prese, re mountable, 10 the succer progress of ricul- ture, A litle experience will modify these ~ Ita soon secertained that the soil will produce abundantly without manure; that flocks and herd: curtain themselves through the winter wi be- tng ted at the farm-yard, and, consequently, no la- bor 1¢ necergary to provide forage forthem; that ditches wre easily dug, which present very good barriers for the protection of crops, until live fen ces cup be planted, aud bave time to grow. Forest trees may be planted with but Inttle labor, and. in very few years attain a sufficient size for building and fencing purposes. Time may be usefully em- ployed in eowing Various grain aad root crops, du- ring the wet or wintersenron. There is no weather cold enough to destroy reot crops, therefore: it is not necessary to gather them. They ean be ured or sold from the field where they grow. The labor. therefore, required in most of the old States: to fell the forests, clear the Jand of rubbish, and weray it for seed, mey here be applied to other objets. Ali these things, together with the perfect secu- nty of elie im harvest time, from Poiury by wet weather, # pbubly sufficient to meet any ex may be incurred in irrigation, or ceused, for a ime, by a scanty supply of umber. In the norhern part of the territory, above lati- tude 29 deg., und on the hills, which Tise from the f cramento and San Joaguin, to be ta Ne veda, the forests timber ere beautiful and extensive, and would, if brought into ure, be sufficiently productive to supply the 3 nts of the couihern and western portions of the: State. 1 have spoken of the agricultural products and terources of the country, without reference to Tema kable state of things caused by the discovery’ of gole, which it is probable will postpone for an- mde bnite Lime all efiorts to improve the soil. As ong «8 Inborers can earn fifteen dollars or more per day, in collecting geld, they can very well af- ‘ord to import their supphes from eountries where the weges of labor are not more than from fifty cents toone dollar perday. It is not, therefore, to be supposed that the soil will be cultivated more than the production of vegetables, fruits, and other art cles so perishuble in their nature that they can- not be brought froma great distance, will require. To secure this important market for the prodacts: avd manufactures of the States east of the Rocky Mouctains is nndondtedly un object of the greatest tpeeres e. It will be comsidered in its proper place. PUBLIC DOMAIN. The extent and vatue of the pudhe lands, suitable for egri ral purposes, in Califoraia, caanot be ascerte ith any degree of accuracy until some very important preliminary questions shall have been settled. It is not known whether the Jesuits who founded the mission, or their successors, the Franciscans, everoid, or do now hold any ttle from the Spanish crown to the lands which they occupied. Nor has- any investigation beea made to ascertain how far those titles, if they ever existed, have been iavali- dated by the acts of the priesis, or the decrees of the Mexican government. A ruverfiews! view of the matter would be very apt to lexd to the eupposition that the Jesuits, so celebrated tor wisdem and cunning, would not fail to secure that which, at that time, would probably have been obtained by merely asking for it—a royal decree, granting to them all the Jands they might require in that remote country for ecclesiastical purposes. There have been some inumations to that effect, but nothing 1s distinctly known. These missions embrece within their liants some of the mort valuable lvuds in the territory, and it 18 very important that it should be ascertained whether they belong to the government, or may be justly claimed by individuals. . Most of the land, ft for cultivation, south of la- titude 39, and west of the valley of the Secramento and San Joaquin, is claimed under, what purports to be, grants from the Mexican government. On most of these grdnts the ninerals and metals are rererved to the government—conditioas were coupled with many of them which have not been cemphed with. In others, the boundaries deacnibed’ embrace two or three times as much land as the grant conveya. The Mexican law required all grants made by the provisional goveroment, with tew exceptions, we ‘onfirmed by the supreme government. The great distance which separated them, aud un- or difficult means of communication, omphance with the law so expensive and tardy, that it came to be almost disregarded. There were other causes which led to this Beglect. : Previous to the treaty with Mexico, and the im- of American citizens to that country, ot regarded as of much value, except for grazing purposes. There was room eaougn for all. ‘Theretore, the claimants or proprietors did not cnnneet each other, or inquire into the validity of utles. ‘These extensive grants are described by natural boundaries, such as moun/ains, bays, and promon- tones, which, in many instances, might allow of @ variation of reveral miles in the establishment of a corner with cham and compass. By the treaty of Guadalape Hidalzo, the United States purchased he rights and interests of Mexico to ond in Californis, Tors purchase not only embrered all the landa which had not been granted by Mexico, but all the reserved minerals ard metele, and alse reversionary rights which might accrue to Mexico trom a want of compliance ov the partof the grantees with the conditions of their grants, or a want of perfection in the grante. It will be perceived that this is a subject of very gr at portance, poConly to the pesple of Cal: fornia, but te the United States, aad calls for prempt end ¢flicient action on the part of the government. It is believed that the appoiatment of competent commissioners, fully empowered to investigate these titles, ina spirit of Rustness toe weds the clumants, with power to confirm such titles as justice may seem to demand, or with im- strnetions to report their proceedings and rds to Congress, for confirmation or rection, will be the best wn haos the only satisfactory mode of adiveting th: plex and difficult question. The lends in the northern part of the terntory, J%h dey., have not been explored or granted. They are sopposed to embrace an area of sbout twenty millions of acres, a large portion which is, doubuless, valuable for its timber and Comperatively few grants have been obtained in the greet valley of the Sacramento and San Joa quip. ‘This vast tract, therefore, containing, as is rermated, from twelve to fifteen msituons of neren, belongs mostly to the goverament South ot this valley, and west of the Colorado, within the hmits of (Calitorma, as indicated in her © (here are said to be extensive tracts of valuable vneppropriated land, and on investigation it will probably eppear that there are maay of them la detached bodies, which have not been granted. 1 €o pot spenk of the gold region, embracing the entire feot-hille of the Sverra Nevada, some five hundred miles long and sixty miles broad, in coa- neetion with the puble dormain,which may be em- braced in the general land system for sale and set- te — for reasons which will be hereatter aa signed. The survey of the public lands on a system suit- ed to the interests of the country is a matter of very great importance. Ta the inhabited portioas of the Territory, the boundaries of Mexican grants, ran- # they do, in all direeti will render ths of surveys by parallels of latitude and lon-~ ri Sy ha lngegactionlae. tos nial pal rie of the country irngation rable, ord its Bene ts should be secured, as far as | a by suitable earveys and legal Je of the valleys are watered by streans l« large to be peuderd vor Sect It would, therefore, eeem wiee to lay the land ia coe | formity to the course of the hills and streams which bound and drain the valleys. Aeystem of drei , which would also secure irrigation, ie absol to value to the great plain of the " and J 2. This valley ie so extensive and level, that if the rivers po A threugh it were never to overflow their banka, the rain which fall winter would render the greater portion of it nntit for cultivation. The foundation of euch a system can only be eatab- liehed in the eurvey and sale of the land. Thie con be done by laying out canals and dreing at wurtable distances, and in pr direc- t and by leaving wide margins to rivers, that may have pleoty of room to ine ease their” chaene® when their waters shall be confined oS wow eo wr to i theee larde, #0 a8 to meet, in ponte Segre too ene . penee of draming them. This eystem wou'd,g when agricultnre shall be- in, Make thie valley one cere @ pursuit in Col) of the moet beautiful end preductive portions of COMMPROTAL RRSOTRCES. Union The commercis! of Californi at f coaaey Weanded earirely om hee mmrning el wen er vast mineral tre: ond ber fertile evil elmest ‘Thai neieted and hs must continue to be the case as long aus labor employed in collecting gold, shall be more profit ble thea in ony other pursuit which ean farnioh ihe sinewe of commerce. ‘The dey is probably not distant, however, whee Ra mines, will Gold in the produet of Sherman mom diately available, in an uneoined state, the pu of exchange. Tt is not there, aa of the earth Tporee countries wharethe market—foreign ot demnestie—to be precious metals, or ot value. There, gold aot supplies “het 7, Fatt ei would ee ie be unfavorable to aa extepeive raterenatee wi