The New York Herald Newspaper, September 29, 1860, Page 4

4 “GOLD AND CONQUEST. feon in Africa. The Discovery of Mimitable Gold Fields, Seoret Developement of the Senegal Colony. NEW MOVEMENTS IN HAYTL French Gold Coinage More than that of the United States and England. Annual Gold Coinage of Over 500,000,000 of Francs in the French Mint. Waere the Supply Comes From—How it Was Found apd Developed —And the Finan- cial Revolution it is Producing. Claim of au American Citizen for 15,000,000 , Frances on the Emperor, fo. &o.. &o, TO THZ EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK HERALD. Public attention has been recently attracted to the colossal operations of Louis Napoleon in Afri- ca, by the publication of certain correspondence | between Mr. R. A. Parrish, Jr., of Philadelphia, | and the President of the United States. The object of that correspondence is the acquisition of diplo- matic protection by Mr. Parrish, in order that he may, safely and unembarrassed, prosecute a claim upon the French government for 15 000,000 of frances, which is the remunera: alleged to have been promised him by the Emperor for a demonstration of the auriferous regious lately conquered and an- nexed to the empire. The gigantic achievments of the Freach upon nent, the unprecedented sums of gold y have thrown, and are still throwing, eueral circulation, and the new fiscal aud po- litical interests which are thus epringing up, intle- pendcatly of all other considerations, render this subject one ef primary importancy Believing, therefore, that a narrative of the facts would be | appreciated Ly the banking and commercial popu- lation of your city, the following, from an acquaint. fnce with this subject since its inception, as well as from an inspection of the correspondence of Mr. Parrish with the governments both of the United States and France, is respeetfully submitted:— When California arose in 1948, like a splendid | apparition on the shores of the Pacific, an entirely | new aspect was given to the geology of gold; and, for the first time, the world was prepared to reason accarately upon enlarged plans for its acquisition, ‘That in many localities it could possibly exist as abundantly diffused asiron was, until then, univer- tally discredited. The uninterrupted and increas- ing product of the Uralian washings for upwards of aceatury had been insufficient to enlighten even ‘the learned world on that subject. In evidence of this assertion it will curiously appear that Lieuten- aut Wilkes, in his report of the United States ex- ploring expedition—[Philadeiphia, 1545, vol. V.J— aitbough bis corps of s ts had traversed the gold fields of California on their longest diameter just before their developement, had actually encamped at Sutter's Fort, where the golden marvel was afterwards disclosed, and for some time had been sleeping on beds of gold every night—never @reamed of the opulent reality. Indeed, so far did the reality transcend even scientific suspicion or | surmise, that whatever this expe nm may have seen, the teat of this report has nota syllable about old . Tn Like manner Roderick Murchison, in his report on the Russian gold fields, undertaken at the iustance of the Czar, sayst—‘ ‘Count Keyserliag also res we that the discovery of Mr. Hoffman re- lates to un area larger than France, every part of which seems to be more or leas anriferous. * * * If this diffusion of gold * * be really fouud to hold frood over so Vast an area it imparts a new and most important element to our re asoning. Well, therefore, may political economists now beg for knowledge at the han pher of the physical geogra- and geologist, and learn from ther the secret the public faith of empires may depend,’* ol. of Russia: London and Paris, quarto edition, vol. I., p. 645.] 1st If these scholars, who stood in the very highest rapk of modern geologists, notwithstanding their personal explorations in the field, were not only skeptical as to the profuse existence of gold (as it is now known), but if even Sir Roderick, when al- luding to the probable valae of the gold fields of Hindostaa and South Carolina, was silent or unad vied as to those which Mr. Parrish has since browzht to light, it would imply a most menda- cious intellectaal coxcombry in p@Psons ignorant of geology to affect (with the light of study or of demonstration) any such antecedent know- ledge. Indeed, so utterly unbelieving was the gecera! as well as the learned world on this sub- ject, that although Count Strzelecki had, as early as 1818. prospected the gold fields of Australia and poblished the result; and although Sir Roderick, oo bis return from Russia, had, in 1847, endorsed those views in a public lecture, which was re- ed in the papers, and although he even urged tsh Ministry by letters to investigate the etno action ensaed from these invalua- ble revelations. Sach, t was the e of universal ekepti- cism, even until some time after the discovery of a Australia in 1852—a discovery like that of tnia, which was wholly the offspring of for- circumstances, having been aided ncither ned t s, by governmental authority, neo? a oN shed by this inauga- {the modern age of gold gave a new sigai- to the ladications of gold already known to ewhere. Then it was, and not until then, ologists were competent to trace and de te (solely from their general reading) the } aing aariferous formations of the world. But t it does not appear Parrish has actually attempted it. mencing his researches in 1448, so assiduously did he address himself to the task that in the couree of two or three years, without travelling beyond the es of Europe and America, he dieco- 1 demonstrated new gold flelds of national valne, his geological telescope of la Verrier) d ting its object by Two of them (those of the Kong | mountains and those of Hayti) have already be- come the objects al pursultand acquisition, | r which their y + solely ind ito Mr, | ‘arrish’s instram: The other two, which are | the beet of negotiations et govern- meats, are not mentioned here us reasons, A knowledge of thos St. go was ob- taiaed from him sorrepti is Excellency M>. Pould, Minister of the Preach Imperial Tovse- bold, ard has been pursued (without any promise of compensation to him) by the govern Gent. Me, Parrish was in Par get otber visite, during a partof 1856 and 1557, when his trunks, books and papers were subjected to con tinual invasion aud espiouage by the emiasaries of , i z. h’s Excellency, and in this way the important Colossal Enterprises of Lonis Napo- truth transpired. Bis appeals for protection | ugninet these outrages to the commissary of his | arondissement, to the Prefect of Police, to the American Minister, and to the l'rench Minister of Marine, were ike entirely disregarded. His conupunivation to the latter is as follows: — Paws, Oct 16, 1856. Sin—T deem it proper to acquaint yoor Exosileucy with the fact that my trunk has recertly been opened, and ite couteuts subjected to examipatiog, It contains, together With many papers, a book shutting wiib a lock, in which wore memoranda, bearing an important relation to the fubject of my late letter to big Majesty. A mach map, executed by myseif, appears to have bee purl . ‘The clroumstances aending this infamy convince mo that the Jocks of my trunk and book picked in reiterated instances. These occurrences trans- Ppired @t my apartments, No 20 Rue d’antn, the key of which, during my absence was invariably ootrusted to and of the con. Mr. D, wh at once the proprietor EM to iderativa, your Exe noy's servant R. A. PARRISH, 38 To His Excellency Admiral Hamsiin, Minster of State ‘or the hiariae, &e, Immediately upon this discovery by the French of the mineral value of St. Domingo, the best map of that island ever published, (one of which, namely, | that by Piquet, Geographe du Roi et de Mgr. le Duo | d'Orleans,) was reprinted with a haste so ludicrous | that whilst the date of its imprint was altered from 1540 to 1467, it still purported to have been issued in 1857 by ‘‘the geographer of the King and of the | Duke of Orleans.’ General Santana, in reply to Mr. Parrish’s inquiry for maps of the island (for the use of his company hereafter meationed), in- | formed him that the French government had just issued these new editions, by some understanding | Or arrangement with the General. The following | articles also (all of which tell thelr own story) then successively appeared in the Monitew, the official journal of the French government:— On the 24th of May, 1857, there is a notice of a submarine telegraph intended to counect this island with the French Antilles. On the 17th of November, L it is stated that a momber of emigrants recently left France for 5t. Domingo, and a new departare is announced to their projected establishments. On the 2ist of February, 1858, an imperial decree establishes a line of steamships to Hayti, &c,, and | appropriates 1,900,000 francs per annum for its sup- port. On the 17th of June, 1860, the Haytien loan is an- nounced as having been distributed at the Hotel de Ville, at Paria, under the supervision of the Minister of the Interior. * During the years 1857 and 1868 Mr. Parrish or- gunized a company in New York for the dovelope ment of these West Indian gold flelds, whose plan was to connect the island with New York by steam- ships; to introduce steamboats on the rivers Yaqui and Yuna; to construct railways in the Vega Real, | &c., and to procure from the local government general mining privileges throughout the island, In the same year he visited and prospected these formations, procured both ores and nuggets, and only reached the city of St. Domingo in time to ascertain that Mr. Reyband, the French Consul General, had obtained from the Dictator Santana the identical grant (expressed almost in épsisstnis verbis) with that which he himself had gone to ob- tain. Itwill be found published in erfenso in the Gaceta Oficial of that city, April 19, 1869, Similar concessions were also obtained by Mr, Reybaud from Hayti. A knowledge of these encroachments by the French was promptly brought by Mr. Par- rish to the notice of his government by letters to General Cass of the 18th and 24th of May, 1853, in | the course of which he remarks:— ‘The nautical asoen over the larger Antilles con- ferred upon this island by ite incom) aye and b; tts ward position; by ite m Supremacy of so! climate and productions; by ita vast area and close proxi mity to the States,” gives it « political value, whether for good or for ¢v |, far too momentous to bo regarded with indifference, Nearer in time to New York than Bu’ fale was of hn ego, More aecessary to our expand. ing commerce any other portion of the West Indics, ‘and gaining datly wad pose | ia the general appreciation ©” the world, the time sem to hay» totaliy ela .eed ‘ben, with any prudence or safety, it can be lougor aban- doned to the intrigues of European goveraments. | These suggestions elicited no notice, and the ope- rations of the French went steadilyon. Their poli- cy, however, might long ago have been anticipated by the perusal ofa couple of editorials in your paper of the Sth and 9th of July, 1858, which an- nounced the existence of an enfente cordiale be- tween Mr. Buchanan and Louis Napoleoa, having for ita object the appropriation and division of the Antilles:—France to take fan Domingo, and tho United States Cuba, &c.—a project still in force, | bot on@ur part not yet successfully consummated. Hence the ‘Thirty Million bill,” for the pur- chase of Cuba, urged upon Congress by the Presi- | dential message of the succeeding winter; the late | overthrow of the Haytien empire in the west and | the Spanish repeblic in the east of San Domingo (both the result of French intrigues); the resuscita tion of the old Haytien debt to France, of 150,000,- 000f. (indemalty for the revolutionary confisca- | tlons of 1793); the concordat between the Pope (Louis Napoleon's Prime Minister) and the churches of the island, and many other indications that Gef- frard and Santana are mere creatures of the French government. In short, the l'rench power is actually consolidated at our doors. , This entente cordiale, | however profitable it may fave proved to certain | persons, is certainly the most fatal, the most igno- | rant, and (since treaties not ratified by the Senate | are unlawful) may even be termed the most trea- sonable error of diplomacy which has thus far oc- | curred in our limited history. St. Domingo is | but another California. In fact, it is risking nothing | to say that if the people of the United States had | been aware of its inestimable value, and of its his- tory during the past four years, they would have frustrated the policy of France, even at the peril of | a war. | Bat enough of this episode. Probably led by the alluring example of Russia | (as above mentioned), the French government in 1841 also sent out a commission to examine and report upon the value of the goid fields reputed to | exist in Bambouk, which wasa little negro king- | dom in the Kong mountains of Africa, at the head waters of the Gambia and the Seaegal. As long ago as 1802 Golberry had published a work enti- tled “ Travels in Afric: treating, amongst other things, of this region, and giving a pretty good | summary of its exploration by various travellers, So antedilavian, however, were his geological views that (chap. xii.) he estimated ita annual au- tiferous, together with ita commercial products, at perhaps $80,000, and (chap. xi.) recommended his government not to undertake its acquisition. Aa may be assumed, it had absolutely ao effect in the developement of the mines. It is certain, however: | that he and oll the other authorities up to 1811 were«diligent!y considered by the French govern- ment, before they ventured to embark in even the that any other person than | petty expenses of the commision of that date. The Com. | official report of that commision, by Mr. T chief, who actually prospected its gold fleids, is to be found scattered through the Moy to 1s and also ia the Rerue Colo together with the later explorations b; fe 1843, Rey says, as to the abundance of its gold :— ‘It is trae that ina short time ite mines could be exhausted” [ Revue Coloniate, and recommends his government m “fits conquest’-—language which c Bambouk was not at that time considered as an in- teoral part of the colonies gf France. So manifest is this, indeed, that ia the tory of Paris for 1859 (originally published by the «ec ent, and bearing upon its title page the | name of his Excellency M. Fould) the colony of Seoegal was defined to be ‘‘an inconsiderabic post at the mouth of the river of that name.’ A new edition of this Directory (since issned without his e aad sotedat esenually modifies this de colony more or b fr ' | | paralleled display of industry which th ks t { | | | | | NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1860: siderable, on both banks of the Senegal." Th« give an artificial aspect to the neglecicu but wasily estublished history of this region is worthy of ad- miration, and has a meauing which will be ex: pounded in the sequel. ‘The voluminous report of Mr, Rey was a@ signal for the abandonment of similar enterprises in that direction. With the exception of numerous trea ties negotiated by the Prince de Joinville aud oth- ers at Bassam, Assinoa, Dahomey, &c., slong the Atlantic coast, directed at commercial objects only, and not at gold (as they had invariably been), France, absorbed in revolutions up tothe time of | Mr. Parrish’s arrival, scarcely looked beyond the confines of Algeria in any of her African specula- tions. The project of Mr. Parrish for the developement | of the gold fields of Africa was embodied in a me- | morial, now in the hands of the French Emperor It was originally submitted to his own goverament in March, 186°, pursuant to a preliminary conver- sation with a Cabinet officer, and was accompanied by the following letters:— ‘Wasuinoton, March 14, 1853. ba hep you, a ep om Mog phon mentioned @ or two ago. spose 4 al Se od te ley it belore his Excellency the ~ I bave the honor to be rour obedient servant, R. A. PaRRISA, Jr. Sin—I beg leave to Sit tates sea — leave to Bul 0 & memo- fal proposing ap expedition to tbs Niger. via Bathurst and the river Gambia. It will require equip ents for one bundred men, One small vessel, an: & small expeuse will suffice. The immense national advantages to accrue from the expedition are detailed in the memorial herewith ca- closed. I bave the honor to be your obedivat servant, R. A. PARRISA, To The Pamsupest of the United Suates. o From a default of means and of constitutional authority, as well as from their inability to pursue the scheme with secresy, the government, after a few weeks consideration, declined the proposition; | with some of the further evidence which belonged whereupon the memorfal and correspondence were returned at his request, not however without the emphatic commentary that— All the wortd has known that there is gold in Africa, but thia is the first time that the idea of its acquisition has ever assumed a practical #haps. Another cabinet officer, tranaported by its gor- geous pictures of mineral and commercial opu- lence, remarked:—*‘That iu the inevitable effect of its developements upon general commerce and finance there is nothing since the dis- covery of America by Columbus that can be compared to it." An observation, as will ap- pear in the sequel, which has been even more than realized. Had the government co-operated with him he would have added, on private ac- coant tothe proposed expedition, a thousand ad- ditional men. Fuiling in governmental aid, a private enter- prise was attempted with the co-operation of seve- ral gentlemen. The Messrs. Aspinwall, of New York, a Jarge steam shipping house, were sounded as to their willingness to put on a line of steamers to the new El Dorado, which (from motives of policy) was represented as lying on the Orinoco; but already overpowered with business aad anxious for repose, they declined. The idea of a privat enterprise was soon after abandoned. America not seeming to offer a safficient field, Mr. Parrish proceeded to Europe, in the hope that some one of its governments might have the sagacity to per- ceive its value, and undertake the prosecution of his scheme; for be it parenthetically remarked, save by a few persons qualified to comprehend such subjects, his views were generally denounced as altogether preposterous, visionary and chimeri- cal. He was even derisively asked, “If there were gold in Africa, would the world have waited for him to point it out ?""--forgetting that the world had waited for Mr. Marshall in California, and for Mr. Hargreaves in Australia, neither of whom made any pretences to geological learning. He arrived in Paris on the 16th October, 1953, and addressed himself to his Excellency M. * 9 Minister of the Imperial Household, to know if the Emperor would entertain a proposttion of this nature, saying that he was prepared to demonstrate its yalue andits convenien*® accessibility to the arms of France, provided he could secure those inte- rests in the enterprise which he desired to retain. His Excellency responded that it would be neces- sary to see the Emperor, who was then at Com- piegne,and that he would give a response in a few days. At the same time his Excellency was reminded by Mr. Parrish that he would treat with the Emperor only, and that his Majesty should not be put to the pains of an extraordinary audience unless prepared to prosecute the enterprise, and to make Mr. Parrish some proposals to which be could accede. No intimation was given then, or at any time afverward, that France contemplated any pro- ject of the kind, or that any of Ler colonies were even supposed to be rich in gold. On the contrary, the scheme was hailed with enthusiasm and its novelty was admitted to be eqnal to its intrinsic importance. In a few days Mr. Parrish was {a- formed that the Emperor would undertake it and would be pleased to see him. Whereupon an ex- traordinary audience was appointed for its con- sideration at St. Cloud, 30th October, 1853. Mean- time (as detailed in his letter te the President, pablished in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin of August 24, 1860) his Excellency M. Fould insisted on Mr. Parrish’s reception of fifteea millions of france Gom the Emperor, one-third of which was to be allotted to his Excellency. This appropria- tion of “one-third of the fraits of the scheme was not oljected to, but many reasons, which cannot here be entered into, rendered Mr. Parrish very repugnant to the mention of so large @ som. He was told that if it was worth one franc it was worth fifteen millions; that with the co-operation of his Exceilency and the Enpe- ror, he possessed that of the whole government, &e., Ac. Inshort,he was obliged to acquiesce, and under this necessity saw his Majesty at the time appointed. This was precisely two weeks af- ter his arrival in Paris—a promptitude contrast- ing harshly with the seven years which have now elapsed since the surrender of his scheme, without the manifestation of any disposition on the part of the French government to carry out its engage- ments with him. The conversation was in English. The Emperor stated that he had understood from M. Fould the bf the subject, &c., and inquired if a rema- neration of figteen millions of francs would be satis- fa jy, or half the product of the mines for a term of yea To the latter proposition Mr. Par- tie, demurred, mainly oa the ground of its magai- e, but otherwise intimated bis consent. The sct was then discussed for some time, in the oof W he designated Africa as the scene of enterprise, particalarized some of the pointe where gold was most abundant, and re- sponded to the interrogatories of the Emperor te- epecting the distances, the requisite expeditionary force, &c, He was then reqn ito lay the writ- ten evidences of the subject before the Minister of the French M who should be instructed to give him a 7raité, to guarantee the conditions thus agreed upon, one of which expressly provided that the money should be payable as soon as the French arms should be established in token of sovereignty over any portion of the territory indicated. The tenor of Mr. Parrish’s memorial (which is still in the hands of the French Emperor) was sub- stantially as follows:—To plant a missionary eet- tlement, with one gun, opon a rocky, d in the Niger below the mouth of the Tchadda, and thereby, through this, it natural ontlet, to command the co ce of its immeasurable valley—a valley stretching from the Kong mountains on the west to the remote highlanda on the east, which divide the waters of the Niger from the waters of the Nile. Forthemore, by weaty or purchase, to displace the Forepean settlements on the west const north of the line; and thas, with the desert as a northern boun- dary Mountains of cot © Moon on the south, and western ridges of the | Nile upon the far east, to establish a colony, which i for ils inexhaustible natural productions, aad par: | ticularly for ite wealth in gold, can have uo rival | upon the surface of the carth. Space will got ad- | mit of enlarging here upon the evidence adduced to show the facility with which these measures | might be cairied out, nor in demonsteatioa of the | unexampled prodigality of the gold deposits scat- tered for a theusand miles throughout the Kong mountains. The growing hostility to the slave trade of the | principal Christian States was indicated (amongst | others) as a means of displacing the flags of | Farope upon the Atlantic coast by simply ander- taking to stop the exportation of slaves north of | the Equator, an engagement easy of accomplish. | ment, as the slaves would find their best market | in the mines. The southern coast of that continent might be left to the enterprising philanthropy of | other Powers, &c. On the Ist of November, 1853, this memorial, | to it, was submitted by Mr. Parrish to the Minister of the French Marine, with the understanding that his Excellency would, in a short time, decide upon the solidity of the enterprise, and in the event of his approval proceed to draw up the Trai‘é. On the 5th of December, 1463, Mr. Parrish again saw bis Excellency, who then informed him that the project had been adopted by the Emperor, that an expedition was then fitting out for its prosecution, and that the Zraiéé would probably be ready for execution in a few days, the delay which had al- ready occurred being chargeable to the incessant demands upon his time by the details of the enter- prise, &e. Because, a day or two after this, Mr. Parrish hesitated to adopt a creature of Mr. Fould's to be named as his copartner in that instru- ment, it was never delivered to him. His access to all the offices of the government was immediately cut off, and asystem of vindictive persecutions di- rected against him which three several times com-" pelled him to leave the country. His communica- tion with the Emperor by letter or otherwise was defeated, and until the present time, notwithstand- ing the triumphant success of the enterprise, and the very considerable expense and trouble he has undergone, his interests have made no progress. The other particulars of this negotiation will sbe hereafter given, with his correspondence with the government of France, which is too voluminous for the present communication. One letter only can be quoted which will serve to show the official recognition of their indebted- ness to Mr. Parrish by the French government, in- asmuch as it was a reply to a letter from him re- citing much of the antecedent history of the sub- ject, and making inquiry as to their action in re- gard to it. It is as follows:— LETTER OF THE MINIGTBR OF MARINE TO MR. PARRISH. J Panis, June 2, 1854 Mivistry of Marine, &o., Direction of the Colonies, Bu- reau of Politics and Commerce: Project for the developemeut of the goid mines of up- per Senegambia. Nor: —Repties should be addressed to the Minister and Sin— the 29th you have inqui pee wes be Je ee Lewes dhed jevelopement mines in upper Senegam! bave the honor to apprise you that your project was the subject of an immediate examination on my part, aud that, in December last, I addreesed to Mouseigneur the Minister of State aud of the Household of the Emperor a letter coutaining, with my judgment of the exteot and value of those prupositious, aa of the coaditivos Within which we must be execution possible. i bave just written to Monseigneur the Minister of State reminding hima of this communica: tion. Recetve, eir, the force St -7 a ton, 003, Minister, Secretary of State fur ibe diarine and Colonies. To Mr. Pans if nts An expeditionary force of thirteen vessels aad twenty-five hundred men was despatched to Sene- gai (the base of operations) during December, 1853, and in the same month there commenced a series of imperial decrees, now amonunting to two or three hundred, and for the most part published in the Moniteur, which were passed in the deve- lopement of the scheme. The first, which is for the enlistment of native blacks in the colonial ser- vice of Senegal, was published on the 5th of De- cember, 1853. Another, chartering the Bank of Senegal, on the 22d of the same month. At this date St. Louis contained thirty-nine tradesmen, and this baak, which was atterly superfluous to them, was designed as a place of deposit for the gold then in confident expectation. On the 8th of May, 1854, a voluminons decree was published, re- constructing the colonial system of France, and placing Senegal under the special presidency of the Emperor. On the 30th of May, 27th of June, and 10th of July, will be found official reports of the successful progress of the expedition. On the 10th of August, 1854, a decree appoints the officers of the Bank of Senegal. On the Lith of August a decree establishes a corps of gardes des mines. On the 19th, another organizes the judiciary of Senegal. On the 15th of October the jndges are appointed to the Colonial Courts. On the 29d of Janvary, 1955, a decree establishes civil commis- sariats. On the Lith of March, 8th of August, 10th of October, and in several subsequent instances, decrees organize emigration companies for the transportation of “‘ apprentices” to the Antilles, which are nothing more nor less than the native prisoners of war, captured by this expedition, beyond the numbers which were necessary for the | mines. On the 3d of July, 1855, there is further | legislation respecting the school of mines. Ou the | 24 of September, 1855, is an official report of the | consolidation of the French power in the upper | there is an official report by the Governor of Senegal of the cession of territory to the French by native princes, the construction —TRIPLE SHEET. | Benegal. In addition to this it may be remarked, country of Seaegal. On the 224 of November | tly. | ast othee suarees, ézcepé assis of forts, Ac. Onthe 22d of January, 1858, there | conciaded with various European governments re- gulating the sale of arms to natives on the African coast—a decree which Las an obvious significancy. On the léth February, 1856, there is a decree con- stitating Onalo a province of France, Xc., &c. On the ith May, 4th Joly, 18th November and Sist December, 1856, are sham reports from the Co vernor of Senegal, intended, like many others of the same stamp, to lead inquiry away from the facta. On the Sd December, 1856, 9 decree effects further important modifications in the French colonial system. On the 9th April, 1867, is a re- port of the expedition of Mr. Filze, who bears the Je of Director of the External Affairs On the 11th and 17th April, 1957, are official announcements of treaties with England, whereby the Britis flag is obliterated along a large portion of the west coast of Africa. On the 20th April, Lith May, 6th July, Sh July, Lith Angust, 6th, 7th and 15th September, Lith and 17th Oc tober, ami i7th December, 1867, will be found further reports of the continuous expansion of the French power in Africa. On the 10th January, 1858, is an official report admitting, for the firet time, that the French government is in the receipt of gold from these mines, which is here ra at 69,000 france, but which will be shown hereafter to have been flowing into France during the foar previons years at the rate of about 650,000,000 francs per aunum. On the 28th October, 1345, a | new ministry appears to have been create’, en titled the’Ministry of Algeria and the Colonies, of | which Prince Napoleon wa ated the in cumbent, whose report avows consolidation of the French power throughout the auriferous king. éom of Bambouk; whilst, on the 26th March, | 1859, is another decree formerly erecting this mints. | try, and appointing aa its head Count Prosper de | Chasse Loup Laubet. On the oth February, 1960, | a decree puts the African mails under a separate and special service—a decree which, onthe part of those who deem it strange that all these proceedings shonid not hare been previously kag aie cova parugulary we erauea | in an official announcement that treaties have beca | when it is remembered, that although anpublizhed, this decree had been virtually in force fur six years, and that all the labo: of the expeditions was that Of slaves, necessarily ignorant of the French laa- guage. On the Sth July 1560, a decree opens the Custom Houses of Southern Algoria to the free ad- mission of the commerce of Soudan, aud the report ofthe Colonial Minister speaks of ‘the vast horizous then opening to France."’ On the lst of the same month @ land office is established by imperial decree, and the Colonial Minister alludes to the vast and populous regions placed at their disposition, and compares them to the anpeopled territories of the United States. Commencing, also, with the ar- rival of the abovementioned expedition in Africa, in 1854, will be found in the same paper a multi- plicity of decrees (over fifty in number) dispensing medals and decorations for military services in that Abyssinia bas lately sunk under the protec- torate of France. French military expeditions both from Algeria and Senegal have in the past few years penetrated to the heart of Africa, and those who read her official journals must be per- fectly aware that her designs upon that continent have latterly assumed gigantic proportions. The | fate of Egypt consequent upon the late Syrian com- | plications,aad that of Morocco upon those of the late Spanish war, are more than dubious. But if the world should be startled at an early day, by the arrival of new maps of Africa, dressed exclusively in | French colors, from the Mediferrancan to the | equator, and from the Atlantic tothe Indian Ocean, let not their surprise be imputed as a fault to any omission on the part of the correspondents of the | Heraup. Ten years ago the sybelline leaves of | the ‘ Memorial” above alluded to plainly fore- shadowed these results as demonstrable possibili- | ties. To-day they are maturing realities. But apart from the revolutions, political and geographical, which this vast provincial empire is working out upon the continent of Africa, its finan- cial developementa are certainly far more extra- ordinary. Indeed they transcend all that isto be found in previous history. The gold coinage of the United States, which only once before 1834 attained the sum of a mil- | lion of dollars (namely, in 1820), will be found from that date until its receipts from California (save the exceptional year 1847, during which $17,000,- | 000 of Mexican gold coin, acquired during the war, was sent to the mint) to present a growing | but moderate increment in its amount. This in- | crement bore a more or less steady ratio with the | foreign trade. That of France and England will | be found subject to the same conditions. At length not, however, until two or three years after their the mints of the United States and England felt the | Hchrew ieeriptions, bs proved itgcit equal to tho effects of the California and Australian mines; | respective discoveries. But in these effects the French mints can be scarcely said to have partici- pated with equal promptitude, The late coinage of these several governments is as follows: — ANNUAL GOLD COINAGE OF Engiarnd Unuled states. Francs. 6,423,230 00) = * Yearly 3,766,447 50 | ave 4.086177 60; = 82,500 20 221 385 GO 8,775.12 so | 9,007,761 60 1 9s 788 GO #17035 478 62,614 492 50 *65.941 OLE 56 646,137 50 5.408 | 66,213 006 94 62,502 504 52.094 605 47 105,205 640 41 168.657 98 $9,480 68,656,806 41 101656 300 48 435 964 GO 114 512 246 24,200 nage, &e. This preternatural activity of the French mint was, in 1860 and‘1851, due to political causes, and consisted merely of the recoinage of her own cur- rency, in order to obliterate its antecedent and offensive political effigies, as every traveller who was much in France at that period mast have re- marked. The alleged coinage of 1853 in this table is a Sction. The normal coinage of the year could not possibly have exceeded $26,000,000, and $36,000,000 of the sum allotted to it should be divided amongst the three ensuing years; for it was not until August, 1854, that the auriferous flood gates of Africa were opened and first poured their deluge into the treasury of France. The year 1852, moreover, was the period when the mints of the United States and of England (and @ fortiori of France) first feit the combined influx from the great Eastern and Western gold fields, and if France got but a part of their gold before that date she certainly did not get it all afterwards. Yet we find her in 1854 coining, ostensibly, from these sources, 626,528,200 francs of gold, or a sum actually surpasaing the gross product of both. But as the mints of the United States and England still went on at their previous rates, we must abso- lutely resort to some new source of supply for a solution of this inundation. ‘In no other coun- tries,"’ says Mr. Chevalier, “ does the coimage of gold attain these proportions, or anything like them.’ And as the total mass of gold in existence, derived from all~sources, up to 1348, is estimated at $200,000,000, he shows that at present rates France alone, in ten years, will supply in gold coin one-balf of that amount, which is the aggregate supply of the New World up to the developement of California.—Chevalier on Gold, N. ¥., &e., 1959, pp. B, &e. To state the impossible feats of the French mint in a still clearer light it will appear from the sta- tistical returns that the average anaual product of gold from 1864 to 1857, both inclusive, was as fol- lowa:— From Australia. From Calorais. Aversge guid coinage of Fravee (same period) $103,729 062 Tossmuch a3 Fussia retains all her own gold she _ ls excluded from this computation, and according- ly, aa there bas not since 1848 been a fortyfold ex- pansion cf the commerce of France (which alone | would comport with the achievements of her mint), the conclusion is irresistible that a new and indefi- nite expply of gold has been opencd to her, in the cf a government monopoly. In evidence of this, it will be observed that the report of M. Magne, * Minister of the French Finance, in the Monitew: | they reach the point of ‘saturation!’ of January 05, 1860, not oaly says ‘‘that in nine months oaly of 1858 the imports of goid exceeded the exports by 576,000,000 francs,"’ but that he has otherwise Leen rioting in aa affuence almost fabu- lous for its magnitude. For instance, he enddenly has 197,000,000 francs in the government chest, 200.960 ,900 fn the treasury, 20,000,090 in the dota- ton to the sinking fund, a reserve of 564,000,000 in the Bank of France, and, in syperaddition to all this, has paid the rast expenses of two wars, liqui dated 140,000,000 treasury bonds, and (under Uureats of its payment) diminished the interest on hundreds of millions of the national debt from four | to two and a half per ¢tnt! Moreover, we behold that officer, in a country with mortgaged resources sad colossal debts, which has been wading throngh revelations for three-quarters of a century, sitting down to calculate the rates of the approach- ing fall in the valine of gold, and to de- mond of economists how much of it the several nations of the earth can possibly accept before Byen the most obtuse observer must have noticed that amidst the flaaacial conyulsions of 1857, which shook the four quarters of the world, the Bank of France alone stood as firmly as a pytamit. This | Was not the result either of conjurations or of com merce. Ji was the simple consequence of the me morial of Mr. Parrish, who, notwithstanding the great benefits he has thus conferred on France, has | not yet received any requital at the Lands of the Bmperer. Whether this has been ue to political necessities, arising through a temporary fear of foreign interven , and dictating to Prance the I dost sectesy in the prosecution of hee per: | sory and abetior io oe re ‘by a seaman | Peter Hansen or Miller, the | tay not poses, it may be diffeult to say; but certain it ia (hat she has thrown over all her legislative and official acts in this connection an almost impeno- trable veil. Nor was this altogether in vain, for a one most critical period of her Proceedings she stood for a time upon the very brink of defeat. But whatever the truth, it nevertheless imply @ icaashale reflection upon the morality ot the age, and especially upoa that of the Ministries of France and of the United , that such aig- nal services, attended by such unexampled bene- fits, should still Jo ae their author to complain that he is the vietim of darkened by ingra le. The Chevalier de Pontelli’s Discoveries im Central America. TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK HERALD, New Yor, Sopt. 26, 1860. About three years ago I received a visit from 4 porsem wearing a parti-colored ribbon in bis button hole, ead styling himself ‘‘M, le Chevalier Leon de Pontelli,” whe represented that he had made important geographies! end other discoveries in the district of Soconusco, te Contral America, and in the adjacent State of Chiapas. ‘Ho exhibited a map, rather archaic in execution, in whieh was marked down bis route of travel, aad the sites of several extraordinary ruins which he professed to have discovered. Although his story was well studied, aad told with much fluency, it was not difficult for one ae quainted with Central America and the character of ite ancient remains to perceive that, although the man had clearly been tn the country ani picked up some ef the vague traditions current there, bis pretended joursey and discoveries were alike Sctitious. The encournge ment which he received from me was not such a to te- duce a second visit, and I moxt beard of him te Washington, where he offered his map to the gev- erumeut, in ® confidential way, at a very cheap rate— @ mere bagatelle of some thousands of dollars The ge- veroment, it seems, did not have the high appreciatie: of the Chevalier’s labors which he bad anticipated, and he left in dieguat—no one kaow whither, An occasional paragraph in the French papers, referring vaguely to the important discoveries Of a Chevalier Poa- telli, nevertheless, indicated that the great explorer bad turned up im Paris; and not long ago a serics of very ex- engravings, accompanied by a text still more trearshnary: ex (nor 3 ipar, their iy 5 ion, ea) made Appearance be] French [tas brated traveiior, Chevalier de Poatelli.” The ae ate Chiapas, which I had dimensions of a woa- through @ vast region of 171,000 square * by great nations of ‘archites- tural! skill, who could bring eix hundred armed @cn into the Geld, ete., ec., to aay nothing of maguid- cent sume, beside which those of Palenque sauk tate ia- Significance iid Got at frst suppose that Ponteili's romance would impese on even the vertest gote mouche of Sehoolcraftian capacity; but I find myscl: mistaken. 3 i : +3 5 e a 3 = i F makes map contemporary with the trilobite, at a period Actedating the coal formations; which swallows ates ard Grass Creek ruies, and does not stop at Newark stream im pered by Pontellt. Tne subjoined paragraphs from the Gaceta de of August 7, may not be out of place. It only remains for to escape the cdinm involved in his biandly an- vuncing that he never intended his story w be received exceptes on effort of the i: pation, or @ take off om antiquarian Oidbucks. Yours, &&., E. G, SQUIER. {Trapalated from the Gaoeta de Guatemala, August 1. PRETENDED DISCOVERIES OF M. FONTRLLI. Policy—The Ball in Motion—Navai Preparations for ‘Merwo—The Venerucian Dit cvlty—Uniled Rates Vaeds at Vera Orue—Criminal Caics Before the United States Consul General, dc , do. ‘The plan for the introduction of the straight haired Begroes from the Polynesian isiaads has been approved by our superior authority, as an experiment to ascertaia the qualities of this ciags of labor material, and es a eubstt- tute for other labor upon plantations, aud in coansction sulla, with euch restrictions as will prevent the necessity of importing negroes, uaieas as emigraats, and fur this introduction the door is swinging cpon its hinges. A cargo of Polynesians is sald to beom the way here, per- bars by ome of the voasels which caused the recent troubles among those isiands w!th American vesecls jos. as fete f : i SE ge Le a Hf il Ff Hi 3 i H Ht an i zs i $3 Ebt j i i i i te i l iH ! al f i it E i H Ff i ili ig F ize gf f : i ft F eet i ; of keg? an fete + gisenseti estenee tie seletvaavandeie lh 3 j a! of the ship's crew: the ev tence fence, Dot Cimtowbe, becauee flaerce of 1iq ‘This maa will for trial for iceubortinate, m duct, Second. Horatio Mort F. Williams, of and trom Bos HI St z i fi pnd Ft 2B 4 7 sf weit tt avhwn Waits to kil the mate of 1 Amer Carnatic, of Boston from Liverpoc!, aad preveat the crew peeforming duty, of the documenta io the Copsolate, which are repo Ty Sy 4 to the public apd the gowswnt the boats * Gavane i* eood.