The New York Herald Newspaper, January 2, 1867, Page 3

VIRGINIA. tion of Law the Real Tronb! Ricumonn, Va, Dec, 25, 1866, Js is but just to the people of Virginia that it should ‘be generally known to what extent the courts of the Btate have laid themselves liable to the charge of having ‘Been influenced by prejudice in their decisions affecting ‘the negro, §=There is a very insatiable ition on the part of the opponents of the administration of Mr. Johnson to make political capital of every error com- mitted by the people and the courts of the Southern ‘States in their treatment of the negroes, and exceptional qases are taken as examples of the oppression which is ‘wsealty dels out to the emancipated slaves, The case of the negro whom Dr, Wateon killed is now attracting the attenlion of the people of the North, It is no eabt looked upon as a gross outrage upon the rights of the negro, which it unquestionably ta, that Dr. Watson ‘was disclarged, but I find, upon inquiry and ‘ebecrvation, that the course pursae@py the court which G@eebargedbim is condemned by every intelligent citi- gen acquainted with the facts in the case. Dr. Watson ‘was not trbd before a jury, as previously stated in this but by a court of Two of ‘the five ji were opposed to his discharge at first; butm ration of the position of the Doctor, as a im the county, and, ly woo mi rr) thelr old prejudices as slavenolders, decision of the three juntices was made unanimou: nd the Poctor acquitted. The duty of the Com- monwealtits attorney in the premises was £0 plain that he is as mich to blame as the court is, for not demand- , Bea ie ‘Sa as is the universal custom every- in inion in cases of murder or homicide. 1 with some Ihave convased of the i prominent oM- @ers of the State government with regard to the case, end witha unanimit condemn the A whole prceey to the mense of and of two which occurred in Rock! county, ‘moto! * flagrantly unjust in the ‘of our c@rts has takep place in any portion of the State. fn fhct, a careful examination of the dispen- camer +. to people of every class and by the » “eoarte of” eg ee ge ts of the negro ere held as) as of the white man, I have ‘Deen au scp Sethe ag de fd these ’ regard to trial of Dr. Watson, and con- =: b they should have done. It be fron authori send them Herawy, \ wits contradict any: wholesale. cl tbat smaay be against the courts of the whole State on ood two exceptional cases, and to point out ‘are to It is not probable, however, that the ot ‘will again lay themselves to of wi they stand convicted be- the ‘Virgipia and the whole nation, After (eagle gs etry Watson, the Commoawealth’s ban end all psa ‘before him that tended Sas tae caateeet before tae jury. If this course aad been’ General. would not have seuss, Sere en ens cal aoquit! wi would proba- bee {no case, as the offence was the highest 2 Sustico im tho Virginia Courte— Zhe W: Case—The Lexington Murder— Murder | North Virginia—Murder on @qvetitedle to je Btate as a criterion, I havo Wiligently Sgvestigated tleentiments’of the majority, and find it ~" qmuthe whole jvorable to the negroes, to whots "ese attached ‘easbeiations. td negro by Dr. Watson, in Rock- ‘ ‘Brige county,nd the deliberate murder of another : hy cde ‘at Lexington, doth being released by eo Jnatices, ho, under the pretence of law, shielded thetr farther trial, and by the present @afective law « the State loaving at large two ertminals @eeorving capit punishment, fs a disgrace to the people of Virginia, w do not justify any such palpabie and ‘Gegrant instance of outraged Jurisdiction. THE CASE OF WATAON, aa reported by 6 papers here, is presented in the moet modified and favible form tor the crimimal, and as it ‘was im this way jvn to the readers of the Heratp, the tree statement 4 Ge affair will not be uninteresting, more it is not known even here. The Beport that the of Watson's carriage were broken ead the carriage\sef smashed to pieces in the meeting ‘with Major Echoli vihicle is entirely without foundation, es I am assured spoke ina wheel was broken. Fhe lives of family were not endangered by the eollisien. ‘were not unmanageabie, but entirety under of the driver, The decensed ‘megro proceeded 6 Ave on by direction of the inmates ef Echols’ carrtagt 44 it was not until two days haa G@apeed since the Griage encounter that Watson, armed ‘with & bludgeon ada revolver, sought the negro to @eaatise bim. Héfind the negro at work in a field and _nesednn ae athe hme Dek eg he ‘pm his hands and ran, when Wat- * qa drew his and shot him, the ball entering Ge deck and throagh the abdomen. Watsen urged ioe cas bat to the and .upon this the Court a RO are the facts as by officers previous Watson jason, top ul oame that he out and be quickly ‘Regro and deliberately shot him by some justices on the ee Ser ores obs lanehtetrs Fon of the abov's@es meet with the heartiest con- the fing country. r ta rae tin ae whem bas ‘caused ° athe Some monte ‘ince a redieal it i iti j i i ’ i Be i i H ie : | | Fe ‘ H if §; a i | | ; ety i A race was come off this evening at Jack- son Fart, near vrei legen toy, era eK enous ed and st ory. pron of the Park, the Iatter using language saa naare oe Og Doing asked at a livery how tho race came off, re- there was no racelasked the party present to take — whieh they and then went to a station and delivered Amseif up. This caso has no Eitecive ame noe te bomiar sveredy sary are ‘arma, and the conseq demoralized sate of society. til J Ee, euanoing propa sny Seto ils ‘feader Territorial janis more interest has been evinced, and the amend wes ly gaining favor, ea ite provisions guaraneed any « the lately rebel! States, catised @ Wari on the part of tne trend ‘amendment here, “ of the Sh we unless “applied for in a form, all other being ‘if 8, a& when its au! tate ite ‘what can be ? Intese ts estab! fm Tennessee, pave beoa oP the terms of the amerdment, it fs fair to be the assertions of some leading an assurance on the partof Congress radicals, ‘Buch would have a decided influence in favor of the ameud- ment io Virginia, and sboyld this state sdoptit there is no doubt the peopie of the North would demand tho admis- Representatives to Congress in case of a re- sion of her fusal, ment in Virginia—Negro Suffrage Accept- able—State of Seciety in Richmond—The Loyal Union Men—How They are Estimated, ou Ricuaonp, Va, Dec. 28, 1866. The recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Milligan, Bowles and others, in Qhio, upon which the military Commission for the trial of the murderer Wat- s0n was dissolved by order of the President, has infused anewand delusive hope into the minds of aclass of politicians in the South, who now begin to speculate on all sorts of wild and vague impossibilities at the hands of ‘this august tribunal. Congress is now to ‘be brought to tral, its acts are to be declared unconstitutional, and its Proposed amendments so many outrages upon the rights and hberties of the people; the policy of the President is to prevail, and the Soutbern States will soon regain that supremacy in the Union which ghey formerly held, and which position only can they occapy without com- Promising their honor and dignity. ‘‘All will yet be right,”? gay these old fogy and broken-down politica! hacks of a past day; but such is mot the belief heid by the mass of the people here, Virginia is now evidently hanging on the fence. The People hefe have before them the wild action of: the Southern Legislatures in relation to the constitutional ‘amendment, as well as the dotermined course Congress intends to pursue, With such instructive lessons they advance feelingly and cautiously before committing themselves to one policy or the other—the one being de- structive to their future interests and welfare, the other guaranteeing their political rights, security im the future against military encroachments, and the undoubted right ae tiley may (ffak proper to bestow the olective fran- chise, The recent visit of the Hon. Joseph Segar to the Leg! here, with a view to ascertain the views of relation to that the constitutional amendment, pening 6 same feeling to exist that has hereto! ‘Deen presented in the Hxratp by your corres- they the immediate sdmission of the Teyai now elected, who have fore been Telused that‘edmission Upon application, bel hag maior) the bagbear here that it isin jorth. Planters, farmers and manufacturers who numbers of fe heed a admit they are m sere ees te. the face. To sum the matter up, by morn of the late war, has suffered too much ite existence and since its aup- it i : i : | 5s2F ig vate! ierietirteat ed i i i to a reun: g i i here now, and the ka ‘and anti-constitutional amendment spirit. Therc was a time when the descendants here of the Pilgrim fathers were proed of their ancestry, and took great pride in this anniversary. They then gave New England its due praise for its progressive spirit and education. Hut a change seems to have come over the spirit of their dreams. The New Englanders are content to meet pri- vately and afraid to make their proceedings public. If they say anything of Plymoath Rock it must be said in a low voice and bated breath, so as not to give offence. Perbaps in thus celebrating it they imagined the old times of Connecticut had come back, and it wad neces- sary to bide the “charter” im the celebrated old oak to save it from the claws of the British Colonial Governor, The only difference is that the Southern Yankee haters have taken the place much greater influence than tne Governor, Perhaps when spirit of hastility to mpage away the New England Society may once led here, colored men have been important \ioenca in an interesting,trial of a criminal for passing counterfel, money, the evidence was taken before Daniel Horibeck of the Cireait and District Sp poe w Y slave. sitting alongside of bis format master, giving the same the white wit- and gh degree of intelligence that both grat! the Judge and those present. long before war, Was ® gradu them an edteation, oy tnd tan Bickers fas the colored case are daily expected. Itis worth: the time o the application before Judge Bryan for a writ of babeas corpas the judge, while of the opinion that the prisoners should bave a trial before a civil court, hed consulted with the State District Attorney, J. W. Hayne, Esq, to take them into custody for that pur- pose. 1a accordance with the Judge’s request the State Attorney was pr-sent, but the action of General Sickles Prevented the accomplishment of the object sought. ‘The now ciy railway just put im operation here is meeting with immense success, It carries on an average on one line two thousand passengers daily, GEORGIA. (UR GEORGIA CORRESPONDEKCE. Macox, Ga., Dec, 26, 1866. Christmas week here is a week of holiday, celebrated with the display of fireworks, sumptuous dinners, par- ties of pleasure and the cessation of all labor, Negroes still do the agreeable to their old masters; and masters forget for a time that they are no longer tho owners of property in human flesh, Christmas week is also the principal time for the hiring of farm bands and house servants, for changing of houses by remer, and for the settlement of debts, Some of the people here look upon an innovation upon » their time-honored customs by the introduction of new customs along with anew population, and the possible absorption of the Southern race, which has thus far measurably kopt free from a mixture with forcign ele- ments, by indisposition on the part of immigrants to the United states to settle among a slaveholding population, as the greatest evilto which they must be subject2d in the future; for as sure as the fact is that slavery is abolished so sure will this genial clime and fertile soll now allure the hardy and the énterprising from our own or foreign lands. In slaveholding times the Yankee from New England or the New Yorker found here a comfortable home and elevation to the highest offices, provided he were willing to assimuate with those with whom he associated, and many of the most persistent rebels were from a Northern latitade; but now it is anticipated by the poople hero that such will be the extent of Northern and foreign immigration to thie State that the element thus introduced will be the controlling one, which, instead of being subjected or ab- sorbed, will itself control and ultimately be in the ascend- ancy. Fully one-fifth or more of the population of this State are already of Northern extraction, and that too when tbose who immigrated here had to Jay aside prejudices, encounter imaginary or real dangers and put on a charac- ter to walt the people; but what will be the force of this new elemont introduced into the State, when those who hereafier come here will not come poor and to acquire property, but rich and to invest their means; when they ‘come, not the reputation of cowards, but as re- precentatives of a victorious people; not as having to assume characters among a strange people, but as coming to their own (gud by conquest; not as only amenable to Jaws passed by a State, but to live under the protection of the common flag? é It 18 easy to see that Georgia will in future be a much ‘more attractive piace for the implantation of Northern ideas and Northern civilization and for the realization ef fortunes and investment of capital by Northern men than it bas ever been before. The sub-division of large farme in a majority of cases into smaller ones, the neces- sity for lines of raifroads through the counity ‘thas will recogmized, prove powerful magnets to draw hither from the North and eisewhere men of —— skilied and hardy artisans and laborers. In a and comprebensive view of the late deplorabie this ing State to the introduction of 5s i ‘untried and more offensive may not be transient but last- aciose observer, with far the larger portion of the popu- jation there isan earnest desire for that reoumpthoa of friendly intercourse between the two sections which must form the basis of a united government. Many are ‘stout of heart and say they are uble to stand their hand with men of such shrewdness as the Northern man is known to r4 bined others ber) apeahs death of veing kept joe suspel al onl tee the Stas, admission into the Union oa aay Ronorable to acquiesce—we will be good Thave just mad isison of tan cota sapped ve mado a com; n 18 cotton 8 shown weigh: ye books, and tna as as bwen just the number of bales po pe aN cn Canc in 1860. This the cotton crop of the United Siates one. before the war, or about 1,200,000 ‘This State would have made one-half the quan- tity of 1860 had it not been for tue drought, NEW MEXICO. UR SANTA FE CORRESPONDENCE. Santa Fx, New Mexico, Dec, 14, 1866. EXTENSIVE ROBDERY. ‘The quiet of this usuaily staid city was somewha dis- turbed day before yesterday by the arrival, under charge of an officer, of two notorious meo, charged with the robbery of a large amount, It seems that on the 7th of November, 1865, a banking house in Elkhorn, Wis., was robbed of about $150,000, in government bonds ‘and currency. The working up of the case was intrasted to detootive B.C. Yates, of Chicago, who soon received information sufficient to satiefy him that “Dr,” Charles Hamilton and his brother, Eugene Hamilton, were the guilty par- ties, and that they took with them in decamping a young and interesting female, who claimm one of the Mamiltons as her husband. PURSUIT OF THE RomxRs, | inte Canada, through the provinces fhto the Biates once Missize{ppi, tiore to the Mixsts down, the Mfustsaippi and Jp the Missourl, an@ actoss’ the’ piains'to Denver City, in ‘Golorado Territory. After following thom to Deaver ‘Mr. Yates placed the matter in charge of Deputy United States Marshal Thomas P. Van Treo, whe, armed with a requisition on the Governor of New sfexico, soon got upon their trail, and, after an arduous chase, overtook the fugitives at Taos, in this Territory, where one of the brothers was practising medicine under the mame of Dr. Livingston, the other under that ot Pro. fessor Lewis, They had by thetr money and urbanity secured the good will of theroughs and desperadoes of ‘Taos; 80 that the Marsbal did not deem it prudent to attempt their captare witbout consulting the Governor. He accordingly came to this place, saw the Acting Gov- ‘ernor, Hon. W, F. M. Arny, who at once issued his proclamation to the sheriffs of the Territory to assist 1n thecaptare, The birds, however, getting wind of the action of the Marshal, took flight once more, and Drought up at Milla, where the réle of “all-hesling physicians” was again enacted, under the mms de plume of Dr. De Forest & Brother. Thinking they might flee mto Old Mexico, Van Tree received from Governor Arny, in addition to his orders to the sheriffs of this 'Perritory, requisitions on the Governor of the State of Chibvahua and the Sheriff of Ei Paso, Through the Mesilla valley he tracked them, finding that at Pinos Altos they had left betiind them’ a bally from Montreal, named BE, W. Wilson, whom they had, as report says, employed thus far as their protector. THR CAPTCRE, REACUR AND RECAPTURE. Thenco to the city of Ei Paso, in Chihuahua, were traced and found, soon turned {o the Marshal by the authorities and en him to the town of Franklin, in the tate of Texas. Hero they were rescued by a mob of sym- deaponed release them. who peeves soon forced Fran! t in @ government Hin ey, were then trough gov conveyance, in y Wi Mira,’ Sarah Hamiiton, to this piace, aud yesterday thken under a military caard on their way to Denver, ‘which city they will, it is to be hoped, be safely rted to Wisconsin. Though the money has not ten recovered, sufticient haa been to render Malmost absolutely certain that the bulk of it will be hd and restored to its Owners, ‘A WOMAN ATTEMPIB POISONING, are by the marshal that the night before ing Santa Fo with his © Mew’? ton endeavored to him and his t¥o assistants § while at supper, and thouwh fail- it in her design it was thought t wo to beauty; Preteaston dtessos with much taste, and is mo-t devoted to her hus- band, of whose probable fate she does not speak.save with sous, While confined in the guar hotse at the fort hare both of [ow] to remove ther handcuffs, and would have escaped sive for the watch- fulness of the guard, and 80 anxious were they to go scot freo that they offered Mr, Van Tree $10,000 to wink at their escape. ‘The persistence of Mr. Yates in following-the robbers for #0 ‘and the nd on of Mr. Van Tree ‘Of marauders and cut throate, and suo- spite of all obstacles in his mission, bannot be they over NEW YORK HERALD. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1867. of record that at | into a sense of their duty, aad which should attract the ai attention of the pi opists of the Eastern “tates, , in 1860 the population of 616 persons, of which number there were 57,228 who could noi read or writs. To-day there is not @ siugle free school, aud, in fact, no schools of any those supported under the Sisters of Charity Christian’ Brothers from the bounty of the Roman Cattollc Church, Congress undoubtedly deliev when accordiag the sixteenth and tierty.sxth sections in each township, when they should have been ed for school arp that it was ding much for New lexico, as for other Territories, but this is not so. The singular topography of this Territory prevents surveys being made asin the States, so that the school grant cannot be mado exeiolie, “hh is hoped that Congress will act in this matter, and make some provision in lieu of the land grant, so that the several thousand children within our .imits may receive the same facilities for education as are extepded to the young of the States and other Territories, TUR MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEW XEXICO. I cannot do bettor, in referring to the mineral re- sources of this Territory, than to draw largely frem the message of Acting Governor Arny, which, on this subject, is exhaustive, the Governor having devoted much time and labor to its examiuation. Gold and silver must have been known and extensively mined by the Azteca, as the presence of their old ruins is said to be almost an unfailing indication of these metals, ‘The Spaniards found gold, silver and copper in the Terri- tory, and the Jesu't priests more thoroughly prospected it than it has been since At Pinos Altos quartz gold mining received considerable attention; thirty lodes were discovered, paying from $40 to $200 per ton; ten of silver or silver and goid combined and three of cop: per. ‘Thirty arastras were worked at one time in this district, but the Indians compelled the abandonment of the work. In a Pinos Altos gulch there has been picked up in ove day ores.of gold, silver, lead, zinc, maznetic fron and plumbago, cessful before the war near Fort Stanton, and the same metal has been found in seven localities in the Sacramento mountains, At the san José mines, on the Sierra Madre, gold quartz was extensively mined ‘by the =paniords, and Jater by the Mexicans. The quartz veins here ‘intersect each other in aii dircciions, forming a network of veins for one mile in width and three miles in length, the sur- face being dotted by shafts, On the San Francisco river gold, silver, copper and quicksilver have been found; gold prospect in the bed of the stream as bigh as one dollar per pan. The mines in the Placer mountain, about thirty miles from Santa ¥é, in former years were quite productive, The “Ortiz” and ‘Cunningham’? have been worked ‘Dut little since the rebels drove the operatives off, some three years since. The forty Am:ricans who were work- ing these mines at the becinning of the rebellion, in a Tun of the mill for twenty-four hours, obtained as high ‘as $750 worth of gold. At Pinos Altos some three bundred miners were at work, and this new district was bidding fair to be first in richness on the frontier; covered daily, ortly after the war broke out the Andians attacked the town, and mining was almost entirely suspended, About the same time a placer was discovered in the Sierra Capitan, where some three hun- dred miners were at work and doing well. Other com- nn were about to commence operations oa the silver les of the Organ mountains, The Stephenson Com- y bad shipped a lot of machinery, &., to work extensively their mine. This reached its destination the very week hostilities began upon the frontier. This staiement of the mining operations at the commence- ment of the war, at different points in the Territory. Other pomts had been Bferected, aud the pre- Shoonghoe My in ese Ia patton of he roe “25 it mountain portion of tory. Suver is probably the most abundant metal in the Terri. tory. The principal districts known are the Placer mountains, near Santa Fé; the Organ mountains, near the Mesilla valley, and ihe Sierra Madre, near Pinos Altos. The Organ’ range are extremely rich; the ore ts ferous galena, admitting of a simple and paying from $40 Or, beanies a er alt on of ey a Ing intersected by ravines, affords most Tarorable opportune for horizontal drifts mm opening the veins is a bel containing mx large veing, ranging from two to fifteen feot in width, and many smaller ones. On one of the, celebeated mine. enerally argentife Feduos0n ty smelting, ton, This district has four hundred and Union to the Missouri river. iS Tenteory = turaber of golG, Yond, Cope x s plaiinam deposits have been recorded. ‘this letter lot me cail thé attention of your Readers to ig ermege homargpln pe "tary a ly develop the immense mineral niches of No ico until measores are taken Ly arn ne bec - the of the m! Sinlon of the late rebel General W. H. ©. Whit- 1850 ho uses the following language:—“The poste (mili- tary) should be where ihe Indians tmstead of where ‘the citizens live; and the first news of the departure of any party should be followed, not only by their pursuit, but by punishment of the remainder of the tribe.” The People of this Territory ask your agitation of tuis matter Of their protection from marauding bands of savages and the attention of the Congress that has them under iis direction. CHILE. OUR CORUIMBO CORRESPONDENCE. Political Situation—Mineral Wenlth—Visit to the Mines—Exports of per, &e. Cogummno, Chile, Nov. 26, 1866, © RE ITUATION IN CHILE, Wearied by the prolonged uncertainty respecting the Spanish-American war, and the duiness which pervades all business as well as politics throughout the republic, I slipped away from the glaring white walls, the Bot pave- ments and summer sleepiness of Santiago for a tour along the coast and among the copper and silver mines, When I left that capital, two weeks ago, everything re- lating to the difficulties in the Pacific remained in the seme condition that has characteriz-d the situation for the last six months, with no prospect of an immediate change. The rumors of an early peace between Chile and Spain had subsided; the Peruvian Secretary of State who visited Sautiago for the porpose of preventing this republic from accepting French and Eagliah mediation, had returned to.Lima, woll satisfied with the result of his mision, aod tho public mind had fallen back upon domestic politics and the unpromising condition of the national exchequer, with nothing concerning the war to talk of except a report that the allied sqitadron was preparing for a long cruise, Con- gress was laboriously wading (hrough a maze of difficul- tes Lo get at some sysiem of taxation which would re- Neve the Treasury without exasperating the people, who regard taxesas tyrannical and « thing to be resisted to the Inet’ ‘extremity of » Td Minister. of ‘Foreign Relations was striving to heal the trritation ooca- moned by thé suspicion that be bad beon mixed up in the attempt to make pace with.Spain; the Minister of Finance was busy in refuting charges of misapplying the public fands in his operatsons to facilitate the proséca- tion of the war, and the Mintster of War and Marine bad bis’bands full tn attending to the complaints respect- tng the character of the new Chile ships and the pro- gress of their preparations for sea. City folks Were abap:lon'ng town for their haciendas, the seaside and fashionable resorts among the spars of the Andes; the opera and theaire had died out for want of patron. ‘age, and your correspondsnt shook the dust of San- tage from his feet with the conviction that under existing circumstances it was no place for a Heratp man, Valparaiso was scarcely less stupid than Santi- ago. Business was stagnant, and Gottschalk’s concerts were the only reliof to ths tediam. Work on the haif finished fortifications was slowly going om, under the Girection. of officers who seemed to be preparing for some such remote evefit as the millennium, instead of the possible early return of the Spanish fleet, The allied squadron swung at anchor in the bay, with two- thirds of the vessels unfit for immediate service, and the remainder busy watching the malcontents amoug traitorous officers spd heterogeneous, undiscipliacd crews, RUMORS ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS OF THE SQUADRON, Tt was sald that the squadron would go to sea ina few days, and some activity among the vessels gave color to the report, b it the ships sti! remain in the harbor, with nothing new respecting their movements except a ru- mor received here by the mail steamer to-day that four sailing ships had been chartered ‘or eight months to ac- company the squadroa with coals and supplies, Some are of the opinion that the allied squadron is going out on ® raid against the Spanish frigates at Rio Janeiro and Buenos Ayres. Others think that it will cruise for Spanish commerce, but the most probable thoory is that Admiral Tucker wants to got his squadron at sea where he can tame down some of the youthful aspirants for revolutionary notoriety among the Peruvian officers, and drill and diseipline the crews. It is very Nkely that the squadron will proceed first to the waters of Chiloe, south of Chile, and perhaps as far as the Straits of Magellan; remaining within reaching distance of Valparaiso, and in localities where it would bo likely to intercept the Spanish fleet, should Admiral Nuiiez sadd-nly start this way. How tong affairs will remain in this state of course NO can toll, All that we can do hore is to walt for the effect of the news im Spain that Peru and Chile ‘will not acoept the French and Englisu mediasion, avd ‘until thavtime you may expect very littie intelligence Sa oes relating to the war in The wedding feniiiee autndlng, the marrage of que kee aur Miner 10 Cle, ba Mg Vickers, attache 19068 of Santlago, terminated im Verparsuco, On the last Our stay ia that chy there was a reception at the apart ments of Kilpatrick and a pleasant entertainnent Goid placer mining was’ quit» suc- on board the United States steamer Tuscarora, Captain Stanley. There were the usual namber of congratula- tions and bridal and farewells, andjast as the evening gun was and the dave of the men-of-war come down with a rap, while the bands played the na- tional airs of the allies, the mail steamer turoed her head to the Pacific, bearing General Vickers and his lady on a bridal tour to the States, your correspondent to the mining districts, and a crowd of travellers to various re- mote destinations, congerving which the passenger list of the steamer will undoubtedly afford information to inquirers, A cogrimno, Tne principal port of the copper region and province of the same name was reached on the afternoon of the next day. This piace is & new town, having sprung up within a few years as a port for shipping copper. It is percbed upon the side of a rocky led with the exception of the front towards the with am unbroken waste of volcanic telegraph Connects t with Sautiago, one railroad with the immense copper smelting works of Guayacon, another with the copper mines of the interior and the third with the handsome city of Serena, capital of the province. An hour in Coquimbo, notwithstanding the hospitality of the few Americans there, lasts a lot time, and I was not sorry to leave the miserable hot the next morning after my arrival for the famous mines of Tamaya. TO THE MINES. The railroad runs out from the city across a sandy plain, and, after winding. round the base of several cone shaped mountains, bearing nothing but cactus, stunted thorns amd volcanic rock, among which a few goats sus- tain a miserable existence, stretches far down # parched valley as dreary as the hills that overlook it. Lhe sta tions consist of a house and water tank (the latter sup plied by pamps with brackish water from deep wells), and are so dried up by the fierce sun that they seem to add to the loneliness and desolation of the desert. THK TOPOGRAPHY OF THR COUNTRY is peculiar. Although the only rain that ever falls here consists of two or three light showers in the winter months, scarcely enough to moisten the thirsty earth, or even to wash the thick deposit of sand from the thorn bushes, on every band are doep dry channels, that at some previous time of which we have neither history nor tradition, must bave been the beds-of rivera, There are rocks of all sizes in the channels, worn smooth and round by the action of running water, and high bluffs cut down straight into the sandstone only as rivers can cut them. There are hollows with gravelly banks, that have been lakes, steep descents where torrents have hurled the rocks into heaps and scooped out smooth places for the eddies to whirl and play in, and yet there is not a record or the faintest trace of the périod in which such things existed. Many leagues in the inte- rior, across great ridges and hundreds of feet above the sea are heaps of sbella, just as they are found along the beach, except that here they are bleached and worn by the influence of the sun drifting sand. BAND PLAINS AND ROCKS. In some districts of the north of Chile there are vast plains of sand, which is heaped up by the wind into great crescents, and which travel across the country, each year revealing the progress of their slow mysterious m There are mountain gorges where the solid rock ‘Das beon rent asunder, forming a wide chasm whose two sides exactly matoh; and in other places immense heaps of broken rocks, fragments weighing from one to five tons, and piled up like the litle stone heaps by the side of the turnpikes and in the city is. What 2 to the strangeness of the penomenom fe the entire dif- ference in the nature the stones these isolated from the rock which surrounds them. We can only attribute the appearance of such collections to volcanic eruptions, all sh they are eometimes foomd without being surrounded by any indications of lava or other volcanic matter. ‘THE TOWN OF HIGUERITA, At Las Cardas the railroad loaveathe valley, and by a series of wonderfal curves climbs the mountains with a Pao of Soar Ree cent, There are cuts over two hundred deep, precipices that make one dizzy to look over as the train sweeps round on their brink, the summit, and part way down the side is Hi the present terminus of quimba. The town consists of three or four mud houses, occupied by very dark skinned peons, whose children, for the most part, bave emarkably ‘ ons,” It as been observed rb ut ever railroads, or any ot! have been introduced, district iteelf, bave undergone changes, and generations become lighter colored. This cha sometimes quite marked, and it 6 not uacommon for nearty all the children born in the eee of these works during the tirst year or two of to have blue eyes, light hair, complexions than their ts, VE in explanation of this pheno have Been advanced ‘by medical and other scientific men, the geverally ac- ceptod theory being that the bleaching of ) chaidrea attributable to the long service in this climate of the washing the linen of foreizuers connected At Higuerita coaches were wait- ing for, passengers trayelling.in the direction of the mines, and afier a lupch on berg beef —— bréad and tea (the extent of the hotel bill of fare), 1 tntrusted myself of the driver, who gazed on me eyoas if commis*rating the misfortunes ed his fare, however, and the coach with six of os in it rattled away down through the gorges, over tho rocky beds of dried up rivers, and across a very weary distanco of sand and intolerable heat to the beautiful vai- ley of Ovalle. THE VALLEY OF OVAILE bange from the withering atwosphere of the ‘table land to this little narrow strip of fertility was like waking from a nightmare. The town was tidy, tull of shade trees and streams of puro water from the springs*| above, and the air laden with the nce of flowers and clover. rode over to the tract arriving jnat a0 dusk, m time for an excellent the desert and an evening after the fashion of our Rocky Moantain scenes, whereof-we read in lar romances of the far West. Two were the country—a galiop of thirty miles in three hours regarded as fun for a Chile horse, Ai our rides we wont over part of the line of the rei ‘able railrond being built from Topgoy to the summit of Tamaya Mountain, four (housand two hundred feet nigh, details of which will be given hereafter. ‘THE COPPER MINES. The whole range of the Andes is known to be filled with precious metals of incalculable wealth. AM along the coast, for four thousand miles, are mineral indications visible to the naked eye, and in some places the tourist sails many days past, bint ccopiy staiaed With the de- re A every mi specmmens piorationss and soll amoling ‘works dot the shores ox] ns; ani from Peru to far south of Val of the Indians whom the Span! four hundred years Pde ted mines, and discoveries have followed each fabulous rapidity, It would be impossible to give all the traditions that still oxist respecting mines that have ‘once been wi Indians op a small scale and are f Fy i H E | i e i iF B53 : a4 HY : avr i F Heh i if 25t : § i : i i H i EE 3 iH i? 3 zi H than the value of the metals themseives. pense, and ey railroads were constructed connecting the seaports with mines far up among the mountain the largest copper miuos in the world, aad are copper mines in ¢ aro imperishabie monument to the energy and ability ‘* their principal owner—Don José Tomas Urmeneta. passed several important mines on my way | Co quimbo to Tamaya, and had heard groat stories extent of this famous 3 but precipices wonld hart ene bo destroctica, stone aight mists which hang aboat the The ascent was slow and tiresome ; but once upen the summit, as the fun along (fe Mides, dwarftd by distance and compari iy married yoopios aud thor iriegds, , wou With surrowmding ohjert", appeared jike rigmies, | th speut in riding about |” pack: ofa ng supply for their winter store; and the carte down @ the Tongoy road seemed to have no more mo- hon thh Gauiog when the wind and (ide are sti! The wile mountain is honey-combed with shafts an: and its exterior covered with heaps of bine poor for transp rtation. In some of these piiee reds of typusauds of dollars, but at present it Wt sive t@ work such a low chs of orea, future ns, when and south and dipping to the anglo of fifty-two degrees, with an av of seven. feet. In many places the lode ge feet thick, and contains fifty per cent of pure copper. [he hill is dlviaed among ‘various individuals, who are bining with different results, according to the extent o&héir machinery and maoner of working. Vis0F TO A MINE ‘The prbcipal mine is called “KE! Pique,” and belongs to Mr. who lives in Santiago. "A description Of this o@ will suffice for ail in general, and will give an idea of how our copper is ‘obtained. After out the vicinity of the mines couple of 9g L, and eros ae ae of the earth. fore starting we array: 1 miners’ costume, a dress that would create in Broadway, and were provided with ‘swinging on the ends of rods about ‘tho entrance to the mine is on the rapet fo down ® part of the steop bi, Tide and om, residence of tho manager and the machipery and shops of the establishment. Enter- ing a turpel about seven feet high, and extending into the heart q the mountain, we soon came to a 2, arched chaber, in which are the boilers and engines for holsting ort, Following the tunne? three hundred and tfty yards, we came to the main shaft and descended by ers down through the various of at work, levels, at th extremity of which miners were unt! we rejshed the Bottom of the mine, over one thour sand fect ndigularly under ground. Here we frave elled through various long, ages in gome of woichuf; was ni to creep on the hands and knees, The ‘was cool andsweet, owing to the excelient arrangements for —ventili and most of the wore perfatly’ dry. Water is found in rome of wie shi but not io qt te interfere with the work. It was hoped that more water would have iacovered, as it would pfove a valua- ble auxiliary je reducing the ores. As we the chambera we met men and boys stripy wa cay cloth, carryiag rawhide bags of ores to the hos afis, and naily the dull report of a blast ramble through the m! ike distant heavy thunder. the ores were 80 rich that they glistened and sremed to realize the tales ry them to fine particles em ar washed machinery, the of removing ait Foreign substances, apd transported carte and on pack males to the coast for shipment ‘ery few of te miners fo Goo sadertake the petitors, ‘ them off from ferther progress aod giving bim contrat the whole mins acor- tain potot, Thiebaft was sank threagh hard porphyry, s i Hy i in g Below, and the norpectediy nds aka eatranel a dalQasfalsbieing 5 years in developing it, and mont eed iaPtader control about s thousand me oh Srresake some ana e Meee renalt being rua ia st the southera San i ago eal ge The yore of also in ch gy os direction ‘Waring, sito i Matias peretah or nearly 300 feet to tog soe mount on pleee ro ep tha be removed withodt | mining estabiishmente pests ES Soe stand among the bobdess Cl ‘will be run up through she Limari wo apa protebiy in. 20m: Yenee fee ees The SS dreds of mines yet to be tm Chile, which are at