lender believes Baptiste, lends him the horse again, and the debt is doubled.

On a journey through the settlement, some travelers visited one of their cabins, and found father, mother, and child, squatted, gipsy-like, within, there being no table, chair, or stool to render it comfortable. In one corner slept a young woman, having before her bed a couple of pieces of bark to serve as curtains, while on other parts of the floor slept four male travelers. A rain storm came on, and the rain beat through the log walls till we were all nearly ankle deep in water. Plash, plash through this went the child, about four years old, to light her mother's pipe at the chimney. Having returned with the pipe, she began quietly to nurse at her mother's breast; and after a short meal from this source, she cried for the pipe, which was filled and lighted for her. After smoking heartily, the child passed the pipe to her father, by whom it was passed to the mother, and from the mother back to the little girl, who still filled up the intervals by nursing. Meanwhile the lady with the bark qurtains was supplied with a pipe before she got up and dressed.

CALIFORNIA AND THE MINES.

A part of California was discovered as early as 1542, by a Spaniard named Cobrillo; and its northern section was visited for the first time by foreigners in 1578, when Sir Francis Drake, then at the head of an expedition from England, gave to this region the name of New Albion. The Spaniards planted colonies upon its sea coast in 1768, from which period, until 1836, the territory was a province of Mexico. In the latter year a revolution occurred. The people, after having frequently compelled the Mexican governors and other officials to abandon their posts, declared themselves independent, and undertook to organize new political institutions. Several weak and ineffectual attempts to regain absolute control were made from time to time by the Mexicans, until the year 1846. In July of that year the port of Monterey, a central point on the Pacific coast of the State, was seized, in the name of the United States, by a naval force under Commodore Sloat, who at once unfurled the American flag, and established a provisional government. At that epoch, the administration of the affairs of the territory was in the hands of a civil governor and a military commandant, both natives of California, but holding commissions from the President of Mexico. In 1848 the discovery of a gold "placer" at Columa, (Sutter's Mills,) and the ascertained reality of its extraordinary richness, followed immediately by farther and equally surprising developments, startled the whole civilized world, and a tide of emigration began to flow in from every quarter, with a rapidity and volume unparalleled in the history of nations. The population forthwith attained the required number for the formation of a distinct state. The inhabitants prepared and rubmitted to Congress the draught of a constitution; and in September, 1850, California was ad nitted into full membership as one of the Uni ed States.

By the constitution, adopted by the people in November, 1849, and by the act of Congress consequent thereon, the limits of California are established as follows: Commencing at latitude 42° north, and longitude 20° west; thence running south on said line of longitude till it intersects the 39th degree of north latitude; thence, in a direct course southeasterly, to the river Colorado; thence down the channel of said river to the boundary between Mexico and the United States; thence along said boundary to the Pacific Ocean, and into the same three English miles; thence northwesterly, in the direction of the Pacific coast, to the original parallel of 42°; and, finally, along this line to the point of beginning. It lies between 32° and 42° north latitude; and its extremes of longitude, owing to its angular position, embrace an extent of about 10°-its eastern point being at 114° 30' and the western at 124° 30', although the average distance of the eastern boundary from the sea-coast, and, consequently, the average breadth of the State is about 212 miles. Its length from north to south is 764 miles; estimated area, 188,500 square miles. It is bounded north by the territory of Oregon, east by that of Utah, south by Lower California, and west by the Pacific Ocean.

The waters of California partake of those varied peculiarities which mark its terrene surface and its atmospheric properties The sea and its numerous contiguous bays and estuaries, the inland lakes, the rivers and their countless tributaries, are all subjects of speculative interest. They yield abundantly almost every description of fish found in like latitudes, besides many kinds which are either unknown or not common in other regions. Some of the rivers are navigable many miles from their mouths; others flow over precipices and ledges, constituting falls or rapids, which the industry of man may hereafter convert into valuable mill sites. The sea-shores are prolific in marine plants, which, at some future day, will doubtless be applied to useful purposes. Immense quantities of kelp are thrown up by the waves- an article that now forms the most available material for the manufacture of icdine, and is also excellent as a compost for arid soils, like those of this State. Lichens, in all their variety, spring profusely from the rocky strand along its entire extent, which, like the mosses of Iceland, will undoubtedly, in due time, be much prized for their nutritive and medicinal properties. The coasts and inland water-courses swarm with wild fowl, some of which resemble the aquatic birds found on the eastern shores of the continent, and others seem peculiar to the tracts which they inhabit. The principal rivers, communicating with the Pacific, are the Sacramento and San Joaquin. These flow through almost the whole length of the great val ley between the Sierra Nevada and the coast range of mountains, the former taking its rise in the north and the latter in the south, and both, uniting near the centre of the State, pass into the noble Bay of San Francisco, whence they reach the sea. They are fed in their course by great numbers of mountain streams from the western slopes of Sierra Nevada. Other important rivers, though of less considerable extent. intersect the State in various directions.

There is nearly, if not quite, as great a diversity of climate in California as of its geological features. The coast and its neighborhood are

enveloped in cold mists, borre on the northwest winds, which prevail during most of the summer or dry season, with occasional intervals of more pleasant weather. At San Francisco, although the temperature frequently varies some 308 in a single day, it is said that the mean temperature, in both winter and summer, is nearly equal. Other positions on the coast are more or less affected by the chilly winds and fogs from the point above indicated, in proportion to their relative geographical situations, the line of coast at the southern part of the state being less directly influenced by those causes than that at the northern. In the winter or rainy season the prevailing winds are from the southwest, rendering the temperature much milder than in the same latitudes on the Atlantic side of the continent. Farther inland, beyond the first range of mountains, the climate assumes a very different phase. The sea winds of the spring, summer, and early autumn having deposited their freight of moisture upon the summits of the intercepting highlands, (the "Cordilleras of California,") pass gently into the great valley of the Sacramento, carrying a grateful softness, with scarcely a remaining vapor to obscure the brightness of the skies. Proceeding still onward in an easterly direction, these prevailing winds climb the flanks of the lofty Sierra Nevada, and, on reaching its elevated peaks, are deprived by condensation of all watery particles that may yet linger among them. Thence they pass down into the broad basin, spreading eastward to an immense extent, with occasional mountainous interruptions. Here another change of climate is perceptible; the air is exceedingly dry and hot throughout more than half the year, and the earth suffers accordingly. These variations occur sometimes within the distance of a few miles, corresponding generally with the abrupt changes observable upon the face of the country. A most delightful climate pervades the numerous valleys on the land side of the mountains, where they are protected from the rude ocean blasts. Near the western border of the Sacramento valley, the extremes of temperature, between winter and summer, are very great, comprehending some 80° Fahrenheit, viz., from 30° to 110°. A degree of heat almost as excessive as the last indicated is often felt in various parts of the mountain region; but this is here so peculiarly modified as to produce none of those injurious effects upon animal life which result from similar temperatures elsewhere. The rainy season, sometimes termed the winter, commences at the north in October or November, and progresses slowly to the south, reaching the centre of the State in December, and the southern boundary in January. The season has an average duration of about three months, but is longer and more pluvius at the north than at the south. The effect of all these atmospheric mutations upon human health must naturally be diverse, and not always congenial. The subject, however, has not yet been sufficiently investigated and analyzed to enable one to treat with accuracy upon the relations between those phenomena and the diseases incident to the localities where they respectively exist. That great scourge of modern times, the cholera, has visited some of the most populous settlements in the State; and other epidemics occur at different seasons, similar in character to those which visit other parts of the world exposed to like vicissitudes and agencies.

The face of the country presents, perhaps, a greater variety of topographical features than may be found in any one territory of like magnitude upon the whole earth. Several ranges of huge and lofty mountains -many of their peaks of volcanic origin, ascending into the region of perpetual snow-extend through the central parts, and parallel with the sea coast of the State, from its northern nearly to its southern extremity. On the coast side of these ridges, as well as between them, the surface is greatly diversified, presenting many varieties of soil, thin and sandy in some localities, but in others abounding in the richest loam. Among the hilly regions, there are numerous valleys and plateaus, of different elevations, covered with a soil of good quality, which, wherever daly watered, is capable of being rendered highly productive. But these are frequently interspersed with large tracts of rough, broken, and apparently sterile territory, or intersected by deep and rocky ravines. Until within a very short period, the entire country, with the exception of a few widely separated spots, exhibited all the harsh and rugged characteristics of a yet unredeemed wilderness.

The elevated lands, at certain seasons, are usually either denuded of vegetation, or partially overspread with stunted trees and herbage. But in places that are sheltered, and having facilities for irrigation, fruits and garden vegetables grow luxuriantly. Though few agricultural experiments on a large scale have yet been made, enough has been ascertained to show that the resources of the State, in this respect, may be advantageously developed. Indeed, it is known that most of the cereal grains can be produced in quantities abundantly adequate to the wants of a numerous population. In most parts of the country the vine, fig, olive, and other valuable plants, both of the temperate and torrid zones, may oe cultivated with great success. Springs of water abound in many districts, while in others the earth, for leagues together, exposes a naked and arid surface, which is only relieved by the periodical rains. Some few extensive forests, comprising, occasionally, trees of enormous magnitude, were met with by recent United States exploring parties; but large portions of the territory are very scantily wooded. This absence of trees, and the consequent want of moisture and of shelter to the earth from the sun's heat, is doubtless a grand obstacle in the way of agricultural improvement; and years will probably elapse before any great measure of public attention will be directed to the subject. Among the forest trees most common in California are the oak, ash, beech, birch, elm, plane, red cedar, and pine of almost every description.* These abound more profusely near the Pacific shore, and in the vicinity of rivers communicating with that ocean, thus affording excellent opportunities for ship-building. The gold region of California is between 400 and 500 miles long, and from 40 to 50 miles broad, following the line of the Sierra Nevada

*Timber is scattered over several counties, and is quite abundant around Bodaga, San Rafael, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, and a few other localities. The red wood, or soft cedar, is most frequently met with in those quarters. It often grows to the circumference of forty feet, and to a hight of three hundred. Near Banta Cruz there is one measuring seventeen feet in diameter.

Further discoveries may, and probably will, increase the area. It empraces within its limits those extensive ranges of hills which rise on the eastern border of the plain of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and, extending eastwardly from 50 to 60 miles, they attain an elevation of about 4000 feet, and terminate at the base of the main ridge of the Sierra Nevada. There are numerous streams which have their sources in the springs of the Sierra, and receive the water from its melting snows, and that which falls in rain during the wet season. These streams forin rivers, which have cut their channels through the ranges of foot hills westwardly to the plain, and disembogue into the Sacramento and San Joaquin. These rivers are from ten to fifteen, and probably some of thei twenty miles apart. The principal formation or substratum in these bills is talcose slate; the superstratum, sometimes penetrating to a great depth, is quartz; this, however, does not cover the entire face of the country, but extends in large bodies in various directions-is found in masses and small fragments on the surface, and seen along the ravines and in the mountains overhanging the rivers, and in the hill sides in its original beds. It crops out in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, and forms a striking feature of the entire country over which it extends. From innumerable evidences and indications it has come to be the universally admitted opinion among the miners and intelligent men who have examined this region, that the gold, whether in detached particles and pieces, or in veins, was created in combination with the quartz. Gold is not found on the surface of the country, presenting the appearance of having been thrown up and scattered in all directions by volcanic action It is only found in particular localities, and attended by peculiar circumstances and indications. It is found in the bars and shoals of the rivers, in ravines, and in what are called the "dry diggings." The rivers, in forming their channels, or breaking their way through the hills, have come in contact with the quartz containing the gold veins, and by constant attrition cut the gold into fine flakes and dust; and it is found among the sand and gravel of their beds at those places where the swiftness of the current reduces it, in the dry season, to the narrowest possible limits, and where a wide margin is consequently left on each side, over which the water rushes, during the wet season, with great force. As the velocity of some streams is greater than that of others, so is the gold found in fine or coarse particles, apparently corresponding to the degree of attrition to which it has been exposed. The water from the hills and upper valleys, in finding its way to the rivers, has cut deep ravines, and, wherever it has come in contact with the quartz, has dissolved or crumbled it in pieces. In the dry season these channels are mostly without water, and gold is found in the beds and margins of many of them in large quantities, but in a much coarser state than in the rivers, owing, undoubtedly, to the moderate flow and temporary continuance of the current, which has reduced it to smooth shapes, not unlike pebbles, but has not had sufficient force to cut it into flakes or dust. The dry diggings are places where quartz containing gold has cropped out, and been disintegrated, crumbled to fragments, pebbles, and dust, by the action of water and the atmosphere. The gold has been left as it was made, in