The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

natural increase in the people calculated at
one per cent. would not exceed 65,000 yearly;
while the number of emigrants from Ireland
in 1851 was 254,587 ; in 1852, 224,997 ; in 1853,
199,392. As the emigrants include a large
portion of the youngest and most vigorous of
the adult population, from whom the excess
of births over deaths mainly depends, it is pro-
bable that the real decline in the numbers of
the people is proceeding more rapidly than
the emigration returns alone would indicate.
The present population of Ireland must cer-
tainly be below 6,000,000, and probably does
not much exceed 5,500,000, or about whit:, it
was half a century ago. Since 1847 the emigra-
tion from Ireland has been chiefly carried on
by the remittances sent home from persons
who had previously emigrated. In 1848 the
money thus remitted amounted to 480,000/.,
and in 1853 it had risen to 1,439,000/. One
result of this emigration is, that the hands
employed in the sea fisheries of Ireland have
declined from 93,073 iu 1845 to 38,2747 in 1853;
the vessels engaged have sunk from 19,683 to
11,079. _ _ _

The seventy of distress caused by the fear-
ful year of famine is indicated by other facts.
The deposits in savings-banks in 1845 reached
2,921,551/., the largest amount ever lodged
since the first establishment of these institu-
tions; but in consequence of the famine the
amount dropped in 1848 to 1,334,2961., and the
depositors fell from 96,422 to 48,512. This
test of the impoverishment of the people is
perhaps the most decisive that could be belec-
ted. The decline was only very partially re-
covered in 1863, when the depositors were
65,630, and the total amount 1,586,0101.

Other tests leal to the same conclusion of
the vast distress caused by the famine. In
1845 the number of paupers relieved was
114,205, at an expense of 316,0251. ; and in
1848 the paupers had risen to 2,043,505, and
the expenditure to 1,835,634. In the following
year there was a further increase, the number
relieved being 2,142,766, and the cost 2,177,6511.
But there has since been a gradual diminu-
tion, the number in 183 having been only
409,668, and the expense of relief 785,718/.
Even the pupils in the national schools de-
clined from 456,410 in 1846 to 402,682 in 1847.

The revenue suffered less than might have
been expected, to the extent of two or three
hundred thousand pounds only, but the
amount remitted front the British Exchequer
to make good the deficiency in the annual
charge for Ireland rose from 2,466,0001. in
1846 to 8,798,0001. in 1847.
Notwithstanding, however, the diminution
in the numbers of the people, there has been
no decline of cultivation, and the amount of
property in Ireland has largely increased. The
value of live stock in 1841 was assumed to be
19,399,8431„ and in 1863 was estimated at
31,458,785, presenting a striking contrast to
the decline of the people. In the numbers of
poultry, pigs, and sheep, a great decline was
caused b) the black year of famine. The pigs,
which had numbered 1,412,813 iu 1841, sank to
795,463 in 1849; sheep fell from 2,106,189 in
1841 to 1,777,111 in 1849 ; and the number of
poultry, in the same interval declined from
8,450,517 to 8,328,001. The number of cattle
have, however, steadily increased from
1,863,116 in 1841 to 3,383,309 in 1858, and the
numbers of sheep have nearly doubled since
1849, being in 1863 3,142,656. In 1848 the
sheep at Ballinasloe Fair amounted to 67,045 ;
in 1834 they were 79,899 ; the cattle at the
former date were 8,162, and at the latter
18,409. These figures alone would show, what
is evident indeed from all the statistics con-
sulted, that nearly the whole weight of the
famine fell upon the poorer classes of the
Irish, and chiefly on the small occupiers and
the peasantry.
The acres under tillage have increased, thus
showing that no want of labour is experienced.
The land under crops was in 1849 5,548,748
acres, and in 1853 6,696,951 acres. Cereal
culture has slightly declined, and the growth
of flax largely increased. In 1849 60,314 acres
were devoted to this crop, and in 1854 150,972
acres, The increase, however, has been chiefly
0014110 to Ulster, where, by the last return,
139,000 sores were under cultivation feu• flax.
The revenue, mouldering the diminution in
the numberwof the people, must be regarded

SATURDAY,

as satisfactory. In 1853 the net produce was
4,621,8701., beings mere trifle below the amount
in 1846 ; the amount provided by the British
Exchequer to make good the deficiencies of
the annual charge has lately been declining.
The amount required for the last thirty years
has been from two to three millions annually,
but in (853 was only 1,228,342/.
Harshly as the provisions of the Incumbered
Estates Act seemed to press on involved pro-
prietors, yet the result has been unquestion-
ably beneficial, and perhaps no legislative
measure ever more completely fulfilled its ob-
ject than did this one, as an immense extent
of land has passed from the hands of bank-
rupt owners into those of persons willing and
able to employ it to the best advantage. The
total amount realised by the sale of property
under this act from 21st February, 1850, to
21st October, 1854, amounted to the enormous
sum of 13,509,3031., and the change, it cannot
be doubted, has, on the whole, been beneficial
to every class concerned.
Taking whatever test we may (except the
numbers of the population), Ireland appears
to be a steadily-improving country. Crime is
diminishing—education is on the increase—
trade and commerce are advancing—the
capital of the land is in course of augmenta-
tion—the revenue is healthy—agitation has
nearly become extinct—and all kinds of local
rates are on the decline. We cannot view that
emigration which conduces to such results as
an evil, and we may expect that it will cease
as the condition of the people improves. At
no time did Ireland contain a greater number
of souls than it might profitably have em-
ployed, but their labour was to a great extent
directed into over-crowded channels, and for
that reason to unprofitable employments. The
proof of this is the fact that a subtraction of
two millions of people has been unattended
with any diminution of industrial produce, or,
so far as we can judge, of the commodities
consumed. We may congratulate ourselves
that the worst part of the transition-state is
over, and should our Government, by atten-
tion to the social condition and prospects of
Ireland, prevent, as far as the Government of
a free country can, the growth of those evils
from which such tremendous consequences
have arisen, that country may hereafter cease
to be the "great difficulty" of British states-
manship.
This volume is in itself a proof of the com-
mercial importance of the capital of Ireland.
It is in every way creditable to the enterprise
of the publishers, and we are satisfied only re-
quires to be known on this side the Irish
Channel to command considerable patronage
from its many merits and large utility.

Mountains and Molehills ; or, Recollections of
a Burnt Journal. By Frank Marryat. Lon-
don : Longman'.
MR. MARRYAT Will be favourably remembered
as the author of " Borneo and the Eastern
Archipelago, " and this present volume of
his recollections of California is written in
the lively, entertaining, rumbling, truthful
style of the previous work. The journal in
which these recollections were originally
collected was accidentally destroyed in one
of the great fires at San Francisco, and
also a valuable collection of drawings and
sketches of the country and people; but
nevertheless we are glad to receive their
" ashes." Mr. Marryat, in 1850, started for
California, with his servant and dogs, and
travelled through the country like a gentle-
man, in contradistinction to a " digger."
He passed through Chagres and Panama, and
stopped some little time at San Francisco ;
saw everything that was to be seen in that
city, went thence to Benicia, a little town on
the bay, stopping en route at a ranche,'
became thoroughly initiated into Mexican
country life, and for that winter determined
to " squat" in a delicious valley in the moun-
tains, which was recommended as being in a
district abounding in game, and there to
enjoy a free life and the pleasures of the chase.
After some months of such agreeable times--
hunting deer, shooting wild bulls and bears, and
chasing tiger-eats—the rainy season commenced
and Mr. Uarryst returned to San Etaucisco, leav-
ing his servant in his log hut; but when he

FEBRUARY 10, 1855.

gat back to his " hunting-box" again, he
found, much to his chagrin, his quiet quarters
invaded upon all sides by speculative Yankees,
who were buying up plots of land for cultiva-
tion. As he possessed no preemptive rights
he was compelled to turn out, and, after
some further dallying ou the way, he at
length fairly started for the diggings and
set to work; but a month or two tired
him, and, for a change, ho plunged into
quartz-vein speculations, bought a steam-
engine to crush the quartz, and broke it down
upon the first trial; repaired it after endless
trouble and expense, and at last found that
the quartz crushed the machine, instead, of
the machine crushing the quartz. After tll:s
he entered into several other speculations,
built iron hotels in embryo- cities that never
got beyond a few tents and a Fumbling-
booth, sold them again, and lost his money,
but in the end gained experience, which
he gives to us in this volume of " Recol
lections." Taken as a whole, the book is as
good a sketch of Californian life, and gives us
as fair au idea of the country and the people,
as we remember to have met with. Moreover,
there is such an air of truthfulness over every-
thing' he relates that the reader enters into
all Mr. Marryat's adventures and enjoys them
with a gusto which a. conviction of their
reality could alone convey.
Few people take up a book upon California
without associating Australia and its gold-
fields with the subject; but, beyond certain
similar geological strata, there is little simi-
larity between the countries and their pro-
ductions, and infinitely less between their
respective populations. Australia, excepting
the settled districts, is one vast unimproved
extent of gum-tree and granite, shepherds and
sheep; but California is one of the finest
countries, on the surface of the globe—a
healthy climate, a magnificently-picturesque
scenery, splendid rivers, productive soil, and
a population the most energetic and progres-
sive that the world has ever seen; and never
was this energy more remarkably displayed
than in building their city of San Francisco.
Several times destroyed more or less by fire,
it has risen after each destruction greater and
more magnificent than ever, and now, after
but, six years' growth, a City stands, with every
comfort and convenience, bridges, roads,
aqueducts, churches, schools, theatres, clubs,
and, last not least, a dense population and an
enormous trade.
In another point, also, is Australia in the back-
ground. In science, in simple mechanical talent,
and, above all, in system, the Californian are
far beyond the Australian gold-diggers. In
California every foot of soil is worked by large
bodies of miners combining together and
working up an immense space of ground, and
this system of combination is the real secret
why California, a poorer gold-field than Aus
tralia, is yet able to extract twenty millions
sterling a year, employing some hundred and
forty thousand diggers at a higher average
than our colony can show for its hundred
thousand. This system of combination is
carried into every branch connected with gold
digging in California. If, for instance, water
fails at any digging, a company form in-
stantly among the miners to bring water from
the nearest source to supply the body of
the diggers at so much a day to each ;
races are cut, sluices made, and turned
into aqueducts over the valleys, and water is
brought in this way for miles across hill and
dale to supply the digging. But in Australia
every man digs fbr himself in a hole twelve feet
square, and if such a want as the above is ex
perienced John Bull piles up his washing-stuff,
squats upon his hams, smokes his pipe, and waits
upon Providence and the rainy season ; for
combination has never yet succeeded among the
English diggers. No ten Englishmen will work
together for a week without a fight and a fall
out, while fifty Americans will work for
months, all independent, yet all paying strict
submission to the rules for the attainment of
the common end ; and this is the reason why
in California mountains are tunnelled, rivers
are turned, aqueducts built, roads made,
quartz veins worked, and saw-mills and
steam-foundries erected on the spot, and
the want of this principle why such things
have not been done in Australia. We have

THE PRESS.

had plenty of gold from Australia, it is
true, but we shall have much more as soon

as some system of combination supersedes the
system of individual digging.
Upon entering San Francisco the thing
which struck Mr. Marryat most was the state
of excitement which appeared to pervade all
classes, and the drinking that was carried on

to an almost incredible extent :
From the time the habitual drinker in San Francisco
takes his morning gin-cocktail to stimulate an appetite fur
breakfast, he supplies himself at intervals throughout the
day with an indefinite number of racy little spirituous
compounds that have the effect of keeping him always
more or less primed. Aud where saloons line the streets,
and you cannot meet a friend, or make anew acquaintance,
or strike a bargaia, without au invitation to drink, which
amounts to a command ; and when the days are hot and
you see men issuing from the saloons licking their lips after
their iced mint juleps ; and where Brown, who has a party
with him, meets you as he enters the saloon, and says,
"Join us !" and where it is the fashion to accept such in-

vitations, and rude to refuse them ;—what can a thirsty
man do? The better description of drinking•bars are
fitted up with great taste, and at enormous cipeuse. Order
and quiet are preserved within them during the day ; they
are generally supplied with periodicals and newspapers,
and business assignations are made and held in them at all
hours. Everybody in the place is generous and lavish of
money ; and perhaps one reason for so many drinks being
consumed is in the fact that there is ever some liberal
soul who is not content until be has ranged some twenty
of his acquaintances at the bar, and when each one is sup-
plied with a " drink," he says, " My respects gentlemen !"
and the twenty heads being simultaneously thrown back,
down go " straight brandies," " Queen Charlottes," " stone-
fences," Champagne-cocktails," and " sulky sangareea,"
whilst the liberal entertainer discharges the score, and
each one hurries off to his business. There is no one in
Such a hurry as a Californian, but he has always time to
take a drink.

The numerous gambling- houses of San
Francisco are forcibly described. Surrounded
apparently by all the advantages of high
civilisation, the stranger is often startled
by a shriek and a pistol-shot, and reminded by
some act of violence, mildly termed "taking
" the lkw into one's own hands," that he is in
the midst of a partially lawless population.
We remember being told a story by an old
Californian, showing the way in which this
" law" is sometimes carried out. Steaming up
the bay, close to the mouth of the harbour,
they passed the body of a man with a huge
placard pinned to his breast floating down the
stream. Curiosity was excited, for it, was in
the early days of 1848, when Lynch law was
in its infancy, and a dead man was un-
common. The steamer was stopped, a
boat lowered, and the body picked up and
brought on board. It was that of a fine athletic
man, a digger evidently, shot right through
the head, and but very lately killed. Upon the
placard was painted in large letters, " I shot
" this d— rascal because I caught him steal-
ing my mules." Every one looked, read, and
approved the punishment. " Pitch him over,"
said the captain, and the body once more
floated away down the bay, while the steamer
ran in and anchored, and her passengers went
ashore, satisfied that Lynch law was a capital
protection to a man's property, and quite justi-
fiably executed in the present instance.
Necessity may be pleaded in excuse of this
sort of savage justice, but "the million " are
nevertheless, with all their instinctive sense of
" right," rather disagreeable people to have
anything to do with. Mr. Marryat gives us
au amusing reminiscence in support of this
view, though it was anything but amusing to
him. He had gone to a ball at the house of
one of these Lynch-law judges, And rashly
amused himself with cracking jokes upon
the dancers. The result of such jokes iu the
land of Lynch law, and in the house of a
judge, was nearly becoming fatal to the joker:—
At the ball everything appeared to be conducted with
greet propriety ; but the company was composed of honest
mechanics, who, with the best intentions, danced quadrilles
on a peculiar principle, inasmuch as they cut capers to
such an extent as obliged the spectator, however disinclined,
to smile. In no uncomplimentary spirit I made a remark
in French to Ramsey on the subject, and this, being over.
heard and but half understood, was retaliated in the follow
ing manner. •
During a pause in toe dances, a small gentleman who had
overheard my remark, and who was one of the most active
of the chasers cruises dancers, and was a blacksmith, though
apparently small for his profession, informed me audibly,
with fire in his eyes, " that if I did not like the company,
I might leave it, and that d—d soon.•• To this I could
only bow my assent, and shortly afterwards, being unable
to find Ramsey, I left the room, intending to wait for him
at our hotel which is close hy. I had not proceeded very
far, when 1 was suddenly attacked by the small blacksmith
and three other gentlemen—blacksmiths too, I presume ;

141

if so, they evidently mittook my head for an anvil, for they
so belaboured it with bludgeons and other weapons that
they almost killed me, and left me for dead, before I had

time to strikes blow in defence.

On his journey to the diggings our author
meets with numerous adventures, which we

have not space to notice; but the following
sketch of a roadside inn and the company Is
thoroughly characteristic of a gold country :

There seems to be a certain hour of the day for every
traveller in California to breakfast, dine, or sup ; and
should he not arrive at a roadside bowie at our of these •
specified hours he will get 110 meal; and could the traveller
by any possibility be present at each and every hostel at the
time moment, he would find a stereotyped bill of fare,
consisting, with little variation, of a tough beefsteak, boiled
potatoes, stewed beaus, a nasty compound of dried apples,
and Ring of umbisiwd. lie would then sit down at the sum-
MOllll of a bell in company with all the Lewitt; and bobtail
of the road who might have congregated for the repast in
question ; and, if inclined to follow the custom of the
country, he would, with the point of his knife, (made blunt
for this purpose) taste of the various condiments, butter in•
eluded, that were ranged before hint, and, selecting as many
of these as were suited to his taste, he would pile them uu
his plate, demolish them with relish, and depart on his
way iu peace. Travel where you will in California, you
may rest assured that of the foregoing will your meal be
composed, and in nearly such a manner must you eat it.

Of the gold-diggings of California Mr. Mar-
ryat speaks highly, and his opinion is, w•e
think, borne out by facts :

It is impossible (he reinarks) to ascertain the amount
of gold•bearing soil that exists ; for not only are fresh
diggings still brought to light in tho vicinity of the
original discoveries, but we have ample proof that plenty
lies beyond in the direction ut the Sierra Nevada, which
now, from the presence of hostile Indians, cannot be dis•
turbed, and, indeed, fur the present, is not wanted.
• • • • •

In respect to gold-fields, even if our argument leads to
'no definite conclusion, it is something gained if we eau
determine that no sign of diminution of yield is u yet
apparent,—as regards the future, the wisest can onli record
an opinion. 1 believe for my part that the gold. ells of
California will certainly yield in an equivalent proportion
to their present produce for many years, even if the diggers
are left to their own resources ;—what may be done with
the soil eventually, when capital shall increase In the
mines and from the mines, is a question is impossible to
solve as that of the advance of science iu other respects
within the nest halt' century.
• • • • •

And so long as we see that the gold from the soil is
turned against the soil in the all-powerful form of capital,
aided by science; and so long as we know that what is
separated to-day by the " long tow " may to-inoirow be de-
voted to the erection of steam-engines and the sinking of
vast tunnels ; we know that a great system of improvement
is being carried out independent of all external aid : and in
the facts that on every side attest the strong faith the
miners hold themselves in respect of the inexhaustible
nature of the soil, and in the evidences of success that
meet us at all points where fresh inventions are applied,
we have the best guarantee that the " placers " of California
are in a state of progressive improvement.
These words are equally applicable to
the diggings in Australia. It is a singular
coincidence that neither in California nor
in Australia do the aboriginal inhabitants
care about digging for gold. Occasionally ,
Mr. Marryat tells us, will an Indian or
two dig for a short time, and obtain some
gold dust, which he knows will purchase fine
clothes and rum, but he soon tires over dies
labour, and never by any chance continues at it
after once finding enough dust to buy himself
half-a dozen shirts, which he puts on all at once
with a Mexican hat, and a pair of jack-boots'
In Australia, we believe, there is not a case
upon record of the aboriginals working at the
diggings. Mr. Marryat was not successful in
any of his speculations, but he bears his losses
cheerfully, and concludes his book with some
advice to emigrants, which is admirable for its
good sense and truthfulness :

The emigrant, of whatever class, should have sometbing
definite in view ; fur, like a ship of discovery, ho has
before him, as it were, an nnnavigated sea, and unknown
rocks and shoals will cause him often to deviate from his
track, but it should be only to return by a circuitous route
to the prosecution of his journey. But ►f be leiiver home
on the broad priuciple of " tryiug his luck," be will nut
only be the easier cast down by adverse circumstances, hut
he will stand the least chance of any of becoming eventually
successful.
• • • • •

It is a great drawback to the labouring emigrant to a
gold country that he generally lauds without capital and is
obliged at once to work, where and how he may. This,
however, may be said to him—that Californian experience
shows that, in the long run, the man does best who, having
prudently amassed some money at the diggings' turns his
capital and abilities to the channel into which they were
originally directed at home : thus, if he has been an agri•
cultural labourer, let bim farm so solo as be has saved
something; if a tailor, let him turn back to the mining
city, with his nuggets in his pockets and there set up in
trade : for the diggings will be replenuilied by new cowers,
and high prices, whether for potatoes sr trouaers, will still

why California, a poorer gold-field than Aus ran in and anchored, and her passengers went gold dust, which he knows will purchase fine
tralia, is yet able to extract twenty millions ashore, satisfied that Lynch law was a capital clothes and rum, but he soon tires over thoo
sterling a year, employing some hundred and protection to a man's property, and quite justi- labour, and never by any chance continues at it ji
forty thousand diggers at a higher average tiably executed in the present instance. after once finding enough dust to buy himself
than our colony can show for its hundred Necessity may be pleaded in excuse of” this half-a dozen shirts, which he puts on all at once
thousand. This system of combination is sort of savage justice, but "the million are with a Mexican hat, and a pair of jack-boots'
I
carried into every branch connected with gold nevertheless, with all their iustinctive sense of In Australia, we believe, there is not a case
digging in California. If, for instance, water ~ right," rather disagreeable people to have upon record of the aboriginals working at the
fails at any digging, a company form in- anything to do with. Mr. t-larryat gives us diggings. Mr. Marryat was not successful in
stoutly among the miners to bring water from an amusing reminiscence in support of this any of his speculations, but he bears his losses
the nearest source to supply the body of view, though it was anything but amusing to
cheerfully, and concludes his book with some
the diggers at so much a day to each ; him. He had gone to a ball at the house of advice to emigrants, which is admirable for its
races are cut, sluices made, and turned one of these Lynch-law judges, and rashly good sense and truthfulness :
into aqueducts over the valleys, and water is amused himself with cracking jokes upon -
brought in this way for miles across hill and the dancers. The result of such jokes in the The emigrant, of whatever class, should have something
dale to supply the digging. But in Australia land of Lynch law, and in the house of a definite in view ; fur, like a ship of discovery, he has
before him, as it were, an unnavigated sea, and unknown
every man digs fbr himself in a hole twelve feet judge, was nearly becoming fatal to the joker :
rocks and shoals will cause him often to deviate from his
square, and if such a want as the above is ex At the ball everything appeared to he conducted with track, but it should be only to return by a circuitous route
perienced John Bull piles up his washing-stuff, great propriety ; but the companywas compo—d of honest to the prosecution of his journey.. Rut if b.e. leaves home
squats upon his hams, smokes his pipe, and waits mechanies who,.with the. hest intentions, danced quadrilles on the broad principle cif " trytug his luck, he sill nut ,
.1
on a peculiar principle, inasmuch as they cut capers to only be the easier cast down by &dye circumstancea, but
• upon Providence and the rainy season ; for
such an extent as obliged the spectator, however disinclined, he will stand the least chance of any of becoming eventually
combination has never yet succeeded among the
to smile. In no uncomplimentary spirit I made a remark successful.
English diggers. No ten Englishmen will work in French to Ramsey on the subject, and this, being over. • • • • •
together for a week without a fight and a fall heard and but half understood, was retaliated in the follow It is a great drawback to the labouring emigrant to a
out, while fifty Americans will work for ing
.manner. • gold country that he generally lauds without capital and is I
,
During a pause in toe dances, &small gentleman who had obliged at once to work, where and how he may. This,
months, all independent, yet all paying strict
overheard ray remark, and who was one of the, most active however, may be said to WM—that Californian expenence
submission to the rules for the attainment of
of the chasers cruises dancers, and was a blacksmith, though shows that, in the long run, the man does best who, having
the the common end ; and this is the reason why apparently small for his profession, informed me audibly, prudently amassed some money at the digings,treni
were
his
in California mountains are tunnelled, rivers with fire in his eyes, " that if I did not like the company, capital and abilities to the channel. into which
kea
any
..
are turned, aqueducts built, roads made, I might leave it, and that d—d soon." To this
. I could originallyirected a.t home : thus, if he his
be
has
savedsgri i
only bow my assent, and shortly afterwards, being unable cultural labourer, let him farm so
sous
quartz veins worked, and saw-mills and
to find Ramsey, I left the room, intending to wait for him something; if a tailor, let him turn back to the mining
steam-foundries erected on the spot, and at our hotel which is close hy. I had not proceeded very city, with his nuggets in his pockets, and there set up in
)
the want of this principle why such things far, when 1 was suddenly attacked by the small blacksmith I trade : for the diggings will be replenished by new meant,
have not been done in Australia. We have and three other gentlemen—blacksmiths too, I presume ; and Ugh prices, whether for potatoes sr trousers, will still