The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-29 00:00:00

CALIFORNIA.

SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 16.
Her Majesty's ship Pique left this port on the
4th. Her destination was kept secret, it being
supposed that the captain had sealed orders, re-
ceived from the admiral by the mail which had
arrived a week previously. It was given out that
the Pique was merely going to practise her guns
outside the bay. She had " provisioned" for six
months just before sailing. 01. e conjecture is that
she may have proceeded to the north to look out
for the Russian frigate Aurora (44 guns), which is
supposed to have lef7, or to be about leaving Pe
tropaulovski, where she wintered ; and another
conjecture is that the Pique has gone to the Sand-
wich Islands to join the combined English and
French squadrons. From the Sandwich Islands
we learn that her Majesty's frigate Dido had ar-
rived at Honolulu from Callao, where she had left
the Admiral waiting for the arrival of his flag-ship
from England. The Polynesian, of March 24,
says :

"The combined English and French squadron is ex-
pected at the islands in April or May, and we under-
stand from rumour that another attack is to be made
upon Petropanlovski as soon as the place can be safely
approached atter the breaking up of the ice. We also
hear that the squadron will be increased by the addition
of a line-of•battle ship, a steam friaa4e, and a smaller
vessel or two on the part of the English, with a similar
addition to the French division, the particulars of which
we have not heard .stated, lionoitilu is a convenient
port at which to rendezvous befnre going north, and we
bays been informed that it has been appointed such by.
the Commander-in-Chief."
Some apprehension is felt here, chiefly by the
French, which the English do not participate in,
that two Rusian arm,d vessels, belonging to the

Russian American Company, which have lain in
this port fir some m-inths, are about to sail on a
privateering cruise, for which they would seem to
have been for some little time back preparing. One
of these vessels, the Kamtschatka, is a fine fleet ship
of about 650 tons, carrying 10 guns, of which two
are large ones ; she has lain here for over four
months ; she lost her crew by desertion, but has
lately been busy completing a new crew, and is
now ready to proceed to sea at any moment. She
has no cargo. Considering the risks she was bold
enough to run in gettini, down from Sitka, with
several French and English • men-of-war on the
coast, of whom some were in the harbour of San
Francisco when she arrived here, it is generally
believed that, her captain has the spirit and audacity
to attempt the capture of a prize now that he is
relieved from the pre,ence of all the men-of-war
on the station. The oth r vessel, the Nicholas
the First, has been here for two months. She is
a ship of much the same cba-acter as the Kamts-
chatka, but is quite unprepared to go to sea.
Nothing could be easier for the Kamtschatka
than to pick up an English or French merchant-
man on this coast, and run down with her prize to
Sitka. It is possible, however, that thecaptain of
the Pique, apprehending such an attempt, may be
still hovering outside the harbour, on purpose to
tempt the Russian vessel to sally nut, and it is
known that the Pique was heard practising her guns
in the offing three days after she left the port.
The news of the death of the Emperor of Russia,
which reached us by the last mail did not produce
much sensation, for the reas ,n I suppose, thatmost
persons looked for his dJ,..th by assassination some
time later; and the Russian "sympathy" which
was displayed in the early part of the war, on re-
ceipt of the news of the fall of Sebastopol, rather
offensively seems to have die l out, or, at all events,
to slumber. The sufferin;y,s of our brave soldiers
seem to have turned 'he tide of American feelings.
With these sufferin.ts the
Americans, who are natu-
rally exceedingly warm-hearted, sympathise most
heartily, and they do so the more readily from their
tracing the causes of these misfortunes to aristocra-

tic influences, which to the great bulk of the people
are most odious.

During the last fortnight then has been so large
an arrival of merchandise of all sorts thrown upon
the market as has had the natural effect of lowering
prices very much. Sales have also been limited.
No less than 20 vessels, nearly all large clippers,
have arrived from the Atlantic States, with full
assorted cargoes. Thirty-five coasting craft have
entered from the various ports of the south and

north coast, hringin considerable carg ,es of lum-
ber, wheat, flour, an'd other produce, and, in addi-
tion to all these, 11 vessels have arrivcd in the
same period from China, _Batavia, England, and
other foreign parts, all laden with merchandise.
The consequence is a great depression in busi-
ness, increased by the titrbtriess of money, to
which the late suspension of -nme of the banks has
contributed, by reason of all facilities for raising
money by the jobbers on their notes having beet,

with(fra,;n. In this state of affairs the merchants
can trust no one ; confidence is shaken ; trade is
limited to actual wants ; and the bulk of the goods

lately arrived are being stored to await a change
for the better. The chief sales during the fortnight
were of goods for the Mormon city of Salt Lake,
with which a trade is now opened for the first time,
and which is likely to increase, as a military road
is about to be opened from Salt Lake city to San
Bernardino, another Mormon settlement in the
southern part of California. This business and
some shipments to Oregon and to the southern
coast comprise nearly all the trade that has been
done since last mail.

The usual home spring trade has not yet com-
mmced, as the state of the roads does not yet admit
of the travel of teams in the interior. The stock
of flour is so preposterously large that it is pro-
posed to ship some cargoes to Australia and Eu-
rope, and already 150 tons of California flour has
been sent to Australia, and a few parcels to Chili
even, where most of our stock on hand has come
from. California raises quite enough wheat now
to supply the home consumption of flour, and
could raise sufficient to export a large quantity if
there was a market. We have also mills enough
to grind all the wheat we can raise, so that this
country is quite independent of foreign supplies.
Several mercantile failures have occurred since
last mail, but the amounts are not very serious ; or,
to speak more correctly, the loss is not thought se-
rious, because it falls chiefly upon foreign capital.
Money sent here, as it has been sent, and is being
sent, for "investment," shares the fate of goods
sent in excess. The result is loss. " Investment,"
indeed ! It is an " investment," and of too per-
manent a nature for the unlucky owner who has
been duped into sending his money here, whence
it will never return.

Now that the financial crisis is well over w
look upon most of our existing banks as pretey
t may
se-
cure. The withdrawal of deposits has, it is true,
so limited the operations of some ofthem that
their business only covers their expenses for the
present ; but confidence is being restored,
of the banks
and de-
posits are being freely made at such
are deemed stable. There is a great scarcityc.nie
of coin,
a
oin,s
owing, remotely, to the suspension of coining
opera-
tions altogether for the present, while the lint
officers are making up the annual accounts and col-
lecting the " sweep " as they call the gold with
which the furnaces become charged in the ordinary
operations of the Mint. To get at this gold and
ascertain the gains of the establishment it is neces-
sary to demolish the furnaces and then to grind
them and smelt them—operations which will sus-
pend the coining of money for about two weeics, to
the great inconvenience of the public. The Mint is
of the greatest use to this country, and its utility
would be increased were it larger and independent,
instead of being a branch subordinate to the Mint
at Philadelphia, by which its efficiency is so im-
paired that it cannot meet the wants of the com-
munity.
The coinage for the year was :—Gold coined into
456,390 coins of various denominations, of the
value of $7,615,297 ; silver coined into 29,800 h df
and into 122,000 quarter dollars, $7,660,07 ; and ,
the value of the gold run into bars, of which 2,594
were " unparted" and eight were " refined," was
$6,434,065. These bars are chiefly used for expor-
tation, and the coins for " currency" in the coun-
try. Besides the foregoing the Mint made a vast
number of assays of gold and silver, but its power 1
for work is far below the wants of the country,
and two private establishments are in full operation 1 1
supplying the public with coin and Lars.
Gold dust is very abundant, and fetches from
17 dots. to 18 doll. the ounce, according to quality. ,
Ti^ greater part of the best quality is sent to the
Mint, and it is now becoming difficult to buy much
at ,/1 peweonnt.
I i rdl discounte e
and o n
of so good a quality as will pay for exportation.
Gold bars are selling
their assayed value. Exchan
England remains without variation. On the
At-
lantic the rate, which had partiagltilihytles.:ni_thelnes to i-)-)i.during the crisis, is now again at the old rate of
are in
stdegreefavourable,anc.la enormous amounts
cou premiumnt s fromonalslipiLtrtdsraouf
tpiei
oTr
iliciieb4nhat.
of gold dust are said to have accumulated in the
having ceased to
s of ltaste, and from the
mining regions, from the
deposit with the banker
scarcity of coin having limited the purchase of dust.
Heavy rains have been falling all over the country
during the last week,
* which not only furnish the
miners with an ample supply of water for present