The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 2, 1858

BRITISH COL UMBIA.

(Continued from the Times of Nov. 30.)
VICTORIA, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND,
SEPT. 2.

The Fraser River runs between two chains of
mountains, known as the Fraser River range, for a
distance of some 200 miles. These mountains ter-
minate within some 20 miles of Langley. Towards
their extremities they sink to something like 200
feet in height, but as the river is ascended they rise
in elevation till some of them attain an altitude of
3,000 feet. We are now bringing the higher por-
tions in sight as the morning rmist clears off. ' To
describe the effect as we run up in a winding
course through these mountain gorges would re-
quire powers of the highest order. It would be a
fitting task for your friend Mr. Russell. I shall
not make the attempt, but shall content myself
with a few plain jottings as I pass. _ .

The mountains are clothed to their summits with
pines, como siempre, as a Spaniard on board remarked
as he threw himself on his back to look at them.
Fine patches of park scenery on the banks are inter.:
spersed with umbrageous trees, huge things with
broad green leaves, contrasting with tall slender
aspens, growing in a rank grass as tall as ordinary
shrubs. We pass a gigantic pile of drift wood
thrown up on a bank laid bare by the fallinr, of the
river. There was not an inch of bark do the whole
pile. The trees were all bare and bleached white,
and looked like a collection of old dried bones. The
pile would supply London with firewood for some
time. Some of the trees were enormous, going to
show the strength of the current when the river is
full, and the inroads it makes yearly upon the
alluvial banks.
We pass a valley studded with detached hills. It
looks like a dried up lake which once had islands;
double rows of poplars of the kind called by the
Americans Cotton wood, from the seed pods con-
taining cotton. These rows have all the straightness
and regularity of artificial training and clipping,
and bear a close resemblance to an avenue which
shades a walk at Lord Hopetoun's place near Edin-
burgh. This regularity of growth is frequently seen
in this wilderness of forest. Another remarkable
sight is the suddenness with whigh the character of
the timber changes. Here you have poplars, by the
side of them firs, then cedars, then alders, very
large, and many other sorts of trees in quick sue
cession. Perhaps the soil varies, but then in other
places seven and eight different kinds of trees grow
together.
The current gets stronger, reducing the boat's
speed to 5 knots, and to get this rate out of her the
steam is at high pressure. The heat is intolerable
from the fires. It is one continued vapour bath for
us, and we are smothered and nearly set on fire by
the sparks from the funnel. My hat is burnt with
round spots like a face marked with the smallpox.
On shore the temperature must be delightful. We
envy the gentle quivering of the leaves from the low
wind just sufficient to set them in motion.
Another mountain of bleached driftwood. A fleet
of rowboats with 50 miners going up. An inter-
change of " chaff" between them and our passengers.
Pass innumerable Indian encampments on the
banks. This is the fishing season. The river
swarms with salmon and sturgeon.
The plains of Smess terminate in a sharp wedge-
like point which intrudes itself into the river,
shutting off our view upwards. Some of the moun-
tains begin to show scarps running down their sides,
bare of trees for a wonder. Peaks of 3,000 feet,
having great patches of snow in deep ridges near
their tops. As we turn the angle of one of these
we almost run upon an Indian village, built
upon a low sand spit which runs into the river.
The whole scene is in perfect keeping. The rude-
ness of the habitations, the squalor of the naked
Indians—young, old, and middle-aged—the hungry
dogs, and a few other concomitants make a fine
picture from nature. A few crooked sticks, a few
ragged mats, and a few sprawling branches, of
which the dried foliage (when fresh it gave a little
shade) is now crumbling in the sun, compose the
" dwellings ;" in comparison with which an eagle's
nest would be a comfortable abode. Very pictu7,
resque, but very desolate !
The river gets more rapid, the mountains come
down cloSer to the water, and the scenery gets
bolder and grander all the way up to Fort Hope,
65 miles from Langley.
I should have mentioned that the double range of
mountains through the defiles of which the Fraser
River runs are supposed to be the lower spurs of
the Great Cascade Range which intersects the
country from north to south, and which lie far to
the westward of Fraser River. The spurs, or, as we
call them now, the Fraser River Mountains, have

a general direction of north and, south trenching
eastwardly. Their direction of north and south
makes it very difficult to traverse them in journey-
ing from the Pacific to the Atlantic, which is a
course of west to east, for these mountains cannot
be crossed owing to their steepness and ruggedness.
Many of them are perpendicular walls. This is the
great difficulty of making a road from this country
to the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. The
Hudson's Bay Company opened their communica-
tions by following the courses of the rivers which
break through the chain ; but this route involves
rowing, walking, and riding, is very.tedious and
very expensive, demanding the maintenance of
water craft, the repair of roads, and causing the
loss of horses. From what I have seen I shall cer-
tainly not take shares in the railroad, which I hear
talked of from Lake Superior to the shores of the
Pacific.
I never detained you so long from the principal
subject of this letter—namely, an account of the
gold mines, by my having been seduced by the
beauty of he river which leads to them, that I
must now hasten to visit the diggers. I will
merely add the following memorandum on the
character of the rocks of Fraser River, obligingly
given to me by Mr. Bauerman, the geologist, whose
name I mentioned at the commencement

" Metamorphic slaty rocks, principally gneiss and
mica slate, with intrusive granite and syenite
dykes. As a rule mica is rather scarce. The fel-
spar is common potash felspar, usually tolerably
compact and not much weathered."
Opinions and counter opinions have been ad-
vanced on this coast, from California to Vancouver,
upon the subjzets of the richness and poverty of the
Fraser River gold mines, until the subject has be-
come a sore one with newspaper editors and with
private combatants.
Since the time when Columbus illustrated his
argument by standing the egg on one end there has
not been so much incredulity displayed in the
world—in the world of the west and north-west
coast of the Pacific at any rate ; and I doubt not
the question has travelled to Europe, and that this
communication will find the Old World puzzled and
scratching its head. Ido not intend to enter the
lists in this tournament. I will, instead, copy my
jottings as I took them down from the miners them-
selves, and entered them in their presence, standing
by them at their work.
All the mining locations on the river are called
" bars" by the miners. This is a misnomer. The
mining is carried on on sandy and gravelly spits,
left dry by the falling of the river. These spits
run parallel with the stream, and sometimes rlin
into it, but never entirely across_the river, which is
too deep ever to get dry-

►SEPT. 9.

Visited Murderer's Bar, three to four miles
below Fort Hope. Most of the miners Cornish
men, from California. This bar is a mile long; width
unequal. Gets wider as the river falls. Twenty
log cabins erected. This looks well. Log cabins put.
up only in rich diggings. 125 miners. Gave their
average earnings at one ounce a-day to the couple
of hands. An ounce of gold is worth at the Bank
of England £3 17s. 9d., or some such fraction.
_Here the miners get 16 dols. an ounce for their gold.
On the upper edge of the bar (I shall call the dig-
gings all " bars," to prevent confusion) five miners
were making no more than 3, 31, and 5 dols. a-day
each, and one man complained that he made only
"sit bits"
(equal to 3s. sterling). The only mode
of washinghere is with the rocker, an inefficient,
laborious,
and slobweigmpvleery
mefinnte.,
aAn
dg rtehaet
process
the gold is lost,
washing too rude_ to
0 retain it. All the gold is sub-
jected to quicksilver to amalgamate it. It cannot
be separated without—not being sufficiently coarse
to "clean." The space allotted to each miner is 25
feet in width, running froms he the highwater mark
a
down into the river as far choosesa to go. The
rr
miners are all satisfied with this
pier eement, and
all are quite ready to pay a license taonwhieh
the gracious
Majesty of £1 a-month. At this bar,
Go-
vernment christened "Cornish Bar," in lieu of itsfirtominous name, thO miners merely washed surfaces
soil to a depth in most places of 6 or 7 inches. In
a few spots, where the earth has been penetrated to
a depth of 2,3, and 7 feet, gold is found as abundant
as in the surface dirt. The river falls 30 feet in the
season ; its lowest stage is in late autumn and early
winter, when the early frosts congeal the snow on
the mountains. When this bar and the peninsula
which adjoins it come to be properly worked with
" sluices,' for which there is water accessible close
by, enormous yields will be produced. This is the
opinion of the miners. The stratum in which the
gold is found is called the "pay streak." I observed
this stratum running into the shore at a depth
under the sand bank of two feet, and asked if they
had " prospected" this " pay streak." Yes, they
found it auriferous some yards • inland. It is just
as likely to be auriferous for miles. The millers
all intend to winter on this bar in their log cabins.
Provisions are cheap and abundant. They can buy

plenty of salmon and potatoes from the Indians.
The cost of living is 1 dol. a day to each man.
My memorandums of my visits to the other bars
are short. The above is a little explanatory.
MONDAY, SEPT. 12.
Left Fort Hope, with the Governor and his
party, military and civil, on our way up the river,
intending to visit the different mining bars on the
route. 'Took large bateaux, which answered our
purpose admirably.
The first bar above Fort Hope, three miles, Mos-
quito Bar, a name it does not deserve. If there are
mosquitoes on the river, they are very well-bred, for
they never intruded their company on us. This bar
poor • 1, 11, and 4 dols. a day to each miner; 25 men ;
growled horribly. Two of their number made 40
dols. a piece per week at first, but these days are gone.
Very doleful lot this. There are hills inland a little
way, upon which the miners " prospected" at a
height of 100 feet, and found gold—the " colour,"
as they call the evidence of a successful trial. We
found gold in the " tailings," or rejected dirt, which
these miners had thrown away. Their loss is con-
siderable. Next bar is called, or rather was called,
"54 deg. 43." You know the allusion to the Yan-
kee's claim to this line before we were weak enough
to give him up Oregon and Washington territory.
The impudent assumption of this name was too
much for Major Hawkins. We make a joke of it,
but the patriotism of the party was ardent enough
to pull the placard down and throw it in the river.
This bar only just opened. Lots of miners, but
could give no returns. Met one of my old tenants
from San Francisco here. He couldn't tell what he
was doing. Very likely not. I never could tell what
he did in San Francisco ; " gammoned the flats," I
suspect.
Union Bar extends about half a mile on the same
spit as the last two. 150 miners, 2to 3 dol. a-day to
the man. They told us our friends on Mosquito Bar
had humbugged us, that they were making 5 to 6 dol.
a day to the man. They built a stockade of palisades
flanked with bastions, for "protection," they said.
The protection turned out to be protection from
the expected cold winds of winter. They named the
stockade " Fort Union." Their neighbours, who
were content with log huts, irreverently called it a
" corral," which means a cattle pen. It will accom-
modate 100 men, and the miners erected it in their
spare time, while waiting for the fall of the river
to expose their bar. Sergeant Anderson, of the
Engineers, a Crimeen hero, was vastly amused at
the " Fort." All theminers intended to winter here
—a sure sign that they were doing well. The Go-
vernor is engaged endeavouring to trace the mur-
ders committed on the river. The information re-
ceived goes to implicate white men. Indians com-
plain that the whites abuse them sadly, take their
squaws away, shoot their children, and take their
salmon by force. Some of the whites are sad dogs.
Canada Bar.—Abandoned this morning for better
diggings higher up. A vast deal of work had been
done here, as testified by the state of the ground.
Three or four miners, just arrived are going to try
their luck. Two more are squatted 'on the ground
in a happy state of idleness, "thinking what next
to do." All this is on the right bank. On the oppo-
site bank a few huts and teats pitched and several
miners at work, whom we did not visit. The cur-
rent fierce, rollingdown in angryridges of troubled
water and foam. Width of river here here 300
yards, about 41 miles beyond Fort Hope.
We proceed up, struggling' against the current,
the speed of which our boatmen guessed at 6 miles
an hour. Passed two camps of 25 miners on left
bank ; " Doing pretty well' was the answer to our
hail. Santa Clara Bar.-250 miners. Building
huts for winter. Several straggling miners at the
lower end of the bar acknowledged to 6 dol. each on
an average. Told us that higher up a man's daily
earnings, were 35 dol. The rich places are always
either " down" or " up," never where you are at
the moment. Got into the thick of the miners and
questioned them individually. Ist gang, 6 dol.
a-day to the man. 2d gang, 8 dol. 3d gang, only
19 yards off, 3 dol. 4th gang, 5 dol., but last week
made 53 dol. to the hand for the week. sth gang ;
here's their answer verbatim, " Last Friday we took
out 36 dol. to the couple of hands," one " filling"
and the other man " rocking." " Saturday, 20 dol.
to the couple of hands. We are now cleaning
up,' and it looks as good." 6th gang, digging out
the " pay streak," 8 feet below a sandbank, well
back from the water; averaged their earnings for
the last three weeks at 5 dol. a-day to each man ;
three compose this gang. Their gold very fine, and
losing a good deal of it. 7th gang, also Bto 9 feet
down, " reckoning the time lost in excavating the
bank, " returned their earnings al 3 dols. a-day to
the man. The return is always per day per man
when I don't state it otherwise. Bth gang, if one
man can be called a gang, which I suppose he can-
not be, out of Ireland ;" " first day I have worked
here ; haven't cleaned up yet." Paid 75 dol. to
another miner for his claim. 9th gang, 4 dol. ;
" except to do better, claim getting richer. Gold so
fine, lose half of it." They certainly lost a great
deal, for we could trace gold, visible to the naked
eye, in the " tailings." 10th gang, 16 dol. a-day—
sometimes more, sometimes less-16 dol. the ave-
rage. Last Saturday two men made 11 dol. each.
One of the miners " cleaned up," in our presence,
10 dol. worth of amalgam for his half-day's work.
The work is not heavy ; any ordinary man can
do it. The time at work is generally ten hours.
Every man works much or little, according to the
dictates of his own sweet will. This independence
is one of the chief charms of a miner's life. Inde-
pendence and hope make up the sum of his happi-
ness. The cost of living is 1 dol. a-day. To wash
250 buckets of " dirt ' is a short day's work. The
bucket is a common wooden water pail, rather
small in size. Went up to two men at a place by
themselves " cleaning out " their day's work.
They " guessed" their amalgam worth 21 to 22
dols. From this place 16 men gone home. Left
the other day. " Made anything ?" " Guess so."
A great many go back to California on making a
little money. They have ties there no doubt. Gang
No. 11.—" Sometimes one, sometimes the other.'
The spokesman of this jolly gang was jocose. I
took the change out of him in his own coin. " What
do you call one ? " " Four dollars," he replied.
" What do you call the other ?' " " Half an
ounce." They are droll fellows, some of those
miners. I have travelled so much in the mines of
California, that I know them as my friend below
said the Governor knew the Americans, " like a
small library." Gang 13.—" Fair wages." " What
do you call fair wages ? " " Eight dollars a-day to
the hand last week." Theirs were easy diggings, a
low bank, and the surface-gravel on the shore. Santa
Clara Bar dovetails here with another " location "
not named. 14th Gang, of seven men, working to-
gether ; they made 6 dols. a-day last week. To-day
they " reckon", on 8 dol, or " perhaps 60 dol. for
the lot." 15th gang—" Diggings spotted." Asked
me to " guess" their earnings. Guessed 8 dol. to 9
dol. a day. "Yes, you've about hit it." 16th gang,
of two men,--" Like the country first rate." They
were digging only 7 or 8 inches under the furface ;
in fact, the top shingle. Averaged an ounce a man
for five weeks, " Last week made 550 dol. 70c.
exactly," having had eight extra men employed.
The expenses for the week were 175 dol. Read off
those figures from a book. Wages 3 dol. a day and
board, 4 dol. when the man boards himself. Charge
for board is 1 dol. a day. And this ends Santa
Clara Bar, and its nameless adjunct. The Deputy
Gold Commissioner says the miners have all un-
derstated their earnings. Very likely. Seeing me
in company with the Governor and a suite, al-
though I generally spoke to them out of hearing,
they thought I was after no good. They smelt
taxation in the air, I dare say. The Commissioner
gives the average earnings on this bar, which is a
rich one, at 17 dol. a day to the man. He had known
25 dol. a day to be made, and he has been told of
of 75 dol. and 100 dol. a day to the rocker having
been made last week. I wish they would all make
100 dol. each, poor fellows. Their civility should
enlist my good wishes.
American Bar—A gang of two men made 2 oz.
a day to the rocker last week. To day they had
another man, and made 100 dol. I saw the gold.
One of them, an old Californian miner, expects,
when he digs down to the " bed rock," that " a
foot of it will be worth an acre of this suface stuff."
believes in richness of the country—equal to any
yet discovered. Finds " gold everywhere, more or
less, and on the river pretty re'ular."e, A lot of
Chinese at work here on hire. Wages, 3 dols. a-
day, and find themselves in tools and food.
The next gang made 10 dols. a-day each, some-
times more. The third and last gang that I'll torture
to-night, consisting Of two masons who abandoned
the trowel and plummet for the shovel and rocker,
are making 20 dol. a-day each. " For two months
we made only grub.'! They are now in clover, and
I sincerely wish they may reap a good crop.
A crowd of miners encamped for the night on
their way up. They are winging their way" up"
in flocks. They have very vague ideas of their des-
tination. With them it is all " up." They will go
" up" as far as they can paddle, or until they smash
their canoes in their awkwardness in the rapids of
the gorges above Fort Yale. Then it will be all
" down" with some of them, poor fellows. Some
of them will never get " up" until they learn to ma-
nag:3 their canoes better.
A lovely little dell pours a meandering stream of
limpid water into the river through the middle of
American Bar. The scene is purely English—so
sylvan, so serene ; lofty umbrageous trees, bearing
a rich dark foliage, growing on gentle sloping banks
covered with grass, lilies, and wild berries—the
" saki" of the Indians. In the uncertain twilight
the resemblance to familiar spots at home is almost
startling. But while I'm dreaming on the bank
the bateaux are gone, Here comes one labourina.
vamping place. What [splendid
ilaeoaCither two have gone on with
rapdie
saloomingen, lutcokisleyle.ct

boatmen these half-breeds and Indians are. They
take this great heavy bateau across a wide expanse
of fierce rapids and boiling whirlpools and curling
eddies that is quite awful to look at with unerring
skill. And I'm very glad they do it with as much
rapidity as skill, for I am ready for my bed of cedar
branches. Digging may be hard work, but I'm
certain that pumping diggers all day on foot is
equally fatiguing.

SEPT. 13.

Slept last night on a sandbank. If the Emperor
of the French slept as soundly as I did, he is a hap-
pier man than his subjects on Frazer's river believe
him to be. Awoke at dawn by the harsh grating
sound of the miners' rockers. As the Governor de-
termined to pay an early visit to some of the
mining localities which we left behind us last night
we slipped away fromthe camp (leaving the sodgers
and the other " men of the sword" asleep) with
the gold commissioner, and shot down the
river for two miles in an Indian canoe to Puget
Sound Bar, which is one mile and ihree quarters
long ; about 350 men. The first gang I sought in-
formation of consisted of three men. Yesterday they
" cleaned out" loz. a-piece. Unless their diggings
continue to yield an ounce of gold to the man per
day they will go " up." The 2d gang, 4 dols. to 10
dols a-day ; 3d gang, 4 dols., 5 dols., and 6 dols.
a-man ; 4th gang, an Irishman, the sole represen-
tative at present, worked yesterday by himself,
" rocking and filling ; weighed the day's earnings
in our presence, 17 dols. in gold. He had an accu-
mulation of Boz., worth 128 dols. The sth gang of
11 men, a Frenchman the spokesman, 6 dols. a man;
all French. They complain that their American
neighbours " speculate" in mining claims to the
prejudice of the mining body. This is one of the
budget of grievances preparing for the Governor's
broad shoulders. sth gang working in a clay bed
mixed with stones--the first claydiggings I have seen
—result, 10c. to the bucket, value about 20 dols. a
day to the " rocker" for two men. 6th.—As many
men as served seven rockers reported themselves
" satisfied." ' 7th to 15th gangs—Lowest and highest
amounts of the returns of all, 4 dols. and 1 oz. a day.
Next gang employ Chinamen on hire, each 2 oz. a
day and 4 oz. to the rocker. The following were
their own remarks on their earnings and prospects:
—" The 2 oz. a day we think nothing. The 4 oz.
strikes' we oftener than not make in a day ; but
we worked along for weeks at 1 d01..a day to the
hand before we struck rich dig&ings." In the gang
following the last, I was recognised by a Mr. Robt.
Lansden, an old California miner, an intelligent and
reliable man. He makes half an ounce a day. He
makes the average on the bar, good and bad toge-
ther, at 7 dols. a day to the man. In no part of Cali-
fornia can gold be earned with so little labour as
here, where it is found in the very surface dirt.
Intends to winter here. 18th gang—A company of
four, at work on the margin of the river, 10 dols. a
man. One of this company gave me the average yield
of the bar at 8 dols. a man per day. 19th gang—Two
men made 14 dols. for the two yesterday. From the
" washing" of 300 buckets a-dayithey make 20 dols.
generally. 20th gang. Very rich claim, 25 dols.
to the hand. Putting up water-wheels to lift the
water from the river for " sluicing." There are
some very quiet, intelligent, orderly men, chiefly
Americans, on this bar. They are putting up
winter quarters and preparing a place for the per-
formance of public worship. Here the shore of the
river is strewn with scattered quartz fragments.
There are probably quartz ledges in the mountains
in shore. Adjoining is Victoria Bar, loyally named
by a Scotchman in honour of his Queen. Poor John
Scott has not been rewarded as his loyalty merited.
He is evidently not in favour with the fickle
goddess, for he makes only 2 dols., while his
neighbour makes 20 dols. a day. This inequality of
fortune is very frequent. 3d and 4th gangs—" Good
wages, and a little more ;" " over an ounce a-day
to the rocker." The rocker takes two men, one to
fill and fetch, and one to rock ; sometimes more,
one or two to pick and shovel, one to carry, &c.
sth gang.-3 dols., 5 dols., 7 dols.' and 8 dols. a man.
6th.—Matthew Lynch alone. His highest day's
earnings were 2-1. ounces. He can "wash out" 250
buckets a-day. He values the bucket at 6c., which
would make 15 dols. a-day. 7th to 10th.—Three
gangs of several miners at work in the middle of
the bar, on a point of the spit which juts well out
into the river. All on this point make six ounces
of " amalpam" a-man per day, which they value
after retorting as worth three ounces of gold. This
is 48 dols. a man a-day. Enormous earnings—over
£9 sterling a-day fOr one man's work. This is their
own report, however. 11th gang.—Lowest earn-
ings two dols. highest seven dols. a-day ; another
instance of the inequality of the division of the
good of this life. Met a man here who reminded
the sub-gold commissioner of the luck of a miner
on. the American Bar below-158 dols. in 2 days.
The commissioner corroborated the fact. He
weighed the gold in a case of dispute submitted to
him. Miners agree that this bar is improving.
They are nearly all British, from California.
Great boulders cover the upper portion of the
bar gold found round their bases, and at a dtpth
of 20 feet on the shore. Observed that the British
miner does not wear a revolver at his work, while
the American always does. All intend to winter
here, except John Scott, the discoverer, who
" did'na ken." I wish I. could improve his position,
but beyond a modicum of cheap sympathy I had
nothing in my power.
All this talking and joking and walking in the
fresh morning air prepare the " inner man" for
other exercise, so we must fight our way back
against the current and cross the river to our quar-
ters. When we get back we find the officers as spruce
as officers should be, and that the camp had already,
breakfasted, the ten ts been struck and packed, and all
ready for a start. We didn't detain the party long.
A hasty breakfast al fresco, under a wide-spreading
alder, and we jump in, to be rowed, poled, and towed
against this terrible current for a few miles to the
next " bar" we are to stop at. As we proceeded
up we passed a long line of miners at work on the
left bank, considered far inferior to the right
bank, which latter was the scene of all my
investigations. The water sets and the eddies curl
and work towards the right bank for some 12 miles
from Fort Hope upwarps, which the men wise in
riverain mining assert to have drawn the greater
quantity of gold to this bank. We occasionally
hailed the miners on the left, the unlucky, bank.
They were a forlorn lot. Their responses were
lugubrious, beginning with " nothing," " poor,"
" 3 dols. a-day,' " grub diggings," which the ini-
tiated interpret to mean just enough to pay for
food ; " a few bits," " alcent to the pan," " enough
to swear by," " 1 dol. " " 2 d 015.," and the like:
We passed a good deal of ground yet unbroken on
the right, the lucky, side of the river, which will no
doubt be found as rich as any yet worked.
My object in going into this tedious detail is to
lay the present state of the gold question fairly
before the world. I have no other means of doing
so than by applying to the miners themselves for
information. You have here their answers so far.
and every reader must judge of their value for him-
self. lam certain that some of these answers are
correct, and I believe that others of them under-
state the miners' earnings. Many miners are disap-
pointed, and are leaving the country " in dis gust,"
as they say. The steamer from San Francisco is
expected to arrive here every hour, and as she will
not remain here over an hour or two I must close
this letter, and defer the completion of my account
of the mines and the miners till the next mail. In
my next letter I will have some things to say upon
the agricultural prospects of this new colony, and
upon matters generally affecting it.
The immigration from California having ceased, -
few steamers come here now ; and this letter will
not leave San Francisco till the 20th inst.

The great bulk of the Californian miners have
left this country, but many remain for the winter,
—probably 4,000 to 5,000 miners.
It is possible another opportunity maysoon occur
by which I can send another letter to San Fran-
cisco, to be in time to go forward with this one on
the 20th from that place.
The mail steamer just in, Oct. 11, brings the
news of a peace having been concluded between the
Americans and the Indians of Oregon, with whom
they had been fighting some months, This is very
important for this colony, for the Indians of Fraser
River, and the Conteau country were getting very
unsettled in consequence of the war; and the old
settlers, who understand the:_r character and kdow
the bad effects of a neighbouring Indian war, are
much gratified at hearing of the peace. The Ame-
rican forces intercepted .the horses of the Indians
and shot a great herd of them—some accounts say
500, others 1200, which so crippled the resources of
the savages that theycould no longer resist. About
400 Indians were slain, and all the chiefs of note
are said to have- been shot. This information I had
from an American officer now here on his way
back, with Gen. Clark, the commander of the forces
and his staff, &c.,- to San Francisco.
H.M. steamer Satellite, Capt. Prevost, and the
Plumper, surveying vessels, Capt. Richards, are
both in Esquimault harbour, near Victoria. The
Plumper came in only a few days ago from a sur-
veying expedition on the east and north-east end of
Vancouver s Island, and she in all probability goes
to San Francisco to be docked.
From letters just received we learn that Admiral
Baynes may soon be expected here.
Perfect quiet and order prevail throughout this
colony and British Columbia. But still we shall be
most happy to receive the contingent of troops
which we learn Government has been so considerate
as to have despatched. "Prevention is better than
cure." With the advent of a fresh stream of immi-
gration in spring theii presence may be desirable.
Barracks are being erected at Esquimalt, the
present station of the corps of engineers engaged
on the boundary cOmapeion, which I have no

doubt will be ready for .the reception of any troops
now on the way by the time they get here.
A silver mine has been discovered within the
last few days, on Fraser's River, about nine miles
below Fort Langley. When the samples from it
shall have been analysed, I shall state the value of
the ore.

Miners continue to return to California. About
500 left within the last few days, and about 300 go
down by the mail steamer which leaves to-morrow
morning. They seem to dread the severity of the
coming winter—a dread which the old settlers here
laugh at.
We are much indebted to the Pacific Mail Com-
pany, of San Francisco, for sending us steamers,
for if they did not we should not have had mail
communication regularly in the absence of British
shipping. As it is, we are promised a steamer for
every mail that enters and leaves San Francisco.

CENTRAL RAILWAYS INTHE METRO-
POLIS.

Yesterday a public meeting, convened by the
Lord Mayor, in pursuance of a requisition signed
by more than 300 representatives of the most influ-
ential wholesale houses in all classes of trade in the
City. of London, was held at the London Tavern, to
receive a statement from Mr. Charles Pearson, the
City Solicitor, as to his recent proceedings to obtain
improved railway accommodation for the city, and
to consider the propriety of appointing a committee
.to inquire and report whether any, and, if any,
what measure can be adopted to diminish the over-
crowding of our principal thoroughfares, and to
obtain for the working classes better habitations
than they are now able to procure in the close and
over-crowded courts and alleys of the city and
suburbs. The area and gallery of the large room
of the tavern were crowded, and the platform was
occupied by many gentlemen who are connected
with the most important commercial establishments
in the city. The Lord Mayor took the chair at 2
o'clock, and among the gentlemen present were—
Sir Jame Duke, M.P., Baron L. Rothschild, M.P.,
Mr. Crawford, M.P., Mr. C. Gilpin, M.P., Messrs.
H. L. Keeling, J. M. Barnard, W. Saunders, S.
Baker, Hon. F. Ponsonby, Earl Shelburn, Deputy
Rathbone, Messrs. T. Pewtress, W. Lee, R. Wit-
hall, E. Fuller, the High Bailiff of Southwark,
Messrs. John Fowler, George Brown, W Lawrence,
H. W. Valiance, Deputy Dakin, T. Dillon, Alder-
man Rose, W. J. Hall; Henry Bateman, Alderman
and Sheriff Hale, W. A. Wilkinson, Thomas Hart-
ridge, W. Lawley, Dr. Challice, Messrs. L. Simp-
son, Hodgson, S. Copestake, S. Bowring, John
Howell, Joseph Underwood, J. M. Coy, Sir A.
Rothschild, Bart., Mr. Starling, Dr. Letheby,
Messrs. T. H. Fry, James Anderton, E. Lane,
Thomas Gooch, Deputy Harrison, Joseph Thomp-
son, the Chamberlain, Mr. S. Morley, the Common
Sergeant, Alderman Gabriel, Deputy Obbard,
Alderman Mechi, Rev. Mr. Wrench, Sheriff Conder,
Deputy Stevens, Messrs. G. B. Bengough, Charles
Wkite, James Burcham, Boxam, W. Connell,
Moxon, J. S. Miller,_ Perkins, G. Ross, and
0. Walters. Lord J. Russell, M.P., arrivec soon
after the commencement of Mr. Pearson's statement
and was received with loud cheering.
The notice convening the meeting having been
read by Mr. Ledger,
The LORD MAYOR said the two objects to which
the requisition referred were of so much import-
ance to all who resided in the city of London, or
who carried on business within its precincts, that
he anticipated very beneficial results from the pre-
sent meeting. Ft; was well known to every trader
and shopkeeper within the city that its streets
were enormously overcrowded, and that conse-
quently the business and passenger traffic were
greatly impeded, (Hear, hear.) The transfer of
goods from one part of the metropolis to the other
could not be effected without great difficulty, and
travellers who arrived and who wished to leave the
city by railway were frequently subjected to serious ,
delay in their passage along the streets. The se-
cond subject referred to in the requisition was of a
philanthropic character, and he deemed it of the
utmost importance that better dwellings should be
erected beyond the precincts of the city for the
poor, to which they might have facilities of access.
It was well known that the demolition of houses
within the city, consequent upon the remodelling
of the streets, had driven great masses of the la-
bouring population to its outskirts, and, as it was
impossible for them to live far from the scene of
their daily labour, they were crowded in dwellings
which were unfit for human habitations. Indeed,
not unfrequently, 50 or 60 persons might be found
residing in a small six-roomed house in the out-
skirts of the city. Such a state of things was
incompatible with morality, decency, and cleanli-
ness, and he thought the present movement would
promote the welfare of the working-classes, as
well as the convenience of the commercial and
trading community.
The City Solicitor (Mr. • C. PEARSON), who
was loudly sheered, said he proposed to make
a few observations upon the four resolutions
which would be submitted to the meeting. The
first of those propositions referred to the over-
crowding of the streets ; the second related
to the overcrowding of the courts and alleys
of the city, and the consequent detriment
to the lives, health, and morals of the poorer
classes • the third referred to the principle of sub-
way railroads ; and the fourth to a particular enter-
prise which would be submitted to the consideration
of the meeting as one of the means best adapted to
remedy the evils pointed out in the previous resolu-
tions. His object was to propose a plan by which
the obstructions which at present occasioned so
much inconvenience in the streets of London might
be immediately mitigated, and ultimately entirely
removed. This inconvenience was mainly attribu-
table to the enormous increase which had taken
place in the population of the surrounding districts
during the last 40 years. In a space of one sqVare
mile, or 620 acres of ground, within the city of
London, there was compressed A population of
120,000 souls. It must be remembered that within
the city was concentrated most of the great mone-
tary, public, and commercial establishments of the
empire, and that consequently its streets were daily
filled by tens and hundreds of thousands of passen-
gers, to whom it was indispensable that adequate
means of transit should be afforded. In 1811 the
population of this metropolis was 1,090,000, while
in 1857, according to the circulation of the Regis-
trar-General, it was 2,800,000. In 1811 there were
1,000 hackney coaches plying at a fare of ls. a
mile, while in 1857 there were 4,700 hackney car-
riages plying at a charge of 6d. a mile. In 1811 the
stage coaches and public vehicles made about 1,000
journeys a day, while now they made about 10,000
journeys a day. The French Omnibus Company
was now receiving £600,000 a year for the accom-
modation of some 120,000 passengers daily. It was
calculated that the amount of money expended by
passengers in public vehicles in the metropolis was
£6,000 per day, or £2,000,000 a year. While in
1811 the rateable annual value of property in the
city was £512,000, it was at this time £1,249,000,
and he knew from his position as City Solici-
tor, that ground within the city had been sold
at as much as £200,000 and £300,000 an acre.
Indeed, it had been stated by Mr. Tite, in kis
evidence before a committee of the House of Com-
mons, that land in Cornhill had been sold at the
rate of £1,000,000 per acre. These facts were
proofs that the wealth of the city had increased enor-
mously. He had been a member of a deputation
comprising some of the members of Parliament
for the city, and representatives of many of its
principal - commercial establishments, who waited
upon Lord Palmerston to complain of the crowded
state of the streets in the city, and to request the
assistance of the Government in their attempts to
obviate the inconvenience. Lord Palmerston replied
that undoubtedly a case of great inconvenience had
been made out, but that evidence was also afforded
of the great commercial prosperity of the city of
London, and it was clear that the wealth of the city
would enable it to supply the capital requisite for
the removal of the annoyance. (Laughter.) He
now came to the second resolution which would be
proposed to the meeting by the noble lord (Lord J.
Russell) the member for the city. He had shown
the enormous increase which had taken place in
the population of the metropolis during a period of
45 years, but owing to the facilities of locomoti,)n
afforded by cabs, omnibuses, and more recently by
railways, this population had extended itself over
a very large area. The public improvements which
had been carried out in,the city had greatly pro-
moted the prosperity
.of the mercantile classes, but
what had been their effect upon the humbler
classes with regard to their dwellings ? Even
before 1811 the houses within the city occupied by
the poorer and labouring class were crowded far
beyond the average ratio of the country ; but in
the interval between 181.1 and 1851 this evil had
been greatly aggravated. It appeared from the
census that while, in the aggregate throughout the
country, the number of houses in proportion to the
population had increased, the reverse had been the
case in the city of London, for while, in 1811, the
number of inhabited houses within one square mile
in the city was 16,751, in 1851 it had been reduced
to 14,580, the population having increased in the
meantime by neatly 10,000. He would not refer to
what he had seen personally of the condition of the
dwellings in which the poor were consequently com-
pelled to live. He would leave it to ministers of reli-
gion and to officers of health, whose professional and
official duties brought the condition of the poor
under their notice to make what revelations they
thought fit upon the subjett. He believed, how-
ever, that the chief remedy for the condition to which
the poorer classes were reduced with regard to their
dwellings would bo,to give them the advantage of
railway accommodation. (Hear, bear.) He had

no doubt that by the adoption of a radiating system
of railway communications, respectable, comfort-
able,and healthful dwellings might be established
for he labouring class, within an easy distance of
London—say at Banstead Downs, or in Waltham
Forest, to which they might be conveyed from the
centre of the metropolis at a rate of from 6d. to ls.
a week, with considerable profit to the railway
proprietors. The third resolution to be submitted
to the meeting was to the effect that the formation
of a sub-way railroad for the metropolis was de-
sirable. In his opinion, population, and the con-
sumption of food and clothing consequent upon a
large population, formed the true basis of railway
prosperity. (Hear, hear.) It has been proved
that a population consumed in food, fuel, clothing,
&c., 30 times its own weight in the course of a
year ; and therefore, where a population could be
found, there must be the proper scene for successful
railway enterprise. He would state what amount
had been contributed by poor men and by rich men
respectively—by " fustian" and "broadcloth"—(a
laugh)—during the last six years to rail Ways, and
he would take as the basis of his calculations the
returns of the Board of Trade. In 1844 an Act of
Parliament was passed which provided that the
poorer class should be enabled to travel by at least
one train daily over each mile of railway, in
. covered carriages, at the rate of ld. a mile, and at
a speed of not less than 12 miles an hour. He found
that in 1852 the number of passengers by the par-
liamentary trains was 23,842,000 ; in 1857 it was
45,227,000—(hear, hear)—the increase being 89
per cent. The number of passengers in all other
classes was 49,392,000, and in 1857 it was
70,608,000, the increase being 40 per cent. The
number of miles of railway open in 18.52 was 5,245
and in 1857 it was 6,674, the increase being 27 per
cent. The receipts from " Parliamentary" passen-
gers in 1852 were £1,346,000, and in 1857
£2,244,000, the increase being 66 per cent. The
receipts from all classes were, in 1852, £5,323,000,
and in 1857 £6,753,000, showing an increase
of 26 per cent. against the increase of
66 per cent. on the Parliamentary traffic. The
computed expenditure for Parliamentary trains in
1852 was £525,648, while the receipts were
£1,346,000. In 1857 the expenditure for these
trains was 1667,000; And the receipts £2,244,000.
In 1852 the expenditure upon all other classes of
passenger trains was. £3,207,000, and in 1857 it was
£4,483,000, the rate of increase being about 40 per
cent. The profits upon the Parliamentary trains
in 1857, after deducting all expenses, was computed
at £1,576,000, the total expenditure to procure this
return being £6G7,000; while the profits from all
other classes of passenger trains in 1857 were
£2,269,300, the expenditure having. bees
£4,483,000. If any railway shareholder wished to
know where his money had gone, let him ask
" Broadcloth." (Cheers and laughter.) His desire
was that the people who constructed railways and
locomotives should possess the advantages to which
they were fairly entitled. He found that since
1844 the first-class trains out of London had been
increased to the extent of 50 per cent., while the
fares had been reduced 30 per cent. In 1844 the
first-class passengers on the Brighton line paid at
the rate of 31d. a mile, while the second-class pas-
senger paid Id. a mile. At present a first-class an-
nual ticket could be obtained for Brighton for £5O,
or at the rate of 1-d. a mile, while the poor man
still paid his penny a mile by the Parliamentary
train. He wished*to see the poor man's fare, if he
took an annual ticket, reduced in the same propor, -
tion—(h ear, hear)—and he believed that, if the
scheme he suggested were carried out, the poor
might be enabled to go to their houses out of town
and return at the rate of ls. a week, while the rail-
way companies might, at such a fare, obtain a re-
turn of 75 per cent. He hoped to see a system of
subway railroads constructed, with a gallery bridge
—like that over the Tyne—spanning the Thames,
to connect the various railways which enters the
metropolis, and he was satisfied that such a system
would not only be advantageous to the great body
of the people, but would prove remunerative to the
railway companies. He was aware that many per-
sons objected to railways being carried by tunnels
beneath the city of London, but he might remind
.the meeting that such a system had been adopted
without any inconvenience in Liverpool, Birming-
ham, and other places. The directors of the Me-
tropolitan Railway Company had subscribed
£450,000 to carry out the. scheme which he sug-
gested, but they did not think it prudent to go on
any further, and, unless they were assisted by the
public, it was their intention to obtain an act of
Parliament to enable them to divide the deposits,
and to dissolve the company. Mr. Pearson con-
cluded by calling upon • the meeting to declare
whether they would or would not aid in carrying
out this project.

Mr. Deputy DAKIN, in moving the first resolu-
tion, observed:that the Corporation of London had
expended upwards of £1,000,000 in effecting the
London Bridge improvements; and within the last
seven years they had applied £500,000 to the forma-
tion of New Cannon-street ; and he believed they
had done all that was in their power to increase
street accommodation, and to remedy the inconve-
niences to which the attention of the meeting had
been directed. He suggested that, if a central rail-
way station was established in the valley of the
Fleet, the hide and leather market now held in
Leadenhall-street might be transferred to that loca-
lity, and a great amount of waggon traffic in the
streets of the city might thus be obviated. Mr.
Dakin concluded by proposing the following reso-
lution :
" That the overcrowding of our streets with vehicles
during business hours is highly injurious to trade, and en-
tails much loss of valuable time upon a large number of
persons of both sexes and all classes who are obliged daily
to resort to the great public monetary and commwcial esta-
blishments with which this city abounds."
Mr. LAWRENCE seconded the motion.