The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-08-08


dues The spirit of rowdyism.
The GOLD DISCOVERIES AT CmIRIour-AN.
OTHER EXCITEMENT IN PKospECT.-We publish
in another part Of to days issue batch of
communications cent to us by parties resident
in dhis city in relation to the gold discoveries
that ale being made in the ancient Indian
,umuli OF Chiriqui We give them % they have
teen banded to us without curtailment or al
teraticn, in orcer to leave no ground of COM
plant against us OF desire to suppress facts.
AT the same time we beg it to be distinctly
that we endorse none Of the state
ments contained in these letters. That gold
has been fouB0 in considerable quantities In the
old Icoian tOmbs in the provinces OF Chiriqui
ard Veraguas there can be no doubt The
fact of images in this metal being buried 10
these mounds was long ago known to the
SpaDards, who ransacked most Of them Of their
precious contents, and were only prevented
from rifipg the whole by the opposition which
they met With on the main shore and islands Of
the Chiriqui lagoon from the Indian tribes the
feIcest and most warlike that they had encoun-
tered
But small portion of this region was
nevertheless left uDexplored by the Spanish
sdveDtDfeIs, and it is probable that by
this time the tombs that escaped their ra
pacify have been subjected to All eager scru-
Tiny by the Chiricapos themselves, who, aroused
to activity by the recent discoveries, have not
awaited the arrival of strangers to divide the
Spells with them. By the time that the frs,
batch Of gold dggers and emigrants from this
country will have arrived out 1t ia certain tina,
they will find bat little to reward them for tbe
sacrifices .bat they will bave made for the trip
Image seeking is net like the exploration of well
authenticated gold 6elds like those of California
OF Fraser river, where the miner can lose him
self in vague speculatiOps, and trust to his luck
70 realize them. There is limit as we have
shown, to the mortuary efigies and symbols OF
the Indian tombs, which will be determined by
the research and industry of those who happen
to be On the spot; aud, unfortunately, there are
40 well established geological indications which
bold out the expectation that fresh adventurers
Will discover as compensation, in this Immediate
region, the sources from whence the ore of which
they were made was extracted. On the contra
~, tradition would 60 to establish the conclu-
sion that it was neither from Chiriqui nor Costa
RIGA, but from the rivers and streams OF Nicara-
qua, that it came.
We think it out right that these facts should
be impressed upon the minds of persons having
the desire 10 try their luck 10 the remote regions
in which these discoveries have been made. If
we are correct in our reasoning-and the opinions
of ecientidc gentlemen intimately acquainted
with that portion of the continent bear US out ia
tit would be madness for any one to abandon
bis position or prospects in the States to go out
upon such FOOLS errand. The result must in
evitaby be bitter disappointment, mental and
physical suffering, and the endurance of pri0a
tons Of every kind. In view of the preparations
that are being made here to transport emigrants
to the theatre of the new excitement, it would
be cruel in us to withhold our opinion as to the
uncertainty, and, in fact, utter hopelessness, OF
the prospects which it holds out.
IRREGULARITY OF THE SOUTHERN MAns-Some
of the New Orleans journals are making com.
plants about the'delay OF the mails between thai
city and Washington-a grievance which they
attribute in part to the iptrig1es of hotel keep
ere and stage drivers to detain passengers on the
road at favolite lodging houses. This is nothing
new with the New Orleans mails. The nuisance
extends farther North than Washington. The
NAL from New Orleans to New York IL the
most irregular in the whole country. The regu-
lar time for the mails to travel that route is five
days; indeed, we believe by late postal regula
lions 1t is Get down at four; yet they rarely
reach here under six, aud very often not withia
ten. There ia sometimes very important intell
geDce from the South, for which We have often
to wait two or three days longer than we need il
the postal arrangements were properly attended
to. New Orleans papers reach here sometimes
ten days behind their dates. In fact, the mails
to and from San Francisco by the overland route
have never missed since that mode of travel was
commenced, while the New Orleans mail with
all the facilities of railroad travel, misses about
once in three times. This is great nuisance.
and we hope that Postmaster General Holt viii 8
look to it's remedy at once.
DECREASE OF CANAL ToILs.-The tolls on the
canals Of this State are falling off at ruinous
rate. 1t appears that the receipts from all the
canals from the beginning OF the present year to
the LIST Of August have decreased from those OF