To send troops out here would be needless, for they would immediately desert. To show what chance there is for apprehending deserters, I enclose an advertisement which has been widely circulated for a fortnight, but without bringing in a single deserter. Among the deserters from the squadron are some of the best petty officers and seamen, having but few months to serve, and large balances due them, amounting in the aggregate to over ten thousand dollars.

There is a great deficiency of coin in the country, and especially in the mines; the traders, by taking advantage of the pressing necessity of the digger, not unfrequently compelling him to sell his ounce of good gold for a silver dollar; and it has been bought, under like circumstances, for fifty cents per ounce, of Indians. To this state of dependence, labouring miners are now subjected, and must be until coin is more abundant. Disease, congestive and intermittent fever, is making great havoc among the diggers, as they are almost destitute of food and raiment, and, for the most part, without houses of any kind to protect them from the inclement season now at hand.

The commerce of this coast may be said to be entirely cut off by desertion. No sooner does a merchant ship arrive in any of the ports of California, than all hands leave her; in some instances, captain, cook, and all. At this moment, there are a number of merchant ships thus abandoned at San Francisco, and such will be the fate of all that subsequently arrive. The master of the ship "Izaak Walton," that brought stores for the squadron at this port, offered, without success, $50 per month to Callao, and thence $20 per month home, to disbanded volunteers,

not seamen.

We were obliged at last to supply him with four men, whose terms of service were drawing to a close.* This state of things is not confined to California alone. Oregon is fast depopulating; her inhabitants pour into the gold diggings; and foreign residents and runaway sailors from the Sandwich Islands are arriving by every vessel that approaches this coast.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOMAS AP C. JONES, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific squadron.

Hon. J. Y. MASON, Secretary of the Navy.

WAR DEPARTMENT.

MONTEREY, (CAL.) Oct. 23, 1848. GENERAL.—I arrived here on the 18th inst. from San Diego, and have paid the four companies of the 1st New York regiment in full, and they have all started for the gold mines. The three companies composing the command of Lieut. Col. Burton, are now here, and will be mustered out to-day or to-morrow, and paid by Major Hill immediately, as the residents are extremely anxious to get rid of them; they have the place in their power. Nearly all the men of Company "F," 3d artillery, have deserted.

We have the Ohio, Warren, Dale, Lexington, and Southampton in port; but they cannot land a man, as they desert as soon as they set foot on shore. The only thing the ships could do in case of an outbreak, would be to fire upon the town. The volunteers at Santa Barbara, Los Angelos, &c., behaved very wellno murmuring or difficulties of any kind with them-they complained that they were not allowed travelling allowance.

The funds from Mazatlan have at last reached here; the amount is $130,000. It arrived very opportunely, as we have expended nearly all we had. The

Our ships are all short of their complements; the Ohio 145 short. We can spare no more to our merchantmen.

amount is a great deal more than will be required, as there are at present but two companies in California-one of 1st dragoons, the other of 3d artillery; the latter reduced to a mere skeleton by desertion, and the former in a fair way to share the same fate. I should suppose that $20,000 would be sufficient to pay the present force (provided the companies are filled up,) for a year.

Treasury notes are good for nothing now; bills on the United States could not be negotiated on any terms. Gold dust can be purchased for eight or ten dollars the ounce, and it is said to be worth $18 in the United States-consequently all remittances are made in it.

Colonel Mason, and most of the army officers, are at Fort Sutter. Commodore Jones thinks it would be very imprudent to bring the public funds on shore, except in such sums as may be required for immediate use. He does not like to

leave a ship here, on account of the difficulty of keeping the men. The gold fever rages as bad as ever, and the quantity collected has not diminished, but increased. Provisions, clothing, and all the necessaries of life, are at most exorbitant prices. Living was always expensive in this country, but now it passes all reason-board four dollars per day, washing five to six dollars per dozen. Merchants' clerks are receiving from $1800 to $3000 per annum salary. What the government will do for civil officers, I do not know. Salaries will have to correspond with the times.

The pay of governors, judges, &c., as allowed in the United States, will hardly compare with that paid to salesmen and shop clerks here.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM RICH, Á. P. U. S. A. Gen. N. Towson, Paymaster General U. S. A., Washington, D. C.

REVENUE LAWS IN CALIFORNIA.

The following is the bill introduced in the house of representatives on the 24th of January, which passed the house yesterday:

A BILL to extend the revenue laws of the United States over the territory and waters of Upper California, and to create a collection district therein.

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled, That the revenue laws of the United States be, and are hereby, extended to and over the main land and waters of all that portion of territory ceded to the United States by the "treaty of peace, friendship, and limits between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic," concluded on the second day of February, in the year eighteen hundred and fortyeight, heretofore designated and known as Upper California.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the ports, harbours, bays, rivers, and waters of the main land of the territory of Upper California shall constitute a collection district by the name of Upper California, and a port of entry shall be, and is hereby established for said district at San Francisco, on the bay of San Francisco, and a collector of the customs shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to reside at said port of entry.

SEC. 3. And be it farther enacted, That the ports of delivery shall be, and are hereby established in the collection district aforesaid, at San Diego, Monterey, and at some convenient point within the territory of the United States, to be selected by the secretary of the treasury, as near as may be to the junction of the rivers Gila and Colorado, at the head of the Gulf of California. And the colleetor of the said district of California is hereby authorized to appoint, with the approbation of the secretary of the treasury, three deputy collectors, to be stationed at the ports of delivery aforesaid.

SEC. 4. And be it farther enacted, That the collector of said district shall be allowed a compensation of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and the fees and

commissions allowed by law; and the said deputy collectors shall each be allowed a compensation of one thousand dollars per annum, and the fees and commissions allowed by law.

SEC. 5. And be it farther enacted, That until otherwise provided by law, all violations of the revenue laws of the United States, committed within the district of Upper California, shall be prosecuted in the district court of Louisiana, or the supreme court of Oregon, which courts shall have original jurisdiction, and may take cognizance of all cases arising under the revenue laws in said district of Upper California, and shall proceed therein in the same manner and with the like effect as if such cases had arisen within the district or territory where the prosecution shall be brought.

SEC. 6. And be it farther enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after the tenth day of March next.

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION.

PANAMA, January 19th, 1849.

To WM. NELSON, Esq., United States Consul at Panarna :SIR: The laws of the United States inflict the penalty of fine and imprisonment on trespassers on the public lands. As nothing can be more unreasonable or unjust than the conduct pursued by persons not citizens of the United States, who are flocking from all parts to search for and carry off gold from the lands belonging to the United States in California, and as such conduct is in direct violation of law, it will become my duty, immediately on my arrival there, to put these laws in force, and to prevent their infraction in future, by punishing, with the penalties provided by law, all those who offend.

As these laws are probably not known to many who are about starting for California, it would be well to make it publicly known that there are such laws in existence, and that they will be, in future, enforced against all persons who are not citizens of the United States, who shall commit any trespass on the lands of the United States in California.

Your position as consul here, being in communication with our consuls on the coast of South America, affords you the opportunity of making this known most generally, and I will be much obliged to you if you will do it.

With sincere respect, your obedient servant,

PERSIFER F. SMITH,

Br. Major General U. S. A., Commanding Pacific Division.

ΡΑΝΑΜΑ.

MEMORIAL OF ASPINWALL & CO.

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives:

The memorial of William H. Aspinwall, John L. Stephens, Henry Chauncey, and their associates, respectfully represents:

That the acquisition of California and the settlement of our boundary line in Oregon have opened a new era in the history of this country. Of the value of these new territories they do not propose to speak, further than to say that the mildness of the climate, the richness of the soil, the great promise of mineral wealth, and, above all, the long line of coast, with the magnificent harbours on the Pacific, seem to be sufficiently appreciated by all classes of our people. At this moment hundreds of young men, full of enterprise, from our eastern states, are buffeting the storms of Cape Horn, while, in the coming spring, the hardy pioneers of the west will be moving by thousands over the desolate prairies, or climbing the rugged steeps of the Rocky Mountains, to build up for us new states on the Pacific. Already it is felt as a hardship by

those who go out from amongst us, that, once settled in California and Oregon, they are, to a great extent, cut off from all the dearest relations of life, and that there are no means of returning, or of personal intercourse with friends at home, except by the stormiest passage ever known at sea, or the most toilsome journey ever made by land."

In view of this condition of things, and to hold out some encouragement to emigrants, that they might not be virtually expatriated when upon our own soil, and with a further view of facilitating our communications with our military and naval stations on the Pacific, Congress, at its session before the last, established a line of monthly mail steamers from New York to Chagres, on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, and from Panama, on the Pacific side, to California and Oregon. This will, no doubt, answer sufficiently the great purpose of facilitating correspondence by mail with those territories, but it cannot answer, to any extent, the immediate and pressing want of a thoroughfare for travel, which women and children may pass over, nor can it answer at all the constant and sometimes pressing occasions for the transportation of men, munitions of war, and naval stores for our military and naval stations on the Pacific; all of which, however great the emergency, and at whatever sacrifice of time and money, must go by the long and hazardous voyage around Cape Horn, or by the wild paths across the Rocky Mountains, for half the year covered with snows, and entirely impracticable.

The Isthmus of Panama is about fifty miles in breadth, less than on any other part of the continent of America, and from the falling off of the great range of Cordilleras, running from the Rocky Mountains to the Andes, it has always been considered as the region in which, if ever, an easy communication would be effected, either by canal or road, between the two seas. The route over it is probably worse now than in the early days of Spanish dominion, when the gold of Peru passed over it to freight with almost fabulous wealth the argosies of Spain. No wheel carriage has ever attempted to cross it. The present mode of doing so is by canoe, up the Chagres river; set, for a great part of the distance, by poles against the current, and requiring twentyeight to thirty hours to Cruces. Thence to Panama there is a mule road, difficult at all times for women and children, particularly with the effects of a moving or emigrating party, and, during the rainy season, almost impassable.

The memorialists then state that the Pacific Mail Company, with which they are identified, had attempted a survey of the route, which was broken up during the rainy season. They were, however, satisfied that the road was practicable. They also refer to the treaty with New Granada, securing to the United States the right of way across the Isthmus of Panama, and thus proceed :

Impressed with the importance of this matter, as involving the prosperity of California and Oregon, and the welfare of all who are in any way connected with our citizens in those territories, and regarding it as vitally affecting the best interests of our government, in a political and pecuniary point of view, and having under their control the maps, drawing, and other information procured by the Pacific Mail Company, your memorialists have secured to themselves an exclusive grant or privilege of ninety-nine years from the Republic of New Granada for constructing a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, and they come before your honourable body to ask the co-operation and aid necessary for carrying out this great American work. They beg leave to say that its speedy completion, by private enterprise alone, without the countenance of Government, cannot be expected. Privilege after privilege, similar to that which they now hold, has been granted to others, and all have failed. It does not promise any immediate or certain returns; and, for complete and

early success, it requires some engagement for employment and compensation by this government, as an inducement to capitalists to unite with your memorialists in furnishing the necessary means.

After urging that the great interests of the country call for the speedy accomplishment of so important a work, the memorial concludes:

Your memorialists hope that these and other considerations of the like nature may have all proper influence upon your honourable body: but they ask your co-operation on none of these grounds; they ask it only on the ground, first, of economy and pecuniary saving to the government, in the transportation of men, munitions of war, and naval stores to our military and naval stations in California and Oregon; and, second, on the higher and more important political ground of being able, on an emergency, and when occasion requires, to send re-enforcements in less than thirty days, instead of six months, as required to send them around Cape Horn or across the Rocky Mountains. They ask no advance of money towards the construction of the road, and no compensation until services are performed; but they respectfully pray your honourable bodies to empower and direct the Secretary of the Navy to enter into a contract with your memorialists for the transportation on said road, for a period of twenty years, of naval and army supplies, including troops, munitions of war, provisions, naval stores, the mails of the United States, and its public agents, at a sum not exceeding the amount now specified by law to be paid for the transportation of the mails alone from New York to Liverpool; provided that your memorialists shall within one year commence, and within three years complete, the construction of a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

W. H. ASPINWALL,
JOHN L. STEPHENS,
HENRY CHAUNCEY.

TEHUANTEPEC.

MEMORIAL Of P. A. Hargous and others.

To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled:

The petition of Peter A. Hargous, of the city of New York, for himself and in behalf of others interested with him, respectfully represents, that they are invested with full authority from the Mexican republic, under the most solemn guarantees from that government, to open a communication between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific ocean, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Your petitioner respectfully presents the following facts, which he has derived from the authentic and published report of the engineer who made the surveys in relation to this route, in order that your honourable body may possess all the necessary information on this highly important subject.

The grant from the Mexican government, by which the privilege is secured to your petitioner of opening a communication across the Isthmus, is of the most liberal character, and offers the strongest inducements for undertaking the enterprise. The privileges of the grant are secured to your petitioner, and those associated with him, for the period of fifty years; and during this time the government of Mexico has pledged itself "not to impose any contributions or taxes upon travellers, or their effects in transitu, and not to levy any imposts or forced loans on the grantees." The grant also secures the right to "all foreigners to acquire real property, and to exercise any trade or calling, not even excepting