HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 149 



^30 per head; horses, formerly worth from $5 to 

 §10, are now valued at ?60 to $150. The destruc- 

 tion of cattle for their hides and tallow has now entirely 

 ceased, in consequence of the demand for beef. This 

 demand, will, of course, increase with the population ; 

 and it would seem that, in a very few years, there 

 will be none to supply the market. 



" If we estimate the number of cattle now in Cali- 

 fornia at 500,000 head, which is believed to be about 

 the number, and the population at 120,000 for the year 

 1850 — a low estimate — and suppose it to increase one 

 hundred thousand por annum, there will be in the 

 Territory or State, in 1854, five hundred and twenty 

 thousand people. 



" If we adopt the estimate of those well acquainted 

 with the demand, of half a beef, on an average, to 

 each inhabitant, it appears there will be a consump- 

 tion, in 1850, of 60,000 head; in 1851, of 110,000; 

 ^ 1852, of 160,000 ; in 1853, of 210,000 ; in 1854, 

 of 260,000— making an aggregate of 800,000, which 

 would absorb all the present stock, with its natural 

 increase. 



" This is a very important matter, as connected with 

 the amount of supply which that country will ultimately 

 require from the Atlantic States of the Union. There 

 is no other country on earth which has, or will ever 

 possess, the means of supplying so great a demand. 



" It is now a well-established fact among the immi- 

 grants to California, that oxen possess greater powers 

 of endurance than mules or horses; that they will 

 perform the distance with loaded wagons in less time, 

 and come in at the end of the journey in better con- 

 dition. 



" Cows are now driven in considerable numbers 



