390 



GOLD YIELDED BY CALIFORNIA. 



world. In July, it was judged that 15,000 foreigners were in the 

 placeres; and, by the labors of all classes united, the report calcu- 

 lates that the round sum of forty millions was realized during 

 1848 and 1849, of which one-half was probably taken from the 

 country by foreign adventurers. Of the forty millions, twenty are 

 estimated to have been gathered from the northern rivers princi- 

 pally, or from those emptying into the Sacramento. The southern 

 rivers, or those voided into the San Joaquin, were, up to that pe- 

 riod, comparatively unvisited, and continued so until towards the 

 season's close. There is one river which, from reported disco- 

 veries, though not flowing into the great valley west of the Sierra 

 Nevada, is as rich in gold as any other. This is the Trinity, which 

 rises west of the Sacramento's sources, and discharges into the 

 Pacific not far from the fortieth degree of latitude. 



As commerce began to reassert her orderly sway in the ports 

 of California, and as gold became again subservient to the true 

 wants of man, more attention was paid to the collection of statis- 

 tics relative to production and export. The mint of the United 

 States has also enabled us to reach accurate partial results within a 

 more recent period. By a table furnished to Mr. Hunt for publica- 

 tion in his Merchants' Magazine, of November, 1850, it appears 

 that the gold dust shipped on the Pacific Mail Steamers, from 11th 

 April, 1849, to June 1st, 1850, was $13,329,388 ; while the fol- 

 lowing were the receipts at our mints : 



RECEIPTS OF CALIFORNIA GOLD AT THE N. ORLEANS AND PHILADELPHIA MINTS. 

 Year, <fcc. At N. Orleans. At Philadelphia. Total. 



In 1848 $44,177 $44,177 



Jan. 1st to Aug. 31st 1849 . 175,918 1,740,620 1,916,538 



Aug. 31st to Jan. 1st 1850 . 489,162 3,740,810 4,229,972 



Jan. 1st to Feb. 28th " . 938,050 2,974,393 3,912,443 



To March 31st " . 365,869 1,296,321 1,662,190 



March 31st to May 1st " . 298,130 1,813,002 2,111,132 



May 1st to July 31st " . 317,181 6,740,677 7,157,858 



Total, $2,584,310 $18,350,000 $20,934,310 



Of this vast total receipt at the two great mints of the country 

 $17,000,000 were delivered in ten months, being at the rate of more 

 than $20,000,000 yearly. Since January last, the receipts have been 

 at the rate of $26,000,000, per annum, and for the last quarter, at 

 the rate of $32,000,000 per annum, showing a constantly aug- 

 menting ratio. Mr. Edelman, accountant of the Philadelphia mint, 

 has prepared an essay to answer the repeated enquiries respecting 

 the general character of California gold and its value by the ounce 



