the time of the conquest, and had prohibited the maintenance of any ejectment vey. Under the present law, the holder of a confirmed floating grant, to be located within certain boundaries, may eject settlers from any place within those boundaries, though they contain ten times the amount of land called for by the grant. large tracts? If it be wrong for me to rob my neighbor of his dollars, is it right for Uncle Sam to rob Peralta, or any oth-suit until the recording of an official surer Californian, of his land? And let it be remembered that temporary dispossession is morally as wrong as entire and final spoliation. I admit that it were far better for the country that the Mexican grant-holders should not own so much land; I admit that it were better, looking at the question abstractly, that the settlers should own all the land they claim; I admit that the settlers are more active and industrious, and contribute vastly more, in proportion to their means, to the development and wealth of the State, than do the native holders of the large grants; but all this has nothing to do with the main question. The question now naturally arises, whether, a great wrong having been done, there is no remedy? Are not the sufferers entitled to an indemnity from Congress? In justice they are; but there would be so many difficulties in the way of ascertaining the damage, and of apportioning the indemnifying fund among the losers, that probably any committee appointed by Congress to investigate the matter, would report against any indemnification. The law prohibiting the official survey of Spanish claims previous to confirmation, has been productive of great evils to settlers and claimants. In most cases it is now too late to remedy these evils; in a few cases, perhaps, considerable benefits would be conferred by changing the law, and permitting all claimants to have United States surveys made of their ranches, so that the surveys, being recorded, may serve as notice of what land is not claimed. And if the grant holder be unwilling to pay for the survey of his land before final confirmation, the Government should pay in every case where there are many settlers, in justice to the latter. It would have been well if the law of 1851 had provided for the early survey of all the claims in possession at Not only has the system adopted by the Federal Government, in regard to Mexican grants, been most injurious and unjust to the claimants, but it has also been very injurious to the country at large. It has deprived the people in the most populous agricultural districts, of permanent titles; has prevented the erection of fine houses, valuable improvements, permanent homes; has contributed to make the population unsettled; to keep families from coming to the country; and, in fine, has been one of the chief dition of the social and business relations causes of the present unsound con of California. SING ME THAT SONG AGAIN. A friend, when dying, said "Sing me tha hymn-Sweet fields beyond the flood.'" Sing me that song again— The song my mother sung! Up to her home with God! My mother sung that song, When faint in death she lay; Up to her last abode, A TALE OF THE GREAT CAÑON. A THRILLING INCIDENT. The North Fork of Feather River rises in the great chain of mountains dividing our State from that nest of consummate ungodliness, the Salt Lake or Colorado Basin. The waters pass out of the mountains by a south-west course, into a very extensive valley-like country, covered with the finest grasses in the world, and capable of sustaining, almost for the entire year, one half of the stock of the State. Many fine ranchos have been se- | lected by hardy, energetic men, within the past year or two; and extensive improvements are constantly being made. The water, after sluggishly finding its way through this flat-known as the "Big Meadows"-forms a fine stream, as it again enters the mountains, near Knight's Rancho. From this point, or immediately below, the character of the whole country is abruptly changed; and the river, from being a sluggish, unrippled stream, meandering through rich alluvial soil, covered with beautiful flowers and waving grass, plunges madly over huge rocks, and rushes furiously down through narrow defiles; rendering it an impassable barrier to man's footsteps, except at long intervals, until its connection with the East Branch of Feather River, at Junction Bar. From this point, until you reach the head of the "Great Cañon," the river is under the complete dominion of the sturdy and industrious miner, and is daily yielding up its vast wealth to well-directed and scientific labor. To the miners in all this section of the mineral region, the "Big Cañon" has been a fruitful theme of fire-side conversation and mystery; and many is the story recounted of favored ones having found their way into its depths, by intricate, dark, and gloomy caverns, through the mountains, and returned laden with untold wealth. The cañon commences about eight miles below the junction of the north and east branches of the river. At this point the mountains, which on either side have hitherto kept at a respectful distance from the water, abruptly close nearly together, forming a very narrow passage for the stream, and which appears to be constantly struggling to get through. Standing at the head of this great cañon, and gazing down its dark and lonely channel, the beholder is struck with wonder and awe at the grandeur and majesty of the scene. The mighty old mountains are piled, cliff upon cliff, thousands of feet above the water's surface; with their perpendicular and often-times overhanging sides, they bid defiance to the footsteps of any mortal who may have the hardihood to endeavor to fathom its untold secrets, or enter the portals to its hidden wealth; and which has been washed there, during centuries of time, from the prolific gold-bearing mountains above. In the narrow bed of the stream can be seen immense masses of quartz and lava, that have been disruptured by earth's internal throes, in by-gone ages, from the mountain's top and side, and hurled down into the stream, there forming deep eddies and violent whirlpools, through which, in passing, the largest pines are dashed into atoms. The length of the cañon, from its head to its foot, is twenty-four miles; and such are its dangers, that no one has ever yet had the temerity to venture through it; although many attempts have been made by different parties of miners to descend the mountain sides into it-myself among the number: and of the perils and dangers incidental thereto I will now speak. It was in the winter of 1852-'53, that I and my three partners-Louis C., Capt. J. M. C., and Capt. Jas. M.,-were engaged in mining at the M- Diggings; or rather, we were cabined there snugly, with an abundance of provisions, as we had supposed in the fall that we could work there all winter; in which, however, we were disappointed, with thousands of other toilers. The winter set in with unwonted rigor and severity; the snow fell thick and fast; the bitter blast came roaring and howling down from its home in the icy north; the tall pines creaked, and groaned, and shivered, as they swayed to and fro beneath the fury of the wind; and for days and months we were shut up in our mountain home, listening to these and the hungry howl of the famishing coyote, that came to our door in search of food; telling and listening to tales and stories of "old home," with all its beloved associations; recounting to each other the ever-fervent love of our mothers, of brotherly affection, and sisterly kindnesses, in days "lang-syne;" and laying our plans for future labors in the spring. Among the many projects we unfolded and perfected, that of prospecting the Big Cañon" was ever uppermost; and we determined as soon as spring should open, that we would make a desperate endeavor to descend by means of ropes into the very heart of the cañon, from the top of the mountain; and through this stroke of hardihood, gain what we had long and wearily sought for, without avail-a fortune. Time rolled on his sluggish wheels; the dreary winter faded away; the huge piles of accumulated snow rapidly disappeared before the heat of the spring sun; the sweet song of the beautiful oriole was heard in the branches of the blooming and fragrant mansanita; the mountain torrent, that had so long ceased the music of its gushing waters, was again heard, as it came bounding, sparkling, and roaring, down the mountain side. some journey, we reached the point at The eventful day at length arrived, on which we were to put our project into execution. Having procured from the S-mountain under the table upon which I Rancho a large quantity of inch rope, had rested now rapidly receded; conseand a small cord as a guy or signal-line, quently I had nothing whatever to guide and arranged other creature comforts; on my descent, and was swinging out some the morning of the third of May we thirty feet from the rock; and, to instarted for the scene of our intended op-crease the difficulty, the wind, which had erations, in high spirits. After a toil- been calm, now blew with considerable violence, swaying me to and fro against | mental agony I felt! My shrieks rang the jagged surface of the mountain, requiring great exertion and watchfulness on my part to keep me from being severely cut and bruised. out upon the furious gale, in vain. All the past of my life came rushing in upon me; and my mother's home, with all its scenes of love, and joy, and beauty, vividly passed in review. I plainly could hear the infant wailings of my motherless and soon-to-be fatherless child, as he exclaimed, "Why don't my Pa come home?" and saw my aged, gray-haired mother, with eyes upturned to the Throne of Grace, beseeching comfort from on high, and the return of her long-absent child. To increase the terrors of my situation, a dense, black cloud was rapidly rising from the west, surcharged with electricity, as the vivid flashes of lightning and deep bellowings of the thunder plainly indicated. The bats and owls, the tenants of the moss-covered fissures in the rocks, came flitting by me, as if in mockery of my situation, oftentimes touching me with their wings. I gazed upward: fibre after fibre of the rope was fast giving way; a few more moments and my body would be a mis-shapen and mangled mass upon the rocks beneath. The storm-cloud had now obscured the sun, and a darkness as of night was settling over the earth. The wind had lulled, but that lull was but the precursor of greater violence. One last look upward, and I saw that a few seconds and all would be over. I closed my eyes and muttered a prayer-a sudden flash of lightning, followed by peal on peal of thunder, and the wind came howling and shrieking down upon me, as though ten thousand demons had been turned loose. It struck me, and with a wild shriek, as the last fibre was giving way, I threw I had descended about two hundred feet further in this manner, when I perceived that I remained stationary, and gave the usual signal to my comrades above to "lower away;" but still I found that I did not descend. This surprised me; and looking up, I plainly perceived that the main rope had slipped into a perpendicular crevice in the rock which I had left but a short time previous, and was fast. Here was an awful predicament! Swinging out in the air, two hundred feet below the only possible place for a footstep, and three hundred feet above a boiling cauldron of angry water, through whose surface sharppointed rocks could be seen peering out, as if anxious to receive my body to dash it into pieces, was I. In endeavoring to let my comrades above know of my fearful peril, by means of the signal-rope, jerking it violently as I did, it slipped from my grasp, and broke off all communication between us. I endeavored to seize it again and again, as it swung backwards and forwards; but it mocked every effort. Each moment my peril became more and more imminent, as the wind, which had been blowing a steady breeze, now increased to a fearful gale, dashing me violently against the face of the rock. I shouted, and cursed, in an agony of desperation; until, well nigh exhausted, I looked up, with the intention of climbing the rope, and thus reaching the table I had left, if possible. While examining the matter closely, I was hor-out my arm and caught the signal-rope, rified to see that the rope, by the wind causing it to chafe against a sharp edge at the bottom of the crevice, was cut half in two. This was horrible! Cold, clammy drops of sweat streamed from my whole body, and every nerve was totally paralyzed. To be thus cut off in the prime of manhood, by such a death, and in such a place! O God, what fearful which had been pulled up by my companions, and a slip-noose made in which I might sit, and a weight attached, to prevent, if possible, its vibration. How I got that cord around my body, or how I was extricated from the agonizing peril of my situation, was all a mystery to me, as I had no recollection of any thing whatever, after seizing it. Some days afterwards, I awoke to consciousness in my bed at the cabin. The events of that, to me, fearful day, come to me yet in dreams, by day as well as by night; and my agony in my unconsciousness is represented to me, by my friends who watched over me, as distressing in the extreme to listen to. It was several months before I recovered from the shock; and, as long as memory remains to me, shall I remember this thrilling incident of my experience, when prospecting for gold in the "Big Cañon." THE COUNTESS OF SAN DIEGO; BY CLOE. Mr. Thompson, a merchant on the island of Cuba, had amassed a large fortune, and returned to England, his native place, with the intention of spending the remainder of his life in his native land. Being an old bachelor of forty-five, he thought it quite time for him to take a wife, and enjoy his hoarded wealth in connubial felicity. Purchasing a beautiful home near Liverpool, he found no RELUME THE WEDDED LAMP: By Rev. difficulty in adorning it equal in beauty Dr. Scott. MARRIAGE.-Marriage is both and magnificence to that of a prince. an honorable and holy estate. It furnishes Being a man of ordinary education, and a lawful and natural mode of gratifying his perceptive faculties, except in moneythe strongest passions of human nature, making, very limited, he had never paid and it calls into excrcise the holiest feel- the least regard to the forms of society, ings, and plies the strongest motives to and was as ignorant of the first princiindustry. Writers on the penal colonies ples of a gentleman of fashion as a Turk. of Great Britian, tell us there is but little He was no little flustered at being invithope of a female convict unless she mar-ed to attend a festival, given by a neighries and becomes a mother. The inter- boring gentleman of nobility; quite an course of the sexes is ordained by our emergency for a man as ignorant of etiCreator. It is of the first importance toquette as himself. However, he detersociety that it should take place under such regulations as shall secure the great est good to society. The Bible, history, and jurisprudence agree in declaring marriage as regulated in christendom on the whole, to be the best mode of fulfilling the benevolent purposes of our Creator. He is a friend to his country therefore, as well as to virtue and religion, who keeps pure the married estate, and relumes the lamp of virtuous love. To rob a father of his child to take her portion and spend it on a harlot to forsake, injure, ruin, and in fact, murder her by cruelty, injustice and neglect, is a sin of unparalleled aggravation—an agony than none but a father can feel with full force. Lawful love, like the sun in the spring, whose warmth calls forth the latent powers of vegetation, excites the most amiable dispositions, and developes the most heroic virtues. mined to do his best, and maintain his position as a gentleman. Giving particular orders relative to his new clothes, he said to his tailor, "Do you know any person that I could get, who understands English etiquette? An old bachelor like myself, sir, needs a person of that description." "I think I do, sir: my wife employs a lady, in reduced circumstances, to do fine needlework: it is very likely that she would be glad of an opportunity of that kind." "Send her to me without delay, Mr. Tailor;" and Mr. Thompson returned home in a state of no little anxiety. The next day the expected lady made her appearance at Mr. Thompson's mansion. She was rather young, poorly clad, and pale as death, but perfectly self-possessed and lady-like. Mr. Thompson looked at her, and was somewhat disappointed, in the appearance of her desti |