- DIED, On the 13th ult., in the 75th year of her age, ANN MIFFLIN, a valued member and elder of the Southern District Monthly Meeting in this city, Very early in life she was deprived by death of both her parents, and exposed to many of the temptations incident to gay life. In this unprotected situation, she was mercifully cared for and watched over by the Father of the fatherless; and, yielding to the tendering visitations of his love, was strengthed to turn her back upon the pleasures and fashions of a vain world, and taking upon her the yoke and cross of Christ, to deny herself and follow Him in the way of his leading. As she grew in years she increased in religious stability and watchfulness, and became a useful and exemplary member of Society, to the services of which she devoted much of her time. bon; the mission was called Dolores, in commemoration of the sufferings of the Virgin; and it became the parent of many others in the same country. The good fathers appear to have settled quietly down, and to have found little difficulty in their labor of love. They erected a church, with dwellings around it for themselves and attendants, and the natives built their huts in squares at a little distance. Not far off, a secular settlement was likewise attempted, but proceeded the length of only a few houses. It was called Yerba Buena, after an herb of that name found on the hills, and esteemed for its medicinal qualities, as well as used by way of a substitute for tea. The first She possessed excellent natural abilities, a cul- settlers there were from Mexico, excepting a tivated literary taste, a purity and refinement of Russian, who, being left behind by a Russian mind seldom surpassed, and a gentle and amiable disposition. These being regulated and sanctified ship, cast in his lot with theirs. But the town by Divine grace, and adorned by a meek and is not worth talking about yet-the Mission drew humble spirit, rendered her society peculiarly in-every kind of prosperity to itself. Soon after teresting, while her conversation, though cheerful and sometimes vivacious, was marked by a scrupulous avoidance of even the appearance of evil, and of whatever would lessen the reputation of another. Maintaining, to the close of life, a circumspect and consistent walk, she gently and calmly descended to the borders of the grave, realizing in a remarkable degree the humble hope, which she expressed to a friend sometime before her decease, that when the present scene closed to her, it would be in a peaceful calm. its organisation, says an authority, it flourished rapidly, realising all the hopes of its founders. The Indians placed the most devout confidence in the Padres, embracing readily the new religion, and acquiring with it many of the arts of civilisation. They continued to live apart in small communities, employing themselves in tilling the earth and other labors under the direction of the missionaries; and for their work, of eight hours in the day, they received from them food, trinkets At his residence, near Richmond, Ind., on-and rum. 'At various times, parties of Inthe 11th of the 5th month, 1853, SAMUEL M. WALLIS, after a short illness, aged about 38 years. A member of White Water Monthly Meeting. dians were provided with the proper means, and dismissed by the missionaries, that they might pursue an independent life. But we are told the attempt invariably failed, and that the natives sooner or later returned to seek the protection and guardianship of the Padres, after wasting their cattle and other stock. Some idea may be formed of the extent of those operations, from the fact, that there belonged to this mission, at one period, 20,000 head of cattle, 3000 horses, and 30,000 sheep. In 1810, the number of Christian baptisms had reached 3896; and in 1831, the period of greatest prosperity, the whole number had amounted to 6883. From this date, a declension took place, which was greatly accelerated by the Mexican Revolution, in 1836, when the cattle and property were destroyed, and the Indians driven off by political disturbances. From 1831 to 1849, the number of baptisms was only 468. Of the entire list, it is computed that nine-tenths were Indians, and the remainder Californians, or immigrants, and their descendants, principally from Mexico. On the southern shore of an inlet of the Pacific, the Spaniards, some time in the latter part of the last century, erected a Presidio or fort, consisting of a square court enclosed with mud-walls pierced for musketry. Within these walls were some small dwellings for the soldier settlers, while the centre of the area was kept clear for their exercise. This fort, which fell long ago into ruins, was destined to play rather an important part in In 1839, the secular town, if that can be called the world's history. In the year 1776, two wan- a town which contained only a few scattered dering missionaries, natives of Spain, but last houses, was planned and laid out by Captain John from Mexico, landed in the bay; and under the Vioget; and in half a dozen years it contained 150 protection of the military station, they founded inhabitants. About this time, when the war a Mission at some little distance, and set to the between America and Mexico had commenced, work of civilising and Christianising the native there began to flock to it some American adventribes around them. The names of these indi- turers, and in two years the population was inviduals were Francisco Palou and Benito Cane-creased by several hundreds. At the beginning A lot of 1847, this slowly-moving town, whose ambi- | town-lands rose from 50 to 100 per cent. bordering on the water, which had been offered for 5,000 dollars, and refused by everybody, sold the next day for 10,000 dollars. In the same month, the first brick-building was erected. All sorts of ambitious projects were talked of; a temperance society-a lyceum-an hospital-a theatre. A chaplain to the 'city' was installed-a city which now polled the not very extravagant number of 347 votes at an election of councilmen. Before the year closed, the mining adventurers, who had returned home for the winter, found that some very remarkable changes had taken place. Lots of land they had left selling for 2000 dollars, had risen to 15,000 dollars; and houses they could have rented for 20 dollars a month, were now charged at 100 dollars. In February, 1849, the arrival of the first steam-ship in the mail-service set the citizens wild with rapture and exultation; but in a few months, the harbor was crowded with vessels of all kinds, and immigrants landed in thousands. Then came the launch of a little iron steam-boat, and her experimental trip to the Sacramento. On this occasion, she brought back a number of salmon from the golden river, some of which sold for forty-five dollars apiece. This vessel was soon followed, on the same route, by other steamers, and the expeditions of the miners were shortened from seven days to seventeen hours. In September of that year, a grand event occurred in the history of San Francisco. This was the arrival in the port of the first squarerigged vessel; and no sooner was it known that she was actually discharging her cargo, than goods of all kinds fell prodigiously in price, and Great fortunes are sometimes made in a manner not very cleanly; and even so it happened with this city, which was called suddenly forth by the magic of gold, from the foundation of mud. In the following winter, which chanced to be as wet as our last winter in England, all San Francisco was a quagmire. To remove the mud was impossible; but the inhabitants tried to make it of a thick enough consistence to admit of passage, by laying down upon the streets a layer of brushwood and rubbish. But layer after layer disappeared in the unfathomable abyss, and with it, now and then, an unfortunate mule. When men were adventurous enough to attempt crossing, they sometimes owed their lives to their neighbors. Tradition tells of one person who actually disappeared under these circumstances. The intersection of Clay and Montgomery Streets being a principal thoroughfare, was the scene of many interesting and exciting incidents. foot became completely impossible, until a submerged footway was constructed with bags of beans, damaged rice, bundles of tobacco, and a general assortment of spare merchandise. Over this invisible bridge, experienced navigators might succeed in making their way; but wo to the unskilled wayfarer who, in attempting the path, deviated from the subaqueous line of march! In the dearth of business and amusements, many citizens found agreeable employment in watching the progress of their fellow-men through the difficulties of travel, and rendering assistance in desperate cases. New comers often landed from To cross on shipboard rigged in their Sunday's best, and with boots brightly polished, intending to strike the natives with surprise by such tokens of high civilisation; but scarcely had they touched terra firma, when they made the discovery, that terra firma was not there; and they were glad to get back to the ship, with the loss not only of Day & Martin's polish, but of the boots themselves, which they were constrained to leave deep buried in the streets of San Francisco! Another curious trait of the Golden City. 'In those days,' says our authority-the mushroom citizen is talking of 1849!-before the recent improvements in the delivery of letters, the postoffice exhibited the most curious scenes on the arrival of the mails from the Atlantic states. People crowded by hundreds into the long lines, to march to the windows in quest of letters from home. Desperate efforts were made to secure a place near the window, in anticipation of the opening of the office. Men rose from their beds in the middle of the night for this purpose. It was a common practice to provide a chair, and hitch up, step by step, as the procession slowly advanced, whiling away the time with cigars and other appliances. Persons were exposed for hours to the most drenching rains, which they bore with heroic fortitude, rather than relinquish their post. Men of speculative views, who expected no letters, secured advanced places, and then sold them, sometimes for as much as eight or ten dollars. In those days, too, the dress of the city was picturesque in its infinite variety-comprehending jackets, bangups, Spanish wrappers, serapes, blankets, bear-skins; boots with red or green tops, horsemen's boots, miner's boots, fishermen's boots; and a splendid choice of hats, of which the most popular was the California slouch-convertible at will into a pillow, a basin, a handkerchief, or a basket. When female immigrants, however, began to flock into the city, the picturesque declined, and the gold-seekers sent off in a hurry to Broadway for models of costume. Two theatres sprang up, with crowds of drinking and gambling houses; and the citizens, being now in the broad path of city civilisation, amused themselves with concerts, balls, dinner-parties, and military suppers. By this time, San Francisco had extended into the country, and absorbed into itself the Mission of the reverend Padres. In 1849, occurred the first of eight or nine conflagrations, which have, from time to time, up to last year, reduced a considerable portion of the city to ashes. About the same time, the first step was taken to extinguish the Golden City with a debt, which speedily amounted to a million and a half of dollars. In January, 1850, three females arrived from Sydney; and being unable to pay for their passage, they were publicly sold for five months by the captain of the ship. They fetched fifteen dollars each. In this year, there were six daily newspapers published in San Francisco, to which two more were added in the following year. There were likewise seven churches in the city. The harbor was crowded with large vessels from all the great ports in the world; but once there, return was impossible. The crews deserted in a body, and rushed to the mines; many of the ships were dragged upon the beach at high-water, and converted into storehouses: one of them became a large hotel. Another singular feature of the city was formed by the Chinese immigrants. At a grand funeral procession, commemorative of the death of the American president, Taylor, a body of those curious-looking citizens attended in their national costume, and ever since they have exhibited great interest in all public demonstrations, parading with banners and music. One of the most remarkable of these occasions, was the celebration of the admission of California into the American Union in 1850. In 1851, the streets were paved with wood in such a way as to defy the mud, and they were begun to be brilliantly lighted, when one of the usual conflagrations occurred, which ate out the heart of the city, the centre of business, leaving only straggling outskirts. But this proved a benefit rather than a misfortune, for it roused in earnest the extraordinary energies of the people; and the burned district was speedily covered with houses, pretty nearly fire-proof. For this reason, the fire of last November was comparatively a mere trifle: the damage was only 100,000 dollars, while that of the former couflagration was com puted by millions. The following is a picture of the city as it now stands: 'The city of San Francisco stands on a narrow neck of land between the bay and the ocean, fronting eastward on the bay, and having the ocean five miles on the west. The bay extends southward some fifty miles, parallel with the sea, from which it is separated by a narrow strip of land, varying from five to twenty miles in width. The city is on the extreme point of this promontory. Its site is handsome and commanding, being on an inclined plane, half a mile in extent, from the water's edge to the hills in the rear. Two points of land-Clark's Point on the north, and Rincon Point on the south, one mile apart― project into the bay, forming a crescent between them, which is the water-front of the city, and which has already been filled in and covered with buildings to the extent of half a mile. Those points, and the lofty hills north and west, upon which the city is rapidly climbing, afford a most extensive and picturesque view of the surrounding country. There are scarcely to be found more charming and diversified prospects than are presented from these heights. Taking your stand on Telegraph Hill, to the north of the city, and looking eastward, you see the spacious bay, eight miles in width, crowded with ships from all quarters of the globe; and the fertile coast of Contra Costa beyond, with its new city of Oakland, behind which rise hill on hill, to the Red wood forests on the summits. Towering over these, is the conical peak of Mount Diabolo, at a distance of thirty-five miles. To the north, is the entrance from the ocean, almost beneath your feet; and Saucelito, six miles distant, at the foot of the opposite hills. The northern arm of the bay also stretches away till lost in the distance, studded with smoking steamers on their way to the numerous points on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Turning to the south, you look down the busy city, whose tumultuous din rings steadily in your ear-the Mission Dolores, in a charming little valley beyond, backed by graceful hills-the southern arm of the bay lost in the horizon-and the dim and distant coast-range of mountains running parallel on the east. Facing the west, you look upon the narrow strait through which the restless ocean ebbs and flows, and into which the sea-breeze sweeps daily with its chilling but purifying mists-the Golden Gate-the Presidio-the Fort-the great ocean beyond.' Finally, the extracts we have given throughout this article are from the preface to a Directory published in January last-a directory of 9000 names and addresses for this city, which, half-adozen years ago, consisted of a few straggling huts; and which now, as we learn from the census of last year-received since writing the above -contains a population of 34,876 souls. Of this number, only 5154 are females. The foreign residents amount to 16,144 males, and 2710 females; the remainder, with the exception of a hundred negroes and mulattoes, being citizens of the United States. Verily, there are few episodes in the history of the world more remarkable than the fortunes of San Francisco.*. Chambers's Journal. REPORT ON ADULT COLORED SCHOOLS. To the Association of Friends for the free Instruction of Adult Colored Persons, the Managers report: That the schools for men and women were opened in the building on Raspberry street, on the 4th of 10th month last, and continued until the 25th of Second month, when they were closed for the season. On the evening the schools were opened, 32 men and 36 women were admitted; the whole number entered during the season was 348; viz. 131 men and 217 women. The average attendance for the term of five months, was 50 men and nearly 52 women, contrasting favorably with that of former years. The course of instruction has been, as heretofore, generally rudimental, endeavors being made to ground the pupils thoroughly in the rudiments The population of the whole state is 264,435. The capital invested in mining operations is 13,897,447 dollars, of which gold-mining has about one-third. The capital employed for all other purposes is 41,061,933 dollars. of education, rather than to press them forward beyond their ability to understand and acquire to advantage. Copies of the Moral Almanac were freely distributed in both schools, and several dozens of the New Testament were kindly furnished by the Bible Association of Friends, at a low rate, which were sold to scholars at the same price. The order of both schools has been well sustained, and the improvement of the pupils creditable. Numerous individuals visited the schools during the past winter; the interest thus manifested conjointly with that of the members and managers, acts, we believe, as a stimulus to the scholars. At the close of the schools much heartfelt thankfulness was expressed by the scholars for the benefit they had received; and they were encouraged to be diligent in improving what they had already acquired. One of them stated that he had saved a considerable amount of money by being able to keep his own accounts; another was thankful he could read the scriptures; and another that he could do his own writing. Many of them spoke of the schools in a manner gratifying to the managers present. In conclusion, the managers are induced to believe that the liberality of individuals contributing to the funds of the association, and their own services are profitably expended in this praiseworthy, though humble institution. Signed by direction and on behalf of the Board of Managers. FRANCIS BACON, Clerk. Philadelphia, 3d mo., 1st, 1853. Officers of the Association. Secetary.-Charles J. Allen. Managers.-Nath. H. Brown, William H. THE MAUVAISES TERRES OF NEBRASKA. BY JOHN G. WHITTIER. The traveller who enters the Territory of Nebraska from the Great Bend of the Missouri, and takes the direction of Fort Laramie along the valley of the White River, finds himself passing over a fine high prairie country, luxuriant with unshorn and grasses, with uncultured flowers. gay Suddenly, from one of the terraced elevations which slowly and gradually uplift the prairie to the spurs of the Rocky Mountains, the calm monotony of the landscape is broken by an abrupt depression of from one to three hundred feet below the level of the surrounding country. Before him stretches a vast valley, the width of which is estimated at thirty miles, and which reaches westerly to the foot of the Black Hills, a distance of nearly ninety miles. He looks out upon a dreary waste, scantily clothed with grass, and rough and ridgy with tall, irregular, prisma tic and columnar masses of rock, rising splintered and abraded, into every conceivable form, to the height of from one to two hundred feet. It is as if, by some great convulsion of Nature, this vast and dismal tract had suddenly sunk from the great prairie level, leaving its bony articulations of rock standing thickly over it, like the ribs of some gigantic skeleton, from which the flesh had fallen. Seen in the distance, those rocky piles, so tall, so vast, so multitudinous, intersected by labyrinthine passages, their turreted walls, truncated pyramids, and sharp, clustering spires, rising into light from the black masses of their shadows, assume the appearance of artificial structures-a wild night-mare dream of Cyclopean architecture -flanking buttress and lofty arch, shaft, colonnade, and spire-the Petrea of the Western wilderness a silent city of the dead-stretching out to the horizon's line on the right hand and on the left, and westwardly in endless succession of towers and mural escarpments, to the grim background of the Black Mountains. "So thickly," says the geological surveyor of this wonderful tract, in his report to Congress, "are these natural towers studded over this extraordinary region, that the traveller threads his way through deep, intricate passages, not unlike some quaint old town of the European continent. "One might almost imagine oneself approaching some magnificent city of the dead, where the labor and genius of forgotten nations had left behind them a multitude of monuments of their art and skill. "On descending from the heights, however, and proceeding to thread this vast labyrinth and inspect in detail its deep, intricate recesses, the realities of the scene soon dissipate the illusions of distance. The castellated forms which fancy had conjured up vanish, and around one, on every side, is bleak and barren desolation." together with many other remarkable and novel varieties of animal life, roamed over these lands at a period so remote that the mind staggers under the effort of computation. Geology ascribes the date of their existence to a time when, of all which now constitutes Europe and Asia, only a few scattered islands, slowly rising from a wide waste of ocean, were visible; when Mount Etna and the plateau of Sicily were still deep under the tertiary Mediterranean sea; when the Alps and the great sub Himmalayan range of Northern India were yet unformed; when, on this continent, the now inland mountain chains were the seaboard of the Atlantic, whose waves washed the great Mississippi valley, and beat against the bluffs of Vicksburg. These fossil deposits are exciting a great degree of interest in the scientific world; and already, during the present season, three expeditions, one of them composed of European savans, have left St. Louis, to renew the investigation of these mysteries, and decipher their marvellous record of the history of our planet. The Mauvaises Terres, notwithstanding their great extent, occupy in reality but a small portion of the beautiful Territory of Nebraska. Close around their waste and desolation, "Spreading between the streams are wondrous beautiful prairies, Billowy bays of grass ever rolling in sunshine and shadow, Bright with luxuriant clusters of roses and purple amorphas. Over them wander the buffalo herds, and the elk, and the roe-buck. Over them wander the wolves and the herds of riderless horses, Fires that blast and blight, and winds that are weary of travel. And over all is the sky, the clear crystalline heaven, The promise which this country holds out to the emigrant is, it must be owned, greatly abated by the proceedings of the late session of Congress on the bill for its organization as a Territory of the United States. That bill was rejected in the Senate, after a brief debate, disclosing the set The whole region is, in fact, one of savage and irremediable desolation. The curse of sterility broods over it-treeless and pathless-a maze of innumerable defiles, choked with debris, and over-tled hostility of the Southern members to any hung with ash-colored walls of rock. increase of free territory. The delegate of the For the geologist, however, this melancholy Nebraska settlers was told by one of these gentract has no lack of interest. It is rich in fossil tlemen, that he had "rather see the whole terriremains of animal races long extinct, and here-tory sunk than organized as free soil." There is tofore unknown. Grim secrets of an early world, unshapely and monstrous forms of rudimental life, present themselves in some localities, at every turn. The enormous Palocotherium, which formed a connecting link between the tapir and the rhinoceros, the horse and the hog-one specimen of which measured five feet along the range of its teeth-the Archiotherium, uniting in itself the characters of the pachyderous, plantigrades, and the digitigrades, foreshadowing in its singular combination the hog, the bear and the cat-the small rhinoceros Nebrascensis, bearing a marked resemblance to the living babyrousa and pecarry, reason to believe that the territorial organization has been delayed for the purpose of enabling slaveholders, with their slaves, to obtain a foothold in Nebraska. That the Government would countenance such a design to the extent of its power there is little doubt; and thus, what natural causes have done to a portion of the territory, may be inflicted upon the whole by the folly and wickedness of men. The tide of free emigration is now rapidly rolling across Iowa, and filling up the great bends of the Missouri. It remains to be seen whether that emigration shall pause on the confines of Nebraska, and, recoiling |