Under the circumstances, which showed a very hard case, I thought it proper that the parties should be allowed to deposit the amount of duties and land the goods; but, lest this should be construed as giving them a right for the future, and as the president may think proper to put an end to this indulgence, I have addressed a circular to all our consuls on these seas, warning them of this possibility--a copy of which is inclosed. I was directed, when coming here, by the Secretary of War, to do all I could to facilitate the arrival of the civil officers of government in Oregon, as the public service required their presence there. The steamer in which we came here could go no farther north, and there was no possible way of those gentlemen getting there, except on a small vessel about sailing, on which there were no accommodations. Commodore Jones kindly sent carpenters from the fleet to put up some berths, and on General Adair's (the collector's) representation, that no bedding could be procured, I directed the quartermaster to issue him the necessary number of blankets for the voyage, and take his receipt for them. I respectfully ask that this may be approved, and the amount charged to General Adair. The quartermaster could not tell him the price of the blankets when he took them. As the rainy season has ended, people are again repairing to the mines. New discoveries farther south are said to have been made; and it is now pretty certain that the whole slope of the Sierra Nevada, comprised within the head waters of the San Joaquin to the south and those of the Sacramento to the north, contains gold. These two rivers, forming, as it were, a bracket, join to enter the bay of San Francisco; and their tributaries from the east, in their beds, expose the deposits of gold as they descend from the mountains. It is on the banks and branches of these streams that adventurers are now at work; but some excavations elsewhere, to a depth equal to that worn by the creeks, have disclosed quantities similar to those most generally found. There appears to be a line parallel to the summit of the main ridge, and some distance down the slope, at which the product of gold is at its maximum; but whether this be from the quantity deposited, or from the different position as relates to the surface, or from the difficulty of working it, I have not the means of knowing.