Our news from California is to the first of January. The steamers Carolina and Columbus sailed from San Francisco on that day, with 330 passengers and about $1,500,000 in gold dust. Business was very dull, both in the ports and inland towns of California, and the trading communities among the mines. The immense shipments of goods which had arrived from the Atlantic States had produced a complete stagnation in the market, bringing many kinds of merchandise below cost prices. After the first showers of the rainy season, early in December, the miners withdrew to the dry diggings, when the rains ceased, and three or four weeks of clear and delightful weather left them without employment. The richest localities are very thickly populated, the miners having built themselves log-cabins and organized communities for the winter. On parts of Feather river, the American Fork, and the Mokelumne, Tuolumne, and Mariposa rivers, the diggings were still yielding a good return. New discoveries of rich veins of quartz-bearing gold continue to be made. A mine of silver ore, of a very rich quality, is reported to have been discovered in the neighborhood of Monterey. A company is being formed at that place for the purpose of working the mine upon an extensive scale. The Sacramento papers state that a large mine of lead, in an almost pure state, exists near Johnson's Ranche, about thirty miles from that city. The ore is represented to lie on the surface of the earth, in heavy masses, so that vast quantities could be obtained without sinking a shaft. On the evening of December 14th another fire broke out in San Francisco, in a large zinc building owned by Cooke, Baker & Co. By the exertions of the firemen and the citizens the conflagration was subdued, after consuming this building and three or four others of less value. The large building belonging to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company was in the utmost danger, having been greatly scorched by the flames. The total loss by this fire was $75,000. The city, on the first of January, was fully prepared for the rainy season. By the enterprise of the inhabitants, upward of seven and a half miles of street had been graded and four miles planked, while capacious piers and wharves were built far out into the bay, so that vessels were enabled to load and unload without the use of lighters. The cholera had entirely disappeared, not only from San Francisco, but from all parts of California. Its ravages have been much lighter than was anticipated, a fact which speaks well for the health of the country.