Before relating the return of Columbus to Hispaniola, it is proper to notice some of the principal occurrences in that island, which took place under the government of Ovando. A great crowd of adventurers of various ranks had thronged his fleet: eager speculators, credulous dreamers, and broken down gentlemen of desperate fortunes; all expecting to enrich themselves suddenly, in an island where gold was to be picked up from the surface of the soil, or gathered from the mountain brooks. They had scarcely landed, says Las Casas, who accompanied the expedition, when they all hurried off to the mines, which were about eight leagues distance. The roads swarmed like ant-hills, with adventures of all classes. Every one had his knapsack stored with biscuit or flour, and his mining implements on his shoulders. Those hidalgos, or gentlemen, who had no servants to carry their burdens, bore them on their backs, and lucky was he who had a horse for the journey; he would be able to bring back the greater load of treasure. They all set out in high spirits, eager who should first reach the golden land, thinking they had but to arrive at the mines, and collect riches: for they fancied,' says Las Casas, 'that gold was to be gathered as easily and readily as fruit from the trees.' When they arrived, however, they discovered, to their dismay, that it was necessary to dig painfully into the bowels of the earth, a labor to which most of them had never been accustomed; that it required experience and sagacity to detect the veins of ore; that in fact, the whole process of mining was exceeding toilsome, demanding vast patience, much experience, and after all being full of uncertainty. They digged eagerly for a time, but found no ore. They grew hungry, threw by their implements, sat down to eat, and then returned to work. It was all in vain. Their labor,' says Las Casas, 'gave them a keen appetite and quick digestion, but no gold.' They soon consumed their provisions, exhausted their patience, cursed their infatuation, and in eight days set off drearily on their return, along the roads they had lately trod so exultingly. They arrived at San Domingo, without an ounce of gold, half famished, downcast, and despairing. Such is too often the case of those who ignorantly engage in mining: of all speculations the most brilliant, promising and fallacious. Poverty soon fell upon these misguided men. They exhausted the little property they had brought from Spain. Many suffered extremely from hunger, and were obliged to exchange even their apparel for bread. Some formed connexions with the old settlers of the island, but the greater part were like men lost and bewildered, and just awakened from a dream. The miseries of the mind, as usual, heightened the sufferings of the body. Some wasted away and died broken hearted; others were hurried off by raging fevers, so that there soon perished upwards of a thousand men. *Las Casas, Hist. Ind. L. 2, C. 6. BANKS OF BALTIMORE. Resources and Liabilities of the Banks of Baltimore, 1 January, 1849, compiled for the Bankers' Magazine from the Official Statements. 15,625 237,246 141,562 17,811 Union Bank, Farmers and Planters Bank, 1,223,631 19,258 95,658 160,893 84,341 89,758 John M. Gordon. 1,028,597 238,992 77,308 75,450 William E. Mayhew. Recapitulation of the condition of the several Banks of Baltimore The returns for January, 1848, will be found on page 508, volume second. There is a remarkable evenness in the items of circulation, deposits, loans and specie: and there is not that increase which the enlarged business, capital and population of Baltimore, would seem to require. There is as large an amount of coin on hand at Baltimore as at Boston, where the circulation is nearly five millions, and where nearly the whole circulation of New England is redeemed. The Bank circulation of Virginia, enters largely into the business of Maryland, displacing the notes of the City and Country Banks of the latter State. The following comparative view of Circulation and Coin in the several Cities will afford food for reflection. The entire Bank circulation of the United States, may be estimated at $125,000,000, and the coin in the Banks at $60,000,000. The latest returns from the Banks of Great Britain, as contained on page 488, of this No., show a circulation in England, Scotland and Ireland, equivalent to $150,000,000, or $5 per head; and coin in the Banks of about $100,000,000. BANKS OF MASSACHUSETTS. From the Annual Abstract furnished to the Secretary of State, September, 1848. Comparative view of the condition of the Banks of Massachusetts, The circulation and deposits have diminished twenty-five per cent. during the twelve months, and the coin reduced one-third. INDIAN A. Comparative view of the Liabilities and Resources of the State Bank of Indiana and Branches, 1846, 1847, 1848. LIABILITIES. Capital Stock owned by the State, Do. do. by individuals, Novem. 1946. $935,854 1,147,970 1,114 820 1,100,506 3,552,210 89,535 47,886 409,989 31,832 413,563 23,819 73,309 69,148 71,418 Condition of the Michigan State Bank, January 1st, 1849. |