it under any and all circumstances;—­one whose ambition is, in a public capacity, to serve his country, and not to serve himself;—­one who waits for his country to judge of his acts, and, if worthy, to place the laurel wreath upon his head, disdaining a self-wrought and self-assumed coronal.  Capt.  Dupont is a native of Delaware; and that gallant and patriotic state should feel proud of such a son.  He is one of whom all men, on sea or on land, with whom his duties as an officer or citizen of our republic brings him in contact, speak well; and whose private virtues, as well as professional merits, are deserving of the warmest admiration and the highest honours.

Although I have long known Gen. S.W.  Kearny from reputation, and saw him at Los Angeles, I was here introduced to him for the first time.  Gen. K. is a man rising fifty years of age.  His height is about five feet ten or eleven inches.  His figure is all that is required by symmetry.  His features are regular, almost Grecian; his eye is blue, and has an eagle-like expression, when excited by stern or angry emotion; but, in ordinary social intercourse, the whole expression of his countenance is mild and pleasing, and his manners and conversation are unaffected, urbane, and conciliatory, without the slightest exhibition of vanity or egotism.  He appears the cool, brave, and energetic soldier; the strict disciplinarian, without tyranny; the man, in short, determined to perform his duty, in whatever situation he may be placed, leaving consequences to follow in their natural course.  These, my first impressions, were fully confirmed by subsequent intercourse, in situations and under circumstances which, by experience, I have found an unfailing alembic for the trial of character—­a crucible wherein, if the metal be impure, the drossy substances are sure to display themselves.  It is not my province to extol or pronounce judgment upon his acts; they are a part of the military and civil history of our country, and as such will be applauded or condemned, according to the estimate that may be placed upon them.  But I may be allowed to express the opinion, that no man, placed under the same circumstances, ever aimed to perform his duty with more uprightness and more fidelity to the interests and honour of his country, or who, to shed lustre upon his country, ever braved greater dangers, or endured more hardships and privations, and all without vaunting his performances and sacrifices.

On the 16th, in company of Gen. Kearny, Capt.  Turner, and Lieuts.  Warner and Hallock, of the U.S.  Engineer Corps, I rode to the Presidio of San Francisco, and the old fortification at the mouth of the bay.  The presidio is about three miles from the town, and consists of several blocks of adobe buildings, covered with files.  The walls of most of the buildings are crumbling for the want of care in protecting them from the annual rains; and without this care they will soon become heaps of mud.