A start in life. A journey across America. Fruit farming in California

SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW ORLEANS.

The train reached Merced at 10.23 on Monday night, December 8th, 1890, where I was met, and in a spacious family buggy, drawn by a pair of good horses, I was very soon at the residence of my client, Mr. C.H. Huffman. The continuous day and night travelling by rail, and the taking of voluminous notes all along, had caused a constant excitement which told upon the nerves, and for two days I felt as though I needed absolute rest, but, remembering that I had already been long absent from my office, I commenced my work at Merced the next morning. The town of Merced is the capital of the county of that name; it is not many years old, but it has a striking difference to many new small towns I have seen in the Colonies, in that it has several very good buildings and residences. It has seven churches and chapels of various denominations, some good shops, medical men, society, schools, gas, water, electricity, and a station on the main Great Southern Pacific Railway. It is undoubtedly a town which must rapidly increase in value, for this reason: My clients, Messrs. Crocker and Huffman, at a cost of some two million dollars, have tapped the Great Merced River 25 miles off, and brought water down to the town and irrigated the country round. They have formed a reservoir 640 acres in extent. Hitherto the rich lands around the town of Merced have not been irrigated, and consequently were not suitable for growing the Fruits for which California is so famous; but, now that a system of canals, formed by my clients, has irrigated their estate, extending over some 50,000 or 60,000 acres, the whole of this great area is changed in value, and is available, and will eventually be used, for the production of choice Fruits. Thus, Merced will become a centre, like other parts of California, and, being so much nearer than those other parts to San Francisco, will benefit additionally by that advantage alone. Merced is only 152 miles from San Francisco, while Fresno is 207, Bakersfield 314, and Los Angeles, 483 miles. It is rumoured that another line of railway will also be formed in connection with the present main line, and Merced would then be an important railway junction. I drove out every day with Mr. Huffman, and inspected the country for some miles around the town, including the Merced River, 25 miles off. The land designated British Colony, is, at its commencement, only two miles from the Merced Railway Station, hotel, and shops. Mr. Huffman has a most comfortable residence, and has excellent stables, well filled with first-class buggy horses, so that travelling was always an easy matter. Being a lay preacher in England, I took advantage of offers made me, and preached on the Sunday I was at Merced in two of the churches at the morning and evening services.

I left Merced on Tuesday night, December 16th, by the 10.23 train, having stayed there eight days. I immediately "turned in," and next morning (December 17th) was up as usual at 6.30, and much enjoyed the splendid scenery through which we were passing—in a mountainous country, grandly diversified with all the alternations of heights and depths, lights and darks, rich and barren, including many evidences of engineering skill—as we coursed along, now looking high up, now looking low down, and presently winding along the celebrated "loop," described as the "greatest engineering feat in the world," by which the train goes through mountain passes, creeping along the tops of eminences, then returning, crosses under itself at a low level, then, ascending, crosses over itself at a higher level, so that in its meandering course you now look down at your side on the line you have just traversed, and anon look up at your side at the line you are about to traverse. We passed through the Mojava (pronounced Moharvie) desert, where the yucca palm is plentiful. A fellow passenger, and old settler, enlivened the time by some relations of his experiences thus: He once shot a grizzly bear which weighed 1,500 lbs. Some are much larger than this. Everything of weight in America is generally reckoned by pounds, not cwts. or tons. On another occasion he slew a Californian lion. He had killed a bullock, and the carcase was hanging in his house at the back, where was an aperture like a small window without glass, and under this opening outside stood an empty case. The lion scenting the carcase, and hearing no sound from within, approached the house, and was endeavouring to creep through the aperture when, in its efforts to do so, it kicked the case away, and the poor animal was stuck fast, having its head and shoulders inside. My fellow traveller, on returning home, was surprised to find his visitor, and so despatched him with an axe, and has for years used the skin, which is 9 feet 8 inches long. The temperature was charming, although in the distance we could see the snow-capped mountains. We run through the antelope valley, gather some juniper plant, see a skunk, see natural oil wells at Saugus, pass the head of the Santa Clara Valley, see the San Fernando mountains, go through the greatest tunnel in America—the San Fernando tunnel, 6,967 feet long, go by Burbank, where there is a land boom, and arrive at Los Angeles, where during the two hours of waiting I have a look at the town and a pleasant chat with Mr. White Mortimer, the British Consul, whom I called upon. The next day (December 18th) we were on the desert of Arizona, where we saw Indian camps at places which were somewhat oases as to plant life. Speaking generally, nothing grows on a great part of this desert but cactus, of which I am told there are some 200 varieties, from the dwarf kind to trees 40 feet high. This plant has a strange if not a weird appearance. Here and there, like solitary sentinels, stands out a tall cactus, with perhaps two or three heads or branches, growing perpendicularly with itself. The mountains on either side look as if they had their origin in volcanic eruptions.

Some parts of the desert are covered with a dwarf kind of evergreen shrub. We see large numbers of prairie dogs, which are of a size between a rat and a rabbit; they live in holes like rabbits. There are also gophers, skunks, prairie rats, rattlesnakes, and hawks, which feed on snakes and rats. We pass tribes of Yuma Indians, Aztec Indians and Gila (pronounced Heela) Indians. On reaching a part where is some grass we see some cattle, which are straying on the line; the engine whistle shrieks, the cattle run, and some coyote wolves are startled from their lairs and run, too; large numbers are here, and the preceding night their yells aroused some passengers from sleep. As we proceed, quail are seen, and wild cats something like a lynx. Arriving at Tucson (pronounced Tewsohn), I enquired for a gentleman to whom I had an introduction, but learned that he was up at his gold mine. This Tucson is an ancient city, having been founded by the Jesuits in 1560 A.D. It does a large business in exporting gold dust, wool, and hides. I expect that these mountains of Arizona contain much value in minerals. The Indians in this part of the country are the Apaches, and were described to me as the most treacherous of all the American Indians, that they are cowardly and will never fight in the open. A gentleman who entered the train at Tucson gave me many instances of this. In the evening we saw "cow-boys" round their fire camping out in the open, and also a camp of freighters resting on their journey across the desert. The next morning early (December 19th) we arrived at El Paso, a most interesting Mexican town situate on the borders of Old Mexico, New Mexico and Texas, where I bought the skin of a Mexican tiger, and other things.

In travelling for some days in a train continuously one feels the need of exercise, and this I obtained by getting in and out of many of the railway stations and walking up and down. Between San Francisco and New Orleans there are 322 stations, and I should suppose the number of stations on both the Northern and Southern routes I traversed would probably amount to nearly 700.

We are now commencing to cross the great plains of Texas. At first the plains are desert, with mountains skirting our view; the scenery is less interesting than the Arizona desert, because there are no cacti. This desert has probably been under salt water at some time. The rocky hills appear to have a volcanic origin. As we go on, we reach a poor kind of pasture, growing out of a scrubby kind of shrub, with some occasional cacti, many hills and mountains like barren rocks, with not a bird or an animal to be seen. The weather has been warm since leaving Merced, but now, so far south as we are, it is hot on this December day. I had read in the short telegrams given by American papers, that the winter was very severe in England, and I pictured often to myself, friends and clients in England muffled up amidst frost and snow, whilst I was revelling in glorious sunshine, so warm that no greatcoat could be worn. Had I returned by the route I went (the Northern Prairies), I might have been delayed by snow drifts, but by this, the Southern route, there was no snow, but a continuous, cheerful, delightful sunshine, not too hot anywhere, but simply delightful. I should certainly recommend anyone going from England to California in the winter season, to go by the Southern route. Amongst the objects of interest, we notice in the distance a small herd of 14 wild antelope trotting along; cattle, coyote wolves, and, at many places, the well-picked bones of animals which had dropped dead, or, when weak, had been killed or eaten by carnivora or reptiles. We saw large numbers of prairie dogs; they sit outside their holes like a squirrel, on their haunches, with their fore paws up; they are very quick, and most difficult even to shoot. More antelopes and coyotes. At a station called Alpine were several cowboys, all armed with revolvers and cartridge belts, and some with dagger knives too; their mustangs were hitched up close by. These cowboys are some old and some young men, some wild and some cultivated, some never educated, some have gone through Harvard, or Oxford, or Cambridge, some the sons of English county gentlemen and noblemen—but all cowboys, i.e., men who live on ranches where large herds of cattle or horses are bred, and whose duty it is to ride over the wild rough country to know where the herds of cattle and horses are feeding, so that if they need to be ridden up for cutting or branding, or selling, they may be found. I was told that this was one of the "hardest" places for a cowboy, i.e., one of the wickedest, meaning that when they visit it, it is for a "spree," and they get drunk, and fights and murders follow. I was pointed to a little cemetery on a hill, enclosed by a white fence, and was told that it contained 150 bodies, and that only 50 had died a natural death; the others had been shot or otherwise murdered in drunken frays and other ways. Many strange little histories were told me about these men, but which I have no time to record here. In some parts of the country where water was very scarce, there seemed to be no vegetation, and the cattle seemed to wander solitarily along, a mere heap of hide and bone. At many stations I had quite a considerable interval for running about, such as when a wheel caught fire, which happened two or three times, or some freight had to be taken in, or taken out, etc. When the train again starts, the conductors shout "All aboard," and there is a general rush.

The next day (December 20th) was again a brilliant day of sunshine; we see many buzzards, and breakfast at San Antonio. The railway stations along this country have two roofs, one being two or three feet above the other, so that air between should keep the building cool. At breakfast, I read the San Antonio Daily Express, which informed me "severe storms prevailed everywhere in Great Britain," and my thoughts were naturally much occupied with the Old Country. The day was sultry, but sunshine is always a great treat to me, and it was never too hot.

Now we are running into civilization again, and I catch sight of a man ploughing; he has a pair of mules, and is holding the reins in his teeth. As we proceed, it is a continuous succession of cotton fields, cotton fields, cotton fields. We see many bales; these weigh from 475 to 600 lbs. each. At a station called Sequin, I obtained lots of cotton seeds, and gathered some cotton in the fields as we went along. The scavengers of this country are Turkey buzzards, which are protected by law because of their usefulness.

I could not refrain from writing several times in my note-book, "glorious sunshine." Hitherto we have had mountains continuously in sight, but now they are out of vision. This being Saturday we see markets at the towns we go through; at Habwood and Flatonia especially was this noticeable. The population seemed almost altogether negro. I observed a negro and his wife, well dressed, riding on horseback in the old English pillion style; another negro and his wife, and about twelve children, in a capacious kind of wagon-buggy, and many negroes and negresses, the latter dressed in white and gay colours, standing at their pretty verandahed cottages.

We now pass a spot where a train was stopped and the passengers robbed some time ago, by Jesse and Frank Jeames and the Ford Brothers. The modus operandi is for all the men to be secreted but one, who stands on the line holding up a red flag which indicates danger; the engineer then stops and the men spring aboard; some hold revolvers to the heads of the engineers, and others go through the train and rob the passengers. The robbers shout out "hands up," and one man points his weapon at the passenger's head, whilst another rifles his pockets. If a passenger fails to hold up his hands he is shot down. A passenger on the Northern Prairies told me of a fellow passenger, who under such circumstances having a revolver, aimed at a robber and pulled the trigger, but it missed fire, and he was instantly shot down. But these attacks are now more rare, and the officials are more prepared for them. Sometimes the robbers get on board the train as passengers, and act suddenly in concert. All along the country now we pass the cabins of the slaves, familiarised to us by "Uncle Tom's Cabin." These cabins are pleasant little houses with verandahs, and I reflected how favourably they compared with the "homes" of many of the London poor, and how happy the slaves might have been but for the knowledge that at any time they were liable to be sold like a mule or a bullock. Now we pass sugar, cotton and rice plantations, and go through such cultivations all through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. I gathered sugar and cotton going along at places, saw a racoon in a stream fishing for crawfish, and go through a country, in which are plenty of alligators.

On the early morning of Sunday (December 21st), we go through swamps, such as we used to read of as the hiding-places of runaway slaves. All through these Southern States we saw everywhere sugar and cotton, sugar and cotton, sugar and cotton; these, with rice, are the principal products; sugar mills, cotton yards, etc., etc. We soon reach Algiers, and cross the grand Mississippi River, then land at New Orleans. The actual city of New Orleans covers an area of about 41 square miles, but the statutory limits of the city embrace nearly 150 square miles. It is situate on both banks of the Mississippi River, and from 1,000 to 1,500 steamers and other vessels, from all parts of the world, may frequently be seen lying there. New Orleans is the chief market in the world for cotton. The site of the city was surveyed in 1717 by De la Tour, and it was settled in 1718, but abandoned in consequence of overflows, storms, and sickness; it was resettled in 1723, held by the French till 1729, then by the Spaniards till 1801, by the French again till 1803, and then, with the Province of Louisiana, was ceded to the United States. The present population is about 250,000. There are 33 cemeteries, and they are remarkable, inasmuch as the bodies are buried above ground, in vaults like tiers of ovens; the ground is too wet for burial. I attended Trinity Church in the morning, had some black bear for dinner at my hotel, the "Hotel St. Charles," and then attended the Y.M.C.A., where I gave the address in the afternoon, which was followed by a very solemn after meeting. I went to bed very early, and was up very early the next morning (Monday, December 22nd). I had to draw the mosquito curtains in the night, but not till after some of these insects had left their mark. The principal ground floor of the hotel was on the first floor level, and the actual ground floor was of secondary importance; the front part was occupied by stone steps and a colonnade, and the rear was a liquor bar and a large hall. This hall used to be one of the principal auction rooms of the city, where slaves were sold by auction; and as I entered the now rather desolate-looking place, which is partly circular in shape and constructed with many pillar supports, I pictured to myself the emotional agonies, the tempests of passion, the lust of greed, the calm, subdued, resistless attitude of despair which at times found expression, as domestic circles were for ever broken, tenderest sympathies for ever sundered, closest friendships for ever separated—yea, even the most sacred relationships of life ruthlessly shattered, by the sale of mothers or fathers, brothers or sisters, wives or husbands, sweethearts or friends. Of this I will give just two illustrations: Our porter on the train crossing the Northern Prairies was a coloured man named Farrell; he told me that his mother had seven boys, and that they were all sold away from her, and that it had been his life-work to try to find his brothers. He had shipped to Australia as a seaman, had worked in hotels, and on wharves and rivers, and now was working on the railway cars endeavouring to find his brothers; he had advertised for them in the newspapers, but he had never heard of one of them. When this family was broken up, Farrell and his brothers were only boys; for it will be remembered that the date of the official announcement of the total abolition of slavery in the United States was made on the 18th December, 1862, when upwards of 4,000,000 slaves were legally declared free men. Another coloured man engaged at this hotel, who was born a slave, remembered walking with his father, who was also a slave, and his father's anxiety to get home before nine o'clock at night, as no coloured man was allowed to be in the streets after that hour unless he possessed a sufficient authority from his owner. This man told me that at an auction of slaves at this hotel (auctions of slaves were held in New Orleans at different places three times a week) a very fine intelligent young man was sold by auction for 2,100 dollars to a lawyer who was known to be a cruel man. My informant told me that his name was—well, it sounded like Rumo, possibly Roumeaux, as most of the wealthy settlers were of French origin, that he lived in St. James' Ward, and that when he bought slaves and sent them down to his plantations, they each received twenty-five lashes as they entered his gates, as an example, of what they would receive if they did not please him. Well, when the hammer fell and this slave knew that he belonged to an owner whose cruelty was common talk, he exclaimed, "You have lost your money." This slave was sent down with others to the steamer on the Mississippi (which is only some ten minutes' walk from the hotel), for shipment to this owner's plantations. The poor fellow was not even allowed to say good-bye to his people, but was sent on board. When he arrived there, he repeated to the man in charge of the slaves, "Mr. Rumo will lose his money," and shortly after he took advantage of a favourable moment, and, folding his arms, he threw himself backward into the river, and was drowned.

A few minutes' walk from my hotel is the Henry Clay monument, where the mob was addressed last month by Mr. Parkerson, who incited them to proceed to the prison and force an entrance, and then to take the lives of a number of Italian murderers by lynch law. On this monument some memorable words are inscribed which Mr. Clay uttered, and which T copied. They are as follows:—"If I could be instrumental in eradicating this deep stain, slavery, from the character of our country, I would not exchange the proud satisfaction which I should enjoy for the honour of all the triumphs ever decreed to the most successful conqueror." That deep stain was removed in 1862, and slaves were raised from the condition of cattle to that of men, who could thenceforward rejoice in the freedom of being masters of their own bodies.

NEW ORLEANS TO LONDON.

On leaving New Orleans we run through swamps, and presently skirt the Gulf of Mexico and travel on. The next day (December 23rd), we feel it perceptibly colder, for we are going north. The country is cultivated in sugar, cotton, rice, grass, etc. We breakfast at Atlanta, and after leaving that place, the scenery puts me more in mind of England. In going through Georgia, I was told that the same black families which now occupy many of the small wooden houses, or "cabins," which I see, are the same families who occupied them before the abolition of slavery. Although many slaves suffered cruelties through enforced separations and hard treatment, yet very many had most comfortable homes, considerate masters, and light work. I sat much during this day on the platform at the end of the end car, observing the country. At one station some little black urchins came to gaze, and I said to one boy, apparently seven years old, "What is your name?" He said, "Willie Matthews." I said, "How old are you? " He said, "I ain't old enough to know how old I are." And his genuine simplicity delighted me.

We are now passing through cultivated lands, farms, and estates, and these continue right on to New York. At Greers was a very large collection of cotton. At Spartanville are large cotton mills, such as one sees in Lancashire. The next day (December 24th), we notice ice on the ponds. We cross the Potomac River, and near Washington, sight the Capitol—or, as we should say in England, the Houses of Parliament. Washington City is the political capital of the United States. Its size is about 4-1/2 miles by 2-1/2 miles. The Capitol is described by the Americans as the most magnificent public edifice in the world. It is 352 feet long and 121 feet deep, with two wings each 238 by 140 feet. Its entire length is 751 feet 4 inches, and it covers an area of more than 3-1/2 acres. It is of costly construction, and stands in grounds of about 50 acres.

We proceed, and stop at Baltimore, cross the Bush and Gunpowder Rivers, again come near the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, various smaller rivers, and run on until we reach New York. On arrival, I immediately went to the Cunard office and secured my berth in the "Servia." The next morning (Christmas Day), it was very cold, and snowing. I had a fire lit in my bed-room, and there wrote the article which appeared in the January Land Roll. In the afternoon I walked in the Central Park, but it was so bitterly cold, I was satisfied with less than two hours of exercise, and returned to the hotel to dinner, and finished up the day writing in my bed-room till midnight. The Central Park, in genial weather, would be an attractive resort. I observed large natural rocks, lawns, wide promenades, seats, lakes, menageries, swings, and various such like attractions for juveniles, overground and underground roads—a kind of "Rotten Row," &c., but being so cold scarcely a person was to be seen.

On December 26th, New York was deep in snow. I visited a few shops for some necessaries, and went on board the "Servia" during the afternoon, thinking that I might have difficulty in getting a cabman to drive to the docks after dark if the snow drifted deeply. New York City is the metropolis of the United States. In 1880 its population was 1,206,590. Its site was discovered in 1524. It was in 1609 that Hudson, an Englishman, ascended the river which was named after him. In 1614 some Dutchmen settled there. In 1648 its population was 1,000, and in 1700 it had increased to 6,000. In 1684 it was captured by the Duke of York, and was henceforth called "New York." In 1711 a slave market was established in Wall Street.

On December 27th, about 5 o'clock in the morning, we began to clear out of the dock, and in a few hours were again on the broad Atlantic. The next day (Sunday, December 28th), we had service on board, conducted by the doctor in the saloon: all on board not actually on duty may attend. We left New York in a blizzard, and our decks were coated with frost and snow, but after two days this was all cleared away, and we had a splendid run in genial weather, so that one day I could comfortably walk on deck without a greatcoat.

Our run was—from Sandy Hook Lighthouse (45 miles) to noon of December 28th, 373 miles; noon of December 29th, 379 miles; December 30th, 375 miles; December 31st, 878 miles; January 1st, 1891, 372 miles; January 2nd, 362 miles; January 3rd, 371 miles; thence, to Queenstown, 169 miles; and from Queenstown to Liverpool, 240 miles; making a total of 3,064 miles. The passage in the "Etruria," going out, was 3,062 miles. The "Servia" is a fine ship, but much older than the "Etruria," and her engines, consequently, are not capable of the speed of a newer vessel. Her cargo capacity is 6,500 tons, with 1,800 tons of coal and 1,000 tons of water ballast. Her horse-power is equal to 10,500. The saloon is 74 by 49 feet, and is capable of seating 350 persons. The "Servia" has cabin accommodation for 500 saloon and 600 steerage passengers, besides a crew of 200 officers and men. When there are more than 350 saloon passengers, each meal has to be served in two relays.

An interesting incident occurred during the passage: I discovered that our captain (now commanding the "Aurania") was a shipmate of mine in 1855, when I was a midshipman. I reached my office in Lincoln's Inn Fields at 8 o'clock on the morning of January 5th, having been absent just about six weeks.

The distances were as follows:—

I must conclude with some general remarks:—

The Times recently published a series of ten articles on the "Negro Question in the United States," and from them it appears that the position of that country is very serious in this relation. These articles commenced after I had started on my journey, so that I only saw one or two of the concluding ones and the Times leader upon the whole, but I was not surprised to see them, because in passing through the States which are principally peopled by negroes, I heard something about the matter from a thoughtful man, who regarded the subject with great gravity. The Times has shown that the attitude of one race to the other is that of "antagonism, discontent, and perpetual danger."

The negroes have the same constitutional privileges as the whites, and their overpowering numbers in certain places give the power into their hands, which, regarded in relation to racial hatred, renders them to be an object of danger to the country. It is proposed to emigrate the negroes to some part of Africa. It would be more consistent for certain Americans to interest themselves in solving this problem of their own rather than encouraging Irish agitators, and so assisting to prevent England solving her dark problem across St. George's Channel.

The proportion of coloured people to white in the three states of Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama, is about equal, that is, there are as many coloured people as white. The population of coloured people throughout the whole of the United States is about 7,000,000 of coloured people to 59,000,000 of white people, but it is a sad fact, as stated in the Times of March 7th last, that a Government return, dated June 1st, 1890, showed that there were 45,233 convicts in the prisons of the United States, and that of this number no less than 14,687, or one-third were coloured people, and that out of these coloured people only 237 were Chinese, 3 Japanese, and 180 Indians, so that 14,267 were negroes. As the whites, counting all the States, are eight times as numerous as the coloured people, and yet the coloured convicts are one-third of the whole, it speaks badly for the morals of the negro race in America.

I was much struck with the immense development of electricity. Steamers, railway carriages, tramcars, hotels, shops, towns, villages, and railway stations, even those in remote places, with scarcely a building near to them, were all well lighted by electricity.

Railways run on scaffoldings down the centre of the streets, and horses with their vehicles run underneath them. The railway trains are well heated throughout by hot water pipes (every class), and reflect a grave reproach on our country, where, in the severest weather, it is difficult to get a foot warmer, except by certain main line trains, and, even then, one is expected to "tip" the attendant. Poor persons travelling in thin garments and poorly fed, in severe weather, scarcely ever dare to ask for a foot warmer unless they are prepared to fee someone, and, whether rich or poor, no one can get a foot warmer at any of our country stations. When we consider that railways originated in this country, and that some of the parts of America I passed through were, some 50, some 40, and some even 30 years ago, only known to the trapper and the Indian, it shows the increase of enterprise exhibited by our cousins over the Atlantic.

Tramcars are worked by electricity, by steam, by horses and mules, and by revolving endless cables. Telephones are everywhere. The railway journeys in America often occupying several days, the tickets are a kind of succession of coupons, parts of which have to be given up at various stages. Caution is exercised in selling railway tickets for long journeys—thus, you are required to sign the ticket, and observations are made of you, such as your height, probable age, colour of your eyes, hair, etc. Some of the lines of railway are not fenced in, not even in towns, so that the train runs through a town as openly as does an omnibus. I may convey some idea of some of the large American systems of agriculture, by referring to the estate of one of my clients, Mr. C.H. Huffman, of Merced, California. This gentleman has fields ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 acres each. He can plough 400 to 500 acres a day. By his traction engine he can strike 12 furrows at a time. He can put 70 teams (of eight mules or horses each) to work at one time. Each harvester will cut, thrash, and sack an average of 50 acres a day. The front part of the machine faces the standing wheat in the field, in the centre of the machine it is thrashed and winnowed, and at the rear it is thrown out in sacks ready for market. Mr. Huffman can sit in his study at home, and by his telephone talk to his clerks at Merced (he is the banker there), as well as to the foremen at his various ranches for 25 miles round the country. I particularly noticed one of his fields of wheat, comprising 2,000 acres, as level and clean as a well-kept lady's flower garden in England.

The Americans have a greater variety of foods served at their meals than we do, but I never got the flavour of meat cut from a joint to equal that which, when really well roasted and served, we get in England. As to bread, I never tasted bread worth the name, from the time I left London to the time I returned to it. Alike on the Cunard steamers, cars, hotels, etc., you can get no wholemeal bread. French and Vienna breads, and other very white abortions of that kind are obtainable in abundance, and even a kind of brown bread, and "Graham's" bread, but good honest wholemeal bread, containing all the properties of the full kernel of the wheat, it is impossible to get, and this to me was a very great deprivation, as my principal article of food is real wholemeal bread.

The system of the custody of letters at the large American hotels appeared to me rather unsafe. A visitor asks for letters, whereupon there are handed to him all the letters in the pigeon-hole marked with the initial of which the visitor's name commences. The visitor then proceeds to look through them, and takes what he chooses, and hands the rest back. The official is too busy, or it is not customary for him, to look through them for the visitor, or even to watch the visitor in his process of selection. I noticed one gentleman with a packet of letters, I should think considerably over a hundred, every now and then slip one into his breast pocket and give a furtive glance, which did not inspire confidence, but probably this is a well accustomed habit of the people, and the letters, perhaps, are as safe as the newspapers I frequently saw deposited on the tops of the street letter boxes (outside the boxes), because they were too large to be put inside; of course anyone could have taken them, but the custom not to touch them is probably honourably recognized. The street letter boxes are quite small square boxes, not large pillar boxes as are ours in this country.

I should like to have remarked more generally on America, but both time and space fail me. Of course, as most people know, the (to us) disgusting practice of spitting is common in America; spittoons are universally provided in public and private places. At Merced Court House is this notice: "Gentlemen will not, and others should not spit upon the floors." Huge spittoons are provided there.

The awful guttural which precedes the constant expectoration of Americans is most trying. It excites in persons near them and who are unaccustomed to it, a sensation of necessity to vomit, as it conveys a fear that your neighbour is about to vomit over you. It is not the excusable expectoration arising from an accumalation in the air passages, but a continuous fusilade of saliva. It is a disgusting practice, and I believe will die out in America as its citizens travel more in the old countries and become used to manners more refined than such a one as this. I observed that my clients in California, who have travelled in Europe, and other travelled Americans, are not guilty of this odious practice.

I would say to Englishmen travelling in America, don't condescend to the "guessing" and other loose styles of expression, and don't affect the nasal twang. Americans, with all their boast of one man being as good as another, are greatly pleased to entertain or travel with Englishmen having a title, and they pay a marked respect to Britishers who speak in a classical style, and who, while being devoid of foppishness, bounce, or vulgarity, conduct themselves with a genial dignity.

California.

I will now say something about California, and then proceed to describe the lands for sale, and the prospects of those who will settle upon them.

California lies on the genial coast of the Pacific Ocean, midway between the too cold regions of the North and the too hot regions of the South. To be exact, the mean temperature in San Francisco in the month of January, averages about 49°. It has varied from 53° to 39°. The record of 32 years shows that between sunrise and sunset it has not been so low as 32° on more than 10 days. Snow is sometimes seen to fall, but it melts immediately.

California has a bright, genial climate, and is described as "pre-eminently a sunny land." The early spring, commencing about the middle of February and lasting about six weeks, is a very pleasant part of the year, but April is described as the "cheeriest." December and January are the least pleasant, because it is the rainy and winter season.

Thunderstorms are rare, and no hurricane has ever been known there. The rainfall of California is about twenty inches, and the rainy days number about sixty in the year, or about half the number of rainy days experienced in the Atlantic States or Central Europe.

Amongst the fruits grown in abundance are the orange, grape, peach, apricot, plum, cherry, apple, nectarine, fig, lemon, lime, olive, date, and all the berries of value.

Besides the immense growth of choice and luscious Fruits, for which California is famous all over the globe, it claims to have the largest milk, butter, and cheese dairies in the world. It is also renowned for its mineral riches, its immense mercantile business, its manufacturing industries, its production of wool, its gigantic timber, its wealth of beauty in flowers, its fast horses, its grand scenery, embracing lofty mountains, deep valleys, expansive fertile plains, and all the variations of a beautiful country, with many rivers, and a magnificent sea coast, whilst the "coast range" and the slopes of the "Sierra" offer to the sportsman such game in abundance as grizzly and cinnamon bears and Californian lions. There are also deer, hare, rabbit, quail, large flocks of wild ducks and geese, and the rivers afford such fish as salmon and trout, and the deep sea splendid fishing.

San Francisco has been called "a city of 100 hills." It has a population of nearly 300,000 inhabitants, amongst whom are no less than 50 millionaires. Its harbour is known all over the globe as the "Golden Gate," and it has answered well to its name, for an entrance to its vast resources has made the fortune of multitudes of people, and many going there now are laying the foundations for future wealth.

The lands of California have the two essentials for successful culture—a rich soil and genial climate, with plenty of sun, yet never too hot and never too cold for out-door work, and most of its domestic animals are never housed, and require no food but wild herbage.

FRUIT CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA.

Our lands at Merced, in California, offer to gentlemen wishing to make a first or a fresh start in life a really good opportunity. It is difficult to conceive how men with energy, enterprise, and a little capital, can be content to sit in an office in foggy, blocked-up London, "quill driving" from year's end to year's end, when a prospect is afforded them, such as we now offer, of establishing a pleasant home in a luxurious land, with a sunny, genial climate, and within about a fortnight's travel of England, and where they would have the liberty of being their own masters, and lay the foundation of a future competency.

CURRENCY.

As the currency in California is dollars, not pounds, we must ask our readers to accustom themselves to dollars. A dollar is 100 cents, and, roughly speaking, a cent is equivalent to a halfpenny, so that a dollar would be worth, of our money, four shillings and twopence. Its value, however, varies a few cents according to the place where it is exchanged. Bank of England notes or pounds are never worth less than four shillings and twopence, i.e., 480 cents or halfpennies, which, of course, is four dollars and 80 cents, there being 100 cents in a dollar. The decimal currency is extremely simple when once understood. Never less than 4.80 is given for an English pound, but sometimes 4.82 and 4.85 is obtained.

MERCED.

The lands I have for sale are situate in the County of Merced, in California, about 150 miles by rail from the City of San Francisco, They are designated "British Colony," and at the nearest point are just one mile from the boundary of the town of Merced, and two miles from the railway station, hotel, shops, etc. Merced town is lighted by gas and electricity, has water laid on, telephones, telegraphs, Court House, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, South Methodist Church, Baptist Church, and Catholic Church, two schools, shops of various kinds; two railroads, the main one running up to San Francisco, and down to Los Angeles and on to New Orleans, etc., and the other, a branch line to Stockton, Sacramento, etc. Merced is 175 feet above the level of the sea; it is a pleasant little town, affords some congenial society, and I firmly believe will, before many years have passed, become an important centre, because my clients have brought water from the Merced River more than twenty miles off, by a system of canals, and have formed a reservoir of 640 acres in extent, with an average depth of 30 feet, and thus have given facilities for irrigating the country round the town. It is certain to become a great Fruit-growing district, as its soil is so fully adapted for the purpose. It is much nearer to San Francisco than Los Angeles, and is nearer also than Fresno and other districts which have already made themselves a name for Fruit culture.

The country around Merced has a natural fall, and is drained by many creeks, which are dry in summer, but contain more or less water in winter.

THE LANDS FOR SALE.

Merced is situated in the celebrated San Joaquin Valley (pronounced San Wharkeen), which is an immense level of fertile land, the soil generally being of a rich sandy loam, but in some districts, such as that I am now offering for sale, of a deep rich black loam of a highly productive nature, in fact, it is the decomposed vegetation and alluvial deposits of past ages, than which nothing could be more fertile. We have good evidence that the land is especially suited for the production of prunes, apricots, pears, peaches, olives, plums, small Fruit, such as strawberries, blackberries, sweet and common potatoes, garden stuff, and alfalfa. Alfalfa (or lucerne) is a great crop in America in places where there are no old meadow lands for the cows. The land is, of course, suited for all cereal crops, too. All the Fruits named can be dried in the sun without artificial heat.

The lands are about 160 to 165 feet above the level of the sea, and, in common with all the country round, they command a view on the one side of the grand snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains, and on the other of the mountains known as the Coast Range. Immense flocks of wild geese and ducks (principally geese), are often on the land. There are also "rabbits" on the land (so called), but they more resemble hares in their size and habits and run.

There are some excellent Fruit orchards and gardens at Merced. In the grounds around the Court House are some very fine orange trees, full of fruit, and also in the gardens of private residents. One gentleman kindly sent a bough of oranges, and other gentlemen sent other Fruits, which may be seen at our offices. At the Buhach Colony, near the town of Merced, are extensive orchards of Californian Fruits. Mr. Atwater's gardens and orchard, a few miles from the town, are worth inspection. He has two magnificent olive trees, nine or ten years' old, which bear heavy crops, and which are used for the production of olive oil; his vineyard and orange orchard, his lemon and persimmon trees, all look very prosperous. He would gladly show any settler how he has cultivated them. He has a corn and stock farm, and has only gradually cultivated these Fruits, which occupy some eleven acres.

PRICE OF THE LAND.

The prices of the land for sale are 75, and 100, and 150 dollars per acre, according to position. Two-thirds of the purchase-money may remain on mortgage as long as the interest is paid at 8 per cent, per annum, which is the lowest interest payable in California. The mortgagor is liable to the Government for the taxes, which amount to 1-1/2 to 2 per cent, per annum, so that he would really only receive 6 to 6-1/2 per cent, interest. All mortgages are publicly recorded, and so the property is vested in the mortgagor till he is paid off, and when that is done it also is publicly recorded. These taxes embrace all known to us in England as rates and taxes, except a road tax of 2 dollars a head per annum, chargeable to every male over twenty-one years of age. This tax may be paid for in labour on the road if desired. A free conveyance will be given, but the cost of recording the transaction in the county office (there is no stamp duty), about 1-1/2 dollars, must be paid by the purchaser. The recording of a mortgage would probably be 3-1/4 dollars because it is longer. The record is a public acknowledgment of the title of the owner to the land made in the county books.

Foreigners can hold freehold property in California, but they have no right to vote—indeed, they would have no right to vote until they had resided five years in the country, and had become naturalized; then a resident has before him the possibility of becoming Governor of the State to which he belongs, or, indeed, Secretary of the Interior, which corresponds with the position of the Premier in England.