e,
and that far the greater number would go away at once, had they the
means to do so. Also as to the last artesian wells being failures,
and this being so that all hope was gone. Every day or two a fresh
lot of victims arrived, and that none with means stayed above a few
hours. I mentioned the fruit specimens I had seen in London, they and
the bystanders laughed, and averred there was not any fruit in the
valley. They told me much more, which was all corroborated by several
who had come out of the hotel, and it was really only necessary to
look round to be convinced the Antelope Valley was in every sense a
miserable tract.

I determined to take my sons on with me by the train. They had
supposed I would do this, and were all ready. But there was a
difficulty. They had no money, and I had not enough, so I was obliged
to leave them there until I could send back funds from San Francisco.
I thus went on alone, bidding good-bye to the dreary Antelope Valley
for ever.

Night fell soon after, and next morning there was cultivation
around, together with enormous orchards of fruit. Soon we reached the
terminus on the splendid bay of San Francisco, and steamed across in
a ferry larger and even more luxurious than those at New York, which
I described.

So my journey was done, and I stood in the great western capital of
America, which so many have heard of, and so few, comparatively,
seen. "What have I come for?" I asked myself as I landed, and echo
answered "What?"

But San Francisco, if any city on earth does, deserves a chapter to
itself.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] These letters, I was told by my sons and others, were in no way
genuine.

[3] Broadway should be called Longway. It is very long; it is not at
all broad.

[4] In Belgium, not only are the classes distinguished by numbers,
but the carriages are painted different colours. This is the best
plan of all.

[5] This may be partly accounted for by the fact that the said
American deserts are all, or nearly all, on the west side of the
Rocky Mountains, and that this distant part of the States has not
hitherto been very much visited by Europeans.

[6] This is the great range of hills which runs, north and south,
pretty well through the whole 800 miles of latitude California
occupies. The vegetation on these mountains is luxurious, and some of
the forest-trees are of an incredible size. Much beautiful scenery
exists there.

CHAPTER IV.

San Francisco--Army and