rn. He always, morning, noon, and night,
had one either in his hand or projecting out of his mouth. It
signified not what was his occupation, the little stiletto was always
to the fore. We used to speculate on board if he so slept, and the
ayes were in the majority.

California is about 800 miles from north to south, but across, from
west to east, the average width is only, perhaps, 200 miles. The rail
line, the direct one from San Francisco to New York, was the line I
ought to have taken when bound west, as I explained before. Owing to
the northerly course the rail takes after leaving San Francisco, some
300 miles in California, not 200, has to be traversed ere you reach
the next state, Nevada, and having left the western capital in the
afternoon we crossed the boundary next morning. I could not, of
course, see much of the Californian scenery at night, but the general
character of the country we passed through seemed to be much as I had
seen in other parts of that state, very fertile where water for
irrigation was at command, but barren otherwise.

Before finally leaving California I must add the last I heard of that
"almighty swindle" (so styled by an American I met, who was one of
the victims) the Antelope Valley. Every one who could leave it had
done so, but there were many who could not, who had spent their all
to get there. Some of these had wives and children, and their
condition was of course most pitiable. There was naturally no work to
be had there, and I heard that many of them were living on charity.
The hotel-keeper in the valley, a most charitable man, and his good
wife, did all in their power to mitigate the suffering, which was
excessive. What became of the colony after I left I know not. Some
who departed to return to England vowed they would be revenged on the
agent in London, and if there was no legal redress (which I imagine
is the case) thrash him well! I hope they did, but I have heard
nothing, except that I saw in the paper one of the victims appeared
before a London magistrate, and detailed the case. How he had sold up
everything in England to go there, induced to do so by the said
agent's representations, and on arrival found himself landed in a
vast desert. But it did not appear that the magistrate could help
him.

I can only hope the Antelope Valley episode will be a warning to
emigrants. The United States is too well known, the country too much
explored, to make it likely that any spot, o