ry, too, he said, was
beautiful, the valley being surrounded by picturesque hills, &c.,
&c., &c. All these statements he supported by a map of the valley,
showing the lands taken up, by a pamphlet he had written, in which
the glories of this Eden were highly painted, and to which were added
letters from the settlers, thanking him for having brought such a
paradise to their notice.[2] But this was not all. Specimens of the
crops and fruits grown in the valley, some dried, some imitations in
wax, heavy bunches of grapes, peaches wonderful as to size,
Brobdingnag strawberries, and what not! The only wonder was _why_ so
desirable a tract had only lately become known, and I asked as much.
The answer was, "Want of population. California is roughly 800 miles
long, with perhaps an average width of 200 miles. In this large
tract, twice as big as England and Wales together, there are about a
million inhabitants."

And I, like a fool, was more or less satisfied, for I found the areas
and population mentioned were right.

Now in all the above, truth and fiction were so closely blended,
that, to discriminate which was which, I should have to travel over
the whole ground again, and this is not the place to do it. Wait till
we get there. But I would ask the reader to note this page, and
compare it later on with the facts.

Suffice it here to state that the said agent, who sent me and many
others there, knew that not one in twenty would remain, and that
numbers in fair positions here in England, who, influenced by him,
sold up all they had and went out, some with wives and families, to
this El Dorado, crossed the Atlantic on the high road to ruin!

But what was his object? Did he own lands there and want to sell
them? Not an acre, I believe! He got a commission on the passengers
he sent over a particular line of rail, and thus managed to send all
his victims the same way that I went.

Now the oddest part of the whole affair is that he _did_ manage to do
this. If any one looks at a map of the States, he will see that the
direct and consequently the shortest route from New York to
California is _via_ the Central Pacific Railway to San Francisco. The
distance thus is about 3000 miles. By the route he sent me, and all
the aspirants to become land-holders in the Antelope Valley, viz.
_via_ New Orleans and the Southern Pacific railroad, the distance is,
say, 4500 miles. Thus, 1500 miles out of the way! I did not realize
when he offere