l fertility, and no inhabitant of
that region has any hesitation in announcing the above fact. But not
one in a hundred will state frankly his distance from market, and the
value of wheat and corn at the points of their production. In too many
cases the bright side of the story is sufficient for the listener.

I once traveled in a railway car where there were a dozen emigrants
from the New England States, seeking a home in the West. An agent of
a county in Iowa was endeavoring to call their attention to the great
advantages which his region afforded. He told them of the fertility of
the soil, the amount of corn and wheat that could be produced to the
acre, the extent of labor needed for the production of a specified
quantity of cereals, the abundance of timber, and the propinquity of
fine streams, with many other brilliant and seductive stories. The
emigrants listened in admiration of the Promised Land, and were on the
point of consenting to follow the orator.

I ventured to ask the distance from those lands to a market where the
products could be sold, and the probable cost of transportation.

The answer was an evasive one, but was sufficient to awaken the
suspicions of the emigrants. My question destroyed the beautiful
picture which the voluble agent had drawn.

Those who desire to seek their homes in the South will do well to
remember that baked pigs are not likely to exist in abundance in the
regions traversed by the National armies.

CHAPTER XLVII.

HOW DISADVANTAGES MAY BE OVERCOME.

Conciliating the People of the South.--Railway Travel and its
Improvement.--Rebuilding Steamboats.--Replacing Working
Stock.--The Condition of the Plantations.--Suggestions about Hasty
Departures.--Obtaining Information.--The Attractions of Missouri.

The hinderances I have mentioned in the way of Southern emigration are
of a temporary character. The opposition of the hostile portion of
the Southern people can be overcome in time. When they see there is no
possible hope for them to control the National policy, when they fully
realize that slavery is ended, and ended forever, when they discover
that the negro will work as a free man with advantage to his employer,
they will become more amiable in disposition. Much of their present
feeling arises from a hope of compelling a return to the old relation
of master and slave. When this hope is completely destroyed, we shall
have accomplished a great step toward reconstructio