rudder. Finally an anchorage was effected about a dozen
miles from the La Gloria shore, and General Van der Voort and others
were taken off in a small boat. The trunks and other baggage were not
landed until nearly a week later, and it was several weeks before much
of the luggage reached La Gloria city. The contents of many of the
trunks suffered serious damage from water and mould, although in some
cases the things came through entirely uninjured.

General Van der Voort rode from Port La Gloria to the camp on horseback,
a hard trip, for the road had not improved. The mud and water and debris
made it a slow and exhausting journey. He assumed charge of the
company's business in the colony at once. Arrangements were made for a
prompt allotment of the land, and a committee of nine colonists, with
Dr. W. P. Peirce of Hoopeston, Ill., as chairman, was chosen to devise a
plan of distribution. After several prolonged sessions, the committee
unanimously reported a scheme by which those present should select their
land from the official map in the order of the priority of their
purchases. After these, the investors having authorized representatives
on the ground, the latter holding powers of attorney, were to have their
chance. In this second class, also, priority of purchase governed the
order of selection. The report further provided that the investor should
be allowed a second choice if he found his land to be unsatisfactory.
This plan, which I believed then and believe now was the best that could
have been devised, was adopted by the colonists with but a single
dissenting vote.

On Saturday, January 13, the allotment began, in what was known as
headquarters tent. The committee which had formulated the plan of
distribution was in charge, assisted by Chief Engineer Kelly, Architect
Neff, and others. The town lots were given out first, and by night
nearly all who were entitled to make selections in these classes had
been served. The town lot distribution was completed Monday morning, the
15th. The town was one mile square, and had been laid out and surveyed
under the supervision of M. A. Custer Neff, civil engineer and
architect. It was traversed and counter-traversed by streets and
avenues, appropriately named. These were as yet, for the most part, only
surveyors' paths cut through the forest, but they were much used as
thoroughfares to reach town lots and the plantation lands beyond. They
were rough roads, filled with mud,