book, and also three
shirts and some pairs of socks, was allowed to go to his dinner, with
his _magasin_ in his hand, and start by the first conveyance; while
his less fortunate fellow-travellers had to dine in absence of their
luggage, and perhaps give the town that had the honour of being their
landing-place, the profit of their company for the night.

But what is the use of all these insinuations of aptitude for
colonisation, when there is not such another man in the world? We beg
pardon; but we have actually discovered such another, and to introduce
him suitably has been the sole aim of our existence in writing this
interesting preface. In a most authentic newspaper, we find the
following admirable history, copied from the _New York Express_:--

'A man who had been an unsuccessful delver in the mines of Georgia, on
hearing the thrilling news of the gold placers of California, had his
spirit quickened within him; and although he had arrived at an
age--being about sixty--when the fires of youth usually cease to burn
with vigour, he fixed his eyes upon the far-distant and but
little-known country, and resolved that he would wend his way thither
alone, and even in the absence of that friend, generally thought
indispensable, money, of which he was wholly destitute.

'Under such circumstances, it would not avail to think of a passage
round "The Horn," or by the more uncertain, and at the same time
imperfected route, across the Isthmus. But as California was on this
continent, he knew that there was a way thither, though it might lead
through trackless deserts and barren wastes. These were not enough to
daunt his determined spirit. He bent his way to the "Father of
Waters," and worked his way as he could, till he found himself at
"Independence," in health, and with no less strength, and with 150
dollars in his purse. He had no family to provide for, or even
companion to care for, on the route which he was about to enter. Yet
some things were necessary for himself; and to relieve his body from
the pressure of a load, he provided himself with a wheel-barrow, on
which to place his traps.

'It must not be supposed that our hero was ignorant of the large
number of emigrants that was moving over the plains, and it is quite
probable that his sagacity was precocious enough to look ahead at the
result of attempting to carry forward such ponderous loads, and such a
variety of at least dispensable things as the earlier parties st