nature,
A company which had purchased an enormous territory from the United
States Government at five shillings an acre might well repay itself
all the cost of a railway through that territory, even though the
receipts of the railway should do no more than maintain the current
expenses. It is in this way that the thousands of miles of American
railroads have been opened; and here again must be seen the immense
advantages which the States as a new country have enjoyed. With us
the purchase of valuable land for railways, together with the legal
expenses which those compulsory purchases entailed, have been so
great that with all our traffic railways are not remunerative. But
in the States the railways have created the value of the land. The
States have been able to begin at the right end, and toon our return, the distance is 450 miles. We were therefore
for a considerable time on board these boats; more so than such a
journey may generally make necessary, as we were delayed at first by
the soldiers, and afterwards by accidents, such as the breaking of
a paddle-wheel, and other causes to which navigation on the Upper
Mississippi seems to be liable. On the whole we slept on board four
nights, and lived on board as many days. I cannot say that the life
was comfortable, though I do not know that it could be made more so
by any care on the part of the boat-owners. My first complaint would
be against the great heat of the cabins. The Americans as a rule live
in an atmosphere which is almost unbearable by an Englishman. To this
cause,