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Show 10 NATIONAL WAGON ROAD GUIDE. and reptiles of the plains, and a few words upo~ ~he vegetation of the Rocky Mountains ; also a description of the most noted landmarks, natural scenery and objects, their remarkable features and peculiarities, w!th a notice of the various phenomena of mirage, sand-pillar, and sand-storm; of incidents that have occurred, and are likely to occur to travelers on the route ; and t~en we will be ready to start out with you upon the plains, alono- the line of the national wagon road, from the At- o lantic States to California. ADVANTAGES OF THE OVERLAND ROUTE. We believe the very best way to migrate from the Atlantic States of the Union, to California, is by the overland route. Its entire adaptation to the convenience and means of the masses, and its cheapness over every other route, is beyond question. Indeed, there is no other way known, by which a man, possessing only .two hundred dollars, can reach .California from the Eastern States, and, on arriving, have the same amount of cash in hand as on starting, unless he works his passage on shipboard, or in some other way which is not practicable, or adapted to the condi6on of the masses ; but if he crosses the plains, and meets with ordinary good luck, he can. . For it is no unusual occurrence to sell the remainder of an outfit for the plains, on arriving in California, for more even than it cost in the States ; but to be enabled to do this, it must be of the right kind. By ' . NATIONAL WAGON ROAD GUIDE. 11 following, or acting up to the suggestions given, under the head of General directions, in regard to outfit, animals, and their treatment on the route, there need be no difficulty. In making .the journey of the plains, there is just this difference between the man with only $100, and the man who can furnish from $150 to $200. One hundred dollars is hardly sufficient to enable you to be one of four men to get up the necessary animals, wagon, and provisions; but one hundred and :fifty or two hundred dollars is sufficient. The difference, then, amounts to this : the man upon the frontier, at any of the usual starting points on thP. Missouri River, with one hundred dollars, can get to California, by paying his money to some company going with ox teams and droves of cattle, engaging on his part, ~ in addition to the one hundred dollars, to perform his share of the labors attendant upon driving and herding the stock, and the duties of the camp. But on reaching California his money is gone. Not so with the man who, with two hundred dollars, can own his share of a four-man o~tfit; because the amount realized from the sale of the animals, harness, and wagon, on arrival, will very nearly equal, if not exceed, t~eir first cost. · T.rue, the passage ~f the plains occupies a little more th~n two months, when m.ade· with horses or mules, and with ox teams from seventy-five to ninety days; whilst t4e trip by water, from New York, can be made in li~~l·d ·- |