EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. COMPRISING ADVICE AND INSTRUCTION IN EVERY STAGE OF THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA; SUCH AS, CHOICE OF A SHIP; PROVISIONS AND CLOTHING FOR THE VOYAGE; TO DO ON LANDING; INTERESTING ANECDOTES, ETC. ALSO, INFORMATION WHICH THE EMIGRANT NEEDS ON ARRIVAL; SUCH AS, CHOICE OF LODGINGS; WAYS OF SHARPERS; HOW TO GET EMPLOYMENT; TO PRESERVE HEALTH, ETC. ETC. LONDON: WILEY & PUTNAM, 6, WATERLOO PLACE; AND ALL THE RESPECTABLE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE following may be referred to as respectable Shipping Agents for Emigrants to the United States. LONDON: PHILLIPS & TIPLADY, 3, George Yard, Lombard Street. LIVERPOOL: HARNDEN & Co. (An American House, having Branches in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, etc.), 60, Waterloo P. W. BYRNES & GEORGE SAUL, Waterloo Road. GEORGE RIPPARD & Son, Waterloo Road. J. D. ROCHE, 14, Goree Piazzas. GLASGOW: MNEIL & SOMERVILLE, 63, St. Vincent Street. SHEPHERD & Co., 57, Buchanan Street. HAMILTON BROTHERS & Co., 240, Brownlow Quay. DUBLIN: H. & W. SCOTT, 25 & 31, Eden Quay. DANIEL KENNY, 25, Eden Quay. CORK: JOHN BERNARD, Jun., 3, Church Street. GREGORY O'NEILL, 9, Merchants Quay. RAY BRISTOL: E. BRYANT, Marsh Street. MARK WHITWILL, Middle Avenue. N.B. For List of Packet Ships and other Vessels for the United States, see the end of the book. there mentioned may be relied upon as good vessels. All WHILE Great Britain teems with a vast surplus population, and tens of thousands are crowded out from the means of gaining a scanty subsistence, America offers a boundless field for industry. As yet British philanthropy has made but small progress in "breaking down the icy barriers between the various grades of society, which make the poor feel themselves little, if any, better than outcasts on the face of the land that gave them birth, but denies them more than the meanest pittance to sustain life;" ;"* and yet on the other side of the Atlantic, where there are no such "icy barriers," the willing hand of labour finds employment and reward. There, at a trivial cost and in a genial climate, may be had vast tracts of the most fertile soil. There, an assured competence awaits the frugal and industrious poor; while to the enterprising agriculturist of small capital, substantial independence is offered as the sure result of judicious investment and prudent husbandry. In America, ready facilities exist, within reach of all, for acquiring the comforts and even the luxuries of life, while multitudes in this country are denied the privilege of earning their daily bread. These facts-facts not to be denied nor concealed annually lead, with an impulse scarcely less irresistible than the instinct of self-preservation, many thousands of British emigrants to the shores of the Western world. Against these facts and impulses are idly opposed the burlesque, satire, and distorted caricature of those writers whose aim seems to have been to foster mutual suspicion, prejudice, and enmity between two kindred nations. Emigrants landing at the large American seaports, without friends or advisers, often become the victims of sharpers, such as are to be found in all countries, ready to prey upon the credulous and unwary. Thousands too migrate from their own homes with very vague or very crazy notions of the method of establishing themselves elsewhere. Even when not quite so visionary in their views of "the land of liberty," as to expect that gold may be picked up in the streets, they are still in many cases "The Times," Oct. 16, 1844. lamentably deficient in that authentic and precise information which is requisite for their economical and successful guidance. At New York, and perhaps at other ports, societies have recently been formed for the information and protection of emigrants; and they are doubtless of essential service to those who need disinterested advice on landing among strangers in "a far country." The want, however, of a brief but comprehensive Guide Book for the Emigrant has long been observed. This little volume is designed to supply that want. The information it contains has been carefully collected, and may be relied upon as impartial and substantially correct. The author has no private object to gain; he is not a speculator, nor the agent of a land company: but from his own practical observation and experience (being himself an emigrant from North Britain), he hopes to serve a large class, whose interests are too rarely considered, and whose lot has often been hard. And while he would not attempt to delude the intending emigrant with visions of an El dorado —of a paradise and boundless wealth to be had for the taking he would shew to those who are ready to put their hands to the plough, that there is ample encouragement to expect an abundant harvest. Without intending invidious comparisons with other fields of emigration, the discussion of which might alone fiil a volume, it is but proper to refer to the fact, that in the United States, the British emigrant goes among a people of his own kindred, religion, and language; where he may continue to enjoy civil and religious liberty; where the poorest child is entitled, as a matter of right and free of expense, to the privilege of elementary education; and where all the necessaries of life are comparatively cheap, and the means of earning them abundant: and all this, not at the Antipodes, nor amidst Northern snows, or under a Tropical sun, but in a temperate climate like his own; but a month's voyage distant; and where he may communicate weekly with the friends he leaves behind; and in twenty days after it was written, he may read a letter from England, on the banks of the Mississippi. CONTENTS. General remarks on emigration. Who should emigrate. The choice of a ship. Dishonest runners. Extract from the circular of the New York Emigrant So- ciety. How to know whether a passenger agent is respectable or otherwise The difference in ships. Good and bad points about a ship so plainly stated that an emigrant can choose a ship for himself. A ship should be of good height between decks--should have good conveniences for cooking-good water-closets. When a ship is properly loaded. The character of the cap tain and officers important. Facts illustrative of the difference between a bad captain and a good captain. Emigrants should speak well of a good ship |