I have already said that applicants should verify for themselves the
statements made by persons who, like myself, would be personally
benefited by their settling upon the lands offered for sale. Letters
sent to this country, and advertised by agents as a guarantee of
advantages, written by persons soon after arrival in California, and who
have not compared the place of their location with other places, can
scarcely be a sufficient recommendation. Some parts of California
advertised in this country for sale have not a permanent water supply;
are too hot; are swept by winds; are at a considerable distance from a
railway station; have a poor, sandy soil, some even mixed with alkali;
and some are so situated as to be "notoriously unhealthy," and produce
chills, fevers, and general malaria, and, in one case, I have heard of
an embarrassed title: therefore, I say that intending settlers should
remember there is a California and a California--that it is not all gold
which glitters, and that they should, personally and intelligently,
investigate for themselves, on the spot, the statements made by those
who, at a distance, offer the lands for sale.