As 1 had a little touch of the Eastern land epidemic, will say a few words about it, and if the reader happens to be one of the lucky ones, I hope his feelings will not be hurt if he should happen to see it mentioned at this time. All who remember the event know how suddenly it came up, like the Aurora Borealis; all at once the whole North-eastern hemisphere was lighted up, newspapers teemed with the sudden rise of Eastern land! From Boston to New Orleans, all was commotion, bonds for townships changing hands, and at each change a profit of forty, fifty, and in some cases a hundred thousand dollars was " not!'' realized. I kept out of it until toward the last, when every body else had made their fortunes.
One day I read a paragraph in the paper, something like this: " Lucky speculation." — Our fellow-citizen, D being at Bangor, bought a bond of a valuable timbered township, for which he was to pay (and had given his notes) fifty thousand dollars. He sold the bond the same day to a Philadelphia company for two hundred thousand, thus in a few hours, realizing a profit of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars! ' This poor fellow was ultimately ruined by this hasty and unfortunate transaction. Before this affair came out however, I was into it, in company with several others, who were considered to be very shrewd, and there was really, as we thought, a fortune before us.
" Why," says V —, who was the sharpest one in the company, "just look here;" and with his pencil had it all figured out on his memorandum book, thus: " The land costs so much, — now, allowing so many thousand feet of boards from each acre, so many acres at and allowing for expenses and contingencies, it leaves the enormous sum of millions of dollars! Why, gentlemen, here it is right before you; figures can't lie you know; we shall make a hundred thousand dollars apiece, sure as the world." Not one of us had ever seen the lot, having purchased it by the plan. Col. Humbug, from whom, and when we purchased it, showed us a bundle of certificates purporting to be from surveyors and explorers, who all gave the most flattering accounts of the luxuriant growth of timber upon it, stating also that it bordered on a bay where a vessel could haul along-side the bank, and take in the lumber.
Then there was an abundance of black bears, and a splendid pond where a man might sit all day and fish; besides, there was to be a great military road cut through which would very much enhance the worth of it. About a month after the purchase, when things began to leak out a little, a gentleman of our acquaintance was going down east to look at a lot that he had purchased. As he was to go directly through ours, we asked him to take a look and tell us what he thought about it. We were anxious to see him on his return, expecting to hear a good report of our purchase; but what was our chagrin and dismay when told that he had not found it! and that he had spent nearly two days, with two men who were familiar with every inch of the country, and no such place as our plan designated could be* found!
We now began to suspect; and would have taken fifty thousand dollars each for the speculation I We felt a sort of an inkling; that we had been sold; so one of our party with myself started off for the promised land. First, stopping at Bangor in order to have a conference with Col. Humbug, from whom we had made the purchase, and by much enquiry, found where our lot ought to have been, but it ivas'nt there I for instead of bordering on a bay as it was described on the plan, and where we expected to find it, we were told by the land agent that no such lot existed, but there was one bordering on the pond, that probably was the lot we were in search of, and after climbing over rocks, hills, dismal smamps, and pine forests, half devoured by mosquitos, reeking wet with perspiration, our clothes torn by brambles, and suffering much from thirst, came to a house.
The door being open, we entered. Here were two cut-throat looking fellows, seated beside a table, drinking whiskey. There was no furniture in the room, but against the wall were two rifles with powder horns, and a few articles of ragged clothing. We asked for a drink of water, which was brought us by a woman who looked the very image of distress. After obtaining what information we could get from these men, went off in the direction pointed out by them, and kept on through myriads of large, blue flies and mosquitos, dense woods and bogs, and at last found what we supposed to be the place. On a high and verdant hill was an old squatter who had cleared about forty acres, and built two log-houses.