He didn’t believe God had made a mistake; he didn’t believe He could. Why, way down in the dark earth there never wuz known to be any mistake made, a wheat seed never sprung up into a cowcumber, a lily seed never blowed out into a daffodil. No, there seemed to be a eternal law that prevented all mistakes and blunders. And havin’ sot down the black man in Africa, Victor felt that it wuz pretty sure to be the right and best place for him. Stanley said that there wuz room enough in one section of the Upper Congo basin to locate double the number of negroes in the United States, without disturbin’ a single tribe that now inhabits it; that every one of these seven million negroes might become owner of nearly a quarter square mile of land. Five acres of this planted with bananas and plantains would furnish every soul with sufficient food and drink. The remainder of the twenty-seven acres of his estate would furnish him with timber, rubber, gums, dye stuffs, etc., for sale. There is a clear stream every few hundred yards, the climate is healthy and agreeable. Eight navigable rivers course through it. Hills and ridges diversify the scenery and give magnificent prospects. To the negroes of the South it would be a reminder of their own plantations without the swamps and depressin’ influence of cypress forests. Anything and everything might be grown in it, from the oranges, guavas, sugar-cane and cotton of sub-tropical lands, to the wheat of California and the rice of South Carolina. If the emigration wuz prudently conceived and carried out, the glowin’ accounts sent home by the first settlers would soon dissipate all fear and reluctance on the part of the others. But to make this available, it would have to be undertaken at once, says Stanley. For if it hain’t taken advantage of by the American negro, the railways towards that favored land will be constructed, steamers will float on the Congo, and the beautiful forest land will be closed to such emigration by the rule, first come first served. And then this beautiful, hopeful chance will be lost forever. Victor read this, and more, from Stanley’s pen, and felt deeply the beautiful reasonableness of the skeme. With all the eloquence of which he wuz master he tried to bring these facts home to his people, and tried to arouse in them something of his own enthusiasm. As for himself he wuz bound to go—as teacher, as missionary, as leader—as soon as he could; his mother’s health wuz failing—his unhappy mistress needed him sorely—his preparations wuz not all completed yet. There wuz several hundred young, intelligent negroes, most of them with families, who wuz workin’ hard to get the money Victor thought would be necessary for a successful venture. For besides the cost of transportation, Victor wanted them to be placed beyend the possibility of sufferin’ and hardship while they wuz preparin’ their land for cultivation.