Heads of families, unless they know precisely where to go, will do well to make a trial visit before moving those depending on them.  Going alone, they will be able to move about much more freely, with a better chance of finding a home or occupation.  By bringing out their families only after seeing the country and selecting a suitable locality, they will save themselves much anxiety.  They may also save expense, as the cost of the advance journey will hardly be as great as that of maintaining their families in the States while they are looking about for a place of settlement.

WHEN TO GO.

After deciding where to go, one must decide when to go.  This is very simple, if circumstances allow a free choice.  Spring is by all means the best season, summer the next, autumn the next, and winter the worst.  In the summer the ocean is even quieter than in the spring, but by going early one has a better chance of immediate employment on landing.  In the winter, rough weather generally prevails on the ocean, but the ships are usually much less crowded than during the rest of the year.

HOW TO GO.

Steamships are far preferable to sailing vessels for the voyage.  The former make the passage in from ten to fourteen days, while the latter require from four to eight weeks.  The rates of passage are generally lower on sailing than on steam vessels, but the difference is not great enough to compensate for the loss of time and the hardships of a long voyage.  The accommodations, especially the food, are generally much better on steamships.  Nine tenths of the emigrants to the United States already come by steamers, and it is believed that sailing ships will soon entirely cease to be employed in carrying them.  In 1869 steamers lost only one in a thousand passengers, while sailing vessels lost one in two hundred.  This shows how much safer the former are.

To reach the port of embarkation, if the emigrant is not already there, requires information which can be fully given only on the spot, and we do not here attempt it.  At most of the steamship agencies which are scattered over Great Britain and Northern Europe, tickets may her purchased to cover the expense of the journey to the port.  The purchase of tickets requires caution.  The emigrant must take care that he goes to the proper office, and gets the proper ticket at the proper price.

We now give a table in which the various steamship lines are enumerated, with details concerning their management as far as steerage passengers, that is, emigrants, are concerned."