in lat. 50°, and upwards; thence, in a S.W. direction, till it arrives at the sources of Maria and Medicine rivers, in lat. 49°, and long. 113°; thence the boundary turns to the south-east, along the crest of the Rocky mountains, till it strikes the Platte river in 42° N. lat. at its source; thence to the source of the Arkansaw river, down that river to the 100° W. long. ; thence due S. to a point on the Red river in the same meridian; and from thence to the source of the Sabine in a S.E. direction, and down that stream to its mouth in 93° 57′ W. long., and 3° 48′ W. of New Orleans in the gulf of Mexico. Extent.] The greatest longitudinal extent of territory possessed by the United States, is 46 degrees from E. to W.: namely, from East Port, in the province of Maine, at the mouth of St Croix river, to the crest of the Rocky mountains. Averaging 49 British miles for every degree of longitude in the latitude of 45o, the whole will form an aggregate of 2250 British miles, in a straight line. If the length be taken from Cape Cod, in 42° N. lat., and 70° W. long., to the ridge of the Rocky mountains that separates the remotest sources of the Rio del Norte, from those of the Arkansaw, Platte, and Big Horn rivers, in the same latitude, and 112° W. long., the distance will be 2160 British miles. If taken from the mouth of Albemarle sound, in 36° N. lat., and 76° W. long., to the crest of the Sierra Obscura, to the E. of Santa Fé, in W. long. 104° 30', the length will amount to 1436 British miles. If taken from the mouth of St Mary's river, the southern limit of the United States on the coast of the Atlantic, in 30° 45′ N. lat., and 81° 30′ W. long., to a point on the Sabine river in the same latitude, and 94o W. long., the direct length will be 12 degrees, which, in the parallel of 36°,7 will give 745 British miles. In the estimation of the length in the parallel of 36° we have, upon the authority of Humboldt, gone upon the assumption that the dividing ridge, on the east of Santa Fé, is in 104o of W. long. ; and that the town of Santa Fé, lies in 36° 12′ N. lat., and 104° 48′ W. long., or in 104° 37′, according to Antillon and Bauza. But the fact is, that geographers are by no means agreed as to the latitude or longitude of Santa Fé, and of consequence also, as to the longitude of the great dividing ridge in this quarter. Humboldt charges the American geographers with gross inaccuracy in their longitudes, especially in the map of West Louisiana, published at Philadelphia in 1803, which extends Louisiana in this quarter 5 degrees too far west, and places the city of Santa Fé in 110°5′ W. long. ; and Cape Mendocino, on the western coast of America, 4 degrees too far west, notwithstanding the observations of Vancouver and the Spaniards. If the American longitude of Santa Fé were correct, it would extend the boundary of Louisiana 280 British miles farther W. than we have done. Pike gives us little assistance in this matter, as it does not appear that he ascertained a single degree of longitude upon the spot. In his description of New Mexico, indeed, he places Santa Fé in 109° W. long, but whether from Paris or London, his text does not inform us. If from Paris, then it will be 1° 47 to the W. of the position assigned by Humboldt, and 3o 30 farther E. than in the map of West Louisiana mentioned above. If from Greenwich, its position will be 4o 12' farther W. than that indicated by Humboldt, and 1o 5′ to the E. of its position as stated in the American map. On the other hand, Humboldt was never in New Mexico, and his longitude and latitude of Santa Fé are given solely on Spanish authorities; and it does not appear that any of these authorities had been upon the spot, or verified their statements by actual astronomical observations at Santa Fé itself. He of course confesses that its longitude and latitude are still doubtful, and accordingly it stands, in his list, among those places whose geographical site is not accurately fixed. If we were to hazard an opinion, it would be this, that the subject is involved in obscurity for political reasons; and that if the Americans extend the longitude of Louisiana, in this quarter, 5 degrees too far to the W., the Spaniards are equally desirous of extending the frontier of New Mexico too far to the east. As to the latitude of Santa Fé, geographers are no less disagreed. It is placed in 38° 10′ by Jefferson, in his notes on Virginia; by Playfair, in 370 30; by another authority, in 36° 50'; by Rivera, in 36° 28'; by Humboldt, in 36° 12'; by Laforey, in 36° 10; and by Pike, in his usual vague manner, in 36o. All these circumstances taken together, evidently show, that neither the position of Santa Fé, nor the direction of the great dividing ridge, nor the western frontier of Louisiana in this quarter, are well known. In stating the extent of the United States from east to west, we have been obliged to discuss the position of Santa Fé, as upon it the extent of Louisiana depends. While Between the mouth of the Sabine river, and the most eastern mouth of the Mississippi, denominated the Balize, is 300 British miles, which is the narrowest part of the United States' territory in a longitudinal direction. With respect to the extent of the American territory from N. to S., it varies greatly. Along the Atlantic coast, the territory extends 1300 British miles, from the mouth of the river St Croix, in the N.E., to the mouth of St Mary's river in the S.W. From the St Lawrence river, and the frontiers of Lower Canada, in 45° N. lat., to the frontiers of Spanish Florida, in 31o N. lat., is 14 degrees of latitudinal breadth, or 9701 British miles. But this breadth is considerably contracted by the deep bend which lakes Erie and Ontario make to the S.W., being gradually contracted from 970 to 750 British miles, which is the whole intercepted space between the most southern point of Lake Erie, and the north boundary of Spanish Florida. As we approach the Mississippi, the breadth expands from 103 degrees, to 17 degrees of latitude, or from the gulf of Mexico, in 29°, to the southern shores of Lake Superior, in 46o N. lat. But if a line be drawn from the Rat Portage, at the N.W. end of the lake of the Woods, in 49° 37′ N. lat., and 94° 31′ W. long., to the mouth of the Sabine, in 29° 50′ N. lat., and 94° W. long., it will occupy a space of almost 20 degrees, or 1,370 British miles. As we advance still farther west, the breadth gradually contracts, till we arrive at the base of the great western range, denominated the Rocky mountains, where it is confined to the space of 8 degrees, or little more than 550 British miles. Superficial Measure.] The territory of the United States may be considered as comprehending two great divisions-the eastern and the western; the Mississippi, through its whole course, constituting the line of separation. The first division, up to the acquisition of the second, constituted the whole territory of the United States, and was computed by Mr Hutchins-the old geographer of the Congress-to contain 1,000,000 of British square miles, or 640,000,000 of acres of land and water; which last he computed to contain 51,000,000 of acres, or 79,6981 square miles. After deducting the waters, there remained 589,000,000 of acres of land, or 920,2011 British square miles. In this computation, however, Hutchins committed two material errors: the first consisted in taking it for granted that the lakes of Canada were accurately delineated in existing maps-for with all the improvements of modern geography, and with all the additional information lately furnished, respecting the interior of North America, it is not even certain that the great dividing lakes, with the smaller ones to the W and N.W., are yet accurately laid down in maps, so as to authorize us to calculate precisely the quantity of square miles and acres, belonging to each, or all of them, all our information respecting the latter, being derived solely from the reports and excursions of the Canadian hunters. The second material error lay in his longitudes, for he extended the territory of the United States too far to the W. by laying down the course of the upon this subject we may remark, that though on the one hand we ought to be cautious in receiving such longitudes and latitudes as Humboldt obtained at second hand from Spaniards, and which he could not verify by personal observation, we are sorry to remark, on the other hand, that in books of geography and travels published in the United States, even of those undertaken by order of their government, we meet with few or no observations of longitude. They are indicated on their maps, indeed, but we are seldom told how, or where they took them. 8 In this computation were included the waters of the lake of the Woods, lake Rainy, Red Lake, lakes Superior, Erie, Huron, with the bay of Puans, lakes Michigan, Ontario, Champlain, St Clair, St George, and all the bays and inlets on the coast, with the spaces occupied by the rivers. Mississippi, the grand inland boundary, several degrees farther W. and N.W. than the truth, as far down as its confluence with the Ohio. By these two material errors, he made the superficial extent of the United States, E. of the Mississippi, 100,000 British square miles, or 64,000,000 of acres too much.-According to Humboldt, the superficies of the United States, independent of Louisiana, did not exceed 900,000 square miles, or 117,478 square leagues of 25 leagues to the degree. This was the estimate of Mr Albert Gallatin, the American treasurer at Washington, who furnished Mr Humboldt with it in 1804, and who believed that any error of his calculation could not exceed 50,000 square miles.-Beaujour, in his statistical tables appended to his sketch of the United States, estimated the superficies of the United States, without Louisiana, at 908,364 square miles. But as he followed the error of Hutchins, in allowing 347,000 square miles of unoccupied territory, lying along the eastern bank of the Mississippi from its confluence with the Ohio to its supposed source, 100,490 miles must be deducted, which would leave 807,874 square miles of territory, exclusive of the lakes, bays, and rivers, to the United States; to which, if 79,698 square miles were added, for the lakes, &c. it would make a total of 887,572 square miles, or 12,428 square miles less than Humboldt and Gallatin's estimate.-The latest estimate is that of Mr John Melish, who in his geographical description of the United States, published at Philadelphia in 1815, calculates the total superficies of the United States, independent of Louisiana and the lakes, at 861,856 square miles. In this calculation, however, is included the territory on the E. of the Mississippi, commencing at its confluence with the Red river, in lat. 31°, and W. long. 91° 33′, and extending thence as far E. as 87° 40, and south to the sea, comprehending a superficies of 17,000 square miles, which if deducted from Melish's estimate, will make the total superficies of territory 843,856 square miles, which does not materially differ from Humboldt and Gallatin, who included the lakes, bays, and rivers, in their calculation. His table appears, upon inspection, to approximate nearest to truth, and bears evident marks of attention and labour. We shall accordingly here present the reader with Mr Melish's statistical table of the different states in the eastern division, their square miles, and number of acres : This estimate of Mr Melish is 37,412,160 acres, or 58,456 square miles less than that of Mr Hutchins, even including the territory E. of the Mississippi, and S. of the 31st degree of latitude, amounting to 17,000 square miles, or 10,880,000 acres, which will make the total difference between the two estimates amount to 48,592,160 acres, or 75,456 square miles. We shall presently introduce a more recent estimate of the area of this part of the States' territory. |