Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1853).djvu/18

2 supposing a degree of a great circle to be 69 m. 864 f., as computed by Cassini. These boundaries include an area somewhat triangular, of 121,525 square miles, whereof 79,650 lie westward of the Alleghaney mountains, and 57,034 westward of the meridian of the mouth of the Great Kanhaway. This State is therefore one-third larger than the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, which are reckoned at 88,357 square miles.

These limits result from—1. The ancient charters from the crown of England. 2. The grant of Maryland to the Lord Baltimore, and the subsequent determinations of the British Court as to the extent of that grant. 3. The grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn, and a compact between the General Assemblies of the Commonwealths of Virginia and Pennsylvania as to the extent of that grant. 4. The grant of Carolina, and actual location of its Northern boundary, by consent of both parties. 5. The treaty of Paris of 1763. 6. The confirmation of the charters of the neighboring States by the Convention of Virginia at the time of constituting their Commonwealth. 7. The cession made by Virginia to Congress of all the lands to which they had title on the North side of the Ohio. 



A NOTICE OF ITS RIVERS, RIVULETS, AND HOW FAR THEY ARE NAVIGABLE?

An inspection of a map of Virginia will give a better idea of the geography of its rivers than any description in writing. Their navigation may be imperfectly noted.

Roanoke, so far as it lies within this State, is no where navigable but for canoes or light batteaux; and, even for these,