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CHAPTER XVIL

MARYLAND. *

SITUATION AND BOUNDARIES.-Maryland is situated between 38° and 39° 43′ north latitude, and 2o east, and 2° 30′ west longitude from Washington. It is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania; south and west by Virginia; east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean. It extends along each side of the Chesapeak bay to the northern line, which separates it from Pennsylvania and Delaware 196 miles in length. On the south-west it is separated from Virginia by the Potomac. It is of a very irregular form. Area, 10,800 square miles, or 6,912,000 acres, of which about one fifth is water.

Aspect of the Country and Nature of the Soil.-The eastern shore is level, with a great variety of soil, and interspersed with tracts of marsh and sand. The inland parts, finely variegated, resemble those of Pennsylvania. The hills, which commence near Baltimore, extend to the western parts, and there swell into two great ridges, the Cotocton and South Mountain, which run parallel to each other, and in a direction nearly

• So called from Queen Henrietta Maria of France, the daughter of Henry IV. and wife of Charles I. of England.

from north to south, to the banks of the Potomac. Between those ridges, and on the eastern and western sides, the vallies, several miles in breadth, are fertile, and the soil of the mountainous parts, consisting of clay and loam, is generally well adapted for agriculture. The most fertile counties are Frederick and Washington. The poorest tract extends from Baltimore Bay to the left bank of the Potomac, where the soil is a quartzose sand, without a sufficient quantity of clay to render it productive. The soil near Annapolis, where there is a due proportion of clay, gives good crops of Indian corn, clover, and esculent plants.

Temperature.-The temperature is mild, The sweet potatoe indicates the commencement of the southern climate. In the hilly parts the heat of summer is cooled by sea breezes; but in the vallies it is often disagreeable when not moderated by rains or refreshing winds. During the month of July, the thermometer at 1 o'clock generally varies from eighty to ninety degrees.

Bays and Rivers.-The Chesapeak, which is the largest bay in the United States, runs from north to south through this state, separating it into two parts, called, from their relative position, the Eastern and Western shores. This bay is nearly 200 miles in length, from 7 to 30 in breadth, with nine fathom water, and has numerous branches, some of which are navigable to the distance of twenty or thirty miles from their outlet. The south-eastern coast of Maryland is watered by the Sinepuxent bay, which is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by ridges of sandy soil, intersected

by channels, through which, at different distances, it forms communications. It has two branches; the upper, extending in a north-western direction, is called St Martin's river; the lower, Assatieque river. Pokomoke river runs nearly parallel with this bay, across the south-eastern parts of the state, from Cypress Swamp, in a course of about forty miles, into a large bay of its own name. Ascending the Chesapeak northwardly, on the eastern side, the first considerable branch is the Manokin river, which runs nearly a western course to its outlet. The next is the Wicomico river, which has a south-western course of about twenty miles from its source, near the Cypress Swamp. The next is Nanticoke, which runs nearly in the same direction, a course of thirty miles, into Fishing bay, and has several branches. Into the same bay fall, in a southerly direction, Transoquaking, Blackwater, and Fearing Creeks. Hungary river; Hudson river. Choptank river rises above the 39th degree of latitude, and runs a south and south-western course of nearly sixty miles. St Michael's river falls into Eastern bay. Chester river rises from two sources beyond the Delaware line of boundary, and runs a course of more than forty miles. It receives on each side several streams. Sassafras river runs from the Delaware line of boundary, in a western direction, to the bay, a distance of sixteen miles. Above this is Elk river, formed of different small streams, to the junction of which, at Elktown, thirteen miles from the sea, it is navigable for vessels drawing twelve feet water. Above this is the north-east branch, which rises above the northern line of boundary, and runs a

south-westerly course of fifteen miles. The Susquehannah, which runs within the state in a south-easterly direction, sixteen miles to its outlet at Havre de Grace, forming the northern extremity of the Chesapeak bay, has been described in our account of Pennsylvania. On the eastern side it receives two considerable creeks, Coctoraro and Conewango; on the western Deer creek, which has a south-eastern course from above the northern line of boundary. Of the western branches of the Chesapeak bay in this state, the most southerly, and by far the greatest, is the Potomac, which forms the south-western and western boundary of Maryland. The next great branch is the Patuxent river, which enters the Chesapeak, about eighteen miles above the Potomac, after a south-easterly course of 110 miles. It is navigable for vessels of 250 tons to Nottingham, forty-six miles from its outlet, and boats ascend fourteen miles higher, to Queen Anne's Town. It has a number of small branches, some of which approach near to those of the Potomac on one side, and the Patapsco on the other. Thirty-six miles farther north is West river, a short arm of the bay; and just above this is South river, another arm, ten miles in length, and nearly two in mean breadth. These arms receive a number of small streams. Five miles higher is the Severn river, which runs a south-east course of ten or twelve miles. The town of Annapolis is situated on its southern bank, near the bay, where a sand-bar, stretching across, leaves twenty-one feet water. Above this is Magothy river, a few miles in length. The Patapsco, which rises to the south of Morton's Round

Hills, near the Pennsylvania line of boundary, and runs a south-east course till within eight miles of Baltimore, where it takes an eastern direction, and widens greatly till its junction with the Patapsco bay. It is navigable to Elk ridge landing, a distance of eight miles. The western branch extends near to the source of the Patuxent. On the northern side, where the river forms an inlet or bay, is situated the town of Baltimore. This bay receives a small stream from the north, called Jones' Falls; and above the town is another called Gwinn's Falls. Back river, which takes its rise to the north of Baltimore, runs a south-east course into the bay. About twelve miles above the Patapsco is Gunpowder river, whose branches extend to the northern boundary, but owing to numerous falls it is unnavigable. The last is Bush river, an arm of the bay, seven or eight miles in length, which extends in a northern direction, and receives two small streams. Deer Creek is a considerable stream, which takes its rise above the northern boundary, and runs in a western direction to the Susquehannah river. The surface of the country along the Potomac is watered by a number of small streams, which fall into it. The northwestern parts are watered by the Monocacy, Antictam, and Conegocheaque creeks or streams, which run in a south-south-west direction to the Potomac.

Minerals.-Iron ore is found in great abundance in different parts of the state. It gives a deep reddish colour to the soil in the vicinity of Baltimore. At the distance of three miles west from that town are extensive beds of nodular iron ore. Chromate of iron abounds near

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