GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 



ON THE PROGRESS OF THE SURVEY OF THE COAST OF THE 



UNITED STATES. 



AT the recent meeting of the American Association, Prof. A. D. 

 Bache, the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, gave an account of 

 its progress. " The survey of the coast was first proposed by Mr. Jef- 

 ferson, in 1807. Congress acted upon the subject but tardily. The 

 Executive was even more tardy after the law had been passed. " At that 

 time the importance of the work was hardly understood. The work 

 was greatly in advance of the times. Mr. Gallatin sketched the plan 

 of a magnificent geodetic work ; one which, embracing the survey of 

 the coast of the United States, should connect with it a survey on the 

 water of all the approaches to that coast. 



"In 1816 the work was commenced, under the direction of Mr. 

 Hassler; but in 1818, from the idea that he was proceeding too slow- 

 ly, the work was stopped. It was revived in 1832, and he seemed 

 then to have more enlarged ideas of what the work might be made, 

 for his second series of observations were on a larger scale than the 

 first. His instruments for measuring horizontal angles are even now 

 quite as good as any used abroad. In 1844, when he was proceeding 

 rapidly, his labors were closed by death. The year 1844 was with 

 me a year of observation. I examined the complaints of the slow- 

 ness with which the works were going on, and concluded that, if it 

 was to be pushed much more rapidly, more money must be granted. 

 Still, I thought the work might be in some way or other expedited, as 

 I had the advantage of beirinnin"- with a foundation already laid, and 



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with trained assistants. Mr. Hassler intended to begin at New York, 

 and extend the work north and south from that point, working at both 

 ends. I concluded to divide this into smaller sections, so that we 

 might extend the work from several centres. The question of the 

 manner of making the division depended upon the then progress of 

 the work itself, and the manner of operation. The plan of opera- 

 tions in the coast survey is briefly this : First, a base line is meas- 

 ured by the most accurate means we can devise ; say a line of from 6 to 

 10 miles in length. We have some bases as small as 6 miles : and we 



