THE 

 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



CHAPTER I. 



Situation f Boundaries ^ Area, Soil, and Fass 

 of the Country. 



THE State of Vermont is situated be- 

 tween 42 degrees 44 minutes, and 45 degrees 

 of north latitude ; and between 1 degree 43 

 minutes, and 3 degrees 2»& minutes of longitude, 

 east from the meridian of Philadelphia. It is 

 altogether an inland country ; surrounded by 

 the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts, 

 Newyork, and the Province of Canada. That 

 part of the State of Vermont which is nearest 

 to the sea coast, is at the distance of seventy or 

 eighty miles, from any part of the ocean. 



On the south, Vermont is bounded by the 

 state of Massachusetts. This line is forty one 

 miles in length, and was a part of the divisional 

 line between Massachusetts and Newhampshire. 

 It was derived from the decision of a former 

 King of Great Britain. On March 5, 1740, 

 George the second, resolved, " That the nor- 

 thern boundary of the Province of Massachu- 

 setts, be a similar curve line, pursuing tlie course 

 of Merrimack river, at three miles distance, on 

 the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic 



C 



