PUBLIC LAND SYSTEM. 103 



east and west township lines as at first run are simple random lines, which 

 are corrected backward in order to suit the positions of the township 

 corners, as determined upon the guide meridians and north and south town- 

 ship lines. The township lines are all run with a solar compass or transit, 

 and double chaining is not required. The east and west sides of the sec- 

 tions are run in all cases northward, while the north and south sides may be 

 run either east or west. As in running township lines, the first east and west 

 and north and south lines in the northern tier of sections are merely random 

 lines, to be corrected backward, the mile posts upon the township lines 

 being regarded as the final locations of the section corners. In running the 

 section lines the quarter-section corners are marked, but the lines are not run 

 by the Government surveyors. The accumulated errors in the subdivision 

 of the township are thrown into the northern and western tiers of sections. 



Surveys have been started from numerous initial points, involving the 

 measurement of a number of principal meridians and base lines. No system 

 has been followed in the arrangement of principal meridians and base lines, 

 or in the subdivision of the country with respect to them. 



In making these surveys, topography is mapped to but a limited 

 extent. The positions of all streams are obtained at the points of crossing 

 of the lines — i. e., at intervals of a mile.' The same is the case with roads. 

 All streams of importance, however, are traversed, and, in the case of navi- 

 gable streams, both banks are traversed separately. The margins of all 

 lakes and ponds of magnitude are traversed, and the outlines of all swampy 

 and marshy areas are indicated. Indeed, were the work done thoroughly 

 everywhere, there would be obtained material for a map fairly accurate in 

 details of the horizontal elements. Practically, however, the degree of ful- 

 ness varies with the surveyor. In many cases the plats are sufficiently 

 full of detail for maps upon a scale of 2 miles to an inch, and in some 

 eases for a scale even larger. In other cases, over considerable areas, the 

 drainage represented is exceedingly scanty. In some townships few or no 

 streams are represented. In other words, for mapping purposes, the work 

 is by no means uniform in quality. Furthermore, no attempt has liereto- 

 f( ire been made to obtain correct positions. Most of the initial points of the 

 survey were assumed arbitrarily, and their positions in latitude and longi- 



