174 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



determine that the dividing line shall pass up through the mouth of 

 Piscataqua harbor, and up the river Newichwannock, part of which is 

 now called Salmon Falls, and through the middle of the same up to the 

 fartherest head thereof, and from thence north two degrees westerly, until 

 1 20 miles be finished from the mouth of Piscataqua harbor aforesaid, or 

 until it meets his majesties other governments ; and that the dividing 

 line shall part the Isles of Sholes, and run through the middle of the 

 harbor between the islands to the sea on the southerly side, and that the 

 south-westerly part of said islands shall lye in and be accounted part of 

 the province of New Hampshire." To the order of Governor Belcher, 

 appointing Walter Bryent to survey the line, was affixed the following 

 memorandum : "The true north 2° west is by the needle nprth 8° east, 

 which is your course." Bryent went only to the Saco, and it is supposed 

 that the line was extended to the north-east corner of Shelbume, in 1763, 

 under the direction of Isaac Rindge. From this point the survey was 

 continued, under the direction of a committee of the legislature, to the 

 birch tree that formerly marked the northern terminus of the line, — the 

 work having been done by Jeremiah Fames and Joseph Cram. 



After the lapse of many years, when Maine had been erected into a 

 separate state, provision was made by the states of New Hampshire and 

 Maine to have the line resurveyed, and designated by suitable monu- 

 ments. Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth, and Hon. J. W. Weeks, 

 of Lancaster, were appointed commissioners on the part of New 

 Hampshire. 



In 1858 the line was again surveyed. Col. Henry O. Kent was ap- 

 pointed on the part of New Hampshire.* 



The northern terminus of the eastern boundary of the state is on the 

 water-shed between the streams flowing northward into the St. Lawrence, 

 and the streams that flow southward and form the Magalloway. The 

 iron post that marks the north-east corner of the state is also on the 

 boundary between the states and the provinces, and the point is said to 

 be 2,569 feet above the level of the sea. 



The line between New Hampshire and Maine runs south 2° east. 



* Since penning the above, Mr. Huntington has attended to his official duty of remarking this boundary line, 

 in the month of April, 1874. C H H 



