untry, which are
managed by the farmers of the West, but never return up stream. They
are sold for lumber, and the owners, after disposing of the cargo,
return by steam. The number of boatmen on the western waters is not only
greatly reduced, but those that remain are fast losing their original
character.

CHAPTER V.

PUBLIC LANDS.

System of Surveys.--Meridian and Base Lines.--Townships.--Diagram of a
township surveyed into Sections.--Land Districts and Offices.
--Pre-emption rights.--Military Bounty Lands.--Taxes.--Valuable Tracts
of country unsettled.

In all the new states and territories, the lands which are owned by the
general government, are surveyed and sold under one general system.
Several offices, each under the direction of a surveyor general, have
been established by acts of Congress, and districts, embracing one or
more states, assigned them. The office for the surveys of all public
lands in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and the Wisconsin country is located
at Cincinnati. The one including the states of Illinois and Missouri,
and the territory of Arkansas is at St. Louis. Deputy surveyors are
employed to do the work at a stipulated rate per mile, generally from
three to four dollars, who employ chain bearers, an axe, and flag man,
and a camp-keeper. They are exposed to great fatigue and hardship,
spending two or three months at a time in the woods and prairies, with
slight, moveable camps for shelter.

In the surveys, "_meridian_" lines are first established, running north
from the mouth of some noted river. These are intersected with "_base_"
lines.

There are five principal meridians in the land surveys in the west.

The "_First Principal Meridian_" is a line due north from the mouth of
the Miami.

The "_Second Principal Meridian_" is a line due north from the mouth of
Little Blue river, in Indiana.

The "_Third Principal Meridian_" is a line due north from the mouth of
the Ohio.

The "_Fourth Principal Meridian_" is a line due north from the mouth of
the Illinois.

The "_Fifth Principal Meridian_" is a line due north from the mouth of
the Arkansas. Another Meridian is used for Michigan, which passes
through the central part of the state. Its base line extends from about
the middle of lake St. Clair, across the state west to lake Michigan.
Each of these meridians has its own base line.

The surveys connected with the third and fourth meridians, and a small
portion of the second, emb