I. NEW ENGLAND STATES.
Maine.—This state is bounded north and north-west by Lower Canada; east by New Brunswick; west by New Hampshire, and south by the Atlantic ocean. The north-eastern boundary is yet in dispute.Maine is divided into 18 counties.[59] The towns are about four hundred in number; Augusta is the capital. The other principal towns are Portland, Brunswick, Bath, Wiscasset, Bangor, Castine, Hallowell, York, Saco, Kennebunk,Eastport, Machias, Belfast, Gardiner, and Waterville. The chief rivers are the Saco, Penobscot, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Walloostook and Allagash, head streams of the St. John, and the St. Croix. Among the mountains are Bald, Ebeeme, Spencer and Katahdin. The lakes are Moosehead, Umbagog, Chesuncook, and Sebago. Mount Desert is the largest of the islands with which the coast is strewn. The bays are Portland, Passamaquoddy, Casco and Penobscot. Population, five hundred and one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
New Hampshire is situated between forty-two degrees forty-one minutes and forty-five degrees eleven minutes north latitude, and between seventy degrees forty minutes, and seventy-two degrees twenty-three minutes west longitude. It is bounded on the north by Lower Canada; south by Massachusetts; east by Maine and the Atlantic ocean, and west by Connecticut river, which separates it from Vermont. Its extreme length from north to south, is one hundred and sixty-eight miles; and its greatest breadth from east to west, ninety miles; containing an area of nine thousand four hundred and ninety-one miles. This state is divided into ten counties. Portsmouth is the largest town, but Concord is the seat of government. The number of towns in the state is two hundred and 33, and besides those mentioned the principal are Dover, Exeter, Amherst, Hanover and Haverhill. The chief rivers are the Connecticut, Merrimac, and Piscataqua; the mountains are the Monadnock, Sunapee, Kearsarge, Carr’s, and Moosehillock. The White mountains are the most elevated in this state, and the highest east of the Mississippi. The lakes are Winnipiseogee, Squam, Ossipee, Newfound, Spafford’s, and Connecticut; Umbagog lies partly in this state, and partly in Maine. The population by the last census was two hundred eighty-four thousand five hundred and seventy-four.
Vermont is bounded on the west by lake Champlain and New York; south by Massachusetts; east by the Connecticut river, and north by Lower Canada. It is situated between forty-two degrees forty-four minutes, and forty-five degrees north latitude; and between seventy-one degrees thirty-three minutes, and seventy-three degrees twenty-six minutes west longitude. It is one hundred and fifty-seven miles in length; its breadth is ninety miles on the north line, and forty on the south. It is divided into thirteen counties, and two hundred and forty-five towns. None of the towns are very large. Montpelier is the seat of government. Among the chief towns are Middlebury, Bennington, Montpelier, Brattleboro’, Burlington, and Windsor. The rivers, all of which are small, are Lamoille, Onion, Otter, White, and Missisque; the west bank of the Connecticut forms the eastern boundary of the state. The mountains are Ascutney, Killington’s Peak, Camel’s Rump, and Mansfield, peaks of the Green mountains. The population in 1840 was two hundred and ninety-one thousand nine hundred and forty-eight.
Massachusetts is bounded east by the Atlantic; west by New York; north by Vermont and New Hampshire, and south by Connecticut, Rhode Island and the Atlantic. It lies between forty-one degrees fifteen minutes and forty-two degrees fifty-four minutes north latitude; and between sixty-nine degrees fifty-four minutes and seventy-three degrees thirty minutes west longitude. It is one hundred and eighty miles long from east to west;and ninety-six miles broad from north to south. Its area includes seven thousand and eight hundred square miles. The rivers are Connecticut, Merrimac, Charles, Concord, Blackstone, Miller’s, Chickopee, Deerfield, Westfield and Housatonic. The mountains are Saddle mountain, Tagkannuc, Holyoke, Tom and Wachuset. This state is divided into fourteen counties and three hundred and seven towns. Boston is the capital. Salem and New Bedford are next in size and importance; Lowell, Taunton, Springfield, and Waltham are extensively engaged in manufactures; Nantucket, Newburyport, Plymouth and Marblehead are fishing and commercial ports. Worcester, Northampton, and Pittsfield are pleasant inland towns. The population in 1840 was seven hundred and thirty-seven thousand six hundred and ninety-nine.
Connecticut is bounded north by Massachusetts; east by Rhode Island; south by Long Island sound, and west by New York. It lies between forty-one degrees and forty-two degrees two minutes north latitude; and between seventy-one degrees twenty minutes and seventy-three degrees fifteen minutes west longitude. Its length is eighty-eight miles, and its average breadth about fifty-three; its area is four thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight miles. It is divided into eight counties. Hartford, New Haven, Middletown, New London, Norwich and Bridgeport are incorporated cities; Danbury, Guilford, Killingworth, Newtown, Stamford, Stonington and Waterbury are boroughs. Hartford and New Haven are the seats of the state government; and the legislature holds its sessions alternately at the two places. The principal rivers are the Connecticut, Housatonic, Thames, Farmington and Naugatuck. The greatest elevations are a continuation of the Green mountains. The population of this state is three hundred and ten thousand and fifteen.
Rhode Island is bounded west by Connecticut; south by the Atlantic ocean; north and east by Massachusetts. It lies between forty-one and forty-two degrees north latitude; and between seventy-one degrees eight minutes and seventy-one degrees fifty-two minutes west longitude. The average length of the state from north to south is about forty-two miles; its mean breadth about twenty-nine miles; its whole area, including Narraganset bay, comprises one thousand one hundred and twenty-five miles. It contains five counties, and thirty-one towns. Providence is the capital, and in population and wealth the second town in New England. Newport, Bristol, Pawtucket and Warwick are the other chief towns. Pawtucket is the only river of any importance; the Pawtuxet is also the seat of a number of manufactories. The islands are Rhode Island, Conanicut, Prudence and Block. Narraganset bay extends more than thirty miles into the state. The population is one hundred and eight thousand eight hundred and thirty.
II. MIDDLE STATES.
New York is bounded east by Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut; north by lake Ontario and the river St. Lawrence; west by Pennsylvania, lake Erie and Niagara river; south by New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Its length is three hundred and forty, its breadth three hundred and four miles; and, including Long island, it contains forty-six thousand andeighty-five square miles. It is comprised between forty degrees thirty minutes and forty-five degrees north latitude; and between seventy-three degrees and seventy-nine degrees fifty-five minutes west longitude. It is divided into eight districts, which are subdivided into fifty-six counties. There are seven hundred and sixty-two towns and cities. The population is 2,428,921. New York city is the largest in the western world; Albany is the seat of government, and the second city in the state. Brooklyn, Troy, Hudson, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Catskill, Plattsburgh, Rochester and Buffalo are all important towns. The mountains are the Peruvian, Catskill and Shawangunk. The Hudson, Mohawk, Gennessee, Black, Oswegatchie and Susquehannah are the chief rivers. The lakes are Ontario, Champlain, George, Oneida, Skeneateles, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca, Crooked, Canandaigua, and Chatauque. The islands are Long, Shelter, Grand and Manhattan. The bay of New York is the only large harbor; there are several harbors on lake Ontario.