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WASHINGTON CITY, June 24, 1856.

In pursuance of previous adjournment, the two commissioners met this day at the office of the joint commission. Señor Salazar stated that after he separated from Mr. Emory on the 20th August, 1855, he reviewed with his parties the different lines of the boundary; that is to say, the parallel 31° 47', the meridian, and the parallel 31° 20′, on which lines the Mexican commission executed the following work:

From the point south of El Carrizalillo, on which was erected a monument, he observed minutely on Polaris to determine the prime vertical on both sides, east and west. The prime vertical and the parallel 31° 47' were connected by a triangulation-on the east side with that which had been made at the initial point, and on the west side with the intersection of meridian. By this triangulation five points to the east were fixed, at which points he caused to be erected monuments of stone, with mortar, because he found not one established by the United States commission in said direction.

The monument at the road was reconstructed of stone, with mortar. Upon all of them was inscribed the abridged inscription agreed upon. This line was then marked with ten monuments. That at the west end he caused to be erected of dressed stone with mortar, and inscribed with the complete inscription agreed upon, similar to that which was erected at the initial point on the Rio Bravo.

Mr. Salazar stated that he observed at the south end of the meridian for latitude and longitude, his results differing very little from those of the United States commission; that from this point was carried north a triangulation which was connected at the north end with that made on the parallel 31° 47', and was used to determine the position of said end on the parallel and on the meridian; that these two extreme points were left where the United States commission established them; that having found no monument between them, he caused one to be erected intermediate, in sight of the Ojo de los Mosquitos, of dressed stone laid in mortar, with the usual inscriptions; that the monument at the south end was erected of dressed stone and mortar with inscriptions similar in all respects to those at the north end and at the initial point. On the parallel 31° 20', besides the observations he made at the intersection, he observed for latitude at San Luis springs, at San Bernardino, and San Pedro river; he found monuments at the two first named points, but none at the last; that his observations proved that the points were on the parallel 31° 20', and he caused monuments to be erected at these points with mortar, having the usual inscriptions upon them, and that he thought it proper to erect a monument of the same kind in Guadalupe Pass.

Mr. Emory stated his entire satisfaction with what had been done by Mr. Salazar, and gave his assent thereto, except with regard to the monument at San Pedro river. He desired to call in Mr. Weyss, who was with Mr. Von Hippel when the monument was erected on the San Pedro. His own recollection was, that a very substantial monument had been erected at the San Pedro by the United States commission.

Mr. Weyss was brought before the commissioners, and stated that a monument of dressed stone, with the usual inscription, was erected on the parallel 31° 20′, three thousand eight hundred and twenty-five feet west of the San Pedro river. The maps and views were exhibited showing the exact locality of this monument. Mr. Emory stated, if the Indians had destroyed that monument it was all very well; but if it was still standing, there might be some discrepancy, amounting, possibly, to 1" of arc, or one hundred feet between the latitude of the monu

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ment erected by Mr. Salazar and that erected under his orders. If so, it might hereafter, when the country was settled, produce confusion.

Mr. Salazar stated, that in case both existed he would take the monument erected by Mr. Von Hippel as the true boundary. Assented to by Major Emory.

The commission then adjourned, to meet at 9h 30m to-morrow morning.

WASHINGTON CITY, June 25, 1856.

Commission met at 9h 30m a. m., and the following preamble and resolution were adopted: Whereas Señor Salazar has stated it to be within his personal knowledge that some of the monuments erected by Mr. Emory were destroyed and others mutilated by the Indians, in the short space of time elapsing between the construction of these monuments and the final inspection of them by Mr. Salazar; and whereas it appears, from the maps and views which have been drawn, that the topographical features of the country, based upon astronomical determinations, are represented in sufficient detail to enable any intelligent person to identify the line at any required point; therefore, be it

Resolved, and agreed upon in joint commission, that these maps and views, duplicate copies of which will be made-one to be deposited with the United States, the other with the Mexican government-shall be the evidence of the location of the true line, and shall be the record to which all disputes between the inhabitants on either side of the line, as to the location of that line, shall be referred; and it is further agreed that the line shown by these maps and views shall be regarded as the true line, from which there shall be no appeal or departure.

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Mr. Salazar proposed, with the view of carrying out the labors to the end in the soonest time, that the detailed maps be made, one copy by each commission, on a scale of, and a general map of the whole boundary on a scale of . That at the end, when the total work was done, the maps should be signed, to be given to the respective governments, and the two commissions should exchange the topographical and astronomical data by which each commission has arrived at its results in the field.

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Mr. Emory stated that he had constructed the maps of the country from San Diego to the Colorado on the scale of ; the projections for the maps of all the other portion were on a scale of. It would be exceedingly inconvenient, if not impracticable, to reconstruct them; he therefore proposed that Mr. Salazar's proposition should be so far modified as to leave the California section of the work to stand as it is, on a scale of. This was assented to by Mr. Salazar, and it was agreed as follows, viz:

That the detailed maps of the California section of the work shall be received on a scale of 3, the detailed maps for all the other portion of the boundary shall be completed on

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a scale of oo, and that a general map of the boundary shall be constructed on a scale

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of 600000, which maps, when completed, shall form the evidence of the true line referred to in the agreement made this day.

W. H. EMORY.

JOSÉ SALAZAR Y LARREGUI.

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CHAPTER III.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.

SUITABLENESS AS A BOUNDARY.-GREAT PLATEAU OF AMERICA AND MOUNTAIN RANGES. -DEPRESSION OF MOUNTAINS NEAR THE
PARALLEL OF THIRTY-TWO DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE.GEOGRAPHICAL ERRORS.--METALLIFEROUS
-METALLIFEROUS REGIONS.--LAKES. SAND
DESERTS. ---VEGETATION AND AGRICULTURAL CAPACITY.—CHARACTER OF THE RIO BRAVO.—RAILWAY.—ASTRONOMICAL

TERMINATIONS.

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The boundary between the United States and Mexico, extends entirely across the continent from ocean to ocean. That portion of it which is formed by the Rio Bravo, below the mouth of the San Pedro, or Devil's river of Texas, makes a boundary, which, in the absence of extradition laws, must always be a source of controversy between the United States and Mexico.

In other respects, the boundary is a good one; and if the United States is determined to resist what appears to me the inevitable expansive force of her institutions and people, and set limits to her territory before reaching the Isthmus of Darien, no line traversing the continent could probably be found which is better suited to the purpose.

In this respect it is fortunate that two nations, which differ so much in laws, religion, customs, and physical wants, should be separated by lines, marking great features in physical geography.

The boundary is embraced in the zone separating the tropical from the temperate and more northern regions. Here, waters unite, some of which are furnished by the melting of northern snows, whilst those from the south are supplied from mountains watered by the tropical rains. To the north of this zone, the showers from the tropics cease to refresh the earth, and within it, all the flora and fauna which characterize the northern and temperate regions almost disappear, and are not entirely supplanted by those of the tropics.

It is indeed a neutral region, having peculiar characteristics, so different as to stamp upon. vegetable and animal life features of its own.

The most remarkable and apparent difference between this region and those of the States of the Union generally, and that which, perhaps, creates, as much as any other one cause, the difference in its botanical and zoological productions, is the hygrometric state of the atmosphere; for, while the plants and animals assume new forms in life, the crust of the earth, the soil, and the rocks, are everywhere familiar, and have many types, indeed fac similes, over the rest of the American continent.

It is very arid; but this is also the character of all the country north of the tropics, and west of the 100th meridian of longitude, until you reach the last slope to the Pacific-a narrow belt, seldom exceeding 200 miles in width, and sometimes not more than ten. The zone extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, embracing the boundary, contains a large proportion of arid lands; yet this dry region is, perhaps, narrower on the line of boundary than on any portion of the continent north of it, within the limits of the United States, and is occasionally refreshed by showers in the summer season, and so far presents an advantage over the arid belt to the north.

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