POPULATION.

97, 199 108,830 147,545 174,620 581,185

594,398 668,507 703,708

235,981 280,652 291,948 314, 120 974,600 1,065, 366 1,211,405 1,239,797 1,421,661

428,556 705,606 995,577 1,151, 149 1,340,316 11,776 98,268 348,600 401,570 829,210 1,002,717 1,109,801 1,258, 520 1,542, 359 1,767,518 2,020,616 212,592 604,215 818,579 1,591,749 2,235, 527 11,380 40,273 86,786 143,963 210,779 315,098 330,551 332,286 332,422 1,596,318 1,225,163 1,512,565 1,655,980 1,854, 184 11,594 23,955 75,116 357,232 442,014 618,457 762,794

$7,635,426

154,001

191,909

$953, 243

1,118,012

11,973

6,780

The territory of the United States consists of a vast central plain, the water shed of the Missouri-Mississippi river system and its affluents. This is bounded on the east by the Appalachian Mountain System, which is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a fringe of land known as the Atlantic slope. It is bounded on the west by the broad and complex ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and the plateau lying between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, west of which lie the valleys of California and Oregon, which are separated from the Pacific Ocean by the lower coast ranges.

The Appalachian system appears in Maine in a series of irregular elevations, that culminate in Mt. Katahdin, which rises 2,505 feet. In New Hampshire and Vermont they form the White and Green Mountains, respectively, separated by the Connecticut River. The highest peak in the White Mountains is Mt. Washington, 6,293 feet, while the culminating point in the Green Mountains is Mt. Mansfield, 4,389 feet. Two interesting subgroups of this system in New York State are, the Adirondack plateau lying between Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence and the Mohawk Valley, which has, in Mt. Marcy, an altitude of 5,379 feet, and the Catskills, whose highest peak is Slide Mountain, rising 4,000 feet.

Beginning in northern New Jersey and running through central Pennsylvania, the two Virginias and through

sections of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, the Appalachian system, here known as the Alleghany Mountains, extends in a southwesterly direction in a zone of parallel chains enclosing a long narrow valley lying between the elevated ridges. These ranges are known by different local names. The Blue Mountains run across the northwestern part of New Jersey and the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and are penetrated by the Delaware, the Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. In the Virginias beyond the Potomac, the North Shenandoah Mountains, South Mountain and Alleghany Mountain, divide the two States, and the Blue Ridge of Virginia expands into the wide plateau of western North Carolina. The Cumberland Mountains between Virginia and Kentucky and the great Smoky Mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee are conspicuous features. It is in this southern region that the Appalachian System assumes its greatest grandeur. Its highest elevation is Black Dome, 6,707 feet.

The Atlantic Slope, together with Florida and the Gulf Plain, that penetrates the valley of the Mississippi as far north as the Ohio River, forms an extensive coastal plain that nowhere exceeds 500 feet in elevation.

The Mississippi-Missouri basin has an area estimated at 1,750,000 square miles; this includes the basins of the Missouri, the upper Mississippi, the

Ohio, the Arkansas, the Red River, together with the minor basins of the Yazoo and St. Francis rivers. From the source of the Missouri to the mouth of the Mississippi is a distance of 4,200 miles.

In addition to the basin of the Mississippi, there are the minor river basins of the Atlantic slope and Florida, the coast basin of the Apalachicola, Alabama and Pearl rivers and their tributaries, and the coast basin of the Texas rivers, the Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, San Antonio and Nueces; the basin of the St. Lawrence, in which are contained the rivers of Michigan and some few rivers of Wisconsin; the basin of Hudson Bay into which flow the Red River of the north and Souris River of Dakota. There are also the basin of the Colorado which flows for hundreds of miles between the walls of a cañon a mile in depth, the basins of the Columbia and Sacramento rivers, and the Pacific Coast basin. In addition to these there is an extensive basin in the heart of the Rocky Mountains which formerly belonged to one or the other of the river systems that flow into the Pacific, but which is at present a closed basin, having no outlet to the sea. This region encloses Great Salt Lake, a large portion of Utah, almost all of Nevada, with parts of southern California and Oregon. From north to south this zone of internal drainage is 600 miles in length with an extreme breadth of over 500 miles. At more

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than one point it is depressed below sea level as in Death Valley and the depression of the Salton Sea.

The Rocky Mountain plateau, whether regarded from the standpoint of area, or altitude, is a region of sublime proportions. The prairies west of the Mississippi gradually increase in elevation until they reach an altitude of 5,000 feet. This high table land stretches from Mexico to Canada, and from Kansas to California, 1,000 miles north and south and 1,000 miles in extreme width. On this elevation are the Staked Plain of Texas and New Mexico, the Bad Lands of Dakota, a large part of the territory of Montana, Idaho and Oregon, the great basin of Nevada, the low lands of Utah and the plateau of Colorado.

The largest connected mountain region in this table land contains heights varying from 6,000 to 12,000 feet and ranges from the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico to the Big Belt Mountains of Montana. It includes the Yellowstone National Park, the high plateau of Wyoming and Colorado, and the Wahsatch Mountains of Utah, and a detached plateau of similar elevation occupies the centre of the great basin in Nevada. Those areas of the Rocky Mountain plateau that soar above 12,000 feet are naturally of more restricted area. The San Juan Mountains, the Uncomphagre Mountains, the Crystal Mountains, the Siwatch Mountains, the Front and Park ranges and Pike's

Peak, in Colorado, are of this elevation, as are also the Wind River and Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, the Uintah Mountains of Utah, and a large part of the mountain wall between Nevada and California, the Sierra Nevada, whose highest peak is Mt. Whitney, 14,898 feet. The highest peaks in this division of the Rocky Mountains are: Pike's Peak, 14,147 feet; The Mount of the Holy Cross, 14,167 feet; Long's Peak, 14,271 feet; Umcomphagre Peak, 14,245 feet; Mt. Harvard, 14,375 feet, and Blanca Peak, 14,463 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range. Further north the Cascade Range has the culminating peaks of Mt. Shasta, 14,350 feet; Mt. Baker, 10,827 feet; Mt. Adams, 12,470 feet, and Mt. Rainier, 14,526 feet.

Alaska is situated in the northwest corner of the American continent. The topography of Alaska is extremely irregular and the coast line is of amazing sinuousity, being broken up into fiords and bays surrounded by lofty mountains bearing frequent glaciers, and the southern coast is largely protected by an archipelago of lofty islands. The Yukon, which is the third largest river in the continent, is 2,500 miles in length, and is navigable from Behring Sea to White Horse Rapids in Canadian territory. Its main affluent is the Porcupine River. Other rivers of importance are the Kuskokwim, Tanana and Copper rivers. In the vicinity of Copper River are congregated

many of the highest mountains in the United States territory; Mt. Fairweather is 15,000 feet; Mt. Crillon is 15,900 feet; Mt. Wrangell 17,500 feet. On the international boundary is Mt. St. Elias, 18,024 feet, and in the centre of South Alaska rises the peerless dome of Mt. McKinley, 20,464 feet. There are in all about 70 peaks hereabouts, ranging from one to three miles in height, which surpass those of Switzerland in sublimity of scenery.

The Alaska Mountains have a southwesterly range and the Alaska peninsula is their continuation into the Pacific Ocean, where the altitude becomes lower and lower until the range is submerged and only the crests of the highest mountains appear, as the Aleutian Islands which extend within 200 miles of Japan.

The Hawaiian Islands, consisting of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Nihau, whose total area is 6,449 square miles, are noted for having the largest volcanos in the world. Mauna Kea, 13,800 feet, and Mauna Loa, 13,675 feet, and Kilauea, 4,040 feet, are situated on Hawaii Island.

These volcanos are active and at intervals discharge immense rivers of red hot lava that find their way to the sea. The giant crater of Haleakala on the island of Maui is the largest in the world, having a circumference of more than 20 miles, and an elevation of over 12,000 feet. The circular valley known as the Punch

Bowl, near Honolulu, on Oahu Island, is another extinct crater, of which there are more than 200 in the Hawaiian group.

The wonderful rock effects due to volcanic agency culminate in the famous pass of the Pali, in Oahu, a precipice that rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level. Here the rival chiefs of the olden days hurled their enemies over the precipice.

Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, is the finest landlocked harbor in the Pacific; the entrance is half a mile wide while the harbor itself is four miles in width.

The island of Porto Rico forms part of the axis of upheaval of which Cuba and Hayti are component parts. Its formation gives it a precipitous appearance. The highest mountain is El Yunque, 3,670 feet. The wasting away of its soil by tropical rains and the growth of coral reefs and beaches form alluvial plains, marshes and lagoons. The harbors are silting up so that the shore line is gradually being moved further out to sea. The interior of the island is mountainous, but the mountains are rounded by the erosion of rains and streams and the loosening of the soil by agriculture. No similar size of territory in the world can display such a variety of surface.

There are some very fine harbors in Porto Rico; the harbor of San Juan, the Bay of Jobos, Guayanilla, Guanica, are the most important. There is a railroad that runs along the coast

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from San Juan to Ponce. There are fine macadamized roads in the island and the bridges are well constructed of stone and iron. Now that the island has become a United States possession, the old native roads are being everywhere reconstructed, the harbors deepened, and surveys are being made by which exact idea of the topography of the island will be acquired. The area is 3,600 square miles.

The Philippine Islands as a whole are remarkable for their volcanic phenomena. The whole surface of the islands is essentially mountainous, and the only plains are the restricted spaces between the ranges. The islands curve in a graceful line from the south to the northwest in the following order: Mindanao, Leyte, Samar, Masbate and Luzon. There is an inner line of islands running parallel to the above, known as Bohol, Cebu, Negros, Panay and Mindoro. The Sulu archipelago on the south and the Paragua archipelago on the west almost connect the main body of islands with Borneo, and enclose a rectangular basin known as the Sulu Sea.

Manila, the capital of the Philippines, occupies a splendid position on a spacious bay some 120 miles in circumference, on the west coast of Luzon, at the mouth of the Pasig River, which is the outlet of a large inland sea, Laguna de Bay.

Luzon, which is the most rugged of the Philippine Islands, has most of