The act providing for the correction of errors in making entries of land at the land offices," approved March 3, 1819, (U. S. Statutes, vol. 3, p. 526,) and supplementary act of May 24, 1824, (vol. 4, p. 31;) also act approved May 24, 1828, (vol. 4, p. 301,) supplementary to that of March 3, 1819.

The act of 1819 is intended to afford relief to any person where an error in the entry has been occasioned by any original incorrect marking by the surveyor in the field, or by the subsequent change or obliteration of those marks, or by any other error originating either with the surveyor or the land officers. Applications to obtain relief under this act are also to be made through the district office under oath, stating particularly the nature and cause of the error, and must be supported by the best corroborative testimony that can be procured. The case is then to be reported by the district officers, with the testimony, and their opinion thereon, to the department for final decision.

The supplementary act of May, 1824, extends the provisions of the act of 1819 so as to embrace cases where the error was not occasioned by any act of the surveyor or land officers, and gives relief where the right of the original purchaser has not been assigned or in any way transferred. The party making the entry, or his legal representatives not being assignees or transferees, must file an affidavit showing the nature and particular cause of the error, that every reasonable and proper precaution had been used to avoid mistake and that the land erroneously entered had not been transferred or otherwise incumbered, accompanied by corroborative testimony. This evidence, with the opinions of the register and receiver as to the existence of the mistake and credibility of each person, will be submitted for the decision of this office, and in all proper cases relief is promptly extended.

By the act of May 24, 1828, the provisions of the act of 1819 are so extended as to embrace patented cases. The applications for relief in these cases should be reported in the manner required in those not patented under the act of 1819, and be accompanied by the patent, with the title conveyed thereby relinquished to the United States.

The act of March 3, 1853, (U. S. Statutes, vol. 10, p. 256,) provides for the correction of errors in the location of military bounty-land warrants, and declares the provisions of the act of March 3, 1819, and May 24, 1828, applicable to errors in such locations.

The foregoing laws and official rules are plain and particular in their requirements, but few points being left to the elucidation of official instructions; and a careful attention by applicants to the same will be sufficient to insure correctness in acting under them, thus enabling the department promptly to extend relief in any case of embarassment, and to secure them their proper rights.

INUNDATED LANDS.

Swamp grant. Acts of Congress March 2, 1849, September 28, 1850, March 12, 1860.-Under the acts of Congress ceding swamp and overflowed lands to the respective States in which such lands were to be found, there have been, since the passage of the first act, 60,317,586.96 acres selected and reported, as the initiative procedure under these laws. Of these selections there have been approved 47,990,153.78 acres. The final action of patenting has been extended to 36,784,842.67 acres, to which should be added 8,192,305.64 acres approved under the act of 1849, the mere approval by the terms of that act carrying with it the efficacy of a patent, thus making an aggregate of 44,977,148.31 acres

which have been definitively transferred to the States thereto entitled. The transactions under this head embraced within the year of this report amount to 24,198.29 acres of selections received, 563,302.34 acres formally approved, and 602,684.45 acres patented.

Under the statutes incidental to the swamp grant, viz, the indemnity act of March 2, 1855, and the confirmatory act of March 3, 1857, there have been adjusted within the year cash indemnity accounts amounting to $2,789 25, and accounts for land indemnity covering 2,186.55 acres. The total amount of indemnity adjusted since the passage of the indemnity act is $712,351 65 for cash entries of swamp lands, and 630,222.37 acres for swamp lands located with bounty-land warrants.

As the swamp grant, while carrying with it certain stated conditions as the avowed object of the grant, contains no provisions for the enforcement of those conditions, nor means by which it can be even approximately known to what extent the conditions have been complied with, the benefits which may have arisen from this munificent donation must always remain a matter of conjecture. That the grant has exceeded in its proportions the most liberal estimates incident to its origin is well established, and it is equally apparent that the objects which it was thought would be attained through it have been realized to but a limited extent.

It is perhaps unnecessary here to inquire how this unsatisfactory result has been brought about; but the reason which suggests itself as the most obvious is, that the control of vast areas of lands conveyed by the grant, instead of having been retained by the respective States as direct grants, have passed too frequently into the ownership of private corporations and individuals, who have held the lands thus acquired for mere purposes of speculation rather than any direct purpose of immediate reclamation.

That this is to be regretted is the more evident when we consider not alone the moneyed value of the lands, but the wonderful climatic and physical improvements that a thorough compliance with the conditions of the grant would have secured.

The information here presented tends to show that a large portion of lands claimed under the swamp grant are in fact of more permanent worth, when reclaimed, than lands otherwise designated. It is true that in most instances they require some efforts effectually to prepare them for the hand of the husbandman, but so also do our finest forest lands; and the expense and labor of clearing and preparing for the plow the latter would, in most cases, exceed the labor and cost necessary to the complete reclamation of marshy districts.

In the older States of the West, lands of this class which, twenty years ago, were, relatively speaking, looked upon as worthless, have, by the rapid settlement of those States and the consequent absorption of the dry or uplands, together with the incident internal improvements and increased facilities for markets, become, even in their natural marsh character, of great value.

On our western prairies, where nature had done so much to prepare the face of those beautiful regions for the ready hand of the agriculturists, lying, as they do, invitingly prepared for the work of the plow, all tracts which presented obstacles, however slight, to speedy use and occupancy, were liable to be regarded as worthless, when, in fact, they needed but the simplest efforts to render them more productive than the lands by which they were surrounded.

Unlike the sterile and stony lands that characterize mountainous regions, these swamp lands require but one effort at reclamation, and

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when reclaimed they present a soil of surpassing fertility. In no sense can they be classed among the waste or worthless tracts, for all experience, not only in our own but in the older nations of the earth, shows that, properly treated, they become the most permanently fertile and valuable of all classes of lands.

In the States of the South, where rice culture can be profitably prosecuted, these lands in many localities seem to be favorably adapted to that special purpose; and in the event of the introduction of a new element of labor from the Mongolian race, these now unproductive regions may be added to the producing wealth of the nation by the industrious toil of this race, already adept in the culture of the nutritious cereal referred to. In the sections of country where a more rigid climate forbids the cultivation of such grain, these lands, even when unreclaimed, have proved to be of inestimable value in affording those desirable adjuncts to a stock farm, good grass and water. It is to-day observable in the grazing State of Illinois, that as the ranges of prairie, once open to the herds of farm-stock, become inclosed and cultivated, the marshy lands or sloughs are found to be of incalculable value for the purposes named, and return even in their natural condition a profit to the farmer not exceeded by the cultivated fields around them. The conclusion is reached, in view of the foregoing facts, that the lands conveyed to the various States as swamp, even if the conditions of the grant had been carried out by the beneficiaries, would in actual money value still have been of princely proportions. And without this compliance on the part of the States with the conditions of reclamation, the magnitude of the interest conveyed is truly immense. Further, we are confirmed in the opinion that, as a general thing, the gradual settlement of the country, and the necessities of communities either for farming or sanitary purposes, alone instigate the work of reclamation unaided by any direct or indirect influence of the swamp grant.

With these facts before us, the propriety of its further extension by additional legislation may well be questioned; but if extended to new States not now enjoying its franchises, the extension should be coupled with such provisions as may insure beyond doubt the complete reclamation of lands conveyed, and should be so definite in its terms as to render the duty of designating the tracts thus ceded a work of certainty. NEW MEXICO BOUNDARY LINE, DIVIDING THAT TERRITORY FROM COLORADO.

During the past year we have received the final returns of the survey of the northern boundary of New Mexico, on the thirty-seventh paral lel of north latitude, from the one hundred and third to the one hundred and ninth degree of longitude west from Greenwich, executed pursuant to an act of Congress of March 2, 1867.

The initial point of the survey is at the northeast corner of New Mexico and the northwest of the Indian country.

The service was performed under a contract with an experienced surveyor, accompanied by an astronomer and assistant. From the initial point the line passes over a level plateau eight hundred feet above the Cimarron Valley, the latter five miles south of the said line. This plateau is covered with fine quality of grass. Deep cañons break from the south side, terminating in the Cimarron Valley. These cañons are almost impassable. Their nearly vertical sides are composed of loose or detached rock in angulated forms of varied dimensions.

Seven miles from the initial point is a valley bearing nearly north and south, formed by the junction of a small stream with the Cimarron. That river, which is four miles south of the boundary, enters a plain with an average width of four miles. The Cimarron Valley was doubtless once the bed of an immense stream. The soil is sandy, but may be made available for agricultural purposes by a system of irrigation. This val ley is filled with numerous conical or pyramidal-shaped mounds composed of strata of compact clay of various colors blending beautifully together.

From the initial point to the Ratoon Range, a distance of forty-six miles, the line passes over a spur of the mountains. A portion of this region is a high level plateau, nearly all table land, extending to the north for many miles, and producing grass, while on the south side the prevalent vegetation is the cactus. Game of all kinds is abundant in these mountains, where there is a fair quality of pine and fir timber, fine forests existing on the foot-hills and sides of the mountains.

The most prominent and conspicuous point forming this high land lies to the northwest, and is connected with the plain by a narrow strip or ridge; on this high level plateau, two thousand feet above the Cimarron Valley and five thousand above the level of the sea, and covering many square miles in extent, distinct vibrations of the whole surface are perceptible, while a clear rumbling noise, distinctly heard, indicates hidden phenomena, like a pent-up volcano.

At the forty-sixth mile west of the initial point, beautiful and sparkling springs of crystal-like water are found in abundance, those from the north side of the mountain running into the Purgatory, an affluent of the Arkansas River, and those flowing south into the Canadian. Spanish Peaks rise thirty miles nothwest of Trinidad, and are visible along the line from the initial point. Passing up the Cimarron Valley they are seen at a distance of a hundred miles, being the highest peak of the Ratoon Range. The peak of that name, situated east-northeast of the village of Trinidad, Colorado, is of an altitude of six thousand feet, presenting a very broken and prominent outline.

At the forty-sixth mile the road from San Francisco, Colorado, down the Cimarron Valley, crosses the line. From the forty-sixth to the sixtyeighth mile the survey passes over a series of ridges with narrow valley, the waters flowing north into the Purgatory River, the Ratoon Mountains lying on the south, the summit forming for the most part a level plateau.

From the sixty-eighth mile the line again crosses a spur of the Ratoon, entering at the seventy-third mile the valley of an affluent of the Cimarron, thence ascending a bluff to a level plateau having an elevation of a thousand feet; at the eightieth mile the boundary survey crosses the stage road and telegraph line from Santa Fé, New Mexico, to Denver, Colorado, passing via Trinidad, on the Purgatory River.

Trinidad, situated twelve miles north of the line, has a population of five hundred. It is built of adobe, presenting a pleasing appearance for a mountain village, and possessing an active trade.

The valley of the Purgatory, or, as it is sometimes called, Picket-wire, from Trinidad west, toward its source, is an excellent agricultural region, and many fine farms have been opened with substantial improvements, near which is an excellen grist-mill and two saw-mills. The divide between the waters flowing north and south is crossed at the eightieth mile, the waters running north into the Arkansas, those south into the Canadian. The average altitude of this section is five thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, yet at this height the culture

of cereals and vegetables is quite successful. One field of potatoes, observed by the surveyor, is said to be equal to any raised in a less elevated region and more favorable country. The summit of the snowy range is passed at an altitude of one thousand two hundred feet. From the peaks over which the surveyed boundary passes, the highest in this range affords a most beautiful view of the entire length of the San Luis Valley and of the main ranges beyond the Rocky Mountains. Snow may be distinguished on the higher points of the peaks, and westward, as far as the eye could see, ranged over a tremendous mass of broken snowy mountains fading away in blue tints in the distance. The trees found on the highest altitudes consist only of scattering pines.

At the one hundred and twenty-ninth mile the line enters the San Luis Valley, which is cultivated to some extent with the aid of a labyrinth of irrigating canals. The village of La Castilla, at the one hundred and thirty-eighth mile, situated on a river of the same name, is divided by the line, the larger portion of the town falling in New Mexico. It is a thriving business place, with a thousand inhabitants.

Fort Garland is situated thirty-four miles north, on a beautiful flat plateau at the base of a high spur of mountains, the principal peak known as "Baldy." A short distance south of this fort is the Calaveras settlement, scattered over a large tract of country along a stream bearing that name. San Luis, a county seat, is fifteen miles northeast of La Castilla. The valley streams all empty into the Rio Grande, which crosses the line on the one hundred and forty-eighth mile, coursing south through a deep cañon seventy feet below the general level of the country, the sides of the cañon being perpendicular. For a distance of four miles north of the line it is almost impossible to descend. The surface of the earth in this immediate vicinity is covered with perforated volcanic stones.

The line leaves the San Luis Valley at the one hundred and sixty-eighth mile, that valley being thirty-nine miles wide at this point; the boundary thence passes over a very abrupt range of low mountains until it reaches the beautiful valley of the Rio Charmer, coursing south where it first crosses the line. The Rio San Antonio and Los Pinos here flow south of the line, and the Rio Conejos on the north, on which the Guadalupe settlement is located, Conejos, on the river of the same name, and San Antonio, on the Los Pinos, being the principal villages in that settle

ment.

Fort Lowell is situated in the valley of the Charmer, twenty miles from the boundary, south of the one hundred and ninety-sixth mile. There are several old Spanish villages in the valley. Leaving this place, the line passes over a mountainous region, through many fine forests of pine timber, again crossing the Rio Charmer, and thence passing along mountain sides and summits, through valleys of various extent, until it reaches the dividing ridge of the Atlantic and Pacific waters on the two hundred and fourth mile, at an altitude of eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea.

The Rio Navajo lies to the northwest, winding from the summit of the Navajo Mountains, and flowing through a most beautiful series of valleys situated between hills rising abruptly on either side, forming the commencing link of the Sierra Navajo.

A short distance south of the two hundred and fifteenth mile a stream passes through a remarkable cañon, whose sides rise perpendicularly from the valley one hundred feet, composed of granite and sandstone. As the river advances through the cañon it decreases in width and deepens, while the sides of the cañon increase in height two hundred