I. GEOGRAPHY.

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES, AND AREA.

Location. Mexico is situated between 14° 30′ 42′′ and 32° 42′ north latitude, and between 86° 46′ 8′′ and 117° 7′ 31′′ 89 longitude west of the meridian of Greenwich, embracing therefore 18° 11' 18" of latitude and 30° 21′ 23′′ 89 of longitude. It has an area of 767,326 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the United States of America, on the southeast by Guatemala and Belize, on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the north and east by the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean Sea.

Boundary with the United States.-The boundary with the United States is fixed by the treaties of February 2, 1848, and December 30, 1853, and begins at the mouth of the Rio Grande River on the Gulf of Mexico, follows the river for 1136 miles, to the point where it strikes parallel 31° 47′ north latitude, beyond El Paso, Texas, and from there runs along said parallel for a distance of one hundred miles, and thence south to parallel 31° 20' north latitude; from there west along this parallel as far as the 111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich; thence in a straight line to a point on the Colorado River, twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila; thence up the middle of the said River Colorado to the intersection with the old line between Upper and Lower California, and thence to a point on the Pacific Ocean, distant one marine league due south of the southernmost point of the Bay of San Diego on the Pacific; the total distance. from El Paso to the Pacific being 674 miles. The whole extent of the boundry line between the two countries is 1833 miles.

The boundary line with the United States runs from southeast to northwest, the mouth of the Rio Grande being in 25° 57′ 14′′ 74′′ north latitude; while the line reaches on the Pacific latitude 32° 32′ 1′′ 34′′' ; the point where the boundary line strikes the Colorado River is farther north, reaching 32° 42′ of north latitude. Mexico has, therefore, on the western, or Pacific side, 6° 34′ 46′′ 20" of latitude more than on the eastern or the Gulf of Mexico side.

Boundary with Guatemala.—The boundary with Guatemala is fixed by the treaties of September 27, 1882, and April 1, 1895, and runs from a point on the Pacific coast three leagues distant from the upper mouth of the River Zuchiate, and thence, following the deepest channel thereof, to the point at which it intersects the vertical plane which crosses the highest point of the volcano of Tacaná, and distant twentyfive miles from the southernmost pillar of the gate of Talquian, leaving that gate in the territory of Guatemala; the determinate line by the vertical plane defined above until it touches the River Zuchiate at the point of its intersection with the vertical plane which passes the summit of Buenavista and Ixbul; the determinate line by the vertical plane which passes the summit of Buenavista, determined by the astronomical observations, and the summit of the Ixbul hill from where it intersects the former to a point four kilometres beyond said hill; thence to the parallel of latitude which crosses the last-named point, and thence eastward until it reaches the deepest channel of the Chixoy up to its junction with the Usumacinta River, following that river until it reaches the parallel situated twenty-five kilometres to the south of Tenosique in Tabasco, to be measured from the principal square of that town; the parallel of latitude referred to above, from its intersection with the deepest channel of the Usumacinta, until it intersects. the meridian which passes at one third of the distance between the centres of the Plazas of Tenosique and Sacluc, this distance being calculated from Tenosique; from this meridian, from its intersection with the parallel above mentioned to the latitude of 17° 49'; and from the intersection of this parallel with the latter meridian indefinitely toward the east.

The southern end of the Guatemalan line on the Pacific is in 14° 24′ north latitude, while the northern end, on the Caribbean Sea, is in 17° 49′ north latitude, being a difference of 3° 25′ in favor of the latter. The calculated length of the southern boundary is 642 miles.

Boundary with Belize.-To the southeast of Yucatan extends the territory of Belize, occupied by a British settlement under a permit granted to them by the Spanish Government to cut wood within the limits mentioned in the treaty concluded between the Kings of Great Britain and Spain on November 3, 1783, and amended on July 14, 1786.

British Honduras, according to Mr. George Gil, F.R.G.S., in his book, "British Colonies," published in London in 1896, was declared a separate colony of Great Britain, under a Lieutenant-Governor subordinate to the Governor of Jamaica, in the year 1862, previous to which time it had been a dependency of Jamaica. In 1884 a Governor and Commander-in-Chief was appointed, by Letters Patent, and thus the colony became independent of Jamaica. On April 30, 1859, Great

Britain signed a treaty with Guatemala, within whose boundaries most of British Honduras was situated, defining the boundary of that colony.

The limits between Mexico and Belize are defined by a treaty signed at the City of Mexico on July 8, 1893, as follows: "Beginning at Boca Bacalar Chica, the strait which separates the State of Yucatan from the Ambergris Cay and its dependent isles, the boundary-line runs in the centre of the channel between the above-mentioned cay and the mainland, southwestward as far as the parallel 18° 9' north, and then northwest midway between two cays, as marked on the annexed map (to the treaty), as far as the parallel of 18° 10' north; then turning to the westward, continues across the adjoining bay, first westward to the meridian. of 88° 2' west, then north to the parallel 18° 25' north, again westward to the meridian 88° 18' west, and northward along that meridian to latitude 18° 28' north, in which is situated the mouth of the River Hondo, which it follows in its deepest channel, passing west of Albion Island, continuing up Blue Creek until the said creek crosses the meridian of Garbutt's Falls at a point due north of the point where the boundary lines of Mexico, Guatemala, and British Honduras intersect; and from that point it runs due south to latitude 17° 49′ north, the boundary-line between the Republics of Mexico and Guatemala, leaving to the north, in Mexican territory, the so-called River Snosha, or Xnohha."

Cession of Mexican Territory to the United States.-Mexico has ceded to the United States, by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of February 2, 1848, and the Gadsden Treaty of December 30, 1853, 930,590 square miles, comprising over one-half of her former territory. The same cession is considered in the United States under three heads-first under the boundary treaty signed in Washington on April 25, 1838, between the United States of America and the Republic of Texas, under which Texas was annexed to the United States in 1845; second, under the cession of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, and the third under the Gadsden Treaty.

As Mexico did not recognize the independence of Texas until the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, we consider that she only gave her consent to that annexation by said treaty, and therefore that the cession of territory made then to the United States embraced also Texas.

Mr. S. W. Lamoreaux, former Commissioner of the General Land Office, published in 1896 a map of the United States, which contained in detail the different sections of territory annexed to the same in different periods from France, Spain, Mexico, and Russia, where the Mexican annexations are clearly defined. From official data of that office, I take the following figures representing the area of each of the Mexican cessions:

First, annexation of Texas, which embraces in whole or in part the following States and Territories:

Second, cession by the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty, embracing in whole or in part the following States and Territories :

Third, cession by the Gadsden Treaty, containing additions to the following Territories :

General Characteristics.—Mexico is bounded on the east by the long curve of the Gulf of Mexico and by the Caribbean Sea, and its eastern coast is 1727 miles long; on the west it is washed by the Pacific Ocean, its coast describing the arc of a still larger circle, for a length of 4574 miles; but after passing the latitude of the City of Mexico, about the meridian 19° of north latitude, going south, the continent makes a decided turn towards the east, the Gulf of Mexico forming the northern border, and the Pacific Ocean the southern border.

Mexico has the shape of a cornucopia, with its narrowest end tapering toward the southwest, its convex and concave sides facing