extent above
mentioned; that its lateral branches are capable of great improvement
at a small expense, through the most fertile parts of Virginia in
a southerly direction, and crossing Maryland and extending into
Pennsylvania in a northerly one, through which, independently of what
may come from the western country, an immensity of produce will be
water-borne, thereby making the Federal City the great emporium of the
United States; I say, when these things are taken into consideration, I
am under no apprehension of having the opinion I have given, relative to
the value of land on the Potomac, controverted by impartial men.

[Footnote 61: Washington's correspondence was voluminous, and on the
subjects relating to climate, agriculture, and internal improvements,
he wrote with interest and ability. The letter to Sinclair is
characteristic.]

* * * * *

=_Matthew F. Maury,[62] 1806-1873._=

From "The Physical Geography of the Sea."

=_250._= THE MARINER'S GUIDE ACROSS THE DEEP.

So to shape the course on voyages as to make the most of the winds and
currents at sea, is the perfection of the navigator's art. How the winds
blow, and the currents flow, along this route or that, is no longer
matter of opinion or subject of speculation, but it is a matter of
certainty determined by actual observation.... The winds and the weather
daily encountered by hundreds who have sailed on the same voyage before
him, and "the distance made good" by each one from day to day, have been
tabulated in a work called Sailing Directions, and they are so arranged
that he may daily see how much he is ahead of time, or how far he is
behind time; nay, his path has been literally blazed through the winds
for him on the sea; mile-posts have been set up on the waves, and
finger-boards planted, and time-tables furnished for the trackless
waste, by which the ship-master, on his first voyage to any port, may
know as well as the most experienced trader whether he be in the right
road or no.

... The route that affords the bravest winds, the fairest sweep, and the
fastest running to be found among ships, is the route to and from
Australia. But the route which most tries a ship's prowess is the
outward-bound voyage to California. The voyage to Australia and back,
carries the clipper ship along a route which, for more than three
hundred degrees of longitude, runs with the "brave west winds" of the
southern hemisphere. Wi