48

natural advantages afforded of cheap, plentiful and luxurious
living with the fullest means of high, rational, social and
moral enjoyment.

With peace and good government restored in the land, it
must become the residence of a wealthy, highly cultivated
and happy population, all the material aids to mental cul-
tivation, wealth and happiness existing here in almost per-
fect combination.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY.

This county is bounded on the north by Patapsco river'
which separates it from Baltimore city and county, and by
the Washington and Baltimore railroad, which separates it
from Howard county; on the south by Calvert county; on
the east by the Chesapeake Bay, and on the west by the
Patuxent river, which separates it from Prince George's
county. Three arms of the Bay, called rivers—Magothy
river, Severn river and South river—penetrate into the inte-
rior about ten miles, Magothy river being the most northern,
then Severn, whose mouth is distant about ten miles from the
mouth of Magothy, then South river, whose entrance into
the bay is about five miles below the mouth of Severn. West
river and Rhode river, so called, are about five miles below
the mouth of South river, and are inconsiderable arms of the
bay. The county is therefore naturally divided into four
distinct peninsulas; 1st, between Magothy river and the Pa-
tapsco. The head of this is only separated from Baltimore
city by the Patapsco river, over which there is a bridge about
1,200 yards long. The second lies between Magothy and the
Severn rivers; the third between the Severn river and South
river and the fourth, by far the largest in extent, between
South river and the Patuxent river. There is another dis-
trict of country lying between the Little and Big Patuxent,
known as the Fork of the Patuxent, and a third at the head
of the streams which empty into the Severn and Little Pa-
tuxent rivers, known as the Piney Woods.

The entire length of the county, from north to south, is
about forty miles, with an average breadth of about twenty
miles.

Annapolis the capital of the State is beautifully situated
near the mouth of the Severn on its west bank and besides its
water communication is connected with the cities of Wash-
ington and Baltimore by the Annapolis and Elk Ridge road,
which connects with the Baltimore and Washington railroad
about equi-distant between these two cities. The time between
Annapolis and these two cities is about two hours, over the
safest and best managed railroads in the United States. At
Annapolis is the United States Naval School, placed here in
7*