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its banks, to Cinquack on the Chesapeake; and from t3in-
quack, straight across the bay, to the place of beginning.
With the eastern and western border we have nothing to
do. Our interest in the description of the Maryland line
begins at the northwest angle, where her territory becomes
contiguous to that of Virginia.
That line, on the western side, has been run and marked
along its whole course, and at both termini, in a way which
commands the acquiescence of both States. No question
is raised here about the location of it. But it is necessary
to look somewhat narrowly into the call for it which the
charter makes, because that may influence our judgment
on the lines which run from the bead of the river to the
sea, every inch of which is contested.
The State of Virginia, through her commissioners and
other public authorities, adhered for many years to her
claim for a boundary on the left bank of the Potomac. But
the gentlemen who represent her before us expressed with
great candor their own opinion that a true interpretation
of the King's concession would divide the river between
the States by a line running in the middle of it. This lat-
ter view they urged upon us with all proper earnestness,
and it was opposed with equal zeal by the counsel for
Maryland, who contended that the whole river was within
the limits of the grant to Lord Baltimore.
When a river is called for as a boundary between two
adjacent territories (whether private property or public
domains) the line runs along the middle thread of the
water. A concession of lands to a stream does not stop at
one bank or cross over to the other, but finds its limit mid-
way between them. But a river may be included or ex-
cluded if tire parties choose to have it so. If the intent is
expressed that the line shall be upon one batik or another
the mere force of construction cannot put it anywhere else;
the natural interpretation is the legal and proper one.
This is too obviously just to need the support of author-
ity; but it was well illustrated by the Supreme Court of
the United States, in the case of Ingersoll v. Howard, (1d
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