Early in July a party under the direction of an officer of Topographical Engineers was sent into the field and directed to occupy the most northern astronomical station fixed the preceding year upon the true meridian of the monument at the source of the river St. Croix, with the view of being prepared to complete its trace to the northwest angle of Nova Scotia before the termination of the season in case the pending negotiations for a conventional boundary should fail.

The true meridian was in this way prolonged to a point 19 miles north of the station alluded to of last year, or 13-1/2 miles north of its intersection with the river St. John, reaching to the summit of the height immediately south of Grand River, where a permanent station was fixed.  The point thus fixed is 90-3/4 miles north of the monument at the source of the St. Croix.

This portion of the work was performed by the 15th of August, at which period it was considered inexpedient to incur the expense of continuing it any farther.

A party under the direction of another officer of Topographical Engineers, which took the field also in July was charged with the surveys of the Little Madawaska River, the Eagle or Cheaplawgan Lakes, the portion of Fish River from the outlet of Lake Winthrop—­one of the Eagle group—­to its debouche into the St. John, of the river St. John, thence to the meridian of the source of the St. Croix, and finally of the Alleguash from its mouth to its source.

The Little Madawaska was ascended in bateaux from its mouth to its source, which is found in the Madawaska Lakes, and a trace of the river was made by coursing with a compass and estimating the distances, which were checked by astronomical observations for latitude and longitude.

The position of its mouth had been fixed by the surveys of the preceding year, and observations for latitude and longitude were made at a point intermediate between its mouth and its source and also at the junction of the two lakes which form its source.  The trace of the river was corrected so as to agree with the results of these observations before being laid down upon the map.

A portage of 5-1/4 miles was cut from the Madawaska to the Eagle Lakes, which are only 4-3/4 miles apart in a direct line.  The party transported their baggage and boats by this portage and launched them on Lake Sedgwick, the most southern and largest of the Eagle group.

This group, which is composed of the Winthrop, Sedgwick, Preble, Bear, and Cleveland lakes, being all connected one with another by water communications between them, was carefully surveyed by triangulating them and coursing their shores with the chain and compass, except those parts which were so straight as to render the work sufficiently accurate by sketching those portions between consecutive points of triangulation of no great distance apart.  They were also sounded so far as to obtain their general depths.