in one Skin, half a Skin, or any affigned fized Piece of Parchment, or Paper.

Having pricked off and copied the feveral Maps on any Kind of Paper, unite them by cutting with Sciffars along the Edge of one Mearing which is adjoining the other, but not cutting by the Edge of both, and throw afide the Parts cut off; then lay these together on a large Table, or on the Floor, and where the Mearings agree, they will fit in with each other as Indentures do; and after this manner they are easily connected: Measure then the Length and Breadth of the entire connected Maps, and the Length and Breadth of the Parchment or Paper you are confined to: if the former be three four, or five Times greater, (that is longer and broader) than the latter, reduce each copied Map feverally to a Scale that is three, or four, or five Times lefs, as before; and the fame Parts of the Mearings you cut by in the large Maps, by the fame you must alfo cut in fmall ones, and unite the fmall as the large ones were united; cementing them together with white Wafer: Thus will your Map be reduced to the affigned Size, which copy over fair, on the Parchment, or Paper you were confined to.

But it is not always that a Perfon is confined to a given Area of Parchment, or Paper; in fuch Cafes, if there are many large Maps to be united into one, reduce each of them feverally to a Scale of 160 Perches to an Inch, and unite those by the Contiguity of Mearings as before: Or if you have a few, it will be fufficient to reduce them to a Scale of 120, &i. But having the Maps given, and the Scale by which they are laid down, your Reafon will be fufficient to direct you to know, what Scale they fhould be reduced to,

How to trace LANDS from the DowN, or any other SURVEY.

I

N the Surveyor-General of Land's Office (which is now kept in the fame Building with the Ordnance-Office, in the lower Castle-Yard, Dublin) are kept what is called the Down Surveys, or Surveys of most of the forfeited Lands in this Kingdom. These Surveys were done under the Direction of Sir William Fetty, Bart. then Surveyor-General of Lands, and afterwards Earl of Shelburne about the Year 1641; there was a Surveyor previous to this, called the Civil Survey, or one by Eftimation; and because the latter of thefe was laid down by Maps on Paper, it thence got the Name of the Down Survey.

About forty Years ago the Treafury-Office in Effex-Street, where the Surveyor-General's Office was also then kept, was burnt; and though most of the Down Surveys were faved, yet fome were confumed, and this is the Reafon that the Surveys of all the forfeited Lands are not to be had at the Surveyor-General's Office; but Sir Thomas Taylor, Bart. has a fair and true Copy of all the Down Surveys of the forfeited Lands, which often proves of great Ufe to Gentlemen, though the Down Surveys

only,

only, are those allowed by the Laws of the Land to be final and decifive.

It will not here be unneceffary to obferve, that 6s. 8d. is to be paid for the Copy of every Denomination, but nothing for a Search, if it be found; otherwise 5s. is to be paid for the Search, if the Denomination cannot be found, that is, if it were not forfeited or burnt.

The Differences generally arifing about Lands wherein Down Surveys are found neceffary, are for the most Part of this, or the like Nature.

A, who refides in the Country upon his own Eftate, takes Lands contiguous thereto from B, who refides in the City or far from his Eftate, and who perhaps never faw it. A in fome Time defaces the contiguous Mearings, and runs others withinfide of B's Ground, fometimes nearly fimilar, and parallel to the defaced Mearing. At the Expiration of the Leale, A, or his Heir, (who may be innocent of the Matter,) delivers to B, or his Heir, the Lands according to the new run Mearings, but the latter by a Survey he causes to be made, in order to fet it to a new Tenant, finds his Land widely defective of the Number of Acres demiied to A, which alarms him; and upon applying to A, without finding any Redrefs, a Law-Suit is commenced, and the Court orders a Trace to be run from the Lines of the Down Survey: If it is to be had, this readily discovers the Fraud, if not, the Matter is determined by the Evidences of the oldest Persons of honeft Repute in the Neighbourhood.

The best Way to avoid all future Disputes concerning Lands, is to have the Lands Surveyed before

fore fet, and to annex Maps thereof to the Leafes. If afterwards the Mearings fhould be defaced or changed, or any Difpute fhould arife concerning them, the Map to the Leafe may be easily traced, and the Difference easily reconciled.

A Down Survey is thus Traced.

Take a Survey of the Land, as it is fhewn you by the best Information you can receive, and make a Protraction thereof upon parallel Paper, by a Scale of 40 Perches to an Inch,

Then enlarge your Down Survey to a Scale of 40 as before, (provided it be not already laid down by that Scale, but they are oftner laid down by a Scale of 80, of 120, and fometimes of 160 Perches to an Inch) for it is not safe to enlarge the Down Survey from any fmall Scale to one larger than 40, because the Errors of the Distances from the ftationary Points if ever so minute, will be thereby much encreased.

I cannot omit here to observe, that some in order to enlarge the Down Survey, have pricked it off on Parallel Paper, and after drawing the Map thereon, have (by producing every Distance Line) found their Bearings, and by measuring the Lines from the given Scale, have formed a Field-Book: And after all this Trouble, when they have protracted it to the affigned Scale, all was wrong, for it would not meet or clofe: Of this I have feen many Inftances; yet the Surveyor would make it do, as Misclosures are many Times forced to do; the Confequence of either, the most unfkilful Surveyor cannot be ignorant of.

Let

Let the Enlargement you make of the Down Survey to the like Scale of your Protraction, be upon the thinneft Paper you can get, which rub over with any Kind of Oil, to make it tranfparent, but wipe off the Oil that it may not fmeer the Protraction. If Oil of Turpentine can be readily had, it will do beft, because it won't fmeer; but in Cafes of Extremity, Butter turned to Oil will do.

Then apply your oiled Map, or Enlargement of the Down Survey, upon your protracted Map, and you will readily fee what Points of the one will coincide with those of the other; and when you have brought the greateft Number of Points in each to agree that is poffible, the Maps are then applied to the greatest Advantage: See then where the Lines of the Down Survey run within or without those of your Protraction, and prick them on it; and to distinguish them from the black Lines of the Protraction, let them be drawn in red Ink, or popped.

Produce every ftationary Line of the Down Survey, for every red, or popped Line) forwards, that runs within or without Side of the Protraction; then if the Center of your Protractor be applied to every stationary Point of fuch continued Lines, and your Protractor be kept Parallel to the Parallels of. Meridians on the Protractions; the Continuation of every stationary Line, will point out on the Protractor's Edge, the Degree of Bearing of fuch Lines: If these Bearings be inferted in a Field Book, as well as the Lengths of the several stationary Lines, (which are easily obtained by measuring them from the Scale by which they were laid down,) that FieldBook will direct your Trace.

Being