WASHINGTON, _March 1, 1820_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
4th of February last, requesting to be informed what progress has been
made in surveying certain parts of the coast of North Carolina and in
ascertaining the latitude and longitude of the extreme points of Cape
Hatteras, Cape Look Out, and Cape Fear, according to a resolution of the
19th of January, 1819, I have to state that it is intended to carry the
resolution of the 19th of March into effect in the present year. The
cooperation of the Board of Engineers with Naval Commissioners being
necessary in executing that duty, and the Board having been engaged
last year in surveying the eastern coast of our Union, it would have
interfered with previous arrangements and been attended with increased
expense had they been withdrawn from it. The Board will, however, be
employed during the present summer in the regular execution of its
duties in the survey of the coast of North Carolina, when instructions
will be given it to afford the necessary aid to carry the resolution of
the 19th of January of the last year into effect.