of a part of the Talasscee country. In this purchase has been also
comprehended a part of the lands within the fork of Oconee and Oakmulgee
rivers. The particulars of the contract will be laid before Congress so
soon as they shall be in a state for communication.

In order to remove every ground of difference possible with our Indian
neighbors, I have proceeded in the work of settling with them and
marking the boundaries between us. That with the Choctaw Nation is fixed
in one part and will be through the whole within a short time. The
country to which their title had been extinguished before the Revolution
is sufficient to receive a very respectable population, which Congress
will probably see the expediency of encouraging so soon as the limits
shall be declared. We are to view this position as an outpost of the
United States, surrounded by strong neighbors and distant from its
support; and how far that monopoly which prevents population should
here be guarded against and actual habitation made a condition of
the continuance of title will be for your consideration. A prompt
settlement, too, of all existing rights and claims within this territory
presents itself as a preliminary operation.

In that part of the Indiana Territory which includes Vincennes the lines
settled with the neighboring tribes fix the extinction of their title
at a breadth of 24 leagues from east to west and about the same length
parallel with and including the Wabash. They have also ceded a tract of
4 miles square, including the salt springs near the mouth of that river.

In the Department of Finance it is with pleasure I inform you that the
receipts of external duties for the last twelve months have exceeded
those of any former year, and that the ratio of increase has been also
greater than usual. This has enabled us to answer all the regular