lay of the land

I did not know the exact route, but steered by the lay of the land, as I do in Boston.

1857, Henry David Thoreau, chapter 1, in Canoeing In The Wilderness

Because he knew the lay of the land, he could run faster in the darkness than his pursuer.

1919, Upton Sinclair, chapter 10, in Jimmie Higgins […], Pasadena, Calif.: Upton Sinclair, →OCLC

I'll feel the pulse of my friends and yours, and when we get the lay of the land, the affair can be accomplished much more easily.

1901, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter 17, in The Marrow of Tradition

"Now look here, Mary," he said, "I've been expecting you. I warn you before you begin that I cannot sanction your marriage to a Protestant." "Oh, but I'm going to convart him!" cried Mary so quickly that the priest laughed harder than ever. "So that's the lay of the land!" he chuckled. "Well, if you'll guarantee that, I'll give in."

1907, Gene Stratton-Porter, chapter 11, in At the Foot of the Rainbow

She saw the boy's glance, she shifted her knees impatiently and her little face grew sullen. Hale smiled inwardly, for he thought he could already see the lay of the land, and he wondered that, at such an age, such fierceness could be.

1908, John Fox Jr., chapter 4, in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

Slava Tsukerman is a Soviet émigré who has lived in New York City since 1976, apparently long enough for him to get the lay of the land.

1983 July 22, Janet Maslin, “‘Liquid Sky,’ High Fashion and a U.F.O.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN