PACIFIC AND INDIAN

•

I

OCEANS:

-

THE SOUTH SEA SURVEYING

AND

EXPLORING EXPEDITION:

ITS

INCEPTION, PROGRESS, AND OBJECTS.

BY J. N. REYNOLDS.

\\

NE W-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS

NO. 82 CUFF-STREET.
1841.

DEDICATION.

TO THE TIPPECANOE AND OTHER HARRISON ASSOCIATIONS OF THE CITY
AND STATE OF NEW-YORK.

I

FELLOW-CITIZENS,

When I had prepared and arranged the materials contained in
this volume, the question occurred to me, To whom shall I dedi-
cate my work? Who will value it most? Whose sympathies
will last the longest? The answer was in my heart, the great
body of those popular associations, with whose patriotic efforts I
have taken some part in the late glorious triumph of the many
over the few — of principle over power.

When deprived the privilege of accompanying the expedition,
even as a volunteer at my own expense, I have no doubt a bitter
smile was on my lips, and that my countenance wore a melancholy
cast, derived from reflections somewhat akin to that of the philoso-
phic Jaques, " compounded of many simples extracted from many
objects, and, indeed, the sundry contemplation of my labours;
which, by often rumination, wraps me in a most humorous sadness;"
but no one heard from me either murmur or complaint. Inured to
hardy culture, and self-relying from my boyhood, I have now no
personal wrongs to be redressed — no complaints to utter — no sym-
pathies to ask ! Indeed, when the vessels composing the exploring
squadron weighed anchor at Norfolk, I looked on with aspirations
for their success ; it was the expedition for which I had laboured,
not a place in it ; and I felt as one whose triumph was complete,
save only that the scientific corps had been mutilated, and Com-
modore Jones and other competent officers, in effect, driven from
the command. But an executive and his secretaries, who have
shown themselves thus incompetent or unwilling properly to fit out
a scientific and maritime enterprise, the Tippecanoes have dismiss-
ed from power ; and it is for this service I present to you this slight
testimonial of my esteem and gratitude.

Taking, however, as I can at present, a calm review of the past,
it is in no partisan spirit I make this dedication. The expedition
itself was no party measure ; liberal-minded men of all parties

DEDICATION.

supported it ; the intelligence and science of the country sustained
it j as good men of all parties have aided in swelling the recent
triumph of liberty over despotism ; of right and justice over wrong
and oppression ; not of citizen over citizen, but of the people over
their rulers, who had forgotten the people, the source of power.
Fellow-citizens,

*)The irresistible energies of a free people can only be called forth
and directed, on great occasions, through popular associations
among themselves, which should arise with the emergency, perform
their mission, and then sink into an unsleeping repose. It has been
•o in this instance. The great beginning was at Columbus,
Ohio; then followed the national convention at Baltimore, the
Fort Meigs celebration, the gatherings on the old battle-grounds
of Tippecanoe, Bennington, and Bunker's Hill ; our state conven-
tions at Syracuse and Auburn; the great assemblies at Macon,
Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee ; at Yorktown and Richmond,
Virginia ; at the celebrations of the battles of the Maumee and the
Thames in our own city ; besides, almost every county and town
in the Union has had its gathering of the people, freely, fearlessly
to discuss and pass upon the mighty issue before them ; and full
of moral grandeur, yea, of deathless sublimity, has been their de-
cision, unattended by the clash of arms, unstained with blood, un-
heralded by the stormy voice of war.
Fellow-citizens,

That you have borne an honourable part amid the heat and dust
of this great contest is conceded by your brethren in every part
of the Union. It is proper and becoming, therefore, that you
should rejoice ; but, let it be with moderation, and in the spirit of
kindness and forbearance towards your opponents. Power, in the
hands of the majority, should always regard the rights of the mi-
nority.

That the fruits of your efforts may be gradually but permanent-
ly to restore confidence between man and man; breathe a new
and healthy spirit into commerce ; give employment and adequate
reward to honest industry ; securing and dispensing alike to all
freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom in the prosecution
of their business under a moderate, wise, and paternal action of the
general government, is the sincere wish of your obedient servant,

J. N. R.

New- York, March 4, 1841. .

INTRODUCTION.

I DO not subscribe to the common opinion that " no one reads an
introduction." At any rate, I am satisfied that no one reads a
book with the same advantage who does not begin with the in-
troduction. From this source the reader may usually gather an
idea of the author's general plan, and the motives which induced
him to submit his production to the world : points of no little im-
portance to the right understanding and proper appreciation of his
work.

There is no pride of authorship to be gratified in the publication
of this volume. For the years I have devoted to a cause of mag-
nitude and public utility, at home as well as in scenes of wild ad-
venture abroad, I have never sought, nor is it possible I could re-
ceive, a higher reward than that of having my labours fairly judg-
ed by my countrymen. The tardy action of two secretaries — the
one imbecile, and both vindictive — in fitting out an expedition au-
thorized by repeated acts of Congress, went far to weary and dis-
gust the public mind ; but the folly and malice of those intrusted
with its organization detract nothing from the importance of the
enterprise itself. To promote the cause of human knowledge is
the duty of civilized man ; all are bound to contribute to its ad-
vancement, while none can claim an exclusive monopoly of the
treasures unfolded in its progress. When the intelligence of the
munificent action of Congress reached England, the Geographical
Society of London was in session, and, on the circumstance being
announced from the chair, it was received with the most enthu-
siastic applause. Stimulated by the noble liberality of our nation-
al Legislature, the governments of England and France — using, in
part, the very information contained in this volume — have fitted out
similar expeditions. The Lion, the Lily, and the Stripes and
Stars have floated on the same breeze, under the same constella-
tions ; the ships bearing the two latter ensigns having made the
Southern Continent on the same day.

On the 3d of April, 1836, 1 delivered, in the Hall of Represent-

INTRODUCTION.

atives, before the members of that house, the discourse which
forms the first part of this volume. In that speech I attempted a
rapid and comprehensive review of our maritime enterprise and
its results in the South Seas, Pacific and Indian Oceans ; a glance
at the vast field that still lies open before us ; at the great com-
mercial and scientific interests involved ; the means by which
those interests might be extended and secured by the expedition
now out, and by others which the good policy of the government
will yet cause to be fitted out. I am aware that more might have
been said upon the subject, and the whole better said ; and I doubt
not the reader will add new arguments to mine in favour of the
great national enterprise which in that discourse I endeavoured
to shadow forth.

The learned societies of the country embarked, as was naturally
to be expected, zealously in the cause ; not only by casting the
weight of their associated influence in its favour, but by volun-
teering their individual time and attention to every part of its or-
ganization, where their labours or advice could contribute to ren-
der the preparations for scientific inquiry thorough and complete.
They saw in it the prospect of rich returns, which must necessarily
give a new impulse to the cause of science in this country, and, at
the same time, do much to rescue us from the imputation cast upon
our national character, that we were pensioners upon the bounty
of other nations in regard to maritime and scientific knowledge,
and had never put forth a particle of our strength or expended a
dollar of our money in contributing to the common stock.

The letters from these distinguished individuals follow next in or-
der to the addresses before Congress, and will be found to have a di-
rect and luminous bearing upon the great objects of the expedition.
In some of them my friends have used language in reference to
my humble labours which it might be thought vain in me to pub-
lish ; but I have no right to garble their letters, and therefore give
them entire. I can, however, assure my readers that a ten years'
campaign in this great field of enterprise, with the vicissitudes of
hope and fear with which it has been checkered, has taken away
much of that susceptibility of feeling which is affected by praise
or blame.

The next portion of the work, comprising nearly one hundred
and fifty pages, under the various heads of Memorials, Resolutions,

INTRODUCTION.

Reports, Pacific and Indian Oceans, Samuel L. Southard, Commit-
tees on Commerce and Naval Affairs, Final Passage of the Bill,
Speech of Mr. Harmer, of Ohio, &c., &c., will be found to exhib-
it in the most honourable light, not only the liberal and persevering
action of Congress, but the unanimity and enthusiasm with which
the intelligence of the country sustained the action of that body.

The controversy between the late secretary of the navy and
myself succeeds, and may require a few words in the way of in-
troduction. The law authorizing the expedition received the sanc-
tion of Congress May 14, 1836. The action of the executive
was prompt, as will be seen from the following official and semi-
official announcement.

" Washington, June 9th, 1836.

" MY DEAR SIR,

" About to leave the city for a short time, and feeling a lively
interest in the Exploring Expedition directed by Congress, and
more particularly from the great solicitude expressed by all the
members of Congress that it should be sent out as early as possi-
ble, and more particularly as the executive is anxious that nothing
should be wanting on our part to secure it success, and, if unsuc-
cessful, that no blame should rest upon us, it is my desire that am-
ple means, as authorized by Congress, be furnished, and prompt
measures taken to prepare and complete the outfit. To effect
these objects, let Captain Jones be informed that, while he will be
responsible for the due execution of the project of the enterprise,
the proportion of the means, the selection of the officers and
agents, &c., and a general superintendence of the outfit under the
secretary of the navy will be with him. That these views may be
carried into full effect, I desire that the secretary of the navy order
Captain Jones to repair to Norfolk and New- York stations, there
to confer freely with the commanding officers of those stations
touching the arrangements and equipments of the ships and other
vessels which are to compose the expedition ; and that Captain
Jones may be instructed to enter at once into this business ; and
that Captain Jones, with such other officers as are or may be se-
lected for this expedition, as may be necessary, be ordered to open
rendezvous for recruiting their respective crews. That harmony
may exist, I would suggest the propriety that no officer should be

INTRODUCTION

selected to whom Captain Jones should have well-founded objec-
tions. With these arrangements, should the expedition fail, the
responsibility will rest with Captain Jones, and not with the De-
partment.

" I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant,

"ANDREW JACKSON.

" To the Secretary of the Navy."

[From the Washington Globe of July 13, 1836.]

"Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and

South Seas.

" We learn that the President has given orders to have the ex-
ploring vessels fitted out with the least possible delay. The appro-
priation made by Congress was ample to ensure all the great objects
contemplated by the expedition, and the executive is determined
that nothing shall be wanting to render the expedition, in every
respect, worthy the character and great commercial resources of
the country.

" The frigate Macedonian, now undergoing thorough repairs at
Norfolk, two brigs of two hundred tons each, one or more tenders,
and a store-ship of competent dimensions, are, we understand, the
force agreed upon, and to be put in a state of immediate prep-
aration.

" Captain Thomas Ap C. Jones, an officer possessing many high
qualities for such a service, has been appointed to the command ;
and officers for the other vessels will be immediately selected.

" The Macedonian has been chosen instead of a sloop-of-war,
on account of the increased accommodations she will afford the
scientific corps, a department the President has determined shall
be complete in its organization, including the ablest men that can
be procured; so that nothing within the whole range of every
department of natural history and philosophy shall be omitted.
Not only on this account has the frigate been selected, but also for
the purpose of a more extended protection of our whalemen and
traders ; and to impress on the minds of the natives a just concep-
tion of our character, power, and policy. The frequent disturb-
ances and massacres committed on our seamen by the natives
inhabiting the islands in those distant seas, make this measure the
dictate of humanity."

INTRODUCTION.

Thus it will be seen that the plan of the expedition had been
adopted, and the force to be employed agreed upon. The duty of
the secretary of the navy was a plain one — simply to execute the
law. October came, and although many orders had been given,
and some bustle in the way of preparation manifested by the de-
partment, the expedition was not half ready for sea. The session
of Congress followed, and the time of the secretary, which should
have been directed to the fitting out of the squadron, was employ-
ed in making official reports, and in personal efforts to mislead
Congress, and induce that body to withhold appropriations for the
Macedonian, if not for the enterprise entirely. In this design the
secretary was defeated. The plan and force agreed to by the
President met the views of Congress, and the expense of fitting
out the Macedonian was included in the appropriations for the en-
suing year. Preparations were now renewed, and were kept hob-
bling along, with fair professions, but without sincerity of effort.
The feeble health of President Jackson towards the close of his
term greatly retarded the progress of the arrangements. He fre-
quently, however, interfered, and caused the secretary, though un-
willingly, to hasten his movements. The country owes President
Jackson much for the lively interest he took in the expedition up
to the last moment of his official term. That the new president,
Martin Van Buren, infused no new energy into the reluctant secre-
tary, may be inferred from the fact, that thirteen months after the
measure was authorized, and three months, less one day, after Mr.
Van Buren had assumed the duties of his high station by swearing
faithfully to execute the laws, we find a plan concocted to form a
commission of officers, not only to decide upon the qualities of the
vessels, but to inquire and report how far the will of Congress
could be contravened, and the operation of its acts suspended, by
a withdrawal of part of the force decided upon. To effect this
object, the secretary addressed a formal note to President Van Bu-
ren, under date " June 5th, 1837," in which he says, " I deem it my
duty to lay before you a statement of the condition of the South
Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition, and its effects in afford-
ing adequate and prompt protection to our commerce."

Commodore Jones had made an experimental cruise with the
squadron, and had reported, as the secretary admits, his entire
confidence in the fitness of the vessels, suggesting only some slight

INTRODUCTION

alterations. Yet, in the face of this testimony, the secretary says,
" Although Commodore Jones has great confidence in the efficien-
cy of the vessels, yet many other officers of the navy have not ; on the
contrary, I believe there is a general want of confidence in them, as
well as in the success of the expedition, under its present organiza-
tion." Then follows a lugubrious wail about the incapacity of the
department to afford protection to our commerce in other parts of the
world, and to fit out the expedition at the same time ; " more es-
pecially," says the secretary, " if we are to add another vessel (a
small schooner) to the exploring squadron ;" and yet, let it be
borne in mind, he was at this very period preparing to show his
teeth to the French minister of marine. " It therefore," continues the
secretary, " becomes a matter of great importance and responsibility to
inquire if the force intended for this expedition cannot be reduced in
its armament of ships and men" He accordingly begs the presi-
dent to authorize the department to cause these inquiries to be
made by experienced officers of the navy, and to report the result
for the president's decision. This extraordinary communication,
extraordinary both as to its time and nature, was returned with the
following no less extraordinary endorsement upon it

Washington, June 5th, 1837.

" The Secretary will cause the inquiries recommended by him to
be made by referring the subject to a Board of Officers, to be com-
posed of Commodores Chauncey, Morris, Warrington, Patterson,
and Wadsworth, to examine and report on the same.

" M. Van Buren."

To the board thus constituted, the secretary, upon the pretended
authority of officers of the navy, whose names have never yet been
given to the public, gave his Jesuitical instructions, June 8th,
1837. I was in Norfolk at the time, but repaired to Washington
immediately on hearing of these movements, and, in an interview
with the secretary, entered my protest against the course he was
pursuing. To President Van Buren, whom I also saw, I spoke
plainly of his secretary, and pointed out the insidious character of
his instructions to the board. The course marked out for me
thenceforward was devoid of all perplexity. For more than two
years I had witnessed the treacherous conduct of the secretary, and

INTRODUCTION.

had borne in silence his unprovoked hostility to myself. I had seen,
with deep mortification, impediments wilfully thrown in the way of
Commodore Jones, the particulars of which, in justice to that offi-
cer, I hope will one day see the light. I at once resolved to ar-
raign the secretary at the bar of public opinion, regardless of all
consequences to myself. Of this determination I informed a mem-
ber of the cabinet on the eve of my departure for this city. If I
have been severe upon the secretary in my letters, it will be seen
that, in his defence, he waived the dignity of high station for the
luxury of being scurrilous towards me. I have given him the ben-
efit of that defence, by inserting his letters entire. With these re-
marks I refer the reader to the correspondence between " Citizen"
and "A Friend to the Navy."

Of the remaining letters, addressed to Joel R. Poinsett, I have
only a word or two to say ; indeed, they explain themselves.
When the support of President Van Buren could no longer sustain
Secretary Dickerson against the current of public opinion and the
almost universal censure of the press, without reference to party,
Secretary Poinsett came in to perform his part ; and I cheerfully
leave the public to judge of the manner in which he performed
his duty, and of the meed of praise to which he is entitled.

I have carefully noted all that has been made public of the
movements of the expedition since its departure. Several of its
best officers have returned, disgusted with the weakness, vanity,
and overbearing deportment of its commander. We are told
that a Southern Continent has been discovered. Sincerely did I
rejoice at this intelligence ; but mortification was mingled with my
pleasure when I learned that our flag had coasted sixteen hundred
miles of coast without a landing having been effected, and that,
instead of planting the Stripes and Stars high on the mountain top
— which any Stonington sealer could have done — the commander
contented himself with detaching a few particles of rock from the
floating ice around him.

The scientific corps, though labouring under many disadvantages,
will return laden with rich treasures in science ; and, on the whole,
I think it may be fairly anticipated that the expedition will effect
enough to show what might have been accomplished had it been
permitted to depart unmutilated, and under more experienced and
able supervision.

ADDRESS,

ON

-

THE SUBJECT

SURVEYING AND EXPLORING EXPEDITION

PACIFIC OCEAN AND SOUTH SEAS

IN THE HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES ON THE EVENING OF APRIL 3, 183ft.

" The assembly to which I address myself, is too enlightened not to be fully sensible,
how much a flourishing state of the arts and sciences contributes to national prosperity
and reputation." — Washington's Message to Congress, Dec. 7*A, 1796.

"House OF REPRESENTATIVES, Jlprtt 2rf, 1836.

"Mr. Pearce, of Rhode Island, from the Committee on Commerce, reported the fol-
lowing resolution : —

"Resolved, That the use of this Hall be granted to J. N. Reynolds, Esq., on Satur-
day evening next, for the purpose of delivering an address, on the subject of an Expe-
dition, or Voyage of Discovery, to the South Sea and Pacific Ocean.

" The Resolution was agreed to."

ADDRESS.

BELIEVING that it is the sacred duty of every member of society
to contribute, according to his possessions, to the general treasury
of knowledge, I have come, on this occasion, to cast in my mite ;
happy that I have something to offer, and humble that the offering
is of no greater value.

At an early period of my life I imbibed a relish, perhaps acci-
dentally, for books of voyages and travels, when I had not as yet
seen the ocean. Though a dweller in the western forests, I could
reason from effects to causes, and needed only the roughly
sketched history of the early settlement of our country to convince
me, that the maritime enterprise of our ancestors was an important
element in the foundation of our subsequent power; and that
whatever tended to increase the stimulus to exertion, and extend
the field of commercial research, was to add more to our national
resources, than to discover mines of diamonds, or heap our trea-
suries with coined gold. The analogy of the sister branches,
agriculture and manufactures have come to our aid ; and if when
fields are run out, the farmer is obliged to till new ones ; and if
when markets fail, the ingenuity of the manufacturer is tasked to
find others, surely he who can indicate to our rapidly increasing
marine a new and untried sea, or an undiscovered island, where
enterprise may be enriched, and the country acquire a footing,
deserves well of his fellow-men.

6 ADDRESS.

Discovery, therefore, though the term be disguised by the mode
of applying it, has added much to the success of every great
interest in every country, and it is in this connection that we
propose to show :

First, by a general outline, what our forefathers have done, —
with the spirit they evinced ;

Secondly, what our neighbours have accomplished ; and,

Lastly, what remains for us to do, and the reasons why we
should do it. \ ve "

, At the commencement of the seventeenth century, the settle-
ments of American colonists were but so many watchfires along
the shores of the Atlantic, whose light reflected upon the waters
by the surrounding forests, invited the seafarer and emigrant,
whether allured to our shores by the love of enterprise, or driven
to seek refuge in a new world from the political convulsions of
the old. In an incredibly short time they became acquainted, not
only with the general outline of the coast, but also with our har
bours, bays, and rivers, even to the nicest indentations, and with a
hardihood and sagacious foresight which has no parallel in history,
fitted out exploring expeditions to obtain a more accurate knowl-
edge of our shores, when the Indian was prowling around their
dwellings, and the population was scarcely sufficiently numerous
to raise the necessaries of life. John Smith of Virginia, in 1614,
six years before the pilgrims raised their huts on the sands of
Plymouth, coasted along the shore from James River to Ports-
mouth, and surveyed the harbours and islands of New England.
The pilgrims, too, though thinned by an epidemic to nearly half
their number, hardly waited for a summer's sun, before they com-
menced ship-building, with the intent of exploring the southern
coast, and trafficking with the natives.

In less than half a century, the amount of American tonnage
was considerably increased, and had begun to excite, in a slight
degree, the jealousy of the mother country, which was afterwards

ADDRESS. 7

so strongly manifested by her coercive acts. A reference to the
records of the times will show, that in 1665, when the militia of
Massachusetts did not exceed four thousand in number, she pos-
sessed eighty vessels of between twenty and forty tons burthen ;
about forty of between forty and one hundred tons ; and twelve
ships of one hundred tons and upward. New- York, likewise,
having about this time fallen into the hands of the English, was
aroused from her apathetic slumber, and like an awakened giant,
conscious of inbred might, began to stretch her arms along the
adjoining coasts and over the ocean, gathering up the richest pro-
ducts of the old and new world, and giving in return the first fruits
of the almost untouched mines of our internal resources.

Those also whose inclination led them to become the pioneers
of the wilderness, carried with them the same disposition, and
next to the log hut, before making a wheelbarrow or a cart, they
hollowed out a log to cross the nearest expanse of water, and com-
mune with the settlers on the opposite side of the stream. But
perhaps the ardour with which the colonists pursued the fisheries
is the most striking feature in our maritime history, since it wrung
reluctant praise from our enemies, and called forth the eulogiums
of the most distinguished orators and statesmen.*

* On this subject, we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of extracting a glowing
fragment of eloquence from the gifted Burke, in his celebrated speech, delivered in
Parliament, on American conciliation :

" As to the wealth which the Colonies have drawn from the sea by their fisheries,
you had all that matter fully opened at your bar. You surely thought those acquisi-
tions of value, for they seemed even to excite your envy ; and yet the spirit, by which
that enterprising employment has been exercised, ought rather, in my opinion, to have
raised your esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it?
Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the people of New England
have of late carried on the whale fisheries, whilst we follow them among the tumbling
mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of
Hudson's Bay, and Davis's Straits ; whilst we are looking for them beneath the
Arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold ;
that they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen Serpent of the South.
Falkland Island, which seemed too remote and romantic an object for the grasp of

g ADDRESS.

These facts must show conclusively, that the elements of mari-
time enterprise have been from the earliest period of our history
incorporated with the character of our people.

From this lucrative employment foreign commerce grew and
flourished, and through this and the lumber and fur trade, was
derived the circulating medium of the country ; but still much of
the trade of the interior was subject to many inconveniences from
the difficulties of transportation. The increasing power of Eng-
land, as manifested by the prosperity of her American colonies,
was viewed by France with undisguised alarm, and was the prin
cipal cause of the first and second French wars, in which the main
struggle was upon American ground. This put into requisition
all the energies of the colonists, who, at their own expense, fitted
out numerous privateers, which were the source of no less annoy-
ance to the enemy than of wealth to their owners, and which
contributed the most timely and efficient assistance to the mother
country.

It was in this school of hardship, at an early period, that we
acquired that naval science, and familiarity with the ocean, which
soon after enabled us to compete with that power whose peculiar
boast is that she rules the waves, and whose sons glory that their
" march is on the mountain wave, their home is on the deep." It
was by passing this trying ordeal, and braving the winter's cold

national ambition, is but a stage and resting place in the progress of their victorious
industry.

"Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them, than the accumulated
winter of both the Poles. We know that whilst some of them draw the line, and
strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their
gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fisheries.
No climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland,
nor the activity of France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise,
ever carried this most perilous mode of hard industry to the extent to which it has
been pushed by this recent people; a people who are still, as it were, but in the
gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood."

ADDRESS. 9

and summer's heat in the probationary war with France, that we
were trained by the wise hand of a superintending Providence for
the war of Independence. Then it was, that from a state of utter
debasement, we raised ourselves to the rank of a maratime nation,
and with vessels equipped, for the most part by individual enter-
prise, made ourselves more formidable to English commerce than
France with all her naval force had ever been. From the vessels
captured, near two thousand in number, from the enemy, our army
was supplied with clothing and ammunition at two of the most
critical periods of the revolution ; and Washington himself ex-
pressly says, that the army would have inevitably been forced to
retreat, and perhaps disband itself when besieging Boston, had not
two English ships, laden with military stores, been captured by
Captain Manly in Boston harbour. This occurred when there
remained but two barrels of gunpowder for twenty thousand men.
Many other instances might be adduced to show how invaluable
was the aid afforded by our infant marine at that eventful crisis in
our past history.

At the close of the war, commerce began anew upon a more
enlarged scale, and higher enterprise ; but there were numerous
obstacles in the way, until after the adoption of the federal consti-
tution. Prior to that period, a committee of marine had managed
all our maritime affairs, and their energies were often wasted in
considering first principles, now so well established. In 1794, the
first proposition for forming a navy was made in congress under
the constitution. In 1798, all our naval force was called into
requisition, and covered itself with glory ; and subsequently
secured the admiration of the world, in humbling the fierce cor-
sairs of the Mediterranean. Thus our commerce had been in
some measure protected, and our national honour defended, before
the war of 1812.

While trammelled in the fetters of colonial dependance, the
colonists had shown themselves eager to perform everything

10 ADDRESS.

within the compass of their abilities, to aid commercial enter-
prise j and not satisfied with the mere examination of dangerous
shoals and sand-banks, had made scientific observations to enable
the sailor to ascertain his coarse with greater precision and safety.
Twice did they send scientific men to distant parts of the coun-
try, to observe the transit of Venus over the sun ; and they
accomplished their task with astonishing accuracy, considering
how imperfect the instruments they used were, when compared
with those of the present day. Since the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, however, till the period of the last war, it is not known
that government expended anything (if we except a small appro-
priation for the expedition to the Rocky mountains) in behalf of
scientific or exploring expeditions.

Can any reason be assigned for this neglect ? Perhaps it may
be found in the peculiar state of our great interests at that exciting
period. The agriculturist, viewing the constantly accumulating
profits of the merchant, thought it useless to support any measure
which might throw yet more wealth into his scale. The mer-
chant, on his side, engrossed in the pursuit of wealth, could not
stop to calculate dangers between him and his contemplated
result ; or, if he had, could he wait for their removal ?

At this time there was but little competition among mer-
chants;— each had enough to do. Soon after the French Revo-
lution broke out, and the European nations were in arms, we had
the carrying trade to ourselves, and accumulated wealth beyond
the profits of any people in modern times.

But the golden harvest did not last long. In 1806, the exac-
tions of the belligerent powers grew more oppressive, and our
commerce met with many severe checks and embarrassments.
The embargo of 1807 followed the Berlin and Milan decrees,
together with the British orders in council, and non-intercourse
and war ensued soon after. Our navy had not been increased in
any degree commensurate with the extent of our commerce ; and

ADDRESS. 11

accordingly, though it covered itself with glory at that trying
period, it proved inadequate to the protection of our ships on the
high seas, and we emerged from the contest with a commercial
marine crippled and diminished to an alarming extent.

But no sooner had peace been proclaimed, than our commerce
again flourished, and chartered every gale. The South Atlantic
and Pacific oceans, where our enterprise had been checked, be-
came our highways, and every estuary and river was again the
resort of our hardy navigators. It is only with this new Satur-
nian reign that my dawn of recollection commences, and then
only after some years of this prosperous epoch had elapsed. Not
only had new channels of trade been opened by the persevering
industry of our merchants, until the extreme east had been laid
under contribution, but our fisheries had again extended from our
coasts to the shores of Brazil, thence running the longitude to
Africa, and around each cape throughout the great Pacific and
Indian oceans, to the Maldives and the Isles of Japan. New
staple productions of agriculture had likewise sprung up in the
interval ; and cotton, which had been introduced into this country
several years subsequent to the Revolutionary War, as a mere
botanical experiment, now became the most important article of
commerce, throwing into a secondary rank bread-stuffs, tobacco,
rice, and other articles formerly first in the commercial scale.
The milder climes of the south had used cotton stuffs almost
exclusively as wearing apparel ; but 'not so the northern, till the
improvements in machinery had so facilitated their fabrication that
millions are now clothed in manufactures of this article. The
sugar of the south, with the hemp and flax of the west, had by
this time come into general use, and the upper region supplied
bagging for the lower country. The manufacturers, after no smal)
opposition from rival interests, began to influence national econo-
my; and having succeeded in establishing themselves, were of
no, doubtful success. The march of internal improvements had

12 ADDRESS.

now commenced, with cautious and prudential pleadings on the
one hand, and enthusiastic, uncalculating ardour on the other, and
in its progress soon opened new markets for our agricultural and
manufactured wealth. By these means, where the necessaries of
life only were to be obtained, and those of the simplest kind,
articles were required which but a short time before were deemed
luxuries.

As the interior was travelling down, the seaboard was travel-
ling up

Everything was quickened by the spirit of progressive advance-
ment, and the whole country felt the beneficial effects to the
remotest village of our wide spread confederacy. We cannot,
even at the risk of appearing fanciful, refrain from quoting an
appropriate stanza from the productions of a native poet, which,
though poetry, is not fiction, and though warmly coloured by a
vivid imagination, is a faithful detail of facts. Speaking of the
union of the lakes with the ocean at the opening of the Erie
canal :

" The sire of ocean takes
A sylvan maiden to his arms,

The goddess of the crystal lakes,
In all her native charms.
She comes attended by a sparkling train,

The naiads of the west her nuptials grace,
She meets the sceptred Father of the main,
And in his heaving bosom hides her virgin face."

The capabilities of every spot were considered and measured
by their productive results. No mind or body was idle ; every
one laboured to increase his individual means, and thus directly
added to the resources of the nation. The bosom of the earth
poured forth its abundance in proportion to the extent of com-
merce, and the demands of the manufacturing interest. The
fables of the ancients became truths to us. They represented
the earth to be filled with hidden treasures, which it was the high

ADDRESS. 13

prerogative of genius and untiring perseverance only to obtain.
We realize this fiction in the value which labour, guided by intel-
ligence, imparts at the present day to the vilest substances, and
most unpromising materials. The iron consumed every year,
exceeds tenfold in value the precious metals produced by all the
mines in the world. The ancients considered that a favoured
land, where Ceres lived in harmony with Pluto ; meaning, doubt-
less, that there exists an intimate connection between all the pur-
suits of life, when efficiently followed out ; and where each mem-
ber of a community labours in behalf of himself, in the benefit
conferred on his neighbour.

It has been a part of the creed of some political economists,
both here and in Europe, that it would be best for us as a nation,
to remain, for an indefinite time to come, agriculturists, and suffer
other nations to come and take the productions of our soil in
exchange for their own manufactures. But this dogma, though
enunciated so emphatically from the high places of science in
Europe, and echoed by some otherwise sound politicians and true
patriots among us, has been gradually losing ground, and has for
supporters at the present day, few besides those who are so evi-
dently under the influence of interested motives, that their argu-
ments must appear vitiated to every impartial mind : and further-
more, if ever so plausibly maintained, they would fall to the
ground from the fact that the genius of the people has never, from
the commencement of the controversy, been in accordance with
them. The nation, almost without any regular process of rea-
soning, but guided by an instinctive impulse, came to the con-
clusion that its labour, divided among the three great interests,
was infinitely more productive than if confined to one alone ; and
nothing could prevent it from furnishing its own merchants, not
only for the supply of domestic, but also^ of every foreign com-
modity. Feeling an innate consciousness that no labour was too
great, nor enterprise too arduous, they set forth upon untried

14 ADDRESS.

voyages, and cut with daring keels unknown oceans, with the
same hardihobd that impelled them to pierce unexplored forests
and tame the howling wilderness.

The sylvan nursery philosophy did not suit the high-toned
feelings of our people, and with an impetuous rush they trod this
Arcadian theory under foot. They saw that the little island, from
which a goodly proportion of our ancestors came, had arisen from
a speck in the ocean to the empire of its tides ; and that now no
longer the obscure spot on the outskirts of Europe, the

"Ultiraos orbe Britannos,"

of the Romans, it directs the fate of nations who at first were
dazzled by the display of its wealth, and awed by the eloquence
of its cannon. With such an ancestral example, they would not
remain contented with the character of tillers of the earth, how-
ever eloquently some Utopian enthusiasts might declaim upon the
purity of a primitive people, and the contaminating effects of
commerce and manufactures. They might read an hundred times
the lamentations of the muse over the decay of villages, and the
rise of populous cities ; but, however the feelings might be inter-
ested, and the fancy warmed by the elegance of the style of such
effusions, their arguments failed to convince the reason. Their
pines had no sacred character which prevented them from being
hewn down and fashioned into masts and spars. Nor were their
oaks consecrated by any mistletoe to deter them from uprooting
the monarch of the forest. A sober, business spirit is abroad,
and neither Fauns nor Dryads can protect the grove when it is
wanted for the saw or axe. It must fall if utility require the
sacrifice. If any there be who mourn over these changes, we
are not among them. The great branches of our national
industry will constantly go on, destroying and recombining the
elements of productiveness, till every atom is made to bear its

ADDRESS. 15

greatest amount of value, and the wildest speculations of the
theorist are more than equalled by the reality.

It has not for years been difficult to discern the signs of the
times. The watchword has been " onward !" and wonders
exceeding the prodigies of ancient times have been the result.
For the seven of olden time we can show an hundred, and these
are but the earnest of our future achievements. How many dis-
tinguished individuals who have passed away, and like the pro-
phets and kings of the Psalmist, have

" died without the sight;"

how many of our now deceased patriots, who saw with a super-
human prescience the rising glories of the western world at the
period of its greatest gloom and adversity, have lamented that it
was their lot to live when they did, and that it was not permitted
them to antedate their existence, and behold the fruit of the
garden they had planted, and fostered with their treasures and
their blood ! If such were their regrets, how great should be
our exultation that Providence has cast our lines in such pleasant
places, in such auspicious times, that to us it has been given to
view the consummation of that national greatness and prosperity
so confidently foretold ; and that we see with our mortal eyes the
development of that magnificent drama thus glowingly announced
by a gifted mind :

" Westward the star of empire takes its way j

The first four acts already past,
The fifth shall close the drama with the day ;

Time's noblest offspring is the last !"

If this hasty sketch of our possessions, prospects, and resources,
be not overdrawn, — and we feel confident that it is not, — surely it
will not be out of place to pause a moment in our onward career,
and inquire what we have done as a nation to add to the accu-

16 ADDRESS.

mulated stock of knowledge contributed by other nations for our
benefit as well as for their own. The inquiry is brief, and the
answer is at hand. By us no step has been taken to add even to
the science of navigation. The great improvements in mathe-
matical instruments, which have made the path of the mariner in
the darkest night, and amid rushing tempests, as easy to be ascer-
tained and followed as a paved street in a populous city, — these
improvements, of which we daily and hourly reap the advantage,
were brought to light by the liberality of foreign governments, and
we still continue to sail by charts we have had no hand in making.
Bowditch, the Blunts, and a few others, have done somewhat in
aid of navigation, — much, indeed, for individuals ; but our govern-
ment, from which alone any extended and efficient assistance can
proceed, has done absolutely nothing. Perhaps the present lauda-
ble labours in perfecting a survey of our own coast, should exempt
it in some measure from this unqualified censure ; but when we
reflect that this measure was recommended during the administra-
tion of Jefferson, and though urged and reurged for a long suc-
cession of years, has only a short time since been taken in hand,
we think ourselves justified in affirming that much of the merit
we might be disposed to assume has been neutralized by this pro-
longed and inexcusable delay. Thus it is that we are at this
eleventh hour of the day employed in obtaining an accurate knowl-
edge of our own coasts, when we are the second if not the first
commercial nation, and have more tonnage than all the nations
of Europe when Columbus discovered this continent, and when
our navy, small as it appears in point of numbers, has more
effective force than the combined fleets of the old world at that
period.

What other nations have accomplished is everywhere to be
seen; in books, maps, charts, and in the collections of our com-
mercial libraries. Even Spain, while guided by her exclusive
interests, and burdened with destructive monopolies, while her

ADDRESS. 17

power was respected in the east and extending in the west, made
many contributions to geographical knowledge in the construction
of numerous charts, characterized by great accuracy. Indeed, to
give a history of discovery is to sketch a living picture of the
universe, the great outlines of which have been progressively
drawn, and many advances made in filling up and imparting the
lights and shades to the picture.

The Italians and Portuguese, equally adventurous, but far bet-
ter informed, ventured boldly upon the high seas, and made many
important discoveries. The Danes and Norwegians, undeterred
by the cheerless aspect of the Arctic regions, pushed into the
north, and planted colonies upon the ice-girt shores of Greenland.
On every side the barriers of prejudice were trodden down. The
temperate zones were no longer deemed the only habitable por-
tion of the globe. The torrid zone, instead of enclosing sandy
deserts, scorched up by the intolerable heat of a vertical sun, was
found to teem with organic life, and to possess a population even
more dense than that of the temperate zones, together with a soil
equally well adapted to the support of animal and vegetable life.

The frigid zones were no longer begirt with perpetual snows,
where nature, as if to amuse herself in the loneliness of her soli-
tude, exhibited the wildest and most fantastic forms. Navigators
advanced toward the north, and found that during the partial sum-
mer, plants grew, flowers bloomed, and that human beings made
it their permanent residence and home throughout the year.

For a long time, however, after Galileo had taught the sublime
doctrine that the earth was not an immense plain, bounded by the
horizon, which itself was inclosed by some impassable barrier;
and that the eighty millions of fixed stars which are visible through
a good telescope, were centres of other systems, and not mere
ignes fatui, created from inflammable vapours, lighted up each
night by the hands of some kind deity; — yes, for a long time
subsequent to this discovery, the knowledge of the most enlight-

3

18 ADDRESS.

ened nations was confined within the circumference of a few
thousand miles in extent. At length Columbus taught the world
the pathway to a new hemisphere ; and other voyagers, at various
successive periods, discovered New Holland, New Zealand, and
the numerous groups of islands throughout the Indian, Pacific,
and Southern oceans. With these discoveries commences the
era of modern geography.

The very existence of the Pacific ocean was unknown to Euro-
peans until 1513, when Balboa, a Spanish commander, guided by
some natives, crossed the dividing ridge of the Andes at the
Isthmus of Darien. It was now an important desideratum to
open a passage by sea to this unexplored ocean, and thence by a
new route to arrive at the Moluccas, and the East Indian posses-
sions of the Spanish crown. It was for this purpose that Ma-
gellan set out upon his memorable voyage, for which he was
fitted out by the Emperor Charles V. The results of this expe-
dition proved him well suited for the prosecution of so bold a
design.

In November, 1520, he succeeded in passing the straits bearing
his name, and determining the southern limits of the new conti-
nent ; and as he beheld the mighty expanse of ocean opening
before him, is said to have shed tears in the fulness of his triumph
and joy. The Pacific was traversed, the Spice Islands reached,
and though Magellan himself fell ingloriously by the spear of a
native, his successor in command returned in safety home, laden
with treasures and the most curious and valuable productions of
nature and art.

Thus terminated the most remarkable voyage on record, that
of Columbus alone excepted. He stands alone, and at an unap-
proachable distance above every other competitor. To him be-
longs the undivided, unparcelled praise of having conceived and
accomplished that which the most daring navigator had not the
science to imagine, nor the moral courage to propose. Magellan,

ADDRESS. 19

however, can claim the high distinction of a rank second only to
Columbus, since he performed that which, though often attempted,
had never been accomplished.

When the particulars of this voyage became known, they pro-
duced, as was naturally to have been expected, much excitement
among the commercial nations of Europe, who were disposed to
look upon it as conferring a common benefit; while the jealous
and narrowminded court of Seville, wished to retain this new
route to the Moluccas as an acquisition exclusively its own. But
the maritime spirit was too thoroughly awakened among its rivals
to be repressed by any cunning devices of a jealous policy, or the
use of military force. The Hollanders soon doubled Cape Horn,
and the extent of the new world in the Southern Hemisphere,
with a number of its accessory islands, was accurately ascertained.

England rose like a sleeping leviathan from the depths of the
ocean, and after many struggles, became undisputed mistress of
the seas. In her long and hard contested endeavours to obtain
the mastery on the deep with Spain, Portugal, Holland, and
France, the science of navigation and ship-building received its
greatest improvements ; and the knowledge of ports, islands,
rocks, and shoals, which was acquired for the furtherance of
mutual destruction, became invaluable on the return of peace, in
the prosecution of commerce and the arts of peace.

The more recent voyagers have not had before them the same
wide field for adventure, but they have not gained the less honour,
for they carried with them more science and more humanity.
The names of Cook, Byron, Wallis, Vancouver, Bligh, Flinders,
and the lamented La Perouse, are entwined with the earliest
associations of our youth ; and their contributions to our knowl
edge of the islands of the Pacific and their " dusky tribes," are
various and invaluable. It was at this period when war, with all
its desolating effects, was raging between France and England,
that each of these countries sent out an expedition, whose sole

20 ADDRESS.

object was the extension of the bounds of geographical knowl
edge ; thus mingling the bays of science with the laurelled
wreaths of martial glory. It is farther worthy of especial notice,
as redounding infinitely to the credit of the French government,
that upon its being announced that the expedition of Captain
Cook was on its return homeward, laden with stores more valua-
ble than gold, the collections in all departments of science and
natural history, and the fruits of the three years' labours, the king
published a proclamation, wherein, after reciting the objects for
which the voyage of Cook was undertaken, proceeds to forbid
any French subject from capturing or detaining him ; but, on the
contrary, commands them to grant every aid in furtherance of the
ends of the expedition ; thus paying a homage to science, — thus
consecrating the flag of a rival nation by a perpetual flag of truce.

Since the general peace of Europe, the spirit of enlightened
research has been actively employed, and great and valuable
acquisitions have been the result. Russia has been engaged in
prosecuting discoveries in every part of the globe. She has sent
land expeditions into the unknown regions of Tartary north of
Thibet, and under the shadow of the snow-capped range of Him-
maleh and Imans, and into the interior of the northwest portion
of our continent. Men of science have been commissioned to
explore the northern boundary of Siberia, and to determine points
on that extensive coast, hitherto of doubtful position. In the
Southern Ocean her ships have penetrated as far as the 70°
parallel of latitude, and discovered islands which had escaped the
searching eye of Cook. They also boast of having rounded the
Sandwich Land of that celebrated navigator.

The recent contributions of the French to literature and science,
from the voyages of Freycenet, Duperre, Bougainville, and others,
have been of the greatest value, imparting to geography and natu-
ral history an attic elegance, unapproached by any other people
of past or present times.

ADDRESS. 21

England, however, stands preeminent as a nation in the noble
zeal she has manifested for the furtherance of geographical
knowledge. She is ever occupied with great objects, and ever
doing great things. She seizes on the sciences as a tiger on its
prey, and consults her own interests, and sometimes those of her
neighbours, with noble expansion of thought. Her expeditions
for the discovery of a northwest passage are familiar to all ; and
though unsuccessful in the attainment of their main object, have
done much to perfect our knowledge of the geography of the
northern regions. By these praiseworthy endeavours, the nation
has gained something more substantial than renown ; since, in
addition to the lustre shed over the British name, the transfer of
the whale fishery from East to West Greenland has yielded a
rich return for all her expenditures, lavish as they had been. Not
to particularize all the voyages undertaken within the last ten
years alone, to promote the interests of science, by this enter-
prising, liberal, and philanthropic people, we will merely mention
that of Captain Owen for the survey of the southeastern coast of
Africa, and that of Captain King for the purpose of exploring the
straits of Magellan, and constructing accurate charts of that
hitherto almost unknown passage to the Pacific, as among the
most useful and interesting. The benefit of the latter will be
reaped almost exclusively by our own vessels.

At this moment, another enterprise to the Arctic regions is
being matured in Great Britain. Before a recent meeting of the
Royal Geographical Society, Sir John Barrow in the chair, a
communication on the subject of further expeditions to the north
ern shores of our own continent, prefaced by a letter from Dr.
Fitton, pressing, personally and in the name of the society, the
expediency of such a measure, was read by Dr. Richardson. At
various intervals during three centuries, England has exhibited
strong interest in the discovery of a northwest passage ; nor will
she ever resign the investigation until the issue is certain. She

22 ADDRESS.

may be more or less active at any given period, as circumstances
may control ; but even if abandoned by the present age, succeed-
ing generations will revert to the inquiry, till it "be either crowned
with success, or the discovery of an insurmountable barrier shall
demonstrate its futility. Its object will be accomplished. The
entire outline of coast may be delineated by land ; the northern
extremity of our continent will yet be doubled by sea. In the
extent of coast from Behring's Straits to Baffin's Bay, about one
hundred degrees of longitude are comprised ; between the dis-
coveries of Captain Beechy and of Captain Franklin, not more
than six degrees ; and say ten degrees between the latter and
those of Captain Ross. The point attained by Captain Back
gives us one degree more ; and the space from thence to the
southeastern extremity of Regent's Inlet includes about 200 miles.
With these exceptions the whole extent has already been traced
on the map. There is no insuperable impediment to what remains
to do. The subject has been submitted to the consideration of a
committee composed of Barrow, Parry, Franklin, Beaufort, Back,
Maconochie, Richardson, and Parrish ; men distinguished for the
highest traits of intelligence and enduring enterprise. By this
committee we have no doubt the undertaking will be strongly
recommended. Let them proceed. We yield them the north.
For us a wider range, a nobler field, a prospect of more compre-
hensive promise, lies open in the south. Often, with reference to
this subject, in conversation with otherwise well-informed persons,
we have been asked the question, "What advantage has Great
Britain derived from her endeavours to find a northwest passage,
and what does she still promise herself in the prosecution of a
design which, even if accomplished, can never lead to any prac-
tical benefit in carrying on the commerce of the world?" We
answer that the question, cui bono ? should never be put in affairs
of this kind. Scientific research ought not to be thus weighed.
Its utility cannot be computed in advance, but becomes apparent

ADDRESS. 23

when the results are made known. This is an immutable law of
nature, and applies to all matters of science or invention, as well
as to the progress of geographical discovery. On this point his-
tory teaches us an important and instructive lesson. Let us profit
by it, and take courage in our own efforts. To the attempts made
by England in a past age to discover a northwest passage, we owe
the knowledge of North America itself; a result — and, be it
remembered, a contingent result — pregnant with consequences
which swell beyond the grasp of human computation. By the
same exertions was opened the Hudson's Bay fur trade, one of
the most valuable monopolies recorded in the annals of commerce
To these may be added the Newfoundland cod fishery, the whale
fishery in Davis' Straits, and many other vast commercial and
political advantages, derived from the same adventitious sources ;
sources from which Great Britain has obtained immense, almost
incalculable treasure. Yet not one of these rewards of enterprise
was anticipated, or formed an element in the calculation, when her
Cabot, her Davis, her Hudson and Baffin, were despatched on
their perilous voyages. Thus has it ever been ; and thus, we
venture to predict, will it be with us, in the great national under-
taking, the importance of which we have now assembled to
discuss.

Indeed, I do not believe that there is a record of a single voyage
since the days of Columbus, or, even, since that remote period of
fabulous history, when the celebrated son of Alcimede embarked
on his daring expedition, the youngest and bravest of the Greeks
sharing his toils and his glory, in search of the golden fleece,
which does not contain in it the evidence of some contribution to
the knowledge of mankind, worth vastly more than the cost of the
enterprise !

On taking leave of this branch of our subject, in order to place
in a yet more striking light and stronger contrast the efforts of
other nations as compared with our own, we will state the simple

24 ADDRESS.

but impressive fact, that when in the Pacific a short time since,
we met with a Prussian discovery ship ; and this, too, when that
nation has scarcely an hundred tons of shipping to be protected in
the whole Southern Ocean !

This is a hasty, and, from our limits, necessarily imperfect
review of what other nations have done and are still doing, for the
benefit of science and commerce in the field of discovery. That
these voyages have not only conferred honour, but proved gainful
by means of the new channels they have opened to commercial
intercourse, will be denied by no one who reflects for a moment
upon the diversity of the products of the earth's surface, and the
facility with which they may be turned to good account in the
trade between inhabitants of its more distant portions. We have
not been slow in appropriating to ourselves the gains of such
labours of foreign nations, until our commercial marine has be-
come so extensive, that we must now look to ourselves for its
protection.

It is to be found in the most unfrequented bays of the most
distant and barbarous nations, on seas but partially explored,
where no chart indicates the hidden rock or perilous sandbank,
and everything depends upon a kind of instinctive, intuitive saga-
city and foreknowledge of approaching danger, which nothing but
a constant exposure to appalling hazards can ever give. To pos-
sess this quality, one should be, in the language of Byron, "a
child of the sea ;" and it is only necessary to hear one of our own
hardy sailors recount his adventures from boyhood upward, to
have the history of thousands and tens of thousands of the same
hardy population, brought up to lay their hands upon the mane of
the combing wave, and wanton in the rock-chafed billow. In
every part of the earth's circumference where a keel can go, our
countrymen are to be found, gleaning the molluscous treasures from
the coral reefs in equatorial climes, and even venturing into the
interior of benighted Africa, though not like Denham, Clapperton,

V •«{*'

ADDRESS. 25

and the Landers, for the purpose of laying open the source of the
mysterious Niger, but to drag the huge rhinoceros from his
marshes, the ponderous elephant from his groves, and seize the
Numidian lion in his lair ; and not only have our zoological insti-
tutes been thus supplied for the gratification of the curious visiter
and the student of natural history, but numbers have been sent
from hence for the supply of the European market !

With these observations we proceed to the consideration, not
of what we have done, but of what we have so long been promis-
ing to do. We mean a naval enterprise, or voyage of discovery,
to be fitted out in the best manner, with every scientific appliance,
at the public expense, for the sole purpose of increasing our
knowledge of the Pacific and Southern Oceans, where our com-
merce is now carried on, as we shall be able to show, far beyond
the bounds of ordinary protection.

As early as the session of 1826-7, a proposition for fitting out
an expedition of this nature was brought before congress.* It was
recommended by numerous memorials, embracing among others a
resolution from the legislature of Maryland, a memorial from the
governor and both branches of the legislature of Pennsylvania, a
similar one from the state of Ohio, and various other addresses,
petitions, and memorials, from many cities of the Union. The
House appointed a select committee to consider the prayer of
these memorialists ; but, owing to the great press of unfinished
business, and the exciting discussions which then absorbed the
attention of the members, they had little leisure to consider the
subject of a national expedition, however useful and necessary in
itself.

Favourable opinions, however, were entertained by the commit-
tee with regard to the project, novel as it then appeared to the
House and the country at large. The advocates of the measure

* Document No. 1.

B

26 ADDRESS.

did not anticipate any decisive action on the part of congress at
that time ; and the committee, willing to promote inquiry, and still
further interest the public mind, moved a special reference of the
whole matter to the Navy Department. In this proposition the
House concurred.

During the interval' between the first and second sessions of the
twentieth congress, the subject of the expedition, and the objects
to be attained by it, were often discussed in the journals of the
day ; and it is worthy of remark, that not a single press through-
out the country raised its voice in opposition to the measure.
The commercial portion of our community, and especially those
immediately interested in the whale fishery, the fur trade, and the
traffic with the South Sea Islanders, came forward in favour of the
enterprise as one man. It will be seen hereafter what reason they
had to complain of the tardy action of congress. They had been
long subjected to losses, and exposed to dangers from which such
an expedition would have saved them, and their memorials were
accordingly strong in its favour. Other memorials proceeded
from the legislatures of New York, Maryland, Virginia, and North
Carolina ; and their character and number were such as to claim
from congress the most careful consideration of the subject. On
their reference to the committee on naval affairs, its chairman
addressed a letter to the secretary of the navy, requesting the
opinion of the department respecting the expedition, and a pro-
ject of a law authorising it. The answer of the secretary, the
consequent report of the committee, and the other papers pub-
lished during the session, contain a full exposition of the objects
of the proposed enterprise at that period.*

The secretary, in his reply, says :

" I entertain the opinion that such an expedition is expedient.
My reasons are briefly these :

* Document No. 2.5.6.7.8.

ADDRESS. 27

" That we have an immense and increasing commerce in that
region, which needs the protecting kindness of the government,
and may be greatly extended by such an expedition. Of the
extent and nature of this commerce, it is not easy to write briefly)
nor is it necessary. It is better* known to none than to some of
the members of the naval committee in the House of Repre-
sentatives. The estimate of its value has been much augmented,
in the view of the Department, by the reports which have been
made, under its orders, by our naval officers, who have com-
manded vessels of war in the Pacific, and which are now on file.

"The commercial operations carried on in that quarter, are
difficult and hazardous. They are correctly represented in the
memorial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, to which I would refer,
as well as to some of the many other memorials which have been
addressed to Congress on this subject. It would seem wise in
the government to render these commercial operations less hazard-
ous and less destructive of life and property, if it can be done by
a moderate expenditure of money.

" The commerce in the Pacific ocean affords one of the best
nurseries of our seamen. An expedition, such as that proposed,
would be calculated to increase that class of citizens — an increase
in which the government and nation are deeply interested.

"We now navigate the ocean, and acquire our knowledge of
the globe, its divisions, and properties, almost entirely from the
contributions of others. By sending an expedition into that im
mense region, so little known to the civilized world, we shall add
something to the common stock of geographical knowledge, which
is not merely useful to commerce, but connects itself with almost
all the concerns of society ; and, while we make our contributions
to this common stock, we shall not fail to derive the best advan-
tages to ourselves, and be richly paid, even in a calculation of
expenditure and profit."

On this view of the subject, thus perspicuously set forth, the

28 ADDRESS.

committee felt themselves called upon to give it a more careful
consideration than had been bestowed upon it during the session
preceding, and their report will show that they coincided fully in
the opinion expressed by the Department.

Indeed, their report was drawn* up with much labour, and was
characterized by patient and extensive research ; yet, great as the
amount of our commerce in the Southern Ocean was shown to be,
and important as were the interests requiring protection at that
time, subsequent inquiry has proved that they fell far, very far
short of the truth. The report was placed on the list of business
to be acted upon ; but, with many other important matters, at the
close of a hurried and excited session, could not be finally dis-
posed of. As the session was drawing rapidly to a close, it
oecame evident that the action of congress could not be had on
the bill; and it was at this time, 21st May, that the following
resolutions were drawn up, and being accepted by the committee
on naval affairs as a substitute for the bill, passed the House
almost unanimously but a few days before the close of the
session :

"Resolved, That it is expedient that one of our small public
vessels be sent to the Pacific ocean and South seas, to examine
the coasts, islands, harbours, shoals, and reefs, in those seas, and
to ascertain their true situation and description.

"Resolved, That the President of the United States be re-
quested to send one of our small public vessels into those seas
for that purpose, and that he be requested to afford such facilities
as may be within the reach of the Navy Department, to attain the
objects proposed; provided it can be done without prejudice to
the general interest of the naval service ; and provided it may be
done without further appropriations during the present year."

Thus terminated the action of the House upon the subject of
the expedition. The specific character of the resolutions, viewed
in connection with the numerous memorials expressing the senti-

ADDRESS. 29

ments not only of our commercial cities, but of the legislatures
of states, comprising more than half the population of the union,
and represented on the floor of congress by one hundred and
twenty-nine members, imposed upon the department a duty
clearly definable, and requiring prompt and decisive action.
There was neither time nor pretext for further delay. Measures
were accordingly adopted, and every preliminary step taken to
forward the enterprise. Though no specific appropriation had
been made, yet, by the tenour of the resolutions, the whole
resources of the Department might be legitimately employed to
promote it, since usage has admitted a yet bolder and wider range
so long as the action of the Department has been directed to sub-
serve the general interests of the service, especially if it did not
require " additional appropriations during the current year." But
another session was at hand ; and the President, in his message to
congress, dated December 1, 1828, recognized the importance of
the measure ; while the Secretary of the Navy, in his annual
report to the Executive, gave an expos£ of what had been done
preparatory to carrying the views of congress into effect.

Thus, during the recess, orders had been given to repair the
Peacock with a view to the expedition, and all necessary repairs
had been made; officers of approved skill had been ordered to
hold themselves in readiness, and were eager to be employed in
the enterprise; — while suitable seamen were enlisted, and orders
given to prepare the requisite books and mathematical instru-
ments ; and correspondence had been held with some of our most
distinguished scientific men throughout the land, in order to facili-
tate the selection of persons to be attached to the expedition, and
to aid in drawing up instructions. In a word, everything had been
done which a prudent foresight could suggest, to render the expe-
dition efficient for the protection of our commerce, and honourable
to our common country.

The bill reported during the preceding session was now taken

30 ADDRESS.

up. It passed the House by a large majority, and nothing was
wanting but the action of the Senate.

We understand it is not deemed in order to refer minutely to
the proceedings of that body ; it is sufficient for our present pur-
pose to remark that the committee to whom the bill was referred,
though conceding the importance of the proposed enterprise, dif-
fered among themselves as to the precise character the expedition
should assume, and the time when it would be most proper to
despatch it; and that before these and some other unimportant
matters could be adjusted, the session drew near its close ; so that
the bill, or rather a modification of it, when at last introduced, was
preceded on the list by such a mass of business, that it could not
be reached by the Senate before its final adjournment. It was
from this cause alone, — and not, as some have supposed, in con-
sequence of a vote of the Senate,— that the bill was lost ; since,
to our certain knowledge, there were in that body at that time a
decided majority in favour of the expedition.

Had it then been permitted to sail, well matured as it unques-
tionably was, results useful and honourable to our country must
have followed in its train. That it did not sail has been a subject
of regret to every enlightened mind in the least acquainted with
the subject, without reference to party, profession, or sectional
feelings.

The strong and pressing considerations which called for it at
that period, have not been weakened by the lapse of years ; on
the contrary, they have increased in proportion to the augmenta-
tion of our tonnage, and the extent of our voyages into those
distant seas. What was once known only by the information
derived from others, has since been confirmed by personal expe-
rience, and by five years of adventures by sea and land, over a
large portion of the earth's surface, embracing every clime, from
the exuding tropics where reigns perennial spring, and where the
green foliage scarce fades into the seared leaf before the swelling

ADDRESS. 31

bud again bursts from its calyx, while the bough from "which its
beauties are unfolding is still bowed down by the weight of ripen-
ing fruit ; to the sterile regions of eternal snow and " thick-ribbed
ice," along the confines of the Antarctic circle. Yes, I repeat it !
five years of adventure, with every opportunity of observation,
have impressed upon my mind the strong and abiding conviction,
that such an expedition as that now proposed, is called for by
considerations of honour, interest, humanity, and imperious duty.

Is this the language of enthusiasm, excited by a spirit of wild
adventure, unconnected with sober reality, and unsustained by
well authenticated facts ? If there be any of my hearers of this
opinion, especially among those whose duty it is to investigate
and decide on all matters of national concern, we must bespeak
their attention for yet a few moments longer. .

For a number of years after our whaleships had doubled Cape
Horn, their voyages were made up along the Spanish Main. As
their number increased, new grounds were sought, and portions
of the ocean traversed which lay far from the usual track of mer-
chantmen. In these untried paths, new reefs, new islands, and
new dangers, were constantly encountered, and their situation
noted down in the log-books and journals of vessels as they
chanced to fall in their way. On their return to the United
States, these discoveries generally formed a paragraph, which
went the rounds of the press, and then sunk into oblivion. Often,
however, it was seized upon by some European constructer of
maps, and placed in the charts as an important acquisition to
geography, but without mentioning the names, or alluding to the
nation of the discoverers from whose individual exertions such
information had been derived. For more than thirty years have
these contributions to the common stock of knowledge been
annually made, until the result presents a picture of more daring
and successful enterprise than is to be found in the annals of any
other nation. And this, too, has been as silently and unobtru-

32 ADDRESS.

sively progressing as the labours of the zoophyte, that motionless
inhabitant of the deep, from whose accumulated exuviae the pre-
cipitous ramparts of calcareous rock are formed, until the coral
reef, by slow degrees, rises above the surface of the ocean, and,
oecoming an island, blooms with the luxuriant vegetation of the
tropics.

With the view of collecting and arranging the vast fund of
knowledge, the scattered gleanings of a thousand voyages, I was
arduously employed during the summer and fall of 1828; having
visited Newport, New Bedford, Nantucket, and many other places
where information was to be procured respecting the Pacific
Ocean and South seas. The captains of whaleships were ready
to communicate such facts as they had treasured up or recorded
during their numerous voyages, and the owners were equally
anxious to assist me in furthering the objects of my visits. I
interrogated each navigator of those seas who chanced to be in
port, with his log-books, journals, and charts, lying before him;
and the topography of the whole range of seas from the Pacific
to the Indian and Chinese Oceans, with the nature and extent of
the fisheries, was the object of my special attention.

The information I obtained was drawn from purely original
sources. Nothing was taken at second hand. Log-books which
had been thrown aside for years, were overhauled and examined
anew. Many facts were received from several sources, each
independent of the other; and by this coincidence, the truth of
the statements was corroborated and confirmed. The whole were
concisely and systematically arranged under appropriate heads ;
and those voyages which were connected with a train of remarka-
ble incidents, were considered with much attention, and taken
down from the mouths of those present, or extracted from the
original journals.

I was likewise enabled to collect much information from those
engaged in the seal trade. The occupation of these men leads

ADDRESS. 33

them into seas far remote from the ordinary track of the whajer,
and their adventures are of the most daring character. In ves-
sels so small that they might seem unsafe for our coasting trade,
or the navigation of rivers and inlets, they take the seal from the
rocky shores of Patagonia, and the islands around Cape Horn,
girt with a belt of perpetual foam, and range along the entire
western coast of South America. Nor is their enterprise con-
fined within these bounds, for they skirt the eastern and western
shores of Africa, circle the islands of the Pacific, and, penetrating
far into the Southern Ocean, have in some instances completed
their cargoes close on the limits of the Antarctic circle !

In the course of these researches, many anecdotes came to my
knowledge, strongly illustrative of the enterprise and success of
our mariners. One, I trust, I may be permitted to mention in
this place, since it shows our own national enterprise, and the
liberality of Russia, in an enviable light; and exhibits one of
those many acts of courtesy and kindly feeling which have been
manifested by that great and powerful people.

The two discovery ships sent out by the late Emperor Alexan-
der, to circumnavigate the globe, were becalmed in a thick fog
between the South Shetland Islands and Palmer's Land, though
much nearer the latter ; and when the mist cleared up, they were
astonished at beholding a small vessel of about fifty tons burden,
between the two ships, which immediately ran up the American
flag. The Russian commander displayed his own colours, and
despatched a boat to the stranger vessel, with an invitation to the
master to come on board, which was accepted, and in a few mo-
ments he stood on the Russian's deck. " What islands are those
in sight?" inquired the commodore. "The South Shetlands,"
replied the captain; "and if you wish to visit any of them in
particular, it will afford me pleasure to be your pilot." " I thank
you," said the Russian commander; "but previously to being
enveloped in the mist, we had a glimpse of them, and were felici-

5

34 ADDRESS.

tating ourselves upon having made a new discovery, when lot
the fog lifts and shows an American vessel alongside, whose mas
ter offers to pilot me into port, where several of his own nation
lie at anchor ! We must surrender the palm of enterprise to you
Americans, and content ourselves with following in your train."
" You flatter me," replied the captain ; " but there is an immense
extent of land still further south ; and when the fog is entirely
dissipated, you will have a full view of its mountains from the
masthead."

" Indeed," said the Russian ; " then I am entirely anticipated in
my object, and I behold before me a pattern for the oldest nation
in Europe ; since I here find the American flag, a small fleet, and
a pilot, instead of making new discoveries."

After treating Captain Palmer in the most friendly manner, the
commander of the expedition, Stanjykowitsch, was so much
struck with the circumstance, that he named the coast Palmer's
Land, and it bears that name at present on the recent Russian
charts.

It was in company with this same Captain Palmer, during my
late voyage to the South seas, that I visited the whole of this
extensive group of islands lying north of the coast of Palmer's
Land, the extent of which neither we nor any subsequent naviga-
tors have as yet ascertained ; though a British vessel touched at a
single spot in 1831, taking from it the American, and giving it an
English name !

To return from our digression, the report above referred to was
drawn up for the purpose of aiding (and may now aid) the De-
partment in the enumeration of the objects to be examined by the
expedition; and it remained among its papers in a manuscript
form until the last session, when the subject was again renewed
in consequence of memorials from the East India Marine Society
of Salem, and many other citizens interested in the trade of the
Pacific. To these was added a joint resolution of both houses

ADDRESS. 35

of the legislature of Rhode Island ; and in answer to a call of the
House, it was communicated by the Secretary, and appended to
the report of Mr. Pearce of the Committee on Commerce, made
February 7th, 1835.

To that report and the accompanying documents,* we would
earnestly call the attention of those who doubt the expediency of
the measure we advocate. There they will see fully set forth the
labour to be performed by the expedition, and behold a picture of
American enterprise unsurpassed in the commercial annals of any
other people.

That the positions of the islands, as laid down by our whale-
men, are determined with accuracy, we pretend not to assert ;
neither do these adventurous navigators themselves lay claim to
any such exactness. The very nature of their pursuits almost
precludes the possibility of such a result; their primary object
being to take whale, and not to make discoveries. When, how-
ever, we reflect on the disadvantages under which they labour ; un-
provided with instruments of improved construction ; often com-
puting their progress by the run of the log alone, without allowance
for the influence of currents, the force and direction of which they
do not stop to investigate ; it must be conceded that the information
they have imparted is more correct and explicit than we could
reasonably anticipate. But if these men have not the means and
opportunity of noting with precision the geographical position of
their discoveries, it is still less within their power to ascertain the
capacity, resources, and productions, of the new lands. Whale-
ships, lost in the process of examining a group of islands or a
reef, forfeit their insurance. Even were this otherwise, time
cannot be spared for such a survey ; and thus a brief note in a
vessel's log-book is frequently the only recorded notice of a dan-
gerous reef, or a new archipelago. It is impossible, however, to

36 ADDRESS.

examine the reports of our South Sea whaling captains, without
feeling the value of that mighty mass of rude materials with
which they have furnished us. To have those materials carefully
analyzed, and a work upon which confident reliance can be placed
prepared for future use, is the bounden duty of government. The
prosecution of these objects will constitute an important part of
the labours of the expedition — labours which ought not, in jus-
tice, to have been delayed till now. Perhaps the silent and
unobtrusive manner in which our great ocean concerns are carried
on, may in some measure account for, if they cannot justify, the
negligence of our government, in not watching with a more vigi-
lant eye the interests of our civil marine, and protecting it more
effectually by the strong arm of naval power. I put the question
to every liberal-minded, intelligent individual, within these walls :
is it honourable, is it politic or wise — waiving the considerations
of humanity and duty — to look supinely on, while our citizens
are exposed to shipwreck in seas, on coasts, and among islands,
of which they possess no charts capable of guiding them aright,
and to suffer them to be massacred by savages, for lack of such a
judicious exhibition of maritime strength as would command
respect by showing the ability to enforce it ? And yet such is the
situation of our commerce in many parts of the world. Does
any one doubt the assertion ? How was it, let us inquire, a few
years ago, when news arrived of the capture of the Friendship,
and the savage slaughter of a portion of her crew, on the coast of
Sumatra ? It is true the action of the Executive was, as it ever
should be in similar emergencies, prompt and decided. The
bows of the Potomac were turned toward the scene of insult and
bloodshed, with an alacrity that showed in the Department no
want of zeal to do whatever the national interest or honour
required, no matter where the duty was to be performed. But
had we the requisite topographical knowledge to direct the enter
prise? No one, we presume, will venture such an assertion.

ADDRESS. 37

The Naval Board had not within its control a chart of the coast
against which it was sending a heavy armament. The com-
mander of the noble frigate had to rely mainly on the information
he might gather on his way out ; and when on the spot, accord-
ing to the best charts he could procure at the Cape of Good Hope,
he found the position of the frigate high upon the interior moun-
tains of Sumatra, before he was within anchoring distance of its
shore ! Of the inhabitants, form of government, or its respon-
sibility, nothing was known upon which definite instructions could
be grounded ; so that, as regarded the mode of seeking repa-
ration, the commodore had no other aid than his own sagacity,
and the few dim lights which the Department had the power to
bestow. And where is this country of which we knew so little ?
Is it in some obscure, rarely visited corner of the globe ? No.
We are speaking, be it recollected, of the island of Sumatra, one
of 'the largest of the Sunda Isles ; of its coast at Quallah Battoo,
where our vessels have carried on a considerable trade in pepper
for the last thirty years, and where the nations of Europe prose-
cuted a lucrative traffic centuries before the commencement of
that period. At the beginning of the present era, we had no less
than thirty vessels in that quarter during a single season. The
English and Dutch have yielded their cherished monopolies into
the hands of our keen and far sighted merchants ; in a word, the
direct and indirect traffic with the Sunda Isles forms no inconside-
rable item in the sum of our commercial prosperity ; and yet how
little information did we not long ago possess, of the particulars
most essential to a safe intercourse with these semi barbarous
inhabitants !

Nor is this the only region of importance, commercially, with
regard to which our ignorance is shamefully apparent. The
report before us offers evidence of a thousand similar instances at
a single view. The Fegee Islands are a case in point. Where are
they ? What knowledge have we of their character and extent?

38 ADDRESS.

We answer in the language of the memorial of the East India
Marine Society of Salem, Massachusetts ; and if long practical
acquaintance with those seas give weight to opinions expressed
with relation to them, then is the extract we are. about to quote
entitled to your respectful consideration :

" Without attempting to designate the groups or islands most
important to be examined, your memorialists would simply call
the attention of your honourable body to one point, which may
serve as an index to the rest: — the Fegee or Betee Islands.
What is known of them ? They were named, but not visited, by
Captain Cook, and consist of sixty or more in number. Where
shall we find charts of this group, pointing out its harbours and
dangers ? There are none to be found, for none exist. And yet
have we no trade there ? We speak not for others, but for
ourselves.

" From this port the following vessels have been, or now are,
employed in procuring beche~le-?ner and shells, at the Fegee
Islands, in exchange for which eastern cargoes are brought into
our country, and thus contributing no inconsiderable amount to
our national revenue : ship Clay, brig Quill, have returned ; brig
Fame, lost at the islands ; ship Glide, also lost ; and bark Peru,
greatly damaged, and in consequence condemned at Manilla ; brig
Spy, damaged, but repaired again ; brig Charles Daggett, bark
Pallas, brig Edwin, ship Eliza, ship Emerald, ship Augustus, and
brig Consul. The Charles Daggett has recently returned, in con-
sequence of having a portion of her crew massacred by the
natives. The ship Oeno, of Nantucket, was lost on one of these
islands, and her officers and crew, consisting of twenty-four in
number, were all massacred in like manner, except one.

" Thus, it must appear to your honourable body, that the losses
sustained at this single point — to say nothing of the value of
human life, which is above all value— would not fall far short, if
any, of the amount necessary to fit out an expedition for the better

ADDRESS. 39

examination of such points in the Pacific ocean and South seas,
as require the attention of government."

Numerous other groups of islands, of more or less importance,
might be noticed in like manner, were it deemed necessary, and
did time permit. Those, if such there be, whose doubts are yet
unremoved, or who wish for more detailed information, can have
recourse to the documents already in possession of the members
of this House, and which abundantly set forth " what remains for
us to do."

Allow me, in like manner, to invite your special attention to the
elaborate report* made by the Committee on Commerce, during
the last session, several thousand copies of which were printed
and distributed throughout the country. It concludes as follows :

"The Committee, having thus fully presented the views and
wishes of the memorialists, and noted the legislative action hith-
erto had upon the subject, deem it unnecessary to go into any
prolonged arguments in the conclusion of their report.

"Other nations have deemed it wise to protect their fisheries,
at all hazards, and by heavy expenditures. Some have sent out
voyages of discovery, that had little or no commerce to be bene-
fited. Previous to the year 1770, the English, in their strenuous
efforts to compete with the Dutch in the northern whale fishery,
had paid in bounties not less than three millions of dollars ; and
down to the year 1786, the aggregate amount of bounty paid was
not less than six millions three hundred and thirty thousand
dollars.

" The American fishermen have received no bounty, and they
are now pursuing their avocation in seas beyond the reach of
ordinary protection. That places of refreshment may be ex-
amined, new channels of trade opened, and dangers pointed out,
seems not only reasonable and just, but called for by considera-

40 ADDRESS.

tions of public interest ; and it is believed that this can be best
accomplished by sending out vessels expressly provided for this
duty ; while the demand on the public treasury will be small,
compared with the good which may be accomplished.

" The late British expeditions for the discovery of a northwest
passage, undertaken for scientific purposes, at great expense,
nevertheless richly repaid the British nation for her expenditure,
by transferring the whale fishery from East to West Greenland.

"In like manner, in addition to the specific objects to be
attained by an expedition, many collateral advantages may be
secured to the whaler and trafficker in the Pacific, and the sealer
in the higher latitudes south.

"While your Committee, in coming to their conclusion in
favour of recommending an expedition such as has been prayed
for by the memorialists, have been influenced solely by commer-
cial views, and place the policy of the measure solely on these
grounds, they are not indifferent to the valuable fund of knowledge
which may be gathered during the voyage ; and which, properly
analyzed and written out, may be interesting, not only to the
American people, but to the whole civilized world."

What can be more liberal and decisive than the views and
language of this report ? There are no half-way measures and
time-serving policy in it. And yet, enlightened and statesmanlike
as it is, the subject was not, even at that time, before the Com-
mittee in all the strength in which it is capable of being portrayed.
For since the report which put into the hands of the Department
a more minute and accurate description of these seas than is
possessed by the admiralty of any other nation, additional and
important acquisitions have been made.

During our sojourn in the South seas, and more especially
while in the Pacific, connected with our public service, we had
frequent opportunities of seeing many of our whalers, and of
learning from their own mouths the nature and extent of the dan-

ADDRESS. . 41

gers they had to encounter. From them we learned the position
of numerous islands recently discovered by them, and not yet
embodied in any report.

These are discoveries which make little or no noise in the
world ; there is no long story, no spirit-stirring incident, no
romance, attached to them ; there is but a rock, a coral reef, or
an island more in the midst of an ocean, where thousands already
exist ; and yet he who points out a rock, a reef, or an island, un-
known before, is a benefactor to the human race. Nor is he
less entitled to the appellation, who, after a careful examination,
is enabled to decide that a rock, an island, a reef, or a shoal, is
either misplaced on the chart, or has no existence. An insulated
rock in the midst of the waste of waters, may, while its position
continues unascertained, prove the cause of the most intense
misery ; and families deprived of parents and children, and mer-
chants reduced from affluence to unaccustomed poverty, may
ascribe their calamities to that hardly visible speck, mantled with
rolling waves, and half hid with the foam of the tumbling breakers.
Let those exult in their prosperity who are carried on joyously
before its gales, and have not tasted of the bitter reverses which
attend upon those who " go down to the sea in ships." The lesson
of experience they have not learned, and would they never may ;
but they are from this very fact, to a certain degree, incapacitated
from forming a just estimate of the importance of results such as
we would accomplish. But if any heart- stricken parent or ruined
merchant were to determine upon the subject now before you, how
decisive would be his reply, and how soon would this expedition
depart upon its errand of philanthropy !

In visiting that part of the ocean surrounded by the Society
Islands, New Caledonia, and Solomon's Islands — indeed, the
whole of that extensive tract embraced under the name of Ocean-
ica — we find the mariner in constant danger of striking his keel
against some point of coral rock, shooting perpendicularly upward

6

42 ADDRESS.

from an immense depth, and presenting, in every part, the germs
of a new world, "or the magnificent fragments of an old one."

There the amplest fields for commercial activity have been
opened, and are every day extending yet more widely, in the
search after numerous productions of those remote regions, many
of which have become articles of great value in the interchange of
commerce ; yet, there the madrepore, or coral insect, is very busy
in rearing its vast superstructure to the surface; and the dark
volcano, bursting from the depths of the sea, pours its broken
fragments and molten lava above the level of the waters, and, by
the decomposition of its surface, is rapidly converted into an island.

Over this vast sweep of ocean, speckled with more than a thou-
sand islands, whose position requires to be marked more accurately
on the charts, and one-half of that number not to be found on the
charts at all, there are many groups inhabited by every variety of
savage man. Around these, we have at this moment two hundred
ships engaged in the whale fishery alone, measuring more than
eighty thousand tons, whose cargoes, without taking into calcula-
tion the cost of the vessels and outfits, are at least two hundred
thousand barrels of sperm oil, worth not less than six millions of
dollars. I mean not, in this statement, to include the vessels on
the way out with those at home, nor the tonnage dependant on the
trade ; but those known at this moment to be afloat in those distant
seas.

But this statement gives only a defective view of our inter-
ests connected with the fisheries in those seas. Let us for a
moment take a concise but comprehensive view of what those
interests are. In doing this, we shall not speak of the capital
and tonnage employed, and profitably employed too, among the
islands, in that multifarious traffic, grown up within a few years
past, and constantly extending. In the first place, the vessels
employed: they are from various ports of the United States, as
follows: —

ADDRESS.

43

Ports. Vessels.

New Bedford 154

Nantucket 71

Lynn 5

Gloucester 1

Portsmouth 4

Warren 1£

Providence 2

Mystic 3

Green Port 3

Hudson 11

Newark,N.J. 1

West Port 3

Fairhaven . . , 31

Rochester 4

Falmouth 4

Fall River 3

Dorchester 4

Newburyport 4

Portland . . 1

Ports. Vessels.

Bristol 17

New London 29

Norwich 1

New York 6

Newburgh 3

Wilmington, Del 3

Dartmouth 4

Wareham 1

Edgarton 8

Plymouth 4

Salem 9

Provincetown 1

Wiscasset ......... 1

Newport 9

Stonington 3

Sag Harbour . ....... 24

Poughkeepsie ....... 4

Bridgeport 2

This immense fleet of four hundred and sixty sail, from forty
distinct ports, scattered along the seaboard of seven different
states, will average about three hundred and seventy-five tons
each ; making, in all, one hundred and seventy-two thousand tons
of shipping — nearly one-tenth the whole tonnage of the United
States.

The cost of these vessels may be put down from twenty to sixty
thousand dollars each — say, on an average, forty thousand; which
requires the employment of an active capital of eighteen million
four hundred thousand dollars !

The exports of our fisheries were, during the past year, in whale
and fish oil, seven hundred and seventy-three thousand four hun-
dred and eighty-six dollars ; in spermaceti, fifty-two thousand five
hundred and thirty-one dollars ; in whalebone, fifty-five thousand
nine hundred and fifty-four dollars ; in spermaceti candles, two
hundred and eighty-four thousand and nineteen dollars : making,
in all, one million one hundred and sixty-five thousand nine hun-
dred and ninety dollars. Thus, not only supplying the home
market, but deriving from other nations an annual tribute in reward
of our own industry and far-reaching enterprise !

If we add to the above the capital and tonnage employed in the
transportation of oil to Europe, in return cargoes, and in the coast

44 ADDRESS.

ing trade, with the property immediately connected with this
business, the aggregate may be safely put down at two hundred
thousand tons of shipping, and the capital directly and indirectly
dependant on it at sixty millions of dollars ! the annual gross
income from five to six millions; and the number of seamen
employed twelve thousand. There is no branch of business more
important to a nation than such an investment of its capital. It is
not the doubtful profit derived from the interchange of commerce,
but treasure gleaned from the ocean. The fisheries, and their
necessary accompaniment, ship building, have been the cradle of
our naval marine from its earliest infancy ; and they will continue
to be so, even to the end. On the numbers and hardihood of the
one, will depend, in no small degree, the efficiency of the other.
England has experienced this for the last hundred and fifty years ;
other nations have been aware of it also, and have done all in their
power to cherish and build up their fisheries. Ours, though twice
swept from the ocean, have grown up in despite of our neglect.

Truly has it been said, that our great battle on the ocean has vet
to be fought. Come when it may, and come it will, our fisher-
men will participate largely in it. The history of the past is an
earnest of the future. From our colonial days to the present time,
in every ocean conflict they have borne a double share, in propor-
tion to their numbers, over every other class of our seamen. They
are " precisely such men as the nation requires for times of trial
and struggle." You cannot do without them. Soldiers may be
trained in a day ; sailors must be children of the sea. You may
fortify our coast, plant heavy ordnance at points most exposed ; but
you will find no enemy so rash as to attempt invasion, who has
not, in the first instance, become master of our seaboard. Twelve
thousand men, accustomed to grapple with the mightiest monsters
of the deep, inured to hardship and the vicissitudes of every clime,
called by the exigencies of their country to the defence of its flag,
on board our men of war, would of themselves form no inconsider-

ADDRESS.

45

able fleet ; and terrible must be the struggle, and crimsoned the
ocean with blood, before a hostile keel could pass this floating,
breathing rampart of iron muscles and stout hearts, and gain
possession of our shores !

No enlightened statesman, therefore, can regard with indiffer-
ence, or as local in its character, a branch of industry which adds
so much to the wealth of the nation, calls into existence, and gives
employment to so many effective seamen. No true patriot, who
has a mind to encompass the great objects of government, can
withhold whatever of aid and protection the peculiar exigencies
this important interest may require.

But let us descend from this high and patriotic view, and see
what kind of plea can be made solely on the score of interest.
From data entitled to full belief, it has been ascertained that every
time our immense whale fleet puts to sea, there is required for
victualling and outfit : flour, eighty thousand and forty barrels ;
pork and beef, seventy-nine thousand one hundred and twenty
barrels ; molasses, six hundred and twenty-one thousand gallons ;
coffee, five hundred and fifty-two thousand six hundred pounds ;
sugar, two hundred and fifty-six thousand eight hundred pounds ;
tea, one hundred and seventy-two thousand five hundred pounds ;
rice, one thousand three hundred tierces ; duck, forty-six thousand
four hundred and sixty pieces ; cordage, eight thousand nine hun-
dred and sixty tons ; iron hoops, four thousand six hundred tons ;
copper, five hundred and fifty-two thousand sheets ; (vessels cop-
pered every voyage ;) staves, ten million ; whaling gear, consisting
of harpoons, spades, cabooses, &c., one thousand dollars to each
vessel, four hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

Flour barrels 80,040

Pork and beef . . .barrels 79,120

Molasses gallons 621,000

Coffee pounds 552,600

Sugar pounds 256,800

Tea pounds 172,500

Rice tierces 1,300

Duck (sail cloth) . . pieces 46,460

Cordage tons 8,960

Iron hoops .... tons 4,600

Copper sheets 552,000

Staves 10000,000

Whaling gear, harpoons, &c.,

value in dollars .... 460,000

46 ADDRESS.

Besides all these, large quantities of beans, corn, peas, potatoes,
&c. are required in outfits.

Now, to what conclusion are we led by all these results ? That
the whale fishery is a local interest, carried on for the benefit of an
exclusive few? Far from it. These fisheries reach the interest
of every class of citizens in our country ; their prosperity or adver-
sity becomes that of our whole people. The owners of woodland,
the axemen, the teamsters, the ship carpenters, coppersmith, black-
smith, manufacturers of cotton, rope makers, riggers, sail makers,
cultivators of hemp, as well as the grazier and agriculturist — all
have an interest in this branch of national enterprise. Besides, it
is the safest ocean business that can be pursued; for it brings
home no new diseases to destroy our population, no vices con-
tracted in old and corrupt communities to poison our morals !

Surely, then, it is the bounden duty of the government to afford
every facility to the merchant in these commercial enterprises, and
to furnish him with adequate protection. This is a course dictated
not only by a sound policy, but by every motive of humanity. The
oft told stones of mariners shipwrecked in the South Seas are no
fictions. Would to Heaven that they were ! To enter into par-
ticulars of these disasters, would serve only to weaken the picture,
since our limits will not allow of extended details ; yet it is hoped
that a few facts, briefly stated, will not be without weight, when
considered in connexion with this subject.

The ship Oldham was taken by the natives of Wallis's Island,
and her crew murdered. Previous to this, the American brig
Chinchilla, engaged in taking biche-le-mer at the same place,
experienced the same fate.

The ship Oeno, of Nantucket, was lost among the Feejee
Islands, and the entire crew were supposed to have been put to
death. One, however, the cooper of the vessel, escaped, and
returned by a subsequent vessel to the United States. Since his
arrival, intelligence has been received, which leaves no doubt that

ADDRESS. 47

a youth by the name of Swain is still alive on one of these islands.
This information was derived from an English barque, which
touched at that group in 1830. The lad came on board, in com-
pany with several chiefs, and represented himself to be the young-
est of the Oeno's crew, and the brother of her captain. The
English captain made every effort to procure his release, but could
not prevail upon the natives to give him up, or allow" him to
depart ; while their numbers prevented his recapture by forcible
means. The truth of this statement may be relied on ; I received
it from a brother of the exile boy.

There has been a recent and most distressing murder at the
Feejee Islands ; the intelligence has been brought by the ship
Cyrus, lately arrived at Edgarton. Three of the victims, the
captain and two mates, had families at that place. The exact time
when the horrid transaction was committed is not known. The
ship had arrived at Oahu, in charge of the third mate, the only
surviving officer, a young man about eighteen years of age. It
appears the "Awaskonks,"* the name of the vessel, while in the

* Among the survivors of the massacre on board ship Awaskonks, who have at
length reached home, is Daniel W. Wood, of this place, a young man scarcely out of
his minority, the son of a worthy, afflicted, and infirm widow, whose reliance on his
success in life was among her few remaining hopes. His sufferings from the terrible
injuries inflicted by the savages at Baring's Island, no language can describe. He
bears upon his person the indelible scars of five or six horrible wounds made by whale
spades — weapons more formidable, and of keener edge, than perhaps were ever before
employed by man against his fellows. These instruments, intended only for cutting
and slicing the outer portions of the carcasses of whales, are of necessity extremely
sharp at the anterior edge ; the blade resembling that of a shingling hatchet, and termi-
nating in an iron shaft and socket, into which is inserted a long and stout wooden
handle. With such weapons, the reader may imagine, even if unacquainted with their
structure, what mischief and atrocities may be perpetrated, when in the strong hands
of lawless, perfidious, and incensed barbarians.

The principal wound of the sufferer is not yet healed. It is across his back, eleven
inches in length, and three in breadth, extending to the left scapula, a part of which
was cut off by the spade, and has since fallen out. The arm, on that side, is partially
deprived of its functions. This wound, which compelled him to lie on his face nearly
three months before his arrival at Oahu, exhibited unequivocal symptoms of mortifica

48 ADDRESS.

vicinity of the Feejee Islands, ran in near shore ; when a large
number of the natives came on board, in the most friendly man-
ner, bringing bread-fruit and yams, which they presented to the
captain and officers. They evinced great curiosity to examine and
understand every thing they saw, particularly the harpoons, lances,
and spades, in the boats ; and, without the least suspicion of their
evil intentions, Captain Coffin took these instruments out of one of
the quarter-boats, and showed the chief who came on board the
manner in which they were used in killing whales. While he was
employed in doing this, he had occasion to step forward a moment :
the instant his face was turned, a savage, who had a boat-spade in
his hand, aimed a fatal blow at the unfortunate man, which severed
his head from his body. A general rush was now made by the
savages to overcome the crew ; some of whom fled below, others
aloft, and a part prepared to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
The mate, after a desperate struggle, wrested the spade from the
native who had killed the captain, and laid him dead on the deck ;
he then went below for a moment, but returned on deck, and
fought until overpowered by numbers and killed. The second
mate jumped overboard, and was killed in the water. A number
of the crew fled aloft, to escape instant death. Mr. Jones, the
third mate, after a severe struggle with the savages for the posses-
sion of a spade, was forced aft, and, seeing no other resource,
dropped his hold ; he being then the only white man to be seen on
deck. Without arms, nothing could be done ; and they were all
in the after-cabin, the entrance to which was guarded by half a

tion ; and his messmates, anxious to preserve his life, burnt out the flesh by means of
heated marline-spikes ! and it is yet exceedingly problematical whether even an imper-
fect recovery may be ultimately accomplished. We have mentioned these particulars,
because a private subscription has been voluntarily started by some benevolent indi-
viduals ; and we know that an object so truly deserving of commiseration cannot be
neglected in this community. If we cannot restore that which is lost, or even alleviate
present miseries, we can at least make the attempt, and thereby evince o tr sympathy.
— Nantucket Enquirer.

ADDRESS. 49

dozen stout natives, rendering any attempt to force it hopeless.
He saw that the ship was completely abandoned to the savages,
and the lives of the surviving portion of the crew entirely at their
mercy. Desperate as his situation seemed to be, he resolved, if
fall he must, not to do so without an eifort to save himself and the
vessel.

The only way to reach the cabin and obtain arms, was by
passing down the main hatch, and removing a quantity of barrels,
staves, and promiscuous lumber, which was closely stowed
throughout the whole distance. This labour, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, would have required hours ; but it was the last resort.
His plan was formed on the instant. Dropping his spade, he
sprang over and through the astonished savages, with an impetu-
osity not to be resisted, secured his way to the hatch. True
to his purpose, he leaped down, and commenced cutting his
way through to the cabin. His mental energies must have added
greatly to his strength. The work was accomplished in a very
short space of time ; when, having removed and staved barrels
and boxes, he pushed aside all obstacles, and entered the steerage,
or forward cabin. Here was a man who had been for several
weeks confined by sickness. Mr. Jones seized his own, pistols,
and placed 'them in the hands of the invalid, directing him to
guard the gangway while he stove a hole through the cabin door,
which was locked, large enough to admit him, and secured the
guns. Here he was detained in collecting ammunition, fixing
flints, and loading. He soon prepared himself : his first shot up
the gangway took effect, and the song of victory, which the sav
ages had begun, was changed into a sound of wailing. The report
of the gun to those concealed, and the fall of an enemy to those
aloft, appeared like a call to the rescue. Jones continued to load
and fire as quickly as possible ; and his shots, though many of
them at random, did much execution, especially in the canoes.

which, as they approached the stern, were exposed to his fire from
C 7

50 ADDRESS.

the cabin windows. The men aloft now succeeded in setting the
after sails, for the purpose of getting the vessel's head off shore.
There being no man at the helm, and the savages masters of the
deck, a sailor came down from the fore-top, loosed the flying jib,
and hoisted the sail ; while the rest braced the fore-yards in such
a manner as to gain some headway from the land. Some of the
seamen, who had concealed themselves, discovered the mate's
track to the cabin ; and six of them were occupied in loading the
guns, and passing them to him.

One man, who actually leaped from the main shrouds, over the
heads of the enemy, into the hatches, was severely wounded in his
descent; and again, after obtaining a gun, from occupying too
exposed a situation. After receiving the last hurt, he staggered
back, saying, " Mr. Jones, I have lost my leg !" The mate bound
up the limb, and he sat loading and passing muskets during the
remainder of the conflict. A man was heard at the wheel, who, it
appeared, was the chief. He could not be seen, but they fired
random shots, the second of which entered his left side, passed
through his heart, and out under the right arm. He leaped from
the deck, and fell dead. The canoes still approached, and, for
fifteen minutes longer, death was dealt in frightful forms to the
astounded natives. Jones now determined to retake the deck at
all hazards. Each man, with loaded gun, advanced to the gang-
way; as they went up, they met from those aloft the joyful
announcement, " They are overboard !" Every savage had sprung
into the water. The crew levelled their guns, and, as the enemy
rose to the surface, gave them a parting volley, and immediately
made sail. One short hour had deprived them of all their senior
officers ; reduced their number to fourteen, fit for duty ; cost the
savages a score of lives, including that of their chief; ruined the
prospects of the voyage ; and placed in command of a fine ship a
young man whose courage and skill would make him an ornament
to our navy.

ADDRESS. 51

Mr. Jones navigated the vessel through a portion of the most
dangerous part of the Pacific, and, after a voyage of fifty days,
brought her into the nearest port, arid gave her up to the American
consul,*

Almost every arrival from the Pacific brings some melancholy
intelligence of shipwreck, mutiny, or massacre, among the South
Sea islands. The schooners Honduras and Thetis sailed from the
Sandwich Islands on the 9th of May, 1835, on a shelling voyage
among the islands in the North Pacific. Shortly after leaving, a
mutiny took place on board the Thetis, in which Captain Rogers
and his mate were both killed while asleep on deck. The trading-
master, or supercargo of the schooner, hearing the alarm, came
from below well armed, and instantly attacked and slew the prin-
cipal mutineer. He then took command of the vessel, and reached
the island of Ascension, where the Honduras had before arrived.

The Honduras left soon after on a cruise among the neighbor-
ing islands. On the 23d of August, her foremast was carried
away, and, being in want of provisions, she went into Strong's
Island, one of the Kingsmill's group, lying in latitude five degrees
twelve minutes north, longitude one hundred and sixty-two degrees
fifty-eight minutes east. On the day of her arrival, while the
vessel was filled with people, and the captain and eight men were
on shore, the natives commenced an attack, in which thirteen men,
including the captain and party on shore, were murdered. The
mate, with the assistance only of a boy, finally succeeded in clear-
ing the vessel of the savages, and worked her out of the harbour,
though she grounded several times. He arrived at Ascension on
the 3d of September last, in great distress, but shipped a native
crew, and continued the voyage. On the 4th of January, the
Honduras and Thetis were both at Honolalu.

From that port she sailed for the United States, and arrived in June.

52 ADDRESS.

At Strong's Island was seen a whaling brig on shore, which
had sailed from the Sandwich Islands fourteen months previously;
no doubt she had been taken by the natives, and her crew mur-
dered, or led into hopeless captivity. She was owned by a com-
pany of persons at the Sandwich Islands. Such has been the
fate of many of our own vessels.

The same conveyance which brought this intelligence, brought,
also, an account of the loss of the whale ship Independence of
Nantucket, Captain Brayton. This ship is reported to be entirely
lost on a desolate island. The crew were divided into two boats :
the one commanded by the mate had arrived at Tahita. It was
feared Captain Brayton's boat was lost.

Even the Friendly Islands, though long known, and often visited
by our ships for refreshments, require the presence of our men of
war. Several outrages have been recently committed by a chief
in the southeasterly part of the group upon our sailors ; and cap-
tains of vessels have in several instances been seized while on
shore, and heavy demands exacted for their ransoms. I derived
my information of this fact from one of the masters referred to,
who was maltreated by the natives, and detained a prisoner for
twenty-four hours, till he gave them a cannon with ammunition,
and many other valuable articles, as the price of his liberty, and
was at last suffered to return on board his vessel.

Alexander S. Joy, of Nantucket, informed me that upon visiting
the Tonga group in 1833, he ascertained that there were captives
on the islands, although he was unable to learn their number, or
the circumstances under which they had been left. He also told
me that there were three Americans on the Navigator Islands in
the condition of prisoners to the natives.

Captain Kelly, of the brig Christopher Burdick of Providence,
has in all probability been recently shipwrecked among the islands.
He sailed from the United States on a trading voyage, and was
seen by me at Valparaiso in 1831. The latest accounts received

ADDRESS. 53

from him are dated September 17, 1831, at Oahu, since when it
was reported that he had been at Wallis's Island, and had left on a
cruise about the middle of February, 1832. It was known that
Captain Kelly intended to visit the Feejee Islands, and thence to
shape his course southward, through the numerous groups lying in
the direction of New Holland. Since that time no news have
been received from him, and there can be no doubt that his vessel
has either been wrecked, or taken possession of by the natives.
In either case, the crew, or a portion of them, may be at this
moment alive, and anxiously awaiting the arrival of some vessel to
restore them to their country and friends. I saw at Nantucket, in
October last, the wife of Captain Kelly, disconsolate and worn
down by grief, with a young and helpless family around her.
She can only offer her prayers that our government will despatch
vessels to seek for her unfortunate husband and his hapless crew.

While I remained at Nantucket, I learned from a widowed
mother that she had a son on the Feejee Islands. He had been
cast away among them nine years ago, and had been for a long
time given up by her as lost, when a short time since she received
intelligence from him which he contrived to send by a whale ship
that passed near the island he inhabited.

The loss of the ship Mentor, of New Bedford, is fresh in the
recollections of all, since the distressing details have been copied
into the columns of every newspaper in the Union. The vessel
struck upon a ledge of rocks near the Pelew Islands, not laid
down on any chart, and, after losing an officer and eleven of her
crew among the breakers, the captain and remainder succeeded in
reaching the islands, when they were made prisoners by the
natives. Of their detention there, and subsequently at Lord
North's Island, the barbarous treatment received from the natives
of the latter place, the death of some, escape of others, as well as
the condition of those left as hostages in the hands of the Pelew
chiefs, present a thrilling picture of the vicissitudes to which the

54 ADDRESS.

mariner is constantly exposed, and which appeal to government
with a force beyond the power of all language to portray. *

* Those islands which are located in the south-western regions of the Pacific Ocean,
are known to some geographers by the general appellation of Australasia; while those
which lie more to the east and north, are known by that of Polynesia. The latter
include the Ladrones, the Caroline, the Sandwich, the Marquesas, the Society and the
Friendly Islands, with all others connected with those groups. Immediately to the
west of this circuit are the Philippines, the capital of which is Manilla. They are said
to comprise eleven hundred in number ; but some hundreds of them are very small,
and they are all nominally subject to the Spanish government at Manilla. The
natives of these islands are known to be affable, hospitable, and honest ; cultivating
the soil with industry and skill, and subsisting chiefly on rice, cocoa-nuts, and salted
fish.

Nearly a thousand miles to the eastward of the Philippines, between them and the
Caroline Islands, are eighteen others, disposed in a group or cluster, to which the
Spaniards of the Philippine Islands have given the name of Pdaos, on account of the
tall palm-trees, with which they are covered in great abundance. They are generally
known, however, to English and American navigators, by the appellation of the
Pelew Islands. Their inhabitants were once considered as ferocious cannibals, delight-
ing to feed on human flesh ; and this opinion was strengthened by reports of their
proneness to cut off every trading ship, of which they could obtain the mastery, and
massacre the crew. Such was the current and popular opinion, until the year 1753,
when Captain Wilson, commander of the Antelope packet, in the service of the East
India Company, had the misfortune to suffer shipwreck among them in that year.
Captain Wilson was the first to give them a very different character from that which
they had hitherto borne ; and his printed narrative represents them as hospitable^
friendly, and humane.

But new and additional light has been recently thrown upon the manners, character,
and customs of this insulated people, by a similar disaster which befel the American
whale ship Mentor, Captain Edward C. Barnard, who, in 1831, was wrecked on a
coral reef connected with the most easterly island of this group, arid his vessel entirely
lost The captain, and eleven of his crew, fell into the hands of the natives, and
remained on one of these islands for the space of six months ; during which time they
were well treated, and acquired a considerable knowledge of the language, character,
manners, customs, and habits of the natives, who cheerfully assisted them in arranging
the means for eight of their number to seek some civilized settlement, from whence
they might transmit a ransom for the rest. But in attempting to navigate their way,
in a native canoe, to Amboyna, one of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, which lie to the
south-west of the Pelews, they were captured by the natives of Lord North's Island,
who reduced them to the most abject state of slavery and starvation. Here their
misfortunes may be said to have commenced.

After ten months' captivity and suffering, Captain Barnard and one of the crew
effected their escape on board a Spanish vessel, and ultimately reached the United
States in safety. One of those who still lingered in bondage was put to death by the
natives for some trifling offence, and another of them literally died of starvation. Two
others, soon after, suffered a similar fate — if it may be termed suffering, to find relief
from their miseries in death. There were now only two individuals remaining of the

ADDRESS. 55

The amount of suffering which imbitters the life of families
deprived by the perils of the sea of their ornaments and supports,
admits not of computation. The sum of misery would still remain

eight, viz., Horace Holden and Benjamin H. Nute, who were soon reduced to such a
state of exhaustion that they could no longer labour, and were therefore refused even
the scanty allowance of food which had hitherto been reluctantly allowed them.
Finding them totally useless as working slaves, the natives finally consented to put
them on board an English ship, which happened to be passing the island on her way
to Canton, after a state of slavery of three years, duration, which, for privation and
suffering, beggars all description. At the time of their liberation, they were entirely
naked, under a broiling sun, not a hundred miles north of the equator, and so reduced
in health and strength, that a few more days of suffering must have terminated their
earthly existence. From Canton, they came home in an American vessel, and arrived
at New York on the 5th of May, 1835, after an absence of nearly five years. From
a short conversation with these two survivors of the Mentor's crew, the following par-
ticulars have been obtained.

The ship Mentor, completely fitted and equipped for a whaling voyage to the South
Seas, sailed from New Bedford on the 20th of July, 1830. She had a complement
of twenty-two men, including officers, most of them young and enterprising, excited
with high and animating hopes of seeing distant regions, and bettering their fortunes
from the treasures of the deep. On her passage out, the Mentor touched at Fayal,
one of that group of islands distinguished by the name of Azores, or Western Islands,
lying in the Atlantic Ocean, between twenty-five and thirty degrees of west longitude,
and between the thirty-seventh and fortieth parallel of north latitude. After despatching
their business at Fayal, and surveying the scene of the unparalleled gallant defence
of the United States private armed vessel General Armstrong, during the last war,
the Mentor stretched to the south ; and, in due time, after experiencing a great variety
of weather, she doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and crossed the Indian Ocean, to the
Strait of Timor. From hence, it was the captain's intention to steer for the island of
Tinian, one of the Ladrone group, in the vicinity of which lay their contemplated
cruising ground.

The time occupied in this extensive route had brought round the month of May,
1831, before she reached Amboyna, the Dutch metropolis of the Moluccas, or Spice
Islands. About the 15th of May, they began to encounter boisterous weather, and
for several days were unable to take any observation. On the 21st, the weather
became still worse, and finally increased to a most tremendous gale, which obliged
them to reduce their sails until nothing remained spread but a close reefed main-topsail
and a back topmast-staysail. The ship laboured severely until nearly midnight,
when she struck upon a coral reef, running out from the nearest of the Pelew Islands.

As every one instantly perceived that the destruction of the ship was inevitable,
eleven of the crew attempted to save themselves in a boat, which they lowered for that
purpose, but were never afterwards heard of. The remaining eleven of the crew
clung by the ship, which now lay on her beam ends, a helpless mark for the fury of the
waves, and still exerted every endeavour to right her, by cutting away her masts, and
resorting to every other expedient to save her, until they found themselves compelled
to give up their useless efforts in despair, and to consult their own personal safety, by

56 ADDRESS.

great, were everything which a wise and enlightened philanthropy
could suggest for its alleviation be successfully accomplished.
The human heart is long destined, as in times bygone, to be

lashing themselves to her weather side, where they remained a prey to the most
gloomy forebodings until morning.

The earliest glimmerings of returning day had no sooner appeared in the east, than
the eleven survivors launched the remaining boat from the ship, and proceeded to
examine the reef, along which they rowed about two miles from the wreck, when they
succeeded in getting upon dry land. Here they remained two days and two nights,
with nothing to subsist on, except a few pounds of bread which they had taken from
the wreck, with about four gallons of water. They had also secured a few of their
clothes, two or three cutlasses, a musket, and a pair of pistols.

On the third morning after their landing, as soon as daylight appeared, the first
objects which met their view were thirty or forty canoes, rapidly approaching them.
Captain Barnard immediately told his men that they would be surrounded by savages,
and advised them to submit without resistance. The leading canoe, filled with naked
savages, soon approached the shore, and then lay to, in order more closely to examine
the shipwrecked strangers. The latter, perceiving that the natives were evidently
waiting for some intimation of their feelings on this occasion, displayed a shirt on an
oar, as a signal of amity and submission, when the savages immediately landed, and
very unceremoniously seized their clothes and weapons, which they conveyed to their
canoe. Having thus stripped their involuntary and defenceless guests, they called out
to them, in an authoritative voice, made intelligible by violent gesticulations, for the
Americans to accompany them to the ship for more plunder. Compliance followed,
of course, and the wreck was soon plundered of everything that could be carried
away in the canoes, particularly fire-arms and other weapons. After thus thorouglily
stripping the Mentor, all the canoes, except one, departed j and the savages in that
made signs to the seamen to throw them a rope, and they would tow them to land.
They accordingly did so ; but as they approached the land, the natives in the canoe
used such menacing gestures towards the boat's crew, that the captain ordered Benja-
min Nute to cut the towline, and the Americans immediately pulled away from her.
The savages resented this manoeuvre by throwing their war-clubs and spears at the
retreating crew, by one of which missiles the face of a seaman was dreadfully shat-
tered. They succeeded, however, in making their escape to the open sea, preferring
to encounter the tender mercies of the billows, than the sufferings which might await
them on shore.

At sundown, they again beheld land, and on the ensuing day succeeded in reaching
it, but in a state of the utmost exhaustion. This was a small uninhabited island,
situated about half a mile from a larger one. They succeeded in getting on shore,
where they soon saw a canoe approach them with two savages in it, who held up
a fish in token of amity. The Americans responded to the signal by exhibiting a
large crab. This interchange of telegraphic signs appeared to satisfy the natives,
who immediately landed, and approached the Americans with apparent pleasure and
confidence, evidently gratified at the unexpected meeting. After some time, they
made signs for the seamen to follow them into their canoes, and then proceeded
towards the larger island ; on their way to which, they were soon surrounded by

ADDRESS. 57

wrung with unavoidable and irremediable griefs ; these must be
healed by the soothing influence of time, and the consolations of
religion. But it is not of these that we speak. The sorrow we

several canoes, from one of which a chief sprang into the American boat, and
assaulted Captain Barnard with the greatest fury. This seemed to be the signal for
a general attack, which now took place simultaneously, until the exhausted Americans
were overpowered and stripped naked, and in this helpless condition conveyed to land.

Here they were soon surrounded by women and children, who regarded them as
extraordinary objects of curiosity, repeatedly examining them minutely, with their
hands as well as their eyes, and evincing much sympathy and compassion for their
misfortunes. All the chiefs were assembled on a stone platform near them, to delibe-
rate and determine on what was to be done with the strangers. When the result of
their deliberations was announced, the women and children were affected to tears>
which filled the unfortunate captives with the most dreadful forebodings of a lamenta-
ble fate. These apprehensions, however, proved to be entirely groundless ; for as soon
as the council broke up, they were treated with a sort of toddy, composed of water
and molasses, made from the saccharine of the cocoa-nut. They were then conducted
to the chief town, called Ibuel, where the chiefs held another council on the subject of
their reception, which was suddenly dissolved by an incident that gave a new and
brighter aspect to the affair, and would prove highly effective as the denouement of a
drama on the stage.

In the midst of the council's deliberations, a chief, to the unspeakable astonishment
of the Americans, ran towards them from another quarter, and eagerly addressed them
in English ! Who can form the faintest idea of the overpowering emotions which
shook every American bosom at this instant ? To be addressed in their own language,
and that correctly spoken too, in a situation where they had nothing to expect but
tortures and death from inhuman barbarians, who would only mock at their shrieks
of anguish in an unknown jargon ! But here was one of their own countrymen, (or,
what is the same thing, an Englishman,) who announced himself as chief and gov-
ernor of the island, and whose will was the supreme law !

On entering into conversation with this chief, they learned that he was an English-
man, who had deserted his ship more than twenty years before ; had remained on the
island ever since ; had been elected as a chief, and exercised unlimited authority
among the savages. Through this man's influence, they had a comfortable house
assigned them to live in, and were well treated while they remained on the island.
Their shirts and trousers were returned, which were all the clothes they had to wear ;
they were well fed, however, and not required to do any work. The island produced
a plenty of cocoa-nuts and yams ; was well stocked with pigs and goats, and was
resorted to by immense flocks of seafowl. So that they lived a life of ease and plenty
for about six months, when, by an abortive attempt to relieve their natural longings for
home, they encountered a state of toil and starvation, that offered no hope of relief but
from the stroke of death !

After an exile of half a year, and perceiving no likelihood of a vessel touching at the
island, the Americans at length induced some of the natives, by promises of rewards,
to build them a canoe, and to let eight of them leave the island, the other three remain-
ing as hostages for the promised payment These eight seamen, accompanied by

8

58 ADDRESS.

nave witnessed may yet be turned to joy, and it is to the paternal
sympathy and prompt action of the government that we can look
for relief.

three natives, embarked in the canoe and the seamen's boat, and set sail for Amboyna,
which lies about one hundred and sixty leagues to the south- west of the Pelew Islands.
When they had been five days on their adventurous voyage, the canoe foundered, and
the eight seamen and savages were obliged to take to the boat ; their stock of pro-
visions consisting of only four cocoa-nuts each, and about twelve quarts of water. In
four days afterwards, being the 6th of December, 1831, they arrived within sight of
Lord North's Island, which lies in latitude three degrees three minutes north, longitude
one hundred and thirty-one degrees twenty minutes east, about ninety leagues from
the hospitable island which they had recently left.

When they had arrived within five or six miles of Lord North's Island, they were
soon surrounded by the savages, in about twenty canoes, who instantly commenced
an unprovoked attack upon the defenceless Americans, every one of whom they
knocked overboard, and then beat their boat to pieces with their war-clubs. In this
dilemma, the Americans swam from one canoe to another, entreating to be taken on
board, but were obstinately repulsed by the savages, until they had completed their
work of destruction. They were then picked up, and conveyed to the island, which
is extremely barren and unproductive, forming a striking contrast with the fertile spot
they had so recently left. Lizards and mice are the only animal productions which
this steril spot produces ; and no vegetables, except the cocoa-nut. The population
is between four and five hundred souls, who lead a most miserable and wretched life ;
so that it is no uncommon thing for many of them to die of actual starvation !

The Americans were no sooner landed, than they were all instantly stripped of the
wretched rags which remained among them, and they were then apportioned out as
slaves to different masters in the island, by whom they were treated in the most cruel
manner, half-starved and almost worked to death. Horace Holden, one of their num-
ber, who has published a very interesting narrative of their adventures and sufferings,
thinks he was more fortunate than the rest, and had a more lenient master ; but he
had nothing to congratulate himself upon. Captain Barnard, being a stout muscular
man, was treated with the most kindness.

The inhabitants of Lord North's Island are in a state of barbarism and ignorance ;
their principal, and almost only food, is the cocoa-nut, with which the island is scantily
supplied. Occasionally they caught a few fish, or a turtle ; but in general they are too
lazy even to take the means of living when they can. Their sick and feeble are turned
away to get well alone, or die by themselves, as fate may decide. Religion they have
none, unless an indistinct fear of a power— they know not what— and an occasional
worship of images, can be termed such. While Holden was on the island, several
earthquakes happened, which terrified the natives much, as also did thunderstorms.

Their war weapons are wooden spears, pointed with rows of sharks' teeth, and very
iieavy. Their canoes are made of logs which accidentally drift to the island, as they
cannot raise trees large enough for the purpose among themselves. Their language
is peculiar to themselves, and the natives of Bablethoup, who were with our sufferers,
could not understand them. They are cowardly and servile, yet barbarous and cruel ;
and in their habits, tempers, and dispositions, most disgusting and loathsome.

ADDRESS. 59

But it is unnecessary to dwell longer on the losses of our vessels,
a portion of whose crews are still surviving on the numerous islands
of those dangerous seas. The list might be greatly enlarged, to

The crew of the Mentor were captured December 6, 1831, and in about two months
afterwards Captain Barnard and one man managed to escape in a canoe, to a vessel
which was in sight. This only served to render the situation of the rest more severe
and distressing. At no time had they food sufficient to satisfy the cravings of hunger,
and they were obliged to labour incessantly for their masters, naked and in the hot sun,
until their flesh was gone, their skin tanned and burnt, and their bones sore. The
survivors were held accountable for those who had run away, and were given to un-
derstand that their doom was sealed. Vessels frequently afterwards came in sight,
and the natives traded with them, but the crew of the Mentor were, at such times,
carefully kept out of the way. They were roused to their work at sunrise, and kept at
labour till night, frequently without any food until they had finished, and then not
enough ; and if from exhaustion the required amount of labour was not performed, they
were deprived of food altogether. To add to their other sufferings, they were all
tattooed, in spite of expostulations and entreaties. This was performed in a cruel
manner. They were bound down to the ground, and figures imprinted on the skin
with a sharp stick ; the skin was then thickly punctured with an instrument made of
sharpened fish bones, something like an adze in shape, but having teeth like a saw,
rather than a smooth edge. This instrument was held within an inch or two of the
skin, and struck upon with a piece of wood to drive into the flesh ; an inky substance
was then poured into the wounds. In this way their breasts and arms were tattooed,
and the narrator has the marks of it now on his body. The consequence was, of
course, running sores for some time. They were also obliged to pluck the hair from
different parts of the body, and to pluck their beards once in ten days.

About a year after they had been on the island, William Sefton, one of the crew,
became so reduced and exhausted by hunger, that he was unable to walk, or even rise
from the ground. In this situation, he was not allowed the poor satisfaction of dying
among his comrades, but was placed by the savages in an old canoe, and sent adrift
on the ocean. This was but the commencement of the final breaking up of the little
remnant of the poor Mentor's crew. One after another was either starved to death,
or killed for some trifling offence ; and at one time, it was almost by a miracle that
Holden himself was saved from a similar fate. All the dead were sent adrift on the
ocean, as it was not the custom of the natives to deposite their dead in the earth, except
very young children. One other, only, was ever sent to sea alive, after having become
so reduced as to be unable to help himself. There was no alleviation of their wretch-
edness, and Nute and Holden were the last ones left, with only the Pelew chief who
accompanied them from Bablethoup.

In the autumn of 1834, the two survivors had become so feeble as to be useless to
their masters, and, having learned sufficient of the language to talk with the natives,
reasoned them into a promise that they might go on board the next vessel that came
in sight. They were then literally turned out to die ; as they could not work, they
were not allowed food, and they crawled from place to place subsisting on leaves, and
occasionally begging a morsel of cocoa-nut, until at last an English vessel came in
eight. The natives were persuaded, by promises of reward, to put off for the ship,

60 ADDRESS.

say nothing of the fate of those from whom no tidings have ever
been received, and of whom, in the simple, yet awfully impressive
language of a celebrated writer, we know only that " they sailed
from their port and were never more heard of;" or in the equally
impressive language of the Nantucket memorial, " many ships
have gone into those seas, and no soul has returned to tell their fate."
When such appeals have been made to other nations, they have
not paused to deliberate or calculate the expense. The expedi-
tions despatched in quest of La Perouse* reflected more honour

and, after some trouble, Nute and Holden were got on board. They were kindly
tended, and landed at Lintin, whence, by the assistance of brother Americans, they
were enabled to reach home.

The book from which we gather these facts is well written, and contains a great
deal of information respecting the habits and customs, and the language of the
savages. The author, of course, returned poor, but he has found friends when and
where he least expected. The sale of this little volume will assist him much, and it
is within the compass of every one's means. It is no fictitious narrative — the proofs
of all he says are undoubted, and his own body furnishes evidence that his sufferings
have not been exaggerated.

* Voyage in search of La Perouse, performed by order of the Constituent Assembly , in tht
years 1791, '92, '93 and 1794, and dravm up by M. Labillardiere :
INTRODUCTION.

Pagexi. "No intelligence had been received for three years respecting the ships
Boussole and Astrolabe, commanded by M. de la Perouse, when, early in the year
1791, the Parisian Society of Natural History called the attention of the Constituent
Assembly to the fate of that navigator and his unfortunate companions.

"The hope of recovering at least some wreck of an expedition undertaken to promote
the sciences, induced the Assembly to send two other ships to steer the same course
which those navigators must have pursued, after their departure from Botany Bay.
Some of them, it was thought, might have escaped from the wreck, and might be con-
fined in a desert island, or thrown upon some coast inhabited by savages. Perhaps
they might be dragging out life in a distant clime, with their longing eyes continually
fixed upon the sea, anxiously looking for that relief which they had a right to expect
from their country.

" On the 9th of February, 1791, the following decree was passed upon this subject :

" The National Assembly, having heard the report of its joint committees of Agri-
culture, Commerce, and the Marine, decrees : That the King be petitioned to issue
orders to all the ambassadors, residents, consuls, and agents of the nation, to apply, in
the name of humanity, and of the arts and sciences, to the different Sovereigns at
whose courts they reside, requesting them to charge all their navigators and agents
whatsoever, and in what places soever, but particularly in the most southerly parts of
the South Sea, to search diligently for the two French frigates, the Boussole and the

ADDRESS. 61

on the French government than all their discoveries. The Kings
of Denmark bound themselves by their coronation oaths to search
for, protect, and succour their colonies in the far north, whose in-
habitants, if deprived of the aid of the mother country, might
perish under their privations in the long and dreary Arctic winters.
But examples drawn from times comparatively remote may be
viewed with indifference by some, who think nothing to be real,
and possess a practical bearing, unless it transpire in their own
generation, and occur before their own eyes. To such we will
instance the fact, that no sooner was news received in England, a
few months since, that several whale ships were locked up in the
ice in the Arctic regions, than the Admiralty anticipated the gen-
erous sympathies of the nation, by devising the most speedy and
efficient means for their relief. That distinguished officer, Cap-
tain Ross, the younger, having volunteered his services, was
solicited to command the expedition fitted out for this purpose.

Astrolabe, commanded by M. de la Perouse, as also for their ships' companies, and
to make every inquiry which has a tendency to ascertain their existence or their ship-
wreck ; in order that, if M. de la Pe" rouse and his companions should be found or met
with in any place whatsoever, they may give them every assistance, and procure them
all the means necessary for their return into their own country, and for bringing with
them all the property of which they may be possessed; and the National Assembly
engages to indemnify, and even to recompense, in proportion to the importance of the
service, any person or persons who shall give assistance to those navigators, shall
procure intelligence concerning them, or shall be instrumental in restoring to France
any papers or effects whatsoever, which may belong, or may have belonged, to their
expedition.

" Decrees further, that the King be petitioned to give orders for the fitting out of
one or more ships, having on board men of science, naturalists, and draughtsmen, and
to charge the commanders of the expedition with the two-fold mission of searching for
M. de la P6rouse, agreeably to the documents, instructions, and orders which shall be
delivered to them, and of making inquiries relative to the sciences and to commerce,
taking every measure to render this expedition useful and advantageous to navigation,
geography, commerce, and the arts and sciences, independently of their search for M. de
la Perouse, and even after having found him, or obtained intelligence concerning him."

Compared with the original, by us, the President and Secretaries of the National
Assembly, at Paris, this 24th day of February, 1791.

(Signed) DUPORT, President.

BO°URs!lON, \ Caries.

62 ADDRESS.

On being informed, about twelve months since, of the probable
loss of the French vessel Lilloise in the Polar Seas, one hundred
thousand francs were offered by the government as a reward to
ships of any nation, who should succeed in extricating her crew
from their perilous situation, while at the same time the Recherche
was despatched to look after them.

With these multiplied examples before us, we feel emboldened to
ask, if our officers are less persevering and skilful than Europeans,
and if the lives of our mariners are to be held in less estimation
than those of foreigners ? A reply to the first question is con-
tained in the pages of our history; for an answer to the second,
we must look to the action of the government.

But perhaps some one may ask, why not despatch a national
vessel from the Pacific squadron to the relief of these unfortunate
men ? and why may not all useful ends be accomplished by the
agency of our regular naval force on that station, and the intelli-
gence of our officers ?

These are questions which, though often asked, evince more
humanity than judgment, since we hesitate not to say, that such a
step would carry with it the shadow of protection, without effecting
any substantial or permanent results. Let us examine this subject
in a practical point of view. What is the authorized force con-
stituting the Pacific squadron ? One frigate, two sloops, and a
schooner ; and even this is a larger force than is usually retained
there. Again, what are the duties of this squadron, and what the
extent of coast to be guarded by it ? It is constantly in motion,
on a line from the islands of Chiloe, in latitude forty-two degrees
south, to the coast of California, and even to the mouth of the
Columbia river, in a yet higher latitude north ; comprising at least
eighty degrees, or nearly one-fourth of the earth's circumference,
and embracing six of the separate governments of South America,
as often convulsed by political revolutions as their mountains and
plains are by the shocks of their earthquakes and the eruptions of

ADDRESS. 63

their volcanoes. The Pacific squadron has enough to do within
its already prescribed limits. Even were our squadron greatly
increased, as it should be, in the Pacific, still that immense line of
coast would afford ample employment for its officers, however
ardent in their contributions to science. As long as the waters of
the numerous harbours on the coast shall continue to be divided
by the keels of our vessels, no item of geographical knowledge
should be deemed so minute, as to be unworthy our attention. If
our public vessels, therefore, find leisure on their hands, it is not
because there is nothing to do. It is notorious that there are
numerous points on that coast misplaced on the charts of the most
recent construction and by the most approved hydrographers. In
a space comprising several hundred miles north of Lima, almost
every point is said to have an erroneously assigned position on
the charts. Our knowledge of the northwest coast, especially
about the mouth of the river Columbia, is still defective. Of
some spacious bays making in on the north, we have not even the
sketch of a chart ; while of the islands adjacent, we know still less
— we mean that degree of accuracy which deserves the name of
knowledge. The Galapago group* of islands have never been

* This, in some respects, interesting group, which comprises a large number of
small islands, is situated nearly under the equator, between the eighty-ninth and
ninety-second degrees of west longitude, about two hundred and forty leagues west
of the American continent A majority of these islands are situated a little south of
the equinoctial line, though a few scattering islands are found north of it Albemarle,
which is the largest of the cluster, is more than seventy miles in length, and stretches
north and south, with an eastern coast that is nearly straight, but its western side is
deeply concave, embracing the volcanic island of Narborough. The north head of
Albemarle terminates westwardly in Cape Berkley, which is exactly on the line.
South and east of Albemarle are Charles's Island, Hood's, Chatham's, Barrington's,
Downes's, Porter's, and James's islands.

The name of this group is derived from the Spanish word galapago, a fresh water
tortoise ; and it was given to these islands because they abound with the largest class
of these animals, a species of terapin, to which Commodore Porter has given the name
of elephant tortoise, as their legs, feet, and clumsy movements strongly resemble those
of the elephant. Their flesh is most excellent food, and they seem to have been
placed here, in these lonely regions, for the sole purpose of refreshing the adventurous

64 ADDRESS.

accurately surveyed, and they are much frequented by our whale
ships at the present time.

While standing direct for Charles Island, (on which there is a

mariner., whose hazardous calling is the pursuit of the great leviathan of the deep.
Many of them weigh from three to four hundred pounds, and will live in the hold of a
vessel a remarkable length of time, without sustenance, and still retain much of their
original fatness and richness of flavour. Their drink is pure water, which they carry
with them cool, fresh, and sweet, for a long time after they are made prisoners.

The hill-sides of these islands, near the shore, are covered with prickly-pear trees,
upon which these terapins feed, and thrive in a most wonderful manner. These
animals have doubtless saved the lives of many seamen employed in the whale-
fisheries in those seas, who would otherwise have perished or suffered much with the
scurvy. They sometimes take from six to nine hundred of the smallest of these
tortoises on board, when about leaving the islands for their cruising grounds ; thus
providing themselves with fresh and wholesome provisions for six or eight months,
and securing the men from attacks of the scurvy.

The amount of tonnage and capital employed in the South Sea fisheries has so much
augmented, within a few past years, as to produce a general impression that every
thing connected with this great interest is going on prosperously.

Such, unfortunately, is not the case. Abuses of the most serious nature, not only
exist, but are of daily occurrence in the whale fleet. Some of these abuses may be
corrected by the owners, while others can only be reached by the strong arm of
government. That our public vessels do all in their power to redress these evils, is
readily admitted ; but having an extensive coast and its interests to protect, they are
often distant from the ports frequented by whalers. Hence arises the number of dis-
ordered ships, and protracted if not broken voyages, with which many are but too well
acquainted.

The few consuls we have had on the coast have been merchants, who have probably
held their commissions for the security they yield to their own interests and to con-
signments made to their respective houses ; while the whaler, who brings them no
profit, can receive but little of their attention. Their views are limited to their own
sphere of operations ; the difficulties of the whaler, if considered at all, are but a
secondary object. Yet, in a national point of view, the mercantile interest of our
citizens on this coast is vastly inferior to that of those engaged in the fisheries.

A few items will be sufficient to prove this fact : In the single port of Payta, in the
year 1831, the amount of tonnage of our whale ships amounted to twenty-four thou-
sand four hundred and thirty-nine, having on board forty-six thousand eight hundred
and ninety-five barrels of oil. For the year 1832, twenty-seven thousand one hundred
tons of shipping, and forty thousand eight hundred and ninety-five barrels of oil. For
the year 1833, up to October, t;wenty thousand two hundred and seventy-six tons, and
thirty-six thousand four hundred and fifty barrels of oil.

Yet, at a point that is, and ever must be, of such great importance, so often the seat
of abuse and irregularity, as well on the part of the local authorities as among our own
shipping, we have no accredited agent to look after these immense interests.
In a letter received by Commodore Downes, from J. C. Jones, our consul at Oahu,

ADDRESS. 65

flourishing settlement,) in September, 1833, the United States
frigate Potomac came nigh running on a dangerous reef, of which
no chart gave indication. When all these and many other places

the latter gentleman says, "I have never before seen the importance of having a vessel
of war stationed at these islands for the protection of the whale fishery, as at the
present period. Scarcely has there been one of our whalers in the harbour, that has
not experienced more or less difficulty. I have, at one time, had sixty Americans
confined in the fort ; and hardly a day has passed that I have not been compelled to
visit one or more ships to quell a mutiny, or compel, by force, whole crews to do their
duty, who had united to work no longer. I should say, too, that there are more than
one hundred deserters now on shore from our ships, regular outlaws, ready to embark
in any adventure. Much of this trouble could have been avoided, had we a ship of
war here at the season when the whale ships visit the islands ; and I hope you will be
disposed to send us one from your squadron the next spring, as I feel assured that a
vessel of war will then be more needed than ever."

J. Lennox Kennedy, our consul at the port of Mazatlan, in a letter dated May 16th,
1833, makes a similar request, on account of the frequent revolutions that are taking
place in the country ; while from the port of Callao, five American masters of vessels
urge a like petition, complaining of the hardships they suffer from a class of worthless
keepers of grog-shops, who entice away their men, to the great hazard, and even ruin,
of their voyages.

On the receipt of the above from the masters of the whale ships, the commodore
made a communication to the commandant of marines at Callao, which by the latter
was forwarded to the government at Lima ; and in a few days, such regulations were
effected, under the superintendence of the port captain, as effectually checked, for a
time, the abuses complained of. The readiness with which the local authorities inter-
fered in this matter, on the representation of the commodore, furnishes an evidence of
what might be effected if we had commercial agents who attended to their duties.

The mere appointment of a consul, as our consuls are appointed and supported in
other places, will not answer for our extended commercial operations in these seas.
We require a consul at the islands, one in Payta, and another in Talluahana, Chili,
on salaries which shall command the services of able men, and make them inde-
pendent in action : men, whose politeness and attention to their countrymen shall not
be proportioned, as it now is, to the amount of consignments made to their respective
commission houses.

The sick also should be objects of special attention. In Payta we should have an
hospital on a simple and economical plan ; not a foreign port on the globe requires
one more. There are more than six thousand seamen constantly traversing the ocean
from Japan to this port, visiting each in the alternate changes of season, engaged in
business at all times adventurous, and often exceedingly hazardous ; and yet, within
this mighty range, there is not a spot where the disabled or infirm sailor can be placed,
with perfect assurance of being well attended. The consequence is, frequent in-
stances of suffering and death, under the most melancholy circumstances, but for
which neither the owners nor the captains are responsible. The mild and healthy
climate of Payta would be in favour of such an institution, and the expense would be
comparatively trifling.

9

66 ADDRESS.

lying under the very bows of our public vessels on the Pacific
station shall have been carefully examined and reported on, it will
be time to talk about extending their labours over the almost
boundless seas, with their countless islands to the west, or to con-
trol and direct the movements of others sent for that purpose.

But it has likewise been urged, that one of our public ships
might return to the United States by way of the islands, and
we believe that one has actually been ordered to do so. Such a
step will effect little towards remedying the evils complained of.
Let us inspect the chart. The Feejee Islands lie more than one
hundred degrees west of the coast whence such vessel must sail.
With a supply of stores calculated to last eight months, at farthest,
the entire circumnavigation of the globe before her, and the period
for her return home nearly at hand, what time can she find to ac-
complish anything among those islands, where so much is required?
Unacquainted with the language of the natives, and unprovided
with interpreters, without the necessary preparations for making
sketches and surveys, she may land at a few points, return home,
make her report to the department as fully as circumstances will
permit, and yet, as to any positive benefit accruing therefrom to
our commerce, or any assistance to be rendered the future naviga-
tor, the results would not be more permanent than her rapidly
obliterated wake on the surface of the deep.

No! it is useless to dally with this subject any longer, and to
propose evasive and inefficient modes of compassing benefits,
which nothing but a generous and intelligent liberality can insure.
Vessels must be fitted out expressly for this purpose. They must
be provided with instruments for making sketches and surveys of
harbours, and correcting the position of reefs and islands on the
charts. Places affording wood, water, and refreshments to our
whalemen and traders, should be visited and carefully examined
for future use. Conferences should be held with the natives of
the remotest groups, and their confidence gained as far as possi-

ADDRESS. 67

ble, by a judicious exhibition of our power and policy. Those
untutored beings have not always been the first offenders.* Much

* Although personal experience, during an intercourse of years with our South Sea
whaling captains, enables us to bear testimony to their intelligence, great enterprise,
and humanity, as a body ; yet there are necessarily exceptions to this general cha-
racter. Among a class so daring and adventurous, it is not surprising that we occa-
sionally meet with unprincipled men — and what profession or pursuit in life in which
they may not be found ? — who require to be held in subjection by the arm of coercive
power, and the dread of legal penalties. To persons of this stamp, the South Sea
trade and fishery open a wide field for the indulgence of their vicious propensities.
Placed beyond the reach of penal influence, governed by no other law than their own
will, it is not wonderful such men should be guilty of oppression and violence in their
dealings with the natives. The savage does not pause to discriminate between indi-
viduals, and the flagitious act of one man may consign hundreds of his fellows to
captivity or massacre. From several similar instances of wanton outrage, the truth
of which cannot be doubted, we select the following.

Captain Barnard, of the ship Mentor, left, as hostages at the Pelew Islands, two men,
named Meader and Davis, together with a lad named Alden. They were subse-
quently placed under the care of different masters ; the boy at a spot considerably
distant from the others, where he was occasionally allowed to accompany the natives
in their excursions on the water. Some time within about a twelvemonth of the
release of Meader and Davis, as nearly as they could compute, a ship hove in sight off*
that part of the island where young Alden resided, and he was taken out in one of
three canoes, which were fitted out for a friendly visit to the strangers. Two of the
canoes were old craft, but the third was a new and valuable one, belonging to the
chief who commanded the expedition. They boarded the ship, and the parties treated
each other with reciprocal kindness. Some trading ensued; after which the two old
canoes were ordered off* by the captain, while the other, with its crew, including Alden
and the chief, was detained— the captain being desirous of purchasing it. During the
negotiation for this end, a gale arose, which continued with such fury during four days,
that the natives remained on board for the time ; but no bargain was effected, the
chief prizing his canoe above the offer of the captain, which was limited to three or four
old muskets. At length, the vessel having drifted towards another part of the island,
and night approaching, the chief consented to make the proposed exchange, provided
the captain would agree to land him and his companions in the neighbourhood of their
own settlement. It was resolved, however, to land them at the point nearest the ship.
To this the chief earnestly objected, alleging that his enemies resided there, and wovJd
assuredly put them to death. Nevertheless, in spite of tears and remonstrances, they
were thrust into the ship's boat and rowed towards land. Having proceeded some
distance, the savages were driven overboard by their inhuman conductors, and com-
pelled to swim for life into the very arms of their foes. After incredible sufferings
among the coral rocks, exhausted by long exertion, they were captured, or rather
picked up, by the hostile tribe. Their Indian enemies, -less cruel than their civilized
friends, nursed their wounds, healed their lacerated limbs, and, when their strength
permitted, restored them to their homes, though swollen and debilitated. That night
the vessel put to sea, taking away Alden, the canoe, and the promised remuneration.

68 ADDRESS.

of the cruel treatment experienced by persons who have visited
them or have fallen unfortunately into their hands, has been in
flicted in the spirit of retaliation. The law of revenge is common
to savage man. He visits the offender with retribution, in the
first instance ; but if disappointed in this, he extends his hatred to

The abused natives, from whom this statement was received, could not, of course,
designate the ship by name, but their description of her appearance induces the sus-
picion that she was a whaler. The relatives of Alden, who reside near New Bedford,
are not, as far as we know, aware of his subsequent fate. The injured chief declares,
that he marked well the features of the captain and his officers, determined, should
opportunity offer, to make his spear drink their heart's blood. It is trusted that the
offenders, of whatever nation they may prove, will yet be discovered, and brought to
justice. This is one flagrant instance of atrocity, but, unfortunately, it does not stand
alone.

Captain Swain, of ship William Penn, it may be remembered, lost a boat's crew at
Navigator Islands. A ship, some weeks or months previously to his arrival, had
touched there for supplies, on which occasion a European resident went on board as
interpreter, and remained some days assisting to promote the object of the visit. On
taking leave, the captain offered him a pair of duck trousers by way of payment for his
services. The man respectfully submitted that the reward was insufficient. He was
told, that if dissatisfied he should soon have enough ; and thereupon was lashed to the
rigging, unmercifully flogged, and afterwards sent on shore. The consequence of this
treatment was, without question, the massacre of Captain Swain's boat crew, with
the exception of a Sandwich Islander, who, after being severely wounded, was spared
on account of the colour of his skin, and afterwards brought off by the ship Vincennes.

The facts of other aggravated cases have reached the public ear, the guilt of which,
we regret to say, is imputed to the masters of one or two whaling vessels. At one of
the islands, a few years ago, after a friendly interchange of civilities between the natives
and their visiters, a large party of trie former were carried on board ship as she was
getting under way, and, after having been cruelly whipped, without the slightest pro-
vocation, were driven overboard by scores, many of them receiving severe injuries.

On another occasion, when a ship, but not under our flag, had obtained supplies,
and her captain was leaving the shore in the last boat, he wantonly levelled his gun
and shot down a harmless, unoffending native, who was unconsciously leaning against
a tree on the beach. The poor fellow was carried off by his companions, apparently
dead. What feeling could such cold-blooded butchery generate but a fierce thirst for
revenge, to be wreaked on the first white man who should fall within their grasp ?
When a reason was asked for this act of fiendish brutality, it was given with the
utmost sang1 froid — " Oh, it was nothing but an Indian."

With a knowledge of circumstances like these, and of what must naturally be their
consequences, it becomes apparent that an efficient naval force is required in the South
and Pacific Seas, not only for the greater safety of our commerce, and as a check upon
the savages, but for another reason, viz., to protect the latter against the wanton cruelty
of men claiming the appellation of civilized, and thus to remove the cause which has
led to so much suffering and slaughter.

ADDRESS. 69

his relations and tribe. In this code there is no statute of limita-
tions. The lapse of years or even of ages cannot soften the rigour
of unpropitiated vengeance. The claim is transmitted from father
to son, with a faithfulness and tenacity of purpose that insures
ample reprisal at the earliest opportunity, however long post-
poned. What delicate perception of right and wrong, what mild
forbearance, and what decision of character, are requisite to acquire
the good-will of a people thus singularly constituted, and banish
distrust from their bosoms ! Can any one imagine that time and
a special equipment would not be necessary to enable an expedi-
tion to produce its proper effects ?

Presents should be judiciously distributed, especially among
those by whom our shipwrecked mariners have been hospitably
received. The promises made to chiefs to procure the restoration
of prisoners, should be scrupulously fulfilled, and this policy
should be observed in the ransom of European sailors as well as
of our own. It will be a matter of national pride that our country
should be the first to set the example of an enterprise destined to
retrieve the character of civilized man, and in p nme measure atone
for the accumulated injuries which centuries have seen of daily
increasing enormity.

Animals should be transferred from one island to another, fol-
lowing the example of Cook in 1774, who left stock in New
Zealand, the Sandwich and Society Islands, which, by their
increase, have afforded supplies to thousands and tens of thou-
sands of our seamen for the last thirty years. This measure is
the more important, as our vessels are seeking places of refresh-
ment nearer and more closely connected with the field of their
pursuits west of the Sandwich Islands.

It is the opinion of some, as we are aware, that matters of this
description are best left to individual enterprise, and that the inter-
ference of government is unnecessary. Such persons do not
reflect, as they ought, that all measures of public utility which

70 ADDRESS.

from any cause cannot be accomplished by individuals, become
the legitimate objects of public care, in reference to which the
government is bound to employ the means put into its hands for
the general good. Indeed, while there remains a spot of untrod-
den earth accessible to man, no enlightened, and especially com-
mercial and free people, should withhold its contributions for
exploring it, wherever that spot may be found on the earth, from
the equator to the poles !

Have we not, then, shown that this expedition is called for by
our extensive interests in those seas — interests which, from small
beginnings, have increased astonishingly in the lapse of half a
century, and which are every day augmenting and diffusing their
beneficial results throughout the country ? May we not venture
on still higher grounds ? — Had we no commerce to be benefited,
would it not still be honourable ; still worthy the patronage of
congress ; still the best possible employment of a portion of our
naval force ?

Have we not shown, that this expedition is called for by national
dignity and honour ? Have we not shown, that our commanding
position and rank among the commercial nations of the earth,
makes it only equitable that we should take our share in exploring
and surveying new islands, remote seas, and, as yet, unknown
territory ? Who so uninformed as to assert, that all this has been
done? Who so presumptuous as to set limits to knowledge,
which, by a wise law of Providence, can never cease ? As long
as there is mind to act upon matter, the realms of science must
be enlarged ; and nature, and her laws be better understood, and
more understandingly applied to the great purpose of life. If the
nation were oppressed with debt, it might, indeed it would, still be
our duty to do something, though the fact, perhaps, would ope-
rate as a reason for a delay of action. But have we any thing of
this kind to allege, when the country is prosperous, without a
parallel in the annals of nations ?

ADDRESS. 71

Is not every department of industry in a state of improvement '.
Not only two, but a hundred blades of grass grow where one grew
when we became a nation ; and our manufactures have increased,
not less to astonish the philosopher and patriot than to benefit the
nation; and have not agriculture and manufactures, wrought up
by a capital of intelligence and enterprise, given a direct impulse
to our commerce, a consequence to our navy ? and if so, do they
not impose new duties on every statesman ?

Again, have we not shown that this expedition is demanded by
public opinion, expressed in almost every form ? Have not socie-
ties for the collection and diffusion of knowledge, towns and legis-
latures, and the commanding voice of public opinion, as seen
through the public press, sanctioned and called for the enterprise ?
Granting, as all must, there is no dissenting voice upon the sub-
ject, that all are anxious that jour country should do something
for the great good of the human family, is not now the time, while
the treasury, like the Nile in fruitful seasons, is overflowing its
banks ? If this question is settled, and I believe it is, the next is,
what shall be the character of the expedition ? The answer is in
the minds of all — one worthy of the nation ! And what would be
worthy of the nation ? Certainly nothing on a scale that has been
attempted by any other country. If true to our national character,
to the spirit of the age we live in, the first expedition sent out by
this great republic must not fall short in any department — from a
defective organization, or from adopting too closely the efforts of
other nations as models for our own. We do, we always have
done things best, when we do them in our own way. The spirit
evinced by others is worthy of all imitation ; but not their equip-
ments. We must look at those seas ; what we have there ; what
requires to be done; — and then apply the requisite means to
accomplish the ends. It would not only be inglorious simply to
follow a track pointed out by others, but could never content a
people proud of their fame and rejoicing in their strength ! They

72 ADDRESS.

would hurl to everlasting infamy the imbecile voyagers, who had
only coasted where others had piloted. No ; nothing but a goodly
addition to the stock of present knowledge, would answer for those,
most moderate in their expectations.

But, not only to correct the errors of former navigators, and to
enlarge and correct the charts of every portion of sea and land that
the expedition might visit, and other duties to which we have
alluded; but also to collect, preserve, and arrange every thing
valuable in the whole range of natural history, from the minute
madrapore to the huge spermaceti, and accurately to describe that
which cannot be preserved ; to secure whatever may be hoped for
in natural philosophy ; to examine vegetation, from the hundred
mosses of the rocks, throughout all the classes of shrub, flower,
and tree, up to the monarch of the forest ; to study man in his
physical and mental powers, in his manners, habits, disposition,
and social and political relations ; and above all, in the philosophy
of his language, in order to trace his origin from the early families
of the old world ; to examine the phenomena of winds and tides,
of heat and cold, of light and darkness ; to add geological to other
surveys, when it can be done in safety ; to examine the nature of
soils — if not see if they can be planted with success — yet to see
if they contain any thing which may be transplanted with utility
to our own country ; in fine, there should be science enough to
bear upon every thing that may present itself for investigation.

How, it may be asked, is all this to be effectea ? By an en-
lightened body of naval officers, joining harmoniously with a corps
of scientific men, imbued with the love of science, and sufficiently
learned to pursue with success the branches to which they should
be designated. This body of men should be carefully selected,
and made sufficiently numerous to secure the great objects of the
expedition. These lights of science, and the naval officers, so far
from interfering with each others' fame, would, like stars in the
milky- way, shed a lustre on each other, and all on their country !

ADDRESS. 73

These men may be obtained, if sufficient encouragement is
offered as an inducement. They should be well paid. Scholars of
sufficient attainments to qualify them for such stations, do not hang
loosely upon society ; they must have fixed upon their professions
or business in life : and what they are called to do, must be from
the efforts of ripe minds ; not the experiments of youthful ones to
prepare them for usefulness. If we have been a by-word and a
reproach among nations for pitiful remuneration of intellectual
labours, this expedition will afford an excellent opportunity of
wiping it away. The stimulus of fame is not a sufficient motive
for a scientific man to leave his family and friends, and all the
charms and duties of social life, for years together ; but it must be
united to the recompense of pecuniary reward, to call forth all the
powers of an opulent mind. The price you pay will, in some
measure, show your appreciation of such pursuits. We have no
stars and ribands, no hereditary titles, to reward our men of genius
for adding to the knowledge or to the comfort of mankind, and to
the honour of the nation. We boast of our men of science, our
philosophers, and artists, when they have paid the last tribute to
envy by their death. When mouldering in their graves, they enjoy
a reputation, which envy and malice and detraction may hawk at
and tear, but cannot harm ! Let us be more just, and stamp the
value we set on science in a noble appreciation of it, and by the
price we are willing to pay.

It has been justly remarked, that those who enlighten their
country by their talents, strengthen it by their philosophy, enrich
it by their science, and adorn it by their genius, are Atlases, who
support the name and dignity of their nation, and transmit it un-
impared to future generations. Their noblest part lives and is
active, when they are no more ; and their names and contributions
to knowledge, are legacies bequeathed to the whole world ! To
those who shall thus labour to enrich our country, if we would be
D 10

74 ADDRESS.

just, we must be liberal, by giving to themselves and families an
honourable support while engaged in these arduous duties !

If the objects of the expedition are noble, if the inducements to
undertake it are of a high order — and we believe there can be no
difference of opinion ort this point — most assuredly the means to
accomplish them should be adequate. No narrow views, no scanty
arrangements, should enter the minds of these who have the plan-
ning and directing of the enterprise At such a time, and in such
a cause, liberality is economy, and parsimony is extravagance.

Again, if the object of the expedition were simply to attain a
high southern latitude, then two small brigs or barks would be
quite sufficient. If to visit a few points among the islands, a sloop
of war might answer the purpose. But are these the objects t
We apprehend they only form a part. From the west coast of
South America, running down the longitude among the islands, on
both sides of the equator, though more especially south, to the
very shores of Asia, is the field that lies open before us, indepen-
dent of the higher latitudes south, of which we shall speak in the
conclusion of our remarks. Reflecting on the picture we have
sketched of our interests in that immense region, all must admit,
that the armament of the expedition should be sufficient to protect
our flag ; to succour the unfortunate of every nation, who may be
found on desolate islands, or among hordes of savages ; a power
that would be sufficient by the majesty of its appearance, to awe
into respect and obedience the fierce and turbulent, and to give
facilities to all engaged in the great purposes of the voyage. The
amount of this power is a question upon which there can be but
little difference of opinion, among those thoroughly acquainted
with the subject ; the best informed are unanimous in their opin-
ion, that there should be a well-appointed frigate, and five other
vessels — twice that number would find enough, and more than
they could do. The frigate would form the nucleus, round which
the smaller vessels should perform the labours to which we have

ADDRESS. 75

already alluded, and which you will find pointed out in all the
memorials and reports hitherto made on this subject, and which
may be found among the printed documents on your tables.
Some might say, and we have heard such things said, that this
equipment would savour of individual pride in the commander ; but
they forget, that the calculations of the wise are generally secured
by the strength of their measure. The voyage is long — the rest-
ing places uncertain, which makes the employment of a storeship,
also, a matter of prudence and economy. It would not do to be
anxious about food, while the expedition was in the search of an
extended harvest of knowledge.

The expectations of the people of the United States from such
an expedition, most unquestionably would be great. From their
education and past exertions through all the history of our national
growth, the people are prepared to expect that every public func-
tionary should discharge his duty to the utmost extent of his
physical and mental powers. They will not be satisfied with any
thing short of all that men can perform. The appalling weight
of responsibility of those who serve their country in such an ex-
pedition, is strikingly illustrated by the instructions given to Lewis
and Clarke, in 1803, by President Jefferson. The extended
views and mental grasp of this distinguished philosopher no one
will question, nor can any one believe that he would be unneces-
sarily minute.

The sage, who had conceived and matured the plan of the ex-
pedition to the far west, in his instructions to its commander under
his own signature, has left us a model worthy of all imitation.
With the slight variations growing out of time and place, how appli-
cable would those instructions be for the guidance of the enterprise
we have at present in view ? The doubts of some politicians, that
this government has no power to encourage scientific inquiry,
most assuredly had no place in the mind of that great apostle of
liberty, father of democracy, and strict constructionist ! We

76 ADDRESS.

Claim no wider range than he has sanctioned ; including as he
does, animate and inanimate nature, the heavens above, and all on
the earth beneath ! The character and value of that paper are not
sufficiently known. No extracts or condensations can do justice
to it, or to the memory of its illustrious author ; and I feel confi-
dent that no apology can be deemed necessary in bringing before
you the entire document. Among all the records of his genius,
his patriotism, and his learning to be found in our public archives,
this paper deserves to take, and in time will take rank, second
only to the Declaration of our Independence. The first, imbodied
the spirit of our free institutions and self-government ; the latter,
sanctioned those liberal pursuits, without a just appreciation of
which, our institutions cannot be preserved, or if they can, would
be scarcely worth preserving.

"To MERIWETHER LEWIS, ESQ.,

" Captain United States Infantry, fyc., fyc.

"Your situation as secretary to the President of the United States
has made you acquainted with the objects of my confidential mes-
sage, of January 18, 1803, to the legislature; you have seen the
act they passed, which, though expressed in general terms, was
meant to sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry
them into execution.

"Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the
geography of the country through which you will pass, have been
already provided. Light articles for barter and presents among
the Indians, arms for your attendants, say from ten to twelve men,
boats, tents, and other travelling apparatus, with ammunitions, medi-
cine, surgical instruments, and provisions, you will have prepared,
with such aids as the Secretary at War can yield in his depart-
ment ; and from him also, you will receive authority to engage
among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number of attend-
ants above mentioned, over whom you, as their commanding

ADDRESS. 77

officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give in such a
case.

"As your movements, while within the limits of the United
States, will be better directed by occasional communications,
adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed
here. What follows will respect your proceedings after your
departure from the United States.

"Your mission has been communicated to the ministers here
from France, Spain, and Great Britain, and through them to their
governments; and such assurances given them as to its objects,
as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having
been ceded by Spain to France, the passports you have from the
minister of France, the representative of the present sovereign of
the country, will be a protection with all its subjects; and that
from the minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid
of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to
meet.

"The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river,
and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communica-
tion with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia,
Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct
and practicable water communication across the continent, for the
purposes of commerce.

" Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take obser-
vations of latitude and longitude, at all remarkable points on the
river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands,
and other places and objects distinguished by such natural marks
and characters, of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty
be recognised hereafter. The courses of the river between these
points of observation may be supplied by the compass, the log-
line, and by time, corrected by the observations themselves. The
variations of the needle, too, in different places should be noticed.

"The interesting points of the portage between the heads of the

78 ADDRESS.

Missouri, and of the water offering the best communication with
the Pacific Ocean, should also be fixed by observation; and the
course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of
the Missouri.

"Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accu-
racy; to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others as well as
yourself; to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid
of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at
which they were taken ; and are to be rendered to the war office,
for the purpose of having the calculations made concurrently by
proper persons within the United States. Several copies of these,
as well as of your other notes, should be made at leisure times,
and put into the care of your most trustworthy attendants to
guard, by multiplying them against the accidental losses to which
they will be exposed. A further guard would be, that one of
these copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as
less liable to injury from damp than common paper.

"The commerce which may be carried on with the people in-
habiting the line you will pursue, renders a knowledge of those
people important. You will, therefore, endeavour to make your-
self acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall
admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers ;

"The extent and limits of their possessions ;

" Their relations with other tribes or nations ;

"Their language, traditions, monuments;

"Their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting,
war, arts, and the implements for these ;

"Their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations ;

"The diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they
use ;

"Moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them from
the tribes we know ;

"Peculiarities in their laws, customs, and dispositions;

ADDRESS. 79

"And articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and to
what extent.

" A.nd, considering the interest which every nation has in extend-
ing and strengthening the authority of reason and justice among the
people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knowledge
you can of the state of morality, religion, and information among
them ; as it may better enable those who may endeavour to civil-
ize and instruct them, to adopt their measures to the existing
notions and practices of those on whom they are to operate.

"Other objects worthy of notice will be —

"The soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable
productions, especially those not of the United States ;

" The animals of the country generally, and especially those not
known in the United States ;

" The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare
or extinct ;

" The mineral productions of every kind, but more particularly
metals, limestone, pit-coal, saltpetre ; salines and mineral waters,
noting the temperature of the last, and such circumstances as may
indicate their character ;

" Volcanic appearances ;

"Climate, as characterized by the thermometer, by the propor-
tion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days ; by lightning, hail, snow,
ice ; by the access and recess of frost ; by the winds prevailing at
different seasons ; the dates at which particular plants put forth,
or lose their flower or leaf; times of appearance of particular
birds, reptiles, or insects.

"Although your route will be along the channel of the Missouri,
yet you will endeavour to inform yourself, by inquiry, of the char-
acter and extent of the country watered by its branches, and
especially on its southern side. The North river, or Rio Bravo,
which runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the North river, or Rio
Colorado, which runs into the* Gulf of California, are understood

80 ADDRESS.

to be the principal streams heading opposite to the waters of
the Missouri, and running southwardly. Whether the dividing
grounds, between the Missouri and them, are mountains or flat
lands, what are their distance from the Missouri, the character of
the intermediate country, and the people inhabiting it, are worthy
of particular inquiry. The northern waters of the Missouri are
less to be inquired after, because they have been ascertained to a
considerable degree, and are still in a course of ascertainment by
English traders and travellers ,' but if you can learn any thing
certain of the most northern source of the Mississippi, and of its
position relatively to the Lake of the Woods, it will be interesting
to us. Some account too, of the path of the Canadian traders from
the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Ouisconsin to where it strikes
the Missouri, and of the soil and rivers in its course, is desirable.
"In all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the
most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct
will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey;
satisfy them of its innocence ; make them acquainted with the
position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions
of the United States ; of our wish to be neighbourly, friendly, and
useful to them, and of our disposition to a commercial intercourse
with them ; confer with them on the points most convenient as
mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desirable interchange
for them and us. If a few of their influential chiefs, within prac-
ticable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them,
and furnish them with authority to call on our officers on their en-
tering the United States, to have them conveyed to this place at
the public expense. If any of them should wish to have some
of their young people brought up with us, and taught such arts
as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care
of them. Such a mission, whether of influential chiefs, or of
young people, would give some security to your own party.
Carry with you some matter of the kinepox ; inform those of

ADDRESS. gl

them with whom you may be of its efficacy as a preservative
from the smallpox, and instruct and encourage them in the use
of it. This may be especially done wherever you winter.

"As it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you will
be received by those people, whether with hospitality or hostility,
so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree of perseverance
with which you are to pursue your journey. We value too much
the lives of citizens to offer them to probable destruction. Your
numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorized
opposition of individuals, or of small parties ; but if a superior
force, authorized, or not authorized, by a nation, should be arrayed
against your further passage, and inflexibly determined to arrest
it, you must decline its further pursuit and return. In the loss of
yourselves we should also lose the information you will have ac*
quired. By returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew
the essay with better calculated means. To your own discretion,
therefore, must be left the degree of danger you may risk, and the
point at which you should decline, only saying, we wish you to
err on the side of your safety, and to bring back your party safe,
even if it be with less information.

"As far up the Missouri as the white settlements extend, an
intercourse will probably be found to exist between them and the
Spanish ports of St. Louis opposite Cahokia, or St. Genevieve
opposite Kaskaskia. From still further up the river, the traders
may furnish a conveyance for letters. Beyond that, you may
perhaps be able to engage Indians to bring letters for the govern-
ment to Cahokia, or Kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there
receive such special compensation as you shall have stipulated
with them. Avail yourself of these means to communicate to us,
at seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes, and obser-
vations of every kind, putting into cypher whatever might do injury
if betrayed.

"Should you reach the Pacific Ocean, inform yourself of the

11

82 ADDRESS.

circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts
may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the Mis-
souri, (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the Colorado,
and Oregon or Columbia,) as at Nootka Sound, or at any other
point of that coast ; and that trade be consequently conducted
through the Missouri and United States more beneficially than
by the circumnavigation now practised.

" On your arrival on that coast, endeavour to learn if there be
any port within your reach frequented by the sea vessels of any
nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea, in such
way as shall appear practicable, with a copy of your notes ; and
should you be of opinion that the return of your party by the way
they went will be imminently dangerous, then ship the whole, and
return by sea, by the way either of Cape Horn, or the Cape of
Good Hope, as you shall be able. As you will be without
money, clothes, or provisions, you must endeavour to use the
credit of the United States to obtain them ; for which purpose,
open letters of credit shall be furnished you, authorizing you to
draw on the executive of the United States, or any of its officers,
in any part of the world, on which draughts can be disposed of,
and to apply with our recommendations to the consuls, agents,
merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have inter-
course, assuring them, in our own name, that any aids they may
furnish you shall be honourably repaid, and on demand. Our
consuls, Thomas Hewes, at Batavia, in Java ; William Buchanan,
in the Isles of France and Bourbon ; and John Elmslie, at the
Cape of Good Hope, will be able to supply your necessities, by
draughts on us.

" Should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after
sending two of your party round by sea, or with your whole party,
if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so ; making such obser-
vations on your return as may serve to supply, correct, or confirm
those made on your outward journey.

ADDRESS. 83

14 On re-entering the United States, and reaching a place of
safety, discharge any of your attendants who may desire and de-
serve it, procuring for them immediate payment of all arrears of
pay and clothing which may have incurred since their departure,
and assure them that they shall be recommended to the liberality
of the legislature for the grant of a soldier's portion of land each,
as proposed in my message to congress, arid repair yourself, with
your papers, to the seat of government.

" To provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy,
dispersion, and the consequent danger to your party, and total
failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorized, by any instru-
ment, signed and written in your own hand, to name the person
among them who shall succeed to the command on your decease ;
and by like instruments, to change the nomination, from time to
time, as further experience of the characters accompanying you
shall point out superior fitness ; and all the powers and authorities
given to yourself, are, in the event of your death, transferred to,
and vested in the successor so named, with further power to him
and his successors, in like manner, to name each his successor,
who, on the death of his predecessor, shall be invested with all the
powers and authorities given to yourself. Given under my hand,
at the city of Washington, this twentieth day of June, 1803.

(Signed) "THOMAS JEFFERSON,

" President of the United States of America."

Commerce, science, patriotism, are not alone interested in such
discoveries ; the moralist, the philanthropist, and the theologian
draw instruction from them, and are willing to confess the obliga-
tion. The Reverend Professor Dick, D. D., on whose brow hang
the wreaths that literature, philosophy, and religion wove in con-
cert, has borne honourable testimony to this, as follows : —

" With that branch of knowledge to which I have now adverted,
(geography,) every individual of the human race ought to be in

84 ADDRESS.

some measure acquainted. For it is unworthy of the dignity of a
rational being, to stalk abroad on the surface of the earth, and en-
joy the bounty of his Creator, without considering the nature and
extent of his sublunary habitation, the variety of august objects it
contains, the relation in which he stands to other tribes of intelli-
gent agents, and the wonderful machinery which is in constant
operation for supplying his wants, and for producing the revolu-
tions of day and night, spring and autumn, summer and winter.
In a religious point of view, geography is a science of peculiar
interest. For * the salvation of God,' which Christianity unfolds,
is destined to be proclaimed in every land, in order that men of all
nations, and kindreds, and tongues may participate in its bless-
ings. But, without exploring every region of the earth, and the
numerous islands which are scattered over the surface of the
ocean, and opening up a regular intercourse with the different
tribes of human beings which dwell upon its surface, we can never
carry into effect the purpose of God, ' by making known his sal-
vation to the ends of the earth.' As God has ordained that ( all
flesh shall see the salvation' he has accomplished, and that human
beings shall be the agents for carrying his designs into effect ; so
we may rest assured, that he has ordained every mean requisite for
accomplishing this end ; and, consequently, that it is his will that
men should study the figure and magnitude of the earth, and all
those arts by which they may be enabled to traverse and explore
the different regions of land and water which compose the terra-
queous globe ; and that it is also his will, that every one who feels
an interest in the present and eternal happiness of his fellow men,
should make himself acquainted with the result of all the disco-
veries in this science that have been or may yet be made, in order
to stimulate his activity in conveying to the wretched sons of Adam,
wherever they may be found, ' the unsearchable riches of Christ,
" To the missionary, and the directors of Bible and Missionary
Societies, a minute and comprehensive knowledge of this science,

ADDRESS. 35

and of all the facts connected with it, is essentially requisite ;
without which they would often grope in the dark, and spend
their money in vain, and * their labour for that which doth not
profit.' They must be intimately acquainted with the extensive
field of operation which lies before them, and with the physical,
the moral, and the political state of the different tribes to which
they intend to send the message of salvation ; otherwise their
exertions will be made at random, and their schemes be conducted
without judgment or discrimination. To attempt to direct the
movements of Missionary Societies without an intimate knowledge
of this subject, is as foolish and absurd as it would be for a land-
surveyor to lay down plans for the improvement of a gentleman's
estate, before he had surveyed the premises, and made himself
acquainted with the objects upon them, in their various aspects
positions, and bearings. If all those who direct and support the
operations of such societies, were familiarly acquainted with the
different fields for missionary exertions, and with the peculiar
state and character of the diversified tribes of the heathen world,
so far as they are known, injudicious schemes might be frustrated
before they are carried into effect, and the funds of such institu-
tions preserved from being wasted to no purpose. In this view, it
is the duty of every Christian to mark the progress and the results
of the various geographical expeditions which are now going for-
ward in quest of discoveries, in connexion with the moral and
political movements which are presently agitating the nations : for
every navigator who ploughs the ocean in search of new islands
and continents, and every traveller who explores the interior of
unknown countries, should be considered as so many pioneers,
sent beforehand by Divine Providence, to prepare the way for the
labours of the missionary, and for the combined exertions of
Christian benevolence." — DICK'S Christian Philosophy.

86 ADDRESS.

But one more view of this subject remains, and that we shall
present as concisely as possible. We have thus far spoken only
of the tropical islands, of their inhabitants, and of our shipping,
with the nautical and scientific labours to be performed in those
regions. That the picture is not overdrawn we most confidently
appeal to the members on the floor of Congress, whose con-
stituents are immediately interested in the various traffic of those
seas. To them of right belongs the more able support of this
measure, if indeed opposition can be anticipated to an enterprise
demanded, we repeat again, by the wisest considerations of
national policy, and honour, and the imperious calls of suffering
humanity.

We have said, that only one more view of this subject remains
to be taken. Follow us, then, for a moment, from the sunny isles
of the tropics, to regions farther south, where the indefatigable
whaler must yet pursue his mighty prey along the verge of the
Antarctic circle, where our intrepid sealers scale the seemingly
inaccessible cliffs and mountains of ice in quest of their game, and
where the discovery ships should spend a few months during the
most favourable season of the southern summer.

What ! extend our researches to regions surrounding the South
Pole \ And wherefore not ? Shall the reproach for ever rest upon
our character, that we can do nothing, think of nothing, talk of
nothing, that is not connected with dollars and cents ? The great
and beneficial objects of the expedition have been already dis-
cussed. Will you not allow us some scope for high and daring
adventure ? We know that whatever our interest and our honour
require, will meet with the approbation and support of the great
body of the American people ; but we also know, that without
some devotion to science and liberal pursuits, though we may
become powerful, yea, in an uninterrupted career of prosperity,
invincible by land and sea, yet we can never be truly great !

Those who raise objections, and oppose insurmountable obsta-

ADDRESS. 87

cles to all enterprises of this kind, would do well to reflect, that
the very spirit called forth and kept alive by them is of incalcula-
ble utility in a national point of view. It tended to elevate Great
Britain, as we have already shown, to a pitch of grandeur unsur-
passed-by any nation of ancient or modern time. Other countries
have indeed, been the seat of a more dreaded power, but it has
been a power depending for its stability upon brute force, without
any intermixture of the intellectual and refined ; and accordingly,
when the prop which supported it was withdrawn, it sank into
contempt and oblivion. It is a striking truth that the nations of
the earth, whose riches have passed into a proverb, occupy the
most unimportant portion of history ; and their wealth, coupled as
it was with nothing great and ennobling, has served only to bring
down upon them the derision of posterity. Let us not, then, for-
get that wealth to nations, as well as individuals, is a means, and
not an end ; and that the most awful reverses have befallen those
who have disregarded this unchangeable law, and forgotten that
the accumulated harvest of riches arising from past exertions, was
intended as the seed of future enterprise. No ! we cannot remain
stationary. If we cease to move onward, that instant we retro-
grade, and our prosperity, like the stone of Sisyphus, will bear us
along with it down the precipitous descent, into the depths of
national effeminacy.

In relation to the more northern expeditions, an able French
writer makes these very judicious and liberal remarks : " Even
were the discoveries which Captains Ross, Parry, and Franklin,
have made in relation to the obscure laws that govern the mag-
net, the only fruit of the English expeditions, they had not been
undertaken in vain. But they have at the same time expanded
the bounds of geographical knowledge, added greatly to the whale
fisheries, and proved that man, enlightened by the arts, is able to
surmount the obstacles of nature in her wildest ferocity.**

That they were not successful takes but little from their merits,

88 ADDRESS.

since their conception alone bespeaks a liberal and enlightened
policy ; or, in the words of the intrepid Parry, such enterprises,
so disinterested and useful in their objects, do honour to the coun-
try that undertakes them even when they fail ; they cannot but
excite the admiration and respect of every intelligent mind, and
the page of future history will undoubtedly record them, as in
every way worthy of a powerful and virtuous nation." The hard-
ships and adventure attending them, have all the interest of war
without its guilt ; and the people of this country have ever read,
with the greatest eagerness, every work that has been published
in reference to them. Will they read with less interest the efforts
of their own sons ?

On examination of the maps, it will be perceived that there exist
but two outlets to the Northern Polar Seas, one by Bhering's
Straits, and the other through the Spitzbergen Seas ; and that the
combined width of these at seventy degrees, equals hardly a
ninth of the earth's circumference. Now, the British navigators,
in seeking a north-west passage, were bound by their instructions
to search for it among the bays and indentations of a frozen coast,
and to force their way amid numerous islands, each forming a
point of retardation and adhesion to the earliest ice that is formed
during the prolonged winter of the Pole. It is impossible that any
"expedition thus conducted, and fettered in its operations, should
prove successful ; and succeeding times will wonder at the perti-
nacity of the British Admiralty, in adhering to instructions, in our
humble opinion, so injudiciously given.

Let us consider the immutable principles of nature, ever the
same in similar circumstances. Observe a large lake or river,
partially frozen. The ice is compact, and firmly attached to the
shore, long before it is formed in the centre. In Baffin's Bay, the
Esquimaux go out some twenty miles from the shore, and kill
seals on the edge of the ice ; and it is more than probable that a
vessel might sail unobstructed in the middle of that bay, at any

ADDRESS. 89

time before the ice is detached from the land. Furthermore, it is
a matter well authenticated, that upon the breaking up of the ice
in a harbour of Hudson's Bay, a vessel which was driven out,
passed the straits without any impediment, and reached England
in the midst of the winter, while in May and June following, the
straits were blocked with floating ice. The existence of a north
west passage, however, is no longer a matter for conjecture. It
will be found by standing well from the shore, on which the ice is
thrown in accumulated masses, by the winds and currents of the
north, or by keeping the mid channel, through Bhering's Straits,
and rounding the headlands of our continent, and thence into the
Spitzbergen Seas. That this route is more feasible than any
other, is evident from the fact, that the ice formed in bays and
harbours, and the estuaries of fresh water rivers, is solid and mas-
sive, while that formed in the ocean, being congealed from salt
water, is seldom more than six inches in thickness, appearing like
snow partially melted and refrozen, is semi-opaque, and presents
in general but a feeble barrier to the bold navigator. Indeed, we
do not believe, and our personal experience must here strengthen
our assertion, that ice is ever formed in the main ocean, at a dis-
tance from land. No, not at the Pole itself !

The unexplored part of the Northern Polar Seas, may be con-
sidered about twenty-four hundred miles across it, or seven thou-
sand two hundred miles in circumference. The whole surrounding
coast is inhabited ; the European part by the Laplanders and
Fins ; the Asiatic by the Samoyedes, and other rude tribes, who
subsist upon reindeer, and fish ; and the American by the various
tribes of the Esquimaux. Numerous large rivers in Asia and our
own continent, pour their sluggish streams of fresh water into the
Polar Seas.

These, together with the great extent of coast, necessarily pro-
duce large quantities of ice, which is thrown out in the spring,
and floated by the northern currents into the channel or sea

12

90 ADDRESS.

between Spitzbergen and Greenland. In that passage it collects
in accumulated masses, and is forced by the increasing pressure
into the bays and among the islands through which the British
expedition weie bound, as we have before said, to seek a north-
west passage. The cause of their slow progress must be apparent
to all

The southern hemisphere presents oy far the more interesting
field for discovery, containing as it does, more than one million
and a half of square miles, which have never been trodden by the
footsteps of man, nor its waters divided by the keel of the adven-
turous navigator ; regions of which, we know little more than we
do of the planet Georgium Sidus, or an orb revolving round one of
the most distant of the twinkling stars.

Is it not remarkable, that while the most learned and profound
of all ages, have been munificently encouraged to ascertain the
nature, and the courses, and the times of the planets, that belong
to our system, and revolve round a common centre of light and
heat, so large a part of our own earth should remain almost as
little known to us, as those planets are, though separated from us
by distances conceivable only by the mighty mind which ordained
them ! Man, indeed, in his proud walks, appears anxious to tread
the milky way ; to extend his researches to the utmost bounds of
creation ; to mark the bold planet in his career, and unfold the laws
that govern him ; while he remains, perhaps, culpably negligent
of the undiscovered parts of his own little globe, that are still
within the bounds of practical experiment.

Few, feeble, and far between, have been the efforts to explore
the higher latitudes south. Let us briefly examine them.

In the year 1772, Captain Cook, in the Resolution, accompa-
nied by Lieutenant Freneau, in the Adventure, embarked on his
first voyage in search of a southern continent. Having, in De-
cember, attained the fifty-eighth degree of south latitude, in longi-
tude 26° 57' east, he fell in with narrow fields of ice, running

ADDRESS. 91

north-west and south-east, from six to eight inches in thickness,
and appearing to have been formed in bays or rivers. This ice
was in large flat pieces, and, in some instances, packed so closely,
that the vessels, with difficulty, passed through it. Here were
seen great numbers of penguins, which, with other coinciding cir-
cumstances, induced the supposition of land being in the vicinity.
This opinion was afterwards shown to be erroneous, the ice prov-
ing to be unattached to any shore. In latitude 61° 12', the voy-
agers met with considerable ice-islands, many of which were
passed unseen, by reason of the thick haze. Three degrees fur-
ther south, in longitude 38° 14' E., they had mild weather, with
gentle gales, for five days ; thermometer thirty-six, and prevalent
winds east and east by south. In January, 1773, they crossed the
Antarctic circle in latitude 66° 36' 30" ; and, on reaching latitude
67° 15', found the ice closed the whole extent, from east to west-
south-west, and no indication of an opening. This immense area
was filled with ice of different kinds, high hills, broken masses
compactly pressed together, and field ice. A float of the latter, to
the south-east, appeared sixteen or eighteen feet above the water,
and its extremities could not be seen from the mast head. As the
summer of that region was nearly half spent, and it would have
taken some time, even if practicable at all, to get round the ice,
Captain Cook determined to retrograde. He accordingly sailed
to the northward, and afterwards proceeded in search of other
discoveries. In this attempt, Cook did not know all, that is now
known, of this portion of the southern hemisphere. If he had he
would have selected another meridian for the purpose of going
south. The ice he met with, came from some large islands situ-
ated east from Palmer's Land.

On the 26th of November, 1773, Captain Cook left New Zea
land, on his second search for southern lands. In latitude 59° 4(X
he met with a southerly current. In December, being in latitude
67° 31', longitude 142° 54' W., the cold was intense, with a hard

92 ADDRESS.

gale and a heavy fog ; thermometer thirty to thirty -one at noon.
Continual daylight, except when obscured by the thick vapours.
Albatrosses, penguins, and peterels, in great numbers here. In lat-
itude 70° 23', the navigators met with islands of ice, three or four
miles in circumference, and, shortly thereafter, observed that the
clouds in the southern horizon were of a snowy white, and of unu-
sual brightness, appearances which were known to announce the
approach to field ice. On reaching latitude 71° 10', in longitude
106° 54' W., the extreme point of their voyage, they came upon
the edge of an immense frozen expanse, which rilled the whole
area of the southern horizon, and illumined the air to a consider-
able height with the rays of light reflected from its surface. In
the back ground the ice rose in ridges, like chains of mountains,
one above another, till lost in the clouds. Of these ridges they
counted ninety-seven. The outer, or northern edge of this gigan-
tic field, was broken ice, firmly wedged together, and impassable.
This fringe was about a mile in breadth, and within it was the
solid ice, which was low and flat, with the exception of the moun-
tains before alluded to. It was Captain Cook's opinion, that this
mighty mass of crystallization extended to the Pole; or was joined
to some land southward, to which it had been affixed from earliest
time, and that here was generated all the ice found in such variety
of shape and quantity further north ; the same having been broken
off from the main body by the action of gales, and carried in that
direction by currents, which he had observed invariably set to the
northward in very high latitudes. Few birds were here seen, and
yet it is evident from the tenor of the distinguished commander's
remarks, that he believed land to exist south of the parallel at
which he arrived, though he doubted if it were not inhospitable,
and destitute of animal or vegetable life as the ice itself.

We are not surprised that Cook was unable to go beyond 71°
10', but we are astonished that he did attain that point on the
meridian of 106° 54' west longitude. Palmer's Land lies south of

ADDRESS. 93

the Shetland, latitude 64°, and tends to the southward and west-
ward, further than any navigator has yet penetrated. Cook was
standing for this land when his progress was arrested by the ice ;
which, we apprehend, must always be the case in that point, and
so early in the season as the 6th of January ; — and we should not
be surprised if a portion of the icy mountains described was
attached to the main body of Palmer's Land, or to some other
detached portions of land lying further to the southward . and
westward.

Captains Kruzenstern and Urey Lisiansky, who were sent out
to circumnavigate the globe by Alexander I, of Russia, in 1803,
did not reach a higher degree of south latitude than 59° 58' in
longitude 70° 15' W., when they met with currents setting
strongly towards the east. In this latitude, Kruzenstern speaks of
whales being in great abundance, but does not mention having
seen any ice ; — this was in March.

Had Kruzenstern continued his course south, he would have
made the south-westerly portion of the Shetland Islands, and
afterwards Palmer's Land. Had he been earlier in the season, he
must have encountered ice. The winds prevailing as they do,

from the southward and westward, had carried it, aided by cur-

'

rents, into that icy region, bounded on the north by Georgia, east
by Sandwich Land and South Orkneys, and west by the South
Shetland Islands.

The testimony of Weddell, who pierced to the highest parallel
of south latitude known to have been attained by man, is decidedly
at variance with the opinion of Captain Cook, respecting the
extent of impenetrable ice to the South Pole. Mr. Weddell,
although his two frail little barks were often beset by towering
icebergs, and placed in imminent danger, does not appear to have
encountered, indeed his vessels could not have withstood, the
impediments opposed to northern navigators in similar latitudes.
Nothing can be more encouraging than this gentleman's state-

94 ADDRESS.

ments, to those who hold the belief that the Pole can be attained
He records the extraordinary facts that, after having been almost
hemmed in by ice in far lower parallels, in latitude 72° 28', not a
single particle was to be seen ; and, that in the unprecedently
high latitude of 74° 15', no fields, and only three islands, of ice
were visible. Flights of innumerable birds were here seen.

Weddell, discourages the idea of land existing in the polar
regions of the south, and the facts he has given us are calculated
to strengthen such a supposition. He distinctly states that he saw
unknown coasts south of the Shetlands, tending southerly in about
latitude 64° ; although from that point to the highest to which he
explored, he recognised no other indications of land.

There is one subject, if our memory serves us right, upon which
the opinions of Weddell do not appear to have been based upon
his experience. He seems to favour the often repeated, though
erroneous assertion, that the cold is more intense in the far An-
tarctic latitudes, than in similar parallels in the Arctic circle ; yet
he states the temperature to be mild, and the ocean to be free from
field ice ; — the vast accumulation of which is undoubtedly the
cause of the severe frigidity, the cold and shivering dampness, in
the neighbourhood of the Shetlands.

Since the voyage of Weddell, the belief in the existence of
southern lands has - received further confirmation ; and vague
speculation is now replaced by what would seem to be authentic
knowledge. The circumstance to which we allude in making this
statement, is the discovery made by Captain Briscoe of the brig
Lively, accompanied by cutter Tula, in 1831-2. Captain Briscoe,
who was in the employ of Messrs. Enderby, extensive whale-ship
owners of London, on the 28th of February, being in latitude
about 66° 30' S., longitude 47° 31' E., descried land, and clearly
discovered through the snow, the black peaks of a range of
mountains running E. S. E. During the following month he
remained on the newly discovered coast ; but, from the state of

ADDRESS. 95

the weather and the ice, was unable to approach it nearer than
within thirty miles. An extent of about three hundred miles of
shore was seen. The sickness of the Lively's crew induced her
commander to seek a warmer climate, and he returned north, to
winter in Van Dieman's Land, where he was rejoined by the
cutter, which had been separated from her consort in a storm.

In the beginning of 1832, Briscoe again proceeded southward,
and on the 4th of February observed land to the southeast, in
latitude 67° 15', longitude 69° 29' W., which he found to be an
island near the headland of what he considers may yet be desig-
nated the southern continent. On the 21st he landed in a spacious
bay in the main land, and took possession in the name of his
sovereign, William IV. The island he named Adelaide's island,
in honour of the English queen. The log and other particulars
of this discovery were laid before the Royal Geographical Society
of London ; from all of which the conclusion was drawn, that
there is a continuous body of land extending from 47° 30/ E.> to
69° 29' west longitude, running the parallel of from 66° to 67°
south latitude.

Now, in the correctness of these conclusions we by no means
concur ; nor do the discoveries of Briscoe warrant any such infer-
ence. It was within these limits that Weddell proceeded south,
on a meridian to the east of Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the
South Orkney and Shetland Islands. Nor were his last discove-
ries new. The main land, taken possession of in the name of his
sovereign, was visited fifteen years ago by our own sealers, and
taken possession of (at least some fur) in the name of our sove-
reign, the people ; and when a true record shall be made up of the
past discoveries in this portion of the South Seas, the name of
Adelaide's island must be changed; and the wreath of crystal
gems, intended for the brows of majesty, will be found to belong
to one of Nature's pretty little queens, of whom we have so many
on this side of the Atlantic ! We have a long, running, unsettled

96 ADDRESS.

account in this matter of giving names to places, with some of our
neighbours, which we may as well begin to have posted up, for
the purpose of preventing future disputes.

In tracing on a chart the few attempts which have been made
to reach a high latitude, it will be seen that the circumnavigation
of the southern hemisphere will not, at most, bear an average of
more than 58° south latitude, — which leaves, with the exception
of Weddell's track, about 300° of longitude, in which the An-
tarctic circle has not been crossed !

With such a wide field before us, and such a noble theatre
whereon to contend for mastery with the nations of the earth ;
now that the cloud which has so long hung in our political hori-
zon, and threatened to darken the heavens, and crimson the ocean
with blood, has passed away, leaving the glorious sunshine of
peace to our land ; and now when the treasury is full to overflow-
ing, we confidently indulge the hope that this measure will be
sanctioned without further delay.

For high latitudes, the vessels should be small. The English
failed in this respect, and have since confessed their error. The
strength and efficiency of a vessel depend not more upon the
power of resisting than the facility of avoiding danger ; and this
remark applies to the navigation among the islands of the Pacific,
or amid regions of ice. Let it be remembered, that Hudson, Davis,
and Baffin, made all their discoveries in small vessels, and by
their intrepidity, perseverance, and skill, extended their researches
almost as far as the most recent and adventurous navigators.

Parry pays the highest tribute of respect to their memories, and
bears witness to the correctness of their observations, even as
regards the longitude. " I feel," says he, " tlie highest pride on
one hand, approaching almost to humiliation on the other; of
pride, in remembering that it was our countrymen who performed
these exploits ; of humiliation, when I consider how little, with all
our advantages, we have succeeded in going beyond them."

ADDRESS. 97

Give us, then, suitable vessels, with an efficient outfit, — say two
barks of two hundred tons, with two tenders of one hundred tons
each, and a storeship. To make the expedition complete, we
must again be permitted to urge the employment of a frigate.
She will not be necessary in the higher latitudes ; there the smaller
vessels should venture alone, and trust for safety to the facility of
locomotion, and the skilfulness of their officers. This is no longer
an unsettled and debateable point. The experience of others is
confirmed, to a limited extent, by our own. We ourselves have
been in the Antarctic seas, on board of two vessels, the one of one
hundred and sixty, and the other of eighty tons burthen, and have
beheld in all its terror and sublimity, that castellated region of
floating crystal pyramids, of accumulated ice and snow, and we
could easily enlarge on the preference to be given to the use of
comparatively small vessels.

That the ninetieth degree, or the South Pole, may be reached
by the navigator, is our deliberate opinion (unless intercepted by
land), which all that we have seen and known has tended to con-
firm. That an expedition should be despatched from this country
for the sole purpose of ascertaining the practicability of attaining
it, is not, perhaps, to be expected ; but that the effort should be
allowed to be made, in connexion with the other great objects of
the enterprise, is perfectly in accordance with the most prudential
policy.

We feel that we have discharged our duty, and that the subject
is now committed to other hands, to be disposed of by those whose
decision will have no connexion with our individual feelings or
wishes, nor do we wish that it should. Indeed, we have no
unusual share of personal solicitude and feverish anxiety about the
result. The time was, when we felt differently — far differently ; —
but that time has gone by. For us there is no disappointment in
store. We sought adventure, and have had it without the aid or

patronage of government. Still our efforts have not gone unre-
E 13

98 ADDRESS.

warded. The kindness we have so often experienced from our
countrymen, and the charitable estimate they have put upon our
labours, leave nothing to regret in relation to the past, while they
make us independent with respect to the future. We have no
narrow and exclusive feelings to be gratified. We wish to see
the expedition sail, solely because of the good it may do, and the
honour it may confer on the country at large.

For the same reasons we wish to see it organized on liberal and
enlightened principles, which object can be effected only by calling
in requisition the known skill of the service, which will be found
equal to the discharge of every duty, in any way connected with
the naval profession.

But this should not be all. To complete its efficiency, indi-
viduals from other walks of life, we repeat, should be appointed
to participate in its labours. No professional pique, no petty
jealousies, should be allowed to defeat this object. The enter-
prise should be national in its object, and sustained by the national
means, — belongs of right to no individual, or set of individuals,
but to the country and the whole country ; and he who does not
view it in this light, or could not enter it with this spirit, would
not be very likely to meet the public expectations were he
intrusted with the entire control.

To indulge in jealousies, or feel undue solicitude about the
division of honours before they are won, is the appropriate em-
ployment of carpet heroes, in whatever walk of life they may be
found. The qualifications of such would fit them better to thread
the mazes of the dance, or to shine in the saloon, than to venture
upon an enterprise requiring men, in the most emphatic sense of
the term.

There are, we know, many, very many, ardent spirits in our
navy — many whom we hold among the most valued of our friends
— who are tired of inglorious ease, and who would seize the

ADDRESS. 99

opportunity thus presented to them with avidity, and enter with
delight upon this new path to fame.

Our seamen are hardy and adventurous, especially those who
are engaged in the seal trade and the whale fisheries ; and innured
as they are to the perils of navigation, are inferior to none on
earth for such a service. Indeed, the enterprise, courage, and
perseverance of American seamen are, if not unrivalled, at least
unsurpassed. What man can do, they have always felt ready to
attempt, — what man has done, it is their character to feel able to
do, — whether it be to grapple with an enemy on the deep, or to
pursue their gigantic game under the burning line, with an intelli-
gence and ardour that insure success, or pushing their adventurous
barks into the high southern latitudes, to circle the globe within
the Antarctic circle, and attain the Pole itself; — yea, to cast
anchor on that point where all the meridians terminate, where our
eagle and star-spangled banner may be unfurled and planted, and
left to wave on the axis of the earth itself! — where, amid the
novelty, grandeur, and sublimity of the scene, the vessels, instead
of sweeping a vast circuit by the diurnal movements of the earth,
would simply turn round once in twenty-four hours !

We shall not discuss, at present, the probability of this result,
though its possibility might be easily demonstrated. If this should
be realized, where is the individual who does not feel that such an
achievement would add new lustre to the annals of American
philosophy, and crown with a new and imperishable wreath the
nautical glories of our country ! !

We have done. For the courtesy with which we have been
received, and the indulgence with which we have been heard,
accept our thanks.

To the ladies who have so kindly honoured us with their atten-
tion, our most respectful acknowledgments are due. You are
identified with this subject. It was from the sagacity and gene-
rosity of one of your sex, — the high-minded Isabella, queen of

100 ADDRESS.

Spain, — that this continent was discovered at the time it was, and
by whom it was : when monarchs hesitated, and ministers looked
on with cold and calculating indifference, she cast her jewels upon
the waters, and fortune paid her with a new world, from which
has sprung a race of men, who have given new hopes to liberty,
when it was nearly lost ; and who are now struggling to throw
back on Europe, with interest and gratitude, the rays of light we
have received from her. In the strong cord of public opinion,
which binds us a people, when chains of adamant could not, the
silken and the golden threads are what woman thinks of public
measures !

CORRESPONDENCE.

•

CORRESPONDENCE.

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, i
, Washington, May 29, 1836. >

DEAR SIR — As I have taken some interest in the plan of the
expedition to the Antartic Ocean, about to be undertaken under
the auspices of the government, you will allow me to congratulate
you upon the accomplishment, thus far, of your ardent wishes.
May the issue of the enterprise be as auspicious to the interests
and fame of your country, and to your own reputation, as your
zeal and perseverance have been conspicuous and successful in
recommending it to the favorable attention of congress.

The considerations which recommended it to my support were
these : First, while such large sums were expended in the support
of the officers and navy, on shore and in port, rendering no service
to the country, I thought it unbecoming in the American congress,
to deny a small appropriation for a most hazardous and daring
service, which called for such a sacrifice of comfort, and for the
patient endurance of privations and hardships. Secondly, I con-
sidered it a necessary measure for the protection of our hardy and
adventurous seamen engaged in the pursuit of the whale and the
seal, in those remote seas. Thirdly, it would afford an oppor-
tunity tc generalize, and reduce to a system, the knowledge
necessary to the navigation of those almost unknown regions of
land and water, and thereby advance the cause of humanity.
Fourthly, it would give a new spring and impulse to that trade

§"* *. r

104 CORRESPONDENCE.

which affords so many comforts to the civilized world, and the
means of subsistence to so many of the hardy sons of New Eng-
land. And, though last, not least, it promises to extend the bounds
of science, increase the capital of human knowledge, and thereby
add to the substantial fame of our republic. Some may deem
these views the mere dreams of a wild fancy, or the hallucinations
of an ill-balanced intellect ; but, with all deference to the spirit of
censure, I consider the enterprise an object of a more lofty am-
bition than the acquisition of a portion of a neighboring republic,
and infinitely more worthy the patronage of the government than
the sordid peculations which are becoming the reproach of the
age we live in. Is it not better to send a portion of our vessels
of war into the South Seas, to watch over the twelve thousand of
our hardy seamen, to point out the harbours and shelters from the
storms and the icebergs — to save some of them from famine, ship-
wreck, or captivity, and to restore them to their long lost country
and friends, than to send them up the Mediterranean, where our
officers and seamen will render no other service, but to contract
the vices and follies of Europe ?

But, Sir, should this enterprise fail in producing all the results
anticipated by a sanguine imagination, it will detract nothing
from the merits of the undertaking. The true value of a deed
must be estimated by its motive, and the moral sublimity which it
exhibits ; not its fortunate or unfortunate result. The catastrophe
of Phaeton, or the fate of Napoleon, detracts nothing from the
sublimity of their enterprises, but through some mysterious in-
fluence, adds a charm of indescribable interest to the pictures.

But when the expedition shall be finally embarked, and you find
yourself ploughing the broad expanse of the southern convex*
when a southern heaven spreads out, and new constellations blaze
over your head, forget not your country and friends ; nor the im-
portant part you are to perform, nor the high responsibilities com-
mitted to your hands. Describe things as they are, not as fancy

CORRESPONDENCE. 105

may create them. Sacrifice nothing of truth to embellishment.
Supply nothing beyond fact to flatter the ear or round a sentence.
In short, " nothing extenuate or set down aught" in romance ; that
what you write may be read a thousand years hence with the same
interest as in the current century, because of its fidelity to truth.
Let your ambition be to merit the inscription on your tomb,
should Neptune vouchsafe you one, " exegit monumentum are
perrennius."

Believe me, very truly,

Your friend,

A. BEAUMONT.
/. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New-York.

14

'

106 CORRESPONDENCE.

• -

NEW-YORK, June 12, 1836.

DEAR SIR — The conversation I had with you the other day,
turned my mind to the subject of the exploring expedition to the
Pacific; and it has occurred to me that the following outline of
preparation will be indispensible, to enable it to fulfil the expecta-
tions of the nation and the world.

The objects contemplated, appear to me to be, to forward the
interests of trade and navigation ; to enlarge the bounds of science ;
and to contribute to the national honor, by adding to the general
stock of useful knowledge. It would be a loss of labor, time, and
money, to fit out an expedition with no adequate means, and
consequently no rational probability, of attaining either of these
objects. Without making new discoveries, or ascertaining former
ones ; without going where others have never been ; or without
adding something material to the discoveries of those who have
preceded us in this track, the expedition would result only in
disappointment, perhaps in ridicule.

To render it efficient, the first requisite is a sufficient armament;
and for this purpose, I should think a frigate, say the Macedonian,
proper for the accommodation of the officers and men, as well as
of the persons who may be attached to the expedition for scientific
pursuits and occupations. Our sloops of war do not afford this,
and nothing is more likely to create difficulties and discourage-
ments, than a perpetual recurrence of those little inconveniences
which originate in the want of ordinary comforts. Men seldom
persevere in any pursuit in the face of these petty irritations, and

CORRESPONDENCE. 107

I am convinced many great undertakings have failed from that
cause alone.

Two vessels of about two hundred tons, and two tenders, one
of sixty, the other of one hundred tons. I say two tenders, and
recommend them to be different sizes, because, in case of the loss
of one, the expedition would still have another left, and it might
frequently happen that a vessel of fifty or sixty tons, would be able
to penetrate where one of a hundred could not. I am of opinion
that small vessels are preferable to large ones, for the progress of
discovery in unknown seas; and my opinion is sustained by the
fact, that almost all the great discoveries of former ages, were made
by vessels of that class. Besides, the loss of the tender, if there
were only one, might be a serious obstacle to the progress of close
investigation, among the groups of islands, where large vessels
could not penetrate.

A store-ship, amply supplied, is, in my opinion, an indispensable
requisite, as the others would scarcely be able to carry a sufficient
quantity for such a long voyage. It is not certain, nay, it is ex-
tremely improbable that supplies of provisions and stores in a
sufficient quantity can be procured, except, possibly, from the
Sandwich Islands, which lie at a great distance from the scene
contemplated ; or perhaps it would be necessary to proceed to the
coast of America for that purpose. This would cause a great loss
of time, besides other great inconvenience.

Great care should be exercised in the selection of officers, with-
out any view to patronage. So far as my acquaintance with navy
officers extends, I do not know any man whom I think better
qualified to command the expedition than Captain Catesby Jones,
of whose character and attainments I have had many opportunities
of judging. Of the subordinate officers, I am not so well qualified
to speak.

In order to prevent ridicule, from announcing discoveries in
navigation as new, which have already been made, or making a

CORRESPONDENCE.

pompous display of trite and peurile knowledge, the same care
should be taken to attach such scientific persons to the expedition
as are, at least, acquainted generally with what is already known,
and have kept pace with the advance of knowledge. Either
nothing should be done in this way, or it should be well and
thoroughly done. It strikes me, that some well-qualified person
should be charged by the government with recording the incidents
of the voyage, and that the work should be published under its
patronage.

Such is a brief outline of my ideas on this subject, which I have
hastily sketched, in a manner which I fear you will hardly be able
to read, as my eyes are at this moment actually distilling hot
water, in consequence of a severe cold in my head. You will
excuse me for troubling you with these crude notions, which are
thrown out in the hope that they may not be altogether useless to
you, should you, as I presume you will, be charged with any
active agency in the objects of the expedition.
I am, dear sir,

Your friend and servant,

J. K. PAULDING.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New-York.

CORRESPONDENCE.

OTSTKB BAY, L. I., June 10, 183S.

DEAR SIR — It was with very great pleasure that I recently
perused the speech of Mr. Hamer, on the proposed expedition.
I should scarcely have expected from the West (removed as it is
by geographical position from the ocean) so zealous and so abl«
an exposition of the motives which should lead our country to
embark in this glorious enterprise. It is, however, a gratifying
evidence, that although we may be occasionally influenced by
narrow sectional feelings, yet when it becomes a question of our
common country, every true-hearted patriot casts aside all petty
trammels, and fearlessly acts for its honour and its glory.

To men of science, in every part of the civilized world, this
expedition will be hailed with intense interest. Unjustly accused,
as we have been, of pursuing a dollar and cent policy, it will now
b& seen that we have entered the list of nations in a career of
honourable enterprise, unconnected with pecuniary considerations.

As an humble votary of science, I earnestly hope that the par-
ticular departments, which must necessarily be entrusted to citl
zens, will be the subject of careful and severe scrutiny, and none
but those every way qualified, will be selected for the task. I
say necessarily entrusted to citizens, for with all my respect for
the professional reputation of our naval officers, it is preposterous
to expect them to be conversant with studies entirely foreign to
their profession, and requiring an exclusive and unremitting atten-
tion for a series of years. Natural history, during the last twenty

HO CORRESPONDENCE.

years, has advanced with giant steps, and perhaps it is not too
much to say, has, during that time, made more progress than for
the preceding century. It has also, within the same period, be-
come so minute and exact, as you are aware, that the smallest
inaccuracy will subject the expedition to the ridicule of the scien-
tific world. As, therefore, this expedition must necessarily be
composed of different classes, it becomes highly important that
such selections shall be made as will be most likely to harmonize,
and the personal character, as well as the acquirements of the
individuals, be made the subject of inquiry.

Power is a fearful thing to possess, and even dangerous to wish
for, but if I were president, I natter myself I could indicate the
outlines of a plan that would insure success. I would select for
the head of the expedition, a man of robust constitution and vig-
orous intellect, not rashly adventurous, and yet shrinking from no
proper responsibility. His zeal for the success of the enterprise
would naturally lead him to be prompt and decided in his inter-
course with his ofncers, and courteous to the naturalists under his
care. Honourably desirous of distinction I would have him to be,
but not sordidly anxious to reap every little wreath of merit that
may be picked up by his subordinates. Have not the united
curses of the scientific world pursued, even beyond the grave, that
poor creature Baudin, who quarrelled with every naturalist in his
vessel ? Depend upon it, history and posterity will impartially
award the particular quantum meruit due to each and every mem-
ber of the expedition. With such a man as I have described, I
would associate you, and entrusting to your skill and sound prac-
tical experience the selection and organization of the scientific
corps, would feel confident of success.

Any thing that I can do in aid of this noble enterprise will be
cheerfully done, . and you can confidently depend on the co-
operation of the Lyceum for aid, in the selection of books, recom-
mending suitable assistants, or indicating proper objects of inquiry.

CORRESPONDENCE. Uj

I think it probable that I shall spend the autumn, and perhaps
the winter, in France. If I can, in my intercourse with the Royal
Geographical Society, or the learned of the capital, aid you in the
smallest degree, you may depend upon my services.

With the earnest hope that your most sanguine wishes may be
realized,

I am, dear sir,

Yours faithfully and truly,
-

JAMES E. DE KA1

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New-York.

112 CORRESPONDENCE.

YALE COLLEGE, May 30, 1836.

DEAR SIR — The expedition destined to explore the Southern
Ocean, I consider as of the most vital importance to science,
navigation, commerce, benevolence, and national honor.

Upon the liberal basis on which our government has placed it,
under the care of distinguished naval officers, and enriched by the
first scientific acquirements of our country, we have every cause
to anticipate an immense accession to the various departments of
natural science.

Money, in an expedition so national as the present, should be a
secondary object, when placed in competition with the acquisition
of high talent in the walks of science.

Instruments of every kind will necessarily be one of the first
items in this vast undertaking. I would recommend that dupli-
cates, in every instance, be taken out ; and where frequent
exposure to injury may, by possibility, take place, many of the
same kind should be procured.

Allow me to present to your attention the following objects, as
deserving of especial notice in your voyage towards the South
Pole:

1 . Temperature of the Air.

2. State of the Barometer.

3. Winds and Clouds.

4. Thunderstorms and Electricity.

5. Tornadoes and Whirlwinds — direction of the wind.

6. Currents— their force, width, direction— Temperature.

CORRESPONDENCE. 113

Meteorology and Luminous Matter.

1. Luminous Meteors, including those that project solid stones
and malleable iron.

2. Shooting Stars.

3. Luminous points or balls, on or about the ship, in the air,
arid on the waters.

4. Phosphorescence of the sea, whether greater or less in
high latitudes ? Let the water be filtered, and the phosphoric
animal matter be examined with and without a microscope : the
animals from which it is derived should be subjected to minutd
examination.

5. Stars, their position ; Constellations ; Comets.

6. Eclipses ; Transits, &c.

Zoology*

1. Shells, of every kind, especially with the animals within
them, preserved in spirits.

2. Whales — Seals, kind and number of each seen; the highest
southern latitude in which they exist; their number and pecu-
liarities.

3. The Nautilus Pompilius ; the common pearly Nautilus of
the South Seas and Pacific, (or any analogous animal,) are de-
serving the most strict search.

4. Gigantic Sepias or Cuttle-fish, if found, should be preserved
in spirits and brought home entire. Coral animals.

Volcanoes, Earthquakes, fyc.

1. Earthquakes and concussions of the sea.

2. Waterspouts.

3. Volcanic eruptions.

4. Volcanic ejections.

5. Marks of former Volcanic action.

15

114 CORRESPONDENCE.

6. Craters and currents, and various ejections of extinct Vol-
canoes.

7. Volcanic Islands that have risen from the sea ; how long in
rising ; with or without permanent convulsions ; period in which

they arose.

-

Geology, Mineralogy, fyc.

1 . Geological specimens and minerals of every variety.

2. Inclination of strata ; dip, direction, and thicknes.

8. Succession of strata and order of superposition.

4. Situation of fossiliferous strata in relation to the sea, lakes,
and rivers.

5. Granite veins, or veins of other rocks, with their intrusions.

6. Fossiliferous rocks ; in every case whether covered by
igneous rocks ; if not, by what rocks ?

7. Trap rocks ; position ; intrusion among other rocks ; altera-
tions produced by their contact.

8. Mountains, their height and form ; on the coast or islands ;
in groups or single.

9. Elevation of coasts, as indicated by shells adhering to rocky
shores, by waving water lines in the rocks ; amount of elevation ;
testimony of inhabitants as to the time in which it took place ; sub-
sidence of coasts, islands, structures, &c., and the proof of the fact.

10. Coral reef islands ; above or under water.

1 1 . Ice Islands, magnitude ; depth ; motion ; in groups, or
single ; temperature of air upon approaching them ; and of the
water surrounding them, whether transporting rocks or stones, and
the lowest latitude in which they are seen.

" 2. Surface rocks of every country ; that is, rocks in situ.

Magnetism, Electricity, <£c,
1 . Magnetism ; dip and variation of the needle.

CORRESPONDENCE. 115

Osteology.

1. Bones of large animals, imbedded or loose. Bones of the
ancient saurions or lizards.

2. Bones and skeletons of fossil fishes, with the including rock.

. / ' Entomology.

1. Insects.

Ornithology.
1. Birds, especially within the Southern Polar Circle.

Natural History, generally.

1. Animals and plants, preserved — drawings of.

2. The Moluscou's animals, generally.

3. Bowlder stones, in groups, trains, or separately.

4. Beach pebbles, of shores of the sea, of lakes and rivers.

5. Many specimens in all branches of natural history to be pre-
served, when necessary, in spirits, dried or otherwise.

6. Quadrupeds.

7. Seaweeds, fixed or floating.

8. Tides on coast ; their heights.

9. Topographical peculiarities, of every kind.

Every friend of knowledge looks forward to the finale of this
undertaking with the most pleasing anticipations, while every
American patriot must view it as reflecting additional lustre on
the flag of his native land.

I am, dear sir,

Yours, respectfully,

B. SILLIMAN.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New- York.

116 CORRESPONDENCE.

NEW BEDFORD, June 11, 1836.

MY DEAR SIR — I rejoice that I can at last congratulate you on
the success of your darling plan, and that now there is a hope of
a national duty being performed. To me it is surprising that, with
all our power, all our means, and all our boasted attachment to
the blood of our kindred, that the objects which this enterprise
must promote, have been so long neglected. An immense amount
of property in a distant sea, under the control of officers whom
skill and physical courage have promoted, without much regard to
education or general knowledge ; transported from place to place
upon the wide waters by the aid of men, many of whom are driven
from home by their vices, and when on shore in foreign ports,
subject to no other law than that which their own passions pre-
scribe; no arrangement with other governments to afford aid
where riot and mutiny run mad ; and sometimes, the anomaly of
our own ships of war being unable, from their peculiar circum-
stances, to give the aid which is required for the prosecution of
our enterpi ies. These, and a thousand other evils, which none
but those intimately acquainted with the state of our fisheries can
understand, demand, in the most emphatic terms, that the arm of
our government should be stretched out to the remotest island of
the sea.

Why, my dear Sir, let a stranger look on the floating interests
of New Bedford and Nantucket ; let him be made acquainted with
all the hair-breadth escapes, all the real accidents, and all the
vacillations of fortune which result from moral as well as physical
causes, and unite to make up the whole of a South Sea voyage,

CORRESPONDENCE.

and that stranger, be he learned or simple, would stand confounded
at the happy result which generally takes place. It would seem
more like the effect of ordination than calculation ; more like fate
than perseverance ; and we should be set down as madmen for
risking, under such circumstances, our means of support, our
hopes of independence, and all the benefits resulting from it,
to those who lean upon us for subsistence. And yet, with this
picture before us, we are literally building up cities out of the
product of elements that seem too unstable for self-support. But
what a moral does it teach ? That the good, rather than the evil
influences of nature and of the heart, are the presiding power of the
world ! And sometimes it looks as if that power were enough to
control all things for good. But what fools we should be to draw
no benefit from our ability to concentrate the wisdom and virtue
of states for the promotion of the happiness of all. Now, apply
this to our marine colonies. Why should we have governors,
judges, and all the paraphernalia of courts, in territories where
there is a bare possibility that an Indian may be murdered, or
become a murderer ; steal a horse, or have his horse stolen ; and
not have a superintending influence abroad, where our ships are
daily traversing from island to island, and from sea to sea, with
the celerity and precision of the invisible dwellers of the deep ;
that the savage may be awed into respect, and the mutineer's hand
be bound down in submission ? Would not this change the face
of things, and make the merchant lie down more comfortably,
when he knew there was a diminution of the chance of misfor-
tune by sea, not only by the proximity of aid, but also by the
acknowledged influence of moral power which is felt everywhere,
that a true and generous hand is extended ? I see no way that we
can look for improvement, in this high view of the subject, but by
the means which, through your exertions more than those of any
other man living, are now appropriated for it ; — and may Heavfin
prosper you and the enterprise. With our growth it must grow ;

''' ' '

118 CORRESPONDENCE.

and though the " British drum may hail the dawn, every hour of
the day," let the moral light of the American nation illumine
every sea.

You may call me a dreamer ; (but mark me, this is no dream,)
and if you do, I can bear almost anything from you. But ever
since our baby expedition of the Annawan, that lovely little sea-
bird, I have entertained great hopes from the future exertions, to
the same point, of an efficient equipment.

There is a rumor, a kind of inarticulate whisper, which some-
times intimates that you may not hold the position you deserve in
this high adventure ; but those who would wish it, and, perhaps,
wish me to give words and form to their own " misgivings," find
no response. I do not even understand them, for I cannot be-
lieve it. Ever since I heard your lecture here on the whale fish-
try, as connected with the Annawan's expedition, to say nothing
of our many long and social conferences, and found that an Ohio
boy (excuse me, for we are apt to play, if we do not feel the old
man, when we deal with our juniors,) could teach the descendants
of Nantucket something of their own craft, I have had only one
opinion, and that is, that you ought to hold a prominent place in
the enterprise. For, let there be power, skill, and science com-
bined, together with the highest moral qualities our navy affords ;
and all these things must be, still, without that enthusiastic devo-
tion and love of adventure, which would give soul to the under-
taking, it would not be so likely to succeed. Yet, if there be any
truth in these things, let me know it ; and though I will not pro-
fess much, I could send you a good voice from the east. And if
you should wish my services, you will find me in Boston again
the last of this month. I expect to leave here the next week for
Hartford, and, after passing a few days there, shall bring up at
the council chamber of old Massachusetts on the 28th of June.
Our governor makes short sessions, and I shall have plenty of
time for you. We shall probably sit till after the 4th of July, and

CORRESPONDENCE.

there is always something in Boston worth seeing and hearing OB
that day. At all events, we can " keep independence," so why
not meet me there ? But now I'll improve this hint to cut short
— I mean off — this long letter, and say the rest when we meet.
In the meantime, believe me truly

Your friend,

BENJ. RODMAN.

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,

New York.

120 CORRESPONDENCE.

NEW YORK, June 15, 1836.

DEAR SIR — The contemplated exploring expedition to the South
Seas has again attracted the attention of the Lyceum of Natural
History, and I trust I need not now assure you of the deep inter-
est we feel in its successful prosecution. Allow me to thank you
for the information you enabled me to make known to that society,
and to congratulate you that your exertions have been so far
Crowned with success. You may remember that some years ago
I had the honour of a correspondence with the Navy Department,
upon the subject of the scientific objects of the expedition, &c. ; as
I had then reason to suppose, that whatever had been matured in
relation to those matters had been committed to you, for your use
On a subsequent voyage, you will excuse me in calling your notice
to those transactions.

It may be premature to address you in this way; but your
former services, present exertions, and the better part of a life
devoted to the South Sea discoveries, have so identified you with
this expedition, that I have no hesitation in doing so. You very
well know that it is the cause of natural science that I have very
much at heart. I speak for many others, as well as myself, in
saying, that some anxiety is felt that the organization of this expe-
dition should include a sufficiently numerous and skilful scientific
corps. Geographical discoveries would redound to the fame and
honour of a navigator; but with public men and public means,
we hope for something for the honour of the nation. The present
age would not be satisfied, under these circumstances, with merely
an amended chart. Animate and inanimate creation will be pre-
sented in each degree of latitude or longitude that is traversed

CORRESPONDENCE. jgj

The means of observation and determination are within the power
of those who control ; and, should this opportunity be lost, it might
well happen that the most useful and interesting discoveries would
have been overlooked. Let me entreat you to urge, in the proper
place, that the scientific objects of the expedition be duly provided
for. Geology, zoology, botany, mineralogy, are those in which I
take the most interest ; but there are other philosophical inquiries
with equal claims to notice.

The very liberal appropriations by congress seem to have pro-
vided for a thorough fulfilment of the project. To fall short in any
particular will not be a reproach to them. The details are of
much importance, and have been so long and so well studied by
you, that it is not for me to mention them. The old difficulty of
subjecting citizens to military usages in public ships has thwarted
the success of so many enterprises, that it should be well con-
sidered. Commanders of liberal minds and enlarged views can
alone avoid them. I believe the mistake often arises in consider-
ing the same kind of discipline essential, whether in search of an
island or an enemy. v, r ^

It was my design, when I commenced, simply to congratulate
you upon the present prospects of the expedition, and to call your
attention to the history of former and similar preparations ; but I
have been led on by the interest I feel in the results of this enter-
prise. We have long watched your untiring exertions in this mat-
ter, and trust that the time has arrived when the wishes of your
friends, and I believe I may add of the public, are to be gratified
in learning that the superintendence or direction of the civil depart-
ment is to be chiefly committed to you ; at all events, be assured it
is the wish of

Your friend and obedient servant,

JOS. DELAFIELD,
J N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New York.

F 1&

122 CORRESPONDENCE.

BOSTON, June 6, 1836.

DEAR SIR — In common with your numerous friends in this
city, I congratulate you on the successful termination of your
application to congress in behalf of a South Sea expedition.

I say your application : for certainly, sir, to your unwearied
zeal, and untiring exertions, this great undertaking owes its exist-
ence ; and I learn, with much satisfaction, that it will still continue
to have the advantages of your personal presence and experience.
The scientific, as well as the commercial world, look to this under-
taking as destined to expand its stores ; and I trust that that de
partment, in which, you know, I am most interested, will receive
its full share, and that, among the savans of the expedition, a
Comparative Anatomist of eminence may be found. For him, there
will be a vast field yet unexplored ; for it is especially true, that in
Natural History we are never to rest satisiied with what has been
done, for Nature demonstrates to us that her stores are boundless.
The gentleman selected should be a practical anatomist, one quali-
fied to investigate the intimate structure of animals, and prepare
them for preservation. Especially should he be a good physiolo-
gist, for there are many mechanical anatomists, whose usefulness
extend not beyond the dexterity of the hands. In short, he should
be one capable of making researches under the influences of an
expanded philosophy, upon the phenomena of life in their totality.
For such a one, those distant seas and shores will yield a rich har-
vest; and we may now have an opportunity to repay, in some
measure, the debts so long due to the old world, by giving to it, in
our turn, some amount of our own practical knowledge. It is our

CORRESPONDENCE. 123

first opportunity for such a reciprocity : may it be well improved.
The Society of Natural History unite their best wishes for yovnr
continued success.

With great esteem,

I remain your friend,

WINSLOW LEWIS, Jiw.
J. N. REYNOLDS, ESQ.,

New York.

- *f -'''--\.

124

CORRESPONDENCE.

PHILADELPHIA, June 20, 1836.

DEAR SIR — I received the copies you sent of Mr. Hamer's in-
teresting speech, and must beg you to excuse my not acknowledg-
ing them before ; I have been prevented by engagements which so
often unexpectedly occur to interfere with our intentions. In this
community, there is but one sentiment in regard to the excellent
undertaking to which Mr. Hamer refers, and with which your own
name is so honorably connected.

It is universally approved. Men of science look forward to im-
portant results, which may place our country and our enterprising
citizens, with distinction equal to others, in the contest for useful
discoveries. Mercantile men, with one voice, say that the greatest
benefits will be afforded to commerce and navigation.

These bold and adventurous voyages are the chivalrous exploits
of our times ; they require the same courage and enterprise, disin-
terestedness and perseverance, as those of old : but how much
more virtuous and enlightened in their motives ! How much more
conducive to human prosperity and happiness in their results !

To you, who have studied the subject so fully, and devoted to it
so much thought and experience, it is scarcely necessary to say
any thing as to the contemplated arrangements ; but I do hope the
expedition will be so fitted out, as to obtain, in the fullest extent, all
those advantages in regard to science, for which there will be so
fair an opportunity.

The first American voyage of discovery ought to be, in its re-
sults, worthy of the genius and enterprise of our people. I am

CORRESPONDENCE. 125

sure the Secretary of the Navy will view it in this spirit ; but schol-
ars and scientific inquirers seem to be so much out of place in the
arrangement of naval or military expeditions, that a good word must
be said in their behalf.

The officers of Napoleon used to laugh at the savans who
accompanied the army of Egypt; but how much have their re-
searches, drawings, and writings added to the fame of that remark-
able campaign !

I have not had an opportunity of seeing Dr. Patterson, but I am
very certain, from his well known devotion to the cause of science,
that he will feel the greatest interest in this undertaking, and give
that aid and advice which his talents and acquirements so peculiarly
enable him to do.

Believe me very faithfully yours,

H. D. GILPIN.

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
Washington.

i

'

' t

126 CORRESPONDENCE.

'
WASHINGTON, July 3, 1836.

DEAR SIR — I am truly happy to hear that a voyage of discov-
ery to the Southern Pacific is at length resolved on, and that one
of your activity, perseverance, and practical good sense, is to be
connected with it. The glory which will redound to the nation
from such an expedition, well fitted out, is a pleasing reflection to
the patriot ; but the new channels that it will open to pur com-
merce, and the solid additions it will give to science, are- far more
important considerations.

I trust that no restricted or ill-timed notions of economy on the
part of the government may mar the full completion of the enter-
prise. Especially, a sufficient number of really competent men of
science should be obtained, at any price ; nor should more than one
branch be confided to any individual, if it can be avoided. The
more limited the field of each, the more complete will be his re-
searches. Thus there should be a natural historian, a botanist, an
entomologist, a geologist, a mineralogist, &c. In addition to the
physician or surgeon, unless he be skilful in that branch, there
should also be a good anatomist. Not less than three painters,
also, should be secured, viz. : in landscape painting, portraits, and
natural history. The anatomist and portrait painter together may
throw new light on the varieties of the human race. If possible,
it is important to obtain one well acquainted with languages and
philology, as they still require much elucidation in the regions you
will visit. The commercial investigations, I presume, you will
take under your own charge. I should drop many suggestions,

CORRESPONDENCE. 127

were I not convinced that you will fully consult the ample instruc-
tions heretofore given in the great European voyages of discovery.
I hope your voyage may be prosperous, and the forerunner of a
series of similar expeditions. In a time of profound peace, and
with an overflowing treasury, what policy is more worthy of a great
nation than one which advances the wealth and happiness of its
own citizens, and at the same time gives impulse to the progress
of science and civilization throughout the world ?
I remain, sir, with respect,
Your servant,

HENRY JUNIUS NOTT.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,

128 CORRESPONDENCE.

'
NEAR PROSPECT HILL, VA., May I, 1836.

DEAR SIR — You ask my opinion with regard to the number and
description of vessels most proper to ensure a successful prose-
cution of the voyage of exploration authorized by a recent act of
congress.

To answer your inquiries satisfactorily, I ought, perhaps, to ask
what are the leading objects of the expedition ? Judging from the
report of the senate's committee, where the bill originated ; from
the tenour of debate on that bill in both branches of the national
legislature ; from the discussion of the subject in the public prints
for the last ten years ; and from my own observations and reflec
tions, I conclude that the objects of the enterprise may be classed
under two general heads— scientific and military; that is, military
so far only as may be necessary for self-preservation and defence
against the barbarous, and sometimes ferocious, natives of the
countless islands which so thickly stud the most extensive, and
perhaps the most interesting field for scientific observation and
research that will be visited in the course of the voyage : I allude
to the great equatorial sea, stretching from the west coast of
America to the Asiatic shores.

Under the scientific head, we naturally place every branch of
natural history, philosophy, and the sciences generally, embracing
every denomination and classification recognised by the literati of
the present day. These various and most interesting objects ought
only to be confided to the care of ivell qualified persons, who have
made the department for which they offer themselves the peculiar
subject of long study, and with the advantage of competent masters,

CORRESPONDENCE. 129

and free access to well selected cabinets and specimens from
nature.

Without intending, in the least degree, to disparage my brother
officers' just claim to general intelligence, even beyond the neces-
sary qualifications, I must nevertheless say that I think it more than
probable that most of the departments in science could be better
filled from some of the most celebrated literary institutions of the
country than could be expected from the navy ; but as the expedi-
tion is to be a national one, native born citizens only should be
allowed to participate in it.

With this understanding of the objects of the voyage, I should
say, the very best organization of the force, so as to leave nothing
to chance, and to place it perfectly within the power of those
intrusted with its conduct to meet the high expectations of this
nation and of the scientific world at large, it ought to consist of
two schooners of about one hundred tons burthen each, two brigs
of two hundred tons, and a small frigate, or at least a large frigate-
built sloop of war.

The brigs and schooners ought to be built for the express pur-
pose ; they should be strong, but not clumsy ; on the contrary, they
ought to be fair sailers, work and stow well, with comfortable ac-
commodations for all on board. The largest ship might— ought
to be — the little new six-and-thirty gun frigate now ready for
launching from the Gosport navy yard. I believe she was built to
replace the Macedonian, but she is quite too small to bear the name
of a prize ship pronounced, when captured, to be fully equal to her
noble captor, the United States of 44 guns ; but be that as it may,
the ship I allude to, on the stocks at Gosport, is the most appropri-
ate vessel which the navy can supply as the principal ship for the
exploring service ; and, in addition to the vessels above enumerated,
it will, of course, occur to every reflecting mind, that a storeship
of three or four hundred tons burthen will be an indispensable

accompaniment.

17

130 CORRESPONDENCE.

The foregoing vessels ought to be fully and ably officered from
the navy, but there should be no supernumeraries allowed in any
of the departments ; the petty officers, seamen, and marines should
be chosen men, and ought to be engaged for that particular ser-
vice; the crews of the brigs and schooners ought to be limited in
number, sufficient only for safe and easy navigation when making
a passage, but to be increased from the frigate whenever engaged
in active operations.

The decided advantage which such an expedition would have
over any other, or all others, which have been sent out by Euro-
pean nations, is too manifest to require argument to sustain the
plan ; suffice it, then, to enumerate a few of the advantages which
would accrue from the employment of such vessels as I have above
described. First, the ample and, comfortable accommodation of all
connected with the enterprise : no vessel would at any time be
crowded, nor ivould operations be paralyzed for want of men in
any situation, whether for the arduous duties of open boats, or as
guards for protecting the exploring and surveying parties against
the natives; for, as before intimated, when a station is reached, the
frigate would occupy some safe and convenient position, and from
her own crew fully man the smaller vessels, and furnish extra
boats for surveys and exploring and scientific operations. She
would, too, be the safe depository for the valuable and costly instru-
ments to be used on the expedition, as well as the receptacle for all
specimens collected at each station by the scientific corps, the
chiefs of which would, of course, be attached to the largest ship,
and, when on the passage from station to station, they could, in
concert, revise and arrange appropriately the collections they had
made.

The presence of a frigate among the islands would certainly be
more apt to impress the natives with a just idea of our national and
naval power than any other description of ships, however much in-
creased in number, if divided into smaller vessels; and her magni-

CORRESPONDENCE. 131

tude and force would strike the islanders with such aioe, as at once
to guaranty their friendship, and perhaps effectually guard against
and prevent any of those ever-to-be-lamented conflicts which have
so often interrupted the progress of scientific research, and caused
the death of many voyagers as well as natives. The protection,
too, which such an expedition would necessarily afford to our
whalemen and traders, everywhere to be found in the South Seas,
ought not to be lost sight of; and the statesman whose enlarged
and humane conceptions shall furnish the means of procuring such
happy results, will well merit, and certainly receive, the lasting
gratitude of the philanthropic of every country and of every age to
come.

You ask, too, what time would be required for the preparation of
an expedition? L do not know what facilities are at present within
the control of the Navy Department for building small vessels:
but our means of increasing the navy must be greatly overrated or
criminally neglected, if such an expedition as I have suggested
could not be ready for sea in four months from the issuing of
orders ; at any rate, the vessels could be ready by the time some
of the instruments, which report says must be imported from
Europe, could be obtained.

I have already extended my remarks, in answering your inter-
rogatories, to what you will probably consider an inordinate length ,
which, however, I am sure you will readily excuse, when you bear
in mind my former connexion with the projected expedition of
1828, and the deep interest I have ever taken in the subject; and
that you will bear with me still a little longer, while I state a ques-
tion which has often been put to me, (though never by yourself,)
viz. : What situation, if any, will Mr. Reynolds occupy in the
expedition ? /

The answer to this interrogatory, I presume, rests with yourself;
for it cannot be denied that to you, and to your unwearied exer-
tions, is due the credit of so interesting the public upon the subject

132 CORRESPONDENCE.

as to induce congress to pass the law. Who, then, has a better
claim to participate in its toils, and to share its honours, than he
who may be justly called the originator of the voyage — who can
bring so much of valuable knowledge, derived from various sources,
some of which you alone have been permitted to drawfro?n, as you
could? J mean not to flatter when I say, not another who is a
citizen of the United States.

Then it cannot be doubted but that any commander qualified to
conduct such an enterprise as the law contemplates, as well as the
executive head under whose auspices it will be sent out, will gladly
avail themselves of your services, to aid them in organizing the
scientific department, and further identify you with the expedition,
by assigning to you some honourable station in it. ,*>^ t

Such are my views, very hastily expressed, as you know. Did
time or occasion allow, they might be greatly enlarged ; but, at
present, I have only time to repeat my ardent wishes for complete
success in all your undertakings, and to express the hope that the
just expectations of a liberal public may not be disappointed by a
defective organization, as regards ships, or by the indiscriminate
appointment of persons incongruous in their dispositions, and who
never act in perfect concert, nor harmonize in social intercourse.
I remain, dear sir,

Yours, faithfully,

THOMAS AP C. JONES.

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New-York.

CORRESPONDENCE. 133

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, )
Washington, June 10, 1836. 5

DEAR SIR — The passage of the appropriation authorizing an
expedition to the South Seas has given me unfeigned satisfaction.
It is a design honourable to the congress which proposed it, and to
the administration by which it is to be directed.

If suitably executed, it cannot fail to be useful to the domestic
interests of the country, and, at the same time, to elevate us in the
eyes of Europe. It is notorious how much England and other
countries have done towards the maritime exploration of the globe,
while we, as a nation, have been passive. Allow me to relate to
you a little anecdote in illustration of this. I enjoyed the pleasure,
whilst at Madrid, some years ago, of the personal acquaintance of
Don Martin Fernandez de Navarette, author of a valuable work on
the voyages and discoveries of his countrymen, and himself one of
the most learned and estimable of the public men of modem Spain.
At that time, he exercised supervision over an establishment in
Madrid, called the " Deposito Hidrografico," which is a govern-
ment bureau for the preparation of maps and charts, particularly
of the Spanish possessions in the two hemispheres. In exhibiting
to me this establishment, he expressed his regret and surprise that
the United States, a nation so opulent, and possessed of such ex-
tensive commerce, was so totally neglectful of its duty to science,
to itself, and to the world, in this matter.

Spain herself had realized the advantages of the survey of her
own coast by Topino, so well known to navigators of the Mediter-
ranean. She was continually collecting and multiplying charts
*•«* "..' *, * •

134 CORRESPONDENCE.

relative to her colonies in the East and West Indies, and the ad-
joining seas. She was exchanging the results of her observations
with other nations. But when she looked to the United States for
information as to our coast, she found that a public survey of it had
been begun only to be abandoned; that the books and charts in use
concerning it were the imperfect productions of private individuals;
and that, while we had done so little for the exploration of our own
waters, we had done absolutely nothing, in comparison with the
efforts which England, France, Russia, and even Spain herself,
were making, to acquire accurate knowledge of the remote Atlantic
and Pacific seas.

Don Martin presented these views to me very strongly; and I
confess, when I reflected on the relative conditions of Spain and
the United States, and saw what the one was doing and what the
other was not doing, I could not but feel the force of his re-
proaches. Since that time, the public survey of our own coast
has been commenced, and pursued with vigour ; and the expedition
now in contemplation will do still more to set us right in the esti-
mation of other cultivated nations of Christendom.

I think great credit is due to you for the successful exertions you
have made to awaken the attention of the public and of congress to
this subject ; and I hope that justice will be done to you in the
arrangements to be made for the expedition.
I am, dear sir,

Very faithfully, yours,

C. GUSHING.

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New York.

CORRESPONDENCE. 135

BOSTON, July 30, 1836.

, ,f

SIR — I have seen, with much satisfaction, that the Government
of the United States has decided to fit out an exploring expedition,
with a particular view to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, on which
you had already collected so much valuable information. The
expedition, as the newspapers inform us, is to be placed upon the
most liberal footing, in respect to all subjects of scientific inquiry ;
and I trust, with the aid of the intelligent commander and officers,
we shall have rich additions to the stock of knowledge already in
possession of the learned world.

Feeling an extreme solicitude that the expedition should, for the
honor of our country, accomplish as much as possible, and that no
disappointment should be experienced, in any department of know-
ledge, by the learned of Europe, as well as of our own country, (for
this is the common cause of all nations, and not of America alone,)
I hope it will not be deemed obtrusive if I should again ask your
attention, and, through you, that of the government, to one import-
ant subject of inquiry, about which I formerly conversed with you:
I mean the various native languages of the different tribes of peo-
ple that may be visited by the expedition. I take the liberty thus
particularly to invite attention to this department of knowledge, be-
cause it has not hitherto been so much the subject of investigation
with the intelligent and enterprising navigators and travellers of our
own country, as it has with those of some other nations; among
whom, the Germans stand pre-eminent. But yet, as a portion of
that knowledge which all are desirous to obtain respecting the

136 CORRESPONDENCE.

human race, and as a source of indispensable materials for science,
the investigation of these aboriginal languages has the strongest
claims to our attention ; and if the value attached to this, as well
as other branches of science, may be in any degree estimated by
the high rank of the men who have been engaged in its pursuit, it
is certainly the fact, that, at the present day, the general study of
languages, or comparative philology, has enlisted talents of the first
order throughout Europe. It is a remarkable fact, but not gene-
rally known, that the first great impulse to this study was given
by that extraordinary sovereign, the empress Catharine the Great,
of Russia, who, herself, took pains to make out a vocabulary of
two hundred words, to be sent to various parts of the world, in
order to obtain the corresponding words in different languages.
With this view, she made application to President Washington for
specimens of the Indian languages of North America; which were
accordingly furnished, by his direction.

From that period to the present, the science of comparative
philology has been pursued with increasing ardour and success,
particularly in the investigation of the unwritten languages of the
savage or uncultivated nations ; for it is now found, to the surprise
of the learned, who had formed their theories of speech from the
Greek, Latin, and a few other cultivated dialects, that the long
neglected languages of the uncivilized portion of the human race
present very many extraordinary phenomena (if we may so call
them) in the structure of human speech, which will compel scien-
tific inquirers to re-examine and reform the theories, that have
been formed upon too limited a view of this extensive subject.

At the present enlightened period of the world, the basis of all
scientific inquiry is the collection and arrangement of facts, or the
process of induction, as it is often called, after some philosophers
of antiquity; and, unless this method is applied to the languages,
as well as to the physical structure of the human race, the faculty
of speech, which is the peculiar and most remarkable characteristic

CORRESPONDENCE. 137

of man, will be the only part of his nature which will not have been
investigated with the same enlarged and scientific views as his
other powers, physical and intellectual.

We must, therefore, begin our researches by collecting all the
facts relating to human language ; or, in other words, by collecting
authentic specimens of words, and of the grammatical structure of
every dialect within our reach. The more complete we can make
our collection, the more correct and satisfactory will be the results
deduced from them. Our progress in philological science will
then be as successful as in other departments of knowledge. For
instance, in geology, when a few specimens of antediluvian bones,
and impressions of vegetable and other productions, were first dis-
covered, they were laid up in museums as simple curiosities, and
without the least anticipation of anything like important scientific
results; and yet, by the successive collections made of those
objects, we now find the new science of geology has arisen, which
enables us to form more just conceptions of the structure and phe-
nomena of the globe, than had ever before been imagined by the
most subtle and profound philosophers of ancient or modern times.

The same thing will take place in philological science, as soon
as we obtain an extensive collection of facts, or, in other words, of
authentic specimens of language; and, in due time, some genius
will appear, who, like Cuvier in geology, will compare and classify
all the specimens of language, and exhibit results that will be no
less interesting and astonishing than those obtained in other
sciences.

It is, I am aware, a very common question : — What will be the
utility of collecting facts in relation to language? a question which
may be shortly answered, by asking, in return, of what utility is it
to investigate any other faculty or peculiarity of the human race ?
Why have so much time and labour been bestowed for ages on
the study of the body and mind of man ? If it is of any import-
ance to study the human mind, the repository of our ideas upon all

18

138 CORRESPONDENCE.

subjects, is it not indispensable to investigate human speech, which
is the medium of communicating those ideas ? If knowledge is of
any value, is not language, which is the instrument and the pre-
server of knowledge, entitled to our profoundest study ?

But when we speak of results to be obtained by the pursuit of
any branch of science, no man can venture to predict what discov-
eries may be made in philology, any more than he could dare to do
in other departments of knowledge. Who could have foreseen,
for example, the incalculable results of Newton's studying the fall-
ing of an apple from a tree in his garden ? Who would ever have
imagined that the most astonishing and brilliant discoveries of Sir
Humphry Davy in chemical science, by the agency of galvanism,
would be deducible from observations of the convulsive motions of
a frog suspended from an iron -hook ? And, in the series of extra-
ordinary results of learned investigations, let me ask, Who would
have conjectured, in the study of languages, that any important
truths would ever be elicited by means of the hitherto mysterious
and dumb characters of the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Egypt,
which scientific investigation is now beginning to unfold '? Yet
the discovery of the principles of interpretation to be applied to
those characters demolished, at a blow, the specious infidel super-
structure, which some men of science had previously erected upon
the hieroglyphic zodiac of Denderah; the true interpretation of the
language of that monument having proved it to be comparatively
modern, instead of being of an unfathomable antiquity, as had been
supposed by those philosophers, before the characters were at all
understood.

By means of languages, too, we ascertain the affinities of
nations, however remote from each other ; a remarkable instance
of which is that singular race, the gypsies, (from their supposed
Egyptian origin) who are dispersed over Europe, and whose lan-
guage now shows them to be a people of Hindostan, and not of
Egypt. Tn the same manner, it appears that the people of Hun-

CORRESPONDENCE. 139

gary and of Lapland, notwithstanding they are geographically so
far apart, and so different in their social condition and physical
organization, are intimately allied to each other; and that the
people of Otaheite and of the Sandwich Islands, though inhabiting
islands, and at the distance of twenty-five hundred miles from each
other, are1 of one family, speaking languages that are substantially
the same.

In short, the affinities of the different people of the globe, and
their migrations in ages prior to authentic history, can be traced
only by means of language ; and among the problems which are
ultimately to be solved by these investigations, is one of the high-
est interest to Americans — that of the affinity between the original
nations of this continent and those of the old world ; in other words,
the source of the aboriginal population of America. And one of
the fruits of your present expedition may be, to furnish the mate-
rials which may enable some American to confer on our country
the honour of solving that great problem. But I need not follow
out, in detail, the utility of investigations in this branch of science.
The object of the expedition, if I understand it rightly, is not
merely to explore sources of profitable commerce, but that the
United States may also make an honourable and liberal contribu-
tion to the cause of science, which is the common cause of all
civilized nations. We have already derived no little reputation
from what we have accomplished by expeditions of this character
on the continent of America, however inconsiderable the results
may appear in the general mass of science. In the particular
subject of languages, too, our great philologist, Mr. Duponceau,
has obtained for America the honour (and, I believe, the first
instance of the kind among our countrymen) of a prize medal,
awarded by that distinguished body, the Royal Institute of Paris,
for -the best dissertation on their prize question respecting the
original languages of America, I mention this fact, principally for
the purpose of showing how much importance is attached to the

140 CORRESPONDENCE.

investigation of the languages, as well as the manners and customs,
and other characteristics of man, in every situation in which he is
found on the globe. If there is, as all admit, any utility in study-
ing man, then it is quite evident that we must study his distin-
guishing characteristic, speech; the great instrument of intercourse
and communication between the numerous members of the human
family.

In addition to these general views of the advancement of philo-
logy, I might refer you to particular subjects in which a knowledge
of languages is of incalculable value. The promoting of commer-
cial and social intercourse would be greatly facilitated by it ; but,
above all, we should be enabled to disseminate among the unen-
lightened nations of the world the benefits of science and the arts,
the blessings of a better organization of society and government, a
higher system of morals, and a purer religion, than they now
possess.

I am, sir,

Your most obedient and humble servant,

JNO. PICKERING

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.
New York.

CORRESPONDENCE.

NEW YORK, July 16, 1836.

MY DEAR SIR — Judging from the announcement in the "Globe,"
which reached me yesterday, I should conclude that the main
difficulty was now at an end; and that your appointment to the
station of corresponding secretary, in the intended South Sea expe-
dition, must be regarded as a sure proof of the high favour in which
you stand with our Executive. Nor has this favour been mis-

d

placed. If I know you well, (and our long acquaintance leads me
to think that I have some claim to that privilege,) no one could
have been selected, as the head of the scientific corps, better calcu-
lated to bring all things into full and efficient operation, and to
direct them in such a way as must lead to ultimate success. A
mere naval officer would never have answered for such a post. A
mere civilian would have been equally unfit. An individual was
required, who should be conversant with both elements, and in
whom enlarged and liberal views should be found, not the result of
information obtained from others, but the offspring of his own ma-
tured and manly intellect. I am glad to find that our Executive
had the good sense and discrimination to select such an individual,
and to scorn all the petty and disreputable influence, which sought
to confer on another what, in honest fairness, was alone due to
yourself. It would have been too bad, although, at the same time,
but too much in accordance with the ordinary routine of life, for
another to have reaped the harvest of praise, after your untiring
labours had fostered so goodly a crop. Let me congratulate you,
then, my friend, on this auspicious commencement, and, in so doing,

142 CORRESPONDENCE.

express the earnest hope, that it may be an omen of final success,
and of the honour that awaits yourself, your companions, and our
common country.

I cannot but regard it as a singular coincidence, that the gallant
frigate, which is to lead this first American voyage of discovery,
and to enter on a path from which so much glory has accrued to
our great maritime rival, should itself be a trophy wrested by our
arms from the navy of that rival, and should thus be destined to
carry to distant regions, not only our national name, but a memo-
rial of our national prowess. Amid the sober realities of life,
speculations such as these may be only calculated to excite a smile ;
but in a case like the present, into which much of romantic daring
must necessarily enter, they may be indulged in with less danger
of ridicule, and with something even of a beneficial effect. Indeed,
the whole history of our species is only one tissue of singular coin-
cidences, characterized by as singular results.

Apart from the concern which I naturally feel in whatever
regards your reputation and welfare, I find myself strongly inter-
ested, on another account, in the intended expedition. It has long
been a favourite theory of mine, that one of the early races which
peopled our continent was identical with that from which have
descended the inhabitants of the numerous islands in the South
Pacific. The fabrics accompanying the dried human bodies, or
natural mummies, (if they maybe so called,) that have been found
in the caverns of the west, strongly resemble the rude articles that
are manufactured in the Sandwich and other islands of the Pacific,
and point to a sameness of origin in the respective people who
prepared them. The most striking proofs of this, however, if the
theory be a correct one, will be found in a comparison of the lan-
guages of these islanders with one another, as well as with the
remains of aboriginal tongues on our own continent; and it is these
very proofs which the projected expedition will be able to furnish,
if they are at all to be obtained. Let me suggest, therefore, that

CORRESPONDENCE. 143

an individual well versed in comparative philology accompany you
in your movements ; one who shall prepare vocabularies of the
most important words in the languages of the different islands at
which you touch, and who shall be able to classify and arrange
them. Comparative philology is as yet in its infancy with us ; but
in Europe it has already attained to a vigorous maturity, and
accomplished the most interesting results. The great chain of the
Indo-Germanic languages was first made known by it; vast gaps
have been filled up by it in the early history of nations ; and we
may look forward with confidence to the most brilliant results,
when its energies are brought to bear upon the languages of our
own continent and the islands of the Pacific.

You and I have often indulged in speculations relative to the
antiquity of America, and have regarded our North American
Indians as comparatively late comers into the land. We have
sometimes thought that, under all its integument of fable, there
might still be lurking something of reality in Plato's narrative of
Atlantis. He obtained his information from the priests of Egypt,
and recent antiquarian researches in that interesting land have led
us strongly to believe that her educated race were not unacquainted
with our continent. How strongly do the red and beardless people,
of noble bearing and handsome costume, depicted at Luxore as
driven to their ships by Sesostris, remind the modern observer, it is
said, of the red and beardless race of American Indians represented
on the monuments of New Spain, and wearing the same palm-
formed diadem ! And then, again, how identical is the head-dress
of the Azteque priestess with the veil or calantica of the heads of
Isis and the Sphinx ! What light may not comparative philology
one day throw on this most interesting subject! It has already
shown us that the peculiar Mexican dialect resembles no recorded
language but the ancient Oscan, of Italy; and antiquarians have
informed us, that the people represented on the ruins of the stone
city of Otolum, near Palenque, on our own continent, resemble in

144 CORRESPONDENCE.

costume and receding foreheads the enslaved Oscans of the old
Etrurian monuments. They have also proved a singular agree-
ment between the cycles of the Etrurians and Mexicans, and
between many of their symbols and numerical signs. On the other
hand, the architecture of Etruria resembles that of Egypt, and the
pyramids of Egypt reappear in the teocallis of Mexico. There is
only wanting some connecting link to bind these remarkable analo-
gies into one great whole, and that link is to be supplied by com-
parative philology. How honourable will it be to our national
name, if the means by which she shall be enabled to arrive at this
result be afforded her by our own countrymen !

I have taken, my dear sir, but one view of the results that
may be expected to emanate from your intended enterprise. It is
a view that would naturally be taken by one situated as I am. The
other and more immediate advantages attendant upon your move-
ments can easily be perceived by all, and require no comment
from my pen.

That your efforts may be crowned with the richest success, is
the earnest prayer of

Your sincere friend,

CHARLES ANTHON.

J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
Washington City.

CORRESPONDENCE. 145

YALE COLLEGE, August 24, 1836.

SIB — When you submitted to my perusal the plan of the mate-
riel for the proposed scientific corps, I had time only to state my
general approbation of the scheme, and to second the suggestion of
Professor Anthon, in regard to the appointment of a philologist. I
will now state my views more at large.

After providing a practical astronomer, whose business it shall
be to notice celestial phenomena, particularly the part of the
heavens less known, because less seen; and a meteorologist, who
shall attend to the multifarious objects which belong to his depart-
ment, now fast rising into importance ; after supplying the branches
of hydrography and physical geography, which are closely con-
nected, the one with the safety of the navigator, the other with the
perfection of a science in which every schoolboy is concerned;
after making provision for the different branches of mineralogy,
geology, botany, and zoology, the claims of which are so justly
appreciated by our numerous Lyceums, and by all learned and
intelligent naturalists, we come to the natural history of man —
in my view, one of the most important objects which can be
presented to the attention of the scientific corps.

Permit me, then, to recommend, as highly important in itself,
and adapted to the wants and wishes of the learned at home and
abroad, and as an object which will redound to the glory of our
nation, the addition of two members to the proposed corps, whom,
for the sake of conciseness, we shall call the anthropologist and
the philologist.

G 19

146 CORRESPONDENCE.

To the anthropologist should belong the duties of examining,
with a philosophic eye, the different tribes of men which may be
subjected to his notice; particularly, he should examine their
features, complexion, and physical conformation; their state of
rudeness and civilization ; their habits, manners, and customs ;
their progress in the arts ; their political institutions, which, though
rude, often display great wisdom; their religious opinions and
usages — the impress, as it were, of a moral governor on their
minds ; he should form a fair estimate of their virtues and vices ;
and, in fine, he should examine their language, philosophy, tradi-
tions, and literature, which, as they draw nearer to nature, will be
studied with a deeper interest by the true philospher.

To the philologist should belong, particularly, the task of exam-
ining the various languages, with respect to their phonology, or
elementary sounds ; the forms of their roots, or radical words ; the
inflexions for expressing the different relations of words, and the
structure or syntax of the language ; of collecting extensive vocab-
ularies from natives and interpreters ; and of furnishing materials
for the comparative philologist, by instituting similar and analogous
inquiries, in respect to each of the several dialects.

It will be hardly possible for me to enumerate all the advan-
tages, or to point out the various important bearings, of this great
undertaking on the highest interests of man.

I. It will serve to fill up a department of knowledge, which will
be seen to be important as soon as named — the natural history of
man. m..to

II. It will serve to show the connexion and relation of the
different tribes of men; their common origin; and their progress,
from their original seat, to their present location : an important
chapter in the history of our race.

III. Every new dialect is a new exemplification of the powers
and capabilities of human speech. The time is not far distant
when the formation of new languages, and the modifications of old

CORRESPONDENCE. 147

ones, shall not be left, as it were, to the accidental operations of
human intellect; but shall be subjected to the government of
combined reason and concentrated wisdom.

IV. Every new language is a new development of the human
mind. The philosophy of this moving principle in man is best
studied where it is in fullest operation : to wit, in the constant flow
of human language.

V. Our statesmen will recollect, that, in the infancy of our
republic, the enlightened Catharine of Russia, a nation which had
emerged hardly a century from barbarism, sent to the immortal
Washington a request for the vocabularies of the different Indian
tribes. The results of the investigation, which she first instituted,
have given rise to a new science, that is now pervading all Europe,
and modifying the grammars and lexicons of every language.

How glorious to second these objects ; to carry our inquiries to
the very borders of the Russian dominion, and not to rest till all
the languages of the seas shall contribute their share to enlarge
human science, and accelerate the progress of man to that perfec-
tion in knowledge to which he is destined, and of which language
must ever be the only vehicle !

I waive, however, more minute specification ; hoping that, on a
subject whose relations may be less obvious to men engaged in
public life, our distinguished philologists, such as Webster and
Duponceau, Pickering and Gallatin, may be consulted, in order to
give impulse and direction to that part of the enterprise, the execu-
tion of which must necessarily devolve upon the younger and
more hardy and inexperienced.

Permit me, sir, in reference to the enterprise at large, to state,
in my view, the absolute necessity of appointing an energetic com-
mittee at home, who shall publish the official communications of
the corps, as fast as received : this only can satisfy the impatience
of the learned and scientific, on the one hand, and secure the
activity of the corps itself, on the other.

148 CORRESPONDENCE.

With many wishes for the success of the enterprise, and the
safety of all who may embark in it,
I am, respectfully,

Your humble servant,

JOSIAH W.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New York.

CORRESPONDENCE. 149

LYCEUM or NATURAL HISTORY, i
New York, 1836. *

DEAR SIR — So the expedition has been sanctioned by congress,
and the president has determined to have it fitted out on an effi-
cient scale, and with the most liberal provision for all the depart-
ments of science ? This is, indeed, good news, and we are all
delighted with it. The organization of the scientific corps is a
matter of great importance, in reference to which, I cannot refrain
from throwing out a few hints for your consideration ; although I
am not aware that I can communicate any particular information
which you have not already obtained, or may not readily obtain,
from other and higher sources. I shall, of course, confine my
remarks to pure Natural History ; and, in the few suggestions I
have to offer, I shall even restrict myself almost entirely to the
subject of the botanical department ; not only because, being most
in accordance with my immediate pursuits, I am naturally more
especially interested in that department ; but, also, because 1 fear
that its high importance and great promise of practical utility may
be, in some degree, overlooked. The natural history of the exten-
sive regions which the projected expedition is designed to explore,
is, in all its branches, almost wholly unknown ; and the small and
casual collections hitherto made in different voyages, have rather
served to excite the curiosity of the scientific world, than to pro-
duce any very important practical results. Indeed, more new and
interesting objects, both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms,
may be confidently expected from these regions, when thoroughly

150 CORRESPONDENCE.

explored, than from any other part of the whole known world,
excepting, perhaps, the Mountains of the Moon in Central Africa.

A principal reason for impressing upon the directors and con-
ductors of the expedition, the importance of a well-filled botanical
department, consists in the fact of the almost certain discovery of
new and valuable kinds of woods, new materials for cordage, (for
which we are already so greatly indebted to the islands of the
South Sea,) new dye-stuffs, drugs, and other useful vegetable
productions, which may hereafter open a wide field for commercial
enterprise, and contribute, in no small degree, to the prosperity of
the country. You will at once observe, sir, that these anticipa-
tions contemplate for the botanist of the expedition, higher and
more extensive duties than the mere collection of ornamental
plants, and the description of new species. These objects should,
indeed, receive all proper attention, whilst the more important
results, at which I have hinted, should be steadily kept in view.
It is obvious, therefore, that the person selected to take charge of
this department, should not only be a skilful botanist, but should
also be well versed in vegetable chemistry : and it is especially
desirable, that he be furnished with the requisite means of testing,
on the spot, the nature and probable value of the various vegetable
products, that may be from time to time discovered.

I think it highly important that the botanist be instructed to
collect and preserve several sets of all the objects in his province ;
in order that the government may in due time present a suite of
specimens to several of the learned societies, and even, perhaps,
to the most eminent scientific individuals, both in this country and
in Europe. In this way, the risk of losing, at any future period,
the whole collection by fire or other accident, will be completely
obviated; and the means of comparison and confirmation being
thus liberally afforded to the whole learned world, the results may
be expected to contribute, in the very highest degree, to the ad-
vancement of science. The example of the East India Company,

CORRESPONDENCE. 151

in the universal distribution of the magnificent collections of Dr
Wallich, is, in this respect, worthy of all imitation.

By a comparatively slight increase of labour on the part of the
scientific corps, a sufficient collection may be made for the pur-
poses I have indicated ; since the botanist, when fully prepared
with the requisite means, can prepare thirty or forty specimens
almost as readily as a smaller number. In some branches of
zoology, I am well aware that collections cannot be made upon
so extensive a scale, except by a very disproportionate increase of
expense and labour. The number of sets to be collected will, of
course, wholly depend upon the circumstances under which the
scientific corps are to be placed ; but the botanist should be in-
structed to secure, if possible, at least twenty-five or thirty speci-
mens of all the plants, fruits, &c., which fall under his notice.

I omit all particular remark concerning the zoological and min-
eralogical departments in the proposed expedition : not, as you
will readily believe, that I by any means underrate their import-
ance ; but because I conceive that you are already in correspond-
ence with those who are making these sciences a separate pursuit.
To do justice to the single department of zoology, will require the
joint labour of several persons : all subordinate, of course, to a
common head, who will assume the direction of the whole. A
botanist, with two competent assistants, will, I think, suffice for
that department. Two assistants are, in my opinion, indispensable *
since the aid of one will be constantly needed by the principal
botanist ; while the other would often be required to accompany
the smaller vessels, when engaged in a distant survey.

Allow me, in conclusion, to express a hope, since our govern-
ment is about to lend its aid to the promotion of maritime disco-
very, in which the chief nations of Europe are already so highly
distinguished,— -a hope entertained, I trust, by all who feel a lively
interest in our national honour, — that the whole expedition will be
placed upon a scale of enlightened liberality, with a view to the

152 CORRESPONDENCE.

accomplishment of great results ; and that those who conduct its
various operations should be fully aware that its final and com-
plete success wholly depends, under Providence, upon their dili-
gent, harmonious, and wisely-directed efforts.
With sincere respect,

I remain, truly, yours,

A. GRAY.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.

CORRESPONDENCE. 153

PHILADELPHIA, August 15, 1836.

DEAR SIR — On first heating that the government were about
sending an exploring expedition to the South Seas, I paid little
regard to the circumstance, presuming that the interests of naviga-
tion would alone be consulted, or that, if other matters of science
were connected, they would be regarded as of very secondary
importance; — judge, then, of my surprise, on learning that it
Would be rendered not inferior to any previous, in contributing to
all branches of knowledge ; and more, that it was to be no imita-
tion, either in its route or organization.

As zoology has always formed a very prominent feature in such
undertakings, you will excuse me for troubling you with a few
remarks. The first object that should claim the attention of the
zoologist is, of course, man. It is of the very first importance to
record, as soon as possible, all that can be ascertained of the pre-
sent inhabitants of the small islands of the Pacific. From the
vast influx of foreign vessels of late years, the original character
of the population will, in all probability, soon be lost, and it4
history must be looked for hereafter, in these very exploring expe-
ditions. Now the tact of the experienced naturalist might detect
points in the physical aspect of the natives, that would have es-
caped the 'notice of the Philologist, the Ethnographer, or even of
the Anatomist.

A knowledge of the species of animals and plants is one great
object that naturalists are aiming at. What results will arise from
the attainment, it is impossible to foresee ; as, indeed, from any

20

154 CORRESPONDENCE.

real addition to knowledge. Its present state has led to the dis
covery, that the globe was once occupied by other inhabitants than
the present. Whence the species of our time have come, it is not
for us to say. We find them allotted in different sets to different
portions of the earth, each individual species spreading as far as
its own organic structure permits.

But maritime intercourse is changing the face of things. The
different races of mankind are brought into unexpected contact
and are supplanting each other on every hand. Plants in vast
variety, as well as animals, are transferred from their native clime
to seize upon a foreign soil.

The productions of small islands, though not numerous, are ex
tremely interesting ; more especially, when widely separated from
a continent. Such often contain peculiar animals and plants ,
animals, too, of very considerable size. The huge, helpless tor-
toise of the Galapagos,, could not have kept up its race on a con-
tinent, or on an island inhabited by man, were it at all noxious, or
even useless. It is now nearly certain, that during the short period
Europeans have been acquainted with the great ocean, a clumsy
animal of the ostrich kind has entirely disappeared. Whether it
is, that in a wide extended field the number of species has been
reduced by the same process of mutual extermination, this is most
certain, that the variety is by no means in proportion to the surface.

With regard to the organization of the zoological department, I
would remark, that as the range is sa ample, several observers will
be required ; and much might be gained by a distribution of the
branches. No one individual can do justice to all parts of zoology
— life is too short, even in the absence of other considerations.
The department would be lame, indeed, without some one versed
in the internal structure of animated beings. One or more good
natural-history draughtsmen are indispensable, and the requisite
qualifications are very rarely to be met with. The mechanical
part of collecting and preserving should be well provided for : all

CORRESPONDENCE. 155

that can be done at home should be reserved for the return of the
expedition, for the zoologists will find ample occupation in living
nature.

But perhaps I am too sanguine. I am well aware that the
subject is not in high favour with the community generally. If,
however, "the proper study of mankind is man," then natural
history is the looking-glass. Man is born of infinite capacity, but
falls into the snare of pride, and pays the penalty with misery.

Your obedient servant,

CHARLES PICKERING.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New York.

156 CORRESPONDENCE.

PHILADELPHIA, September 5, 1836

DEAR SIR — I have read with great pleasure the letters address-
ed to you by a number of our most distinguished scientific and
literary characters, on the subject of the intended expedition to the
South Seas, which you have had the goodness to communicate to
me, and which you intend for publication. It is very patriotic in
you, while our government is desirous of obtaining all the informa-
tion, and collecting all the lights that they can upon this interest-
ing subject, thus to aid in promoting their views, and, what is not
less important, to make the people at large fully sensible of the
high importance of this measure to the honour, as well as to the
advantage, of the United States. Those letters are well calculated
to produce that effect, and therefore I cannot but highly approve
of their publication.

The Secretary of the Navy has applied to the American Philo-
sophical Society for information and advice on various points con-
nected with the intended expedition. The same thing has been
done by former administrations on similar occasions, and it is the
constant practice of the governments of Europe to avail themselves
of the concentrated knowledge of their learned societies. I shall
not fail to lay your correspondence before the committee, which
our society will appoint to take this matter into consideration, aiid
I have no doubt that they will derive much benefit from it, and
will be the better able to perform the honourable duty imposed
upon them.

CORRESPONDENCE. 157

Under these circumstances, it would be improper in me, as an
officer of that society, to enter here into the discussion of matters
of detail, on this important subject. It would be disrespectful to
my colleagues, whose views may differ from mine, and by which
mine may be corrected, and to our government, to whom our opin-
ions are due in the first instance. But I am free to say, that I
fully concur with your learned correspondents, in considering the
intended expedition as a source of high honour, as well as of ad-
vantage to the United States and to the world at large. Its most
immediate objects are the safety of our navigation, the increase of
the skill of our hardy seamen, and the facility of our commerce,
by which its prosperity will be promoted. Such, if favoured by
Providence, will, I hope, be its results. Our national honour is
also to be considered. England, France, and Russia, must no
longer claim the pre-eminence over us as maritime explorers of
the surface of our globe. We must have our Ansons, our Cooks,
our La Perouses, our Rosses, our Parrys, and our Kruzensterns.
Our charts and our maps must be the guides of navigators through
the world. The expense that will be incurred in this expedition,
however great it may appear to those who do not take a correct
and an enlarged view of its objects, will be but trifling, when com-
pared with the immense benefits that will flow from it.
I am, respectfully, dear sir,

Your most obedient servant,

PETER S. DUPONCEAU.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.,
New York.

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DOCUMENTS.

LETTER FROM J. N. REYNOLDS

,^;-- iK^-iJt .->1^H!

TO THE SPEAKER OF THE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

UPON THE SUBJECT OF AN EXPEDITION :

ACCOMPANIED WITH PETITIONS PROM INHABITANTS OF SEVERAL STATES, PRAYINO
THE AID OF GOVERNMENT IN CARRYING THE SAME INTO EFFECT.

JANUARY 22, 1838. *A^
Read and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

SIR : I have the honour of transmitting to you several memorials,
signed by citizens of the United States, recommending to the
favourable consideration of Congress the importance of affording
some efficient aid in fitting out a small expedition to explore the
immense and unknown regions in the southern hemisphere.
They believe that an expedition could scarcely fail in making
discoveries of some interest, by finding new islands, or increasing
our knowledge of those already laid on the maps ; that commerce
might be benefited by surveying the coast frequented by our
hardy fishermen, and upon which they frequently suffer ship-
wreck, with many privations, and loss of property.

It is believed new channels might be opened for commercial
pursuits in animal-fur — a trade out of which an immense revenue
accrues to the government, and which greatly augments our

21

162 LETTER.

national strength, by increasing the number of our most efficient
seamen.

Among these memorials, you will find one from Albany, dated
October 19th, 1827, and signed by his excellency Nathaniel
Pitcher, lieutenant-governor of the state of New York, the hon-
ourable Erastus Root, speaker of the house of representatives,
and by nearly all the members of the legislature.

I have also the honour of transmitting to you three other memo •
rials: — the first is dated Charleston, South Carolina, May 31st,
1827, and signed by the mayor of the city, President of the
Chamber of Commerce, and by a very long list of respectable
citizens. The second is dated Raleigh, North Carolina, Decem-
ber 24th, 1827, and contains the signatures, of his excellency
James Iredell, governor of the state; the honourable B. Yancy,
speaker of the senate; the honourable James Little, speaker of
the house of commons ; and by a large proportion of the members
of each branch of the legislature. The third memorial is dated
Richmond, Virginia, January 1st, 1828, and is sustained by a
number of respectable citizens : by the honourable Linn Banks,
speaker of the house of delegates, and by a large and very
respectable number of the members of the legislature^

With the above papers, I send you for reference, in like man-
ner, the following preamble and resolution, adopted by the house
of delegates of the sj;ate of Maryland, which I have had in my
possession, but which has never been officially introduced into
this house ; —

" Whereas foreign nations have long turned their attention
towards the acquirement of a more perfect knowledge of the
geography of the earth, by means of voyages of discovery, and
by these exertions have not only acquired reputation, but extended
the weight of their influence, opened new channels for commer-
cial enterprise, £nd benefited the human race* by enlarging and

LETTER. 163

improving the boundaries of knowledge : And whereas the gov-
ernment of the United States has attained a high standing among
the nations of the earth, the practical result of the most stupen-
dous, as well as successful, experiment ever made in politics ; a
population fast increasing ; commercial relations and interest co-
extensive with the civilized world ; nautical skill, perseverance,
and enterprise, if not unequalled, at least unsurpassed : And
whereas the sending out of one or two vessels on a voyage of
discovery would not be attended with any very heavy demands
on the public treasury, and would seem to be in strict accordance
with the character and liberal policy which ought to be pursued
by a government whose political existence is, in a great measure,
dependant on the general intelligence of her people : And whereas
a great number of the most enlightened citizens, of different sec-
tions of our country, have memorialized the senate and house of
representatives of the United States, in congress assembled, and
have set forth in their memorials that, under the patronage of the
United States, an expedition should be fitted out without delay,
and proceed to acquire a more correct knowledge of our own con-
tinent ; or, if possible, to enter the more interesting and extensive
field for enterprise in the southern hemisphere ; and, provided for
the purpose with hardy seamen and scientific persons, to bring
home to us the result of their labours, for the honour of our coun-
try and the benefit of mankind : And whereas voyages of this
kind, even when they fail of making important discoveries,
bespeak a liberal policy, and give character to the people who
undertake them : Therefore,

"Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland,
That we do highly approve of the views of the said memorialists,
believing that a polar expedition, if properly conducted, could
scarcely fail in adding something to the general stock of national
wealth and knowledge, and to the honour and glory of the United
States."

164 LETTER.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to remark, that this expression of
public sentiment, though extensive, and deserving the most
respectful consideration, is small, when compared with other and
similar memorials, presented during the last session, and referred
to the secretary of the navy; to all of which the committee, of
course, can have easy access.

While, sir, I accept, with much pleasure, your proffered kind-
ness, in giving to these memorials their proper direction in the
house of representatives, I beg you to accept the assurance of
the high consideration with which I am, sir.

Your obedient servant,

J. N. REYNOLDS.
Hon. ANDREW STEVENSON,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

MEMORIAL

OP THK

CITIZENS OF NANTUCKET,

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRE-
SENTATIVES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.

The memorial of the subscribers, citizens of the town of Nantuc&ef,
respectfully represents :—

THAT the intercourse maintained between different parts of tffe
nation, and the islands and countries of the Pacific ocean, has
become a matter of public interest, and deserving the protecting
care of the national legislature. The fur business, and the trade
carried on between the Pacific islands and coasts of China, as is
known to your honourable body, have afforded rich returns, and
increased the wealth of our common country. Besides this
employment of national industry and enterprise, they would
represent that there are engaged in the whale fishery, from
various parts of the country, upwards of forty thousand* tons of
shipping, requiring a capital of three millions of dollars, and the
services of more than three thousand seamen. Whether viewed
as a nursery of bold and hardy seamen, or as an employment of
capital in one of the most productive modes, or as furnishing an
article of indispensable necessity to human comfort, it seems to
your petitioners to be an object especially deserving the public
care. The increased extent of the voyages now pursued by the

* Greatly under the true estimate, even at that period.

1 66 MEMORIAL.

trading and whaling ships into seas but little explored, and in
parts of the world before unknown, has increased the cares, the
dangers, and the losses of our merchants and mariners. Within
a few years, their cruises have extended from the coasts of Peru
and Chili to the Northwest coast, New Zealand, and the isles of
Japan. This increase of risk has been attended by an increase
of loss. Several vessels have been wrecked on islands and reefs
not laid down on any chart : and the matter acquires a painful
interest from the fact, that many ships have gone into those seas,
and no soul has survived to tell their fate. Your petitioners
consider it a matter of earnest importance that those seas should
be explored; that they should be surveyed in an accurate and
authentic manner, and the position of new islands, and reefs, and
shoals, definitely ascertained. The advancement of science, and
not their private interest only, but the general interests of the
nation, seem, to them, imperiously to demand it. They,
therefore, pray that an expedition may be fitted out, under the
sanction of the government, to explore and survey the islands and
coasts of the Pacific seas, and, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
November, 1828.

I

MEMORIAL

EAST INDIA MARINE SOCIETY,

OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS,

PRAYING THAT AN EXPEDITION BE FITTED OUT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE A VOYAGK
OP DISCOVERY AND SURVEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS.

DECEMBER 16, 1834.
Referred to the Committee on Commerce, and ordered to be printed.

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.

The memorial of the subscribers, citizens of the United States,
respectfully represents : —

THAT the vivifying influence of unshackled and unobstructed
commerce is, to our highly-favoured nation, what the healthful
pulsation of the heart is to the h\iman frame : it not only gives
life and enjoyment to the immediate vicinity of its vibrations, but
communicates the same, by a thousand mysterious channels, to
the remotest extremity of the body politic : it is the fountain from
which unfailing streams of revenue, our financial reservoir, is
supplied with the means of national existence. To remove every
obstacle which may impede or retard the healthful operation of
this vital organ, is evidently the interest, and consequently the
duty of the supreme legislature of the country.

Under such impressions, it is with no small degree of interest
your memorialists perused an honourable expression of the legis-

168 MEMORIAL.

lature of Rhode Island, during its recent session, of which the
following is a copy : —

" State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in General
Assembly, October Session, A. D. 1834.

"Resolved, That, in the opinion of this general assembly, the
subject of the memorial of J. N. Reynolds and others, dated
November, 1834, praying that provision may be made by law for
a voyage of discovery and survey to the South seas, is highly
important to our shipping and commercial interests, and is hereby
recommended by the said assembly to the favourable considera-
tion of the Congress of the United States."

In favour of this memorial, that an expedition be fitted out
under the sanction of government, the object of which shall be
to examine the numerous places of traffic already opened by the
enterprise of our citizens, and to open new channels for the exten-
sion of trade, by the examination of such groups of islands, in the
great North and South Pacific ocean, as are imperfectly or en-
tirely unknown ; to ascertain their true positions on the charts,
examine their harbours and capacities, open friendly intercourse
with the natives, which may be the means of preventing the effu-
sion of blood ; in a word, there are so many ways in which such
an expedition might be useful, if well conducted, to our extended
and unprotected interest in those distant seas, that a minute speci-
fication of them seems unnecessary, as they must be obvious to
every enlightened mind.

On this subject, many of your memorialists speak with a prac-
tical knowledge ; for among them are those who were the first to
display our national colours in our commerce to the eastern world ;
among them are those who have been engaged in trade on coasts
and among islands but little known ; and they have felt, in losses
and in painful solicitude, the want of the protection of their gov

MEMORIAL. ](59

eminent, as well to point out the position of a dangerous reef, as
to defend them against the natives, who had seen nothing of our
power to restrain them from unlawful attacks upon their vessels
or their lives ; among them are those who have visited the islands
in the Pacific, as well as those in the east, and have seen and
felt the dangers our vessels are exposed to for the want of such
protection as an expedition, fitted out for the express purpose,
alone can give.

Your memorialists refrain from going into any computation of
the immense amount of tonnage and capital engaged, from the
United States, in the whale-fishery, all of which is more or less
interested in such an expedition. Without attempting to desig-
nate the groups or islands most important to be examined, your
memorialists would simply call the attention of your honourable
body to one point, which may serve as an index to the rest : —
the Feejee or Beetee islands. What is known of them ? They
were named, but not visited, by Captain Cook, and consist of
sixty or more in number. Where shall we find charts of this
group, pointing out its harbours and dangers? There are none
to be found, for none exist. And yet, have we no trade there ?
We speak not for others, but for ourselves.

From this port, the following vessels have been, or now are,
employed in procuring biche-le-mer and shells at the Feejee
islands, in exchange for which eastern cargoes are brought into
our country, and thus contributing no inconsiderable amount to
our national revenue :—

Ship Clay, brig Quill, have returned ; brig Faun, lost at the
islands ; ship Glide, Niagara, also lost ; and bark Peru greatly
damaged, and in consequence condemned at Manilla ; brig Spy
damaged, but repaired again ; brig Charles Doggett, bark Pallas,
brig Edwin, ship Eliza, ship Emerald, ship Augustus, and brig
Consul.

The Charles Doggett has recently returned, in consequence of
H 22

170 MEMORIAL.

having a portion of her crew massacred by the natives. The
ship Oeno, of Nantucket, was lost on one of these islands, and
her officers and crew, consisting of twenty-four in number, were
all massacred, in like manner, except one.

Thus, it must appear to your honourable body, that the losses
sustained at this single point — to say nothing of the value of
human life, which is above all value — would not fall far short, if
any, of the amount necessary to fit out an expedition for the better
examination of such points in the Pacific ocean and South seas,
as require the attention of government.

Wherefore, your memorialists beg leave to unite their prayer
with that of the state of Rhode Island, praying that provision
may be made by law for a voyage of discovery and survey
to the South seas ; and your memorialists, as in duty bound,
will ever pray.

WM. FETTYPLACE,

President of Salem East India Marine Society.
HALL OF THE EAST INDIA MARINE SOCIETY, Nov. 22, 1834.

[Signed by 54 Members of the East India Marine Society.]

RESOLUTION

OF THE STATE OF

NEW JERSEY.

Resolved by the House of Assembly, That we approve of the
fitting out of an expedition to the South seas, by the national
government, on a voyage of discovery and survey, believing that
such expedition, if properly conducted, could scarcely fail in
adding something to the general stock of national wealth and

knowledge, and to the honour of our common country.

i.

, HOUSE OP ASSEMBLY, MARCH 2, 1836.

I do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted
by the house of assembly of New Jersey this day.

JOS. C. POTTS,

Clerk pro tempore of the House of Assembly of New Jersey.

PRO CEEDINGS

IN RELATION TO

AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION,

BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

IN THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OP THE UNITED STATES, 1828.

Letter from the Chairman, by order of the Committee.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committee on Naval Affairs.

SIR : If it will not be inconvenient for you to furnish, it will be
acceptable to the committee on naval affairs to receive, a brief
statement, in writing, of the views you submitted to them, and
any others you may deem proper, respecting the advantages to
commerce of the exploring expedition to the South, for which you
are a petitioner.

Such a statement, it is supposed, would contain your reasons for
general results, and a reference to authorities for specific facts, as

Pwell as a tabular statement of the results and facts, so far as they
may be susceptible of being stated in such a form.
With esteem and respect,

Your humble servant,

MICHAEL HOFFMAN.
J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq.

Answer to the foregoing.
Hon. MICHAEL HOFFMAN,

Chairman Committee on Naval Affairs.

SIR : — In compliance with your request, in writing, I send you
a brief statement of my views of the extent, character, and advan-
tages of the commerce of this country in the Pacific ocean, with

174 REPORT.

a few calculations, made from the best information I could obtain.
As the files of the custom-house do not directly assist us in this
investigation, it is but proper that I should state to you, distinctly,
the sources from whence my information has been derived ; and,
at the same time, my avowal of the full belief, that all my state-
ments and calculations fall far short of the amount that the most
accurate accounts, with the mention of every item, would swell
to, could they be given. I have put my facts into as tabular a
form as the nature of the case will admit, and will exhibit my
results as succinctly as possible.

The information I have the honour to exhibit was obtained from
the following sources : —

First, From frequent conversations with intelligent men, long
acquainted with that trade ; several of whom had made frequent
voyages in those seas. ^ j

Secondly, From the perusal of log-books and journals kept by
well-informed men, while engaged in the various commerce of the
Pacific, covering a space of more than seven years previous to the
war, and more than five years since.

Thirdly, From facts that have transpired in several lawsuits
between the owners of vessels employed in the Northwest-coast
trade and their captains, agents, and factors.

Fourthly, From such official documents, in the Navy Depart-
ment, as are open to inspection on the records, being letters,
reports, &c,, from the several naval commanders who have been
sent to protect our commerce in that quarter. ...-,<

The objects of my inquiries have been : Firstly, the nature
and extent of the whale-fishery, and of its importance to the
welfare of our country.

Secondly, The extent and character of the sea-otter-skin trade.

Thirdly, The fur-seal-skin trade.

Fourthly, The sandal-wood trade,

Fifthly, The ivory sea-elephant-tooth trade.

R E J> O R T. 175

Sixthly, The land-animal fur-trade.
Seventhly, The feather-trade.

To these inquiries I have added a few remarks upon the
articles of export for this branch of commerce, and the general
benefits resulting from it, independent of the wealth it brings into
the country.

A full account of the whale-fishery, from its earliest history, is
to be found in the Massachusetts Historical Collection, brought
down to the commencement of the revolutionary war. At this
time, the whale-fishery was confined to Nantucket, almost entirely.
The last year, previous to the interruption of the business by the
British cruisers, the returns and results of these voyages for the
season, were thirty thousand barrels of oil, and one hundred and
sixty tons of spermaceti candles. After the close of the conflict,
whales becoming scarce on the coast of Brazil, to which place
they had, for some years previously been pursued, the enterprising
people of Nantucket ventured into the Pacific ocean, where they
understood, from the accounts of Vancouver and Cook, that the
whales were to be found in great abundance. This was soon
after the year 1790. These adventurous voyages were attended
with success, and have been increasing ever since, until it may
be stated to have reached the following extent, viz. : to vessels of
considerable size, sufficiently large, on an average, to carry two
thousand barrels of oil : in Nantucket seventy ; in New Bedford
sixty ; in New York, Boston, Stonington, New London, &c., at
least twenty more ; making in the whole one hundred and fifty.

Nantucket - 70

New Bedford 60

Other places - 20

150'

* This estimate was by far too small.

176 REPORT.

Suppose we say eighteen hundred barrels of oil each, with the
proportion of candle matter, and allow two years to every voyage,
this would furnish a result of one hundred and thirty-five thousand
barrels a year, or four millions fifty thousand gallons ; and the
spermaceti candles would amount to eight hundred thirty-seven
tons, or one million six hundred and seventy-four thousand
pounds a year.

The crews of these vessels amount to about twenty-five each,
men and boys ; therefore keeping in employ three thousand seven
hundred and fifty seamen ; and thereby keeping up also a school
for nautical instruction, superior to any other to be found. This
is a business in which there has, as yet, been no great uncertainty
or fluctuation. Almost all who have engaged in it have grown
rich ; as the market is great for home consumption, and never
glutted abroad.

As the whale-fishery decreases in the sea now frequented for
this purpose, other places must be found to pursue it in to advan-
tage ; and as the demand for less pure oil for the manufacture of
gas light, increases, the islands and shoals should be explored for
the porpoise and sea-elephant, who make their haunt in such
places; and there can be no doubt that a sufficient number can be
found, by proper search, to answer these demands as they arise.
Other fisheries in high latitudes may be enlarged, and also found
profitable, the salmon and cod fisheries particularly ; as there
would be a great demand for them in the South American
provinces — a people who would not think of supplying themselves
for the present. It may be said of fish, perhaps, what cannot be
said of any other, or most articles of consumption, that the mar-
kets increase with the quantity brought to supply them.

This is illustrated by the mackerel-fishery, which is principally
confined to Massachusetts and Maine. About fifteen years ago,
these states, then one state, began to think this branch of business
might be made of some importance, and inspectors of this article

REPORT. 177

were accordingly appointed. It was then stated, to the astonish-
ment of most members of the legislature of Massachusetts, that
there were twenty thousand barrels of these fish pickled this
season. In a few years, the returns proved that there were thirty
thousand barrels put up for market. This fishery has been
gradually increasing, until, by the inspector-general's returns, it
appears that one hundred and ninety-seven thousand six hundred
barrels were inspected last year ; and the price has not diminished ;
but the demand for this food increased, and is enlarging. De-
ducting all expenses for the sales of this article, more than half a
million of dollars is made annually, yea, fished up from the bottom
of the ocean, by the industry and enterprise of our people, and
that, too, in a healthy employment.

Suppose, then, we could open a market for these fish in South
America: the quantity, however large, would be all wanted, as
the great mass of the inhabitants would soon wish to change the
vegetable diet of their fast-days, for the more satisfactory and
nutritious food they would find in the fish-market. This is
proven from the fact, that Spain and Italy, with the West India
islands, have been the great consumers of our fish from the Grand
Banks and the Labradores, and have, in most instances, paid us
for them in specie. In 1744, thirty-two thousand quintals of cod-
fish were sent from New England to Europe — this was of a
superior quality — and three thousand and twenty hogsheads of
tol qual. to the West Indies.

That the traffic in sea-otter-skins has been very profitable, Is
conceded on all hands ; but from the secrecy of the first naviga-
tors into that ocean, the precise extent of it cannot be ascertained.
These valuable skins were at first bought up from the natives on
the Northwest, for a mere trifle, in red cloth, glass beads, a piece
of cutlery, &c., but not so of late — these skins being from forty
to seventy dollars, and more, in China. The most experienced
men in this trade put the amount of it since it was first begun,

23

•• I - >

'"J :ijfe?'.'

178 REPORT.

from fifteen to twenty-five millions of dollars, and no one lower
than ten millions. These animals have only, as yet, been found
in certain latitudes, from 44° to 60° north; and between east
longitude from London, 136° to 150°; inhabiting in great abun-
dance, Beering's islands, Kamtschatka, the Aleuthian and Fox
islands ; they land also on the Kurile islands.

Now, naturalists can find no reason why they should not exist
on lands that may yet be found in the Southern hemisphere.
This is a subject to be settled, and that nation which may have
the honour of the discovery, will undoubtedly have, as they well
deserve, the profits.

The sandal-wood trade is not so difficult, perhaps, to estimate :
for there has not been quite so much secrecy about it. For many
years, this wood had been found in the islands of those seas ;
but it was not known to have been a growth of the Sandwich
islands, until it was discovered by Captains Davis and Winship,
of Boston, about twenty-four years since. The quantity cut on
this group of islands, is about three hundred thousand dollars
worth a year ; and what is found and cut on other islands, will
make the trade in this article, at this time, amount to near half a
million a year. If this wood should become scarce, it will be
necessary to find new groves of it on other islands, or we must
teach the natives how to grow it ; and it is the opinion of many
judicious navigators, that this may as well be effected, as to
cultivate the oak or ash, or any other tree of our own forests.*

The fur-seal-skin trade has been very extensive and profitable
in the Pacific. It is the general opinion of those conversant with
the trade, that more than seven millions of fur-seal-skins have
been taken by our enterprising seamen, since we commenced
business in the Pacific. These skins have generally been sold in
Canton for from two to three dollars, and sometimes more, on an

* Query, — Could not this wood be grown in some parts of Florida, and on the
coast of Liberia!

REPORT. 179

average, for each skin : some have been brought to this country*
and sold for domestic uses. The Stonington Telegraph mentions
the extent of the seal-trade in that small place, which shows the
enterprise of that industrious people in a very strong light. From
November, 1819, to August, 1827, there were seventeen vessels
which belonged to this port, and which brought, as an item of
their cargo, skins, which were sold at auction, to the amount of
three hundred and ten thousand seven hundred and forty-seven
dollars and eight cents ; and these skins were mostly taken in
a high latitude. Let it also be remembered, that this is a
mere item, made tangible from having been sold at auction ; and
that this amount of skins,.exchanged in Canton for teas, would
bring into the public treasury an amount, on the first return,
greatly surpassing what would be necessary to send out an
efficient exploring expedition.

The demand for this fur is increasing in this country, as the
seals are diminishing in the Pacific. New islands must be found,
where they have not as yet been disturbed, to furnish a supply
for the market. The hunting of the whale and seal, heretofore
carried on with so much vigour, has produced the natural and
necessary consequence of rendering those animals more timid,
and fewer in number, by their destruction, without reference to
season. These animals as naturally and instinctively leave the
haunts of the whalers and sealers, and retire to the more remote
regions, as the wild-game of the west recede before the advances
of the sturdy backwoodsman. They can be followed, and found
in greater abundance, and taken with less uncertainty and risk.
The results of late voyages prove that they can be procured with
great facility in the remote polar regions. Captain Parry, with
great profit to the British nation, opened a new channel for their
trade, by transferring their fisheries from East to West Greenland.
He says the number of whales in those high latitudes was aston-
ishing ; that not less than fifty were seen in a single watch.

180 REPORT.

Captain Franklin, standing on the shore of the Arctic ocean,
describes the seal as sporting in shoals like porpoises. The dis-
covery of islands of great size to the south is not too much to
be hoped for, if we may be allowed to draw any inference from
the obvious indications afforded by analogy, the observations of
experienced navigators, or the natural indications afforded by ice,
currents, &c., already known to exist in those regions. Such
discoveries are coupled with the certainty, that the profit to be
derived from them, in a commercial point of view, may be applied
to the great advantage of our common country.

The land-animal fur- trade has not as yet been much encour-
aged, but several persons are now turning their attention to it.
The Hudson Bay Company, which has been chartered for one
hundred and fifty-nine years, have made the most grasping, exten-
sive, and successful monopoly of this trade that is known in the
annals of commerce; but a few spirited capitalists, with strong
and well-situated factories on the Northwest coast, would soon
take no small proportion of this immense trade. In Robson's
account of Hudson's bay to the first lord commissioner of En-
gland, he says : — " There are furs, my lord, on this large tract of
land, sufficient to supply all Europe, which yet are locked up by
a few men."

The ivory-trade is becoming important, and will be much more
extensive than it now is, when the sea-elephant is hunted for oil,
as it will be when the whale becomes less numerous, and more
oil is wanted for gas-works, as the great cities get more and more
in the habit of using it. The porpoise-oil and seal-oil will be
worth making for this purpose. The porpoise-fishery was for-
merly not heard of; once in a while, a porpoise was taken by
accident ; but now the Indians and others pursue it to a consider-
able extent, on our own northeast ernmost coast.

The feather-trade has not as yet been followed in those seas, as
it might have been ; but, from the immense quantity of sea-fowl

REPORT. 181

in those regions, it is certain that the best of feathers might be
obtained, and in the greatest abundance. Some of the beds
brought from the Northwest coast are nearly equal in quality to
the eider-down beds of Russia. The demand for feathers is
great, and constantly increasing in this country. The finest quills
might be obtained in pursuing this trade, and the demand for them
is now great, and constantly increasing. The manner of preparing
them, as the Dutch prepare them, might easily be taught to those
engaged in the business ; and instead of paying near half a million
of dollars a year to Holland and Russia, and other countries, for
quills, we could by this trade, supply our own market and others.

The articles which we export for this trade are now all within
ourselves. Rice, tobacco, rum, whiskey, blankets, coarse wool-
lens, cottons, calicoes, the ordinary kinds of cutlery, and trivial
jewellery, and agricultural utensils, and some articles of household
furniture, will soon find a market in the Sandwich islands.

It should be taken into consideration that these voyages are in
the character of double voyages. The Northwest-coast cargoes
are now, in small vessels, sent to China, and their proceeds
furnish cargoes for large vessels sent direct from this country to
Canton : and, by these means, we save the precious metals at
home, which the direct China trade has so long drained us of.

To show the profitableness of this trade, we have only to look
to those who have been engaged in it, and we shall find that most
of them who began it early, have made large fortunes, and but
very few of them have been unsuccessful. The cry is, that the
trade, or business, is overdone. This is natural : those who have
enjoyed the profits, are not willing to share them with others.

The extent of our commerce in those seas, in the whale, fur,
and other trades, may, in some measure, be estimated by a report
of Captain Hull, who was sent into the Pacific, to protect our
commerce there. He says that, from the 30th March, 1824, to
December 1st, 1825, he boarded two hundred and thirty-two

182 REPORT.

vessels, whose tonnage amounted to forty-three thousand five
hundred and two tons, and the men to two thousand three hun-
dred and fifty-two, and the guns carried by these vessels to two
hundred and ninety-five : —

Vessels, .... 232

Tonnage, - - 43,502

Men, - .... 2,352

Guns, - »••**$ - - 295

And the probability is, that he did not fall in with one half of the

number then navigating the Pacific.

When Captain Jones visited the island of Woahoo, on the first
of November, 1827, he found nineteen vessels in the port, whose
tonnage amounted to five thousand six hundred and fifty, with
crews amounting to three hundred and seventy-eight men. Four
of these vessels were loaded with skins, &c., and fifteen of them
were whalemen, and had on board twenty-five thousand and
eighty barrels of oil, and only wanted about six thousand three
hundred and twenty barrels to make full cargoes.

All is activity and spirit in these voyages : every master of a
vessel and his officers and men are striving to do better than their
fellow-labourers. These long and difficult voyages give a hardi-
hood and enterprise to American seamen, which will continue as
long as we are engaged in this trade. The length of the voyage,
the difficulty of the navigation, the large size of the vessels, the
science and care necessary for sailing them in safety, and the
vicissitudes of the voyage, make the youngest on board a navi-
gator, a seaman, a pilot, and a gunner.

****** -.J!(r * *

Be pleased to accept, for yourself, and for the honourable mem-
bers of your committee, the assurance of the respect and esteem
with which I am, sir,

Your obedient servant,

J. N. REYNOLDS.

REPORT

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS.

March 25, 1828.— Mr. RIPLEY, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, made the
following report: —

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom were referred a great number
of memorials from citizens of various sections of the United States,
praying aid from the Government in fitting out vessels for an exploring
expedition to the Pacific seas, report : —

THAT the number and character of the memorialists, and the
opinions they have expressed upon the subject of the memorials,
have called the committee to an attentive and careful considera-
tion of the means required for such an expedition, the importance
of the interests connected with it, and the immediate as well as
ultimate advantages it promises to the nation. The committee do
not propose to recapitulate their own views upon these subjects,
but to refer the House to documents in their possession, with the
general correctness of which they are satisfied.

For information in relation to the means required, they refer
to a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, of the 14th
of March, 1828, in reply to a note addressed to him by the
committee.

In relation to the interests, individual and national, connected
with such an expedition, the committee refer to a statement sub-
mitted to them by Mr. J. N. Reynolds, on the 10th February,
1828, in answer to inquiries addressed to him by order of the

184 REPORT.

committee. So much of the statement as exhibits the amount
of our commerce in the Pacific seas, the committee think is fully
sustained by the reports of the officers of our navy, who have,
by order of the Secretary, heretofore made reports upon that
subject, to which Mr. Reynolds refers, and with which his state-
ment has been compared, as well as with the accounts of others
familiar with those branches of our trade.

The dangers to which an immense amount of property is
exposed, as well as the hazard to human life, for the want of
knowledge, by more accurate surveys, of the regions to which
our commerce is extending, and the probable new sources of
wealth which may be opened and secured to us, seem to your
committee not only to justify, but to demand the appropriation
recommended ; they therefore report a bill for the purpose.

CORRESPONDENCE

BETWEEN THE

CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS

AND THE

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, %
Committee on Naval A/airs, March 3, 1828. >

SIR : The house has referred to the committee on naval affairs
several petitions, praying that an expedition may be sent into the
Pacific and Southern ocean.

I am directed by the committee to ask of your department your
opinion respecting such an expedition, and briefly your reasons
for it ; and, if you shall be of opinion that such an expedition
ought to be sent there, to request of you a project of the law to
authorize it, with your reasons for its several provisions, and any
other information you may be pleased to give on the subject
With esteem and respect, I am, sir,

Your humble servant,

MICHAEL HOFFMAN.
Hon. SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD,

Secretary of the Navy.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, March 14, 1828.

SIR : I have had the honour to receive your letter of the 3d
March, in which, on behalf of the committee on naval affairs, you
"ask my opinion respecting an exploring expedition into the
Pacific and Southern ocean, and, briefly, my reasons for it."

24

*!'' . 'V ' ' X"-'--"

186 SAML. L. SOUTHARD.

I entertain the opinion that such an expedition is expedient.
My reasons are briefly these : —

That we have an immense and increasing commerce in that
region, which needs the protecting kindness of the government,
and may be greatly extended by such an expedition. Of the
extent and nature of this commerce, it is not easy to write
briefly; nor is it necessary. It is better known to none than
to some of the members of the naval committee in the house
of representatives. The estimate of its value has been much
augmented, in the view of the department, by the reports which
have been made, under its orders, by our naval officers who
have commanded vessels of war in the Pacific, and which are
now on file.

The commercial operations carried on in that quarter are diffi-
cult and hazardous : they are correctly represented in the memo-
rial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, to which I would refer, as
well as to some of the many other memorials which have been
addressed to Congress on this subject. It would seem wise in
the government to render these commercial operations less hazard-
ous, and less destructive of life and property, if it can be done by
a moderate expenditure of money.

The commerce in the Pacific ocean affords one of the best
nurseries for our seamen. An expedition, such as that proposed,
would be calculated to increase that class of citizens — an increase
in which the government and nation are deeply interested.

We now navigate the ocean, and acquire our knowledge of
the globe, its divisions and properties, almost entirely from the
contributions of others. By sending an expedition into that im-
mense region, so little known to the civilized world, we shall add
something to the common stock of geographical and scientific
knowledge, which is not merely useful to commerce, but connects
itself with almost all the concerns of society; and while we make
our contribution to this common stock, we shall not fail to derive

SAML. L. SOUTHARD. 187

the best advantages to ourselves, and be richly paid, even in a
calculation of expenditure and profit.

The bill need not contain any other provisions, as the amount
of the appropriation will limit the expenditure; and I do not
presume that Congress would desire to prescribe the size of the
vessels, their equipage, or the number and character of the persons
to be employed.

In either of the plans proposed, whatever is done will be under

the direction of this department, and the expense may be greatly

diminished by permitting certain of the naval officers to join the

expedition, and by using other facilities which are under its control.

I have the honour to be,

Very respectfully, &c.

SAM. L. SOUTHARD.
Hon. MICHAEL HOFFMAN, it<"'\

Chairman of the Committee of Naval Affairs, H. R.

EXTRACT

FROM THE ANNUAL

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY,

NOVEMBER 27, 1828.

ON the 21st of May, 1828, the House of Representatives
passed a resolution requesting the President of the United States
"to send one of our ^rnall vessels to the Pacific ocean and South
seas, to examine the coasts, islands, harbours, shoals, and reefs,
in those seas, and to ascertain their true situation and descrip-
tion;" and authorizing the use of such facilities as could be
afforded by the department, without further appropriation during
the year. To this resolution it was your earnest wish that early
and full attention should be paid.

There was no vessel belonging to our navy, which, in its then
condition, was proper to be sent upon this expedition. The
Peacock was, therefore, selected, and placed at the navy yard at
New York, to be repaired, and supplied with conveniences
suited to the object. Her repairs and preparations are now
nearly completed, and she will be ready to sail in a few weeks.

In looking to the great purpose for which the resolution was
passed, and the difficulties and dangers which must necessarily
be encountered, it seemed to be both unsafe and inexpedient to
sen$ only one .vessel. But the department did not feel that it had
the authority either to purchase another, or to detach one more
of the small vessels of the navy, to be joined with the Peacock.
Nor, indeed, is there another in the service suited to this peculiar
employment. But the opinion and wish of the Department being
known, an offer was made to it of such a vessel as was desired,

190 REPORT.

being about 200 tons burden, and calculated for cruising in the
high southern latitude, and among the ice islands and reefs which
are known to exist there. This vessel has been received and
placed at the navy yard, upon the .express agreement, that a
recommendation should be made to Congress to authorize its
purchase, and if the recommendation was not approved, that it
should be returned to the owner. No money has been expended
under this arrangement. That satisfactory evidence might be had,
both of the fitness of the vessel and its value, directions were
given to Mr. Eckford, of New York, and Mr. Hartt, the naval
constructor at Brooklyn, to examine it, and report on these points.
Their report fixes the value at $10,000. I cheerfully discharge
my obligation under the agreement, by an earnest recommenda-
tion that Congress authorize the price to be paid. Should this
not be done, the vessel will be returned.

Measures have been taken to procure information of the present
state of knowledge in our country, on the subjects pointed out in
the resolution, from our citizens who have been employed in the
navigation of those seas, and who possess information derived
from experience, which is confined very much to themselves and
their log-books and journals. An agent has been usefully and
successfully engaged in this object, and has found few obstacles
thrown in his way. Those who have been most acquainted by
business and interest with that portion of the globe, feel the
deepest solicitude for the success of the enterprise. The expe-
dition will be enabled to sail with better guides than are usually
possessed by those who embark in similar undertakings.

With a view to give the most useful character to the enterprise,
it is important that persons skilled in the various branches of
science should partake in it. Correspondence has therefore been
held with scientific men, and some selections have been made,
and others are now making, by the department, of astronomers,
naturalists, and others, who are willing to encounter the toil, and

REPORT. 191

will be able to bring home to us results which will advance the
honour and promote the interests of the nation.

The resolution was understood to authorize the use of the naval
appropriations to furnish -facilities for the expedition ; and they
have been used for all those objects which come within the terms
in the bills of appropriations ; as pay, subsistence, instruments,
books, &c. But there are indispensable objects, which do not
come within any of the items in the bill, and for which provision
is required. A bill on the subject was reported by the naval com-
mittee at the last session of Congress, and placed on the list of
business to be acted upon, but was not reached before the close
of the session. Its passage is necessary to accomplish the pur-
poses designed by the resolution. It does not seem proper to
detail the " facilities" which it is the intention of the department
to aiford. One of them should be a vessel to carry provisions, in
order that, upon the arrival of the expedition at the scene of ope-
rations, the exploring vessels may be supplied in such a manner
that they may not be driven from their employment at too early a
period, and that they may subsequently, from time to time, be
further supplied from distant stations, so that no cause but the
elements may arrest their labours : but they may at all times and
seasons be at liberty to pursue their investigations without inter-
ruption. Other and obvious uses may be made of such a vessel,
in the relief which it will afford should disease or death make
serious inroads on their numbers. A vessel suited to this object
is within the control of the department, and will either be char-
tered or purchased, as the means afforded by Congress may
permit. The importance of the expedition, in all its aspects, and
especially in its commercial relations, has augmented, in the view
of the department, by all the inquiries and investigations which
have been made ; and an anxious desire is felt that nothing should
be omitted which can tend to its ultimate success.

:s

LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY,

TRANSMITTING A

REPORT OF J. N. REYNOLDS,

IN RELATION TO

ISLANDS, REEFS, AND SHOALS,

IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN, &c.

JANUARY 27, 1835.— Referred to the Committee on Commerce.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, January 24, 1835.

SIR : I have the honour to send herewith an original report
of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., dated the 24th of September, 1828,
describing certain islands, reefs, and shoals in the Pacific ocean,
&c., and which is presumed to be the report called for by the
resolution of the house of representatives of the 23d instant, and
referred to as dated the 9th October, 1829. When no longer,
required, it is respectfully requested it may be returned.
I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

M. DICKERSON.
Hon. JOHN BELL,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

CITY OF NEW YORK, September 24, 1828.
To the Hon. SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR: In obedience to your request of June 30, I repaired,
without delay, to New London, Stonington, Newport, New Bed-
ford, Edgartown, Nantucket, and other places where information

I 25

-

^^

194 PACIFIC AND

might be found of the Pacific ocean and South seas. The whaling
captains were ready to communicate such knowledge as they had
treasured up or recorded in their numerous voyages. The owners
of the whale-ships were equally anxious to do all in their power
to assist me in the object of my visit to them. In these places,
the navigators are certainly better acquainted with those seas
than any other people in this or any other country can be. The
information had, in some measure, been gathered in gross, but
without order or much arrangement ; and I had to go over the
whole ground, and examine at Nantucket every individual navi-
gator of those seas who could be found at home, with their log-
books, and journals, and charts The doing of this, and putting
the intelligence into such form as might save you much time in
reading, was a work of no trifling magnitude, which I mention
only to excuse the delay of this report. It was pleasant for me
to find that all I had heard before was confirmed by a long train
of witnesses, and every calculation I had previously made fell far
short of the truth.

The first objects of my inquiry were the navigation, geography,
and topography presented by the whole range of the seas, from
the Pacific to the Indian and Chinese oceans ; also, the extent and
nature of our commerce and fisheries in these seas.

The whole number of vessels in the whale-fishery, with those
engaged in the sealing business, far exceeded the number I had
given in my communication to the naval committee, and their
tonnage was much greater. There are at least two hundred ships
employed, being on an average of two hundred and seventy-five
tons ; some as large as five hundred, and others under two hundred
tons. The average length of their voyages, taking one hundred
and seventy-eight voyages, from 1815 to 1824, was twenty-nine
months, and the average cargo of oil from the same ships was
exceeding seventeen hundred barrels. But it should be observed
.that the ships are now generally larger than they were formerly,

INDIAN OCEAN. 195

the small ones being sold out of the fleet, as the whalemen call
their ships, or broken up from decay and age. The length of
their voyage is naturally increasing, from the fact that our whale-
men are traversing new seas for the whale, sometimes doubling
the Cape of Goo,d Hope, and taking an eastern direction, meeting
their brethren of the same pursuits who have doubled Cape Horn,
while the latter sail over the ground in an opposite direction which
the former had just traversed.

The crews of these ships, I found from general inquiry and a
close inspection of their log-books and journals, are remarkably
healthy. What sickness they have is from the scurvy, a disease
incident to long voyages, and which is avoided only by the utmost
care and the frequent use of fresh provisions. The whaling-ships
are provisioned with beef, pork, and bread, for three years ; but
they never exceed three months on their whaling ground without
recruiting themselves with fresh provisions from some neigh,
bouring island. The utmost care is taken in fitting out these
ships with many delicacies ; and it is a general remark among
whalers, that they live better at sea than on shore. Tea, coffee,
and chocolate, are freely used as anti-scorbutics. These vessels
are navigated with the utmost caution. Two men are constantly
placed at mast-head, as sentinels ; for many of the islands, rocks,
and reefs, are not laid down in any chart ; and those laid down or
not are many of them so low that this precaution is indispensably
necessary for their safety. From this precaution, many rocks,
reefs, and islands have been discovered by them, and pretty
accurately noted. The whalemen are much advanced in mathe-
matics and practical navigation beyond other navigators : for, on
their long voyages out and home, the most intelligent officers
assist the yoiinger in their mathematical and nautical studies;
and thus schooled, all come home improved in their branches,
distinction in them being the direct road to preferment. The
scarcity of the whale on the common whaling ground may be

196 PACIFIC AND

easily accounted for, when it is understood that it takes about
ninety whales, as they average, to make a full cargo, and that
from this calculation our own whalemen take about eight thousand
a year, and, from a moderate calculation, more than two thousand
are mortally wounded that cannot be taken, making ten thousand
a year destroyed by us. I have stated these particulars to show
how necessary it will be to explore new grounds in higher
southern latitudes for the right whale, when the sperm whale
become scarce in the equatorial regions. And, from the accounts
I have received, there is an immense extent of ocean in the high
southern latitudes westward, of which there is no account given ;
and if there be any, but little more is known than this, that the
geographer has marked it on his maps and charts with a sweeping
hand, to fill up the mighty space of which the world is as yet
ignorant, and will long remain so, if the enterprise of our govern-
ment does not explore it.

I shall now proceed to give you a list of the discoveries of our
enterprising and careful navigators in those seas, in as tabular a
form as may be consistent with a clear view of the extent and
importance of these discoveries. The English charts, and those
of other countries, are as yet very imperfect. Much of their
information has been obtained from loose accounts from whalers,
who were careless in some instances, and forgetful in others, and
which were seized with greediness by the makers of maps and
charts, in order to be the first to make these discoveries known.
But, perhaps, it does not become us to be hypercritical upon other
nations, as we have as yet no maps or charts of our own to com-
pare with them.

From all the accounts I have received of the islands, reefs,
rocks, &c., in these seas, I draw the inference that most of them
are of volcanic origin, and have arisen, in the lapse of ages, in
groups or single islands, as it has pleased the great Creator of the

INDIAN OCEAN. 197

universe to call them into existence ; and by the same great
engine of nature they may be constantly changing.

The information I have collected, if not perfectly accurate, is
certainly the most so that can be found. It has been drawn from
purely original sources ; nothing has been received at second hand.
I have examined the log-books, journals, maps, and charts of the
navigators themselves, and in most cases have questioned them
personally. Many of these facts have been received from several
quarters, and I have had opportunities to compare them with
others that have been offered before. Nantucket often had con-
firmed the information from New Bedford, and vice versa. When
the individuals were equally good in point of intelligence, and
their statements in any way differed, I have given both accounts ;
but if there was a decided difference in the intelligence of the
authority, I have adopted that which was held in the most general
estimation.

Some of those whom I have examined, whose voyages were
of very recent date, or were connected with a train of remarkable
facts, I have considered separately, and have given their statements
as made to me verbally, or have taken extracts from their journals,
without placing their discoveries under the general heads. Their
brief statements of the most recent date will show most distinctly
that the field for discoveries is still prolific, and that there will be
a sufficiency of subjects in those seas to employ the enterprise of
our country for many generations to come.

The currents have in many instances been given ; and from all
I could gather from the statements made to me, they are caused
by the winds rather than from any motion of the earth, and of
course are perpetually varying in such a manner that but little
reliance on the experience of any one can be placed. The varia-
tions of the needle I did not find noticed by many of the naviga-
tors. Captain Swain, of Newport, has noticed the variations in

198 PACIFIC AND

some latitudes, which will be given in this report. There is one
fact worthy of remarking, which I obtained from the most ex-
perienced navigators, which is, that in all their voyages round
Cape Horn, from the first commencement of their entering the
Pacific until the present day, not a single vessel has been
wrecked or lost in doubling the Cape ; and these navigators sail
from home whenever they are ready, without the least regard to
the season of the year : still, however, all agree that March and
April are the best months to double the Cape, as fresh gales are
then frequent without dangerous storms. I noticed, from their
log-books and journals, that they reach the most dangerous parts
of the Cape navigation in about ninety or one hundred days from
our shores.

INDIAN OCEAN.

199

ISLANDS AND REEF

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

Galago island - -
Tanning's do. - -

1°48'
3 49

104° 06'
158 29

Not on the charts.
The centre of Tanning's isl-

By others 3° 44'

and lies in 3° 52' N., and

and 159° 6';

1 58° 56' W., by lunar ob-

also, 3° 50' and

servation and chronome-

158° 45'.

ter. It is a lagoon island,

the land about 5 ft. above

the surface of the water.

Cocoa-trees, 60 or 70 feet

in height, are on it. The

remains of a stone hut,

about 12 feet square, and

in it human bones, stone

hatchets, and blackfish-

teeth, with holes drilled

"•'-.'•.* ' .. - '

thro' them. Some parts

of the land had been

cultivated, as appeared

.... . , \ ' "'';^i: ':

by the gardens, fences of

•

stone, &c., remaining, —

The island is abput 40

miles in circumference ;

the mouth of the harbour

30 rods in width on the

south side ; soundings,

going in, from 3 to 7

fathoms : there is a good

harbour under the eastern

point, The Lion was lost

« • ' / • -

on a reef which makes off

to the south from the en-

trance of the harbour, on

the starboard hand going

-

in. The tide ebbs and

flows about 5 feet, and in

its strength runs 6 to 7

knots out and in. Deep

water all round the land

close in. About 90 miles

Washington's isl-

4 30

126

distant is Washington's

and,

island.

200

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

By others 4° 50>

and 160° 30'

Island, - - -

6° 36'

166°

Barber's island, -

8 54

178

'

Also, 8° 33' and

177° 59'.

Reef, ,- - - -

10

179 24'

Not on the charts.

Clipperton'srock,

10 28

109 19

low island.

Island, - - -

11 33

164

Not on the charts.

Do. \ probably

13 06

168 24

Do.[ the

13 06

166

Do. ) same.

13 19

168 55

Shoal,- - - -

14 44

170 30

Do. 13° 32', the

same long.

Gaspar's island, -

15

176 18

On the charts, in 176° 18' E

By some in east

long.

Island, -

16

133

A cluster, from -

16 to 17

and 133 to

136°

Roca coral, - -

16 12

136 12

_

Island, - w <-

16 15

133 30

Do. - - :<t: •>

16 30

163 54

Do. - - -

17

136

New Blada, - -

18 12

114 03

Probably Cloud's island.

Island, - - -

18 22

155 15

The situation given this isl

and is only about 40 miles
southeasterly from the

most southern point of

Owyhee. Doubtful

Shoal,- - - -

18 22

'170 30

Not on the charts.

Clarion's island,

18 23

114 45

Another situation for Cloud's

plenty of wood.

island.

Island, - - -

19 15

166 52

Perhaps another situation

for Mallon's island, which

is found on the charts.

Do. fresh water.

19 22

115 15

See Cloud's island, 2 lines

Mai Ion's island, -

19 23

165 23

below.

Cloud's do. -

19 46

115

See above. So many dif-

ferent situations are as-

INDIAN OCEAN.

201

ISLANDS AND REEFS.'

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

signed to an island or

islands in this neighbour

hood, that it would seem

desirable that the true lat-

itude and longitude should

be accurately determined.

There are, in fact, two

islands on the charts, near

this situation.

Copper do.

20° 6'

131°54/

Placed on the charts in east

longitude.

Island, - - -

21

176 30

Near Krusenstern's rock,

which is placed on the

charts in lat. 22° 05', long.

175° 4<Y.

Shaler's island, -

22 06

112 14

Not on charts. Doubtful.

Massachusetts

22 28

177 05

Placed on the charts in 28°

island.

30' N., 176° 40' W.

Henderson's isl-

24 06

128 30

Not on charts. By others

and, fresh wat'r

in 24° 26'.

Reef, shoal, - -

24 14

168 35

Two Brothers lost on it.

Pollard's island -

24 48

168

Gardner's do. -

25 03

167 40

Cooper's do. -

25 04

131 26

Maro's reef - -

25 24

170 12

By others 25° 48'

and 170° 52';

also, 25° 28X

and 170° 20'.

Island - - -
Laysan's island -

25 22
25 50

131 26
171 51

A repetition of Cooper's
island.

Also 26° 2' and

173° 40'.

,:/' i

Group, Pearl, and

27 46

176 or

Hermes, Brit-

176°30X

ish whalers,

lost in 1822.

Bunker's island

28

173 30

Island - - -

28

176 50

Cure's island, low

28 25

178 42

and dangerous.

-00, .''

26

202

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

Swift's island,

33°

119 06

(Otter island.)

New Nantucket

11

176 20

S"ot on charts.

St. Berto island,

18

110

wood & water.

Island - - -

13 06

168 24

Reef - - - -

3 28

157 59

Siioal * - - -

13 38

170 30

Island

13 05

168 21

Same as third above.

do. ^ - - -

20

151 30

N"ot on charts »

Wake's island -'

16 49

169 40

Here wrong placed.

Shoal - - - -

13 36

170 30

Ann's island - -

13 05

168 21

Week's reef - -

16 49

169 40

See third line above.

'

1 .

•,'/0J f .-';«. *'.tij •,%.-??<

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Reef - - - -

1°

179°34/

Strong's island -

5 23

163 10

An island, called Teyoa, is

placed on the charts in

latitude 6° N.I 62° 35' E.

Group ...

9 05

164 37

A group of islands is found

on the charts, in the same

latitude 166° E.

Catharine islanc

9 08

166 10

Aricief's island -

9 18

161 18

Island de Arresites is found

on the charts in lat. 10°

N.,long. 1 60° 30' E., and

the island Casbobas 9°

,

40' and 161° 50/ E.

Reef - - -

10

179 24

This reef is placed, in a

preceding part of the list,
in 179° 24' W.

Island - -

16

171 42

Not on charts.

Comwallis'S isl

16 48

169 22

and.

Tarquin island

17

160

Not on charts.

Folger's do.

18 22

155 15

Not on charts.

Granger's do.

18 58

146 14

Reef - - -

17 06

156 14

INDIAN OCEAN.

203

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Halcyon island,

19°06'

1630337

wood. - - -

Week's or Wil-

19 21

166 55

Wake's island.

son's island. -

Island - - -

20 30

152 50

Reef on chart.

Lamira - - -

20 30

166 42

Placed on chart in 164° 15'

Reef- - - -

21 05

136 48

Peru island - -

21 12

141 42

Reef - - - -

22 07

142 24

Dexter's island -

23 24

163 05

Marcus island -

24 18

153 42

Probably Island de Sebas-

tian Lobos, placed on

chart about 55 miles to

Island discovered
by R. Weeks.

24

154

the north, same longitude.
Probably same as preceding.

Island - - -

25 12

131 36

A rock "seen by Captain

Bishop, in 1796," is placed

on the charts in lat. 25°

*v^ '

20/N.,long. 131° 55' E.

Reef - - - -

-25 30

152 50

Not on the charts.

Forbes's island -

25 42

131 13

OK £ r

Island - - -

25 53

131 17

do. - - - -

26 05

131 52

Lasker's island -

26

173 24

Reef on chart.

Reef - - -•? *

26 06

160 > :

Not on chart.

Tree island - -

26

145 44

Placed on the. charts, lat.

27° to 27° 30' N., same

longitude.

Island -

28 30

176 50

Perhaps Massachusetts,here

wrongly placed in east,
instead of west longitude.

Calunus island -

28 53

162

Island, - - -

29 26

143

1 Three of these islands

Do. - - - -

29 40

143 06

are on the charts, and

Do. ....

30

143

another, (St. Thomas,)

Do. ....

30

144 24

in lat. 30° 20", long.

Do. - - - -

30

141 30

142° 20'.

Ganges island, -

30 45

154 25

An island is on the charts, in

lat. 31°, long. 155°; no

doubt intended for same

204

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Ganges island, -

31°

147° 10'

Not on charts.

Reef, discovered

31 15'

153

This reef is placed on charts

by R. Weeks.

in lat. 33°, same long.

Island, - - -

31 30

140

Not on charts.

Reef, near - -

32

147

Not on charts.

Roca di Plata, -

33 48

160 48

Roca di Plata is found on

the charts in lat. 32° 307

N., long. 170° E.

Bank,64 fathoms,

34 25

178 30

Mellish's bank,

Starbuck's group,

173 30

No latitude given.

Reef, - - - -

N. E. from Robert's island,

(one of the Marquesas,)

distant 21 miles ; 6 miles

long, from N.E. to S.W.

Magus shoal,

22 22

130 11

Not on charts.

Reef, - - - -

I

178 24

On charts, but placed in 1 79°

24'. See also forward,

• *-•

13th item, where the same

longitude is given.

Reef, - - - -

20 30

152 50

Island - - -

17

176 50

Not on chart.

Talsam's island -

9 30

166 45

Not on chart.

Reef, ....

2 30

158 60

Not on chart.

Island, - ^ -

21 15

145 48

Not on chart.

Rock,- - £&£

31 09

138 29

Not on chart. Doubtful. —

See 10th item forward.

Island, - - -

30 33

139 36

Very near the situation of To-

dos los Santos on charts.

Abyos island, -

23 22

130 11

The same latitude and lon-

gitude as given (in the 9th

item preceding) to Magus

.'

shoal, Abajo island or

shoal is found on charts in

lat, 20°20/, long. I30°l(y.

Reef, seen by

2 40

178 50

N"ot on charts.

Captain Trask.

Reef, ... -

2 30

153 50

N"ot on charts.

Island, - - .

21 15

145 48

Same island given in the 6th

article preceding.

Reef, ....

22 12

142 42

Do. - - -

1

179 24

INDIAN OCEAN.

205

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Three islands, -

26°06/

145°44X

See Tree island, preceding.

Rock, - - w ' -

31 42

141 10

Not on charts.

Do. - -f ?- i

31 09

139 29

Not on charts. See 9th item

preceding. Todos los San-
tos is placed on the chts. in

- .*>.:'}

Iat.30°45/,long.l39°22/.

Spartan island, -

1 10

159 30

Not on charts.

Moore's island, -

30S

166 35

High land, well inhabited.

Reef, - - - -

30 miles from Pelrnire's isl'd;

very bad one. Longitude

taken in a strong current

'"•- ^ l>$$

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

Bunker's shoal, -

ir

160°40/

Island - - -

26

159 50

An isl'd, called Jarvis' island,

and a shoal or reef seen

.. .

by Captain E. Clark, are

placed very near this sit-

uation on the charts.

Do. - Ufci'OS^

1°05

138 54

Not on charts.

Brock's island, -

1 13

159 30

Clark's island, -

3

151 30

Island, - - -

3 14

170 50

Birney's island, in lat.3020x,

Do. - ...

3 33

173 40

long. 171° 30' W. ; and

Do. - - - -

3 35

170 40

Sidney's island, in lat. 4°

Sidney's island, -

4 30

171 20

25', long. 171 °20/W.? dis-

covered by Capt.Emmert,

will be found on the charts.

Island, - - -

3 57

154 20

Maldone's island, of Lord

Byron, placed on the

charts 155° W.

Reef, --.-

5 30

175

Not on the charts.

Starbuck's island,

5 40

155 53

Loper's island, -

6 07

177 40

Not on the charts.

Island \ probably

6 32

167

An island is on the charts, in

Do. > the

6 36

166

6° 36', long. 166°.

Do. ) same.

6 45

160 48

Island - - -

10 05

162 20

Reirson's island and Hum-.

DO. - b»q*

10 30

161 28

phrey's island, discovered

206

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

Reef, ....

10°46'

136°06

by Captain Patrickson in

Island, ---

11 47

162°

1822, are placed on the

charts in lat. 10° 30'-—

160° 55', and 10° 12'—

160° 50'. A shoal is also

laid down in lat. 11° —

165° 48', and an island in

lat. 10° 55'— 166° 00'

Wmslow island,

14 10

177 W

inhabited.

Island, ...

15 38

161 18

Not on charts.

Do. Simms

15 47

161 14

Not on charts.

Do. - - - -

16

139

Not on charts.

Do. Lowsons -

16 28

143 30

Do. - - - -

17

138

Do. Rees - -

20

167 30

r-.^r : ... . -J ;,j. j

Macy's island, -

20 52

178 47

Elizabeth island,

21 06

178 36

> On chart with other names.

Eunice's island, -

21 08

178 47

)

Raratongo,inhab-

21 17

159 40

(Omrute island (inhabited)

ited.

is placed on the charts in

Armstrong's isl'd,

21 21

161 04

lat.21°20/S., long. 160°

inhabited.

W. No doubt the same.

Maria's island, -

21 45

155 10

Not on chart.

Oeno island, - -

23 57

131 05

Laid down on the charts as

discovered by Capt. Bond,

in long. 131° 35X W.—

• Oif '-. . s

Capt. G. B. Worth found

it in 23° 57' S., 131° 05'

W., about 80 miles N.W.

by N. of Pitcairn's island,

with a dangerous reef ex-

tending from the S. point.

Elizabeth island,

24 06

127 50

By others 24° 26X,

'

and in E. long.

Anderson's isl'd,

24 21

128 30

Probably the same as Eliza-

beth island,placed on chart

in 24° 30', long. 128°.

.Pilgrim's island, -

24 40

104 40

Group - - -

25 12

130 30

If this group exists, it must

INDIAN OCEAN.

207

ISLANDS AND REEFS,

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

/...' ^

be a few miles only south
of Pitcairn's island. Very

doubtful.

Gwinn's island, -

26°25'

105030X

Another situation for Pil-

grim's isFd. — Ya de Salas

y de Gomes, of the charts.

Island, - - -

28 06

95 12

Not on charts. Doubtful

Group, - - -

31 06

129 30

Not on charts.

Rock, - - -

51 51

64 42

Not in the Pacific.

Sidney's island, -

4 29

172 17

See p, 47, where it is placed

in 4° 30', and 171° 20".

Cocoa-nut island

18 12

174 15

Not on chart. If correctly

and reef.

placed, must be between

, Amagura and the Mayor-

ga islands. See chart.

Mary Balcout's
islands.

2 47

171 58

Surrounded by a reef twenty
leagues in circumference,

with only four openings

where boats can enter.

Bryon's island, -

1 10

175 40

Placed on the charts in 1°

W S., and 177° 12X E.

A reef on the north end,

two miles distant.

Island - - -

20

167 30

Clark's reef, - -

1 13

159 45

Island, - - -

21 29

131 28

Not on chart.

Shoal, - - -

1 15

159

> Very near Clark's reef:

Reef, - - - -

1 32

160

$ probably the same.

"J Very near the situation of

Island, - - -
French island, -

11
10 30

162

162 15

1 Reirsons's& Humphrey's
Visl'ds. See p. 47, and also

Francis' island, -

10

161 45

account given by Captain

J Coffin, of ship Ganges.

Reef, - - - -

1 15

159 42

Clark's reef. See above.

Island, T - -

20

157^30

Island, - - -

20

161 30

Falcon's island, -

21 17

159 40

A large island, -

19 56

140 16

Thirty miles north and south.

Do. round,

18 36

141 30

An island, called Sostanges,

••*...

about 36 miles southwest-

erly of this, is placed on

208

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

the charts, as discovered

in 1823.

Starbuck's island

6°54'

155°47X

Phenix island,

2 35

171 39

"1 These two islands, with

small and sandy

Mary Balcout's island,

three miles in

given before, in nearly

circumference.

> the same latitude and

Barney's island, a

3 09

171 41

longitude, are probably

lagoon, 20 miles

the same as Birney's

in circumf ence

J island.

Two reefs, - -

Bearing N. N. E. from Kep-

pel's isl'd, 28 miles, about

a cable's length apart.

Independence isl

3 36

144 35

Not on charts.

Sarah Ann, - -

4

154 18

Probably the same as Mal-

done's island, placed on

charts in 155°.

FenuaLaosaOroa

W.N.W.

from

Mopelia, about 60 miles,

Gardner's island

4°30'

I74°22X

Not on charts. Discov'd by

Coffin's island, -

31 13

178 54

Capt. Coffin,ship Ganges.
Not on charts. Discov'd by

Capt. Coffin, as above.

Ganges island, -
Do.

10 25
10

160 45
161

•\ Onch'ts. Seen by C apt. C.
1 Do. See Capt. Cof-
) fin's printed account.

South

East

latitude.

longitude.

[account.

Nederlandich isl.

7°i6/

I77°33/

N"ot on charts. See printed

Tracy's island -

7 30

178 45

STot on charts.

Mitchell's group,
Flasket's island,

9 06
9 18

179 48
179 50

3robably one of Mitchell's

Independence isl.

10 25

179

Not on charts. [group.

Island, - - -

10 45

179 35

Not on charts.

Hunter's islands,

15 31

176 11

Reef, & 160° 14',

23 48

164 14

Do. ....

26 06

160

-

Island, - - -

31 19

160 42

- ,'. ', :-. I

Reef, ....

26 06

160

Repetition of reef giv. above.

Do. - - - -

21 15

160

INDIAN OCEAN.

209

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

South

East

latitude.

longitude.

Island, - - -

30°33'

139°36/

Inland, on New Holland.

Moore's island, -

30

166 35

See page 47, with Spartan

island and reef.

An island, with

froml°N.

125 06

[ V^ ^.r*''~ "'~

plenty of wood

to2°S.

I'5'.S' &£.- f-r ••> • - ' • . 1

and water.

; #t-|& • !- -••'? ''•-

Island, - . - -

3Q°06/

144 24

' L...1 ~ •

Do. - - - -

29 31

143

Do. - - - -

31

155

Lydne's shoal, -

3 20

146 50

Ocean island, -

41

170 48

' 1! • '•

Do. - -

2-30

152 40

Reef, ....

1 40

159 30

Do. - - - -

8 30

144 45

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

T *f* j*

Island, - - -

21°59/

131038'

Do. - - ^ 5

5 01

*-;.w. »)»••> . ^ ^J>i"

Sherdoff's island,

14 41

144 59

*

Reef, very low, -

5 33

170 50

Island, - - -

4 45

174 40

Do. . . -

14 15

138 47

,

Reef and island,

14 57

144 26

Island, - - -

14 41

144 59

'

Jarvis's island, -

23

160 15

Maiden island, -

3 59

155

Mante island,

20 08

157 18

Starbuck's island,

5 58

155 58

Island - - -

28 06

94 12

Do. --. -

9 57

149 30

A rock, - - -

Bearing from the Diego Ra-

mirez, N. 73° E. 30 miles.

A rock, " - -

31 24

177 55

Island of Oratoa,

20 14

159 45

Well inhabited.

Island, - **- "-

19 56

158 12

Do. - - - -

20

157 15

Rorotong island,
Remitara island,

23 06
22 30

157 55
152 08

"nhabited.

27

210

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

i

island - - -

15°50X

155°05/

Do. - - - -

8 35

159 40

Do. - - - -

20

156

Do. - - -.~-i

20

156 40

Do. - T .* . --

22 32

152 09

[159° 40'.

Do. - -

21 18

159 36

Probably Falcon's, 21° 17',

Do. - - - -

21 28

161

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Helicon's island,

22°28X

177°05X

Gasper island, -

15

176 18

• .'Vvj'* ." ;•

Reef, - ---

2 30

153 50

Island, - - -

21 15

145 48

Cooper's island, -

21 48

131 48

Island,

3

144 24

Rock, ;'-' •'.- .'..-

31 42

136 29

Island, -

30 33

139 36

Alleges island, -

23 22

120

Island - - -

1 07

155 10

Do. - - - ...

2 46

154

Do. - -••-,,

5 18

163 12

••*> V* Y • " '•^" "'••••"' •• '; '*

Do. ....

8 54

165 38

Do. -.-;*-

17

156 18

Three rocks, - -

31 15

153 40

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

Buckle's island, -

28°

178

Island, ...

21

176

Golconda's isl'd,

54'

132

Island, - - -

1 06

139 05'

[wooded.

Burick's, - - -

15 15

146 46

A chain of islands so called ;

Islands, - - -

11 11

190 09

A chain, 25 miles fmN. to S.

Ocean island, -

28 25

177 42

Allen's breakers,

25 30

170 30

Island - - -

28 05

95 12

Mellish's bank, -

34 25

181 31

64 fathoms. - i.iP

Cloud's island, -

19 46

115

Lassion's island -

26 02

173 35

INDIAN OCEAN.

211

ISLANDS AND REEFS.

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

Island, low, - -

KPOS7

189°04/

3 miles in length.

Group, largest

9 28

189 44

Oteda.

,.;. | ,".••• »'• '•

Island, - - -

4 44

163 39

New island, - -

19

133

i

Wreck reef, - -

16 49

169 40

Island, - - \ -

30

178 30

' ; „ '

Do. - - ;Ci-

16 30

169 45

^ ' '

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Massachusetts

30°

178°3W

Mentioned in three or four

island.

other places, differently

Island, - - -

20 207

155 24

situated.

Reef,- - 'i-' -

31 4£

141

* V ' •*!**"* %•'•*• '.'

Three > from -

25 sa

145 28

'-•"• ''U.r,'t ?!

islands, J to - -

36 30

158

Guardian isl'ds, 3,

22 30

350 miles N. E. of Ono.

Incarnation of

N. N. W. from Pitcairn's isl-

Quiros.

and, distant 90 miles.

Henderson's isl'd,

110 miles E. of Pitcairn's

island, and 7 miles S.

Bowen's islands,

26 44

143 20

Dangerous.

Group of small

4 43

169

In form of a horse-shoe, open

low islands.

at the N. N. E. side, with a

harbour, 8 or 1 0 miles over

in the middle of the chain.

Group of low isl-

8 03

166 15

Covered with wood, and sur-

ands.

rounded with rocks and

South

West

reefs j inhabited. ,

latitude.

longitude.

Ellis' group of isl.
Depeyster's isFd,

8°27X
8 05

11H°04/
181 45

i .

Island, - - -

1 14 15

138 47

RomanzofFs isl'd,

14 57

144 28

Island, small,

26 40

104

Island, - - -

26 32

1 03 59 Low, rocky, barren ; two and

I a half miles long by two in

1 width, with a deep bay.

212 PACIFIC AND

Captain Edmund Gardner, of New Bedford, having visited the
Pacific ocean (both North and South) several times, gave his
opinion as to the coasts and islands which it would seem more
immediately necessary to explore and survey, viz. : —

CALIFORNIA.

This coast has been very imperfectly surveyed, particularly
from Ceros island, south, to the end of the peninsula. From
Ceros island, north, was partially surveyed by Vancouver. There
are, however, many bays, harbours, islands, and reefs, that were
not laid down by him. There has lately been a reef discovered
by Captain Pease, of the ship Hesper, of this port, in lat. 32° 34'
N., long. 119° 34' W., which was not seen till the ship was
passing over one end of it. It was seen from the mast-head,
nearly under the ship. They sounded on it, and found from two
and a half to sixteen fathoms.

Northwest to westnorthwest from the Sandwich islands, (a
track much frequented by our whaling-ships,) there are a number
of islands and reefs but imperfectly known. In this direction
three ships have been lost, viz.: Two Brothers, of Nantucket,
and Hermes and: Pearl of London. He should consider this
track one of the first that should be explored.

The next that would call the attention of the expedition would,
in his opinion, be a track, north and west — perhaps more north
than west — from the Ladrone islands to the islands of Japan, a
chain of islands extending nearly across in this direction, and the
true situation of which is very little known.

Southsouthwest from South island, near the coast of Japan,
<Captain Clark, of the bark Elizabeth, of New Bedford, discovered
a reef, lat. 31° 45' N., long. 137° 5(X E., The Sisters, of London,
in company at the time.

A rock, called the Haystack, said to lie in lat. 29° 58' N.,
long. 137° 50' E., has also been recently discovered. The lati-

INDIAN OCEAN. 213

tude is possibly correct; the longitude is given differently by
different navigators.

Extracts from the Log-book of Captain George Rule, of Nantucket.

Made an island he discovered in 1823, and named it

Lydra island, lat. 11° 48' S., long. 164° 47' W. No inhabitants;
plenty of. wood and fish, but no water that he could find ; not laid
down in any chart they had ; one and a half miles southsoutheast
to northnorthwest in extent; a reef around it one hundred rods
from shore ; no bottom one hundred yards from the reef.

, 1824. Made Friends' rock, bearing half compass west

half south, distance four leagues from above, at one A. M. At
noon it bore south, distant twelve miles, lat. 31° 23' S. Next
day, discovered a reef, upon which the sea breaks high, at first
thought to be whales breathing. It bears from the Friends' rock
northwest, distance about four leagues. Latitude of reef, 31° ISi';
the day previous, the longitude, by chronometer, 177° 50' W.

Bonin islands have had a place on the charts for some time ;
but little — indeed, nothing — was known of them, except that land
had been reported in that neighbourhood, and some mapmaker
put it down on his charts. They are regarded as new discoveries
in Nantucket, made by Captain Coffin, 12th September, 1824,
while he commanded the ship Transit, from Bristol. There is a
freshness in the account he gives of them that is really interesting;
and he may, with some justice, claim the honour of the discovery,
as they were not laid down on his charts. He found the group to
consist of six islands, besides a number of large rocks and reefs.
Captain Coffin sailed in the employ of Fisher, Kidd, and Fisher;
and, in honour of his employers, called two of the islands by their
names, the largest of which is four leagues in length. The one
most southern of the group he called South island ; and the fourth,
from the great number of pigeons he found on it, he named Pigeon

214 PACIFIC AND

island. About four miles eastnortheast of South island, lie two
round high islands, to which he gave no names. Fisher's island
lies from southsoutheast to northnorthwest, and Kidd island, the
most western of the group, lies southeast from the northwest part
of Fisher's island. Between the two last-mentioned islands there
is a beautiful clear bay, two miles wide, and five miles up to the
head. Captain Coffin sailed up this bay about four miles, where
he found a fine small bay, where he anchored his ship ; and, as
he remarks, there is some justice due one's self, called it Coffin's
harbour. This harbour is sheltered from all winds, except from
westsouthwest, and a vessel will ride with as much safety as in
Hampton roads, with no current or swell. Captain Coffin took
fifty tons of water on board, of the purest kind, with a supply of
wood, both of these essentials being in any abundance, and more
easily procured than at any other place he was at. Turtle and
pigeons were so plenty, that any number could be obtained. The
water in the bay was stored with a variety of fish, and with plenty
of choice lobsters, and the cabbage-tree was among the productions
of the island, so that any desirable quantity might be easily pro-
cured. Captain Coffin did not discover any quadruped, reptile,
or insect, not even an ant. The islands are covered with large
and beautiful forest-trees, but not a single mark, even of a knife,
could be traced upon one of them ; nor did it appear that the foot-
steps of man had ever been imprinted on any of these islands.
For whale-ships, or those bound from Canton to Port Jackson, or
the northwest coast of America, they will furnish a valuable place
of refreshment. They are about south of Sandown point, on the
coast of Japan, and the distance may be sailed in four days.
The bay where Captain Coffin anchored is in latitude 26° 3(X
north, longitude 141° east.

In the year 1825, the same captain, and while on the same
cruise, discovered, in latitude 27° north, longitude 141° 1CK east,
a high island, well wooded, from the west side of which he pro-

INDIAN OCEAN. 215

cured good turtle and wood. Six leagues north of this, he discov-
ered a high lump of an island, and many small ones near it, with
a dangerous reef extending from one island to the other, and, as
far as to latitude, 28° north. These islands and reef were not
laid down on his charts. The navigation of the ocean around,
and particularly north of this group, is dangerous, from our imper-
fect knowledge of it.

From many inquiries made of Captain Macy, about the Loo-
Choo island, I am of opinion it will be found well worthy of more
minute examination. It is situated in north latitude 26°, and 125°
east longitude ; is well cultivated ; and all kinds of refreshments
may be procured, and a good harbour will probably be found on
the southwest part. The inhabitants are peaceable, and seem
disposed to form acquaintance, and establish a friendly intercourse
with foreigners. Vessels have seldom stopped at this island, and
the world is yet ignorant of its inhabitants, their peculiarities,
&c., except what information may be found in Captain Hall's
book, royal navy.

Monmouth island, one of the Baske isles, is thickly inhabited,
and well stocked with all kinds of provisions common to the
islands in those latitudes. It affords good anchorage on the north-
east part. The people on this island wear the Chinese costume,
and appear very friendly, and anxious to trade with strangers.
The island abounds with sheep ; and there are many islands in its
neighbourhood, of more or less importance.

A cluster of islands, said to have been- discovered in 1716, and
laid down on most charts in latitude 35° north, and longitude 146°
east, is now considered of doubtful existence. By Captain Coffin's
log-book, he has frequ^ntlv__sailed and whaled over the very spot,
without being able to see them from the mast-head.

The natives of " New islands," and the surrounding groups, are
generally well disposed, and willing to barter in all the production?
of the islands. The group of islands between Francisco and Jida

216 PACIFIC AND

should be more attentively examined. Several of them are well
peopled, and the inhabitants, like the Japanese, are reserved, and
distrustful of strangers. From the southeast part of New islands,
there is a small island, well inhabited with curly-haired people,
who appeared a warlike race. This island affords a good harbour,
and probably abounds with biche-le-mer.

Captain RichardJVIacy, of Nan tucket, a very intelligent man,
has long been engaged in the whale-fishery, and has shown more
than usual skill in his observations, as well in noting the facts he
has seen, as in taking a great many sketches of islands, reefs,
harbours, coasts, &c., which will be found very useful to the
expedition. Captain Macy discovered an island four or five miles
in extent, in south latitude 59°, and west longitude 91°, his ship
passing near enough to see the breakers. The island abounded
with sea-dogs, or seals, and the water was much coloured, and
thick with rockweed. While crossing the Pacific, on a return
voyage, he passed between the latitudes 50° and 55° south, and
found the water much coloured, abounding with rockweed and
seals — conclusive indications that land was near; but he could
not stop to make any researches. He mentions the following
islands, reefs, and shoals, as deserving particular attention : some
of them, it is true, are laid down on the charts, some are not, and
all require nearly the same examination. It is not at all surprising
that the positions of these islands are not well defined. Their
places were often given from observations, without making any
allowance for refraction, and from the run of the log, without
knowing or stopping to ascertain the direction and velocity of
currents. One island, without any name, in 15° 45' south, and
longitude 154° 15' west; one 16° south, 139° west, not well
known; another island, 17° south and 138° west, not named;
one island not laid down on any of the charts, nor published in
any list of newly-discovered islands, lies in 16° south, and
143° west.

INDIAN OCEAN. 217

Phillip's island, discovered on his late passage, mil0 20' south,
and 148° 50' west, is very low and dangerous, and cannot be seen
but at a short distance ; lying in the track of our homeward-bound
ships, between the Sandwich and Society islands. A few small
shrubs and trees are on this island, but no inhabitants.

In latitude 5° 30X south, and longitude 155° 507 west, an island
was discovered in 1826, and about five miles in length. It lies
low in the water, and presents a coast as dangerous as a reef, as
it cannot be seen any distance. This island could not be found
on any charts, and is a new and interesting discovery, inasmuch
as it is an island dangerous to vessels, if not well known.

There are some rocks, and a dangerous reef, in the neighbour-
hood of 190° 50X south, and 167° 30' west.

In June, 1 825, an island was discovered, northwest from the
Fejee islands, in latitude 15° 30' south, and longitude 175° 3(X
east. This island is not placed on any of the charts, is well
inhabited, abounds in yams, and the natives are very friendly.

The island Rotunah is situated in about 12° south. This island
has long been known, and deserves attention, as a place where all
refreshments known to the South seas can easily be procured.

Due west from this island, and about 15° south, there is a dan-
gerous reef. Its extent and bearing is unknown, and it requires
further attention.

Duke of York's island is laid down on the charts in 8° 30'
south, and is said to be uninhabited. Captain Macy says he
saw natives on it. This point should be settled, and I venture
the prediction that the whaler is correct. The island contains
refreshments.

Savage island. The natives are warlike ; great caution neces-
sary in landing.

Wytootach and Navigator's islands all contain refreshments,
abound in hogs, and the natives are noted for their passionate
fondness for large blue beads.

K 28

218 PACIFIC AND

There is an island sixty miles west from the above, and also a
reef, the former not inhabited, nor laid down on the charts.

Some islands have lately been discovered, extending from 169°
to 172° east, and from 30° to 1° south. These are not named,
nor placed on any chart, nor included in any list of newly-dis-
covered islands.

I In the year 1827, Captain Macy discovered a small group of
islands in latitude 6° north, and 153° east. This group he called
by the name of the ship he commanded, the Harvest. The islands
are all enclosed by a reef, and abound in trees. He did not land,
nor does he know if they are inhabited.

In latitude 9° north, and from 150° 30' to 152° east, there is a
chain of islands, fifteen in number. Some of them are ten miles
apart, but are enclosed by one reef, ninety miles in extent. These
islands are low and beautiful, entirely covered with cocoanut-trees.
He did not land, but thinks them inhabited.

Captain Macy visited another group of islands, in 7° 40' north,
longitude 144° east. Some of them are well inhabited, but not
marked on the charts.

St. Andrew's islands, per charts, are sixty miles out of the way.
Laid down 5° 20' north latitude, 131° 20X east longitude. True
position, 5° 20' north latitude, 132° 20' east longitude.
I Disappointment island is placed on the charts in latitude 27°
30' north, longitude 139° 2(X east. True position, 27° 30X north
latitude, 139° 55' east longitude.

Armstrong's island was discovered in 1 824, and is situated in
latitude 21° 21' south, and longitude 161° 04' west. This island
is fertile, well peopled, and affords a good anchorage to the north,
and abounds in refreshments. The natives had never been visited
before, nor had they any knowledge of civilized people. They
were timid, and much alarmed at the approach of the vessels,
showing no hostile appearances. The captain landed with a boat,
when the fears of the natives soon subsided, and they gathered

INDIAN OCEAN. 219

round him in great numbers. They would not allow him to move
or walk a step, but carried him wherever he wished to go. They
regarded him as a superior grade of being, and paid him every
homage they knew how. The number of inhabitants is unknown,
and the island has never been visited since its discovery.

In Captain Macy's last voyage but one, he discovered a group
of islands, eleven in number. They are many miles apart, and
all surrounded by a coral reef, situated in 9° north, and 164° 4CK
east. Several of them are well inhabited by dark and savage-
looking fellows, although they behaved very well, came off in
their boats, and bartered cocoanuts. Captain Macy did not land,
nor is it probable the island has ever been landed on by any other
ship's crew. The reef enclosing the group is very dangerous,
extending, in some places, fifteen miles from the land.

Broom's range affords a good place for wooding.

Lord Howe's group is inaccurately laid down.

There is a bank, latitude 36° north, longitude 179° east, on
which some whalers have sounded, but no one knows its extent
and bearings.

Captain^ Coffin, as stated by Captain Macy, discovered a reef I
in latitude 32° north, and longitude 140° east.

Sixty miles southwest from Ohituo is a newly-discovered island,
thickly inhabited by very friendly natives. Refreshments may be
procured at it in any quantity, and good anchorage found.

The same captain, in the year 1824, discovered a group, con-
sisting of three islands, in latitude 21° north, longitude 179° west.
The islands are ten miles apart : many inhabitants are seen on
them ; but he did not land or hold any communication with them,
nor is it probable they were ever visited.

Ceno island, in 23° 507 south, 130a 15' west, not laid down on
the charts, unless it be on some of the late editions.

A group of islands, in latitude 31° 06' north, and longitude 129°
30' east, is not accurate on the charts, and the islands are not named.

220 PACIFIC AND

A number of reefs, situated about 27° south, and longitude
160° east, are dangerous, and should be examined. One more in
24° south, and 164° 30X east. A dangerous rock somewhere
about 27° 30X south, and longitude 130° 30X east.

From the Marquesas to 20° south, and to at least 20° north,
and from 150° west to 150° east, is a portion of the globe where
all our intelligent captains of whale-ships agree many important
discoveries may yet be made. Within these limits, there are
many islands, reefs, and shoals, not discovered, and many but
partially known.

Captain John Gardner, of the ship Atlantic, reports the following
discoveries, which he made while on his last voyage in the Pacific : —

The first island, in north latitude 8° 48X, longitude 144° 35X E.

The second do. do. 1° 07', do. 165° 00 E.

The third do. a cluster, S. lat. 2° 15X do. 152° 05X E.

Also, a cluster of reefs and shoals, extending northnortheast
and southsoutjiwest, between the latitudes of 1° 35X and 2° 15X
south, and longitude 153° 45X and 153° 15X east.

John Weeks, second officer, saw an island in 2° north, longitude
1 150° east, one mile long, surrounded by a coral reef six miles from
'shore. This island is low, and abounds in cocoanuts.

Captain George Washington Gardner discovered the following
islands, &c., which are not laid down on any of the charts : —
An island, north latitude 30° 00X, east longitude 144° 00X.

One do.

do.

39

dO.,";^

39

One do.

do.

30

do.

44 20

Rocks,

do.

31

do.

155

An island,

do.

37

do.

On the coast of New Albion : —

An island, north latitude 33° 00X, west longitude 119° 30'.
Do. do. 21° 55 do. 155 10.

Maria island, not on the charts, abounds with fish and wood,
but no water ; is low and dangerous.

INDIAN OCEAN. 221

A rock, in latitude 20° south, longitude 167° 45' west, not on
charts nor any published list; dangerous shoals in the neigh-
bourhood.

Palmyra island is in 5° 58' north, and 162° 30' west longi-
tude. There is a dangerous reef thirty miles north, extending
eastnortheast and westnorthwest, very narrow, and fifteen miles
in length.

Captain R. Joy, of Nantucket, reports a harbour in latitude
45° south, in West Patagonia, in which he found good and safe
anchorage. By proper surveys, he thinks it might be made a
place of refreshments for our whale-ships.

I have generally remarked that all our seamen who have had
occasion to touch at any point on the west of Patagonia, agree
that the coast should be surveyed from Cape Horn to Cape
Pilares. They have often been sealing on the islands around this
coast, and all agree that very little reliance can be placed, by the
mariner, in the accuracy of the charts in common use. The
shores, in many places, are so bold, that a vessel may be made
fast to the trees growing on the land.

Sidney's islands vary, on different charts, from 4° 50' to 5° 30'.
The northernmost is in latitude 3°, and longitude, according to
Arrowsmith's charts, 176° 50'. The islands are very numerous ;
some are very small, from two to three acres ; others larger, and
one twenty miles in extent.

Again, the captains who have visited Tanning's island, say it
affords a good harbour, of four or five fathoms water, and abounds
in wood and water, both easily procured. The island is found,
by charts, in latitude 3° 48' north, and longitude 158° 40' west.
Good fish in the harbour and around the island, and peppergrass
on the island, good for the scurvy.

The Kingsmills group, lying 1° south, and 175° 30' east, con-
sists of a number of beautiful islands, all thickly inhabited. A
steady current sets westerly from this group.

222 PACIFIC AND

Captain Joy discovered a barren island and a reef in 23° north,
and 177° 15X west, which has never been surveyed.

Wake's island, mentioned in the above list, in 19° 20' north,
and 166° 50' east, affords wood in abundance; no water discov-
ered on it, but probably may be found by examining the island.

In 1825 there was an island discovered by the captain of the
ship Spartan, which bears the name of the ship, (of Nantucket.)
It lies low in the water, and is in latitude 1° 10' south, and
159° 30' east.

In latitude 1° 30' south, and longitude 166° 35' east, there is
an island lately discovered. It lies high, is well watered, and is
called Morris's island. This island lies near the track of Captain
Butler, in 1794, and is southwest from Pleasant island.

An American gentleman, in a letter from Valparaiso, dated the
10th of April, 1828, to the editor of the Salem Register, gives an
account of an island which he considers a new discovery. In
this supposition he is correct; but it was first discovered by
Captain Ray, of Nantucket, in the year 1825. It }ies in 26° 32'
south, and longitude 103° 59/ west. The nearest land to it is
Easter island, in latitude 27° south, and longitude 109° 46' west.

Captain R. Closly says he never saw but one island inhabited,
and not laid down on his chart ; and this was in latitude 8° 03'
north, and 166° 15' east. It is a small low island, covered with
wood, and is not to be, found on Purdy's large and late edition of
charts of the world, published in 1827.

In latitude 10° 30' north, and east longitude 166° 4(X, the same
captain discovered a large group of islands, surrounded by many
insulated rocks and reefs, and no inhabitants.

Captain Worth informed me that Origan island, found on all the
charts north by west of the Ladrones, is worthy ,of some notice.
Fresh water may be had at it by digging wells near the southwest
side of the island, within a few feet of the beach. Plenty of fire-
wood, of good quality, may be had. Natural productions, cocoa-

INDIAN OCEAN. 223

nuts, bread-fruit, yams, &c., are found. There is no sounding
until near the shore; but, in case of necessity, a vessel may
anchor* in from twelve to fifty fathoms water : dark-gray sand on
the southwest side. There is a volcano in the middle of the island.

Captain Bennett laid down an island in 5° 30' north, longitude
139° 20X west. This is near Fanning's island. He called it
Madison island.

St. Pert's island. Against the name of this island, Captain
Bennett has marked in his log-book, "wood and water." Its
position is 18° north, longitude 116° west.

Captain Brigs discovered an island west and north of Sandwich
islands, in 25° 47/ north, longitude 172° west. The island is low,
with not more than sixty feet, in any part, from the water: three
miles long, and two across it.

Captain Edward Gardner, while in command of the whale-ship
Bellona, discovered an island, in 1823, in latitude 19° 15' north,
longitude 166° 32' east, which he judged was twenty or twenty-
five miles long. A reef appeared to make off from the east end
of it, to the distance of two miles, with detached rocks to the
west. The situation given is from the centre of the island.
" Wake's island" is placed on Arrowsmith's and other charts
nearly in the above situation. The island was covered with
wood, having a very green and rural appearance.

The island to which Captain Seely proposes to give the name
of Beverly island, was probably not, as he supposed, a new dis-
covery. On Purdy's smaller charts of the world, published in
1821, as well as on the previous edition of that chart, an island is
laid down in 18° 30' north, longitude 113° 30X west, to which he
gives the name of " St. Rosa ;" and though the longitude differs
considerably, I am disposed to believe it is the island Captain S.
describes. It is not laid down on Arrowsmith's charts ; and it is
a little remarkable that, in Purdy's edition of his large chart, pub-
lished in 1821, and improved in 1825, it is not to be found, nor

224 PACIFIC AND

has Bowditch any reference to it in his tables of latitudes and
longitudes. The island has been seen by some others of our
whalemen who have cruised in that neighbourhood ; and Captain
Swain, late of the ship Charles, ran near it, and made the longi-
tude 113° 30' west, the same as given in Purdy's former maps.

On some old charts I perceived an island laid down in the same
parallel of latitude, and about 120° west longitude, but which is
not found in the best modern charts.

Captain Swain, while passing from Sandwich islands to Cape
Horn, ran farther south than usual for whale-ships, and discovered
an island in latitude 59° south, and longitude 90° west, covered
with snow, and abounding with sea-dogs and fowl. This .must
be the same island discovered by Captain Macy, an account of
which is given before ; and this is only introduced to show how
practical men tell their plain stories, and, without any previous
concert, confirm each other.

Captain H. Bunker, in 1823, discovered an island in 15° 3(X
north, and 136° west longitude. Lying to windward, and it
blowing strong, he could not get to it to make any observations.

In the same year he landed on an island in 24° 22' north,
longitude 153° 18' east, by reckoning, not being able to make
an observation that day; nor has he visited or heard of the
island since.

Captain H. C. Bunker, about three years ago, discovered an
island not on his charts; it is called by the natives Pearotuah,
is three miles from east to west, about twenty miles in circum-
ference, high, mountainous, rocky, and rugged, free from all
dangers around it, with two boat-harbours, one northwest of the
other, on the northwest side ; the land productive. The mission-
aries had visited it, and Mr. Williams was on it at the time.
The natives are estimated at five thousand in number. It is in
latitude 21° 17' south, and longitude 159° 40' west. There is
no trace of this island on Purdy's charts to the latest editions

INDIAN OCEAN. 225

Captain S. Chase, of Nantucket, on one of his late voyages, fell
in with a canoe containing a number of natives, S. S. W. from the
Kings-mills group. They had lost their track, but pointed in the
direction they thought they came from. Captain Chase steered
to that point, and found the island where they belonged. O
going ashore, the islanders gathered round them in great numbers,
and conducted Captain Chase to the residence of their chief, who
treated him with great kindness, and loaded his boat with fresh
provisions. Captain Chase is of opinion that the island had never
been visited before, and states it to be a good place for recruiting.
The latitude and longitude are not given^ nor have I been able to
find them among any of the records in Nantucket ; the captain, al
present being on a whaling voyage in the Pacific.

Penrhyn's island. On Arrowsmith's charts this island is laid
down in lat. 9° 14' S. long. 167° 48' W., which, by a comparison
with Captain Alexander Macy's journal, kept during his late voy-
age in the ship Peruvian, is probably erroneously given on the
charts, or Captain Macy has discovered a new island.

On the 21st of July, 1827, Captain Macy discovered land, bear-
ing from W. S. W. to S. by W. 12 miles distant, his ship then
heading S. by E. On the following day he saw two other islands,
or prominent parts of the island seen the day before, with valleys
intervening, (which was probably the fact, as no water could be
perceived between them,) lying to the S. and W., the nearest part
at four miles distance. This island was well wooded, and found
to be inhabited. At 3 P. M. a canoe with five natives, of large
stature and ferocious countenances, well armed with spears and
clubs, came under the stern of the Peruvian, and remained there
nearly an hour. Soon after, many other canoes were at the lee-
ward, paddling in a direction as though their object was to inter-
cept the course of the ship. The manoeuvres of the natives
appeared so hostile, that Captain Macy made all sail off shore, and
at dark saw canoes in chase of the vessel which, however, they

29

226 PACIFIC AND

did not succeed in overtaking. Captain Macy supposes, from the
appearance of the natives, and the few articles he saw in the ca-
noe which visited the ship, that they have never had an intercourse
with, or knowledge of, civilized people* The latitude of the island
is 8° 52' S. long. 157° 23X W. Whether this be a new island or
not, is a subject of curious inquiry ; and certain it is, our know-
ledge of it is very imperfect.

From the account given by Captain Allen, the dangerous reef
of rocks near Cape St. Roque is erroneously laid down on the
charts. He experienced moderate weather while in the neigh-
bourhood of the island, which subjected his vessel to a strong
westerly current, causing her to fall to leeward of the port about
90 miles of latitude. May 24th, land was seen W. S. W. and W.
20 miles, latitude, by observation, 5° 24' S. Stood in, and at the
distance of 10 miles from land tacked off, being 24 miles south of
Cape shoals, by the chart. Observed the day following 5° 25'
S., and stood in towards the S. W. and W. S. W., working to
windward ; and, 4^- hours after, with my position, as per chart, 25
miles south of the shoals, the prominent headlands being precisely
as the day before, and judging the same distance off, (10 miles,)
while in the act of veering, the vessel struck on the reef, bilged,
and filled m three hours ; proving, according to my observation,
and information subsequently obtained on shore, that the shoals
were placed on the chart erroneously 25 to 30 miles ; latitude by
chart 5°, their true latitude 5° 25' to 5° 30X. The Cape is also
erroneously laid down, authors differing from 5° 03X to 5° 34X S.
The latest edition of the "American Coast Pilot" places them
nearly in their true position.

Captain M. Hart, on a late trading voyage from New York to
the Northwest coast, from thence to Canton, and back to New
York, via the Sandwich islands, embraced every opportunity in
his power to obtain the true position of islands, shoals, rocks, reefs,
&c., and the accuracy with which they are laid down in the charts

INDIAN OCEAN. 227

in common use. The general correctness of his observationsj I
think, may be relied on, as he is a man of considerable science, of
great experience, had on board two good chronometers, and was,
besides, well versed in the use of lunar observations. In lat. 15°
30' N. and long. 123° 20' W. are laid down the dangerous rocks
called " Villa Robos." Captain Hart sailed over the- very spot,
and saw nothing of them. They no doubt exist somewhere in the
neighbourhood, and should be looked after, and their position ac-
curately defined. On all the published charts the island " Caspar
Rico" is laid down in 15° N. lat. and 172° E. long. Smith's
island, and also St. ^Bartholomew's, have the same latitude, and
170° and 164° E. long. Captain Hart ran for these islands,
tacked several times, had a number of good observations, and de-
cided to his entire satisfaction that they are not to be found within
fifty miles of their positions given on the charts. The island
" Pagon" is laid down 25 miles too far to the north. The third
Volcano island could not be found in the latitude and longitude
given by some navigators. Captain H. ran for the island " Tres
Colunas," and came to in lat. 27° N. and 160° E. long., the very
position given this island, and, with a clear atmosphere, he could
not discover land in any direction from the mast-head, and with
the best of glasses. Of course, this isknd does not exist, or is in-
accurately laid down on the charts. "Gold island" is not laid
down correctly, as land was not in sight in 29° 3(X N. and 151°
3(X E., the position given on all the large charts.

The information I have thus far communicated has been de-
rived chiefly from our citizens engaged or interested in the whale-
fishery. I regret that I am not at liberty to communicate in wri-
ting all the interesting facts which I have been enabled to collect
from those engaged in the seal trade, or, as they call it, the " skin-
ning business." The occupation of these men leads them into
seas and parts of the globe far beyond the common pathway of

228 PACIFIC AND

the whaler. Their voyages and adventures, too, are of the most
daring kind. In small vessels they venture into high southern
latitudes, and have actually taken seal, with profit, in some in-
stances, within the south antarctic circle. In the history of the
seal-trade, secrecy in what they know, has been deemed a part,
and a very important part, too, of their capital. There is nothing
more common at this time, than that islands are frequented for
animal-fur, and their positions known to no one on board but the
captain ; and when an island is discovered, the observations are
made and noted down by the captain in his private journal.

In frequent and familiar conversations with these practical men,
who have spent so many years of their lives in these high latitudes,
I have been enabled to draw out a great deal of information in re-
lation to the manner of conducting a vessel with safety through
the ice, and the proper season of ths year to make the attempt to
reach high latitudes, with a world of useful hints and observations
of a kindred nature. These I do not deem it necessary to give in
detail, but have recorded them in my private notes for future use.
L have also been enabled to ascertain, with a good deal of precis
ion, the portion of the southern hemisphere where these attempts
to reach a high latitude have always proved ineffectual. And
they have communicated to me, also, where their experience has
fully shown that vessels may advance with no great difficulty into
very high latitudes, if not to the 90th degree itself. From all
which, as well as from answers received to a circular letter ad-
dressed to many whom I could not see, I have been enabled to
make the following estimate : —

That they have been near 70° S. latitude in a few instances, in
which latitude they experienced moderate weather, a clear sea,
and no land or ice to the south. They all agree that the ice to be
met with is first formed and attached to land, and that the greatest
impediment to navigation from ice will be found from 62° to 68°
S. except in those meridians where they have not been able to go

INDIAN OCEAN. 229

far south at any time. They have seen lands to the east of the
Shetlands, but give no account of any animal or vegetable produc-
tion on any of them.

The southern part of the New South Shetlands extends farther
than any one has yet penetrated. The shores are bold, and in
many places afford spacious harbours, which look as if they might
extend far into land, like Hudson or Baffin's bay.

The captains who have sailed within the straits of Magellan, all
report that, if properly surveyed, it would become the principal
passage to the Pacific ocean. They state that the snow-storms
are not frequent, nor of long duration, to the south, and generally
come with E. N. E. and S. S. E. winds. Currents, among the
Shetlands, mostly set N. E. at 1 J and 2 miles an hour.

Captain James C. Swain states that he has been several times
in the Pacific ocean, and found the best time to double the Cape
in March and April, as then the winds are most variable, and the
weather the most pleasant, with but now and then some rain and
hail. The highest point of south latitude he made was 59° 18',
long. 67° 20' W., being then 95 days out. The snow-storms
lasted but a short time in that latitude. Short passages are made
by keeping hear the land. On the 5th of April, he saw birds in
lat. 56° 20', long. 80° W. The birds were small, and could not
have flown far. From the appearance of the water, and from the
driftwood, as well as from the birds, he conjectured that land was
not far off. He crossed the equator on the- 24th of June, in long.
115° 22' when the variation was 5 degrees easterly. In lat. 7°
09' N., long., 121° 25' W., the variation was 5° 45'. In lat. 11°
N., long 123° 55' W., and from thence to long. 129°, and to lat.
18° 22X, he saw driftwood, and imagined that land was near.
From 33° 28' N. lat. and on 144° 5CK W. long, to 153°, the vari-
ation was about 10 degrees. He says it does not answer to come
from high to low latitudes until October. In lat. 23° 25' S., long.
52° 50' W., he saw an island, called by the natives " Remat." It

230 PACIFIC AND

appeared lo be about 15 miles in circumference, not then laid
down in any chart. The inhabitants mild and peaceable ; the land
low, and the productions the same as the Friendly islands.

Much other and more minute information has been given me
respecting the mode of doing business in the whale-fishery by the
gentlemen I have consulted; as, also, the number and nature of
their losses, with all the facts they have in their possession in re-
gard to those ships now missing, which may enable the expedition
to use the best methods of extending to these unfortunate people
assistance, if they are within the reach of aid. But these matters,
fully written out, would extend my communication to an unwar-
rantable length. Enough has already been given of what I have
collected, to. show how much remains to be done in that portion
of the globe ; and enough also, to prove to the Department that
•it is in possession of more information of these seas than the Ad-
miralty of any other nation, however commercial, for those seas
are truly our field of fame. Too much credit cannot be given to
our whalers, sealers, and traffickers in those seas for the informa-
tion they have acquired, and the liberality, generally speaking,
with which they have imparted it. But, after all their exertions,
justice to ourselves as a great people requires that this mass
of information should be reviewed, analyzed, classified, and pre-
served in careful literary labours for the benefit of mankind.

That this may be accomplished in your administration of the
marine of our country, and under your auspices, and especial care,
to the satisfaction of the public, and the honour of our country, is
my ardent wish.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

J. N. REYNOLDS.

INDIAN OCEAN. 231

WASHINGTON CITY, February 1, 1835.

SIR : As an officer of the United States navy, I cannot look
upon the efforts you have been making towards getting up an ex
pedition to the South seas with feelings of indifference. They
are noble, sir, and the design is worthy of them. I had the good
fortune to perform the cruise of the Potomac, under the command
of Commodore Downes, in which we circumnavigated the globe,
increasing our latitude from 40° north to upwards of 56° south ;
and, in this immense range of ocean, we were never once beyond
the reach, or in fact within some degrees of the limits of our wha-
ling and sealing interests. "While among the islands of the Pa-*
cine Ocean, and during a cruise of some 18 months on the west
coast of South America, I had numerous opportunities of observ-
ing the immensity of our whaling and other commercial interests
in those seas ; and alas ! of mourning (from the reports of number-
less merchants and whaling captains) over the imperfections of
our charts of those very regions now become the field of enter-
prise of those daring navigators. Newly-discovered islands are
yearly being made, and already a list of upwards of 400 has been
made. Some of these lists I have seen ; but they have, I believe,
some time since, been 'laid before the House of Representatives
by the untiring and highly-to-be-commended exertions of J. N.
Reynolds, Esq. I am well convinced, by practical knowledge, of
the utility of the proposed expedition, towards a thorough exam-
ination of those seas, for the preservation of our commerce and the
encouragement of our seamen engaged in a service already, per-
haps, the most dangerous of any, independent of unknown islands
and undiscovered reefs.

Without entering into any learned or farfetched argument in
support of the existence of undiscovered land in high southern
latitudes, abounding in articles of commercial interest, allow me,
sir, to refer you to a communication made to the Royal Geo-

232 PACIFIC AND

graphical Society, in the year 1833. It appears, from this paper,
that one Captain Biscoe, in the brig Tula, accompanied by a small
cutter, the Lively, on the 8th of February, 1831, discovered land,
and during one whole month remained in the vicinity of it. He
clearly discerned the black peaks above the snow, but he was una-
ble to approach nearer than thirty miles to it, from the boisterous
state of the weather and ice. The stormy petrels were the only
birds seen, and no fish. It has been named Emberly's land, lon-
gitude 47° 30' east, latitude 66° 30' south ; an extent of 300 miles
was seen. In consequence of the bad state of the health of his
crew, Captain Biscoe was compelled to return into warmer lati-
tudes ; but, in the eany part of February, 1832, he was again in
the vicinity of an immense iceberg, when it fell to pieces, accom-
panied by a tremendous noise, and, on the 15th of the same month,
land was seen to the southeast, latitude 67° 15', longitude 69°
29' west. It was found to be an island near the head-land of what
may hereafter be called the Southern continent. On the island,
about four miles from the shore, was a high peak, and some
smaller ones. On the 21st of February, Captain Biscoe landed in
a spacious bay, on the main land, and took possession, in the
name of his majesty William IV. It will probably, on futher ex-
amination, be found that this very land is but a continuation of the
same chain of islands which are entirely and undoubtedly an
American discovery ; but the honour may be snatched from us,
and the glory of naming them be lost to the country, should the
present expedition fail, to say nothing of the advantages that may
be lost in the collection of animal-fur. I will not trouble you
longer, sir ; I may already have taken a liberty in writing to you
on the subject. I have too much pride in my country, to suppose
for one moment that a few months will not see the South Sea ex-
pedition filling to the breeze, and wafting on to national fame.
Few hearts in the navy will not beat high with hope of participa-
tion, and many — (and I say it with professional exultation) — yea,

INDIAN OCEAN. 233

many noble spirits will be found ready and willing to venture all,
and patiently meet the dangers and privations which such an ex-
pedition may demand, to fill the measure of their country's glory.
Sir, may I venture further, and look to the end of three short
years, and foretell the return of the gallant little band crowned'
with success — rich in knowledge of tropical seas, and bearing the
high honour of having unfurled the stars of liberty even to the
verge of the Southern hemisphere. And with what pride — what
glowing conscious pride, will not you, sir, and the honourable
committee to which the subject has been referred, hail the return
of that expedition which your efforts pushed forward ; bearing, too,
that information which is to render the South seas and Pacific
ocean more safe to our daring fishermen and other traffickers.

With high hopes for the success of yourself and the honourable
committee, and with many sentiments of respect,
I remain, sir,

Your obedient and humble servant,

SYLVANUS GODON,

Passed Midshipman U. S. Navy.
Hon. DUTEE J. PEARCE,

Member of the Committee on Commerce.

234

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS, REEFS, SHOALS, &c.,

NOT CONTAINED JN THE PRECEDING REPORT.

North

West

latitude.

longitude.

Curry's island. -

By some - -

28°25'

178°20'

By others - -

28 25

178 14

Tamulanes'

island - - -

36 49

Washington

Island - - -

4 33

159 45

By others - -

4 40

160 40

Jane's island

16 06

173 12

Louisa do. - -

16 25

145

Caroline do. - -

17

145 05

Charles do. - -

25 15

172 34

5

160

46

171 57

11

171 55

28 54

177 39

A rock - - -

11 06

154 30

Do. - - , :•$

7 51

139 50

|

Reef - - - -

17 12

156 12

Pollard's reef -

24 09

168 09

Reef - - - - -j

1 13

179 18

Do. - - - J

8 06

140

Shoal - - V r

1 44

170 30

Do. - - •- '•».

25 36

151 28

Do. - - ^

26 5

177 56

21 29

131 28

13

171 45

49

171 40

Reef - -

710 15

133 50

[ ... ~ '

North

East

latitude*

longitude.

Sarah Ann's

island - - -

16°08

143° 16'

Worth's isle - -

8 48

151 D.

Copper inland -

26 06

131 48

Paul's island

21 09

141 39

Bassiosas isle -

26 06

173 27

Tuck's island -

1 07

150 D.

INDIAN OCEAN.

235

ISLANDS, REEFS, SHOALS &c.

North

East

latitude.

longitude.

Whittington's isl
Ascension islanc

6°48"
6 52

159°48X
158 50

North's island -

8 48

150 to

152 D.

Granger's isle -

18 58

144 14

Halison's do. •*

19 39

166 50

Genevieve islanc

17

176 56

Mary's islands -

9

150

Elizabeth do.

7

151

Emily do. *-

9 48

165 12

Joanna island

17 06

163 33

Susan's do. - -

27 36

143

' %o vfp. |. >>•

30 40

155

("".[' ' *. •'*'•'•**

30

137

29 33

137

30

139

30 59

146 57

' ^ . • i

29

175 45

\'-\*- '"'i]

26 06

131 48

23 03

162 57

k£ •' \-rt-- K - ••

Reef ....

19 16

165 43

<m csw ; f-

Do. -.- -

16 36

169 42

:•'-•-•

Do. ....

17 30

144 45

, >

South

West

. • " • ; ' i

latitude.

longitude.

\ 1 -^

-tt i

Whytetuche

< !

i

island - - -

18°52/

159042'

Watuoo island -

21 01

158 15

Chittorra do.

22 30

151 30

Jarvis do.

30

172

1

Brind's do.

3 14

171

Long do.

17 56

140 16

Claudius do.

18 22

115 15

Pystoza do.

22 23

175 41

Sarah do.

1 05

158 54

19 13

139

Helen islands -

fm.3lo3°

40' S. and

1715Q'to

173° 10'

Theodora island

5 32

173 34

236

PACIFIC AND

ISLANDS, REEFS, SHOALS, &c.

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

Group of islands
Fanny island

17°

1

145° 12'
172

Julia do. - -

1 30

171 10

2 20

171 15

Harper's island -

2 40

172 35

Brother's do.

2 48

171 59

t

6 36

163

Fletcher do. -

7 04

173 12

15 40

144 50

Wesley do.

15 54

141 42

16 08

145 12

16 09

142 12

17 28

140 56

Anthon's group -

17 54

142

C4 V '..».

19 20

179 30

21 10

149 30

23 20

104 50

10

152 32

16

148 56

Rock - - - -

26 24

170 54

Do. - ---

25 30

174 03

Do. near Tapo-

calma, 50 miles

South of Val-

paraiso. Seve-

ral vessels have

been lost on it.

33 51

71 28

Reef dangerous

5 38

173 33

' '. ' • -

Do. - - - -

3 38

157 59

Do. - ...

10 48

166 06

New Bladone -

18 11

118 40

• •

South

East

latitude.

longitude.

'

Tencher's isle -

1°33'

150°40'

Roturia do. -

12 29

177 10

1

174 10

Rambler's reef -

22

174 30

Reef ....

31 30

154

28 40

160 14

INDIAN- OCEAN.

237

ISLANDS, REEFS, SHOALS, &c.

South

West

latitude.

longitude.

.

11°29'

165° 25'

2 45

172 30

Farmer's island

3

170 45

Arthur's do. -

3 40

176 15

Solitary do. -

10 39

177

Savage do. -

19 05

169 50

A rock - - -

Between Falkland

islands

'"" • ' (• * ''

and the continent — about

1 1-,

200 miles west

of the

former.

Off-shore whaling ground, from 103° to 115°, in lat. from 3°
to 5°, 7° S., and sometimes on the line, Captain Mitchell discov-
ered a low island well covered with timber. It was not seen until
the vessel was near, and had it been night, the chances are that
the vessel would have been lost. There were no other islands in
sight, and this one not on any chart. The island should bear the
name of its discoverer, Mitchell.

Navigator's islands. These islands are said to be eight in num-
ber, were discovered by Bougainville, and examined by Perouse
in 1787, and may be said to extend from 14° 9' to 18° 57' south.
The number of inhabitants is probably from forty to fifty thousand.

Captain Worth, of the Howard, informs us that, having visited
most of the islands in the South Pacific, he considers the island
of Ottewhy as presenting advantages and facilities to whalemen,
superior to those of any other island in that ocean. It affords
fruit, yams, poultry, swine, &c., in the greatest abundance, plenty
of wood and excellent water. For a musket the natives give thir-
teen hogs, or eight hundred to a thousand yams ; and great quan-
tities of fowls, cocoa-nuts, bananas, &c., may be purchased for a
few pipes, flints and blue-glass beads. The fruit is generally ob-

238 PACIFIC AND

tained at the northwest part of the island ; but hogs, wood, and
water are procured from the north side. Sufficient supplies may be
taken on board in the short space of four days ; and no danger need
be apprehended from the natives, provided the precaution be taken to
keep the head chief on board as a hostage, day and night — a re-
quisition very willingly complied with, when two or three of the
natives and an interpreter are also allowed to remain. By pursu-
ing this course in both his visits to this place, Captain Worth
passed and repassed unarmed in his boats with perfect safety, and
found the natives extremely civil, never attempting to steal from
the boats on shore, nor while on board his ship. He thinks, how-
ever, that without this precaution, they would not hesitate to seize
a boat and crew, merely for the sake of two or three muskets,
which article they seemed very anxious to obtain, though they
never inquired for shot or ball. The white residents (of which
there are only two, who are chiefly engaged in agriculture,) in-
formed Captain Worth that they made no other use of the mus-
kets than to discharge them at their great feasts, considering those
the best which made the loudest reports.

The chains of islands in Oceanica and the Pacific, extend in
general, from S. E. to N. W., and the groups often terminate with
a large island, as Otaheite and Owyhee. This fact may facilitate
discovery, and a knowledge of it add to the security of navigation,
by avoiding the immense reefs which extend, no doubt, at great
distance from the point where the islands terminate.

Solomon islands, seen by Byron in 1765, and supposed by him
to be the islands of Quiros, in the 17th century. They are ex-
ceedingly dangerous— Lie in 10° 15' S. 169° 28' W.

Admiralty islands lie to the N. W. of New Ireland ; are numer-
ous, extending from 1° 28' S., to 5° 20' S., and from 148° 20" E.,
to 152° 16' E. This scope embraces the whole extent of New
Britain.

New Guinea, that great link by which the Molucca islands are

INDIAN OCEAN. 239

connected on the one hand with New Holland, and with the Po-
lonesian archipelago on the other. Of this extensive chain we
know nothing except the line of coast, and, unfortunately, even of
that but little. The length of this country cannot be much short
of 1200 miles, and from 15 to 360 in width. This country is
called Papua, or the country of the Papoos, a name by which the
inhabitants are known among the Malays. It is from these islands
that birds of Paradise are procured, of which there are known to
be not less than twelve species.

St. David and Freewill islands form the most natural transition
from New Guinea to Polynesia, or Eastern Oceanica ; and what
is strange, these islands are inhabited by a race entirely different
from the Papua, being of a copper colour, and in language re-
sembling the Sandwich islands

Leaving the Molucca sea, next comes the Pelew islands, called
by the early navigators Palaos. The inhabitants are naturally an
amiable, gay, and innocent people, of middling size, and by no
means bad looking. They lie between 133° and 136° E., and
from 6° to 8° N.

To the north of the Pelew islands are those called Matetotes,
Martyrs, Sagaoadiahh, &e.

The groups of St. Andrew, Pedeo, Warwick, &c., stretch off to
the south, and are but imperfectly known.

Turning to the northeast from the Pelew islands, we find the
Marian .group, consisting of neat twenty in number. These islands
are of ancient discovery, by Magellan, in 1621, and called by, him
Ladrones, but were afterward, under Philip IV., changed to the
present name in honour of Mary Ann of Austria. They extend
from 13° to 22° N., and from 145° 35' to 148° E..

To the north of Marian islands are different groups, of which
nothing is known except that they are volcanic.

What is known, even at this late day, of the Caroline islands?
Nothing, except that this archipelago lies between the Pescadores

240 PACIFIC AND

on the east, the Marian islands on the north, and the Pelew isl-
ands on the west. The group does not contain less than two hun-
dred islands. The soil is fertile, but the country is subject to hur-
ricanes.

Of the Mulgrave islands, (from O6 to 8° S., and 171° to 175°
E.,) we know their name and position. This chain is connected
with the Caroline group by the Pescadores ; and probably with
the other archipelagos of Polynesia by chains still unknown.

All the seas west from Navigator's islands to Solomon's group,
are speckled with detached islands ; some of them remarkably
fertile and productive.

Feyjee islands, or archipelago, from 16° 30' to 19° 48' N., and
from 175° 5' to 179° 19' W.

Sailing eastward, we fall in with the hills and plains of the
Friendly islands. Allowing this cluster to extend as far as the
Feyjees in the west, the Cocoa and Traitor's islands in the north,
to Savage island in the east, and to Pytstaert in the south, it will
include more than one hundred islands.

The Society islands have been the theme of more writing than
some kingdoms of Europe. Who that has read and not admired
the charms of Queen Oberia, and viewed in imagination the fes-
tivals of Potomare. The Otaheitans are better known to us than
the inhabitants of Sardinia or of Corsica. Otaheite is indeed en-
titled to the appellation of Queen of the Pacific.

To the southwest and southeast of the Society islands, -a long
chain of widely-separated islands extends, beginning with Palmer-
ston, and ending with Easter islands. To the northeast and east
are Gloucester, St. Paul's, Conversion, Michall, and many others
but little ,known.

In passing from Easter island to the Marquesas, the whole
ocean is sprinkled with small islands, low, sandy, and encircled
with coral reefs ; and here the navigation is exceedingly danger-
ous. At the north of these low islands we find the lofty Marque-

INDIAN OCEAN. 241

sas. These islands were discovered by Mandana, and lie from 7°
to 10° S., and from 138° 48' to 165° 9X W. In sailing east from
the Marquesas, no doubt important discoveries are to be made ;
perhaps Roggerwyer's would be rediscovered ; for these, bearing
the name of their discoverer in 1722, must lie between the 9° and
12° parallels of south latitude. No complete account of Rogger-
wyer's voyage was ever published.

J. N. REYNOLDS.

WASHINGTON fit*?, March, 1836.

*. *

31

# •

REPORT

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE

February 7, 1835.— Mr. PBARCE, of Rhode Island, from the Committee on Commerce,
made the following report: —

The Committee on Commerce, to whom were referred numerous memorials
from citizens of various sections of the United States, praying that
an exploring expedition to the Pacific ocean and South seas may be
authorized by Congress, report : —

THAT the number and character of the memorialists, and the
opinions they have expressed upon the subject of the memorials,
have called the committee to an attentive and careful considera-
tion of the objects to be attained by the expedition, as well as of
the reasoning and facts adduced in favour of the undertaking.

It is represented that the intercourse between the different parts
of the nation and the islands and countries of the Pacific has
become a matter of public interest, and deserving the protecting
care of the national legislature. The fur-business hitherto carried
on between the Pacific islands and China, has afforded rich returns,
and increased the wealth of our common country. Besides this
employment of national industry and enterprise, it is represented
that there are engaged in the whale-fishery, from various parts of
the country, an aggregate of one hundred and thirty-two thousand
tons of shipping and ten thousand men.

Besides this amount, engaged directly and exclusively in the
trade, there is a vast amount of capital incidentally dependant on
it, and in transporting oil to Europe, and in return cargoes, as well

244 COMMITTEE ON

as the different parts of our own coast ; so that, from the most
careful computation, it has been found that not less than one hun
dred and seventy thousand tons of shipping, navigated by twelve
thousand men, are employed in this branch of business, and the
capital invested not much, if any, short of twelve millions of
dollars. This view of the astonishing increase in this branch of
our national industry, is fully sustained by records, and is ably
treated in an article of unusual merit in the North American
Review, for January, 1834.

The memorialists further represent, that the increased extent of
the voyages now pursued by the trading and whaling ships into
seas but little explored, and to parts of the world before unknown,
has increased the cares, the dangers, and the losses of their mer-
chants and mariners. Within a few years their cruisers have
extended from the coasts of Peru and Chili to the Northwest coast,
New Zealand, and the isles of Japan. This increase of risk has
been attended by an increase of loss. Several vessels have been
wrecked on islands and reefs not laid down on the charts ; and, in
some instances, no soul survived to tell their fate.

That something should be done, on the part of Government,
for the protection of this widely-extended and important interest,
seems to be the undivided opinion, as it is evidently the interest,
of a large portion of the country ; and the anxiety of the public
mind has been evinced by various memorials to this house from
legislative bodies, from the hardy and enterprising citizens of Nan-
tucket, and other places interested in the whale-trade.

A recent expression of the legislature of Rhode Island is con-
tained in the following words : —

" State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in General

Assembly ', October Session, A. D. 1834.

"Resolved, That, in the opinion of this general assembly, the
subject of the memorial of J. N. Reynolds and others, dated

: '••'•':.•":.

COMMERCE. 245

November, 1 834, praying that provision may be made by law for
a voyage of discovery and survey to the South seas, is highly
important to our shipping and commercial interests, and is hereby
recommended by the said assembly to the favourable considera-
tion of the Congress of the United States."

Following this resolve of the legislature of Rhode Island, the
East India Marine Society of Salem, Massachusetts, a society
which has filled a large space in the commercial history of our
country, in their memorial, use strong and decisive language, and
speak with a practical knowledge, which entitles their views to
the most respectful consideration ; "for among them are those who
were the first to display our national colours in our commerce to
the eastern world ; among them are those who have been engaged
in trade on coasts and among islands but little known ; and they
have felt, in losses and in painful solicitude, the want of the pro-
tection of their government, as well to point out the position of a
dangerous reef, as to defend them against the natives, who had
seen nothing of our power to restrain them from unlawful attacks
upon their vessels or their lives ; among them are those who have
visited the islands in the Pacific, as well as those in the east, and
have seen and felt the dangers our vessels are exposed to, for the
want of such protection as an expedition, fitted out for the express
purpose, alone can give."

They further state, that they will " refrain from going into any
computation of the immense amount of tonnage and capital engaged
from the United States, in the whale-fishery, all of which is more
or less interested in such an expedition. Without attempting to
designate the groups of islands most important to be examined,
your memorialists would simply call the attention of your honour-
able body to one point, which may serve as an index to the rest :
the Feejee or Beetee islands. What is known of them ? They

246 COMMITTEE ON

were named, but not visited, by Captain Cook, and consist of
sixty or more in number. Where shall we find charts of this
group, pointing out its harbours and dangers? There are none
to be found, for none exist. And yet, have we no trade there ?
We speak not for others, but for ourselves.

" From this port, the following vessels have been, or now are,
employed in procuring biche-le-mer and shells at the Feejee
islands, in exchange for which eastern cargoes are brought into
our country, and thus contributing no inconsiderable amount to
our national revenue : — •

" Ship Clay, brig Quill, have returned ; brig Faun, lost at the
islands ; ship Glide, Niagara, also lost ; and bark Peru greatly
damaged, and in consequence condemned at Manilla ; brig Spy
damaged, but repaired again ; brig Charles Doggett, bark Pallas,
brig Edwin, ship Eliza, ship Emerald, ship Augustus, and brig
Consul.

" The Charles Doggett has recently returned, in consequence of
having a portion of her crew massacred by the natives. The
ship Oeno, of Nantucket, was lost on one of these islands, and
her officers and crew, consisting of twenty-four in number, were
all massacred, in like manner, except one.

" Thus, it must appear to your honourable body, that the losses
sustained at this single point — to say nothing of the value of
human life, which is above all price — would not fall far short, if
any, of the amount necessary to fit out an expedition for the better
examination of such points in the Pacific ocean and South seas,
as require the attention of government." .

In recurring to the memorials hitherto presented, and now on
file, your committee find them thus alluded to in a letter from J.
N. Reynolds, Esq., transmitting them to the honourable Andrew
Stevenson, at that time speaker of the house. [See document 209,
1st session 20th Congress.] The writer says : —

COMMERCE. 247

"Among these memorials, you will find one from Albany, dated
October 19th, 1827, and signed by his excellency Nathaniel
Pitcher, lieutenant-governor of the state of New York, the hon-
ourable Erastus Root, speaker of the house of representatives,
and by nearly all the members of the legislature. I have
also the honour of transmitting to you three other memo-
rials : — the first is dated Charleston, South Carolina, May 31st,
1827, and signed by the mayor of the city, President of the
Chamber of Commerce, and by a very long list of respectable
citizens. The second is dated Raleigh, North Carolina, Decem-
ber 24th, 1827, and contains the signatures of his excellency
James Iredell, governor of the state; the. honourable B. Yancy,
speaker of the senate ; the honourable James Little, speaker of
the house of commons; and by a large proportion of the members
of each branch of the legislature. The third memorial is dated
Richmond, Virginia, January 1st, 1828, and is sustained by a
number of respectable citizens : by the honourable Linn Banks,
speaker of the house of delegates, and by a large and respect-
able number of the members of the legislature."

With these memorials, Mr. Reynolds transmitted, in like man-
ner, to the speaker, the following preamble and resolution, adopted
by the house of delegates of the state of Maryland : —

"Whereas foreign nations have long turned their attention
towards the acquirement of a more perfect knowledge of the
geography of the earth, by means of voyages of discovery, and
by these exertions have not only acquired reputation, but extended
the weight of their influence, opened new channels for commer-
cial enterprise, and benefited the human race, by enlarging and
improving the boundaries of knowledge : And whereas the gov-
ernment of the United States has attained a high standing among
the nations of the earth, the practical result of the most stupen-

248 COMMITTEE ON

dous, as well as successful, experiment ever made in politics ; a
population fast increasing ; commercial relations and interest co-
extensive with the civilized world; nautical skill, perseverance,
and enterprise, if not unequalled, at least unsurpassed : And
whereas the sending out of one or two vessels on a voyage of
discovery would not be attended with any very heavy demands
on the public treasury, and would seem to be in strict accordance
with the character and liberal policy which ought to be pursued
by a government whose political existence is, in a great measure,
dependant on the general intelligence of the people : And whereas
a great number of the most enlightened citizens, of different sec-
tions of our country, have memorialized the senate and house of
representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, and
have set forth in their memorials that, under the patronage of the
United States, an expedition should be fitted out without delay,
and proceed to acquire a more correct knowledge of our own con-
tinent ; or, if possible, to enter the more interesting and extensive
field for enterprise in the southern hemisphere ; and, provided for
the purpose with hardy seamen and scientific persons, to bring
home to us the result of their labours, for the honour of our coun-
try and the benefit of mankind : And whereas voyages of this
kind, even when they fail of making important discoveries,
bespeak a liberal policy, and give character to the people who
undertake them : Therefore,

" Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland,
That we do highly approve of the views of the said memorialists,
believing that a polar expedition, if properly conducted, could
scarcely fail in adding something to the general stock of national
wealth and knowledge, and to the honour and glory of the United
States."

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to remark, that this expression of
public sentiment, though extensive, and deserving the most

COMMERCE. 249

respectful consideration, is small, when compared with other and
similar memorials, introduced during the same session, from tne
legislatures of Pennsylvania, Ohio, &c.

These memorials having been referred to the committee on
naval affairs, on the 3d of March, 1828, a letter was addressed,
by order of the committee, to the honourable Samuel L. Southard,
secretary of the navy, asking his "opinion respecting such an
expedition, and briefly his reasons for it."

To this inquiry the secretary replied : —

" I entertain the opinion that such an expedition is expedient.
My reasons are briefly these : —

" That we have an immense and increasing commerce in that
region, which needs the protecting kindness of the government,
and may be greatly extended by such an expedition. Of the
extent and nature of this commerce, it is not easy to write
briefly; nor is it necessary. It is better known to none than
to some of the members of the naval committee in the house
of representatives. The estimate of its value has been much
augmented, in the view of the department, by the reports which
have been made, under its orders, by our naval officers who
have commanded vessels of war in the Pacific, and which are
now on file.

" The commercial operations carried on in that quarter are diffi-
cult and hazardous : they are correctly represented in the memo-
rial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, to which I would refer, as
well as to some of the many other memorials which have been
addressed to Congress on this subject. It would seem wise in
the government to render these commercial operations less hazard-
ous, and less destructive of life and property, if it can be done by
a moderate expenditure of money.

" The commerce in the Pacific ocean affords one of the best

32

250 COMMITTEE ON

nurseries for our seamen. An expedition, such as that proposed,
would be calculated to increase that class of citizens — an increase
in which the government and nation are deeply interested.

" We now navigate the ocean, and acquire our knowledge of
the globe, its divisions and properties, almost entirely from the
contributions of others. By sending an expedition into that im-
mense region, so little known to the, civilized world, we shall add
something to the common stock of geographical and scientific
knowledge, which is not merely useful to commerce, but connects
itself with almost all the concerns of society ; and while we make
our contribution to this common stock, we shall not fail to derive
the best advantages to ourselves, and be richly paid, even in a
calculation of expenditure and profiu"

On the 25th of March, the committee made their report to the
house, and expressed themselves in the following terms :-—

" In relation to the interests, individual and national, connected
with such an expedition, the committee refer to a statement sub-
mitted to them by Mr. J. N. Reynolds, on the 10th February,
1828, in answer to inquiries addressed to him by order of the
committee. So much of the statement as exhibits the amount
of our commerce in the Pacific seas, the committee think is fully
sustained by the reports of the officers of our navy, who have,
by order of the Secretary, heretofore made reports upon that
subject, to which Mr. Reynolds refers, and with which his state
ment has been compared, as well as with the accounts of others
familiar with those branches of our trade.

"The dangers to which an immense amount of property is
exposed, as well as the hazard to human life, for the want of
knowledge, by more accurate surveys, of the regions to which
our commerce is extending, and the probable new sources of

COMMERCE. 251

wealth which may be opened and secured to us, seem to your
committee not only to justify, but to demand the appropriation
recommended ; they therefore report a bill for the purpose."

<*

During the same session this report was acted on, and a bill,
making an appropriation, passed the house of representatives.

From that period to the present, no legislative action has been
taken upon the subject, though scarcely a session has passed that
memorials from one section or other of the country have not been
presented; and the continued solicitude of the public mind is
evinced in favour of the enterprise, now that the condition of our
country and its financial concerns can so easily afford the small
demand upon the treasury which such an expedition will require.

The action of Congress is not invoked in favour of a measure
of doubtful expediency. The requisite information in forming an
enlightened judgment, and in directing the action of government,
is umple and complete, and will be found in the accompanying
documents. *

The report of Mr. Reynolds on the islands in the Pacific shows,
at a single view, what remains to be accomplished. To examine
such of these islands as may be found to contain harbours and
places of refreshment for our fishermen, would, of itself, more
than justify the expenditure necessary for an expedition, to say
nothing of the collateral advantages to be derived in the attain-
ment of much useful knowledge, so highly to be prized by every
enlightened mind.

Our interests in those seas have indeed become immense, and
extend beyond all former example ; for our whalers, sealers, and
traffickers are pursuing their voyages in parts of the world where, a
few years ago, it would have been adventurous for a discovery-ship.

The following statement from Mr. Reynolds, in answer to an
inquiry addressed to him, shows the amounl of our interests afloat
among these islands at this moment : — •

252 COMMITTEE ON

"JANUARY 30, 1835.

" SIR : In answer to the inquiry contained in your note of the
25th ultimo, I send you a statement of the amount of tonnage and
capital at 'this moment afloat,' and engaged in the spermaceti
whale-fishery.

" The document from which this statement is taken has
recently been prepared with great care by very competent per-
sons in Nantucket.*

" The details comprise the names of the ships and barks thus
employed, names of the masters, ports to which they belong, dates
of departures, periods of absence, quantities of oil when last heard
from, and tonnage of vessels, respectively, together with much
other valuable information. ,_*.v,

" On inspecting this tabular statement, it is found that the whole
number of ships engaged in this valuable branch of the fisheries
is 273, of which 257 are now absent, viz. : —

From New Bedford, - - - 94
" Nantucket, - - - - 63
" Fairhaven, - - - - 14
" Bristol, ----- 13
9

Hudson, 9

Warren, .^r -, .'._- 7
Edgarton> - - - - 6

" New London, - "• "Mj

From Falmouth, - - - - 6

" Newport, 6

" Sag Harbour, - - - 5

" Salem, 3

" Newburyport, - - - 3

" Poughkeepsie, - - - 2

" Portsmouth,- - - - 2

" Dartmouth, - - - - 2

And one from each of the following ports, viz. : Boston, Plymouth,
Wareham, Rochester, Portland, Wiscasset, Fall River, Providence,
Stonington, Newburgh, New York, and Wilmington, (Delaware).
Sixteen ships only are in port, belonging as follows : To New
Bedford, 7; Nantucket, 5; Fairhaven, Plymouth, Sag Harbour,
and Edgarton, each one.

" The agregate tonnage of the 257 absent ships is nearly one
hundred thousand tons. The number of seamen and navigators
employed on board these vessels is not far from nine thousand.

* "Nantucket Inquirer."

COMMERCE. 253

" This document famishes a very careful estimate of the quan-
tity of spermaceti oil imported into the United States during the
year 1834. Since the first of January, there have arrived from 1
the Pacific ocean fifty-five ships, viz. : Into the port of Nantucket,
11; New Bedford, 25; Plymouth, 2; Fairhaven, 6; New London,
2 ; Edgarton, 2 ; Sag Harbour, 2 ; Warren, 2 ; Falmouth, Bristol,
and Hudson, each one. The cargoes of these ships average little
more than two thousand barrels each ; add to this quantity sixteen
thousand barrels, estimated to have been brought from the South
Atlantic ocean, making about one hundred and twenty-eight thou-
sand barrels, and we have the entire quantity of spermaceti oil
imported in the course of the last year. Of this quantity, seventy
thousand five hundred and seventy-seven barrels were received at
New Bedford, and the residue at Nantucket and other places.

" Among the ships now abroad, there are thirty-one which sailed
in 1831 ; seventy-three, 1832; eighty-eight, 1833; and sixty-five,
1834. The number of spermaceti whale-ships expected to arrive
within the year 1835, may be set down at seventy, and their car-
goes at one hundred and thirty-five thousand barrels, valued at
more than three millions of dollars.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

«J. N. REYNOLDS,

" Hon. DUTEE J. PEARCE."

In addition to all this information, your committee have availed
themselves of a letter from one of our ablest and most experienced
commanders, addressed to an honourable member of this house ;
and the liberal and practical views expressed, entitle the opinions
of the writer to great weight.

!*^*:^

" CHARLESTOWN, (Mass.) January 21, 1835.

" DEAR SIR : In compliance with your request that I would
communicate to you, in writing, my views on the subject of a

254 COMMITTEE ON

voyage of discovery to the South seas and Pacific ocean, I have
to regret that the circumscribed limits of a letter will allow but
little more than the simple expression of an opinion on a subject
of so much national importance, and in relation to which so much
might be said in detail.

"I have had some .experience in the navigation of the less-
frequented parts of the Pacific, at an earlier period of my life.
During my late voyage in the Potomac, I have had an opportunity
to add greatly to the knowledge acquired in former years. An
expedition, fitted out for the purpose of improving our knowledge
of the hydrography of those seas, has often been the subject of
my reflections. As the representative of a district largely engaged
in the whale-fishery, you must frequently have seen, from the
reports of masters of vessels engaged in that business, accounts
of new islands and reefs being frequently discovered, and which
are either not laid down on the charts, or so erroneously marked
that they can give no security to the mariner. It is probable that
not less than five hundred of these islands and reefs have been
marked with sufficient accuracy by our whalers, sealers, and traf-
fickers, of one kind or another, to enable an expedition to examine
the most important of them, without much loss of time in seeking
their positions. This will enable the discovery- vessels to do more
in less time than has probably ever been effected by a similar
enterprise from any other country. Of the extent of our interest
in those remote seas, I need not speak, as you are conversant with
the subject; besides, the interest has been fairly represented by
memorials to Congress. During the circumnavigation of the
globe, in which I crossed the equator six times, and varied my
course from 40° north . to 57° south latitude, I have never found
myself beyond the limits of our commercial marine. The accounts
given of the dangers and losses to which our shipping are exposed
by the extension of our trade into seas but little known, so far, in
my opinion, from being exaggerated, would admit of being placed

COMMERCE. i 255

in bolder relief, and the protection of government implored in
stronger terms. I speak from practical knowledge, having myself
seen the dangers, and painfully felt the want of the very kind of
information in the guidance of a vessel in those seas which our
commercial interests so much need, and which, I suppose, would
be the object of such an expedition as is now under consideration,
before the committee of Congress to give. Indeed, the whole of
this business, it seems to me, is a plain and practical affair. The
commerce of our country has extended itself to remote parts of
the world; is carried on around islands and reefs not laid down
on the charts ; among even groups of islands from ten to sixty in
number, abounding in objects valuable in commerce, but of which
nothing is known accurately ; no, not even the sketch of a harbour
has been made, while of such as are inhabited our knowledge is
still more imperfect. It would seem to require no argument to
prove, that a portion of our commerce might be rendered more
secure, and probably greatly increased, by vessels sent, properly
prepared, to examine such islands. There are also immense por-
tions of the South seas, bordering on the antarctic circle, well
deserving the attention of such an expedition, especially during
the most favourable months of the southern summer. Islands
discovered in that quarter will probably be found to yield rich
returns in animal -fur. Indeed, discoveries of this kind have been
recently made by some English whalers, supposed to be of great
extent, the vessels having sailed along three hundred miles of
coast lying south of the Cape of Good Hope. This may lead to
other very interesting discoveries, which will probably be found,
on further examination, to be a continuation of Palmer's Land,
lying south of the South Shetland islands, or only separated from
it by a narrow channel. Much might be said in favour of a
speedy examination of this portion of the South seas ; indeed, I
hardly know where au expedition could go where it might not be

256 COMMITTEE ON

in the way of doing good ; to say nothing of the credit our country
would acquire in promoting such an enterprise.

" As to my opinion of the class of vessels best suited for such
an expedition, I should unhesitatingly say : two brigs or barks, of
two hundred tons each, and a tender, of from eighty to one hun-
dred tons. A great many weighty reasons might be given to
show, that if, in the same ratio, vessels were beyond this size, the
chances of safety and extensive usefulness would be proportion-
ably decreased.

" Very respectfully,

" Your obedient servant,

"JOHN DOWNES.
" Hon. JOHN REED, Mem. of Con."

In the conclusion of the report alluded to by the committee on
naval affairs, dated February 10, 1828, (Rep. 209, 1st sess. 20th
Cong.) Mr. Reynolds holds the following appropriate language : —

"The opening of the ports in South America has already
changed our course of trade in the Pacific greatly for the better,
and will more and more benefit us, if we take care of our rights
in those seas, and send a sufficient force to protect our commerce,
which, no doubt, it will be the policy of our government to pursue.

" To look after the merchant there, to offer him every possible
facility, to open new channels for his enterprise, and to keep a
respectable naval force to protect him, is only paying a debt we
owe to the commerce of the country; for millions have flowed
into the national treasury from this trade, before one cent was
appropriated for its protection.

" The naval commanders we have sent into the Pacific have
done all that wise, active, and experienced men could do. They
have not only taught the natives that we are a powerful people,

COMMERCE. 257

and could defend ourselves in that distant country as well as other
nations, but those new states and empires which have arisen in
South America have been shown that we could punish wrongs
and enforce rights, and had the good of mankind, as well as our
own prosperity, at heart. Power, judiciously exhibited, is the
great peacemaker of the world ; and a people whose institutions
are not yet thoroughly established, as those in South America,
want looking after with a steady eye. In attending to these duties,
it is impossible for our naval commanders to explore those seas for
the purpose of discovering new places. Their duty is to watch the
old ; and this is a sufficient task for any force we can send there.

" The whale-ships having a specific object in view, and gene-
rally under strict orders, cannot waste an hour in the business of
discovery ; nor can they, consistently with their duties, stop a day
to explore and examine what they may accidentally discover.
The Northwest-coast trader has also a specific object, and a more
direct path than the whaler.

" It seems well understood, at this time, that it is for our interest
and for our honour to be well acquainted with the capacities of the
globe ; to see what resources can be drawn from that great common
of natioris, the ocean. The enlightened statesman, therefore, sur-
veys all parts of it with the view of opening new channels for
commerce and trade ; and he does not refuse to advance them by
a present expense, when coupled with the certainty of a future
and a greater good.

*********

" No one who has reflected on the vast resources of the earth,
* which is our inheritance,' can doubt that a large portion of it
contains many things which may be turned to good account by
the enterprise and good-management of our people ; and those are
the true profit of commerce. The great mass of the intelligence
of the country is for it, and is calling on the national legislature
for aid in the undertaking.

33

258 COMMITTEE ON

"The states whose legislative powers have sanctioned it are
represented on the floor of Congress by one hundred and twenty-
nine members, to say nothing of the memorials from large cities
and other places ; and the aggregate of citizens of these states,
near six millions.

" We have been an industrious, a commercial, and enterprising
people, and have taken advantage of the knowledge of others, as
well as of their trade ; for, although oar entrance and clearance,
without looking at our immense coasting-trade, amounted to eight
thousand seven hundred and sixty-six vessels, yet not one of those
were sailed a mile by a chart made by us,* except we may suppose
that the chart of George's banks may have been used by a few
of the navigators of these vessels. We are dependant on other
nations for all our nautical instruments, as well as charts ; and, if
we except Bowditclis Navigator,, an improvement on Hamilton
Moore's book of the same kind, we have not a nautical table or
book in our navy, or among our merchantmen, the product of our
own science and skill ; and we are now among the three first
commercial nations of the world, and have more shipping and
commerce than all the nations of Europe had together when
Columbus discovered this continent, but a little more than three
centuries since ; and our navy, young as it is> has more effective
force in it than the combined navies of the world could have
amounted to at that period. Out of the discovery of this conti-
nent, and a passage to the Indies, grew up the naval powers of
Europe. On the acquisition of the new world, Spain enlarged her
marine ; France and England theirs, to hold sway with Spain ; and
that of the Netherlands sprang from the extent of their trade, con-
nected with the wise policy of enlarging and protecting it.

" Our commercial and national importance cannot be supported
without a navy; or our navy without commerce, and a nursery for

* That is, no chart has been made under the direction and at the expense of
government.

COMMERCE. 259

our seamen. The citizens of Maine, of New York, of Georgia,
of Ohio, and of the great valley of the Mississippi, are as deeply
interested in the existence of our gallant navy, and the extension
of our commerce, as they are interested in the perpetuity of our
institutions and the liberty of our country. Indeed, liberty and
commerce have been twin-sisters in all past ages, and countries,
and times ; they have stood side by side — moved hand in hand.
Wherever the soil has been congenial to one, there has flourished
the other also : in a word, they have lived, they have flourished,
or they have died together.

" Commerce has constantly increased with the knowledge of
man ; yet it has been undergoing perpetual revolutions. These
changes and revolutions have often mocked the vigilance of the
wary, and the calculations of the sagacious ; but there is now a
fundamental principle on which commerce is based, which will
lead the intelligent merchant and the wise government to foresee
and prepare for most of these changes ; and that principle consists
in an intimate knowledge of all seas, climates, islands, continents,
of every river and mountain, and every plain of the globe, and all
their productions, and of the nature, habits, and character of all
races of men; and this information should be corrected and revised
with every season. '•

" The commercial nations of the world have done much, and
much remains to be accomplished. We stand a solitary instance
among those who are considered commercial, as never having put
forth a particle of strength, or expended a dollar of our money, to
add to the accumulated stock of commercial and geographical
knowledge, except in partially exploring our own territory.

" When our naval commanders and hardy tars have achieved a
victory on the deep, they have to seek our harbours, and conduct
their prizes into port, by tables and charts furnished, perhaps, by
the very people whom they have vanquished.

"Is it honourable to the United States to use for ever the

260 COMMITTEE ON

knowledge furnished us by others, to teach us how to shun a rock,
escape a shoal, or find a harbour, and add nothing to the great
mass of information that previous ages and other nations have
brought to our hands ?

l' Tyre, Greece, Carthage, Venice, Florence, whose commerce
has ceased, and whose opulence is gone for ever, have still left
the historic glory of having shown succeeding ages the way to
wealth, and honour, and power, by means of knowledge. The
ancient commercial and naval monuments are theirs, and every
niche of the modern temple of Neptune is filled by others — not
ourselves. The exports, and, more emphatically, the imports of
the United States, her receipts and expenditures, are written on
every pillar erected by commerce, on every sea, and in every
clime ; but the amount of her subscription-stock, to erect these
pillars, and for the advancement of knowledge, is nowhere to
be found »

" To open new sources of traffic, and of commercial wealth, has
gratified the pride, as well as 'the avarice of man, in every age ;
and the adventurous deeds by which this has been achieved, have
been commemorated by every historian, poet, and even fabulist,
in all past times; for the Argonautic expedition for the golden
fleece, as givq^i us by the poets and mythologists, is only in the
form of a generous and munificent commemoration of the voyage
of one who. ventured much to open a new path to commerce, for
the aggrandizement of his own country.

, " We have been plundered by the English and the French, by
Spaniards and Neapolitans, Danes, Norwegians,, and the Barbary
powers, while our commerce was extended every where, and pro-
tected nowhere. Some of these insults and depredations have
been settled for, and others are quietly, but surely, approximating
to a day of restitution or retribution. The spirit of the nation is
aroused on these subjects, and can never sleep again : honour,
iustice, feeling, conscious of physical strength, all forbid it.

COMMERCE. 261

" Have we not, then, reached a degree of mental strength that
will enable us to find our way about the globe without leading-
strings ? And are we for ever to take the highway others have
laid out for us, and fixed with milestones and guideboards ? Per-
mit me to conclude, in humble imitation of the great discoverer of
this continent to his patrons : We fear no storms, na icebergs, no
monsters of the deep, in any sea ; we will conduct ourselves with
prudence, and discretion, and judgment ; and, if we succeed, the
glory and profit will be yours ; if we perish in our attempts, we
alone shall suffer, for the very inquiry after us will redound to
your honour.

« J. N. REYNOLDS."

" NOTE. — Since I prepared the above answer to your letter of
inquiry, I have examined the clear and impressive memorial from
the town of Nantucket, which fully confirms every statement I
have made in regard to the extent of the whale-fishery, although
drawn from different sources. This memorial is not only clear
and conclusive, as to the extent and value of this important busi-
ness, but presents many other important facts. The memorial
speaks the most emphatic language to every patriot and philan-
thropist, as well as to every legislator in our country, in the fol
lowing quotation : —

r:^ 3 ^v.

" ' The great and increasing extent of the voyages now pursued
by the trading and whaling ships into seas but little explored, and
in parts of the world before unknown, has increased the cares, the
dangers, and the losses of our merchants and mariners. Within
a few years, these cruises have extended from the coasts of Peru
and Chili to the Northwest coast, New Zealand, and the isles of
Japan. This increase of risk has been attended by an increase
of loss. Several vessels have been wrecked on islands and reefs
not laid down on any chart : and the matter acquires a painful

262 COMMITTEE ON

interest from the fact, that many ships have gone into those seas,
and no soul has survived to tell their fate.'

" This memorial, coming from an intelligent, hardy, and enter-
prising people, who have, for more than thirty years, carried on
this fishery, so profitable to our country, without repining at any
difficulties they have encountered, or without soliciting aid until
the country was able to afford it, should, and will have, its effects
on the representatives of the nation in Congress. National and
individual interests they are bound to regard at all times ; but I
trust these claims will be more promptly attended to, when the
additional facts are made known to them ; and they are assured
that many of our fearless navigators are now, probably, wasting a
wretched existence on some desolate island, in these immense seas,
waiting, in prayerful hope, that the generosity of the nation will
be aroused to send in search of them, and that, in some distant
day, they shall see their country and their homes, and be restored
to the bosoms of their families and friends. They have read or
heard that the French government sent expedition after expedition,
to seek for Perouse and his missing vessels ; and can they for a
moment imagine, that those they had left at home are less gener-
ous and philanthropic than the people of France, or of any other
nation ? They cannot : for they will remember — and who can
forget it ? — that, in our days of small things, the whole country
was in agitation by the captivity of a few American citizens, by
the powers of Barbary, and the expense of liberating them was
spontaneously proffered by the American people. And will not
this same people be willing that the nation should do some-
thing to ascertain the fate of those enterprising navigators who
are, probably, on some reef or island, sustaining life as
they can?

"In this matter, every thing conspires to urge us forward at
this time. The advantages of commerce to science and national

COMMERCE. 263

glory seem now to be sealed, and sanctified by the calls of
humanity and imperious duty.

" I wish not to be importunate, nor do I fear that I am : for the
accumulated weight of circumstances are above all argument or
entreaty, as they strike the heart and the understanding at the
same time.

"As these things came crowding upon my mind, I had nearly
forgotten another important fact, which will be supported by the
able and experienced representative of the district of which Nan-
tucket makes a part ; and that is, that there are more than one
hundred and fifty islands, reefs, and shoals, known to our whale-
men, not laid down in any chart. Around these islands, reefs,
and shoals, are floating nearly forty thousand tons of shipping,
engaged in a trade of great national concern, with an immense
amount in property and lives, all of which are at the mercy of the
winds and waves.

" If this be so — and who can doubt their honesty ? — should they
not be surveyed ? The future safety of our mariners demands
it; the advancement of commerce and our navigating interests
demand it ; the people demand it ; and our national honour cannot
suffer this fact to go abroad, and not carry with it the probability
of some effort for future information and security, i

«J. N. R."

"WASHINGTON, February 26, 1828.

" SIR : The committee on naval affairs, in the house of repre-
sentatives, through their chairman, have recently addressed me a
note, requesting my views of the character, value, and extent of
our trade in the South seas and Pacific' ocean.

" A reply to that letter is herewith enclosed for your perusal ;
and as you have recently been in the Pacific, on official duty, and
have improved the favourable opportunity you had of acquiring

264 COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE.

much useful information in relation to our important and growing
commerce there, I would thank you to inform me, in writing, how
far your own views extend in corroboration of the report I am
about to submit to the consideration of the committee.

" Be pleased to accept the assurance of the high consideration
with which I am, sir,

" Your obedient servant,

"J.N.REYNOLDS.

KTo Captain THOMAS AP CATESBY JONES,
" United States Navy."

"WASHINGTON, February 28, 1828.

" DEAR SIR : I have received and read, with great satisfaction, the memorial which
you did me the honour to submit for my perusal. My recent cruise to the Pacific ocean,
in the course of which I spent some time among the Society, Sandwich, and other
islands, afforded me a good opportunity of seeing, in partial operation, most of the
branches of commerce, the advantages of which you so clearly demonstrate in your
address to the committee on naval affairs.

"That there is a great field open for national enterprise hi the region to which you
have invited the attention of the American people, cannot be doubted ; and I accord
most heartily with you that such a voyage as you contemplate would open to our com-
mercial, and, of course, national interests sources of great wealth, which cannot be
brought into action without the protecting aid of government.

" That success may crown your most laudable exertions, is the wish of, sir,
"Your obedient servant,

" THOMAS AP CATESBY JONES.

" To J. N. REYNOLDS, Esq."

The committee, having thus fully presented the views and wishes of the memo-
rialists, and noted the legislative action hithert9 had upon the subject, deem it un-
necessary to go into any prolonged arguments, in the conclusion of their report.

Other nations have deemed it wise to protect their fisheries, at all hazards, and by
heavy expenditures. Some have sent out voyages of discovery, that had little or no
commerce to be benefited. Previous to the year 1770, the English, in their strenuous
efforts to compete with the Dutch in the Northern whale-fishery, had paid, in boun-
ties, not less than three millions of dollars ; and down to the year 1786, the aggre-
gate amount of bounty paid was not less than six millions three hundred and thirty
thousand dollars.

The American fishermen have received no bounty, and they are now pursuing their
avocation in seas beyond the reach of ordinary protection. That places of refresh-
ment may be examined, new channels of trade opened, and dangers pointed out,
seems not only reasonable and just, but called for by considerations of public inter-
est; and it is believed that this can be best accomplished by sending out small
vessels expressly provided for this duty; while the demand on the public treasury
will be small, compared with the good which may be accomplished.

In like manner, in addition to the specific objects to be attained by an expedition, many
collateral advantages may be secured to the whaler and trafficker in the Pacific, and
the sealer in the higher latitudes south.

While your committee, in coming to their conclusion in favour of recommending an
expedition such as has been prayed for by the memorialists, have been influenced solely
by commercial views, and place the policy of the measure solely on these grounds, they
are not indifferent to the valuable fund of knowledge which may be gathered during the
voyage, and which, properly analyzed and written out, may be interesting, not only to
the American people, but to the whole civilized world.

Your committee therefore report a bill.

REPORT

OP THK

COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS.

March 21, 1836.— Mr. SOUTHARD, from the Committee on N. Affairs, made the follow-
ing report: —

The Committee on Naval Affairs to whom was referred a memorial
from sundry citizens of Connecticut, interested in the whale-fishery
praying that an exploring expedition be fated out to the Pacific ocean
and South seas, report : —

THAT the subject of this memorial, in the opinion of your com-
mittee, merits immediate attention, and the exercise of an enlight-
ened liberality on the part of Congress. The whole of the facts
and reasoning upon which this opinion is founded, cannot be em-
braced within the ordinary limits of a report, and the committee,
therefore, content themselves in the discharge of their duty, by a
reference to a few historical facts, and an allusion to some of the
arguments which have satisfied their own minds that it is wise and
expedient to provide, by law, for an exploring expedition to the
Pacific ocean and South seas.

Such an expedition has been an object of solicitude with a large
number of intelligent and enterprising citizens, for many years
past, and has been repeatedly urged upon the attention of Con-
gress by petitions and memorials from those whose interests were
most directly concerned— by resolutions and other expressions of
opinion of legislative bodies and assemblies of citizens in several
of the states, and by reports from the Navy Department and mes-
sages from the Executive of the United States.
M 34

266 COMMITTEE ON

Eight years since this subject was examined by a committee of
the House of Representatives, and specially referred to the con-
sideration and attention of the Navy Department. That depart-
ment had looked with anxiety to our commerce in the Pacific, and
required from our naval officers such reports respecting its extent
and condition, as might be a safe guide in discharging the obliga-
tion of the government to protect it. These reports confirmed the
views which had been previously entertained, and prepared the
department to urge the measure upon the favourable consideration
of Congress.

At the subsequent session renewed attention was paid to it, and
a bill was proposed, but did not become a law. In consequence
of its failure, two resolutions were passed by the House, declaring
it expedient that one of the small public vessels be sent to the
Pacific ocean and South seas, to examine the coasts, islands, har-
bours, shoals, and reefs, in those seas, and to ascertain their true
situation and description ; and requesting the President to send
such a vessel and afford such facilities as might be within the
reach of the Navy Department, to attain the objects proposed, pro-
vided it could be done without prejudice to the general interest of
the naval service, and without further appropriations during the
year. Suitable attention was paid to the duty assigned by these
resolutions, and what had been done communicated to Congress
at the subsequent session, at which a bill passed one house of
Congress to carry the object into execution, but was lost by causes
which it is not now necessary to explain.

From that period until the last session, there was no im-
portant movement or action upon the subject. At that time
a committee of the house, after full inquiry, made a report in fa-
vour of the expedition, which is worthy the attention of those
who desire to form a well-advised opinion upon the measure pro-
posed.

The committee think it proper to annex to their report, as a

NAVAL AFFAIRS. 267

part thereof, and for the better illustration of the subject, the sev-
eral reports and other documents to which they refer.

The duty of Congress to extend, secure, and protect every por-
tion of our commerce, has long since ceased to be matter for de-
bate. There is but one opinion upon that point. This duty be-
comes more imperative, in proportion to the value of any particu-
lar portion, and the difficulties and dangers to which it is subjected.

No part of the commerce of this country is more important than
that which is carried on in the Pacific ocean. It is large in
amount Not less than $12,000,000 of capital are invested in and
actively employed by one branch of the whale-fishery alone ; and
in the whole trade there is, directly and indirectly, involved not
less than fifty to seventy millions of property. In like manner
from 170 to 200,000 tons of our shipping, and from 9 to 12,000
of our seamen are employed, amounting to about one tenth of the
whole navigation of the Union. Its results are profitable. It ia,
to a great extent, not a mere exchange of commodities, but the
creation of wealth, by labour, from the ocean. The fisheries alone
produce, at this time, an annual income of from five to six millions
of dollars ; and it is not possible to look at Nantucket, New Bed-
ford, New London, Sag Harbour, and a large number of other dis-
tricts upon our Northern coasts, without the deep conviction that
it is an employment alike beneficial to the moral, political, and
commercial interests of our fellow-citizens.

It is a nursery for seamen for which no substitute can be found ;
eminently fitted to form precisely such men as the nation requires
for times of trial and struggle. The voyages are long ; every cli-
mate is encountered ; every sea, calm or tempestuous, is traversed,
and a discipline and subordination enforced, which create a class
of men unsurpassed, if they are equalled, by any who have ever
made the ocean their dwelling-place. They are adventurous and
persevering — hardened by toil and danger — bold, watchful, and
skilful. If the encouragement and protection of government

268 COMMITTEE ON

should be extended to any portion of our citizens, these have
claims which cannot be overlooked. It is to this view of the sub-
ject that. the Committee on Naval Affairs have directed their most
anxious attention.

The commerce of the Pacific may be greatly extended in all its
departments. Of the rapidity of its growth there is abundant evi-
dence in the records of the departments of our government, and
the theatre for its enlargement is most ample ; but it requires aid
and encouragement.

No part of our commerce is so much exposed to hazard and
peril. That portion of the globe is less known, and the ocean
more filled with dangers than any other that our seamen visit.
There are hundreds of islands, reefs, and shoals, unmarked upon
any chart, and unknown to common navigators. Their location,
situation, facilities for commerce, are yet to be explored and ex-
hibited to the world. Many of those islands are inhabited by
savages, who render access to them dangerous, and whom it is the
duty of the government to conciliate. The loss of property and
life in that region has been immense. The committee refer to
the accompanying documents to illustrate some of the facts upon
these points ; and they do not hesitate to believe that an examina-
tion of them will satisfy the senate of the policy and necessity of
the measure which they propose.

But the committee have also been influenced by other consid-
erations, connected with the duty which the government and the
nation owe to its own character, and the common cause of all
civilized nations — the extension of useful knowledge of the globe
which we inhabit. Every other nation, which possesses either a
commercial or military marine, has made contributions to this
knowledge, which have benefited the rest -of mankind, and given to
themselves the most enviable of all kinds of national glory ; and,
by unanimous consent, those who are engaged in it are freed from
the perils of war; and receive, even from the hands of enemies,

NAVAL AFFAIRS. 269

protection, countenance, support ; a homage paid by Christian na-
tions to science, knowledge, and civilization. It is, in truth, an
employment of peace and humanity.

Enterprising, beyond all others, as our own citizens are, much
as they have individually given to this cause, the nation and gov-
ernment have yet contributed nothing. The committee believe
that this state of things should no longer exist, but that an effort
should now be made on a scale commensurate with the value of
the object. And they look to the Pacific ocean and South seas as
the proper theatre for exertion. They are less known than other
portions of the great deep ; they are filled with more difficulties
and dangers ; greater and more splendid and profitable results may
be anticipated there than elsewhere ; and the theatre is peculiarly
our own, from position and the course of human events. Christian
and civilized Europe, in the spirit of discovery and enterprise,
gave our continent to the world ; we may repay them, in part, by
a more accurate knowledge of the Still unexplored regions of the
southern hemisphere.

The committee recommend an expenditure which shall be en-
tirely equal to the importance of the enterprise, and afford the best
security for success, and for those practical results which shall be
most honourable and useful. The expedition should be naval in
its character ; a portion of the means under the control of the
Navy Department should be applied to it, and it should be fitted
out and conducted under its auspices. The committee think it
ought to consist of two vessels of about two hundred tons burden,
for exploration ; one, of about one hundred tons, as a tender ; and
a store or provision ship of competent dimensions ; arid these ac-
companied by a sloop of war, to afford protection, and secure
peaceful and friendly relations with the inhabitants of the islands.
The smaller vessels may either be purchased, or built of materials
which are in our navy yards, and a large proportion of the expense
may be met by our naval means and facilities, without the slight-

270 COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS.

est encroachment upon the interests of the service. It should be
attended, also, by naval officers and citizens well qualified in the
appropriate departments of science, to bring back the most accu-
rate results of the examinations which may be made.

But the committee do not think it necessary or expedient to pre-
scribe, in the law which may be passed, either the dimensions or
the character of the vessels, or the number and qualifications of the
persons who shall be employed j nor can they exhibit, by precise
estimates, the exact sum which shall be expended. These are
matters which must, to some extent, be left to the discretion of the
Executive, who will carry the will of Congress into execution.
If the amount which shall not be exceeded be fixed by the law,
no possible evil can result. Every imaginable motive which can
influence the preparation for, and prosecution of, the proposed en-
terprise, will be on the side of economy and efficiency.

The Committee report a bill to authorize an expedition

REPORT, AMENDMENTS,

AND FINAL PASSAGE OP THE BILL,

AUTHORIZING THE

SURVEYING AND EXPLORING EXPEDITION

TO THE

PACIFIC OCEAN AND SOUTH SEAS.

The Committee on Naval Affairs in the senate were unanimous
in their report, made March 21, 1836. The committee was com-
posed of the

Hon. SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD, of New Jersey, chairman

Hon. N. P. TALLMADGE, of New York,

Hon. JOHN BLACK, of Mississippi,

Hon. ASHER ROBBINS, of Rhode Island,

Hon. ALFRED CUTHBERT, of Georgia.

The following abstract, taken from the journal of the senate
and house of representatives, will afford a concise history of the
passage of the bill through both branches of congress.

IN SENATE, March 21.

Mr. Southard, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom
was referred a memorial from sundry citizens of Connecticut, in-
terested in the whale fishery, praying that an exploring expedition
may be fitted out to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, made
a report, accompanied by a bill, to provide for an exploring
expedition.

The bill was read, and passed to the second reading.

272 PASSAGE OF

Ordered, That the report be printed, together with the accom-
panying documents.

Ordered, That the Committee on Naval Affairs be discharged
from the further consideration of the memorial of Edmund Fanning,

IN SENATE, April 26.

Qn motion by Mr. Southard, the senate proceeded to consider,
as in Committee of the Whole, the bill making appropriations for
the naval service for the year 1836 ; and, after progress, on motion
by Mr. Calhoun,

Ordered, That it lie on the table.

April 27.

On motion by Mr. Southard, the senate resumed, as in Com-
mittee of the Whole, the consideration of the bill, entitled "An
act making appropriations for the naval service for the year 1836,"
together with the amendments reported thereto ; and the bill hav-
ing been amended, it was reported to the Senate.

On the question to concur in the following amendment, viz :
section one, lines seven and eight, strike out "one million nine
hundred and seventy-four thousand one hundred and seventy-eight
dollars and ninety-one cents," and insert " two millions four hun-
dred and ninety-two thousand and forty dollars and forty -one
cents." It was determined in the affirmative — yeas 37, nays 5.

On motion by Mr. Hill, the yeas and nays being desired by
one-fifth of the senators present, those who voted in the affirmative,
are : Messrs. Benton, Black, Brown, Buchanan, Clayton, Cuthbert,
Davis, Ewing of Illinois, Goldsborough, Grundy, Hendricks, Hub-
bard, King of Alabama, Knight, Leigh, Linn, McKean, Mangum,
Morris, Nicholas, Niles, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rives, Robbins,
Robinson, Ruggles, Shepley, Southard, Swift, Tipton, Tomlinson,
Walker, Webster, White, Wright.

Those who voted in the negative, are : Messrs, Ewing of Ohio,
Hill, King of Georgia, Moore, Naudain.

THE BILL. 273

The other amendments being concurred in, on the question,
" Shall the amendment be engrossed, and the bill read a third
time ?" It was determined in the affirmative — yeas 41, nay 1

On motion by Mr. Hill, the yeas and nays being desired by
one-fifth of the Senators present, those who voted in the affirma-
tive, are : Messrs. Benton, Black, Brown, Buchanan, Calhoun,
Clayton, Cuthbert, Davis, Ewing of Illinois, Ewing of Ohio,
Goldsborough, Grundy, Hendricks, Hubbard, King of Alabama,
King of Georgia, Knight, Leigh, Linn, McKean, Mangum, Moore,
Morris, Naudain, Nicholas, Niles, Porter, Prentiss, Preston, Rob-
bins, Robinson, Ruggles, Shepley, Southard, Swift, Tipton, Tom-
linson, Walker, Webster, White, Wright.

Mr. Hill voted in the negative. So it was

Ordered, That the amendments be engrossed, and the bill read
a third time.

This bill (No. 53) originated, as is usual, in the lower house,
and contained provisions for the naval service for the year 1836.
To it, various amendments were made in the senate, the last of
which provided for the expedition, and was as follows :

And be it further enacted, That an exploring expedition to the
Pacific Ocean and South Seas be, and the same is hereby, author-
ized and directed; and that the President of the United States be,
and he is hereby, authorized to prepare and send out for that pur-
pose a sloop of war, and to purchase or provide such other smaller
vessels as may be necessary and proper to render the said expe-
dition efficient and useful.

And be it further enacted. That the use of so much of the
appropriations for the support of the navy, and of the means and
facilities under the control of the Navy Department, as may^be
necessary and proper for that object, be, and the same is hereby,
authorized ; and, in addition thereto, the sum of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated,
out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

35

274 PASSAGE OF

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 28.

The amendments of the senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled "An
act making appropriations for the naval service for the year 1836,"
were read, and referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

May 4.

Mr. Jarvis, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to which were
referred the amendments of the senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled
" An act making appropriations for the naval service of the United
States for the year 1836," reported the same with amendments.

Order ed> That the said amendments be committed to the Com-
mittee of the whole House on the state of the Union.

A motion was then made by Mr. Jarvis, that the house do re-
solve itself into a Committee ^of the whole House on the state of
the Union, for the purpose of proceeding in the consideration of
the amendments of the senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled " An act
making appropriations for the naval service for the year 1836."

A motion was made by Mr. Vinton, that the house do adjourn.
And the question being put, it was decided in the negative — yeas
59, nays 78.

The question was then put on the motion made by Mr. Jarvis ;
when a quorum did not vote.

A motion was then made that the house do adjourn ; which was
decided in the negative.

And the question was again put on the motion made by Mr.
Jarvis ; when a quorum did not vote.

And then the house adjourned (at five o'clock P. M.) until to-
morrow> ten o'clock in the forenoon..

May 5.

The house, by consent, resolved itself into a Committee of
the whole House on the state of the Union ; and, after some time
spent therein, the Speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. Mann, of
New York, reported that the committee had, according to order,

THE BILL. 275

had the state of the Union, generally, under consideration, particu-
larly the amendments of the senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled
" An act making appropriations for the naval service of the United
States for the year 1836," and that the committee had agreed to
the first, third, fourth, tenth, twelfth, and thirteenth of said amend-
ments, with an amendment to each ; that the committee had
agreed to the second, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth,, and eleventh,
without amendment ; and that the committee had disagreed to the
eighth of the said amendments.

The house then proceeded to the consideration of the amend-
ments of the senate to the said bill ; when the second, fifth, sixth,
seventh, ninth, and eleventh were concurred in; and the amend-
ments reported from the Committee of the whole House on the
state of the Union, to the first, third, fourth, tenth, and twelfth of
said amendments, were concurred in by the house ; and the said
amendments were then agreed to as amended.

The house then concurred with the Committee of the whole
House on the state of the Union, in its disagreement to the eighth
amendment of the senate to the said bill.

And the question recurred on concurring with the Committee of
the whole House on the state of the Union, in its amendment to
the thirteenth amendment of the Senate.

And after debate, the hour fixed by the order of the 1st of April,
for the consideration of bills relating to the District of Columbia,
arrived ; when a motion was made by Mr. Cambreleng, that the
house do continue the consideration of the business before it, and
that Saturday next be appropriated exclusively to the business of
the District of Columbia ; this motion was disagreed to by the house,

A motion was then made by Mr. Cambreleng, that the rules in
relation to the priority of business be suspended, and that the
execution of the special order for bills relating to the District of
Columbia be postponed during this day, and that the house do
continue the consideration; of the amendments of the senate to the

276 PASSAGE OF

bill (No. 53) making appropriations for the naval service for the
year 1836.

A motion was made by Mr. Mercer to amend this motion, by
adding thereto as follows : " And that Monday next, after twelve
o'clock, be assigned for business relating to the District of Co-
lumbia."

A motion was made by Mr. Graves to amend this motion to
amend, by striking out "twelve o'clock," and inserting "one
o'clock :" this amendment was disagreed to.

And the question was put on the motion to amend made by Mr.
Mercer, and was decided in the negative.

The question was then put on the motion made by Mr. Cam-
breleng, when there appeared — yeas 114, nays 68. Two-thirds
not voting in the affirmative, the motion was lost.

The house then, in execution of the order of therlst of April,
resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole House on the bill
from the senate (No. 112) entitled "An act for the relief of the
several corporate cities of the District of Columbia."

May 9.

The house resumed the consideration of the amendments of the
senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled " An act making appropriations
for the naval service for the year 1836."

The question recurred, that the house do concur with the Com-
mittee of the whole House on the state of the Union, in its amend-
ment to the thirteenth and last of the said amendments of the
senate : and being put, it passed in the affirmative.

The said thirteenth and last amendment, as amended, is as fol-
lows :— Strike out all of the two additional sections added by the
senate after the word "enacted," in the first of said additional
sections, and insert as follows : " That the President of the United
States be, and he hereby is, authorized, if in his opinion the public
interest shall require, to send out a surveying and exploring expe-
dition to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas ; and for that purpose

THE BILL.

277

to employ a sloop of war, and to purchase or provide such other
smaller vessels as may be necessary and proper to render the said
expedition efficient and useful. And for this purpose, the sum of
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby,
appropriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise ap-
propriated ; and in addition thereto, if necessary, the President of
the United States is authorized to use other means in the control
of the Navy Department, not exceeding one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, for the objects required."

And on the question, that the house do agree to the said amend-
ments, as amended, it passed in the affirmative — yeas 92.

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members
present, those who voted in the affirmative are,

Mr. John duincy Adams Mr.

Hiram P. Hunt

Mr. George W. Owens

Jeremiah Bailey

Adam Huntsman

James Parker

Andrew Beaumont

Joseph R. Ingersoll

William Patterson

William K. Bond

Samuel Ingham

Franklin Pierce

Nathaniel B. Borden

William Jackson

Ebenezer Pettigrew

Matthias J. Bovee

Henry F. Janes

Lancelot Phelps

George N. Briggs

Daniel Jenifer

Stephen C. Philips

Andrew Buchanan

Benjamin Jones

David Potts, jr.

John Calhoon

Andrew T. Judson

John Reed

William B. Calhoun

William Kennon

John Reynolds

Churchill C. Cambreleng
George Chambers

Daniel Kilgore
George L. Kinnard

Joseph Reynolds
Ferdinand S. Schenck

Thomas Corwin

Amos Lane

William B. Shepard

John Cramer

Gerrit Y. Lansing

William N. Shinn

Joseph H. Crane

John Laporte

Nicholas Sickles

Caleb Gushing

Abbott Lawrence

Jonathan Sloane

Edward Darlington

Gideon Lee

David Spangler

Ulysses F. Doubleday
Horace Everett

Joshua Lee
Levi Lincoln

William Sprague, jr.
Bellamy Storer

John Fairfield

Henry Logan

Joel B. Sutherland

Dudley Farlin

Francis S.^Lyon

John Taliaferro

Samuel Fowler

William Mason

Francis Thomas

Rice Garland

Moses Mason, jr.

Isaac Toucey

Francis Granger

Samson Mason

Aaron Vanderpoel

George Grennell, jr.

Jonathan McCarty

Samuel F. Vinton

Elisha Haley

Thomas M. T. MeKennan Daniel Wardwell

Thomas L. Hamer

Isaac McKim

George C. Washington

Samuel S. Harrison

Charles F. Mercer

Joseph Weeks

William S. Hiester

Jesse Miller

Elisha Whittlesey

Samuel Hoar

John J. Milligan

Thomas J. Whittlesey.

Elias Howell

Matthias Morris

There were sixty votes in the negative ; some, as alleged, be-
cause they had not time to make themselves sufficiently acquainted

278 PASSAGE OF

with the merits of the measure in detail; others, because they
considered that the government had the power to keep a portion
of our vessels thus employed, without any special act on the part
of congress. It would be unjust, therefore, to put down, as opposed
to the expedition, all those who voted in the negative.

In all legislative bodies, a great deal occurs which never becomes
matter of record. It was so in this instance. The bill, with amend-
ments from the senate, had been referred to the Committee on
Naval Affairs in the house. The sections providing for the expe-
dition, it will be seen, were so altered by that committee, as to
leave the whole matter to the discretion of the executive. The
friends of the measure adopted this modification, though much
opposed to it in form. They had no apprehensions of the object
being defeated, on account of its being left to the discretion of the
executive. They knew our interests required the expedition; and
that was a sufficient guaranty that it would be sent.

It was late in the afternoon of the 4th of May, when the amend
ment was taken up. Considerable opposition was manifested.
The whole appropriation for the naval service was now suspended
on this item, and many public considerations required its passage
with the least possible delay. A delay of some ten days did occur.
It were easy to show, however, that the friends of the expedition
were not responsible.

For the avowed object of expediting business, a motion was
now made to strike out the clause providing for the expedition.
Mr. Vinton, of Ohio, was the first to take the floor in opposition to
this motion. Messrs. Hamer, Storer, and others of the same dele-
gation, were on their feet at the same time, against the motion to
strike out, and in favour of the expedition. It was now apparent
that a full discussion was inevitable ; so- the house adjourned.

Business connected with the District next came up as special
orders of the day, and occupied the house until the 9th of May,
when the subject of the expedition was again taken up. An

THE BILL. 279

animated discussion followed ; the more interesting, as it embraced
the whole merits of the question.

Messrs. Hawes, of Kentucky, Patton, of Virginia, and Dickerson,
of New Jersey, spoke against the bill. Their speeches have not
been reported,

Messrs. Vinton and Hamer, of Ohio, and Messrs. Reed and
Philips, of Massachusetts, spoke in favour of the measure. The
speeches of Messrs. Vinton and Philips have not been reported.
The first was concise, but decisive, and much to the point ; the
latter was more elaborate, and evinced great familiarity with our
commercial interests in the Pacific Ocean and South Seas. That
of Mr. Reed was such as might have been expected from the
representative of a district largely engaged in the whale fishery.
Mr. Hamer addressed the house at length.

" He said he concurred, to a great extent, in the views of the
gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Patton,) who had just taken his
seat. He was of opinion, and had so expressed himself the other
day when this subject was before the house, that each depart-
ment of the government ought to act independently, and upon its
own responsibility. Each branch, whether legislative, executive,
or judicial, ought to manfully meet and settle every question pre-
sented to it, without attempting to shrink from its duty, or to shift
responsibility from its own shoulders upon any other department.
The senate had thus acted in reference to this subject, whilst the
amendment now proposed by the Committee on Naval Affairs of
this house referred the whole question to the discretion of the
President of the United1 States. He had as much confidence in
the wisdom, intelligence, and patriotism of the Chief Magistrate
as any gentleman ; but he thought we ought to decide this ques-
tion ourselves. He, therefore, preferred the original amendment
of the senate to the modification of our committee. He had, how-
ever, conversed with several friends of the appropriation, who
seemed inclined to acquiesce in the present amendment, and he

280 SPEECH OF

should so far yield to their wishes, as not to interpose any strenu-
ous opposition to the views of the Naval Committee. If a majority
of the house were disposed to adopt it in this shape, he would not
insist upon the original proposition.

"He was the more inclined to yield to this amendment, because
he believed the effect would be precisely the same. The expedi-
tion would be sent out, under either provision. The last seven
years had shown, that under no previous administration had mari-
time interests been more kindly cherished and thoroughly pro-
tected than they had been under the care of the enlightened and
patriotic chief who now presided over the executive department
of our government. He, who had been always alive to the in-
terest and honour of his country, would be neither insensible to
the advantages of this expedition, nor slow in the execution of a
trust reposed in his discretion.

" This measure had been objected to, as novel and extraordinary
in its character. Gentlemen had not examined the subject, he
thought, who made these objections. Almost every nation in
Europe had, at one time or other, sent out similar expeditions.
France, England, Russia, and Prussia, as well as several of the
secondary nations of Europe, had authorized such expeditions.
He would go no further back than the voyage of Christopher
Columbus, who had three hundred years ago discovered a new
world, and conferred such important benefits upon the whole
human race. His was by no means the first voyage of the kind ;
but from that day down to the present, similar expeditions for dis-
covery, exploration, and survey, both by sea and land, had been
set on foot, by the civilized nations of the old world, and had, in
almost every instance, resulted most beneficially, not only to the.
authors, but to the whole family of nations. The information thus
acquired was thrown into the common stock. It was published
for the benefit of all ; and no nation was more ready to seize upon
the results of these discoveries, and turn them to its own advan-

MR. H A M E R. 281

tage, than ourselves. It was known to every man who had exam-
ined the subject, that our mariners were navigating the ocean,
almost exclusively, by the aid of charts furnished us by foreigners.
The immense amount of wealth daily flowing into our country
from foreign commerce, owed its security, amidst the dangers of
the great deep, to the information we had derived from the explor-
ations and surveys made by others, in former times, as well as in
the present age. The expedition was not novel, therefore, nor
was it at all extraordinary.

" It had been pronounced a visionary project, and one gentleman
had compared it to an expedition to the moon. He was surprised
to hear gentlemen indulge in the use of such language. They
surely had misapprehended the meaning of the term "exploration,"
as used upon this occasion. The expedition, so far from being
visionary, was one of the most practical kind that could well be
imagined. It was sent out, not so much to discover new islands
and continents, as to explore and examine those which were al-
ready known. It was, in a great measure, to collect information,
and embody it in such a form, as would enable our hardy and en-
terprising countrymen to navigate those seas, and to prosecute
their labours in safety. If any gentleman, who entertained such
opinions, would look into the documents upon our tables, con-
nected with the subject, he would be convinced that it was one of
the most practical affairs that had been proposed during the present
session of congress. It had been asked for by practical men, and
recommended by many who had themselves sailed in those seas,
and were personally acquainted with the imminent perils which
had to be encountered in such voyages. These men were not
likely to be carried away by wild and visionary schemes ; and when
the measure had their decided approbation, it would be well for
gentlemen to pause before they gave it an unqualified denunciation.

" Some gentlemen seemed to question our constitutional authority
to send out this expedition. He had no doubts upon that subject

36

282 SPEECH OF

The power was to be found in that clause of the constitution
which allows us to regulate commerce with foreign nations and
among the several States. It was under that clause of the consti-
tution, he said, that we now had Mr. Hassler, with his splendid
apparatus and scientific corps, engaged in surveying the whole
maritime coast of the nation. No one doubted our authority to do
this ; and the most important and useful results were Kkely to
follow the surveys. Among others, he would name the recent
discovery of a channel at the city of New York, about two feet
deeper than any one known to the oldest inhabitants, or to the
most experienced and skilful pilots upon that coast. It was under
this clause of the constitution those surveys were progressing ; and
if we had a right to survey and note upon charts the channels,
the rocks, quicksands, and islands along our own coast, because
our vessels were engaged in navigation among these dangers, why
could we not make similar examinations, with the same object, in
any seas which were frequented by our vessels ? In principle,
there was no difference. The safety of our commerce was the
object in each case, and the mode of affording that safety was not
varied.

"We had never sent out such an expedition upon the ocean,
although our public vessels were instructed to collect all such
commercial information as might fall within the range of their
observation, and to preserve it for the public benefit. But we had
had several such by land, to the great interior of this continent.
Every gentleman would recollect the expedition of Lewis and
Clarke to the Rocky mountains. What was the object of that
expedition? It was to acquire information with regard to an
unknown region of country; to open an intercourse with the
natives ; to ascertain the natural resources of the country, and to
promote the interests of science. By reference to the instructions
which were drawn up by Mr. Jefferson himself, it would be seen
that they were to notice the soil and face of the country ; its

MR. H A M E R. 283

vegetable productions, especially those unknown in the United
States ; and the present races of animals, as well as remains or
accounts of those supposed to be extinct, were deemed worthy of
observation. The mineral productions of every kind were to be
noted; limestone, coal, saltpetre, salines and mineral waters,
remarking the temperature and character of the latter, were all com-
mended to their notice. To these were added volcanic appear-
ances, climate, and the proportions of clear and cloudy weather ;
rain, hail, snow, ice, and frost, at different seasons ; particular
birds, reptiles, and insects ; and the latitude and longitude of im-
portant places.

" They were further instructed to hold intercourse with the
natives, and to impress them with the position, extent, character,
peaceable and commercial dispositions of the United States, and
of our inclination to hold friendly intercourse with them.

"Such were the directions given by that great and good man,
Thomas Jefferson. The expedition which he sent out was exactly
such a one as we now propose to send, except that one went into a
wilderness almost entirely unknown to our people, and the other was
to go into seas that were partially known to them, it is true, but
whose rocks and reefs were not known, either to our navigators, or
to those of any other nation. The instructions to Long, in 1822,
were similar to those given to Lewis and Clarke. Indeed, Mr.
Monroe refers to the instructions given to them, and directs Major
Long to be governed by them in his tour. The expedition of Mr.
Featherstonhaugh, the geologist, sent out to Arkansas during the
last year by our government, was instituted for similar purposes.

" The practice of the government had therefore given a construc-
tion to the constitution, such as we now claimed for it. The right
to make these explorations, both by sea and land, had been claimed
and exercised in numerous instances, and the authority to make
them could not well be doubted. At this moment, whilst we were
discussing the question, Mr. Hassler was executing charts from the

284 SPEECH OP

materials he had collected along our coast during the past summer ,
and it would be a most singular position to assume, that, although
we could require him to survey and note all the reefs and islands
within sight, or within one hundred miles of our coast, because the
commerce of the country was carried on through this space, yet
we could not send him, for the same purpose, to another part of
the ocean, equally occupied by the public armed and private
merchant vessels of the United States. The ocean was the com-
mon property of all nations ; and each had an equal right to navi-
gate its waters. Every part of the ocean was within our jurisdic-
tion ; and we had the same authority to make surveys in the South
Seas, that we had to make them along our own coast. Wherever
the commerce of the country now exists, or is likely to be extended,
we have the right to send protection and information. It is for these
purposes that we annually send vessels and squadrons into the
Mediterranean and other seas, bearing the national colours, and
demanding national respect. How, then, could a distinction be
drawn between this case, and one which limits the surveys to our
own shores ? Such a position was wholly indefensible ; and he
would dismiss this branch of the subject without any further
remarks.

" If we had the power, then, to send out the expedition, let us
inquire if it be expedient to do so. Who is to be benefited by it ?
What portion of the country desires it ? If the interest of any
considerable class of individuals require it ; or if it be necessary to
any considerable portion of our common country, having the power
and the means to accomplish it ; we ought to do it without hesita-
tion. We owe protection to all classes of our citizens, and to
every part of our country ; and this protection should be afforded,
not only freely and impartially, but it should be extended to each
one according to his own peculiar wants and condition.

" He did not believe with some gentlemen, that one great object
of an American statesman was to get as much money as possible

t «

V

MR. H A M E R. 285

out of the public treasury, to be expended in his own region ol
country, or among his constituents. That principle would render
our legislation little else than a pitiful scramble for the public
money. On the contrary, he viewed this great republic as one
and indivisible. He did not look forward to a day when it would
be split up into a number of confederacies ; and, in anticipation of
such an event, busy himself to get as much as possible of the
common funds appropriated to his section of the country, in ad-
vance. He held that no man, or set of men, could dissolve this
Union. The great mass of the American people were devoted to it,
and they would not permit its dissolution. He did most solemnly
believe, that if it were dissolved to-day, in less than three months
the people would have another constitution formed, and in full
operation ; and they would politically destroy any man or set of
men who should attempt to prevent the reunion. The country was
made to be united ; the people felt it to be their interest to remain
so ; and he would repeat what he had before said, that this coun-
try was one and indivisible, and would remain so for generations
to come, in spite of all the efforts of selfish, designing, or disaf-
fected politicians to seduce the people from their allegiance, or to
weaken the attachment they owed to their common country.
Viewing things in this light, he had uniformly voted for whatever
appeared to him to be required in any part of the country. Ap-
propriations often seemed to be of local character, and were so in.
some respects ; yet, when properly considered, they were of na-
tional character and of general utility. Thus, a custom-house in
Baltimore, New York, or Boston, belonged as much to him and
his constituents, as it did to the persons who resided in those cities,
or to the gentlemen who represented them on that floor. They
were necessary to aid in the collection of the revenue, which sup-
ported the government ; and they were placed at those particular
points, because it was most convenient for the commercial com-
munity, and for the whole people, that they should be thus located.

286 SPEECH OF

So of navy yards, light-houses, forts, arsenals, dock yards, and har-
bours. They were all national ; they belonged to his constituents
as much as to any one else ; and he voted for their construction
and improvement with the same cheerfulness and liberality that he
voted for an appropriation to remove obstructions from the great
rivers in the Mississippi valley, to improve the harbours upon the
great inland seas of the north-west, or to fortify and defend the
western and south-western frontiers. When he voted for such
appropriations for the Atlantic coast, he did not feel that he was
making a donation to the states and cities on this side of the moun-
tains ; nor did he believe that any liberal-minded statesman along
the seaboard thought, when he voted for expenditures beyond the
mountains, that he was giving away money to the West. Such
views were narrow and illiberal. The only true rule was, to give
whatever the public interest required, at any and at every point,
interior and exterior. There could then be no just cause of com-
plaint; and the industry and enterprise of the people, aided by
such appropriations, would produce general happiness and pros-
perity throughout all our borders.

" Recurring then to the question propounded, what interest was
it that required this expenditure ? According to the best informa-
tion he had been able to collect, the capital invested in the whale
and seal fisheries alone, in those seas, amounted to some fifteen
or twenty millions of dollars. The number of vessels was not less
than four hundred ; constituting one-tenth of the whole tonnage of
the United States. The number of seamen employed in this
service was at least ten thousand. The annual value of the trade
was probably six or eight millions, which was so much wealth
extracted from the ocean by the enterprise of our people, and
added to the common stock of the whole nation. This capital, and
these men, deserve protection. The exposure is uncommonly
great in these seas. They abound with shoals, rocks, and islands,
not known to navigators, because they are not recorded upon any

. '""•••<•:?•':'". • ; •••;•

• '. . * *' ' .'-''• * fe*. .W

MR. H A M E R. 287

chart now in existence ; whilst many of those which are marked,
are so incorrectly placed, that they mislead the sailor, who suddenly
finds himself shipwrecked in an unknown sea, far from the haunts
of civilized man, and destined to become a prey to the cruel and
remorseless savages who inhabit the islands ; or to endure all the
horrors of starvation upon some steril rock which lifts its head
above the surface of a boundless sea.

" Such catastrophes were of frequent occurrence. The loss of
property and life in those regions had been immense. Still it did
not deter our people from their employments; they met every
danger and encountered every peril, in pursuit of the monsters of
the deep ; and it was hard, that whilst every other class of our
population were protected by the government, such men as these
should be neglected. He trusted it would no longer be so. There
was one point of view in which this subject deserved our most
serious consideration. The fisheries were the great nurseries of
American seamen ; and when war overtakes us, these were the
very men upon whom we must rely to fight our battles upon the
ocean. They were as ready to brave the roar and carnage of
an enemy's broadside, or to wield the boarding pike under the
star-spangled banner, as they were to pursue their mighty game
amidst the dangers and perils of the great Pacific Ocean. Whether
we considered their condition in peace or in war, they were a
most useful and meritorious part of our citizens, and deserved the
favour and protection of the government. Our seamen, who were
engaged in the cod fisheries, had long been protected by the boun-
ties allowed them upon the exportation of the produce of their
labours ; but no such provision had ever been extended to these
men. He saw no reason for such a distinction ; but it was to be
hoped they would at least be aided by an improved chart of the
theatre of their operations, and a demonstration of our power in
those seas, which would make an impression upon the savages
favourable to the future security of our manners.

288 SPEECH OP

" Some gentlemen appeared to consider this an eastern measure.
It was not so. The west had a deep interest in it. It was well
known to all who resided in the great grain-growing states of the
interior, that our principal difficulty was to find a market for the
surplus productions of our fertile soil. Every thing that could
supply the wants of man, that constituted the necessaries of life,
grew up almost spontaneously, in the greatest abundance. But
we had no market. We were continually racking our invention
to find new and increased demands for our produce, and to open
new avenues to the seaboard, so as to lessen the cost of transport-
ation, and to increase competition among purchasers. This trade,
which we now propose to foster, is daily increasing, and it fur-
nishes a market already for a large amount of our surplus produce.
This fleet of four hundred vessels could not go to sea without one
hundred thousand barrels of flour; eighty or one hundred thousand
barrels of pork and beef; forty or fifty thousand pieces of sail-
cloth ; eight or ten thousand tons of cordage ; besides large quan-
tities of corn, beans, and various other articles necessary to a long
voyage. Have the states bordering on the Ohio no interest in
such a market as this ? Does not Kentucky want a market for
her hemp ? Do not Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, want purchasers
for their flour, pork, beef, and corn, which they all produce in
such abundance ? Assuredly they do ; and it is chiefly to the
manufacturing and commercial states, along the Atlantic, that they
must look for the consumption of their produce, especially in time
of peace. It was for our interest, therefore, in a pecuniary point
of view, as a mere question of dollars and cents, to foster this
trade, and to enlarge its capacity to consume the productions of
the farming class of the great Mississippi valley. This consider-
ation seemed to present the national importance of the measure
more clearly to the mind ; and finely illustrated what must be ap-
parent to every rri --'jting man, that we could not extend the aid
of the government in this country to any portion of the citizens

MR. H A M E R. 289

without producing some corresponding benefit to other, and often
to very distant portions of our population.

" The expedition would not only perform a most valuable service
by correcting the position upon the charts, of islands, reefs, and
rocks, already known to exist ; by discovering and noting, others,
of which we have no knowledge ; but they would survey the
coasts of the islands, and ascertain where there were harbours, in
which ships might find shelter from storms ; points at which wood,
water, and refreshments could be obtained by our vessels engaged
in this trade. Besides these duties, they would open friendly con-
ferences with the natives ; they would succeed, perhaps, in rescu-
ing a number of prisoners, who were now undoubtedly among
these islanders ; the remnants of crews who had been shipwrecked
along their coasts. The rescue of a husband and father, and his
restoration to his disconsolate family, would be worth half the
expense of the expedition ; and the remainder would be covered
by the redemption of some unfortunate son from his savage mas-
ters, and his return to the arms of a widowed mother. We might
also succeed in impressing these people with a correct idea of the
friendly and pacific policy of our government ; our dispositions to
hold amicable intercourse with them ; and of our power and incli-
nation to punish outrages committed upon our citizens.

" In addition to the intelligent naval officers who would super-
intend the movements of the vessels, a scientific corps would
accompany the expedition. The duties to be performed were
various, complicated, and arduous ; and the success of the expedi-
tion would require this organization. The labours of the naval
officers would embrace every thing essentially connected with
their profession ; an employment adequate to the highest intel-
lectual efforts. To ascertain with accuracy the latitude and longi-
tude of important places visited ; to correct the position of reefs
and islands upon the charts, and to give p. .... to new ones; to
explore harbours, and point out places for obtaining wood, water,
N 37

290 SPEECH OF

and provisions ; to make observations tending to throw new light
upon the obscure laws which govern the magnet ; to open an inter-
course with the natives, and to cause our flag to be known and
respected in those seas : these and other kindred duties, requiring
great prudence and capacity, with unusual skill and professional
attainments, would furnish employments to the naval officers
having charge of the squadron.

" Upon the scientific corps other duties would devolve, no less
arduous and important. He could not descend to details. It was
sufficient to say, that the whole field of natural philosophy and
natural history lay open before them. No part of it should be
neglected; for its objects entered largely into the elements of
commerce, and had an acknowledged value among all civilized
nations, and with all enlightened minds. The animal productions
of those remote regions, whether inhabiting the land, the ocean,
or the air, would require particular attention. The vegetable and
mineral productions could not be overlooked. Every object con-
nected with the present commerce, or calculated to open new
channels for trade, would be journalized and preserved. The
executive should be able to speak of this corps in the language of
\ President Monroe's instructions to Major Long : 'Great confidence
is reposed in the acquirements and zeal of the citizens who will
accompany the expedition for scientific purposes ; and a confident
hope is entertained that their duties will be performed in such
a manner, as to add both to their own reputation and that of our
country.' The two corps, thus selected and constituted, each
filling its appropriate department, though blending and aiding e?xh
other in harmonious action, could not fail to acquire a mass of
valuable information calculated to enrich our commerce ; to give
new vigour to enterprise ; to enlarge the boundaries of science, and
to increase our national renown by an additional wreath of glory.

" This led him to notice some remarks that fell from the gentle-
man from Kentucky, (Mr. Hawes,) in relation to an individual who

MR. H A M E R. 291

had acted a prominent part with regard to this subject. He
alluded to J. N. Reynolds, Esq., who, at the request of the Com-
mittee on Commerce, and by permission of this house, had deliv-
ered an able and eloquent address here, some weeks ago, in favour
of the expedition. He did not believe the gentleman from Ken-
tucky had heard the address. If he had, most, if not all, of his
prejudices and objections would have been removed. Mr. H. said
he had known Mr. Reynolds from his boyhood, and knew him
well. He came from his neighbourhood in Ohio, where he was
educated and studied the law. He was a man of as pure princi-
ples and fair character as any man upon that floor. His efforts in
this cause had been wholly free from any selfish considerations ;
and in all he had done for the last seven or eight years to promote
it, he had been actuated by those feelings of patriotism that should
animate every American heart. He had no doubt, if the expedition
were authorized, that Mr. Reynolds would be employed to accom-
pany it; for he possessed more information with regard to those seas,
and was every way better calculated to make the expedition what
it ought to be, than any man within the circle of his acquaintance,
He was in possession of all the facts which had been collected in
reference to that portion of the globe which was to be examined
and explored, and he possessed the entire confidence of all who
knew him. His writings had attracted the attention of men of
letters, and literary societies and institutions had conferred upon
him some of the highest honours they had to bestow. Still this
gentleman, who was an honour to Ohio and to our whole country,
might not accompany the expedition. But that fact would have
no influence upon his course, Mr. H. was authorized to say, that
his zeal for the success of the measure, and for the interest of the
expedition, would continue unabated ; and whatever he could do to
insure its prosperous termination, would '• - ;J- erfully performed.
Thus much he felt himself bound to say in defence of his friend ;
who, although the gentleman did not mean to assail him, might

292 SPEECH OP

suffer in public estimation from the remarks which had been made,
if they remained entirely unanswered.

"What were the evidences of public opinion in favour of this
expedition ? In a government like ours, public opinion was every
thing. It was proper that it should be so. Enlightened public
opinion was always right ; and it was a great moral lever which,
in a good degree, now governed the civilized world ; and the time
was rapidly approaching when it would be completely triumphant
in all the political movements that took place in this country.

" This measure had been asked for by the whole commercial
and navigating community, so far as they have expressed an
opinion. The members of the legislatures of eight different states
have, within a few years past, recommended it to our favourable
consideration : New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsyl-
vania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio, had, in this
manner, decided in its favour. Many of the commercial towns and
cities had petitioned for it. The East India Marine Society of
Massachusetts, all of whose members, by the constitution, must
have personally doubled either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good
Hope, had sent us a pressing memorial in its favour. This docu-
ment was entitled to great weight. It came from gentlemen who
had experience, combined with intelligence, upon this subject.
They had personally seen and braved the dangers which every-
where meet the navigator who penetrates into the regions, which
it would be the business of this expedition to explore and describe.
To their testimony might be added that of two of the most able
and experienced commanders in the American navy, Commodore
Downes and Captain Jones. Their letters were among the docn-
ments upon our tables. They were valuable for more purposes
than one ; they refuted the idea advanced by some, that our ordi-
nary squadron sent out to the Pacific to protect the trade of our
citizens, could accomplish all that was desirable. Speaking of
this subject, Commodore Downes says, ' An expedition fitted out

MR. HAMER. 293

for the purpose of improving our knowledge of the hydrography
of those seas, has often been the subject of my reflections. As
the representative of a district largely engaged in the whale fishery,
you (Mr. Reed) must frequently have seen from the reports of
masters of vessels engaged in that business, accounts of new islands
and reefs being frequently discovered, and which are either not
laid down on the charts, or so erroneously marked, that they can
give no security to the mariner. It is probable that not less than
five hundred of these islands and reefs have been marked with
sufficient accuracy by our whalers, sealers, and traffickers, of one
kind or another, to enable an expedition to examine the most
important of them, without much loss of time in seeking their
positions. This will enable the discovery vessels to do more, in
less time, than has probably ever been effected by a similar enter-
prise from any other country. The accounts given of the dangers
and losses to which our shipping is exposed by the extension of
our trade into seas but little known, so far, in my opinion, from
being exaggerated, would admit of being placed in bolder relief,
and the protection of government implored in stronger terms. I
speak from practical knowledge, having myself seen the dangers,
and painfully felt the want of the very kind of information in the
guidance of a vessel in those seas which our commercial interests
so muc"h need, and which I suppose would be the object of such
an expedition as is now under consideration before the committee
of congress to give. Indeed, the ivhole of this business, it seems
to me, is a plain and practical affair. The commerce of our
country has extended itself to remote parts of the world ; is carried
on around islands and reefs not laid down on the charts, among
even groups of islands, from ten to sixty in number ; abounding in
objects valuable in commerce, but of which nothing is known
accurately ; no, not even the sketch of a harbour has been made ;
while of such as are inhabited, our knowledge is still more imper-
fect. It would seem to require no argument to prove that a

294 SPEECH OF

portion of our commerce might be rendered more secure, and
probably greatly increased, by vessels sent properly prepared to
examine such islands.' Such is the language of this practical and
ab]e officer. In the letter of Captain Jones to Mr. Reynolds, we
have the following sentiments :

" * My recent cruise to the Pacific Ocean, in the course of which
I spent some time among the Society, Sandwich, and other islands,
afforded me a good opportunity of seeing, in partial operation,
most of the branches of commerce, the advantages of which you
so clearly demonstrated in your address to the Committee on
Naval Affairs.

" * That there is a great field open for national enterprise in the
region to which you have invited the attention of the American
people, cannot be doubted ; and I accord most heartily with you,
that such a voyage as you contemplate would open to our com-
mercial, and of course national interests, sources of great wealth,
which cannot be brought into action without the protecting aid of
government.* Such are the opinions of another intelligent and
experienced naval officer, who is intimately acquainted with the
whole subject.

" Now, sir, the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. Hawes,) I
expect, was never out of sight of land in his life ; he resides far in
the interior, and has not devoted much time to the examination of
this question ; and yet he sets up his opinion in opposition to these
gentlemen, and pronounces the whole scheme to be useless to the
country, and perfectly visionary. Let me ask the gentleman te~
pause before he takes such strong ground, and review his opinions.
He may find good reason to retract what he has heretofore be-
lieved, and to become the advocate of a measure which rallies
such able men to its support.

" It has been said in the course of the discussion, that this sub-
ject is new to us, and we want more information before we act
definitively in relation to it. Are gentlemen aware that in 1 827, '28,

MR. H A M E R. 295

resolutions passed this house authorizing this expedition ? Such
is the fact, and want of funds alone prevented it from being sent
out the following summer. At the succeeding session of 1 828, '29,
a bill passed this house directing the expedition, and was sent to
the senate, where it was not acted upon, for want of time. At the
present session, the senate had passed the appropriation, almost
•unanimously ; and it now remained for us to do our duty in that
manner which became the representatives of a great people. We
have had this subject before congress for eight years. It has
twice been adopted by the house, and once by the senate of the
United States ; and yet, with all these evidences of its utility and
importance, gentlemen rise in their places, and gravely pronounce
it to be a hair-brained and visionary scheme, not deserving our
serious examination ! Such imputations were unmerited ; and he
hoped, upon further reflection, their injustice would be seen and
acknowledged.

" He thought he had shown that this expedition was not new,
and that various similar ones had been organized both in Europe
and in this country. Neither was it unconstitutional, for its chief
object was to aid in the regulation, promotion, and security of our
foreign commerce. The expense would be trifling, compared with
the wealth and power of this nation, and the magnitude and import-
ance of the objects to be accomplished. It was due to the com-
mercial community and the navigating interest as a measure of
justice, and would be beneficial to all classes of our citizens..
Upon what principle, then, could we refuse it ? Should it be said
that we, who were the second, if not the first, commercial nation in
the world, must continue to navigate the ocean with the defective
charts furnished us by foreigners ? It was notorious that we were
now doing so. It was humiliating to think of it. If we deducted
from the commercial marine of Great Britain, our only rival upon
the seas, the amount of tonnage they employed in the coasting
trade, which did not engage in her foreign commerce, we had

296 PASSAGE OP

probably the largest commercial marine afloat upon the ocean.
Supposing this to be so, we were now the first commercial people
upon the globe ; and the amount of capital invested in this branch
of national industry was daily increasing. Should it be said that
we were so penurious, so illiberal, or so destitute of skill and enter-
prise, as not to extend adequate protection to our valuable and
adventurous citizens who had embarked in this trade ? Would
this reproach be just ? He did not believe it. He was satisfied
that the intelligence of the country expected us to act promptly
and liberally upon this subject ; and that every consideration of
wisdom, justice, and sound policy, which could operate upon an
American statesman, required us to make this appropriation."

The bill, as amended, had now passed the house, and only want-
ed the concurrence of the senate to become a law.

The next day, May 10th, the amendment as amended by the
house, came up in the senate. After some conference among the
friends of the measure, comprising, with one or two exceptions,
every member of the senate, all the amendments of the house
were concurred in, excepting part of the following amendment
made by the house :

" The President of the United States be, and he hereby is, au-
thorized, if, in his opinion, the public interest shall require, to send
out a surveying and exploring expedition to the Pacific Ocean and
£>outh Seas : and for that purpose to employ a sloop of war, and
to purchase or provide such other small vessels as may be neces-
sary and proper to render the said expedition efficient and useful ;
and, for this purpose, the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated ; and, in addition thereto,
if necessarv, the President of the United States is authorized to use
other mfcans in the control of the navy department, not exceeding
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for the objects required."

THE BILL. 297

At the instance of Mr Linn, of Missouri,

Mr. Southard moved to strike out so much of the above amend-
ment as is contained in the following words : " if, in his opinion)
the public interest shall require."

On this proposition, Mr. Hill asked for the yeas and nays ; which
were ordered; and the question being taken on Mr. Southard's
motion, it was decided as follows :

YEAS — Messrs. Benton, Black, Clay, Clayton, Davis, Ewing
of Ohio, Grundy, Hendricks, Hubbard, Kent, Knight, Leigh, Linn,
Naudain, Niles, Prentiss, Rives, Robbins, Ruggles, Shepley, Sou-
thard, Swift, Tallmadge, Tomlinson, Walker, White— 26.

NAYS— Messrs. Hill, King of Georgia, Wright— 3.

The amendment of the house, as amended, was then concurred
in.

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, May 10.

The house proceeded to the consideration of the amendment of
the senate to the amendment of the house to the thirteenth amend-
ment of the senate to the bill (No. 53) entitled " An act making
appropriations for the naval service for the year 1836."

The amendment of the house to the said thirteenth and last
amendment of the senate, is as follows :

Strike out all of the two additional sections added by the senate,
after the word enacted, in the first said additional sections, and
insert as follows : " That the President of the United States be,
and he hereby is, authorized, if, in his opinion, the public interest
shall require, to send out a surveying and exploring expedition to
the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, and for that purpose to employ
a sloop of war, and to purchase or provide such other smaller vessels
as may be necessary and proper to render the said expedition
efficient and useful ; and for this purpose, the sum of one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated,
out of any money in the treasury not otherwise approp ated ; and,
in addition thereto, if necessary, the President of the United States

38;

298 PASSAGE OF THE BILL.

is authorized to use other means in the control of the Navy De-
partment, not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
for the objects required."

The amendment of the senate to the said amendment is as fol-
lows : Strike out these words, viz : " if, in his opinion, the public
interest shall require"

The question was stated, that the house do concur in the said
amendment of the senate.

And after debate, the previous question was moved by Mr.
M'Kim, and being demanded by a majority of the members present,

The said previous question was put, viz : Shall the main ques-
tion be now put^?

And passed in the affirmative..

The main question was then put, viz : Will the house concur in
the said amendment of the senate ?

And passed in the affirmative.

The yeas and nays being desired by one-fifth of the members
present, those who voted in the affirmative are —

Mr. John Gluincy Adams Mr.
Heman Alien
William H. Ashley
Jeremiah Bailey
Andrew Beaumont
William K, Bond
Nathaniel B. Borden
Matthias J. Bovee
John W. Brown
Andrew Buchanan
Jesse A. Bynum
Churchill C. Cambreleng
George Chambers
John Chaney
Graham H. Chapin
Timothy Childs
John Coffee
Thomas Corwin
John Cramer
Joseph H. Crane
Edward Darlington
Edmund Deberry
Ulysses F. Doubleday
John Fairfield
Samuel Fowler
Philo C. Fuller
William K. Fuller

John Galbraith
Francis Granger
James Harper
Samuel S^Harrisoa
Abner Hazeltine
Joseph Henderson
William Hiester
Samuel Hoar
Benjamin C. Howard
Joseph R. Ingersol?
Henry F. Janes
Benjamin Jones
Andrew T. Judson
William Kennon
Daniel Kilgore
John Klingensmith, jr.
Amos Lane
Gerrit Y. Lansing
Abbott Lawrence-
Gideon Lee
Dixon H. Lewis
Levi Lincoln
Henry Logan
Thomas C. Love
Job Mann

Mr. Isaac McKim
Jesse Miller
Matthias Morris
Henry A., Muhlcnberg
George W. Owens
James Parker
Gorham Parks
William Patterson
Stephen C. Philips
David Potts, jr.
John Reed
Joseph Reynolds
John Robertson
David Russell
Ebenezer J. Shield*
William N. Shinn
Nicholas Sickles-
David Spangler
Bellamy Storer
John Taliaferro
Francis Thomas
John Thompson
Isaac Tottcey
Samuel F. Vinton
Taylor Webster

Thomas M. T. McKennan Thomas J. Whittlesey.

CORRESPONDENCE

I

CORRESPONDENCE

Between J. N. REYNOLDS and ttie Hon. MAHLON DICKERSON, under
the respective signatures of "Citizen" and "Friend to the Navy,"
touching the South Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition ; wherein
the objects of the enterprise, and the causes which have delayed its de-
parture, are canvassed. Originally published in the " New-York Times"
of July, August, and September, 1837, and in the " New- York Courier
and Enquirer" of December and January, 1837-38.

LETTERS, &c.

i.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.
SlR, ^ v

In my opinion you hold one of the most important stations in\
this or in any other country. To fill it, a man should know all
that is known of the seas, continents, and islands in the world.
He should be acquainted with their commerce, their products, and
with the character of their population. There have been men of
.mind in the office you now fill, who knew their deficiencies in
these matters, and nobly laboured to induce the nation to permit
them to take the proper means to obtain this information for the
benefit of the people and the department which they filled. You
have succeeded them ; and, permit me to ask, what have you done
to carry out their plans, or to propose new ones calculated to in-
fuse a proper tone and feeling in the service over which you pre-
side ? I shall speak plainly in these letters which I am about to
address to you. I take no pleasure in the task, but feel it an im-
perative duty to do so. This is my prerogative as a native citizen
of this country. The official acts of a public functionary may be
fully canvassed by the humblest citizen ; and while he confines
himself to truth, and to the use of courteous and gentlemanly lan-
guage, no merited censure can he charged to him. My feelings
and my fame are identified with the glory of our arts, our arms,
and our means of defence as much as yours or those of any other
citizen, for these things belong to the whole country.

As far as our commerce and our navy are concerned, these are,
for good or for evil, intrusted to you, and for the influence you
exercise upon them you must be answerable at the bar of public
opinion; that tribunal which, sooner or later, v.iil do justice to the
wronged, however humble, and cover, with its deepest denuncia-
tions, the unfaithful, however high in station !

In the freedom of my soul,, I must say I have long doubted

'

:',,-. "'

304

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

your capacity for the high office you hold ; and I have often won-
dered you did not gratify the whole community by retiring from
duties you must find so difficult to perform, by seeking that re-
pose and quiet generally so grateful to man in the ninth septen-
v nial of human life.

I never heard a sentence from your lips, or read a paragraph
from your pen, that gave me the impression that the compass of
your mind, on public measures, was not better adapted to razee
or to cut down than to build up and adorn ! Still I thought that
you would adhere strictly to the discharge of your duties, particu-
larly where the responsibility of devising was taken from your
shoulders, and rested in other quarters able to bear it ; but in this
T was unfortunately disappointed.

When you came into office, if you had looked over the files of
papers in the department, you must have known that, ten years
ago, as you have said, in the days of Madison, a plan was devised
for an expedition to the South Seas ; that memorials, petitions,
and representations had come into Congress from all quarters, and
seized strongly upon the attention of the enlightened members of
that body, and that steps had been taken by them for such an un-
dertaking. If the plan suggested was, from many circumstances,
suffered to sleep a while, you know it was revived with fresh ar-
dour in Congress, and acts passed for carrying the project forth-
with into effect.

Your opposition to such an expedition was, I confess, undis-
guised. During the sessions of 1834 and 5 you were opposed
to it in every shape and form ;. when the bill passed the Senate,
you did all in your power to have it defeated in the house ; rec-
ommending to members — " Strike it out, strike it out !"

But you often declared that you should feel under obligations
to carry into effect whatever Congress determined in regard to
the subject. Have you done it ? Are you doing it ? These are
questions I have a right to ask ; and they may be asked by an au-
thority which will require an answer T

More than a year ago the expedition was authorized, and the
navy commissioners stated in their report to the president in
January, 1836, that the Macedonian could be got ready for sea in
nirety days; and how is it that she is now only ready to receive
her men in June, 1837 ?

oH

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 305

Twelve months and more have elapsed, and the expedition
still lingers, while the prospect of its departure seems to recede
from the vision of the public. Was this delay for want of energy
or from want of friendly disposition ? The account of the expe-
dition aroused the maritime powers, who were determined that
this youthful nation should not run away with all the glories of
discovery and examination ; and while you have been weighing,
and pondering, and devising means for delay and seeking for
causes for procrastinating the whole enterprise, the French gov-
ernment has fitted out three expeditions into the South Seas ; and
with each a frigate — ay, a frigate — a machine so ponderous and
ingulfing to your imagination ! These well-equipped expedi-
tions have moved to their destinations for the protection of com-
merce, for the security and defence of their fisheries, and for
scientific purposes ; and even a fourth is in a state of forwardness
for the same noble purposes.

Why are we not there before them ? Congress made the most
ample provisions for the expedition. The people ask, and I as
one of them, what under heaven has been the cause of this pro-
crastination ? Will the energetic people of this country, who, in
1797, when we were insulted by the French directory, spread
over the forests of our country, bowed the oak beneath the axe,
built sloops of war, armed and manned them, and in less than a
hundred days from the orders given to build were pouring their
thunders into the French cruisers among the West Indian Islands ;
can these men and their descendants brook such a delay with-
out inquiry ?

But, for the present, I will not pursue this inquiry farther.
You, under the specious appearance of sincerity, opened a cor-
respondence with some of our learned societies, asked them to
recommend suitable persons to form a scientific corps, which the
executive determined should accompany the expedition. Gen-
tlemen were recommended and selected ; men sharing largely in
the confidence of men of science, and burning to distinguish
themselves in their departments.

I have heard it intimated that you had some pretensions to sci-
ence, and that you were a member of the philosoobical society.
From that circumstance I should have expected tiiat you would
deal out a different measure of justice to the members of the scien-

39

306 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

tific corps. Why have they not been called together, and their du-
ties assigned them, and facilities given for the various and extensive
preparations necessary for their respective departments, in pursu-
ance of the written request or order of the late energetic executive,
under date of February 25th last ? No one knows better than you
that the late executive was fully resolved that the expedition, both
in its civil and naval departments, so far as he was concerned, should
go to sea wanting in nothing that could tend to promote its ultimate
object and triumphant success. It never occurred to his lofty and
indomitable spirit that petty excuses would be made by any offi-
cer of his for delays in a great undertaking ; nor did he wish that
the scientific corps should be sent on board at the hour of sailing
like a guard of marines. Of his share in this expedition I shall
hereafter have occasion to speak. You cannot soon forget it, nor
the manner in which he used to stir you up, as you have often
complained of what he made you do. Well do you know that
even in sickness he did not lose sight of the expedition ; and, had
his wishes been complied with, the expedition would now be doub-
ling the cape, and every one engaged in the enterprise full of
hopes of having immediate opportunities of fulfilling their coun-
try's expectations.

I shall reserve many things for future consideration, and now
pass to your last attempt to strangle the expedition. Now, at the
eleventh hour of the thirteenth moon of the expedition, a new de-
vice is got up by you, if not to destroy it altogether, for that you
cannot do, yet to cut it down, derange its plans, and thereby ren-
der it inadequate to meet the expectations of Congress, of the late
executive, and of the whole country.

You have now appointed a board of naval officers, consisting of
Commodores Chauncey, Morris, Warrington, Patterson, and Wads-
worth, to assist you in making up your mind on the proper means
requisite for the exploring expedition. These are all honourable
men, whose merits and virtues have been tried and found true and
trusty in days gone by ; and a most ungracious duty have you as-
signed them. Deceive not yourself, sir, the intelligence, the spirit,
and pride of the country have been awakened upon this subject,
and will not sleep again ; and long, and deep, and withering will be
the denunciations against the man or men who shall lay Vandal

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN 307

hands upon this enterprise, in the success of which the honour of
our country is so deeply concerned.

But, sir, have you presented the whole case to this board in a
proper light ? I fear not. I have been informed, from good au-
thority, that the whole case has not been presented to them by
your instructions. For what was this board instituted (stripped
of all disguise) but to sit in judgment upon the deliberate opinions
of the people of the United States in Congress assembled ? Will
these officers thank you for such an unenviable office 1 It will
be seen, if they are ready to say, that Congress knew nothing of
the subject, and that the force authorized by that body, and deemed
necessary by President Jackson, after he had examined more
thoroughly into the objects of the expedition than you have ever
done, was too large for the attainments of the objects proposed.

Had the duties of this board been confined to subjects relating
to naval matters, to the examination of the vessels, for instance,
there would have been no complaint ; but you have asked them to
revise the act under which you have proceeded. Every one knows
that the force to be employed on any enterprise must depend en-
tirely upon the objects to be accomplished by it. Had you given
this board instructions, fully and fairly setting forth the great la-
bours the expedition was expected to perform, which have been
so clearly set forth in the proceedings of Congress that he who
runs may read, the country would have had no fears of their re-
ducing the force provided and deemed indispensable by the friends
of the expedition ; but, if confined to your limited instructions,
that board can only take a partial view of the subject, and, of
course, give you but a partial answer.

Jf there be any member on that board who thinks the present
force is unnecessary for all the great purposes contemplated by
Congress and the friends of the measure, the public would be
much indebted to him for a programme of his views ; I am no
advocate for a redundant and proud equipment, and, for one, should
be glad to see them.

But, in sober truth, what instructions have you given this board ?
Will you tell the public the whole story, and let the Senate, and
House of Representatives, and the friends of the expedition become
thoroughly acquainted with all your views ? Perhaps this would
be asking too much ; but, certainly, in this case you are bound to

308 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

furnish us with all your doings fairly and above-board. Secrecy
is unworthy of you and the station you occupy. You have in-
structed this board in such a manner as to shackle their opinions,
if I am not grossly deceived. Is it not something in this con-
tracted form ?

" The objects of the expedition are to explore the seas of the
Southern Hemisphere, more particularly in high latitudes, and
in regions as near to the South Pole as may be approached with-
out danger ; to make, in the regions thus to be explored, all prac-
ticable surveys and observations, with accurate descriptions of
the same, so far as they may be connected with the geography or
hydrography by which the interests of commerce and navigation
may be promoted." Perhaps you may have dropped a word about
science at the close, and intimated that the vessels might, during
the cruise, go north of the line, though for what purpose you do
not say.

This, if I am not misinformed, is the breadth, and length, and
altitude of your instructions, if not the very words.

Why did you forget — no, why did you omit the major part of
your subject ? the great commercial interests among the islands
of the Pacific, and the thousand ways in which those noble inter-
ests might be examined, extended, and secured by this expedition ?
Have not the memorials from Nantucket, New-Bedford, New-
London, Salem, and other great commercial places, given you any
light upon the subject ? Have they not, " in thoughts that breathe
and words that burn," told you, through Congress, the difficulties,
the dangers our fisheries have to encounter in those seas ? Have
they not, in the deep impassioned feeling of their hearts, implored
their country to look after their brethren in bondage on desolate
or savage islands ? And you, in your instructions to this gallant
board, have mentioned but little more than the object of getting as
near as possible to the South Pole, and there to make surveys for
the benefit of commerce ! This same plan of misrepresenting the
objects of the expedition was tried by its opponents last winter
before Congress, and failed. Do you expect to be more successful
in urging the same plea before this board ? I am not done with
this point yet. Every friend to the expedition can bear witness
that you have misrepresented his wishes in regard to the whole
enterprise. In vliat light do you place the merchants and others

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 309

who have addressed Congress on this subject, and how do you
treat the members of that body who voted for the expedition, by
stating that the things you mentioned to the board of officers were
the great objects of their solicitude and protection. Did you sup-
pose, when you penned those instructions, that you were compli-
menting the late executive by saying that the object of the expe-
dition -was to go as near to the South Pole as possible, and that,
for that purpose, he had been so unacquainted with his duties as
to assign the present force. I do you no injustice ; such is the
plain interpretation of your acts. The decisions of that execu-
tive have been universally approved by the friends of the expedi-
tion ; its enemies alone are hawking at it, wishing to derange and
alter what they have not the power entirely to destroy. You re-
spected, or affected to respect, that distinguished man's opinions
when he was in power. Have you forgotten him and his opin-
ions in the short period of four little months ?

I have now stated a few outlines of the case, simply that the
people may inquire of your doings, or your undoings, or your
nondoings ! It is with your acts I am engaged ; with your mo-
tives I have nothing to do. I leave them to the conjectures of the
public, and to the depths of your own bosom.

If you, by the management you have adopted, can draw from
the board you have appointed such a report as will suit your views,
and be made the pretext for cutting down the expedition, you will
know that such a course will not justify your conduct at the public
tribunal to which I have summoned you, and intend to hold you,
until you have put in your plea of justification and ventured the
issue upon it. I am but a citizen, holding no office of honour, but
I know my rights, and, knowing, " dare maintain them." I, as a
citizen, have, by the constitution, the privilege to call your atten-
tion to your duties. This is a writ of right, I ask no leave of
court for filing it ; and shall fear no authority in pursuing my own
course in the premises. The high hopes and deep solicitude of
the nation have been trifled with by you alone ; every other pub-
lic functionary has given his consent, or been silent. Do you
aspire to the enviable fame of having thwarted the nation in a
plan for its benefit and distinction ? If you do, you may go down
to posterity with all the honours you deserve.

I have said your instructions to the board were a perversion of

310 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

the great objects of the expedition ; that you had brought before
them but a partial view of the subject ; and in my next letters I
shall proceed to prove them so.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, June 29, 1837.

II.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy,

SIR,

You will remember the conclusion of my last number. It was
there intimated that your instructions to the naval board did not
convey an impartial and just view of the great objects of the ex-
pedition. I promised that in my next I would prove my asser-
tion, and shall proceed to do so.

Fortunately for my purpose, there are ample records which
bear directly and luminously upon the point at issue. To these
documents I shall mainly confine myself; because, being official
and on file in the naval department, you can have access to them
at any moment, and can therefore the more easily judge of the
fairness of the testimony I shall extract from them. No one, sir,
can turn over the pages of these documents and fail to be at once
convinced, even against his will, that the whole action of Congress
has been based upon memorials from various sections of the
country, and more especially from that portion occupied by our
fellow-citizens interested in the whale-fishery, and the multifarious
traffic carried on among the countless islands of the great North
and South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The memorials to which I refer are now before me. Among
them is one from Nantucket as far back as November, 1828. As
regards the whale-fishery, the memorialists remark :

" Whether viewed as a nursery of bold, hardy seamen, or the
employment of capital in one of the most productive modes, or as
furnishing an article of indispensable necessity to human comfort,
it seems to your petitioners to be especially deserving the public

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 311

care. The increased extent of the voyages now pursued by the
trading and whaling ships into seas but little explored, and in parts
of the world before unknown, has increased the cares, the dangers,
and losses of our merchants and mariners. Within a few years
their cruises have extended from the coasts of Chili and Peru to
the Northwest Coast, New-Zealand, and the islands of Japan.
This increase of risk has been attended by an increase of loss.
Several vessels have been wrecked on islands and reefs not laid
down on any chart, and the matter acquires a painful interest from
the fact that many ships have gone into those seas, and no soul
has survived to tell their fate. They therefore pray that an ex-
pedition may be fitted out under the sanction of government to
explore and survey the islands and coasts of the Pacific seas, and,
as in duty bound, will ever pray," &c.

This memorial, emanating from an intelligent, hardy, industrious,
and enterprising people, was accompanied by many similar peti-
tions from other places, all breathing the same spirit, and couched
in the like simple yet forcible language. It never occurred to
these petitioners that their whaling operations, extending through-
out the numerous groups of islands stretching from the western
shores of South America to the confines of Asia, could be partic-
ularly benefited by surveys " as near the South Pole as can be
approached without danger!" The committee on naval affairs
had charge of the memorials adverted to. What thought they of
the matter ? Seven out of nine of their number were in favour of
the expedition. General Ripley, of Maine, made the report on
the 25th March, 1828. He began by allusion to the weight of
character of the memorialists, and the importance of the opinions
they expressed, and concluded in the following words :

" The dangers to which an immense amount of property is ex-
posed, as well as the hazard to human life, for the want of knowl-
edge by more accurate surveys of regions to which our commerce
is extending, and the probable new sources of wealth which may
be opened and secured to us, seem to your committee not only to
justify, but to demand the appropriation recommended. They
therefore report a bill for that purpose."

Are the dangers to which this immense amount of property is
exposed, and the hazard to human life, here spoken of as existing,
in regions " as near as can be approached to the South Pole ?"

312 LETTERS OP A CITIZEN.

Would surveys in that quarter render the property endangered
more secure, or add to the safety of our mariners by restraining
the untamed savage of the tropic isles ?

Between the committee and the then secretary of the navy an
interchange of opinion took place. The latter said —

" I entertain the opinion that such an expedition is expedient.
My reasons are briefly these : That we have an immense and
increasing commerce in that region, which needs the protecting
kindness of government, and may be greatly extended by such an
expedition. The commercial operations carried on in that quarter
are difficult and hazardous. They are correctly represented in the
memorial of the inhabitants of Nantucket, to which I would refer,
as well as to some of the many other memorials which have been
addressed to Congress on this subject. It would seem wise in
government to render these commercial operations less hazardous
and less destructive to life and property. The commerce in the
Pacific Ocean affords one of the best nurseries for our seamen.
An expedition such as that proposed would be calculated to in-
crease that class of citizens ; an increase in which the government
and nation are deeply interested."

It is unnecessary to dwell longer upon the records of that day
Sufficient information has been given to leave no doubt of the
opinions then entertained by men who had thoroughly investigated
the subject. You were at that time a member of the United States
Senate ; but, as the affair never came fairly before that body for
discussion, you may have forgotten these matters. I proceed,
therefore, to a later period, embracing the action of Congress since
you have been secretary of the navy. Of the transactions of the
legislature within that interval I cannot suppose you uninformed,
because such want of information would almost imply a dereliction
of public duty.

Mr. Pearce, of Rhode Island, to whom the country is much in-
debted for the ability and zeal with which he advocated this meas-
ure before the committee on commerce, on the seventh of Febru-
ary, 1835, made a long report, which was accompanied by a bill
providing for an expedition. He commenced by stating that the
number and character of the memorialists, together with the opin-
ions they had expressed upon the subject of their petition, had
called the committee to an attentive and careful consideration of

V -'•>'-", -•:.'*•

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 313

the objects to be attained by the projected undertaking, as well as
of the facts and reasoning adduced in its favour. He then went
into a full examination of our great interests in the North and
South Pacific and Indian Oceans, and pointed out the numerous
ways in which those interests might be rendered more secure, as
well as greatly extended, by an efficient expedition. He noticed
the action of the legislature of his own state during the October
session of 1834, in which that body recommended the enterprise
to the favourable consideration of Congress, as " highly important
to our shipping and commercial interests" What shipping and
commercial interests have we near the South Pole ? But the leg-
islature did not, perhaps, exactly understand the import of the lan-
guage they used.

To the memorial from the East India Marine Society of Salem,
Massachusetts, the committee made special reference. That
society comprises among its members a larger number of practi-
cal seamen than any other in the United States. By its constitu-
tion no one is eligible to membership who has not doubled either
Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. The language of such
a body of men is the language of experience. They ask that an
expedition be fitted out under the sanction of the government, the
objects of which shall be to examine the numerous places of trade
already visited for commercial purposes by our enterprising citi-
zens, and to open new channels for the extension of traffic by the
survey of such groups of islands in the North and South Pacific
Oceans as are imperfectly explored or entirely unknown ; to as-
certain their true positions on the charts ; examine their harbours
and mercantile or agricultural capabilities ; and to bring about such
a friendly intercourse with the natives as shall prevent the effusion
of blood.

They speak of having themselves been in those seas, and of
experiencing, in severe losses and painful solicitude, the want of
national protection — protection from the dangerous reef, guaran-
tied by a well-ascertained knowledge of its position, as also
against savages, who can only be deterred from lawless violence
by being made sensible of our power to restrain and punish them.

They have " seen and felt the dangers our vessels are exposed
to for the want of such protection as an expedition fitted out for
the express purpose alone can give." They enforce their views
O 40

314 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

by calling the attention of Congress to a single point, the Feejee
or Beetee Islands. This group consists of sixty or more in num-
ber, of which there is no chart pointing out their harbours, shoals,
&c., and yet no less than twelve vessels from the single port of
Salem have been engaged in procuring from this cluster biche-
le-mer, shells, and other commodities, in exchange for which east-
ern cargoes are brought into our country, thus contributing no in-
considerable amount to our national revenue. Many mariners
have been killed by the natives, their vessels lost or damaged, and
the sum total of losses would go far towards paying the expenses
of an expedition.

Are the Feejee Islands near the South Pole ?

The committee embraced in their report a letter from one of
the most practical, liberal-minded, and intelligent officers in our
service, Commodore Downes. It was written at the request of a
member of Congress. Commodore Downes had had some expe-
rience in the navigation of the less frequented parts of the Pacific
at an early period of his life. During his voyage in the Potomac
an opportunity offered to add materially to the knowledge acquired
in former years. While circumnavigating the globe, in accom-
plishing which he crossed the equator six times, and varied his
course from forty-two degrees north to fifty-seven degrees south
latitude, he had never found himself beyond the limits of our com-
mercial marine ! The accounts given of the dangers, privations,
and losses to which our shipping and seamen are exposed from
the extension of our trade into seas but little known, so far, in
his opinion, from being exaggerated, " would admit of being placed
in bolder relief, and the protection of government implored in
stronger terms." He spoke from practical experience.

Pursuing the labours of the committee, you will find that which
must startle you, when contrasted with some of your recently ex-
pressed opinions. That body hold up to your view the policy
adopted by other countries for the protection of their fisheries,
and show how these very fisheries have been extended by ex-
ploring expeditions. The British nation has disbursed millions
in bounty to its whalers. The American whaler has received no
bounty. He requires none. He asks of his government only
' protection.

More especially, permit me to call your attention to the very

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 315

last paragraph in the able report to which I have alluded ; it is
much to the point, and you may draw instruction from it. Yea,
more, it will furnish you with an argument to refute the contempti-
ble fabrication of the weak marplotting enemies of this truly na
tional enterprise, who, in the face of two hundred pages of printed
documents, have had the effrontery to say the expedition would
have little or nothing to do with protection of commerce in the
regions to be examined. I will give the authors of this device a
withering review before I have done. Let them prepare for it.
I know them, and may feel it my duty to drag them from their
dark retreats, perfectly regardless who may be found in their
company, or what aspect they may wear when exposed to the fair
face of day.

The advocates for the expedition, whether in or out of Con-
gress, have ever been ready to meet their opponents in open and
manly discussion ; but they have had little of this kind of opposi-
tion to encounter. What has been frank, bold, and above-board on
the one hand, has been met by cowardly, ignorant, or wilful mis-
representation on the other. Those who originated, authorized,
and sanctioned the enterprise are responsible to the country for
its results. In courtesy, in common justice, they should be allowed
to influence its organization, and to employ the force which, in all
sincerity, they deem indispensable to its ultimate and triumphant
success. Yes, sir, the objects of the voyage, the plan of ths voy-
age, and the force to be employed, are defensible, have been de-
fended, and can be defended before the nation and the world.
Have their opponents met them in argument ? They have not,
they cannot, they dare not, under the responsibility of a name.

But to the report. " While your committee, in coming to their
conclusion in recommending such an expedition as has been
prayed for by the memorialists, have been influenced by commer-
cial views, and place the policy of the measure solely on these
grounds, they are not indifferent to the valuable fund of knowledge
which may be gathered during the voyage, and which, properly
analyzed and written out, may be interesting not only to the Amer-
ican people, but to the whole civilized world."

Here I might pause and appeal to the intelligence of the coun-
try if I have not made out my case, and convicted you of having
misrepresented — I do not say intentionally — the true objects of

316 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

the expedition in your instructions to the board. Let the mem-
bers of that board report. For the objects to be attained you state
the/orce designated is too large. For those objects, as under-
stood by Congress and the whole country, neither you nor they
will venture to reduce it.

I am prepared to meet you, or any one who thinks with you,
in argument, and to demonstrate that the present force is wisely
proportioned to the accomplishment of the ends proposed, or, if
altered, should be increased rather than diminished. Before I
have done with you I will go still farther, and prove that you are
in honour bound not only to cease all opposition, but to fit out the
expedition on its present plan, and that you cannot persist in your
present course without a sacrifice of honour which would tarnish
the reputation of any man in the common concerns of life.

This is strong language, sir, but I know what I am saying, and
hold myself responsible for what I have said. In my next I shall
bring the matter nearer to your department in the further exami-
nation of your precious instructions.
Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, July 1, 1837.
'

III.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

Sm,

I proceed to a further examination of your precious instructions
to the naval board, as promised in the conclusion of my last let-
ter. I feel humiliation in the task of holding you up to the pub-
lic gaze as unfaithful to your duty in neglecting to execute a
twice-repeated law of Congress, unfortunately for the honour of
our country intrusted to your hands. I still deal with your pub-
lic acts. In the private walks of life it is said you are amiable
and kind. I am glad that it is so. To your observance of the
courtesies of your office I can myself bear testimony. I can
dwell upon them, and upon the domestic virtues claimed for you,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 317

with the same kind of fervid pleasure the weary traveller may be
supposed to feel when gazing upon some green spot and gushing
fountain in the midst of the desert, while all around is barren and
unproductive — a hungry soil, that swallows up the fattening
showers, poured by bounteous Heaven upon its steril bosom, but
in return gives forth nor fruit, nor flower, nor herb to gladden
the eye and cheer the interminable waste.

But to my task. Do you, sir, remember, that on the 23d of
January, 1835, a call, in the form of a resolution, was made on
you by Congress for an original report of J. N. Reynolds, Esq.,
on the " Islands, reefs, and shoals of the Pacific, &c., &c. ;" and
that, on the ensuing day, you transmitted said report, with this
note — " When no longer required, it is respectfully requested it
may be returned ?

MAHLON DICKERSON. "

Allow me, sir, to ask you, in the most respectful manner, what
that paper contained. You cannot plead forgetfulness of its con-
tents, because it passed through your hands in manuscript form,
and soon after was returned to your department a printed docu-
ment of some forty or more pages. You know, sir, that docu-
ment embraces a list of islands, reefs, and shoals discovered by,
and noted in, the logbooks of our whalemen during the last thirty
years, as they gradually, in the pursuit of their vocation, followed
the great monsters of the deep into unfrequented seas and remote
parts of the globe.

You further know, sir, that that document contains irresistible
evidence of the necessity and importance of the labours to be per-
formed by the expedition among the thousand islands erroneously
laid down in our charts ; and among others — to the extent of more
than half that number — not laid down, nor to be found on any
chart, however recent or improved its construction. This was
the light in which the document was viewed and commented on
by committees who made reports, and by members who alluded to
it in their speeches on the floor of Congress. And yet, sir, in the
face of all this, and of all else I have stated and have to state,
you, in your official capacity as secretary of the navy, have told
the board to look mainly to the means of getting to the South
Pole or near it, and then, forsooth, to see if the present force be
not too large for that single object /

318 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

Are you not aware, sir, that, throughout those wide-spread seas,
speckled with countless islands, we have, engaged in the whale-
fishery only, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand tons of ship-
ping, valued at twelve millions of dollars, and giving employment
to not less than ten thousand men, to say nothing of the increas-
ing traffic in treasures gleaned from coral reefs, and in the prO"
ductions of the islands ? Are you not cognizant of the fact, that
the combined interests of all the other commercial nations of the
earth do not equal ours alone in those seas? You cannot but
know, sir, that these islands are inhabited by every variety of sav-
age man ; that our vessels have been wrecked among them, often
attacked, and sometimes cut off by them ; our mariners massacred,
or, if spared, spared only to wear out a wretched existence, in the
captives' hopeless prayer that the honour and justice of their
country might be aroused to rescue them. If the supplications
of disconsolate and heart-stricken parents, whose sons are in
bondage, could move you, how soon would this expedition depart
on its errand of mercy, of utility, and national renown ! All these
things are known to you, sir, and yet you have not alluded to
one of them in your instructions to the naval board, in which you
profess to set forth the objects of the enterprise. Why, in the
name of all that is high, and noble, and manly, have you thus
compromitted your official character ? I feel compassion for you
in the unpleasant predicament in which you stand, and, were I to
consult my inclinations rather than my duty, would willingly leave
you in the hands of the public, and to the bitter reminiscences of
your own mind. But this may not be ; you are a public man,
and the public good requires that I should go on.

Is it not within your knowledge, sir, that our whale-ships often,
nay, daily, pass by islands in those seas to more distant ports for
refreshments ; while those very islands, if surveyed, their har-
bours pointed out, and the natives awed into respect by a judicious
display of our power, would furnish in abundance the necessaries
or refreshments required ? Are you to be informed, sir, that all
barbarians estimate the power of others solely by contrasting that
power with their own ; and that many of these islanders have
learned to distinguish between the flags of different countries, and
to deride one nation or fear another, according to the weakness or
strength which each displays in its naval armament ? This fact

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 319

was illustrated in 1824, when the British government sent Lord
Byron, in the frigate Blonde, to the Sandwich and other islands.
What was the effect produced on the minds of the savages by the
presence of that ship ? So firm was their impression that there
was no power on earth equal to the English, that the American
residents and traders in that quarter wrote to Commodore Hull,
then commanding the Pacific squadron, requesting that he would
send a frigate for the sole purpose of doing away or modifying the
feeling which the visit of the Blonde had produced ; and you may
lay your hand upon the evidence of this fact in the archives of
your department. Your predecessor sent the frigate Potomac to
Quallah-Battoo to chastise the Malays, whose hands were red
with the blood of our countrymen. Her presence on that coast,
I assert without fear of contradiction, made a more lasting im-
pression for good on the inhabitants than the appearance of a
dozen sloops-of-war could have done. Had you been then in of-
fice, the ghost of La Perouse * * * but I forbear.

I presume you are not uninformed that the French have, prob-
ably, less than one tenth of our interest afloat in the North and
South Pacific Oceans ; and yet they have despatched three frigates
to these seas avowedly to protect and extend their trade and fish-
eries, and to subserve the purposes of science. The people of
this country, on the other hand, have the melancholy spectacle
presented to them of your efforts to cut down the first similar na-
tional expedition undertaken by this great republic, and that, too,
in the very face of a solemn law of the land !

I mentioned the name of La Perouse. The loss of his frigate
some half century or more ago has been a stereotyped argument
assumed by you and a few others against the employment of a
small thirty-six gun ship. But now the tables are turned ; for, if
the wreck of the ship alluded to be quoted as a precedent against
the employment of vessels of that class, it may be fully met by
the fact that France has since despatched three frigates into the
same seas ; thus leaving you no ground to stand upon, save your
paternal solicitude for the lives of those who may embark!

Is it possible, at this late period of your life, with all your expe-
rience, and the opportunities you have had to expand your mind
in reflecting on and investigating the great concerns of nations,
you have still to be informed that, in case of a war between our

320 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

country and any of the first maritime powers of Europe, this gov-
ernment would be compelled to dash her frigates, if not her larger
vessels, into the waters to which I refer ? There she has a com-
merce ; and where her commerce is, there must be her navy and
her ocean conflicts also. What would be thought of your present
policy in such an emergency ? and what would be thought of those
naval officers who have echoed your sentiments upon the subject 1
We are now at peace with the world, and this is the season to
acquire that knowledge which would most assuredly be needed
and most valuable in the event of war.

One thing is certain ; were I the enemy, 1 should count upon
rich prizes in the Pacific before any vessel fitted out by your di-
rection could reach me. I should anticipate at least twelve
months uninterrupted pickings among the American whalers ;
and even then, in consequence of La Perouse having been lost,
I should expect nothing more formidable than a sloop-of-war to
come after me among the islands !

But why should I consume more time in exposing this part of
your official delinquencies ? You cannot defend yourself. Your
maladministration is indefensible. Why, sir, you cannot open
the document containing the authority under which you act with-
out seeing, on every page of the Senate's report, a complete refu-
tation of the extraordinary position you have assumed.

You cannot look over the columns of speeches made by mem-
bers, explaining the true objects of the enterprise, without meet-
ing a withering rebuke. Allow me to commend to your attention
a speech of singular ability, made on this subject by Mr. Hamar,
of Ohio ; it has been published in all quarters of the Union. Per-
haps the enlarged and statesman-like views it exhibits may render
it, though not incomprehensible, at least unpalatable to you. Nor
does Mr. Hamar stand alone. Mr. Vinton, indeed the whole del-
egation from the state of Ohio, have ever stood as one man upon
this subject. Their weight and influence have told, and, if need
be, will again tell !

But the most extraordinary part of this story remains to be dis-
closed. After all we have seen in the character of your in-
structions to the naval board, and the object proposed by those
instructions, what will the community think when informed of
the fact that, for a considerable time after the expedition had been

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 321

authorized at the first session of the last Congress, you, the HON.
MAHLON DICKERSON, Secretary of the Navy, ridiculed the very
idea of undertaking to explore high latitudes south ! To give an
instance, sir. In your office, on one occasion, while in conversa-
tion with a gentleman of unimpeachable veracity, you said it was
all nonsense to talk about going to regions near the South Pole ;
and, to use your own, not very classic, language, that "none
but a d — d fool would think of it ! ! ! ! !" And yet, for some
mysterious and inscrutable purpose, it now suits your pleasure
to pretend that this is the great leading aim and object of the en-
terprise !

Thus do you stand, sir, before the American people — an official
spectacle, such as has been rarely, if ever, before looked upon. It
is no fancy sketch ; would to Heaven, for your own sake and that
of our common country, that it were. I have charged you before
the tribunal of the public with dereliction of duty ; with having
misrepresented the objects of the expedition in your instructions
to the naval board ; and with having intended, by such misrepre-
sentation, to draw from that board a report, to be used as a pre-
text for reducing the force authorized by law to be employed in
the enterprise. Whether I have not fully and triumphantly made
out my case, I appeal to the intelligence of the community ; to
the members of Congress who authorized the outfit ; to the late
executive, and those members of his cabinet who took an interest
in it ; and to the conductors of the public press in whose columns
the great national purposes of the expedition have been so often
discussed and so generously supported.

You will hear from me again.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, July 8, 1837.

41

322 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

IV.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

" You will hear from me again" were the concluding words of
my last letter. With that letter terminated all I deemed it neces-
sary to say, in a connected form, in relation to your extraordinary
instructions to the naval board. In following up the train of
your official doings, though I may now be compelled to take a
somewhat wider range, I shall, nevertheless, endeavour to adhere
closely to the text and closely to you.

On the 10th of May, 1836, the bill authorizing the expedition,
in despite of all your efforts to defeat it, passed both houses of
Congress, and receiving, as it did, the cordial sanction of the
president, became the law of the land. No one anticipated fur-
ther difficulty. If you, however, entertained honest convictions
against the utility of the enterprise, or apprehended the good it
might do would be purchased at too dear a rate, you had a fine
opportunity of enforcing those convictions while the bill was -under
deliberation ; and that you did thus exert yourself, with an energy
which you have seldom, if ever, manifested in the discharge of
your official duties, was apparent at the time to every observer.
But when, as I have stated, the whole matter was settled by Con-
gress, no person anticipated any further opposition from you.
Your duty then became simply an executive duty ; and whether
the expedition was upon too large or too small a scale, whether it
would cost one hundred thousand or five millions of dollars, were
contingences for which you were not responsible, in which you
had no official concern, and about which you had no right to
trouble yourself.

May and June passed away, and no step had been taken by
you to put in train the preparations for the expedition. Fifty days
had thus been lost. You now began to speak plainly, and to
hold the language that twelve months would be necessary to
complete the outfit. Yes, sir, twelve months was the period you
named, and this, be it remembered, was before you could have
foreseen any of the difficulties to which you have since ascribed

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 323

all the subsequent delay — with what justice will be hereafter
shown. This procrastinating policy, thus early developed, met
with no favour from the president ; and it was not until he had
taken the matter in his own hands and overruled you, that, for
the first time, you made yourself acquainted with what the law
required you to do. Yes, sir, amid the pressure of executive
duty incident to the close of a long session, and while on the
eve of his departure for Tennessee, the president put you into
the traces, and directed the whole plan of preparation to be carried
immediately into execution, in a spirit and on a scale commensu-
rate with the character and resources of the country, as will be
seen by the following, which appeared in the Globe on the 13th
of July, 1836.

" We learn that the president has given orders to have the ex-
ploring vessels fitted out with the least possible delay. The ap-
propriation made my Congress was ample to ensure all the great
objects contemplated by the expedition, and the executive is de-
termined that nothing shall be wanting to render the expedition
worthy the character and great commercial resources of the coun-
try.

" The frigate Macedonian, now undergoing thorough repairs at
Norfolk, two brigs of two hundred tons each, one or more tenders,
and a store-ship of competent dimensions, are, we understand,
the force agreed upon, and to be put in a state of immediate
preparation. Captain Thomas Ap. C. Jones, an officer possess-
ing many high qualities for such a service, has been appointed to
the command ; and officers for the other vessels will be imme-
diately selected.

" The Macedonian has been chosen instead of a sloop-of-war
on account of the increased accommodation she will afford the
scientific corps, a department the president has determined shall
be complete in its organization, including the ablest men that can
be procured ; so that nothing within the whole range of every de-
partment of natural history and philosophy shall be omitted. Not
only on this account has the frigate been selected, but also for the
purpose of a more extended protection of our whalemen and tra-
ders, and to impress on the minds of the natives a just concep-
tion of our character, power, and policy. The frequent disturb-
ances and massacres committed on our seamen by the natives in-

324 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

habiting the islands in those distant seas makes this measure a
dictate of humanity."

When this article appeared, why did you not remonstrate with
the president, and show him that he had misunderstood the true
objects of the undertaking ; that the allusions to our " whalemen,"
to the " protection of commerce," to the impression contemplated
to be produced on the minds of the natives by a proper exhibition
of our " character, power, and policy," could not belong to an ex-
pedition intended only for high latitudes ? How can you answer
to your country for having omitted, at that early period, to set the
head of the nation right, and to correct the strange notions he had
formed about the purposes of the voyage ?

To be serious. You know, sir, it was the wish of the execu-
tive at that time to be able to say, in his next annual message to
Congress, " The expedition has sailed ;" and had the directions
which he then left been obeyed in good faith, such had been his
language when the national legislature again convened ; or, at any
rate, long since had the vessels designated been ploughing the
waters of the Pacific. Sir, in your heart you know I speak the
words of truth and soberness !

In October the president returned to the capital. Do you re-
member his astonishment and displeasure on learning the little
progress which had been made during his absence ? You had,
however, by this time got hold of an excuse for the delay — the
impossibility of procuring men. I will examine this impossi-
bility anon. It is true, you had despatched an agent to Europe to
procure instruments, and had sent a circular tr our learned so-
cieties, asking their advice and opinions as to the organization of
the scientific department of the enterprise. You received from
them able reports ; but the reading of many of them, if you have
read them at all, has been a labour of very recent date.

The season was now far advanced, and all hope of sailing du-
ring the autumn had passed away. Congress was soon to assem-
ble, and it was apparent to all that the whole subject would come
once more before that body. That you again prepared to renew
your opposition with new expectations of success, your acts, as I
shall examine them, will abundantly prove. Did you ever hear
of any consultations having taken place before the precise plan of
attack was agreed upon ? Perhaps it is hardly fair to question

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 325

you too closely upon this point ; so I will waive it, and allow your
official acts to speak for themselves, as I shall take them up in
my next letter.

It was now well ascertained in the naval service that you had
no partiality for the expedition, nor have you ever been known to
manifest any feelings of that nature towards those by whom it was
commanded. He who could depreciate the high objects, or find
most fault with the plan and scope of the measure, either in toto
or detail, was sure of finding in you a most graciously-condescending
and patiently-listening auditor. You have often said that the offi-
cers of the navy were opposed to the expedition. Did man ever
labour more zealously in any cause than you have done to produce
this very opposition ? Why, sir, the scientific corps has frequently
been held up by you as an encroachment upon the rights of those
officers, and you have as frequently stated that to be one reason
why the whole affair was so unpopular with them. This prepos-
terous sentiment, so freely- and perpetually expressed by the head
of the department, could not fail to produce some impression, es-
pecially among the less informed and less considerate portion of
the profession. You even went farther, and maintained that the
officers had a right, if not to fix the salaries which should be al-
lowed men of science, at least to protest against their compensa-
tion exceeding a certain amount per annum. I am not aware how
many you may have found to echo this opinion, as I have never
myself heard any such language from the profession.

You know how many there are and who they are who hold
such doctrine. I have no wish to learn the former or designate
the latter ; but, taking you as the authority, we are bound to be-
lieve that such sentiments are entertained, and that the ardour of
the service has been somewhat cooled towards \jf\e enterprise on
that account. Permit me to say, sir, that the worst enemy of the
navy could adopt no measure more injurious to its interests than
that of fomenting causeless jealousy between the officer and the
citizen in the few and far-between instances in which they are
brought together on duty. The title of citizen, sir, is a proud
title. This is a country of citizens. Citizens make the navy,
increase or diminish it at their pleasure, appoint and support its
officers, and will judge them ! ! For every year he is on active
duty, an officer may be two on shore, receiving pay in the latter

EE

326 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

as well as in the former case. Of this the citizens make no com-
plaint. They have created a navy for great national purposes,
not for individuals. If the more intellectual, better informed, and,
of course, more influential portion of its officers did not form a
barrier against those, to the service, suicidal pretensions which
have received your sanction, then, indeed, there might justly be
much apprehension for the success of the expedition, and still
more for the prosperity and improvement of the navy. Let those
you have encouraged in these extravagant opinions, be they few
or many, of high rank or low, assume to themselves an imagined
importance, and, with supercilious, domineering tone, attempt to
sneer at civilians and oppose their employment — as, according
to you, they have already done — on board public vessels where
their country requires their services, and where their right to fill
certain stations is not by courtesy or sufferance, but derived from
authority unquestionable as that of the commander himself —
for both emanate from the same source ; let them indulge in il-
liberal, contracted feelings of petty jealousy against the appoint-
ment of citizens to their appropriate provinces, and they will soon
find themselves in the hands of a giant, who knows his power and
will use it !

It is no reproach to the gentlemen of the navy that they have
not the varied scientific knowledge required for a national expe-
dition such as has been directed by Congress to be organized.
They are only open to censure when, forgetful of their own noble
profession, they claim to assume the performance of duties for
which their previous training and distinct line of action have left
them totally unqualified. Our public vessels have been round
the world, and our officers in them, among islands and in places
rarely visited ; but what contributions to science have resulted ?
Where is the record to which reference can be made, and which
affords a sufficient guarantee that all that is required in the de-
partment of science could be accomplished by the profession, at
a lime, too, when the whole range of that department has as-
sumed such a determined accuracy of detail that the slightest
blunder would subject us to the ridicule of the scientific world ?
Sir, no such record exists j and, until it does exist, it is folly — and,
I can readily conceive, must be humiliating to the abler portion of
the service — to hear such silly pretensions set up by their weaker

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 327

brethren, though such pretensions be endorsed by you, the hon-
ourable secretary of the navy.

But I will not dwell long on a position so untenable. It was
only assumed, in common with many others, to increase the weight
of your opposition to the measure at the last session, by adding
professional prejudice to your other weapons of attack.

How infinitely more worthy and becoming in you, the head of
the department, had you either checked the first expression of
this disorganizing spirit, or given it a more noble direction. Why
did you not point out to these gentlemen that it would soon be
regarded as a reproach to the navy if a hydrographical bureau
were not established in your department ? But perhaps we should
overlook your omissions of this nature, when the increase of the
forces to be led against the expedition was the paramount consid-
eration in your mind.

I do not feel it a part of my present duty to dwell particularly
on the various difficulties which have occurred between the naval
officers, although I think I could give the public some additional
light as regards the part you have had in fomenting those dissen-
sions, and shall do so whenever such a course may seem expedi-
ent or necessary.

In my next I shall take up that section of your annual report
which alludes to the expedition.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN

New-York, July 17, 183.7.

V.
To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

In your annual report to the president, under December 3,
1836, we find, for the first time, a faint and shadowy type of the
assertion which, since that period, you have so confidently put
forth, that the South Sea expedition was an enterprise having no
connexion with the protection of our commerce. Thus, speaking

328 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

of the service generally, you remark, " that the force wanted for
the protection of commerce exceeds the means of supply" Mark
the words, " the force needed for the protection of commerce?
from which force you exclude the frigate and other vessels belong-
ing to the expedition. The plan of attack had now been agreed
upon, and we find the campaign thus officially opened by you.
It is true, as I have abundantly shown in my second and third
letters, that the memorialists, committees, members of Congress,
and public press held very different language. By these, commer-
cial considerations had been made the basis of the undertaking ;
and that their arguments to sustain it on this ground were invul-
nerable, is proved by the fact that they have never been answered.
Hence the bold and audacious move to separate the expedition
from all objects of immediate and practical utility, and to exagger-
ate its cost. Thus weakened, sanguine hopes were entertained
of breaking it down, or, failing in that object, of at least greatly
reducing its force and magnitude.

Your attacks have been bold, direct, and manly. The tenacious
grasp with which you clung to office prevented that, with the late
executive as well as at the present time. At one time you pro-
fess great anxiety to fit out the expedition ; at another, your nat-
ural, long-cherished, deep-seated hostility breaks forth, in no very
choice or set phrase, against the entire scope or plan of the enter-
prise. Now you speak with becoming zeal in behalf of the sci-
entific department, and again, designate the members of the corps
as oyster and clam catchers. You have done all in your power
to dispirit and disgust them, by pertinaciously refusing to put them
on active duty, or to allow them any compensation until the fourth
of the current month, although Congress made a specific appro-
priation for them from the first of January last. More upon this
subject presently.

We have next a striking proof of your far-reaching and saga-
cious forecast, which enabled you to perceive, at the very moment
the outfit was authorized by Congress, that it would be impracti-
cable to complete it " under eight or nine months, without a se
rious injury to other branches of the naval service /" Fourteen
months have elapsed, and the preparations are still unfinished.
The first of October is the latest period at which the vessels should
depart, and I now tell you, before the face of the whole nation,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 329

that such has been the ruinous tendency of your clogging tardi-
ness of action, that the squadron, even at that late date, will be
compelled to proceed to sea incomplete in some of its depart-
ments, but, it is hoped, " without serious injury to other branches
of the naval service /" Perchance still further delay, however,
may, in your opinion, be necessary for the purpose of preventing
this collision of interests !

Evidently feeling the deep necessity of strengthening your po-
sition and justifying your intended procrastination, you further
state, that " the only insurmountable difficulty" in your mind was
the shipment of the requisite number of men " in three or four
months without interfering with arrangements already made"
for sending ships to other stations. How humiliating to the pride
of our country is the acknowledgment made by you, its secretary
of the navy, before the commercial and naval powers of the Old
World, that a small squadron, requiring but a few hundred seamen,
could not be manned and sent out without deranging the great
naval operations of the nation ! This country, whose private armed
ships during the revolution captured fifteen hundred sail from the
enemy, which humbled the fierce corsairs of the Mediterranean,
and broke the charm of British invincibility by sea ; this country,
which but yesterday was bristling up to fight one of the first naval
powers of the earth, ay, would have done it, and, if need be, will
do it, is told by you that a sufficient number of sailors for an ex-
ploring expedition cannot be obtained without deranging your
plans and weakening the efficiency of your measures for the pro-
tection of our interests in the Pacific, West Indian, and Brazilian
stations ! Surely no nation, however mighty, will hazard a war
with the United States while you have the direction of her naval
resources ! It may be that the King of the French had his eye
upon you when he concluded to pay the long-withheld indemnity
to our citizens, and that, owing to the ingratitude so frequently as-
cribed to republics, you have not, as yet, received your full share
of credit for the part you had in that transaction. Be assured,
however, posterity will do you justice, if, indeed, you do not LEARN,
while yet you may FEEL, the value set upon your official actions.

Not only does it appear from your official report that you were
anxious to prepare the public mind for the delays which were to
ensue, but you laboured also to convince the president that no

42

330 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

agency in these delays was chargeable on you. Thus you tell
him, that inasmuch as " it was his earnest wish that the intentions
of Congress in authorizing the measure should be carried into
effect with the least possible delay" you had not only resolved to
clothe Commodore Jones with unusual powers, and to grant him
" every facility" for the purpose of shipping crews, but that you
had yourself " determined to make an extraordinary effort to
accomplish that object" The fruits of your extra labours have
been seen by the whole nation in the humiliating spectacle of
what, by " extraordinary efforts," you have been able to accom-
plish in fourteen months, with the most ample means at your dis-
posal, towards expediting the preparations for the voyage.

But your countrymen do not know what the " every facility"
so confidently set forth in your report has been. I will tell them,
and then leave them to judge whether the negative or positive
quality predominates. You granted to Commodore Jones the ex-
traordinary "facility" of shipping mariners at the regular stations
opened for the general service ; precisely what you allowed to
others under special orders, while recruiting for the crews of vessels
destined for the Pacific and Brazilian stations, and nothing more.
Men at this time were commanding from $16 to $18 per month
in the merchant service, and in the navy from $10 to $12 per
month ! It has been the policy of other countries to assign sea-
men sent on such adventures extra pay in money or clothing, of-
ten in both ; while you have allowed neither, though requested to
do so. Congress, at the last session, made a special grant for the
increase of seamen's wages, every particle of which you have
withheld from the sailors being shipped for the expedition.

You vouchsafed Commodore Jones the " facility" of detailing
officers to visit New-London, New-Bedford, and the other places
where it was supposed crews might be procured ; but you took
care to withhold from those officers money for advances, without
which, it is notorious, men cannot be induced to ship, either in the
merchant or naval service. I have it from the lips of an officer
who visited New-London, that some fifteen or twenty prime
hands, who were ready and anxious to engage, called on him at
once ; but not finding it convenient to make their own advances
and pay their own passage to a naval rendezvous, and the officer
being unprovided with funds for this purpose, he did not, as a

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 331

matter of course, obtain one man there or elsewhere. A few
months ago it was believed that a limited number of men for the
expedition might be had in the district, ancj, as before, an officer
was detached to receive proposals. He made a requisition for
one thousand dollars, which was approved by the commander of
the squadron. The prospect of successful recruiting in that quar-
ter was even better than had been anticipated. Fourteen sailors
waited on the appointed agent almost as soon as he had opened
his office in Alexandria. They were told to call and sign arti-
cles on the next day. In the mean time the officer repaired to
Washington for the purpose of ascertaining whether thirty dollars,
the usual advance, should be charged to the men, or whether, in
compliance with the special provision of Congress, that sum should
be allowed as bounty. Before, however, he had time to make
this inquiry of the naval department, he received from you an
order forthwith to return the money placed in his hands to the
treasury, as also to tell the seamen they must go down to Norfolk
upon their own hook ! and ship there. Of course, not one of them
went.

This is but a hasty sketch of your " extraordinary efforts" to
procure men ; they are a fair sample of all your other " extraor-
dinary efforts," and were, of course, attended by the same " ex-
traordinary" success ! When to these are added the enervating
influence of your ungracious and reluctant action throughout ; the
prevalence of the belief that the feelings of the department were
arrayed against the measure ; the uncertainty when, if ever, the
flotilla would sail, and the nonallowance of the slighest extra en-
couragement to the crews, it is not wonderful that the tissue of
misrepresentation which mysteriously got into circulation regard-
ing the enterprise should have obtained some credence. It was
reported, I presume not to say whence such reports emanated,
that the service would be one of great privation to the crews, and
that all their wages would, of course, be expended in supplying
their clothing for the cold and icy latitudes near the South Pole !
Uniting all these circumstances to the other "facilities" you have
afforded, the public mind will have little difficulty in comprehend-
ing the full force of your " insurmountable difficulties in procu-
ring men? even when your most " extraordinary efforts" had been
put forth to effect that end. Seriously, I do not hesitate to assert

332 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

that, by a judicious application of the means within your control,
the whole complement of every vessel might have been shipped
in sixty, or, at most, finely days, at any period since the passage
of the bill by Congress, on the 10th of May, 1836; and that, too,
without interfering with the protection of commerce, or in the
slightest degree deranging the naval service of the country. In
this belief I have found myself sustained by the opinions of those
much more experienced in such matters than I can claim to be ;
and I shrewdly suspect that you will find it something like an
" insurmountable difficulty" to convince the people of this country
that, with the most ample means at your command, nothing more
than you have effected could be accomplished.

In speaking of the vessels, you proceed to tell the president
that " the frigate and store-ship which were on the stocks when
this measure was authorized have been finished and equipped,
and are now receiving their crews" What unaccountable hallu-
cination could have possessed your mind when you wrote this
sentence ? Did you, in the first draught of your report, put down
what ought to have been the condition of those vessels, and after-
ward forget to alter it ? How else could you venture to tell the
president, and, through him, Congress and the whole country, that
the frigate was finished and equipped, and was receiving her men,
when the fact was, the frigate at that time was not finished, not
equipped, nor was she receiving her creiv ; so far from it, she had
not a bulk-head up or a yarn over the masthead, and it was not
until June, six months after this official statement, that she was
completed, and in a condition to receive her complement of
men ! ! ! ! This is another example of your " extraordinary ef-
forts" in forwarding the outfit of the expedition, as well as of the
accuracy of your official report.

The president is further informed that you had not " yet at-
tempted to organize the scientific corps for the expedition ;" but
you intimate that this duty may be performed as soon " as ac-
commodations can be afforded them in the vessels" Strange in-
congruity this ! In the first place, the vessels are " finished" and
" receiving their crews ;" in the next you tell us that the organiza-
tion of the corps is delayed until the vessels are finished and
ready to receive them.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 333

I have pondered a good deal over this sentence, and, for the life
of me, am unable to discover any necessary connexion between
the organization of a corps of scientific men* and the completion
of the apartments intended for their reception on shipboard. I
had thought these labours might progress simultaneously ; but I
forgot you were then making " extraordinary efforts" for the ship
ment of seamen, and, with all your energies thus concentrated
on a single point, might not be able to attend to other matters !

I happen to know something about the appointment of this
corps. In December last, a distinguished member of Congress,
while in conversation with the president, remarked that no ap-
pointments had been made by you in the civil department. The
president was surprised at this intelligence, reached out his hand,
and rang the bell. A messenger appeared. " Tell the secretary
of the navy I wish to see him at twelve o'clock." I do not know
that you obeyed this summons, nor do I pretend to say what oc-
curred at the interview ; but this I do know, that, within three
days from that time, the gentlemen now composing the scientific
corps received their commissions. The reluctance with which
you made appointments leaves to the late executive the sole credit,
so far as you are concerned, of giving to the expedition and the
country an able, efficient, scientific board. I make this statement
for the benefit of posterity ; that, in coming time, should disputes
arise as to the honoured spot or state that gave you birth, the
controversy may not be aggravated by any conflicting opinions as
to the degree of credit due to you for the share you had in equip-
ping and despatching the exploring squadron !

Do you remember that, for some time previous to the appoint-
ment of the corps, you had intermitted all action in reference to
the expedition, waiting, as you said, until Congress should make
further appropriations ; though it can be shown, by incontestible
documentary evidence, that there was, at the very time, more than
one hundred thousand dollars of the past year's appropriation yet
unexpended ? I almost forget what the president told you when
you first intimated to him that you had no funds with which to
go on. He had always a most happy knack in stirring you up to
" extraordinary efforts? and the only misfortune was, that severe
indisposition prevented him, towards the close of the session, from

334 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

giving to the undertaking and to you that minute and watchful at-
tention which both so much required.

I must hurry on with my subject, and bring this letter to a
close. The contest before the last Congress requires a word. I
must pass over points upon which pages might be written. I
cannot stop to examine your report in its financial bearing, much
as it is needed, and greatly as my inclination prompts me to do
so. I shall not even attempt to describe the zeal with which you
warmed yourself while explaining to members of the Senate and
the house the enormous demands the expedition would make on
the public treasury. Your name was frequently used as authority
for stating that the nation was about to squander millions upon this
extravagant enterprise, which had nothing to do with the protection
of commerce, and was only to explore high latitudes south ! ! ! !
The frigate, as the whole country will remember, was the special
object of attack. That she was not necessary for the high south-
ern parallels, and, ergo, not necessary for the expedition, was your
argument. Officers of the navy were found to endorse your opin-
ions. Perhaps the endorsement was mutual ; at least it was so
stated on the floor of Congress. Everything, for a time, promised
you success, and it was asserted that you had never been known
to enjoy such fine spirits ; while the friends of the measure at a
distance were full of despondency, being aware that the objection
to the frigate was not from friendly motives towards the enterprise.
There were those who believed, at the time, that the design was
to cut off the frigate, and then have other commanders and a new
organization ; but, as I do not deal with motives, but with acts, I
shall let that pass.

In the saloons of the library, in the gallery, at parties, and in
messes, the merits of the contest were much discussed. Your
misrepresentations of the purposes of the undertaking were fully
understood by its friends in the Senate and the house, and you
were pitied for the weakness of your device. The members, who
had honestly doubted the propriety of employing a vessel of the
class alluded to, when they looked into the true objects of the voy-
age, yielded their assent, and voted for the measure ; so that, by
the time the bill of appropriations came to be read for the last time,
you stood " alone in your glory" every item in the estimate for

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 335

the present organization and force being passed by an overwhelm-
ing majority.

The disingenuousness of the endeavour to force the friends of
the measure into a false position was, as I have stated, fully ap-
preciated ; and it was partly from compassion, and partly in conse-
quence of a pledge you had given, that no animadversions were
made upon it on the floor of Congress ! The pledge I refer to
was published by you, and over your own name, on the 19th of
January last, in connexion with a correspondence you had carried
on with Commodore Jones. You there distinctly declared, that
while you were opposed to so large a force being sent on the ex-
pedition, " yet you had given all orders that you considered neces-
sary for fitting it out upon the extensive scale adopted ; and
should continue to do so if Congress made appropriations agree-
ably to the estimates furnished for this object ! /"

Here was a deliberate promise, a solemn pledge, given in your
official character, that if Congress made provision for the outfit on
its present plan, on that plan and with the required force should
it be completed. Congress took you at your word by making
the appropriations to the utmost farthing ; and, before the nation,
I hold you to the strict fulfilment of the promise you volunteered.
You cannot shrink from it without covering yourself with official
dishonour ! How you can reconcile you course of conduct since
the close of last session, with this public pledge thus staring you
in the face, is a problem in the solution of which your official
character is deeply concerned ! Deceive not yourself ; the public
eye is upon you, and no sophistry can screen you from that rapidly-
gathering weight of your country's disapprobation which, it re-
quires no horoscope to perceive, is destined ere long to fall upon
you. To avert the blow entirely is now beyond your power, but
you may weaken its force by immediate and faithful efforts in
perfecting the outfit and expediting the departure of the expedition !

I shall again recur to your report.
I have the honour to be

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, July 21, 1837.

336 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

VI.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

The portion of your report to which I purpose calling your at-
tention in this letter reads as follows : " From several learned and
philosophical societies, as well as from distinguished individuals,
I have received the most ample and satisfactory communications,
embracing all the various subjects which it would be necessary
to give in charge to the gentlemen who are to conduct the scien-
tific researches which form the most important objects of the ex-
pedition."

With a superficial observer, this sentence is calculated to gain
you credit, because it conveys something like an expression of
liberality. I regret that I cannot award to you the meed of praise
due to such a feeling. I cannot persuade myself that you de-
serve it. Connected with this subject, I do not consider that your
prejudices will permit the indulgence of liberal sentiments ; yet
I have no idea that the sentence quoted came from your pen by
accident. It is full of meaning, if not of design. Like your state-
ment that to approach as near as possible to the South Pole was
the object of the enterprise, it is, to say the least, an evasion of
the true purposes designed to be accomplished. The induce-
ment to make such a statement will become manifest if it be rec-
ollected that a portion of the public men in this country entertain
the opinion that the government of the United States has no
power under the Constitution to send out an expedition solely for
scientific purposes. Stripped of its commercial character, separ-
ated from all objects of immediate and palpable utility, thrown for
support upon its abstract merits as a medium of scientific re-
search, you knew full well the quarter whence opposition to the
undertaking might be anticipated, and from what quarter it would
have come had you not overrated the weight of your official influ-
ence. Here, then, we have a key to the otherwise inexplicable
mystery, that expressions of such seeming liberality should owe
paternity to you.

No man can appreciate more fully than I do the high objects

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN, 337

committed to the hands of the gentlemen composing the scientific
corps. Not only may they enlarge the boundaries of science and
add lustre to our national character, but, by examining and devel-
oping the resources and capacities of the countries and islands to
be visited, they may even enrich the freight of commerce itself.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, I have never conceived scientific re-
search to be the main object of the expedition any more than that
the attainment of high latitudes south was its principal purpose
and design.

" Fourteen gentlemen," you inform us, " have been appointed
to this corps, eminent for their proficiency in those sciences which
are connected with natural history, or eminent in the arts con-
nected with the subjects of natural history. No one has as yet
been assigned to the departments of astronomy, geography, and
hydrography. With this exception the corps is nearly complete."

If the great design of the expedition be to go as near as practi-
cable to the South Pole, for what purpose do you send a botanist
to that region where no vegetation exists ? Why do you incur the
expense of sending a philologist to attend to the interesting depart-
ment of language where there are no inhabitants ? What object
is proposed by sending an entomologist in those high latitudes,
when a single bug may not be found within the Antarctic circle ?
And wherefore should you despatch a portrait-painter to the Polar
Seas, unless, indeed, you wish him to exercise his art in sketch-
ing the likenesses of seals and sea-elephants ? Thus, we perceive,
the two main objects of the expedition, as set forth by you, are
absurdly in contradiction of each other.

I feel, however, that it is a small business to dwell on your in-
congruities, and have alluded to these matters only for the sake
of putting you right, and of entering my protest against this fur-
ther official misstatement of the leading purposes of the enterprise,
Placed on its true basis, it is defensible on the broad principle of
constitutional power as well as of national policy. To provide
efficient protection for our commerce, in every region with which
we have commercial intercourse, and to extend it wherever it is
susceptible of advantageous increase, is the bounden and acknowl-
edged duty of government. For these noble and useful ends was
the undertaking originated and authorized. Every memorial
transmitted to Congress, every speech and report made by its
P

338 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

members, bears directly and unequivocally upon these points, and
proves that, to them, all others were subsidiary. Such, then, being
the paramount objects in view, it was decided that the opportuni-
ties which would be afforded by the contemplated explorations
and surveys should not be lost to the cause of science ; and hence,
by the direction of the executive, with the sanction of Congress,
provision was made for an able scientific corps ; not, I repeat, as
a primary, but as a collateral department, which neither interest,
the spirit of the age, nor a regard for our station among the en-
lightened of all nations would permit us to overlook in the gen-
eral organization.

But, sir, for the still further illustration of your " extraordinary
efforts" and desire " to prevent delay" I will suppose you to have
been sincere in stating that the " scientific researches of these
gentlemen form the leading objects of the expedition." Now I
think it a fair supposition that the most important objects of any
plan should receive the first attention, and, at all events, that they
ought not to be the last considered. What has been the fact as
regards you ?

Let us see. Three months, wanting two days, after the bill
had passed, you sent an agent to Europe, as you inform us in
your communication to Congress of the 6th February, for the
purpose of preventing " any delay that might arise from the want
of mathematical, astronomical, and philosophical instruments
books, maps, charts," &c. I can hardly forbear a smile when I
read your remark about preventing delay ! Why were not the
"fourteen gentlemen eminent for their scientific attainments"
consulted before the agent departed ? Or, if they were at that
time unselected, it only shows that you had suffered three months
to elapse without having attended to " the most important objects
of the expedition /"

Your agent was furnished with the most " ample means," and
to his discretion and knowledge was confided the duty of pro-
curing all that was deemed necessary, as regarded books and in-
struments, for many branches of science of which he had not the
slightest knowledge. This gentleman, you tell us, returned on the
23d of January, " having performed the duty assigned to him in
the most successful manner ! /" The agent, it would seem, en-
tertained the same opinion you have expressed in this endorse-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 339

ment. With reference to the instruments brought over, in his
report, which forms a supplement to your own, he discourses thus :
" I believe they comprise all that can in any way be useful for
scientific purposes on any expedition, and are all of them of the
very best construction" These assertions, which Humboldt would
not have ventured, are further confirmed in the next sentence,
where it is said, " I trust they will be found fully adequate to the
wants of the expedition"

Among these much-extolled instruments " not to be procured
in the United States," I find mentioned two astronomical clocks,
one journeyman's clock, two astronomical telescopes, and forty-
one chronometers. I have made inquiry if any American maker
of astronomical clocks had been called on by you to give a proof
of his skill, but have been unable to learn that any such had, or
has been, encouraged to furnish a specimen article ; although it
cannot be controverted that astronomical clocks, unsurpassed in
accuracy, and which their manufacturers are willing to warrant
equal to any which can be imported from foreign workshops,
have for several years been made in this country. I am equally
at a loss to know for what reason the admirable reflecting tele-
scopes of Halcomb were wholly overlooked in your attention to
the outfit of that department which embraced the " principal ob-
ject" of the expedition. I have read detailed accounts of the su-
perior excellence of these telescopes from the pens of those in
whose opinions on such subjects I place the highest confidence,
attesting their accuracy, portability, and the ease with which they
may be managed It is the more astonishing that these matters
should have been neglected by you, inasmuch as you have so
long been a strenuous advocate for the patronage of domestic
skill and industry ! In like manner, I cannot help thinking that
at least one or two of those highly-finished box chronometers
made on this side of the Atlantic, which have been lauded and
honoured with premiums by men who have their eyes open, and
who try to keep up with the time of day, should have been or-
dered. It would have been a trial of skill to which our artists
would have brought a full share of national pride, and the expe-
dition being a national enterprise, they ought to have been grati-
fied. It was due to them, and equally due to the country.

If, as you assert, the science connected with natural history

340 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

(by which I suppose you to mean the several sciences included
under the general term of natural history) constitutes the main ob-
jects of the expedition, how did it occur that your envoy failed to
procure any apparatus for research in this branch, if we except a
case of drawing instruments with Cameras Lucidas 1 To seven,
if not more, of the fourteen gentlemen forming the scientific
board, microscopes of the most approved construction, such as
are made only in Europe, were, I should imagine, indispensable.
But, finding no such articles on the list, I suppose it was con-
sidered that everything earthly, aerial, or aquatic too small to be
seen with the naked eye was too insignificant for the notice of
savans on '"any expedition!"

Again : had the individual deputed, who performed his mission
in " the most successful manner," looked into some of the books
he brought with him, he might have learned that, in making
magnetic experiments, modern observers think that a rarefied me-
dium is highly important, and that nothing is more prejudicial to
accuracy in their results than the variable influence of the atmo-
sphere. This theory has been amply explained by philosophers
in England ; and long series of experiments, testing and proving
its correctness, have been made in the United States. The pro-
curement of astronomical apparatus, however, may have kept the
attention of your agent so constantly fixed upon the heavens, that
he unconsciously omitted to notice these trifles connected with
earth !

Is it to be presumed that you consider the meteorological de-
partment well supplied with instruments without some apparatus
for investigating the state of atmospheric electricity ? Or, as such
apparatus is not named in the list before referred to, are we to
conclude that electricity does not form a subject of attention in
"any expedition" fitted out under your direction, even when sci-
entific pursuits are its "leading objects?"

The agent very properly returns his acknowledgments to the
savans abroad whom he consulted and who afforded him impor-
tant assistance.

The individuals enumerated, many of them high in rank, are
certainly eminent in hydrography, astronomy, natural philosophy,
and as makers of philosophical instruments. This is all very well,
so far as it goes ; but why was not some r/ortion of the three

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 341

months which intervened between the passage of the bill and de-
parture of the agent occupied in consulting the naturalists of this
country ? Had such a course been pursued, the labours of your
envoy might have been performed much more usefully, as well as
more creditably for the department and the nation. But, as this
was not done, he might have advised with some of the most cele-
brated naturalists of Great Britain, France, and Germany, partic-
ularly with those who had accompanied former expeditions into
the very seas our squadron is intended to explore. Had this plan
been followed, think you they would have agreed with him in his
statement, even with the high authority of your own official en-
dorsement upon its back, that the books and instruments, as ex-
hibited per list, comprised all that would in any way be useful
in the different divisions of science ?

I am not a little puzzled with this heterogeneous melange of sci-
entific works which have been brought hither. So far as respects
the few which relate to natural history, the recent French voyages
excepted, I scarcely know how an equal number of more useless
volumes could have been selected. I should be glad to see you
or the agent point out more than ten works, throwing aside the
voyages, that any competent naturalist would have ordered. I
can only name seven : Richardson's Fauna, Bennister's Entomol-
ogy, Cuvier's Fishes. Landon's Encyclopedia of Plants, Genera
of Recent and Fossil Shells, Yarrel's British Fishes, and Turner's
Fuci, Magazines of Natural History, like the Geological and
Linnaean Transactions, are not needed ; though containing many
important papers, the proper place for such ponderous tomes is the
shelves of a library. The naturalists will require working books,
manuals , and models ; and these, sir, have not been provided.

The list of voyages, I am happy to find, is far more complete,
although three which may be termed scientific par excellence are
not included in it : viz., Pallas, Saussure, and the complete works
of Humboldt. In a word, the catalogue is in itself sufficient evi-
dence that no naturalist had any share in its adoption. Indeed, I
am only in doubt whether the assortment was made by the agent,
or whether he merely gave a carte blanche to a bookseller, and re-
quested him to furnish as many cubic feet of works on natural
history as he thought might be necessary for " any scientific ex-
pedition."

342 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

To be ignorant of natural history is certainly no discredit to the
gentleman you commissioned, and I have no wish to speak of his
labours with disparagement ; I merely regret that he should so
confidently have volunteered an opinion in his official report, that
he had selected all the books and instruments which " could be in
any way useful for scientific purposes on any expedition ;" and
that you, in the face of the science of the whole country, should
have so complacently signified your concurrence in the statement.
Your own attainments in botany, before botany became a science,
should have prompted the reflection, that the field of human sci-
ence is too vast to justify even one member of the corps in judg-
ing of the wants of others in distinct departments. The truth of
this position is illustrated by your present defective preparations
for scientific researches. After obstinately refusing to assemble
the scientific corps, and assign to each member his respective
duty since December last, though frequently urged to do so, you
now find the " leading objects" of the enterprise almost entirely
unprovided for.

On the fourth of this month you put the corps on duty, and
gave them the means to prepare for the voyage. They are now,
as I learn, actively employed ; and, by ransacking public and pri-
vate libraries, may, it is hoped, remedy the evils occasioned by
your imperfect and tardy arrangements. Thus you find, sir, that
after an interval of fifteen months, and subsequent to your official
announcement that all the tools of the naturalists were provided,
books have still to be imported, and orders now to be given for
the construction of instruments / / / If this be good faith in the
discharge of a high trust committed to your hands, then I should
be glad to know what may be deemed a dereliction of duty.

In the sentence already quoted, you inform us, " no one has yet
been assigned to the department of astronomy, geography, and
hydrography." I have understood the selection of a competent
person for this station has given you much solicitude, and that you
have not even yet been successful in finding one whom you could
approve. I am not sorry that in this matter you have been dis-
appointed, because I unfeigriedly believe that the appointment of
an astronomer to the expedition would be an act of injustice to
the naval officers employed, who, from their attainments and pro-
fession, might be relied on for the hydrographical labours to be

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 343

performed. In a communication bearing your name, which ap-
peared in the "Washington Globe" of the 18th January last, you
hold the following language :

" From the moment this expedition was authorized by Congress,
I considered that, as its dangers, fatigues, and hardships were to
be borne by the officers of the navy, they ought to participate
largely in its advantages and honours ; and that, in all cases in
which, from their literature and science, they were competent to
the task of promoting the great objects of the expedition, they
were to be preferred to citizens equally competent, but not sub-
ject to like responsibilities."

Although I deemed the language here used was put forth
rather to foment jealousies between the officers and the natural-
ists, or other citizens to be employed, than as an exposition of a
rule by which, from a high sense of duty, you felt constrained to
act ; and while I cannot but repudiate the invidious distinctions,
untrue in fact, which you have drawn between the labours that
the members of the expedition, naval and civil, will respectively
be required to perform, as well as the supposition that the hon-
ours which the one class might acquire could, with liberal minds,
disparage the just pretensions of the other ; yet, in this case, I
think the navy would have some ground for complaint should the
overshadowing appointment of an astronomer be made, unless
practical results can be expected from his services. On this
point I have doubts, and I state them for your consideration with-
out any unbecoming confidence in my own opinion.

I should, however, be gratified to see you point out what astro-
nomical calculations can possibly be performed which will not
fall within the province of the nautical department, and which
practical navigators are not most likely to make with accuracy.
Have you reflected upon the means indispensable to the success
of purely astronomical inquiry ? Are you prepared to ask of Con-
gress the funds for erecting an elevated stationary observatory for
the permanent adjustment of costly and complicated instruments,
without which an astronomer can do little or nothing ? Have you
taken into consideration the time which must be uninterruptedly
devoted at one place to comparative observations of the celestial
bodies as they move in the hemisphere ? Or do you believe these
observations can be prosecuted on shipboard underanged by the

344 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

unsteady oscillating motion of the vessel? If you have not
thought of these things, ay, and provided for them also, the ap-
pointment of an astronomer really appears to me little less than
ridiculous, and will certainly expose you to the sneering charge
of having made a pompous preparation in vain, and for an object
impossible to be accomplished.

Indeed, there would be something of vain assumption and dan-
gerous temerity in making such an appointment, even if the as-
tronomer were to be left for several years upon a sequestered
island or inland mountain to pursue his studies,, with the best ap-
paratus the world could afford, and corresponding experience and
learning ; for it cannot be forgotten that the most eminent living
astronomer, surrounded by every facility that a nation uncalcula-
tingly munificent in the cause of science could supply, has been
devoting four or five years to the stars of the southern hemi-
sphere, and has not yet made known any results to serve as a
guide to a competitor in the same arduous field. There is not a
constellation, nor is there a single star, which could be seen by
this expedition in the highest southern latitudes at which it might
arrive, that has not been already seen by Sir John Herschel at
the Cape of Good Hope. The cost to the British government of
his astronomical researches alone will not be less than half a
million of dollars.

Sir, nothing can be done in this voyage of exploration towards
mapping the heavens. Neither the means allowed nor the na-
ture of the enterprise admit of such results, and the addition of
an astronomer to the scientific corps will, in my opinion, be found,
in practice, worse than useless.

Tne department of physical science, or natural and experimental
philosophy, is already filled. The naval officers of the squadron
are qualified to perform the hydrographical labours which appro-
priately belong to their profession. If these are not to be a por-
tion of their duties, then what did you mean by alluding to the
" labours, hardships, &c. ?" If they are to be so considered,
should not those who render the service receive the credit ? But,
sir, I will go still farther, and say that the hydrographical opera-
tions can be conducted only by the naval officers. This will be-
come apparent when you reflect that the vessels, while surveying
a group of islands, will frequently be separated from each other,

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 345

and that the positions of different members of the cluster must
be defined by the officers of the respective vessels. These ob-
servations, when reported to the commander on board the frigate
(which will be the depot of all reports, naval or civil), can, by the
aid of skilful draughtsmen, be reduced to regular and consecu-
tive charts ; and this will be the continual process throughout the
duration of the voyage.

I must now take my leave of you for the present, and, with the
addition of one more letter, may probably close altogether.
Though, as I promised in the beginning, I have written you
freely in these letters, you have no just cause of complaint. If,
in the exposition I have given of some of your official acts, there
has been some occasional appearance of severity, you know full
well that they were, in comparison, but as the dewdrops of mercy
to what I might have said had I gone inta an examination of your
doings throughout the entire history of the naval equipment of the
squadron, as well as in reference to other points passed by with
out remark or allusion. For the opinions advanced and facts
stated I am alone and singly responsible ; and if they be contro-
verted, I hold myself at all times prepared to give my reasons for
the former and my proofs of the latter.

I have the honour to be

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, July 28, 1837.

DEFENCE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

We give place, and a prominent one, most cheerfully to the following defence of the
secretary of the navy against the censures of our correspondent " Citizen." " A Friend
to the Navy," maintaining the anonymous himself, must, however, allow the same priv-
ilege to his interlocutor, and will excuse us for erasing a name which he uses apparently
with invidious purpose. — Editor of the New- York Times.

I.

As statements calculated to mislead the public mind upon the
subject of the South Sea exploring expedition are published in
the Times under the signature of a " Citizen," you will no doubt
cheerfully afford an opportunity, through the same medium, of

346 LETTERS OP A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

correcting those statements by a narrative of facts not generally
known, and which must be understood before any just opinion
can be formed of the charges exhibited by this citizen against the
secretary of the navy.

In consequence of a report of Lieutenant Tattnall, on his return
from a cruise to the coast of Mexico in the Pioneer, one of the
barks which had been constructed for the South Sea surveying
and exploring expedition, that she was unfit for the service ; and
from reports from various quarters that the schooner Pilot, built
for the same expedition, was a dull sailer, as well as an unsafe
vessel, Commodore Jones was instructed to make an experimental
cruise with the Pioneer and Pilot, together with the bark Con-
sort, in order to ascertain how far those vessels might be consid-
ered as safe and proper for this expedition. After an absence of
eight days Commodore Jones returned and reported favourably
of the vessels, but recommended that they should be taken into
drydock and examined ; in consequence of which, Commodores
Chauncey, Morris, Warrington, Patterson, and Wadsworth were
appointed commissioners to examine into the condition of those
vessels, and further to inquire whether the exploring squadron
could not be reduced in number of vessels and men with advan-
tage to the country, and without prejudice to the great objects of
the expedition.

This measure has excited the rage of this " Citizen," who, in
your paper of the 29th of June, and of subsequent dates, comes
out in a virulent attack upon the professional character and con-
duct of the secretary of the navy, accusing him of a total neglect
of duty in promoting the expedition, and of being governed by
motives of hostility to the measure. He further accuses him of
a wish to defeat the enterprise by reducing the squadron to a
smaller compass, and of deceiving the commissioners as to the
great objects of the expedition.

This angry " Citizen" is, no doubt, Mr. , who has suc-
ceeded in producing an impression through the country that this
is his expedition ; an impression much strengthened by the publi-
cation, in October last, of his address, delivered on the 3d of April
of the last year in the hall of the House of Representatives be-
fore members of the two houses of Congress and others, together
with letters addressed to him on the subject of this expedition, in

N

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 347

which he is exceedingly magnified, especially in one from Captain
T. Ap C. Jones, since appointed commander of the squadron,
who considers him the originator of the voyage ; and to whom,
with reference to this expedition, he addresses this language:
" Who can bring so much valuable knowledge, derived from va-
rious sources, some of which you alone have been permitted to
draw from as you could 1 I mean not to flatter when I say, not
another who is a citizen of the United States." So that Commo-
dore Jones looks up to Mr. as possessing so much valuable

knowledge upon the subject of the exploring expedition, that he
has no equal among the citizens of the United States. How far
this -superior knowledge is to influence Commodore Jones in di-
recting the movements of the exploring squadron remains to be
seen.

Mr. , in his address, page seventy-four, says, " the amount

of this power is a question upon which there can be but^little dif-
ference of opinion among those thoroughly acquainted with the
subject; the best informed are unanimous in their opinion that
there should be a well-appointed frigate and five other vessels ;
twice that number would find enough, and more than they could
do."

Here is the origin of the plan of six ships for this expedition,
and one of them a frigate. Such a force as never yet went upon
such an expedition.

Such was the force required by Mr. ; such is the force

Commodore Jones now requires, and without which he considers
the expedition cannot be complete or effective. But what are the
words of the act authorizing the expedition ?

" That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
authorized to send out a surveying and exploring expedition to the
Pacific Ocean and the South Seas, and for that purpose to employ
a sloop-of-war, and to purchase or provide such other smaller
vessels as may be necessary and proper to render the expedition
efficient and useful," &c.

It was to the representations of Commodore Jones that less
force than one frigate of the second class, two barks, a store-ship,
and a schooner, would not answer the purposes of the expedition,
that President Jackson consented to the employment of so large a
force. It is idle to pretend that the plan of fiye vessels, originated

348 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

with him. He, in fact, wanted no greater force than would meet
the just views of Congress and the expectations of the public.

The secretary of the navy, in his annual report of the third of
December last, makes the following statement to the president :

" When, at the commencement of the last and preceding ses-
sions of Congress, it was recommended that a considerable addi-
tion should be made to the number of ships in commission to
meet the exigences of the rapidly-increasing commerce of our
country, it was perceived that, should the measure be adopted, as
it has been, by the liberal appropriations of Congress, it would be
necessary to adopt, at the same time, measures for increasing the
number of our seamen. The most obvious means of accomplish-
ing this object was the one recommended, of enlisting into the
service of our navy boys over the age of thirteen and under the
age of eighteen, until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-one
years. A bill for this purpose has been before the Senate for
the two last sessions, which, it is confidently hoped, will become
a law during the approaching session of Congress. In the mean
time, as a larger number of seamen is required for the merchant
service than usual, and as there is at present actually in the naval
service of the United States one fifth more seamen than were em-
ployed three years ago, and a greater number than has been em-
ployed at any time within the last fifteen years, some difficulty
must necessarily exist in recruiting seamen required for immedi-
ate service.

" The terms of service of the seamen on the Pacific and Bra-
zilian stations are about to expire. Those on the Pacific station
have been ordered home, but will not probably arrive before the
middle of January next. In the mean time the North Carolina is
ordered to that station, requiring immediately a large number of
seamen, and Captain John B. Nicholson has been selected to sail
in the raze- Independence, to relieve the commander on the coast
of Brazil, who, when relieved, will return with the seamen belong-
ing to his station. The Independence will require a large num-
ber of seamen to complete her crew. Besides, it is important
that each of these ships should be attended by one or two smaller
vessels ; but this is impracticable in the present state of the ser-
vice.

" It will easily be perceived, therefore, that the force wanted for

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 349

the protection of commerce exceeds the means of supply which this
department can immediately bring -into operation. When, there-
fore, on the 18th of May last, it was provided, by an amendment to
the general naval appropriation bill, that the President of the United
States should be authorized to send out a surveying and exploring
expedition to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, I considered it
impracticable to fit out this expedition in a manner to meet the
views of Congress under eight or nine months without a serious
injury to other branches of the naval service.

"The only insurmountable difficulty, however, in my opinion,
was the recruiting the requisite number of seamen in three or four
months without interfering with arrangements already made for
sending ships to the Pacific and Brazilian stations, and for sending
an additional force to the West Indies.

" As, however, it was your earnest wish that the intentions of
Congress in authorizing this measure should be carried into effect
with the least possible delay, and that the expedition should be
fitted out upon the extensive and liberal scale which the indica-
tions of public opinion seemed to require ; and as the officer, Cap-
tain Thomas Ap. Catesby Jones, selected for the command of the
expedition, gave assurances that the difficulty of obtaining seamen
could be obviated by giving him power to have them recruited
under his immediate superintendence, and for this particular ser-
vice, it was determined to make an extraordinary effort to accom-
plish these objects.

" Every facility consistent with the rules and regulations of the
navy was offered to Captain Jones for recruiting seamen in the
manner he proposed ; and measures. were immediately adopted to
have one frigate of the second class, one store-ship, two barks,
and one schooner, all which he considered as indispensably ne-
cessary to the success of the enterprise, prepared without delay.
The frigate and store-ship, which were on the stocks when this
measure was adopted, have been furnished and equipped, and are
now receiving their crews ; and the other three vessels have been
entirely built and equipped for sea. The whole have been finished
in the most substantial manner, and adapted to the particular ser-
vice for which they are destined. These vessels will sail to Nor-
folk to complete their crews, take in their stores, and to await fur-
ther orders.

Ge

350 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

" To prevent any delay that might arise from the want of math-
ematical, astronomical, and philosophical instruments, books, maps,
charts, &c., required for the expedition, Lieutenant Wilkes, of
the navy, was sent to Europe, and sailed frorri New-York on the
8th of August last, to make the necessary purchases ; in which he
has been successful as to the greater part of the articles wanted.
For some instruments, however, he has been under the necessity
of waiting until they can be manufactured. His return is expected
about the middle of this month.

"It is believed that every proper exertion has been made to
recruit men for this service, but without the anticipated success ;
no more than about two hundred, according to the returns received,
being as yet recruited ; and, as Captain Jones requires five hun-
dred and eighteen petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, boys,
and marines, together with eighty-five commissioned and warrant
officers, for his squadron, it is evident that a considerable time
must yet elapse before the expedition can be ready for sea.

" Recruiting seamen for a particular service may be attended
with great inconvenience, and should not be adopted but upon the
most urgent occasions, such as that of the exploring expedition
was conceived to be. If the exigences of the government should
require of such recruits service different from that for which they
were enlisted, discontent, and even mutiny may be apprehended.
Besides, this mode of recruiting cannot but interfere with the re-
cruiting for the general service ; and, in the present case, the order
to recruit for the exploring expedition has made it necessary to
adopt the same mode of recruiting for the crews of the vessels
about to sail for the Pacific and Brazilian stations.

" Recruiting for three distinct objects of service at the same
time, while the usual recruiting for the general service is contin-
ued, cannot but retard the whole, and compel us to keep in re-
ceiving vessels a much larger number of recruits, constantly dis-
posed to desert, than would be required, if recruited, for the gen-
eral service alone.

" Although the number of recruits is small for any one of these
objects, yet, in the aggregate, the number is quite as great as
should be expected, when we consider the unusually great num-
ber of seamen now in the naval service of the United States, and
the great demand for them in the merchant service.

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 351

" Although the return of the public vessels now ordered to the
United States will, to a considerable extent, furnish men for fu-
ture service, yet sending out so large a force as that required for
the exploring expedition, to be detained for the term of three years,
cannot but be felt as a serious inconvenience in fitting out the
number of vessels wanted for the immediate protection of com-
merce."

From this it appears that Commodore Jones, appointed to the
command of the exploring squadron, deemed one frigate of the
second class, one store-ship, two barks, and one schooner,, as in-
dispensably necessary to the success of the enterprise ; on which
measures were immediately adopted to have these vessels pre-
pared without delay. This report the president laid before Con-
gress.

On the sixth of February last the secretary of the navy made a
report to the president, in which he states that,

" In answer to the resolution of the House of Representatives
calling for information as to the progress which has been made in
the arrangements for the surveying and exploring expedition au-
thorized at the last session of Congress, and of the objects and
measures to which said expedition is to be devoted, &c., and
which, on the fourth instant, you referred to this department,. I
have the honour to state that, in my annual report of the third of
December last, I gave a brief outline of the progress that had been
made in the arrangements for this expedition up to that time ;
which may be found in document number two of the House of
Representatives, pages 444, 5, and 6, together with a report of
the commissioners of the navy of the measures which had been,
taken to carry the same into effect, and an estimate of the amount
that will be required for the support of the frigate Macedonian, the
store-ship Relief, the two barks Pioneer and Consort, and the
schooner Pilot, to be employed on this expedition for one year,
which report and estimate may be found in pages 484 and 485 of
the same document.

" The resolution referred to requires further information than
was contained in my report, as also what progress has since been
made in these arrangements.

" The great objects of this expedition, as understood by this
department, are to explore the seas of the Southern Hemisphere,

352 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

more particularly in the high latitudes, and in the regions as near
to the pole as may be approached without danger ; to make in
these regions thus to be explored all practicable surveys and ob-
servations, with accurate descriptions of the same, connected with
geography or hydrography, by which the interests of commerce
and navigation may be promoted ; and to make all such researches
as the opportunities of the expedition will afford, to advance all
branches of science which have attracted the attention of the
governments of Europe in fitting out vessels for survey and dis-
covery. **^;.

" In the beginning of July last your wishes to carry into effect,
to their full extent, the views of Congress in authorizing this ex-
pedition, induced you to make it a subject of immediate consider-
ation and action.

" Captain Thomas Ap. C. Jones was selected to take command
of the expedition. The offer to take this command was made to
him, and accepted on his part.

4< The confidence placed in this officer, which led to his selec-
tion for this important command, seemed to require that he should
be consulted as to the number and size of the vessels, and of the
vessels, and of the amount of force, of which his squadron was to
be held in a high degree responsible for the success of the expe-
dition.

" He was of opinion that one frigate of the second class, one
store-ship, two barks, and one schooner, were indispensably ne-
cessary to the success of this object.

" In accordance with this opinion, the most prompt measures
were adopted for preparing and fitting for sea the vessels required.

" Captain Jones was instructed to visit the different navy yards in
which the vessels for his squadron were to be built and prepared,
and to make such suggestions as he should think proper as to the
manner of building and preparing the same, and to which the com-
mandants of the yards were directed to conform.

" As, at the time of passing the act authorizing this expedition,
it was necessary to take -immediate measures for relieving our
squadrons on the Pacific and Brazilian stations, as well as to
send to the Gulf of Mexico a considerable force in addition to
that previously sent there, it was evident that the requisite number
of seamen for this expedition could not be recruited without ex-

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 353

traordinary exertions. Measures were therefore taken to recruit
men for this particular service under the direction and super-
intendence of Captain Jones, and Lieutenants Tatnall, R. R.
Pinckham, Purviance, and H. W. Morris were ordered to report
to him for service in recruiting for this expedition ; and others were
subsequently ordered for the same service. It is believed that
due diligence has been exercised by the officers on this service
to recruit the requisite number of men, but without the success
that had been anticipated. This is partly owing to the necessity
of recruiting at the same time for the Pacific, Brazilian, and West
India stations ; and of the five hundred and eighteen seamen, or-
dinary seamen, landsmen, and boys required for the several ves-
sels of the exploring squadron, no more than two hundred and
forty-eight have been yet recruited, as by the last returns.

" The difficulties, however, which have retarded the recruiting
for this expedition are nearly obviated ; and it is confidently
hoped that in a short time there will be sufficient numbers re-
cruited to complete the crews of all the vessels of the squadron."

This report was transmitted to the House of Representatives
with an expression of a wish, on the part of the president, that all
facilities might be given to the exploring expedition that Congress
could bestow and the honour of the nation demand.

If the objects of the expedition indispensably required the em-
ployment of five, or even six ships, and the honour of the nation
demanded the employment of so large a force, then was Presi-
dent Jackson in favour of it, not otherwise.

Congress in February last made appropriations under which
five ships might be employed on this expedition, but did not re-
quire that so large a force should be employed unless, agreeably
to the condition of the act authorizing the measure, such force
should be necessary and proper to render the expedition efficient
and useful. The appropriations do not require the needless ex-
penditure of money ; nor do they in the slightest degree interfere
with the propriety of reducing this force, if the interest of the
country should require it.

The character of the expedition has not been changed ; it was
originally a surveying and exploring expedition, and is so still.

By the reports cited it will appear that there was extreme dif-
fir.nl tv in extending to our commerce all the protection due to it,

354 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

and which the interest as well as the honour of the country de-
manded should be attended to in preference to the exploring ex-
pedition.

In the years 1836 and 1837 more has been required and more
has been done for the protection of commerce than in any other
two years since the late war.

Before the required number of seamen could be recruited
for the exploring expedition, it was discovered that the bark
Pioneer was unfit for the service for which she was intended ;
and the bark Consort and the schooner Pilot were considered as
Jess fit for the service than the Pioneer ; at least, such was the
prevailing opinion among the officers of the navy.

The secretary of the navy is not to be charged for the want of
success in recruiting seamen for the expedition ; and surely he is
not to be held responsible for the condition in which the vessels
built for the expedition are found. But he will be held responsi-
ble to the country if he suffers these vessels to go on the expedi-
tion without a thorough examination. For such an examination
appropriate measures were adopted. Delay must ensue ; but this
is unavoidable. Delay in our ports is to be preferred to disaster
abroad.

The great offence on the part of the secretary is, that the com-
missioners have been instructed to inquire whether the exploring
squadron may not be reduced in number of vessels and men with
advantage to the country and without prejudice to the great ob-
jects of the expedition.

If such a reduction can, it is highly expedient that it should
take place in the present situation of the country. The exigen-
ces of our commerce are such as to render it highly improper to
send out a larger force for the purpose of survey and exploration
than may be absolutely wanted for those particular objects. Pro-
curing the large amount of specie that will be wanted for this en-
tire squadron, especially if it is to be increased by the addition of
another ship, now required by Commodore Jones, will create
much embarrassment. This difficulty was not foreseen at the last
session of Congress ; and the circumstance, which is now appa-
rent, that we shall lack revenue for the exigences of government
in the coming year, would justify the inquiry if there might not

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 355

be some reduction in the million and a half of dollars which this
exploring expedition is about to cost us.

The " Citizen" accuses the secretary of the navy of deceiving
the commissioners as to the objects of the expedition.

The objects stated to the commissioners are the same as were
stated in the report of the 6th February, laid before the House of
Representatives, and not disapproved of by them.

The commissioners were informed that the cruise of the ex-
ploring expedition would continue three years ; that its objects
would be chiefly to explore the oceans and seas of the Southern
Hemisphere, more particularly in high latitudes, and in regions as
near the pole as may be approached without danger.

That some portions of the Pacific north of the equator might
probably be visited by the squadron, or some part of it.

That the scientific corps to be attached to this expedition would
consist of from fourteen to eighteen individuals, whose duty it
would be to make in the regions to be explored all practicable sur-
veys and observations of the same, with such accurate descrip-
tions and drawings as may be most useful for the purposes of
navigation and commerce ; and to make such researches as the
opportunities of the expedition would afford in all branches of
science, which have attracted the attention of the governments of
Europe in fitting out expeditions of a like character with this.

Surely this embraces enough for the consideration of the com-
missioners, whose professional experience enables them to deter-
mine with accuracy what is meant by the terms surveying and
exploring expedition. ,

The duties to be performed under the commander of the squad-
ron will be pointed out to him in detail in his final instructions,
but need not be communicated to the commissioners.

The " Citizen" thinks the vessels of this squadron should have
been sent out long since, fit or unfit for the service, for he says
the expedition should " now be doubling the cape, and every one
engaged in the enterprise full of hopes of having immediate op-
portunities of fulfilling their country's expectations."

Now, although it is very pleasant weather here in June and July,
it is quite the reverse at Cape Horn ; it is winter there, and the
officers of the navy would prefer a different season for doubling
the cane, if a " Citizen" will permit them.

356 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

How much time will be required for making the alterations
which may be found necessary in these vessels is uncertain;
probably not more than a few weeks. The requisite number of
seamen are recruited; and unless there should be difficulty in
commanding the service of officers upon this expedition, it may
leave the United States in time for doubling Cape Horn at the
most favourable season of the year.

A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

July 31, 1837.

II.

The facts stated in my former number show that the difficulty
and delay of recruiting seamen for the exploring expedition were
not to be attributed to the secretary of the navy, nor was he to
be charged with the delay occasioned by the necessity of having
a thorough examination of the two barks and schooner built ex-
pressly for the expedition. But the " Citizen" accuses him of
being opposed to the bill authorizing the expedition.

There has probably been no secretary of the navy who would
not have gladly engaged in sending out an exploring expedition,
if it could be done in accordance with his own views, and with-
out embarrassing him in the performance of other official duties
of more immediate importance and of higher responsibility.

In 1836 the duties to be performed by the navy for the pro-
tection of commerce, and which the honour of the nation required
should be attended to in preference to all others, exceeded the
means of the navy department, as appears by the published ex-
tracts from the secretary's reports ; and the imposition of new
duties in fitting out an exploring expedition could not fail to in-
crease the difficulties of his situation, without relieving him of re-
sponsibilities, which effect they have had, to the most serious in-
jury of the service. It is not strange that the secretary should
feel opposed to the imposition of new duties at a time of so much
difficulty; nor is it strange that he should be opposed to the
manner in which the provision for the exploring expedition was
introduced into the general appropriation bills for the navy.

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 357

Early in the session this bill had been sent from the House of
Representatives to the Senate ; there an amendment was pro-
posed authorizing this expedition ; and there it remained, loaded
with this rider, until nearly the time of passing the bill on the
18th of May, 1836, more than five months after the commence-
ment of the session, and when the naval service was greatly em-
barrassed for want of the appropriations ; for not a dollar had
been appropriated for this service from the beginning of the ses-
sion until this time.

Much delay has taken place in consequence of the condition of
these vessels ; but all difficulties as to the vessels can be removed
in time for sending out the expedition so as to double Cape Horn
at the most favourable season of the year. The two barks can be
so altered as to make them fit for this service, and the schooner,
should the officers place no confidence in her, can be left, and
another substituted ; and even the additional ship which Commo-
dore Jones now requires can be procured, should it be deemed
necessary.

There is, however, a serious difficulty in the case not men-
tioned by the "Citizen," but produced in no small degree by him-
self, which requires examination : that is, the general disincli-
nation, on the part of the officers of the navy, to engage in this ex-
pedition, which arises, in part, from an impression that this is con-
sidered the expedition of an individual rather than of the country ;
and from the circumstance that two meritorious and scientific of-
ficers were excluded from the command of two of the smaller
vessels of the squadron.

The officers of the navy are probably afraid that, from the
published opinions of various distinguished gentlemen of the
transcendent claims of Mr. , that he will have an undue in-
fluence in the movements of the squadron, as that of doubling
Cape Horn in June and July ; approaching too nearly to the
verge of this said opening of sixteen degrees around the pole, or
some other movements to test the truth of his strange theories.

These fears have not been removed by the displays of science

in Mr. 's published address, in which he informs the world

that " the great improvements in mathematical instruments have
made the path of the mariner in the darkest night, and amid rush-

358 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

ing tempests, as easy to be attained and followed as the paved
streets of a populous city." Page 16.

That " in every part of the earth's circumference where a keel
can go our countrymen are to be found gleaning the molluscous
treasures from the coral reefs in equatorial climes," &c. P. 24.

That "what men can do they (American seamen) have always
felt ready to attempt ; what man has done it is their character to
feel able to do ; whether it be to grapple with an enemy on the
deep, or to pursue the gigantic game under the burning line with
an intelligence and ardour that ensure success, or, pushing their
adventurous barks into the high southern latitudes, to circle the
globe within the antarctic circle, and attain the pole itself ; yea,
to cast anchor on that point where all the meridians terminate,
where our eagle and star-spangled banner may be unfurled and
planted, and left to wave on the axis of the earth itself!" P. 99.

This address contains many other passages equally delectable
and instructive.

It is certainly news to the naval officers that the improvements
in mathematical instruments have made the path of the mariner
in the darkest night, and amid rushing tempests, as easy to be at-
tained and followed as a paved street in a populous city. This
would be extremely consoling to them could they believe it.
But, as this information is so far in advance of anything ever said
or thought of by Laplace or Bowditch, the officers must be ex-
cused for believing that Mr. was practising upon the cre-
dulity of his audience, or that he was totally ignorant of the sub-
ject upon which he was speaking. Our officers will also be sur-
prised to hear that in every part of the earth's circumference
where a keel can go our countrymen are to be found gleaning
molluscous treasures from the coral reefs in equatorial climes.
As our keels can go into Hudson's Bay and Behring's Straits, our

countrymen must be there, according to Mr. 's information,

gleaning molluscous treasures — and from coral reefs too — and
those reefs of equatorial climes, whether abounding in molluscous
treasures or not.

From Mr. 's flourish of circling the globe within the an-
tarctic circle, yea, of casting anchor on the point where all the
meridians terminate, and of leaving the star-spangled banner to
wave on the axis of the ^arth itself, which he, no doubt, considers

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 359

a huge flagstaff, it would appear that he has renounced his former
theory of a great opening of sixteen degrees at the pole ; that is,
if he is in earnest in his plan of leaving the American flag to wave
on the axis of the earth, of which there is some doubt.

The extravagances of Mr. have created many difficulties

in fitting out this expedition ; yet all these can be obviated if he
will be content with the distinguished and lucrative situation as-
signed him in the same, and not ostentatiously and offensively at-
tempt the direction of the enterprise, to the great annoyance of
officers who have entered the navy with hopes of distinguishing
themselves in battle for their country, and who have no ambition
to engage in the service now proposed for them under his au-
spices.

Respect is due to the pride and feelings of gallant officers of
whom unusual, unexpected, and subordinate duties are required.

On this expedition much time must be spent in collecting and
examining subjects of natural history ; much time must be spent
in tracing the shores and dredging in the deep seas in search of
new and undescribed animals. By these labours great additions
will be made to science highly interesting to the gentlemen en-
gaged in making discoveries, and highly honourable to the coun-
try, but somewhat irksome to officers performing a subordinate
part in these operations, and who aspire to service more properly
belonging to their professional duties.

To such labours and discoveries no more force should be applied
than what is absolutely necessary.

In other countries exploring expeditions are fitted out, but gen-
erally on a small scale.

Among the most splendid exploring voyages of modern times
is that of the Astrolabe, a corvette of eighteen guns and a crew
of eighty men.

Two ships would be quite enough for the purposes of survey
and exploration on this South Sea expedition, and an additional
vessel for the search of wrecked mariners.

Five ships and six hundred men cannot be wanted for any pur-
pose whatever necessarily connected with the expedition, not even
for the purpose of gleaning molluscous treasures from coral reefs,
in which it seems our countrymen are engaged wherever a keel
can go.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

The country wishes to see an exploring expedition fitted ana
sent out commensurate with the proper objects of such an expe-
dition, and no greater. It does not wish to pay a million and a
half of dollars for what, at most, should cost half a million ; and,
especially, it does not wish to send out the specie that will be re-
quired for the expedition on the magnificent scheme of Mr. ,

at a time like this, when the specie wanted for the indispensable
exigences of the navy can with the greatest difficulty be pro-
cured.

If the secretary of the navy had thought himself authorized to
send out the exploring squadron in preference to providing for
the Pacific, Brazilian, and West India stations, which he certainly
did not, yet he could not have sent out the number of ships re-
quired by Mr. , as they are not prepared for service, nor

will they be for some weeks to come ; and yet, on the part of
the secretary, there has not been a moment's delay in having those
vessels prepared for sea. The delay, if any, is to be attributed to
some other quarter.

A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

August 1, 1837

CITIZEN'S LETTERS.

VII.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

The sagacious Prince of Idumea, the patient Job, once said,
" Oh ! that mine enemy had written a book ;" the true interpreta-
tion of which is, Oh ! that mine antagonist would put his arguments
in writing; he has, thank God, done it in this case. Yes, sir, you
have at length been aroused. The voice of public censure has
reached you, while but a single individual has been found to file
for you a plea of not guilty before the bar of public opinion. The
Times of 31st July and 1st of August contains his productions
over the signature of " A Friend to the Navy ;" which, for the sake
of consistency, and in order to leave a more faithful record for the

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 361

future, had more properly been simply " your friend" or " an en-
emy to the navy."

When I cast my eyes cursorily, for the first time, over these
"delectable" productions, I could not help feeling deep commis-
eration for you, that so long a life of patriotic, liberal, and enlight-
ened services to your country — of which, unfortunately, but few
records have been preserved — and especially the several years you
have occupied — I cannot say filled — the chair of your official pre-
decessors, watching with more than paternal solicitude over the
naval concerns of the country, infusing into all their branches a
due proportion of your own energy and decision, and inspiring the
officers by your own illustrious example with a liberal and har-
monious spirit of action ; I say, remembering all these things, I
could not avoid feeling commiseration that no abler pen had been
employed in the doubtful task of rescuing your official character
from obloquy. I could not but ask myself, where is the chivalry of
the navy, that it does not rally round its great head and pattern
in this his hour of need ?

In looking over, for the second time, what " A Friend to the
Navy" had put forth in your defence, I must own I had some mis-
givings as to who that " friend" might be. I began strongly to
suspect that he was no friend, but an enemy, to you as well as to
the navy, who had assumed the mask of friendship for the malig-
nant purpose of rendering you ridiculous in the eyes of your coun-
trymen by the very puerile, evasive, and disconnected style he
had adopted in attempting to sustain you. This impression was
further strengthened by the fact, apparent to every reader of hh*
articles, that all the charges I have preferred against you were,
substantially, admitted ; while the whole scope and tenour of the
language used manifested more decided hostility to the expedition
than had been openly avowed in any previous communication of
your own. I intend to have an extra number of these articles
struck off, as, whether prepared by a friend or a foe, they serve
to confirm everything I have said in my letters with regard to you*
and such were my second impressions ; they did not, however,
last long.

When I began to compare the effusions of " A Friend to the
Navy" with the extracts from your official reports, inserted by him
in the way of filling up your defence, and noticed their striking
Q

362 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN-

similitude in style and language, the familiarity with wnich refer-
ence was made to reports and instructions not yet made public,
together with certain allusions to doings and intentions of the de-
partment which could be known to yourself alone, I could not
help imbibing the belief, here quite current, that the author or
" Friend to the Navy" was a personage high in place, who spoke
as one having authority. This circumstance, I thought, might
elevate to the dignity of deserving a notice compositions which,
without such adventitious aid, were absolutely beneath criticism,
and could only be attributed to a high source by supposing the in-
cumbent utterly incompetent to discharge the important duties of
his station.

This is a melancholy reflection, and no less melancholy is the
task of noticing at all the defence of such a champion of the hon-
ourable secretary of the navy.

" A narrative of facts not generally known" is promised in the
beginning by your defender. Has any narrative been given, sir,
which impairs the force of the charges I have brought against you ;
charges of which the justice is felt and acknowledged by all who
have had anything to do with your department or an opportunity
of seeing your tardy, insincere, and reluctant action in fitting out
the expedition?

Why was your defence, in point of time, commenced from the
late period when Lieutenant Tatnall returned in the Pioneer from
the coast of Mexico, ten months after the passage of the bill, and
more than eighteen months after you had set your mighty ener-
gies to work for the purpose of preventing the expedition being
authorized ? What was your official action in the premises during
that period? Why has not this point been met and explained
awajf ? Sir, do you suppose the community blind ? Do you flat-
ter yourself that you can roll back, even assisted by the puissant
arm of " A Friend to the Navy," the current of public reprehension
which your official career has called down upon you? Make the
effort, sir, and preserve yourself if you can.

The Pioneer was reported unfit for the expedition, and Com-
modore Jones, at his own request, was directed to make an ex-
perimental cruise. That cruise was made, and its result inspired
the commander with confidence in his vessels, or, as you say, he
•" reported favourably of the vessels." I have seen a letter written

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 363

by you after receiving that report, wherein you write, " The report
of Commodore Jones is extremely discouraging." Put this and
that together ; but let it pass.

It was recommended that the vessels go into drydock. This
was a godsend to you. The occasion was seized upon, and made
a pretext for the appointment of a commission extraordinary, al-
though Commodore Jones had returned and "reported favoura-
bly." How did you speak of this report when first received?
Did you then say it was favourable ? I apprehend not ; at any
rate, accident has placed before me a letter, to which I have al-
ready referred, in which you speak of this same report as "ex-
tremely discouraging ! !"

Of this board: the obvious motive for its appointment; the
extraordinary character of the instructions you gave for the gui-
dance of its action; the consequent duties you expected it to
perform, are subjects which have all been sufficiently discussed
in my preceding letters, and demand but a short incidental no-
tice here. Not to look into the condition of the vessels only
was the commission opened, but to assume, to a certain degree,
legislative power ; to undo what Congress had directed should be
done, and which you, with all your hostility to the expedition, had
not the moral courage to contravene ; in short, to reduce the force
authorized. Why was not Commodore Jones appointed a mem-
ber of the board ? Was he not deeply interested in the examin-
ations and decisions to be made ? Were you apprehensive that
he would expose the insidious character of your instructions, by
showing the members of your commission that you had now as-
sumed new ground and adopted opinions directly at variance with
those you had previously professed to entertain ? Had you for-
gotten, or was it inconvenient to remember, what you had said of
that officer in your famous report of April 6, 1 837 ? If you had
foreseen your present predicament, you would never have penned
the following sentence : " The confidence placed in this officer
(Commodore Jones), which led to his selection for this important
command, seemed to require that he should be consulted as to the
number and size of the vessels, and the amount of force of which
his squadron was to consist, as he was to be held in a high degree
responsible for the success of the expedition" A liberal and just
sentence this, but only written for effect, not for action, as your

364 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

recent course has abundantly proved. You acknowledge that the
commander, inasmuch as he was to be held in a high .degree re-
sponsible for the success of the expedition, ought to be consulted
on the force to be employed, and afterward to exclude him from
a board instructed to decide on this very point. Do you imagine,
sir, this shallow device was not fully understood ; or do you sup-
pose there is a man of intelligence in the country, who has paid
the slightest attention to the subject, who believes that an honest
solicitude for the success of the enterprise was your motive for
convening this board, under the instructions it received ? Did
you not expect, sir, that it would report as a packed jury would
decide ; and have you not been greviously disappointed by the re-
cent decision against you ? Can you deny it ? Yes, you may,
probably will do so ; but you cannot conceal, even while making
the denial, the keen and bitter disappointment rankling within that
this, your great last move, has been defeated, leaving you once
more naked, alone, and unsupported in your plans to destroy
the efficiency of the expedition ; or at least proving that, if you
had supporters, they did not choose to compromise themselves by
publicly agreeing with you, under circumstances so well calcu-
lated to call in question their patriotism and sense of public duty.
Thus discomfited, worsted, and overruled in all your machina-
tions ; required by the present as well as by the late executive to
go on and do your duty, and that speedily, you have at last, with
something like an " extraordinary effort," put the preparations in
a state of progress. The falling off in the revenue, with the im-
mense and ruinous amount of specie which the squadron will re-
quire, are points from which you still entertain some lingering
hopes. I will examine the piteous wailings of " A Friend to the
Navy," and pledge myself to show that he is as uninformed upon
the latter subject as you have chosen to remain of the true pur-
poses of the expedition. For what end is a heavy amount of spe-
cie needed by the squadron ? If it touch at Lima or Valparaiso,
we have naval stores and a navy agent at both those places ; and
there bills on the United States command a premium. In the
purchase of refreshments at most of the islands specie is unne-
cessary, inasmuch as all the provisions furnished by the natives
are to be procured in exchange for our domestic manufactures
(implements of industry, &c.), which will leave the money at

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 365

home, instead of expending it in foreign ports, as is done by
the rest of our squadrons. Sir, I do not hesitate to say that
the specie requisite for this expedition will not amount to one
third the sum required for a similar force on any of the regular
foreign stations; and, moreover, if the purpose of the expedi-
tion be to reach the South Pole, or near it, what, in the name
of common sense, would be the demands for specie there ? To
bring such an argument against the enterprise shows that "A
Friend to the Navy" must have felt himself at a nonplus in seek-
ing feasible apologies for your conduct.

Let me see, sir, what is the next point to be noticed ? The
law authorizing the expedition. This must be examined, as " A
Friend to the Navy" has been wildly extravagant in his interpre-
tation of its meaning, and has made an effort to shield your late il-
legal proceedings by his palpable misconstructions. The fre-
quency with which he refers to this law shows that he relies mainly
on its authority in attempting your vindication. I own that on
this point his arguments are by far more specious than on any
other connected with the subject; nevertheless, his conclusions
are unsound, and in no respect warranted by the act from which
they are deduced. The words of the law are :

" That the President of the United States be, and he hereby
is, authorized to send out a surveying and exploring expedition to
the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, and for that purpose to em-
ploy a sloop-of-war, and to purchase or provide such other smaller
vessels as may be necessary and proper to render the expedition
efficient and useful," &c., &c.

Now it is important to bear in mind that the committee on
naval affairs in the Senate drew up a very able report, setting
forth the great objects of the expedition, to which was appended
the bill from whence the above extract is made, as the authority
under which the executive was to act in carrying the will of Con-
gress into effect. When did this bill become a law ? At the
first session of the last Congress. What was the language of the
report in reference to this law ? Let us see.

" The committee think it (' the expedition') ought to consist of
two vessels of about two hundred tons burden for exploration,
one of about one hundred tons as a tender, and those accompanied

366 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

by a sloop-of-war to afford protection and to secure peaceful and
friendly relations with the inhabitants of the islands.

" But the committee do not think it necessary to prescribe in
the law which may be passed either the dimensions or character
of the vessels, or the number and qualifications of the persons
who shall be employed; nor can they exhibit by precise esti-
mates the exact sum which shall be expended. These are mat-
ters which must, to some extent, be left to the discretion of the
executive, who will carry the will of Congress into execution."

In this clear and explicit form did the subject come before the
executive, to whom a discretionary power was intentionally and
very properly granted. Had there been any doubt as to the in-
tent of the law, the report of the committee afforded an ample
interpretation.

That report speaks of the smaller vessels for " exploration, and
a sloop-of-war as protection, and to secure peaceful and friendly
relations with the inhabitants of the islands" but you contend,
indeed, I have heard you avow, that you would not look at the re-
ports or to memorials as setting forth the intentions of Congress
and the objects of the expedition.

You sometimes, however, do things which you have previously
declared you would not do. For the purposes of protection the
president had authority to order a frigate on what service he chose,
without the sanction of this bill. Will you, or " A Friend to the
Navy," have the goodness to put into print the statement, that the
president, when he gave directions for the Macedonian to be pre-
pared for the expedition, did so with the view that she should
only go near the South Pole, and that the protection and security of
our commercial interests in the Pacific had nothing to do with
his decision. No boxing the compass, " Mr. Friend to the Navy ;'*
come to the point at once.

"But," says " A Friend to the Navy," "it is idle to suppose that
the plan of five vessels originated with him" (the late president) ;
" he, in fact, wanted no greater force than would meet the just
views of Congress and the expectations of the public." Very
true, most wise and learned judge ;• and I should like to be informed
who ever desired a greater force than would " meet the just views
of Congress and the expectations of the public ?" Here I make
another point, and ask for an explicit answer.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 367

Again : does " A Friend to the Navy" wish to be understood as
saying that the force which the president did sanction was too
large to " meet the just views of Congress ?" In replying to this
query let there be no evasion. Answer ; did the late executive
authorize a force too large for the purposes of the expedition as
set forth in the proceedings of Congress ? I wish to see if " A
Friend to the Navy" will dare to do directly what by implication
he has already done, viz., censure an official act of the late head
of the nation.

Was not Congress in session ? Had not the president frequent
interchanges of sentiment with the prominent friends of the meas-
ure in that body ? Was not the subject of the force proper to
be employed fairly discussed and fully considered. Did not the
executive hear the pros and cons 1 Were not you active at your
usual employment of cutting down and finding fault ? Yes, sir,
such was the position of affairs, and the adoption of the frigate

was not at the suggestion of Mr. , nor to gratify the pride of

Commodore Jones, as has been so often and so invidiously insin-
uated, but for reasons now understood by the whole community,
and previously sanctioned by the friends of the undertaking at the
close of the first session of the last Congress. The force and or-
ganization approved by the executive, including the substitution
of the frigate for a sloop-of-war, were riot considered on a scale
too extensive for carrying out " the just views of Congress and
the expectations of the public." If these matters were not known
to you, sir, they are no less true on that account ; they must be
fresh in the recollection of many members to whom I* have al-
luded, the extraordinary opposition you manifested towards the
expedition being often the theme of pleasantry among them !

Thus did the affair stand at the termination of the first session
of the recent Congress. Let us inquire how it stood at the com-
mencement, as well as at the close, of the last session ?

In the exercise of that discretion alike belonging to his station
and conceded by the law, the president recommended a frigate to
be substituted for a sloop-of-war.

Accordingly, the estimates were sent in for the frigate and other
smaller vessels. The question was thus brought fairly before
Congress, and was as distinctly understood. You laboured zeal-
ously to prevent the adoption of a larger vessel to supersede

368 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

the sloop-of-war. On all occasions, both in season and out of
season, your voice was heard upon this subject, and it was your
sedulous endeavour to have the estimates for the frigate stricken
out, which the president had ordered you to present to Congress.
What was the result ? Why, sir, the national legislature ap-
proved what the executive, in the exercise of his best judgment,
had done ; the frigate was provided for, and, by that act, took the
place occupied by the sloop in the law of the preceding session.
All discretionary power here properly terminated; precisely as
all executive discretion in the modification of a treaty ceases
when it has been ratified by the Senate. I appeal not to you,
sir, but I do appeal to every man of intelligence, if this be not the
only true, the only fair exposition of which the case will admit.
What, then, can be thought of all the special pleadings of " A
Friend to the Navy," when he claims for you the right, by the
agency of a naval board, to lay Vandal hands upon the frigate ;
an assumption of authority about as defensible as would be the
cutting off of one or all of the smaller vessels, because, forsooth,
something about them might not suit you ; when, the truth is,
nothing about this expedition ever did suit you or ever will.

I am at a loss to know, perhaps you can tell, what " A Friend
to the Navy" means by stating that " Congress, in February last,
made appropriations under which five ships might be employed
on this expedition, but did not require that so large a force should
be employed, unless, agreeably to the act authorizing the measure,
such force should be necessary and proper to render the expe-
dition efficiently useful." And pray, sir, where do you find
this power of limitation confided to the secretary of the navy ?
Whence is the inference, and where the authority, sir, that Con
gress made an appropriation that might be used, and, at the same
time, did not require it to be used. I ask for the proof that any
portion of this expedition has been conditionally sanctioned, and
I know that I ask in vain, notwithstanding the boldness with
wjiich " A Friend to the Navy" has hazarded the assertion. Sir,
you have no authority for your late efforts to break up the expe-
dition by reducing its force, and sophistry cannot screen you from
the public censure which that act alone has called down upon you.

Allow me, sir, to illustrate this point by what might be deemed
a parallel case, and one in which I think you would adopt pre-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 369

cisely my views with reference to the point at issue. The heads
of departments at Washington receive, as compensation for their
services, six thousand dollars per annum each. Suppose, at the
commencement of the next session, when the bill making pro-
vision for the civil list is presented, that under the head of " for
the secretary of the navy" twelve thousand dollars should be in-
serted. The subject comes before the house. Some member
inquires, How is this ? Here is an appropriation of twelve
thousand dollars where six thousand stood before ; a frigate in
place of a sloop-of-war ; I go against that, Mr. Speaker. On the
other hand, it is urged that, in consideration of the " extraordinary
efforts" of the secretary of the navy in fitting out the expedition,
and of the extra and unpleasant duties imposed upon him by the
measure, as also to compensate him, in some slight degree, for
the loss of official character he has sustained, this additional re-
muneration had been proposed. Finally, the claim is entertained
and sanctioned by Congress, though not until some unsuccessful
motions have been made to strike out the allowance altogether.
Now, under these circumstances, does any man doubt that you
would be entitled to the twelve thousand, or could any executive
officer withhold the same without violation of law ? What would
be thought of the United States treasurer, should he assemble a
board of auditors to inquire if the appropriation made for the
honourable secretary of the navy could not be reduced without
prejudice to the public service ?

1 have now done with the law authorizing the expedition, and
cheerfully leave it for the public to decide whether I have or
have not shown that, under that authority, you can have no legal
plea for your late proceedings. I have said more on this head
than I originally intended, because it was evidently the point of
all others upon which " A Friend to the Navy," in his first num-
ber, relied with most confidence in making out your defence.

Perhaps the most curious part of that defence is the positive
tone in which it is still denied that Congress or the executive re-
garded the expedition as a means of protection to our commerce.
I have already reviewed this point in my second and third letters,
and, by the production of evidence from memorials, reports,
speeches, &c., have so completely removed every loop upon
which a doubt could be hung, that nothing but an unaccountable

370 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

perversity of temper in " A Friend to the Navy" could have in-
duced him to reassert a proposition so absurd. Where, sir, per-
mit me to ask, are the exigences of our commerce so urgent as
in the very regions to be visited by the expedition ; in these re-
gions it requires protection, and, your disingenuous pertinacity to
the contrary notwithstanding, will receive it. Do you suppose
the president will allow you to compromise the character of the
country by venting your personal spleen in your final instructions,
and, through them, directing the expedition to explore seas and
perform labours different from those intended by Congress, by the
executive, and by the nation ?

Will you learn nothing from experience 1 Have you not even
yet suffered sufficient defeats to teach you how much you have
overrated your official influence, and that the country will not per-
mit you to trample upon its laws, or trust its honour or its inter-
ests entirely in your hands, while settling the character of a great
national enterprise? Yes, sir, your final instructions will, I ven-
ture to predict, be examined by the president before you are al-
lowed to despatch the squadron ; and such a scrutiny will be a
sufficient guarantee that the true purposes of the undertaking are
fully and fairly detailed. I know that you are committed upon
this head, and perhaps you feel that the only chance you have of
escape is to brave it out. This is wrong. When the plan of
denying to the expedition all purposes of a commercial nature
was agreed upon, the hope of success was so feasible, that one of
your ardent temperament was readily seduced into the measure
without being sufficiently wary in calculating the chances of dis-
comfiture. Be assured, however, it is now the best policy to re-
treat with what grace you may, as retreat you ultimately must,
from such an untenable position ; a position assumed, as you well
know, for the sole intent of defeating the expedition before Con-
gress. I have told you the device was appreciated by that body ;
that you were pitied for its weakness ; and that, had it not been for
your official promise, yet unfulfilled, that you would do your
duty, you had probably heard something on this subject which,
for aught I know, may still be in store for you, " nursing its wrath
to keep it warm."

Suppose you obtain permission from the president to send in a
little message from your department on the first of next month,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 371

asking of that honourable body to give you a new hearing. Tell
them that, from the vast demand the exploring squadron will make
upon the specie ; the exposed condition in which it will leave our
commerce in the Gulf of Mexico; the utter derangement into
which it will throw the whole naval service of the country, which
may go far towards breaking up all our foreign naval stations,
and on numerous other grounds, you think you can make one
more hard battle against the " whole concern." I will help you,
as far as in me lies, to get this new trial.

The column of extracts from your reports republished by " A
Friend to the Navy" requires no further notice from me. The
sections quoted have all been examined in my preceding letters,
and the public will judge between us.

A " Citizen" does not think that the vessels of the " squadron
should have been sent out long since, fit or unfit ;" but he- does
think they should, and, with good faith in the department, he is
quite sure they might, have been long since despatched to sea,
completely equipped !

I cannot forbear to notice a paragraph at the close of " A Friend
to the Navy's" first article. It reads thus : " Now, although it is
very pleasant weather here in June and July, it is quite the reverse
at Cape Horn ; it is winter there, and the officers of the navy
would prefer a different season for doubling the cape, if a ' Citizen'
will permit them."

This Addisonian sentence was doubtless intended as a pungent
or witty retort, I do not know which, to my remark that, had you
done your duty, the expedition, to say the least, would "now be
doubling the cape, and every one engaged in the enterprise full of
hopes of having immediate opportunities of fulfilling their country's
expectations." Truly, you pay a high compliment to the nautical
skill and disregard of personal exposure which I had hitherto
supposed a characteristic of the officers of the navy, and which, I
presume, is characteristic of them, unless they have lost all such
qualities since you have been the official head of the service.
You will learn, on inquiry, that the bugbear of doubling Cape
Horn has passed away in the minds of all whose reading has come
down to a later date than the days of Magellan, Arisen,. Davies,
Schoten, and Le Maire, and that this passage is fearlessly encoun-
tered by our whale fleet, on their outward and homeward passages,

372 LETTERS OP A CITIZEN.

without stopping to consider what month will bring them off the
cape. Numbers of our fellow-citizens engaged in other occupa-
tions, and that, too, not unfrequently, in vessels little larger than
pilot-boats, make the passage at all seasons. But these are mer-
chantmen, and the " officers of the navy," says their judicious
friend, "would prefer a different season for doubling the cape"
than the terrible months of June and July. It is to be hoped they
will exhibit a due sense of gratitude to the friend who kindly
makes known to the world his endeavours to gratify them in so
commendable a preference. How you can think of allowing offi-
cers to go as near as possible to the South Pole, whose lives you
would not risk in doubling the cape in winter, I have yet to learn.
In conclusion, if you have any influence with " A Friend to the
Navy," advise him to keep his temper, as well as more closely to
his text ; counsel him to be careful how he wages a war personal
and vindictive with me. I have thus far confined myself to the
record, and the subject at issue between us ; tell him that whether
I am Mr. This or Mr. That is no concern of his. I have to do
with you and with the expedition ; let him answer for you as he
can, but inform him that shrinking from the main points of a con-
troversy, and the substitution of personalities for arguments, are
ever the dernier resort of a puerile, malignant, and defeated adver-
sary. Should it ever be discovered that such subterfuges were
used by a person high in place, they will be considered little to
his credit. People will be apt to say that the thick integuments
of his conscience had been penetrated ; that he felt the sting, and
was writhing under the merited chastisement of *' Citizen," whose
homethrusts have told exactly where he wished,, and the public
good required that they should tell.

With great respect, I have the honour to be

Your most obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New-Yoik, August 18, 1837.

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAYY, 373

DEFENCE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

III.

.

HAD the " Citizen" been satisfied \vith the Sioop-of-war, and
such smaller vessels as might be necessary for a surveying and
exploring expedition, with crews amounting to about two hundred
and fifty men, such as was intended by the law of the 18th of
May, 1836, it might have been sent out before the meeting of
Congress in December last, with such books and instruments
necessary for the scientific corps as could be procured in the
United States, and the appropriations would have covered the
expense ; but when it was determined that a frigate and a large
store-ship, then on the stocks, together with two brigs and a
schooner, not then begun, should be employed, with crews amount-
ing, officers included, to more than six hundred men, it was evi-
dent that another session of Congress must elapse and further
appropriations be made before this fleet could be sent to sea. Yet
the " Citizen" is furious at the delay which his own plans have
created, and the secretary of the navy is held up to obloquy in the
public papers because the expedition is not now doubling Cape
Horn.

The " Citizen," in his present state of mind, no doubt thinks that
everything should yield to the expedition; that providing for the
Pacific, the Brazilian, and West India stations was comparatively
but of little importance, and that the small delay from the passing
the act authorizing the expedition to the close of the session was
not to be tolerated. " May and June," he says to the secretary,
" passed away, and no step had been taken by you to put in train
the preparations for the expedition. You now began to speak
plainly, and to hold the language that twelve month? would be
necessary to complete the outfit."

The act authorizing the expedition became a law on the 18th
of May, not on the 10th, as frequently asserted by the " Citizen."
It authorized the president, not the secretary, to fit out the expe-
dition. The secretary's authority did not commence until in-
structed by the president..

Ii

374 ..ETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

As the attention of the president was incessantly called to sub-
jects of great importance, pressed upon him at the close of a
most arduous session of Congress, the exploring expedition was
suffered to rest for a few days.

Soon after the middle of June the secretary was instructed to
write to the officer selected as commander of the expedition.
This was done without delay ; some days were spent before the
necessary consultations with this officer could be had as to the
vessels to be employed ; whether a sloop-of-war as a flag-ship and
smaller vessels, or whether a frigate, a store-ship, two brigs, and
a schooner ; whether ships should be repaired, purchased, or
built for the purpose ; all these points required and received a few
days' consideration.

The secretary, as soon as he was authorized to do so, gave
orders for preparing the ships and for recruiting the seamen. On
the 6th of July he gave orders that the frigate Macedonian should
be completed without delay, and on the 7th, llth, and 20th of
that month orders were given for preparing to build the brigs
Pioneer and Consort, and schooner Pilot; with the least practica-
ble delay. The completion of the store-ship Relief had been
previously ordered.

The recruiting for this service was put under the superintend-
ence of Commodore Jones, and Lieutenants Tatnall, R. R. Pink-
ham, Purviance, and H. W. Morris were ordered to report to him
fpr duty in this recruiting service as soon as he required them;
and others were subsequently ordered at his request for the same
service.

An agent, Lieutenant Wilkes, was selected without delay to go
to Europe for the purpose of procuring such instruments and
books necessary for the expedition as could not conveniently be
procured in the United States. A few days' preparation was in
dispensably necessary in this case ; but Lieutenant Wilkes em-
barked at New- York for Liverpool on the 8th of August.

In all this the " Citizen" can see nothing but insufferable delay,
for which he holds the secretary responsible. His perceptions
have become confused by the monomania under which he has la-
boured for the last twelve years, which impels him with irresisti-
ble force to the south, to carry into effect his schemes of circling
the globe within the antarctic circle ; casting anchor on the point

LETTERS OP A FRIEND TO THE NAVY 375

where all tne meridians terminate ; fastening the star-spangled
banner to the pole of the earth itself; and many other vagaries
too tedious to mention.

In these preparations none, upon a full knowledge of the case,
except the " Citizen," and a few others who have been bitten by
him, can see any cause for throwing censure upon the secretary.
These preparations required extraordinary exertions, not on the
part of the secretary, for no more was required of him than giv-
ing the necessary orders, but of the officers under whom the
ships were to be prepared and the men recruited ; and particu-
larly of the commander of the expedition, under whose superin-
tendence the whole was placed ; and, it is believed, the " Citizen"
will not accuse that officer of any want of zeal or diligence in the
performance of any duty assigned him.

It, however, suited the purpose of the " Citizen" that these ex
traordinary exertions, which had not been attended with all the anti-
cipated success, should be considered as the extraordinary exertions
of the secretary of the navy. In his fifth number he says to the
secretary, "Thus you tell him (the president), that inasmuch as it
was his earnest wish that the intentions of Congress in authorizing
the measure should be carried into effect with the least possible
delay, you had not only resolved to clothe Commodore Jones with
unusual powers, and to grant him every facility for the purpose of
shipping crews, but that you had yourself determined to make an
extraordinary effort to accomplish that object." The words, that
you had yourself , are a fabrication, and are not in the report which
he pretends to quote ; and this fabrication serves as the basis of a
series of misrepresentations about extraordinary efforts.

The language of the report to the president is, " As, however, it
was your earnest wish that the intentions of Congress in autho-
rizing the measure should be carried into effect wkh the least pos-
sible delay, and that the expedition should be fitted out upon the
extensive and liberal scale which the indications of public opinion
seemed to require ; and as the officer, Captain Thomas Ap. Cate,s-
by Jones, selected for the command of the expedition, gave assu-
rances that the difficulty of obtaining seamen could be obviated
by giving him power to have them recruited under his immediate
superintendence, and for this particular service it was determined
to make an extraordinary effort to accomplish these objects?

376 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

It was unusual to put the recruiting service under the superin-
tendence of a commander of a squadron ; it is unusual to recruit
seamen for a particular service ; yet both are done on extraordi-
nary occasions, and the president, in fact, determined and directed
that it should be done in this case. The secretary gave the ne-
cessary orders. The extraordinary duties were to be performed
by others, not by the secretary. He does not recruit or superin-
tend the recruiting of seamen.

The " Citizen," who seems disposed to regulate the whole police
of the navy department, complains that money for advances was
withheld from the assistant recruiting officers, without which ad-
vances seamen cannot be induced to ship either in merchant or
naval service.

Sufficient funds were in the hands of the officers at the head of
the respective recruiting rendezvous, and the usual advances were
made to the seamen presenting themselves at the receiving ships.
To open accounts with all the assistant recruiting officers was
unnecessary, and would have been attended with great inconve-
nience. It was not done for Commodore Ballard ; it was not done
for Commodore Nicholson ; it will not be done to please the " Cit-
izen." The idea of making advances to seamen to enable them to
go to the receiving ship is new. Few of them, with such advan-
ces, would find their way to the right ships. Recruiting officers
know that, after advances are made to seamen, they must be guard-
ed with great care, or they desert.

The " Citizen" relates the case of an officer in the District of Co-
lumbia, who had obtained a thousand dollars upon his requisition,
approved by the commander of the exploring squadron, which sum
he was forthwith ordered by the navy department to return to the
treasury.

In May last, when there was no longer any serious difficulty
apprehended in recruiting seamen for the expedition, an officer at-
tempted to establish a recruiting station in the District of Colum-
bia, and obtained from the navy agent at Washington one thousand
dollars without the consent of the head of the department. It is
true, his requisition for this sum was approved by the officer com-
manding the expedition, who had good reason to believe the meas-
ure had been sanctioned by the secretary of the navy ; otherwise
the requisition would not have been approved. The transaction

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY, 377

was irregular, and he was very properly ordered to restore the
money. In which case no appeal lies to the " Citizen ;* and if the
officer has sent his report of this case to the " Citizen," he has
probably made a mistake in the direction.

The finishing of the frigate Macedonian and store-ship Relief,
and the building of the two brigs and schooner, required extraor-
dinary exertions on the part of the officers to whom these duties
were assigned, and for the performance of which they are entitled
to much credit ; yet all this does not satisfy the " Citizen," and
in his No. V. he asserts that the Macedonian was not completed
and in a condition to receive her complement of men until June of
this year. It is believed the " Citizen" is somewhat incorrect ;
but if what he states is true, is it the fault of the secretary ? The
expedition could not be sent out upon the proposed plan without
the frigate ; it was therefore impossible that the squadron should
be now doubling Cape Horn.

In March last, and before the Macedonian was finished, as the
" Citizen" says, it was discovered, from the sailing of the Pioneer,
that she was not fit for service in this expedition ; and the Con-
sort and Pilot were believed to be in a still worse condition. Until
the necessary alterations shall be made in these vessels they can-
not be sent out as a part of this exploring squadron ; so that, in
fact, there has been no time at which this squadron could have
been sent to sea, even if there had been no difficulty as to recruit-
ing seamen. In this no delay was feared after the time that the
vessel could be prepared ; and the secretary, in his report to the
president of the 6th of February last, says, " the difficulties which
have retarded the recruiting for this service are nearly obviated ;
and it is confidently hoped that in a short time there will be suf-
ficient numbers recruited to complete the crews of all the vessels
of the squadron."

The " Citizen" very unnecessarily works himself into a fury
about the Macedonian ; in his same number five he says to the sec-
retary, " In speaking of the vessels, you proceed to tell the presi-
dent that ' the frigate and store-ship which were on the stocks when
this measure was authorized have been finished and equipped, and
are now receiving their crews.* What unaccountable hallucination
could have possessed your mind when you wrote this sentence,?
DM xrrvn ^ the first draught of your report, put down what ought

378 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

to have been the condition of those vessels, and afterward forget
to alter it ? How else could you venture to tell the president, and,
through him, Congress and the whole country, that the frigate was
finished and equipped, and was receiving her men, when the fact
was, that the frigate, at that time, was not finished, not equipped,
nor was she receiving her crew ; so far from it, she had not a
bulkhead up or a yarn over the masthead ; and it was not until
June, six months after this official statement, that she was com-
pleted, and in a condition to receive her complement of men ! ! /"

One would suppose, from this flourish and bluster, that some
terrible deception had been practised upon the world.

Commodore Warrington reported to the secretary that the Ma-
cedonian was launched on the 1st of November. As this was the
flag-ship of the squadron, Captain Jones was ordered on the fifth of
that month to report to Commodore Warrington for duty, as com-
mander of this squadron. He had before reported on the 3d of
October, that, up to the 26th of September, one hundred arid nine
able seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, had been recruited for
the exploring expedition ; and that Captain Armstrong stated that,
as the service was popular, he looked for much better success.
There was no doubt of the zeal of Captain Jones in putting his
flag-ship in a condition to receive her crew. One month after this
time, when the secretary made his report, he was justified in be-
lieving that the Macedonian, as well as the Relief, were so far
finished and equipped as to be receiving their crews, and so stated
in his report to the president of the 3d of December. It seems
the Relief was so far finished as to be receiving her crew, but
that the frigate was not. Commodore Jones, on receiving this re-
port, would have stated the error had he deemed it of immediate
importance, and on the 31st of January he reported to the secre-
tary that the Macedonian was launched in October from the
Navy Yard at Gosport ; that, from the latest information, she is
not yet ready to receive her crew, though she probably will be by
the time the scientific corps can be ready to embark, and a suffi-
cient number of men obtained, for which prospects are becoming
more favourable. This information was communicated to the
president, and, through him, to Congress and the whole country.

This differs, however, very much from the statement of the
" Citizen," that the frigate was not in a situation to receive her

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 379

complement of men until the month of June. Perhaps some unac-
countable hallucination has possessed the mind of the commodore.

The " Citizen," in continuance, says to the secretary, " The pres-
ident is further informed that you had not yet attempted to organ-
ize the scientific corps for the expedition, but you intimate that
this duty may be performed as soon as accommodations can be
afforded them in the vessels. Strange incongruity this ! In the
first place, the vessels are finished, and receiving their crews ; in
the next you tell us that the organization of the corps is delayed
until the vessels are finished and ready to receive them" The
last sentence is a pitiful fabrication of the " Citizen," and is not to
be found in the secretary's report. The language of the secretary
is, " the scientific corps maybe organized as soon as accommoda-
tions can be afforded them in the vessels of the exploring squad-
ron."

The accommodations for the scientific corps will be something
different from the mere finishing the vessels so as to receive their
crews. The Independence was finished, and her crew on board,
before the accommodations for Mr. Dallas and his family were pre-
pared. But it is disgusting to pursue farther these pitiful mis-
representations.

The " Citizen" in No. II. vents some terrible threats, which
have not yet been carried into execution. He says to the secre-
tary, " Permit me to call your attention to the very last paragraph
in the able report to which I have alluded" (a report from the com-
mittee of commerce) ; " it is much to the point, and you may draw
instruction from it. Yea, more, it will furnish you with an argu-
ment to refute the contemptible fabrication of the weak marplot-
ting enemies of this truly national enterprise, who, in the face of
two hundred pages of printed documents, have had the effrontery
to say the expedition would have little or nothing to do with the
protection of commerce in the regions to be examined. I will
give the authors of this device a withering review before I have
done. Let them prepare for it. I know them, and may feel it my
duty to drag them from their dark retreats, perfectly regardless
who may be found in their company, or what aspect they may
wear when exposed to the fair face of day." Who these miscre-
ants are I cannot imagine, and the <4 Citizen" does not think proper
to inform us. Perhaps he means the members of Congress who

380 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

passed the act of the 18th May, 1836, expressly limiting the ex-
ploring expedition to a sloop-of-war and smaller vessels, and its
objects to those of surveying and exploring. This body is prob-
ably the only one who have acted in the face of two hundred
pages of printed documents, or ever read them. Two hundred
pages of printed documents ! They must have amounted to the
size of a cheese ! The audacious wretches ! The " Citizen" in
mercy gives them notice to prepare for a withering.

It is probable that these two hundred pages of printed docu-
ments were composed, in part, of the report of the " Citizen" himself
of the 29th of September, 1828, describing certain islands, reefs,
and shoals in the Pacific Ocean, &c. If so, I have something to
say respecting these two hundred pages of printed documents,
which ought to be considered in extenuation of the offence of those
who have excited the wrath of the " Citizen." This report, if it is
to form the guide for the movements of the exploring squadron in
the Pacific, will as certainly involve them in trouble as they
double Cape Horn.

If the " Citizen" shall be the Palenurus of the squadron, with
his report for his guide, he will swamp the whole concern, and
will never cast anchor at the point where all the meridians ter-
minate, nor leave the star-spangled banner to wave on the axis of
the earth itself.

In 1828, soon after this report was made, a copy of it was sent
to the vice admiral. Kruzenstern, of St. Petersburg, a distin-
guished navigator, illustrious for his voyage round the world, see-
ing it had received the notice of the American Congress, he
thought, no doubt, he had gained a treasure of reefs, rocks, and
islands, of which he commenced the examination. He soon dis-
covered that the information which the writer had received from
the whalers, and which he had reported in his memoir, was not of
a nature to inspire any great confidence. That in his memoir we
see islands bearing the same name, but differing many degrees in
longitude ; and many others indicated under the same latitude and
longitude which certainly were but one and the same island ; that
we find in it descriptions of islands so circumstantially detailed,
that one can hardly call in question their existence, but of which
the nonexistence could be equally well proved, and with the same
semblance of truth. And speaking of another collection of a like

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 381

character, he says that it resembles that of the author in this, that
it is but a mass of names placed without the least discrimination j
" que ce fCest qtfun amas de nommes places sans la moindre cri-
tique."

This is given in the advertisement to his " SuppUmens au Re-
cueil de Mtmoires Hydrographiques" printed at St. Petersburg,
1835, pages v. and vi., a part of which I will quote in the admi-
ral's language : " Dans le temps ou le gouvernement Americain se
disposait a preparer une expedition pour explorer 1'Ocean Paci-
fique, Mr. Reynolds, qui devait etre le chef de la partie scienti-
fique de cette expedition, presenta au secretaire de la marine, Mr.
Southard, un memoire dont on m'a communique une copie, et
dans lequel il rend compte des resultats des recherches qu'il avait
faites dans les differens ports des Etats Unis au sujet des decou-
vertes des baleiniers Americains. Les informations qu'il avait
reques de ces baleiniers, et qu'il rapport dans son memoire, ne
sont cependant pas de nature k pouvoir inspirer une grande con-
fiance. On y voit des iles portant le meme nom, et differant de
plusieurs degres en longitude ; il en est plusieurs autres, indi-
quees sous les memes latitude et longitude, qui ne doivent etre
certainement qu'ure meme ile. On y trouve des descriptions d'iles
si detaillees, qu'il semblerait qu'on ne peut guere revoquer en
doute leur existence, mars dont la nonexistence peut etre egale-
ment demon tree avec autant de vraisemblance," &c.

The admiral heard no more of the writer, except that, in 1 829
and 1830, two brigs, the Seraph and Annawan, were sent out
under Captains Pendleton and Palmer, and that Mr. Reynolds
and Mr. Watson accompanied them, en qualite de savans.

As to the character of the "Citizen" as a navigator in 1828,
when he attempted, by his report, to enlighten the nautical world,
the amount is soon told. He was a sailor by inspiration, and his
voyages had been chiefly made on dry land. How he became a
savant remains yet to be discovered.

Thus has this industrious " Citizen" contrived not only to make
himself ridiculous in the eyes of all who may read these observa-
tions of Admiral Kruzenstern, but to throw some degree of ridi-
cule upon the present exploring expedition.

To divert this ridicule from the officers of the navy who may
embark in this expedition, and to confine it to its proper source,

382 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

and to show that the scientific corps selected are not of the school
of the savant in question, shall be the peculiar care of

A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

August 10, 1837.

IV.

Among the gross misrepresentations on the part of the " Citi-
zen," published in the Times, none is more frequently repeated
or pertinaciously adhered to than this, that the secretary of the
navy considers the great object of the South Sea exploring expe-
dition to be an approach as nearly as possible to the South Pole.
This, after being stated in a variety of ways, is repeated for the
last time in his No. VI. in these words : " Like your statement
that to approach as near as possible to the South Pole was the
object of the enterprise, it is, to say the least, an evasion of the
true purposes designed to be accomplished." And then he ex-
claims, " If the great objects of the expedition be to go as near
as practicable to the South Pole, for what purpose do you send a
botanist to that region where no vegetation exists ? Why do you
incur the expense of sending a philologist to attend to the interest-
ing department of language where there are no inhabitants ?" &c.

Now all this going as nearly as possible to the South Pole is
the work of the " Citizen's" own imagination. The language of
the secretary in his report laid before the House of Representa-
tives is, w The great objects of this expedition, as understood by
this department are to explore the seas of the southern hemi-
sphere, more particularly in high latitudes and in regions as near
the pole as may be approached without danger" &c.

To approach the pole as nearly as practicable, or possible,
would be to encounter much danger ; but it is distinctly to be un-
derstood, from the language of the secretary, that it was not ex-
pected that such danger should be incurred ; and, of course, it
could not be expected that the expedition should approach as
nearly as possible or practicable to the South Pole ; nor, indeed,
make any nearer approach to it than could be accomplished with-
out danger.

The language of the secretary was calculated to remove the

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 383

apprehensions of those who might embark in this expedition, that
their lives were to be unnecessarily exposed among icebergs near
the pole for the purpose of testing certain wild theories that had
long been before the public. It was an assurance to them that
they should not be carried within the verge of that great opening
of sixteen degrees around the pole leading to a concave and hab-
itable world, according to the " Citizen's" former theory as exhib-
ited in his lectures ; nor required to do what the " Citizen," in his
late address, considers as quite practicable, viz., to "circle the
globe within the antarctic circle, and attain the pole itself ; yea, to
cast anchor on that point where all the meridians terminate ; where
our eagle and star-spangled banner may be unfurled and planted,
and left to wave on the axis of the earth itself ! where, amid the
novelty, grandeur, and sublimity of the scene, the vessels, instead
of sweeping a vast circuit by the diurnal movements of the earth,
would simply turn round once in twenty-four hours !" -

In a letter of a former secretary of the navy, of the 29th of
January, 1829, to the chairman of the committee on naval affairs,
to the Senate of the United States, respecting the objects of the
South Sea exploring expedition, proposed at that time, it is stated
" that the examinations of both known and unknown islands, &c.,
will be, in part, in high southern latitudes, and the instructions
would naturally and necessarily be to find and describe all which
exist there ; and as far to the south as circumstances would per-
mit them safely and prudently to go ;" so that the views of the
former and present secretary are much alike as to the regions in
high southern latitudes to be visited by a South Sea exploring
expedition. Whether they approach the South Pole as nearly as
may be without danger, or advance as far to the south as circum-
stances would permit them safely and prudently to go, must be
nearly one and the same thing.

And does the " Citizen" intend that the object of visiting high
southern latitudes, such as can be approached without danger,
shall be abandoned ? Does he think that such purpose cannot be
entertained, because we send out a botanist to regions where no
vegetation exists, and a philologist where there are no inhabitants ?

After the great preparations that have been made for exploring
the South Seas with vessels as strong as wood and iron can make
them, constructed for the express purpose of making their way

384 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

through fields of ice, and more fit for that than anything else, the
public will expect something more than has been accomplished
by any other exploring expedition ; more particularly as the " Cit-
izen" himself, in his famous address, page 97, gives it as his delib-
erate opinion " that the ninetieth degree, or the South Pole, may
be reached by the navigator," unless intercepted by land. The
public will expect that high southern and unexplored regions will
be examined by our exploring squadron ; and if they return with-
out making a nearer approach to the Pole than any other explo-
ring expedition has credit for, be assured that no small degree of
disappointment and mortification will be manifested by those who
have to pay the expense of this enterprise.

Although it is particularly desirable to extend our researches
into high southern latitudes, yet but a very small portion of time
can be devoted exclusively to this purpose. While the expedi-
tion is out, there will probably be but two seasons, and those
short ones, when these high latitudes can be reached without dan-
ger ; but those seasons must be improved to the greatest advan-
tage, or one of the most interesting objects of the expedition will
be lost. Five sixths of the time of the cruise the squadron will
be in lower latitudes and milder climates, making surveys and ex-
plorations ; discovering islands, rocks, reefs, and shoals ; ascertain-
ing latitudes and longitudes ; affording aid and protection to our
merchants and whalers ; rescuing wrecked mariners, and perform-
ing a variety of other duties not interfering with the legitimate
and proper objects of a surveying and exploring expedition. But
the results of the examinations in high latitudes, in this one sixth
of the time, will be looked to with more intense interest than any
others of the whole cruise.

The " Citizen" is now endeavouring to divert the attention of
the public from these examinations in high southern latitudes, be-
cause he knows not what to do there with a frigate of thirteen
hundred tons burden and drawing twenty feet water. He will be
equally perplexed to know what to do with her among the shoals
and coral reefs of the South Sea Islands. But, by way of obvi-
ating difficulties, he has determined to convert this surveying and
exploring expedition into an expedition for the protection of com-
merce ; the objects of surveying and exploring being considered
by him as of secondary importance. In this he will fail.

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY, 385

In the first place, Congress have made this a surveying and ex-
ploring expedition, and not one for the protection of commerce.
The armament and equipment of the vessels prepared are en-
tirely different from the armament and equipment of vessels sent
out for the protection of commerce. The character of the expe-
dition is peaceful. The vessels will be prepared to defend them-
selves, and the vessels and property of merchants and whalers,
against the pirates and natives of the regions they may visit, but
not to attack armed vessels of any maritime power with which
we may be at war.

In this enlightened age, it is understood that exploring expedi-
tions are exempt from the laws of war, and our vessels engaged
in this expedition will not be subject to capture.

What can be wanted of a scientific corps on an expedition for
the protection of commerce ? Nothing can be more incongruous
than the slow, patient, and persevering labours of an exploring
party, and the rapid movements required for the protection of
commerce. Such vessels as are built for this expedition would
never leave our ports for the protection of commerce.

But if the " Citizen" shall succeed in changing the character
of this expedition from peaceful to warlike, he will still be per-
plexed with difficulties. Suppose, in clearing the decks of one of
the vessels, the frigate, for instance, for action, what a scene of
confusion — skeletons and bones of animals of all kinds, testa-
ceous, crustaceous, vertebraled, and invertebrated ; heaps of mol-
luscous treasures ; alligators stuffed, " and other skins of ill-
shaped fishes," must all, all be tumbled into the ocean without
reserve, " rari natantes in gurgite vasto"

The " Citizen" had much better permit this expedition to re-
main, what it was intended to be from the beginning, a peacerui
surveying and exploring expedition.

But he has discovered one important purpose for sending out
a frigate which has not been sufficiently noticed. It is nothing
less than this, that a salutary effect may be produced upon the
fears of the islanders to be visited ; and, as he says, " the natives
awed into respect by a judicious display of our power." And
then he relates the story of Lord Byron with the frigate Blonde
at the Sandwich Islands in 1824, and what was the effect prp-
duced on the minds of the savages by the presence of thaj

ship, &c., &c.

R

386 LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

Will not the large ship Relief, of four hundred and sixty tons,
the two brigs Pioneer and Consort of two hundred and thirty tons
each, and the schooner Pilot, of one hundred and fourteen tons,
sufficiently awe the natives ? Must the frigate be added to in-
timidate the savages ? The sending out this frigate will increase
by one hundred thousand dollars the expense of the expedition ,
but this the " Citizen" will think money well expended, consid-
ering how amazingly the natives will be scared.

The " Citizen" may be assured that Congress had views very
different from his in authorizing the employment of a frigate on
this expedition; and he will find that the naval officers differ
from him in this, as in most other points in which he undertakes
to regulate the affairs of the navy. It is the glory of those officers
to meet an enlightened enemy gun to gun and man to man ; but
not to exhibit themselves in big ships to intimidate savages or awe
the natives.

Terror is the favourite means of the " Citizen" for carrying his
points. His threats are quite awful ; and upon the officers of the
navy who have offended him he is about to try the efficacy of his
valued remedy.

In his number four he says, " The title of citizen, sir, is a proud
title" (meaning, no doubt, his own title). " This is a country of cit-
izens. Citizens make the navy ; increase or diminish it at their
pleasure ; appoint and support its officers, and will judge them (! !) ;
for every year he is on active duty an officer may be two on
shore, receiving pay in the latter as well as in the former case."
" Let them indulge in illiberal, contracted feelings of petty jeal-
ousy against the appointment of citizens to their appropriate prov-
inces, and they will soon find themselves in the hands of a giant
who knows his power, and will use it."

Now this giant must be the " Citizen" himself, as he could not
be certain that any other giant knew his own power, or that he
would use it. And as it is believed that the officers of the navy
have no indulged themselves. " in illiberal, contracted feelings of
petty jealousy" against any gentleman of science selected for the
expedition, however they may have manifested their aversion to
a pretender who seems disposed to regulate the whole enterprise,
they have nothing to fear but from the execution of his terrible
threats.

LETTERS OF A FRIEND TO THE NAVY. 387

Now let me implore the " Citizen" not to make any serious im-
pression upon the fears of the officers of the navy. Although
brave, there are some things of which they stand in awe. They
are willing to encounter men, but not giants. They do not fear
cannon balls, but may dread " a withering review" from the '* Citi-
zen" in the public papers. Therefore let me entreat you, " Mr.
Citizen," not to intimidate them. Don't, Mr. Giant; do not, in
your wrath and fury, play the part of the terrible lion,

" Who roared so loud, and looked so horrid grim.
His very shadow durst not follow him."

Be satisfied with letting these officers know, as you have done,
that they are open to censure when " they claim to assume the
performance of duties for which their previous training and dis-
tinct line of action have left them totally unqualified." That " our
public vessels have been round the world, and our officers in
them, among islands, and in places rarely visited ; but what con-
tributions to science have resulted?" This will be sufficiently
humiliating to those officers, who have heretofore believed that
among their number were many whose writings have added much
to the character of their country for science and literature. In-
deed, it would appear, from reading domestic and foreign reviews,
that, in these respects, they have gained a high reputation, both
at home and abroad. But under this withering review of the
" Citizen" let them be humble. If the " Citizen" will only put
off the lion's skin, and cease, by his awkward attempts at roaring,
to frighten folks who do not know him, the affairs of the exploring
expedition will go on much more smoothly.

Every measure has been adopted for making the necessary al-
terations in the two barks and the schooner for the expedition, and
they will be as soon fit for service as any vessels like them ever
can be.

There is still much reluctance on the part of the officers to join
the squadron ; but it is believed that a sufficient number will be in-
duced to enter this service as a matter of duty, and that they need not
be compelled to this by finding themselves in the hands of a giant.

Great confidence is placed in the gentlemen of the scientific
corps. Their competency to perform the duties that will be res-
pectively assigned to them with honour to themselves and their
country is undoubted ; and from their urbanity, prudence, and

388 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

discretion, it is believed they will treat the officers of the navy
with whom they may be associated with the respect due to their
character and profession.

Although the secretary of the navy believes that a smaller force
for the exploring expedition would be more efficient, and that a
frigate is a larger vessel than this particular service requires, yet,
as their employment is authorized by Congress, he has given all
the orders necessary for having them fitted and prepared for this
service, and doubts not, we are aware, that from the enterprise
much benefit will result to the commerce and navigation of our
country, and great advances made in many important branches of
science. It has been shown, however, that he believes that all
these results could be obtained at one third of the expense of this
expedition, and with a tenth part of the noise. He has some old-
fashioned notions of economy about him, which many believe to
be out of time and out of place. But he considers a million of
dollars worth saving. It would, in his opinion, build a drydock,
and he would not give one drydock for a mountain of molluscous
treasures.

A FRIEND TO THE NAVY.

August 25, 1837.

CITIZEN'S LETTERS.

VIII.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

What " A Friend to the Navy" said in his first number has
been examined. That illustrious writer very complacently com-
mences his second by assuming that the facts stated in his former
communication had entirely exonerated you from all censure,
both as to the tardiness in shipping men and the delay which had
occurred in preparing vessels for the expedition. If you can feel
any self-gratulation in his defence on these points, I should deem
it cruel to disturb your quiet enjoyment of it ; so I shall pass on to
notice some of the positions assumed by you or for you, which are
among the most extraordinary it has ever been my lot to observe
emanating from a dignified source. I shall take them up in order.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 389

In the first place, sir, allow me to ask what is meant by the
following : —

" There has probably been no secretary of the navy who would
not gladly have engaged in sending out an exploring expedition
if it could be done in accordance with his own views, and without
embarrassing him in other official duties of more immediate im-
portance and of higher responsibility."

Are you aware, sir, of the indefensible character of the senti-
ments expressed in the above extract ? Is it less than declaring
that the will of Congress maybe trifled with, as in the case of this
expedition it has been, unless the forms of the law, and the time
and manner of passing it, shall coincide with your peculiar views
of public duty? Shall the nation remain stationary as regards
knowledge and improvement, nay, sir, go back half a century in
intelligence, ere its schemes of public utility can receive your
sanction ?

You would graciously condescend to fit out an expedition, pro-
vided " it could be done in accordance with your views !" Should
not Congress take a hint from this potential rule, quoted as the
guide of your official action ? Would it not be a saving of much
time, trouble, and money, if that body were to appoint a joint com-
mittee, whose high duty it should be to ascertain at all times what
laws, and what modes of eiacting them, meet the " views" of the
honourable the secretary of the navy ? Or, perhaps, the same
end might be more easily attained by a saving clause in all bills
connected with the naval service ; as, Be it enacted by the Sen-
ate and House of Representatives that the President of the United
States be, and he hereby is, authorized to do so and so, provided
there is nothing as regards the origin or passage of this bill dis-
approved by the honourable secretary of the navy, or that may in
any manner embarrass him in the discharge of other official duties
of more importance and of higJier responsibility ! ! ! ! And, sir,
by what standard are the acts of " more importance and higher
responsibility" to be estimated ? Is the decision to be left solely
to the discretion, feelings, prejudices, or, if you please, the judg-
ment of the head of the department ? Who can set limits to the
train of evils consequent on the establishment of such a prece-
dent ? What assurance would the nation have that its laws would
be faithfully executed ? None whatever. Fortunately, however,

390 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

the quarter from which such anti-democratic doctrines come is
not calculated to gain them any unusual favour in the public mind.
The lachrymose tone so characteristic of your annual report is
even more conspicuous in the second number of " A Friend to the
Navy." Indeed, I doubt if your most charitable supporter would
be able to point out a single manly expression in anything you
have written connected with the enterprise ; equally fruitless would
be his attempt to select a solitary recommendation in which the
noble and enlarged views of the liberal and strong-minded states-
man can be even faintly recognised.

From first to last, in conversation and in all your reports, one
meets with nothing but a grumbling, fault-finding spirit, in which
it is difficult to say whether perversity of temper or narrowness
of policy is most obvious.

I should be pleased to see one incident pointed out, whether
connected with the plan of the voyage, its objects, the construction
of the vessels, the appointment of officers, or having any bearing,
real or imaginary, on the undertaking, from which an excuse for
delay or a pretext for dissatisfaction could be drawn, of which you
have not availed yourself to the utmost for these purposes. Thus
it was again and again asserted that the protection of commerce
in 1836 was more than the department could manage, without the
" new duties" of fitting out the expedition. But, that I may not
do you injustice on this point, I will let " A Friend to the Navy"
speak for himself.

" The imposition of new duties in fitting out an exploring ex-
pedition could not fail to increase the difficulties of his (the sec-
retary's) situation without relieving him of the responsibilities ;
which effect they have hady to the most serious injury of the ser-
vice. It is not strange that the secretary should feel opposed to
the imposition of new duties at a time of such difficulties ! ! /"

Is it not enough to provoke a smile on the steeled countenance
of a stoic to hear of the onerous duties of the secretary of the
navy ? From 1797, when the nation had a navy to create, through
the quo,si war with France, during the war witii the Barbary
States, and subsequently with the first naval power in the world,
down to the present day, nothing like your piteous groaning had
been heard.

No such melancholy complainings escaped your predecessors,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 391

sir, when they had everything to originate and determine ; to fix
on models for vessels ; to range the country for timber ; cordage
to manufacture ; copper to import ; cannon to cast ; but now,
when a board of naval commissioners are in constant session to
price and purchase all materials ; when naval architects are ap-
pointed, and " all appliances and means" are in readiness, we hear
of the " difficulties of your situation," " the imposition of new
duties," and other wild phantoms of the imagination born only in
the brain !

There is one way to throw off the burden of these " new du-
ties" and " responsibilities," which I will point out, and which the
whole community, and especially the naval service, would feel
much pleasure in seeing adopted ; resign, sir, a station, the duties
of which, from your own showing, you find it so difficult, if not
impossible, to perform ! But, before you take this step, do let
the country know in detail how the naval service has been "seri-
ously injured" by the exploring expedition. In other countries
such undertakings have been considered most honourable to the
naval profession.

As regards the French expedition, intended to sail on the 15th
of this month, and which your dilatory action has allowed to pre-
cede the American, such is said to be the enthusiasm elicited that
some of the most promising youth in the kingdom have volun-
teered their services even before the mast ; while you hold up a
similar enterprise as degrading to the officers of our navy !

Perhaps you meant the following incongruity as evidence that
the expedition has been of the most " serious injury to the service :"

" Nor is it strange that he (the secretary of the navy) should
be opposed to the manner in which the provision for the exploring
expedition was introduced into the general appropriation bill for
the navy?

" Early in the session this bill had been sent from the House
of Representatives to the Senate ; there an amendment was pro-
posed authorizing this eocpedition ; and there it remained, loaded
with this rider, until nearly the time of passing the bill on the
18th of May, 1836, more than Jive months after the commence-
ment of the session, and when the naval service was greatly em-
barrassed for want of the appropriations?

This is not the first time I have heard of your high displeasure

392 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

against the committee on naval affairs in the Senate for their au-
dacity in presuming to add an amendment providing for the ex-
pedition to the bill for the general service, without having first
procured your gracious permission, and ascertained that the thing
could be done " in accordance with your views ;" but it is the
first time I have seen this presumptuous censure in print !
Nearly five months, we are informed, did this bill remain in the
Senate ; yes, there did it remain, loaded with this " rider* to
" the most serious injury of the service." To this " rider" is at-
tributed all the delay, from the early part of the session, when you
inform us the bill was sent to the Senate. The only "rider" of
leaden weight upon the expedition has been yourself, and I very
much fear it will yet be the death of you ! But did you hazard
nothing in the statement that the "rider" to which you allude
had protracted the passage of the bill from the early part of the
session till nearly the middle of May ?

Now, sir, let it be seen how a few plain facts from the record
shall put you down. Bid the busy functionary, ever near your
person, bring the journals of the Senate and house and lay them
on your table. I am much mistaken if you do not find that the
house did not take up the naval bill, in committee of the whole on
the state of the union, until March 30, 1836. Search the rec-
ord from that date, and you will find that the bill was read a third
time and passed on the 7th of April, four months and seven days
after the session had commenced, during the greater portion of
which interval, according to your showing, the bill was detained
in the Senate groaning under this " rider" to " the most serious
injury of the naval service."

What, then, was the time this bill did remain in the Senate?
Look at the journal, and see if it did not pass that body on the
28th of April. Only twenty days were occupied by the naval
committee in passing on the whole bill, with all its details and
heavy appropriations ; in getting the documents printed ; and
in carrying the measure through the Senate. But, sir, even this
delay of twenty days was not chargeable on the " rider" provi-
ding for this enterprise. I tell you, sir, and I appeal to the commit-
tee to confirm the truth of what 1 say, that the said " rider" did not
detain the general bill one hour. The committee were unani-
mous, the Senate nearly so. When the question was put, " shall

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 393

the amendment be engrossed and the bill read a third time ?" it
vras determined in the affirmative without debate. Yeas forty-
one ; nay one.

But this is not all. Memorials from Connecticut had brought
the South Sea expedition before the committee on naval affairs in
the Senate from the first part of the session. That committee
examined into the policy of the measure, and, without division,
reported a bill to the Senate providing for, the expedition on the
21st March, before the bill for the general service had passed the
lower house ; so that, when the latter did reach the Senate, the
committee simply added as an amendment to the general bill
what they had previously determined on. Neither in the com-
mittee, therefore, nor in the Senate, did this amendment and
" rider" cause the least detention.

Thus saith the record ; in the face of which, for the evident
purpose of casting odium on the committee, and of justifying your
animosity to the expedition, was the statement I have disproved
brought forward. Having no doubt that the committee are both
competent and ready to answer to you and to their country for
their proceedings in this matter, I commit you on this point, with-
out further comments, into their hands, to dispose of you and your
implications as the public good shall seem to require !

" Much delay has taken place," says " A Friend to the Navy,"
" in consequence of the condition of these vessels."

The amount of labour requisite for all the proposed altera-
tions would not, I should suppose, occupy more than thirty days
in any well-regulated private shipyard.

" The officers who have entered the navy with the hope of distin-
guishing themselves in battle for their country" look, we are told,
with little interest to a service so pacific as a surveying and explo-
ring expedition. The love of honourable war is an infirmity of no-
ble minds, and may, by the gallant and brave, be forgiven ; but
this assumption by a ministerial officer of so decided a belligerent
temper may prove dangerous to the state, and should be treated
with severity, otherwise what a warlike nation we should speed-
ily become under your management of the navy ! If, however, the
desire to distinguish themselves in battle be the motive of our
youth in entering the naval service of their country, then should
it be the policy of government to cherish this feeling, and, as fre-

394 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

quently as convenient, allow them an opportunity of putting their
ardour and courage to the proof. I should think under your di
rection we might venture to fight Mexico, or, perchance, one of
the Neapolitan states !

From this lofty martial tone " A Friend to the Navy" comes
down to the use of language which evidently shows the contempt
with which he would inspire the profession for all the duties of
the service save " battle." Hear him.

"Respect is due to the pride and feelings of gallant officers oj
whom unusual, unexpected, and subordinate duties are required.
Great additions will be made to science highly interesting to gen-
tlemen engaged in making discoveries, and highly honourable to
the country ; but somewhat irksome to officers performing a sub-
ordinate part in these operations, and who aspire to service more
properly belonging to their professional duties"

" To such labours and discoveries no more force should be
employed, than what is absolutely necessary" Can any one read
the above extracts, and fail to perceive the obvious design of the
writer ? Would you not be ashamed to append your name to a
document containing such sentiments ? You have at all times
urged the reluctance of officers to enter this service ; do not the
foregoing quotations convict the writer of unworthy efforts to
produce that very feeling ? Have you not frequently predicted
that disagreement and bickerings would occur between the offi-
cers and naturalists ; and do not the passages transcribed prove
the full intentions of the author to bring about the very evils you
have prophesied ? Does the functionary who is capable of la-
bouring with such intent deserve the cognomen of " A Friend to
the Navy ?"

Is it an irksome and subordinate duty to protect the commercial
interests of our country ; to explore new regions ; .succour cast-
away seamen ; make charts of harbours ; survey dangerous pas-
sages and important groups of islands ; to " bind down the strong
arm of the mutineer ;" hold conferences with the natives ; in-
crease our trade ; and render more secure the lives of our marin-
ers ? All these, you would teach, are but "subordinate" duties,
and quite beneath the ambition of men who have entered " the
service with the hope of distinguishing themselves in battle ! ! ! !"

Why have you not been more explicit in pointing out wherein

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 395

the employment of naturalists will interfere with the claims to
those honours and distinctions which, by the common consent
of all enlightened countries, have ever been accorded to naval of-
ficers engaged in enterprises similarly noble, humane, and bene-
ficial in their objects ? Would their labours be other than hon-
ourable provided no naturalists were to accompany the expedition ?
Will you indicate how they can be less so because accompanied
by scientific men without nautical knowledge or pretension ? - *

WTere the military chiefs under Napoleon less distinguished be-
cause savans were attached to the expedition to Egypt ? Was
not the glory of the former rather embalmed and rendered more
imperishable by the discoveries of the latter ; and that, too, with-
out filching a single leaf from the laurel which inwreathed the
soldier's brow ? So will it be with all concerned in this under-
taking, and " A Friend to the Navy" will be foiled in his dark, I
might say malignant, efforts to sow the seeds of discord among
high-principled individuals, who feel the weight of responsibility
they have assumed, and be brought to feel that petty jealousies,
alike unworthy of officers and civilians, are harboured only in en-
vious and contracted minds ! ! !

We are next informed by " A Friend to the Navy" that expe
ditions sent out by other countries have generally been small ; and
that " among the most splendid exploring voyages of modern times
is that of the Astrolabe, a corvette of eighteen guns and eighty
men."

Now, sir, allow me to inquire, how can you answer to the coun-
try for your late shocking prodigality in the force you have em-
ployed to make a few soundings on George's Bank ? Have you
not sent on that service a vessel of eighteen guns and eighty men,
besides an additional chartered force ? Surely you have lost sight
of the exposed condition of our commerce in the Gulf of Mexico,
of which we have heard so much, as well as of the wants of the
service on other stations, upon the requisite force for which the
South Sea expedition has made such fearful inroads ! Did the
duties to be performed at George's Bank call for a larger force
than that of the "most splendid exploring expedition of mod-
ern times ?" and yet you have employed a largei force upon it.
After this, it is hoped the country will hear no more about the
vast scale on which the South Sea expedition is authorized to be

396 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

fitted out; it bears no comparison with your outfit to George's
Bank, the magnitude of the respective objects and labours of
the two enterprises being taken into consideration. Yesr sir,
and while on this point there is one more little question which
I wish, in the politest manner imaginable, to propose to you;
it is this : How did it happen that you gave permission to the
officer having charge of the survey on the banks to take what in-
struments he chose from those procured expressly for the South
Sea squadron, and purchased with the funds appropriated for
that exclusive purpose ? / would also further inquire if you in-
tend to detain the eocpedition till the return of the Porpoise, or is
it to proceed to sea minus the abstracted apparatus ? The best
way to get out of this difficulty is to be candid, and own what
I have no doubt are the facts of the case, viz., that when you
gave the permission referred to (for without it I cannot suppose
the instruments to have been taken), you had just hit on the plan
of your famous commission ; and entertaining no doubt of being
sustained by the board, either wholly or in part, in breaking down
the expedition, you considered that this sending off the apparatus
was only taking time by the forelock, and adding one more to the
list of difficulties already, according to your statements, so over-
whelming !

At length we have something like an outline of the character and
force you would sanction in an expedition to the South Seas.
True, you have not condescended to go into detail or explain how
its varied labours could be accomplished with that force, and it
were wise in you to abstain from any attempt to do so. Here is
your plan.

" Two ships would be quite enough for the purposes of survey
and exploration on this South Sea expedition, and an additional
vessel for the search of wrecked mariners"

It were an easy matter to show the utter insufficiency of what
you here recommend, to say nothing about the modesty of the rec-
ommendation after the adoption of the present force by the com-
petent authorities in the first place, and its recent approval by your
own commission appointed expressly to adjudge the matter. But
it is not worth while to waste time in arguing the point with one
who so pertinaciously refuses to understand — or, understanding,
continues to misrepresent — the objects for which the measure was
-Authorized. The admission, however, that one vessel our' f

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 397

sent out for the purpose of picking up lost seamen, is at once sin-
gular and amusing, considering the source from which it comes.
It is rather a squinting towards an acknowledgment that the en-
terprise, after all, has something to do with the protection of com-
merce ; for surely there are no mariners to be picked off the isl-
ands as near as it would be possible or safe to approach the
South Pole ! Why have you not the openness to admit that the
Macedonian is the proper vessel for this humane purpose? The
presence of such a vessel, by its effect upon the minds of the isl-
anders, would tend to lessen the hardships and dangers of our
sailors whom shipwreck may hereafter throw among them. In-
deed, this was one among other reasons which induced the late
president to adopt her as the flag-ship of the expedition ; and so
fully was he convinced of the importance of a frigate, that he is
known to have said, during the last session, that a ship of that class
should form one of the squadron, whether the appropriation, then
pending, was made or not.

" A Friend to the Navy" tries his hand at verbal criticism, and,
like the wiseacre in the fable, who took a single brick as a sample
of the whole edifice, dashes upon a few detached sentences of a
certain address on the subject of the expedition, delivered in the
Hall of Representatives before the members of Congress on the
3d of April, 1836. What that address has to do with the derelic-
tions of duty which " Citizen" charges upon you, has not yet been
pointed out.

Though I cannot say you have evinced the acuteness of Juvenal,
the grammatical accuracy of Harris or GifTord, or the polish of
that rancorous critic, Dennis, still I must own that you appear
to have caught the mantle of old Father Pepys, who, in his me-
moirs, thus discourseth about Hudibras : " When I came to read
it, it is so silly an abuse of the old Presbyter Knight going to the
wars, that I am ashamed of it : and by-and-by meeting at Mr.
Townsend's at dinner, I sold it to Mr. Battersby for eighteen-
pence." Your critical acumen seems to be of about the same
ealibre as that of the censor of Hudibras ; and I advise you to
dispose of this said address as he did of Butler's poem — sell it !
With great respect I have the honour to be

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.
LL

398 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

P.S. No. III. of " A Friend to the Navy" is acknowledged a
decided improvement in style, though a sad falling off in temper!

New- York, August 23, 1837.

IX.

In this paper we publish the concluding address of a " Citizen" to the secretary of
the navy. We wish that the discussion had not been so far protracted ; we wish that
we could have avoided giving pain to any member of the administration ; but circum-
stances were uncontrollable, and the fortune of the exploring expedition, one of the no-
blest and most important measures ever adopted by the American government, seemed
bound up in the prosecution of the discussion. Plain duty, therefore, marked our course,
and we have not shrunk from it, however disagreeable it may have been. The letters
of a " Citizen" have been distinguished by thorough knowledge of the subject, unbound-
ed zeal in the great cause, a single-minded devotion ,to its interest, purity of style, force
of argument, and logical clearness of statement and induction. Universal public opinion
approves warmly of his undertaking, and ascribes to its able execution the welcome im-
provement in the prospects of the expedition, the probability of its now efficient equip-
ment and speedy departure. For ourselves, we believe well, that, but for the labours of
our correspondent, the expedition would not now have been within a twelvemonth of
sailing, if it ever sailed at all, unless crippled of all efficiency and capacity for usefulness.
The " Citizen" has served his country and the cause of science and humanity nobly ;
and he has served, perhaps saved, the head of the navy department. We take leave of
him with our best wishes for his prosperity and happiness, wherever his sphere of life
may be cast. — Editor of the New- York Times.

To the Honouiable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

I can only account for the confession made in the first para-
graph of your third number by regarding it as another confirma-
tion of the trite saying of the Latins, that " those whom the gods
intend to destroy they first make mad." Excuse me for not giv-
ing the Roman text : I set out with the intention of speaking in
plain English, and shall not now change my original purpose,
though the translation may grate somewhat harshly on your clas-
sical ear. But to the confession. u A Friend to the Navy" tells
us that, had the expedition been fitted out with a sloop-of-war and
such other smaller vessels as the law of the first session of the
last Congress authorized, together with such books and instru-
ments as the country afforded, the whole fleet, on that scale, might
have put to sea on or before the meeting of Congress in Decem-
ber last ; but when it was determined a frigate should be em-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 399

ployed, " it was evident," we are told, " that another session must
elapse, and further appropriations be made, before the fleet could
be sent to sea." Is this true ? Will the country believe it? If
so, into what a condition have you brought our navy, when the
head of this great branch of national defence can make so humil-
iating a declaration to the world ! I have already shown that the
only departure even from the strict letter of the law was the sub-
stitution of the frigate of thirty-six guns for a sloop of twenty-four.
What a nutshell to hold so many difficulties. The difference be-
tween a sloop-of-war and a frigate ! And let it be borne in mind
that a report had been made which stated that in ninety days the
Macedonian could be ready for sea. This report was made by
the commissioners to the president prior to the selection of the
last-mentioned vessel. The difference between this ship and a
sloop-of-war is twelve guns, and yet the disparity, in fact so tri-
fling, is paraded before the public as a valid excuse for the shame-
ful and unnecessary detention of the expedition. By " extraordi-
nary efforts," however, you have been able to overcome this dif-
ficulty in fitting out an expedition at the rate of about one gun per
month ! ! ! !

It is a matter of surprise that the confession to which I have
referred should have escaped " A Friend to the Navy," inasmuch
as you must remember having declared, from the beginning, that
the expedition could not sail during the past season. Yes, sir, I
remember to have met you in the lobby of the theatre at Wash-
ington on the very evening of the day on which the bill passed
the house, and that you then remarked, previously to a word being
said as to the size of the vessels to be employed, that the squad-
ron could not be despatched that season. I repeat, sir, to me,
the " Furious Citizen," did you make that declaration. Do you
forget it ? Have you forgot, also, how reluctantly you took the
measure up when required by the president to do so ? Sir, you
intended, from the first, to bring the matter a second time before
Congress. Will you give the negative to this assertion ? And
was it not because you felt deeply chagrined at being unable to
defeat the enterprise as authorized by Congress 1

As a plea in mitigation of judgment, for I cannot consider it of-
fered as a defence, we are told what extraordinary efforts you had
used during the month of June, 1836 (I mention the year, lest,

400 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

from the multiplicity and variety of your endeavours to frustrate
the enterprise, some confusion should ensue in point of time) ;
which efforts, it appears, consisted in having written to Commo-
dore Jones " without delay," conferred about the vessels, given
orders for their construction, and directed that sailors should be
recruited to man them. Even the days are named on which the
orders were issued, viz., the 6th, 7th, 1 1th, and the 20th of June ;
and the whole statement is evidently relied on to explain away
your subsequent tardiness of action, as also to enable you to ex-
claim, with an assumed air of candid surprise, that " in all this a
* Citizen' can see nothing but insufferable delay, for which he
holds the secretary responsible." After some other samples of
twaddling criticism about the South Pole, confirming the obser-
vation that

" Great wits, like great states,
Do sometimes sink by their own weights,"

you very complacently lay the flattering, but, alas ! delusive unc-
tion to your heart, that none " except the ' Citizen,9 and a few
who have been bitten by him, can see any cause for throwing
censure upon the secretary" ,

Sir, the public mind has been slow and reluctant to fix its con-
demnation upon you, but it has been constrained to do so, and
the future Plutarch of our republic may indignantly inquire,
" Who was this honourable secretary, that lie should have so un-
graciously endeavoured to thwart the wishes of his country by
creating obstacles to the fulfilment of a noble and useful national
design ?" Think you the brief biographical notice of you con-
tained in the " National Portrait Gallery," partial as it is known
to be, will afford a satisfactory reply T

What I slated in relation to the shipment of men, the comple-
tion of the frigate and store-ship, and the organization of the sci-
entific corps, you have not denied : the facts cannot be refuted.
Not the slightest extra encouragement was allowed by you for
the purpose of inducing seamen to join the expedition. The Ma-
cedonian was not finished, nor was she in a condition to receive
her crew, in December, 1836, as stated in your annual report ;
nor did she receive her crew on board until June, 1837. On
these points you offer a volume of explanations, about as falla-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 401

cious and irrelevant to the matter at issue as was the excuse of
the individual who wrote a letter and requested his correspond-
ent to pardon errors in orthography, as his knife was so dull that
he could not mend his pen. Your explanations are non sequitors
of nearly the same calibre, and will probably carry as clear con-
viction to the mind of the reader. I have no desire, 'sir, to mis-
represent you ; the truth is bad enough without any exaggeration.
The charges I have preferred against you ,on account of your of-
ficial delinquencies have gone, to the public through the same
channel as your defence, and the public will judge between us.

The words " extraordinary efforts" are not, as stated by you,
a fabrication ; they occur in your report, and are fairly applicable
in the sense in which I used them. It is a shallow evasion to
say " the duties were to be performed by others, not by the sec-
retary. He does not superintend the recruiting of seamen."
True, sir, you do not personally bargain with the sailor; but it
was your duty to afford to others the means by which unusual ex-
ertions could be made ; and these you pertinaciously refused. If,
as you state, " it was unusual to put the recruiting service under
the superintendence of the commander of the squadron ;" if it
were unusual to recruit seamen for a particular service, both of
which you own you were directed by the president to see done,
the inquiry presents itself, why were not these measures more
successful ? I have already stated the reason. You refused the
necessary means for carrying out this plan of shipping for a
special service by prohibiting the offer of all inducement beyond
what the ordinary rendezvous afforded. Nay, more : when on a
visit to this city in August, thirteen months ago, on seeing the
bills up for the special shipment of men, did you or did you not
say that you would fix that business by allowing the same privi-
lege in shipping mariners for the Pacific and Brazilian stations ;
and were not similar placards accordingly posted on the walls, thus
rendering the facilities in favour of the expedition a mere mock-
ery ? Your assigned reason for not placing funds in the hands
of recruiting agents, except at the regular depots, is pefectly fu-
tile, as security for the advances and delivery of the men could
have been taken at New-London, New-Bedford, and other inter-
mediate points.

The " threats" in my second letter to give a withering review

402 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

of the conduct of those who had attempted, by misrepresentation
of its purposes, to defeat the expedition, you seem to think have
not been redeemed. You appear, also, to have some difficulty in
recognising the parties to whom I had reference. I have no wish
to be obscure, or to leave any doubt on your mind upon this point ;
I will therefore say at once, " thou art the man" to whom I al-
luded as being at the head of those who misrepresented the true
objects of the measure with the sole view of compassing its utter
defeat.

If my review of your official conduct has not been sufficiently
" withering," I am quite willing to amend my error ; the subject
is far from being " exhausted,"

There is but one more point in your third number which I es-
teem worthy of notice. I allude to your sneering remarks on the
mass of information treasured up by our whalemen during their
voyages in the Pacific Ocean and South Seas, which information
formed the subject of a report to the department in 1 828 ; to be
found among the documents setting forth the objects of the under-
taking.

Who ever vouched for entire accuracy of detail in the docu-
ment you have pretended to criticise ? No one, sir, has made
such an averment, and of this fact you are perfectly cognizant.
The individual you mention as having rendered himself ridiculous
through the report in question held the following language in his
address before Congress, when speaking of the information that
report imbodied.

" That the positions of the islands, as laid down by our whale-
men, are determined with accuracy, we pretend not to assert;
neither do these adventurous navigators themselves lay claim to
any such exactness. The very nature of these pursuits almost
precludes the possibility of such a result; their primary object
being to take whale, and not to make discoveries. When, how-
ever, we reflect on the disadvantages under which they labour ;
unprovided with instruments of improved construction ; often com-
puting their progress by the run of the log alone, without allow-
ance for the influence of currents, the force and direction of which
they do not stop to investigate, it must be conceded that the in-
formation they have imparted is more correct and explicit than
we could reasonably anticipate. But if these men have not the

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 403

means and opportunity of noting with precision the geographical
position of their discoveries, it is still less within their power to
ascertain the capacity, resources, and productions of the new lands.
Whale-ships lost in the process of examining a group of islands
or a reef forfeit their ensurance. Even were this otherwise, time
cannot be spared for such a survey ; and thus a brief note in a
vessel's logbook is frequently the only recorded notice of a dan-
gerous reef or a new archipelago. It is impossible, however, to
examine the reports of our South Sea whaling captains without
feeling the value of that mighty mass of rude materials with which
they have furnished us. To have those materials carefully ana-
lyzed, and a work upon which confident reliance can be placed
prepared for future use, is the bounden duty of government. The
prosecution of these objects will constitute an important part of
the labours of the expedition ; labours which ought not, in justice,
to have been delayed till now. Perhaps the silent and unobtrusive
manner in which our great ocean concerns are carried on may, in
some measure, account for, if it cannot justify, the negligence of
our government in not watching with a more vigilant eye the in-
terests of our civil marine, and protecting it more effectually by
the strong arm of naval power. I put the question to every lib-
eral-minded, intelligent individual within these walls, is it honour-
able, is it politic or wise — waiving the considerations of humanity
and duty — to look supinely on, while our citizens are exposed to
shipwreck in seas or coasts, and among islands, of which they
possess no charts capable of guiding them aright, and to suffer
them to be massacred by savages for lack of such a judicious ex-
hibition of maritime strength as would command respect by
showing the ability to enforce it ? And yet such is the situation
of our commerce in many parts of the world."

And pray, sir, what is the language of Admiral Kruzenstein,
which you have hunted up, in relation to this same report ? Pre-
cisely in substance what its author himself held, as will appear
from the translation quoted below.

" At the time when the American government contemplated fit-
ting out an expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Reynolds
presented to the secretary of the navy, Mr. Southard, a memorial,
of which a copy has been communicated to me, in which he pre-
sents the results of the researches made by him in the different

404 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

ports of the United States into the subject of the discoveries of
American whalers.

" The information received by him from the whalers, and which
he communicates in his memorial, is not, however, of a nature to
inspire great confidence. Islands may there be seen under the
same name, and differing several degrees in longitude ; there are
several others designated under the same latitude and longitude,
which certainly must be one and the same island."

Thus it will be seen that the authority of Admiral Kruzenstein,
so far as it is of any importance, is decidedly against you, and fully
sustains all which has been claimed for the document, based on
the materials furnished by our whalers, viz., that it goes to show
that the knowledge we possess of the Pacific Ocean and South
Seas is so imperfect as to demonstrate the utility of sending out
an expedition to ascertain and settle what is at present vague and
uncertain, and thus give additional security to our commercial in-
terests in those quarters. With these remarks I shall leave you
to reflect on the illiberality and injustice of the attack you have
made on the enterprise of our whalers, for your remarks will bear
no other construction.

And now for the fourth and last article you have given to the
public. I shall content myself with a few brief remarks upon this
" delectable' production. It bears indubitable evidence that you
have become alarmed at the untenable nature of your position, es-
pecially in maintaining that the great object of the expedition was
to explore regions as near the South Pole as can be approached
without danger.

In that number you have, for the first time, been compelled to
confess " that from the enterprise much benefit will result to the
commerce and navigation of our country, and great additions be
made in many important branches of science." For the sake of
this confession I am willing to pass over without comment many
amusing quibbles and tergiversations incident to your defence,
seven eighths of which are utterly irrelevant to the subject-matter
at issue between us.

You are now, as I am pleased to learn, doing your duty with a
much better grace than could have been expected, considering
your late disappointments. To bring you to this point was my
sole motive in addressing you. For the mere sake of controversy

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 405

I should not have written, as I feel no pride in a triumph over
you. It is sufficient for my purpose that you have at length been
driven to abandon the position assumed in your famous report of
April 16, and subsequently maintained in your instructions to the
naval board, with both of which the annexed extract from your
last letter appears in amusing contrast.

" Five sixths of the time of the cruise the squadron will be
in lower latitudes and milder climates, making surveys and explo-
rations ; discovering islands, rocks, reefs, and shoals ; ascertaining
latitudes and longitudes ; affording aid and protection to our mer-
chants and whalers ; rescuing wrecked mariners ; and performing
a variety of other duties," &c., &c.

This is rational ; this is what the friends of the expedition have
uniformly declared; but just what you have never, until now,
admitted. Go on, then, as you are now doing, to the end. De-
spatch the expedition with a just and enlightened liberality ; aban-
don all efforts to defeat, retard, or cripple its efficiency ; claim
credit for good intentions ; protest that you never wished to de-
stroy it, and you may yet receive, if not entire forgiveness for the
past, at least a glorious oblivion for the future !

A " Citizen" fully agrees with you in the importance you at-
tach to the examination of high latitudes south. He has never
maintained other opinions ; but he regards it as one object, not
the great objects of the enterprise. Nor has he ever used any
language in reference to the attainment of ninety degrees south
which he is not willing again to repeat. In the very document,
and in the very pages you have turned over, he has said — " That
the ninetieth degree, or South Pole, may be reached by the navi-
gator, is our deliberate opinion (unless intercepted by land), which
all that we have seen and known has tended to confirm. That
an expedition should be despatched from this country for the sole
purpose of ascertaining the practicability of attaining it is not, per-
haps, to be expected ; but that the effort should be allowed to be
made in connection with the other great objects of the enterprise,
is perfectly in accordance with the most prudential policy. We
shall not discuss, at present, the probability of this result, though
its possibility might be easily demonstrated. If this should be
realized, where is the individual who does not feel that such an
achievement would add new lustre to the annals of American

406 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

philosophy, and crown with a new and imperishable wreath the
nautical glories of our country."

Allow me to ask, sir, what you find exceptionable in this lan-
guage. I do not know that you would rejoice at such an achieve-
ment, but I do believe there is not another individual, of the four-
teen millions that inhabit our republic, who would not exult in the
honour it would confer on the American name.

If I have rendered myself " ridiculous" by what I have said on
this point, you will at least find that I stand in pretty good com-
pany. Permit me to commend to your especial notice the fol-
lowing account of the French expedition, which your " extraordi-
nary efforts" have suffered to precede our own.

" M. le commandant Dumont d'Urville received on Friday au-
dience of his majesty the king. In the interview, which extended
beyond half an hour, his majesty reiterated his wishes that the
exploring expedition of the Astrolabe and Zelie might realize the
anticipations entertained by the former ministers of the marine,
and that to France and to his reign may redound the glory of
having approached the nearest to the antarctic pole. A reward is
promised to the sailors, should they extend their voyage so far as
the seventy-fifth degree, and this reward will be augmented in
proportion to each degree obtained beyond this designation. ' In
case they should approach to the pole,' said his majesty, with en-
thusiasm, ' then everything will be granted to the sailors that they
may demand.'"

Now, sir, does this account of the " enthusiasm" of his majesty
arouse no spirit of rivalry in your breast ? Does it not suggest
an occasion for the American minister of marine to do one act in
his official career that shall save the pages of his biography from
being consigned to the trunkmakers' and pastrycooks' shops ?
What is there that you can do to accomplish such a miracle ? I
will tell you. Just draw up a spirited little report, asking of Con-
gress the authorization of a reward to be given to the officers and
men of the expedition for attaining the seventy-fifth degree south,
with an appropriate increase for each additional degree even to
that point where all the meridians terminate ; where our eagle and
star-spangled banner may be unfurled and planted^ and left to
wave at the very pole itself /

Do but this, and

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 407

" Then time shall render to you
The justice that is due you,
Till the very state that grew you

Stares in wonder."

Sir, throughout all the numbers constituting your defence in this
controversy you have been determined, from some motive inexpli-
cable to me, that the parties engaged in it should not remain un-
known to the public. Of this I do not complain, but have en-
deavoured to gratify your wish by gently intimating to the com-
munity the high source to which it was indebted for those mas-
terly and statesman-like papers bearing the signature of " A Friend
to the Navy." It would be uncandid in me, therefore, under
present circumstances, to affect that you were incorrect in as-
cribing to the individual you have designated the authorship of
the articles over the signature of " Citizen." This avowal made,
I shall reply to your remarks personal with the directness they
seem to require ; having hitherto abstained from answering them
with the intention of disposing of them en masse. The following
is from your No. I.

" This anpry ' Citizen' is no doubt Mr. , who has succeed-
ed in producing an impression through the country that this is
his expedition ; an impression much strengthened by the publica-
tion in October last of his address delivered on the third of April
of last year in the hall of the House of Representatives," &c., &c.

Here is a grave charge made by a personage high in place,
and the document containing its alleged proof is named. Now,
sir, on page ninety-eight of this said address, which lay open be-
fore you when you made an extract from the opposite page,
ninety-nine, is contained a declaration of my motives of action ;
and I defy you, or any parasite under your control, to point out
a single act of mine which has not been in conformity with the
spirit and letter of the sentiments therein expressed ; they read as
follows :

" We have no narrow and exclusive feelings to be gratified,
We wish to see the expedition sail solely because of the good it
may do and the honour it may confer on the country at large.

" For the same reason we wish to see it organized on liberal
and enlightened principles, which object can be effected only by
calling in requisition the known skill of the service, which will

" , ' :;'''1:V '•••-•* -

408 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

be found equal to the discharge of every duty in any way con-
nected with the naval profession.

" But this should not be all. To complete its efficiency, indi-
viduals from other walks of life, we repeat, should be appointed
to participate in its labours. No professional pique, no petty jeal-
ousies, should be allowed to defeat this object. The enterprise
should be national in its object, and sustained by the national
means ; belongs of right to no individual, or set of individuals,
but to the country, and the whole country ; and he who does not
view it in this light, or could not enter it with this spirit, would
not be very likely to meet the public expectations were he in-
trusted with the entire control.

" To indulge in jealousies, or feel undue solicitude about the
division of honours before they are won, is the appropriate em-
ployment of carpet heroes, in whatever walk of life they may be
found. The qualifications of such would fit them better to thread
the mazes of the dance, or to shine in the saloon, than to venture
upon an enterprise requiring men, in the most emphatic sense of
the term."

Having, as I trust, satisfactorily disposed of this point, I pro-
ceed to notice your remark, that " the extravagances of Mr.

have created many difficulties in fitting but this expedition ; yet
all can be obviated if he will be content with the distinguished
and lucrative situation assigned him in the same."

Sir, is it your wish to enter into a full discussion in reference
to the position you have assigned me, as compared with the ori-
ginal appointment given me by President Jackson ? Are you
willing that I should publish our correspondence on this point ?
Are you ambitious that the public should know how magnani-
mously you have acted in the premises ? I apprehend not ; but,
if you are, at a proper time you shall be gratified. I never did,
I will not at present, obtrude any matter personal to myself upon
the public. That the expedition should be efficiently organized,
and placed in proper hands, I have ever deemed a point of in-
finitely more importance than the station I should hold in it, or
that I should accompany it at all. To effect that object, and to
prevent you from destroying the enterprise, have my humble but
best efforts been at all times directed ; and this, I apprehend, has
been " the head and front of my offending."

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 409

Nor will I allow you to justify any portion of your hostility to
the expedition on the unsustained assumption that I have created
difficulties or thrown obstacles in the way of its earlier comple-
tion. As, however, you have chosen to speak of " the distin-
guished and lucrative situation assigned me" I cannot refrain
from informing you that I feel no pride in the distinction your ap-
pointment confers on me ; that I would not turn upon my heel to
preserve it ; and that you are at liberty to take it back when you
please ; nay, more, that it is your duty to do so, if you were sin-
cere in saying that I " have created many difficulties in fitting out
the expedition."

Why, sir, if you were consistent, the very charges you bring
against me ought to make me your greatest favourite. When, un-
til in this instance, did you ever complain of any one for throwing
difficulties in the way of the expedition ? Indeed, rumour says —
and I have seen some things which went far in confirmation of
the thousand-tongued goddess having for once spoken truth — that
those who threw most impediments in the way of the enterprise
have been favoured with distinguishing marks of your regard,
and have obtained from you almost anything for which they
asked ; and, further, that, until very lately, the surest passport to
your good graces was to attack the exploring expedition. I have
heard it asserted that this ruse has been practised more than once,
and always with the same distinguished success.

You say, in the conclusion of your third number, that I have
not only contrived to render myself ridiculous, " but to throw
some degree of ridicule upon the present exploring expedition ;"
and that " to divert this ridicule from the officers of the navy
who may embark in this expedition, and to confine it to its proper
source, and to show that the scientific corps selected are not of
the school of the savan in question, shall be the peculiar care of
A Friend to the Navy." Sir, this manifesto of your " peculiar"
intentions does not surprise me. It is only in perfect keeping
with your " peculiar" line of conduct towards me from the begin-
ning ; and I should feel surprised if it were not continued to the
end. I expect nothing from your magnanimity or your justice !

As regards my attainments, I am free to own they are far from
equalling my wishes, and by no means what I yet hope to make
them. Nevertheless, humble as they are, I can feel little anxiety
8

410 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

as to their estimate by one who could not, in all probability, find
his way across the Atlantic if put to the test ; or give the number
of cubic inches in a sapling six feet in length and four inches in
diameter, though the emoluments of his office depended on the
result ; one, the barren records of whose entire public life afford
not a solitary instance of a useful measure originated or a single
patriotic sacrifice made in furtherance of the public good.
With great respect,

I have the honour to be

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

New- York, September 23, 1837.

X.

Exploring Expedition. — We invite the attention of all our readers, but more particularly
the members of the House of Representatives, to the letter of " A Citizen" addressed to
the secretary of the navy in this day's paper. It will be followed by two others ; and
upon the facts which these letters will bring before the public we are perfectly willing
that the merits and demerits of the expedition, as now organized, should rest. — Editor of
the New-York Courier and Enquirer.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

When I had closed my ninth letter, addressed to you through
the New- York Times, I felt that kind of pleasure which the mind
experiences when an unpleasant, but, at the same time, a necessa-
ry duty has been performed. In my correspondence with you,
through the medium alluded to, I took occasion to speak of your
official conduct, as connected with the South Sea surveying and
exploring expedition, with the directness which the subject seemed
to require. I charged you with official delinquency, and, in a se-
ries of letters, I went into detail for the purpose of showing that
1<he charge was well founded. Through the same channel in which
my communications appeared you replied, by way of defence, in
four numbers, over the signature of "A Friend to the Navy."
The controversy became troublesome to you, and I desisted, de-
lighted with the thought that I should not again have occasion to
address you. But I was mistaken. The expedition has not yet

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN* 411

sailed. Your annual report shows the quo animo with which you
still regard it. New commissions are to sit in judgment upon it ;
the delusive impression is still to be kept alive, that a reduction
of its force would render it more efficient and more likely to se-
cure the important objects for which it was authorized. Is this
true ? Why are you not more explicit ? Why do you not state
what force you would substitute, and show the manner in which
the great purposes of the enterprise can be fulfilled by that force ?
Sir, there is no organization that would suit you. I remember
that, three years ago, you were hostile to the measure in every
shape and form. I recollect that the year following, when the
legislature of New-Jersey passed a resolution recommending it to
the favourable notice of Congress, you so modified your hostility
as to consent to have the word " exploration" inserted in the gen-
eral navy appropriation bill for 1836. You would not, even then,
listen to the suggestion of an expedition being especially provided
for, but said you would send out one or two small vessels, to act
under the orders of the commanders of the Pacific squadron.
These were your enlarged notions of a great national enterprise ;
an enterprise in which we were to make our debut in the field of
maritime discovery; and these opinions you expressed in my
presence, and in conversation with me.

Sir, the truth is, and of this you are well aware, that, from the
beginning to the end, in your private as well as official capacity,
you have been an enemy to the undertaking, and never omitted
any effort that could retard or tend to defeat it. I do not assert
that you have been bold and manly in your opposition. Far from
it. At first your attack was open ; but, as the current of public
opinion began to set strongly in favour of the measure, and the
pride, and intelligence, and science of the country became enlisted
in its behalf, your opposition assumed a more covert form. You
now, on many occasions, professed yourself friendly to the expe-
dition, but then all was wrong about it; another organization
would have been the right one ; and every available incident was
made a plea for delay. If an officer wished to disconnect him-
self from the exploring squadron, his wish was almost anticipa-
ted ; if another, from Missouri, was desirous of joining it, he could
have permission to do so, provided he bore his own expenses to
Boston. Was an excuse wanted for the tardiness of your depart

412 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

merit in despatching vessels to other stations, the expedition fur-
nished it. Did matters look threatening in the Gulf of Mexico,
no vessel was so well fitted to protect our commerce in that quar-
ter as the Macedonian. Did the political horizon betoken a squall
in the direction of Mexico, the exploring vessels must be kept at
home to fight. The banks- suspended specie payments, and
straightway the difficulty of procuring a large amount in specie
to send out in the ships was a mountain not to be got over, though,
in sober truth, twenty, or, at the most, thirty thousand dollars
would have been an ample supply. Thus have you gone on, vir-
tually trampling upon the laws of Congress, and setting at defiance
the wishes of the whole country. That a day of reckoning is at
hand is the prevailing opinion, but with that matter I have nothing
to do. I have only been induced to take up my pen by the pe-
rusal of your annual report, and shall confine myself to an exam-
ination of that specious and hollow document.

In looking over that portion of your report in which you speak
of the fiscal concerns of the expedition, I find that the three hun-
dred thousand dollars appropriated by Congress in May, 1836,
was all expended in preparing the vessels. This is a serious item,
and makes a heavy account against the enterprise. But the state-
ment is only calculated to mislead the public. Let it be remem-
bered that sixty-two thousand dollars of this sum went to the
completion of the frigate Macedonian ; an amount which would
have been required from the treasury for the same object under
any other head. The store-ship Relief was on the stocks before
the measure was authorized ; the sum necessary to finish that
vessel was nearly as large as that which had been required for
completing the Macedonian, and it would have been expended
under any circumstances. In addition to these vessels, two brigs
of two hundred and thirty tons each, and a schooner of one hun-
dred and thirty tons, were built, which consumed the residue of
the three hundred thousand dollars. Now the two brigs have been
compactly and strongly constructed. They will last twenty years,
and can be advantageously used as transports, or on other duty,
and may be thus employed whether they do or do not sail on the
specific service for which they were intended. The schooner Pilot
is not worth what she cost ; but to whom is the fault attributable ?
We shall see anon.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 413

Thus it becomes evident that, in the disbursement of the first
appropriation, the country has sustained no loss ; that two ships,
partially built, have been finished by the application of this fund,
and two other vessels added to our naval force. It is true that
the cost of labour put upon these vessels appears very high, being
nearly, if not quite, one hundred per cent, more than the same work
could have been done for in a private shipyard. But this, if a
fault, is to be charged to the manner in which the public work is
done, and cannot be attributed to the expedition, or to any one
connected with it. If the vessels are not framed after the most
approved plan, to whom should the blame be imputed ? I have
heard it whispered that the first designs made by the naval con-
structer for the model of these craft were altered. If so, by
whom ? Certainly not by Commodore Jones. I have before me
a copy of a letter from that officer to the naval artificer, where he
asks for vessels in which good sailing, good storage, and good
accommodations should be combined ; and not one of these qual-
ities was to be sacrificed to another. In this letter he says no-
thing about length, breadth, or model, but leaves all these matters
to be settled in the quarter where they are usually decided. If
the schooner Pilot be unfit for the service for which she was ex-
pressly built, the Active ought to have been furnished in her stead
without additional charge, as a tailor would furnish a new garment
in the place of one that did riot fit when made to order. If the
brigs be what they ought to be, then they are, under any circum-
stances, worth to government what they cost ; that is, as much
as anything made in our public yards is worth what it cost ; if
the'y are not what they should be, then there has been bad man-
agement in some quarter, and the friends of the expedition are
not responsible. So much, then, for the three hundred thousand
dollars of the million and a half which this prodigal undertaking
is to cost the nation.

After showing what was the outlay for these vessels, and char-
ging what had been expended in finishing the Macedonian and
Relief (already under way), as well as the amount disbursed for
the construction of the smaller craft, to the account of the expedi-
tion, you have carefully added the sum which would be necessary
for the support of the squadron during the three years of its con-
templated absence, and appear to have felt increased strength, as

414 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

you again threw the whole weight of the department against the
measure in the following sentence :

" As this statement of facts could leave no doubt that the ex-
ploring expedition would cost nearly, if not quite, a million and a
half of dollars, and as it greatly exceeded in number of vessels and
men the ?nost successful expeditions of like character heretofore sent
out by the maritime powers of Europe, it was believed that its
amount would have been reduced by withholding a part of the ap-
propriation asked for by the estimate. This, however, was not
deemed expedient, and the full appropriations were made by an
act of the third of March last."

Now, sir, with all due deference, I take up this assumption,
which is unsustained by a single argument, and am prepared to show
that the exploring expedition, as authorized by Congress and sanc-
tioned by the late executive, in its naval and scientific departments,
in all that it is designed to effect, courts investigation, and will bear
it. The more closely it is compared with what the maritime
powers of Europe have done ; the more it is examined and un-
derstood by a careful analysis of our interest in and our knowledge
of the seas where its labours are to be performed, and an inquiry
if the present force be not properly adapted to the faithful perform-
ance of its labours, the more will its friends be strengthened in
their position. On the other hand, those who have not had leisure
to examine the subject in detail, or have been misled by your ob-
jections, ill-founded as they are, will perceive that the great na-
tional objects to be attained would justify an increase rather than
warrant a diminution of the force at present prepared ; and which,
but for your hostility to the whole enterprise, might ere now have
been in the field of its usefulness, engaged in those investigations
which our interest and our honour equally require should be made.

And what, sir, are the arguments at this day in favour of the
design ? They have been again and again set forth in able reports
from committees in Congress, and are understood by the intelli-
gence of the whole country; but nevertheless they receive no
consideration from you. It is humiliating to have occasion to
recur to them at this late period, and I shall do so as concisely as
possible. No portion of the commerce of the nation is more im-
portant than that carried on in the seas which it is to be the chief
duty of the expedition to survey and explore. At the lowest esti-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 415

mate, twelve millions of active capital are involved in one branch
of the whale-fishery, and there are employed in the whole busi-
ness, directly and indirectly, not less than sixty millions of prop-
erty, twelve thousand seamen, and from one hundred and sixty to
one hundred and seventy thousand tons of shipping. The annual
income to the United States from this source is between five and
six millions of dollars. It is to the protection and safety of this
important interest that the expedition has a direct reference, as
has been again and again stated in memorials to Congress. The
whaling business is chiefly carried on in seas more remote and
less accurately known than any other regions visited by our ves-
sels. Hundreds upon hundreds of islands and reefs existing there
have no place or name on our latest and most approved charts.
For instance, there are from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
islands in the Fiji group alone, not one of which can be found,
with sailing instructions, on any map or chart hitherto published.
With this group we have had no inconsiderable trade in native pro-
ductions suitable to the Chinese market ; and the amount of prop-
erty lost there from the want of a more perfect knowledge of the
locality of the islands would pay a goodly portion of the expen-
ses of the expedition. More than one hundred mariners, American
seamen, have been shipwrecked, and a large majority of them
sacrificed to the murderous cruelty of the natives at the Fiji Islands
alone, while we have never endeavoured to overawe the savages
by any demonstration of our power, or tried to conciliate them by
kindness.

Let us suppose, for a moment, that the exploring squadron has
arrived at New-Zealand ; perhaps the best point from which to
commence its operations, either north or south. Stretching to the
northward, the Fijis would command immediate attention. How
could the present force be employed in that archipelago ? The
frigate would not be engaged in sounding among the coral reefs ;
she might take her station in succession at the principal islands,
and with her boats and launch, to the latter of which has been af-
fixed a compact, well-made engine, of five horse power, provided
by the prudential forecast of Commodore Jones, might survey the
principal harbours of the largest island, and of all others within
twenty or thirty miles, while the minor vessels would be de-
Bpatched on more distant surveys to the other portions of the

416 LFTTERS OF A CITIZEN.

group. The frigate would be the headquarters, from whence all
subsidiary expeditions would depart, and to which all returns
would be made. On board of her the charts would be prepared
from the notes and observations of surveying parties; and from
her the smaller vessels would receive protection, and every facility
in the execution of the duties allotted to them. Upon her decks,
or by her officers on shore, conferences might be held with the
native chiefs ; and if by a mild, conciliatory deportment their con-
fidence could not be won, the formidable aspect of such a vessel
would overawe and restrain them. If one of the smaller craft,
while engaged in surveys among the islands or while in a high
latitude during the few months of the southern summer when it
would be proper to trust her there, should sustain any damage, she
could fall back upon the frigate, as upon a friendly haven, for suc-
cour and repairs. Shipwrecked mariners now in captivity might
be rescued, and their deliverance would, probably, be accomplished
by the mere exhibition of a force adequate to compel their libera-
tion. The sick from the store-ship, brigs, or schooner, might be
made more comfortable on board the frigate, while from her crew
their places could be supplied with fresh hands.

The two largest islands in the Fiji cluster are Navihictevoo to
the south, and Fikanova to the north, both of which contain fine
harbours. These would form at different times, according to
their proximity to the scene of action, the rendezvous of the ex-
pedition, while the hydrographical and scientific labours were go-
ing on, by means of the frigate's boats and the smaller vessels, in
the various portions of the group. This archipelago of islands is
not a mere collection of barren reefs and sandbanks, but it is inhab-
ited by, it is supposed, one hundred and fifty thousand natives, of
whom, as well as of the varied produce of their country, we pos-
sess no authentic information. And yet, from a single port in the
United States, we have had near a dozen vessels engaged, as al-
ready stated, in procuring from the members of this cluster such
articles as were suitable to the China market. In exchange for
these, rich returns have been made to this country, the duties on
which have for years added to our national revenue. But these
are matters you have studiously kept out of sight in all your re-
ports. If you were ignorant of the facts, which, in charity, I have
sometimes been tempted to believe, that you are not disposed

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 417

to become acquainted with them I know from the circumstance
that you have avowed your intention not to look at the memorials
to Congress praying for the expedition, nor to the reports of com-
mittees setting forth its objects, while making up your mind of
what the material and personel of the enterprise should consist,
when it was to sail, and what it was to do.

Putting the case that the exploring squadron had accomplished
all that was necessary to be done at the Fiji Islands, where would
you next direct its course ? In every direction from that point it
would find duties to perform ; but I wish to bring you down from
your generalities to something specific, and, therefore, repeat,
where would you next direct its course ? Perhaps it is not re-
spectful in me to propose this question, recollecting, as I do, that
your knowledge of geography and our interest in the seas to
which I refer only enabled you to name three places on the globe
in your general instructions for the guidance of the expedition,
and all of these as well known as the port of Brazil, the Falkland
Islands, or New-Zealand.

About seven hundred miles northeast from the Fijis lies the
Navigator Group. Let this be considered the next point of gen-
eral rendezvous. In the passage thither the lesser vessels might
vary their routes, touching at and fixing the positions of the west-
erly and least known portions of the Friendly Islands ; while the
frigate might show herself in the principal harbours, hold commu-
nications with the natives, and, by so doing, promote the interest
and add to the security of our shipping in that quarter. The Samoa,
or Navigator's Group, was discovered by the French circumnavi-
gator, Bougainville, in 1678, and again visited by La Peyrouse in
1788, more than a century afterward. M. de Langle, the com-
panion of La Peyrouse, with a number of his men, were killed by
the islanders. In consequence of this catrastrophe, an impression
prevailed for many years that these islands could not with safety
be visited. Nothing to be relied on in the hydrography was
given by the French discoverers ; and Kotzebue, who touched at
this group subsequently, did not correct a single error of his pre-
decessors. Even Norie, in his epitome, gives the names of the
islands different from those they bear on his charts of the Pacific,
and neither are correct. This archipelago consists -of eight isl-
ands, and contains not less than one hundred and sixty thousand

418 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

inhabitants. So far from it being unsafe to hold intercourse with
them, the natives are now known to be among the most docile of
the Pacific islanders. It was formerly supposed that there were
no harbours in this group. This is not so ; Tutuila has two, in
one of which the Pennsylvania, and, of course, the Macedonian,
might ride at anchor. Opolu is from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred miles in circumference, and has a fine haven open to
the north. The bottom is sandy, and within twenty yards of
the shore there are five fathoms water. A small river disem-
bogues into the bay. One would imagine the Macedonian might
get into such a harbour without much difficulty. The largest
member of the cluster is Savaii, which is at least two hundred
and fifty miles in circumference, with lofty mountains, which may
be seen at the distance of seventy miles.

Thus it appears, sir, that one of the most considerable, as well
as the most populous groups in the Pacific, lying in the neighbour-
hood of the Society and Fiji Islands, and in the same range with
the New-Hebrides, New-Caledonia, &c.,rich in all the productions
of the tropics, remains to this day, so far as a minute and prac-
tical knowledge of it is concerned, a terra incognita. Yes, sir,
and this is not all ; it lies in the very track of our great whaling
operations, and a survey of its fine harbours — valuable from their
abundant supply of all the varied productions of the tropics —
would be of immediate and incalculable advantage to our fisheries
and other commercial interests in that quarter.

Thus might I proceed, sir, if the limits within which I must
confine myself would permit, to enumerate the islands and clus-
ters of islands which the expedition should visit. I might show
how our trade could be rendered more secure, as well as greatly
increased,, by opening new markets for our agricultural and man-
ufacturing productions. Yes, sir, augmented to an extent of
which you probably never dreamed, or, at least, if you had any
idea of it, you carefully kept your knowledge perdu while speak-
ing of the expedition. It were an easy matter also to show how
one or two of the minor vessels might arid ought to make their
way south during the most favourable months of the southern
summer, and afterward, on the approach of winter in the southern
hemisphere, fall back to participate in the surveys going on among
the islands. By these efforts to reach high southern latitudes, re-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 419

peated each year on different meridians, great acquisitions could
and would be made to our present knowledge of the southern
seas, and the nation would be reimbursed for its outlay by the
opening of new channels of trade in animal furs.

Sir, talk as you may about the expense of the undertaking, the
country owes the amount, ten times told, for the revenue collected
from the varied trade in the regions alluded to; a revenue ob-
tained without the expenditure of a dollar for the protection of the
contributors thereto. But even if the debt were not already due
to the unaided enterprise of our citizens, the benefits which must
follow would repay, with noble interest, the expenses incurred.
Who, then, that looks at the great national purposes to be attained,
will assert that the force prepared is too large ? Sir, it should be
increased by two more small vessels of one hundred and thirty
tons each, if any alteration be made ; and this, too, with reference
to its important naval and hydrographical labours, which are the
primary and paramount objects that led to the action of Congress.
I have yet to speak of the corps of naturalists which has been or-
ganized. What, in harmonious action with the naval officers,
may be expected from that corps ? I undertake to show that no
comparison with " the most successful expeditions of like charac-
ter heretofore sent out by the maritime powers of Europe" will
justify a reduction of their numbers. Sir, I will go into the com-
parison anon in all its bearings, and you shall be welcome to
all the support you can draw from it. Upon the issue of that
comparison the friends of the expedition might fearlessly rest
their cause, as in it they will find a triumphant vindication of
what they have done and propose to do, notwithstanding the com,"
mission you appointed in June last have told us that, had they
" been called upon before any preparations had been made, to
state the number and character of the vessels which, in their
opinion, would be best calculated to secure the attainment of these
proposed objects, they certainly would not have recommended
those which have been prepared" Sir, I am astonished that you
should have introduced this isolated sentence in your report to
the president and Congress, though I can readily perceive the
motive for doing so. What, sir, were the " proposed objects,"
for the attainment of which that board of officers would have rec-
ommended a different force ? The public will see when the in-

420 LETTERS OP A CITIZEN.

formation called for is published. In your instructions to that
board, sir, you kept out of view all the important and leading op-
erations to be performed among the islands of the Pacific. You
told the members that the objects of the expedition were to go as
near the South Pole as could be done with safety. Confined to
that branch of the undertaking, the force would be too large ; and
the commissioners, governed by your instructions, did right in
saying so. You were grievously chagrined at not being seconded
in your plan of mutilation by the report of that body, and, for a
time, allowed the preparations to go on with a much better grace
than you had previously done, though I never imagined you
would permit the squadron to depart before the meeting of the
present Congress. The condition of the national finances prom-
ised you much; while the possibility that Congress, wearied
and disgusted with the delay and expenses already incurred,
might allow you to break up the " whole concern," or to cripple
and send it out on a scale which would mar its usefulness, was
doubtless a source of self-complacent reflection to you. Other-
wise how shall we account for the fact that, the moment you
heard of the greatly-to-be-regretted indisposition of Commodore
Jones, you renewed, with indecent haste, your former efforts at
cutting down, which, with you, means the same as cutting up ?
Instantly another commission is organized, with which you hope
to succeed, though disappointed by the first. Sir, I respectfully
inquire, what instructions have you given this new commission ?
Have you presented the whole subject, in all its bearings, fully
and fairly? Have you handed in the correspondence between
Commodore Jones and the former board ? If you have done this
in good faith, then you will not be sustained. If you have not,
the report will be made on a partial eocparte statement, and will
be undeserving the consideration which the opinion of the officers
selected, under other circumstances, would be entitled to. I shall
write you again.

I have the honour to be,

Very respectfully, your fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, December 28, 1837.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 421

XI.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Nary.

SIR,

Perhaps I ought to apologize for affixing your name to the head
of this letter, inasmuch as I now intend to speak of the scientific
labours to be performed by individuals attached to the expedition.
To this department of the enterprise, notwithstanding all your
correspondence with learned societies and your many professions,
you are inveterately hostile. Well do you know that the very
measures you are at present urging will break up the scientific
corps, and render nugatory all the time and means expended in its
ample preparations ; that they will destroy the efficiency of the hy-
drographical department, in which the naval officers, as a body,
would find constant and arduous professional employment. Of the
duties of the latter, as regards hydrography, I spoke concisely in
my last letter. With no complaint from the people in any quarter
against the magnitude or expenses of the undertaking, as now
contemplated, but, on the contrary, with the public voice every-
where in its favour, you cannot hope to escape the accountability
to which your official action has subjected you ; an accountability
that few men woald be willing to incur for all the honours and
emoluments of your office, even though the incumbent might hoard
up five thousand dollars per annum !

I have asserted that you were hostile to the scientific corps,
malgre all you have said and written to the learned upon the sub-
ject. You commenced its organization with extreme reluctance ;
and it is notorious that you used the most extraordinary efforts to
create jealousies between its members and the naval officers.
When the principal savans were selected, having first been
strongly recommended by our learned societies, their appointment
was not your act, but the credit of it belongs to the late executive,
who compelled you tb perform this galling duty. That distin-
guished individual took a most lively interest in the expedition ;
and, as some prominent members now in Congress, as well as
yourself, are perfectly aware, was resolved that, so far as he was
concerned, it should be sent out in all respects worthy of the na-

NN

422 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

lion from which it emanated. You spoke to him of what other
countries had done, and he told you what this country should do.
In proof of his design that the enterprise should be all that its
best friends desired, behold your own words, quoted from your
annual report in 1 836, in which you vouch for the late president's
liberal sentiments in the following conclusive statement :

".4s, however, it was your earnest wish that the intentions oj
Congress in authorizing this measure should be carried into ef-
fect with the least possible delay, and that the expedition should
befitted out on the extensive and liberal scale which the indica-
tions of public opinion seemed to require," &c., &c.

And how have you fulfilled, how are you now fulfilling, the
wishes of the late head of the nation ? But I forbear ! The prin-
cipal appointments in the corps were made twelve months ago,
and its members severally accepted their commissions. Relin-
quishing all other employments, they held themselves in readiness
for active service at a moment's warning ; and Congress, at the
last session, made provision for their pay for 1837. Some of these
gentlemen were connected with the most respectable institutions
in the country ; and others, to my knowledge, had refused pro-
fessorships. From December to the 4th of July last you kept
them in suspense, and without salary ; although each of them, du-
ring that interval, was more or less employed, in some instances
under the authority of your department, in labours having direct
reference to their duties as members of the scientific corps.

" Thousands at his bidding speed,
Who post o'er land and ocean without rest :
They also serve who only stand and wait."

But I waive, for the present, further details respecting this por-
tion of your official conduct, as I wish to speak of the organiza-
tion of the corps.

There is no part of the preparations of this expedition, sir, more
commendable, in every respect, than the arrangements made for
scientific research. To enlarge on the utility of such observation
would be insulting to the intelligence of all who pretend to keep
pace with the intellectual progress of the age. The science of
the whole country, individually and collectively, is deeply con-
cerned in the result of the expedition. Its votaries have looked
forward with pride to the not distant day when this country should

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 423

wipe off, at one glorious effort, the taunting imputation so long
cast upon her character, that she has never contributed to the com-
mon stock of knowledge for the benefit of mankind, while she was
constantly availing herself of that collected by others. In what
manner can you and your commissions atone to the nation for the
frustration of these hopes ? I mean to treat the members of your
recent commission as I treated the former, with courtesy and fair-
ness. The public, however, will be anxious to see their reports,
and the instructions under which they acted. With the evident
effect, if not with the design, of weakening the claims of the ex-
pedition, and of producing disaffection towards it in the naval ser-
vice, you stated in your annual report to the president in Decem-
ber, 1836, that "scientific researches formed the most important
objects of the expedition." If they were so, why did you not in-
vite one or two individuals, distinguished for their scientific at-
tainments, to meet and confer with your late commission ? This
you did not do, and we shall now behold your efforts to carry out
the views of the body ; which views, I shall be able to show, go
to defeat the very designs which, you have said, formed the im-
portant objects of the expedition. Hence it becomes necessary to
state the reasons which render this division of the enterprise pe-
culiarly essential to the accomplishment of its desired ends.

The expeditions heretofore sent to the Pacific have, with a few
unimportant exceptions, been despatched on some special errand
unconnected with general exploration; as the survey of some
particular coast, harbours, straits, or group, the observation of
some phenomena in astronomy or physics, the opening of some
new channel of commerce, or the like ; and, of course, the number
of naturalists accompanying them was proportioned to their con-
fined field of action. Were this squadron designed merely to
touch at a single point, or only to visit islands already partially
explored, the number of naturalists would be greater than neces-
sary. But the actual plan of this undertaking is, you must own,
altogether different. The space within which its operations will
be carried on may be said to extend from 20° north of the equator to
the farthest attainable point south, and to comprise the entire breadth
of the Pacific, from the western shores of South America to the
eastern confines of Asia ; for over the whole of that wide expanse
we have interests afloat exceeding in amount those of all the mar

424 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

itime powers of Europe combined. This vast theatre of observa-
tion embraces islands of all dimensions, from New-Holland and
New-Zealand down to the modest coral reef ; and includes every
climate, from the prolific torrid zone to the extreme limits of ani-
mal and vegetable life. I do not affirm that every spot deserving
notice can be examined by this flotilla ; far from it ; but I do say
that those places promising the richest return in science, and most
immediately connected with our commercial marine, can be visit-
ed, if the expedition shall depart unshorn of its strength.

If, then, the intended sphere of observation be more extensive
than has been proposed in any former enterprise attempted by the
European maritime powers, it is only in accordance with our par-
amount interests ; and the number of observers should be corre-
spondingly enlarged, as also their facilities increased. This has
been done by the selection of individuals, most of whom have
given evidence of their qualifications by their previous labours ;
and all of whom, as before stated, have received the recommen-
dations of persons whose authority in these matters is conclusive.

Let us then take a glance at this corps, as regards its numbers
and efficiency, in order that you may have an opportunity of ta-
king specific exceptions to it in detail. Come boldly forward, sir,
before the intelligence and science of the country, state your ob-
jections, and abide the issue of their verdict. This will be better
than to look for precedents as a guide for an enterprise wholly
unprecedented in the multiplicity and importance of its objects.
I suppose that, in the absence of official communication, the sci-
entific department may be said to consist of :

1. A Philologist.

2. A Meteorologist, to whom is assigned Natural Philosophy
in general, or Physical Science.

3. A Chymist, Mineralogist, and Geologist.

4. A Geologist, to whom is especially assigned Organic Geol-
ogy-

5. A Botanist.

6. An assistant Botanist.

7. An Anatomist.

8. A Zoologist, to whom is assigned Malacology and Actinol-
ogy, or all shellfish and soft marine animals.

9. A Zoologist, to whom is assigned Entomology, or insects
of the land and sea. /

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 425

10. A Zoologist, to whom is assigned Ichthyology and Herpe-
tology, or fishes and reptiles.

11. A Zoologist, to whom is assigned Ornithology and Mam-
malogy, or birds and quadrupeds.

ARTISTS.

12. A Zoological Draughtsman.

13. An assistant Zoological Draughtsman

14. A Portrait Painter.

15. A Landscape Painter.

16. A Botanical Draughtsman.

MECHANICAL ASSISTANTS.

17. A Machinist, to repair instruments.

18. A Taxidermist, to prepare and preserve specimens.

Thus ten departments only are designated, which are filled by
persons engaged in scientific research ; two to each vessel of the
squadron ; and the sum total of savans employed is not so great
as has been sent out from Europe on similar expeditions, much
more limited in other respects. Nearly forty years ago the
French sent out an expedition of discovery under Baudin to the
Australian region, called forth by a spirit of emulation and a jeal-
ousy of national honour, excited by what the English had done
and were doing in that quarter. The enterprise was planned at
the time the army of reserve was about to undertake the passage
of the Alps. The force consisted of two corvettes of thirty guns
each, and a schooner ; the corps attached to which included twen-
ty-three persons, viz., two astronomers, two hydrographers, five
zoologists, three botanists, two mineralogists, five artists, one gar-
dener and four assistants, one architect and draughtsman. But
this is anticipating, as I propose to reserve for my next letter a
comparison of the present undertaking with what the " maritime
powers of Europe" have done. From the majority of former Eu-
ropean enterprises of discovery this expedition differs in several
essential particulars.

First. In the appointment of a philologist ; not a person merely
to collect vocabularies, but one versed in the structure and affilia-
tion of languages, and capable of throwing light on the origin^
migration, and history of the varieties of the human race.

Secondly. In the increased number of artists. Of these there

426 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

are five ; and let it be borne in mind that to them is committed
the task of delineating not only every object in the scenery ne-
cessary to convey a correct idea of the islands visited, the exact
physiognomy and appearance of the natives, their manufactures,
habitations, &c., but also of portraying numerous species in nat-
ural history, of which the representations are required to be ex-
ceedingly minute and accurate ; and through these means of fix-
ing by ocular demonstration what words alone can never convey
with that correctness so indispensable in the details of science.
Were it possible to reason with you in any matter connected
with this measure, it would be easy to show that the number of
artists should be augmented. Most certainly, a decrease in their
numbers would seriously affect the interests of the expedition.

Thirdly. In the selection of professional men for each distinct
subdivision of scientific inquiries, who are expected to devote
their exclusive attention to that branch of science which has been
more immediately the subject of their investigation, is the number
of departments to which principals have been appointed too great ?
You say that such is the case ; but the reply is conclusive that
this division has been made in accordance with the suggestions of
persons of the first scientific attainments ; and that there is no one
of the departments which is not considered to be of sufficient im-
portance to form a science of itself, and to have professors during
their whole lives solely devoted to. its cultivation!

Fourthly. In the appointment of a meteorologist and mechan-
ical philosopher, not merely to make barometrical and thermomet-
rical experiments, but an individual uniting a thorough knowl-
edge of the properties of matter with a capacity for acute original
research.

Fifthly. In zoology. Here, instead of a single zoologist, with
four 'or five assistants, aide naturalistes, the respective branches
are allotted to different naturalists, each of whom, however indus-
trious, has an ample field for his labours. The zoologists, there-
fore, will not be merely collectors sent out to grasp up animals
and preserve specimens for home inspection and dissertation,
but men of high acquirements sent out to study the organic world
alive. Zoology, in addition to that of the animal world, includes
the physical history of the varied tribes of man. It is to zoology
chiefly that anatomy is now looking for light ; and many animals,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 427

hitherto only known through the medium of books, may be sub-
mitted to the anatomist during the contemplated voyage. The
variety in the structure of living beings is immense ; almost every
distinct creature having some peculiarity of organization, and af-
fording opportunities to elicit truth. The same zoological laws
influence ourselves and the meanest insect ; and the muscle which
moves a finger at our wish, we know not by what secret connex-
ion between will and motion, acts from the same cause as does
that which controls the foot of a fly.

From a corps organized on the present plan great accuracy of
research may be expected. Such has not been uniformly the re-
sult of expeditions despatched to the Pacific, nominally for scien-
tific purposes, by the " maritime powers of Europe." With the
facilities which the men of science attached to this expedition are
afforded in their preparation, and, more than all, from the princi-
ple of the division of labour that has been adopted, a decided im-
provement, even on " the most successful of the expeditions sent
out by the maritime powers of Europe" may be fairly anticipated ;
and this, you will find, the learned on the other side of the water
will not hesitate to acknowledge. Divided as their labours are,
they will be able to go over their ground thoroughly, and to glean
all possible information on every subject which comes within the
scope of their researches. Sir, would it not be honourable to our
national character if the observations and collections made through
the agency of our own naval and scientific intelligence should be
distinguished above all others by their accuracy and complete-
ness ; and if, when any doubt was raised concerning the position,
natural history, or language of any island, an appeal to the records
of the South Sea exploring expedition should be sufficient to set
the question at rest ? Sir, the man is to be pitied who could not
find more pleasure in the contemplation of such results than in
darkly brooding over the ways and means by which he might
prevent them ; but, while he is to be regarded with commiser-
ation for his want of sympathy with noble impulses, I think you
will own that the power to crush or cripple their designs should
be taken from him.

I have spoken of the number and qualifications of the members
of the civil corps, as well as of the apportionment of their duties.
I would now say a word in reference to the preparations they have

428 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

made. This is the more necessary, as you are at present throw-
ing, or striving to throw, discredit upon the undertaking, by rep-
robating these preliminaries as extravagant. I know that you do
not pursue this plan on all occasions ; but at the time and place,
and in the presence of persons, when, where, and on whom you
think it will produce the most effect.

You stated, in a report to Congress in February last, that " all
the books, instruments, and charts necessary for any scientific ex-
pedition had been procured ;" though, in your present report, you
are obliged to own that " it was necessary11 (after the date of that
assertion) "to procure a great variety of articles for the gentle-
men of the scientific corps." On the 29th of August and 12th of
October you placed money in the hands of Commodore Jones,
as also, to a small amount, in the hands of two members of the
corps, and then told us that " this unusual course was adopted
that there might be no delay in the sailing of the expedition"
What mockery, I had ahr.c?t s^d. *vhat trifling with the intelli-
gence of the country, is this flimsy justification of your tardiness
of action ! If you had put this fund into the hands of Commo-
dore Jones in October, 1836, instead of October, 1837, and in
other respects performed your duty, you might have been indulged
in speaking of your " unusual course" to prevent " delay in the
sailing of the expedition."

You were at Philadelphia in July last, and, by appointment,
met a portion of the members of the corps in the hall of the
" American Philosophical Society." A number of scientific gen-
tlemen besides the corps attended. You then found that, so far
from everything necessary having been procured, as stated in
your report of February last, almost every requisite was still
wanting ; and this, be it remembered, was fifteen months after
the authorization of the measure by Congress. You were liberal,
however, in your expressions at that interview, and said you
wished the corps to have a full supply of every necessary article,
and even " a little more." Fortunately for the defence of this
portion of the enterprise, the parties concerned were not the sole
judges of what was required for their use in books, instruments,
and other appliances. A commission of six distinguished mem-
bers of the " American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia"
was organized to examine into and judge of the propriety and

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 429

utility of the requisitions made by the members of the corps, each
for his own department. This commission consisted of the fol-
lowing gentlemen, whom to name is to guaranty that whatever
they approved was correct : Peter S. Duponceau, Chairman,
Professor Robert M. Patterson, Director of the Mint, John K.
Kane, Esq., Clement C. Biddle, Esq., Professor Henry C. Vet-
hake, and George Ord, Esq. This commission devoted its time
to a careful and rigid investigation of every requisition made by
the corps ; conferred with the members of the latter ; and, finally,
approved every purchase or preparation of consequence which
had been made ; and, without its sanction, nothing agreed upon
by the individuals of the corps themselves was conceded by your
department. Nobly, sir, did the commission meet and discharge
the duties which a devotion to the interest of science, and a pride
in what the country was about to do, could alone have induced
them to assume. They exhibited no narrow views, but were
liberal, though not too much so ; and in the result of their exami-
nation the country has every security for the fitness of the or-
ganization which has been adopted and of the preparations made.
It was, of course, to be expected that, in constructing the plan
of an enterprise so extensive and so important, some imperfec-
tions of detail would unavoidably occur ; but I think I shall be
able to show, in my next letter, that a comparison with the
"most successful expeditions sent out by the maritime powers
of Europe" will demonstrate, that any attempt to reduce its num
bers or alter its organization would be the most direct mode of
greatly impairing its usefulness, if not of rendering it a nonentity.
During the long period which has elapsed since the appointment
of the scientific attachees, each has naturally applied himself to a
preparation for his particular division of art or science ; and has
collected books, procured instruments, and pursued studies, hav-
ing exclusive reference to his designated duties. To break up the
corps now, when those composing it have made their arrange-
ments for a long absence, and laid in their stock of clothing and
sea stores, would be not merely to frustrate many and well-
founded hopes, but to subject these gentlemen, in addition to what
they have already suffered, to serious pecuniary loss. Such a
course would be, in fact, a flagrant breach of faith ; and yet, sir,
you know that what you are now labouring to effect would pro-

430 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

duce, should you succeed, this very end. Do you disclaim the
intention ? We shall see the value of the disclaimer by showing,
in the first place, the adaptation of the present force to the labours
to be performed ; and then that the reduction you are urging will
derange, if not preclude, all faithful and accurate research.

The arrangements for the accommodation of the corps in the
Macedonian are now fully completed, and will, in every respect,
enable its members to pursue their avocations without interfering
with the necessary discipline of the vessel or infringing on the
convenience of any other persons on board. All the officers of
the ship, whether of the wardroom, the steerage, or the cockpit,
occupy unencumbered the accommodations usually allotted to
them in a frigate. Commodore Jones caused a cabin to be con-
structed for his use on the spardeck, resigning the one usually
occupied by him on the gundeck to the sole possession of the
corps. It has been fitted up for their reception, and they have
all fixed upon their respective rooms ; each having ample space
for convenience and comfort. There they have space for their
library, which comprises at least one thousand volumes, rare and
valuable works on the whole range of the sciences in octavoes,
quartoes, and folios ; for their instruments ; and for the pursuit of
their investigations ; and there, also, do the artists find suitable
facilities, as regards location and light, for the most delicate de-
lineations of the pencil. On board the frigate, with all these ad-
vantages, would the whole corps be accommodated during the
transit from the United States to the field of their active labours.
Suppose, then, in reference to these labours, as I did with regard
to those of the hydrographers, that the squadron had arrived at
the group already mentioned when speaking of the latter ; for
the same illustration which applies in one case will hold good
equally in all others. The frigate has come to anchor at Nave-
hetevoo, where she will lie say a month before sailing for another
station. This would give to the philologist leisure to pursue his
studies. A station would be taken on shore where magnetic and
pendulum observations would be made, for without such a facility
they could not be carried on. The presence of the frigate would
give safety to the communications with the shore. The botanist,
the entomologist, would, under proper escort, proceed to the inte-
rior, and the productions of the shore, the valleys, and the mount-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 431

ains would come under their cognizance. This plan of visiting
the interior opens a rich field to science ; one that has been but
scantily occupied and superficially examined by expeditions ori-
ginating with the " maritime powers of Europe." Islands thus
explored would, if even two of them should be found clothed with
sandal wood (to say nothing of other articles of traffic which
have already entered largely into our commerce with the Pacific),
repay to the nation the entire cost of the expedition. The physi-
cal force always at hand would perpetually facilitate research in
every branch. The same boats used in surveying the harbour of
an island would serve to debark the naturalists on its shores ; and
the same force which would be required by the commander in
his intercourse with the natives could likewise protect the. 'civil-
ians in the performance of their several duties ; while the com-
pleteness with which the corps is organized would enable its
members to pursue their researches with rapidity, and make their
calculations without delaying the expedition for any length of
time ; so that the period required for scientific researches at the
largest islands would suit exactly that necessary for the move-
ments of the frigate while directing the hydrographical surveys.
But still more. One decided advantage in the scale upon which
this corps is formed, and which gives it a superiority over most
others hitherto sent out, is, that it is constituted of men more
capable of taking charge of separate departments. Instead of
being merely a body of collectors, acting under one or two heads,
here each savan has his favourite division ; while possessing, at
the same time, more or less knowledge of the branches consigned
to his companions. This will enable the men of science to adopt
a perfect system of reciprocity. The botanist, while plucking a
flower, would not overlook the insect feeding upon it ; because
the entomologist would repay the courtesy by gathering for him a
plant ; and each would be able to give to the other all requisite
information of their respective localities. This system would be
carried out, in like manner, with all the rest. All ground for jeal-
ousy would be removed by this division of labour ; each member
must stand or fall in accordance with his industry and ability, or
his want of these qualities in his own department. An additiona.
inducement for reciprocal services exists in the fact, that all which
any one can do to assist his companions will be more than repaid

432 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

by what they can, conjointly, do for him. Thus the individuals
of the corps may separate, as occasion shall require, and a part of
them accompany the small vessels in their exploring excursions ;
bringing, by these means, all portions of a group or island under
observation and contribution; while such researches as cannot
be made without spending considerable time at a single spot will
always be the province of those on board the frigate, which ves-
sel will constitute the floating friendly port and homestead of all.
To her all would return when the desired objects at any particu-
lar station had been attained. The hydrographer (and, in fact,
every officer would be a member of the hydrographical corps)
would carefully analyze and arrange the materials gathered in
each survey, and consecutively imbody them in one continuous
chart ; while the commander, after having directed all these varied
employments, would see that the results were clearly and faith-
fully recorded, so that they should, through all coming time,
prove a guide to the mariner who followed in his track. The
corps, laden with treasures from every portion of the group which
they had separated to examine, would again meet on board the
frigate, from which they might, some of them, have been absent
for several months. Here, without incommoding others, or being
themselves incommoded, with the appliances of an ample library,
the use of instruments, and the assistance of artists, everything
could be analyzed and delineated, to be afterward labelled and
carefully preserved ; for all which operations there would be a
sufficiency of room. Thus, sir, it is apparent that no less to the
success of scientific inquiry than to the proper accomplishment of
the great objects of survey, friendly intercourse with the natives,
and the protection of our commercial interests, is the frigate in-
dispensable. Without her the expedition may be sent out, but it
will reflect comparatively little honour on the senders.

If rumour speak true, your recent commission, consisting of
Commodores Hull, Biddle, and Captain Aulick, without having
visited the squadron, and certainly without having had much time
to examine the real purposes of the enterprise, have given a re-
port which pleases you ; inasmuch as it is said to recommend the
substitution of the sloop-of-war Peacock for the Macedonian, and
a diminution in the number of minor vessels. I cast no censure
upon this board, not having seen the instructions under which

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 433

they acted. For the sake of illustration, let it be supposed that
you succeed in your plans, and commence a reorganization.
The Peacock is a second-class sloop. Her wardroom will
scarcely accommodate her officers, and the cabin on her gundeck
is, of course, appropriated to her commander. Where will you
put the gentlemen of the corps ? Where will they eat ? Where
will they sleep ? Their library, their instruments, their stores —
where are these to be stowed away ? Their studies — in what
portion of the vessel are they to be carried on ? Where do you
design the artists should work ? Sir, it is idle to discuss the
point ; what you are now trying to do will break up the scientific
association, and you know that such is its tendency, that such will
be its issue. By crowding the savans on board the several ves-
sels you interfere with the limited space and comforts of the
watch-officer ; and feeling this to be the case, their usefulness
would be destroyed. Then, with professions of extreme regret,
you will say their numbers must be reduced. Can you reduce
them without making their labours a mockery ? Can you do it
without blasting the hopes, and trampling on the pride and just
expectations of the country ? Let us see, sir, how your reduc-
tions are to be made. Take up the list, and begin, to you, the
welcome task !

First, the philologist : will you dismiss his name from the cat-
alogue ? " Every new language is a new development of the
human mind." If the great study of mankind be man, surely his
most remarkable attribute — speech — should not be neglected.
The science of linguistics, or comparative philology, has received
marked attention, and is held in the highest estimation in this
country among men of gifted minds, if such individuals as D«-
ponceau, Anthon, Galatin, Gibbs, Pickering, Webster, and others
of high attainments are entitled to that distinction ; while in Eu-
rope, and especially in Germany, it receives the exclusive devo-
tion of some of the most learned men of the age. Wonderful
results have attended the progress of this comparatively recent
science, and still more astonishing developments may be expected.
It travels back to remote ages, far beyond the date of authentic
history, and shows the affinity among the various tribes of our
race, however they may be scattered over the face of the .globe
Indeed, by this science alone can the early migrations of man be
T

434 LFTTERS OF A CITIZEN.

traced. How glorious, then, for this country to be the first to ex-
tend her inquiries in this deeply interesting department of human
knowledge among the groups of the Pacific. But I must con-
clude my remarks upon this very interesting theme. Sir, you
cannot dismiss the philologist !

In the department of natural philosophy or physical science there
is but one individual, and, of course, he cannot be dispensed with.

Chymistry, mineralogy, and zoology, including organic remains,
will surely be allowed to afford ample scope for two, when it is
remembered that several professors find more than they can do
in this branch within the limits of a small state, though industri-
ously employed for years.

Your own attainments in botany, so often made manifest in
descanting on the flowers of a bouquet when in the hands of
youth and beauty, will, I am sure, secure to the expedition the
botanist and his assistant.

The department of zoology is well and ably filled by four nat-
uralists, exclusive of the comparative anatomist. Pause and re-
flect, sir, before you make war on this division. -Remember that
zoology has ever been a leading object in scientific voyages. Look
at Cuvier ; examine his labours well ; and you will find that, vast
and comprehensive as were the researches of that great zoologist,
he yet confined himself to but a portion of animated nature. Your
u naturalists," your " scientific men," often have been exclusively
zoologists, and, in most instances, the number of professed zoolo-
gists sent out by the " maritime powers of Europe" has been
confessedly too small. The science is that of life, and the most
valuable observations are drawn from life. The members of this
great division will find, during the voyage, more, vastly more, than
they can perform, in observing the living world. Vain and pre-
sumptuous would be that man, therefore, who would at this day
undertake all the branches of zoology. Such a man might make
collections for a museum ; bring back specimens ; remnants of
death for the inspection of closet philosophers ; but the vastness
of his undertaking would place him, in the scale of natural-
ists, about where a pedler of Brandreth's pills might be supposed
to take rank ai^ong regular physicians. How, then, can you
cut down in Uu. ,j ; ision ? Answer, not to me, but to your coun-
try, whose glory you would mar.

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 435

Of the artists I have before spoken. Their number should be
augmented rather than curtailed. Numerous specimens in botany,
a vast variety of fish and other objects, will require delineation at
every rendezvous before they shall have changed their natural
state ; and there should be no delay in these matters. Twelve
thousand dollars would employ two more artists during the voy-
age, and it would be economy to engage their services. Surely,
then, you will not lay hands on the fine arts !

Thus you see, sir, that in every form and aspect in which the
subject can be reviewed, the rationale and argument are in favour
of the frigate and other vessels as now prepared. Equally appa-
rent is it that the alterations you are now urging are virtually
destructive to the entire enterprise. Razeed as you propose, it
would not meet public expectation, and the nation could feel but
little pride in it. It would fall short of what some of our state
governments, even those most adverse to expenditure, are now
doing by the employment of men of science, with large salaries,
in examining the natural history and geology of their respective
territories ; and it is well known that, in a pecuniary point of view,
those governments have been repaid a hundred fold for their
outlay.

Sir, in your report to the president in December, 1836, you ac-
knowledged that the " indications of public opinion" were in favour
of the expedition being prepared and sent out on an efficient and
liberal scale. I put the question to you direct ; has there been
any change in the "indications of public opinion" since that time?
Among the journals of the country, all of which have appeared to
meet upon this point as upon common ground, few, if any, have
expressed dissatisfaction at the original arrangement.

The most distinguished societies, literary and scientific, in the
United States, have not only manifested increased interest in its
complete preparation and opposed its curtailment, but have thrown
open their libraries for the use of the expedition, offering the use
of any books upon their shelves. Foreign societies, both in pri-
vate correspondence and by public resolutions, have expressed, in
the strongest manner, their anticipations of the benefits to be gath-
ered from its researches.

Indeed, not only our own country, but the nations of Europe,
would hear of a determination to reduce the naval force of the enter-

*. ' '

'

436 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

prise, and the number of its scientific observers, with equal surprise
and derision. They would recollect that, forty years ago, France,
with her finances disordered and energies apparently taxed to the
utmost by a long and expensive war, and England, when similarly
situated, both sent out splendid expeditions of discovery. The
former detailed a numerous corps of savans, which accompanied
the memorable army of Egypt, requiring that particular attention
should be paid to facilitating their labours.

They will remember, moreover, that whatever the military re-
nown which was reaped by France on the Egyptian plains, it was
not greater or more imperishable than that which accrued from the
investigations of its scientific attachees into the natural history, the
topography, the antiquities of the country. With these reminis-
cences they would be excusable in receiving the news of such an
unjustifiable sacrifice as that proposed, though urged on the plea
of economy (after the whole expense of preparation had been in-
curred), with feelings as much akin to contempt as astonishment.

In my next I will hold you to a comparison of this expedition
with what " the maritime powers of Europe have done ;" and will
show that, if the naval appropriation for 1838 must be reduced,
the exploring squadron is the last object to which, if we have a
due regard for our interest and honour, that reduction should be
suffered to apply.

I have the honour to be,

Very respectfully, your fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, January 1, 1838.

XII.

To the Honourable Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR,

Had you been more specific in your frequent allusions to the
expeditions sent out by the maritime powers of Europe, from be-
hind the models of which you so frequently assail the arrange-
ments made for the first similar enterprise from this country, it
had been a much easier task to meet and confute you ; it had

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 437

been a task, also, much more concisely performed. Sir, had you
looked at your countrymen in all that belongs to their history,
you had learned that in all things wherein they have been distin^
guished, in every undertaking in which they have been most suc-
cessful, they have been anything but servile imitators of the na-
tions of Europe, in the quo modo of their actions. They did not
study foreign models (except to improve upon them) in framing their
institutions, nor in subduing the forest and turning the wilderness
into the abode of civilized man ; nor in their steam-navigation
and mechanical agents ; nor, above all, in their ship-building and
commercial enterprise. Our people, though the last to enter the
Pacific, have been chained down by no precedent in their move-
ments there, but have pushed their ocean business in that quarter
far beyond that of all other nations. Before you urge as authority
what the maritime powers of Europe have done, it is incumbent
on you to show that these powers had equal interests afloat to be
protected and extended ; that the motives which prompted their
efforts were the same and as imperative as those which have pro-
duced action in our own government; and, unless this can be
shown, it is idle to talk about models. The force to be employed
in any enterprise should be regulated by the consideration of what
that force is designated to perform.

The exposition to which I have alluded I might, with propriety
and justice, require ; but, not supposing you would find it conve-
nient to give it, I waive my right to interrogate you on this point,
and proceed to show how little, in all probability, you know in
detail of the expeditions to which we are so triumphantly referred
as patterns for our own.

Most of the early expeditions to the Pacific were despatched
there rather to plunder the Spanish settlements and to make con-
quests than for the purposes of discovery. They originated in
high daring and an ardent thirst for adventure. But I presume
you will not hold them up as models at this day, unless, indeed,
your statement, that the officers of our navy entered the service
with a view to distinguishing themselves by deeds of arms, hinted
at their emulating the forays of the bucaniers, in preference to
the more peaceful exploits of modern discoverers. There are,
then, but comparatively few enterprises of discovery with which
I need stop to institute comparisons. I will take those of most

438 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

celebrity. As regards the English expeditions, I need not go far-
ther back than that of Cook ; and, among the French, to that of
Dentrecasteaux. Of what, sir, did the latter consist, and what
were the objects it was fitted out to attain ?

In 1781, as no news had been received of La Peyrouse for three
years, " the National Assembly decreed that the king should be
desired to arm one or several vessels, in which should be embarked
scientific men (savans), naturalists and draughtsmen, and to give
the commander the double mission of searching for La Peyrouse,
and making, at the same time, researches relative to the sciences
and commerce ; in taking all measures in rendering that expedi-
tion, independent of the primary object, useful and advantageous
to navigation, geography, commerce, and the arts and sciences."

Nothing like general exploration entered into the plans of this
voyage, and yet Dentrecasteaux required of the government two
vessels of five hundred tons each. In this mission, acquisitions in
geography, commerce, navigation,, and the arts and sciences, were
secondary objects ; and yet there were attached to these vessels
two astronomers, two hydrographers, five naturalists,, two garden-
ers, and two painters. Comparing, then, the limited range marked
out for that undertaking with the wide sphere of our present en-
terprise, and contrasting the necessary minuteness in scientific
research at this day with the far inferior accuracy which con-
sisted with the state of science then, you will find that, as re-
gards both naval force and the number of scientific observers,
you are totally unsustained in your position ; nay, that you must
add to rather than subtract from the force of the expedition as
already organized.

Come, sir, let us proceed with the comparisons you have pro-
voked, and prepare to stand or fall by the issue. You have used
the words "recent voyages," and, for the sake of brevity, I will
come down to them. The voyage of Captain Freycinet in the
Unanie, from 1817 to 1820, has been greatly and very justly cele-
brated. He had a corvette of twenty guns, and one hundred and
twenty men, besides officers. Here is a model that suits you ;
one to which you have impliedly referred Congress in justification
of your present course ; yet you might, with about as much pro-
priety, have cited the equipment of Lewis and Clark for their ex-
cursion over the Rocky Mountains as a pattern to be followed ia

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 439

this expedition. Would you send the same force to fight the
King of the Sandwich Islands as you would to humble the Bar-
bary powers? Certainly not. And why? Because what was
amply sufficient for the one object would be totally inadequate
to the other. Very good. Now let us see, sir, what object the
French government had in view which Captain Freycinet was
despatched in a single corvette to effect.

" The principal object of the voyage," says Arago, " was to
ascertain the figure of the globe by pendulum experiments, and
the elements of terrestrial magnetism ; several questions in me-
teorology had also been indicated by the academy very worthy of
attention."

Freycinet himself superintended the pendulum experiments,
assisted by ten out of seventeen of his officers ; and during the
whole voyage not a single series of observations was made in
which he did not take the principal share. Thermometrical and
hygrometrical observations were made hourly both by day and
night ; examinations of the barometer every two hours ; and, at
the same intervals, of the temperature of the sea. In the first
chapter of the narrative Freycinet says : " Our expedition is, I
think, the first maritime voyage which, being destined to the
progress of human knowledge, has not had hydrography for its
object. The determination of the form of the globe in the south-
ern hemisphere, the observation of magnetic and meteorological
phenomena, finally, the study of the three kingdoms of Nature,
formed the principal object of the mission."

Thus you perceive, sir, that in this French expedition hydrog-
raphy was even less than a secondary object, while in the Ameri-
can it is one of the most prominent. In the former, the protec-
tion of commerce, the rescue of shipwrecked mariners, the survey
of important groups, islands, and harbours, were altogether minor
considerations; indeed, were not even named; while these consti-
tute important provinces of the latter, and have been especially
prayed for in the memorials, upon the representations of which
Congress has based its action. Do not these facts show the ab-
surdity of attempting to draw a parallel between the two under-
takings, and of endeavouring to make the scale of one an argu-
ment for the reduction of the other ? To Freycinet was granted
the entire selection of his own officers. How will your conduct

440 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

in this respect compare with foreign models ? " With regard to
piovisions," says Freycinet, "everything was allowed that could
be required, and extra clothing was furnished for each man gratis."

Large quantities of concentrated or fresh provisions were fur-
nished, and the commander has shown that the government saved
money by this liberality ; to say nothing of the preservation of
health to which it was conducive. How did you follow this for-
eign model in reference to extra clothing ? 1 will answer. When
the different rendezvous for the shipment of seamen for the ex-
pedition were first opened, wages in the merchant service were
high, and recruits came in slowly. Again and again did Commo-
dore Jones urge the necessity of promising the men an allowance
of extra clothing, as well as the bounty authorized by Congress
even for the general service during the past year ; but you refused
to hold out the hope of either. Finally, however, when, under
every discouragement, the complement of men had at length been
shipped, you graciously condescended to allow both.

Making you perfectly welcome to all the support the voyage
of Freycinet can afford you, I will now leave it and take up
another; but not till I have informed you that this commander
lost his vessel at the Falkland Isles ; from which extraordinary
fact you will perceive that a corvette may be wrecked as well as
a frigate ! !

Next in order of time comes the voyage of Captain Duperrey
in the Coquille in the years 1822, '3, '4, '5, seventy-two persons.
And for what was this vessel sent out ? To hold conference with
the islanders of the Pacific, protect commercial interest, make
surveys, &c., &c., &c., and to combine with these accurate sci-
entific research ? Look at the work, sir, and you will then find
that the " objects of the voyage were again the study of the three
kingdoms of nature, magnetism, meteorology, and some observa-
tions relative to the determination of the figure of the globe." As
to hydrography, it " was proposed to establish or rectify the posi-
tion of a great number of points in different parts of the globe."
The character, language, manners, &c., of the islanders were also
to receive attention.

" To establish harmony," says Duperry, "we agreed beforehand
to divide our labours according to our predominant tastes."

M. Durville, Botany and Entomology.

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 441

j.,* y > all the rest of Natural History.

M. Gabert, Agent, Commerce and Industry of the Natives.

M. Lejeune, Draughtsman.

M. Duperrey, Physic and Hydrography. Seven assistants.

Thus, sir, notwithstanding the limited sphere of action to which
the labours of Freycinet and Duperrey were confined, in compar-
ison with the vastness of that marked out for the South Sea ex-
ploring expedition, fifteen persons accompanied the former and
twelve the latter commander, who were engaged directly in sci-
entific researches.

From these two celebrated voyages, then, you may learn two
things : First, they were not fitted out or intended for the duties
expected to be performed by the present enterprise ; and, secondly,
that the scientific corps were more numerous, in proportion to their
field of action and number of vessels ; though not so well organized,
as regards the division of duties, as the present. In scientific re-
sults the voyage of Duperrey was decidedly inferior to that of
Freycinet, who preceded him ; and even were this government
about to send out a single vessel for objects precisely similar, the
former ought not be selected as a model. Duperrey had but a mea-
ger supply of instruments, and only five chronometers. The
-nean maximum irregularity of these chronometers varied no less
than twenty-three seconds and a fraction per day. Would you
have the mean maximum irregularity of those used in this voyage
to run thus ? Duperrey made no experiments on the temperature
of the sea at great depths ; nor was he provided with a single
self-registering thermometer. Would it Jiot be best to sell those
provided for this expedition unless we can find authority for using
them in some of the other expeditions sent out by the " maritime
powers of Europe ?" Duperrey " was authorized to appoint his
own officers," the same privilege which had been allowed Frey-
cinet. Mark that ! ! !

Captain La Place made a pretty little voyage round the world
a few years ago in the Favourite, of seven hundred tons and twen-
ty-four guns. What do you think of his enterprise as a model ?
What did he do ? Where did he go ? After doubling the Cape
of Good Hope he followed in the well-known track of modern
voyagers. He run down the African and Indian Oceans, passed

442 1ETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

the Straits of Molaccas and entered the China Sea, which he left
by passing to the east of Java, to the west and south of New-Hol-
land, and south of Van Diemen's Land. Thence returning nor-
therly, he visited New-Zealand, from which he sailed by the most
direct route to Valparaiso, and then proceeded round Cape Horn
and home. I question if you could have marked out a route more
barren of interest than that which he pursued. He took with him
no men of science, and gave to the world on his return a portfolio
of landscape drawings ! Would this modern effort of one of the
" maritime powers of Europe" be a suitable pattern for the naval
enterprise of this country ? It is not necessary to allude to the
English expeditions and discoveries. Those which they have re-
cently sent out under King, Owen, Foster, &c., can form no ex-
amples for this country, as Captain King was employed in sur-
veying the Straits of Magellan and .the east and west coasts of
Patagonia ; Owen on th.^ coast of Africa ;. Foster in making a few
pendulum observations.

Sir, I will not pay your judgment so poor a compliment as to
credit, for a moment, that you could regard the expeditions of Ross
and Parry, sent out for the sole purpose of making their way along
a frozen coast and among numerous islands in the polar seas to
determine a single question in physical geography, as models for
this expedition ; though I have seen these same voyages, by gen-
tle implication, held up for that purpose in the report of a com-
mittee of the Naval Lyceum at Brooklyn, who seemed to feel under
increased responsibility for their opinions from the circumstance
that they might be regarded as representing something like three
hundred naval officers ! ! !

I come now, sir, to the last great effort of the maritime powers
of Europe, as given to the world in the voyage of the Astrolabe.
A copy of this work was sent a year ago by the French as a
present to our government. It was a pretty conception, honoura-
ble to the French ; and it will be honourable to us when- we shall
be able to return the compliment. How often has this voyage
been the theme of your remarks ? How often, nay, how con-
stantly hn you relied on this voyage as a model, and as a justi-
fication of your late proceedings ? It ha-s been a sort of stalking-
horse for yoH, upon which you have endeavoured to ride down the
present expedition. But, in sx>ber truth,, have you really got be-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 443

yond the pictures in an examination of this work, great as it is
and splendidly as it has been brought out ? I very much question
if you have. At any rate, I hold you to the comparison even with
this voyage, and deny that from its pages any warrant can be de-
rived for a reduction of the naval force or number of scientific
observers in the exploring expedition. You have the work before
you, so have I ; come, then, to the comparison. This voyage
was made in the years 1826, '7, '8, '9, in the corvette Astrolabe,
Captain D'Urville, with eighty persons, all told. What were its
objects ? They are set forth in the following extract from the in-
structions of the minister of marine, the French secretary of the
navy, to the commander.

" The king, in confiding to you the command of the corvette
Astrolabe, has wished to put you in a situation to explore some
of the principal groups of islands in the Pacific, which the Co-
quille only passed by hastily,. and to give you the means of aug-
menting, as much as possible, the mass of scientific documents
obtained by this vessel in the years 1822, '3, '4.

" His majesty knows that you contributed much to the success
of this expedition, in which you seconded Captain Duperrey.
Being called to direct in chief the present one, you will realize,
without doubt, all the hopes- which have originated the project ;
and the French navy will have to felicitate itself once more upon
the services which it renders to the sciences in associating itself
to the labours of those who profess them, and in submitting to
their mediations materials collected with as much skill as zeal in
all parts of the globe."

These instructions point out the purposes of this voyage.
They were to follow, measurably, in the track of the Coquille,
and, at various points in the Pacific, to make more minute obser-
vations where the other vessels had passed by hastily. The mod-
els of the preceding enterprises had been followed in preparing
this ; while, with the exception of the attention paid to pendulum
observations by the former ones, their general objects were pre-
cisely the same ; and neither furnished any precedent for the
strength which the great interests of this country require should
be invested in our own expedition to those seas. Indeed, the
most that can be said in favour of this voyage, constituted as- it
was, may not be too high praise ;, though I am inclined to be-

444 LETTERS OF A. CITIZEN.

lieve that nearly as much, after all, was done in Paris to make it
pre-eminent in the way of embellishments, and in the commenda-
ble style in which the French government got out the work, as
was effected by D'Urville in the South Seas ; nevertheless, the
contributions to science were great, and I doubt if the French
people would be willing to resign the honour conferred upon
them by that voyage alone for a million and a half of dollars ! and
yet the citizens of France think as much of money as we do.
Let us, however, go somewhat more into detail, as I feel that I
have you now on the last plank, and intend to remove even that
from beneath you. What were the contributions made to zoology
by the naturalists of the Astrolabe ? Rich, you will answer.
Granted. But by whom were they made ? By any one ap-
pointed by the government? No, sir, the voyage would have
fallen below mediocrity in this important and leading division
of science had it not been for M. Quoy, a volunteer in the expe-
dition. In geology, too, the only collections were made by the
same gentleman. Would you follow this example ? Would you
have a great nation, when making its advent in maritime discovery,
depend on adventitious aid ? Would you urge this as a model ?

Let us next take a glance at this model of models in its other
departments of science, and see what there is to be found to war-
rant your proposed derangements in the scientific portion of the
exploring expedition. The meteorological researches consisted
of observations on the thermometer six times a day, barometer
once a day, on the direction and force of winds, and general re-
marks on the direction and speed of currents. The experiments
of Freycinet and Duperrey were on a far more extensive scale.
The only marine thermometer taken out by D'Urville was broken
fifteen months after the commencement of the voyage, and, conse-
quently, the column recording the varieties of pressure is, after
this date, a blank. Don't you think this part of the model would
have been nearer perfection if the French secretary of the navy
had furnished, at least, duplicates of instruments so liable to
fracture ?

Two of the four chronometers taken out by Captain D'Urville
were rendered useless, one by being carelessly wound up, the
other by firing a salute. The remaining pair had very variable
daily rates, and both ran down at Tonga Tabou. Do you not

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 445

feel half convinced that this part of the model might be tinkered
a little for the better ?

Observations on the magnetic dip present rather a meager
record. They were by no means equal to those made during
the two preceding French voyages, or by the late English expe-
ditions to the Arctic Sea. Indeed, all the needles appear to have
been spoiled during the voyage, and great discordances appear
among the results given by different needles at the same locality ;
they were only used, however, at sixteen places on shore. By
the " sweet flowers of Suc-a-Sunny,"* you are ready to exclaim,
" what ignorance, what presumption is this ? Attempt to criticise
this great work, on which I have preached so much to members
of Congress, to the president, to everybody who would listen to
me !" Be patient, sir. If your zeal to defeat or cripple the ex-
ploring expedition has placed you in an untenable position, the in-
discretion is your own, not mine ; and you must abide the issue.
Yes, sir, prepare for utter confusion and defeat, when I tell you
that all and much more than I have said of your venerated model
is sustained by the opinion of the great Arago, the imbodied
soul of the science of Europe ; and if it were not, the committee
of the Naval Lyceum in their report have endorsed his wonderful
attainments, and fixed for you the standard of his authority.

" In 1829, immediately after the return of the Astrolabe," says
Arago, in his critique, " Captain D'Urville presented to the Acad-
emy of Sciences a series of works of every kind executed during
the long voyage of that vessel. Before the same body he read
his memoirs, and solicited its judgment ; and a commission was
accordingly appointed. M. Rossel made a favourable report on
the hydrographical part of the voyage, designating the officers
who executed the work. On the 26th of August, George Cuvier
paid a just compliment to the ability and zeal of the zoologists
of the Astrolabe, M. Quoy, the volunteer, and his assistant, Gay-
mard." M. D'Urville is complimented in the report as having
" personally collected a part of the insects of the collection de-
posited in the garden of plants."

On the 16th of November a tribute of praise was again award-
ed to M. Quoy and his assistant, M. Gaymard, for the geological
specimens they had brought home ; and, finally, the venerable

* Name of the honourable secretary's country residence in New -Jersey.
PP

446 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

Des Fontaines spoke flatteringly of the botanical collections of
M. Lesson. It was, indeed, flattery to speak highly of the botan-
ical department of the Astrolabe, as we shall see anon. Arago
was charged by the academy with the examination of the physical
observations. He did not wish, he said, to confine himself to a
simple inventory. As in the voyages of Freyeinet and Duperrey,
he attempted to discover the results with which science would be
enriched. But here " disappointment followed disappointment."
Discouraged " by the poverty of scientific observations recorded
in the official registers," he examined the nautical journals. Here,
again, he was disappointed ; while those of the former navigators
had been so varied, so rich, so interesting. The farther he ad-
vanced in his investigations, the more forcibly was he impressed
with the idea that the commander of the Astrolabe had voyaged
for three years " with his eyes and ears shut." " Had he" (D'Ur-
ville) " seen," Arago inquired, " the zodiacal light ? During the
fine nights of the tropics, had he ascertained its dimensions, its
limits, its exact position ? He had turned, one after another, all
the pages of the register of M. D'Urville, and was not able to
find one remote allusion to this remarkable phenomenon." Not
yet disheartened, the transparency of the ocean, the changes of
colour produced by the winds, according to their force and direc-
tion, the sudden variations of temperature, upon which Franklin
and Williams had already published the commencement of a work
so encouraging to the marine ; the Aurora Australis ; each of
these curious phenomena, the exact determination of which has
been sought with such ardour by the students of physical science,
was, Arago says, in succession the object of his laborious research ;
but in every case he arrived at the last page without having found
a word upon the subject.

At the frequent solicitations of Captain D'Urville and M. Tas-
teau, the editor of the voyage, Arago was prevailed upon, as he
says, " by the desire of obliging more than anything else," to make
out a oigest. He had found here and there in the MSS. obser-
vations on the temperature of the sea, which, at that time, he sup-
posed were correct f but many of these experiments he subse-
quently found "were complete failures," though even these were
not without their use for future observers. It was especially
desirable to determine if submarine currents, directed from the

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 447

poles towards the tropics, were not the cause of the phenomena
noticed. It seemed probable that this question might be solved
by thermometrieal observations made for that purpose. These
were made on board the Astrolabe, but were they conducted with
sufficient exactness ? Arago says he " does not hesitate to answer in
the negative," and then proceeds to point out the errors committed.
Indeed, after a long and minute analysis of the results of the voy-
age, he remarks, "it is now certain that, in cases of the most sim-
ple observations in the world, M. D'Urville has escaped none of
the errors he could possibly commit."

Now, sir, I can readily imagine the surprise created in your
mind at what Arago has said of the results of this voyage, for a
full account of which I refer you to a late number of the " Review
of the 19th Century." How is this unsatisfactory issue to be ac-
counted for? I will tell you in one line. Among the persons
engaged in scientific observations on board the Astrolabe I find
"M. D'Urville took charge of botany, entomology, meteorology,
geography, historiography."

You have the solution, sir. D?Urville undertook too much, and
failed ; and so will this expedition fail if you are permitted to cut
it down and reduce its naval and scientific corps. Human science
is too vast and too minute at the present day to allow of any man
taking so wide a range as that referred to.

In the volume of the voyage of the Astrolabe devoted to hy-
drography, one eighteenth relates to the Fiji Islands. The space
occupied in the work by observations on this archipelago is very
considerable ; on which account I select that portion for "compar-
ison ;•" and here you will find your beau ideal of voyages is a model
only to be avoided. On the 25th of May Captain DTJrville cnme
in sight of the Fiji Islands, and passed by Ong-Hea Riki. He
•was eighteen days in making his way through this group, during
which time he never anchored, nor did he make- a survey of a
single harbour. He did not even send a boat on- shore, except at
one place, and then only for the purpose of getting off an anchor
left there by some former vessel ; in allusion to which circum-
stance he remarks that "the natives appeared more disposed to
retain the boat than to give up the anchor." When D'Urville ap-
proached a cluster of islands, if the weather were clear, he first
made up- his- mind by sight alone whether they were five or thirty

448 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

miles distant, more or less, and then, by the old method of taking
their bearings by compas-s, made out their latitudes and longitudes
with wonderful accuracy, not only in degrees, but even down to
minutes and seconds. Was the day hazy, he went through the
same process of guessing at his data, and then drawing his con-
clusions with mathematical precision. Fortunately, the natives
boarded him and gave him the names of the islands. In his
" Tableau des Positions" one hundred and ten islands of the two
hundred which this group, in all probability, contains, are thus
conspicuously laid down ; although the whole time, in daylight,
consumed in making these mighty acquisitions to hydrographical
knowledge gives only an average of two hours for the examina-
tion of each member of the cluster ! Wonderful results ! Beau-
tiful model for the exploring expedition. Sir, this group, with all
its riches in natural history, still remains to be examined. The
plan of D'UrvihVs voyage, and the force at his disposal, were alike
unsuited to the task ; and what he accomplished, for all that it is
worth to navigation, had almost as well remained undone. Three
months is the shortest period that the expedition, with all its force,
should remain in this archipelago !

As regards botany, your favourite science, the researches made
during the voyages of the Astrolabe were, in like manner, exceed-
ingly superficial. The only collections worthy of notice at all
were those made at New-Zealand and Ascension ; and even at
those places few new plants were discovered. Three hundred
and twenty species belonging to New-Zealand were known pre-
vious to D'Urville's visit there ; and on that occasion only one hun-
dred and ninety species were obtained, three tenths of which had
been seen and described in the voyages of Captain Cook by Sir
Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander, Sparmann, and the Forsters, and in
those of Vancouver, by Mr. Menzies.

M. Achille Richard, who prepared the botany of the voyage for
publication, could not have had a very exalted opinion of the la-
bours of DTTrville and M. Lesson in this department, for he has
not confined himself to their collection, but has compiled a general
Flora of New-Zealand, by copying the description of all the plants
found there, from Cook's first voyage to the present time. In this
branch, as in most others, your vaunted model was far inferior to
the voyages of Freycinet and Duperrey ; indeed, the relative value

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 449

and importance of the three expeditions, so far as botany is con-
cerned, are in the order of their priority in date. By far the most
extensive and valuable collections were made in the earliest, that
of Captain Freycinet ; Duperrey's is next in rank ; while the latest
(that of D'Urville in the Astrolabe) follows longo intervallo, both
as to the extent and interest of the specimens.

But although the botanical department of the latter expedition
was more imperfectly filled than in either of the two which im-
mediately preceded it, do not imagine that they were by any means
sans reproche in this division. In each instance a capital error
was committed in not sending out a botanical draughtsman. This
deficiency was, doubtless, seriously felt by M. Gaudichard, the in-
defatigable botanist who accompanied Freycinet, as he was par-
ticularly interested in vegetable anatomy and physiology, and must
have frequently desired magnified drawings and sketches of dis-
sections, &c., which could only be made from the living plants.
In none of these expeditions were any researches of consequence
made beyond the coasts of the islands visited ; while at some
places (as Admiralty Island, the Carolines, and others), touched at
by Freycinet, the time allowed for observation was so limited that
M. Gaudichard did not even land ; but was obliged to content him-
self with what he could obtain from the water. From the mate-
rials collected, however, he prepared a digest of the botany of the
voyage, from which he deservedly gained high reputation ; and
this is the only instance in the three enterprises where the per-
son who collected the plants arranged and described them on his
return. So far the model is a good one. Those who collect
should be able to describe.

I trust, sir, you are now satisfied that a comparison of the or-
ganization, naval and scientific, of the "exploring expedition,"
with " the most successful expeditions of like character heretofore
sent out by the maritime powers of Europe," will afford no war-
rant for your efforts at reduction. On the contrary, were it possi-
ble for you to take the enlarged and practical views of a statesman,
as regards this subject, you would see the obvious propriety of in-
creasing the number of small vessels, which additional force could
be so advantageously employed in useful nautical labours, under
the general direction and protection of the flagship, at an expense
so trifling to the government. One would think, indeed, that a

450 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

true " Friend to the Navy," occupying your station, would be anx-
ious to employ as large a number of officers on a service so well
calculated to give them high attainments as well as distinction in
their profession ; to make them personally acquainted with seas
where our future seafights must take place ; so that where they
should command they could themselves be pilots ! You would
also perceive that the results of the expedition might lead to the
formation of a hydrographical bureau in your department ; in a
word, that it would be of more importance to the navy than the
service of all the force in all other squadrons during the same pe-
riod !

I must now, sir, take leave of you, and, in doing so, would ap-
peal, not to your candour, but to public justice, if I have not fairly
met and completely overthrown your objections, stated and implied,
to the magnitude of the scale upon which this expedition is orga-
nized ? Have I not shown that the naval force authorized and
the scientific corps engaged are barely adequate to the vast sphere
of action to be embraced, the multifarious objects to be accom-
plished, and the mighty interests involved ? Have I not shown
that your outcry about economy was a mere cloak for your enmi-
ty ; and that the remuneration of the country for its outlay would
be almost in geometric ratio with its degrees of efficiency ?
Have I not shown that the almost limitless field for those hydro-
graphical surveys so necessary for the protection of our wide-
spread commercial interests in the two Pacifies could not be ex-
amined with the care which humanity as well as good policy de-
mands, by an enterprise of inferior capacity ? Have I not fairly
met the comparisons you have invited, even with the climax of
your models, the voyage of the Astrolabe, which you have culled
par excellence from all the rest, and held up exultingly as a weap-
on of attack, a shield of defence, a precedent and a pattern ? This
voyage is in one respect, I own, worthy of all praise as well as
of imitation ; I refer to the magnificent style in which the whole
work has been brought out ! Have I not shown that, according
to your reasoning, the Pacific squadron should be broken up or
materially reduced ? You have on that station a ship of the line,
two sloops, and two schooners. On an average, half of this force
is constantly at anchor in the bay of Callao, the principal port of
Peru ; while the exports from the United States to that republic,

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 451

for the year ending September, 1834, the latest returns within my
reach, amounted only to fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three dollars ; the price of a single whale-ship.

Now in this account, as you have done with reference to the
expedition, first put down the cost of the vessels, then calculate
and add the amount necessary to the mission for three years, and
behold what an enormous sum ! The whole of our trade protected
by our Pacific squadron has not amounted, since 1830, to a mil-
lion of dollars per annum ; and, notwithstanding the unsettled state
of the countries with which this traffic is carried on, they have no
force to prevent a sloop-of-war and two schooners from exacting
respect to our flag. What an argument here for reduction ! But
no statesman reasons thus. It is the settled policy of the country
to have constantly available an efficient naval force. The explo-
ring vessels should be regarded as a part of that force ; and the
only point at issue ought to be, whether this great nation could
afford the outfits, and forty-three thousand dollars a year for the
salaries of the civil corps !

Having now, as I feel, discharged my duty, it would give me
pleasure to anticipate that, like a generous antagonist foiled in a*
hard encounter, you will yield with a good grace, as yield I think
you must ! ! ! Sorry I am to say, however, that I can find no pre-
cedent on which to base so pleasing a supposition. But where
can you take a fresh stand ? Let me hope in charity that your
dernier resort, after the choice of a new commander, will not be
once more to intrench yourself in inveterate obstinacy, and from
behind that impregnable barrier to issue your dicta against sci-
ence, humanity, commercial interests, and national honour!
Very respectfully,

I have the honour to be, your fellow

CITIZEN.

New-York, January 4, 183d.

452 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN

XIII.

To the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

One of the raost gifted minds of the present day has said, with
how much truth n'importe, that " the world knows little of its
greatest men." If to contribute, therefore, in the slightest degree,
in making you better known to your countrymen — though there
are many, and the number is rapidly increasing, who think they
know you well enough at present — were to detract from your
chances of being rated even moderately among the distinguished
men of our time, I think I should desist from my present task.
That task would not have been entered upon if the matter for
which I have taken you in hand were not of a public and official
character, in which I am not at liberty to consult my private feel-
ings. You must submit, therefore, to be better known, even at the
imminent peril of your greatness ; for you have done something,
0sir, besides " hanging out the banner," for which you ought to be
remembered — and shall be. I do not allude to the military genius
you have evinced in the direction of the Seminole War, and still
less to the nice points of honour, as yet undetermined, between
you and the shade of Osceola. These, with some other matters,
belong to the impartial historian, who, in compassion to the living,
may be induced to defer his labours till you are dead.

When the late secretary of the navy had succeeded in commit-
ting a felony upon his own reputation, by his extraordinary efforts
to destroy the Exploring Expedition; when a consecutive series
of defeats had attended his puny but vindictive efforts to accom-
plish that object ; when public opinion, with a unanimity that dis-
regarded all party lines, had fixed the imperishable seal of its
condemnation upon him ; when the House of Representatives con-
tained within its walls no individual so destitute of self-respect as
to raise his voice to palliate, much less to attempt to justify, the of-
fccial conduct of this cabinet minister, whose continuance in office
one day after the retirement of the late executive (to say nothing
of his appointment in the first place) was inexplicable to politicians
of both parties, as well as an enigma to the nation at large ; when,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 453

despite all exaggeration as to cost, despite the misapplication of
funds, the changing of vessels, the efforts to foment discontent in
the service in regard to organization, the delay in reports, the
withholding of specific information called for by Congress, the
backing and filling without knowledge, the indecision, the avoid-
ing of friends and the caucusing with opponents of the enterprise,
the inconsistency in everything save implacable hatred to the ex-
pedition, and all those who had done most to promote it and had
been longest attached to it — I say, when, in spite of all these
drawbacks, the enterprise was ascertained to be too strong for the
secretary, and that go it must, the federal executive did so far in-
terfere as to transfer the final arrangements to your hands. Yes,
sir, it was at this time, Jan., 1838, that the final plan of selecting
a new commander in sea service (a novus homo), and vessels suit-
ed to his dignity, was taken from the hands of the Hon. Mahlon
Dickerson, secretary of the navy, and placed in the hands of Joel
R. Poinsett, secretary of war. Of the manner in which you per-
formed that duty it is my present purpose to speak, and, as it is my
right to do, to speak plainly. If I have delayed this duty longer
than you expected, though not so long as you had hoped, my apol-
ogy for the seeming neglect is, that I desired the public mind
should have time to get over, in some degree, the disgust it felt at
the doings of your predecessor, before it was again nauseated by
an exposition of what you had done.

Sir, when the announcement reached the public that the final
arrangements and the despatching of the squadron had been con-
fided to you, a general feeling of delight was experienced by the
friends of the expedition. The unnecessary delays and the un-
dignified action of your predecessor, so ruinous to the enterprise
and so disgraceful to the country, it was now hoped, would be
succeeded by a very different policy. You had been in the War
Department but a very short time. You brought with you the
character of a very considerate man. Intelligence and refinement
were conceded to you. The path before you was plain and easy ;
and your smattering attainments in science were at least sufficient
to render you wholly inexcusable in departing from that path, see-
ing that such a dereliction must necessarily be by design. If a
fussy air of promptness in the despatch of business had given you
the reputation of more ability than you actually possess, the fault

454 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

was not yours ; at any rate, it was temporary capital in hand, easily
to be used for good. No one supposed you would prostitute the
dignity of your station by indecently carrying out the imbecile,
vindictive, and prescriptive measures of Secretary Dickerson.
Your own honour, it was thought, would prevent you from inflict-
ing an incurable wound upon the honour and feelings of the ser-
vice, by selecting for the command any officer over the heads of
his seniors and superiors in professional experience and every es-
sential requisite for the conduct of such an undertaking ; men who
would have been proud of such a position, but who would not
have purchased the distinction at a price so revolting.

Stand forth, sir, from the mist which has been so dexterously
thrown round your official acts in reference to your connexion with
the South Sea Expedition. As a high functionary of the govern-
ment and a man of honour, you can have no objection to being
summoned before the public, nor can you demur to the public judg-
ment being invoked upon your official deeds. If your countrymen
shall become acquainted with many things which you had hoped
to keep concealed from them, and your actions shall be found to
have been unworthy the station you fill and the character you
brought into it, the fault is yours, not mine ; and you may learn
from it the force of the conclusion arrived at by the man in the
play, that honesty was the best policy, for he had tried both.

I may not be able, sir, to define clearly the exact part you per-
formed in the early stages of your agency in the business of the
expedition. You dabbled in that matter long before the public
were apprized that the Hon. Mahlon Dickerson had in you a secret
coadjutor, while he was earning for himself that distinction which
the common sense of the nation has since, with such perfect una-
nimity, awarded him. In all doubtful cases, I shall not trouble my-
self to inquire how much of this was yours or how much of that
was his. There has been throughout, as I shall show before I have
done with you, such a oneness in the spirit and manner of your ac-
tions, that, like Eng and Chang, you must be content to jog along
united for the remainder of your days, adjusting the honours be-
tween you.

I might ask which of you concocted, in June, 1837, the plan of ap-
pointing five captains, including the navy commissioners, all known
enemies of the expedition, to decide on the expediency of with-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 455

drawing the Macedonian from the squadron. Was it not under-
stood, sir, at the time, that if the commission of five cut the Mace-
donian off from the expedition, she was to be sent immediately to
the West Indies as the flag-ship, in command of an officer who
was known to stand very high in your favour ?

But I will leave this period, and hasten to the time when you
had a direct and acknowledged control. After Commodore Jones,
worn out in health, and more worn out in spirit, by the endless im-
pediments and petty annoyances so industriously thrown in his way,
resigned his command on November 30th, 1838, what were the
scenes and doings which followed ? The compliment of the com-
mand was tendered to Captain Shubrick, who did not like the ves-
sels, and declined it. Captain Kearney was next invited. The
new light that it was not a naval expedition had not yet burst
upon you, but it will be seen that your mind was rapidly undergo-
ing a transition tending to that point. When the Hon. Mahlon
Dickerson had conceded the frigate to Captain Kearney, did you
not interpose, and cause the order to that effect to be hastily with-
drawn 1 And did not this and similar conduct on the part of both,
in reference to other vessels, leave that officer without the hope of
effecting anything creditable, and cause him reluctantly to retire
from an enterprise upon which, under more favourable auspices, he
would have entered with so much zeal and professional ambition ?

I come now to the case of Captain Gregory ; one which I have
no doubt you would much prefer should be passed over in silence.
When called to take charge of the expedition, this officer stood at
the head of the list of master-commanders, and was entitled to his
promotion to the rank of post-captain, independent of his com-
mand in the expedition. But so tenacious were you at this time of
the rights of seniority, so important did you deem ra?i/t'^-ay, that
the commander should be of the highest grade (even after the Ma-
cedonian had been withdrawn) — that your locum scrivens of the
Navy Department was dragooned into putting his name to certain
papers dictated or prepared for him by you for that end. Was it
you or Governor Dickerson — one of you it was, I know — that of-
fered Captain Gregory his promotion, or to send in his name to the
Senate, which was the same thing, as soon as he (Captain Greg-
ory) should accept the command of the expedition? Though
Captain Gregory, as I understand, very properly refused his pro-

456 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

motion with the conditions annexed, he was promoted and also ap-
pointed to the command. Did you not then tell the public, through
Congress, that Captain Gregory had been ordered to the command,
and that he would not be relieved ? Was he not, at your instance,
ordered to report to Commodore Ridgely, and did he not thus re-
port for duty in this enterprise ? Why, and for what purpose, was
he superseded in this command, and by what process was Lieutenant
Wilkes put in his place 1 Was not Captain Gregory a marked
man, even before he left Washington for New- York to assume the
command of the expedition, because he had not intimated his
readiness to assume the responsibility of objecting to a certain indi-
vidual, or, rather, to certain individuals, whom it was your wish to
sever from the expedition ; an act which you lacked the moral
courage to do yourself openly and aboveboard 1 What conver-
sations did you hold — what arguments did you use with your lieu-
tenant on this point before he was installed commander ? Was
not the price of the extraordinary favours bestowed on him, his
previous consent to do what no other officer would agree to per-
form, viz., to help you to help Governor Dickerson to exclude an
individual or individuals who had never played the sycophant, or
done aught justly to offend, or, especially, to conciliate your favour ?
Your conscience on a death-bed would answer all these questions in
the affirmative, though in good health I presume you would not be
willing to own them. At any rate, should any of the clique turn
state's evidence, it would be an easy matter to prove the affirma-
tive. Having now fairly started in this matter, you may expect to
hear from me again.

Respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

• CITIZEN.

New- York, June 10, 1839.

XIV.

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

Sm,

I resume, with the first leisure hour since my last letter, the re-
iw I therein commenced of your Jesuitical action in connexion

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 457

with the South Sea Exploring Expedition ; and I regret sincerely
that the subject is not a more inviting one.

It may here be proper to state, that about the time Captain
Gregory was relieved from the command, or, more correctly speak-
ing, superseded, an impression prevailed to a considerable extent
that the older officers of the navy had not shown a becoming read-
iness to take charge of the expedition, and that they had success-
ively declined or evaded the service, on grounds incompatible with
professional duty and ambition. As a general charge, I leave this
point in media ; while in many instances I know the imputation
to be alike wanton, ungenerous, and unjust. I know farther, and
so do you, that the extraordinary selection finally made was justi-
fied on this assumption in derogation of older officers. It was so
intimated on the floor of the Senate, in the quasi defence which,
from a few weak points, you received there. Many members of
Congress were under this impression, and were not a little in-
fluenced by it, in maintaining silence when they saw the rules
of the service and the rights of the officers alike trampled on by
your appointment. Sir, did you not give currency to this impres-
sion ? Will you deny having done so 1 Did you not say that
the older officers had received a rebuke or lesson from which they
might profit in future ? And what atonement have you made, or
can you make, personally, to those you have so deeply injured ?
You have paltered, in a double sense, with truth and honour : what
I charge I'll fix upon you. The appointment of your commander
was justified on the ground that his seniors and superiors declined
the service. Now mark how plain a tale shall put you down.

Sir, neither you nor Governor Dickerson dare deny that Captain
Kearney did agree to take charge of the squadron substantially as
Commodore Jones left it ; that he agreed to take the whole scien-
tific corps — nay, refused to object to them, as it was more than in-
timated to him that he might ; that he asked no change in
commanders, and only required that Lieutenant Gedn'--,-
taught Lieutenant Wilkes the rudiments of hydrography ;

be appointed second in command on board the Macedoni 'int
Governor Dickerson did agree to and ratify this arrangement ; that
Captain Kearney, with that promptness peculiar to his character,
on the strength of the authority given, actually directed Lieutenant
Gedney forthwith to prepare letters to Messrs. Lieutenants Dornin
U

458 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

and Glynn, requesting them to get under way with their respective
vessels within five days after receipt of such letters, proceed to
Rio, and there await his (Captain Kearney's) arrival in the flag-
ship ! Surely there was no want of promptness — no shrinking
from duty manifested here. These arrangements were made late
in the afternoon. Early on the following morning, Captain Kear-
ney, accompanied by Lieutenant Gedney, repaired to the depart-
ment, for the purpose of despatching orders and of putting the squad-
ron immediately in motion. But a night had intervened ; and during
that night the spoiler came ! You, sir, Joel R. Poinsett, interfered,
and checked the enterprise when thus, I may say, on the very eve
of its advent. It was a dark deed, and darkness had well been
chosen for its accomplishment. The first salutation received by
Captain Kearney from Secretary Dickerson was an announcement
that the arrangements of yesterday were all broken up ; that he
(Dickerson) had nothing farther to do with the expedition, and
that Captain Kearney must now call upon you — Joel R. Poinsett.

Well, he did call upon you during the afternooon of the same
day. He was informed by you that the Macedonian must be with-
drawn ; and thus was accomplished what your joint management
connected with the famous Norfolk Commission had failed to ef-
fect. Thus was undone what Governor Dickerson had done, or
pretended to do, only the day before ; thus was nailed to the coun-
ter as base coin the imputation that no officer of rank would take
charge of the expedition. Whether your object was now to give
the Macedonian to a favourite as the flag-ship of a home instead of
the West India squadron, or you acted from other motives not now
to be dwelt upon, I leave you to explain.

All this, however, failed to drive Captain Kearney from the
command ; and a proposition to substitute a large merchant vessel,
capable of accommodating the scientific corps, as the flag-ship,
was proposed, ?.nd acceded to by him. But this arrangement was
afterward abandoned on your part ; and, after having done as much
mischief as you could perpetrate within twenty-four hours, you pre-
tended to withdraw from all farther responsibility (pretended,! say,
for it was only pretence), and the whole matter seemed to slide
into a general 'responsible Committee of Conference, comprising
Governor Dickerson, the commissioners, and yourself, by whom it
was determined that the squadron should cortsist of only one sloop,

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 459

one brig, one schooner, and the storeship. When matters had ar-
rived at this crisis, then, and not till then, Captain Kearney, dis-
gusted, disheartened, and losing all confidence in being able to ac-
complish the objects of the expedition with such a force, retired,
as I have heretofore stated. Thus, sir, upon you rests the responsi-
bility of having in this instance produced a state of things perfectly
in consonance with the whole action of your predecessor, and which
has subsequently been used as a justification of the wanton outrage
committed upon the feelings and rights of the service, and indi-
rectly, at the same time, upon the science of the country. I re-
peat, that upon you rests the responsibility, unless you bring in the
governor and the commissioners to share it with you, which I am
by no means disposed to say you may not justly claim to do.

In this latter arrangement, the plan of the commissioners, it is
well known, wras to crowd the entire scientific corps on board the
store-ship Relief, with canvass-screened state-rooms, to be battened
down like live-stock in rough seas and stormy weather. If it were
not as generally believed as such an event is generally desired, that
the navy board's existence is drawing to a close, my respect for the
men composing it would not restrain the expression of my opinions,
derived from all that I have seen and know of the baneful influ-
ence of that irresponsible concern upon the vital interests of the
naval service of the country. From what I have now stated, the
public will learn — what the navy and many private individuals, as
well as public functionaries, have all along known — how youfaii-
ed in this instance to procure an officer of rank to take charge of
the expedition ! ! !

After Gregory, the next in hand was Captain Joseph Smith, an
officer of high standing, and of liberal and enlarged views. Your
treaty operations with this commander were curious, and are de-
serving of a brief notice. It will be seen that they were equally
insincere on your part with the proffer of official dignity so recent-
ly extended to Captain Kearney. Among the junior officers
named, Captain Smith asked for Lieutenant Wilkes to command one
of the small vessels ; a station in all respects commensurate with
his rank, standing, and qualifications. Let it be remembered how
short a time had elapsed since this station — the command of a
small vessel — had been mentioned to Commodore Jones by your
predecessor, and now locum tenens of the Navy Department, as a

460 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

fitting appointment for this same officer ! Out of this point much
difficulty had been made, and, I have no doubt, one motive of Cap-
tain Smith in asking for Lieutenant Wilkes was the hope of recon-
ciling conflicting elements. The highest post ever claimed for this
individual was now tendered to him. Why was it not accepted?
Can you or Governor Dickerson tell ? Where slumbered your au-
thority, of which we heard so much when you first took charge of
the expedition ? Where was the army discipline you then spoke
of using, in making up the personel of the squadron ? Did Lieu-
tenant Wilkes find favour in your sight from the fine illustration of
army discipline he exhibited in not only declining a better position
than he and Dickerson had clamoured for, but also in setting an
example of subordination and obedience for young officers, by tell-
ing Captain Smith that he would resign his commission in the ser-
vice rather than consent to take a subordinate position in the ex-
pedition, or, of course, anything short of the entire command ?
Such a modest, beautiful exhibit of professional zeal was not to be
lost upon you ; and your nice perceptions of justice and high sense
of honour, it would seem, at once indicated to you the honoured
instrument with which to punish older officers for their unwilling-
ness to take command'! Sir, do you believe that there is a sin-
gle officer of independent feeling in the navy who believes that
Lieutenant Wilkes declined the station offered to him by Captain
Smith without having previously received some slight intimation of
what was in store for him, and that the time had now arrived when
the mask might be thrown aside 1 I do not say that there is any
record of this understanding, nor do I expect that either of you will
own it; but this I will say, that people will think what they
please ; nor can you prevent their thoughts taking the bent to which
1 have alluded, especially as only two days elapsed from the
time of the refusal evincing so much subordination, discipline, and
professional zeal on the part of the lieutenant, before it was cur-
rently reported that he had been appointed to the command !

It was said that Captain Smith did not give credence to the re-
port (believing it, in fact, incredible), and that he called upon you
to ascertain what it meant. Did you not then tell him you were
just writing a note to him ? and in that note, which he after-
ward received, did you not profess to have made every effort in
your power, though in vain, to make the arrangements Captain

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 461

Smith deemed necessary? that they could not conveniently be
effected, and that he was, therefore, relieved from all farther sus-
pense ? Who can fail to perceive in this, though in a different
form, the same species of official action which had been just ap-
plied to Captain Kearney ? The public part which your coadjutor,
the governor, took at this time was singularly amusing. He told
everybody that Captain Smith would not go without Wilkes, and
that Commodore Jones would not go with him ; neither of which
statements was true. The former, had he been sustained by the
department, would have been quite ready to go without him, and
the latter never refused to take him in the squadron, in whatever
station his rank or his acquirements might place him.

Sir, you dare not say that you were driven by necessity into ma-
king your final appointment. You d are not deny — because you know
that many others know the fact — that older and better qualified of-
ficers stood ready to accept the command. Could you look Cap-
tains Kearney, Smith, Gregory, Kennon, Aulick, and Armstrong in
the face while giving utterance to such statements, which the
whole service would laugh at and pronounce untrue 1 When you
had resolved to travel down the list from the grade of post captain
(to say nothing farther in this place about the qualifications of oth-
ers), was there nothing which brought the claims of Captain James
Armstrong before your notice ? He had been ordered to the com-
mand of the Macedonian, under Commodore Jones, as early as
1836, and had immediately thereupon proceeded from Boston to
Norfolk to join the frigate.

From that period to May, 1839, he had been continually attach-
ed to his vessel, amid scenes of delay and discouragement more
trying to an ardent spirit than the navigation of the Polar Seas.
To the substantial requisites for the command of such an expedition
he had unquestionable and high claims. At any rate, was it not
your duty to look into those claims before you ventured to trample
upon his feelings and rights as an officer ? Did not the records
of the Navy Department show that he had entered the service in
1809, near thirty years ago ? and that he had borne himself gal-
lantly at New-Orleans on board the bomb-ketch Etna, and after-
ward, while commander of one of the gunboats (though he was then
quite a young midshipman), in fighting and subduing the Barrataria
pirates ?

462 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

From 1811 to 1813 he was in the brig Siren, where he perform-
ed his duty to the entire satisfaction of his commander. He was
also in the sloop-of-war Fralies when she was captured by a superior
force in 1814, and remained a prisoner of war until March, 1815.
Within a month after his return home he joined the frigate Con-
gress as acting lieutenant, and sailed for the Mediterranean. From
that vessel he was transferred to the Washington 74, Commodore
Chauncey in command, in which vessel he returned to New-York
in 1818. After a very short respite he was ordered to the Inde-
pendence, and, at the expiration of a few months, from her to the
Columbus 74, when he served as first lieutenant under Commodore
Bainbridge till August, 1821. He had scarce come on shore from
this cruise before he was again ordered to the frigate United States,
when he again acted as first lieutenant under Commodore Hull on
the Pacific, and did not leave that ship till May, 1827. From
this date till 1831, he was on duty as lieutenant in the Navy-yard,
Charlestown. His next service was as commander of the schooner
Porpoise in the West Indies. At the termination of this cruise he
was ordered to the Columbus, where he remained on duty until ap-
pointed to the command of the Macedonian, as I have already
stated.

During this long career of unobtrusive and faithful public ser-
vice, not in Washington, but afloat, he had acquired that familiari-
ty with the ocean, that thorough and practical knowledge of his
profession, which is infinitely more desirable and valuable in a com-
mander than a vain and pompous pretension to science. More
than half the expeditions on record have been rendered less useful
in their results than they otherwise would have been, by the jeal-
ousy, weakness, and folly of their commanders, in wishing to be
considered scientific. An able, prudent, yet bold and experienced
seaman, who knows how to take care of his vessels and his men
under all circumstances, and to harmonize all under his command,
is the fittest to conduct such an enterprise as the South Sea Sur-
veying Expedition. Such a man is Captain James Armstrong,
who, after being two years attached to the expedition, was rudely
superseded by a favourite without the courtesy of a previous con-
sultation !

In the remonstrance sent in by Lieutenant Magruder, who had
also been a long time attached as first lieutenant to the Macedoni*

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 463

an (with the request that it should remain on file in the depart-
ment), against the injustice of being superseded, it seems to me
that there was one portion which must have been withering in its
effect, where he told you that he was of the same date as Lieu-
tenant Wilkes ; that he had been examined by the same board ;
and that he had not only passed higher than Lieutenant Wilkes,
by whom he was now supplanted, in mathematics and in seaman-
ship, and, of course, ranked above him, but that he had seen much
more sea-service since they had been commissioned as lieuten-
ants!

Sir, I have no wish to lessen the public confidence in your lieu-
tenant commodore, by instituting comparisons between him and
other officers by name. If I could bring you to a fair accounta-
bility without the slightest allusion to him, I should be glad to do
so. He was but your agent, and I mean to hold the principal, and
not the instrument, responsible. The outrage committed upon
the naval service by his appointment was keenly felt and wholly in-
defensible. All that in justice can be said in extenuation is, that
you had the power and disposition to do wrong, and did it. Gov-
ernor Dickerson, however much delighted with what was done be-
fore, now began to show some symptoms of alarm. The deep-toned,
indignant feelings which were known to exist in the service, dis-
mayed " the good, honest old man" about his retiring popularity ;
and he soon busied himself in saying that he did not do it — " thou
canst not say I did it ;" while, at the same time, he knew that he
had signed his name to the order by which it was done ! The
degradation of holding office on such humiliating conditions ought
to have excited your sympathy for him, and made you ashamed to
throw responsibilities upon him which properly belonged to your-
self; however, I care not how it may be adjusted in the running
account between you. Thus much, however, I may say: that
should you and the governor have any difficulty in deciding upon
the respective parts you have borne in degrading the service and
marring a noble enterprise, you may lay this flattering unction to
your hearts, that between you lies all the glory ; that no man of
honour will ever wish to share in the monopoly ; and that no fu-
ture secretaries, who may not be bent on embalming their memo-
ries in the converse of glory, will follow in your footsteps or imi-
tate your example.

464: LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

Sir, that I may not be charged with misrepresenting the feelings
of the service, allow me here to bring under your notice an extract
from one of a number of articles which appeared in a Southern
paper under the signature of " Harry Bluff, of the U. S. Navy :"

" Misrule, confusion, and mismanagement stalked forth with
giant strides. The once popular South Sea Surveying and Explo-
ring Expedition was now rendered odious to the officers. Through
the bad management of the Navy Department, it became a by-word
and a reproach upon the navy ; and when the country, impatient
of its protracted delays, was informed that the expedition was on
the eve of sailing, it was suddenly left without a commander, and
the secretary, with one hundred captains and commanders subject
to his orders, reported that he could not get one to go.

" Respect for his office was now completely smothered with pity,
mingled with a feeling less strong than contempt for the man.
Even the young midshipmen held him in derision, and played off
their wit upon him in official letters ; and the officers talked open-
ly of sending a roundrobin to ask for his removal. The navy
was in an uproar, and even his darling Wilkes threatened to re-
sign rather than obey his orders.

" But it remained for the navy to receive one more stab. It
came from the hand that was least suspected, and went to its very
vitals. Stand forth, Joel R. Poinsett, for thou art the man ! In
your youthful days you had associated much with the navy. You
had seen the brave Porter and his gallant comrades nobly defend-
ing their little Essex against triple his force. You had the whole
list of officers before you ; and, with the least tact, you might have
restored the expedition to order, and made it, even at that late hour,
acceptable to the navy and worthy of the country. Many old and
gallant officers were anxious to command it. Conscious of the
claims to which their long and faithful services entitled them, with
a modesty and a sense of decorum which even the president could
not appreciate, they waited in anxious suspense, hoping the com-
mand would be tendered to them.

" But there was a cunning little Jacob, who had campaigned at
Washington a full term of seven years. More prodigal than La-
ban, you gave him, for a single term, both the Rachael and the
Leah of his heart. A junior lieutenant, with scarcely enough ser-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 465

vice at sea to make him familiar with the common routine of duty
on board of a man-of-war, and, with one or two short interrup-
tions, a sinecurist on shore for the last fifteen years, he was lifted
over the heads of many laborious and meritorious officers, and
placed by you in the command of the Exploring Expedition, in vi-
olation of law. The president confirmed the act.

" And, as if that were not indignity enough, the public were in-
formed that none of Wilkes's superiors possessed the requisite tal-
ents. I here challenge you and his friends to point out a single
accomplishment or qualification in him for such a service, which I
will not show other officers to possess in more perfection. Scien-
tific men hare seen no proofs of his science, and he is not recog-
nised by them as of their number. We are told he is a surveyor.
The grounds upon which his claims to this qualification are set up,
consist in his survey, last fall, of George's Bank, and, many years
ago, of his assisting Gedney and Blake, under Wordsworth, to
survey Narragansett Bay. Of the accuracy of his chart of George's
Bank we may not speak ; for, as yet, Hassler's operations, which
will test it, have not been extended so far. As hydographers,
both Gedney and Blake, and many others we might name, are
vastly his superiors. While he has been campaigning at Wash-
ington, they have been hard at work ; and, after many years of
arduous service, meritorious officers are insulted, degraded, and
vilified!"

" Harry Bluff" has fairly represented the feelings of an over-
whelming proportion of the officers of the navy ; and such will be
the judgment of the whole country as well as of the navy. It is a
melancholy reflection, that a man occupying your station should
have preferred the gratification of little and vindictive feelings to
the high, frank, and honourable discharge of a public trust ; but so
it was, and you must now lie in the bed prepared by your own
hands. The wrong has been done ; your acts cannot be recalled ;
and in my next I shall examine the pitiful subterfuge by which you
have attempted your justification,

Very respectfully, your fellow

CITIZEN.

New- York, June 13, 1839.

466 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

XV.

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

As promised in the conclusion of my last letter, I proceed to
examine the pitiful subterfuge which you have attempted to play
off upon the community, at once as a defence and justification of
your indefensible conduct. Upon the strict requirements of the
law, the usages of the service, the principles of common justice, the
paramount considerations of the public good in the success of the
expedition, you dared not rely for your vindication, and hence the
public was to be amused by a " tub thrown to a whale," in the
shape of a pompous proclamation, which I here subjoin :

*:'.^'

EXPLORING EXPEDITION. — Naval General Orders.— -The arma-
ment of the exploring expedition being adapted merely for its ne-
cessary defence, while engaged in the examination and survey of
the islands of the Southern Ocean, against any attempt to disturb
its operations by the savage and warlike inhabitants of those isl-
ands ; and the object which it is designed to promote being alto-
gether scientific and useful, intended equally for the benefit of the
United States and of all the commercial nations of the world, it is
considered to be so entirely divested of all military character, that,
even in the event of the country being involved in a war before the
return of the squadron, its path will be peaceful, and its pursuits re-
spected by all belligerents. The president has therefore thought
proper, in assigning officers to the command of this squadron, to de-
part from the usual custom of selecting them from the senior ranks of
the navy, and according to their respective grades in the service,
and has appointed Lieutenant Charles Wilkes first officer to com-
mand the exploring squadron, and Lieutenant William L. Hudson
to command the ship Peacock, and to be second officer of said
squadron, and to take command thereof in the event of the death
of the first officer, or his disability, from accident or sickness, to
conduct the operations of the expedition.

Navy Department, June 22, 1838,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 467

It is here gravely announced that Lieutenant Hudson, senior* offi-
cer, is to command the Peacock, and that Lieutenant Wilkes, junior
officer to Lieutenant Hudson, is to command the whole expedition.
Shade of Sancho Panza ! has anything like this been known since
your administration of the affairs of Barrataria ? Descendants of
Tammamaha and Prince Le Boo ! be prepared to respect the proc-
lamation of the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, and take care to re-
spect the rank and pacific intentions of his commodore ! Was not
your cheek suffused with the blush of shame when you caused this
" Naval General Order" to be issued ? If the expedition had now
become " altogether scientific" and " entirely divested of all military
character," why did you deem Captain Gregory's promotion to the
rank of post captain, even though he stood at the head of the list
of master commanders, indispensably necessary in order to fit him
for the command ? Is your proclamation an answer ? Sir, was it
not a matter of public notoriety, that you had authorized one of the
commissioners to inquire of Captain Aulick — an officer of acknowl-
edged abilities, who had acquired, though young, distinction in the
last war ; who had been at sea twenty out of the last thirty years,
and much of the time among the islands of the Pacific ; who
stood high on the list of commanders — if he would take the place
of second in command under Captain Smith ? What becomes of
your consistency with reference to this officer ? Does your proc-
lamation aiford any defence against the charges of double dealing
and an abuse of official power ? Indulge not the vain hope that
your puny document can protect you from the censure of all hon-
ourable men.

Permit me, sir, to adduce one more instance, equally notorious
with the last mentioned, in which your Jesuitry was made equally
manifest. If not while you were in actual treaty with Wilkes, at
any rate but a few days before, did you not, unofficially, invite
Lieutenant Tattnall, and did he not, unofficially, accept the invi-
tation to take service in the expedition ? Did you not, also, prom-
ise to use your best efforts to have him promoted to the grade of
commander ? (He stood then at the head of the lieutenant's list.)
And for what ? Why, forsooth, to render him eligible to the sec-
ond place in the expedition J But what followed t Within one
week of all this pretended deference to rank, and to the claims of
* Lieutenant Hudson stands in the Register abave Lieutenant Wilkes

468 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

long service and unquestionable ability, you committed the outrage
upon the navy, for the defence of which your contemptible proclama-
tion above transcribed was put forth ! This was done at a time, too,
when the authority of the president was invoked to silence older offi-
cers claiming the command. Sir, the high probability that your offi-
cial action in this matter will not be imitated hereafter, induces me
to omit much that occurred about this time. I need not here exam-
ine the law which you violated, nor stop to refute the silly defence
that in the selection of a lieutenant you had changed the naval
character of the expedition, although the vessels, officers, and men
belonged to the navy, were governed by the war power and naval
regulations, and were amenable to and punishable under them
alone. As well might it be said that a frigate sent to convey a
minister or despatches to a foreign court was on a peaceful errand,
and that, therefore, you might put a lieutenant in command !

Well do you remember, sir, that the ground assumed by the gov-
ernor and yourself {covertly} for withdrawing the Macedonian
from the exploring expedition in June, 1837, was the necessity of
employing her in the protection of our commerce in the Gulf of
Mexico. Let me, par courtesie, admit your sincerity ; and then per-
mit me respectfully to inquire how the blockade of the Mexican
ports by a French fleet rendered our commerce in that region so se-
cure as to justify you in laying up the Macedonian at Norfolk, and
in abstracting two heavy sloops of war and a gun brig from the
protection of that commerce, to send them on a service which you
declared not to he naval ; and that, too, when you had other ves-
sels already equipped and prepared for sea, or might have procu-
red far more appropriate craft than those sent out, in any seaport
of the United States, for half the money which it cost to convert
two sloops of war into ineffectual surveying vessels 1 In this
view of your patent economy, I say nothing of the bills sent home
from Rio, or of the delay, for months, of a noble enterprise au-
thorized by Congress more than three years ago. Will you or
Governor Dickerson say that in a famous report, purporting to an-
swer a call of Congress, under date of March 19th, 1837, all the
evidence on record in his department was given in reference to the
qualities of the exploring vessels Pioneer and Consort 1 Nay,
more : Will you or he dare deny that the most important docu-
ments then on file — documents which afforded proof of the fitness

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 469

of the vessels for the service for which they were designed — were
withheld 1 I have studied my language, sir ; I know the import of
every word I have used ; and should you or the governor dare to
move one step from where I have here placed you, I hold myself
bound to give the public the proof of what I have asserted ; viz.,
that important official documents were withheld when called for by
Congress, and that trivial, unimportant papers were sent in their
stead !

I trust, sir, I have said enough about the naval part of your sil-
ly and impudent proclamation ; silly 9 because it covered you with
ridicule, from the weakness of the defence set up ; impudent, be-
cause you attempted to mislead and deceive the people, by pretend-
ing that the expedition was about to receive a purely scientific
character ; a point upon which I shall be very apt to satisfy the
public before these letters are closed, though I mean to be as brief
as is consistent with justice to you and your coadjutor.

How far you have propagated errors as to the force employed
under your present commander, will be the subject of inquiry in
my next communication ; the scientific part will follow.
I have the honour to be,

Very respectfully, your fellow

CITIZEN.

XVL

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

In the slight allusion I have hitherto made to the probable con-
siderations which influenced you in the selection of your lieutenant
commodore — the certain kind of service he was deemed peculiar-
ly fitted to perform, and for which it was supposed that in the
whole navy there would be no other competent — I confined myself
within the limits of what was not only freely spoken of at the
time, as matter of general and well-founded rumour, but openly
alluded to in Congressional debate. However regular the record
on file in the department may appear ; however beaut j /m man-
ner the command was tendered and accepted ; with whatever dern-

470 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

onstrations of modest self-distrust, the usual concomitant of ex-
alted minds, it was received, it will be difficult, nay, impossible
for you ever to do away the impression that a bargain was made.
I do not say that this can be proven ; because, from the very na-
ture of the case, proof could only be obtained through the crim-
inating testimony of one of the parties to the transaction ; and it
is not very likely that either of them will turn state's evidence.

During a discussion in the House of Representatives, April 11,
1838, on the bill making appropriations for the naval service for
that year, the outrage you had committed upon the professional
feeling and pride of the service, in the appointment you had then
just made, was rather more than incidentally introduced ! Mr.
Wise, of the Naval Committee, said " that he had not accused
Lieutenant Wilkes of purchasing his command at all ; but he had
been informed that intimations had been given to officers of a
higher grade, that it was expected, if appointed to the command,
they would discharge certain individuals ; and one of these men,
like a true officer, had replied, that if such dismissals were to be
made, the department must take the responsibility of making them.
Mr. W. did not believe that it was the painter that was to be dis-
charged, but there was an individual who had done more in the
first instance to get up the expedition than any other man in the
country, and who had expressed himself very freely in the public
journals in regard to the secretary, and whom it was the object of
the department to get clear of." Mr. Wise said farther, " that if
his information was correct, Lieutenant Wilkes had been selected,
not on the ground of his peculiar scientific attainments, nor on that
of the special character of the service, but for a reason entirely dif-
ferent. He hoped his friend from New- York would give the house
some information on this point."

Mr. Hoffman said " he was utterly unable to do so, for this was
the first moment that such a report had ever reached him."

Mr. Wise said " he had his information from a respectable
source, and such was the belief of some gentlemen in the navy."

I shall not here indulge, as I well might, in commentary on the
current of public feeling which called forth such allusion to your
official action on the floor of Congress, but will give you at once
the full advantage of the defence offered by your friend Mr. Ing-
ham, chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. Every one

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 471

will perceive, from the guarded language used by that gentleman,
how entirely free he must have considered you from all collusion,
all imputation of bargain-making with your new commander. His
allusion to Governor Dickerson instead of to you will pass for
what it is worth. It is simply an incident in the miserable farce of
retaining " that good old man" in office to sign your papers.

Mr. Ingham understood the gentleman from Virginia to say that
there had been a distinct understanding between the secretary of
the navy and Lieutenant Wilkes, that if he received the command
he was to turn off a certain part of the scientific corps. This may
have been very proper. It was very apparent, whatever might or
might not have passed on the subject, that that corps must be
reduced. It had been engaged in expectation of a large scale of
organization ; the scale was now reduced nearly one half, and this
corps must be curtailed in something like a corresponding propor-
tion. Mr. I. had not intended to say anything to the disparage-
ment of Commodore Jones ; he had nothing whatever to do with
that gentleman, or with his private views in relation to the matter.

Mr. Wise said that Commodore Jones had told him but yester-
day that there would not be a reduction of one dollar's expense in
the present plan.

Mr. Ingham said it would be very singular indeed, if, when the
expedition was to contain but one half the number of vessels, and
the whole outfit was cut down in the same proportion, there would
be no reduction in the expense ! Very strange indeed !

Nothing can be farther from my intention than a design to
charge Mr. Ingham with having made a voluntary misstatement.
Nevertheless, he was in error, and you owe that gentleman an
apology for having misled him. He obtained his information from
the department ; and from the hour that information was eornmu-
nicated on the floor of Congress to the present, a large portion of
the public, as well as of the members of that Congress, have been
under the impression that the squadron prepared, under the gui-
dance of your lieutenant consisted of about one half the force or-
ganized under Commodore Jones ; and no small portion of your
defence or justification has rested on the deception of this professed
curtailment.

472 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

You have yourself often given currency to the same imposition
in various ways, and in no instance have you corrected the palpa-
ble misstatement. Even Governor Dickerson, after retiring from
the Navy Department, "just four years after he entered it," en-
dorsed the same glaring misrepresentation in a celebrated letter to
some of his neighbours, who took it into their heads to offer him a
public dinner. He declined that honour, but could not avoid the
opportunity of expressing his delight, and of congratulating the
country, that the expedition had been reduced one half* This was
his last malignant effort, put forth much

" As a fly in winter

That in a gleam of sunshine creeping forth,
Kicks with stiff legs a feeble stroke or two,
And falls upon his back."

There I leave him, brooding o'er the mischief he had done in
wounding the feelings and the pride, and striking at the honour
and discipline* of the service. There I leave him, to draw cold
gleams of comfort from the reflection of having marred, so far as
in him lay, a noble enterprise, and of having squandered the pen-
sion fund, heretofore held sacred for the most sacred of all earthly
objects — the relief of the widows and orphans of those who died
in the service of their country.

And now, sir, for the reduction of the naval force of the expe-
dition, which did so much to take away its naval character, and
which rendered it proper in you to instal a favourite in the com-
mand who stood low on the list of lieutenants. What, sir, will be
the astonishment of your countrymen, and what will they think of
you, when I tell them, what you know to be true and dare not deny,
that the naval force now under the command of your lieutenant
commodore is larger than the squadron which lay in the port of
New-York under the command of Commodore Jones ! Yes, sir,
larger than that very squadron commanded by Commodore Jones,
against which you and Governor Dickerson had warred, as the
whole country knows, so long and so fiercely, on account, as you
pretended, of its magnitude ! Oh, consistency, thou art indeed a
jewel ! And what will Mr. Ingham say when he learns the de-
ceptions practised upon him, and through him, in fact, upon the
country ? Do you deny my assertions ? Do you, trembling, ven-
ture to ask for the proof ? I have it at hand, and will give it you.
The present squadron consists of •

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 473

1. The sloop-of-war Vincennes, Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, Esq.,
commander-in-chief, with twenty-two subordinate officers. This
is a twenty-gun ship ; which cannot, according to law, be com-
manded by an officer under the grade of master commander.

2. Sloop-of-wrar Peacock, Lieutenant William L. Hudson com-
mander, with nineteen subordinate officers. This vessel, now
second in the squadron, had recently been the flag-ship of a
commodore in the East Indies.

3. Ship Relief, Lieutenant A. K. Long commander, with nine sub-
ordinate officers.

4. Brig-of-war Porpoise, Lieutenant Cadwallader Ringgold com-
mander, with twelve subordinate officers.

5. Schooner Flying Fish, Passed Midshipman Samuel R. Knox
commander.

6. Schooner Sea Gull, Passed Midshipman James W. Reid com-
mander.

Thus, sir, the country will observe the peculiarly ingenious man-
ner in which you have made the expedition <: altogether scientific"
in character, and reduced it to " one half" its original proportions.
This latter feat has been accomplished by withdrawing the Mace-
donian of 36 guns and 300 men, and substituting therefor the Vin-
cennes, Peacock, and Porpoise, of 56 guns and 460 men ! ! !

I speak from the 6oo/c, sir ; the Naval Register bears me out in
what I say. It matters not if these vessels went to sea with less
than their full complement of men ; I believe that wretched spe-
cies of trickery and humbug was practised : but it can deceive no
one, as it is well known that their number can be increased at al-
most any foreign port. The aggregate tonnage and number of
guns of your present squadron, sir, are greater than that of the
first ; the aggregate draught of water is greater ; and there is an
addition of one schooner, which addition had been pertinaciously
denied to Commodore Jones !

Standing, sir, as you now do, exposed, denuded before the pub-
lic, and stripped of all defence on the score of a reduced force, it
is hoped that you will not attempt to intrench yourself behind re-
duced expenses. As the two have usually been coupled, I will say
a word in reference to the latter. Will you condescend to inform
the public, or cause them to be informed, how the expenses of the

474 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

present organization can fall short of the expenses of the former
organization, consisting of the Macedonian, Pioneer, Consort, Re-
lief, and Active ? I, for one, should like to see you attempt a de-
tailed comparison between the two. Will any practical seaman,
uninfluenced by hope or fear, say that the present plan is in any-
way comparable to the former one, as regards efficiency for navi-
gation in high latitudes, or for the protection of commerce, survey-
ing, or scientific research among the islands of the Pacific 1 Will
you, sir, be graciously pleased to enlighten the nation as to what
has been the cost of changing from a good to a bad plan, merely to
gratify — but hold ! I will not allude to motives ; I leave them in
the recesses of your own breast, having little doubt that, before I
have done with your acts, the public will have little to conjecture
with regard to your motives. I will in advance, however, do you
the justice to admit that you have stepped most admirably in the
footsteps of your predecessor and coadjutor, who now reposes on
his laurels amid the cool shades and flowery walks of Suc-a-
Sunny.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

XVIL <*YM

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War

SIR,

In reviewing your official proceedings in fitting out the South
Sea Expedition, I now find myself at a point where your insin-
cerity and double dealing place you before your country in a
light which would, to a sensitive mind, be still more humiliating
than any in which you have yet been exhibited. I refer to the
injury and degradation which, notwithstanding your hollow pre-
tensions of patronage and favour, you have sought to inflict upon the
cause of science. I feel, sir, in its full weight, the responsibility at-
tached to the use of such language, and that I can only escape
by bringing the charge home to you, by fixing upon you a mark,
indelible while you live, and which may be among the few things
bearing witness to posterity that you have been. You are ambi-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 475

tious ; so was the Theban who fired the temple of Ephesus, with
the hope of making his name immortal. He was successful ; and
you may perchance be rewarded with similar post mortem honours
for your wilful, deliberate, unprovoked attack on the science of
your country, in your final arrangements for despatching the expe-
dition.

An able corps of savans had been organized long before you had
part or lot in the affair. Men whose zeal for science had patiently
withstood the ill-usage of your predecessor, and whose attainments
and competence to fill the several departments allotted to them
were unquestioned and unquestionable, stood ready to set forth at
the briefest warning. Your proclamation had told the world that
the expedition was " altogether scientific ;" that in scientific objects
its " naval character" had been merged. There can be no mistake
here ; because it is on this very ground that you seek to justify the
outrage committed on the feelings of the service by the selection of
a favourite, in violation of law, and in violation, too, of the pub-
lished regulations of the Navy Department, signed by the commis-
sioners, and approved by the Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, secretary
of the navy, before you were invested with a portion of his au-
thority !

Sir, after your proclamation had seen the light, considerable in-
terest was felt, and no little curiosity evinced to witness the final
movement on your part towards rendering the scientific organiza-
tion of the expedition more efficient. Was it your policy to be
somewhat more liberal, not to say just, to the members of the sci-
entific corps ? Was their number to be increased ? By what new
arrangement was the enterprise to be rendered more scientific in
character than it had been, when you deemed the rank of post
captain indispensable to the command ? Is it possible that all
this pretension was made on your part for the mean purpose of
misleading the public mind ; of concealing from public view the
littleness~~iQ use a mild term— of the course resolved upon ?
Truly you must have held the public judgment in supreme con-
tempt, to suppose it could be blinded by such a gossamer subter-
fuge. If I were your personal enemy, I could wish you no severer
moral punishment than to live under the judgment which the sci-
ence and intelligence of the country has passed upon you. Know-
ing, as I well do, your vain wish to be regarded as a man of sci-

476 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

ence ; knowing, too, your solicitude that certain of your own acts
should not be fathered upon you, I feel myself in charity bound to
tell you, that while I am aware of all you did, have day and hour
for some of your precious, high-minded consultations, and know
even the secret springs of your contemptible action, I will not,
under present circumstances, disgust the public by an exposure of
them. No, sir ; these matters I will leave untouched, conscious {
that, in doing so, I shall merit, and doubtless receive, your grate-
ful, though secret thanks. Matters of record and of public notori-
ety are all that I have occasion to revert to. These will afford infi-
nitely more topics for remark than I have time or inclination to
dwell upon. But this is digression.

Your lieutenant commodore was now fairly installed in the com-
mand ; an honour which, with a most unaccountable prescience, he
had stated, some six months before, might possibly befall him ; nay,
that such an event might occur without even surprising him. Ad-
mirable prophet ! Officers of the navy were now no longer per-
mitted to complain of the wrong which had been done them. The
name and authority of the president were used to silence all mur-
murs. The paramount right of your commander to overleap the
heads of post captains was no longer to be regarded as an open
question. Great pains were now taken to hide your plans and in-
tentions ; Congress was still in session ! You feared the true friends
of the expedition in that body as well as out of it. Do you recol-
lect certain matters relating to the rank of your juvenile dbra-
mander which were to be arranged after the Senate adjourned?
I hope I may live to see the day when the head of a department,
or of the nation, would be, if not impeached, at least execrated
from one extremity of the union to the other, for daring to do, after
the adjournment of the Senate, any act to which the sanction of
that assembly could not have been obtained.

But let this pass. Little by little your designs became apparent.
It was soon ascertained that your young sea-officer was clothed
with more summary powers than had been conferred upon Com-
modore Jones, or offered to any post captain with whom you had
trifled and feigned to treat. You know, sir, that I here state an
undeniable fact. Your protege was, moreover, your accredited
organ, representing your feelings and doing your behests. He
seemed to be clothed with absolute authority ; spoke freely of his

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 477

plans having been submitted to Mr. Van Buren, and not only ap-
proved by him, but endorsed by you. Unfortunately, however,
you had not sufficiently impressed on your agent the importance of
making his story tally with your own. They did not dovetail ;
for while, on the one hand, you told the country in your proclama-
tion the expedition was " altogether scientific," he declared his in-
tention to make it entirely naval in point of fact ; but that, as he
could not draught a scientific corps from the navy, a portion of its
present members would be retained, and the remainder dismissed,
under the pretence that they could not be accommodated in the
reduced squadron !

Let it be distinctly understood, that while T speak of the views
of your lieutenant, I only do so to reach your own. I do not deal
with the instrument ; I have larger game in chase. You are the
responsible man, and to you I address myself. Your lieutenant, in
assuming to speak of his plans and his opinions, misled no one, be-
cause no one believed that he had any other plans or purposes save
such as you had suggested, or as he supposed would please you,
though the recorded correspondence between you would, no doubt,
lead to a different conclusion. There are many things, however,
which no revised record can change. For instance, no prepared
document can controvert the palpable fact that you had added to
the naval force of the expedition, while the whole country was led
to believe that a reduction of one half had taken place. Yes, sir,
you made additions to the naval force of the expedition under pre-
tence of taking away its naval character, and you sanctioned the
reduction of the scientific corps one half, in order to make the en-
terprise " altogether scientific !" This logic savours somewhat of
the Dogberry school. You seem, moreover, to have been wholly
incompetent to appreciate the objects of the scientific corps, and the
vastness of the field in which their labours were to be performed ;
or, if you were not so incompetent, you have shamefully neglected
your duty, and sinned against the light. Choose which horn of the
dilemma you please, I will fasten you on one of them, and, as a
counterbalance, you may hang your predecessor and your lieutenant
commodore on the other. You are entitled to some distinction, in-
asmuch as your wisdom and learning has had no parallel since
the three wise men of Gotham went to sea in a bowl.

Sir, under date January 1, 1838, Citizen had occasion to ad-

478 LETTERS OP A CITIZEN.

dress a letter to your predecessor, in which he gave a plain state-
ment of the organization of the corps ere your reforming hand had
passed over it. That organization was approved by the late pres-
ident and the science of the country. The division of labours
among its several members was there set forth. How dared you
interfere with those arrangements after they had been completed ?
What excuse have you to offer for having done so ? Will you
again have the temerity to insult the country by asserting that
there was no room in your increased instead of diminished squad-
ron for the members you rudely struck from the list, after they had
prepared, under the plighted faith of the government, to join the
expedition, and were ready to set sail ? Was the calibre of your
mind only adapted to the little work of carrying out the puerile
but vindictive views of the Hon. Mahlon Dickerson, and were
you therefore incapable of acting in a noble and generous spirit,
as the friend of science alive to the honour of the expedition and
the true glory of your country ? When and where did you learn
that, even with the sanction of the executive, you could be justified
before the science of the country in lopping off the important de-
partments of Entomology and Cru-staceology, or that they could
properly be thrown upon the zoologists, who were already burden-
ed with more than they could perform ? Comparative anatomy
and philology, being matters of no account with you or your lieu-
tenant commodore, were summarily erased from the list of scien-
tific inquiry, and this, be it borne in mind, was an expedition chan-
ged from a naval to a scientific character, on which ground alone
this erudite and philosophic officer had been thrust into the com-
mand. Superb consistency ! The text and commentary assim-
ilate like oil and water !

But this is not all. The department of Natural Philosophy, or
Physical Science, the world-embracing labours of which the great
ARAGO would have assumed with modest diffidence, was struck
off from the list, because Lieutenant Wilkes, your commander,
fancied — Heaven moderate the young gentleman's vanity ! — that
he was competent to take the matter in hand, in addition to the
other duties devolved upon him ! ! ! To the vanity of this univer-
sal genius — this second edition of the admirable Crichton — you
sacrificed the interest, the honour, the science of the country.
The assistant zoological draughtsmen and landscape and por-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 479

trait painters were trifles in your estimation not worth a thought,
and though, like the others, provided at the public expense, were
sent to the right-about.

What I have here stated as fact, not one word of which can
be controverted or shaken, is sufficient, one would imagine, to
place you in an attitude not very enviable before the science of your
country. I think, furthermore, that you are fairly fixed upon one
of the horns of the dilemma tendered for your choice ; but, as I
mean to bind you to it for the remainder of your life, I shall re-
sume the subject in my next. In the mean time, I am,
Very respectfully, your fellow

CITIZEN.

XVIH.

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

In the concluding portion of my last letter I alluded to the
rude hand you had laid upon the scientific corps, and to the Goth-
ic spirit you had evinced in reference to the departments which you
had determined were unworthy of being represented in that body.

I need not inform you that the savans of all Europe looked with
lively interest to the results of the expedition, and the announce-
ment of its authorization to the London Geographical Society,
while in session, was received by that distinguished body with en-
thusiastic cheers. The liberality of Congress, and the efficient or-
ganization sanctioned by President Jackson, were especially re-
garded as highly honourable to our national character. You had
often expressed great solicitude yourself for the success of the en-
terprise. So had Mahlon Dickerson, when it suited his purpose,
while he was doing all that he dared, if not all that he could, to
break down the undertaking. What he had not the strength or
weight of character to accomplish, you have the glory of having
in part effected. Are my remarks too general ? Have patience,
sir, and I will gratify you with a few details, which, perchance,
may prove more palatable.

In the opinion of your commodore — selected, we are told, for his

480 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

scientific attainments, and whose enlarged views coincided with
your own — the department of Palaeontology was ridiculous from
its unmeaning name. What possible branch of science could be in-
dicated by such an outlandish word as Palaeontology ? Even Sec-
retary Dickerson is said to have committed several witticisms on the
term ! That the whole concern was a humbug, who can doubt ?
for neither you nor your commander knew anything about it.
" Away with this worthless department, which we never heard of
before," was your wise and learned decision.

And what, sir, is Palaeontology 1 Have you to be informed
that it is that branch of science which treats of fossil organic re-
mains, both animal and vegetable ? " The secrets of Nature,"
says the learned Buckland, " that are revealed to us from the his-
tory of fossil organic remains, form perhaps the most striking re-
sults at which we arrive from the study of Geology. It must ap-
pear almost incredible to those who have not attended to natural
phenomena, that the microscopic examination of a mass of rude
and lifeless limestone should often disclose the curious fact that
large portions of its substance have once formed parts of living
bodies. It is surprising to consider that the walls of our houses
are sometimes composed of little else than comminuted shells,
that were once the domicils of other animals at the bottom of an-
cient seas and lakes.

" It is marvellous that mankind should have gone on for so many
centuries in ignorance of the fact which is now so fully demonstra-
ted, that no small part of the present surface of the earth is de-
rived from the remains of animals that constituted the population
of ancient seas. Many extensive plains and massive mountains
form, as it were, the great charnel-house of preceding generations,
in which the- petrified exuviaB of extinct races of animals and vege-
tables are piled into stupendous monuments of the operations of
life and death, during almost immeasurable periods of past time."
" At the sight of a spectacle so imposing, so terrible" to use the
words of Cuvier, " as that of the wreck of animal life, forming al-
most the entire soil on which we tread" you turn away with vacant
indifference, and treat the branch of science which has contributed
so much to unfold and analyze the composition of the globe we in-
habit as unworthy a moment's consideration. Was it modest to come
thus in collision with such an authority in science as the great Cu-

•»'

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 481

vier ? Perhaps you may not be aware that much of the eminence
of that distinguished naturalist arose from his magnificent work on
the fossil bones of the environs of Paris, and that, from his knowl-
edge and application of that branch of science, which you despised
and the secretary of the navy punned upon, emanated his splendid
theory of the earth ! The fame of Deshayes was in like manner es^
tablished by his great work on the fossil shells of the same region.
Brogniart's celebrity rests on his learned and valuable works on
crustaceous and vegetable fossils. Desmarest derives his honours
from the same source ; and Agassiz owes his standing as a man of
science to his great work on fossil fishes. Did you ever happen to
hear, or did your commander, while in England, happen to learn,
that Buckland wrote a work on the fossil bones in the caves of
England and Wales ? Are you aware that his invaluable " Bridge-
water Treatise" consists wholly of descriptions and plates of fossil
bones of mammalia, birds, fishes, reptiles, and fossil crinordia and
vegetables ? Allow me, in all courtesy, to recommend that you
procure this book and read it, so that if your counsel should be
again requested in matters appertaining to the advancement of sci-
ence in this country, you may be spared the ridicule which your
extensive want of scientific knowledge, as displayed in relation to
the Exploring Expedition, has drawn down upon you. Should
the Bridge water Treatise fail to enlighten you, take up the work of
Lyell, and you will discover that his almost unparalleled eminence
as a geologist is altogether owing to his knowledge of organic re-
mains ; indeed, I might say the same of all other geologists of dis-
tinction. You would most assuredly make a glorious bargain,
could you barter the claims you have on the gratitude of posterity
for the enduring meed of praise which, by common consent of the
scientific of all countries, will be awarded to Lyndley and Hutton ;
and yet the foundation of their fame will be the " Fossil Flora of
Great Britain." Then there are Mantell's work on the Fossils
of Titgall Forest and Geology of the South Downs, Miller on
Fossil Crinordia, Murcheson's recent great work on the Silurian.
System, and the no less distinguished one by Sedgwick on the
Cambrian System. But why continue the list ? To complete it
would be to give the names of nearly al? the great men who have
written, during the last half century, on Natural History.

Without considerable knowledge of fossil remains, it is inapossi-
X

482 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

ble that any man can be recognised as a geologist in the present
advanced state of the science. No description of a rock could
convey a perfect idea of a stratum without an enumeration of the
organic remains in its composition. " When we discover," says
Buckland, " a regular and consistent assemblage of organic remains,
commencing with one series of strata, and ending with another
which contains a different assemblage, we have therein the surest
grounds whereon to establish those divisions which are called geo-
logical formations. ' '

James D. Dana was one of the members of the corps who had
the good fortune to escape your reforming hand, and was permit-
ted to accompany the expedition. He is a most excellent mineral-
ogist as well as crustaceologist, well versed in general science,
and of more than usual high promise; but the accumulation of
burdens you have thrown upon him are too much foi* the powers
of any one man; and geology, the most important and extensive
of all the branches of science except astronomy, is actually without
a representative in the scientific corps of the South Sea Expedi-
tion ! ! ! It was, then, a Vandal act — I hope,»sir, after the explana-
tion I have made, I may be permitted to use the term — to exclude
the palaeontologist. But you and your commander thought dif-
ferently ; and the president having been consulted, sanctioned your
learned decision. It is a little strange that neither of you seem to
have known that, in the state of New-York, and in several other
states whose geological surveys were in progress, it had been found
absolutely necessary to create the department and to appoint a pa-
laeontologist. For instance, I find among the documents accompa-
nying a communication from Governor Seward to the Legislature
of this state, under date February 27, 1839, a highly interesting
paper under the title " Second Annual Report of T. A. Conrad on
the Palceontological Department of the Survey" Had the state
beeu favoured with the ancient lights of your modern counsel, it
might have been spared the expense of this savan.

In conclusion, suppose we were to put the eminent men whom I
have mentioned, the value of their works, and the justly high ap-
preciation in which they are held by the scientific world, in one
scale, and then let you, and your commander, and Governor Dicker-
son get into the other — which do you think would kick the beam ?
If conceit, vanity, and asinine qualities were heavy commodities, you

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 483

might hope to ride a seesaw with the tremendous odds against
you ; but, as they are not, you will be compelled to tilt up, like
dust in the balance against pure and refined gold. What do you
think, sir, at present of Palaeontology ?

Very respectfully, your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

XIX.

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

If proof were needed of the low estimation in which you held
your own conduct, as well as of the contemptuous opinion which
you feared, and rightly, would be entertained of it by others, it
would be found in your manifest anxiety to escape the responsibil-
ity of your own acts. But escape, sir, is impossible. Your at^-_
tempt, as will be seen, to screen yourself beneath the wing of your
commander, was as clumsy a ruse as that of the hunted ostrich,
which sticks its head into a heap of sand, while its carcass remains
exposed to view. You will comprehend the force of the compari-
son, and the public, ere I have done, shall understand it also.
You cannot, sir, thus hide yourself — not that you are so large, but
that the wing is too small.

Until within a few days of the sailing of the expedition, the
members of the scientific corps were kept in a state of painful un-
certainty. True, they had heard, in common with their country-
men, that the expedition, in your plastic hands, was to be made " al-
together scientific," and " entirely divested of its military charac-
ter ;>J but the latter they had already seen was a downright de-
ception practised upon the navy and the country, and their previ-
ous apprehensions that all was not fair, and frank, and honourable
towards themselves were now confirmed. You had not only failed
to observe the common decency of consulting with them, but they
themselves, and the sciences to which they had devoted years of
intense study, were rudely aspersed by your commander, who was
clothed with unlimited authority, whose views you and the presi-
dent sanctioned, and who was now in charge of this " altogether
scientific expedition."

484 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

A very short time before the day fixed for sailing, a few mem-
bers of the corps were cautiously informed that you would conde-
scend to see them in Washington on their way to join the squadron
at Norfolk. Among those who felt themselves invited was John
W. Randall, of Boston, one of the zoologists, to whom was confi-
ded the department of " Entomology, or insects of the land and
sea" The objects of the expedition being national, Mr. Randall
holding an appointment under government, and his visit being on
official business, I felt no hesitation in asking him, some time after
the departure of the expedition, to furnish me with a statement in
writing of what occurred between you during his stay in Washing-
ton. Everything connected with his visit and your interview was
of a public nature, and such as, under all the circumstances, it is
not only proper, but necessary, that the public should know. The
conversation which occurred on that occasion sheds a flood of light
upon the skulking, shameful manner in which you performed, or,
rather, neglected your duty.

Mr. Hale, the philologist, had also, about this time, repaired to
Washington. Your commander of the " altogether scientific" ex-
pedition had previously declared, in the plenitude of his authority
and scientific acumen, that philology, or the comparative study of
languages, was not worth the room its representative would occu-
py. Sir, I do not blame him : he knew not what he did, while he
knew too much to learn. He had probably never heard — assuredly
he did not know — that from this very science, the comparison of lan-
guage, the most important results had been derived ; and that re-
sults still more important were to be expected from it, all bearing
upon that most important of all subjects, the natural history of
man. I have said this much as an apology for your commander,
leaving you to make your own. Mr. Hale, without thanks to ei-
ther of you, was finally permitted to go. I now return to Mr.
Randall and his interview with you, and allow him to speak for
himself in the following literal abstract from his letter, dated at
Boston, September 20, 1838.

" As soon as Mr. Poinsett had returned from Norfolk, it was
agreed between Mr. Hale and myself that we should go respect-
ively and see him. Accordingly, Mr. Hale went first, it being
Saturday. ? Fr. Poinsett was very sorry to see him, but told him to

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 485

call on Mr. Paulding on Monday, and that, meantime, he himself
should have seen him ; moreover, requesting Mr. Hale to keep this
interview a secret, since he (Poinsett) did not wish to be consider-
ed responsible in relation to those gentlemen of the corps whom it
was determined to exclude from the expedition. He accordingly
told nobody but myself, whom he could not avoid telling, and yet
keep up that frankness with regard to his movements (ultimately
connected with mine) which our friendly relationship demanded.
He enjoined on me secrecy in my interview with Poinsett, which
took place on Monday instead of Saturday, because I could not
properly see him sooner without exciting suspicion in regard to
Hale. I took care, however, by what I said, to involve an appa-
rent ignorance of what had happened. I called first upon Mr.
Paulding, and asked him whether sailing orders had been made out
for me. Mr. Boyle, chief clerk, was called ; they could not be
found. I next asked whether any orders were to be made out. He
could not tell. * How shall I find out ?' said I. ' You had better
see Mr. Wilkes,' said he, ' for he has done pretty much as he
pleased in relation to the expedition.' I then called upon Poinsett.
Seeing he looked uneasy, I said to him, ' I will only take up two
or three minutes of your time, and have not called to ask whether
I may accompany the expedition, but whether I am required to ac-
company it, for I wish nothing that the government does not wish.'

" t Final arrangements, sir, have not been made.'

" ' Nevertheless, can you inform me in regard to myself; for it is
very necessary that I should know soon, and govern myself ac-
cordingly.'

" ' You had better wait and see Mr. Wilkes.'

" ' That I cannot do ; I hold my commission from other au-
thority.'

" * Mr. Paulding will make arrangements with regard to the
corps ; you had better see him, my interest here is but secondary.'

" ' I have seen Mr. Paulding, who says he knows nothing about
the matter. It will oblige me, sir, if you can even approximate
to a decision concerning me. Shall I probably be called upon V

," * I think, sir, you will not.'

" £ I was called on here, as I supposed, by your orders, in a letter
to Mr. Couthouy.'

" * Mr. Couthouy misunderstood mef This will tear: me to be
more careful next time.'

486 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

" ' But it has been very inconvenient.'

'"I am sorry for it.'

" * Our expenses have been great ever since we joined the expe-
dition.'

" ' I suppose so, and regret it ; but the government will be lib-
eral, I am assured.'

" ' Well, sir, I thank you for your frankness, which enables- me to
decide so soon on the course I am to take. I return to Boston
this afternoon. Good -morning, sir.'

" He thereupon wished me a good-morning, and I did return
that afternoon."

Sir, what a humiliating picture is here presented of the official
action of the head of one of the departments in the government
of this great nation. If conscious that you were faithfully per-^
forming your duty, why were you sorry to see Mr. Hale ? Above
all, why were you anxious to conceal the part you were then- act-
ing ? Call on Mr. Paulding / You had better see Mr. Wilkes !
Find arrangements are not yet made I Mr. Paulding will organ-
ize the corps ! My interest is only secondary here ! 1 don}t want
to take the responsibility of dismissing those members of the corps
whom it is determined to exclude from the expedition ! ! ! Don't
tell of me!!!

Sir, I give you credit for one thing : a sense of shame, combined
with a commendable desire to preserve your reputation. But the
end did not justify the means. You had no right — nay, the at-
tempt was dishonourable — to throw the responsibility on Mr. Paul-
ding. You know full well what a hurly-burly you and your com-
mander were in when that gentleman's appointment was first an-
nounced. You know what efforts were made to mature your
plans, so that no alteration could be made by Mr. Paulding, and
your famous proclamation was hurried out with a view to preclude
the possibility of his interference. All your miserable, short-
sighted alterations and plans were decided upon before Mr. Paul-
ding took his seat in the cabinet. Neither part nor lot in the mat-
ter belongs to him. It was impossible, from his sense of justice,
high order of intellect, and pure love of science, to expect his par-
ticipation in such meanness and such blunders. You know that
what I say is true, and dare not deny it.

And what, sir, did you mean by " You had better wait and see

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 487

Mr. Wilkes ?" Who gave your commander authority to render
himself, or, rather, the expedition, ridiculous in the eyes of every
man of sense in the country, by attempting, in the plenitude of his
vanity, to overrule all that had been maturely done by our scien-
tific societies and learned men in the selection of the members of
the corps and its organization ? I think, sir, it was rather a small
business for the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett to be thus hiding his head
tinder the wing of his newly-fledged commander. But I^shall not
Dermit you thus to escape. The broad pennant of your protege is
wot broad enough to conceal from the public your extraordinary
conduct ; extraordinary because it is difficult to conceive the mo-
tive which prompted it, though I may attempt to throw some light
upon that point before I close my communication.

It was surely uncandid to say that, up to the period of your in-
terview with Mr. Randall, final arrangements had not been made,
when previous to that time it had been determined, with your
knowledge and consent, if not by your suggestion, to exclude him
from the expedition. Who excluded him ? Who gravely decided
that his department was unworthy of being represented ? Had
any such opinion emanated from any of the learned societies, who
had been mocked by being first consulted, then occupied in ma-
king out reports, and then their recommendations slighted and
their plans rejected under the dictum of your erudite and scientific
commander ?

In the absence of all testimony except such as I may not use, I
can easily imagine the grave consultations which led not only to
the rejection of the palaeontologist and entomologist, but to that of
several other able members of the corps, and to the reorganization
of the remainder in accordance with the suggestions of ignorance,
egotism, malevolence, and spleen. I will try my hand at holding
the mirror up to nature, through the medium of a little dramatic
sketch.

Scene. A private parlour.

Dramatis persona. Honourable Joel R, Poinsett, Mahlon Dick-
erson, and Commander Wilkes.

Poinsett. Make fast the door and stand without ; we want no
witness here. And now, governor, opposed as we know you to be
to this expedition, and determined, if you could not defeat, to crip-

488 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

pie it, how did it happen that you allowed so large a scientific
corps to be appointed ? I find your name appended to all their
commissions. You have really given us a world of trouble ; be-
sides, there is some responsibility in this matter.

Dickerson. I'm sure, sir, the readiness with which I sign my
name to papers prepared by you and your worthy young friend,
ought to convince you of the impropriety of holding me responsi-
ble for all my official acts. The organization of the corps was not,
in fact, my work. I can't explain the matter fully, but I will in
part. The old chief, you must know, took a strange sort of notion
to the expedition. I always blamed Hamer, Couvin, and other
members from Ohio. Hamer, who, you know, was one of our
most efficient supporters in the House, was a warm friend of Rey-
nolds', and went for the expedition through thick and thin. Now
the old chief put a deal of confidence in Hamer, and used to con-
sult him more than me, though under the constitution I was one
of his constitutional advisers. But, besides talking with the old
chief himself about the expedition, he got permission for Mr. Rey-
nolds to talk with him also. Whether the old Roman got inocu-
lated in this way, or took the disease naturally, however, I cannot
positively say, nor is it now important. He was resolved, he said,
that the views of Congress and the country should be realized so
far as it depended upon him ; indeed, so warm did he get, that he
vowed the expedition should surpass rather than fall short of what
any other nation had done. As to the scientific board, he didrft
show me any particular deference, I assure you, but declared that
it should be the best in point of qualifications that the country
could produce. Another thing I think did harm. The French
government, you know, sent us a magnificent work, " The Voyage
of the Astrolabe," with its octavos, quartos, folios of science and
illustrations. A tedious affair, except the botany, which I found
pretty correct. As the work came to my department, I took it
over to the general. He looked at it about one pipeful, and then
said, " Well, governor" — he used to speak very familiarly to me —
" well, governor," said he, " as we have made King Phillippe pay
up the indemnity, we must beat him in exploring. The results of
this expedition must equal those before me. We must send a
work to France in return for this, no less splendid and profound."
Soon as I heard the general talk this way, I was sorry I had taken

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 489

him the books. The thing didn't work the way I wanted. I
meant to show the general what a small naval force the French
had in their expedition, so that he might cut off the Macedonian ;
but he wouldn't listen to me.

You have no idea how difficult it was to resist him in anything
he had once set his mind upon. I did all I dared. I delayed the
preparations ; harassed Commodore Jones ; sowed discord among
the officers ; made them jealous of the scientific corps by insinua-
ting that the latter would cheat them out of all the glory ; refused
to order any one to join the expedition ; released those who wish-
ed to back out ; rewarded those who abused Jones, Reynolds, and
the expedition with almost any service they desired ; allowed our
young commander to retain in his possession the instruments he
brought from Europe, instead of handing them over to Johnson,
for whose department they were intended ; corresponded sub rosa
with officers under Jones ; and when, after finding out my trickery
and the treachery of one of his subordinates, he arrested the latter,
the way I reinstated him was a caution to commodores. I was
afraid of Congress, however ; so I sent Jones his sailing instructions
before that body met. But I knew he couldn't sail, for I had con-
trived to keep out of his possession the very instruments by which
the vessels were to be navigated. Wilkes, you cunning fellow,
you helped me there. Had I time, I would tell you of a thousand
more capital tricks. As to the corps, the general compelled me to
appoint them. I took care, however, so to word their commissions
that they could not draw pay. I afterward did all in my power to
disgust them and drive them to resign, as I have no doubt each
one of them would testify. Nevertheless, as the old chief was in
favour of the expedition, I had to keep up appearances, and to
write and speak fair to the friends of the measure, while I took
care to retard matters as much as possible. .

I never openly tried to set the general against the undertaking
but once, and that was the first time the subject came up before
the cabinet after the law had passed. I told him it was the same
expedition that was so nearly ready, under Southard's supervision,
at the close of Adams's administration, and which would have ac-
tually got off had not Mr.. Woodbury and I cheeked it in the Sen-
ate, after the vessels were ready and the bill had passed the House.
I soaped the old man by telling him that this occurred just two

QQQ,

490 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

days before the commencement of his blessed reign. But it wouldn't
do. He seemed to be on his warhorse that day, for he said he
didn't care if Southard had been in favour of it; indeed, he was
glad of it, for it proved that he had been in favour of one good
thing. So you see clearly that I had to let the preparations go on
or lose my place ; and, much as I hated tiie expedition, I loved my
place more. Indeed, if the old chief had not been so much indis-
posed towards the close of his term, 1 am really of opinion that
the commissioners and I would have had to walk the plank. Af-
ter the fourth of March, however, when the general was fairly off
to the Hermitage, I bounded up like an India-rubber ball. I knew
that Martin cared nothing about the expedition, and if he did, that
he would not stir me up as the general had done.

Since that time you know pretty well how things have been
managed. You know all about our plan of sending five post cap-
tains, including the commissioners, to Norfolk, to prepare such a
report as would enable me to cut off the Macedonian. You know,
too, how they disappointed us ; indeed, we had a right to expect a
very different result. I always attributed their backing out, in a
good measure, to that confounded Reynolds, who attacked me at
that very time through the papers, and as good as told the com-
missioners what they might expect if they should report, as we an-
ticipated, in favour of reducing the squadron. The fact is, he told
a good many hard and unpleasant truths about me, though I did
deny most of them in the four letters I subsequently wrote in my
own praise, over the signature of UA Friend to the Navy." I
chose that nomme de guerre, because I thought it would be sure
to prevent any suspicion of my being the writer. But Reynolds
found me out and replied at me in such a manner that I could not
stand it ; so I addressed a letter to the editor of " The Times," and
begged him not to let any more of Reynolds's communications ap-
pear in his paper, and he did not. You may not be aware, for
you were not here, how I exaggerated the cost, with the hope of
influencing Congress against the appropriations ; but there, again,
that infernal Reynolds, or, rather, his backers, the Ohio dele-
gation, always defeated me. Remember the promise you gave
me : he must not go out in the expedition.

Poinsett. Well, governor, you have really had some awful stum-
bling-blocks in your way ; but there is one thing I do not under-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 491

stand : I find you have been in correspondence with all our learn-
ed societies, and that all the members of the corps have been high-
ly recommended by them. How happened that ? Reynolds never
interfered in that quarter, did he ?

Dickerson. I'll tell you how it occurred. Soon after the expe-
dition had been authorized by Congress, some of our most dis-
tinguished men, Professor Anthon, Daponceau, Pickering, De Kay,
and others, wrote to Reynolds, explaining their views as to the ex-
tent and composition of the corps. These letters Reynolds used
to put into the hands of Mr. Butler, who used to take more inter-
est in the scientific department of the expedition than I did, though
he doesn't know a petal from a calyx, and never studied botany.
Well, Butler showed these letters to the old chief, who took them
all for gospel, and declared so it should be. I thought, therefore,
the best thing I could do (for myself) was to write to the socie-
ties, and have the credit of asking their opinions. Especially, I
felt it my duty (as we say officially) to write to the "Philosophi-
cal Society of Philadelphia," of which, you know, I am a member.
Butler was the only man in the cabinet who ever opened his mouth
in favour of the expedition ; but he and the old chief were now
more than a match for the rest of us. I finally wrote a letter to
Martin, preferring a complaint against the attorney-general for in-
terfering with other people's departments. I don't mean any re-
flections on you, Mr. Poinsett, because you see the expediency of
my plans, and will stand by me. We have things our own way
at last, and we will show the societies we don't care a fig for their
recommendations. " Some things can be done as well as others,"
as Sam Patch said just before he drowned himself.

Poinsett' I thank you, governor, for your compliment, and for
the confidence you repose in me. I will carry out your plans,
because, in so doing, I am carrying* out my own. I have more
to do with this business than the public knows of. You know
I have bespoke the Macedonian for a friend of mine. That
matter is now fixed, though you came very near spoiling all by
giving the frigate and the whole squadron, pretty much as Jones
left it, to Captain Kearney. You know the way we arranged it
the night after you gave that promise. Our promptitude and ad-
dress on that occasion alone saved us. One day more, and Kear-
ney would have had the squadron in motion; but, between you and

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I and the commissioners, we got the hampers on him ! We have
been equally lucky in getting rid of Smith and Gregory. I must
admit that we did not treat Kennon, and Aulick, and Tattnall well ;
but the impression we have spread abroad, that the old officers
disliked the service, will do wonders in our justification. We must
keep that notion on the wing. Without indulging in any unbe-
coming self-complacency, I feel that the reputation I have ac-
quired by hanging out the banner, with the concessions made by
common consent in favour of my intelligence,^ love of science, and
liberality, will shield me against any charges of hostility to the en-
terprise that may be made against me. Indeed, under ordinary
circumstances, I do not think- 1 should be hostile to it. I have no
idea, however, of having a good measure forced upon a depart-
ment against the wish of its head, as this has been forced upon
you, governor. It is a dangerous precedent, and your case to-day
may be mine to-morrow. We have kicked the worst stumbling-
block from our path, however ; and, in placing our favourite in
command, we have received the entire control of the concern, and
can so shape the future records as to monopolize all the glory.
As we have raised the cry of economy, and pretended to go for a
reduction of the naval force, we must cut up the corps to corre-
spond ; and as that object called us together, let us take up the
list and proceed to business.

The « Palaeontologist"— ha ! ha ! ha ! Phoebus, what a name I—I
think you have already disposed of; the next department marked
" for consideration" is Entomology, or insects of the land and sea.
Wilkes, did you ever see any insects at sea $

Wilkes. No; I never saw a bug -si sea in my life, except some
cockroaches, when I made that short cruise in- the sloop-of-war
some eight or ten years ago. As to land-bugs, the sailors can pick
them up and stick pins through them just as well as one of the sci-
entifickers. I think that was the way D'Urville had it done ; and,
when he reached home, somebody worked up the bugs for him,
took their likenesses, and gave him all the credit. And as for
crabs and lobsters (crustacse I believe they call them), although
I have often seen crawfish and the like in foreign markets, and
along our seacoast while making important surveys (surveys much
more important than that of Gedney's Channel, about which such
a fuss is made, though it is a mere farce compared with my survey

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 493

of St. George's Banks, which I have just completed),! never heard
of their being dissected by other instruments than knives and forks,
and then, when properly cut up (with salad), and well mixed
with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and mustard, they are, as you know,
extremely delicious.

Dickerson. Yes, my dear commodore j but the scientific bodies
tell me that these animals are so important, in a geological as well
as a zoological point of view (thes,e are their very words), that
although, for my own part, I think, with the old proverb, that " the
proof of the pudding is in the eating," yet it is doubtful whether it
is expedient to strike off this branch altogether ; because, while
we can easily declare to the country, on the authority of our com-
mander, that no insects live in the sea, it wouldn't do to say that
crustacse don't. If we did, we should have all the fishermen in
our faces directly. Now our object, you know, is plausibly to un-
dermine every subdivision of the corps; some on the ground of
want of importance ; others, when that argument will not hold
good, on the score of there being no field to work on ; and thus,
by degrees, to get rid of the whole of them.

Wilkes. That's my idea exactly; and, were the matter left to me,
I could readily make an efficient scientific corps out of the middies,
by putting them under the tuition of the assistant surgeon for a
few days. As regards the crustacce, I would set the middies to
work, occasionally, of a Sunday afternoon, for instance, to haul
them up with dredges, and then, after putting by the duplicates to
be boiled for the officers' suppers, we would have the uniques bar-
relled up to be sent home. When they arrived, your excellency
(you would, I hope, have Paulding's place back again before that
time) might look up some naturalist of good talents and small in-
come to work them up by the time the expedition should return.
I promise you I will adopt all his views as my own, include them
in my work, and do his judgment the credit of fathering the- whole
with my own name, without inquiry, which you will see is no
small compliment, seeing that I shall be blamed for all the mistakes,
as wTell as commended by the scientific world for all the new views
and valuable details the work may contain.

Dickerson* That will do precisely ; and as for armelides,. and
arachnides, and myriapodes, and all the other podes, and ides, and
ologies that they have piled on Randall (fact is, I never heard be-

494 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

fore of any of them, which, from ray knowledge of botany, I must

have done had they existed), by the E 1, as the general says, I

have no hesitation, Wilkes, in declaring that they are all coined
names, got up by the corps to bamboozle us. So I will assert —
indeed, I have done so already — and raise all the prejudice I can
in the country against them.

Wilkes. So I say. I begin now to see that we shall be able to
manage things all our own way, governor. I move that the ento-
mologist be dismissed.

Dickerson. I second that motion. I hate bugs ; they eat up
flowers, and spoil botanical specimens. And now I should like to
propose that the rest of the corps should be got rid of in the same
manner ; but I suppose that won't do ; we should have too large a
wasp's nest about our ears. We had best, therefore, let a part go,
if only to diminish the opposition to us. As for the remainder, they
will gradually become silent when they see how little is to be
gained by complaints to the government. Though we have been
unable to break down the expedition entirely, we shall at least
have the satisfaction of dismembering it and of getting rid of Rey-
nolds. But what noise is that 7

Wilkes. What's the matter 1 You look frightened, governor.

Dickerson. I thought I heard the creaking of the general's boots
on the stairway. I wouldn't like to have him know what we are
now about. The very idea makes me shake in my shoes ; though
he's at the Hermitage, when I come to think of it.

Poinsett. It's only the flapping of the shutters, governor ; the
wind blows hard to-night. There, take something from the side-
board, and let's despatch this business at once. What say you to
Couthouy, the " conchologist, actinologist, and molachologist V
Did you not remark, governor, in one of your official papers, or
was it in one of your " Friend to the Navy" letters, in answer to
Citizen, that you wouldn't give a bit of dry dock for a mountain
of cockle shells and mollusca \

Dickerson. Ahem ! never mind the particulars. Couthouy's a
hard customer. In the very first letter he wrote to me, he said he'd
go in the expedition whether I gave him an appointment or not.
He'd find his place, he said, before it returned. He's a desperate
fellow. I believe he wouldn't mind shooting me if I were to pre-
vent his going. The fact is, he would be a formidable enemy, and

i"c

d'y

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 495

could say a good deal about ray manoeuvring* that is better unsaid*
For instance, I told him to buy a sixty dollar gun, and he bought
one for fifty-five dollars, so I wouldn't allow the bill because he
did not follow orders. Ha ! ha ! he ! Oh ! wasn't that capital 1
But it wouldn't tell well, you know ; and this is a mere sample of
what he might disclose.

Wilkes (after a long and dubious pause). Well, let him pass,
then ; but Hale — we can't let him go. We have hired an inter-
preter who Will be of ten times the service of all the filly — what

e call 'em— -fillyologists in Christendom.

Dicker son. You're right. That department should have been
vetoed at first. I once heard a New-Zealander, who had come to
this country in a whale-ship, talk his native dialect, and I don't
hesitate to aver that I never heard such unmeaning lingo in my
life. Ain't our very newspapers written in half a dozen different
languages already? I assure you I wouldn't willingly be the
cause of introducing any more ; but Duponceau, Professor Anthon,
the Honourable John Pickering, and others, have pushed this Hale
very hard in their letters, some of which have just been received,
and were written, you know, Poinsett, since our young commander
said he didn't think him worth the room he would take up.

Poinsett. I'll fix it so as to let him go. I would not like to
come under the lash of the men who back him.

Wilkes (half grumbling). Well, I won't object, since I'm to
have the honour of all the writings. I can write pretty well, that's
a fact ; though I don't know much about that humbug they call
grammar.

Poinsett. I have already scratched out Randall's name. What
say you to the comparative anatomist, Dr. R. Coates ? He is
highly recommended, and is said to be extensively and most fa-
vourably known to the profession.

Dickerson. Comparative nonsense ! We don't want any such
supernumerary. It's the business of the purser's steward to cut up
the meat on board a man-of-war, according to the revised code of
navy regulations which I approved : is it not so, Wilkes ? You
know.

Wilkes. Yes, governor, you're right; it is the business of the
purser's steward ; but you omitted one circumstance. The quar-
termaster, you know, stands by to see justice done; and, when one

496 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

lot of meat has more bone than another, one of the men turns his
back and shuts his eyes, while the quartermaster, pointing to the
bony heap or any other, inquires, " Who shall have this ?" and so
the matter is settled. Now the cleaver is the only instrument used
in these dissections, and the purser's steward can do the business
just as well as the anatomist.

Dickerson. I knew you'd say so, my young friend. Let the
anatomists dress wounds and give lectures in the hospitals. When
I studied the sciences, particularly botany, I never heard of such a
thing as comparative anatomy.

Poinsett. I have anticipated your decision. The name of Coates
is stricken from the list. The next is Professor W. R. Johnson,
" Natural Philosophy or Physical Science." What shall be done
with him and his department ?

Wil/ces. If I have any influence with you, let him be dismissed.
I pretend to know something about this " Natural Philosophy" my-
self. I can make pendulum observations, and that's the main
thing ; and I don't want any one on board who knows more about
it than I do. Besides, I owe this Johnson a grudge. Some years
ago I made some magnetical experiments on " Smith's Compass
Needle." I performed them on the most scientific principles, and
drew my conclusions from the most profound deductions. Taking
experiments, deductions, and conclusions together, there could be
no earthly doubt about my results. I expended much time and
labour on my report. My claims as a scientific man rested upon
it. I was proud of it, justly proud of it ; anybody would have been
proud of it ; Smith was proud of it. And what do you think was
done with this paper in Philadelphia ? Why, some institute or so-
ciety had the audacity to appoint Professors Bache and Henry, and
this same Johnson a committee to examine it. They did so, and
absolutely reported that my deductions were absurd ! Had they
ventured slightly to differ from me, I could have borne it, because
there may be differences of opinion even as regards experiments in
the exact sciences j but to say that the very reverse of my demon-
strations was true, which was tantamount to declaring that, so far
from being right, I was ridiculously wrong, was unbearable; If I
command the expedition, Johnson shall not go ! ! !

Dickevson* I fear it will be considered strange, if not contradic-
tory in me, that I cannot entirely concur with our young com-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 497

mander. You must bear in mind that I'm a member of the Philo-
sophical Society of Philadelphia, and once had the honour of read-
ing a paper on the Cryptogarnus of New-Jersey before its learned
members. I don't believe in newfangled lights in botany since
that day, and I have no doubt that the experiments of Johnson ou
our worthy friend's magnetical data were of the modern and spuri-
ous kind ; yet still I don't see the way clear in leaving out John-
son. Since I have been a member of the Philosophical Society of
Philadelphia, I have learned that he is very highly thought of by
such men as Professor Farrar, Professor Silliman, Professor Mitch-
ell, and Professor Henry. Besides, I am really fearful of even my
little share of the responsibility ; indeed, my responsibility is nearly
threadbare.

Poinsett. We need not fear the responsibility provided we keep
true to each other. How can any one find out who did it 1 Be-
sides, I mean to lay low, and bring Paulding in for a share ; and
you should remember, too, governor, we owe a great deal to our
young commander, as you call him, who agrees to do anything
and everything we wish. He will protest against Reynolds going
in the expedition. Our plan is, that Wilkes shall absolutely refuse
to take him, and then I will pretend that, as harmony is all-impor-
tant, he, for the sake of harmony, must be left out.

Dickerson. If that's the case — Johnson, off with him ! But I
must be permitted to tell the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia
I had no hand in it.

Poinsett. This looks well, and we have now got through with
all the business that strikes me at present. As to the artists, and
the disposition of that portion of the corps whom we permit to go,
why Wilkes may manage them as he likes. Let me impress upon
you, however, the importance of keeping our own counsel, and of
throwing as much mystery as possible around our doings, because,
it must be owned, we are a little vulnerable on some points. We
have not reduced the force as we intended ; on the contrary, we
have increased the force and reduced the scientific corps, which, in
truth, makes the enterprise less scientific, and more naval or mili-
tary. We have given Wilkes more enlarged powers, governor,
than you conceded to Jones. Wilkes has the privilege of choos-
ing his own officers ; this was refused to Jones. We have allowed
Wilkes and all his officers increased pay ; this was refused to

RRR

498 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

Jones. We have allowed Wilkes one additional schooner; this
\vas denied to Jones. I might enumerate other special privileges,
but these are enough to prove the necessity of caution. And now,
gentlemen, if you think of nothing farther, we will adjourn.

Dickerson. Nothing that I can think of. Paulding, you know,
has arrived, and I'm off in a day or two for Suc-a-Sunny. This
expedition has given me more trouble than all the other affairs of
my department. Boyle could do nearly everything else. The
public, no doubt, will be so glad to hear that the expedition is off,
that they won't inquire very particularly as to how we have got it
up. Matters must be so managed, that, if anything pretty hand-
some should come of it, we three shall have the credit ; and, if
unsuccessful, we will call the whole country to witness that we
were opposed to it. Amid all my troubles, and wear and tear of
reputation in endeavouring to defeat the undertaking, I have one
consolation— besides my abiding confidence in posterity — which is,
that, by holding back reports, refusing to travel in Florida for my
health, and keeping matters mussed up, I managed to keep Pauld-
ing out of office nearly six months after he was expected to super-
sede me, and thus secured three thousand dollars I should otherwise
have lost. So much for diplomacy.

And now let me, before I forget it, commend the commissioners
to your favourable regard. They can be relied on as against the
expedition, provided they are exonerated from responsibility. It's
well for them and for us that the old chief is not here. I some-
times start involuntarily in the midst of my scheming, forgetting
that he is safely housed at the Hermitage. I like Martin better ;
he don't stir me up as the general did. Your plan to leave out
Reynolds is good — capital. You know the strong recommendation
of him sent by the Western members of Congress to the president.
Pretend you never heard of it. And now, suppose we absquatu-
late. Wilkes, remember your promise to call an island after me.

Exeunt omnes.

Sir, I have had no intention, by this episode, of allowing you to
escape. You are the man responsible to the public, and must abide
the decision of that tribunal. I have called the foregoing scene
an imaginative sketch, yet I know, and you know, there are many
individuals who will recognise more of truth than fiction in its de-

LETTERS OP A CITIZEN. 499

tails. The noblest reward of the noblest minds is self-approval in
the contemplation of the past. Few, I opine, will be envious of
the little consolation in store for you from such a source. Reflect
on the position you occupy, the high expectation which your for-
mer character had inspired, the opportunity and power you pos-
sessed of bringing order out of chaos, of securing the gratitude of
the navy, the thanks of the country, and the homage of the lovers
of science, not only at home, but in every portion of the civilized
world ; and then contemplate, if you can, without feeling your
cheeks burn with shame, the attitude in which you have placed
yourself by acting as a tender to Mahlon Dickerson. In the re-
jection of Mr. Randall, if you do not plead consummate ignorance,
then are you self-convicted of gross neglect of official duty. Such
is the dilemma, remember, upon one horn of which you are doom-
ed to hang during the remainder of your days ; and, while thus
hanging, the label pinned upon you shall read, " Be it known, at
home and abroad, that to the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett exclu-
sively belongs the unenviable distinction of having laid the last
hostile hand upon a noble enterprise, designed to enrich the field
and enlarge the boundaries of human knowledge."

In your estimation, the department of entomology was not wor-
thy of a representative on board a great national expedition, de-
signed by Congress to be perfect in all its details, and for which
the most ample funds had been provided. Would that in charity
I could believe you had no just or adequate conception of the vast
range of research embraced by this rejected branch. Sir, it is not
for the purpose of inflicting pain on you that I write. But, while
I could feel no pleasure in beholding you writhe and your lips lick
the dust in contrition, still I owe a duty to the cause of science,
which you have rudely trampled upon, and to the feelings and
pride of the service, which you have grossly injured and insulted,
that will not permit me to suffer you to escape unwhipped of
justice.

And how shall we estimate the extent and value of this discard-
ed department of entomology ? Surely by the importance attach-
ed to it by the scientific of all civilized countries, and the number
and characters of the men who have devoted their lives to its
study. By this ordeal must your decision be tried.

You cannot object to the authority of Cuvier, at once the most

500 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

classical, minute, and philosophical of naturalists ; whose name,
indeed, is but another term for all that is excellent and profound
in Natural History. Look at his great work, "Regne Animal" in
four volumes — 2042 pages. Look at the divisions of his work :
the introduction embraces 32 pages ; the catalogue of authors,
120 pages, leaving 1890 for the work proper. Of these, 950
pages are devoted to ENTOMOLOGY, or Jlnnellides, Crustacce, and In-
sects, which belonged to Mr. Randall's department : Annellides,
30 pages ; Crustaca, 158 pages ; Jlracknides, 63 pages ; Insects (or
bugs, to speak a la Dickerson), 674 pages ; so that you will per-
ceive this rejected department equals in extent all the others in the
animal kingdom ; and, if the more extended details of the former
portion of the work be taken into consideration, actually exceeds
them ! ! ! Wishing to make a final disposition of you while I have
you in hand, I have thus gone into statistics, for the purpose of
rendering the subject more tangible, and leaving you without a
shadow of defence.

Do you object to this mode of judging by the number of pages ?
I own that in many works — and not a few official documents — such
a method might seem unjust, but not so in such a well-proportion-
ed and erudite work as the " Regne Animal" of Cuvier. The
combination of distinguished authors who prepared it for publica-
tion did not permit one portion of the work to suffer on account of
another.

It is true, sir, your dictum would have little weight apart from
the appendages of office ; but, as it cannot be viewed in that light,
and might, therefore, be regarded as authority, and become a
precedent, I deem it proper still farther to indicate to you and to
the country the accumulated weight of authority by which you are
opposed, leaving you to enjoy whatever of self-complacency may
result from the comparison.

On the one side we have the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, sup-
ported by Governor Dickerson and Lieutenant Wilkes : formidable
authority ! If any one of the three has written upon the subject
of Entomology, his labours, I believe, have not yet seen the light.

On the other hand, the limits of my letter, already extended far-
ther, probably, than you desired, will only permit me to notice a
portion of the works which have been written on Entomology. A
mere catalogue of their names would fill many pages. Indeed, I

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 501

have made a catalogue of nearly one thousand works on this branch
of Natural History, written by several hundred authors, and are not
half the number it would be easy to collect with a little more re-
search.

Aristotle paid great attention to the animals coming under this
head, and made a classification of them. Others of the ancients
after his time were not unmindful of them. Since the new dawn
of science we have Linnreus, Thumberg, Pallas, Swammerdaraj
Reaumur (one of the most classic of naturalists), Baron Degier,
Ray, Fourcroy, Fabricius, Brogniart, Desmarest, Kirby and Spence,
M'Leay, Strauss, Durckheim, Andouin, Geoffroy, St. Villaire, Walek-
enaer, De Serres, Savigni, Cuvier — but it is needless to mention the
names of eminent men, ancient or modern, who have devoted their
talents to this subject, especially as it is now ascertained, on the au-
thority of Joel R. Poinsett, secretary of war, Mahlon Dickerson,
ex-secretary of the navy, and member of the Philosophical Soci-
ety of Philadelphia, and Lieutenant Wilkes, commander of the " al-
together scientific expedition," that these arduous labours in the
cause of science were valueless ! Sir, I do you no wrong ; such is
the only interpretation your decision will bear, unless you acknowl-
edge a wilful neglect of duty.

Again, sir, while treating thus lightly individual authority, you
should have recollected that there exists an Entomological So-
ciety in Paris, and another in London, each comprising hundreds
of members, who publish their transactions annually, and have
their agents and correspondents in all parts of the world. I have
not yet heard, however, that they have furnished their agents with
three-foot rules, for the purpose of ascertaining by measurement
the precise scientific value of what they may discover ; on the con-
trary, I doubt if they place a higher estimation upon the great lob-
ster, near eight feet long, caught in the Seine a few years back, than
upon the smallest insect that enjoys the light and air of heaven.
So much, indeed, is the study of smaller animals necessary, ere the
principles of zoology can be generalized, that the French govern-
ment has recently directed about twenty naturalists to complete a
new work on natural science, in sixty volumes, to be exclusive-
ly devoted to the lower order of animals. This work is now near-
ly ready for the press. I will give you a specimen of the arrange-
ment:

502 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

Introduction to Entomology, by Lar Cordaire, 2 vols. ; Caleopte-
ra> Beetles, by Count Degean, several volumes ; Hymenoptera, Bees
and Wasps, Serville, 2 vols ; Diptera, Flies, by Macquart, 2 vols. ;
Lepidoptera, Butterflies, by Brisduval, 4 vols. ; Archnides, Spiders,
by Baron Walcheneer ; Crustacas, Crabs and Lobsters, by Edwards,
several volumes ; Mollusca, by Blainville, &c., &c., &c., &c. Able
and extended as this work will be, it will actually, as regards most
of the subjects embraced, contain little more than mere outlines, i.
e., physiology, history, classification, generic description, leaving
out the species with the exception of new or typical ones.

Now, either from a total want of knowledge, or in contempt
of duty, you, sir, as minister of a department, charged with
fitting out a great national expedition, in character (according to
your own showing) " altogether scientific," struck from the corps
the entomologist, who had long been appointed, and was prepared,
at an hour's notice, to go on shipboard. You feared, it might be
supposed, that his intellect should become mouldy for want of em-
ployment in a field of research not considered too limited for the
labours of a score of the first European savans for a term of ten
years ! What a compliment to American genius, or else what a
reflection upon European stupidity ! If the learned societies of this
country and of Europe do not award to you some distinguishing
token of the estimation in which they hold you, it will not be
owing, I am sure, to any want of desert on your part. You have
richly merited a conspicuous mark of their sovereign contempt.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

'
XXI.

To the Honourable Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War.

SIR,

All that I said in my last letters in relation to the palaeontolo-
gist and entomologist, and the degrading ignorance or unpardona-
ble malevolence which led to their dismissal from the scientific
corps of the expedition, would apply with more than equal force
(as I would show, did time and space permit) to the department

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 503

of Comparative Anatomy, Dr. R. Coates, and Natural Philoso-
phy, Professor Johnson. On the return of the expedition to the
United States, you will probably find more leisure to review these
matters than when your war capacities were so severely taxed in
directing the military campaigns of Florida. Unfortunately for the
Seminoles, you will then have ceased to control the movements of
the " Southern army."

I propose, however, in closing this correspondence, to say a few
words in relation to another individual who, it was supposed, had
some claims to a place in the expedition. Were I to defer to your
wishes and feelings, this point, I am aware, would be passed over
in silence ; but truth and justice demand plain dealing in this as
well as the other matters connected with the expedition. You
have not forgotten that, about two weeks before the squadron sail-
ed, I addressed a letter to you in reference to myself, of which the
following is a copy :

" New- York, July 30, 1838.
"SIR,

" It is now about two months since a letter was sent to the pres-
ident by a portion of the Western delegation in Congress, in refer-
ence to my position in the South Sea Expedition. As neither my
friends nor myself have received any answer. I would respectfully
inquire what determination, if any, has been made in reference to
my appointment. If it be determined that I shall hold no station,
either with or without duties defined and a salary attached, then
and in that case I beg leave respectfully to inquire if I may be
permitted to accompany the expedition in the capacity of a volun-
teer, without compensation, without duties defined, and at my own
expense, in which capacity, as volunteer, I will ask no other con-
sideration or protection from the department or the commander than
is guarantied by the rules of the service to a sailor before the mast.
An answer to the above is respectfully requested at your earliest
convenience, as I should like a few days for preparation.
. " I am, vfcry respectfully, your obedient servant,

: "J.N.REYNOLDS.

" Honourable Joel R. Poinsett."

Subjoined is your reply :

504 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

" Washington, August 1, 1838.
" SlR,

" I have had the honour to receive your letter of the 30th July,
and, in reply, assure you that I knew nothing of the application in
relation to your situation in the Exploring Expedition made by
your friends in Congress. I received myself a letter from a gen-
tleman in Ohio, asking that you should be appointed commercial
agent, to go out with the expedition ; but I knew the president had
decided that no such officer should be appointed, nor could I, with
my views of the subject, recommend such a measure to his favour-
able consideration.

" Being about to take my departure from Washington, and ex-
pecting to be absent some weeks, I addressed a letter to the sec-
retary of the navy, in which I expressed my opinion of the compo-
sition of the scientific corps : their number and description, but
without designating the persons. I think he ought, and presume
he will, be governed in his choice by the wishes of the commander
of the squadron, for it is essential to the success of the expedition
that the utmost harmony should exist between the naval officers
and the members of that corps.

" Your desire to accompany the expedition is natural, and, under
ordinary circumstances, your having, in some measure, originated
the design, would give you a strong claim to be indulged in your
wishes ; but all subordinate considerations must yield to the para-
mount one of conducting the expedition to a successful issue.

" Your letter has been sent to the Navy Department.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" J. R. POINSETT.

« J. N. Reynolds, Esq., New- York."

How puny, evasive — I had almost said cowardly — is this reply.
You knew nothing of the application made to the president by my
friends in Congress, except what you learned from somebody in
Ohio ! ! While in courtesy I am bound to believe you, I feel dis-
posed that the public should know how well informed you make
yourself on public matters before you come to a decision. That
you had conferred with President Van Buren in reference to me is
admitted in your letter, where you say, " but I knew that the pres-
ident had decided that no such officer (as commercial agent) should

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 505

be appointed, nor could /, with my views of the subject, recommend
such a measure to his favourable consideration"

Sir, I will not undertake the delicate task of inquiring what
honourable and intelligent men will think or say of you, when in-
formed that at the very time when you and President Van Buren
were discussing this matter, the following, among other papers,
were in his possession, if not actually lying on the table before you.
The ingrained opposition of ex-Secretary Dickerson to the ex-
pedition had shown itself towards me from no other cause than the
humble and independent efforts I had made in favour of the enter-
prise. It may have been, in some measure, owing to this wayward-
ness of the ex-secretary that these memorials and letters, without
any agency of mine, were drawn up and sent to the president.
They were signed by men of both parties, in a generous spirit of
justice, for which I have ever felt and now feel a deep sense of
gratitude.

To his Excellency the President of the United States.

" The undersigned, members of Congress from the State of Ohio,
avail themselves of this occasion to express their gratification upon
learning that the Exploring Expedition, authorized by a recent act
of Congress, is about to be fitted out in a manner worthy of our
great republic.

" They feel it to be a duty which they owe, as well to their con-
stituents the people of Ohio as to their common country, to re-
mind the administration of the claims of J. N. Reynolds, Esq., to
a prominent place in the proposed expedition. His long and ar-
dent services in calling public attention to this question, and urging
its adoption by Congress ; his zeal and untiring industry in collect-
ing information in reference to it ; his intimate acquaintance with
all the interests of the commercial community (between whom and
himself there exists a long and intimate intercourse), whose inter-
ests are afloat in those seas ; the kind relations subsisting between
him and most of the scientific men and societies of our large cities,
as well as his personal acquaintance with the South Seas, and his
unusual mass of information in regard to their localities, eminently
qualify him to be placed at the head of the civil corps which is to
accompany the squadron.

" The services and qualifications of Mr. Reynolds have been ac-

506 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

knowledged by every committee who have reported upon the sub-
ject, and are appreciated by Congress and the whole country.

" The undersigned believe that they express as well their own
sentiments and those of their constituents, as of the friends of the
expedition generally, in asking that Mr. Reynolds be placed at the
head of the civil and scientific corps, having a general superin-
tendence over, and that he be authorized to write the history of
the expedition, having such rank, powers, and compensation, as
the administration may think proper to bestow.

" Respectfully, your obedient servants,

" Benjamin Jones, William K. Bond, Thomas Corwin, R. Storer,
Josh. H. Crane, T. L. Hamer, S. Mason, Samuel F. Vinton,
Elias Ho well, John Chaney, William Patterson, David Spangler,
Elisha Whittlesey, I. Sloane, William Hermon, J. M'Lene, John
Thomson, Taylor Webster, Daniel Kilgore.

" July 2d, 1836."

To his Excellency Andrew Jackson.

"Sra,

" In the Exploring Expedition which has been ordered out under
the direction of the general government, we would respectfully
recommend J. N. Reynolds, Esq., as the chief of the civil appoint-
ments.

" The unremitting zeal of this gentleman in the cause of his coun-
try and of science, his former experience as a navigator, his scien-
tific acquirements and capacity, would seem to us to point him out
as the person most deserving the appointment.

u J. Fry, Jun., Jos. Henderson,

J. B. Anthony, J. Miller,

Edward B. Hull, Henry A. Muhlenburg,

J. R. Ingersoll, H. L. Pinckney,

A. Beaumont, John Reynolds,

George Chambers, R. Johnson,

E. Darlington, A. Huntsman,

David Potts, Jun., Francis Thomas,

J. B. Sutherland, Dutee J. Pearce,

Isaac M'Kim, William Sprague,

John M'Keon, A. Vanderpool,

G. W. Owens, William L. May,

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 507

Ely Moore, Z. Carey,

Samuel Barton, George L. Kinnard,

R. H. Gillet, A. Lane,

J. Y. Mason, John Cramer,

James Harper, C. C. Cambreleng,

John Reed, J. Toucry,

Benjamin C. Howard, R. Boon/'

A. Ward,

*/

To the President of the United States

House of Representatives, 2d July, 1836.
« SIR,

'• I have learned with pleasure that the Expedition to the South
Seas will be despatched in due time, and that you have directed
it to be fitted out as becomes the interest and character of the
country over which you preside. Yes, I rejoice that you have
done so, for I sincerely believe that no act of Congress for years
has been so honourable to our national character, none that will
reflect more credit on your administration ; as the undertaking will
attract the eyes of the whole civilized world, and its results be-
come matters of interest and of record in every part of Christen-
dom.

" To be appointed at once, with a liberal allowance, to the first
place in the civil department of this expedition, I beg leave strong-
ly to recommend my friend J. N. Reynolds, Esq.

" In reference to this gentleman I must be permitted to speak
with freedom, for I have known him long and intimately. His
labours in this cause, so perseveringly continued, are well known
to the whole country ; in an especial manner are they known and
appreciated by the whole of that portion of our fellow-citizens in-
terested in the commerce of the Pacific, and who have expressed
so much interest in having this expedition fitted out.

"I was in Providence in October, 1834, when Mr. Reynolds
made an address before that body, for the purpose of getting an
expression of the Legislature of my state in its favour ; which
was readily given, as the people of Rhode Island take a lively
interest in the undertaking.

" From that period to the present session and final action of
Congress on this subject, I have held with Mr. Reynolds a con-

503 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

stant correspondence, and Mr. R. has at all times consulted with
me as to the steps necessary to be taken to effect the object for
which he has laboured so long.

" At the last session I made a report in favour of the expedition
from the committee on commerce, which was not acted on by the
House for want of time.

" At the present session Mr. Reynolds again conferred with me,
procured a recommendation from the Legislature of New-Jersey,
and, when he arrived in this city, I agreed with him that it was the
best plan to commence in the Senate, which was accordingly done.
The result, since that time, is known to you. The measure passed
by an overwhelming vote of both houses, and has been much ap-
proved in all sections of the country. These are some of the cir-
cumstances which enable me to speak so strongly in favour of Mr.
Reynolds, whose labours and sacrifices in this cause have made
him well known to the members of this House. I do not hesitate
to say that to his efforts, more than any man living, is the country
indebted for the successful prosecution of the measure before
Congress.

" These facts made known to you, it will, I am sure, no longer
be a question as to the part which shall be assigned to. him* The
organization of the scientific corps could not be committed to
better hands ; and especially do I wish that to him may be assigned
the duty of writing the official account of the cruise.

" With great consideration and respect,.
" I am your friend,

" DUTEE JL PEARCE."

To the President of the United States.

" House of Representatives^ 3d July, 1836.

"Sm,

" I beg leave respectfully to recommend J. N. Reynolds, Esq.,
for the chief of the civil appointments connected with the Ex-
ploring Expedition to be sent out to the South Seas. In this I am
governed by a desire to see merit adequately rewarded in the ap-
pointment of a gentleman whose past services and scientific nau-
tical researches appear to point him out as one who has earned
the place and is eminently qualified to fill it»

" The friends of Mr. Reynolds, particularlv in the western coun-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 509

try where he was raised, have long admired the ability and utility
which have attended his devotion j and, I may add, they would be
much gratified if this meritorious son of the West could be placed
in a situation where he might earn still higher distinction for him-
self, and, at the same time, confer greater advantages upon his
country.

" With sentiments of the highest esteem,

" Your friend and most obedient servant,

" GEORGE L. KINNARD."

To the President.

" Senate Chamber, Washington, 3d July, 1836.
«SlR,

"I would inform the president that many of my constituents
feel a deep interest in the Exploring Expedition authorized during
the present session, and which I understood the executive has de-
cided to fit out the present season j and that, having a high opin-
ion of the character and qualifications of J.. N. Reynolds, Esq.,
and of his capabilities to be useful in said expedition, I respectfully
recommend him to the president for the highest civil appointment
connected with the expedition ; and will add, that his appointment
will afford me personally much gratification.
" I have the honour to be,

" Respectfully, your obedient servant,

" JOHN M. NILES."

« Washington, 5th July, 1836.

" DEAR SIR,

" I enclose you several papers in relation to the appointment of
J. N. Reynolds, Esq., as chief of the civil and scientific corps
which goes out with the exploring squadron to the South Seas.

" No. 1 is the unanimous recommendation of the representatives
from Ohio (without distinction of party) that he be thus appointed.

" No. 2 is the recommendation of some forty or fifty members
of Congress from other states, asking for him the same station.
This paper was got up without the knowledge of Mr. Reynolds or
any of the Ohio delegation, and I have no doubt a hundred addi-
tional names could have been obtained, if any one had taken the
trouble to circulate it through the House. It was not deemed ne-
cessary, and was not therefore done.

510 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

" It contains the names of a majority of representatives from
Indiana, of Illinois, and Rhode Island; of a great portion of Penn-
sylvania ; and of gentlemen of distinction from a majority of the
other states of the Union.

" No. 3 consists of letters from gentlemen of respectability and
science, from various quarters of the country, to the same effect.
They all speak the same language and breathe the same spirit.

" These documents, taken together, leave no doubt of the state
of public opinion upon this question. All who have reflected
much upon the subject feel the necessity of an efficient organiza-
tion, with a responsible chief, to produce unity and harmony of ac-
tion. All who are aware of the large space which Mr. Reynolds
fills in the public eye, in connexion with the great enterprise, at
once point to him as the most suitable person to fill this station ;
that he ought to obtain it (in the character of commercial agent, or
such other as may be thought advisable), and be allowed to write
the history of the expedition, I have never doubted for a moment.

" Few persons seem to be aware of the immense importance of
this expedition to our national character. It will rivet the atten-
tion of every intelligent man in Christendom for years to come,
and it will be looked upon hereafter as an epoch in our history.
It will surprise the elder nations of Europe to see that a new peo-
ple like us have undertaken this voyage. But how much will
their wonder be increased to perceive that we have organized it
upon a plan which, for enlargement of conception, liberality of
sentiment, and efficiency of action, renders it decidedly superior to
anything of the kind which they have attempted.

" That this great undertaking may redound to the honour of
your administration, and to the glory, happiness, and prosperity of
our beloved country, is the ardent prayer of

" Your excellency's obliged friend

" And obedient servant,

» T. L. HAMER.

"To his Excellency Andrew Jackson."

Sir, 1 here repeat what I have said in another place, viz., that
you shall not shift the responsibility from your own shoulders to
those of Mr. Paulding, much less shall you screen yourself behind
your commander, whose excessive vanity is only equalled by the

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 511

shallowness of his attainments in science, and notorious want of
professional experience and ability, and whose opposition to my
being a member of the expedition was only in part payment of
the favours showered upon him by ex-Secretary Dickerson and
President Van Buren, to the neglect of older, abler officers. Your
pretended reference of my letter of July 30th to the Navy Depart-
ment, with your presumption that the secretary would, and your
opinion that he ought to be governed by the wishes of Lieutenant
Wilkes, will pass for just what it is worth. In no one will it ex-
cite more surprise than in Mr. Paulding himself, who wrote me, in
reply to my letter referred to him by you, under date August 6th,
as follows :

" You are aware that the expedition was already reorganized on
its present plan previous to my coming here, and that it was deter-
mined to make no alterations."

That the public may be still better qualified to judge how likely
it is that you knew nothing of the remonstrances made to the pres-
ident by my friends in Congress, I will here present for their peru-
sal a paper in addition to those already given.

To his Excellency Martin Van Buren, President of the United States.

" The undersigned, members of Congress from the West, beg
leave once more, very respectfully, though earnestly, to call the
attention of the administration to the claims of J. N. Reynolds,
Esq., to a prominent place in the Exploring Expedition. This
measure was early and warmly supported by the West. It was
originated and first called to the attention of Congress by one of
her sons. She still continues to feel an interest, and still indulges
the hope that it may be so equipped as not to disappoint the just
expectations of the country: she still hopes to see it depart in
skilful and experienced hands, unshorn of its naval or scientific
strength. Congress has made repeated appropriations, which leave
no doubt of the hold of the expedition upon the science, the intel-
ligence, and pride of the nation.

" The whole Ohio delegation, as well as many other members
of the House, immediately after the passage of the law authorizing
the measure, addressed communications to the late executive.
After congratulating him on account of the interest he took in
directing the expedition to be fitted out in a manner worthy ' our

512 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

great republic,' they proceeded to call his attention to the claims
of one who had done so much in calling public attention to the
importance of the enterprise, and in urging its adoption by Con-
gress. The friends of the measure knew the important part Mr.
Reynolds had acted, and they were influenced not more by a sense
of justice than a desire for the success of the enterprise, in asking
for Mr. Reynolds a prominent portion in it. The commercial in-
terests of the United States in the seas to be visited are well known
to the executive ; they are immense, and still susceptible of great
extension. In asking that Mr. Reynolds be placed at the head of
the civil department attached to the expedition, was only asking, in
other words, that he should receive the appointment of commercial
agent. Until recently, many of us supposed that station had been
assigned to him ; that he ought to have it, and be authorized to
write the official account of the expedition, we have never doubt-
ed. That he is eminently qualified to perform these duties, under
the sanction and regulations of the department, cannot be doubt-
ed ; that he has abundantly earned the distinction which they
would confer upon him will admit of as little question.

" Mr. Reynolds has uttered no complaints to his friends, and it
has not been until since the passage of the last bill of appropria-
tion that they became aware of the actual position the secretary
of the navy had assigned him ; and not even then, till the discus-
sions in the House seemed to leave some doubt whether he was to
accompany the expedition in any capacity had led to direct in-
quiries upon the subject. Any officer conversant with the history
of this expedition, and knowing the relation Mr. Reynolds has
maintained to it, both in and out of Congress, and should object to
his participating largely in its labours, would, from that fact, in the
opinion of the undersigned, be himself unfit to command ; and the
interests of the expedition and the honour of the country would,
in all probability, be best consulted by his dismissal, and the sup-
plying of his place by one of more just, liberal, and enlarged
views.

" The undersigned have learned with deep regret, that to Mr.
Reynolds, the originator, the indomitable advocate, who has for
so long a time persevered against every discouragement, whose
knowledge upon the subject has been so fully appreciated by com-
mittees and members of Congress, and has enlisted so large a share

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 513

of public feeling throughout the country, has received from the
department the meager, unmeaning appointment of < correspond-
ing secretary to the commander,' to perform such duty on the ex-
pedition as the justice or caprice of a commander might direct;
while the names and duties of all others composing the scientific
corps, as well as juniors in command, were conspicuously named
in the general instructions for the guidance of the expedition, were
thus recognised by the department in a document to be preserved
in all coming time ; but in that list and in that document the
name of J. N. Reynolds, we learn, is nowhere to be found ; that
no duties were assigned him by the secretary ; in a word, that the
action of the department, whether intended or not, would go to
show that Mr. Reynolds was not recognised by government, or
known in the enterprise, except only so far as he had an order in
the form of an appointment from the secretary, directing him to
report to the commander for duty.

" The undersigned forbear farther comment on this subject, and
content themselves with protesting in the name of their constitu-
ents the people of the West, as well as in their own names, against
the continuance of such obvious injustice to their fellow-citizen,
who has, in their opinion, earned far different treatment at the hands
of government. They are aware that many difficulties have thus
far attended the fitting out of the expedition : upon these difficul-
ties they feel no disposition to dwell. It is enough for them to call
the attention of the president to the subject, in a spirit of frankness
and kindness, feeling assured that their communication will be re-
ceived in the same spirit, and that the president will at once give
such directions as will be satisfactory to all the parties concerned.

" Very respectfully, &c.,
" Thomas Corwin, Ohio. Thomas L. Hamer, Ohio.

James Alexander, Jun., Ohio. J. Ridgeway, Ohio.

Alexander Harper, Ohio. William Key Bond, Ohio.

Daniel Kilgore, Ohio. Calvary Morris, Ohio.

J. W. Allen, Ohio. D. P. Leadbetter, Ohio.

William H. Hunter, Ohio. P. G. Goode, Ohio.

Charles D. Coffin, Ohio. S. Mason, Ohio.

A. W. Snyder, Illinois. Thomas Morris, Ohio.

William Allen, Ohio. 0. H. Smith, Indiana.

John Tipton, Indiana. Lucius Lyon, Michigan.

514 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

James Rariden, Indiana. William Herod, Indiana.

William Graham, Indiana. R. Boon, Indiana.

George H. Dunn, Indiana. Albert S. White, Indiana.

William L. May, Illinois. Zaclok Casey, Illinois.

John Chancy, Ohio. J. Webster, Ohio.
E. Whittlesey, Ohio.

" Washington, May 1st, 1838."

To J. N. Reynolds, Esq.

" New- York, Nov. 12th, 1837.

" DEAR SIR,

" The members of the scientific corps attached to the Southern
Exploring Expedition have, with deep regret, understood that you
entertain some idea of resigning the commission by which you are
at present associated with us.

" Without pausing to inquire whether the position in which you
are placed by that document is such a one as, in justice to your
unwearied exertions for the success of this great national enter-
prise, should have been assigned to you, we would earnestly re-
quest you to reflect farther upon the subject before making a final
decision.

" That you would of necessity occupy a prominent station in the
expedition has so long been considered by us, in common with the
whole country, as a point beyond all question, the present contin-
gency takes us wholly by surprise ; and we have heard, with not
less astonishment than grief, that in the official list of the civilians
connected with this undertaking, the name of J. N. Reynolds is
nowhere to be found. Upon the manifest injustice of this omission
no comments are requisite. We believe that through the length
and breadth of our land, wherever the name of the Exploring Ex-
pedition has been mentioned, every voice will be lifted up against
it. Neither is it required that we should enter into a detail of the
many reasons for which we consider your accompanying it to be of
the utmost importance to the harmony and eventual success of the
expedition. Permit us, however, to assure you that such is our
conviction, and to express our sincere hope that the knowledge of
this fact may induce you to sacrifice your present views and feel-
ings in this matter to the wishes of the corps, and to consent to
retain a position which, however it may fall short of what in jus-

LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 515

tice should be yours, will secure to us your co-operation in carrying
out successfully the great objects of the voyage. Our country,
never forgetful of the claims of her children, will, we cannot doubt,
in the end award you all that is so justly your due, however it may
be attempted to deprive you of it at present. Trusting that our
appeal, therefore, may produce the desired effect, we remain, dear
sir, with the highest respect and esteem,

" Your sincere friends,

" Alfred T. Agate, Joseph P. Couthouy, Reynell Coates, James D.
Dana, Asa Gray, J. W. Randall, James Eights, Horatio Hale,
Raphael Hoyle, W. R. Johnson, Charles Pickering, J. Drayton."

Sir, in sheer compassion for you, I will suppress the evidence in
my possession, additional to the preceding, that you were address-
ed directly and personally, in reference to my appointment, by the
Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, and will close this letter with the
remarks of the Cincinnati Republican, a paper that had uniformly
given you and the president an able support.

" This appeal or remonstrance, for it is a little of both, was sent
to the president early in May last ; but its publication has been
withheld until the present moment, in the hope that justice would
have been done Mr. Reynolds. But we learn that it is determined
that Mr. Reynolds shall not accompany the expedition, and the
communication, though signed by a majority of the delegates in
Congress from the West, who are friendly to the administration,
has not received the courtesy of a notice from the president.

" When we take into consideration the uniform support the ex-
pedition has always received from the West, and especially from
the Ohio delegation, who took an interest in the enterprise from
the fact that it had been originated and successfully prosecuted by
a native of Ohio, the conduct of the executive seems almost unac-
countable. Here are the wishes of the almost entire delegation of
the northwestern states strongly and manfully expressed. On
what ground of petty jealousy are the demands of this letter de-
nied ? Was it to gratify a secretary notoriously opposed to the
expedition from the moment it was projected, and whose ground
of hostility to Mr. Reynolds was mainly owing to the fact that he
had again and again defeated him before Congress ? We assign
no other reason for the conduct of the president in this case.

516 LETTERS OF A CITIZEN.

" Of the arrangements which have given dissatisfaction, the ap-
pointment of Lieutenant Wilkes to the command, over the heads of
his seniors and superiors in every respect, is not the least reprehen-
sible. Why was he selected 1 Was it because he was ready to do
the bidding of an incompetent secretary 1 This is no party meas-
ure. Strong men on both sides have been and are its supporters.
The country at large bears the expense, and has a right to ask why
matters have been thus managed. The people of Ohio have a
voice in the matter, and a right to inquire if injustice has been
done to one of her citizens — the author of the measure — who has,
by his researches and publications, fixed milestones and guide-
boards for those to carry on the expedition who have now got pos-
session of it, without the magnanimity to do justice to its projector.
The conduct of the managers of this affair towards Mr. Reynolds
will find no response from honourable men. They may do him
wrong, but cannot put him down ; for, going or staying, his triumph
has been complete. The spirit which his labours has awakened
will not sleep ; for, whatever is done in this expedition, or by others
which may and no doubt will follow, for the extension and security
of commerce and the acquisition of scientific knowledge, the coun-
try will not forget to whom it has been mainly owing."
Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant and fellow

CITIZEN.

RETUiv

— •— — —

Renewed

14 DAY

TO DESK FROM Wl

on