New-York daily tribune., 1843-05-01
THE TRIBUNE.
The L. 6. Exploring Expedition.

~, labors and results Of the Exploring Expcd'-
rim recently returned from the Southern regions
rh;ther it was sent by the Government OF the
Tinted States, than has ever before been publish
"a. and as the public mind seems to be as yet pn'
el;cbtly informed upon the subject, we propose 10
nresent as full an abstract of this paper as our
limits will allow. Since the rctun-oi the txpc-
dion there seems TO have prevailed very gene
al feeling of disappointment at its results No
thing sufficiently grand and astonishing appears
obaye been accomplished for the perfect satls-
srjon of the public mind, and the enterprise Is,
therefore, not unfrequcntly characterised as IDLE
and useless We know not whether to attribute
tb;s feeling chiefly to utter ignorance OF what are
.be nroper objects Of such an Expedition or to
i,.k Of information as to what has been actually
accomplished by that which has just returned.
p,obsblv those who find most fault the leas:
accurately informed on both these points From
the nature of the case scientific men arc the only
nruer Judges in the premises, as they alone can
su,reciatc the originality and utility OF the disco
ver;es that have been made and the magnitude
and Importance of whatever errors may have been
committed. When the full history OF the E%pc
d;t;on, however, shall have been made public
.oJ II is now. we understand, in the course OF
ranid preparation--wc think not only scientific
men throughout the world will find reason to APP
plaud its labors, but our own people will be amply
and fully satisfied with what has been accom-
Dlshcd. The few qualified Judges who are now
familiar with its results are clearly OF opinion that
il will worhy rank with those great Expeditions
in which England and France have so long been
rivals, and which have conferred as much honor
upon their arts as their arms have received from
their proudts exploits.
The synopsis OF the cruise prepared by Lieut..
Wilkes states that the vessels left the Capes OF
the Chesapeake August 10, 1888, and sailed Tor
Rio Janeigo, whence, on the 9th Of January, 1899,
thev sailed for the North Of Patagonia and thence
to Nassau Bay in Terra del Fuego. The Pea
cock, Porpoisc and two schooncrs thence made
cruises toward the Pole; but, as the season was
far advanced, they did not quite reach the highest
latitude attained by Cook. The Vinccnnes re-
NAMED at Nassau Bay to carry on surveys and
mapnctic observations. In May the vessels were
again together at Valparaiso, and in July they
left the South American coast, and after survey
ing fourteen or fifteen of the Paumotu Islands,
two Of the Society Islands, and all the Navigator
group, on the 28th of November they reached
Sydney in New South Wales. On their second
Antarctic cruise land was first discovered IN lon
gitude 1909 f. and latitude GO 30 S. The
Yinccnnes and Porposc pursued the barrier OF
ice to the westward as far as 90 f. longitude,
seeing the land at intervals for 300 miles. They
could not land, however, though many specimens
of rocks were collected and brought home. On
the Gath of April the vessels were again together
at Tongatabu. Thence they proceeded TO the
Feejees, where nearly four months were occupied
in surveys and scientific observations. IheyneXt
visited the Sandwich Islands-thc Nnccnncs
spending the winter at the group. The Peacock
and Flying Fish were cruising in the Equatorial
regions of the Pacific, visiting and making charts
Of the various groups of islands scattered through
ont those seas. In the spring of ISL the VIM
cennes and Porpose were on the coast of Oregon
where the former was wrecked. They made
several land expeditions into the interior OF from
500 to 1000 miles each, and one Of 500 miles TO
San Francisco in California, The vessels left
California in Nov. lSll q, and after touching at the
Sandwich Islands and visiting Manila, Singa-
pore and the Cape of Good Hope, reached New
York in June lS42-having been absent three
years and ten months, and having sailed nearly
$4,000 miles.
During this time they surveyed about go diff
ieent islands, besides 500 miles in Oregon and
l,aOO miles along the icy barrier of the Antarctic
Continent. Through the dhgcnt examination OF
the islands, reefs. harbors, shoals, &c. &c, the
Expedition is prepared to furnish far more COM
pletc map of the Pacific Ocean than has ever be-
fore been published The Feelee group OF islands
Is, next 10 Oregon, the most importan, OF the un-
explored regions visited by the Expedition. The
group is perfect labyrinth of reefs and rocky
hlands-about $50 in number, OF which the lar
scst contains 1900 square miles, and is constant
ly VISITED by \ ankee vessels in search of tortoise
shsil and sandal,wood The islands arc found 10
be fertile and abound in good harbors. The
Nayigaors' Islands are still more beautiful
though less extensive, and contain great amount
oil icrhle land, Some lew unknown islands were
discovered and of some OF them the natives be-
heved the whites to be the children OF The SIM,
and stood IN great awe of them, offering all their
goods and asking, when the ships departed, ii
they were gong back to the sun
Complete collections OF implements and arms
ssed by the people OF all the places visited were
made and arc preserved as furnishing, with the
descriptions, full and interesting account OF their
manners. modes OF life, religious habits, &c.
The arrangement OF these specimens in the Pa.
tent Office at Washington has not YET been com.