The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-05-01

They promise that countrys laws
Shall guard our journey and our cause,
Hurrah for Polk and Dallas then
Hurrah hurrah. hurrah
EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
The following extract from respectable cotem
porary will give our readers some idea OF what ha'
been achieved by the officers and scientific corps at
tached to the squadron:
sThe number of islands surveyed during the
cruise of the exploring expedition, IS about TWO
hundred and eighty, besides eight hundred miles OF
the streams and costs Of Oregon, and one thousand
and five hundred miles laid down along the land ana
lev barrier of the Antarctic continent. numerous
islands Of doubtful existence have been looked ior,
shoals have been examined, reefs discovered ana
laid down, harbors surveyed, and many for the frst
time made known, and the attitudes and longitudes
OF the points visited have been determined with all
possible precision Very many Of the doubtful
points in the geography of the Pacific have been
cleared up and the expedition is prepared to supply
ocean ever published.
"Next to Oregon, the Feejee group may be con-
sidered the most important of the UNEMPLOYED re-
gions visited by the squadron. This group is a
perfect labyrinth of lofty islands and coral reefs;
red to eur trading vessels in those seas The islands
are visited for biche-da-mar. tortoise shell and san
dial wood and there is part of the year in which
there are not some Yankee cruisers threading their
dangerous way among its thousand reefs The
whole number of islands in the group is about one
hundred and 6Ay. One of these contains about
four thousand square miles, and another is but little
smaller. They are rich and fertile, and will one
day rank first in the Pacific for resources, as they
are now first in extent and number The harbors
are numerous and convenient.
"Much might be said of Samoa or the Naviga-
tor islands, which, though less extensive, are more
beautiful than the Feeees, and contain at least FIVE
times much fertile land, in proportion to their ex-
tent, a. the Sandwich islands. But our remarks
would lengthen out beyond allowed limits, should
we speak even cusorily of the various regions that
have been examined.
"a few unknown islands were fallen in with, and
one was discovered midnight, just in time to avoid
ts reefs. But many such discoveries are not to be
expected at this late day. At the island referred TO-,
tho natives were 20 completely ngnorant Of white
mon, 'as to believe them inhabitants Of the sun,
for they thought that the great ship, or floating
: island, as they called it, might sail of from
the when il comes to the surface Of the sea at
night, or leaves il in the morning All their little
property was brought out by the terrified people, as
a peace-ofcring to their imagined deites; and when
the boats showed off from the Shore they pointed to
1.-THE sun and asked in their language, you going
I back againr
"It has been long known that the inhabitants Of
the principal groups scattered the Pacific to the
east of the Feejee islands-those usually included
under the general name Of Poynesia-belong to one
race, and in fact one people, speaking dialects Of
one general language closely allied to the Malay.
Materials nave Deen ootained Ior comparative
grammar anu oicuonary Oh inc mos. important una
iec!s, 1inci4ding nose 2! me oanuwcn. Socss.y,
rnenoiy, navigator, anu LEVY .saius au I,Iw
Zealand ana rom ihis comparison an" rom tne
.,aas ~ s1so " ny 'o 'ia.;nn r.. :; ,s.
1nat the Original sea. OF inc Popaan, w, ~ tne
Navgetor isands--nas peen sauslactofny oetermil,,
,asna me course OF !ae m'sranons mas oeen Traced
ppN ~ wnich ,ne alnelen. g,vups Me,u RsoRisa
Inc vast island or cohuneh. OF New Hohanu
has heretolore oecn generaly supposed 10 oe IN
hapite9 ~ numerous TiDes sPcaslI's Iahguases Gu,
trely distnct. AN opportunity, however, was Iounu
OF obtaining grammatical analysis q ing Ianguages
sspi Two tr1peS hving more nan TWO nunareu Iiies
yaPart ana Ignorant OF each otners exstence Wnicn
mas resulted IN showing clear anu lntmaie ,esem-
pance, moi merely IN me great mass OF wcIus' Du'
Il AZ the ihnecu0ns anu mnute Pecuaries Oh the TWO
languages. ny me ana OF several vocaouiaries, tne
comparison mas oecn e1tenced ACROSS inc enu,e con-
unent, anu ~: anoraeu Iair grounas LOT Deheving
inat the innaoianls o. New nGlana, IKE nose OF
foiynesla, are one PeoPle, speaA,ys languages ae-
rveu rom common or'gn nucI iniormauon
was oo'heu rom 'lie anu o'ers con,
ce.nn:s ne anu 'eis'ous oeno' VI
inns singular race
"Ihs inhabitants OF the extensive ana p0puous
Feejee group have been viewed with peculiar in.
ferest from their position between the yellow Poly
nesan tribes on the east ana the oceanic negroes
on the west. The result OF inquiries, pursued with
care curing q sMy ot nearly TOUT hon'ns, mas peeI
TO throw new and unexpected light on the origin Of
this people, and their connection with the neighbor
ing races A mass OF minute information IN regard
TO the customs, tradiuons and languages OF these
islanders, including grammar and dictionary OF
about three thousand words, viii be given to the
puhhc.
"Ihe hingsmill Islands are another interesting
group, hrst accurately surveyed by the vessels Of
the expedition Ihey lie IN the western part oil the
Pacific, directly under the equator. They are SIX
teen IN number, all OF coral iormatlon the nighes
land on any OF them rising moi more than twenty
feet above tne leve o. he sea- ana 'ne'r anl'ed SUI
miles, They afford no stone but coral, no quadru
aa. hut rats anil not more than thirtv snec;es n
~; - ,asn.d s...n x r..,,,;,
Panu on u' oo" Sna 49,. mus sud.;,
endowed oy nature, was ,9una . aense poPulau.oi