The New York herald., 1870-12-05

| guns Or this feet the Narraganser has been COM
| petely redtted during the past year.
The Pacific station extends irsm Behrng Straits
! southward u Cape Hsrn and westward 20 tue l10th
degree we Longitude, and sonth Of the Equator 20
The 18TH degree e,st. Including the scufh paclnc
1 groups, New Zealand, New Guinea and Anet trasia
roRs called respectively the North and South Pacific
/ the North Pacific squadron under the immediate
command OF Commodore William Il. Taylor, consists
at This time OF seven ships. mounting m al eighty
| seventh nnder orders TO JOIN The squadron viz
| The Pensacola the Saranac the 81. Mary's, the
Cyane the Nyack and the Saginaw, with tho Califor
! The South Pacific squadron now under the Immc-
| tate command OF Commodore David McDouga
consists OF ve ships. mounting IN all forty guns vlz
! The jamestown, the Ossipee, the Kesaca the on.
| ward, ana the dohican. The whole feet mus con.
~ under the general command OF Rear Admiral John
A. WINSTON, who relieved Rear ADMIRAL Turner on
tue nnth dav OF september last. fleet ali but
three vessels have been rehted or since Tic
date Of my last report
and responsibilities Of his neet great variety
ana Importance Besides general protectoratc Of
the persons and property OF missionaries, repre-
ssn'atlyes citizens and traders scattered on
the or,ca coasts si an and In the seaports Of South
the Pacific. they include supervision OF the inte-
rests OF the government and our people IN the wha-
Ing and seal fisheries OF ne north. and OF our com.
mercial relations with the islands aud with the
east In these interests long stretches OF
be surveyed ports resort and harDors OF refuge On
the i ain land and In mid o can must be sounded
and dredGei points OF dculty ana OF danger tested
ana marked ont anu at vast distances, with thou
SANDS Oi miles betweeu the nag of the republic must
pe displayed wherever barbari m s ignorant or GU
pidsty unlnindfu Of our rights and power.
Inc reports OF the operations OF the ships this
station, whicn, together with those OF the other
fleets, VIII be lound detailed In brief in the state
ment annexed, entitled Operations Of Fleets,n ara
more at large IN the reports In the appendix will
be found botn interesting and Instructive especially
those relating " the cruises OF the Jamestown and
| Kearsage among the Islands OF the Pacific
the european station, embracing all the waite
or tao Equator, ana including the whole En.
ropean coast and that OF North Africa, IL ALWAYS
station OF great consequence, in View OF the intl
| macy OF our relations win the peoples and goyern
ments Of western europe, ard the number ana i'm
portance OF our personal ana commercial relations
In The present condition of Europe the feelings
ana pride OF our people as Wen as nelr interests
aud safety, demand that we shall be represented
there by all the force available Tor tnaI purp0se and
the department has endeavored TO increase feet
in that quarter Us far possible IN view oi the
| requirements Of other stations.
Our European fleet Is now under the command or
Rear Admiral Gibson, who relieved Rear Admiral
| Radford on the 10th of August last 1t consists OF
| the Franklin (nagshiplWhe Brooklyn, the Rcnmsnd,
the the Plymouth, the shenandoah, the Junata, the
| 129 guns. Or these seven are new on the station
and the eighth, the Guerrlere is under sailing orders
| to join the neet. or this fleet all but the Franklin
| the Richmond and the Juniata have been rentted
| and repaired during the past year.
The ASiat1c station embraces all the waters Of Asia
| and OF Eastern and Northeastern Afrlca ana the
islands Of the Eastern Ocean, stretching eastward
/ ID
ing rrom the west The fleet on this station is now
under command OF Rear Admiral John Rogers who
August last Ii CONSISTS Of the Goosaso apsaip sSf "a
the Benfcta, the Alaska the Ashuelot, the Mo-
nocacy, the Paos and the Idaho !storeshiph seven
vessels In all, mounting elghtyeight guus. or this
fleet all but three have been prepared FOR sea- and
have sailed from the United States since the date Of
| my last report
The Paos small steamer of 30s TONS fitted and
armed for cruising IA the rivers Of China. was sent
| made the passage from Boston to Singapore In
seventy-tarec sailing days. The history oI her voy-
Appendix, viii be louno Of much interest. - 'u'
The importance OF interests on this station can
hardly be over estimated and the constant necessity
fCr an increase o Our force there oppresse5 the de.
| partmenI The uncertain tenure by which all the
interests Of commerce. civilization and religlsn are
aud the supersutons which thwart ali plain
| dealing with barbaric ana sembarbaric power; and
| terest or danger--all these combine to demand an
increase Of force which the department. Is unable 10
( afford.
The feeling Of uncertainty and alarm which at this
time pervades all the European settlements in China
sentatves, and the bulk OF Asatic feet is now
cruising IN that portion of the station for the pro-
| and the display as far as may be, OF tnat armed
force which makes tina strongest appeal to Asiatic
| respect
/ MIDWAY ISLANDS
The act making appropriations for the naval SER
vice, approved March !, 1869, appropriated $4,000
| FOR deepening the entrance to the harOor
OF Midway Islands, In the Pacific Ocean, to afford
safe rendezvous and port OF refuge and resort Ior
the naval and merchant vessels OF Tie United states
In pursuance OF the provisions of this contract
| was entered into with AIR. George w Townsend, OF
Boston, September 30, 1869, to execute the work,
and one of the vessels OF the Pacific fleet, the Sag-
| nav, under Lieutenant Commander Sicard, was de-
tailed 10 aid the contractor by making the necessary
surveys anu 10 aford such other facilities as were
reasonable and best calculated forward the enter
| prise. The commanding officer OF this ship was
| charged with the Immediate supervision OF the
work and with the inspection Of 1t AZ contemplated
! by the act.
The saginaw reached the Midway Islands
March "a, and as soon as possible thereafter the
| deepening OF the channel commenced and
has been continued with m fidelity. More difficulty
tered than were anticipated, put at the date or the
latest report from the oicer IN charge he able
to form tOerably fair estimate OF the time and
cost OF completing the work. His estimate OF time
il tftytwo months from April %, the date of its
commencement, and OF the cost, about S214, ,o00--
which he considers to be the least that can be
allowed. 1t is agreed in the that the United
States shall have The option of terminating work
whenever the Appropriation specially made for it by
| Congress SHAH be insufficient for It's further
gwen positive nstructoes thas s a ap
! preparation be not exceeded, there win
DC no means for prosecuting The work longer than
| TIL October, at which ume the party proposes re-
| turning to San Francisco.
| Lieutenant Commander Scard gives In his report
| full and III erestng details Of the manner In winch
the work has been executed, It's progress IRON
70 time and the prospects OF It's successful termina
| ton.
| INTERoCaANrc CANAL
In execution o. the plan stated IA my last annual
report Tor surveying the lsthmus or Darien with
| View TO ascertain by what route, II any,
| snip canal might be constructed between
| the TWO oceans, three small vessels, the Npslc,
| Guard and Nyack, were, in January, 1870 placed
| under the command OF Commander Thomas o. Self
ridge with instructions 10 explore and survey sucn
portions OF the province OF Darien ght be sup
posed suitable for the location and construction or
| such a canal. Besides the officers ana crews OF
| these yessels, the exploring party consisted OF
| guard OF marines, unuer the command or Captain
| Houston, and twelve civilians employed as
| gineers, draughtsnen, teegraphers, mineralogists
4
| and NipsicI were ordered to rendezvous in Gale.
| donia Bay. The Guard arrived tRere the
4 l9Dn Of February and the Npsio two days
| later. by the way OF Asplnwan where she
4 touched to procure laborers aud guides The
[! President OF Panama exhibited friendly
interest," and sent an Official representative TO Join
| the exploring party The Nyack, which WAS
| attached 10 the Pacific neet was ordered 10 81.
Insues Bay; but not reaching her destination unit
the 18th OF April her officers and took part