128 ELISHA KENT KANE. 







eminence at "Washington ; by whose means a favor- 

 able bill was passed by the House. There were 

 greater obstacles to be overcome in the Senate ; 

 where, eventually, the proposed appropriation was 

 negatived. This result was naturally the source of 

 much vexation to the author, to whom the sensation 

 of defeat in any enterprise was an unusual and a 

 repugnant one. This failure was not produced by 

 any supposed want of merit either in the work or 

 in the expedition whose events it chronicled ; but 

 because a contrary course was thought to establish 

 a precedent which would be pernicious or unfair. 

 "What the government thought of the expedition 

 may be gathered from Mr. Dobbin's published sen- 

 timents on the subject. He says, " The discoveries 

 made by this truly remarkable man and excellent 

 officer (Dr. Kane) will be regarded as valuable 

 contributions to science. He advanced in those 

 frozen regions far beyond his intrepid predecessors 

 whose explorations had excited such admiration. 

 I commend the results of his explorations as 

 worthy of the attention and patronage of Con- 

 gress."* Other legislative bodies in the country 

 were not so backward in expressions of proper 

 appreciation. The Legislatures of Pennsylvania, 



* See the Annual Report of Mr. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy, 

 dated December 3, 1855. 



