PART IV. 



CHARLES WILKES. 



CHATTER I. 



PURPOSES OF THE UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPE- 

 DITION. 



THE United States Exploring Expedition, which 

 Bailed under the orders of Captain Charles Wilkes 

 during the years 1838, '39, '40, '41, '42, was the first 

 in the order of time which had ever heen organized 

 under the auspices of the United States Government, 

 or fitted out by national munificence. On the 18th 

 of May, 1836, Congress passed an act authorizing 

 an expedition to be prepared and sent forth for 

 the purpose of exploring and surveying the great 

 Southern ocean, with special reference to such in- 

 vestigations as would promote the interest of Ame- 

 rican citizens who were engaged in the commerce 

 connected with whale-fisheries. The commander 

 of the expedition was instructed to ascertain and fix 

 the position of those islands and shoals which lie 



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