GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 397 



Observatory, whose theory with regard to an open sea to the north is 

 likely to be realized through this channel. 



" To the large mass of land visible between N. TV. and N. N. E., I 

 gave the name of ' Grinnell,' in honor of the head and heart of the 

 man in whose philanthropic mind originated the idea of this expedi- 

 tion, and to whose munificence it owes its existence. 



" To a remarkable peak bearing N. N. E. from us, distant about 

 forty miles, was given the name of ' Mount Franklin.' 



" The eastern shore of Wellington Channel appeared to run 

 parallel with the western, but it became quite low, and being covered 

 with snow, could not be distinguished with certainty, so that its con- 

 tinuity with the high land to the north Avas not ascertained." 



The exclusion of the discoveries of Capt. Wilkes in the Antarctic 

 Ocean from the charts of Capt. Ross, with all the circumstances 

 relating to this exclusion, were remembered, but it was not supposed 

 that an attempt of a like character could be made to set aside the 

 American discoveries in the Arctic Regions ; for that no vessel of, 

 and no party from, the English Expeditions was, in 1850, at any posi- 

 tion from which Grinnell Land could be seen, was a fact unques- 

 tionably -established by their own reports of their proceedings. Yet 

 it has been attempted. In England, on their maps, it has been accom- 

 plished. There, on the authority of the Lords of the Admiralty, 

 De Haven's discoveries of 1850, have been set aside. The names of 

 " Grinnell " has there been erased, to make room for that of Prince 

 " Albert." 



This was first done in a map published in the Illustrated London 

 News ; secondly, in an authorized chart appended to the report of 

 the Government Arctic Committee, and issued by the Hydrographic 

 office ; and finally in tAvo other Government charts, prepared officially 

 under the inspection of the admiralty. The ground on which these 

 alterations have been made, is thai the same localities discovered and 

 named by the Americans in September, 1850, were subsequently seen 

 and named by Capt. Penny and others in land expeditions made in 

 June, 1851. These alterations could not have been made through 

 want of information respecting the American discoA r eries, as the 

 reports and direction of De Haven's voyage, were published before 

 the preparation of any of the maps refered to. Besides changing the 

 names affixed by the American explorers, the Admiralty have changed 

 or ignored the positions laid doAvn on the charts of De Haven, thus 

 officially recording their unbelief in their correctness. 



RESOURCES OF THE VALLEY OF THE AMAZON. 



A MEMORIAL has been submitted to Congress by Lt. Maury, in 

 behalf of a southern line of steamers, from Norfolk or Charleston, 

 to open the commerce of the river Amazon. The basin of the Ama- 

 zon and the adjoining rivers, (the Orinoco being connected by a 

 natural canal,) is the largest and most fertile in the Avorld. The 

 valley of the Mississippi is estimated at about 982,000 square miles, 



