26 ACT OF CONGRESS. [1836 



and rich in mineral wealth, in majestic forests, and a virgin 

 soil. It was a happy thought, that, when this country — 

 thus, as it were, called into existence — had become peopled, 

 and advanced to greatness and distinction, she should repay 

 the debt of gratitude which she owed, by her discoveries in 

 the same field in which the enlightened nations of the old 

 world have been constantly employed for more than three 

 hundred years. The Coast Survey of the United States — 

 first proposed in 1806, by the late Professor Patterson, and 

 warmly favored, at that time, by Albert Gallatin, and other 

 scientific and learned men, but not commenced until the year 

 1832 — is a great work, and one from which other countries, 

 as well as our own, will unquestionably derive the most im- 

 portant benefits. The comparatively limited information 

 possessed in regard to the great Southern Ocean, in which 

 such a vast amount of the capital of our countrymen was 

 employed, in whaling and other commercial enterprises, next 

 attracted the attention of the American Congress. 



(2.) On the 18th of May, 1836, an act was passed au- 

 thorizing an Expedition to be fitted out — the first, of a similar 

 character, undertaken by the national government — for the 

 purpose of exploring and surveying the Southern Ocean, " as 

 well to determine the existence of all doubtful islands and 

 shoals, as to discover, and accurately fix, the position of 

 those which [lay] in or near the track of our vessels in that 

 quarter, and [might] have escaped the observation of scientific 

 navigators."* Liberal appropriations were made for accom- 

 plishing the objects of the Expedition, and it was at first or- 

 ganized under Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, of the 

 United States Navy : he subsequently resigned the station, 

 and was succeeded, in turn, by several different officers, until, 

 finally, on the 20th of March, 1838, Lieutenant Charles 

 Wilkes assumed the command. 



The novelty of the undertaking occasioned numerous delays 

 and hindrances ; but, early in the month of August, 1838, 



♦ Three other Exploring Expeditions were undertaken in the South Seas, at 

 the same time; two English, and one French. 



