446 DEPARTURE FROM SAN FRANCISCO. [1842 



their beauty, too, is enhanced in a great degree, by the fine 

 contrast presented by the snow-crowned peaks of the Sierra 

 Nevada, that glisten like burnished silver on the very border 

 of the dark line of vegetation, and, more than all, by the 

 beautiful ultra-marine tints, which, in a clear day, dye the 

 whole landscape from the ocean surf to the loftiest mountain 

 height. 



(10.) All the vessels of the Exploring Squadron having 

 assembled at San Francisco, and the surveys having been 

 completed, orders were given to make ready for sea on the 

 28th of October. On the first day of November, they sailed 

 out of the bay, and proceeded to the Sandwich Islands, where 

 it was necessary to stop in order to complete the supplies 

 required for the return voyage to the United States. The 

 whole Squadron were safely anchored in the inner harbor of 

 Honolulu, early in the morning of the 18th of November, and 

 on the 27th instant, the Vincennes and tender took their 

 final departure for Manilla, where they arrived on the 13th 

 day of January, 1842. The Porpoise and Oregon were di- 

 rected to examine the shoals and reefs west of the Sandwich 

 Islands, and then to proceed, through the China seas, to 

 Singapore. 



