510 



1818. In 1838 he was appointed to command an exploring and 

 surveying expedition through the oceans of the southern hemi- 

 sphere. The expedition, including a large staff of scientists, 

 was carried by the "Vincennes/' 'Teacock/' 'Tor poise,'' "Relief 

 and two tenders. They left Hampton Roads Aug. 18, 1838; 

 visited Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, Peru, 

 the Paumotus, Samoa, and Australia. 



From Sydney they sailed into the Antarctic, and Wilkes had 

 the honor of discovering the Antarctic continent. Wilkes Land 

 was later named for him. They visited Fiji and Hawaii in 1840; 

 explored the west coast of the United States in 1841, and return- 

 ed by way of the Philippines, Sulu, Borneo and Cape of Good 

 Hope, reaching New York on June 10, 1842. From 1844-1861 

 Wilkes was chiefly engaged in preparing the report of the expe- 

 dition. Twenty-eight volumes were planned? but only nineteen 

 were published. Of these Wilkes wrote the narrative. Hydro- 

 graphy and Meteorology ; Professor James D. Dana wrote the 

 three reports on Zoophytes, Geology, and Crustacea; and Asa 

 Gray wrote the botanical reports. \\'ilkes participated in the 

 Civil War. In 1866 he was given rank of rear-admiral and 

 placed on the retired list. He died at Washington, Feb. 8, 1877. 



Botanical Work. ^ 



Numerous expeditions were made by various parties of the 

 Wilkes' staff to many points on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. 

 The high mountains were ascended, and extensive botanical col- 

 lections resulted from the thorough field work. 



The botanical results of the expedition (Phanerogamia) were 

 prepared for publication by the celebrated botanist Asa Gray. 

 He described a large number of new species from Hawaii, and a 

 number of new genera. His work was published in a large 

 quarto of nearly eight hundred pages, together with a folio atlas 

 of one hundred plates (1854). A number of Hawaiian plants 

 were named by him in honor of the naturalists of the expedition, 

 for example — Cyrtandra Pickeringii, Hibiscus Brackenridgei, 

 and the genus W ilk e si a. 



{To be continued.) 



