X PRE FACE. 



of the vessel suddenly striking bottom ; then, other heavier 

 blows on the fatal bar, and a quivering and creaking among 

 the timbers ; the waters rai)idly gaining, in spite of the pumps, 

 through a long night ; the morning come, our taking to the 

 boats, empty handed, deserting the old craft that had been a 

 home for three eventful years, for '* Cape Disappointment " — a 

 name that tells of other vessels here deceived and wrecked ; 

 and, twenty hours later, the last vestige of the old Peacock 

 gone, her upper decks swept oft" by the waves, the hulk buried 

 in the sands. 



But these were only incidents of a few hours in a long 

 and ahvays delightful cruise. If this work gives pleasure to 

 any, it will but prolong in the world the enjoyments of the 

 " Exploring Expedition." 



In explanation of some allusions in the following pages, I 

 may here state with regard to the Exploring Expedition, that 

 Captain (now Admiral) Charles Wilkes, U.S.N., the Com- 

 mander of the Expedition, was in charge of the Slooi)-or-war 

 Vincenucs ; Capt. W^l L. Hudson, U.S.N., of the Sloop-of- 

 war Peacock; Capt. A. K. Long, U.S.N., of the Storeshi]) 

 Relief (the vessel which encountered the dangers in the 

 Cape Horn sea, above related) ; and Eieut.-Commandant C. 

 RiNGGOi>D, of the Brig Porpoise ; and that my associates in 

 the "Scientific Corps" were Dr. Charles Pickering, J. P. 

 CouTHOUY, and Titian R. Pkale, Zoologists ; Wm. Rich and 

 J. D. Breckenridge, Botanists; Horatio Hale, Philologist : 

 Joseph Dravt(3N and A. T. Agate, Artists. 



Our cruise ltd us partly along the course followed by 

 Mr. Charles Darwin during the years 183 1 to 1836, in the 

 voyage of the Peagie, under Captain Fitzrov ; and, where it 

 diverged from his route, it took us over scenes, similar to his. 

 of corq,l and volcanic islands. Soon after reaching Sydney, 

 Australia, in 1839, a brief statement was found in the papers 

 of Mr. Darwin's theory with respect to the origin of the atoll 

 and barrier forms of reefs. The paragraph threw a flood of 



