272 Voyage of the Novara. 



a complete, accurate survey of the island seemed of great im- 

 portance, not merely to the scientific world, but also in the 

 interests of navigation ; as most of the ships bound for China, 

 Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the East India liners, 

 pass pretty close to these islands, especially during the winter 

 season. Many captains trading in the Indian ocean see in St. 

 Paul an advantageous haven for recruiting the strength of their 

 scurvy-stricken crews, while the ships of others, shattered 

 almost to the point of foundering in the storms of a tract of 

 ocean where for thousands of miles there is no other land, 

 can find here their only prospect of preservation. 



For the voyagers on board the Novara^ an interest of an 

 entirely personal sort attached to their visit to the island. 

 Among the unfortunates, who on the 24th August, 1853, 

 suffered shipwreck on the shores of New Amsterdam, in the 

 British ship MeridiaUy was a native of Brienz, in Switzerland, 

 named Pfau. This person, together with the captain, Richard 

 Hernamann, and a Frenchman had disappeared, leaving no 

 trace, when, on the following morning, the surviving passengers 

 of the wrecked ship were rescued by a whaler that happened 

 to be cruising in the neighbourhood. It was supposed that the 

 three unfortunate men had endeavoured to reach the adjacent 

 island of St. Paul in a small boat, and probably were still living 

 there. The father of the Swiss made application, through an 

 indirect channel, to the chief of the Expedition, earnestly 

 requesting him on his visit to the island to institute some 

 enquiries with the view of finding some trace of his ill-starred 



