24 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



force. Calling on me to approach as near as I dared, 

 Maury ascended to the highest point of the rock, took 

 off his jacket, and with a string which he found in his 

 pocket tied in it his watch and sextant, and then threw 

 it with all his might into the sea toward the boat, while 

 the bowman of the boat stood ready to seize it with his 

 boathook before the water had time to penetrate the 

 wrapping. Maury then, watching the culmination of a 

 wave, sprang from the rock himself and being a good 

 swimmer and possessed of much youthful strength 

 reached the boat in safety, but it was a fearful leap". 



The seeds of Maury's later wonderful achievements in 

 the science of the sea were implanted during this cruise 

 of the Falmouth. He was the sailing master of the ship, 

 and naturally wished to make as quick a voyage as pos- 

 sible. Before sailing he had searched diligently for 

 information concerning the winds and currents and the 

 best course for his ship to take, and was astonished to 

 find that there was practically no information on the 

 subject to be secured. The observations of these phe- 

 nomena of the sea which he accordingly made on this 

 voyage turned his mind toward a series of investigations 

 which later was to make his name known round the 

 entire world. 



Maury did not return to the United States in the 

 Falmouth, but shortly before her departure from Callao 

 he was transferred on August 20, 1833 to the schooner 

 Dolphin, in which vessel he performed the duties of first 

 lieutenant. He remained on the little schooner but a 

 few weeks, and then was attached to the frigate Potomac, 

 which had just arrived at Callao under the command of 

 Captain John Downes. This ship had been on duty on 

 the Pacific coast of South America for a little more than 



