436 



POSTSCRIPT. 



1 HE author of the "Remarks and Opinions," being 

 at a distance from the commander and narrator of 

 the expedition, was unable to compare and correct 

 his statements or decisions by those of his learned 

 coadjutors. He could not even correct his ortho- 

 graphy of foreign names and words to make it agree 

 with that observed in the journal of the voyage, 

 as he did not see the proof-sheets of the work. 

 With respect to written languages, he has followed 

 the authority of native authors ; and with respect 

 to the unwritten ones, principles of his own, of 

 which he has given an account in his note to the 

 vocabulary. 



Many of these papers, in the interval between 

 their origin and their publication, in the progress 

 of time and knowledge, are already superseded by 

 later information. The author wished to have 

 cancelled them. South America has been brought 

 nearer to us. Important works and constant in- 

 tercourse have opened Brazil to us. Chili is no 

 longer the country we sawj we present a picture 

 of the past; free trade now exports the copper 



