LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



fountain will not leave Lima," but the waters of the 

 Peruvian Trevi had not detained the commander on his 

 first visit, nor did they now delay the mariners. One 

 party, with Pickering at the head, and with Rich, who 

 spoke Spanish well, as a member of it, visited the Cordil- 

 leras for the purpose of making botanical collections. 

 They estimated the height ascended to be 15,000 feet, 

 and the artist who went along made a sketch of the 

 snowy peak La Vinda, and one of the Valley Banos, 

 celebrated hot springs, both given among the illustra- 

 tions of Wilkes's narrative. The mines of Pasco, 13,000 

 feet in elevation, and many other interesting sites, in- 

 cluding the temple of Pachacamac, were also examined 

 by members of the staff. 



Soon, leaving the coast of South America, the real task 

 of the expedition, South Sea exploration, began. Stores 

 were sent in advance, by the Relief, to the Sandwich 

 Islands and to Sydney, and on the I3th of July the 

 other vessels of the squadron were ordered to sail. The 

 commander, looking forward to relations with uncivilized 

 and savage people, published a general order for the 

 guidance of his squadron, and then proceeded to the 

 Paumotu group, or the Low Archipelago or Tuomata 

 of some recent maps. Krusenstern had advised this 

 course. In a month's time, Minerva Island, or Clermont 

 Tonnerre, one of the most eastern of the group, was 

 reached, the first low coral island that had yet been seen 

 by the expedition. " It looked like a fleet at anchor," 

 says Wilkes's narrative, " nothing but the trees appear- 

 ing in the distance. On a nearer approach, the whole 

 white beach was distinctly seen, a narrow belt rising up 

 out of the ocean, the surf breaking on its coral reefs sur- 

 rounding a lagoon of a beautiful blue tint and perfectly 

 smooth." The few natives who were encountered gave 

 the explorers no welcome. They did not want to be dis- 

 covered. John Sac, a New Zealander, who spoke the 



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