32 ADDRESS. 



sively progressing as the labours of the zoophyte, that motionless 

 inhabitant of the deep, from whose accumulated exuviae the pre- 

 cipitous ramparts of calcareous rock are formed, until the coral 

 reef, by slow degrees, rises above the surface of the ocean, and, 

 oecoming an island, blooms with the luxuriant vegetation of the 

 tropics. 



With the view of collecting and arranging the vast fund of 

 knowledge, the scattered gleanings of a thousand voyages, I was 

 arduously employed during the summer and fall of 1828; having 

 visited Newport, New Bedford, Nantucket, and many other places 

 where information was to be procured respecting the Pacific 

 Ocean and South seas. The captains of whaleships were ready 

 to communicate such facts as they had treasured up or recorded 

 during their numerous voyages, and the owners were equally 

 anxious to assist me in furthering the objects of my visits. I 

 interrogated each navigator of those seas who chanced to be in 

 port, with his log-books, journals, and charts, lying before him; 

 and the topography of the whole range of seas from the Pacific 

 to the Indian and Chinese Oceans, with the nature and extent of 

 the fisheries, was the object of my special attention. 



The information I obtained was drawn from purely original 

 sources. Nothing was taken at second hand. Log-books which 

 had been thrown aside for years, were overhauled and examined 

 anew. Many facts were received from several sources, each 

 independent of the other; and by this coincidence, the truth of 

 the statements was corroborated and confirmed. The whole were 

 concisely and systematically arranged under appropriate heads ; 

 and those voyages which were connected with a train of remarka- 

 ble incidents, were considered with much attention, and taken 

 down from the mouths of those present, or extracted from the 

 original journals. 



I was likewise enabled to collect much information from those 

 engaged in the seal trade. The occupation of these men leads 



