INTRODUCTION 



selected to whom Captain Jones should have well-founded objec- 

 tions. With these arrangements, should the expedition fail, the 

 responsibility will rest with Captain Jones, and not with the De- 

 partment. 



" I am, with great respect, your most obedient servant, 



"ANDREW JACKSON. 



" To the Secretary of the Navy." 



[From the Washington Globe of July 13, 1836.] 



"Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and 



South Seas. 



" We learn that the President has given orders to have the ex- 

 ploring vessels fitted out with the least possible delay. The appro- 

 priation made by Congress was ample to ensure all the great objects 

 contemplated by the expedition, and the executive is determined 

 that nothing shall be wanting to render the expedition, in every 

 respect, worthy the character and great commercial resources of 

 the country. 



" The frigate Macedonian, now undergoing thorough repairs at 

 Norfolk, two brigs of two hundred tons each, one or more tenders, 

 and a store-ship of competent dimensions, are, we understand, the 

 force agreed upon, and to be put in a state of immediate prep- 

 aration. 



" Captain Thomas Ap C. Jones, an officer possessing many high 

 qualities for such a service, has been appointed to the command ; 

 and officers for the other vessels will be immediately selected. 



" The Macedonian has been chosen instead of a sloop-of-war, 

 on account of the increased accommodations she will afford the 

 scientific corps, a department the President has determined shall 

 be complete in its organization, including the ablest men that can 

 be procured; so that nothing within the whole range of every 

 department of natural history and philosophy shall be omitted. 

 Not only on this account has the frigate been selected, but also for 

 the purpose of a more extended protection of our whalemen and 

 traders ; and to impress on the minds of the natives a just concep- 

 tion of our character, power, and policy. The frequent disturb- 

 ances and massacres committed on our seamen by the natives 

 inhabiting the islands in those distant seas, make this measure the 

 dictate of humanity." 



