66 ADDRESS. 



lying under the very bows of our public vessels on the Pacific 

 station shall have been carefully examined and reported on, it will 

 be time to talk about extending their labours over the almost 

 boundless seas, with their countless islands to the west, or to con- 

 trol and direct the movements of others sent for that purpose. 



But it has likewise been urged, that one of our public ships 

 might return to the United States by way of the islands, and 

 we believe that one has actually been ordered to do so. Such a 

 step will effect little towards remedying the evils complained of. 

 Let us inspect the chart. The Feejee Islands lie more than one 

 hundred degrees west of the coast whence such vessel must sail. 

 With a supply of stores calculated to last eight months, at farthest, 

 the entire circumnavigation of the globe before her, and the period 

 for her return home nearly at hand, what time can she find to ac- 

 complish anything among those islands, where so much is required? 

 Unacquainted with the language of the natives, and unprovided 

 with interpreters, without the necessary preparations for making 

 sketches and surveys, she may land at a few points, return home, 

 make her report to the department as fully as circumstances will 

 permit, and yet, as to any positive benefit accruing therefrom to 

 our commerce, or any assistance to be rendered the future naviga- 

 tor, the results would not be more permanent than her rapidly 

 obliterated wake on the surface of the deep. 



No! it is useless to dally with this subject any longer, and to 

 propose evasive and inefficient modes of compassing benefits, 

 which nothing but a generous and intelligent liberality can insure. 

 Vessels must be fitted out expressly for this purpose. They must 

 be provided with instruments for making sketches and surveys of 

 harbours, and correcting the position of reefs and islands on the 

 charts. Places affording wood, water, and refreshments to our 

 whalemen and traders, should be visited and carefully examined 

 for future use. Conferences should be held with the natives of 

 the remotest groups, and their confidence gained as far as possi- 



