CORRESPONDENCE. 



HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES, i 

 , Washington, May 29, 1836. > 



DEAR SIR As I have taken some interest in the plan of the 

 expedition to the Antartic Ocean, about to be undertaken under 

 the auspices of the government, you will allow me to congratulate 

 you upon the accomplishment, thus far, of your ardent wishes. 

 May the issue of the enterprise be as auspicious to the interests 

 and fame of your country, and to your own reputation, as your 

 zeal and perseverance have been conspicuous and successful in 

 recommending it to the favorable attention of congress. 



The considerations which recommended it to my support were 

 these : First, while such large sums were expended in the support 

 of the officers and navy, on shore and in port, rendering no service 

 to the country, I thought it unbecoming in the American congress, 

 to deny a small appropriation for a most hazardous and daring 

 service, which called for such a sacrifice of comfort, and for the 

 patient endurance of privations and hardships. Secondly, I con- 

 sidered it a necessary measure for the protection of our hardy and 

 adventurous seamen engaged in the pursuit of the whale and the 

 seal, in those remote seas. Thirdly, it would afford an oppor- 

 tunity tc generalize, and reduce to a system, the knowledge 

 necessary to the navigation of those almost unknown regions of 

 land and water, and thereby advance the cause of humanity. 

 Fourthly, it would give a new spring and impulse to that trade 



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