28 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



part l)v Mulaspi Mil's own hand. It is quito voluminous. A part of 

 the narrative is said to have biMMi puhlisluMl in the Aiialcs Ilidroj^raticos 

 in 1871, but no such publication can be found in the official list. The 

 narrative, much abridged, finall}' appeared in 1885, seventy-six 3^ears 

 after the death of the brave and unfortunate navigator." For the 

 most part it consists of bare statements of facts, resembling a log 

 book, and has few descriptions and little detailed information concern- 

 ing the countries visited. A satisfactor}^ histor\^ of this imi)ortant 

 expedition still remains to be 'written. 



ROMANZOFF EXPEDITION. 



On the evening of November 24, 1817, the brig Ruril\ fitted out at 

 the expense of the chancellor of the Russian Empire, Count Roman- 

 zolf, for the purpose of scientific exploration, and commanded b}^ 

 Otto von Kotzebuc, a lieutenant in the Russian navy, came to anchor 

 in the harbor of San Luis de Apra. Attached to her were the botanist 

 Adelbert von (3hamisso; the naturalist Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz, 

 and the artist Ludwig Choris. 



Owing to the shortness of the BurlFs sta}^ at Guam it was not 

 possible to make extensive collections. Chamisso, however, got much 

 interesting and valuable information while on the island from the 

 Sargento Mayor Don Luis de Torres. To botanists, Eschscholtz's 

 name is chiefly associated with the beautiful "Californian poppy" 

 (Eschscholtzia), named in his honor by Chamisso. 



The narrative of the expedition was published by Kotzebue, under 

 the title of "A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and Behring's 

 Straits," etc.'' This narrative, which embodies Chamisso's observa- 

 tions, is filled with errors and misstatements. It was miserabl}^ " done 

 into English" h\ a translator who "joined to a style at once bald and 

 incorrect a deplorable ignorance of his subject; hence the work 

 abounds in errors of the grossest kind."'" Chamisso, wishing to cor- 

 rect them, made out a list of errata, but no attention whatever was 

 paid to him. He accordingly published his notes and journal inde- 

 pendentl}^ under the titles of " Bemerkungen und Ansichten," and 

 "Tagebuch," in the former of which he gives comparative vocabu- 

 laries of the languages of Guam, Yap, Ulea, and Radak.'' 



In these two works a most charming personality is revealed. Cha- 

 misso's love of nature was equaled by his love for his fellow-man. He 

 recognized the humanity in the simple brown-skinned natives of the 

 remote islands of the Pacific, and did not consider them legitimate 



« Novo y Colson, La vnelto al mundo, etc. See List of works. 



^See list of works. 



c Quarterly Review, vol. 26, p. 364, 1822. 



t^Chainisso's gesammelte Werko. See List of works. 



