General order issued. 



PAUMOTU GROUP. 



The squadron sails for Minerva or 

 Clermont de Tonnerre. 



fi3 



make its appearance among us, and looked forward 

 daily with apprehension to the hour when the sick 

 reports were made. On the 14th my worst fears 

 were realized, for the Peacock made signal that 

 they had a case of that disease on board. It fortu- 

 nately proved of a mild type, and no other symp- 

 toms occurred that left any doubt of the entire 

 extinction of the contagion. I was, therefore, 

 greatly relieved, as day after day elapsed, to be 

 assured that' we had not only escaped so dreadful a 

 scourge ourselves, but that there was no danger of 

 its being communicated to the islanders. 



Being now about to enter upon a new field of ob- 

 servation, in which we should necessarily come much 

 in contact with the natives, I issued the following 

 general order, to guard against any misdemeanours, 

 and insure a correct deportment in both officers 

 aud men, during our intercourse with the islanders. 



GENERAL ORDER. 



The undersigned, commanding the exploring 

 expedition, informs the officers and crews under 

 his command, that as they are now about to visit 

 the islands of the Pacific, and to have intercourse 

 with their inhabitants, he wishes to inculcate on all 

 in the squadron, that courtesy and kindness to- 

 wards the natives, which are well understood and 

 felt by all classes of mankind ; and trusts that 

 neither contempt of, nor interference with, their 

 customs, habits, manners, and prejudices, nor arro- 

 gance over them, will be shown by any one belong- 

 ing to the squadron ; bearing always in mind, that 

 savage nations have but vague ideas of the lights 

 of property, and that theft committed by them lias 

 been the great cause of collision between them and 

 civilized nations. 



He would therefore enjoin upon all, great mode- 

 ration in every thing respecting their intercourse 

 with them, that no act of hostility will be com- 

 mitted, and that an appeal will be made rather to 

 their good-will than to their fears. 



That the manner of trading with them which 

 will be established in the squadron, will be most 

 strictly adhered to by all, and that in the event of 

 difficulties or collision, all acts of force will be 

 avoided, unless for self-protection ; in short, our 

 aim shall be peace, good-will, and proper decorum 

 to every class, bearing constantly in mind, that 

 the future intercourse of our countrymen with the 

 natives of the islands we may visit, will very much 

 depend on the impression made on their minds by 

 us, and recollecting, that it is in the nature of the 

 savage long to remember benefits, and never to 

 forget injuries. 



It therefore behoves us, wherever we go, to 

 leave behind us, whether among civilized or savage 

 nations, favourable impressions, not only as re- 

 spects this national expedition, but of our flag and 

 countrymen. The commander-in-chief feels a con- 

 fidence in relying on the officers and crews to 

 carry out these views, from their good and ex- 

 emplary conduct heretofore, and trusts that he will 

 not have to regret the confidence he reposes in them. 



Any acts inconsistent with these views, will meet 

 with the most exemplary punishment. 



(Signed) CHARLES WILKES. 



Commanding exploring expedition. 



July 13th, 1839. 

 United States ship Vincennes. 



I had determined, on leaving Callao, to take up 

 the examination of the Paumotu group, recom- 

 mended to the expedition by that distinguished 

 navigator and promoter of science, Admiral Krusen- 

 stern, whose notes were made a part of my in- 

 structions. I therefore steered for the island of 

 Minerva, or Clermont de Tonnerre, one of the 

 most eastern of the Paumotu group, or Cloud of 

 Islands, as the name implies. 1 deemed this to be 

 the most interesting point at which to begin our 

 surveys, and the researches of our naturalists, par- 

 ticularly as it was inhabited, and would thus enable 

 us to trace the inhabitants from one end of Poly- 

 nesia to the other, across the Pacific. At the 

 same time, it afforded a very desirable point for 

 magnetic observations, and a visit to it would also 

 enable me to settle a dispute between the two dis- 

 tinguished English and French navigators, Cap- 

 tains Beechey and Duperrey, relative to its geo- 

 graphical position. The longitude adopted for 

 Callao, from which our measurements were made, 

 was 79 11' 10" W. This 1 found to correspond 

 well with that of Valparaiso, the meridian distance 

 between the two being 5 31' 50". 



On the 14th we found the current setting to the 

 north-west-by-west three quarters of a mile per 

 hour. 



The 15th, at one hundred and twenty miles from 

 the land, we had changed the temperature of the 

 surface to 67, being a difference of 7. At three 

 hundred fathoms depth, it was found to be 51. 

 This day the current was found setting south-half- 

 east, half a mile per hour. 



The 16th brought several showers of rain, the 

 first we had experienced since the 8th of June, off 

 Valparaiso. Here we again tried the current, 

 but found none. I now continued the usual 

 experiments on the deep-sea temperature, dips, 

 variation, currents, the visibility of a white ob- 

 ject in water, and the dip of the horizon, for 

 which I must refer the reader to the tabular 

 results, only mentioning such as are generally 

 interesting. 



On the 18th, the surface water was 70, and at 

 two hundred and ninety fathoms depth 50. 



On the 24th, in longitude 99 39' W., we found 

 the current setting south-east half a mile per hour, 

 and directly against the wind. Our latitude was 

 15 35' S. 



Until the 29th we had moderate breezes. The 

 current this day was found east-north-east, one- 

 third of a mile per hour. At 9 P.M. the wind came 

 from the west. This evening we had a beautiful 

 display of the zodiacal light. It was very bright ; 

 its altitude was 25; the upper part of the cone 

 was not well marked, and its apex was not defined ; 

 the breadth of its base was 30. A fair breeze 

 from the south-west continued all the next day, 

 when we had reached the longitude of 1 13 29' W., 

 and latitude 17 36' S. 



On the 31st, we passed over the locality of an 

 island marked on the charts of Arrowsmith. Al- 

 though we ran over its position with the squadron 

 spread so as to cover an extent of thirty-five miles 

 in latitude, and on its parallel for several degrees, 

 lying-to at night, nothing whatever was seen to 

 indicate land ; and we therefore believe that it 

 does not exist. 



On the 4th of August, the current was found 

 north one-third of a mile per hour. 



