Preparations for sailing. De- 

 parturo from San Francisco. 



e A N 



SAIN 



Tn \f A MTT T A 

 1O MAJNILLA. 



Dangerous position of the 

 Vincennes. 



, ft . 

 >07 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



SAN FRANCISCO TO MANILLA. 



PREPARATIONS FOR SAILING DEPARTURE FROM SAN FRANCISCO DANGEROUS POSITION OP THE VINCENNES THE 

 SaCADRON AT HONOLULU ADVENTURE ON SHORE CASE OP HERRON THE COOPER HERRON FOUND GUILTY 

 AND FINED TRADE AND RESOURCES OF THE HAWAIIAN GROUP FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE HAWAIIAN 

 ISLANDERS DEPARTURE FROM HONOLULU FINAL DISPOSITION OF THE SQUADRON THE VINCENNES AND 

 FLYING-FISH PART COMPANY CRUISE OF THE VINCENNES SEARCH FOR ISLANDS WAKE*S ISLAND MANILLA 

 THE VINCENNES AND FLYING-FISH JOIN COMPANY CRUISE OF THE FLYING-FISH MANILLA. 



BY the 28th of October, 1841, all the exploring 

 parties had returned to San Francisco. The duties 

 of the observatory and surveys were completed, 

 the instruments embarked, and preparations made 

 to sail with the first fair wind. 



The brig bought to supply the loss of the Pea- 

 cock, wrecked on the bar of the Columbia, I now 

 new-named the Oregon, and gave the command 

 of it to Lieutenant Carr, first lieutenant of the Vin- 

 cennes. It was with no little regret that I parted 

 with Lieutenant Carr, the executive officer of my 

 ship for upwards of two years, during which time 

 his duties had been at all times responsible, ardu- 

 ous, and valuable to the expedition. My regret at 

 parting with him gave way, however, to the plea- 

 sure of assigning him a station to which his conduct 

 had so justly entitled him, and which he was so 

 well qualified to fill. 



To complete our supplies for the return voyage, 

 it was expedient that we should again visit the 

 Hawaiian Group : this was rendered absolutely 

 necessary, in order to procure clothing for those 

 who had lost every thing by the wreck of the Pea- 

 cock ; for deficiency in that important article 

 might, had we pursued the direct route to the 

 China Seas, have subjected the men, who had 

 already undergone so much exposure, to the attacks 

 of disease. 



This necessity, added to the other delays the 

 unfortunate loss of the Peacock had caused, was a 

 source of profound regret, as it prevented me 

 from availing myself of the permission granted in 

 my instructions, to enter the Sea of Japan, through 

 the Straits of Sangar. I gave up this plan, to 

 which I had looked forward as one of the most in- 

 teresting parts of our cruise, with great reluctance; 

 but the season was rapidly passing, and to under- 

 take this remote expedition would render it im- 

 possible to accomplish the other objects marked 

 out for me previous to my return to the United 

 States. We might not, perhaps, have succeeded 

 in entering into communication with the inhabit- 

 ants of that interesting and little-known country ; 

 but we might certainly, by landing on some of the 

 islands adjacent to its coast, have obtained much 

 interesting information, and added greatly to the 

 collections of our scientific departments. 



On the 1st of November, we had a wind that 

 enabled us to make sail, although it was late in the 

 day before it was sufficiently strong, and by that 

 time the ebb tide was far spent. To avoid any 

 farther loss of time, I determined to make the at- 

 tempt. Signal was accordingly made ; and the 

 vessels were in a few minutes under way, and stand- 



ing out of the harbour. It may, indeed, be said, 

 that it is practicable to enter and depart from this 

 port whenever the tide is favourable. We con- 

 tinued beating out to gain an offing until towards 

 sunset, when it fell calm, and the tide failed us. 

 The Vincennes was, therefore, compelled to anchor 

 in six and three-fourths fathoms water, three miles 

 from the land ; and signal was made to the two 

 brigs, which were about three miles outside of our 

 position, to do the same. 



On our coming to anchor, there was scarcely 

 any swell, and the ship lay almost as still as if she 

 had been within the harbour. The sun set clear, 

 and every thing betokened a calm and quiet 

 night. 



At about 10 P.M. the swell began to increase, 

 without any apparent cause, and so rapidly as to 

 awaken my anxiety; but being in such deep water, 



1 thought that the vessel was sufficiently distant 

 from the bar not to be exposed to any breakers. 

 As the flood continued to make, the swell in- 

 creased, and by midnight we were enveloped in fog, 

 without a breath of air, and the ship rode over the 

 rollers, that were now becoming very heavy, and 

 caused her to pitch violently. There was, how- 

 ever, no break to them ; but as ample scope of 

 cable had been given, the ship occasionally swung 

 broadside to, when the heavy pitching was changed 

 to rolling so deep as to endanger our masts. At 



2 A.M. a breaker was heard outside of us, passing 

 in with the roar of a surf, after which they became 

 constant, and really awful. The ship might now 

 be said to be riding in breakers of gigantic size ; 

 they rushed onwards with such a tremendous roar 

 and violence, that as each wave was heard ap- 

 proaching, it became a source of apprehension 

 until it had safely passed. Such was its force that 

 when it struck the ship, the chain cable would 

 surge, the ring-stoppers part, and some few fathoms 

 of the cable escape. As the time of high water 

 approached, the roar of these immense breakers 

 was constant. The ship was as if tempest-tost, 

 and our situation became at each moment one of 

 greater solicitude. The actual danger of wreck 

 was not indeed great, for in the event of parting 

 our cable, the tide would have carried us towards 

 the harbour, and into deeper water, where the 

 rollers would have ceased to break; and there was 

 no great danger that we would drift on the bar, 

 which was a mile or two to the northward of our 

 position. 



I looked forward with anxiety for the time of high 

 water, as the period when we should be relieved 

 from our unpleasant situation, not only by the 

 x 2 



