THE WHITE WORLD 



they would have to be built. Nor was the appropriation 

 large enough to provide a fleet that would cost, in a three 

 years' voyage, more than a million dollars. Congress had 

 adjourned. Additional funds could not be procured until 

 it should meet the next year. 



The Secretary of the Navy, however, decided to take 

 chances that an ex post facto appropriation would be made, 

 and authorized Captain Jones to go ahead upon the new 

 plan. Organization began briskly. The " Macedonian," 

 the third frigate of that name, was upon the stocks, almost 

 finished. Work on her was hastened. A store-ship also 

 was on the stocks, and the construction of the other vessels 

 was ordered. The Secretary of the Navy wrote to colleges 

 and scientific institutions, requesting advice as to the num- 

 ber and character of observers that would be desirable. 

 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes was sent abroad to buy scien- 

 tific instruments. Captain Jones set to work recruiting his 

 six hundred and three men. At this epoch the navy was 

 sending out two other fleets, and seamen were hard to 

 find; but Captain Jones promised that if he should be per- 

 mitted to enlist crews himself, he would soon fill out the 

 complement, and, though this was irregular, the captain 

 was allowed to have his own way. President Jackson had 

 expressed particular interest in the enterprise, and the 

 Secretary of the Navy was not disposed to strain at matters 

 of form, if only the equipment could be pushed. 



The Secretary of the Navy was Hon. Mahlon Dickerson 

 of New Jersey. His portrait in the National Gallery is 

 one of those over which the reader pauses for a second 

 glance. The forehead and eyes suggest a certain power 

 of discrimination; the compressed mouth shows self-con- 

 trol, and a curl of the lips indicates a dry sense of humor. 

 The Hon. Mahlon Dickerson must have needed all these 

 qualities. For not alone did he have to deal with the 

 endless matters that legitimately arose in connection with 

 the equipment — offers (at government prices) of supplies 

 from voters who had supported the Democratic party, and 

 looked for recognition; applications for billets with the 

 scientific staff, including a few from the supporters of Mr. 

 Shegogue, who desired to be appointed official portrait 

 painter and draftsman to the expedition; protests from 



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