THE WHITE WORLD 



in his report Xo. 63 to the Secretary of the Navy, dated 

 March II, 1840, did utter a deliberate and wilful falsehood 

 in the following words, to-wit: 'On the morning of the 

 nineteenth of January, we saw land to the southward and 

 eastward,' * * * well knowing that land to the southward 

 and eastward was not seen on that date as asserted by him." 

 There was brought forth plenty of evidence to prove, 

 at least to the satisfaction of Americans, that land was 

 seen by the expedition, and yet, in view of the careless- 

 ness of Wilkes in laying down upon a chart territory which, 

 as he confesses, he had not actually perceived, and in 

 view of conflicting statements concerning this land pre- 

 sented by his own officers, and once more in view of the 

 ludicrous spectacle that the whole expedition must have 

 presented to the world, can it be denied that anyone who 

 desired to find an excuse for treating the enterprise lightly 

 would not have far to look? 



386 



