THE 1800 s -(Cont'd) 



with the expedition's primary mission. In July 1853 Perry, in his first confrontation with the 

 Japanese, entered Yedo (Tokyo) Bay with a squadron consisting of the Susquehanna. Mississippi, 

 Saratoga and Plymouth. The following exerpt from Perry's narrative best describes the subtleties of 

 executing a survey of foreign shores: 



"I had directed that a surveying boat, well manned and armed, from each 

 ship of the squadron, should commence at daylight this morning, the 9th, the 

 survey of the harbor and bay of Urage, and thinking it quite possible, they might 

 meet with some resistance, I instructed Lieutenant Silas Bent, in command of 

 the surveying party, not to go beyond the range of our guns, and caused a 

 lookout to be kept upon them, that assistance might be sent should they be 

 attacked; but though they were followed by numbers of Japanese boats, they 

 did not, on seeing our men well armed, venture to molest them. 



The governor inquired what these boats were doing, and, on being told 

 they were surveying the harbor, he said it was against the Japanese laws to allow 

 of such examinations; and he was told that, though the Japanese law forbade 

 such surveys, the American laws command them, and that we were as much 

 bound to obey the American as he was the Japanese laws. Here was a second and 

 most important point gained." 



The Northern Pacific and Arctic Surveying Expedition (1853 - 1856) commenced an 

 extensive effort of nautical surveys and scientific investigations involving astronomy, magnetism, 

 meteorology and natural history. This expedition under the command of Commodore Cadwalader 

 Ringgold, and later Lieutenant John Rodgers, was composed of the ships Vincennes and Porpoise. 

 which had earlier participated in the U. S. Exploring Expedition, the 166-foot bark-rigged screw 

 steamer John Hancock, the 85-foot schooner Fenimore Cooper (originally the New York pilot 

 boat Skiddy) and the storeship John P. Kennedy (the former 350-ton sailing ship Sea Nymph). 

 The results of this expedition combined with earlier ventures resulted in the publication of 

 detailed charts of the entire coast of Japan, the coasts and islands of the Bering Strait, and the 

 Arctic Ocean as far north as Wrangel Island. Accompanying this expedition were five zoologists 

 (including Spencer Baird, then Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution) and three 

 botanists. Misfortune, however, plagued this expedition. In mid-year 1854, while the ships were in 

 Hong Kong, undergoing repairs, Ringgold was requested to lend assistance in that area to protect 

 American merchant interests from the threatening Chinese Revolutionists. In the midst of 

 overseeing these operations, Ringgold was stricken with an intermittent fever which at times 

 affected his mental bearings. During one of these attacks he became incensed over an incident 

 involving Lieutenant John Rodgers. Believing Rodgers was negligent in failing to take more 

 aggressive action against a sniper on shore who fired upon his boat, Ringgold preferred charges 

 against him and several others who in turn preferred charges against each other. Into their caldron 

 of confusion came Commodore Perry. He promptly relieved Ringgold from command because of 

 medical reasons, dismissed all charges preferred against the officers, and placed Rodgers in 

 command of the expedition. Shortly thereafter fate again became the hunter when the Porpoise 

 disappeared at sea without a trace. Following the completion of the expedition, a special office 

 was established in Washington, D. C, in 1857, with Rodgers as superintendent to publish the 

 results of the expedition. Although several charts were published, the Civil War precluded further 

 efforts and a complete publication of the expeditions work was never accomplished. The final 

 irony occurred when the Chicago fire in 1871 destroyed the expedition's stored invertebrate 

 collection. 



Another expedition, which also began in 1853, was the Second Grinnell Expedition to search 

 the Arctic for the explorer Sir John Franklin, missing since 1845. This second expedition was 



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