12 



by those who had authority, if there is power in government to break the 

 seals of reports sent in by their employes. — The table of temperatures 

 referred to, which is not given in the regular course of the journal, covers 

 only a few hundred miles of ocean. Did I not know it from actual inter- 

 course with Mr. C, there would still be reason enough to conclude from 

 his suspending it so soon after entering the coral seas, and his mistakes, 

 before exposed, respecting the "flourishing" and "limiting" tempera- 

 tures — that it was not made with any reference to this subject. It em- 

 braces a kw facts in log-book fashion, which, though taken about the 

 coral islands, contain none of the views in dispute. It is somewhat sur- 

 prising that Mr. Couthouy refers to these alone, and cites nothing from 

 his "duplicate minutes" bearing more directly upon his claims. 



The insinuation in the third paragraph on page 8, excites rather pity 

 than contempt. Mr. Couthouy if charged with it, would probably deny 

 any reference to me ; but the reader perceives the bearing and intent of 

 the italicised his. — An allusion to the "peculiar intimacy" dwelt upon by 

 him so warmly, and acknowledged to have continued long after " our de- 

 parture from Callao" — and not even to have been suspended at the Sand- 

 wich Islands, where my Report was read to him, is all the reply 1 make.* 



His readers may perhaps appreciate Mr. C.'s regret, that this subject 

 was not permitted to rest till the Geological meeting in May. 



* See pp. 387, 388, Vol. xlv of this Journal ; page 3 of the appendix. 



