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accepted several weeks later; Rich was advanced to the post of 
botanist, and almost on the eve of sailing Brackenridge was 
designated as horticulturist and assistant botanist. 
As finally made up, the fleet of the United States Exploring 
Expedition comprised six sailing vessels: two sloops-of-war, a 
store-ship, a gun-brig, and two tenders. During the voyage of 
nearly four years, two were lost, one was sent home, and one | 
sold, only two of the six making the entire trip. Twelve civilians 
constituted the scientific corps. Three of these were particularly 
interested in botany, and devoted their time chiefly to the 
collection and study of plants. These three were Charles 
Pickering, one of the two ‘naturalists,’ William Rich, “‘botan- 
ist,"" and Brackenridge, who is sometimes styled ‘‘assistant 
botanist’ and sometimes *‘horticulturist.”’ 
The different vessels of the expedition did not always keep 
together; indeed, sometimes one of them made a voyage under 
special orders to some part of the Pacific never visited by the 
rest, so that it is impossible to trace the track of the “expedition” 
as a whole. Most of the members of the scientific corps, how- 
ever, were attached to the Vincennes, which was the largest 
vessel and the flag-ship of the little fleet; Rich, with one of the 
artists, Alfred T. Agate, who was particularly engaged in making 
drawings of living plants, spent the first year with the store- 
ship Relief. 
The expedition finally, sailing from Hampton Roads, left the 
shores of the United States August 19, 1838, Brackenridge being 
with Pickering on board the Vincennes. Crossing the Atlantic, 
the first stop was ore of about a week at Madeira, where Bracken- 
ridge did his first collecting. Recrossing the Atlantic to Rio de 
Janeiro, the Vincennes lay at anchor in the harbor there for 
about six weeks: during this time Brackenridge was able to de- 
vote considerable time to the study of the peculiar flora of the 
Organ Mountains. Leaving Rio on the seventh of January, 
i83ay. the Vincennes proceeded southward along the coast, an- 
choring for about a week off the mouth of the Rio Negro, where 
several landing parties visited the shore, and finally doubling 
Cape Horn, in excertionally. fine weather, on the sixteenth of 
