REPOKT 



OF 



AN EXAMINATION OF THE BONIN GROUP OF ISLANDS, 



BY CAPTAIN JOEL ABBOT, U. S. N. 



Instructions of Commodore Perry to Captain Abbot. 



U. S. Flag-ship Powhatan, Yedo Bay, 

 Japan, April 10, 1854 



Sir: You will proceed with the United States ship Macedonian, under your command, to 

 Port Lloyd, Peel Island, one of the Bonin Group, and there examine into the condition of the 

 small settlement established at that place in 1830, and of which Nathaniel Savery, at the time 

 of my visit to the island, was the only surviving white man of the first settlers. 



I have strongly recommended the Port as a place worthy the notice of the government, it 

 being in many respects suitable for a harbor of resort and refreshment for vessels plying be- 

 tween California and China, also for our whaling ships, and especially as a coal depot for 

 steamers that will doubtless ere long be running as regular packets across the Pacific. 



To this end, and to secure the only suitable location for a coal depot at Port Lloyd, I ob- 

 tained by purchase from Nathaniel Savery a tract of land, which has been partially surveyed, 

 and its boundary-lines established. 



The object of your visit to this island will be of two-fold consideration. First, to render all 

 suitable aid to this little settlement, and to the whaling ships usually found cruising in this 

 vicinity — their boats frequently entering Port Lloyd for supplies. To take on board, unless he 

 desires to remain, John Smith, ordinary seaman, who was landed in June last from the Sus- 

 quehanna; and to pay off, and discharge from the books of the squadron, Nathaniel Savery, 

 who has been allowed the pay of seaman, with one ration, for the services he has rendered. 



Should Smith desire to remain on the island, you can discharge and pay him off. 



The second object of your brief cruise will be, to give exercise to your officers and crew, and 

 more particularly to make careful observations upon the winds and currents, in the track be- 

 tween this and the Bonin Group — a route which will be much frequented by vessels from the 

 Pacific ports of the United States — and to mark the correct positions of any islands or rocks 

 you may see in your passage to and from Port Lloyd. 



You will more particularly notice the direction and velocity of a stream of moving water, 

 running in a northeasterly direction, similar in many respects to the Gulf stream which trav- 

 erses our own coast, marking upon the chart the outlines of its width and course ; and noting, 

 with great care, and at every hour, the temperature, as compared with that of the atmosphere. 



