REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FTSH AND FISHERIES. OXXI 
an official investigation of all matters connected with her stranding and 
abandonment, and after her return X was ordered to continue the in- 
quiry, including such testimony as could bo obtained respecting her 
rescue, etc. I was also ordered to assume charge of the vessel for the 
time being and take her to Gloucester, Mass., and have such repairs 
made as seemed to be necessary ; likewise to employ a captain to take 
charge of her when she was ready, and to enlist a crew. 
This duty, which, as has been stated, began November 10, was not 
completed until after the middle of January, though the work was 
pushed with all possible vigor. I reported in Washington, January 21, 
1889, and after my arrival there an exhaustive report was compiled, 
embracing all the testimony and other data relating to the stranding, 
abandonment, etc., of the vessel. 
Circumstances over which the writer had no control prevented the 
preparation of the reports on the construction and equipment of the 
Grampus and on her work for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, 
until the latter part of the present year. As soon as it was feasible to 
do so, the compilation of these reports was undertaken and pushed 
forward as rapidly as possible. At the close of the year both were in an 
advanced stage of completion, though it is proper to say that the time 
and labor devoted to them have necessarily obstructed the expansion 
of the division work in some other directions. 
