2 SUMMARY OF THE VOYAGE OF 



The arrival of Commander Belcher, by the isthmus of Panama, to take the command, 

 gave a new impulse to affairs, particularly as he was much attached to certain depart- 

 ments of Natural History. His cabin was henceforth applied as a museum, and 

 the dredge now began to be frequently in use. On the 15th March, 1837, the 

 Sulphur quitted the Bay of Panama, and proceeded along the coast of Veragua to the 

 northward, during which several places were visited, as calms did not permit of rapid 

 progress. Realejo, in 12° 28' N. lat., was not reached till the 3rd April, where some 

 short stay was made, and several objects added to the collection ; the Botanical Collector 

 also proceeding to Leon. From this she sailed to San Bias, in 21° 32' N. lat., touching 

 on the way at Libertad and the bay of Manzanilla, and arrived there on the 27th May. 

 The bay and shores were here satisfactorily examined, and a visit to Tepic produced 

 some botanical collections from its vicinity. On the 10th June, the vessel sailed for the 

 Sandwich Islands, where she arrived on the 17th of the following month. During the 

 passage, numerous sea-birds were sometimes noticed, and occasionally patches of sea- 

 weed. The island of Oahu, where is the principal anchorage, has been so frequently 

 visited and examined, that little novelty was to be expected ; nor were the labours with 

 the dredge within the reefs very profitable, which is perhaps attributable to the quantity 

 of fresh-water discharges by the numerous streams. Still the period from our arrival till 

 our departure on the 27th July was often very agreeably spent among the lovely valleys. 

 Oahu is situated in 21° 17' N. lat., 158° 0' W. long. 



After leaving the Sandwich Islands, we rapidly entered a different climate, as our 

 destination was now a high northern latitude. In crossing the North Pacific, great 

 numbers of -medusa? and other marine animals were observed. The new features conse- 

 quent on the change were first witnessed at Rose island, where a party landed for 

 a short time. Here the vegetation and productions were similar in general character to 

 those of home, but had much freshness to us after a residence within the tropics. On 

 the second succeeding day, the 23d August, the vessel anchored in Port Etches, King 

 William's Sound, in 6u° 21' N. lat. The hills around were still covered with broad patches 

 of snow, and the weather was usually wet and uncomfortable. This much retarded our 

 pursuits, and, without much regret, we quitted it for Port Mulgrave, whence, after a visit 

 of a few days, we sailed for Sitka, or New Archangel, in 57° 2' N. lat. Though the 

 weather was still very unfavourable, the fortnight spent here was busily occupied in 

 examining the neighbourhood, and several short excursions were made through the wet 

 and swampy forest. Conchology was the chief gainer, though the objects obtained by 



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