INSTRUCTIONS. xx [ x 
precaution against this practice, and in the recovery of the stolen 
property, as well as in punishing the offender, use all due moderation 
and forbearance. 
You will permit no trade to be carried on by the squadron, with 
the countries you may visit, either civilized or savage, except for 
necessaries or curiosities, and that under express regulations esta- 
blished by yourself, in which the rights of the natives must be 
scrupulously respected and carefully guarded. 
You will neither interfere, nor permit any wanton interference with 
the customs, habits, manners, or prejudices, of the natives of such 
countries or islands as you may visit ; nor take part in their disputes, 
except as a mediator, nor commit any act of hostility, unless in self- 
defence, or to protect or secure the property of those under your 
command, or whom circumstances may have placed within reach of 
your protection. 
You will carefully inculcate on all the officers and men under your 
command, that courtesy and kindness towards the natives, which is 
understood and felt by all classes of mankind; to display neither 
arrogance nor contempt, and to appeal to their good-will, rather than 
their fears, until it shall become apparent that they can only be 
restrained from violence by fear or force. 
You will, on all occasions, avoid risking the officers and men unne- 
cessarily on shore, at the mercy of the natives. Treachery is one of 
the invariable characteristics of savages and barbarians ; and very 
many of the fatal disasters which have befallen preceding navigators, 
have arisen from too great a reliance on savage professions of friend- 
ship, or overweening confidence in themselves. 
Much of the character of our future intercourse with the natives 
of the lands you may visit, will depend on the impressions made on 
their minds by their first intercourse with your vessels. 
It is the nature of the savage, long to remember benefits, and never 
to forget injuries ; and you will use your best endeavours wherever 
you may go, to leave behind a favourable impression of your country 
and countrymen. The Expedition is not for conquest, but discovery. 
Its objects are all peaceful ; they are to extend the empire of com- 
merce and science; to diminish the hazards of the ocean, and point 
out to future navigators a course by which they may avoid dangers 
and find safety. 
An Expedition so constituted, and for such purposes, armed for 
defence, not conquest, and engaged in pursuits in which all en- 
