368 
APPENDIX. 
its path upon the ocean will be peaceful, and its pursuits respected 
by all belligerents. The President has, therefore, thought proper, in 
assigning officers to the command of this squadron, to depart from 
the usual custom of selecting them from the senior ranks of the navy, 
and according to their respective grades in the service; and has 
appointed Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, first officer, to command the 
Exploring Expedition, and Lieutenant Wm. L. Hudson to command 
the ship Peacock, and to be second officer of said squadron, and take 
command thereof, in the event of the death of the first officer, or his 
disability, from accident or sickness, to conduct the operations of the 
Expedition. 
(Signed) Mahlon Dickerson, 
Secretary of the Navy. 
Navy Department, June 22d, 1838. 
V. 
MEMORANDUM FOR THE COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION TO EXPLORE 
THE SOUTH SEAS. 
Note. — The asterisk before the number of some of these articles, denotes that 
the islands, &c., have been examined by the Expedition. 
I. I have pointed out, in the supplementary volume of my Hydro- 
graphical Memoirs, (pages 19, 96, and 113,) several islands, the 
existence of which does not appear to be subject to any doubt, but of 
which the position is not determined with the best precision. It is 
much to be wished that all such islands were to be visited, and their 
position verified. With respect to the islands of rather doubtful 
existence, the names of which I have given, (pages 156-165, supple- 
ment,) there is certainly no other method of ascertaining their ex- 
istence than to search for them, and to determine, with the greatest 
precision, the latitudes and longitudes of such as are found. A great 
number of these imaginary islands will then, of course, vanish from 
the charts. 
II. Captain Bligh discovered, in the year 1789, to the northward of 
the New Hebrides, a group of islands, which he named Banks's 
Islands; and Captain Wilson, another cluster of islands, to the 
northward of the Santa Cruz Islands, named by him Duff's Group. 
Neither these nor the Banks's Islands having been since seen, it 
would be well to make a new survey of them. 
