303 MALOLO. 



Midshipman Wilkes Henry, on the 24th instant, who were treache- 

 rously murdered by the natives of Malolo, one of the Feejee group 

 of islands, the officers of the United States ships Vincennes and 

 Peacock will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, as a 

 testimony of regard for the memory of their departed brother officers, 

 who have been suddenly cut off from their sphere of usefulness in 

 the Expedition, while arduously engaged in the performance of their 

 public duty. 



(Signed) William L. Hudson, 



Commanding U. S. Ship Peacock. 

 Feejee Islands, July 31st, 1840. 



Subseqxiently to this, on the 8th of October, a meeting of the 

 officers was held on board the Peacock, at which Captain W. L. 

 Hudson was called to the chair, and Lieutenant R. E. Johnson 

 appointed secretary. The chair announced that the object of the 

 meeting was to obtain a just expression of feeling in relation to the 

 death of Lieutenant Joseph A. Underwood and Midshipman Wilkes 

 Henry, who on the 24th of July last were treacherously killed by 

 the natives of Malolo. On motion, a committee, consisting of Lieu- 

 tenant Johnson, Dr. Palmer, Mr. Rich, (botanist,) Passed Midship- 

 man Blunt, and Midshipman Blair, were appointed to draft resolutions 

 befitting this melancholy occasion. 



The committee, in obedience to their instructions, reported the 

 following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted. 



Resolved, That amid the toils and dangers which the officers of 

 this Expedition have been called upon to encounter, they could have 

 incurred no deeper calamity than the untimely death of their beloved 

 coadjutors, Lieutenant Joseph A. Underwood and Midshipman 

 Wilkes Henry. 



Resolved, That the loss of these gentlemen is most deeply mourned, 

 not only on account of their personal worth, but from our sincere 

 interest in the Expedition, which has thus been deprived of two most 

 efficient officers. 



Resolved, That the energetic and persevering manner in which the 

 lamented dead performed all duties, however arduous, offered an 

 example worthy our emulation, and that the strongest terms of 

 sympathy with their friends at home, are inadequate to the expression 

 of our regrets. 



Resolved, That as a mark of affection and respect for our lost 



