Preparation for tailing. — Do- 

 part urn from San Finticisro. 



SAN FRANCISCO TO MANILLA. 



Dangeroui poiltion of tt,o 

 VtnceiinM. 



sr>7 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



SAN FRANCISCO TO MANILLA. 

 rnerAiiATioys for »»iliso— DErAimnE rnov »ax ntinriTo — u-ixulrm i f.isitiok or mr vinct s-\es— tiik 



MlCiI.ki.'N AT UOSOLVLU — UiVLVH HL OX »UOMK— CASE OF lit BftOS THE COOFEB— UERtlDM F»t'NI> GDiLTr 

 AKD riNEB— TAADE AS D ItEJOOHCKf OK THE HAWAIIAN OEOUF— FUTURE J>RO»PECT» Of TJ1E IIAWA1IA* 

 ISLANDERS — I'l I'U'.ri I'.i: FROM tl 'JSv.- I.M.I -- 1 I v A I. I (Munition OF Till taCADRON — Til E VIXCE.NXES AXD 

 FLVIJiG-FISU FART COM F A KT— CIDItK OF TJtE VISICESXEU— «EA Rt U FOR IIUKM-«AEE*I 1SL AN D- ii AX I J.L A 



— the vfeRSJOtMf h-yino-fish jois « omf.vnv— cueist or the flying-fish — maxilla. 



By the 28lh of October, 1841, all the exploring 

 parties hnd returned to San Francisco. The duties 

 of the observatory and surveys were coin pic le d, 

 the instruments embarked, and preparations made 

 to Gail with the first fair wind. 



The brig bought to supply the loss of the Pea- 

 cock, wrecked ou llie bar of the Columbia, I now 

 new-named the Oregon, anJ gave the command 

 of it to Lieutenant Carr, first lieutenant of the Vtn- 

 conncs. It was with no little regret tliat I parted 

 with Lieutenant Carr, the executive officer of my 

 ship for upwards of two years, during which tiin'o 

 bis duties had been at all times responsible, ardu- 

 ous, and valuable to the expedition. My regret at 

 parting with him gave way, however, to the plea- 

 sure of assigning him a stutiou to which his conduct 

 had so justly entitled bun, and which he was so 

 well qualified to fill. 



To complete our supplies for the return voyage, 

 it was expedient that we should again visit the 

 Hawaiian Group : this was rendered absolutely 

 necessary, in order to procure clothing for those 

 who bad lost every thing by the wreck of the Pea- 

 cock ; for deficiency in that important article 

 might, had wo pursued the direct route to the 

 China Seas, have subjected the men, who had 

 already undergone so much exposure, to the attacks 

 of disease. 



Thifi necessity, added to the other delays the 

 unfortunate loss of the Peacock had caused, wa» a 

 source of profound regret, as it prevented mo 

 from availing myself of the permission granted in 

 my instructions, to enter the Sea of Japan, through 

 the Straits of Sangar. 1 gave up this plan, to 

 which I had looked forward us om of the mo*i in- 

 tereating ports of our cruise, with great reluctance.; 

 but the season was rapidly passing, and to under- 

 take this remote expedition would render it im- 

 possible to accomplish the other objecls marked 

 out for me previous to my return to the United 

 Slates. We might not, perhaps, have succeeded 

 in filtering into communication with the inhabit- 

 ants of that interesting and little-known country ; 

 hut we mie,ht certainly, by landing on some of the 

 inland* adjacent to its coast, have obtained much 

 interesting information, and added greatly to the 

 collections of our scientific departments. 



On the 1st of November, we had a wind that 

 ► nahli d us to make wtil, although it was lute in the 

 day before it was sufficiently strong, and by that 

 time the ebb tide was far spent. To avoid any 

 farther loss of time, 1 determined to mnke the at- 

 tempt. Signal was accordingly made ; and the 

 vessels were in a few minutes under way, and stand- 



ing out of the harbour. It may, indeed, be said, 

 that it is practicable to enter and depart from this 

 port whenever the tide is favourable. We con- 

 tinued beating out to gain an offing until towards 

 sunset, when it fell calm, and the tide failed us. 

 The Viucemies was, therefore, compelled to anchor 

 in six and three-fourths fathoms water, throe miles 

 from the laud ; and signal was made to the two 

 brigs, which wore about three miles outside 0/ our 

 position, to do the same. 



On our coming to anchor, there was scarcely 

 any swell, and the ship lay almost as still as if she 

 had been within tlio harbour. The sun set clear, 

 and every thing betokened a calm and quiet 

 night. 



At about 10 p.m. the swell began to increase, 

 without any apparent cause, and so rapidly as to 

 awaken my anxiety; but bring in such deep water, 



1 thought that the vessel whs sufficiently distuut 

 from the bar not to be exposed to any breakers. 

 As the flood continued to make, the swell in- 

 creased, and by midnight we were enveloped in fog, 

 without a breath of air. and the bliip rode ov« r the 

 rollers, that were now becoming very heavy, and 

 cansed her to pitch violently. There was," how- 

 evt-r, no break to ihem ; but as ample scope of 

 cable had been given, the ship occasionally swung 

 broadside to, w him the heavy pitching was changed 

 to rolling so deep as to endanger our masts. At 



2 a.m. a breaker was heard outside of u«, passing 

 in with the roar of a surf, after which they became 

 constant, and really awful. The ship might now 

 be said to be riding in breakers oT gigantic size ; 

 they rushed onwards with such a tremendous roar 

 and violence, that ns each wave was heard ap- 

 proaching, it became a source of apprehension 

 until it had safely parsed. Such was its force that, 

 when it struck the ship, the chain coble would 

 sin ge, the ring-stoppers |>art, aud some few falhoniH 

 of the cable escape. As the time of high water 

 approached, the roar of these immense breakers 

 was constant. The ship was as if tempest- tost, 



and our situation became at each moment 01 r 



greater solicitude. The actual danger of wreck 

 was not indeed great, for in the eveut of parting 

 our cable, the tide would have carried us towards 

 the harbour, and into deeMt water, where the 

 rollers would have ceased to break ; and there w;is 

 no great danger that we would drift on the bar, 

 whteh was a mile or two to the northward of our 

 position. 



I looked forward with anxiety for the time of high 

 water, as the period when we* should be relieved 

 from our unpleasant situation, not onlv bv the 

 x 2 



