268 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
even under tte loss sustained by the cessation of the enter- 
prise from commercial reasons, to reflect that, at an insignifi- 
cant expense, results of such magnitude and value in the various 
departments of science were obtained, while the prosecution of 
the original enterprise was neither diverted nor delayed. 
Starting early in July, 1865, from San Francisco — the 
' ^ members of the scientific corps having arrived via Nicaragua, 
where collections were made — the expedition, by various 
vessels, touched at the following points : Victoria, V. I, ; Sitka ; 
Ounga Id. ; St. Paul ; St. Michael's, Norton Sound ; Grant- 
ley Harbor ; Plover Bay ; Mechigrae Bay ; Anadyr River ; and 
Petropaulovsk, Kamtschatka. Major Kennicott, with Messrs. 
Pease and Bannister, of the scientific corps, were landed at St. 
Michael's, with a party, for the purposes of exploration on the 
Yukon. Mr. Bischofi^, of the scientific corps, was posted at 
Sitka ; Mr. Elliott, in British Columbia ; and the writer, 
appointed in charge of the corps during the absence of Major 
Kennicott, visited the various points on the Siberian coast, and 
returned to winter in San Francisco. 
We started again in July, 1866, in the flag-ship "Nightingale," 
under the command of Captain C. M. Scammon, U. S. R. S., to 
whom the scientific corps is indebted for many favors and con- 
stant cooperation. Plover Bay, E. Siberia, was visited, being 
the rendezvous for the telegraph vessels. Thence the " Night- 
ingale" sailed to St. Michael's, Norton Sound. 
Here we were met by the melancholy intelligence of the 
death of our beloved leader, Robert Kennicott. He died 
literally " in the harness," on the banks of the Yukon River, 
at the post of Nulato. His death was caused by disease of the 
heart, aggravated by exposure and privation, from which he 
ever endeavored to spare others, but not himself This lament- 
able event occurred May 13th, 1866, only a day or two before 
his proposed exploration of the Upper Yukon. His body, in 
care of Mr. Charles Pease, who was at Nulato, was carefully 
conveyed down the river and by sea to St. Michael's. 
The direction of the scientific corps then devolved upon the 
writer, who, considering the exploration of the American con- 
tinent as the first object to be secured, remained in the Yukon 
Territory, instead of proceeding to Siberia, as he had intended. 
