CHAPTER XI 
CHARLES WILKES AND THE UNITED STATES EXPLORING 
EXPEDITION 
“ There was a Door to which I found no Key, 
There was a Veil past which I could not see; 
Some little Talk awhile of Me and Thee 
There seemed — and then no more of Thee and Me.” 
HE name of John N. Reynolds has already been 
mentioned as a warm advocate for American ex- 
ploration in the Antarctic seas. Before the “ infant expe- 
dition ” on the Seraph and Annawan in 1829-30, he had 
urged the dispatch of national exploring ships for the 
survey of the routes of whalers in the Pacific and for dis- 
covery in the far south. Congress had considered the 
matter in 1828, and the House of Representatives re- 
quested the President to send out such an expedition. The 
Secretary of the Navy for the time being adopted the 
scheme too soon, appointed the U. S. ship Peacock for 
the service and advised the selection of a scientific staff 
and the purchase of a second vessel and the necessary 
instruments. He informed the House that the object of 
the expedition was to examine islands and coasts, both 
known and unknown, as far south as circumstances, 
safety and prudence would permit ; and he asked for more 
money. The Senate, displeased at the Secretary of the 
Navy acting on a resolution of the House alone in a 
matter which had not come before the more august assem- 
■Omar Khayyam. 
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