16 
INTRODUCTORY. 
/ 
A 
other than an official report, I have been invited to 
prepare a history of the cruise, under the form of a 
personal narrative. I had promised my brother at 
parting, that I would keep a journal, to furnish topics, 
perhaps, for a fireside conversation ; and I have chosen 
to draw most of my materials from this record. I 
might have done more wisely, if I had been content 
to substitute sometimes the educated opinions of oth- 
ers for those which impressed me at the moment. 
My apology must be, that I do not profess to be ac- 
curate, but truthful. 
