181 
with a very pleasant company, I conversed a long time with Lieu¬ 
tenant Wolf Tone, of the first regiment of artillery. He is an 
Irishman by birth, educated in a French military school. He 
had been formerly in the French service, and is patronised by 
General Bernard. 
At a visit I made to General Macomb and Major Vandeven- 
ter, at the war-office, the general showed me many drawings and 
plans of fortresses and entrenchments, together with two remark¬ 
able lists sent in every month from West Point by Lieutenant- 
Colonel Thayer. One of them contains the names of the best and 
worst cadets in every class, and the other the names of those 
who deserve to be rewarded, as well of others who have been 
punished, with indication of their faults; finally, of those who 
have been expelled, and the reason of their expulsion. Both lists 
are put in frames, under glass, and hung up in the general’s office; 
one is changed every fortnight, and the other every month. I was 
told by the general, that they saved him frequently from wasting 
conversation with the parents of the cadets. 
The general conducted me also to the topographical office, be¬ 
ing under the direction of Colonel Roberdeau. I found there 
several repeating circles, theodolites and telescopes, made by 
Troughton and Ramsden; also two transit instruments, destined 
for the observatory which is still to be built; an instrument by 
Troughton, which serves for measuring the ten-thousandth part of 
an English inch, and a model measure of the English yard, 
French metre and litre. This gentleman regretted that the old 
English measures and weights are retained in the United States, 
instead of adopting, as it has been done in the Netherlands, the 
new French standard, which is much better. 
There were also several good plans of battles and sieges of the 
revolutionary war, namely, those of the old fortresses Ticonde- 
roga and Crownpoint, on Lake Champlain. I missed the most 
recent drawings. On the other hand, General Macomb showed 
me what they call the Indian department, where all business with 
the Indian tribes is attended to. There we found portraits of a 
great many Indian chiefs, and several of their wives, who have 
been at different periods in Washington, in order to compliment 
the president. They then receive medals according to their rank, 
which they wear by a riband round the neck. There were also 
several weapons and different ornaments of tribes I had already 
seen. Finally, I visited the ordnance department, which is un¬ 
der the direction of a colonel. I saw here a gun invented by Mr. 
Hall, at Harper’s Ferry, which is loaded from the breech, and 
with which five sure shots can be made in a minute. With this 
gun, three thousand discharges had been made, and it has proved 
