THE 'UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION: SECOND NOTICE.
Tun first volume of this work* closed with anaccount of the Expedition's operations in the Paumotu group of islands. -. The two volumes now be- fore us contain the narrative of its proceedings at Tahiti, the Samoan group, (Navigator's Islands,) New South Wales, among the Antarctic ice, at New Zealand, Tongataboo, and the Fiejee Islands. The third velunie concludes with the arrival of the Expedition at Honolulii (Sandwich Islands). There is more space devoted to geographical discovery in the second and third volumes than in the first, and less to politico-statistical essays. The chapters on New South Wales alone resemble those 'devoted to Chili and Peru : and, to speak truth, Lieutenant Wilkes's .appearance as a statist, in a field with which we had some previous acquaintance, does not increase our confidence in his notices of countries which are less
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known. As a specimen of his facts, we may notice his grave assertion respecting South Australia, that it has "cost the Government about one million poundi for bounty." (Vol. II. P.:227.) In his professional field of marine Surveying we are inclined to repose more confidence in him ; although it is impossible in the absence of the hydrographical memoir and atlas to estimate his crediting, with anything approaching .to certainty. The officers attached to the expedition are evidently intrepid and intelligent -practical seamen ; the instill-4ms issued by Lieutenant Wilkes to guide them hi their-surveys Of the ran- mom, Samoan, and Feejee groups, are jtidieious ; •flA time allowed was sufficient, and the disposition of the forces skilftil. There is every reason to expect that the result of their labours will materially extend and rec- tify our knowledge of the belt of island-groups which extends from the North of Tahiti to New Caledonia. But until the atlas and hydrographi- cal memoir shall be published, we have no means of testing the accuracy of their operations : nor, indeed, is it always easy, from the want of maps, to form a distinct notion of the appearance, extent, or relative posi- tion of the places visited. The " Antarctic Cruise" is the portion of the voyage to which Lieu.- tenant Wilkes appears to attach most importance. This preference we incline to attribute to national jealousy ; for the results of his short and not very satisfactory expedition to the South of the Australian continent do not possess a tithe either of the interest or practical utility of his surveys among the islands of the Pacific. But the truth is, that the French, English, and American explorers of the Antarctic ice, have all displayed great jealousy of each other. If the statement made by Lieu- tenant Ringgold is correct, the late Admiral Dumont D'Urville evinced this jealousy in a manner not very creditable to him. The PorPoise (Lieutenant Ringgold's vessel) encountered the French discovery-squadron among the ice : " Desirous of speaking and exchanging the usual and customary compliments incidental to naval life, I closed with the 'strangers, desiring to pass within hail, under the flag-ship's stern. While gaining fast, and, being within musket-shot, my intentions too evident to excite a doubt, so far from any reciprocity being evinced, I saw with surprise sail making by boarding the main-tack on board the flag-ship. Without a moment's delay, I hauled down my colours, and bore up on my course before the wind." Sir James Ross appears to have regarded both the French- and American expedition as hastily fitted out for the purpose of exploring the Antartic seas before the expedition placed under his'command could reach them. This impression is beyond a doubt erroneous • for the act of Con- gress authorizing the American expedition was passed in May 1836 ; and D'Urville's voyage was only the continuance of a series commenced under La Perouse. But the jealousy of Lieutenant Wilkes goes still more pre- posterous lengths. " Each of these nations," he says gravely, " with what intent I shall not stop to inquire, has seemed disposed to rob us of the honour by underrating the importance of their onna researches." An angry controversy regarding the priority of American, French, and English discoveries within the Antarctic circle, is obviously at hand. Before it become so bitter as to render each nation inaccessible to the voice of truth, it seems desirable to put a plain statement of facts on re- cord. to this end, we start with the claims of the American Exploring Expedition. They are thus stated. (Vol. II. pp. 282-3.) • " That land does exist within the Antarctic circle, is now confirmed by the united testimony of both French and English navigators. D'Urville, the cele- brated French navigator, within a few days after land was seen by the three ves- sels of our squadron, reports that his boats landed on a small point of rocks, at • bee Spectator of 25th January 1845, the place (as I suppose) which appeared accessible to us in Piner's bay, whence the Vincennes was driven by a violent gale: this he called Clarie Land, and tes- tifies to his belief of the existence of a vast tract of land, where our view of it has left no doubt of its existence. Ross, on the other hand, penetrated to the latitude of 79° S. in the succeeding year, coasted for some distance along a lofty country connected with our Antarctic continent, and establishes beyond all cavil the correctness of our assertion, that we have discovered, not a range of detached islands, but a vast Antarctic continent. How far Captain Ross was guided in his search by our previous discoveries, will best appear by reference to the chart, with a full account of the proceedings of the squadron, which I sent to him, and which I have inserted in Appendix XXIV. and Atlas. Although I have never received any acknowledgment of their receipt from him personally, yet I have heard of their having reached his hands, a few months prior to his Antarctic cruise. Of this, however, I do not complain; I feel only the justifiable desire to maintain the truth in relation to a claim that is indisputable. The following narrative must, I feel satisfied, leave no doubt in any unprejudiced mind of the correctness of the assertion that we have discovered a vast continent: but I would ask in advance, who was there prior to 1840, either in this country or in Europe, who had the least idea that any large body of land existed to the South of New Holland ? And who is there that now doubts the fact, whether he admits it to be a vast con- tinent or contends that it is only a collection of islands? Examine all the maps and charts published up to that time, and upon them will any traces of such land be found? They will not; and for the very .best of reasons—none was known or ever suspected to exist. We ourselves anticipated no such discovery."
The claims here advanced are quite untenable. Land was known to exist within the Antarctic circle, and a large body of land was " suspected" to exist to the South of New Holland, before the American expedition sailed : land was discovered to the South of New Holland the year before Lieutenant Wilkes made his Antarctic cruise. Mr. John Biscoe, R.N., in command of the sealing-brig Tula, belonging to the Messrs. Enderby of London, who had specially instructed him to endeavour to make dis- coveries in a high Southern latitude, discovered land in lat. 66° 2' S. long. 43° 54' E. on the 19th of February 1831, and in lat. 67° 1' S. long. 71° 48' W. on the 15th of February 1832. Both discoveries are situate within the Antarctic circle ; the earlier to the South-east of the Cape of Good Hope, the more recent South of Cape Horn. An abstract of the log-book of the Tula was published in the Journal of the Royal Geo- graphical Society of London in 1833, with the following note—" The probability seems thus to be revived of the existence of a great Southern land, yet to be brought on our charts and possibly made subservient to the prosperity of our fisheries." In 1823, Weddell had penetrated about long. 22° W. (nearly mid-way between the patches of land discovered by Mr. Biscoe) as far South as lat. 74° 15', without seeing land : it must, therefore, have been on the opposite side of the Pole, or to the South of Australia, that the author of the note looked for a "great Southern land " likely to be "made subservient to the prosperity of our fisheries." The Messrs. Enderby again despatched Mr. Biscoe to prosecute his dis- coveries in 1833; but the vessel was wrecked. Nothing dismayed by the heavy loss thus incurred, these gentlemen determined, in conjunc- tion with some other merchants, to fit out another expedition for the com- bined objects of sealing and discovery. Mr. John Balleny was intrusted with the command, and left the Thames in July 1838. Mr. Biscoe's track in 1831-2 was from West to East : he had, however, recommended that fiiture attempts should be made in the opposite direction. In con- formity with this recommendation, Mr. Balleny sailed from Chalky Bay, New Zealand, on the 7th of January 1839; worked up to the South-east as far as 178° E. long. and 67° S. lat. ; and then ran to the Westward, endeavouring to attain and keep as high a latitude as possible. In these efforts he persevered till be reached 95° E. long.; and in the course of this run he twice discovered land. The first land discovered consisted of five islands, three large and two small ; the centre island situated in 66° 44' S. lat. and 163° 11' E. long. ; the second about 65° S. lat. and 121° E. long. The second in command landed on the beach of one of the islands first discovered, and brought away some stones. Mr. Balleny reached London in September 1839, just in time to acquaint Captain Ross, on the eve of his departure, with the results of his voyage. An ac- count of Mr. Balleny's voyage was published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London towards the close of 1839, and this note appended to it—" The results of his voyage must tend to keep alive the supposition of the existence of either a great Southern land, or a vast mass of islands, whose Northern limits would seem to range between the 67th and 69th parallels ; a part of which we trust ere long to see laid down on our charts, and not improbably rendered subservient to the interests of science, if not to the prosperity of our fisheries."
The discoveries now enumerated were not fortuitous. They were com- menced in 1830, and systematically followed up in three successive voyages till 1839, under the liberal and intelligent direction of the Messrs. Enderby. The result of these voyages was the discovery of land within the Antarctic circle to the South of New Holland, and the all but cer- tainty of the existence of a great Southern land. Lieutenant Wilkes was not ignorant of the discoveries of Biscoe. It is a striking fact, that he pursued in 1840 almost exactly the same course steered, in consequence of Biscoe's suggestion, by Balleny in 1839. Priority of discovery in his ease is out of the question. If he " anticipated no such discovery," his success was but a lucky accident : if he acted upon Biscoe's suggestion, he merely accomplished in 1840 what Balleny had accomplished in 1839, without being aware that any person had preceded him. Let us now see how much the American Exploring Expedition has added to the discoveries of Balleny.
The expedition, consisting of four vessels, sailed from Sydney on its Antarctic cruise on the 26th of December 1839. The Peacock returned to Port Jackson on the 17th of February, and the Vincennes on the 11th of March; the Flying Fish readied the Bay of Islands on the 9th, and the Porpoise on the 26th of March. The crew of the Flying Fish do not assert that they saw the Southern land : on the 23d of January, in let. 65° 58' S. and long. 157° 46' E., "they discovered dark spots, which had the appearance of rocks; and on approaching the margin of the ice, could make them out to be such with their glasses ; but they were situated too far within the fieldrige for a boat to get near them." Whether these rocks were in situ or merely fragments imbedded in the ice, re- mains uncertain. On the 16th of January, land is said to have been seen at the same time from the Vincennes, the Peacock, and the Porpoise. The longitude of the vessels at that time was 157° 46'; but the latttude is not mentioned. There is something very unsatisfactory in this omis- sion of the latitude ; especially when coupled with the circumstance of Sir James Ross having apparently been led by the chart which Lieutenant Wilkes transmitted to him to look for this land 7 degrees to the East of the longitude now assigned to it. On the 13th, the Vincennes was in 65° 8' S. lat., and on the 17th in 66° 20' S.: the latitude of the three vessels on the 16th was therefore probably between 65° 30' and 67° S'. The agreement of the independent statements of the three crews leaves no doubt on our minds that land was really seen on this occasion. In an outline of Sir James Ross's voyage which appeared in the Literary Gazette immediately after his return, it is stated, that " exactly over the centre of the mountain-range" said to be discovered by Lieutenant Wilkes, no soundings were found with 600 fathoms of line ; but it ap- pears from Sir James's track as laid down on the Admiralty chart, that this trial for soundings was made fully 7 degrees to the East of Lieu- tenant Wilkes's position on the 16th of January. Land was again seen from the Vincennes on the 19th of January (66° 20' 13. let. 154° 30' L long.) ; on the 23d of January (67° 4' 8. let. 151° 18' East long.); on the 2d of February (66° 12' 8. lat. 137° 2' E. long.) ; on the 7th of February (64° 49' S. lat. 131° 40' E. long.) ; indis- tinctly on the 10th of February (65° 27' S. lat. 122° 35' E. long. ; distinctly on the 12th of February (64° 57' S. lat. 112° 16' E. long. ; on the 13th and 14th of February (65° 58' S. lat. 106° 30' E. long. indistinctly on the 17th of February (64° S. lat. 97° 37' E. long.) The Peacock was damaged in a storm, and obliged to return to the North on the 26th of January : previous to its departure, land continued to be seen as from the Vincennes, and soundings were obtained. The Porpoise parted company with the Vincennes on the 26th of January, and did not again come within sight of the Southern land. The sum of the American discoveries, therefore, seems to be-1. one considerable mass of apparently continuous land seen by the crews of the whole three vessels at a point in- termediate between the two points where land was seen by Balleny ; 2. land seen by the Vincennes near the point where the second patch of land was seen by Balleny; 3. land seen by the crew of the Vincennes at three points intermediate between the land they saw first and that in the neighbourhood of Balleny's second ; 4. land seen by the crew of the Vincennes at two points to the Westward of the most Westerly land seen by Balleny. In short, the Americans saw the land nine times between the 156th and 97th meridians, (about 1,770 miles,) Balleny twice be- tween the 163d and 117th meridians E. of Greenwich, (about 1,380 miles). One of Balleny's companions landed, but no American ever touched the shore.
The charts and narration of Dumont D'Ilrville's expedition have not yet been published ; but it appears from our own Admiralty chart of the South Polar Sea, that he saw land in about 65° S. bit. 132° E. long.; and that he discovered land in 66f° S. lat. and 140° E. long. From a statement made by Lieutenant Wilkes, some of Admiral D'Urville's men appear to have landed at the point first discovered.
The merits of Balleny, Wilkes, and D'Urville, as discoverers, appear to be pretty nearly equal. They all obtained glimpses of points on a line of coast or long chain of islands, by following up the course recommended by Biscoe. The circumstance of Balleny s discoveries having preceded by a year those of the French and American navigators, does not detract from the credit due to them : they bad no opportunity of knowing what he had done, and acted independently.
Sir James Ross is differently circumstanced. Discovery, it is true, was but a secondary object with his expedition : but he did make dis- coveries. He was, however, before he left England, aware of what Mr.. Balleny had accomplished ; and he received a chart and letter from Lieu- tenant Wilkes before he left Sydney. Instead, however, of " being guided by our previous discoveries," as that officer insinuates, Sir James took advantage of his knowledge of them to avoid tracts already explored, and to attempt new discoveries. He sought to penetrate Southward to the East of the tracts of Wilkes and Balleny. The consequence was, that in about 170° of E. long. he discovered land, which he found to extend un- broken, in the direction of North to South, from 71° to 79° S. lat. Re- turning, he sighted the islands discovered by Balleny; but, by keeping too far to the North, he does not appear to have seen any of the land. to the Westward of them.
After this plain, and we fear rather dry statement, it is easy to ap- propriate to each individual concerned his respective share of merit. In so far as the honour claimed is national, the discoveries made are English. The Messrs. Enderby, under whose auspices they were commenced and prosecuted for ten years, are the discoverers. Balleny was their agent, and only, followed out what their other agent Biscoe had so ably begun. D'Urville and Wilkes, like Balleny, only followed out the discoveries of Biscoe. Ross, again, took up the chace where Balleny and Wilkes had left off. The Enderbys were the originating and directing spirits. The active agents are all of them entitled to the praise of resolute, enter- prising, and skilful seamen. As Englishmen, however, we may be allowed
to express our pride in Balleny's having accomplished as much with a schooner of 154 tons and a dandy-rigged cutter of 54, as the French and American navigators with their men of war. And it reflects no discredit on Wilkes and D'Urville, that Sir James Ross, who since his boyhood may almost be said to have spent more years among the ice than in a temperate climate, should be found more at home in that element and ex- ercising a greater mastery over it than they.
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