Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/30

16 citizens of that place). Her mother was Elizabeth Hull, of Spottsylvania Co., Virginia. Nine years afterwards, Maury married Miss Ann Hull Herndon (in 1834) from that same house.

In the year 1825, the United States Government had not yet established a naval academy, and the young cadets commenced at once the active duties of their profession. The narrow quarters and crowded steerage, as well as the other discomforts of a man-of-war ship, were as can easily be imagined, little conducive to study.

But it soon became evident to the companions of his own grade, as well as to his superiors in rank, that young Maury had resolved to master the theory and practice of his profession, and was steadily pursuing that object, regardless of difficulties and obstacles. Active and observant, he merited and obtained a reputation for strict attention to the various details of duty, and consequently was often selected for special service.

It is related by some of his companions of that period how Maury would chalk diagrams in spherical trigonometry on the round shot in the quarter-deck racks, to enable himself to master problems, while pacing to and fro, passing and repassing the shot-racks on his watch, thus availing himself of every moment of quiet, and acquiring and storing away for future use, scraps of valuable knowledge during hours that other young men of his age carelessly threw away. With no other textbook than an old Spanish work on navigation, he applied himself resolutely, with the aid of a dictionary, to the task of a new language, and at the same time such nautical information as the book might afford.

During the first year of his service, he visited the coast of England on the frigate 'Brandywine', which then conveyed to France the Marquis de La Fayette, after his visit to the United States in 1825. The gallant Marquis de LaFayette frequently