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Rh been more strikingly illustrated than in the fact stated in the report of the Navy Department, that by means of the Wind and Current Charts projected and prepared by Lieut. Maury, the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of our country has been shortened by about forty days.' (Annual Message of President Fillmore, December 2nd, 1851.)

"'The Wind and Current Charts planned by Lieutenant Maury, the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, and prosecuted under his direction with much industry, are being extended to the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This work is viewed with great interest and satisfaction by our seafaring communities, and all those interested in the safe and speedy navigation of the ocean. It has materially shortened the passage along the highway by which our commerce passes into and through the southern hemisphere, bringing the ports of those distant parts of the world some ten days, and some several weeks, nearer to us than before. A letter from the Superintendent of the Observatory, which accompanies this communication, states the important fact, that vessels sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of the United States, with the instructions afforded by these charts, make the voyage in forty days less, upon the average, than those sailing without them, and that there is reason to hope the time may be still further reduced.' (Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, November 29th, 1851.)

"The Naval Observatory continues to pursue its appropriate labours with its usual good results, and is found to contribute the most important facilities to the improvement of navigation. I cannot better commend it to the regard of Congress than by a reference to the letter of Lieutenant Maury, which accompanies this report.’ (Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, December 4th, 1852.}