Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/457



"Gentlemen,—Lieutenant Wilkes, in his 'Synopsis of the Cruise of the Exploring Expedition,' which I have but recently seen, having made some statements calculated to produce erroneous impressions in regard to myself, I deem it proper they should be explained and corrected, and with that view I ask the favour of you, who I know take a lively interest in all that concerns the character of the navy, to give this communication a place in the columns of your highly respectable paper.

"In the first place, at page 18. of his Synopsis, Lieutenant Wilkes says, 'In speaking of this cruise to the Antarctic, it will be necessary for me to go more into detail than I intended, not only to substantiate our country's claim to the discovery, but in consequence of the unfounded statement that seems to have been made by Captain Ross to a commander in our navy, and given currency by him, viz. that Captain Ross had actually run over a part of the ocean where I had reported the existence of land.'

"I am doubtless the commander here alluded to; and the words I have underscored seem to be intended to convey the impression that I was the only, or at least first person, to whom Captain Ross made this statement, and through whose report alone it obtained 'currency.' Such is not the fact. The truth is, that Ross's statement was published in the Sydney Herald of the 10th of August, eight days before I met that officer at New Zealand. From that paper it was copied into the 'Madisonian,' of this city, of 12th March last. It had also reached Mazatlan, on the coast of Mexico, whence it was taken to the Sandwich Islands by Captain Bissell, of the Cayuga, and published in the 'Polynesian' of the 2d of October, seven days