Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/18

 *viduals who united themselves with me in effecting the organization of the Expedition, and who liberally shared with me its expenses. My wishes were always promptly met by them, to the extent of their ability; and the enterprise was sustained with a zeal and interest rarely accorded to a purely scientific purpose. That I have not before published an account of my voyage, or presented any detailed statement of my discoveries to those who had a natural right to expect it, has been entirely owing to the circumstance that my time has been wholly occupied in the public service, from the period of my return until late last year; and they will, I trust, accept as a sufficient excuse for my silence during that period, the fact that the command of an army hospital, with from three to five thousand inmates, which devolved upon me during the greater part of the recent war, allowed me little leisure for literary or scientific work. It will also be understood that the temporary abandonment of the exploration was due to the same general cause.

October 23d, 1866.