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NARRATIVE

OF THE

UNITED STATES'

EXPLORING EXPEDITION,

DURING THE YEARS

1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842.

BY

CHARLES WILKES, U.S. N.

COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION,

MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, &c.

CONDENSED AND ABRIDGED.

LONDON:

WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE MARIA LANE.

1845

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ADVERTISEMENT.

CAPTAIN WILKES' Narrative of the United States' Exploring Expedition was printed at the expense of the American Government, in five imperial octavo volumes. It is a very beautifully illustrated book, but it is a dear one-too dear, indeed, for the large majority of readers interested in the subject, and too large in size for the cabin collection of many who would wish to give it a place in a seaman's library. The price of the American edition is eight guineas; the cost of the present condensation, containing the pith and marrow of the book, only half-a-guinea, or one-sixteenth part of that sum.

In condensing Captain Wilkes' Narrative, we have endeavoured to retain, in the first place, all that is new, or likely to be of use to seamen navigating the same seas ; and in the second place, to retain all that is attractive to the general reader interested in the advance of Geography and Natural History. We have reduced in certain places the minute detail of the position of certain vessels composing the squadron, and omitted the large appendix of instructions to his officers, printed by Captain Wilkes in vindication of his own conduct. These instructions compose very nearly a fifth of the whole work. Freed in this way from all tedious matter, the book in its present shape will invite the perusal of many hitherto restricted by the expense of the previous publication, by its bulk, and by the minuteness of its detail.

It is much to be wished, that the United States' Government may equip before long a second expedition to the Antarctic Continent, to complete the discoveries made by Captain Wilkes, and detailed in the following pages. Expeditions of this description interest the world at large, and form in themselves a kind of debt due from the inmates of the New World to the inhabitants of the Old.

LONDON, 13th October, 1845.

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