IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, August 2, 1854. Resolved, That there be printed and bound five thousand extra copies of the Report and one thousand extra copies of the Observations of the United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to Chile: two hundred and fifty copies of the Report and one hundred copies of the Observations for the use of the Secretary of the Navy; one hundred copies of each for the Superintendent of the Expedition; and the remainder for the use of the Senate. Attest: ASBURY DICKINS, Secretary. ASTRONOMICAL EXPEDITION. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING The First Part of the Results of the United States Naval Astronomical Expedition. JULY 13, 1854.-Laid upon the table, and ordered to be printed. JULY 25, 1854.-Ordered, That 6,000 copies of the Report and 2,000 copies of the Observations be printed; 500 copies of each for the use of the Secretary of the Navy, and 250 copies of each for the Superintendent of the Expedition. To the House of Representatives: I transmit herewith the enclosed communication from the Secretary of the Navy, respecting the Observations of Lieutenant James M. Gilliss, of the United States Navy, and the accompanying documents. WASHINGTON, July 12, 1854. FRANKLIN PIERCE. NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 10, 1854. SIR: Under a clause of the act making appropriations for the naval service, approved August 3, 1848, directing the Secretary of the Navy "to expend five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, in causing the observations to be made which have been recently recommended to him by the American Philosophical Society and the Academy of Arts and Sciences," I have the honor to state that Lieutenant James M. Gilliss, of the Navy, was appointed to make the observations authorized; for which purpose he proceeded to Santiago, in Chile, accompanied by assistants, and prepared with the necessary instruments and facilities to accomplish the wishes of Congress. In furtherance of this object, Lieutenant Gilliss has sent to the Department the first part of the results of his work, accompanied by a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, under date of July 8, 1854, which I respectfully place before you for such further disposition as to you may seem proper. With the highest respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, To the PRESIDENT. J U. S. N. ASTRONOMICAL EXPEDITION, SIR: I have the honor to lay before you the first part of the results of the U. S. N. Astronomical Expedition directed by Congress, August 3, 1848. The other volumes will be presented as rapidly as the computations can be completed. Should Congress be pleased to direct the printing of the Report and Observations, as the latter can only be arranged for quarto pages, I would most respectfully suggest the propriety of printing the volumes of a uniform size. To secure faithful copies of the maps and illustrations, it is particularly desirable that the Department have supervisory control over their execution; and I beg leave to suggest that such recommendation be made to the honorable House of Representatives, where the Expedition was originated. Respectfully submitted. Hon. J. C. DOBBIN, Secretary of the Navy. J. M. GILLISS, Superintendent. The information embraced in the following pages was obtained in occasional intervals of leisure during nearly three years occupied in prosecuting the observations for which Congress more immediately instructed the honorable Secretary of the Navy to send an Astronomical Expedition to the southern hemisphere. Charged by the Department with the conduct of that honorable enterprise, I was also directed to furnish any other information of a useful character which there might be opportunities to obtain. At that period the young republic of Chile was daily becoming of greater consequence to our people. Those who had encountered the long and dreary voyage round Cape Horn passed on their way north, or to the islands of the Pacific, with exalted ideas of its fertility and wealth, and pleasant remembrances of Talcahuano or Valparaiso; the thousands who left the eastern shores of the United States for the auriferous region of the West by more expeditious routes, looked to it for the larger supplies of bread and fruits; the merchant saw in it a rapidly growing market for his ship-loads of domestic manufactures; and the statesman greeted cordially the nation every day giving stronger proofs of its ability for self-government. Within the preceding quarter of a century Chile has advanced far more rapidly than any other nation of Spanish America in intelligence, good order, agricultural and mineral wealth, and commercial importance. But all, or very nearly all, the volumes of information we possess of it were written before the era of progress, and tell what Chile was, not what it is. Nor do they enlighten us on many subjects deeply interesting to the cultivated reader. Indeed, notwithstanding the munificent and most laudable efforts of the government of that country to the present time, even its best informed citizens have few reliable data concerning the geography or statistics of any other department or province than the one in which they reside. At the cost of the national treasury, both its political and natural histories have been elaborately written, and the latter superbly illustrated;* and in course of time, an account of its geography, ethnography, and statistics will probably follow. Until then, the present volume may supply some deficiencies. But I beg it may be remembered that no pretensions are made to elegance of literary composition; and if the most trustworthy information which other duties permitted me to obtain is detailed comprehensibly, it is all that it was expected to accomplish. J. M. G. U. S. N. ASTRONOMICAL EXPEDITION, Washington, July, 1854. * HISTORIA FISICA Y POLITICA DE CHILE segun documentos adquiridos en esta republica. Publicada bajo los auspicios del Supremo Gobierno por Claudio Gay. |