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National Geographic : 1904 Oct
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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE guished himself by his former participa tion in a work of like nature. The squadron sailed from the United States in June, 1853, and proceeded to China by the way of the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean, reaching Hongkong, China, March 16, 1854. The civil war then raging in China, which required the constant attention of the squadron, prevented much survey ing work in the first year. Ringgold having become incapacitated for duty, Lieutenant John Rodgers, U. S. N., assumed command of the ex pedition and administered it to a suc cessful ending. The details of the sur veys made by Rodgers can not be dwelt upon here, but from the data collected there were made fifteen charts of har bors and special localities and twenty charts of island groups and extensive coasts and seas, among which were charts of the Bonin Islands; the Liu Kiu group, and the islands to the westward; the mouth of the Pei-Ho River, as well as the Miao Tao Strait; the ports of Japan and the Tsugaru Straits, and ports in Kamchatka; the Aleutian group, and the first American chart of Bering Sea. In September, 1855, the brig Porpoise foundered with all hands on board during a terrific typhoon that swept the China Sea of many ships, and thus was lost to the expedition, the navy, and the coun try, as the Secretary of the Navy stated, some of the most gallant and intelligent young officers that ever graced the service. Captain Rodgers with the Vincennes, after entering Bering Strait on July 16, 1855, proceeded northward for the pur pose of verifying the position of land placed upon the charts by the report of Captain Kellet, of H. M. S. Herald, in about latitude 720 N., longitude 175° W., and also to examine, if possible, Plover Island, which had been reported as seen by that officer, and he was then to endeavor to reach Wrangell Land. Running for Wrangell Land, which at that time had never been seen by Euro peans, he failed to discover it, although he went within 16 miles of its reported position. Curiously enough, it was the vessel named after him, the U. S. ship Rodgers, which twenty-six years later, under the command of Lieutenant R. M. Berry, U. S. N., succeeded in reaching and charting this unknown land. Having penetrated up to that time farther north in the Bering Sea route than any one else, Rodgers' Expedition returned to San Francisco and later made a cruise of exploration, searching for doubtful dangers in the Pacific Ocean to the westward of that port. After making a survey of Hilo Bay, Island of Hawaii, the Vincennes returned to New York by way of Cape Horn. Besides a vast amount of geographical data sent to the Navy Department, Rodgers turned into the Smithsonian Institution natural history specimens to a considerable amount and of much value, and, as predicted by the Secre tary of the Navy, the labors of the offi cers and men of the expeditionary force proved not only of great benefit to com merce, but also made interesting con tributions to science. COMMODORE PERRY'S EXPEDITION TO JAPAN Probably no naval officer, and surely no U. S. naval officer, ever gained a greater triumph in foreign lands-a tri umph the benefits of which have en riched all nations and whose full fruition is inconceivable even at the present time, a half century after the expedition which brought it about entered upon its work than Commodore Matthew C. Perry, whose expedition opened to the civil ized nations of the world the Empire of Japan about the middle of the nine teenth century. The expanding interests of the United States incident to the discovery of gold in California and the rapid settlement 4.oo
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