Twenty Years Before the Mast

Creator

Date

1896

Identifier

Hocken Library: G420.E77 E77

Publisher

Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs

Abstract

Between 1838 and 1842, the ‘U.S. Ex. Ex’ visited 280 islands in the Pacific. Given that there was a full complement of naturalists, mineralogists, botanists, horticulturalists, taxidermists, and draughtsmen on board, a staggering amount of data and specimens was collected, including 60,000 plant and bird specimens, the seeds of 648 species, and 254 live plants. Many of the species and other items found by the expedition helped form the basis of collections at the new Smithsonian Institution. Erskine was a crew member on the Porpoise, later transferring to the Vincennes. These are his informal reminiscences of that journey.

Files

16_3_erskine_twentyyears.jpg

Citation

Charles Erskine, “Twenty Years Before the Mast,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed December 25, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/6847.