of a year. Hence, some of my descriptions may bear the marks of haste, and I may, occasionally, have founded a judgment on the first rapid impressions, which a greater familiarity with the subject might not have confirmed. I can only say, in answer to objections of this kind, that I have conscientiously endeavored to be correct and impartial, and that, in preparing this work for the press, I have carefully tested the original impressions recorded on the spot, by the truer images which slowly ripen in the memory, and by the light of subsequent experience.
The portions of the book devoted to India and China are as complete as the length of my stay in those countries allowed me to make them. The account of my visit to Loo-Choo and Japan, however, is less full and detailed than I could have wished. In accordance with special regulations issued by the Secretary of the Navy, I was obliged to give up my journals to the Department, at the close of my connection with the Expedition. It was understood that they would be retained and employed in the compilation of the Narrative of the Expedition, now being prepared by order of Congress. As my accounts of the most interesting events which I wit