1841
replied to Lieutenant Wilkes, to which I need advert; namely—
- The true position of Balleny Islands, as given by Balleny himself.
- Lieutenant Wilkes's knowledge of their true position.
- That the land in question was not laid down in that position, and therefore could not possibly have been meant for it.
These three points will be discussed under one general head. Lieutenant Wilkes in his last quoted letter states that "Captain Ross knew of Balleny's discovery before he left England, and must have seen at once the latitude and longitude were identically the same with those of Balleny." Had the latitude and longitude of the land on his chart been, as he states, identically, or even nearly the same with those of Balleny Islands, I should feel that the blame of making an "
unfounded" statement would justly rest upon me for not having detected their identity. But this statement of Lieutenant Wilkes, made so long afterwards, when he must have been fully aware of the real position of Balleny Islands, shows that he confuses two distinct portions of land. He is alluding to that which he says he marked in his original chart as "English discovery," and of course in the position Balleny assigned to it; but this land he did not put upon the tracing he sent to me. The land that we sailed over is laid down upon his chart at least seventy miles from them, and is exactly in
