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“…Lewis described for Mary…”

Letter from William L. Maury to Mary Hill Maury, November 23, 1852, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“…the USS Caprice…”

Letter from Commodore Matthew Perry to Lieutenant William L. Maury, April 24, 1853, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“…anthracite and coal…”

Letters from Commodore Matthew Perry to Lieutenant William L. Maury, May 28 and June 1, 1853, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“…a hole in the daytime sky.”

There is no record of Lewis’s crew spotting the comet, but as knowledge of the heavens was an essential part of navigation at the time, it was not at all unusual for ship crews and captains to be among the first to report celestial phenomena, and to read messages into them.

New Wales Chronicle (Bangor, Gwynned, Wales), October 1, 1853, p. 3.

“…a grainy star cluster…”

The Buffalo Daily Republic (Buffalo, NY), October 11, 1853, p. 2.

“…toward Hydra…”

http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/bortle.html#:~:text=COMET%20C%2F1853%20L1%20(KLINKERFUES%3B%20O.S.&text=Visible%20to%20the%20unaided%20eye%20from%20early%20Aug.&text=Comet%20moved%20south%20of%20the,object%20for%20the%20southern%20hemisphere.

“…translator…a dire letter from home.”

There is no record of Lewis receiving a letter announcing his wife’s death while at sea, though he must have. I have strayed slightly from what record there is about Mary Hill Beckham (See “…Mary Hill Beckham…,” above).

Letter from Commodore Matthew Perry to Lieutenant William L. Maury, June 1, 1853, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“…noted his pleasure…”

Letter from J.C. Dobbins to William L. Maury, October 27, 1855, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

“…the ‘plucking board.’”

Letter from Rutson Maury to Ann Maury, June 7, 1855, held in the Maury Family materials at the Special Collections department of the Swem Library at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 278.

“…The Physical Geography of the Sea…”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, pp. 258-59.

“…the book Poe had once praised.”

See “…Edgar Allan Poe,” above.

“…graft and waste…”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 135.

“…to snip away dead weight…”

Williams, F. L. (1963). Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the sea. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, p. 273.