Alden was an officer in the sloop-of-war 'Vincennes', the flagship of the United States Exploring Expedition which spent four years in the Pacific under the command of Commodore Charles Wilkes.

The journal gives an account - but not a day-by-day account - of the Vincennes voyage which took in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, the Antarctic, Hawaii, the Gilbert (Kiribati), Ellice (Tuvalu) and Marshall Islands. See also PMB MS 124-146 and the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, Dec. 1971:25, pp. 4-7.

Captain William L. Hudson was commander of the US ship Peacock, one of the vessels of the United States Exploring Expedition to the Pacific, 1838-42, commanded by Commodore Charles Wilkes. He later transferred his flag to the Porpoise.

The journal begins when the expedition was en route from Fiji to Honolulu, and gives an account of the PEACOCK's visits to the Hawaiian Islands, Oregon, Southern California, the Line, Phoenix and Tokelau Islands, Samoa, the Ellice and Gilbert Islands (Tuvalu and Kiribati), and the wreck of the PEACOCK at the mouth of the Columbia River on the west coast of North America. After Hudson had transferred his flag to the USS PORPOISE, he crossed the Pacific to the Philippines, Sooloo Islands and Singapore. (The journal is a continuation of that filmed as PMB 146, which covers the Expedition's activities from 20 August 1838 to 8 August 1840)

The papers are: 1. Documents concerning the appointment of a Danish Consul in Hawaii, 1846.

2. Printed reports of the Hawaiian Minister of the Interior, Attorney-General and Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Hawaiian Legislature, dated 21 May 1845. The Attorney-General's report is entitled On the Inferences of the Constitution (31pp.)
3. Official correspondence concerning the appointment of the First Danish Consul, E.A. Suwerkrop, and his successor Ludwig Holberg Anthon in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1849-50
4. A printed Order of the Privy Council defining the instructions to be given to the diplomatic agents and consuls of the Hawaiian Islands, 25 August 1848. (5pp.)
5. A printed Whalemens' Shipping List from Bush, Makee and Company, Lahaina, Maui, 1848 (list of whalers, date of arrival at Lahaina, name of master, where owned and details of cargo. Covers 103 ships in period 18 July - 25 November 1848)
6. Correspondence of Royal Danish Consulate, Papeete, Tahiti, 1872-94.

The corvette Galathea made a voyage to the Pacific in 1845-47. Bille, the commander, published a book on the subject Beretning om Corvette 'Galathea's' Reiseomkring Jorden 1845, 46, og 47, 3 vols (Copenhagen, 1849-51).

The papers largely concern the organisation and financing of the Galathea expedition. There are some letters by Bille to the Danish Admiralty and the Generaltoldkammer og Commerce Collegium concerning his visit to Hawaii. They also concern the treaty signed between Hawaii and Denmark on this occasion. All are in Danish. There are also some cuttings from The Polynesian and two printed copies of the Hawaiian-Danish Treaty.

Mason was born in New York City on May 8, 1848. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1864 and passed the examination for lieutenant on April 2, 1872. On September 1, 1872, he sailed from Philadelphia in the U.S.S. Omaha on a cruise to the Pacific. In Valparaiso, Chile, on February 14, 1873, he transferred to the U.S.S. Pensacola, a surveying vessel. In that ship, he visited other South American ports and arrived in Hawaii on February 13, 1875. After seven months in Hawaiian waters, he returned to the United States.

The journal gives a day-by-day account of Mason's cruise onboard the Omaha and Pensacola, prefaced by an outline of his previous career.

The Manuscript Mission Histories are, in fact, mainly collections of chronologically arranged newspaper clippings, with some typescript entries, concerning the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Pacific Islands. The histories cover the following territories and periods: French Polynesia (1849-1959), Hawaii (1850-1959), Samoa (1871-1959), Tonga (1891-1959).

Eli Bell was a missionary to Hawaii for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The journal covers Bell's career in Hawaii (Hawaiian Islands) during 1854 - 1860.

Waller was born on 9 November 1859 in Yorkshire, England. He served as a missionary for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hawaii from 1890 until November 1938 when he left for California.

Although described as an autobiography on the title page, this work is actually a history of the Reorganized Church in the Hawaiian Islands, written by Waller. Waller's name figures frequently in the history - in the third person.

The articles mainly concern Hawaii, the Society Islands in French Polynesia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Samoa, Tonga, Pitcairn Island and Fiji. The Juvenile Instructor was published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City. For other publications of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints see also PMB 110 for Improvement Era; and PMB 113 for Contributor.

The Saints Herald is an offical publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Vols. 21 to 28, No. 20, were published at Plano, Illinois, USA. From then on, Lamoni, Iowa, was the place of publication. Until the end of 1882 (Vol. 29), the journal was published fortnightly. It then became a weekly publication. The volumes of The Saints Herald prior to Vol. 21 contain no material relating to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

The articles mainly concern the work of missionaries of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti and the Tuamotu Archipelago. For other publications by the Reorganized Church see also PMB 94 and 109 for Autumn Leaves, PMB 104 for Zion's Ensign, PMB 105 for Journal of History, and PMB 106 for Times and Seasons. See also PMB 89, 93 and 100