l the Graeca Minora,
about half of the Graeca Majora, and four books of Homer's Iliad. At
the end of a year he entered the Junior Class of Charleston College,
where he gained high standing for study and in scholarship; but for
insubordination he was expelled from the college.

In 1833 he was appointed teacher of mathematics in the Navy, and made
a cruise to South America, which occupied about two and a half years
of time. While absent, a law was passed creating the office of
professor of mathematics in the Navy, for which Fremont upon his return
was examined, and appointed. Without entering upon the duties of the
place, he declined the position, and accepted the post of surveyor and
railroad engineer upon the railway line between Charleston and Augusta.
In 1838 and 1839 he was associated with M. Nicollet, a Frenchman and a
member of the Academy of Science, in an exploring expedition over the
Northwestern prairie and along the valley of the Mississippi. During
his absence, he was appointed by President Van Buren a second
lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers. Upon his return
from the Upper Mississippi, and for the period of a year, he was
engaged with Nicollet and Mr. Hassler, then the head of the Coast
Survey, in the arrangement of the scientific materials that had been
collected during the expedition, and in the preparation of a map and
a report. In 1842 he was directed by Colonel Abert, the chief of the
topographical corps, to make an exploration of the Northwestern
frontier of the State of Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and with
special reference to an examination of what was known as South Pass in
those mountains. This expedition was on a small scale, consisting of
twenty-one men only, most of whom were of French extraction. In this
expedition he traced the waters of the Platte to the South Pass, which
he reached the 8th of August. It was stated by Dr. Linn, then a
Senator from the State of Missouri, that "over the whole course of the
road barometrical observations were made by Mr. Fremont to ascertain
the elevations both of the plains and of the mountains, astronomical
observations were made to ascertain latitudes and longitudes, the
face of the country was marked as arable or sterile, the facility of
traveling and the practicability of routes noted, the grand features
of nature described and some represented in drawings, military
positions indicated, and a large contribution to geology and