After a monotonous run of four days, _Foogee_, like a colossal cenotaph
to dead beauty, showed far up before us, and in three hours we were
again at anchor in Simoda harbor. We learned, that the commissioners
of the treaty were there awaiting the return of the commodore; that
Simoda by imperial edict had been declared an imperial city; that
Mimasaka-no-kami, prince of Mimasaka, had been appointed first, and
Tsusuki Suruga-no-kami, prince of Suruga, had been appointed second
governor of the place; also that the last-named, and Takeiro Utsi
Seitaro, imperial financier and member of the board of revenue, had
been added to the number of commissioners.
Conferences with those functionaries were held in the temple ashore,
and the following articles as additional to those of the treaty of the
31st of March were agreed to:—
_Additional regulations, agreed to between Commodore Matthew C.
Perry, special envoy to Japan from the United States of America, and
Hayashi Daigaku-no-kami; Ido, Prince of T’sus-sima; Izawa, Prince of
Mimasaki; Tsudzuki, Prince of Suruga; Udono, member of the board of
revenue; Take-no-uchi Sheitaro, and Matsusaki Michitaro, commissioners
of the Emperor of Japan, on behalf of their respective governments._
ARTICLE I.—The imperial governors of Simoda will place watch
stations wherever they deem best, to designate the limits of their
jurisdiction; but Americans are at liberty to go through them,
unrestricted, within the limits of seven Japanese ri, or miles; and
those who are found transgressing Japanese laws may be apprehended by
the police and taken on board their ships.
ARTICLE II.—Three landing places shall be constructed for the boats
of merchant-ships and whale-ships resorting to this port; one at
Simoda, one at Kakizaki, and the third at the brook lying southeast
of Centre Island. The citizens of the United States will, of course,
treat the Japanese officers with proper respect.
ARTICLE III.—Americans, when on shore, are not allowed access to
military establishments or private houses without leave; but they can
enter shops and visit temples as they please.
ARTICLE IV.—Two temples, the Rioshen at Simoda, and the Yokushen at
Kakizaki, are assigned as resting-places for persons in their walks,
until public houses and inns are erected for their convenience.
ARTICLE V.—Near the Temple Yokushen, at Kakizaki, a burial-ground has
been set apart for Americans, where their graves and tombs shall not
be molested.
ARTICLE VI.—It is stipulated in the treaty of Kanagawa, that coal
will be furnished at Hakodadi; but as it is very difficult for the
Japanese to supply it at that port, Commodore Perry promises to
mention this to his government, in order that the Japanese government
may be relieved from the obligation of making that port a coal depot.
ARTICLE VII.—It is agreed that henceforth the Chinese language
shall not be employed in official communications between the two
governments, except when there is no Dutch interpreter.
ARTICLE VIII.—A harbor-master and three skilful pilots have been
appointed for the port of Simoda.
ARTICLE IX.—Whenever goods are selected in the shops, they shall be
marked with the name of the purchaser and the price agreed upon, and
then be sent to the Goyoshi, or government office, where the money is
to be paid to Japanese officers, and the articles delivered by them.
ARTICLE X.—The shooting of birds and animals is generally forbidden
in Japan, and this law is therefore to be observed by all Americans.
ARTICLE XI.—It is hereby agreed that five Japanese ri, or miles,
be the limit allowed to Americans at Hakodadi, and the requirements
contained in Article I. of these regulations, are hereby made also
applicable to that port within that distance.
ARTICLE XII.—His Majesty the Emperor of Japan is at liberty to
appoint whoever he pleases to receive the ratification of the treaty
of Kanagawa, and give an acknowledgment on his part.
It is agreed that nothing herein contained shall in any way affect
or modify the stipulations of the treaty of Kanagawa, should that be
found to be contrary to these regulations.
In witness whereof, copies of these additional regulations have
been signed and sealed in the English and Japanese languages by the
respective parties, and a certified translation in the Dutch language,
and exchanged by the commissioners of the United States and Japan.
SIMODA, JAPAN, June 17, 1854.
M. C. PERRY,
_Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. Naval Forces, East India,
China, and Japan Seas, and Special Envoy to Japan_.
The question of port regulations and pilotage was also mooted and a
paper prepared and agreed to certifying:—
That Yohatsi, Hikoyemon, and Dshirobe, had been appointed Pilots for
American vessels entering or departing from the port of Simoda, and,
That the following rates for pilotage had been established by the
proper authorities, viz.:—
For vessels drawing over eighteen American feet $15 00
For vessels drawing over thirteen and less than eighteen feet $10 00
For vessels drawing under thirteen feet $5 00
These rates shall be paid in gold or silver coin, or its equivalent in
goods; and the same shall be paid for piloting vessels out, as well as
into port.
When vessels anchor in the outer roads and do not enter the inner
harbor, only half the above rates of compensation shall be paid to the
pilots.
As the Japanese in all their interviews, and in their last
stipulations, had manifested a preference for articles of compact to be
in the Dutch language for a mutually clear understanding, rather than
in their own, or the Chinese, the above was also prepared in Dutch by
the consent of the American _opperbevelhebber_:—
Dit dient on te verklaren, dat Yohatsi, Hikoyemon, en Dsirobe benoemd
zyn als loodsen voor schepenvan de Vereenigde Staten de haven van
Simoda binnenkomende, of uitgaande; en dat het loon voor de loodsen
door de bevoegde overheid is vastgesteld geworden als volgt:
Voor schepen over 18 Amerikaansche voeten diep in het
water $15 00
Voor schepen over 13 en minder dan 18 voeten diep $10 00
Voor schepen under 13 Am: voeten diep $5 00
Dit loon zal betaald worden in gouden of zilveren munt of met eene
gelyke waarde in goederen; en hetzelfde zal betaald worden voor het
binnen komen als wel als voor het uitgaan.
Als schepen in den buitenhaven ankeren er niet naar binnen gaan, zal
alleen de helft van de hierboven vastgestelde loonen worden betaald.
_Op last van den Opperbevelhebber_,
SILAS BENT,
_Liutenant Adjudant_.
_Goedgekeurd_
M. C. PERRY,
_Opperbevelhebber van de Oorlogsmagt van de Vereenigde Staten
in de zeeen van Oost Indie, China, en Japan_.
_Eene ware vertaling_,
A. L. C. PORTMAN.
V. S. Stoom Fregat Mississippi,
Simoda, Japan den 22sten Juny, 1854.
It may be that the veneration, in which the memory of Iyeyas, is
held by the Japanese, had much to do with the making of the treaty.
Notwithstanding this Iyeyas, charged with the guardianship of the son
of Taico, who was the husband of his granddaughter, usurped his powers
and seized the ziogoonship for himself, still, barring his perfidy, he
may be considered the great Lycurgus of Japan. His laws and influence
endured longer than those of the ruler of Sparta. During his usurpation
he took the names of Daifusama and Ongonchio, and with the honors that
wait on success, about which it boots nothing to inquire,—at his death
he was _deified_ by impotent ziogoonship. Such was the reverence, in
which Iyeyas was and still is held, with a people, in whose annals, a
century is spoken of as yesterday, that his will was not only law, but
any wish, that he was known to have expressed, became sacred. He
it was who first granted the privilege of intercourse with the Dutch:
and that nation, instead of submitting to acts which would cause any
cheeks to tingle, but those of great moral obliquity or meerschaum
stupidity—instead of submitting to the durance vile of Dezima, and
trampling upon the symbol of a Savior’s sufferings—had it in their
power to exact anything, by expressing a wish or determination to leave
their fan-shaped prison factory: but they are old fogies, and their
course shows, that to stupidity they add stultification.
[Illustration: _LITH. OF SARONY & Co. NEW YORK._
DEZIMA.]
The contempt for mercantile pursuits, and the revenue derived
therefrom, ascribed by the Dutch writers, to the “Japonicadom” of
Japan, is all leather and prunella. The exchequer of the princes at
times, is exceedingly limited and they are willing at such times to get
funds and a wife, by taking the daughter of some wealthy merchant as
_one_ of their better halves. The _quid pro quo_ to the father, for the
dimes, that the patrician son-in-law may take from his coffers, is the
privilege of wearing his coat-of-arms on the sleeve of his garments.
But I have wandered from Iyeyas. This apotheosized usurper, enjoined
upon his people to have nothing to do with Europeans, and our country
not being known at the time of this injunction, and of course not
included in such a designation, the hermetics may have thought, they
could make a mere treaty of amity (and not of commerce, as has been
stated), without mental reservation, with the United States. Then,
too, the Japanese have an intelligent and excessive curiosity upon
all subjects of information, and they contend, that inventions and
discoveries are made now in such quick succession, that no nation may
keep pace with them, that has not access to the world.
While it must remain on record, that as the Americans were the first
to deny one cent of tribute, and put an end to Tripolitan piracy, they
were also the first to break down the unsocial barrier, which the
“kingdom of the virgin of the sun” had hedged itself with, yet the
Japanese have now declared their purpose to make treaties, with all
nations similar to the one made with the United States, and they have
since done so with the English through Sir James Sterling, though his
compact is not as good as that of the Americans—the statements of the
London press to the contrary, because it contains no clause at once
granting to them any privilege, which any other nation may obtain from
the Japanese.
The Japanese were much concerned about the siege of Silistria, and
knowing the vulnerability of their country, Russia from her proximity
to them, is the great bug-bear. They were told by the English at
Nangasaki, that the French were also coming up there, and knowing
that these two nations, and that of Chowstoff were at war, they were
much concerned for fear, these enemies should meet and have a fight
in their waters, and for the purpose of preserving and securing the
inviolability and neutrality of their country effectually, they make
treaties with all the parties, _maugre_ the injunction of the great
Iyeyas, and their declarations to us of a few months before.
The Japanese were to have had a bazar opened at Simoda on our return
from Hakodadi, when our officers might procure the _curios_ of Japanese
lacquer, porcelain, crape, &c., but they were quite dilatory in getting
it ready, and urged as the cause, the non-arrival of some junks from
Osacca (pronounced like the city of Oaxaca in “Maheco,” or Mexico),
the seaport of Meaco. In the meantime, at the temple Leosenthsi, daily
conferences were held between some financial officers from Yedo, the
first lieutenant-governor, Kewakawa Kahei, and second lieutenant
governor, Isa Sintshiro, first and second presidents of the board of
revenue, on the part of the Japanese, and Pursers William Speiden of
the Mississippi, and J. C. Eldridge of the Powhatan, on the part of the
United States, to settle the very important question of the relative
value of the coins and currency of the two countries. The result was
anything but satisfactory.
The Japanese commenced by stating that the _tael_ was their decimal
basis, in their system of weights and measures. As one of our cents was
ten mills, so one of their _taels_ is ten _mace_. Next to the _tael_
comes the _canderine_, then the _cash_. But this is as to _weights_.
Their monetary system, while adopting the same nomenclature, is very
different. The coin denominated a _tael_ with them is equal to 1,000
cash; a _tael weight_ of silver, is equal to two _taels_, and five
canderines, of currency; or 2.25 tael coin, or 2,250 cash. A tael
_weight_ of gold is equal to 19 _taels_, or 19,000 _cash_.
They had no means of assaying the American, Mexican, and Spanish
dollar, but presuming them all to be of good silver, they proceeded to
determine the relative value with their coins by _weight_; a silver
dollar was found to be, by this standard, 7.12 mace—equivalent to a
little over 1,600 _cash_. Our twenty dollar goldpiece was of 8.8 mace
weight, and estimating the mace weight of gold at 1,900 _cash_, the
piece was deemed by them equal in value to 16,720 _cash_, or $10.45 of
our money. This made the gold dollar worth fifty-two cents; and silver
to bear the proportion to gold of 1 to 8.44.
But little is known of the metaliferous history of Japan, further than
its territory, in many places, is very auriferous, and that the mining
of gold is an imperial monopoly. The Japanese founded their valuation
by the price of bullion as regulated by their law or imperial decree,
being assured that as long as Japan was excluded from all social
and commercial intercourse with other nations, and formed a little
world of its own, that a system of this kind might be carried on,
without prejudice to the rights of any; the Japanese government by
putting a fictitious value on their coin, or adopting the system of
seignorage, no doubt did so to take away the motive and inducement for
the exportation of their specie for purposes of profit. Their great
philosopher, _Arai Trikayo-no-kami_, compared the mineral production
of a country to its frame and bones, and the products of the soil to
the flesh of the body, which should always be in due proportion. The
bones, he said, once removed, could not be replaced. In addition to an
adherence to this doctrine, it has been a belief among the Japanese
ever since their intercourse with the Portuguese, who showed particular
avidity for the procurement of their bullion, that it was the policy
of foreigners to drain Japan of this resource, that it might fall an
easier prey to conquest when thus impoverished.
The monetary system of Japan will require such almost radical
alteration, that it forms their objection, and presents the greatest
hinderance to commercial intercourse with others. The non-exportation
of bullion, must render trade a very difficult thing, and would have
the effect, as at Nangasaki with the Dutch and Chinese, of making the
government banker for both parties to a bargain, in buying and selling,
and all payments and receipts to pass through the hands of its officers.
The government of Japan is now one of progress; and they admit their
willingness to make improvements in it; but these improvements
must not be hurried ones, but with due foresight and proper
precaution—slowly and gradually; fearing, to use their simile, that
unaccustomed to light, too much of its glare at one time, would dazzle
and produce blindness.
After the survey of the harbor of Simoda, buoys were placed upon the
rocks discovered, surmounted with poles from which waved little flags
that we had made; and on one side of the entrance to the harbor had
been placed a large sign to indicate the locality of a dangerous rock
that lies in mid-channel of the entrance. The Japanese objected to the
presence of these flags, put there by us, on the grounds that it looked
as if we had taken possession of the place, and on their promising to
keep their places filled with their little customhouse-flag, they were
permitted to remove ours.
They furnished a sample of their coal, which was brought aboard in
hampers. It was from the interior, and mere surface coal, they not
having any knowledge of how it should be mined. They might be able to
furnish it at thirty dollars per ton: it could be landed there from the
United States or England for twenty-five dollars. When they acquire the
knowledge of working their mines, and have the roads to convey it to
the seaboard, it may be different.
Here, as at Hakodadi, after paying for them, stones of the requisite
size were procured for the Washington monument. Two of their long,
sharp, copper-fastened pine-boats, with their peculiar sculls,
ordered to be made previously, being completed, were hoisted on board
of the storeship Southampton to be sent to the United States. Our
band performed in the large temple-yard ashore. The governor of the
place allowed the poorer classes to come within the enclosure, and
the attention and delight with which they listened, and their asking
permission to present the musicians with fruit, showed that they were
both fonder and had more appreciation of pleasant strains than the
stolid Chinaman, who acknowledges no music save his horrible nasal
screech, or stupid tom-tom.
A theatrical performance was given on board which was attended by the
commissioners. The body of the marine, Williams, was brought from
Yokohama in a Japanese boat in charge of some of his messmates, and
re-interred near the poor fellow killed on the Powhatan, in the spot
set apart in the Kakizaki temple ground, for an American cemetery.
On the longest day in the year, the 21st of June, the bazar so long
looked for, was announced ready. The articles were arranged in the
temple Leosenthsi, money changing in a temple being a small thing
with the Japanese. The quantity of articles exposed, were not at all
proportioned to the number who wished to purchase, and there was
much disappointment. The Japanese made the excuse that they had not
sufficient time allowed them for the making of articles. The commodore
first visited the place, and found the articles ticketed with excessive
prices; particularly when seventeen cents per day may be regarded as
the average price of Japanese labor. He intimated to the commissioners
his displeasure at this, but these functionaries, who had no doubt thus
fixed things, very adroitly gave it to be understood that the reduction
of the prices of things at the vendue was a matter rather below their
position. The method in the madness of these official gentry was no
doubt this: there were a number of articles in this bazar similar
to those presented by their government to ours at Yokohama, and by
affixing these high prices they thought to give increased value to the
others, in our eyes.
It was determined to dispose of the articles by lottery, so that all
might procure something. They were principally crapes and silks, and
specimens of porcelain and lacquered ware. The first-named fabrics,
I shrewdly suspect, may not have been of Japanese manufacture, but
probably were sent from Chapoo in China, by the junks to Loo-Choo, and
thence in their own to Japan. The amount of silks and crapes of the
finest texture made in their own country is not very great, and no
doubt entirely consumed by the higher castes. Siebold says, that their
most beautiful silks are woven by high-born criminals, who are confined
upon a small, rocky, unproductive island, deprived of their property,
and obliged to pay for the provisions with which they are supplied by
sea, with the produce of their manual labor; and that the exportation
of these silks is prohibited.
The Japanese porcelain is of the purest, and surpasses in delicacy and
transparency any that France and England can offer. The finest, with
little raised images upon it, it is said, is made of a peculiar clay,
found in the vicinity of Meaco, and which is now nearly exhausted. Out
of little cups made of this ware, the saki is drunk.
The specimens of lacquered ware, consisting of cabinets, bowls, cups,
trays, and despatch boxes, of different hues, were of great beauty, and
put many of us out of conceit with our purchases of similar things of
the Chinese. A most delicate-hued red appeared to be most prized by the
Japanese, but the American taste was for the black and a rich maroon
color.
The process of lacquering is represented as being a slow and tedious
one. The workmen engaged over the lacquer in a boiling state, have
their nostrils protected from its fumes. The varnish is the resinous
product of a shrub called _verosino-ki_, or varnish-plant, and
requires a tedious preparation to fit it for use. The coloring matter
is mixed with it, by a long-continued rubbing on a copper plate;
and the operation of lacquering is as tedious as the preliminaries.
Five different coats, and sometimes more, are put on the article,
suffered to dry, and then finely pummiced, until the lacquer acquires
the requisite softness and brilliancy. Mother-of-pearl shells are
inlaid and subjected to the same polishing process. The lacquering
once thoroughly dry, it is impervious to the action of liquid heat,
and although not a very pleasant idea to us, who are accustomed to the
use of china-ware, the Japanese partake of hot soups and other dishes
from vessels thus made. Boiling water may be poured upon the Japanese
lacquer with impunity.
The tea of Japan has been represented by some writers as being superior
to that of China, but what we saw at the entertainment, was not at all
comparable to that of Cathay. Before the warm water is poured on them,
the leaves have a very coarse appearance, and from the tea when made
there arises not that delightful aroma that salutes the nostrils when
you drink the fine beverage at Acow’s in Canton; indeed, they are no
doubt indebted to China for the finest teas they drink, and perhaps the
finest silks they wear.
One does not observe, in going about in Japan, the propensity for
street-gambling which marks the towns of China—from the juvenile
pig-tail playing with the vendor for the fifth of an orange, upward.
The Japanese appear more elevated than this. When you notice playing it
is generally in the house, and not gaming, but with a board and pieces
resembling our chess. It was difficult to acquire much knowledge of
the contest by overlooking; indeed, the contestants generally desisted
very perversely during our presence. Our fleet-surgeon, Dr. Daniel S.
Green, however, with his taste for chess, and an obstinacy of study
which marks his investigation of every subject which he undertakes,
deciphered the game of the Japanese, and this is the doctor’s account
of it, from the best information he could obtain:—
“The Japanese game of Sho-ho-ye corresponds to our game of chess.
This game is played by two persons, with forty pieces (twenty on
either side), and upon a chequer-board of eighty-one squares-nine on
each side. The board is of one uniform color, though the square might
be colored, as with us, for the sake of convenience. The pieces are
also of one uniform color, as they are used (at pleasure) by either
party, as his own, after being captured from the adversary. They are
of various sizes, are long and wedge-shaped, being at the same time
sharpened from side to side, in front, and the name of each piece is
inscribed upon it—both the original and the one assumed upon being
reversed—(as below). Each player distinguishes his men, or pieces by
always having the pointed and thin end forward. But they would be more
readily known if the back parts of all were painted with some decided
and striking color, as that part of his own men is seen by each player
only, and if the fronts of all the men were painted of some other
color, as that part of the adversary’s piece is seen by either player
only. They are laid flat upon the board (front forward), and thus their
names are plainly visible. They capture, as in chess, by occupying the
places of the captured pieces. The king, Oho-shio, being the chief
piece, can not remain in check—and when check-mated the game is lost.
“The pieces are named, and are placed upon the board as follows:—
“Oho-shio (king)—centre square, first row.
“Kin-shio (gold), or chief counseller—upon first row, and on either
side of Oho-shio.
“Gin-shio (silver, or sub-counseller)—upon first row, and one on each
square next outside Kin-shio.
“Kiema (flying-horse)—upon first row, and one on each square next
outside Gin-shio.
“Kioshia (fragrant chariot)—one upon each corner square, first row.
“Hishia (flying chariot)—on second square, second row, right side of
the board.
“Kakuko (the horn)—on second square, second row, left side of the
board.
“Ho-hei (the soldiery)—on all the nine squares of the third row.
“The moves and powers of the pieces are as below, only noting that in
capturing there is no deviation from them, as with us in the case of
pawns.
“_Oho-shio_ moves and takes on one square in any direction.
“_Kin-shio_ as the Oho-shio, except that he can not move diagonally
backward.
“Neither of the above are ever reversed or acquire different powers;
but all the pieces below may be reversed (at the option of the player)
when they move _to_ and _from_ any square in any of the adversary’s
first three rows, and they do thereby acquire different powers, as well
as different names.
“_Gin-shio_ moves and takes as the _Oho-shio_, except that he can
not move directly to either side, or directly backward. When he is
reversed, or turned over, he becomes a _Gin-Nari-Kin_, and acquires all
the powers (and those alone) of the _Kin-shio_.
“_Kiema_ has the move of our knight, except that he is strictly
confined to two squares forward and one laterally, and can in no
case make more than four moves. When he is reversed he becomes a
_Kiema-Nari-Kin_, with all the powers (and those alone) of the
_Kin-shio_.
“_Kioshia_ moves directly forward _only_, but that may be any number of
steps. He may be reversed up on either of the first three rows of the
adversary, and then becomes a _Kioshia-Nari-Kin_, with all the powers
(and those alone) of the _Kin-shio_.
“_Hishia_ has the entire power of our castle, and when he is reversed
he assumes the name of _Rioho_ (the dragon), and acquires, in addition
to his former moves, all those of the _Oho-shio_.
“_Kakuko_ has the entire powers of our bishop, and when reversed,
assumes the-name of _Riome_ (the dragoness), and acquires, in addition
to his former moves, all those of the _Oho-shio_.
“_Ho_ moves forward one step only at a time, and may be reversed upon
either of the first three rows of the adversary; when so reversed, he
becomes a _Ho-Nari-Kin_, and acquires all the powers of the _Kin-shio_.
“Besides the preceding moves and powers, any piece which has been
captured may be replaced upon the board, at the discretion of the
player—as follows, viz.: when it is his move, instead of moving one
of his men he can replace any one of the captured pieces upon any
unoccupied square whatever, observing to keep that side up which it was
entitled to originally; but it may be reversed at any move thereafter
if _to_ or _from_ any square in the before-mentioned first three rows
of the adversary—and observing, further, that he can not replace a
_Ho_ (or pawn) on any column upon which there is already one of his
own, i.e., he can not double a _Ho_ (or pawn).
“It may be further stated, that no piece can pass over the head of any
other piece in its move, except the _Kiema_.”
Preparations were made for taking what was then thought to be our final
departure from the Japanese empire. The commodore had transferred
his flag from the Powhatan to the Mississippi, like Byron, _not
precisely_ because he ever could write an address to the ocean, upon
whose bosom his stereotyped speeches say he has wasted the dearest
action of “some forty years of _my_ life,” but because Byron had a
weakness at Pisa for some mastiffs, cats, pea-fowls, &c.; and when
the American opperbevelhebber again had his broad pennant floating
over the Mississippi, her decks were ornamented with Tray, Blanche,
and Sweetheart, in the shape of Japanese dogs, presented him, with
pug-nosed, billiard-balled heads, and eyes so projecting and divided,
that some unfortunate estrangement seemed to have taken place between
them. The poop-deck was ornamented with no-tailed Japanese cats, or
their spinal columns extending to the point which would have pleased
Lord Monboddo, while under the break of the poop, in cages, swung
beautiful pheasants, mandarin ducks, and some graceful singing-birds.
Agreeably to instructions from the government to make inquiries as to
some of our unfortunate countrymen who were supposed either to have
been lost at sea, or to be held in captivity on the island of Formosa,
it was ordered that the Macedonian should be sent to the harbor of
Keelong for that purpose, accompanied by the Supply; also to ascertain
the probability of the procurement of coal in that vicinity, and its
proximity to the seashore. This done, the Macedonian was to proceed to
Manilla, to leave there the three “Sally Baboo” men picked up by the
“Southampton” at sea, with the American consul, that they might be
sent back to their native land, which, by the chart, was not very far
distant from Luzon.
On the 23d of June the Mississippi was gotten under way, and ran out to
anchor in what might be waggishly termed the “outer harbor” of Simoda,
a miserable roadstead off which a low rock island can not keep the sea,
where all next day we rolled and wallowed.
On Sunday (we left Japan each time on Sunday) the 25th of June,
signal was made for the ships to weigh anchor. The Powhatan took the
Southampton in tow, and ran out of the port of Simoda. The Macedonian
and Supply endeavored to do the same, but the wind proving baffling,
they did not succeed. A long string of Japanese boats made fast to the
former and tried to tow her out, but were as successful as a June-bug
tied by a thread would be in trying to move the boy who held the other
end, so the noble razee had to let go her anchor to avoid going on
the rocks that encase the narrow entrance of the port of Simoda. The
Supply did the same. The Mississippi, after some delay, and a number
of gyrations, took her departure accompanied by the Powhatan with the
storeship.
During the day, we were running down the westward side of the chain
of naked islands that extend to Loo-Choo. At four o’clock, Foogee
Yama, from his cloudy eyry, was seen like an angel’s wing, and then
withdrawn. Well, good-by, Foogee; admiration continued, is the most
tiresome of things, and one can tire of the brilliancy of Burke, with
his—“Around whose base things may moulder, but upon whose summit
eternity must play.”
On the fourth day of the run, after those charming incidents of
sea-life—sky overhead and water all around—we were abreast of the
island of Oo, which the severe gale encountered in July, 1853, on our
return from our first visit to Japan, prevented an examination of,
that the correctness of a harbor laid down on a French chart, might
be ascertained. The ships laid off for three hours, during which time
Lieutenants Maury and Webb went ashore, taking with them bags of pork
and bread. The people on shore at first appeared quite alarmed at their
approach. Their dress was the same as those of the Loo-Chooans. Some
fowls and potatoes were obtained from them by giving them some pork and
bread in exchange; they refused money. It is supposed that we are the
first Christian people that ever had communication with these people;
rather an absurd supposition, considering the charts and surveys that
have been made in those seas by other nations, before we had either the
opportunity or desire to know anything about them.
The next day, off the Great Loo-Choo island, the Southampton was cast
off, and proceeded to Hong Kong. That afternoon we saw quite a large
ship ahead. She was coming down before the wind with studding-sails
set. It was thought desirable to speak her, having had no mail
intelligence since March, in the bay of Yedo. Our colors were hoisted,
and the commodore directed a forward-gun to be fired, to attract
attention. The stranger, however, without appearing to notice it,
changed his course and then changed it again, declining to raise his
ensign, and keeping his nation to himself. Another gun was fired,
still no colors did he show. By this time the two steamers having
come up with him he lay to, and hoisted English colors. Upon sending
a boat to know what he meant by such conduct, it appeared that he
feared meeting the Russian squadron in that vicinity, and took us for
Russian steamers, and even after seeing the American ensign, thought
it might be designed to entrap him. The captain expressed regret for
the detention he had occasioned, and by newspapers from him we had the
first intelligence of England and France having united in hostilities
for the sultan. The ship was the Great Britain, from Shanghae, with a
valuable cargo of teas and silks, for London. She would have proved a
precious prize for Pontiatine.
The next day we anchored in the roadstead of Napa, Loo-Choo. The first
intelligence from Captain Glasson, of the Lexington, was that a seaman
from his ship had been found in the waters of Junk harbor dead, and
expressed the belief that the man had come to his death by violence.
An investigation of the matter showed that the man had not only been
killed by the natives, but that he deserved to have been killed. The
poor Loo-Chooans being very much frightened about the occurrence,
and the local officers of Napa regarding the offence of the man as a
mortifying disgrace to their country, did not make a true report of the
circumstances to the prince-regent, and that high functionary, upon a
demand being made upon him by the commodore, himself misled, reported
that the man had fallen into the water when drunk and been drowned.
The commodore demanded a full investigation according to their laws,
though satisfied at the time that the man Board had been guilty of
a most heinous offence. From this it appeared that the man had been
first stoned by the crowd and badly wounded, and then fell into the
water and was drowned; after the commission of an offence—to use the
prince-regent’s language—that “All men detest and are angry at, and
would, without thinking, strike and wound the one guilty of it.” The
sentences adjudged by the Loo-Chooan tribunal, were to deprive the
mayor of Napa of his rank, and the deputy-magistrates of their offices,
for having made erroneous reports to the regent; Tokisi, the leader of
the mob who stoned, was banished to Pachung Sang for life, while five
others were banished to Taiping San for eight years.
The severity of this punishment was very great, and it is to be
regretted that during the session of the tribunal that decreed it, the
commodore resorted to the menace of sending marine-officers ashore to
examine their forts, and then took possession, with some marines—the
United States bullying Loo-Choo! as Wise said to Bynum, “bullying a
fly!” The poor prince-regent was frightened nearly out of his senses;
he came off himself to the Mississippi with the poor devil Tokisi, with
a halter about his neck, offering to give him up to American custody,
prostrating himself before the commodore in his cabin—a pitiable
spectacle. He is next addressed by the American “Opperbevelhebber,” in
a communication commencing “Your Highness.”
We ascertained from the master’s-mate who had been left in charge of
the invalids and coal-shed ashore in February, that a few days after
our departure for Japan, the Russian admiral Pontiatine, with the
frigate Diana (since lost by an earthquake at Simoda), a corvette, and
the steamer Vostock, visited Napa roads, staying some days, during
which time he drilled his men ashore, and grazed his cattle. He had
not then certain intelligence of England and France having gone to war
with his country, but notwithstanding his assurance of the proximity of
such a thing, as also of superior English and French naval forces, he
generously assisted the English ship Robena (which had been there to
bring the successor of Dr. Bettelheim) to get off the reef, taking the
while, her cargo of coolies aboard of his own ship.
On Sunday, the Rev. E. H. Moreton, the successor of Dr. Bettelheim, a
pleasant-voiced little preacher, with mild face and cockney aspiration
of the letter _h_, read the English church-service, and delivered a
discourse on board of the Mississippi. He had come with his wife and
child from England to dwell in Napa, as spiritual teacher to a people
who are about as well prepared to receive Christianity, as they were
when his predecessor, six years before, went among them. The men and
officers of the squadron raised an amount of money for him before
leaving.
The next Sunday on board, a sermon, blasphemous in character, was
preached by a missionary, in which the American commodore was likened
to another Jesus Christ, and a parallel deliberately instituted between
our Savior’s mission on earth and Commodore Perry’s mission to Japan.
That functionary sat on the quarter-deck, meanwhile listening to all
this without evincing, so far as any one could perceive, the slightest
displeasure.
The steamers were coaled from shore by Loo-Chooan junks, during our
stay; the gunner of the Mississippi was sent to an island, called
Reef island, in a boat, to see whether it was used as a female penal
settlement as had been stated; and we saw the Japanese junks departing,
bearing away the rice of the island, some to Japan, some to Chapoo in
China, where the sons of the wealthy in Loo-Choo are educated without
cost.
The American opperbevelhebber seems to have had a “would be a nun, and
a wouldn’t be a nun” idea of the _status_ of Loo-Choo: In a letter to
the secretary of the navy, as found in Senate-Document, No. 34 of the
XXXIIID Congress, he first says: “I am constantly obtaining information
confirmatory of the opinion that _Loo-Choo_, Meyaco-Sima, and the
Oho-Sima islands, are all dependencies of Japan.”
On the 18th of June, 1854, he writes: “The opinions expressed in my
despatch, No. 41, _have been confirmed_ by subsequent observations, and
Loo-Choo, it appears, is in a measure an _independent_ sovereignty,
holding only slight allegiance either to Japan or China, but preferring
rather its relationship to the _latter_ empire; that the islands
stretching from Formosa to Kiusiu are all under its sovereignty, and
are in such intercourse with the parent island, Great Loo-Choo, as the
imperfect character of their means of navigation will allow.”
In this despatch “No. 41,” he says—like Cowper’s bird perched upon
the church-steeple, “What says he?” “—— and are moreover told that
Loo-Choo is a royal fief of the empire of Japan, though it is asserted
by some writers, that it owes fealty only to the prince of Satsuma.”
How does this “confirm” the statements contained in the despatch of
18th of June, 1854?
In the Pickwickian Gazette, published in the English colony of Hong
Kong, y’clept “The China Mail,” of the 27th of July, 1854, the
demi-official announcement—of course in accordance with Secretary
Kennedy’s order—says:—
“Having been assured by the commissioners at Yokohama, that Japan
exercised no jurisdiction whatever over Loo-Choo, the commodore
proposed making a treaty with the regent and drew up a sketch of what
he thought it desirable should be established by official sanction:
with some unimportant modifications, this was accepted.”
According to Meylan, who was the Dutch opperhoofd, the president of
the factory at Desima, in his semi-annual audiences with the governor
of Nangasaki, among other things also takes upon himself an obligation
to respect all vessels “belonging to the Loo-Choo islands, they being
subject to Japan.”
The American opperbevelhebber, however, after undergoing this pleasing
state of uncertainty, thought he would “make assurance doubly sure, and
take a bond” of the Loo-Chooans; so the following compact was agreed
to, very much on the part of the effeminate islanders, like the compact
of the poor chicken with the horse in the stable: that if he didn’t
tread on his toes, he wouldn’t tread on his toes:—
_Compact between the United States and the Kingdom of Loo-Choo.
Signed at Napa, Great Loo-Choo, the 11th day of July, 1854._
Hereafter, whenever citizens of the United States come to Loo-Choo,
they shall be treated with great courtesy and friendship. Whatever
articles these persons ask for, whether from the officers or people,
which the country can furnish, shall be sold to them; nor shall the
authorities interpose any prohibitory regulations to the people
selling; and whatever either party may wish to buy, shall be exchanged
at reasonable prices.
Whenever ships of the United States shall come into any harbor in
Loo-Choo, they shall be supplied with wood and water at reasonable
prices; but if they wish to get other articles, they shall be
purchasable only at Napa.
If ships of the United States are wrecked on Great Loo-Choo, or on
islands under the jurisdiction of the royal government of Loo-Choo, the
local authorities shall despatch persons to assist in saving life and
property, and preserve what can be brought ashore till the ships of
that nation shall come to take away all that may have been saved; and
the expenses incurred in rescuing these unfortunate persons, shall be
refunded by the nation they belong to.
Whenever persons from ships of the United States come ashore in
Loo-Choo, they shall be at liberty to ramble where they please, without
hinderance, or having officials sent to follow them, or to spy what
they do; but if they violently go into houses, or trifle with women, or
force people to sell them things, or do other such like illegal acts,
they shall be arrested by the local officers, but not maltreated, and
shall be reported to the captain of the ship to which they belong, for
punishment by him.
At Tumai is a burial-ground for the citizens of the United States,
where their graves and tombs shall not be molested.
The government of Loo-Choo shall appoint skilful pilots, who shall be
on the lookout for ships appearing off the island, and if one is seen
coming toward Napa, they shall go out in good boats beyond the reefs
to conduct her into a secure anchorage, for which service the captain
shall pay the pilot, five dollars; and the same for going out of the
harbor beyond the reefs.
Whenever ships anchor at Napa, the local authorities shall furnish them
with wood at the rate of three thousand six hundred copper cash per
thousand catties; and with water at the rate of six hundred copper cash
(forty-three cents) for one thousand catties, or six barrels full, each
containing thirty American gallons.
Signed in the English and Chinese languages by Commodore MATTHEW C.
PERRY, Commander-in-chief of the United States Naval Forces in the
East India, China, and Japan seas, and special envoy to Japan, for
the United States; and by SHO FU-FING, Superintendent of affairs,
(Tsu-li-kwan) in Loo-Choo; and BA RIO-SI, Treasurer of Loo-Choo at
Shui, for the government of Loo-Choo, and copies exchanged this 11th
day of July, 1854, or the reign HIEN-FUNG, 4th year, 6th moon, 17th
day, at the Town-Hall of Napa.
On landing to sign this rather singular document, the customary
quantity of “boom-a-laddying” was indulged in, as per following order:—
One large howitzer from the Mississippi.
One large howitzer from the Powhatan.
Twenty-four marines from the Mississippi.
Twenty-four marines from the Powhatan.
Band of music from the Mississippi.
Band of music from the Powhatan.
Each howitzer to be accompanied by a box of fixed ammunition, and
their crews armed with cutlasses.
The marines with muskets and twenty-four rounds of ball-cartridges.
The seamen to be dressed in white with straw hats.
The marines in fatigue summer-dress.
The officers in white pants, frock-coats, swords, epaulettes, and caps.
The bandsmen in white.
Two orderlies with their muskets to be detailed as an escort for the
broad pennant.
A flag-bearer and two seamen as a guard for the ensign.
Our government should pay a little attention to the fantastic tricks,
which its commodorial gentry cut up in such countries, as Loo-Choo:
“fixed ammunition,” “cutlasses,” and “ball-cartridges,” taken ashore
among a people whose forts are disarmed; among whom not one offensive
weapon was noticed after months of intercourse; and whose nation, in
its present condition, reversing the remark of Chatham, might be driven
with a crutch.
And then too, two orderlies with muskets escorting “_the_ broad
pennant”—a kind of an ark of the covenant carried before, and the
American “ensign” playing second fiddle behind!—just imagine such a
procession? It is equal to the swallow-tailed yellow flag, that I saw
one day carried behind a high functionary, as I passed his procession
coming down from Sheudi.
If a broad pennant means anything, it means this: a piece of bunting to
designate an admiral’s ship or boat in squadron sailing, or in harbor:
a cynosure for all the other vessels, because from the ship that wears
it, orders are signaled and dispositions directed; but when it is
taken from a main-truck, or from the commander-in-chief’s boat, to be
boom-a-laddyed on shore in a procession, it becomes meaningless, if
not ridiculous; a land officer in the field had better fly a distinct
flag over his marquee; and an American commodore, who leaves his ship
to land in an enemy’s or friend’s country, had better be provided
by the navy department with a kind of “white plume,” like that of
“Harry of Navarre,” or “_the_ broad pennant” had better be declared an
_oriflamme_; but all true Americans have a weakness, which runs in
this wise: that the stars and stripes, are oriflamme enough.
But it may be, that the commodore may be allowed to explain—to give
some reason for boom-a-laddying ashore with his broad pennant, and
having a sword-bearer to walk behind with his trusty blade in the
streets of Simoda. In his notes to the secretary of the navy, of his
second visit to Japan he says:—
“I have adopted the two extremes—by an exhibition of great pomp, when
it could be properly displayed, and by avoiding it, when such pomp
would be inconsistent with the spirit of our institutions.”
This pompatic paragraph appears rather a _non sequitur_; unless it can
be shown _when_ an exhibition of great pomp is consistent with the
spirit of our institutions.
The _entente cordiale_ being established with the “kingdom of
Loo-Choo,” presents of agricultural implements and a hand cotton-gin,
were made to the authorities, who returned air-plants and birds. A
stone from the island was also procured for the Washington monument.
The commodore having entertained the regent and the authorities
on board the flag-ship Mississippi with a supper and Ethiopian
performance, the Lexington sailed for Hong Kong on the 15th, and two
days after—the anniversary of our first departure from Japan—we bid
good-by to the Loo-Chooans, as much, no doubt, to their delight as our
own.
In getting off the Amakarimas, the Powhatan parted company with us,
bound for Amoy and Ningpo, and in four days we had a Chinese pilot on
board, and the next dropped anchor in the harbor of Hong Kong, China,
from whose mail facilities we had been absent over half a year.