His Reception on the Man-of-war.—Commodore Perry’s
Tribute.—Mr. Taylor’s Journals.—Visit to the Loo-Choo
Islands.—Explorations.—Mr. Taylor becomes a Favorite.—His
Description of the Country.—Cruise to Japan.—The Purpose
of the Expedition.—Mr. Taylor’s Assistance.—Return to
Hong-Kong.—Resigns his Commission.—Visits Canton.—Sails for
America.—St. Helena.—Arrival in New York.
There was some opposition to Mr. Taylor’s request to be taken into the
United States service, but his persistency and gentlemanly address not
only overcame the scruples of the Commodore, but soon made him a general
favorite. Commodore Perry, after his return to the United States,
mentioned the circumstances connected with Mr. Taylor’s enlistment, and
used the following language:—
“On my arrival at Shanghai I found there Mr. Bayard Taylor, who
had a letter of introduction to me from an esteemed friend in
New York. He had been a long time, as I understood, exceedingly
anxious to join the squadron, that he might visit Japan, which
he could reach in no other way.
“On presenting the letter referred to, he at once made a
request to accompany me; but to this application I strongly
objected, intimating to him the determination I had made
at the commencement of the cruise to admit no civilians,
and explaining how the few who were in the squadron had,
by signing the shipping articles, subjected themselves to
all the restraints and penalties of naval law; that there
were no suitable accommodations for him, and that should he
join the expedition he would be obliged to suffer, with the
other civilians, many discomforts and privations, and would
moreover be restricted, under a general order of the navy
department, from communicating any information to the public
prints or privately to his friends; that all the notes or
general observations made by him during the cruise would belong
to the government, and therefore must be deposited with me.
Notwithstanding this, however, with a full knowledge of all the
difficulties and inconveniences which would attend his joining
the squadron, he still urged his application.
“Being thus importuned, and withal very favorably impressed
with his gentlemanlike and unassuming manners, I at last
reluctantly consented, and he joined the mess of Messrs. Heine
and Brown on board the ‘Susquehanna.’ During the short time he
remained in the squadron he gained the respect and esteem of
all, and by his habits of observation, aided by his ready pen,
became quite useful in preparing notes descriptive of various
incidents that transpired during our first brief visit to Japan
and the Islands. It was the only service he could render, and
it was afforded cheerfully. These notes have been used in the
preparation of my report, and due credit has, I trust, been
given to him. Some of the incidents illustrative of the events
mentioned in my official communications were, with my consent,
written out by Mr. Taylor and sent home by him for publication
in the United States. These he has used in his late work. His
original journals were honorably deposited in my hands. His
reports, like those of every other individual detailed for the
performance of a special duty, were of course delivered to me,
and became part of the official records of the expedition.”
This tribute of friendship and respect, thus freely bestowed by one
holding the high rank of Commodore Perry, gratified the friends of Mr.
Taylor very much at the time they were written, and will now be prized by
them as a testimonial from the highest and best source.
On leaving the port of Shanghai the squadron of the Commodore proceeded
direct to the Loo-Choo Islands, which were a group of thirty-six islands
lying to the south-west of Japan, and tributary to that empire. On
the 26th of May, 1853, the several steamers and sailing vessels came
to anchor in a harbor of the Great Loo-Choo Island, but a few miles
from the capital of the kingdom. Immediately Mr. Taylor’s services as
a descriptive writer were brought into requisition, and so proficient
and industrious was he, and he so much excelled the others with whom he
was associated, that the Commodore saw fit to entrust to his quick eye
and ready pen many of the most important details of the expedition. His
reports or journals of the explorations were never published in full, and
as the government kept them from him Mr. Taylor could not use them in
his book of travels in Japan and Loo-Choo. This is much to be regretted
now, as the greatly condensed narrative which appeared in his book does
not give the reader a comprehensive idea of Mr. Taylor’s capabilities.
His newspaper correspondence was always more readable and full than were
the pages of his book; for, between his desire not to tire the reader nor
impoverish the publisher, he frequently culled and abridged too much.
What a wonderful volume would that be wherein should be published in
full Mr. Taylor’s descriptions of the countries of Loo-Choo and Japan,
without condensation or abridgment. To illustrate this thought, and to
give a clear specimen of his style, we insert a page from his diary of
the 28th of May, 1853, reciting his experience when out in a small boat
in the harbor of the Great Loo-Choo Island visiting the coral reef. It
was a very little incident, but we ask the reader to notice how full of
interesting information and beautiful reference he made his account of it:
“The crew were Chinamen, wholly ignorant of the use of oars, and our trip
would have been of little avail had not the sea been perfectly calm. With
a little trouble we succeeded in making them keep stroke, and made for
the coral reef, which separates the northern from the lower channel. The
tide was nearly out, and the water was very shoal on all the approaches
to the reef. We found, however, a narrow channel winding between the
groves of mimic foliage, and landed on the spongy rock, which rose about
a foot above the water. Here the little pools that seamed the surface
were alive with crabs, snails, star-fish, sea-prickles, and numbers
of small fish of the intensest blue color. We found several handsome
shells clinging to the coral. But all our efforts to secure one of the
fish failed. The tide was ebbing so fast that we were obliged to return
for fear of grounding the boat. We hung for some time over the coral
banks, enraptured with the beautiful forms and colors exhibited by this
wonderful vegetation of the sea. The coral grew in rounded banks, with
the clear, deep spaces of water between, resembling, in miniature, ranges
of hills covered with autumnal forests. The loveliest tints of blue,
violet, pale-green, yellow, and white gleamed through the waves. And all
the varied forms of vegetable life were grouped together along the edges
of cliffs and precipices, hanging over the chasms worn by currents below.
Through those paths and between the stems of the coral groves, the blue
fish shot hither and thither like arrows of the purest lapis-lazuli: and
others of a dazzling emerald color, with tails and fins tipped with gold,
eluded our chase like the green bird in the Arabian story. Far down below
in the dusky depth of the waters we saw now and then some large brown
fish hovering stealthily about the entrances to the coral groves, as if
lying in wait for their bright little inhabitants. The water was so clear
that the eye was deceived as to its depths and we seemed now to rest on
the branching tops of some climbing forest, now to hang suspended as in
mid air between the crests of two opposing ones. Of all the wonders
of the sea, which have furnished food for poetry and fable, this was
assuredly the most beautiful.”
That trait, which characterized Mr. Taylor, accounts in a measure for
the inclination of all persons who met him to hold his companionship and
acquaintance. As Mr. Taylor’s esteemed friend, Mr. E. P. Whipple, of
Boston, once beautifully remarked of another, Mr. Taylor was sought by
men, “because they learned more of the world and its beauties through his
eyes than through their own.” His services in giving an accurate idea
of the countries they explored were invaluable, because it was not only
necessary to visit those countries and open their ports to commerce, but
it was also necessary to give to the American people such a idea of the
advantages and conveniences of trade as to induce them to enter upon
it. Nothing could be clearer than his views of life in these islands,
nothing more complete than his enumeration of the products, manufactures,
and needs of the countries they visited. The publication in full of all
his notes and observations as suggested to the Naval Department by the
officers of the Squadron at the time, would have given our people a
better understanding of the importance of the commerce and the character
of the people, than any other report could do. However, the Commodore
used a great many pages of Mr. Taylor’s journal while making his report
to the United States Government.
Mr. Taylor was detailed to attend nearly every important excursion, and
was a most hearty and persevering explorer. He pushed into the interior
of an unknown jungle, intent on finding new flowers, new minerals, or new
animals. He ascended every mountain which was accessible, and ventured
into every cave that could be reached by boat or foot. The Great Loo-Choo
Island became familiar to him, and its flora and fauna were indelibly
catalogued in his mind, while the varied views of mountain, vale, forest,
bay, and sea were engraved upon his memory. By his good nature and
kindly regard for the welfare of the Loo-Choo natives when they met, he
contributed not a little toward the safety and success of the exploration
in that island.
From Loo-Choo the fleet sailed to the Bonin Islands, where a harbor
suitable for a depot of supplies was found and land purchased by the
Commodore for government buildings should his choice of a harbor be
confirmed. The ships returned to Loo-Choo and proceeded directly to the
bay of Yeddo in Japan.
For two hundred years that important nation had preserved its
exclusiveness, and had become almost as unknown to the western nations as
an undiscovered continent. Almost every commercial nation had, from time
to time, attempted to secure a footing for a trading-post or a harbor
for their vessels. In every instance they had failed, and the civilized
world had looked upon Japan as a country sealed beyond hope of breaking.
It must have appeared to every one, including the Commodore himself,
that the undertaking in which he was engaged was an especially difficult
enterprise. How could he hope to succeed where England, Portugal,
Holland. Italy, and Russia had failed? Yet he succeeded beyond anything
the most hopeful had desired; and as a result of his expedition a mighty
nation and a fertile country were restored to the family of nations.
[Illustration: PAGAN TEMPLE IN JAPAN.]
In that expedition Mr. Taylor took a deep interest, and with great
enthusiasm wrote letters to his home descriptive of Fusiyama, Kanagawa,
and the scenery around Yeddo Bay. During the long delay made by the
Japanese authorities, to impress the Commodore with their dignity, he
was engaged with eye and ear and pen in the service of his country. With
the devotion which marked all his undertakings, he noted everything
which passed under his scrutiny, in order that the Commodore might be
informed of every detail. Many travellers pass months at Yokohama, Yeddo,
or Nagasaki, making investigations and excursions, without finding out
so much of interest as Mr. Taylor saw in a single day. That natural and
acquired acuteness of observation, and that intuitive comprehension which
made him so conspicuous, are well worthy of study and imitation by all
persons who are ambitious to excel, whether engaged in travelling or in
any other occupation. So thoroughly had he disciplined himself in the
inspection of all that surrounded him, that when he arrived in Japan,
the ships, the junks, the people, their dress, their customs, their food,
their language, the vegetation, the minerals, the animals, the birds, the
landscapes, the bays, the promontories, the islands, the sea, the air,
the sky, the stars, the wind, and the sunlight were each and all full of
suggestions and valuable instruction. One could not follow Mr. Taylor’s
writings in the closing years of his travels without becoming conscious
of ignorance and short-sightedness concerning the commonest things of
life. It made his readers feel, oftentimes, when they discovered how much
he had noticed which they had overlooked, as boys feel when a playmate
finds a silver dollar on a spot which they have passed and repassed
without his good luck; with the difference, however, that Mr. Taylor’s
good fortune in that respect was the result of hard work and careful
culture.
After the close of the preliminary negotiations, and a hasty survey of
the bay of Yeddo, the fleet departed on a short cruise to Hong-Kong, in
order to give the Japanese emperor time to think over the propositions
which the United States Government had made to His Majesty.
The trip to Hong-Kong, by way of the Loo-Choo Islands, was without
special incident, and on the 7th of August he was again in the harbor
which he had left in the month of March. For five months he had known
what it was to be a seaman and made subject to the strict orders
enforced on a man-of-war. It was a fresh experience. He was keen enough
to recognize the merits and failings of naval discipline and naval
drill. He saw that many improvements might be made in both. He thought,
furthermore, that the ships themselves might be constructed on a better
pattern. Hence, he boldly recommended changes whenever the opportunity
came for him to speak through the public prints. He had become much
attached to the officers and men of his ship, and parted with them at
Hong-Kong with the feeling of sincere regret. He had made it his home on
board, and had been so contented and so kindly treated that he felt the
pangs of homesickness as he shook hands and went over the side for the
last time.
Although he had enlisted for the usual term of years, as the laws of
the United States recognized no shorter term, and ran the risk of being
held to the terms of his enlistment, yet there was a tacit understanding
between him and the Commodore that he should be allowed to resign when
the fleet returned to Macao. Consequently, when he presented at that port
his resignation it was promptly accepted, and he became a civilian again.
He found it nearly as awkward to be a landsman as he had at first to be
a sailor, and often looked out on the great men-of-war, as they lay at
anchor, with an indescribable yearning to tread their decks.
From Macao, he made excursions to Hong-Kong and Canton, finding friends
that pleased him, and an aristocratic snobbery that displeased him, in
the former place, and dirt, vice, and cheating in the latter, which made
him further disgusted with the Chinese race. In Canton, as elsewhere,
he spoke of them in strong terms, condemning their importation into the
United States in a manner to please the bitterest hater of the Celestials
to be found on our Pacific coast. Yet he visited the shops, practised the
“pigeon English,” visited the great temple of Honan, tested the power of
opium by smoking it himself, made a tour into the country, interested
himself in the foreign factories and the local government, and made the
acquaintance of many enterprising foreign merchants. But his aversion to
the Chinese, doubtless intensified by the wild rumors of barbarous deeds
then current on account of the rebellion, was not abated after he had
seen the great metropolis; and he frankly admitted, in his letters and in
his book, that he was glad to get away from China.
At Canton, he took passage in a sailing vessel bound for New York, that
being his most direct and least expensive route. He was anxious to return
to the United States, because he had been absent over two years, and
because of some financial arrangements which he considered it important
to make. He felt also that if he should publish a record of his travels
in the form of books, the sooner they were issued after his letters
had appeared in the “Tribune,” the better for the publishers and for
himself. In this undertaking, however, he was much delayed.
The ship in which he sailed, passed the Philippine Islands and the
coast of Java, and rounding the Cape of Good Hope, stopped for water
at the isle of St. Helena. The body of the Emperor Napoleon had been
removed to Paris, but Mr. Taylor found it a very interesting and
romantic spot. He was as much shocked, however, by the desecration of
the spot by the practical herd-keepers, as he was by the profanity of
the machine-rhymester who marred the grotto of the poet Camoens at Macao
with a doggerel composition. Mr. Taylor felt the absurdity of such
profanations, as none but poetical natures can feel them.
From St. Helena, the voyage was not unusually eventful, and after one
hundred and one days at sea, and with Mr. Taylor nearly that number of
days engaged in writing and correcting, they arrived in New York on the
20th of December, 1853. His welcome to New York and to his old home was
one of the most pleasant experiences of his life, and he often mentioned
it as being as exciting as the event of his first return when he walked
into the old homestead in his German walking-suit.