Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
Matthew Calbraith Perry. Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan : performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry (Washington, D.C.: United States Navy, by order of the Government of the United State, 1856).
Two editions of the so-called Official Narrative were produced, one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate of the United States. The House edition is bound in one volume with sepia tone illustrations. The Senate Edition is three volumes with color illustrations. Brown University holds a copy of each. The following excerpts from the Official Narrative are from the House edition.
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1854
Page 378 [top]
On the morning of the 12th of February the weather became more settled, and the steamers stood up the bay. The outlines of the land were recognized from the familiarity of the previous visit, but a change had come over the face of the landscape, in consequence of the difference of season. The lofty summit of Fusi-Yama was distinctly visible as before, but was not completely clothed in its winter garb of snow. The rich verdure of the surrounding land had lost its cheerful summer aspect, and looked withered, bleak and sombre. The rising uplands were no longer reposing in the beds of green, shaded from a summer's sun beneath spreading groves, but were bare and desolate, while the distant mountains stood chill in their snowy drapery and frowned upon the landscape. The weather was cold and blustering.
Page 380 [top]
The precipitous coasts of Sagami rose bleakly in the winter atmosphere on the left, while far inland could be seen the lofty ranges of the mountains covered with snow, and the high peak of Fusi-Yama, about the lofty summit of which the clouds were scudding in rapid succession. There was the distant coast of Awa, some twelve miles away on the opposite side, and along the shores everywhere were the numberless villages and towns, though snugly reposing under the cover of the high land which rose behind them, yet looking desolate and exposed, in comparison with their former aspect of rural comfort when nestling in the full-leaved groves of summer. Abreast was the town of Gorihama, the scene of the delivery of the President's letter, and in front extended out from the land the promontory of Uraga, with its harmless forts, and as the ships doubled it and came abreast the city, numerous government boats, with their athletic oarsmen sculling vigorously, and their little striped flags fluttering in the wind, pushed off to intercept the squadron, as on the previous visit. The Japanese officials, however, who had risen from their places midships, and seemed to be directing their boats towards the squadron, were warned off, and the strangers moved majestically on, with their train of formidable men-of-war, without altering their course a line, or lingering a moment in the speed until they reached the anchorage, at three o'clock in the afternoon [February 13]. The government boats were left in the distance, but were seen sculling rapidly along and following in the wake of the squadron.
The position in which the three steamers and the four ships, including the Southampton, which had preceded the squadron, had anchored, was named in the previous visit, the "American anchorage." It is within the bight embraced within two bold headlands, about twelve miles distant from each other, on the western side of the Bay of Yedo. The anchorage was about twelve miles beyond the town of Uraga, and about twenty miles from the capital city of Yedo. The Island which had been called Perry's, and which presented such a picturesque aspect during the summer with its pleasant groves, was seen as the squadron passed up, and the fort which covered its summit could be more distantly traced through the trees, which had been stripped on their foliage by the frost and winds of winter.
Page 381 [top]
The squadron had hardly come to anchor when two of the government, which had followed rapidly in the wake of the ships, came alongside the Susquehanna. The Japanese officials requested to be admitted on board, but as the Commodore had caused the extra or captain's cabin to be removed from the steamer Susquehanna to the Powhatan, in view of changing his flag to that ship preparatory to the return of the former to China, and as, in accordance with the system of exclusiveness which it was thought politic still to continue, the Commodore could not admit them, as they were of subordinate authority, into his own cabin, he directed Captain Adams to receive the officials on board the Powhatan.
Captain Adams, having been charged by the Commodore with precise and special instructions to hear all the Japanese had to say, but to give them no unnecessary information, not to promise anything, proceeded to the steamer Powhatan, accompanied by the interpreters, Messrs. Williams and Portman, and the Commodore's secretary, Mr. Perry.
The government boats followed, and the Japanese deputation came on board the Powhatan. It consisted of a high dignitary, who was announced as Kura-kawa-kahie, the two interpreters who had formerly officiated, three grey-robed individuals, who seemed to be making excellent use of their eyes, and turned out to be metske dwantinger, literally cross-eyed persons, or those who look in all directions, in other words spies or reporters. They were all received with one form of ceremony, and ushered into the cabin, where the object of their visit was set forth at length… The usual compliments, of which the Japanese officials seemed never weary or forgetful, having passed, they stated that their business was to endeavor to induce the Commodore to return to Uraga, where, they said, there were two high Japanese officials, in waiting, and that more were expected, who had been appointed by the Emperor to meet and treat with the Americans. Captain Adams replied that the Commodore would not consent to go to Uraga. And upon the Japanese rejoining that the Emperor had appointed that town for the place of negotiation, and that it could in consequence be nowhere else, he was told by Captain Adams that the Commodore was willing to meet the commissioners on shore, opposite the present anchorage of the squadron; but if the Japanese government would not consent to that, the Commodore would move his ships higher up the bay, even, if it should be deemed necessary to Yedo itself. The interview was conducted in the most courteous and friendly manner, and after the business was over, the Japanese partook of some refreshments, and entered cheerfully into a general conversation.
Brown Editor: Communications between the Japanese government and the Commodore, through Captain Adams, continued for several days over the anchorage and the future meeting place. Captain Adams agreed to meet the Japanese officials at Uraga to discuss the matter further.
Page 389 [top]
It being the twenty-second of February, Washington's birthday, the Vandalia commenced at noon firing a salute in honor of the occasion, and amidst this salvo of artillery Captain Adams left the ship, accompanied by a score of officers and attendants, and landed at Uraga, where they were met by a large party of Japanese officials, who conducted them to a wooden pavilion, which evidently had been but lately constructed.
Captain Adams and his suite were ushered into a large hall, some fifty feet long and forty wide. The floor was spread with soft mats of very fine texture, and at a distance of several feet from the walls, on either side, were arranged long settees covered with that appeared to be a red felt; in front of them were tables spread with a silken crape.
The American s were invited on entering, to take their seats on the left hand, which is esteemed by the Japanese the place of honor; this they had no sooner done than the Japanese prince, accompanied by two other high dignitaries, entered the hall, through a curtained opening which led into another compartment. As soon as these dignitaries presented themselves, the governor of Uraga, the interpreters, and various Japanese subordinates, who had accompanied the Americans, dropped at once upon their knees - a position they retained throughout the interview - and bowed their heads, to the ground. The prince and his two associates took their seats on the right, opposite to the American officers, and a file of Japanese soldiers, amounting to half a hundred, marched in and ranged themselves, on their knees, behind the three dignitaries, in the space between their backs and the wall.
He first addressed Captain Adams, rising as he spoke, and expressed his pleasure at seeming him. His interpreters translated his Japanese into Dutch, which was then repeated in English by the American interpreter, Mr. Portman. The audience then commenced in form, and was conducted throughout with the most friendly expression of feeling on both sides.
Brown Editor: Captain Adams presented the Japanese prince with a letter from the Commodore. The prince and his officials retired with the letter for several days.
Page 392 [top]
Accordingly early the next morning [February 24] the Japanese, having brought the dispatch in their answer to the Commodore's letter, and having taken the occasion of urging their views about Uraga, for their first and last word was perpetually Uraga! Uraga! The Vandalia got under way to join the squadron at the American anchorage. The ship, however, had not proceeded far when the steamers and sailing vessels were observed in the distance ahead, standing up the bay.
The Commodore, having little hope of any favorable result from the visit of Captain Adams to Uraga, had determined to put his threat into execution, and had actually removed the squadron, during the absence of the Vandalia, to a spot whence Yedo might be seen from the mast-head. So near, indeed, did he approach to that capital, that the striking of the city bells during the night could be distinctly heard. As a measure of precaution, the surveying boats always sounded in advance of the ships, and when the Vandalia was seen to approach with Captain Adams on board, bearing the dispatch of the high officers at Uraga, the surveying party was absent engaged in further explorations towards Yedo.
Brown Editor: On February 25, Captain Adams delivered the letter from the Japanese to the Commodore. In the letter, the Japanese again expressed desire for the Americans to come to Uraga.
Page 393 [top]
The arrival of Captain Adams was soon followed by that of Keyama Yezaiman, the governor of Uraga, who made his appearance with the alleged object of receiving a reply to the high officer's letter, but, as it will appear, for another purpose. Yezaiman commenced by inquiring whether the Commodore was still determined not to return to Uraga, and being answered in the affirmative, h e again offered supplies, and was again told the wood and water would be received. Yezaiman replied that these articles would be cheerfully furnished, but that they could be obtained only at Uraga. He was then informed that it was a matter of indifference whence they came, but that the Commodore would not go to Uraga, and if the Japanese did not bring water to the ships, the Commodore would send on shore and procure it by some means.
Finding that the Commodore was immovable in purpose, and evidently inclined to approach nearer to Yedo, Yezaiman suddenly abandoned the previously pretended ultimatum of the Japanese commissioners, as to the place of meeting, and suggested a spot in the immediate neighborhood of the village, of Yoku-hama, directly opposite to where the ships then were anchored.
Thus, after having interposed for the last ten days all possible objections to the squadron's moving further up the bay, and having used every inducement to prevail upon the Commodore to return to Uraga, they suddenly abandoned the position from which they had so frequently declared they could not possibly be moved. They had discovered that the Commodore was not to be shaken from his resolution, and, finding that the ships had already approached within eight miles of their capital, they thought it polite to stop them there, while it was practicable, by a conciliatory concession.
The motive of the Commodore for thus persisting, with what may seem obstinacy, in his determination not to go to Uraga, is best explained by himself. In his communication to the honorable Secretary, on this subject he thus writes:
"I was convinced that if I receded in the least from the position first assumed by me, it would be considered by the Japanese an advantage gained; and finding that I could be induced to change a predetermined intention in one instance, they might rely on prevailing on me, by dint of perseverance, to waver in most other cases pending the negotiations; therefore, it seemed to be the true policy to hold out at all hazards, and rather to establish for myself a character for unreasonable obstinacy, than that of a yielding disposition. I knew that upon the impression thus formed by them would be in a measure hinge the tenor of our future negotiations; and the sequel will show that I was right in my conclusions. Indeed, in conducting all my business with these very sagacious and deceitful people, I have found it profitable to bring to my aid the experience gained in former and by no means limited intercourse with the inhabitants of strange lands, civilized and barbarian; and this experience has admonished me that, with people of forms, it is necessary either to set all ceremony aside, or to out-Herod Herod in assumed personal consequences and ostentation.
"I have adopted the two extremes - by an exhibition of great pomp, when it could properly be displayed, and by avoiding it, when such pomp would be inconsistent with the spirit of our institutions; and by resolving never to recognize, on any occasion, the slightest personal superiority, always meeting the Japanese officials, however exalted their rank, with perfect equality, whilst those of comparative distinction, of their own nation, were cringing and kneeling to them; and from motives of policy, and to give greater importance to my own position, I have hitherto studiously kept myself aloof from intercourse with any of the subordinates of the court, making it known that I would communicate with non but the princes of the Empire. Up to this time, I have succeeded far beyond my expectations in maintaining this extreme point of diplomacy, and, as I believe, to very great advantage.
"It is probable that arrogance may be charged against me for persisting as I did, and against the judgment of all about me, in changing the place of conference, and thus compelling four princes of the Empire to follow the squadron, and subjecting the government to the trouble and expense of erecting another building; but I was simply adhering to a course of policy determined on after mature reflection, and which had hitherto worked so well."
The Commodore expressed a willingness to accede to the last proposition of the Japanese, provided his officers, on examining the place selected, should find it suitable. Captains Buchanan and Adams accordingly, having visited the spot in company with Yezaiman, returned with a favorable report. The situation was suitable in all respects, being near to Yedo, with safe and commodious anchorage at a mile distant from the shore, and affording abundant space for landing and exhibiting the presents intended for the Emperor.
Page 395 [top]
The surveying boats had been kept busy during the progress of all this negotiation, and immediately after the Commodore had signified his intention of accepting the proposition of the Japanese offering Yoku-hama as the place of meeting, the party of surveyors returned to the Powhatan, and reported that they had found six fathoms of water within four or five miles of Yedo. This near approach to their capital was supposed to be the clue to the sudden change in the policy of the Japanese, as they doubtless feared that the Commodore would proceed at once to execute his threat of moving his squadron to Yedo, if the authorities still persisted in their demands for him to return to Uraga.
The Japanese now commenced constructing at once a wooden building for the proposed conference, and great numbers of workmen were seen busily engaged in bringing materials and putting them together in the form of a large and irregular structure. The ship's boats were sent out to examine the anchorage opposite the place, and the Commodore, after receiving a favorable report, directed [February 27] the squadron to be moored in a line abreast, and within a mile of Yoku-hama, covering with their guns an extent of shore of five miles. Captains Buchanan and Adams went ashore, soon after the anchoring of the ships, to see the buildings in progress of erection, and to instruct the Japanese workmen how to make the wharf for the landing of the Commodore and his party.
Page 396 [top]
Captain Adams now gave the governor of Uraga a letter which had been written to his friends by a Japanese who belonged to the squadron, and was generally known among the sailors by the sobriquet of Sam Patch. Sam was one of the crew, consisting of sixteen men of a Japanese junk which had been driven off in a storm from the coast of Japan. An American merchant vessel, having fallen in with the junk, took the Japanese on board and conveyed them to San Francisco, where there were removed to a revenue cutter. They remained on the cutter twelve months, when they were taken by the United States sloop-of-war St. Mary's to China, and there transferred to the Susquehanna. Then this steamer joined Commodore Perry's squadron, bound to Japan, the Japanese all preferred to remain in China, lest if they returned home they should lose their lives, with the exception of Sam Patch, who remained on board, and being regularly shipped as one of the crew, was with the squadron on the first, as he was now on the second visit to Japan. Upon his letter being presented to Yezaiman, he was requested to deliver it in accordance with the direction, which he promised to do, but the Japanese seemed very much surprised at the fact of one of their countrymen among the crew, and expressed an earnest desire to see him. Yezaiman was accordingly promised that his request should be complied with in the course of a few days.
Page 398 [top]
The arrival of the Saratoga, on the fourth of March, was quite an event to all the officers and men in the squadron, who, confined to the narrow limits of an anchored ship, month after month, with no variety in the daily routine of duty, and no change of scene from the monotonous view of the same look-out from deck, gladly welcomed anything that could break up for a moment the tedium of their life. The Saratoga had experienced very severe weather, which those in the squadron, although sheltered in a safe anchorage, could readily understand, for the season, even in the bay, had given evidence enough of its rude inclemency. Frequently the wind was so high and the waters of the bay so disturbed, that the surveying boats were obliged to intermit their labors. The frequent recurrence of rain, alternating with an occasional snow-storm, and a cold temperature more penetrating to the sensations, from its moisture, gave all a very disagreeable experience of a Japan winter. The hard-working Japanese boatmen seemed alone insensible to the weather; and, as they worked vigorously at their long sculls, sang cheerily, as if their half-naked bodies were as much proof against cold wind and boisterous weather, as their taut built craft.
According to agreement, Sam Patch was brought forward and presented to the Japanese officials, and no sooner did he behold these dignitaries than he prostrated himself at once, apparently completely awe-stricken. Sam had been frequently laughed at during the voyage by his messmates, and teased by statements of the danger to which his head would be exposed on his arrival in his own country, and the poor fellow possibly thought his last hour had come. Captain Adams ordered him to rise from his knees, upon which he was crouching with the most abject fear, and trembling in every limb. He was reminded that he was on board an American man-of-war, perfectly safe as one of her crew, and had nothing to fear; but it being found impossible to reassure him while in the presence of his countrymen, he was soon dismissed. But more of Sam hereafter.
The eighth of March had been appointed by the Commodore as the day for the conference ashore; and, as crowds of Japanese laborers were kept busily at work upon the building, there seemed every prospect of its being ready in time. When the building was finished, the usual Japanese deputation, headed by Yezaiman, came off to the Powhatan, and announcing the fact, asked if the Admiral would be ready to land on the next day [March 8]. They were told that provided the weather should be suitable, the Commodore and his party would leave the squadron at twelve o'clock on the morrow. Yezaiman entered into some preliminary explanation in regard to the ceremonies on the occasion. He asked the numbers and names of all the officers in the squadron, with the purpose, as he said, of providing presents for each. Upon being asked whether the chief of the commissioners appointed to negotiate with the Commodore was next in rank to the Emperor, Yezaiman answered that he was, and at the same time corrected a previous statement, saying that, instead of four dignitaries in addition to the high commissioner, there would be five. With the usual courtly assurances of kindly feeling, Yezaiman and his suite took leave, saying as he departed, that he would send a person on board next day to conduct the Commodore and his party to the land.
Page 400 [top]
Along the western side of the Bay of Yedo, from its mouth, where it opens into the Gulf of Yedo, to the capital, there is almost a continuous range of towns and villages. The only breaks in this otherwise uninterrupted scene of populousness are the projecting spurs of the highlands, which, presenting less advantage for habitation, naturally prevent the erection of dwelling houses. These promontories, however, are covered with batteries, which are more formidable in aspect that in reality, for their guns are but of small caliber, and the defences slight in construction. Yoku-hama is one of those numerous and populous villages, and is situated at the head of a bay called on the American charts "Yoku-hama Bay," which is formed by Point Hope, on the southeast, and the neck of land extending northeast from Kanagawa, to the suburb of the city of Yedo, termed Sinagawa, and near to which the junks resorting to the capital usually anchor. At the position in front of Yoku-hama there was just sufficient room to anchor in a line of battle the whole squadron; the guns of the several ships commanding an extent of shore equal to the entire range. It was in this position that the Commodore had placed his nine ships - the steam frigates, the Powhatan, which was the flag-ship, the Susquehanna, and the Mississippi, and the sailing ships, the Macedonian, the Vandalia, the Saratoga, the Southampton, the Lexington, and the Supply, the latter having subsequently joined the squadron.
Kanagawa is quite a large town, and was the residence of the Japanese commissioners pending the negotiations of the treaty, and it would have been selected by Commodore Perry for the place of conference, had it not been for the impossibility of the ships approaching within gunshot of its front towards the bay. He therefore preferred to select Yoku-hama, to confirm the choice of Captains Buchanan and Adams, who had been sent to examine and report upon the most eligible anchorage for the squadron.
The building erected for the accommodation of the Japanese commissioners and the Commodore, and the numerous persons in attendance, and which was called by the Americans the "treaty house," was placed upon a level plain near to the shore, and contiguous to the village of Yoku-hama, being distant from Kanagawa three, from the southern suburb of the capital five, and from Yedo itself probably nine miles. The treaty house had been hastily erected of unpainted pinewood, with peaked roods, and covered a large extent of ground, having a reception hall of from forty to sixty feet in area, and several adjoining apartments and offices. From each side extended yellow canvas screens, divided into panel-like squares by black painted stripes. On the exterior walls of the building was spread a dark cloth, upon which was represented in bright colors some device, which was said to the arms of the third commissioner, Izawa, prince of Mimasaki.
At an early hour on the 8th of March, the day appointed for the conference with the Japanese commissioners, there was an unusual stir ashore preparatory to the ceremonies of the occasion. The Japanese workmen were busily engaged in adorning the treaty house with streamers and other gay paraphernalia. Two poles were erected, one on either side of the entrance, to which were hung long oblong banners of white cotton cloth with a bright red stripe across the centre. On the peaked roof of the building was placed a tall staff, surmounted with a circular ornament, in shape like the upper part of a chandelier, from which was suspended a heavy silken tassel. In the preparation of the place it had been surrounded by the usual enclosure of cloth, which completely excluded it from the view of those without, and in face, seemed to enclose it within a sort of prison yard. The Commodore, who saw this arrangement from his ship before he landed, immediately sent an officer on shore to demand what it meant, and, in answer to some frivolous pretext about preventing intrusion and doing honor to the occasion, informed the Japanese that he would forego the honor, and that, until it was completely removed, he could not think of landing. It was immediately taken down by the Japanese.
Bands of flag-bearers, musicians, and pikemen maneuvered in order, here and there, glistening with their lacquered caps, bright colored costumes, crimson streamers, showy emblazonry, and burnished spears. There was no great military display as on the first visit at Gora-hama, and the few who had the look of soldiers were merely a small body-guard, composed of the retainers of the various high dignitaries who were to officiate on the occasion. Crowds of people had gathered from the neighboring towns and villages, were thronging with curious eagerness on either side of a large open space on the shore, which was kept free from intrusion by barriers, within which none of the spectators were allowed to enter. Two or three officials were seen busily moving about, now directing the workmen, and again checking the disorder among the Japanese multitude.
Soon a large barge came floating down the bay, from the neighboring town of Kanagawa. This was a gaily painted vessel, which with its decks and open pavilion rising high above the hull, had very much the appearance of one of our western river steamboats, while streamers floated from its three masts, and bright colored flags and variegated drapery adorned the open deck above. This barge bore the Japanese commissioners, and when it had reached to within a short distance of the shore, these dignitaries and their suites disembarked in several boats and hurried to the land. An immense number of Japanese craft of all kinds, each with a tassel at its prow and a square striped flag at its stern, gathered about the bay. The day was fresh and clear, and everything had a cheerful aspect, in spite of the lingering wintry look of the landscape.
The Commodore had made every preparation to distinguish the occasion of his second landing in Japan by all necessary parade, knowing, as he did, the importance and moral influence of such show upon so ceremonious and artificial a people as the Japanese. He had, accordingly, issued orders to the effect that all the marines that could be spared from duty should appear on the occasion in full accoutrement, that the bands of music from the three steamers should be present, and all the officers and sailors that could possibly leave. The officers were to be in undress uniform, frock coats, cap and epaulets, and equipped with swords and pistols. The sailors were to be armed with muskets, cutlasses and pistols, and dressed in blue jackets and trowsers and white frocks. The musicians were each to be supplied with cutlass and pistol, and every man of the escort provided with either musket or pistol cartridge boxes.
At half-past eleven o'clock the escort, consisting of about five hundred officers, seamen and marines, fully armed, embarked in twenty-seven boats, under the command of Commander Buchanan, and forming a line abreast, pulled in good order to the shore. When the escort had landed, the marines were drawn up in a hollow square, leaving a wide open space between them, while the naval officers remained in a group at the wharf. The ship's boats were arranged in two separate divisions of equal numbers on either side of the landing, with their bows pointing in regular order from the shore. The Commodore now embarked from the Powhatan in his barge, under a salute from the Macedonian of seventeen guns. The Commodore, on landing, was received by the group of officers, who, falling into a line, followed him. The bands now struck up a lively tune, and the marines, whose orderly ranks in complete military appointment, with their blue and white uniforms, and glistening bayonets, made quite a martial and effective show, presented arms as the Commodore, followed in procession by his immediate staff, his guard of fine-looking sailors and a number of his subordinate officers, proceeded up the shore. A group of richly costumed Japanese guards, or retainers, with banners, flags and streamers, were gathered on each side of the entrance of the treaty-house. As the Commodore and his party passed up between these, they were met by a large number of Japanese officials who came out, and uncovering, conducted them into the interior of the building. As they entered, by a preconcerted arrangement, howitzers which had been mounted on the bows of the large ships' boats, that were floating just by the shore, commenced firing in admirable order a salute of twenty-one guns in honor of the Emperor, which were succeeded by a salute of seventeen for Hayashi Daigaku-no-kami, the high commissioner, and the hoisting of the Japanese striped flag from the masthead of the steamer Powhatan in the bay.
The apartment into which the Commodore and his officers first entered was a large hall, arranged in a manner similar to that at Gori-hama. Thick rice-straw mats carpeted the floor, long and wide settees, covered with a red cloth, extended along the sides, with tables spread with the same material arranged in front of them. The windows were composed of panes of oiled paper, through which a subdued and mellow light illuminated the hall, while a comfortable temperature was kept up [for, although the spring, which is early in Japan had already opened, the weather was chilly] by copper braziers of burning charcoal, which, supported upon lacquered wooden stands, were freely distributed about. Hangings fell from the walls around, with paintings of t trees, and representations of various animals and birds particularly of the crane, with its long neck in every variety of strange involution.
The Commodore and his officers and interpreters had hardly taken their seats on the left, the place of honor, and the various Japanese officials, of whom there was a goodly number, theirs on the right, when the five commissioners entered from an apartment which opened through an entrance at the upper end of the hall. As soon as they presented themselves the subordinate Japanese officials prostrated themselves on their knees, and remained in that attitude during their presence.
The commissioners were certainly august-looking personages, and their grave but courteous manners, and their rich flowing robes of silk, set them off to the highest advantage. Their costume consisted of an under garment somewhat similar to the antique doublet, and a pair of very wide and short trowsers of figured silk, while below, the legs were encased in white cotton or woolen socks, laced to some distance above the ankles. The socks were so contrived that the great toe was separated from the other four, for the passage of the band which attached to the sandal, and joined another from the heel at the ankle, where the two were tied together. Over the doublet and trowsers a loose gown of embroidered silk, something in the shape of the clerical robe, with loose sleeves, was worn. This was secured to the wait by a sash, in which are usually thrust the two swords which mark the dignitaries of higher rank. The three princes alone, of all the commissioners, were observed to wear a white inner shirt, or vest, which was exposed at the breast. This was a mark of the very highest rank, and belongs exclusively to princes and the loftiest dignitaries of the Empire.
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It was now proposed by the commissioners that an adjournment should take place to another room, which they stated would accommodate comfortably about ten persons. According, the Commodore having assented, he, accompanied by the captain of the fleet, his two interpreters and secretary, was conducted into another and much smaller room, the entrance to which was only separated from the principal hall by a blue silk flag, ornamented in the centre with the embroidered arms of Japan. On entering, the commissioners were found already seated on the right, they having withdrawn previously to the Commodore, and arranged themselves in rank upon on the red divans, which extended along the sides of the apartment.
The Commodore and his party took their seats on the left, and business commenced, the commissioners having preliminarily sated that it was a Japanese custom to speak slowly. They were evidently very anxious to proceed with deliberation, and weigh every word with the exactness of cautious diplomatists.
The chief commissioner how handed the Commodore a roll of paper, which proved to be an answer to the President's letter, delivered on the previous visit at Gori-hama in July.
Translation of answer to the letter of the President to the Emperor of Japan
The return of Your Excellency as Ambassador of the United States to this Empire has been expected according to the letter of his majesty the President, which your excellency delivered last year to his majesty the Emperor of this nation. It is quite impossible to give satisfactory answers at once to all the proposals of your government.
Although a change is most positively forbidden by the laws of our imperial ancestors, for us to continue attached to ancient laws seems to misunderstand the spirit of the age. Nevertheless we are governed now by imperative necessity. At the visit of your excellency to this Empire last year, his majesty the former Emperor was sick and is now dad. Subsequently his majesty the present emperor ascended the throne. The many occupations in consequence thereof are not yet finished and there is not time to settle other business thoroughly. Moreover his majesty the new Emperor at his succession to the throne promised the princes and high officers of the empire to observe the laws; it is therefore evident that he cannot now bring about any alterations in the ancient laws.
Last autumn at the departure of a Dutch ship, the superintendent of the Dutch trade in Japan was requested to inform your government of this event, and we have been informed in writing that he did so.
The Russian Ambassador arrived recently at Nagasaki to communicate a wish of his government. He has since left the said place because no answer would be given to whatever nation that might communicate similar wishes. We recognize necessity, however, and shall entirely comply with the proposals of your government concerning coal, wood, water, provisions, and the saving of ships and their crews in distress. After being informed which harbor your excellency selects, the harbor shall be prepared, which preparation it is estimated will take about five years. Meanwhile commencement can be made with the coal at Nagasaki, by the first month of the next Japanese year (16 February 1855).
Having no precedent with respect to coal, we request your excellency to furnish us with an estimate, and upon due consideration this will be complied with if not in opposition to our laws. What do you mean by provisions, and how much coal will be required?
Finally, anything ships may be in want of that can be furnished from the production of this Empire shall be supplied; the prices of merchandise and articles of barter to be fixed by Kahei Kurokawa and Einosuke Moriyama. After settling the points beforementioned, the treaty can be concluded and signed at the next interview.
Seals attached by order
of the high Gentleman,
(signed} Einosuke Moriyama
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The Commodore having returned the document, requesting it should be signed by the high commissioner, and delivered to him next day, entered at once upon the subject which was uppermost in his mind, the negotiations of a treaty. He remarked that it would be better for the two nations that a treaty similar to the one between the United States and China should be made. He had been sent, he continued, by his government to make a treaty, and if he did not succeed, the United States would probably send more ships to make one; but he hoped that everything would be soon settled in an amicable manner, and that he would be enabled to send two of his ships, as he desire, to prevent others from coming. A copy of the Chinese treaty, written in English, Chinese, and Dutch, accompanied by two notes form the Commodore, and a letter in answer to one sent by the high commissioner form Uraga, were now handed to the Japanese, when they asked for time to have the documents translated into their own language.
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One of the marines belonging to the Mississippi had died two days previous to the conference, and the suitable interment of his body now came up in course of discussion. The Commodore proposed to buy a piece of ground from the Japanese for the burial of the man then lying dead, and for any other American who might die. This proposition seemed to perplex the commissioners, and after some consultation, they retired to discuss the question alone, and, on leaving, invited the Commodore and his officers to partake of some refreshments, consisting of saki, fruit and cakes, soups and fish, which were immediately served. This invitation was accepted, with the remark that it would be more consonant with American notions of hospitality if the commissioners would join the Commodore and his officers, as the breaking of bread together was, in the United States, as among many other nations, considered an evidence of friendship. The Japanese replied that they were unacquainted with foreign customs, but would cheerfully join. They were all retired; but shortly after, the second and third in rank of the number returned and participated socially in the repast that had been served, one of the dignitaries filling a cup of saki at once, drinking it off to the dregs, and, turning it bottom upward, remarked that it was a Japanese custom for the host to drink first.
It was not long before the whole board was again in session, and a written reply to the Commodore's request respecting the burial of the marine presented by the chief commissioner, and to the purport that, as a temple had been set apart at Nagasaki for the internment of strangers, it would be necessary to send the body to Uraga, whence at a convenient season, it might be conveyed in a Japanese junk to the former place. To this the Commodore objected that undisturbed resting-places were granted by all nations, and then proposed to send boats and inter the body at Webster island. Webster island, as it is named on the American charts, is a small island lying convenient to the "American anchorage," and the Commodore had determined, if the Japanese had persisted in forbidding the interment within any of their numerous burial places, to have effected it at all hazards upon that island, being perfectly satisfied that the Japanese respect for the dead would leave the body undisturbed. The commissioners evinced strong objections to the choice of the spot, and, after considerable discussion among themselves, finally consented to allow the burial to take place at Yoku-hama, at a place adjoining one of their temples, and in view of the squadron. They observed, however, that, as the novelty of the scene might attract an inconvenient crowd, the authorities would send on board the Mississippi, in the morning, an officer to accompany the funeral party.
The Commodore now prepared to depart, having first stated that he would be happy to see the Japanese dignitaries on board his vessel as soon as the weather should become warmer. They expressed courteously the pleasure they would have in accepting the invitation, and, bowing, retired. The subordinate American officers had been entertained with refreshments in the large outer hall during the conference, and amused with the rude efforts of the Japanese at delineating their portraits. The Commodore now passed out, followed by his suite and the procession of officers as before, and marching down, to the music of the bands, between the files of marines on either side, embarked in his barge and pulled for the ship. The other boats soon followed, filled with the numerous officers, sailors, marines, and others, who had shared in the ceremonies of the day.
Early next day, (Thursday March 9,) as had been arranged, a Japanese official went on board the Mississippi, to accompany the funeral party on shore, for the purpose of pointing out the burial place selected for the interment of the dead marine. At five o'clock in the afternoon the boats left the ship with the body, attended by the chaplain, Mr. Jones, Mr. Williams, the interpreter, and a party of marines. The flags of every vessel in the squadron were hoisted at half mast as the boats pushed off. The body was borne to a very picturesque spot at the foot of a hill, at a short distance from the village of Yoku-hama. The chaplain, Mr. Jones, was robed in his clerical gown, and on landing was received in the most courteous manner by some of the Japanese authorities, who showed none of their supposed repugnance to the Christian religion and its ministers. Crowds of the people had also gathered, and looked on with great curiosity, but with decorous respect, as the funeral procession moved slowly along to the sound of the muffled drum. The road lay through the village, and its inhabitants came out form their houses and open shops to behold the novel scene. The place chosen for the burial was near a Japanese place of interment, with stone idols and sculptured headstones, and as the procession came up a Buddhist priest sat near by on a mat, with an altar before him, on which was a collection of scraps of paper, some rice, a gong, a vessel containing saki, and some burning incense. The service having been read, the body lowered, and the earth thrown in, the party retired from the grave. The Buddhist priest then commenced the peculiar ceremonies of his religion, beating his gong, telling his rosary of glass and wooden beads, muttering his prayers, and keeping alive the burning incense. He was still going through his strange formulary when the Americans moved away, and crowds of Japanese continued to linger in the neighborhood, about the crests and acclivities of the hills which bounded the scene. Mr. Williams, the interpreter, who had lived long in China, and was familiar with the Buddhist worship, recognized its peculiarities in the precisely similar ceremonies performed at the grave by a Japanese priest. A neat enclosure of bamboo was subsequently put up about the American grave by the authorities, and a small hut was erected near, for a Japanese guard to watch the grave for a time, according to their custom.
On the same day the prefect, Kura-Kawa-Kahei, and the chief interpreter, Yenoske, came on board the Powhatan with a copy of the Imperial reply to the President's letter, duly certified and signed by the four commissioners. The two Japanese officials subsequently repaired to the Mississippi, where they conferred for some time with Captain Adams. They appointed the Monday following [March 13th] for the reception of the presents, and it was arranged that those persons who had the supervision of the telegraph, the Daguerreotype apparatus, and steam engine, should land on the previous Saturday, to arrange a place for their suitable exhibition. The Japanese stated that two of the commissioners would be in attendance, with a scribe, to receive and record the various presents, and the names of the person for whom they were intended. Upon Captain Adams saying that all the presents received by the officers of the United States were, by law, the property of the government, Yenoske remarked that a similar law existed in Japan. To the inquiry of the Japanese as to when the Commodore's reply to the answer to the President's letter would be ready, it was promised for the subsequent Saturday.
Captain Adams now asked what ports the commissioners had selected for the trade of the Americans, and where they were, and remarked that five years, the time appointed for the opening of them, was deemed by the Commodore much too long, and that he would never submit to having a place so restricted as Dezime for the use of the Americans. The prefect waived all immediate consideration of the subject, saying that it was one upon which the commissioners would negotiate and deliberate, and that it would necessarily require time. Yenoske, the interpreter, was then told that he could forward the purposes of the expedition, since he was familiar with them; he promised to do so to the utmost of his power, but he declined, although a map was placed before him, to name the ports for American intercourse, saying as he refused, that the whole matter was so new, and so opposed to the laws of the Empire, that time would be required to bring matters to such an issue. In regard to the question of going ashore, which had been submitted to the commissioners, Captain Adams asked for some explicit reply, stating that the surveying party, which was at the time at work in the bay, would require to plant signals along the shore, but would not go into the interior. To this the prefect answered that the views of the commissioners had not been yet fully matured, but seemed to concur in the necessity of the signals, if the Commodore had so ordered it. He, however, expressed his fear of trouble and confusion, if the officers, engaged in their duty, should enter the villages, and hoped they would go down the bay, and not northward.
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On the next day [March 11] a short conference was held by Captain Adams with the same Japanese officials in the treaty house on shore. He also bore a communication of the date of the 10th of March from the Commodore, addressed to the commissioners, in which the answer to the President's letter was acknowledged. The Commodore, while he expressed his satisfaction at the determination of the Japanese government to alter its policy in regard to foreign governments, at the same time stated that the concessions proposed were not enough, and that a written compact or treaty, with wider provisions, was essential. The chief points talked of were, the answer to the Commodore's notes in references to the proposed treaty, the privilege of going ashore. In regard to the former, they stated that a reply was not yet prepared; but as for the latter, the interpreter remarked, unofficially, that there would be no objection to the Commodore and his officers going ashore; but that if the permission should be general, difficulty with the people might ensue. Some general conversation followed in regard to the necessity of dispatch in the negotiations, Captain Adams stating that it was the Commodore's intention to send one of his ships to the United States, in course of a week or so, to inform the government at home of the progress of the negotiations, that it might know whether it was necessary to send more vessels or not. The Japanese evinced some uneasiness at this statement, and asked, "Whether the Americans are friendly??" "Certainly we are," was the answer, and the conferences closed in the most amicable manner.
The day agreed upon had arrived (Monday, March 13) for the landing of the presents, and although the weather was unsettled, and the waters of the bay somewhat rough, they all reached the shore without damage.
The presents filled several large boats, which left the ship, escorted by a number of officers, and a company of marines, and a band of music, all under the superintendence of Captain Abbott, who was delegated to deliver the presents, with proper ceremonies, to the Japanese high commissioners. A building adjoining the treaty house had been suitably constructed and arranged for the purpose, and on landing Captain Abbott was met by Yezaiman, the governor of Uraga, and several subordinate officials, and conducted to the treaty house. Soon after entering, the high commissioner, Prince Hayashi, came in, and the usual compliments having been interchanged, Captain Abbott, with the interpreters, were led into the smaller room, where a letter from the Commodore and some formalities on the delivery of the presents were disposed of. The Japanese commissioner, after some discussion, fixed the ensuing Thursday (March 16) for an interview with the Commodore on shore, when they promised to deliver a formal reply to his notes in regard to the opening of the various Japanese ports insisted upon.
The presents having been formally delivered, the various American officers and workmen selected for the purpose were diligently engaged daily in unpacking and arranging them in exhibition. The Japanese authorities offered every facility; their laborers constructed sheds for sheltering the various articles from the inclemency of the weather; a piece of level round was assigned for laying down the circular track of the little locomotive, and posts were brought and erected for the extension of the telegraph wires, the Japanese taking a very ready part in all the labors, and watching the result of arranging and putting together of the machinery with an innocent and childlike delight. The telegraphic apparatus under the direction of Messrs. Draper and Williams, was soon in working order, the wires extending nearly a mile, in a direct line, one end being at the treaty house, and another at a building expressly allotted for the purpose. When communication was opened up between the operators at either extremity, the Japanese watched with intense curiosity the modus operandi, and were greatly amazed to find that in an instant of time messages were conveyed in the English, Dutch, and Japanese languages from building to building. Day after day the dignitaries and many of the people would gather, and eagerly beseeching the operators to work the telegraph, would watch with unabated interest the sending and receiving of messages.
Nor did the railway, under the direction of Engineers Gay and Danby, with its Lilliputian locomotive, car, and tender, excite less interest. All the parts of the mechanism were perfect, and the car was a most tasteful specimen of workmanship, but so small that it could hardly carry a child of six years of age. The Japanese, however, were not to be cheated out of a ride, and, as they were unable to reduce themselves to the capacity of the inside of the carriage, they betook themselves to the roof. It was a spectacle not a little ludicrous to behold a dignified mandarin whirling around the circular road at the rate of twenty miles per hour, with his loose robes flying in the wind. As he clung with a desperate hold to the edge of the roof, grinning with intense interest, and his huddled up body shook convulsively with a kind of laughing timidity, while the car spun rapidly around the circle, you might have supposed that the movement, somehow or other, was dependent rather upon the enormous exertions of the uneasy mandarin than upon the power of the little puffing locomotive which was so easily performing its work.
Although the Japanese authorities were still very jealous of any intercourse on the part of the Americans with the people, and did all they could to prevent it, still there was necessarily a good deal of intermingling. The ships of the squadron were being daily supplied with water and provisions, for which the officials of the government had now consented to receive payment, but they insisted upon conducting all the regulations, and provided their own boats and laborers for the purpose. There was, however, what with the necessary passing to and from the ships with supplies, and the arranging and working the telegraphic apparatus, and the toy railway, almost daily intercourse between the American officers, sailors, and marines, and the Japanese mandarins, officials and laborers.
The Japanese always evinced an inordinate curiosity, for the gratification of which the various articles of strange fabric, and the pieces of mechanism, of ingenious and novel invention, brought from the United States, gave them a full opportunity. They were not satisfied with the minutest examination of all things, so surprisingly wonderful as they appeared to them, but followed the officers and men about and seized upon every occasion to examine each part of their dress. The laced caps, boots, swords, and tailed coats of the officers; the tarpaulins, jackets, and trowsers of the men, all came in for the closest scrutiny; and a tailor in search of a new cut or a latest fashion, could not have been more exacting in his observations than the inquisitive Japanese, as he fingered the broadcloth, smoothed down the nap with his long delicate hands, pulled a lapel here, adjusted a collar there, now fathomed the depth of a pocket, and again peered curiously into the inner recesses of Jack's loose toilette. They eagerly sought to possess themselves of anything that pertained to the dress of their visitors, and showed a peculiar passion for buttons. They would again and again ask for a button, and when presented with the cheap gift, they appeared immediately gratified, and stowed it away as if it were of the greatest value. It is possible that their affection for buttons and high appreciation of their value, may be owing to the rarity of the article in Japan, for it is a curious fact, that the simple convenience of a button is but little used in any article of Japanese dress; strings and various bindings being the only mode of fastening the garments. When visiting the ships, the mandarins and their attendants were never at rest; but went about peering into every nook and corner, peeping into the muzzles of the guns, examining curiously the small-arms, handling the ropes, measuring the boats, looking eagerly into the engine-room, ant watching every movement of the engineers and workmen as they busily moved, in and about, the gigantic machinery of the steamers. They were not contented with merely observing with their eyes, but were constantly taking out writing materials, their mulberry-bark paper, and their India ink and hair pencils, which they always carried in a pocket within the left breast of their loose robes, and making notes and sketches. The Japanese had all apparently a strong pictorial taste, and looked with great delight upon the engravings and pictures which were shown them, but their own performances appeared exceedingly rude and inartistic. Every man, however, seemed anxious to try his skill at drawing, and they were constantly taking the portraits of the Americans, and sketches of the various articles that appeared curious to them, with a result, which, however satisfactory it might have been to the artists, [and it must be conceded they exhibited no little exultation,] was far from showing any encouraging advances in art. It should, however, be remarked, that the artists were not professional… The Japanese are, undoubtedly, like the Chinese, a very imitative, adaptive, and compliant people; and in these characteristics may be discovered a promise of the comparatively easy introduction of foreign customs and habits, if not of the nobler principles and better life of a higher civilization.
Notwithstanding the Japanese are so fond of indulging their curiosity, they are by no means communicative about themselves. They allege, as a reason for their provoking reserve, that their laws forbid them to communicate to foreigners anything relating to their country and its institutions, habits, and customs. This silence on the part of the Japanese was a serious obstacle to acquiring that minute information about a strange people of whom curiosity is naturally on the alert to know everything. Much progress will, however, never be obtained toward a thorough knowledge of Japan, until some of our men of intelligence are established in the country in the character of consular agents, merchants, or missionaries, who may thus be enabled to acquire the language, and mingle in intimate social relations with the people.
The common people were found much more disposed to fraternized than were the Japanese officials. It seemed evident that nothing but a fear of punishment deterred the former from entering into free intercourse with the Americans; but they were closely watched by their superiors, as in fact the latter were by their equals.
In Japan, as in Lew Chew, probably, a closer intimacy would have ensued, during the visits of the squadron, with all classes, if they had been allowed to follow their own natural inclinations, and had not been so jealously guarded by the numerous spies. No one, even of the highest dignitaries, is trusted with public business of importance, without having one or more associated with him, who is ever on the alert to detect and take note of the slightest suspicion of delinquency.
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The American officer, whose intrusion had created so great an excitement, was Mr. Bittinger, the chaplain of the steamer Susquehanna. While in taking a walk on shore, this gentlemen's curiosity prompted him to extend his observations somewhat beyond the usual circuit of some four or five miles, within which the Japanese had contracted the movements of their visitors. Starting from Yoku-hama, opposite where the squadron was anchored, the enterprising investigator pushed on to the town of Kanagawa, some three miles further up the bay, where he was accosted by some of the Japanese officials and the interpreter, Gohatsiro, who urgently solicited him to return. He was not, however, to be so easily balked of his purpose, and continued his journey, followed by the Japanese officers, who dogged his steps at every turn until he reached Kamasaki. Here there was a river to cross, and he tried to prevail upon the Japanese boatmen to ferry him to the opposite side, but they refused in spite of bribes and threats, in the course of which the chaplain, if the Japanese accounts are to be believed, drew his sword. He now pursued his way higher up the river with the hope of finding a place that might be forded, and had just reached a very promising looking crossing, the depths of which he was about trying, when the messenger, who had hurried in rapid dispatch, from the steamer Powhatan, accosted him with the written order of the Commodore. "He, " thus reported the Japanese authorities, with their usual minuteness of description, "read it, walked four steps further, read it again, then suddenly returned, and intimated his intention of going back to the ship/" The chaplain, in the course of his wanderings, had an opportunity of seeing one of the largest towns of Japan, that of Kanagawa, which, with its numerous wide streets, and its crowded population, had quite an imposing appearance. He penetrated into several of the dwellings and temples, and, by his pertinacious perseverance, succeeded in obtaining, in one of the shops, some Japanese money in exchange for American coin. The native authorities seemed particularly worried in regard to this last matter, as it was so great an offence against their laws. The Japanese, in their report of the occurrence, stated that the American officer had gone into a shop by the roadside and asked the keeper to allow him to see some coins. The Japanese shopman complied with the request, but as he seemed somewhat chary in the display of his treasure, the chaplain insisted upon seeing more, which demand was also granted. Scales were now asked for, which being brought, the chaplain took out some silver pieces, and weighing them in one balance against the Japanese gold and silver coins, mixed indiscriminately in a heap, in the other, transferred the latter to his pockets, and left his American coin to console the shopman for the loss of his Japanese change.
Brown Editor:The Chaplain made a formal apology for his misconduct. Yenoske returned the American coins and the Chaplain gave back the Japanese coins.
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The next day, (March 17th,) the Commodore, accompanied by his interpreters, secretary, and two or three of his officers, met the commissioners at the treaty house, and after some preliminary compliments in regard to the presents, he was conducted as before from the hall of reception to the inner room of conference. The Commodore, on the present occasion, had dispensed with the military display, and much of the ceremony of the former visit, as had the Japanese commissioners, although the negotiations were carried on with the usual formalities.
Hayashi, the chief dignitary, opened the day's business by asking whether the Commodore was satisfied with the Japanese propositions for a treaty, which had been sent on the previous day,. The Commodore having replied that their communication was not accompanied with a Dutch translation, the Japanese presented one immediately, and the discussion began. The various propositions of the Japanese, and the answers have been thus formularised:
PROPOSITIONS OF JAPANESE COMMISSIONERS WITH REPLIES OF COMMODORE PERRY 1st Japanese proposition
From the first of next month, wood, water, provisions, coal and other things, the productions of this country that American ships may need, can be had at Nagasaki; and after five years from this, a port in another principality shall be open for ships to go.Commodore Perry's reply
Agreed to; but one or more ports must be substituted for Nagasaki, as this is out of the route of American commerce; and the time for the opening of the ports to be agreed upon must be immediate or within a space of sixty days. The manner of paying for articles received shall be arranged by treaty.2nd Japanese proposition
Upon whatever part of the coast people may be shipwrecked, those people and their property shall be sent to Nagasaki by sea.Note. When after five years shall have expired, and another harbor shall be opened, those shipwrecked men will be sent either there or to Nagasaki, as may be most convenient.
Commodore Perry's reply
Agreed to excepting as to the port to which the shipwrecked men are to be carried.3rd Japanese proposition It being impossible for us to ascertain who are pirates and who are not, such men shall not be allowed to walk about wherever they please.
Commodore Perry's reply
Shipwrecked men and others who may resort to the ports of Japan, are not to be confined, and shall enjoy all the freedom granted to Japanese, and be subject to no further restraints. They shall, however, be held amenable to just laws, or such as may be agreed upon by treaty.It is altogether inconsistent with justice that persons thrown by the providence of God upon the shores of a friendly nation should be looked upon and treated as pirates before any proof shall be given of their being so, and the continuance of the treatment which has hitherto been visited upon strangers will no longer be tolerated by the government of the United States so far as Americans are concerned.
4th Japanese proposition
At Nagasaki they shall have no intercourse with the Dutch and Chinese.Commodore Perry's reply
The Americans will never submit to the restrictions which have been imposed upon the Dutch and Chinese, and any further allusion to such restraints will be considered offensive.5th Japanese proposition
After the other port is opened, if there by any sort of articles wanted, or business which requires to be arranged, there shall be careful deliberation between the parties in order to settle them.Commodore Perry's reply
Agreed to, so far as it applies to ports other than Nagasaki.6th Japanese proposition
Lew Chew is a very distant country, and the opening of its harbor cannot be discussed by us.Commodore Perry's reply
As there can be no good reason why the Americans should not communicate freely with Lew Chew, this point is insisted upon.7th Japanese proposition
Matsmai [Matsumae] is also a very distant country, and belongs to its prince; this cannot be settled now, but a definite answer on this subject shall be given when the ships are expected next spring.Commodore Perry's reply
The same with respect to the port of Matsumae, for our whaling ships, steamers, and other vessels.
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These propositions and replies were consecutively discussed, the commissioners interposing with great pertinacity all possible difficulties, and contending that the laws of the Empire were of such a character as positively forbade the concessions demanded. They insisted that Nagasaki was the place set apart for strangers; they stated that the inhabitants and authorities of that city had been trained to enforce the laws with respect to foreigners, and declared that if the Americans were to have another port assigned to them, five years would be required to make similar preparations. The Commodore replied that the fact of Nagasaki having been especially appropriated to foreigners was one of the grounds of his objections to it; that its inhabitants and authorities having been so long accustomed to the servility of the Dutch, would doubtless exact more from the Americans than they would be inclined to submit to, and serious consequences might follow. Moreover, the Commodore declared that he desired it to be well understood, that his country visiting Japan would be free from all those oppressive laws which have been hitherto imposed upon strangers. In a word, he declared emphatically that he would not think of accepting Nagasaki as one of the ports.
Brown Editor: Negotiations continued and the Japanese made many concessions.
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After the concessions made by the Japanese, the greatest good feeling prevailed on both sides, and there seemed every prospect of establishing those national relations which had been the purpose of Commodore Perry's mission. In accordance with the harmony and friendship which existed, there was an interchange of those courtesies by which mutual good feeling seeks an outward expression. The Japanese had acknowledged, with courtly thanks, the presents which had been bestowed on behalf on the government, and now, on the 24th of March, invited the Commodore to receive the various gifts which had been ordered by the Emperor in return, as a public recognition of the courtesy of the United States.
The Commodore, accordingly, landed at Yoku-hama, with a suite of officers and his interpreters, and was received at the treaty house, with the usual ceremonies, by the high commissioners. The large reception room was crowded with the various presents. The red-covered settees, numerous tables and stands, and even the floors, were heaped with different articles. The objects were of Japanese manufacture, and consisted of specimens of rich brocades and silks, of their famous lacquered ware, such as chow-chow boxes, tables, trays, and goblets, all skillfully wrought and finished with an exquisite polish; of porcelain cups of wonderful lightness and transparency, adorned with figures and flowers in gold and variegated colors, and exhibiting a workmanship which surpassed even that of the ware for which the Chinese are remarkable. Fans, pipe-cases, and articles of apparel in ordinary use, of no great value, but of exceeding interest, were scattered in among the more luxurious and costly objects.
With the usual order and neatness which seem almost instinctive with the Japanese, the various presents had been arranged in lots, and classified in accordance with the rank of those for whom they were respectively intended. The commissioners took their position at the further end of the room, and when the Commodore and his suite entered, the ordinary compliments having been interchanged, the Prince Hayashi read aloud, in Japanese, the list of presents, and the names of the persons to whom they were to be given. This was then translated by Yenoske into Dutch, and by Mr. Portman into English. This ceremony being over, the Commodore was invited by the commissioners into the inner room, where he was presented with two complete sets of Japanese coin, three matchlocks, and two swords. These gifts, though of no great intrinsic value, were very significant evidence of the desire of the Japanese to express their respect for the representative of the United States. The mere bestowal of coins, in direct opposition to the Japanese laws, which forbid, absolutely, all issue of their money beyond the kingdom, was an act of marked favor.
As the Commodore prepared to depart, the commissioners said that there was one article intended for the President which had not yet been exhibited. They accordingly conducted the Commodore and his officers to the beach, where one or two hundred sacks of rice were pointed out, heaped up in readiness to be sent on board the ships. As that immense supply of substantial food seemed to excite some wonder on the part of the Americans, Yenoske, the interpreter, remarked that it was always customary with the Japanese, when bestowing royal presents, to include a certain quantity of rice, although he did not say whether the quantity always amounted, as on the present occasion, to hundreds of immense sacks.
While contemplating these substantial evidences of Japanese generosity, the attention of all was suddenly riveted upon a body of monstrous fellows, who tramped down the beach like so many huge elephants. They were professional wrestlers, and formed part of the retinue of the princes, who kept them for their private amusement and for public entertainment. They were some twenty-five in number, and were men enormously tall in stature, and immense in weight of flesh. Their scant costume, which as merely a colored cloth about the loins, adorned with fringes and emblazoned with the armorial bearings of the prince to whom they belonged, revealed their gigantic proportions in all the bloated fullness of fat and breadth of muscle. Their proprietors, the princes, seemed proud of them, and were careful to show their points to the greatest advantage before our astonished countrymen. Some two or three of these huge monsters were the most famous wrestlers in Japan, and ranked as the champion Tom Cribs and Hyers of the land. Koyanagi, the reputed bully of the capital, was one of them, and paraded himself with the conscious pride of superior immensity and strength. He was especially brought to the Commodore, that he might examine his massive form. The commissioners insisted that the monstrous fellow should be minutely inspected, that the hardness of his well-rounded muscles should be felt, and that the fatness of his cushioned frame should be tested by the touch. The Commodore accordingly attempted to grasp his immense arm, which he found, as solid as it was huge, and then passed his hand over the monstrous neck, which fell in folds of massive flesh, like the dewlap of a prize ox. As some surprise was naturally expressed at this wondrous exhibition of animal development, the monster himself gave a grunt expressive of his flattered vanity.
They were all so immense in flesh that they appeared to have lost their distinctive features, and seemed to be only twenty-five masses of fat. Their eyes were barely visible through a long perspective of socket, the prominence of their noses was lost in the puffiness of their bloated cheeks, and their heads were almost set directly on their bodies, with merely folds of flesh where the neck and chin are usually found. Their great size, however, was more owing to the development of muscle than to the deposition of fat, for, although they were evidently well fed, they were not less well exercised, and capable of great feats of strength. As a preliminary exhibition of the power of these men, the princes sat them to removing the sacks of rice to a convenient place on the shore for shipping. Each of these sacks weighed not less than one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and there were only a couple of the wrestlers who did not carry two sacks at a time. They bore the sacks on the right shoulder, lifting the first from the ground and adjusting it without help, but obtaining aid for the raising of the second. One man carried a sack suspended by his teeth, and another, taking one in his arms, turned repeated somersaults as he held it, and apparently with as much ease as it his tons of flesh had been only so much gossamer, and his load a feather.
After this preliminary display, the commissioners proposed that the Commodore and his party should retire to the treaty house, where they would have an opportunity of seeing the wrestlers exhibit their professional feats. The wrestlers themselves were most carefully provided for, having constantly about them a number of attendants, who were always at hand to supply them with fans, which they often required, and to assist them in dressing and undressing. While at rest they were ordinarily clothed in richly-adorned robes of the usual Japanese fashion, but when exercising, they were stripped naked, with the exception of the cloth about the loins. After their performance with the sacks of rice, their servitors spread upon the huge frames of the wrestlers their rich garments, and led them up to the treaty house.
A circular space of some twelve feet in diameter had been enclosed within a ring, and the ground carefully broken up and smoothed in front of the building, while in the portico, divans covered with red cloth, were arranged for the Japanese commissioners, the Commodore, his officers and their various attendants. The bands from the ships were also present, enlivened the intervals during the performance with occasional lively strains. As soon as the spectators had taken their seats, the naked wrestlers were brought out into the ring, and the whole number, being divided into two opposing parties, tramped heavily backward and forward, looking defiance at each other, but not engaging in any contest, as their object was merely to parade their points, to give the beholders, as it were, an opportunity to form an estimate of their comparative powers, and to make up their betting-books. They soon retired to behind some screens placed for the purpose, where all, with the exception of two, were again clothed in full dress and took their positions on seats in front of the spectators.
The two who had been reserved out of the band, now, on the signal being given by the heralds, who were seated on opposite sides, presented themselves. They came in, one after the other, from behind the screen, and walked with slow and deliberate steps, as became such huge animals, into the centre of the ring. Then they ranged themselves, one against the other, at a distance of a few yards. They crouched for a while, eyeing each other with a wary look, as if each were watching for a chance to catch his antagonist off his guard. As the spectator looked on these over-fed monsters, whose animal natures had been so carefully and successfully developed, and as he watched them, glaring with brutal ferocity at each other, ready to exhibit the cruel instincts of a savage nature, it was easy for him to lose all sense of their being human creatures, and to persuade himself that he was beholding a couple of brute beasts thirsting for one another's blood. They were, in fact, like a pair of fierce bulls, whose nature they had not only acquired, but even their look and movements. As they continued to eye each other they stamped the ground heavily, pawing as it were with impatience, and then stooping their huge bodies, they grasped handfuls of dirt and flung it with an angry toss over their backs, or rubbed it impatiently between their giant palms, or under their stout shoulders. They now crouched low, still keeping their eyes fixed upon each other and watching every movement, until, in an instant, they had both simultaneously heaved their massive forms in opposing force, body to body, with a shock that might have stunned an ox. The equilibrium of their monstrous frames was hardly disturbed by the concession, the effect of which was but barely visible in the quiver of the hanging flesh of the bodies. As they came together, they had thrown their brawny arms around each other, and were not entwined in a desperate struggle, each striving with all his enormous strength to throw his adversary. Their great muscles rose with the distinct outline of the sculptured form of a colossal Hercules, their bloated countenances swelled up with gushes of blood which seemed ready to burst through the skin of their reddened faces, and their huge bodies palpitated with emotion as the struggle continued. At last, one of the antagonists fell, with his immense weight, heavily upon the ground, and being declared vanquished, was assisted to his feet and conducted from the ring.
The scene was now somewhat varied by a change in the kind of contest between two succeeding wrestlers. The heralds, as before, summoned the antagonists, and one, having taken his place in the ring, assumed an attitude of defence with one leg in advance, as if to steady himself, and his bent body, with his head lowered, placed in position, as it to receive an attack. Immediately after, in rushed the other, bellowing loudly like a bull, and, making at once for the man in the ring, dashed, with his head lowered and thrust forward, against the head of his opponent, who bore the shock with the steadiness of a rock, although the blood streamed down his face from his bruised forehead, which had been struck in the encounter. This maneuver was repeated again and again, the same one acting always as the opposing, and the other as the resisting force; and thus they kept up their brutal contest until their foreheads were besmeared with blood, and the flesh on their chests rose in great swollen tumors, from the repeated blows. This disgusting exhibition did not terminate until the whole twenty-five had, successively, in pairs, displayed their immense powers and savage qualities.
From the brutal performance of these wrestlers, the Americans turned with pride to the exhibition- to which the Japanese commissioners were now in their turn invited- of the telegraph and the railroad. It was a happy contrast, which a higher civilization presented, to the disgusting display on the part of the Japanese officials. In place of a show of brute animal force, there was a triumphant revelation, to a partially enlightened people, of the success of science and enterprise. The Japanese took great delight in again seeing the rapid movement of the Lilliputian locomotive; and one of the scribes of the commissioners took his seat upon the car, while the engineer stood upon the tender, feeding the furnace with one hand, and directing the diminutive engine with the other. Crowds of the Japanese gathered around, and looked on the repeated circling of the train with unabated pleasure and surprise, unable to repress a shout of delight at each blast of the steam whistle. The telegraph, with its wonders, though before witnessed, still created renewed interest, and all the beholders were unceasing in their expressions of curiosity and astonishment. The agricultural instruments having been explained to the commissioners by Dr. Morrow, a formal delivery of the telegraph, the railway, and other articles, which made up the list of American presents, ensued. The Prince of Mimasaki had been delegated by his coadjutors ceremoniously to accept, and Captain Adams appointed by the Commodore to deliver, the gifts; and each performed his separate functions by an interchange of suitable compliments and some half dozen stately bows. After this, a detachment of marines from the squadron were put through their various evolutions, drills, &c., while the bands furnished marital music. The Japanese commissioners seemed to take a very great interest in this military display, and expressed themselves much gratified at the soldierly air and excellent discipline of the men. This closed the performances of the day; and, the commissioners having accepted an invitation from the Commodore to dine with him on the twenty-seventh, the Japanese retired to the treaty-house, and the Americans returned to the ships. The Japanese presents were all boxed up and sent, together with the rice and charcoal, on board the storeship Supply, when, after being duly addressed to the proper department of the government, they were stored away for future shipment.
On the next day, (March 25,) Yenoske, accompanied by Kenzeiro, his fellow interpreter, came on board the Powhatan to acknowledge, formally, in behalf of the commissioners, their gratitude for the exhibition of the marines, the locomotive, and the telegraph, with all which they declared themselves highly delighted. Yenoske and his coadjutor were invited to seat themselves in the cabin of the Commodore, and, after some expressions of courtesy, which the Japanese officials were careful never to intermit, proposed to talk over some points in connexion with the projected treaty. The Commodore said he had no objections to the discussion of the matters informally; but he protested against considering the interpreters as the official representatives of the commissioners, with the latter of whom only, he declared, could he treat authoritatively.
Brown Editor: The Commodore and Yenoske discussed the opening of the ports of Hakodadi and Simoda and the necessity for an American consul to reside in Simoda. The Commodore requested supplies for his trips to Hakodadi and Simoda, and that there should be no restrictions on him or his officers to go on shore and explore the land.
Page 435 [top]
Monday, March 27, was the day appointed for the entertainment to which the Commodore had invited the commissioners and their attendants. Accordingly, great arrangements were made in the flag-ship preparatory to the occasion. The quarter-deck was adorned with a great variety of flags, and all parts of the steamer put in perfect order, while the officers, marines, and men dressed themselves in their uniforms, and prepared to do honor in every respect to their expected visitors.
The Commodore was determined to give the Japanese a favorable impression of American hospitality, and had accordingly spared no pains providing most bountifully for the large party expected, which was understood to comprise no less than seventy, exclusive of the boatmen and menials. As it was known that the strictness of Japanese etiquette would not allow the high commissioners to sit at the same table with their subordinates, the Commodore ordered two banquets, one to be spread in his cabin for the chief dignitaries, and another on the quarter-deck. The Commodore had long before made up his mind to give this entertainment as soon as the negotiations with the Japanese took a turn sufficiently favorable justify some degree of convivial rejoicing. He had accordingly reserved for it live bullocks, some sheep, and a supply of game and poultry. The ordinary cabin stores of preserved meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, and a choice supply of the best wines, furnished every requisite for the preparation of a generous feast. These abundant materials, under the cunning hands of the Commodore's chef de cuisine, assumed nearly every variety of dish attractive to the eye and appetising to the taste.
Previous to coming on board the Powhatan, the commissioners visited the sloop-of-war Macedonian, being saluted as they stepped on her deck by seventeen guns from the Mississippi, lying near. The great guns and boarders having been exercised for their entertainment, the commissioners, with their numerous attendants, left for the Powhatan, the Macedonian firing a salvo in their honor, as they took their departure. On arriving on board the flag ship, they were first conducted through the different departments of the steamer, and examined with minute interest the guns and the machinery. A boat was lowered, with a howitzer in its bows, and this was repeatedly discharged, much to their amusement; for, although not a very warlike people, (at least in their modern history,) the Japanese evidently had a great fondness for martial exercise and display. The engines were next put in motion, and they evinced the usual intelligence of the higher class of Japanese in their inquiries and remarks. After satisfying their curiosity, dinner was announced, and the five commissioners were conducted to the Commodore's cabin, where a very handsome banquet awaited them. The subordinate officials, amounting to about sixty, were provided for under the awning on the quarter-deck, where a large table had been spread with an abundant supply.
The Commodore had invited the four captains of the squadron, his interpreter, Mr. Williams, and his secretary, to join the commissioners at his table. Yenoske, the Japanese interpreter, was allowed the privilege, as a special condescension on the part of his superiors, to sit at a side-table in the cabin, where his humble position did not seem to disturb either his equanimity or his appetite. Hayashi, who always preserved his grave and dignified bearing, ate and drank sparingly, but tasted of every dish and sipped of every kind of wine. The others proved themselves famous trencher men, and entered more heartily than their chief into the conviviality of the occasion. Matsusaki was the soul of the party, and showed at once a very decided appreciation of American fare, and a special fondness for the champagne, with no marked aversion, however, to the other wines and beverages. The liqueurs, particularly the maraschino, seemed to suit the tastes of the Japanese exactly, and they drank unnumbered glasses of it. Matsusaki, who was a jovial fellow, soon showed the effects of his copious libations, and became very particularly happy. Hayashi, the grave prince, was the only one, in fact, whose sobriety was proof against the unrestrained conviviality which prevailed among his bacchanalian coadjutors.
The Japanese party upon deck, who were entertained by a large body of officers from the various ships, became quite uproarious under the influence of overflowing supplies of champagne, Madeira, and punch, which they seemed greatly to relish. The Japanese took the lead in proposing healths and toasts, and were by no means the most backward in drinking them. They kept shouting at the top of their voices, and were heard far above the music of the bands that enlivened the entertainment by a succession of brisk and cheerful tunes. It was, in short, a scene of noisy conviviality, and of very evident enjoyment on the part of the guests. The eating was no less palatable to them than the drinking, and the rapid disappearance of the large quantity and variety of the viands profusely heaped upon the table was quite a marvel, even to the heartiest feeders among the Americans. In the eagerness of the Japanese appetite, there was but little discrimination in the choice of dishes and in the order of courses, and the most startling heterodoxy was exhibited in the confused commingling of fish, flesh, and fowl, soups and syrups, fruits and fricassees, roast and boiled, pickles and preserves. As a most generous supply had been provided, there were still some remnants of the feast left, after the guests had satisfied their voracity, and most of these, the Japanese, in accordance with their usual custom, stowed away about their persons to carry off with them. The Japanese always have an abundant supply of paper within the left bosom of their loose robes in a capacious pocket. This is used for various purposes; one species, as soft as our cotton cloth, and withal exceedingly tough, is used for a pocket handkerchief; another furnishes the material for taking notes, or for wrapping up what is left after a feast. On the present occasion, when the dinner was over, all the Japanese guests simultaneously spread out their long folds of paper, and gathering what scraps they could lay their hands on, without regard to the kind of food, made up an envelope of conglomerate eatables, in which there was such a confusion of the sour and sweet, the albuminous, oleaginous, and saccharine, that the chemistry of Liebig, or the practiced taste of the Commodore's Parisian cook, would never have reached a satisfactory analysis. Nor was this the result of gluttony, or a deficiency of breeding; it was the fashion of the country. These unsavory parcels they stowed away in their pockets, or in their capacious sleeves, to carry away with them. The practice was universal, and they not only always followed it themselves, but insisted that their American guests, when entertained at a Japanese feast, should adopt it also. Whenever the Commodore and his officers were feasted on shore, they had paper parcels of what was left thrust into their hands on leaving, which they were obliged to take away with them, as it seemed an important part of Japanese hospitality, which could not be declined without giving offence.
After the banquet, the Japanese were entertained by an exhibition of negro minstrelsy, got up by some of the sailors, who, blacking their faces and dressing themselves in character, enacted their parts with a humor that would have gained them unbounded applause from a New York audience even at Christy's. The gravity of the saturnine Hayashi was not proof against the grotesque exhibition, and even he joined with the rest in the general hilarity provoked by the farcical antics and humorous performances of the mock negroes. It was now sunset, and the Japanese prepared to depart with quite as much wine in them as they could well bear. The jovial Matsusaki threw his arms about the Commodore's neck, crushing, it in his tipsy embrace, a pair of new epaulettes, and repeating, in Japanese, with maudlin affection, these words, as interpreted into English: "Nippon and America, all the same heart." He then went toddling into his boat, supported by some of his more steady companions, and soon all the happy party had left the ships and were making rapidly for the shore. The Saratoga fired the salute of seventeen guns as the last boat pulled off from the Powhatan, and the squadron was once more left in the usual quiet of ordinary ship's duty.
Brown Editor: In the next several days, discussions continued concerning the treaty's various points.
Page 440 [top]
Accordingly, on Friday, the 31st of March, 1854, the Commodore proceeded to the treaty house with his usual attendants, and immediately on his arrival signed three drafts of the treaty written in the English language, and delivered them to the commissioners, together with three copies of the same in the Dutch and Chinese languages, certified by the interpreters, Messrs. Williams, and Portman, for the United States. At the same time, the Japanese commissioners, in behalf of their government, handed to the Commodore three drafts of the treaty written respectively in the Japanese, Chinese, and Dutch languages, and signed by the four of their body especially delegated by the Emperor for that purpose. The following is the treaty as agreed upon.
TREATY
The United States of America and the Empire of Japan, desiring to establish firm, lasting, and sincere friendship between the two nations, here resolved to fix, in a manner clear and positive, by means of a treaty or general convention of peace and amity, the rules which shall in future be mutually observed in the intercourse of their respective countries; for which most desirable object the President of the United States has conferred full powers on his commissioner, Matthew Calbraith Perry, special ambassador of United States to Japan and the august sovereign of Japan has given similar powers to his commissioners, Hayashi-Daigaku-nokami, Ido, Prince of Tsus-Sima, Izawa, Prince of Mimasaki, and Udono, member of the Board of Revenue.
And the said commissioners, after having exchanged their said full powers, and duly considered the premises, have agreed to the following articles:
ARTICLE I.
There shall be a perfect, permanent, and universal peace, and a sincere and cordial amity, between the United States of America on the one part, and the Empire of Japan on the other, and between their people, respectively, without exception of persons or places.
ARTICLE II.
The port of Simoda, in the principality of Idzu, and the port of Hakodadi, in the principality of Matsmai, are granted by the Japanese as ports for the reception of American ships, where they can be supplied with wood, water, provisions, and coal, and other articles their necessities may require, as far as the Japanese have them. The time for opening the first named port is immediately on signing the treaty; the last named port is to be opened immediately after the same day in the ensuing Japanese year.
NOTE.-A tariff of prices shall be given by the Japanese officers of the things which they can furnish, payment for which shall be made in gold and silver coin.
ARTICLE III.
Whenever ships of the United States are thrown or wrecked on the coast of Japan, the Japanese vessels will assist them, and carry their crews to Simoda or Hakodadi, and hand them over to their countrymen appointed to receive them. Whatever articles the shipwrecked men may have preserved shall likewise be restored, and the expenses incurred in the rescue and support of American and Japanese, who may thus be thrown upon the shores of either nation, are not to be refunded.
ARTICLE IV.
Those shipwrecked persons and other citizens of the United States shall be free as in other countries, and not subjected to confinement, but shall be amenable to just laws.
ARTICLE V.
Shipwrecked men, and other citizens of the United States, temporarily living at Simoda and Hakodadi, shall not be subject to such restrictions and confinement as the Dutch and Chinese are at Nagasaki; but shall be free at Simoda to go where they please within the limits of seven Japanese miles [or ri] from a small island in the harbor of Simoda, marked on the accompanying chart, hereto appended; and shall in like manner be free to go where they please at Hakodadi, within limits to be defined after the visit of the United States squadron to that place.
ARTICLE VI.
If there be any other sort of goods wanted, or any business which shall require to be arranged, there shall be careful deliberation between the parties in order to settle such matters.
ARTICLE VII.
It is agreed that ships of the United States reporting to the ports open to them, shall be permitted to exchange gold and silver coin, and articles of goods, for other articles of goods, under such regulations as shall be temporarily established by the Japanese government for that purpose. It is stipulated, however, that the ships of the United States shall be permitted to carry away whatever articles they are unwilling to exchange.
ARTICLE VIII.
Wood, water, provision, coal, and goods required, shall only be procured through the agency of Japanese officers appointed for that purpose, and in no other manner.
ARTICLE IX.
It is agreed, that if, at any future day, the government of Japan shall grant to any other nation of nations privileges and advantages which are not herein granted to the United States and the citizens thereof, that the same privileges and advantages shall be granted likewise to the United States and to the citizens thereof without any consultation or delay.
ARTICLE X.
Ships of the United States shall be permitted to resort to no other ports in Japan but Simoda and Hakodadi, unless in distress or forced by stress of weather.
ARTICLE XI.
There shall be appointed by the government of the United States consuls or agents to reside in Simoda at any time after the expiration of eighteen months from the date of the signing of the treaty; provided that either of the two governments deem such arrangement necessary.
ARTICLE XII.
The present convention, having been concluding and duly signed, shall be obligatory, and faithfully observed by the United States of America and Japan, and by the citizens and subjects of each respective power; and it is to be ratified and approved by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by the august Sovereign of Japan, and the ratifications shall be exchanged within eighteen months from the date of the signature thereof, or sooner if practicable.
In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries of the United States of America and the Empire of Japan, aforesaid, have signed and sealed those presents.
Done at Kanagawa, this thirty-first of March, in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and of Keyei the seventh year, third month, and third day.
Page 442 [top]
Immediately on the signing and exchange of the copies of the treaty, the Commodore presented the first commissioner, Prince Hayashi, with an American flag, remarking that he considered it the highest expression of national courtesy and friendship he could offer. The Prince was evidently deeply impressed with this significant mark of amity, and returned his thanks for it with indications of great feeling. The Commodore then presented other dignitaries with the various gifts he had especially reserved for them. All formal business being now concluded to the mutual satisfaction of both parties, the Japanese commissioners invited the Commodore and his officers to partake of an entertainment which had been particularly prepared for the occasion.
The tables were now spread in the large reception hall. These were nothing more than wide divans, such as were used for seats, and of the same height. They were covered with a red-colored crape, and arranged in order, according to the rank of the guests and their hosts, an upper table, raised somewhat above the rest, being appropriated to the Commodore, his superior officers, and the commissioners. When all were seated, the servitors brought in a rapid succession of courses, consisting chiefly of thick soups, or rather stews, in most of which fresh fish was a component part. These were served in small earthen bowls or cups, and were brought in upon lacquered stands, about fourteen inches square and ten high, and placed, one before each guest, upon the tables. Together with each dish was a supply of soy or some other condiment, while throughout there was an abundant quantity, served in peculiar vessels, of the Japanese national liquor, the saki, a sort of whiskey distilled from rice. Various sweetened confections, and a multiplicity of cakes, were liberally interspersed among the other articles on the tables. Toward the close of the feast, a plate containing a broiled cray fish, a piece of fried fish of some kind, two or three boiled shrimps, and a small square pudding with something of the consistence of blanc mange, was placed before each, with a hint that they were to follow the guests on their return to the ships, and they were accordingly sent and duly received afterward.
The feast of the commissioners did not make a strikingly favorable impression on their guests; but they were greatly pleased with the courtesy of their hosts, whose urbanity and assiduous attentions left nothing to desire on the score of politeness. They left, however, it must be confessed, with appetites but scantily gratified by the unusual fare that had been spread before them. It is true that apologies were made, and this, by the way, proved to be an habitual feature of their entertainments, and causes were assigned for the poorness of the repast on the score of the difficulty of obtaining the best articles of food at Kanagawa. The dinner given to the commissioners on board the Powhatan would have made, in quantity, at least a score of such at they offered by the Japanese on this occasion. To dispose of the subject in one word, the entertainments of the Japanese, generally, while full of hospitality, left but an unfavorable impression of their skill in cookery. The Lew Chewans evidently excelled them in good living.
Page 444 [top]
When it was determined by our government to send an expedition to Japan, those in authority were not unmindful of the peculiar characteristics of that singular nation. Unlike all other civilized people, it was in a state of voluntary, long-continued, and determined isolation. It neither desired not sought communication with the rest of the world, but, on the contrary, strove to the uttermost to prevent it. It was comparatively an easy task to propose to any power, the ports of which were freely visited by ships from every part of the world, the terms of a commercial treaty. Such powers have recognized commerce itself as part of their national system, and the principle of permitting it is freely avowed by their usage; a treaty, therefore, had but to define its privileges, and state the conditions of which they might be enjoyed in the case of any nation seeking to make such a treaty. But not so, when, by any power, commerce itself was interdicted and made contrary to law. Before general conditions of commerce could be proposed to such a power, it was necessary to settle the great preliminary that commerce would be allowed at all. Again, if that preliminary were settled affirmatively, a second point, of great moment, remained to be discussed, viz., to what degree shall intercourse for trading purposes be extended? Among nations accustomed to the usages of Christendom, the principles and extent of national comity in the interchanges of commercial transactions haven been so long and so well defined and understood, that, as between them, the term, "commercial treaty," needs no explanation,; its meaning is comprehended alike by all, and in its stipulations it may cover the very broad extent that includes everything involved in the operations of commerce between two maritime nations. All ports are open, all commodities may be imported or exported, subject only to such regulations as may have been agreed upon between the contracting parties. The foundation for the contract existed before its terms were adjusted. But in a kingdom which, in its polity, expressly ignored commerce and repudiated it as an evil instead of a good, it was necessary, as we have said, to lay the very foundation as well as adjust the terms.
Hence the instructions to Commodore Perry covered broad ground, and his letters of credence conformed to his instructions. If he found the Japanese disposed to abandon at once and forever their deliberately adopted plan of non-intercourse with foreigners [an event most unlikely], his powers were ample to make with them a commercial treaty as wide and general as any we have with the nations of Europe. If they were disposed to relax but in part their jealous and suspicious system, formally to profess relations of friendship, and opening some only of their ports to our vessels to allow a trade in those ports between their people and ours, he was authorized to negotiate for this purpose, and secure for his country such privileges as he could, not inconsistent with the self-respect which, as a nation, we owed to ourselves. It must not be forgotten, in the contemplation of what was accomplished, that our representative went to a people who, at the time of his arrival among them, had, both by positive law and an usage of more than two hundred years, allowed but one of the harbors, Nagasaki, to be opened to foreigners at all; had permitted no trade with such foreigners when they did come, except, under most stringent regulations, to the Dutch and Chinese; were in the habit of communicating with the world outside of them at second hand only, through the medium of the Dutch, who were in prison at Dezima; and a people who, as far as we knew, never made a formal treaty with a civilized nation in the whole course of their antecedent history. To expect such a people to make a compact such as would be made between two great commercial nations, England and ourselves, for instance, would have been simply ridiculous. There were, in fact, but two points on which the Commodore's instructions did not allow him a large discretion, to be exercised according to circumstances. These two were, first, that if, happily, any arrangements for trade, either general or special, were made, it was to be distinctly stipulated that, under no circumstances, and in no degree, would the Americans submit to the humiliating treatment so long borne by the Dutch in carrying on their trade. The citizens of our country would be dealt with as freemen; or there should be no dealings at all. The second point was, that in the event of any of our countrymen being cast, in God's providence, as shipwrecked men on the coast of Japan, they should not be treated as prisoners, confined in cages, or subjected to inhuman treatment, but should be received with kindness, and hospitably cared for until they could leave the country.
It will easily be seen, therefore, that, from the circumstances of the case, there was a novelty in the features of the mission on which Commodore Perry was sent. Little or no guidance was to be derived from our past diplomatic experience or action. The nearest approach to such guidance was to be found in our treaty with China, made in 1844. This, therefore, was carefully studied by the Commodore. It purports to be "a treaty or general convention of peace, amity, and commerce," and to settle the rules to "be mutually observed in the intercourse of the respective countries." So far as "commerce" is concerned, it permits "the citizens of the United States to frequent," five ports in China, "and to reside with their families and trade there, and to proceed at pleasure with their vessels and merchandise to or from any foreign port, and from either of the said five ports to any other of them." As to duties on articles imported, they are to pay according to a tariff which is made part of the treaty, and in no case are to be subjected to higher duties than those paid, under similar circumstances, by the people of other nations. Consuls are provided for, to reside at the five open ports; and those trading there are "permitted to import from their own or any other ports in China, and sell there, and purchase therein, and export to their own or any other ports all manner of merchandise, of which the importation or exportation is not prohibited by" the treaty. In short, so far as the five ports are concerned, there exists between us and China a general treaty of commerce; and accordingly the twenty-second article expressly declares, that "relations of peace and amity between the United States and China" are "established by this treaty, and the vessels of the United States are admitted to trade freely to and from the five ports of China open to foreign commerce."
It certainly was very desirable to obtain, if possible, similar privileges from Japan, and the Commodore resolved that, if the Japanese would negotiate at all, his first efforts should be directed to that end. Accordingly he caused to be prepared, in the Chinese character, a transcript of the treaty, with such verbal alterations as would make it applicable to Japan, with the view of exhibiting it to the Imperial commissioners of that country should he be so successful as to open negotiations. He was not sanguine enough to hope that he could procure an entire adoption of the Chinese treaty by the Japanese. He was not ignorant of the difference in national characteristics between the inhabitants of China and the more independent, self-reliant and sturdy natives of the Japanese islands. He knew that the latter held the former in some degree of contempt, and treated them, in the matter of trade, very much as they did the Dutch. He was also aware that the Chinese, when they made their treaty, did know something of the advantages that might result from an intercourse with the rest of the world; while as to the Japanese, in their long-continued isolation, either they neither knew nor desired such advantages; or if they knew them, feared they might be purchased at too high a price in the introduction of foreigners who, as in the case of the Portuguese, centuries before, might seek to overturn the empire. It was too much, therefore, to expect that the Japanese would in all the particulars of a treaty imitate the Chinese. Still, they might be disposed to adopt some of its most important features when suggested to them by aknowledge of what other Orientals had done.
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The treaty having been signed and exchanged, the Commodore sent it, together with the necessary communications, to our government at Washington, under the especial charge of Commander H.A. Adams, commissioned as bearer of dispatches, who left in the Saratoga. This vessel got under way on the morning of the 4th of April, [1854,] and sailed for the Sandwich Islands, homeward bound. As she passed the squadron anchored at Kanagawa, the Saratoga saluted the flag of the Commodore with thirteen guns, which were returned from the Powhatan. The wind and weather, prevented her, however, from getting out of the bay, and she was obliged to anchor at the "American anchorage" on the first night, and did not stand out for sea until the next day.
The Japanese interpreters still visited the ships almost daily, and came on board the Powhatan on the day after the departure of the Saratoga, bringing with them a number of trifling presents of lacquered ware, porcelain, and other articles for several of the subordinate officers. On the following morning, one of the small brass howitzers was landed from the Mississippi as a present for the Emperor, as well as several boxes of tea brought from China, to be distributed as gifts to the interpreters and some of the Japanese dignitaries. Soon after, the Commodore went ashore, accompanied by several of his officers, for the purpose of taking a survey of the country. After having been entertained at the treaty house with the usual refreshments, the party set out on their walk, attended by Moryama, Yenoske, the chief interpreter, and several of the Japanese officials. A circuit embracing some five miles was the extent of the field of observation, but this gave an opportunity of seeing a good deal of the country, several of the villages, and large numbers of the people. The early spring in that temperate latitude had now much advanced, and the weather, though never very severe, the thermometer having varied during the stay of the squadron from thirty eight degrees to sixty four degrees, had become more warm and genial. The fields and terraced gardens were now carpeted with a fresh and tender verdure, and the trees with the full growth of renewed vegetation spread their shades of abounding foliage in the valleys and on the hillsides of the surrounding country. The camellias, with the immense growth of forty feet in height, which abound everywhere on the shores of the bay of Yedo, were in full bloom, with their magnificent red and white blossoms, which displayed a purity and richness of color, and a perfection of development, unrivalled elsewhere. As soon as a village or hamlet was approached, one of the Japanese attendants would hurry in advance, and order the women and the rabble to keep out of the way. This did not suit the purposes of the Commodore, who was desirous of seeing as much as possible of the people, and learning all he could of their manners, habits, and customs. He accordingly spoke to the interpreter and took him to task, particularly for dispersing the women. Yenoske pretended that it was entirely for the benefit of the ladies themselves, as their modesty was such that it could not withstand the sight of a stranger.
Brown Editor: The Commodore met with the Mayor of Yoku-hama an,d on the trip back to the ships, the Commodore and his party had a chance to better observe the peoples of Japan, especially the women.
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As the Japanese officials no longer interfered with the curiosity of the people, there was a good opportunity of observing them, though hurriedly, as the Commodore and his party were forced to return early to the ships. The people, in the small towns, appeared to be divided into three principal classes, -- the officials, the traders, and laborers. The inferior people, almost without exception, seemed thriving and contented, and not overworked. There were signs of poverty, but no evidence of public beggary. The women, in common with many in various parts of over-populated Europe, were frequently seen engaged in the filed labors, showing the general industry and the necessity of keeping every hand busy in the populous Empire. The lowest classes even were comfortably clad, being dressed in coarse cotton garments, of the same form, though shorter than those of their superiors, being a loose robe, just covering the hips. They were, for the most part, bareheaded and barefooted. The women were dressed very much like the men, although their heads were not shaved like those of the males, and their long hair was drawn up and fastened upon the top, in a knot, or under a pad. The costume of the upper classes and the dignitaries had been already described. In rainy weather, the Japanese wear a covering made of straw, which being fastened together at the top, is suspended from the neck, and falls over the shoulders and person like a thatched roof. Some of the higher classes cover their robes with an oiled paper cloak, which is impermeable to the wet. The umbrella, like that of the Chinese, is almost a constant companion, and serves both to shade from the rays of the sun, and keep off the effects of a shower. The men of all classes were exceedingly courteous, and although inquisitive about the strangers, never became offensively intrusive. The lower people were evidently in great dread of their superiors, and were more reserved in their presence, than they would have been if they had been left to their natural instincts. The rigid exclusiveness in regard to foreigners is a law merely enacted by the government from motives of policy, and not a sentiment of the Japanese people. Their habits are social among themselves, and they frequently intermingle in friendly intercourse. There is one feature in the society of Japan, by which the superiority of the people to all other oriental nations, is clearly manifest. Woman is recognized as a companion, and not merely treated as a slave. Her position is certainly not as elevated as in those countries under the influence of the Christian dispensation, but the mother, wife, and daughter of Japan, are neither the chattels and household drudges of China, nor the purchased objects of the capricious lust of the harems of Turkey. The fact of the non-existence of polygamy, is a distinctive feature, which pre-eminently characterizes the Japanese, as the most moral and refined of all eastern nations. The absence of this degrading practice shows itself, not only in the superior character of the women, but in the natural consequence of the greater prevalence of the domestic virtues.
The Japanese women, always excepting the disgusting black teeth of those who are married, are not ill-looking. The young girls are well formed and rather pretty, and have much of that vivacity and self-reliance in manners, which comes from a consciousness of dignity, derived from the comparatively high regard in which they are held. In the ordinary mutual intercourse of friends and families the women have their share, and rounds of visiting and tea parties are kept up as briskly in Japan as in the United States. The attitude assumed by the women who prostrated themselves in the presence of the Commodore and his party, should be considered rather as a mark of their reverence for the strangers than as an evidence of their subordination. That in the large towns and cities of Japan there is great licentiousness, it is reasonable to suppose, for such seems, unhappily, a universal law in all great communities; but it must be said to the credit of the Japanese women, that during all the time of the presence of the squadron in the bay of Yedo, there was none of the usual indication of wantonness and license on the part of the female sex in their occasional relations with the miscellaneous ships' people.
Brown Editor: The Commodore continued on to Simoda and Hakodadi before returning to the United States, where he was welcomed as a hero.