MATTHEW C. PERRY. 373 



The negotiations which the commodore here re- 

 sumed having for the present been concluded, he 

 sailed on the 2d of July, 1853, for the chief object 

 and terminus of the expedition, the comparatively 

 unknown and mysterious Empire of Japan. On the 

 morning of the 7th inst., the first distant glimpse was 

 gained of its precipitous coast ; for then the bold 

 promontory of Idzu hove in sight, rising loftily and 

 abruptly from the waves, and stretching back in a 

 long line of mountainous elevations to the eastward. 

 The squadron now steered directly for the entrance of 

 the Bay of Jeddo, Commodore Perry having resolved 

 to approach the capital at once, and thus boldly to 

 plough with his vessels those very waters which 

 had never before been invaded by the presence of a 

 foreigner. Here was to be accomplished the most 

 difficult and most important purpose of the expe- 

 dition ; a purpose which no other nation had been 

 able to effect in modern times with but one ex- 

 ception. 



Jeddo, the seat of the ruling power and the real 

 capital of Japan, lies at the head of a deep bay on the 

 eastern coast of Kiphon, and at the mouth of one 

 of the few rivers of the Empire which possess any 

 considerable magnitude. It is seven miles long and 

 five broad, and contains many palaces of the great 

 lords, all of whom must reside in it for a large part 



32 



