146 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



responded that the only mineral water he cared for was that from the Congress spring in 

 Saratoga ; the next morning the servant entered his room with a hottle of it. During the stay of 

 the ships at Shanghai there was a constant succession of dinners and halls, and the officers 

 were entertained everywhere with the most generous hospitality. 



The native city is a great contrast to that part of the siihurhs inhahited hy the foreign 

 residents, although the portion of the latter occupied hy the natives is miserahle enough. 

 Shanghai, proper^ is enclosed within a wall, and has the appearance of most of the Chinese . 

 cities. The place is quite large, and very populous. Its streets are narrow, like most of 

 those of the native cities, not being much more than eight or ten feet in width, and are 

 intersected hy dirty alleys, which lead to the rear of the small and contracted dwellings of the 

 Chinese, who live in the midst of foul air and all kinds of filth. The filthiness of Shanghai 

 gives no favorable idea of the domestic habits of the people ; a slight glance at the men and 

 women usually met in the streets was quite convincing enough of their want of reverence for 

 what the proverb says is " next to godliness." During the stay of the Commodore at Shanghai, 

 the shops had been emptied of their contents and carried into places of safety, in expectation of 

 an attack upon the city by the rebels, consequently, the bazaars had a dull look, and but few 

 of the native fabrics could be seen. 



The domestic trade of the city has been immense for a long time, being carried on in all 

 directions with the vast interior of China. A multitudinous population swarms in that part of the 

 country which stretches back of Shanghai, and the commercial intercourse with the large cities 

 of Nankin and others, with their millions of inhabitants, and incessant trading activity, was 

 constant, until interrupted by the Chinese rebellion. The trade of Shanghai has been stated to 

 be as large ts that of any part of the world, not excepting even London. 



The immediate neighborhood of Shanghai is highly cultivated, and fertile fields stretch in all 

 directions as far as the eye can reach, rich with their harvests of cotton, rice, wheat, barley, 

 beans and potatoes. The markets of the town are well supplied, and at moderate prices, with 

 beef, mutton, poultry, game, fish and vegetables of all varieties. Among the different kinds of 

 game, the pheasant, woodcock, and snipe abound, and of the fish, the shad is common during its 

 season, of good size and flavor ; some, indeed, larger than are seen in the United States, though in 

 taste inferior to those caught in our rivers. Fruit is scarce, and of inferior quality, as the 

 Chinese pay but little attention to its cultivation ; some cherries, however, were tasted, which 

 proved to be tolerably good, and it was said that the peaches were also good. All the varieties 

 of Chinese manufactured articles can ordinarily be obtained at Shanghai, and especially a silk 

 of famous fabric, woven at Su-Chau, a neighboring city. But the intestine disturbances 

 prevailing deprived the Commodore of any but a hearsay knowledge of many of these articles, 

 which, however, are said to be obtained, in pacific times, more easily at Shanghai than at Canton. 

 The foreign commerce has greatly increased since the termination of the war witli Great 

 Britain, and tlie general belief is entertained that Shanghai, with its superior advantages, will 

 monopolize most of the foreign trade with China. 



The population of the place was estimated at two hundred and eiglity thousand, and the 

 Chinese who composed it seemed to be of a better class than those at Canton and Hong Kong. 

 Like all their countrymen, they arc indefatigable in labor and untiring in trading activity, for 

 which they have, undoubtedly, a natural instinct. 



The Commodore, while at Shanghai, made an interesting return visit to the Taou-tai or 



