GENERAL IMPRESSIONS PRODUCED BY THE VISIT. 193 



and, having announced such determination to the Lew Chewans, it was especially wise to carry 

 it through to the letter. The moral influence produced hy such a steadfast adherence to his 

 avowed purposes very soon exhibited itself. It was part of the Commodore's deliberately formed 

 plan, in all his intercourse with these orientals, to consider carefully before he announced his 

 resolution to do any act; but, having announced it, he soon taught them to know tliat he would 

 do jirecisely what he had said he would. To this single circumstance much of liis success is to 

 be attributed. He never deceived tliem l)y anj^ falsehood, nor ever gave them reason to suppose 

 that his purposes could l)e altered by their lies and stratagems. They, of course, saw at once 

 that he was resolute, and that it was dangerous to trifle with him. His whole diplomatic 

 jiolicy was simply to stick to the truth in everything — to mean just what he said, and do just 

 what he promised. Of course, it triumphed over a system which admitted of no truth, but for 

 purposes of decejition. 



Several little circumstances connected with the excursion attracted the notice of the Commo- 

 dore, and, as illustrative of maimers and customs, deserve a j^assing notice. The first was the 

 exceeding cleanliness of the Lew Chewans, and their striking contrast to the Chinese in this 

 particular. The Commodore, speaking of Shui, says: "Never have I seen a city or town 

 exhibiting a greater degree of cleanliness; not a particle of dirt, or even dust, could be seen, so 

 different is it from the filthiness of all Chinese cities." 



The road over which the procession passed was remarkably well constructed. It was elabor- 

 ately paved with coral rock, very neatlj^ fitted together, and the upjier surface rendered smooth, 

 either by artificial means or the constant attrition of travel. 



The peasantry who hung upon the edges of the procession seemed to be of the lowest orders 

 seen in Lew Chew, and exhibited a squalid and rather miserable appearance ; many of them were 

 naked, with the exception of a small piece of cloth about the loins ; and among the thousands 

 of these people attracted by the novelty of the spectacle, singular as it may appear, not a woman 

 was to be seen. The great population of the island may, therefore, fairly be inferred from the 

 large multitudes assembled, composed of but one half of the common people. These men wlio 

 were seen probably comi^ose the laboring class^, receiving for their daily toil scanty food and 

 harsh treatment. The idlers are the priests, and the hordes of spies and policemen who throng 

 the highways, and who are watching everything by day and night. 



On the whole, the Commodore was pleased with the suavity and politeness of the higher 

 classes, and with the seeming cordiality of the hospitality which had been shown him ; if the 

 Lew Chewans were not sincere they were, at least, very good actors. As to the culinary skill 

 that had been employed in preparing the regent's feast, there were certainly dishes of the compo- 

 sition of which the guests were ignorant, but still they were, in general, savory and very good ; 

 much more so than those presented by Chinese cookery. Whenever a fresh course was brought 

 in at the regent's feast^ the host and his brother dignitaries rose and emptied their small cups of 

 sakee to the health of the guests ; and the regent always gave a signal to the Commodore when 

 to commence on a new course. 



At the recejition in the palace, though the queen did not appear, yet the Commodore was 

 quite satisfied that the story he had been told about her desperate illness, by the regent, was all 

 fiction ; and, in fact, if she were not, as some suspected, a myth, he thought it not improbable 

 that she and her attendant ladies were behind the screen looking through some crevice at the 

 western strangers, possibly not a little amused at the novel show. At any rate, he was so 

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