236 EXPEDITION rO JAPAN. 



the information of our countrymen, wlio know Commodore Perry, but for strangers who may 

 read our story and, without this word of explanation, misapprehend the character of the man. 

 No man is more easily approached by his fellow-men, or assumes less on account of the honoi'able 

 position he fills in the service of his country. 



The best proof that he judged wisely in determining on his course is in the results. The 

 squadron was left free of all annoyance or interference on the part of the authorities during the 

 whole period of its stay ; an event unprecedented in the intercourse of Japan with foreign ships 

 for more than two centuries. We have said there was no annoyance to the ships, but the 

 Japanese were as yet too suspicious of foreigners not to resort to their favorite system of 

 espionage : and, therefore, though the guard-vessels were withdrawn, as we have seen, there 

 might still be observed floating here and there a boat in the distance, seemingly with the object 

 of quietly watching the movements of the strangers ; but they never came near the squadron, 

 and were not by any act of the authorities forced upon the recognition of them, by the Americans, 

 as guard-boats. That a watchful eye was kept upon the squadron was probable. Three or four 

 rockets were shot up from the opposite land during the afternoon, which were supposed to be 

 signals of some purpose or other. When night came on, the presence of the ships in their waters 

 was evidently keeping up a very lively apprehension on the part of the Japanese on shore. 

 Beacon fires were lighted upon every hill-top, and along the shores on either side as far as the 

 eye could reach, and during the whole night the watchers on deck could hear the tolling of a 

 great bell which was at first supposed to be that of a temple, but was probably an alarum or 

 signal of some kind. The bay was otherwise as quiet as an inland lake, and nothing occurred 

 to disturb the tranquillity of the night. When, however, the nine o'clock gun of the flag-ship, a 

 sixty-four-pounder, was fired, the report reverberated loudly through the hills on the western side 

 of the bay, and apparently created something of a commotion on shore, for here and there the 

 fires were observed to be immediately extinguished. There seemed, however, no reason to 

 expect any interference, although every precaution had been taken ; the ships had quite a warlike 

 aspect, with sentinels stationed fore and aft and upon the gangways at the sides, with a pile of 

 round shot and four stands of grape at each gun, muskets stacked on the quarter-deck, and boats 

 provided with carbines, pistols, cutlasses and other necessaries for service. 



An interesting meteorological phenomenon was observed in the course of the night by 

 Lieutenant Duer, in command of the watch, who describes it as a remarkable meteor seen from 

 midnight until four o'clock in the morning. It made its appearance in the southward and 

 westward and illuminated the whole atmosphere. The spars, sails, and hulls of the ships 

 reflected its glare as distinctly as though a blue light were burning from each vessel at the 

 same time. From the southward and westward, and about fifteen degrees above the horizon, it 

 pursued a northeastwardly course in a direct line for a long distance, when it fell gradually 

 toward the sea and disappeared. Its form was that of a large blue sphere with a red, wedge- 

 shaped tail, which it could easily be observed was formed of ignited particles which resembled 

 the sparks of a rocket as they appear upon its explosion. " The ancients" remarks the 

 Commodore "would have construed this remarkable appearance of the heavens as a favorable 

 omen for any enterprize they had undertaken," and adds " it may be so construed by us, as we 

 pray God that our present attempt to bring a singvdar and isolated people into the family 

 of civilized nations may succeed without resort to bloodshed." 



As the sun rose next morning, gradually lifting the mist which had been spread during the 

 night upon the surface of the bay, and still curtained, here and there, the land with its fleecy 



