268 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



concluded tliat lie could readily have gone still higher up. He was apprehensive, however, of 

 causing too much alarm, and thus throwing some obstacle in the way of a favorable reception at 

 court of the President's letter, that had only been delivered the day before, and which was 

 probably then under consideration. The Commodore thus thinking that he had done enough, 

 without going further, caused the ship to rejoin the squadron at the "American Anchorage." 



During the passage of the Mississippi, there was no show of opposition to her movements, 

 although there was a considerable display of troops about the batteries, loosely grouped, as if 

 gathered for curiosity and not for martial manifestation, and an occasional government boat put 

 out from the shore with the apparent design of watching the steamer. While the Commodore 

 was absent on his expedition up the bay, Yezaimen and his interpreters came alongside the 

 Susquehanna, bringing some boxes containing presents, but neither they nor their presents were 

 received, as the Commodore had given orders that no one from the shore should be admitted on 

 board the ship without his special permission. Upon being told this, the Japanese first 

 expressed a wish to wait, but finally pushed ofi", saying that they would return another time. 

 All the boats which could be spared from the several ships, amounting to twelve, were busily 

 engasred during the whole dav in surveying the western shore of the bav above Uraga. 



At daylight next morning (Saturday, 16th July,) the ships were moved to a bay about five 

 miles from Uraga, which the Commodore named "Susquehanna Bay," and in the survey of 

 which the boats were kept diligently occupied, and without interference or, in fact, any expressed 

 objection. The squadron was now anchored much closer to the shore than before, at a distance of 

 less than a mile, and from the ship's deck a distant view was had of the land on the west, which 

 was singularly green with vegetation and beautiful in aspect. The present anchorage was 

 completely land-locked. On one side was the charming little island named "Perry Island," 

 by Lieutenant Bent, who was in command of the surveying party which first examined its 

 neighboring waters. Out of the trees which grew to the summit of the rising land peered, with 

 a suspicious look, a Japanese battery. Below, some miles to the south, the promontory which 

 extends out into the bay beyond Uraga closed in the ships which were moored so far under the 

 cover of its lofty flank, that the view of the eastern shore for a considerable extent was 

 entirely blotted out. Two villages, of the name of Orsa and Togirasaki, nestled among the 

 trees within the curve of the bay, and presented to the eye a charming aspect of repose and rural 

 delight. 



Yezaimen, the governor of Uraga, was again alongside the Susquehanna before she had 

 anchored. He came to renew his assurance of the favorable reception of the President's letter, 

 and as nothing was said now of sending the answer to Nagasaki, it seemed that the nearer the 

 Commodore approached the imperial city of the Japanese the more conciliating and friendly 

 they became. The governor had brought with him some presents, consisting of some pieces o* 

 silk, some fans, lacquered tea-cups and tobacco pipes. These objects were interesting as 

 specimens of Japanese manufacture, and though not very valuable, were creditable evidences of 

 mechanical skill. The cups were made of a very light wood, neatly executed and beautifully 

 polished in surface with the famous Jajianese lacquer. The silks were of fine texture, richly 

 interwoven with braids of gold and silver, elaborately wrought into various ornamental figures. 

 The fans were covered with those "dragons and chimeras dire" in which the grotesque fimcyof 

 Japanese art seems especially to delight, and the pipes were small and like what had been 

 previously observed in use among the Lew Chewans. 



