286 



EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



smallest siifferers, for it is their hard-tasked labor which supports the whole system which is 

 carried on by swarms of spies, who infest every corner and nook of the island. 



On the second evening after leaving Napha, as the Susquehanna and Mississippi were 

 proceeding^on their course to Hong Kong, a sail was seen ahead in the distance, steering in a 

 northeasterly direction. At first there were some doubts as to what she was, but these were 

 soon cleared up by the flashing of her guns, in the approaching darkness of the night, which 

 showed that she was saluting the Commodore's flag on the Susquehanna. It was now certain 

 that she was an American man-of-war, and soon she was discovered to be the long-expected 

 Vandalia. As she lay to, the Susquehanna steered toward her, making a signal for her 

 commander to come on board, and soon a boat came off, bringing Captain Pope, who at once 

 reported to the Commodore. The voyage of the Vandalia had been a remarkably fine one, 

 having left Philadelphia only on the fifth of March, touching at Kio Janeiro by the way. Her 

 commander brought the information of the arrival of the Powhatan from the United States at 

 Hong Kong, and of her proposed departure for Lew Chew. This information made Commodore 

 Perry very anxious to reach port before the sailing of the Powhatan, as her trip to the north 

 would be utterly useless, and the consequent consumption of coal a serious loss to the limited 

 stock of the squadron. The Vandalia being ordered back to Hong Kong, the fleet continued its 

 course to that place, where the steamers arrived on Sunday, August 7, 1853. 



The Vandalia, however, did not get back to Hong Kong until the fifteenth. The Commodore 

 was much disaj^pointed to find that the Powhatan had sailed just the day before his arrival, and 

 as she had taken the Formosa passage, he had thus lost the chance of intercepting her. She 

 did not return to Hong Kong imtil the 25th of August, having been detained ten days at Lew 

 Chew for the repair of her machinery ; and similar delays had been found necessary, in 

 the opinion of her chief engineer, at almost every port at which the Powhatan touched 

 on her outward passage. 



As the typhoon season was approaching, and the ships all required a general overhauling, 

 the engineers asking for sixty working days for putting the Powhatan alone in order, and tho 

 crews needing some relaxation, the Commodore determined, in consideration of these circum- 

 stances, to give all his vessels a thorough refitment. 



r/PIJ£ERTS.so 

 Yiuw of Outer Harbor of Napba from tliu Ciiiietnn. 



