374 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



Commodore in regard to various points in the proposed treaty which they were loth to concede, 

 now alluded to the estahlishment of an American consular agent. He said that they would 

 not be required, as the governors of the towns could carry on all the business of supplying the 

 ships with coals, provisions, and other necessaries, without the intervention of any consul, and 

 that, consequently, the commissioners proposed a delay of four or five years before consenting to 

 the appointment of any such officer among them, that they might, in the meantime, discover 

 how the new intercourse with the Americans worked. In reply, the Commodore explained to 

 Yenoske the nattire and duties of the consular office, and urged the residence of such an officer 

 as a consul upon the ground of its advantage to the Japanese themselves ; and finally declared 

 that this feature must be in the treaty, though he was willing there should be but one consul 

 who should reside at Simoda. 



The Commodore now informed the interpreters that he wished a junk, loaded with a thousand 

 peculs of coal, to be in readiness for him at Simoda, after his return from Hakodadi. He also 

 desired various other supplies at the same time and place, the whole to be accompanied with a 

 list of prices, as he insisted upon paying for everything. He also insisted that the Americans 

 should be permitted to purchase any articles of Japanese manufacture they might desire, and 

 should have the liberty of going on shore and rambling about the country, under such proper 

 restrictions as the Japanese authorities might be inclined to impose. The interpreters seemed 

 to admit the propriety of these concessions on their part, but were evidently apprehensive of the 

 consequences, remarking that their government had been obliged to make severe regulations in 

 regard to the English and Portuguese, and animadverting with anger upon the conduct of 

 Captain Pellew at Nagasaki some years before. 



Monday^ March 27, was the day appointed for the entertainment to which the Commodore 

 had invited the commissioners and their attendants. Accordingly, great arrangements were 

 made in the flag-ship preparatory to the occasion. The quarter-deck was adorned with a great 

 variety of flags, and all parts of the steamer put in perfect order, while the officers, marines, 

 and men dressed themselves in their uniforms and prepared to do honor in every respect to their 

 expected visitors. 



The Commodore was determined to give the Japanese a favorable impression of American 

 hospitality, and had accordingly spared no pains in providing most bountifully for the large 

 party expected, which was understood to comprise no less than seventy, exclusive of the 

 boatmen and menials. As it was known that the strictness of Japanese etiquette would not 

 allow the high commissioners to sit at the same table with their subordinates, the Commodore 

 ordered two banquets, one to be spread in his cabin for the chief dignitaries, and another on 

 the quarter-deck. The Commodore had long before made up his mind to give this entertain- 

 ment as soon as the negotiations with the Japanese took a turn sufficiently favorable to justify 

 some degree of convivial rejoicing. He had accordingly reserved for it live bullocks, some 

 sheep, and a supply of game and poultry. The ordinary cabin stores of preserved meats, fish, 

 vegetables, fruits, and a choice supply of the best wines, furnished every requisite for the 

 preparation of a generous feast. These abundant materials, under the cunning hands of the 

 Commodore's chef de cuisine, assumed nearly every variety of dish attractive to the eye and 

 appetising to the taste. 



Previous to coming on board the Powhatan, the commissioners visited the sloop-of-war 

 Macedonian, being saluted as they stepped on her deck by seventeen guns from tlie Mississippi, 

 lying near. The great guns and boarders having been exercised for their entertainment, the 



