FORMOSA AND MANILA. 143 



Captain Abbot to Commodore Perry. 



United States Ship Macedonian, 



Hong Hong, August 26, 1854. 



Sir : I have the honor and pleasure to report to you that I have safely performed the cruise, 

 and successfully accomplished, as far as practicahle, to the hest of my ability, all its objects 

 contained in your instructions of the 18th of June last. 



On the morning of the 23d ultimo I left the harbor of Kelung, island of Formosa, for Manila, 

 in the island of Luzon, leaving the " Supply" to sail soon for Hong Kong. I sent on board of 

 her a despatch for you, giving a brief statement of my departure from Simoda, passage down to 

 Kelung, and of our doings there ; a copy of which will be herewith enclosed, should you not 

 have received it. 



In regard to matters at Kelung, I have only to remark in addition to what was there written, 

 that respecting the melancholy fate of our missing countrymen, supposed to have been lost at 

 sea or shipwrecked upon the shores of Formosa, or in its vicinity, I could gain no intelligence, 

 although I made diligent inquiry through my Chinese steward of the mandarins and all other 

 classes of persons in and about Kelung in regard to shipwrecks, and whether there were any 

 American, English, or European persons in any part of their island; to which all declared that 

 they had never seen or heard of there being any such, nor had they ever known or heard of any 

 vessel being wrecked upon the island ; but just as I was leaving Kelung I, was informed by the 

 chief mandarin that he had made particular inquiries about shipwrecks, and learned that a ship, 

 six or seven years ago, was wrecked forty or fifty miles from Kelung, on the west side of the 

 island, having a good many black men on board ; that the white men took the boat and went 

 off to an adjacent island, and that the black men all died on board the ship ; that he would send 

 his war junks with me to show the place. This story was evidently made up with a hope of 

 effecting what he had been a number of days endeavoring to do — that of having me accompany 

 his war junks to a place on the west side of the island, that he said would only take four or five 

 days to go and return, and assist them in driving off the rebels collected there, with which his 

 forces had lately had a fight and been beaten, with the loss of thirty men killed and wounded. If 

 I would thus go and aid them in dislodging the rebels, he would, immediately on my return, give 

 me a large ship-load of coal and make a present of it. He also seemed to desire to prolong my stay 

 at Kelung, in view of the safety of the place from any attack of the rebels while the ship 

 remained there. Although I have no belief that any of our missing countrymen are alive upon 

 the island of Formosa, my intention was, on leaving Kelung, to beat down the west side of the 

 island and communicate with the Chinese villages, that my efforts might be as broad and 

 searching as possible, though it would be attended with inconvenience and dangerous delay, 

 and notwithstanding Commander Kelly had, some time since, touched at them for the same 

 purpose, and was unable to obtain any information touching the fate of our lost countrymen; 

 but soon after weathering the northern point of Formosa the weather became bad, and very 

 threatening ; in fact, we were upon the edge of a typhoon which, fortunately, carried us rapidly 

 on our course to the southward of the south end of Formosa before it blew so heavy that we 

 could not run. After the gale was over, my limited time and the small quantity of provisions 

 on board would not allow of my running back for any purpose whatever, without giving up 

 going to Manila ; so I kept on, and on arrival at Manila had but two bags of bread on 

 board. Although my passage to Manila was considered by the gentlemen there as a very quick 



