2J0 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



their national costume, and were placed under strict surveillance, where they remained when 

 we came away. 



I could learn no more of the political condition of Japan than what is contained in the positive 

 assertions of the commissioners respecting the power of the supreme council. 



The earthquake which I have referred to in the previous pages occurred on the 23d of Decem- 

 ber, 1854. Its effects were most calamitous. Every house and building on the low grounds 

 was destroyed ; a few temples and edifices standing on elevations alone escaped. The destruction 

 was not caused by the agitation of the earth, but by the overflowing of the sea which followed 

 the shocks. The Japanese say the water in the bay and near the shore was first observed 

 to be violently agitated. It soon began retreating fast, leaving the bottom of the harbor nearly 

 bare, where there was usually five or six fathoms of water. After this it returned in a high 

 wave, overflowing the beach and town up to the tops of the houses, the inhabitants flying to 

 the hills for safety. Numbers were overtaken by the wave and drowned, the accounts varying 

 from 100 to 400. The water receded and returned in this way five times, tearing down houses 

 and temples, and covering the adjacent shores with the wreck of buildings and vessels torn from 

 their anchors. The Russian frigate Diana, carrying the flag of Admiral Pontiatin, was lying 

 in Simoda at the time. The enclosed translation of Mr. Lobscheid from her log-book gives the 

 full particulars of her loss. She foundered near the port of Hido, or Heado, about sixty miles 

 from Simoda. Before leaving Simoda all her guns were landed, and other precautions taken to 

 insure her safety. The officers and crew were all in Japan still when I came away, with no 

 prospect of leaving it soon. 



The outlines of Simoda harbor are not altered by the earthquake, but the holding-ground 

 seems to have been entirely washed away, leaving no bottom but naked rocks. The Russian 

 officers say the mud boiled up when the water fell in a thousand springs. 



The inhabitants of Simoda appeared to be very little dispirited by their great misfortune ; 

 they were busily engaged in clearing away and rebuilding. Stone, timber, thatch, tiles, lime, 

 &c, were coming in from various quarters, and before I came away there were about 200 houses 

 nearly or entirely completed. 



It was the 22d of February when the Powhatan left the harbor. After a boisterous passage, 

 we arrived at the mouth of the Yang-tze-kang on the 3d of March, but were prevented by the 

 thick fogs from getting up to Shanghae until the 8th. I left Shanghai in the Vandalia, Com- 

 mander Pope, on the 14th of March, and arrived at Hong Kong on the 21st. Here I was 

 detained, waiting for the regular mail day, until the 15th of April, when I left Hong Kong by 

 the English overland route, and arrived in Washington on the 25th of June, where I delivered 

 the Japanese ratification to the honorable Secretary of State. 

 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



H. A. ADAMS, United States Navy. 



Commodore M. C. Perry, United States Navy. 



