APPENDIX. 405 



with the Americans, all requested my services in this matter. They sent me the following 

 complimentary lines : 



' ' In foreign ships abroad you roam, 

 Escaping from the ills of home. 

 O'er the wide ocean to the East, 

 You've come, and us with peace have blessed." 



I returned to them this reply : 



" Eastward my course, the ship of fire I joined, 

 On travel bent, new scenes absorb my mind. 

 What mountains rise to bless my wandering sight ! 

 O'er ocean's fields I gaze with vast delight ; 

 Our wheels ! like wings whose power the eagle wields ; 

 Our helm ! t' its lightest touch the vessel yields ; 

 We dash along, a car whose steeds are whales ; 

 Like osprey strong, we sport with furious gales ; 

 By moonlight calm I saw Lew Chew's fair isle ; 

 I've marked of Japan's hills the snowy pile. 

 Deeply my insignificance I feel, 

 Not vain to friendship, these things I reveal." 



On the 16th clay of the 4th month (12th May,) the commodore sailed from Simoda, and in five 

 days reached Hakodadi, the second of the ports appointed in the treaty. It lies in latitude 

 41° 49' N., longitude 140° 47' E., and its climate is very much the same as Moukden. It is a 

 retired and small place, surrounded by a barren country, where the trees are few and the grass 

 is scanty. The people consequently are dependent for their food on supplies from other places, 

 and vessels are constantly coming and going to it. From this circumstance it has received the 

 name in Chinese of Seang-kwang, i.e., " Hall of boxes." The harbor is wide, an open bay 

 indeed, the hills on shore standing round it, as if in audience of the sea. When we were there 

 the snow was still to be seen on the tops of the mountains. The houses are superior to those of 

 Simoda, and the dress, ornaments, and vessels of the people are all indicative of more wealth. 

 The women kept in their houses, and did not allow themselves to be seen by foreigners. The 

 morals of the inhabitants appeared to be good. Obscene language was rarely heard. 



Near Hakodadi is "Kingdom-protecting" hill, on which there is a temple where the pillars 

 and beams are covered with carvings. All the articles in it are new and beautiful, and many 

 pictures are hung round the walls. On each side of the principal hall are many graves. The 

 commodore had several pictures taken in this building with a daguerreotype apparatus, and 

 distributed among the Japanese officers. 



Some difficulty arose in arranging about the distance to which the American citizens might 

 travel round the port of Hakodadi, and a reference upon the subject was made by the Japanese 

 to Yedo. During the time which thus elapsed, there was free intercourse with the people, and 

 one could not but be struck with their quiet and submissive habits. They would kneel down 

 by the way-side when they saw an officer. I did not see a single woman. On our first arrival, 

 indeed, most of the shops and houses were shut, for the people, alarmed by the appearance of 

 the foreign vessels, had fled to distant villages. Gradually, however, they regained their con- 

 fidence, and came back and resumed their occupations. Hundreds of horses and some asses were 

 to be s^een upon the streets, bringing and carrying burdens of food. The windows were mostly 

 of paper, as in other places where we had been, and upon many of the doors were pasted Chinese 

 characters, signifying "Wilderness House," "Tortoise House." In the shops there was 

 abundance of silks, but of a quality inferior to those of China. Their lacquered ware, how- 



