REVIEWS — AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 525 



pendant gold tassels, was encased in a circular box six inches in diameter and three 

 in depth, wrought of pure gold. Each of the documents, together with its seal, 

 was placed in a box of rosewood about a foot long, with lock, hinges, and mount- 

 ings, all of gold. On either side of the Commodore marched a tall, well formed 

 negro, who, armed to the teeth, acted as his personal guard These blacks, select- 

 ed for the occasion , were two of the best looking fellows of their color that the 

 squadron could furnish !" 



It is much to be regretted that the narrative of the American Expe- 

 dition to Japan could not have been prepared for us by the pen of 

 the distinguished officer under whose able guidance it was brought to 

 a successful termination. Whatever advantages may spring from the 

 well-known learning and special, acquirements of the editoi*, his work 

 certainly lacks the freshness and vigor of personal narrative, and 

 in the hands of the gallant Commodore, it may be presumed we 

 should have escaped exhibitions of such questionable taste as the 

 eulogies and laudations of the United States and its officers, here 

 " compiled from the original notes and Journals of Commodore Per- 

 ry and his officers, at his request and under his supervision," and 

 " published by order of the Congress of the United States." This is 

 the more to be regretted, as it was so totally uncalled for in a narrative 

 really creditable to the nation, and got up in the same liberal style 

 as other works recently issued from the government press at Wash- 

 ington. At the same time it is only justice to the compiler to quote 

 the statement in his preface, that " every word of the work was read 

 to the Commodore in MS, and received his correction before it went 

 into the printer's hands ; every proof-sheet also was read by him be- 

 fore it was sent back to the press." 



The illustrations are numerous, and, though in the case of the 

 wood-cuts, careless and defective printing material y detracts from 

 their effect, many of them are curious and characteristic. This is spe- 

 cially the case with the colored fac similes of native drawings, which 

 exhibit not only great freedom of outline, but also quaint touches of 

 humor. — as in the "crossing the Oho-e-ga-wa river," — and strikingly 

 contrast with the more familiar specimens of Chinese art. 



One of the examples of Japanese illustrative art described in the 

 "Narrative" is a Child's Book, purchased in Hakodadi for a few 

 Chinese copper "cash." After commenting on the knowledge of 

 perspective, and other proofs of advancement in art which its illus- 

 trations display, its contents are thus further described : 



" Ou another page there is what appears to be some Tartar Hercules, or 

 Japauese St. Patrick, olearing the land of reptiles and vermin, and the doughty 

 destroyer jb brandishing his sword in mosl valiant style. This is drawn with a 

 freedom and humorous sense of the grotesque and ludicrous, thai are rarely found 



