128 
A COMBINED EFFORT. 
great capital ? and why might not the commissioner go 
in those boats? 
Xo one could object to this arrangement, because no 
one had ever been to the mouth of the Fi-ho; and so 
Mr. Robert McLean, of the United States, and Sir John 
Bowering, of England, gave it out as their intention to 
attempt to “reach Pekki by water.” 
The next thing to be done now was to find the vessels; 
and Commodore Perry, Commander Rodgers, and Ad- 
miral Sterling were each called upon to assist tlie cause. 
The former placed the steam-frigate Powhatan at the 
disposal of Mr. McLean, the second gave the “old John” 
and the little Cooper, while the latter furnished Sir 
John Bowering with the screw-steamer Rattler and a 
hired lorcha, — a vessel about the size of the Cooper, but 
drawing much less water. It was hoped that the two 
latter might be able to ascend the river with boats in 
tow, and thus give an air of greater /orce than could have 
been attained with boats only. These arrangements 
having been made, we were ordered to prepare for 
sea with all despatch. We were to go to Shanghae, vid 
the river Min, and await the arrival of Mr. McLean in 
the Powhatan, and to take advantage of all oppor- 
tunities for making surveys. We were detailed on 
“special service,” but that did not prevent our going 
on with our regular work. The Vincennes herself 
and the Porpoise were to survey around the Bonin, 
Loo-Choo, and Japanese islands, and we were all to 
rendezvous at Hong-Kong in the spring. It was now 
September, 1854, and we were ready for sea, — the “old 
John” and the Cooper to sail first. Suddenly, Lieu- 
