VALUE OF A SINGLE LETTER. 
181 
messenger arrived from the governor, bringing the card 
of his excellency and inquiring most afiectionately after 
the health of the captain. This messenger’s name was 
Nagador, and he was a Loo-choo gentleman of the first 
water. His hearing was even courtly: he spoke in a low 
voice, almost a whisper, and possessed a singular air of 
good-breeding and cunning combined. Our decks were 
soon crowded by his suite, at least thirty or forty in num- 
ber, and not a word above a Avhisper from any one of 
them : had the same number of Chinese been on board 
one could not have heard himself speak. 
“bTagador spoke English well enough to make himself 
understood ; and there were several other’s who knew a 
few words. They had learned it from the missionaries. 
We find two of these latter here. One is a member of 
the Church of England, — an Englishman ; and the other 
a priest of that of Koine, — a Ereneh Jesuit. Singular to 
say, the latter is the last-comer in this case. They say 
they are treated kindly by the natives, but make few con- 
verts : time, they hope, will give them success. Those 
Loo-chooans who speak a little English pronounce it with 
more ease than any foreigners I ever saw. ETnllke the Chi- 
nese, they pronounce the letter r without difficult}*. I re- 
member once being put to the blush by a Chinese servant 
at Macao: he was handing around a dish of rice, and 
attracted my attention by a nudge of the elbow, and 
asking, ‘You wanchy lice ?’ I did not eat any rice that 
day.” 
I shall dwell lightly on Loo-choo. Commodore Perry’s 
mammoth narrative leaves little to write about. I will 
only remark that they are a simple and inoft’ensive people. 
