194 
WE VISIT SIIUDI. 
paved, like most of our streets, with round stones, and 
lined on both sides by grassy sidewalks. During this 
time v'e passed many of the countiy-people, similar in ap- 
pearance to those on the opposite page, most of whom 
would drop their bundles and run from ns, though there 
were some who had the boldness to pass us with bent 
forms and eyes resting on the ground. Some there were, 
too, of the higher classes, wdio encountered us as con- 
fidently as anybody; but these were mostly the officials 
who had mixed with Perry’s squadron and become recon- 
ciled to the sight of strangers. We spent several hours 
walking through Shudi, but derived not the slightest 
benefit from it, as we could no sooner enter a crowded 
street than the alarm would spread like wildfire, and in 
the snap of one’s finger it would be empty and the doors 
of every house strongly barred. Finally we arrived at a 
huge pile of gray granite, that reminded us strongly of 
the feudal castles of old. It was surrounded by a heavy 
stone wall that was thirty or forty feet high in some 
places and had but one gate, — that we could see. Through 
this gate we looked, and saw a number of officials loung- 
ing around the grounds with fans in their hands, and 
looking altogether quite comfortable ; but, though we 
looked longingly through the bars, and resorted to various 
ingenious devices to attract their attention, we failed in 
our object, and returned slowly to the ship, rather dis- 
gusted than otherwise with our visit. 
Our reduced squadron now began to show the effects 
of hard work and heavy weather. The ships looked 
rusty, our boats were bruised and battered, and we our- 
selves looked miserably seedy and overworked. We 
