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armed boats, and hardly had she dropped anchor, before a fire was opened upon her from the cannon of the forts. To save themselves and the vessel from destruction, the only course seemed to be a speedy departure. Accordingly they weighed anchor and put to sea, pursued by boats, from which small cannon were fired. Several attempts to land along the coast were repulsed, and the course of the vessel was directed to the port of Kagoshima, the seat of government of the powerful prince of Satsuma. Here a hostile reception similar to that in the Bay of Yedo was extended to them, and nothing remained for them to do but to return to Macao, which they did without having even set foot on shore.1

The second attempt of an American vessel to hold intercourse was only a little less successful. The Manhattan, of Sag Harbor, Captain Cooper, in 1845, while sailing through Japanese seas, found on a small barren island eleven shipwrecked Japanese, and soon afterwards he rescued from a disabled junk eleven more. The captain decided to take them to the Bay of Yedo and deliver them to the authorities, his object being "to impress the government with the civilization of the United States and its friendly disposition towards the emperor and the Japanese people." He touched on the coast of the island of Niphon, and had messengers dispatched to the emperor to inform him of his coming and the object of his visit. On his arrival in the bay he was kindly received and allowed to anchor within a

1 Narrative of a Voyage of the Ship Morrison, by S. Wells Williams, 1837; 6 Chinese Repository, 209, 353.

furlong of the city of Yedo. The ship was surrounded by three cordons of boats, one hundred feet apart, to the number of nearly one thousand, and officers were kept constantly on the ship, by whom the captain was told that none of the crew would be allowed to land, and that if any of them attempted it they would be killed.

The vessel was permitted to remain for four days, during which time the shipwrecked Japanese were put ashore, and the ship supplied with fresh provisions and water. The governor of Yedo told the captain that "the only reason he was allowed to remain in the waters of Japan was because the emperor felt assured that he could not be a bad-hearted foreigner by his having come so far out of his way to bring poor people to their native country, who were wholly strangers to him." When the captain suggested that he might find other shipwrecked mariners and would bring them back, the governor said, "Carry them to some Dutch port, but never come to Japan again;" and added that the emperor would prefer to have them abandoned than that strangers should visit his dominions.1

The government of the United States was on the alert to second the efforts of private American enterprise whenever opportunity should offer. When, in 1832, Mr. Roberts was dispatched to negotiate treaties with Siam and Muscat, he was furnished with letters of credence to the emperor of Japan also, and was instructed, if he found "the prospect favorable," to visit that empire and seek to establish official relations. But the situation at that time did not encourage the attempt.

1 Honolulu Friend, February 2, 1846.

When he departed from Washington on his second visit to the Orient in 1835, to exchange the ratifications of his treaties with Muscat and Siam, he was furnished with a letter from President Jackson to the emperor of Japan in the Dutch and Latin languages, and he was instructed by the Secretary of State to proceed to Japan as soon as his duties were discharged in the two former countries and seek to open negotiations. His instructions stated that, "as the Dutch have their factory at Nagasaki and might feel themselves interested in thwarting your mission, it is recommended that, if permitted, you should enter some other port nearer to the seat of government."

Mr. Roberts carried with him for Japan a considerable collection of presents, among which were a repeating gold watch with a heavy gold chain eight feet long, a sabre, rifle, shot-gun and pair of pistols, an assortment of broadcloth, cut glass, a musical box, maps, a set of United States coins, prints of United States naval victories, and ten Merino sheep of the finest wool, two bucks and eight ewes. He was in addition authorized, in case of effecting a treaty, to promise presents to the value of $10,000. Owing to his untimely death at Macao in 1836, the negotiations contemplated were never attempted, and the squadron which bore him to the East returned to the United States without touching at any Japanese port.1

In this connection it may be mentioned that in 1849

1 For instructions of 1832, S. Ex. Doc. 59, p. 63, 32d Cong. 1st Sess. For instructions of 1835, Book of Instructions, Special Missions, Dept. of State.

the American consul at Singapore, Mr. J. Balestier, was authorized to negotiate a commercial treaty with the sultan of Borneo. He sailed from Canton in April, 1850, in the United States naval vessel Plymouth, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Dean, an American missionary "well versed in the Chinese and Siamese languages," as secretary and interpreter. After touching at ports of Annam and Siam to execute commissions of his government, he succeeded without much difficulty in making a treaty with the sultan of Borneo authorizing commercial intercourse with that island.1

In 1845 Mr. Pratt, a member of Congress from New York, introduced a resolution in the House, recommending that immediate measures be taken for effecting commercial arrangements with Japan and Korea. The resolution was accompanied by a memorandum giving various reasons for its adoption, among which were the following, that the failure of other nations is no reason why we should not make "a vigorous effort now," and that "the day and the hour have now arrived for turning the enterprise of our merchants and seamen into the harbors and markets of those long secluded countries." 2 The introduction of this resolution was followed within three months by an instruction to the commander of the naval squadron on the East India station. He was informed that Mr. Everett, our diplomatic representative in China, possessed letters of credence to Japan, and the commander was instructed "to ascertain if the ports of Japan are accessible;" that if

1 S. Ex. Doc. 38, 32d Cong. 1st Sess.
2 H. Doc. 138, 28th Cong. 2d Sess.

Mr. Everett was inclined to make the attempt to gain access thereto, he was to hold his squadron at his disposition for that purpose; and should Mr. Everett decline, he himself might, if he saw fit, persevere in the design.

Under these instructions Mr. Everett transferred his letter of credence to Commodore Biddle, who sailed from Macao with two naval vessels, and anchored in the Bay of Yedo, July 20, 1846. He was at once surrounded by a cordon composed of a great multitude of boats, and was waited upon by a Japanese official to inquire the object of his coming. The commodore stated that it was to ascertain whether Japan had opened her ports and was disposed to make a treaty with the United States. He was asked to reduce this to writing, which was done, and the officer said that within a few days an answer would be received from the emperor, and that in the meanwhile none of the crew would be permitted to land. On the 27th an answer was delivered by the Japanese officer, in which it was stated that foreigners could only be received at Nagasaki, that no treaty with the United States would be made, and that the vessels must depart as quickly as possible and not come back any more to Japan. The commodore received a blow or a push from a Japanese soldier during the delivery of the letter, for which apology was made by the Japanese officials and an assurance given that the soldier should be punished, but the incident greatly injured the prestige of the Americans in the estimation of the Japanese people.

The squadron sailed away, and Mr. Everett reported

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