Category: Travel Writing

The Japan expedition. Japan and around the world An account of three visits to the Japanese empire, with sketches of Madeira, St. Helena, cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Loo-Choo

Leave the United States—“Old Ironsides” Mississippi—A Man-of-War at Night—Gulf Stream—Music—First Foreign Land—The Washerwomen—Funchal—Its Harbor—Cavalleros—The Wine—A Consul—_Nossa Senhora do Monte_—The Coral—A Hospital—A Prison—Dago Pauperism—Donna Clementina—Good-by, Madeir...

Chapters

1. CHAPTER I.

Leave the United States—“Old Ironsides” Mississippi—A Man-of-War at Night—Gulf Stream—Music—First Foreign Land—The Washerwomen—Funchal—Its Harbor—Cavalleros—The Wine—A Consul—_N...

2. CHAPTER II.

At Sea again—The Canaries—The “Trades,” Incipient and Real—Man-of-War Existence—Drills—Running down the “Trades”—Small-Pox—Christmas that was not Christmas—First General Order i...

3. CHAPTER III.

Cape of Good Hope—Shadows—Cape Town—Sights in the Street—Drive to Constantia—The Wine—Kaffir War—Botanical—Leave Cape Town—The Birkenhead—Cattle at Sea—Anti-Scorbutic—St. Valent...

4. CHAPTER IV.

Isle of France—John Bull under a Torrid Sun—Port Louis and its Bazar—Different Races and Religions—In the Country at Mauritius—John Chinaman—Pamplemouses—Paul and Virginia—A Bot...

5. CHAPTER V.

“Light, Ho!”—Ceylon’s Spicy Breezes, and Sir John Mandeville—Point de Galle—Ceylonese Troops—d’honies—The Natives—Walled Town—Sandal Shoon and Mohammedan Temple and School—Greek...

6. CHAPTER VI.

Macao—The _Donna Maria_—Cathedrals and Forts—Camoens—An English Missionary—Death of the Governor—Fast and Tanka Boats—Bocca Tigris—Clipper-Ships and Junks—Chartering a Tender—Fi...

7. CHAPTER VII.

Great Loo-Choo Island—General Orders—Outer Door of the Hermetic Empire—Historic Outline of the Loo-Choo Islands—Approach to them—Loo-Chooan Simplicity—Dress—Bettelheim—Napa—Lang...

8. CHAPTER VIII.

Cipango—Japan an “Unknown Land”—Works on Japan-Kœmpfer—Japanese Mythology—Geography—History—Japanese “John Doe”—Napoleon No. III. of the Mongols—Kublai-Khan—European Intercourse...

9. CHAPTER IX.

Sounding-Spars—_Foogee Yama_—Entrance to the Bay of Yedo—Precautionary Measures—Uraga—Troops—“Old Hundred”—Sounding—Yezimon—Gorihama—_The_ Landing—Joust or Tourney—Audience—Pres...

10. CHAPTER X.

China—The Rebellion—Hong Hospitality—Blenheim Reach—Torrid—Consular Courts—Canton—Feast of the Lanterns—Howqua’s Garden—Sallie Baboos—Cum-sing-Moon—Death of an Officer—Opium Hul...

11. CHAPTER XI.

Leave China for Second Visit to Japan—Formosa—Napa-Keang—A Refugee not a Koszta—Proselyting—Dr. Bettelheim and a Loo-Chooan Sangrado—Coal Dépôt—Sheudi—Cumshaws—Off for the Bay o...

12. CHAPTER XII.

Simoda or Lower Field—Surveying—Japanese Spies—Temples—Sintooism—Another Pilgrim’s Progress—A Night’s Lodging—Bargaining—Japanese Women—Indiscriminate Bathing—Turtle Soup—An Adv...

13. CHAPTER XIII.

Departure for Hakodadi—Ohosima—Printing at Sea—Straits of Sangar—Arrive at Hakodadi—Magnificent Bay—The City—A Stampede—Interview with the Authorities—Arranging the Currency—Pur...

14. CHAPTER XIV.

Foogee—Return to Simoda—Additional Regulations—Veneration for Iyeyas—The Dutch at Desima—Japanese Princes and Mercantile Pursuits—Russia a Bugbear—The Currency Question—The Mone...

15. CHAPTER XV.

Hong Kong Again—Letters—The Intestine Troubles—Triangulating between Hong-Kong, Macao, and Whampoa—The Rebels—Chinese Fighting—An Emperor’s Proclamation—Preparations for the Dep...

16. CHAPTER I.

The cruel treatment which had long been practised by that singular and secluded people, the Japanese, toward American whalers who were thrown by the misfortune of shipwreck upon...

17. CHAPTER II.

On the afternoon of the 15th of December, all hands being on board, with coal dust, and wine for distinguished functionaries in the U. S. on our decks, an orange and banana smel...

18. CHAPTER III.

We reached Cape Town after a run of thirteen days. On the morning of the 24th of January we made the long, low sandhills in the vicinity of Saldanha bay, South Africa, and conti...

19. CHAPTER IV.

About 11 o’clock on our fifteenth morning out from the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern end of the island of Mauritius was visible from the masthead, and we put on all our fu...

20. CHAPTER V.

About nine o’clock of the night of the 10th of March, the lookout in the top sang out, “Light, ho!” which we knew must be on the island of Ceylon. The entrance to the harbor of...

21. CHAPTER VI.

We anchored in Macao roads about mid-day, perhaps on the very spot, where a sailor’s malice fired a magazine, and blew high in air, with a noise like thunder, the atoms that com...

22. CHAPTER VII.

The island of Great Loo-Choo appeared in sight after a run of three days from China. Previous to reaching there, the commodore issued a general order, requiring look-outs to be...

23. CHAPTER VIII.

When day broke on the morning of the 8th July we got our first sight of the “_terra incognita_”—the hermetic land—the land which had been invaded but never conquered—hence calle...

24. CHAPTER IX.

Before reaching the bay of Yedo, sounding-spars had been rigged out from the end of the bowsprit of each steamer, from which depended sounding-leads, that were kept constantly g...

25. CHAPTER X.

The numerous publications upon China, from the large folios of the Jesuits, which record their triangulation of the empire over a century ago, down to the later books, which aff...

26. CHAPTER XI.

Six months precisely from the day of the first landing of the Americans in Japan, the mail having arrived from Suez, and the other vessels of the squadron having left in advance...

27. CHAPTER XII.

Simoda—in Japanese “Lowerfield”—situated in the principality of Idzoo, which occupies about the same latitudinal, though not isothermal lines—as our state of North Carolina, is...

28. CHAPTER XIII.

On the 13th of May, the fifty days after the signing of the treaty having nearly expired, the Powhatan and Mississippi started for Hakodadi, leaving the storeship Supply at anch...

29. CHAPTER XIV.

After a monotonous run of four days, _Foogee_, like a colossal cenotaph to dead beauty, showed far up before us, and in three hours we were again at anchor in Simoda harbor. We...

30. CHAPTER XV.

Letters: considering the rapid occurrence of events of moment now-a-days, and the lightning transmission of intelligence, it was with joy we got letters on our arrival at Hong K...