Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1853-12-08
RItgS OF aJ11e G6g5mg:
Commodore Perry's Proceedings at Japan.


privilege of publishing letter written by
an officer of the Navy to his wife We
hnd space only for the following:
ITS distance lends enclan,ment to the
view Here we are in the harbor of Jed
do, after running over nearly the 10000
miles of various seas aud Of various climes
here at anchor four miles higher up the
bay than has ever yet anchored ship bear
lug Christian flag We anchored at 5 =.
Nj. and soon large boats, rowed cheerfully
with about twenty men, and in each some
mandarlns, or gentlemen, with two swords.
neat aud we'll dressed came swarming off
with determination fell to come on board,
demand the names, the nation aud the in
tentious of the four craft thus coming bold
ly in calm They were met with wave
of the hand, and keep of, no one allowed
to come on board save the highest manda-
rim" This literally took them aback, but
they clustered together and insisted upon
admttauce. AT last, voice said in
Dutch, do you speak Hollandese Soon
the Commoiore's Clerk, Mr. Postman was
in high confab
After much persuasion on their part,
and their insisting that one of them was
a high mandarin. the commodore ordered
me to put on my uniform. and to receive
hun and the interpreter on board III the
cabin, and to represent himself; saying
that our mission was friendly one, aud
as we are the bearers of letter from the
President of the United States to bis Mai
esty of japan. that it was necessary to
send on board high mandarin to receive
this letter, and the sooner the better
Again, L was to lusst upon it that boats
should not lie, by the hundred, near around
our ships thus guarding and watching as
had been their custom. (Fhe Columbus
and Nlncennes having from five huudredto
one thousand boats around them constant
| ly, all linked together That we would
not submit to this but would drive them
/ of. Here you have the basis of my in
structions Thus armed, took NJ. Man
DARN and interpreter, with my two inter
prefers Williams, III Chinese, aud
| Mr.. Postman. i'll Dutch-into the cabin.
! After being seated moment, Mr.
! Mandarin arose .S1ill0HL u 1t .JuDa1tesc
and then extending his haud we shook
hands; then seated ourselves, using Mr..
1 postinan as Interpreter, as the japanese
| interpreter spoke Dutch fucntly. | thus
opened Tell the Lieut.. Governor, (for
such was the mandarin) that | am the aid
of our chief. the admiral, anG am instruc-
/ ted to speak for him. We have come here
on a friendly mission, to deliver II let
ter from the President of the u. States to
your sovereign the Emperor of Japan =
that the letter is ready for delivery by Q
O'Clock to-morrow, to any mandarin sufli
ciently high to receive it f" Tc this was
replied 1t must be referred to higher
! powers to know xho can receive the letter
| then asked. bow long will it take to give
us an answer?" They could not tell ]
said Il thIuk the sooner the better, as
we are anxious to be off" The reply was
Il don't think it will take long !" and it
was then understood that, in the morning,
a mandarin would be of to receive the let
| ter.
then emphaticaly said This ship
has on b ard the clief-there IS his pen
nant. All messages from shore must come
here by high mandarin. No boats must
20 to the other ships their commanders
have orders not to permit intercourse =
they have no right to think and must obey.
" e insist that no boats shall hang around
our vessels tn watch Them" This was not
palatable. They said 1t is the japanese
custom, and law and we must carry them
out" Says Tell him, Sir, that we
too, have our customs, and with men-of-
war one of the laws is that no boat is al
lowed to come within certain range -
Taerc was no positive consent given just
then as to what they would do; they eva
ded it by asking questions. Where are
you from e. From the United States of
america ~ es; but what part-New
ork, Washington. Boston p My sur
prise was so great that | smiled anti told
him, ''some from Washington, some from
New York all parts; that the President
of the United States lived III Washing
ton sWbat is the name of the ship,
how many people, guns, &c 2'' i.Tell
him, Sir, we are not traders, we seek no
trade, we are arntcd SHIPS, and our Gus
tom is never to answer such questions"
The questions were again repeated in
pretty much the same way when [ told
Mr. z to make the same reply, and to
add that have no cnrt0Stty to know how
many men are in the emperor's army or
in his navy; and also that he could see
for himself that we had four ships; that
we had others in these waters '.When
will the others come ?" II don't know.
it depends upon the answer 10 the letter"
..W hat are the contents of the letter 2"--
Tell him, sir, THAT the letter is from the
President of the United States to the En-
peror of japan, and it would be most III
delicate in me to inquire into its contents"
This rebuke was received In an apologize
manner and this questioning dropped. [
then alluded to the boats which were still
clustering around our ship and the other
ships told him it was absolutely neces-
sary chat they should be kept of, that
this must be done. s.We shall be sorry,
with our kind and friendly feelings to you
to do you any harm, or to come Ilto col
lison with you; but, if you do not order
your b ats Of, we shall fire into them and
drive them off. Our boats are now armed
and ready, aud We cannot allow you more
than fifteen minutes to give your orders,
,,j i,aoy, tho-u off tho apJ of