The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-11-21

aJApAN-We extract the following from new
work entitled Japan and Around the World"
1 l dom remember TO have seen anything else
but the most quiet and gentle manner in any of
our visitors. except in the case Of an imperti-
nent little officer Of artillery who it would have
been as we'll to have shown the gangway.-
This fussy little animal, who rejected in fam
ing pair of big brocade breeches, being con-
sumptiye according to the Hsculapian theory
Of his country, left all .'the hair on the top of
his head" which according to our theory, is
''the place where hair ought to be- He had,
however, the cherootcig cigar-looking tuft Of hair
laying horizontally, and end pointed forward.
This fussy little person pryed into everything
about the ship with rude curiosity. He came
and went from the cabin without decorum and
examined several officers state-rooms without
solicitation. The only point of interest in the
dlmlnutlve animal was, that he appeared to un-
derstand quite well how howitzer in battery
should be worked.
/ When the repast was concluded, some Japan
ese amateur artists from Yedo, who had come
down from the city in the suits Of the commits
sioners, made crayon sketches of many of the
officers, and seemed to labor under the impress
sion that the onl y thing necessary to make a
+ good American portrait was to draw a large
nose and sketch the balance of the features
around it. Their essay at representing flowers,
the japonica for instance, were much better.
The religion of the japanese enjons clcanli-
ness of person upon its votaries, but can scarce
ly divert the repulsive and indecent manner in
which it is obtained. At the bath-houses in
Simoda the sexes of all ages bathe indscrimi-
nately together.
The Japanese in their intercourse with us
were always pertinacious in assuring us that
they were Chinese, indeed they would have
been very indignant to be thought of kindred
race. They did not take long to find out that
we were not Dutch They would mention de-
risively the fact of the length Of intercourse the
they had never built square-rigyed vessels like
ours, they intimated more enterprise than this
for themselves. .
A few days afterward, some of our officers,
in their stros ashore, ascertained that there
were two japanese confined in a cage at a little
barrack back of the town, and on going there
they were found to be the persons who had
paid the midnight visit to our ships, and they
also proved to be my misfortune friends of the
letter. They did not appear greatly downcast by
{ their situation, and one of them wrote in his
native character, on a piece of board, and
passed through the bars of his cage to one of
our surgeons present, what follows:
i When a hero fails in his purpose. his acts are
then regarded as those of a villain and robber.
In public have we been seized and pinioned, and
darkly imprisoned for many days. the village
elders and headmen treat us disdainfully, their
expressions being grievous indeed, therefore,
looking up while yet we have nothing where
with to reproach ourselves, it must now be seen
whether hero will prove himself to be one in
deed. Regarding the liberty of going through
the sixty states (of Japan) as not enough for
our desires. we wished to make the circuit of
the five great continents, this was our hearts
} wish for a long time. Suddenly our plans are
defeated, and we find ourselves in half sized
house, where eating, resting, sitting, and sleep.
: ing are difficult, nor can we find our exit from
this place. Weeping we seem as fools, laugh
ing as rogues-alas! for us, silent we can only
be. IsAJ1 KooDA,
KwANsucH1 MANU-.
The commodore, it is said, did not hear of
their capture and confinement until the next
morning, when he sent some officers ashore to
see what might be done in the way of interces-
sion, but on reaching the barrack, it was found
that they had that morning been sent to the city
Of Yedo, and as the attendant at the place made
sign, for the purpose Of being beheaded
THE OPEN POLAR SEA.-The discovery by
dr.. Kane's expedition of large open sea in
the high Arctic latitudes has started good deal
of speculation as to the cause of this phenome-
non. The demonstration of the fact is new
but it is has long been suspected from natural
facts. The beliefin the existence of circum-
polar sea with climate comparatively mild has
been previously expressed and defended BY men
of science, and among them by our own lieut.
Maury. In his remarkable work on the "Physi-
cal Geography of the Sea-" published at the
beginning of this year, he devoted an entire
chapter to this subject, stating the facts which
had brought his mind to the conclusion that
such sea exists, and the causes of the anoma-
| ly, AS it seems to be. ,a* sa .
He shows that the whales of the northern
hemisphere never pass through the tropical
waters, and that they cannot travel for more
| than short distance under the ice, and that
whalves, harpooned on the Pacific side, have
been found within very short space of time
on the Atlantic side, with the harpoons still
IN their flesh and the wound unhealed. Hence
he inferred the absolute certainty of an open
water channel, at least, although this might be
an occasional one, and the proof was, therefore
not conclusive. His other facts are based on
scientific deductions of much more force He
atfirms that there is an under current setting
from the Atlantic, through Davis strait, and
surface current setting out. Navigators de-
scribe immense icebergs which have been seen
drifting rapidly to the north against strong
surface current. They were high above water,
but their depth below was seven times their
height. The drift is due to strong under cur
rent, which coming from the tropics, is warm,
and wheneverin the Arctic regions it rises to the
surface to commence its return south, it must
mitigate the climate. This philosophical de-
ducton was supported by the we'll known fact
that birds and other animals in the lower Arctic
regions migrate at certain seasons northward
to escape severe cold. The search for this
open sea formed one of the Instructions to lieut.
DeHaven, when he went in command of the
first American expedition in search of sir John
Franklin, and though he did not find it, he re-
ported. III the direction where it has been found