He had with him a Japanese seaman, the sole survivor of a crew of fifteen men, belonging to a junk which had been blown out to sea, and was picked up near the Sandwich Islands, after having drifted about for seven months. This man, who is represented as quite intelligent, and who had resided for some time at San Francisco, was received with lively demonstrations of pleasure by his countrymen.
The Reception of Commodore Perry by the Japanese Emperor
With a party of the Uraga officials on board, the “Lady Pierce” proceeded to within ten miles of Yedo, and her owners expressed a desire to anchor off that city; but this was objected to by the officers, who said, “It is not good; Commodore Perry did not go there, and we hope you will not.”
During the stay of the vessel, every part of her was crowded with visitors; and although at one time there must have been several thousands in and around the ship, and although everything, silverware included, was thrown open to their inspection, not a single article was stolen.
Large presents of silk, porcelain, lackered ware, etc., were made to Mr. Burrows, who, however, was informed that henceforward no foreign intercourse would be permitted with Yedo, but that all vessels must proceed either to Shimoda or Hakodate. Mr. Burrows himself proceeded to Shimoda, but does not seem to have formed a very high idea of the prospects of trade there.[127]
On the 18th of September, the steam-frigate “Susquehanna” again appeared at Shimoda, on her way home via the Sandwich Islands, followed on the 21st by the “Mississippi”; three days after which, the “Susquehanna” left, and the “Mississippi” on the 1st of October. The reception given to the officers of both ships was very cordial, and their intercourse both with officials and the towns-people was almost entirely free from any marks of that restraint and apparent suspicion exhibited on former occasions. Besides an interchange of visits and dinners, several Japanese officials attended, on a Sunday, divine service on board the “Susquehanna.”
“Many of us,” writes an officer of the “Mississippi,” “entered houses very frequently, and sat down with the people to smoke or drink tea. One day the sound of a guitar attracted me, and I found an olive girl, of some fifteen or sixteen years, who, not perceiving my presence, continued her play. It was a strange tune, wild and melancholy, and often abruptly interrupted by harsh accords. After a while some women that had assembled around us made the girl aware of my presence; she threw down her instrument and began to cry, and I could not induce her to play again. The guitar was made of wood, with the exception of the upper lid. Of the three strings, two were in the octave, the middle one giving the fifth. The strings were not touched by the fingers, but with a flat piece of horn, held between the thumb and third finger of the right hand, in shape not unlike the one painters use to clean their palettes and mix their colors.
“On another occasion I heard a young man playing a flute. This instrument was of the most primitive description, consisting only of a piece of hollow bamboo, bored with seven finger-holes, and the hole for the mouth. The tunes were very strange, and appeared to me more like a mass of confused sounds, than a regular harmony.[128]
“At the beginning of the new moon, I saw in several houses a sort of domestic worship. A number of women had assembled before the shrine of the household god, and, divided in two parties, were singing hymns, one party alternately answering the other. Their song was accompanied by strokes upon a little bell or gong, with a small wooden hammer; and, as the bells were of different tones, the effect was by no means unpleasant.”