Sailing for Riu Kiu, he entered Napa harbor, July 1st. On the 12th, the regent presented him with a large bronze bell of fine workmanship, cast in 1168 a. d., by two Japanese artizans, and inscribed with flowery sentences. One, which declared that “the barbarians would never invade the land,” had a striking significance, though its composer had proved a false prophet. It now hangs, tongueless but useful, in the grounds of the Annapolis Naval Academy. As from China and Formosa, so from Japan at Shimoda and in Riu Kiu, blocks of native stone duly engraved were accepted as contributions to the obelisk on the banks of the Potomac, in perpetuation of the memory of Washington. On the 17th, the other vessels of the squadron having been despatched on various missions, the Commodore in the Mississippi left Napa for Hong Kong.

The glory of Commodore Perry’s success is not that he “invented,” or “first thought of” or was the “sole author, originator, and father of the Japan expedition.” Such language is nonsense, for the thought was in many minds, both of naval men and civilians, from Roberts to Glynn and Aulick; but it was Perry’s persistency that first conquered for himself a fleet, his thorough-going method of procedure in every detail, and his powerful personality and invincible tenacity in dealing with the Japanese, that won a quick and permanent success without a drop of blood. A thorough man of war he was from his youth up; yet he proved himself a nobler hero, in that he restrained himself and his lieutenants from the use of force, while yet not giving place for a moment to the frivolities of Japanese yakunin of the Tokugawa period.

[34] Autograph letter to the writer. February 8th, 1883.
[35] The Friend, Honolulu. October, 1884—“An unpublished chapter in the History of Japan.” Rev. S. C. Damon’s interview with Manjiro in Tokio, summer of 1884.
[36] Kinsé Shiriaku, p. 3.
[37] Japanese Fairy World, p. 300.
[38] Perry’s Narrative, pp. 484-489. Spalding’s Japan Expedition, pp. 276-286. R. L. Stevenson’s Familiar Studies of Men and Books.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
LAST LABORS.

For over two years, since leaving his native country, Perry had been under a constant burden of responsibility incurred in anxiety to achieve the grand object of his mission. His close attention to details, the unexpected annoyances in a sub-tropical climate, and the long strain upon his nerves had begun to wear upon a robust frame. He now looked eagerly for his successor, and to the rest of home. To his joy he found at Hong Kong orders permitting him to return either in the Mississippi, or in the British mail steamer by way of India. He chose the latter.