But, after all, many allowances should he made for these misgoverned
people, who have been, doubtless, taught from infancy to practise duplicity
and lying as a necessary part of an accomplished education, and altogether
essential to advancement. I t is certain that they do not, any more than the
Japanese, place the least confidence in each other, and the government in
employing their agents invariably send them forth in couples, one to watch
the other.
The abominable system of espionage imposes great hardships on all
classes, as those m power can never know how soon any of their acts, however
harmless they may appear to themselves, may be construed into
offenees against the state. They thus find their lives in constant jeopardy,
and are often compelled to purchase safety by the most servile humility, or
a good share of their substance. If, by the most prostrate servility, or’by
the prodigal forfeit of property, they fail to obtain immunity, they are forced
he procure a house for him or them, and make suitable arrangements for his or their com-
fort and subsistence during his or their illness.”
Section 10.—“ Any person or persons not owning land upon this island, who may hereafter
enter into partnership in trade with a resident and landholder, or who shall purchase
an undivided interest in the land of a resident, must enter into written articles of agreement,
and obtain a written title to the undivided interest he may purchase in lands,' stock,
&c.; and m the event of dissolution of partnership, or death of either pariy, partition of
the property shall be made by the chief magistrate and council, whose duty it shall be to
secure and take charge of the property and effects of any deceased person for the benefit of
his friends.”
Section 11.— “ Any person or persons who shall be guilty of trespass or waste upon
the lands of any of the inhabitants, shall be fined in a sum equal to the value of the damage
or waste he or they may commit thereon, upon a proper adjudication thereof by the
chief magistrate and council.”
Section 12.— “ The chief magistrate and council may, when they deem it necessary,
call a convention of the people to propose new, and make amendments to the foregoing’
rules and regulations.”
Section 13.— “ Any and all person or persons who shall hereafter emigrate to or settle
in this colony, shall he subject and held amenable to the foregoing rules and regulations.”
All the above articles of government having been prepared, concurred in, L d adopted
by us, in convention assembled, at the house of Nathaniel Savory, in Port Lloyd Peel
island, on the 28th day of August, A. D. 1853, we solemnly pledge ourselves to each’other
to support and carry out the same.
In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names the day and year aforesaid.
NATHANIEL SAVOEY.
THOMAS H. WEBB.
JAMES MAITLEY.
WILLIAM GELLY, J r.
JOHN BEONA.
JOSEPH CULLEN.
GEOEGE W. BEGNO.
GEOEGE HOETON.
to commit suicide, in order to save their fortunes from confiscation and their
famiUea from ruin. The lower classes are by no means the smallest sufferers,
for it is their hard-tasked labor which supports the whole system which is
carried on by swarms of spies, who infest every corner and nook of the
island. „ , ,
On the second evening after leaving Napha, as the Susquehanna and
Mississippi were proceeding on their course to Hong Kong, a sail was seen
ahead in the distance, steering in a northeasterly direction. At first there
were some doubts as to what she was, but these were soon cleared up by
the fleshing of her guns, in the approaching darkness of the night which
showed that she was saluting the Commodore’s flag on the Susquehanna.
I t was now certain that she waB an American man-of-war, and soon she was
discovered to be the long-expected Vandalia. As she lay to, the Susquehanna,
steered towards her, making a signal for her commander to come on board,
and soon a boat came off, bringing Captain Pope, who at once reported to
the Commodore. The voyage of the Vandalia had been a remarkably fine
one, having left Philadelphia only on the fifth of March, touching at Rio
Janeiro by the way. Her commander brought the information of the arrival
of the Powhatan, from the United States, at Hong Kong, and of her
proposed departure for Lew Chew. This information made Commodore
Perry very anxious to reach port before the sailing of the Powhatan, as her
trip to the north would be utterly useless, and the consequent consumption
of coal a serious loss to the limited stock of the squadron. The Yandalia
being ordered back to Hong Kong, the fleet continued its course to that
place, where the steamers arrived on Sunday, August 7, 1853.
The Yandalia, however, did not get back to Hong Kong until the fifteenth.
The Commodore was much disappointed to find that the Powhatan
had sailed just the day before his arrival, and as she had taken the Formosa
passage, he had thus lost the chance of intercepting her. She did not
return to Hong Kong until the 25th of August, having been detained ten
days at Lew Chew for the repair of her machinery; and similar delays had
been found necessary, in the opinion of her chief engineer, at almost every
port at which the Powhatan touched on her outward passage.
As the typhoon season was approaching, and the ships all required a
general overhauling, the engineers asking for sixty working days for putting
the Powhatan alone in order, and the crews needing some relaxation, the
Commodore determined, in consideration of these circumstances, to give all
bis vessels a thorough refitment.