now passed out, followed by his snite and the procession of officers as
before, and marching down, to the music of the bands, between the files of
marineB on either side, embarked in his barge and pulled for the ship.
The other boats soon followed, filled with the numerous officers, sailors,
marines, and others, who had shared in the ceremonies of the day.
Early next day, (Thursday, March 9,) as had been arranged, a Japanese
official went on board the Mississippi, to accompany the funeral party on
shore, for the purpose of pointing out the burial place selected for the interment
of the dead marine. At five o’clock in the afternoon the boats left
the ship with the body, attended by the chaplain, Mr. Jones, Mr. Williams,
the interpreter, and a party of marines. The flags of every vessel in the
squadron were hoisted at half mast as the boats pushed off. The body was
borne to a very picturesque spot at the foot of a hill, at a short distance
from the village of Toku-hama. The chaplain, Mr. Jones, was robed in
his clerical gown, and on landing was received in the most courteous-manner
by some of the Japanese authorities, who showed none of their supposed
repugnance to the Christian religion and its ministers. Crowds of the people
had also gathered, and looked on with great curiosity, but with decorous
respect, as the funeral procession moved slowly along to the sound of the
muffled drum. The road lay through the village, and its inhabitants came
out from their houses and open shops to behold the novel scene. The place
chosen for the burial was near a Japanese place of interment, with stone
idols and sculptured headstones, and as the procession came up a Buddhist
priest, in robes of richly embroidered silk, was observed already on the ground.
Mr. Jones read the service of the Protestant Episcopal church, and while he
was officiating the Buddhist priest sat near by on a mat, with an altar before
him, on which was a collection of scraps of paper, some rice, a gong, a vessel
containing saki, and some burning incense. The service having been read,
the body lowered, and the earth thrown in, the party retired from the grave.
The Buddhist priest then commenced the peculiar ceremonies of his religion,
beating his gong, telling his rosary of glass and wooden beads, muttering his
prayers, and keeping alive the burning incense. He was still going through
his strange formulary when the Americans moved away, and crowds of
Japanese continued to linger in the neighborhood', about the crests and acclivities
of the hills which bounded the scene. Mr. Williams, the interpreter,
who had lived long in China, and was familiar with the Buddhist worship,
recognized its peculiarities in the precisely similar ceremonies performing
at the grave by the Japanese priest. A neat enclosure of bamboo was
subsequently put up about the American grave by the authorities, and a
small hut was erected near, for a Japanese guard to watch the grave for a
time, according to their custom.
On the same day the prefect, Kura-Kawa-Kahei, and the chief interpreter,
Yenoske, came on board the Powhatan with a copy of the Imperial
reply to the President’s letter, duly certified and signed by the four commissioners.
The two Japanese officials subsequently repaired to the Mississippi,
where they conferred for some time with Captain Adams. They appointed
the Monday following (March 18th) for the reception of the presents, and
i t was arranged that those persons who had the supervision of the telegraph,
the Daguerreotype apparatus, and steam engine, should land on the previous
Saturday, to arrange a place for their suitable exhibition. The Japanese
stated that two of the commissioners would be in attendance, with a scribe,
to receive and record the various presents, and the names of the persons for
whom they were intended. Upon Captain Adams saying that all the presents
received by the officers of the United States were, by law, the property
of the government, Yenoske remarked that a similar law existqd in Japan.
To the inquiry of the J apanese as to when the Commodore’s reply to the
answer to the President’s letter would be ready, it was promised for the
subsequent Saturday.
Captain Adams now asked what ports the commissioners had selected for
the trade of the Americans, and where they were, and remarked that five
years, the time appointed for the opening of them, was deemed by the Commodore
much too long, and that he would never submit to having a place so
restricted as Dezima for the use of the Americans. The prefect waived all
immediate consideration of the subject, saying that it was one upon which
the commissioners would negotiate and deliberate, and that it would necessarily
require time. Yenoske, the interpreter, was then told that he could
forward the purposes of the expedition, since he was familiar with them; he
promised to do so to the utmost of his power, but he declined, although a
map was placed before him, to name the ports for American intercourse,
saying, as he refused, that the whole matter was so new, and so opposed to
the laws of the Empire, that time would be required to bring matters to such
an issue. In regard to the question of going ashore, which had been submitted
to the commissioners, Captain Adams asked for some explicit reply,
stating that the surveying party, which was at the time at work in the bay,
would require to plant signals along the shore, but would not go into the
interior. To this the prefect answered that the views of the commissioners
had not been yet fully matured, but seemed to concur in the necessity of the
signals, if the Commodore had so ordered it. He, however, expressed his
fear of trouble and confusion, if the officers, engaged in their duty, should
enter the villages, and hoped they would go down the bay, and not northward.
The subject of supplies was next spoken of, and the question of payment
seemed to be conceded by the Japanese, who proposed that as soon as
a port was selected, certain compradors should be appointed for the sale of
artioles of every kind, but in the meantime, they said a single person would
be chosen, whose duty it would be to supply what was necessary, and receive
in payment the American coin, to be estimated weight for weight with the