which the Commodore had invited the commissioners and their attendants.
Accordingly, great arrangements were made in the flag-ship preparatory to
the occasion. The quarter-deck was adorned with a great variety of flags,
and all parts of the steamer put in perfect order, while the officers, marines,
and men dressed themselves in their uniforms, and prepared to do honor in
every respect to their expected visitors.
The Commodore was determined to give the Japanese a favorable impression
of American hospitality, and had accordingly spared no pains in
providing most bountifully for the large party expected, which was understood
to comprise no less than seventy, exclusive of the boatmen and menials.
As it was known that the strictness of Japanese etiquette would not
allow the high commissioners to sit at the same table with their subordinates,
the Commodore ordered two banquets, one to be spread in his cabin
tor the chief dignitaries, and another on the quarter-deck. The Commodore
had long before made up his mind to give this entertainment as soon as the
negotiations with the Japanese took a turn sufficiently favorable to justify
some degree of convivial rejoicing. He had accordingly reserved for it live
bullocks, some sheep, and a supply of game and poultry. The ordinary
cabin stores of preserved meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, and a choice supply
of the best wines, furnished every requisite for the preparation of a generous
feast. These abundant materials, under the cunning hands of the
Commodore’s chef de cuisine, assumed nearly every variety of dish attractive
to the eye and appetising to the taste.
Previous to coming on board the Powhatan, the commissioners visited
the sloop-of-war Macedonian, being saluted as they stepped on her deck by
seventeen guns from the Mississippi, lying near. The great guns and
boarders having been exercised for their entertainment, the commissioners,
with their numerous attendants, left for the Powhatan, the Macedonian
firing a salvo in their honor, as they took their departure. On arriving on
board the flag-ship, they were first conducted through the different departments
of the steamer, and examined with minute interest the guns and the
machinery. A boat was lowered, with a howitzer in its bows, and this was
repeatedly discharged, much to their amusement g for, although not a very
warlike people, (at least in their modem history,) the Japanese evidently
had a great fondness for martial exercise and display. The engines were
next put in motion, and they evinced the usual intelligence of the higher
class of Japanese in their inquiries and remarks. After satisfying their
curiosity, dinner was announced, and the five commissioners were conducted
to the Commodore’s cabin, where a very handsome banquet awaited them.
The subordinate officials, amounting to about sixty, were provided for under
the awning on the quarter-deck, where a large table had been spread with
an abundant supply.
The Commodore had invited the four captains of the squadron, his interpreter,
Mr. Williams, and his secretary, to join the commissioners at his
table. Yenoske, the Japanese interpreter, was allowed the privilege, as a
special condescension on the part of his superior^, to sit at a side-table in
the oabin, where his humble position did not seem to disturb either his
equanimity or his appetite. Hayashi, who always preserved his grave and
dignified bearing, ate and drank sparingly, but tasted of every dish and
sipped of every kind of wine. The others proved themselves famous
trencher men, and entered more heartily than their chief into the conviviality
of the occasion. Matsusaki was the soul of the party, and showed at
once a very decided appreciation of American fare, and a special fondness
for the champagne, with no marked aversion, however, to the other wines
and beverages. The liqueurs, particularly the maraschino, seemed to suit
the tastes of the Japanese exactly, and they drank unnumbered glasses of
it. Matsusaki, who was a jovial fellow, soon showed the effects of his copious
libations, and became very particularly happy. Hayashi, the grave
prince, was the only one, in feet, whose sobriety was proof against the unrestrained
conviviality which prevailed among his bacchanalian coadjutors.
The Japanese party upon deck, who were entertained by a large body
of officers from the various ships, became quite uproarious under the influence
of overflowing supplies of champagne, Madeira, and punch, which they
seemed greatly to relish. The Japanese took the lead in proposing healths
and toasts, and were by no means the most backward in drinking them.
They kept shouting at the top of their voices, and were heard far above the
music of the bands that enlivened the entertainment by a succession of brisk
and cheerful tunes. I t was, in short, a scene of noisy conviviality, and of
very evident enjoyment on the part of the guests. The eating was no less
palatable to them than the drinking, and the rapid disappearance of the
large quantity and variety of the viands profusely heaped upon the table
was quite a marvel, even to the heartiest feeders among the Americans.
In the eagerness of the Japanese appetite, there was but little discrimination
in the choice of dishes and in the order of courses, and the most startling
heterodoxy was exhibited in the confused commingling of fish, flesh,
and fowl, soups and syrups, fruits and fricassees, roast and boiled, pickles
and preserves. As a most generous supply had been provided, there were still
some remnants of the feast left, after the guests had satisfied their voracity,
and most of these, the Japanese, in accordance with their usual custom,
stowed away about their persons to carry off with them. The Japanese
always have an abundant supply of paper within the left bosom of their
loose robes in a capacious pocket. This is used for various purposes; one
species, as soft as our cotton cloth, and withal exceedingly tough, is used
for a pocket handkerchief; another furnishes the material for taking notes,
or for wrapping up what is left after a feast. On the present occasion,
when the dinner was over, all the Japanese guests simultaneously spread