i v P R E F A T O R Y N O T E .
in this respect he had nothing to conceal, as he wished to present
truly all of interest that had been observed either by himself or
others, and to do justice to the deserving officers who had so effectually
sustained him in his plans for carrying out a new, delicate, and
arduous work—he deemed it best to place in the hands of the compiler,
without reserve, all the materials in his possession, whether
from his own pen, or furnished by the labor of others, and to
request nothing more than that the preparation of the work might
be conducted in a spirit conformable to the ends and wishes just
expressed.
The materials were abundant and varied. Beside the manuscript
journal of the Commodore, in three large folios, and his
official correspondence; the journals of his secretary and other
officers, the diaries of the fleet captain and flag-lieutenants, the
official reports of gentlemen detailed for special duties, and the
public documents connected with the Expedition, were all placed in
the hands of the writer. Of these, the Commodore’s journal and
official correspondence form much the larger part.*
The work to be performed was that of a compiler merely.
With no responsibility as to the facts related, the writer believed
his appropriate duty to be simply to weave into a connected narrative
all of interest or importance that could be gathered from
these various materials, and to present, in chronological order, the
incidents of the Expedition. Eminently suggestive as were many
* The Commodore, unwilling to appropriate what may belong to others, desires here to
acknowledge the nse of the journals of the Captain of the fleet, Commander Adams, of
the flag-lieutenants, Mr. Contee and Mr. Bent, those of Purser Harris, Mr. Perry, (Commodore’s
secretary,) Mr. Bayard Taylor and Chaplain Jones; the reports of Captains Abbot,
Buchanan, and Adams, Commandants Boyle, Kelly, and Glasson, Chaplain Jones, Mr. Williams,
Chinese interpreter, and Doctors Green and F a h s ; the services of Mr. Portman,
Dutch interpreter, and of the artists, Mr. W. Heine and Mr. E. Brown, jr. In the hydro-
graphical department he would specially acknowledge the accurate and laborious work of
Lieutenants W. L. Maury and S. Bent. Nor would he pass by without notice minor contributions
from any under his command; to all he would render due credit and thanks.
P R E F A T O R Y N O T E .
portions of the story, the compiler felt that it was his business to
deal with the fa d s only, and spare the reader the infliction of
his reflections on them.
The book, therefore, is but little encumbered with the writer’s
observations or conjectures on the incidents related. Where a
momentary digression from the story does occur, the remarks it
embodies are generally those of the Commodore himself. In many
instances, the language of the Narrative is a verbatim copy from his
journal. Wherever it was possible thus to use his manuscript, it
was done, as being the course most likely to avoid error. Every
word of the work was read to the Commodore in manuscript, and
received his correction before it went into the printer’s hands ;
every proof sheet also was read by him before it was sent back to
the press.
In order to expedite the preparation and publication of the work
as much as possible, and place it at an early period in the hands of
Congress ; as the labor was that of compilation only, the present
writer, with the approbation of Commodore Perry, availed himself
of the kindness of a competent literary gentleman,* who assisted
him in the work of comparing the various journals, -documents, &c.,.
arranging chronologically the incidents gathered from all sources,
and presenting them in a connected form. Some portions of the
story were also, in the first instance, sketched by this gentleman,
and after undergoing the revision of the present writer, were incorporated
by him into the Narrative, and then submitted to the Commodore
for his correction and suggestions. Some of the descriptions
of scenery were thus prepared, as well as portions of the Narrative
relating to the two visits to Japan. By means of this valuable
aid, the whole story was written out in less than a twelvemonth
from the time its publication was ordered by Congress ; a
result which would otherwise have been unattainable. The compiler
makes this statement, not only to acknowledge the kindness
* Robert Tomes, Esq., M.D.