Departure of the “Flag-Ship” from Manila――A Typhoon in the China Sea――The Inland Sea of the “Rising Sun”――Baseball with the Kobe Country Club――Fujiyama――Yokohama――Tokio, and the Imperial Palace of the Mikado――A French Fleet Celebrates the Taking of the Bastille――Unveiling of Perry’s Monument――A Reception on Board the _New York_ to the Nobility of the “Flowery Kingdom.” The United States Cruiser _New York_,――flying the ensign of Rear Admiral Rodgers, commander-in-chief of the Asiatic station, who had received orders to proceed to Yokohama, Japan, to participate in the unveiling of a monument erected by the Japanese government in commemoration of the achievement of Commodore Perry, his grandfather, who anchored there with his fleet in 1854, and, as ambassador sent by President Filmore, succeeded in opening the ports of Japan to foreign commerce,――drew anchor June 25, 1901, and steamed into the China Sea, with the gun-boat _Yorktown_ following in her wake. The cruise was uneventful for the first few days, when, about 11 A.M. of the third day, the barometer suddenly dropped several degrees and dark, heavy clouds gave evidence that a typhoon was approaching. All sails on board were secured, guns were lashed, hatches battened down, and sou’westers donned by the lookouts. A few minutes later we were being rocked in a heavy sea; a terrible gale of wind, whistling through the ventilators, brought relief to the coal-passers below. Our deep fog-whistle was blown every minute, and the boatswain and his mates were active and constantly on the alert. Our engines were kept going as usual, and by evening the typhoon had broken and we were sailing on a fair sea off the coast of Formosa. After two days’ more sail, occasionally passing a man-of-war or mail-steamer, we sighted the beautiful islands of the Inland Sea, the land of the Rising Sun, which we entered at sunrise. This land-locked Japanese body of water is a broad lake over two hundred miles long, filled with islands and sheltered by uneven shores. From sunrise to dark, shadowy vistas opened and peaceful shores golden with ripening grain slipped by. There was nothing to disturb the dream-like charm, and yet human life and achievement were constantly in sight. Along the shores stretched chains of villages, with stone walls, castles, and temples soaring above the clustered roofs, or peeping from wooded slopes were terraced fields of rice and grain, ridging every hill to its summit and covering every lower level.