Of Hakodate, in the island of Matsumae, already known to us by Golownin’s description, which the squadron visited in the month of May, the same letter affords the following account: “Hakodate is another Gibraltar. It has the same long, low isthmus, ending in the same mighty rock, with another city sitting at its feet. The bay is seven or eight miles wide, with an entrance of two or three miles in width; it is deep enough for ships-of-the-line to approach within a mile of the shore, and its clayey bottom, free from rocks or shoals, affords excellent anchorage, while it is defended from the sea by a sand-bank, a prolongation of the isthmus. Behind the bay the land is quite level, but at the distance of six or eight miles it rises into a range of hills from one to three thousand feet high. These hills, still covered with snow, send down several streams to the bay, furnishing the best of water for ships. The plain is finely cultivated, and fishing villages line the shore. We took fish plentifully,—one day twenty buckets, with more than twenty fine salmon, some weighing fifteen pounds. “The city has, I should guess, about four thousand houses, and perhaps five times as many inhabitants. The two main streets are parallel, and run along the foot of the mountain. Narrower streets run from the wharves up the mountain, crossing both the principal streets, one of which is about thirty feet higher than the other. The lower of these is almost as broad as Broadway, and infinitely cleaner. The houses on it are well built; most of them have two stories, with shops on the ground floor. The manner of building reminds one very strongly of Switzerland. A flat, projecting roof is covered with shingles, which are fastened by long poles, with stones laid upon them; broad galleries run quite around the upper story; before the door is a little wooden porch; this, too, with projecting gable, which, as well as the pillars that support it, are often adorned with rich carving. The temples, one of which is at least two hundred and fifty feet square, are profusely ornamented with carvings. Dragons, horses, bulls, and hares figure largely, but tortoises and cranes carry the day.” From Hakodate, where the intercourse with the local officials was entirely satisfactory, the ships returned to Shimoda, where, according to an appointment previously made, the commodore met the four commissioners, and three new ones, with whom he proceeded to negotiate the following _Additional Regulations:_ “ARTICLE I.—The imperial governors of Shimoda will place watch-stations wherever they deem best, to designate the limits of their jurisdiction; but Americans are at liberty to go through them, unrestricted, within the limits of seven Japanese ri, or miles (equal to sixteen English miles); and those who are found transgressing Japanese laws may be apprehended by the police and taken on board their ships.