“Strange and singular as everything we have heard about Japan undoubtedly is, nothing is so strange or so singular as the determination of the inhabitants to resist all intercourse with their fellow-creatures, except it be the fact that they have been able to act upon the resolution with effect during two centuries. It is this consideration which sheds a tinge of romance about the operations of the American squadron. The attack upon Japan is more than an expedition, it is an adventure. In the midst of the all-absorbing prose of the every-day world we suddenly feel as if we were at once transported to the domain of Ariosto and knight-errantry. The founders of the system did ill to enlist against their cause the principle of curiosity, the most constant and powerful impulse of frail humanity. Let the plainest woman in the three kingdoms cover her face with a thick brown veil, and appear to shun observation and she will soon be followed by an inquisitive crowd. The flavor of forbidden fruit has smacked racily on mortal lips from the days of Eve downward. Be the impulse right or wrong it exists, and as it will most surely be acted on, it must not be ignored. The affair, however, is one of far too vital importance to be treated in a light or jesting spirit, for we have every reason to suppose, and to fear, that the resistance of the Japanese to the invaders will be of the most determined character. Great bloodshed and great misery will probably precede the opening up of Japan. However necessary, and however justifiable such a step may be, we are not of those who can contemplate the slaughter of a gallant people, however mistaken their cause, without a pang of regret.” CHAPTER IX. Before reaching the bay of Yedo, sounding-spars had been rigged out from the end of the bowsprit of each steamer, from which depended sounding-leads, that were kept constantly going as well as the leadsmen in the “chains.” As previous knowledge of the water was rather defective, the ships proceeded in with caution. The sweep of the bay is a noble one, as you approach, and the morning being a clear and lovely one, every object, from the strange-looking crafts coming continually in sight, to the summits of the high shores, and bold bluffs, were sharply defined. Then too, simultaneously with our first sight of the _nolli me tangere_, we got our first sight of _the_ mountain of Japan—_Foogee Yama_. Perhaps the incidents which transpired during our first short visit to Japan, can be better conveyed by giving them as jotted down at the time.