eat means of government in
Japan. Still there is no appearance of oppression or fear anywhere. It
seems to be a matter of course that every man should fill the place
and perform the function which custom and law prescribe, and that he
should be denounced if he fail to do so. The Emperor is never allowed
to leave the precincts of his palace, and everybody, high and low, is
under a rigid rule of _convenances_, which does not seem to be felt to
be burdensome. I am afraid they are not much disposed to do things in
a hurry, and that I must discover some means of hastening them, if I
am to get my treaty before returning to Shanghae.

[Sidenote: Hereditary princes.]

_August 16th._--Princes, five in number, arrived on board yesterday at
about 3 P.M. Among them was the Lord High Admiral, a very intelligent
well-bred man. It was agreed that I was to land to-day, and some
discussion took place as to the house I was to inhabit. They said that
they could give me the choice of two, but that they recommended the
one farthest from the palace as being in best repair. I chose the one
nearest the palace, because one is always obliged to be on one's guard
against slights, but it has ruined so much to-day that I have sent to
say that I will not land till to-morrow, and to inquire where I can
really be best lodged. I have handed to the authorities a draft of my
treaty. The chief interpreter, by name Moriama (the 'wooded
mountain'), a very acute and smooth-spoken gentleman, who told one of
my party yesterday that the princes who have come off to me are Free
Traders, and that this is the spirit of the Government, but that some
of the hereditary princes are very much opposed to intercourse with
foreigners, and that some little time ago it was apprehended that they
would raise a rebellion against the Government, in consequence of the
concessions it is making. The official princes are named by the
Emperor for life, but the hereditary ones are great feudal chiefs
owing rather a qualified allegiance to the Emperor. Moriama pretended
that he and his friends had seen the arrival of our ship with
pleasure, but of course one never knows whether to believe a word they
say.

[Sidenote: Yeddo.]
[Sidenote: The 'Castle.']

_Yeddo.--August 18th, Seven A.M._--Here I am installed in a building
which forms the dependence o