ter all. About 3 P.M. I set off to go on board the 'Emperor' yacht,
which I reached at about 5; immediately after which the Japanese fort
saluted the British flag with twenty-one guns (ten-inch guns); as good
a salute as I ever heard, an exact interval of ten seconds between
each gun. The Japanese flag was then hoisted on the 'Emperor,' and
saluted by the 'Retribution' and 'Furious' with twenty-one guns each.
We ended the day with a collation on board the 'Retribution,' and trip
in the 'Emperor;' and as I was pacing the deck of the 'Furious,'
before retiring to rest, after my labours were over, to my great
surprise I observed that the forts were illuminated! Imagine our
daring exploit of breaking through every _consigne,_ and coming up to
Yeddo, having ended in an illumination of the forts in our honour! At
4 A.M. this morning we weighed anchor, and are now some 140 miles on
our way to Shanghae.

[Sidenote: Articles of the Treaty.]

The principal advantages secured to England by this Treaty, so amicably and
rapidly settled, were the following:--

Power to appoint a Diplomatic Agent to reside at Yeddo, and Consuls at the
open ports;

Ample recognition of Consular jurisdiction and of the immunities of
exterritoriality;

The opening to British subjects, at specified periods, of several of the
most important ports and cities of Japan;

Power to land and store supplies for the use of the British navy at
Kanagawa, Hakodadi, and Nagasaki, without payment of duty;

Power to British subjects to buy from and sell to Japanese subjects
directly, without the intervention of the Japanese authorities;

Foreign coin to pass for corresponding weights of Japanese coin of the same
description;

Abolition of tonnage and transit dues;

Reduction of duties on exports from 35 per cent. to a general rate of 5 per
cent. _ad valorem_.

The concessions obtained from the Japanese by the Treaty of Yeddo were not,
in some important particulars, so considerable as those which had been made
by China in the Treaty of Tientsin. It was, however, a material advance on
all previous treaties with Japan, and it opened the door to the gradual
establishment of relations of commerce and amity between the people of the
West and that of Japan, which might become, as Lord Elgin hoped and
believed, of the most cordial and intimate character, 'if the former did
not, by injudicious and aggressive acts,