commander desired to have an interview with a dignitary of the highest rank to arrange for the delivery of the letter; that he expected it to be received where he then was; and that he would not go to Nagasaki, but would remain at Uraga because it was near the capital.
In the interview the vice-governor was told that the commander would suffer no indignity to be offered the squadron during its stay, and that if the guard boats which were collecting about the ships were not sent away, they would be dispersed by force. The vice-governor at once went to the gangway and gave an order, with the result that the guard boats disappeared, and nothing more was seen of them while the vessels remained. He soon took leave, saying that an officer of higher rank would come from the city the next day.
On the following morning the governor of Uraga came on board. Again the commodore declined to receive him in person, but designated two of his commanders to meet him. A long interview took place, in which the governor made the same declarations as to Nagasaki and the departure of the squadron as had been communicated the day before, and was met by the same answer, only in more decisive language. Finally he was told that if the Japanese government did not appoint a suitable person to receive the documents addressed to the emperor, the commodore himself would have to go on shore with a sufficient force to deliver them in person. He was also shown the President's letter and the commodore's credentials "encased in magnificent boxes which had been prepared at Washington, the exquisite workmanship and costliness of
