 Thank you very much for coming here today to listen to these few words of mine, and before I start I'd like to say how I appreciate being here and what I might describe as hallowed portals with Admiral Sprint's flag at the back, it's an eye-firm personally very uplifting and I hope the students and everyone here does the same. Here we have, as John has just rightly said, British treaties with China and Japan, HMS Ferris, we'll be introduced to her now. She was simply the gubernatorial yacht by which means Lord Elgin was able to move around the east. And there she is, in England before leaving, this is taken from the Illustrated London News. As you can see, a paddle wheel steamer, wooden built, very small ship, 1,500 tons, and by modern standards a huge crew, 220 officers and men. The team was used only, generally speaking, for navigation in confined waters such as entering harbours and that sort of thing, for long passages she would proceed under sail. And in 1857, the year before we are talking about, she was commanded by Captain Sherrod Osborn, shown here as a rear admiral. I include him particularly because earlier in his life he had made quite a name for himself. Rather to the north of us, the north-west passage era, the British in the 1800s were endeavouring to see if there was a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific around the north of Canada. And they sent Sir John Franklin on an expedition in the 1840s and he was never seen again. So Sherrod Osborn was a member of a couple of subsequent expeditions, 1850 and 1854, to endeavour to track down Sir John Franklin in his ill-fated expedition. And it transpired later that he had died in 1847. And while we're on the subject of the north-west passage, though it's got nothing to do with the talk, good modern-day Arctic transit economics described in proceedings. I'm sure some of you take proceedings. This year, the July 2013 edition, a very nice article by Stephen Carmel on the modern-day economics of that still dubious route, page 38 in proceedings July this year. Subsequently, he had distinguished himself, Captain Osborn had distinguished himself during the Crimean War, 1853 to 1856 when he come out in the Suvius in the Sea of Azov. So he had a history of a bit different from the normal run. And straight away we take her from the ship's logbook, an extract 4th of May, 1857. This is just before she set sail from England. You can see her lit fires and weighed at 11.30. And one of the principal objects of her proceeding east was to escort these 12 small gunboats. They'd been built for use in the Crimean War in shallow, confined waters. And the Crimean War just ended, as I've said, and it was perceived that the use would be, good use would be made of these craft in similar shallow waters on the China station. As I say, she left England the 4th of May down to Madeira, if you can imagine, across to Rio. And then a huge route around from Rio to Java Head, right around the tip of South Africa, didn't touch in South Africa at all. And Java Head, as you know, is on the western tip of Java between Java and Sumatra, by Karamata there, a huge, huge passage. And then up the Borneo coast, across to Hong Kong. And the last ship in was firm, escorted by a furious, arrived in Hong Kong on the 22nd of November. So from 4th of May to 22nd of November, to escort that small flotilla to the east. Now, as befits the error, my reference to Chinese names will be according to Wade Jiles Romanization and not the modern system. Basically, the trouble had arisen in the Far East in October, as early as October 56, when the Chinese authorities at Canton, in the south of China, had seized a small craft or launcher called Arrow, lowered the British flag and arrested the crew, a number of whom they accused of being pirates. And you can imagine the British were infuriated by this illegal act. And in part, owing to the strong characters of two of the men involved, Sir John Barring, who was Governor of Hong Kong at the time, and the Imperial Vice-Roy Yeming Chen, he was Vice-Roy in that southern part of China based at Canton. Both very strong power for personalities, generally tension and violence escalated. And the whole pot was kept boiling or had been already started boiling earlier in 1856, when a French missionary, Auguste Chape-Delaine, had been murdered next door to Canton, Quangxi province. The French were outraged, pretty obviously. The long and the short of it being that the French and the British, recent allies in the Crimea, now became allies to deal with what they perceived to be the problem in China, mostly deriving from the controversial opium trade. It was these latter acts, the Arrow, Fair and the Murder, that proved to be the final pieces of straw that broke the camel's backs, the patience of the two European parts. With tension escalating, the British appointed the highly regarded administrator and colonial governor, James Bruce. He held two titles, his primary title was 8th Earl of Elgin, and also he was a 12th Earl of Kinkardine, both in Scotland there. And he was dispatched east as their plenipotentiary, which means he had the authority to basically do what he liked. He was overall supreme commander over all British interests in the east. And here we have a map, we'll get down to details in a moment. Just briefly, there's the Sea of Azov where Captain Osborne had made his name in the shallow waters just to the east of the Crimea. Suez Canal had not been built, only to be opened in 1869. Sir Lord Elgin made his way to Suez, crossed over land to Suez on the south side of Isthmus, and took passage to Gaul in the piano ship Bentink. And when he arrived in Gaul, which was on the 26th of May, so just about the time that Osborne was sailing from England, he first heard of the outbreak of the Indian mutiny, which had broken out at Meerut, 40 miles from Delhi, just a few days earlier on the 10th of May. At this early stage, no one was quite sure of the seriousness or otherwise of the problem. Gaul was the port of entries slown those days. At Colombo, the breakwaters had not been built, and there wasn't a harbour there. Gaul was the old harbour. In fact, if you ever go there, there's rather a splendid old Portuguese fortification still maintained, magnificent memory of days gone by long, long ago. Anyway, from Gaul he proceeded to Singapore in the piano ship Singapore, and there he arrived on the 3rd of June. And it was at Singapore that he heard from his old Corpus Christi Oxford University colleague, University contemporary, that the mutiny was proving to be quite serious. It wasn't just a little unrest with the natives. It was an important general uprising. Immediately in the magnanimous gesture for which and due course he was to receive much credit, Lord Elgin ordered that all the troops, dispatched east in support of his own missions to China and Japan, be diverted to help George Canning in India. And then his lordship continued on from Singapore to Hong Kong to see how the land lay there, and to order troops from Hong Kong also to India to assist in the British effort within that country. His lordship also visited India himself, and it was only in September 1857 that he was able to return to Hong Kong to get on with his own business, that of China and Japan. That was, I say, in September. Shortly thereafter on the 22nd of November, Furious having rounded from Rio, this huge passage round to Java Head, there as I've mentioned, on the western tip of Java. This, I'm up the coast here, on the Borneo coast you have to take this passage up past Palawan and across from Luzon to Hong Kong. And Furious, as I said, right there on the 22nd of November with Firm, the last of the little gumboats of those 12, all of them escorted safely, by the way. They're small and of course mighty uncomfortable, any sort of a sea, but the advantage is that anyone who's served in small ships, you're a bit like a cork, you bob around on top and there's very little risk of harm coming to unless there's an overwhelming waves or something of that nature. Prior to commencing negotiations with the Chinese in Peking, Beijing today, the seat of the emperor was in the north and we're talking about this area here. Remember, the trouble the French and the British were having with the Viceroy Dan in Canton, just adjacent to Hong Kong, the British and French perceived that that should be attended to first. Consequently, on the 28th of December, the bombardment of Canton commenced. Commissioner Ye was captured just a few days later on the 5th of January, 1858, so we're into our year now. And he was sent into exile in Calcutta, where he died in April, 1959. In passing, there's quite a nice, no, it's not flippant, there's quite a nice little tale about taking Ye into exile. The ship, which took him, was inflexible, a small sloop commanded by George Brooker, and George Brooker wrote subsequently, on finding himself in the ship, Ye asked if he might be so bold as to inquire if he was intended that he should be executed. On being assured that such was not the case, the story goes that then he settled in to make himself as comfortable as possible with whatever food and drink the ship's galley was able to provide. So he was looking after number one in fair style. Having dealt with the problems there, it was time for Lord Elgin to proceed to the north. Accordingly from Canton, he addressed an letter to the seat of the Manchu Pa, Chinese Manchu Pa in Peking, outlining the terms of a proposed treaty. Although they had not participated in the occupation of Canton, this communication to the emperor was made on behalf of Russia and the USA in addition to the active allies France and Britain. So you see already general coming together as common political bodies of the Western powers to try and attend to matters in China. This is 1858. This was by no means Britain's first treaty with China. For example, one of the first historic treaties had been at Nanking in August 1842 when it was agreed that various trading ports could be set up and used by the foreigners. Wednesday, the 3rd of March, 58 in Furious, now embarked in his yacht with his suite, Lord Elgin sailed from Hong Kong and was stopped at the various treaty port, Suat-a-Amoi, Fuchiao, Ningpo, and made his way to Shanghai, where he arrived on the 26th of March. So he took about three weeks going up the coast. This next illustration just serves to indicate the proximity of Canton to Hong Kong. Kowloon on the mainland, Victoria on the island and the rather tricky channel, a channel which should, by any competent body, have been defended very ably. But in this particular occasion, the allies, as I've mentioned, were able to start their, commence their bombardment of Canton on the 28th of December and in just a week they'd captured Yeh. So the Chinese, Manchu Chinese resistance was pretty limited. And this was the first port of call on the 4th of March, as he made his way up the coast in Phyrrhus. And I put this in any navigators here will know of the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa. Well, here's another one in those days on the coast of China. Not unexpectedly, when he reached Shanghai, Lord Elgin received the most unsatisfactory reply from the Chinese authorities. Knowing that any delay would be interpreted by the Chinese as indicating a weakness of resolve, the allies, the French being under the command of Baron Grove, their commissioner extraordinaire, made arrangements to continue on towards Peiho, which is that the mouth of the river is the river mouth leading up in the vicinity of Peking. It doesn't actually touch Peking. And the general area at the mouth of Peiho is known as Taku. A couple of days prior to leaving Shanghai on the 10th of April, his lordship requested the British sea and sea who was rear admissor Michael Seymour send all available gumboats to the Peiho. As there he knew and extract from his diary, they would be indispensable if it should be necessary to ascend that river to Tianxin. So you can see his lordship had been well advised in the Dunting's homework. These are very shallow waters. And we'll see in a moment the entrance to the Peiho is indeed extremely shallow. All of us are familiar with the phrase, blood is thicker than water. It was off the Peiho in June, 1859, when the British were having a very hard time of it. But although he was officially neutral, Commander Josiah Tatnall in the United States Navy entered the fray by entering some much appreciated assistance to the British. That was his explanation for breaking neutrality rules. Blood is thicker than water. So it was that the next year, 1860, a third expedition was necessary. And that was an overwhelming success. And just to bring that date into perspective, remember, here in the United States, the Civil War commenced the following year, 1861. So this is the area we're talking about, the mouth of the Peiho at Taku, seven or eight miles off in those very shallow waters here at the western tip of the Gulf of Chile. This tin-sinner short distance upstream. And as I say, the Peiho Pass is close by a peaking, but doesn't actually enter the city. I've stressed, Manchu occupied China. They conquered China in the 17th century, and they were to continue to rule China until 1910, 1911. And the Sanyatsen is all a different subject, of course. Very interesting subject, but we certainly don't have time today. Lord Elgin proceeded ashore to Tenzin where the treaty negotiations were to take place. Knowing in advance that he was to deal with the devious and untrustworthy people, his lordship adopted an uncompromising pose. He was imperial Britain at its worst or at its best, depending on your point of view. The Manchu Chinese particularly objected to two clauses, namely that free intercourse was to be established to all parts of China for trading purposes, and that a British minister would be entitled to reside in Peiqing. You can imagine the horror that that idea was received. The day before the treaty was due to be signed, the two Chinese envoys even went so fast to say that if Lord Elgin insisted on these two clauses being retained, they would lose their heads. As his lordship wrote in his diary, he was not influenced by this novel weapon in the diplomatic armory. The terms of the treaty remained intact, and so as it happened, did the next of the gentlemen in question. The Treaty of Tenzin was signed with Great Britain on the 26th of June, 1858, 26th of June. Similarly, the French, Russians, and Americans were to reach agreement with China. In addition to an indemnity being paid, a number of new trading ports were to be opened, including in the Yangtzee, as far upstream as Hankar. And I put that in especially to remind us all how very radical that was. The interior of the Empire, Hankar was 636 sea miles up the Yangtzee in the inland of China. So that was a gigantic step, a gigantic concession for them to make to the hideous British. Subsequently, his lordship embarked in first on the 6th of July, out here. The attempt was made to view the tourist now, Shanghai Guan, where the Great Wall enters the sea, or comes to the seashore. But it was a vile day with drizzling rain and blow cloud. So without further ado, commander Captain Osborne altered course and they made their way to Shanghai where they arrived on the 12th of July. Now some of you, I'm quite sure, have been to Shanghai, 14 miles up the Wangpu here, 45 miles down to the open sea, Yangtzee here, and that's the way up to Hankar, another 600 odd sea miles. So come up from the sea, South China, this is all a bit shallow. Port de Helm, in Paswusung, 14 miles up and there Shanghai. Even in those early days, we're showing signs of developing to become the greatest trading and shipping center in China, which it is today. And just to add emphasis to that remark, we were there in 2008, so a little while ago, and two or three of the guides told us that all the construction cranes, we could see on every angle in Shanghai, half the construction cranes in Asia were in Shanghai at that time. Quite incredible. The situation now was there remained a couple of small tariff details he sorted out in connection with his lordships, a recent diplomatic successor, Tianxin. The total tone of the relevant communications received from China or Chinese was positive, but it would take a few weeks for the envoys to reach Shanghai. Encouraged by the cooperative attitude of those empowering Peking and perceiving that he had sufficient time in hand, Lord Elgin now decided to proceed with the second part of his mission to Japan. According on the 31st of July, he re-embarked in Thurus, Captain Osborne wed early in the morning, down to the angst, starboard his helm, and off towards Nagasaki in Kyushu, which we'll see now. Shanghai to Nagasaki, short distance, 450 cm. And here's the port we're talking about. Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku's just here, Strait of Shimano-Siki, Korean Strait, Tsushima, South Coast of Korea. This is the scene of Togo's great victory in 1905. Hirada, I put in because that was the first trading station permitted by the Japanese in early days when the British, Portuguese and Dutch came to trade there. The Portuguese had arrived here in 1543. So just 55 years after their amazing achievement in rounding the Cape, the first European power, if you like, to proceed to the east by sea. And just 55 years later, they had reached Tanigashima, another one of their amazing achievements in that very, well, difficult era. The Portuguese had brought with them Catholicism, which the Bakufu, the government of the Shogunate, didn't like, so they were banished. The British didn't make any money, so they left. And in 1641, the Shogunate said that the Dutch should proceed and establish their base there, their trading station there at Nagasaki. That as I've hinted, the Japanese leadership of the day consisted of the Shogunate, the Tokugawa Shogunate, three families, Tokugawa Shogunate. And Aisada was a Shogunate at that time and his government, the Bakufu. The emperor himself, who was Komai at the time, lived in virtual isolation in Kyoto. He held a curious position. He read it to him respected, but virtually powerless. For well over 200 years, from this tiny island in Nagasaki Bay, Deshima means island, Deshima there, there was an artificial creation, that tiny little island. For well over 200 years, the Dutch were confined to that trading post. And they were permitted one or maybe two, three trading vessels a year from the capital of their East Indian empire in Batavia, or Jakarta as it's called nowadays. 200 years of isolation with various, it wasn't enforced rigidly by all the Shoguns, according to their particular feelings and interests. Some who are interested in outside activity encouraged the Dutch a little more. This era of isolation only was to begin to end with the visit of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, United States Navy to Japan on the 8th of July, 1853. As John indicated earlier. He brought with him an introduction from President Millard Fillmore. Although isolated, the policy which the succession of Shoguns pursued with varying degrees of intensity, the Bakufu, the Shogunate government, were not uninformed. From both British and Chinese sources, they knew of much that was going on in the outside world. They knew of British military success in China. They knew of the Cheetah of Nanking of 42, and of the British very recent achievement of June 1858 at the Peiheu. Similarly from Dutch sources, they had known in advance that from the USA, Perry was coming in 1853, and in due course was to sign his treaty at Kanagawa, which he did the following year, 31st of March, 1854, as John indicated. One of the clauses agreed to by the Japanese covered the residence of an American consul in Japan. The first was Mr. Townsend Harris, who was appointed by President Franklin Pierce, and who took up his post in the summer of 1856. So just two years before the period we're talking about. Following Perry's success later in 54 at Nagasaki, the British commandant chief, rare Admiral Sir James Sterling, negotiated a simple, straightforward, seven-point agreement with the Japanese. In reaching this agreement with the Bakufu officials here at the Deshima, he had been greatly assisted by the Dutch head man, Mr. Donko Kertius. In addition to his efforts in China before he left London, Lord Elgin also had been instructed to obtain a treaty with Japan, the usual terms covering trade, right of residence, diplomatic representation, and so on. In other words, Admiral Sterling's agreement needed to be updated. And here, Furious arrived in Nagasaki Bay on the 3rd of August, 1858. And these are extracts from Lord Elgin's diary, which are just three little paragraphs, which I have included, quite interesting. Very true, no one can deny. Secondly, I've just had a visit from the vice governor of Nagasaki. One of his own suite did the interpretation. They are the nicest people possible, none of the stiffness and bigotry of the Chinese. I gave them lunch and it was wonderful how they managed with knives and forks and all other strange implements. Then the next day, I went to Shuo yesterday and this morning, chiefly to make purchases. Things are really beautiful and cheap. The town is wonderfully clean after China, not a beggar to be seen. The people clean too. You can see straight away that Lord Elgin is making quite office to making a contrast between the two peoples and generally speaking at this particular stage, coming up with favorable impression of the Japanese. And here's the country. This is the area we're talking about. Here on the western tip of Kyushu, Nagasaki there. Cape Chikako in Nagasaki, we'll come to now. Korea and here's Tokyo. Yedo is the name of the town. Tokyo just means Eastern capital. And here's Shimoda, little distant from Tokyo, but very close compared with the Dutch who had to make this long trip every time they wanted to negotiate with the, or were invited to negotiate with the Shogunate. You didn't tell them what you wanted, you asked them. Mr. Donker Curtis was not present at Deshima at the time that Lord Elgin was there. As can be imagined with the appointment of the first American consul, Mr. Townsend Harris, who was permitted to live here at Shimoda, there rose an element of competition between Holland and the USA, each country endeavoring to outdo the other in securing improved trading conditions. At about the time in June 58 that the British were leading the allies in their conquest at the Peiho, that both Mr. Curtis and Mr. Harris were here in Yedo, trying to seek improved benefits. Neither was the success of the Bakufu and not listening. By virtue of living relatively close by, Mr. Harris was able to return to Shimoda rather quickly, whereas for Mr. Curtis, this journey back to Nagasaki took six weeks. In the event, Mr. Harris very quickly received news, obviously of the allied success at Peiho in June, knowing that the Bakufu were concerned that maybe next the British would turn their attention to Japan while Mr. Curtis was still en route back to Nagasaki, Mr. Harris quickly nipped over to Yedo. There he stressed the obvious, that when the British came, it was likely they would seek to obtain from the Bakufu rights of settlement, trading, and other conditions, somewhat similar to those which they had won in China. However, if now the Japanese signed a modest treaty with the USA, then that could be taken as a base point from which negotiations should start. In that way, the terms which the British would insist upon were not likely to be so onerous as that achieved by them with the Chinese. The Japanese would have a useful point of precedent from which to commence their talks with the British. Good point. There was dissent within the Bakufu, but the important members saw the point of the argument put forward by Mr. Harris, and on the 29th of July, signed a treaty with the USA. Lord Elgin only remained here in Nagasaki till the 5th of August, then he proceeded in fear making his way in this direction. However, the following day, when they attempted to round Chikikoff at the south end of Kaushu, the seas were vile. Remember, fear was a small ship, only 210 feet in length. One member of Lord Elgin's suite was Private Secretary Lawrence Oliphant, who has left copious notes of all these travels, and he writes of their attempt the following day when the seas had abated somewhat to successfully round the Chikikoff. And we were underway in a few minutes with blinding wind and sea in our teeth and our bows under at every heave. The huge pointed rocks of Chikikoff loomed black and threatening in the thick darkness, and we could hear the waves roaring against them as we struggled past this point. I don't think anyone's left any doubt that he wasn't one of the happiest souls on board. In the event all went well, and they arrived off Shimoda on the 10th of August. And there they were followed into port by another of Her Majesty's ship's retribution, together with the steam yacht emperor. At the suggestion of Admiral Stilling, the yacht had been built as a present from Queen Victoria to the Japanese head of state. Admiral Seymour, the CNC, and Lord Elgin had come to an arrangement whereby on behalf of the CNC, his lordship would deliver this yacht to Yeddo at the appropriate moment. At Shimoda, Lord Elgin obviously visited Mr. Townsend Harris with whom he got on very well. From Mr. Harris, he learned of the conditions of the treaty signed between Japan and the USA just a fortnight earlier. His lordship instantly appreciated the tactics employed by Mr. Harris in his negotiations with the Bakufu. At the same time, he felt that in a few weeks available to him, then there was the terms and conditions would prove acceptable to Great Britain. A good start would be made if Great Britain and Japan could rather quickly agree to similar terms in their treaty. In other words, Mr. Harris' perceptive argument had paid off as far as the United States was concerned. In addition, Mr. Harris was kind enough to offer to Lord Elgin the services of his translator, Enrique Huskin. The only European language understood by the few Japanese who were permitted to have outside touch with outside influences was Dutch. And Mr. Huskin, therefore, with knowledge of English, Dutch, and Japanese, was able to provide the most valuable service. As he had done at Nagasaki, also at Shimoda, his lordship entertained the governor on board. The Japanese attempted, once again, to restrict the Europeans to Nagasaki. Of course, the wrong man, Lord Elgin, had nothing to do with that. This next illustration is just a quick four-year deviation. 1849, Perry, indeed, had anchored off Urager in 53 and had been the pioneer as far as modern-day negotiations went. But as part of their normal prying and pressing and looking around, the British had been then conducted an earlier survey, a very brief survey, just a couple of days of these waters, four years earlier, HMS Mariner, commander Charles Matheson. I just put that in as a little sense of perspective, no diplomatic effort at all. This is the more famous map, modern map of Perry's fantastic efforts. These dotted waters, the waters he surveyed as far north as Beacon Point, Hanida Airport of today. Mississippi was one of his ships, Point Fillmore, cleverly supporting his president. An island named after himself, why not? And this is where Urager is where Perry had anchored in July and then proceeded the following year to Kanagawa where his treaty had been signed. I put Yokohama in, or it's in. Not because it was significant then, it was just a couple of mud huts, but it was becoming important because off Yokohama there was deeper waters, so better for European ships. But that's the fantastic effort made by Perry with a huge surveying undertaking earlier before Lord Elgin arrived. This is the British update of 1850, Captain Osborne's survey. This is a limit of Perry's navigation off Beacon Point, hence Kanagawa, Yokohama, just to bring things into perspective. Lord Elgin, of course, being an experienced diplomat well knew the value of doing the unexpected. With leads going, Commander Captain Osborne pioneered this first passage up to that point past Kanagawa, past the limit of Perry's soundings and horror of horrors up towards Yedo itself where no Western ship ever before had ventured. Absolutely correct. Nothing like it had ever been seen before in Japan nor even been contemplated at a most remote possibility. Remember, two centuries of isolation, no foreigners allowed in and no Japanese allowed out. Appalled, the various Japanese officials who permitted aboard furious tried their best to persuade his lordship to return to Kanagawa. They knew there wasn't a chance of getting him back to Nagasaki, but at least they tried to get him to go to Kanagawa. Here's a metal, we see something in the metal of the man. Not only did Lord Elgin refuse, but actually gave instructions that the ship should proceed further in towards Yedo to that spot which I've outlined in blue. Just to bring things into perspective a bit, there's the Shogun's castle today, the Imperial Palace. The waterfront, of course, is hugely different with land reclamation and this red dot is the scene of the first British Embassy. But this is the seat of Shogunate Pa. In obedience, Lord Elgin's instructions, Captain Osborne sent out boats to sound and the next day proceeded in further, just a mile off city limits and he trimmed the ship's draft to 15 feet, even keel, so he could get in within a mile. And there on the 14th, they were joined by the gunboat Lee, Commander William Graham. And Lee, of course, was one of those small gunboats furious that escorted out from England and indeed at the pay-ho was to be lost in 1859 along with a few other British warships against that fierce Chinese defense. On 15th of August, a party of senior Japanese officials came on board furious. In the usual oriental manner, the question of face and status had to be considered. Earlier, a number of junior officials had been sent on board to attempt to negotiate with his lordship but he had remained firm in his refusal to even meet with such representatives until men of appropriate rank were produced. And such a group appeared on the 15th of August, one member was a shogunate admiral, a very intelligent, well-bred man, according to the Darius, who showed himself to be familiar with aspects of the loyalty of his furious, including her engine room even. Lord Elgin handed this group a draft of his proposed treaty. Also discussions were held concerning the question of accommodation ashore for the first British embassy. Now, straight away, Lord Elgin picked up divisions. In the course of these discussions, Lord Elgin quickly discovered that an element of disunity existed within the Bakufu and the Daimyo. The Daimyo were the right-wing conservative samurai leaders of their own fiefdoms, the Han within Japan and the Bakufu by virtue of their extra experience, if you like, with international deans, were aware that those hard right-wing attitudes had to change, but there was dissension. And so straight away, we just have another quick extract from his lordship's diary on the 16th of August. Chief Interpreter, one of my part, the princes who have come off to me, those were the Bakufu members, the admiral and his colleagues. And this is the spirit of the government. But some of the hereditary princes, the samurai Daimyo, are very much opposed into course with foreigners and that some little time ago, it was apprehended, they would raise a rebellion against the government in consequence of the concessions it is making. So Lord Elgin immediately picked up this potential division within the Bakufu administration. And then the last bit, of course, pretending to be his friend, I never believe a word they say, well that still goes on today, of course. So here we see at the highest level in the British delegation, an intimation given surrounding domestic circumstances, then prevailing within Japan. This is 1858, in just under 10 years, was to result in the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, with the resignation of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and the apparent revival of the power of the emperor, Mutsuhito, the Meiji Restoration, 1868 to 1912. Let's let me relate while we're on the subject of his lordship there in Tokyo Bay, Yedo Bay. With the various officials coming on board to see him. Remember, he was Earl of Kinkardine and Earl of Elgin. In Japan at the time, it was the accepted custom for any official to be accompanied in all negotiations by his emetsuke, or eyes in attendance. In other words, a spy who was there to report any indiscretions or inappropriate conduct. So naturally, whenever Lord Elgin received Japanese guests on board the ship, they looked around discreetly to try to detect the emetsuke accompanying his lordship. Of course, none could be seen. However, when later they saw that he signed himself Elgin and Kinkardine, then they suppose that the wily Kinkardine, nowhere to be seen, was somewhere there keeping a secret eye on Elgin. On the 16th of August, here we are at the spot here, miles off the city limits. The weather was poor, so his lordship did not proceed ashore, but instead sent members of his staff to inspect the proposed accommodation, which was just a disused temple, which could be adjusted without much problem. On the 17th of the following day, Lee came into her own. Remember, the small gunboat Lee had accompanied his lordship into Yellow Harbor, and she came into her own the following day, the occasion of the official landing. This was a magnificent procession complete with officers in full dress, 13 ships boat and company with their crews all in their smartest dress, salutes fired at appropriate times to both his lordship and 21 guns to the empire of Japan and with bands playing. Once the depth of water reduced to seven feet, so Firm could only go into about here, when the water depth was too shallow, about three miles, then his lordship switched to ship's boats and they rode up the coast to his landing point in approximately that vicinity. With considerable ceremony, you can imagine the bands, the razzmata, glistening uniforms, therefore with much of the all important face gained. Naturally, this was a sight then unique. Many thousands of citizens turned out to witness the extraordinary occasion. Once ashore, then the British found the opposite numbers were business-like and missed nothing in the course of their negotiations. Lord Elgin found that the Admiral mentioned earlier was the most intelligent and active member of the Bafuku food delegation. Another envoy was the previous governor of Nagasaki, of course with exposure to wicked European thinking. When those two were in agreement, then the remainder were usually content. All proceeded smoothly and on the 23rd, it was mutually agreed the treaty would be signed on 26 August, two months to the day, since he had secured his treaty with the Chinese at Tiansin. Also on the same day, the British gift, the odd emperor would be presented. That's pretty rapid diplomatic work. Not only that, but in a procedure quite unheard of in the Japanese also agreed to salute the British flag with 21 guns. On the 25th, Lord Elgin hosted a Japanese envoy's dinner, a most successful gathering complete with toasts and they say witty speeches. Some witty speeches in Japanese, some in English, some in Dutch. Imagine poor Mr. Huskin trying to translate and explain the subtleties. I think that's the wittiest part of all. The Dutch copy of the treaty was made the original as that was the nearest to being a common tongue. 26 August was also the anniversary and the birth of 1819 of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. Therefore at noon, Führers flied a royal salute and his honor. The treaty was signed at 1 p.m. and at 4 p.m. for the first time in history, the Japanese looted a foreign flag with 21 guns being reciprocated by Retribution and Führers with the same number. Thereafter the yacht was handed over with due ceremony after which Captain Barker of Retribution hosted a feast on board for Japanese envoys. It wasn't a late night do, Lord Elgin returned to Führers by 7 p.m. that evening. Here they are, Tokyo Bay, Yedo Bay. No time was wasted by Heimann returning to Shanghai to resume his business in China. Having made his official farewells the previous evening then early on the 27th, Führers weighed and proceeded to see. Mr. Huskimmers obviously dropped back at Shimoda that afternoon and Führers returned directly to Shanghai where she arrived on the 2nd of September, 1858. Before we leave Japan, here is the map of Japan as it was in those days with all the Samurai Han fiefdoms. And I've outlined in red there the important ones, the families of whom were instrumental in the restoration of the emperor and of overcoming the Shogunate Pa after some 250 years. The forehand who are particularly important is Choshu here right at the western tip of Honshu on Tozu here on Shikoku, down here the Shimizu family of Satsuma and the Hison here in the vicinity of Nagasaki. These were the four feudal Daimyo who, if you like, saw the times needed to be changed. But of course there was a method in their madness. Earlier I made reference to the apparent restoration of the Meiji era. In fact, the power behind the throne were the Shimizu family of Setsuma and the Mori family of Choshu. So there perceived changing times were coming and it cleverly stirred things, if you like, their way. Once the Shogunate rule was overthrown, as I say in early 68, the Meiji era commenced, and only in 1841 were the boundaries of these feudal fiefdoms to be altered to the modern prefecture system or can administrative regions. This is the last illustration. Again, an extract from Lord Elgin's diary. We are plunging into the China Sea and quitting the only place which I have left with any feeling of regret since I reached this abominable east. Abominable not so much in itself as because it is stewed all over with the records of our violence and fraud and disregard of right. So we see here concerning his success in Japan which is rather quickly followed his success in Tien Sin, maybe Lord Elgin privately was much more liberal in outlook than his imperial behavior would seem to suggest. Thank you. Yes, sir. Is this too early for Chinese Gordon? I hear nothing. Gordon, China Gordon, after the man who died in Sudan. No, yes, but early days. Early, yes it is, that came afterwards. Yeah. That came with the end of the, towards the end of the Manchu rule of China, the overthrow which took place finally in 1910, 1911. So Gordon indeed was a little bit later. Thank you. I've read several times that the English introduced drugs to China to entertain the troops out there. Is this a fact? It was trade. Inder, opium was grown in India. It was a very good crop for India to export. The Chinese exported silver. In fact, that was one of the reasons that China's getting a bit upset about the opium thing. It was the degradation of their people to some extent, but don't think it was taken at the highest level too. So it wasn't just the peasants who took the opium, it went right up the scale of people. It wasn't only the degradation of people, it was the loss of silver to India. So it was a trading. They wouldn't buy English woolens in China. They wouldn't buy anything else the English made. They wouldn't trade with India, with England, except with opium. So that indeed, that I mentioned earlier, disagreement with the opium trade. Where did you get the opium? It was grown in India, Bengal opium. Yeah. The bond was used by French and Shanghai. The French, the English, and... Everyone had their international... Let me get the illustration up. Everyone had their international... Oops. Sorry. Oh, how do I get rid of that? Okay, there we go. Everyone had their international representation there in Shanghai, but the French settlement was... They were the only European power to maintain their own French, even with French names in the streets. In fact, Sun Yat-sen, when he... Yes, absolutely. When he went into exile, that was where he settled in the French Quarter. The rest were the Japanese, the British, Americans, other European powers. The Talents were there, the Talents had Navy ships there. Everyone had representation of one sort or another. The British, there I say, were by far the most important in that era, but they lived outside the French Quarter. But you're right, the French Quarter is still there. There was a certain architectural identity, I think it was fair to say. Yeah. What's interesting about Shanghai is that it's such a cosmopolitan city today as a result of this period. Oh, absolutely. It was the rest of China, it's just... It was the international spot, absolutely. And in fact, on the Bund, where all the big firms had their offices, Jardine Madison office was there to this day, and the whole of those wicked colonial-type-era buildings are retained by the Chinese as national monuments. They haven't torn them down at all. If you look across the river... Well, putong across the river is... Oh, mind-boggling. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Oh, that's no exaggeration. Yeah. And 10,000 pigs in the water now, isn't it? You know, because they have a passion. I don't know how many farms there are. But Big King was pretty much the same with the Gacius, where everything all was the same. Gacius, you're getting a bit ambitious here. Good memories. I was a 17-year-old B.A.R. with when I arrived at P.K. Okay, okay. Gacius normally was associated with... I've never been better at everything about it. Normally associated with Japan, I'd say, but certainly with Dancing Girls and... Oh, it was ever since. Exactly, leave it at that. What did you trade with Japan? Japanese trade initially. Britain took from them curious things like seaweed, for example, tea. They valued high-quality cloth, soaks, which seems amazing, but the British were able to introduce those from China and from their own sources, and so-called exotic goods, like ridiculous things like alarm clocks with crazy toys, we would describe as today, but regarded by the Japanese with a certain amount of fascination. That was in very early times. Rice, of course. Anxious for cheaper sources of rice, though they exported rice as well. According to crop failures and one thing or another, trade goes on according to weather very often, that sort of thing. But initially, the Europeans were very keen on the tea, and they took some woollen goods, not much. When did the oil trade develop into China from the Ciccone vacuum? Oil was discovered first in the east by the Dutch in Sumatra, just near Medan there, in 1878, something like that, and it developed from there. The Dutch were the first off the mark with oil in the east, in the southern coast of Borneo, too, Banjo-Massin, Ballet-Papam, those sort of places. So it was the shell. What became shell were the first off the mark with oil in the east. Ciccone vacuum, I'm not sure. I didn't know the corporate history, but that would be subsequent for sure. In the accepted sense, the Dutch had had their trading post at Nagasaki, and the Americans had, just related for a couple of years, had had their consulate at Shimoda. Actual embassy was the British, I think, established there. The next pretty well, pretty close to the Shogunate Palace in Yedo. No, no, no, no. That was why Mr. Harris was kept away from the seat of power, if you like. He still had to make the journey into, still had to make the journey from Shimoda into Tokyo. Shimoda's, if you like, tucked out of the way a bit, on purpose. That's Tokyo Bay. Tokyo Bay, Yedo Bay, yep, absolutely. Tokyo's just decent capital. Did Elgin harvest his Greek marbles? That was dad. That was dad. Elgin went on to be viceroy of India. He wasn't any slouch in the British administration. He was held in the highest regard, and he went on, latterly, to be viceroy. In fact, he died in India of heart condition. Now, to Japan, keep opium away from its custom, you hear it with China all the time, because I'm here to do it. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, John. Very much.